16 & 17 December

Our starter today was: What do you think was the most important cause of the American Revolution?

Today we reviewed the causes of the Revolutionary War using a short 4 minute video.  We had a fun Christmas quiz and then played a game of Jeopardy to review some of the important facts from the Revolutionary War.

Have a Merry Christmas!

10, 13, 14 & 15 December

We have been hard at work on our Powerpoint (actually Open Office) presentation of a Revolutionary War battle.  We wrapped up our presentations on the 14th/15th.  We will begin showing them to the class on Thursday/Friday, but we will probably finish them when we return to school after Christmas Break.

8 & 9 December

Today we explained our new project - a Powerpoint-type presentation on a Revolutionary War Battle.  We divided up into groups of two or three and began our research.

We will have two more class days to prepare our presentations - we will begin presenting these the day before Christmas Break!

Remember to use this page as a resource - you are more that welcome to do extra work at home!

6 & 7 December

 Today's Starter: What is a revolution

Today we wrapped up Johnny Tremain in those classes where we hadn't finished yet.  We discussed the Second Continental Congress and the steps they took in the months leading up to the events of Lexington and Concord.

We conducted a thought experiment dealing with what Vista Heights would be without rules and then without laws.  We extended our experiment to include all of the country.  We determined that without any laws each individual would have 100% rights, until others deprived us of our rights.  We discussed the unalienable rights that were described by John Locke and edited by the Second Continental Congress: Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness (property - Locke).  We discussed the purpose of governments, which is to protect our natural rights.

We then read a significant portion of the Declaration of Independence and saw where Jefferson included the concepts we discussed as part of our thought experiment.

3 December

Sorry that I have not updated this blog for a while.  My classes have been out of sync with each other due to some scheduling changes and and absence.  They are back in alignment.

We have been learning some propaganda techniques that people use in advertising and campaign ads.  We looked at these to help us to better understand Paul Revere's depiction of the Boston Massacre.

We have also been watching Johnny Tremain, an older Disney movie that reviews the events we have been discussing in class that led up to the Revolutionary War.

Last class period we had a great discussion about "rights" and where these rights come from.  This is the big issue that led to the Revolutionary War.  We will discuss this idea of rights later and how they relate to both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

17 November

This is for "B" days only.  Today we completed page 3 of "The Road to Revolution packet.  We reviewed the events leading up to the American Revolutionary War and then began to discuss different types of propaganda.

11, 12, 15 & 16 November

The past two class periods we have been working on a 300 year old mystery - the Boston massacre.  We have been examining evidence to determine whether the British soldiers shot colonists in self-defense, or whether it was murder.  If you would like to see this activity for yourself, please visit this site.

9 & 10 November

Our starter today:  "Why do we pay taxes?  Where does your tax money go?"  We are beginning our discussion of a series of taxes (Tea, Townshend, Stamp) that pushed the British Colonists towards rebellion.

We played our "Impossible Test" game today.

I have postponed my study 2 weeks until the 30th of November and the 1st of December to hopefully get back more permission forms.  Please, if you have any questions about my study, let me know.  I have received permission forms for just over 1/2 of my students.  The more students who participate the better my results will be.

5 & 8 November

Our starter for today was: "When you get home today there is a knock on the door.  It is the military forcing you and your family to leave your house - you will never be able to return home again.  How would you feel?  What would you do?"

We used this starter as a springboard for our discussion on The French and Indian War and the Proclamation of 1763.

At the end of the day we each created 5 questions and answers of our own choice for a game we will play next time.  These questions should not be true/false or multiple choice and they should be difficult (this will make our game more fun to play!).  This is called "The Impossible Test" - don't worry, it is a game, not a test.  I will give you points for creating the test questions.

We also turned in our Colony Simulations today.  These are worth a a lot of points and will go to zero on Tuesday.  Make sure that you complete the map, flag and 1 page write-ups for full points!

3 & 4 November

Today we presented our Colonization Simulations in class.  We also began our study of the French and Indian War.

BE AWARE!  Our Colonization Tests are now on Skyward.  Many of you did not pass and it is affecting your grade.  Come in and get your old test to study from - you can retake the test before or after school or during flex time!

1 & 2 November

We reviewed the Enlightenment and watched a little more of the Benjamin Franklin technology video.  We spent the remainder of the time finishing our Colony Simulations.  These are due next time - we will present in class!

28 & 29 October

Happy Halloween!

Today we discussed the Salem Witch Trials - where they occurred, why they occurred, and why they stopped.  We also looked at the history of the Halloween holiday.  We finished our class with Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Here are some links, if you are interested:

• Map of Salem Showing Accusation Locations
• Salem Witch Trials - Documentary Archive
• The History of Halloween

26 & 27 October

Today we took the test on colonization - this test will go on TERM 2.

We also worked on any late/missing work so that grades are up-to-date for the end of first term.

20 & 21 October

Today we introduced the colony simulation - which will be due next term.  We also got caught up on the British Colonies packet which is due next time.

18 & 19 October

The end of the term of fast approaching!  Please check your grades and get all work caught up.  The last day to turn in late or missing work is Friday the 29th of October.

Today's starter is: "What was the "City on the Hill' in the colonies?"

We corrected and handed in the colony crossword puzzle.  This will go on this term's grade.  We also discussed the study that I want to conduct for my masters of education degree from UVU.

Parents - I sent home today a parental permission form that I would like you to sign that will allow your student to take a 15 minute survey in class.  I want to study the effect that good teaching practices have on student motivation.  The survey will assess your student's motivation and their perception of good teaching practices here at VHMS.  If you have any questions, please contact me here at corysmith@alpine.k12.ut.us

We finished work today on our British Colony packets - these will also go on this term's grades.

