Smithsonian

http://shout.smithsonianquests.org/players/laurelwhite510/badges/
 

5/31-6/4

Last Thursday in history we had a debate about the sophia tutorial we watched the night before. One side of the debate was arguing for the Bush Doctrine and the other side argued against it. There was also a judge to keep the debate going. On Friday and today we were given time to work on our integrated tourist guides and yesterday was a half day with no history class.

5/28-5/29

Yesterday in history we went to the media lab and looked at American influence in Latin America and Haiti and wrote a couple paragraphs about either how the Haitians responded to the U.S Marines in their country or what Americans in Haiti thought of the Haitians.
Today in history we split up into groups and filled out a paper saying how the U.S acted as and imperial power and a good neighbor in various situations.

United States Intervention in Haiti

What do many Americans in Haiti think of  Haitians, and how do they treat them?

        As was typical with Americans, those living in Haiti thought that they were better than the Haitians. Throughout history, Americans have held themselves and European whites above all other races. Americans consistently have viewed themselves as more intelligent, more civilized, and more capable than other races. It was this way with Amerindians, whose country the white Americans had no trouble taking over and monopolizing, and with African Americans, who were kept in slavery for hundreds of years. When Americans came to Haiti, the natives were seen as unable to govern themselves, lazy, ignorant, and uneducated. Therefore, it was the United States' job to come in and set things straight. Americans did not make these ideas up on their own though, they were told these things by books and pamphlets filled with propaganda on the matter. They had heard lectures and read articles saying that Haitians were unable to advance their society and were slowly regressing to "barbarism". Thusly, before even going to Haiti, people had the wrong idea. They were going into a new society already with an idea of what things were like there. They were fed lies about Haiti and went there feeling better than and more relevant than the people there.
       Americans in Haiti were in general not very friendly with the Haitians, especially the U.S Marines. The Haitians hated and feared the Marines for their brutality. Marines killed innocent natives and some put notches on their rifles for everyone they killed. The Marines also used unnecessarily brutal police force against the Haitians, such as the one Marine who caught a boy stealing sugar and "battered his brains out" instead of arresting him. The U.S Marines were also known for raping Haitian women.

5/22-5/23

Yesterday in history we finished going over the rest of Roosevelt's Corollary speech and combined our information from the parts to get a retelling of it in our own words. Today in history we went to the computer lab to work on our Smithsonian badges.

5/20-5/21

Yesterday in history we talked about Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. We talked about how the canal land came into U.S hands after the U.S bought of the French and invited a revolution in Panama. Then we read a speech Roosevelt had given about the canal and discussed whether he was justified in his actions or not.

Today in history we sat in groups of four and read two different documents, picking out important words, summarizing it, and rewriting it in our own words.

5/16-5/17

On Thursday in history we wrote Yellow Journalism newspaper article titles for different events related to the Spanish-American War. On Friday, we voted on which title was the most appealing to us.

5/13-5/14

Yesterday and today in history we worked on our integrated projects and whatever other homework we had.

5/9-5/10

On Thursday in history we did a similar activity as we did on Wednesday, this time reading documents about the Native American tribe leader Crazy Horse. Mr. Boyle also read to us about another tribe leader who, unlike Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, surrendered to the whites because he knew there was no point in fighting.
Friday was a half-day and I was not in school.

5/7-5/8

Yesterday in history we did a fishbowl activity. The different groups people represented were the Cherokee Indians, Christian missionaries, the Judicial Branch, and my group the Executive Branch. We had Sam represent our group as President Andrew Jackson and he argued in favor of the Trail of Tears and relocating the Cherokee while we passed him notes on things to say.
Today in history we read two different documents about Red Cloud's fight to keep his tribe safe from the white people. We read a primary source document of a speech Red Cloud gave in New York and a secondary document.

5/2-5/3

Yesterday in history we read the poem "A White Man's Burden" about how the U.S should imperialize other nations. Then we split into groups of two and read poems about with the poor man's burden or the colored man's burden.
Today in class we went to the library and worked on earning our Smithsonian badges.

