Today we'll begin by responding to the excerpts from Frederick Douglass' "Narrative..." that you read over the weekend. After sharing our reactions and questions, each member of your group will be assigned one category of Douglass' experience to explore further.
Part I:
We'll start by considering the decisions and choices that enslaved people had to make by using this Decisions Slaves Made activity.
With your group discuss the options for each and choose which choice you think the person made. After clicking on the outcome, if you discover that your choice was the actual outcome, consider going back and making an alternate choice. See what the consequences to that choice may have been.
Take notes in your notebook as you consider each scenario. What are you noticing about the choices? What seems to be guiding the decisions? How do these scenarios relate or connect to the ideas of Emerson or Thoreau?
Next, divide the topics between your group members.
After the topics have been divided, each group member should spend some time exploring the site. Begin by skimming the Historical Overview and then browse around the other categories. As you read, identify important elements to add to your row in the chart (notice the required link to Douglass). After spending time with each part of your topic, make a conclusion about it in the last column.
Finally, write a response to this question on your document: How does this information as well as the "Decisions" activity, help to describe the institution of slavery in the United States?
Part III:
Each person in the group will then read one document from this set of documents that provide justification for the institution of slavery in America (also in your binder):
When finished reading, each person will list the main idea and key quotation from it into the Google Doc you are using today.
Also, please be sure to buy a copy of our next book - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - to have in class with you on Tuesday / Wednesday of next week.
After submitting your paragraphs, you can begin work on the following:
In the chapter on slavery in his book, A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn writes, "How can slavery be described? Perhaps not at all by those who have not experienced it." Today, we'll start to do our best to describe the system of slavery that existed in the United States from its founding (and prior).
First, explore this timeline (you can stop when you get to the Missouri Compromise in 1820).
As you scroll through the different events, make some notes in your journal about the following:
What you notice about enslaved people's experiences.
What you notice about how governments (state or national) institutionalize slavery. In other words, what are the mechanisms that allow slavery to expand or grow.
What you notice about actions taken in response to or against slavery.
Next, as a class, we'll take notes as we watch an excerpt from Ken Burns' documentary, The Civil War called "All Night Forever" (the link is a partial excerpt).
As you read, write out your answers to the guided reading questions on the worksheet you printed out (electronically typed responses will NOT receive credit).
You'll start the day working individually to gather your thoughts about Emerson. We will explain the steps you will take in preparation for our card discussion. Then, we'll have a whole-class discussion. You'll each have four cards:
After watching Into the Wild together, it was off to an afternoon outdoors at the Heller Nature Center.
Here is a copy of the packet you completed. Please make sure you hold on to your writing - you'll be using it again this weekend.
For tomorrow, please be sure to complete the assigned reading and bring copies of both Walden and Self-Reliance to class.
Today we'll use this handout to guide our first look at Henry David Thoreau's Walden. We'll read parts of the book together and you'll work through some of it on your own. Keep track of your responses in your journal. We will continue to explore Thoreau's ideas throughout this unit and the year.
The new calendar is posted to the right - be sure to check there for your homework.
Tomorrow is our field trip! Please meet in E116 at 8:10. We'll watch a movie, have lunch, and then head to the Heller Nature Center. Be sure to keep an eye on the weather and wear comfortable but sturdy shoes - we will be outside for the afternoon, walking through the woods. See you then!
We will start our next unit on Friday. You should already own a copy of Self-Reliance and Other Essays, which you will need for the weekend. In addition, you should purchase these two other books:
Walden by Henry David Thoreau ($4 in the bookstore)
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau ($3 in the bookstore)
We will continue to collect field trip forms.
We'll answer questions about the Bill of Rights and Illinois Constitution worksheets.
OPTIONAL: Take a deeper look at the Bill of Rights by exploring this activity You Be the Judge. Here are the answers: Key
Today you will work with a small group to create your very own "Schoolhouse Rock" song to share with the class!
Say what?
Indeed! Just like the Preamble song we all know and love, there are others. We'll watch "I'm Just A Bill" in class as a model. Here are links to the lyrics for these songs:
Note how there are verses and a chorus, although they are in different formats. For your song today, you will need to either use the melody from an existing song or write your own. It must include a chorus - this is your way of highlighting the key parts of your assigned section of the Constitution. It must also include either two verses or a skit, similar to the formats shown above.
Please type out your lyrics in a Google doc and one person from your group will submit them.
Start by reviewing your assigned section and determining which part(s) of it will be the focus of your song.
Greetings! We hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!
We'll start today with a creative writing exercise looking at the Preamble to the Constitution. We'll start by asking you to imagine creating a new government - what would you want to make sure that government did? What would you want to be sure it did not do? We'll then take a closer look at the Preamble to determine if those goals match up with yours.
Next, we'll introduce the United States' first attempt to create a government using the Articles of Confederation. John Green's Crash Course in U.S. History will give us a brief look.
Then we will turn our attention to Article 1 and the worksheets you completed. Be sure to ask any questions you have!
The last half hour will be dedicated to completing the posters we started last Friday.
Tonight you will be completing the worksheet for Article 1.