12 & 13 October

Today's starter - How is a puritan different from a separatist?


We worked in our British Colonies packets today, finishing pages 3-5.  We also completed the colonization crossword puzzle.

8 & 11 October

 Our starter today was to write down any facts you can remember about the Jamestown colony.

Today we reviewed the differences between the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies in depth in preparation for our future test.  We also played Quoits, a popular 18th century game, similar to horseshoes.

6 & 7 October

Today we began our discussion of the difference between Puritans and Separatists.  We watched a video on the Separatists (Pilgrims) and then began a crossword puzzle.

4 & 5 October

We began our discussion of Jamestown with our starter: "Describe your worst camping trip."

We then went on to compare the struggles faced camping to those of the Jamestown settlers.  We looked in detail at Jamestown, its reasons for settlement, the struggles of settlement and eventual success.

30 September & 1 October

Our starter for today was "Based on what we have seen and discussed so far, what do you think happened to the Roanoke settlers?"

We finished the video on Roanoke and then used our textbooks to fill in page 4 of our Colonization packets.

28 & 29 September

Our starter today was "List a few things that people argue or fight about today."

Today we handed out a new packet to assist us in our study of the British Colonies in America.  We wrote information on page one and filled out the map on page three.  If you were gone, you can get this information from the online textbook.

We also talked about the mystery of the Roanoke colony.  You can find more information about Roanoke here.

26 & 27 September

Today we finished the video on Hernan Cortez and his conquest of the Aztec civilization.  We corrected the Explorers packet and then took the test on the explorers.  The assignments that we handed in today are:

• The starters on exploration
• The Exploration Packet
• The "four square" video notes on Cortez and the Aztecs
• The test on explorers

22 & 23 September

Today's starter was "What do you think was the most important thing America gave Europe in the Columbian exchange?  What do you think was the most important thing Europe gave America?"  This was to help review for our test on Friday/Monday.

We also played a game called "Agree / Disagree" where I placed a number of statements on the board, related to exploration, and we chose if we agreed or disagreed with the statements.

We started watching a video on Hernan Cortez and the Aztecs.

20 & 21 September

Our starter question for today was, "How do you think Christopher Columbus felt when he and his men finally reached land?"

We discussed the starter and then finished the European Explorer assignment that we started last time.  This will be due next time.

We read a primary document on Prince Henry, paying careful attention to the motives he had for exploring.

16 & 17 September

Our starter for today was the following: "Last class period we talked about motivation.  What do you think is the most powerful motivator in the world?"

We watched a short video clip to give us a "big picture" of what we are studying today (European countries are beginning to show interest in exploring the world around them).

We began learning about life in the Middle Ages and how world events helped to spark European exploration:

• The Crusades - thousands of Europeans explored the world as they tried to regain the Holy Land from Muslim control
• They found new spices, technology, and products in the Middle East
• There was a desire to begin trading with those in the Middle East

• The Renaissance - a rebirth of the arts, science, and discovery
• Exploration by European powers

We watched a short video on Columbus - here is a link to that video if you missed it want to watch it again Columbus Video

We finished off the day by beginning an assignment on explorers.  Here is a link to that assignment

14 & 15 September

Today's starter was to write about your greatest adventure.  We used this as a springboard to talk about adventures that explorers had.

Here is a link to today's assignment, here & here - you will not be able to do the group ranking on the Lost on the Moon Activity and that's OK.

10 & 13 September

Our starter today was to list what you already know about the Aztecs, Inca, and Maya civilizations.

We took 20 minutes to finish the test and those who finished the test handed it in.  If you did not hand it in today you need to turn it in next class time.

I introduced the Aztec, Inca and Maya cultures and we added to our starter the things that we learned.  We finished class with a video on the Aztec, Inca and Maya.

8 & 9 September

There was no starter today because today we handed in the starters that we have done so far.

We finished, and corrected the Native American assignment.  We handed these in and they will all be updated to Skyward by Thursday afternoon.

We began the test on Native Americans today.  We will have a short amount of time to finish these during the next class period. 

3 & 7 September

The starter for today was "How does the geography of Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain affect the way you live?"  We then discussed the geography of Utah County and how people here adapt to their surroundings.

We then expanded our view and looked at the geography of the United States in general.

We finished looking at the Native American slideshow.  The purpose of these slides was to help us see the different ways that three Native American tribes adapted to their surroundings.  This is in preparation for our test on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.  If you would like a sneak peek of the test, look at my webpage!

We assigned textbooks.  Remember, you are responsible for keeping this book looking good!

We started working on the Native American assignment.  Doing well on this will help you on the test next week.

September 1 & 2

Today we handed out the disclosure document and explained the more important parts.  This disclosure document does not need to be signed.  If you have lost your copy, here is a link to a PDF version . 

We also discussed culture today.  We decided that culture is the entire way of life for a group of people.  We also looked at culture specific to Utah.

We talked about ways that historians use to examine past cultures.  We watched a Bill Nye video on archaeology.

To introduce Native American culture we listened to 2 primary music sources - we then began looking at ways that Native American cultures lived.

August 30 & 31

Today we looked at the question "What is History?"  To begin exploring this topic I showed the class pictures from my own family history and we briefly examined the history of Disneyland.

26 & 27 August

Today we began to answer the question, "What is History?"  We also took a sample citizenship test.  So far the highest grade is 34 out of 40 correct.  If you want your family to try the online test, here is a link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37853954/ns/us_news-july_4th_special/ns/us_news-july_4th_special



Next week we will learn skills that historians use to analyze primary and secondary sources.

25 August

Today was the first 8th grade day of school for the 2010-2011 school year!  We explained a few of the class procedures and got to know the members of our class.

WelcomeBack to School!

I am excited to have you in my U.S. History class this year.