Oregon Trail Adventure

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/laurelwhite510/3307896

4/26-4/29

On Friday in class we had a shark tank type of invention sharing process. There was a panel of three judges that each group had to present their "invention" to. The inventions were farming tools and supplies such as barbed wire and the steel plow that would have helped with life on the prairie. After each group presented their ideas, the judges voted on which ones they would invest in and which ones they did not think worth their money.
Today Mr. Boyle was out and we started the old Western movie Red River and worked on our scratch projects.

4/23-4/24

Yesterday in history we went around and experienced different aspects of soddie life. We had to smell a bag of sod to know what it smelt like in a soddie, we had to sit still for a minute taking a picture because that's How long it took in the frontier, and we had to sit/stand in a soddie sized section of the classroom. After doing that and trying out the different parts of soddie life, I think that I would have been able to make it in a soddie, but I would have had absolutely no desire to.
Today I went on an a rt field trip to the Peabody Essex museum and got back in time for only the last 15 minutes of class. Everyone else was working on the computer, but Jess, who had gone on the field trip as well, and I just sat and talked until the bell rang.

4/12-4/22

On Friday, before vacation, we watched a Sophia tutorial on the push and pull factors that influenced the decision to move out west. We then split into two groups and made an inner circle with one group and an outer circle with the other. The inner circle discussed the push factors while the outer circle listened and took notes and then we switched circles and the new inner circle talked about the pull factors while the outer circle took notes.
Today in history we went to the computer lab and started the Triton 16% program. We picked which badges we wanted to earn and started completing the quests needed to earn them.

Erie Canal

Today in class we broke up into groups with someone assigned to represent the pioneers, someone to represent pioneers, merchants, and New Yorkers. My group had four people and therefore two pioneers. In our groups, we read from small cards different situations that whoever we were representing. We then decided what each of those things meant for the Erie Canal and whether they were positive or negative effects.
All in all, I think that the Erie Canal was a positive thing. It created jobs while it was being built and to run it. It also promoted trade in the country and moved people out west cheaper and faster. It helped boost the economy in the towns on the canal and in the west. There were a few cons that came with the canal such as the spread of cholera and the loss of land from the Indians, but the pros greatly outweigh the cons.

4/5-4/8

Friday was a half and we dropped history. Today in history Mr. Boyle was out and we had Mrs. Jones as a sub. She gave us a bunch of papers to read and write diary entries about.

Takeaway/Reaction 4/2

Today in history we were put into groups based on which event we thought was the most influential in causing the War of 1812. I was originally in the Chesapeake Affair group. The Chesapeake Affair was when the British shot at American ships, which eventually led to Thomas Jefferson signing the Embargo Act. The three other possible causes of the war were Impressment, the Orders in Council, and Incitement. After coming up with reasons why the Chesapeake Affair was the main cause of the war and listening to other groups argue that their event was the most important, I decided that Incitement was the main cause. Incitement refers to the British arming and organizing American Indians and inciting violence in them against colonists moving west. This was the only one of the four that was happening on American soil and posing a real threat to the colonists. Impressment and the Chesapeake Affair were threatening to the colonists, but not in the same war-like manner as Incitement. I did not think that the Orders in Council were the main cause, because they were designed to mainly hurt France, not the U.S. It was not something Britain did in an attack on America.

Diary of the Corps Discovery

Civil Rights Story

3/25-3/26

On Monday, I missed history because I was finishing up my long-composition.
Yesterday in history we put ourselves into groups to look at the Ten Point Program of the Black Panthers, an African American extremist group. We looked at the ten demands and summarized each one and decided whether or not they were reasonable. Then we talked about the first few as a class.

3/21-3/22

Yesterday in history we finished filling in our document sheets from Wednesday's class before breaking for lunch. After lunch we watched/ listened to Martin Luther King's  "I Have a Dream" speech. Then we talked about whether or not blacks and whites are equal today.
Today in history we looked at a picture of the march for voting rights in Selma, Alabama. We wrote down what we thought of it and the different elements it contained. Then we learned about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A. Philip Randolph

3/14-3/15

Yesterday in history we took notes on the sit-in tactic of the Civil Rights Movement. Then we watched a video about the sit-ins that took place in the Woolworth's in Greensboro, NC
Today in history we took notes on the freedom rides and then watched a video of people involved talking about their experiences on and around the buses.

