The Growth of America

The past few weeks in history, we have been spending time on the growth of America--first politically and now physically. Focus was spent on the creation of political parties, America's growing power as a nation, and then the growth of democracy under Andrew Jackson. Speaking of our country's 7th president, the students had to look at his presidential actions and decide if he was a hero or a villain. Currently, we are looking at the different ways America increased their land. Students are in groups and we are making choices to see if we would have done things differently than the leaders of America did. Next, we will focus on the exploration and settlement of the West. Check back soon for Western skits!

Colonial Williamsburg Presentation

Today George Washington; his slave, Hercules; and Dred Scott visited our school! They shared their stories, answered questions, and were quite entertaining. Slavery from Colonial times up to pre-Civil War was discussed in a lively and engaging presentation. Here are some pictures I snapped. (Sorry for the poor quality. I had to take the pictures without flash so I wasn't a distraction.)

Some of the 8th graders excited to meet the first president!

Hercules, George Washington's slave and personal chef, spoke to us about what freedom meant.

George Washington shares his personal and then political views on slavery.

Dred Scott shares his feelings at the decision by the Supreme Court that denied him and all blacks (even free!) citizenship.

Natali asks Dred Scott a question.

A group of 8th grade girls posing with both President Washington and Dred Scott. This is, of course, after they asked the president if he knew General Burgoyne, their favorite Revolutionary War figure.

Government

Learning about how our government works is one of the most important jobs as citizens of America. It always seems that when the government unit comes about, there are real life teaching moments! We have had quite a few discussions of the government shut down while we focus on the Constitution, the set up of the government, and at the end of this week look specifically at the freedoms we enjoy under the Bill of Rights.

An oldie but a goody. :-)

Revolutionary War

We've finished our unit on the Revolutionary War. We will review Wednesday and take the test on Friday. You can find the study guide in the link above. The kids (particularly my homeroom) had a fun time watching the documentary and enjoyed learning about Roger Lamb and General Burgoyne, or perhaps just liked the actors who played those parts. Hopefully everyone learned about history and not just that General Burgoyne never blinked!

Really. He never blinked. Terrence Mann has real talent.

Capture the Flag

Today in history we played a game of Capture the Flag outside on the blacktop. The kids were happy to get outside but not exactly so happy that the game was rigged to be a historical metaphor. Pretty soon, the kids realized who were the Americans and who were the British. Hopefully they will be able to keep the game in mind as we start out unit on the war itself. During this time, the kids will be taking notes, watching clips of a very well done documentary, discussing, and listening to me lecture (but just a little bit).

I meant to take pictures of Capture the Flag  but I must have been too interested in the game to remember to do so. Sorry!

There have been some exciting times in history class so far. In learning about colonial life, students were particularly interested in how Puritans decided someone was a witch and were particularly appalled by the lack of cleanliness in colonial cities.

Hopefully your child didn't come home and tell you that he or she had to pay ten cents for every photocopy they were given. It was actually an exercise in the idea of "no taxation without representation." Both classes were remarkably calm about the idea for the first few minutes (a decidedly different reaction than I normally get!) but then got pretty angry about having to pay for their homework. They weren't quite as angry as the colonists (no threats to tar and feather anyone) but they were able to put themselves in the colonists' place for a little bit.

Earlier in the week, we had a debate between loyalists and patriots. We had such distinguished guests in our room as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and even King George III! I was very happy with how involved the students got in their different sides. A couple of British accents even popped up!

Below are pictures of the loyalists, the patriots, and the neutralists in our debate.

Welcome!

Please use this blog to get a first-hand view of what the 8th graders are studying in history class this year. I plan to post pictures/videos of activities and projects throughout the year so please check back frequently.

Please also note the tabs at the top of the page. As the year continues, I will be using them as a gathering place of any important links and student work.

Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.