Wow, the past few months have flown by! Welcome to 8th grade US History. Your social studies experience this year is going to focus on our country's history, from the time when British colonists first began to settle North America successfully to the time period around and after the Civil War, when our bold experiment with self-governance nearly came to a terrible end.
Our first few meetings will focus on introducing and practicing some of the key skills necessary to "do" history the way professional historians do. Using the concepts of perspective, evidence, source, reliability, and context, we are going to identify different ways we see history. Then, we will use some of our new skills to review how different sources teach us about the early colonies in North America.
If you miss a class, or find yourself confused or uncertain about what to do, come back to this blog. I will post a brief summary of what we do in class and links to any sources or materials I can offer here. This is the first place you should look if you are absent. If this brings up any questions, you can contact me here or via my school email, at csiecke@sau16.org.
Your first Social Studies assignment is intended to help you learn about the historical concept of perspective. Review the instructions on the handout. Before you start working, find someone who can help you with the second half of the assignment. Make sure to write out your side of the story completely, with a beginning, middle, and end. Bring this to class on Thursday.
Worksheet on Perspective
No comments:
Post a Comment