3/12-3/13

Yesterday we had a sub for history and watched a video about discrimination and racism in the 1950's and 60's. It talked mainly about Emmett Till and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Today in history we spent about half the class talking about the Little Rock Nine and then the rest of the class watching a video about it.

3/5-3/6

Yesterday in history we broke up into groups of three and looked at different documents about the Brown v. Board of Education case. Then, after answering the questions that went with our document, we got into new groups with people who had different documents and shared all of our information.
Today in history we watched a video on Emmett Till and his murder. Watching this video was really frustrating and shocking. It was clearly those two men who killed him and yet they got off scot-free because the body might not have been Emmett's. Even after the men confessed nothing happened to them! How can that be? It's ridiculous.

3/1-3/4

Friday was a half day and we only had A,B and C periods, so no history. Today in history we looked at the Scottsboro Troals and On groups of four wrote journal entries from different participants in the trials.

2/26-2/27

Yesterday in history we split into groups of four and read/ answered questions on four different documents regarding Marcus Garvey. Today in history we read poems by Langston Hughes and learned about the Great Migration and life for African Americans in Harlem. Then we listened to several songs written about Harlem.

2/15-2/25

In history, the friday before vacation, we recroded the voice overs for our RSA videos. Today in history we looked at documents from Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois and learned about their differing opinions on when and how racial equality should come.

Reconstruction Timeline

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/reconstruction--173

2/13-2/14

Yesterday in history we met with our RSA groups to plan out what we would do for our whiteboard drawings to go along with the voice over. Today we filmed the drawing of the drawings.

2/7-2/11

On Thursday in history we learned about sharecropping. We looked at the text book's definition and compared it to a sharecropping contract. Then we got together with our groups to work on our RSA projects. We did have school yesterday and therefore, no history!

2/5-2/6

Yesterday in history we talked about what equal means and looked at different situations an had to decide how to treat the people equally. Then we looked at the Plessy v. Ferguson case.
Today in history we we took notes on the Jim Crowe laws. Then we met with our groups for the RSA project for the rest of the class.

2/1-2/4

On Friday in history we read President Andrew Johnson's obituary. The obituary talked about his acts as president and described how he contradicted Congress on almost every matter, eventually leading to his impeachment.
Today in history we took notes on the struggles African Americans faced with their new freedom and learned about the white response to these freedoms. After taking notes, we watched a short video about it and answered questions about whether certain statements constitutionally supported the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

1/25-1/28

On Friday in history we learned about/ took notes on the assassination of Lincoln and how his death changed the course of reconstruction. Lincoln had been the the only really influential voice arguing for restoration and when Booth killed him, the radical Republicans were left to take over and punish the South through reconstruction. After taking notes, we listened to two classical songs related to the topic.
Today in history we went to the library and worked on a couple of worksheets about reconstruction in the South and how they were devastated by Sherman. Also about the Black Codes.

Winnie the Pooh

http://www.brainfall.com/results/which-winnie-the-pooh-character-are-you/
I thought that I would have gotten piglet on the Winnie the Pooh personality test because I am shy and quiet, but instead I was a combination of Rabbit and Pooh. This result confuses me, because the description for Winnie the Pooh says that I need help in the brains department and the Rabbit one says I am intelligent and clever. Pooh also says that I am sweet and Rabbit contradicts that by saying I have a short temper. I am fairly happy with these results thought, because there are worse things to be than Rabbit and Pooh.

1/11-1/14

On Friday Mr. Boyle gave us our review guides for the midterm and we spent the rest of that class and today filling them out and studying.

1/9-1/10

Yesterday in history we took notes on how the war ended and had time at the end of the class to study for the test. Today in history we took a test on the end of the Civil War.

1/4-1/7

On Friday in history we read different diary entries and letters written by various types of people about the Civil War being a total war and then we wrote a diary entry of our own as though we were one of those people.
Today in history we took a memorization test on a few lines of the Gettysburg Address. Then we took notes on Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan. An how the Unionbegan to win the war.

1/2-1/3

Yesterday in history we talked about how January 1 had been the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and wether or not we thought it was worth celebrating. Then we read the Gettysburg Address and answered some questions about it.
Today in history we looked at a picture of Robert Gould Shaw's memorial in Boston. Then we took quite a few notes on African Americans fighting in the Civil War in the Massachusetts' 54th Regiment.