Welcome Back! November 30, 2015

To get all our brains back in gear, today we spent some time in class reminding ourselves of why our forefathers and mothers fought so hard:  To declare their independence from oppression.  You did this by declaring your own freedom, henceforth and forevermore, from tyranny in all its forms!  Spiders! Siblings!  Anti-skateboarding efforts!  Parental rules!  Friend drama!  We shall bear our chains no longer!!!

More seriously, I wanted you guys to refresh your memories about two very important ideas, those being the existence of "natural rights" (rights you have just because you exist in society) and grievances (a fancy word for complaints). The Patriots chose to split from England because they believed that they had legitimate grievances stemming from the fact that their government was violating their rights.  That's really what it boils down to.

HOMEWORK:  Use your well-honed essay writing skills to draft a strong thesis statement for your essay on the causes of the Revolutionary War.  Remember to review which essay prompt (on the first page of the DBQ packet) you and I have chosen for you.  Be sure to state your position and preview your major reasons in one clear, complete sentence!

Please share your thesis through Google Docs, or write it out on separate paper.

If you truly don't remember what a thesis statement is, here is a resource explaining it - but be warned, it's for college students, so the examples they give will not be what I'd expect from an 8th grader.

Thesis statement assistance

Here is a sample thesis statement builder for an 8th grade essay.  Please note that it might need a little tweaking to reflect the prompt you've been assigned and your personal approach to the topic.

If you still don't understand thesis statements, check this out:

Happy Thanksgiving! November 24, 2015

Today, you had a choice to work on your packet or help out with a community service project in class, or if you were all caught up, to relax with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!  Thank you to the many of you who helped me prepare to decorate the Exeter Historical Society tree for the Festival of Trees.

If you did not finish your packet in class today, please remember that it is due when you return!  I have linked it below in case you happened to lose it in the 24 hours since I gave it out.

Pre-Revolution DBQ Handout

DBQ Excitement!!! November 23, 2015

Today in class, I started the long, long, LONG process of walking us all through the essay process.  We are beginning with a DBQ, which is short for Document-Based Question.  This is something you will see in Social Studies classes through high school.  In a DBQ, you have a number of different documents with analytical questions to answer.  These will help you prepare for the essay, but we won't worry about that until after the break :).

You have time today and tomorrow to work on your packet.  I will be checking in with you to see how you're doing.

Happy Weekend! November 20, 2015

I hope everyone had a good Friday - two days off, two days of school, and then we all get a little break from one another!!  We're almost there, but meanwhile...

HOMEWORK:  We continued working on Declaration concepts for the last day today.  If you did not complete one of the questions from the small group task sheet as an individual assignment, you need to do that this weekend.  If you are in period 7, you may need to do 2 - check your notes!  The list of tasks is posted on yesterday's blog if you need it.

Declarative Statements, cont'd: November 19, 2015

First of all, I need to make sure you all know the following: Today is NOT actually my 60th birthday, despite what Mr. Wiggin wrote on my board!!!

Today in class, we worked on our classroom tasks associated with the Declaration of Independence.  Most of my classes got to the point where students are working on the small-group tasks or the extension assignment.  Per 7 missed class yesterday for an assembly, so they are working on the grievances and some groups are working on small-group tasks.

HOMEWORK:  Choose one item from the small-group task list to complete as an individual activity. BAND MEMBERS - if you will miss class tomorrow, do TWO of the tasks.

If you need a copy of the small-group tasks, it is linked below.

Small-group tasks

Declaration Cont'd: November 17, 2015

Today in class, we continued to work on our Declaration activities.  By the time you get done with these activities, you are going to know the Declaration VERY well!!

HOMEWORK:  Nothing new tonight, but you need to review and revise your Works Cited if it is not correct!

This We Declare: November 16, 2016

Today in class, I had you think about where you might have stood if you were alive and living in the Exeter area in the 1770's - would you be a Patriot, a Loyalist, or neutral?  You had a range of responses based on everything from personal beliefs to your parents' occupations to concerns about governance.  So in that way, we are not very different from our colonial forefathers (and mothers)!

We are going to spend some time this week making a close study of the Declaration.  It is a challenging document, but it's critically important to understanding our society and our culture.  I don't expect you to understand everything you read, but I do expect you to make a good-faith effort to do as much as you can, as best you can.

In class, we watched a short documentary about the Declaration.  You were assigned the task of numbering the lines of the Declaration so it will be easier for you to find information as you complete the tasks coming up!

HOMEWORK:  You were assigned a ten-line section of the Declaration.  Choose three terms from your section that you don't understand, or that you think are difficult or necessary to know.  Define the terms using a dictionary or a device.  You can write the definitions right on the document.  If you were not here and did not get assigned a section, you can do the first ten lines.  Watch the video and read along first!  If the video does not appear below, go to YouTube and search for

A Reading of The Declaration of Independence.

Delcaration Close Reading Version

You Say You Want a Revolution? November 12, 2015

Today in class, I checked to see if your outlines were done by having you answer a few questions from the outline.  I noticed that most of you had your outlines done, which is great, but those of you who don't will find that this holds you back as we continue our work.  In other words, spend some time to get caught up!

