26 & 27 March

 Today's starter was: Think about yesterday's starter - Do the ends justify the means?  Now, think about the way that President Polk started the War with Mexico - do you agree or disagree with his actions?  Explain-

After discussing the starter we reviewed the events of the beginning of the War with Mexico.  We then talked about the California gold rush.  We watched an overview video of the west and then finished pages 5, 6, & 7 from the packet - these are homework if you didn't finish them.

We ended today by starting a practice test for Part II of the west.

If your grades are low right now, the only thing we have turned in is the Oregon Country Memorial.

24 & 25 March

Today's starter was: Do the ends justify the means?  or, Do good outcomes excuse the methods that we use to get to those outcomes, even if those methods are bad?

After discussing the starter, which relates directly to the War with Mexico, we corrected pages 2 and 3 of the packet and turned in the final drafts of the Oregon Memorial/Monument.  We reviewed the events of the Alamo, and read a book together, Susanna of the Alamo.

We finished today by discussing the major events of the War with Mexico and by working on pages 5 & 6 in the packets.  

20 & 21 March

 

Today is the last day of Term 3!

Our starter for today was: Tell me what you know (or think that you know) about the Alamo-

After reading an Encyclopedia Brown mystery we corrected questions 1-7 on page 4 of the Manifest Destiny packet.  

We then spent some time completing the final draft of the Oregon Country Memorial (the rough draft, found on pages 2-3, was homework from the prior class.  These final drafts will be due next time.

We then looked at the events that led to the siege of the  Alamo.

18 & 19 March

Mount Rushmore - Photo by Dean Franklin

Today's starter was: Think of memorials or monuments that you have seen - what makes a great monument/memorial great?

We spent some time looking at monuments and memorials throughout the world.  We did this to prepare for the memorial/monument we are going to design for the Oregon Country settlers.

After looking at the monuments/memorials we finished questions 1-7 on page 4.  

Those who have grades lower than a B worked on make-up work - those who had grades B or above began planning the monument by completing pages 2 and 3.

Pages 2, 3 and 4 are due for next time.

14 & 17 March

Today's starter was the last one for this particular set - we handed them in today.  This will be your last grade on term 3.  It was often very dangerous to move west . . . why did the early settlers risk everything to go there?

After discussing the starter we watched two short video clips relating to the move to the west.




A painting of "Manifest Destiny," This image is in the U.S. public domain

We spent some time looking at these western settlers - they will be on your test - they represent a much larger group of people who lived in the Oregon Country:

• Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
• James Beckwourth
• John Jacob Astor
• Jedediah Smith
• Henry & Ashley
• Jim Bridger

We also looked at the concept of Manifest Destiny and how it encouraged people to move west.

12 & 13 March

Today's starter was: Tell me two things that you have learned so far about the Erie Canal.  Tell me why this canal was important to the country.

After discussing the starter we finished watching the Erie Canal video - there were questions that went along with the video.

We started to discuss other movements west.

Artwork is in the public domain

7 & 11 March

Today's starter was: Humans use a wide variety of transportation - please list any types of transportation that you have used.

I passed back the Lewis & Clark 6th grade booklets - the highest grade that you could have received on this assignment was a 35.  If you would like to re-do any part of the booklet you are more than welcome to.

I also passed back the Jefferson Era packets.  It is important that you keep these because this packet has the essential standards for the first third of our next test.  This test will be taken during fourth term.  Because this test is still a few weeks away, we took a practice test on the first third of the test today.

We then talked about the history of the Star Spangled Banner - our National Anthem.

We finished off today's work by introducing the idea of the Erie Canal.  We did this by starting a Modern Marvels video on the canal.  We will finish this video next time.
 

5 & 6 March

Your starter for today was: What is a good reason for going to war?  Explain-

After discussing the starter we peer edited the Lewis & Clark Booklets and turned them in - I have graded these and we will pass them back next time.

We took notes on page 5 of the Jefferson Era packet as we discussed the War of 1812.  We completed the packets and turned them in (A Days). 

3 & 4 March

Today's starter was: Why did Napoleon sell Louisiana?

Today we did a quick review of Louisiana and Lewis & Clark.

We corrected page 2 of the Jefferson Era packet.  We then used most of the rest of the time to finish the Lewis and Clark pamphlet - this is due next time!

27 & 28 February

Today's starter was: What was the most interesting part of the Lewis & Clark video for you?

We reviewed the background of the Lewis & Clark Expedition - we then began our work on the Lewis & Clark pamphlet.

We also worked on page 2 of the Jefferson packet.

We will finish the Lewis and Clark Pamphlet next time!