Conclusions about Liberty

Happy Friday!

You'll sit with your partner for the first part of class today.

We'll start today by reviewing the quiz you took yesterday about the Declaration of Independence.

Then, we'll turn our attention to the events at Vally Forge during the start of the Revolutionary War. We'll look at Emanuel Leutze's "Washington Crossing the Delaware" painting:

Then with your partner you'll read Thomas Paine's "The American Crisis." For the activity that follows, you will refer to this version of the document: "American Crisis" in sentences.

For the second part of class you'll be with your groups. We'll review the essays by Zinn and McCullough. We'll finish with a poster-making activity - you can find the directions here.

More motions of Liberty; the Declaration of Independence

We'll work in our groups today.
Start by sharing your responses to the "current connections" you read last night.
Then, we'll hear three more voices expressing thoughts about liberty:

• Phillis Wheatley
• Chief Logan
• Abigail and John Adams

You'll fill in section 4 of your chart and then write a final personal response in your journal.

For the second half of class, we'll start with two videos. They are excerpts from the television series about John Adams and they show opposing voices to the question of declaring independence: John Dickinson opposed to it and John Adams in favor of it.

We'll then turn our attention to the Declaration of Independence itself. We'll hear it out loud and then take a short quiz about the details of the document.

Reminder about homework for tonight - you are finishing the Zinn article and reading a short new article by David McCullough. Both are linked in the assignment sheet.

Notions of Liberty

We'll begin class today with some journal writing about concepts of knowledge and liberty.
Next, with partners, we'll discuss our responses to the questions about the document you read for homework. After answering any issues or struggles you may have had, we'll work to make some conclusions about the document by answering these questions:

1. What connection does Adams see between liberty and knowledge?
2. What “values” is he adding to our conversation about what it means to be an American?

During the 2nd part of class, we'll return to our groups and continue to look at some roots of American ideas on liberty by reading three additional documents. In your groups each person will be assigned one of the following documents. You should annotate the document as you read. Consider the kind of close reading that you had to do for Adams to understand it as you annotate.

• Defense of Freedom of the Press by Andrew Hamilton 
• A Demand to Limit Search and Seizure by James Otis 
• A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom by Thomas Jefferson 

When finished, you'll share your work in this chart: Jigsaw Handout on Colonial Liberty.

• Next, you'll share what you learned from the document that you read in the chart in Part 1. If two people from your group read the same document, then they should work together to identify their quotes/interpretations/implications from that document to place in that column. 
• Each person should then make a conclusion in the box for Part 2.
• For Part 3, each person will read the linked current events article that corresponds to the document that you read (one person should shift back to the John Adams document) and then summarize the article and connect it to the document. You should discuss your conclusions. If completing for homework, both people who read the current event should respond in the box.

In-Class Essay

Here is the link to your work for today. 

When finished with your paragraphs, you can begin your homework which is posted on the assignment sheet.

What does it mean to be an American - Day 2 + STAR testing

Happy Friday!

We are going to take the STAR reading test today. Please do your best on this reading comprehension test. Again, this is so I can understand how you read and learn, then offer you specific help. Do your best.

• Click here to go to the link for the test.
• For your username, use the same name you are logging into the Chromebooks and computers with.
• Your password is your student ID number - but ONLY the number - i.e. 211XXXX - if you are unable to gain access after TWO tries, please ask for help before trying a third time.
• You will be presented with two choices - select STAR Reading
• Sometimes, the system will request a “Monitor Password.” If this happens to you, the password is “admin”
• If you are presented with a list of teachers, please select “Rigler”
• Take the test! Do the best you can!

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For the next part of class, we will review the essays you read for today.

1. Share your journal response with someone in your group who read the same essay from round 1
1. My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant 
2. Do I Look Like Public Enemy No. 1
3. Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Child
2. Share your journal response with someone in another group who read the same essay from round 2:
1. A Talk to Teachers
2. The Promise of America
3. American Things
3. Go back to your original group. Now you will hear a little bit about each of the six essays. The goal here is for you to choose one additional essay to read. Select one that feels interesting and potentially engaging to you. Go around your group and discuss the essays in order (see above) with one person talking about each essay. Be sure to name: who is the author and what is their background? what event(s) do they discuss? what point(s) are they making?
4. Read the new essay. Write a short journal response. 

Lastly, we'll turn our attention to preparation for Monday's in-class essay. You'll have the rest of class today and the weekend to complete these prep sheets. You'll submit your completed prep sheets on Monday at the start of class and then use them to guide your work on the in-class essay.

• "What does it mean to be an American?" prep sheets

What Does it Mean to Be American Part I

Today we'll start by sharing our songs with our groups. One person (the first name on the group list) will type everyone's name, song title, and artist into the appropriate document:

• American Studies 56 Songs
• American Studies 78 Songs

We'll have a short discussion about the article we read yesterday - Howard Zinn's "American Ideology."



Next, you'll read your journal entries to each other. Based on what we hear, we will create a list of potential elements to include in a great journal entry.

With the second half of class, we'll focus on Meacham's article. Your group will create a small poster about the essay, featuring:

• Main ideas
• A central shape or image
• A quotation

For the last part of class, you'll read one of the essays listed on the assignment sheet, based on your number in your group.

Artifacts, Intros and Ideology

Today we shared our artifacts and then wrote about the collection of items in our journals, responding to the following prompts:

1) Based on the collection of items, what conclusions can we make about the group of people that are represented by the objects that were brought in?  Work to reference specific objects in your conclusion.
2) If our collection represents "America", what is missing? Is there a category that is not represented, if so what is it? What object would you put there to represent that missing category?
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During the 2nd part of class, we read Howard Zinn's American Ideology together. When finished, we found key quotes and worked to define his important and interesting contentions in our notebooks and through discussion.

Welcome to American Studies!

Greetings American Studies Scholars,
Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year.  We look forward to joining you on a productive and intellectually challenging journey.  Today, we'll explore our hopes and concerns about this year as well as identify issues facing the United States today.

We'll also examine two songs that are representative of American ideals and values. Here is a link to the lyrics for "Made in America" and "American Idiot."

Your first homework due at your next class period is:

1. Read through the American Studies Guidelines. Pay careful attention to the sections on Grades and Expected Behavior.
2. Bring in an artifact that represents something important about you or things that are important to you.  In your notebook write a response that describes what you brought and why you brought it.
3. Identify a song that represents something about America (it does not necessarily need to use the word "America").  Copy the lyrics into a google doc and then in your notebook write a response that states what song you chose, identifies the key lines, and describes what the song is saying about America. 
4. Bring the class binder with you to class.

Additionally, you will need to bring a notebook, pen, binder, and your charged chromebook everyday.