You are using those chapter outlines to help you with our current assignment, which is to be ready for our discussion about "Whose Side Are You On?".  As I mentioned in class, not all colonists were in favor of cutting ties with England.  In fact, many colonists felt strongly loyal to England, and argued that revolution was treason.  You were given a handout describing a number of typical colonists.  Using the information about the colonists, and the outline of events from Ch 6, figure out if these people would have been Patriots, Loyalists, or neutral.  Figure out TWO laws that would have affected him or her, and at least ONE other reason that would influence how he or she felt.

HOMEWORK:  Finish the chart you started in class!  The handouts are linked below if you need them!

Whose Side Are You On - reading

Whose Side Are You On - chart

George Vs. Paul: November 10, 2015

Happy Veterans' Day Eve!  In case you forgot, we do NOT have school tomorrow - make sure you don't show up at your bus stop, because no one will come pick you up!

In class yesterday and today, we started class with an activity and ended with some time to work on your CHAPTER SIX OUTLINES.

Yesterday, we did some work on the concept of "Taxation without representation is tyranny".  In our simulation "The King's M&Ms," you experienced the phenomenon of taxation without representation. I gave you a writing challenge to explain what that statement meant and why the colonists felt that way, but there was a twist: You had to use the words although, unless, if, and because somewhere in your response.  These terms represent conditional thinking - in other words, they show that you understand why things occur the way that they do.

Today in class, we examined two pieces of artwork from the 1750's and 1760's to see how they present two very different people. We looked at a portrait titled King George III in Coronation Robes:

And we looked at the John Singleton Copley portrait of Paul Revere:

These two portraits have very important, and very different, messages about the values and structure of British vs. colonial society.  You did a nice job in class today of analyzing those differences.

HOMEWORK:  YOU NEED TO FINISH YOUR CH 6 OUTLINE.  If you did not sign out a textbook, I linked the sections on Monday's blog post.

Keep On Truckin' - November 9, 2015

Today in class, we revisited the key concept of "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY," which we experienced in our simulation called "The King's M&Ms".  I challenged you to go beyond just telling me what that phrase meant by including words that indicate causal relationships (although, because, unless, if).  That turned out to be more challenging than a lot of people thought it would be!

HOMEWORK:  You need to walk in the door on THURSDAY with the chapter 6 outline COMPLETELY DONE!!  The individual sections of Ch 6 are linked below.

Ch 6 Sec 1
Ch 6 Sec 2
Ch 6 Sec 3
Ch 6 Sec 4

If that doesn't work, try this link.

Looking Ahead: November 6, 2015

All of you who came today for parent conferences are very lucky to have the nice, sweet parents that you do!  It was a great day of getting to talk to many of you in more depth than we usually get in our daily routine, so thank you to all of you (especially those of you who got up earlier than you may have wanted to on a day off!).

I have updated a lot of grades in PowerSchool, so please check to see what you may need to find, pass in, or complete.

If you need to complete the WORKS CITED, please look at Tuesday's post.
If you need to complete the F&I War Graphic Organizer (Q2-5), please look at Monday's post.
If you need another copy of the F&I War reading, please look under 10/29.
If you need another copy of the Colonial Identity assignment (Q2-3), please look under 10/27.

Have a great weekend, don't eat all your Halloween candy, and I will see you Monday!!

End of an Era: November 3, 2015

Today in class, I introduced the concept of salutary neglect and how it affected the colonies.  It's hard to imagine that neglect can sometimes be a good thing, but as far as the colonies were concerned, they liked it that way and were not happy when England decided to change things!  We will start looking at how that affected relations between the colonies and their mother country tomorrow.

HOMEWORK:  You are going to create a sample Works Cited page to practice these skills and make sure you know what you're doing before the big essay comes down the pike!

The Works Cited is due Thursday.  Please use the following to help you complete it:

Citing Sources Homework Assignment

Works Cited Cheat Sheet

Ch 5 Sec 3 - textbook

Go to YouTube and search "keith hughes" and "French and Indian War" - cite this video.

Run a search for "French and Indian War timeline".  Choose one of these sites and cite it as a website.

If you are truly stuck and the instructions don't help you, try these:

How to use EasyBib:

Much longer version:

IF YOU RUN INTO PROBLEMS, PLEASE EMAIL ME.

Welcome to 2nd Quarter! November 2, 2015

Today, we got second quarter officially underway - yes, we have a few assignments already listed as Q2, but regardless - we got second quarter underway by collecting your work from Q1 and archiving it.  You will be using it at the end of the year to assess your amazing growth as scholars and citizens!  Yay!

We also reviewed our readings and charts about the French and Indian War to make sure you caught all the information available in your readings.  As you get to be better, more capable students of history, you will find that the answers aren't always neatly packaged for you - sometimes you have to go get them yourself.

HOMEWORK:  You picked a graphic organizer on the French and Indian War to complete for homework today.  Use your article and (if needed) information from the links below to help fill it in. Please come in with it filled out COMPLETELY and IN DETAIL.  If you don't like the graphic organizer you chose, you may choose a different one from the link below.  Please label your graphic organizer Q2-5.

Please note:  Do NOT come in tomorrow and tell me you "didn't know what to do"... you have filled out graphic organizers for years now! THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DON'T NEED TO FILL IN THEIR ORGANIZERS COMPLETELY ARE THE ONES WHO CHOSE THE DIFFICULT OPTION.

If you are having a hard time finding information to fill in, use the additional resources linked below to help you.

Graphic Organizers

History.Com resources on the F&I War

SparkNotes summary of the F&I War