Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Chapter 6 Growth and Change - Review

Great News!! Review Games are here. After an exhaustive search to find a site that will support our review games, I have finally found one. Now you can review at home by clicking on the link below.



Some of the games include Fling the Teacher, Teacher Invader, En Garde, Multi-Choice Quiz, and Half a Minute.


Chapter Six Growth and Change

12/4-12/18

12/4-12/9 Lesson One - A Changing Role



In this lesson students will examine the causes and effects of the Spanish-American War and why the United States fought the war. Using real letters from sailors who survived the explosion of the USS Maine, as well as, the other information from the time period, students will piece together their own opinion on why the Maine may have exploded.



  • Through the use of yellow journalism newspapers of the time embellished the facts of how the Cubans were being treated by the Spanish in Cuba, prompting for calls for the United States to intervene.
  • While sitting in Havana harbor, the USS Maine exploded killing hundreds of American sailors. The outrage from this explosion prompted the United States to declare war on Spain. 
  • The Spanish-American War lasted only four months and the US became an imperial power gaining the islands of Cuba, Guam, Philippines, and Puerto Rico.
  • As the US became a world power, it needed a way to get from one ocean to the other faster than they could by traveling around South America, thus the Panama Canal was built.
12/11 Lesson Two - New Directions

In this lesson students will explain how inventions and manufacturing methods at the beginning of the twentieth century changed daily life.


  • Wright Brothers - first successful flight in 1903.
  • Steam Powered Tractors - eased the burdens on the farms.
  • Guglielmo Marconi - first successful radio transmission in 1901.
  • Edison created the phonograph paving the way for music in the home.
  • Henry Ford developed the modern assembly line paving the way for cheap automobile for the common person to buy.
  • Due to the growth of the automobile, cities began to grow outward as more and more people move to the suburbs. Automobiles also created new industries related to just the automobile.
12/13 Lesson 3 Progressives and Reforms

In this lesson students will examine the numerous reforms that were enacted due to the growth of the cities and the horrible conditions many immigrants and poor were living in. Students will also examine the limitations these reforms had.


                                       


  • As corrupt city bosses were uncovered, many cities moved to commission government. 
  • Robert M. La Follette, Governor of Wisconsin, created many of the reforms during this time period including, new labor laws for children and length of workday.
  • President Theodore Roosevelt pushed through reforms, such as, the Pure Food and Drug Act, Conservation of National Park, as well as, broke up monopolies.
  • The 16th and 17th Amendments were also passed at this time. The 16th Amendment established a national income tax and the 17th Amendment allowed for the direct election of Senators.
  • Early Civil Rights Movement began under the direction of WEB DuBois, Booker T. Washington, and Ida B. Wells, who created the NAACP.



Friday, November 8, 2013

Inventions Research Project

11/11/13-11/22/13
Students will research 20th century inventions, write their findings on the notes page, and create a power point slideshow to present their research to the class.

The research and power point creation will take place between November 12th through the 22nd.
Presentations will take place on December 2nd-4th.

Invention Research Packet Click this Link to take you to the Packet.

Power point template can be found at this link. Students do not have to follow this template. They can create their own power point as long as the have the correct information in it.

Examples of good and bad power points from the past can be found at this link.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Chapter 5 Study Guide with answers

Click on the link below to find the study guide with answers in a printable version.

Study Guide with answers

Test is Friday!! Good Luck.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Chapter 5 New Industries and People Study Guide

The study guide for Chapter 5 can be found in the link at the top of the page. Below is what it looks like.

Chapter 5 Study Guide (click this link for a printable version)


1.     ______________________organized the American Federation of Labor.


2.     Jane Adams & Ellen Star started a _____________________ in Chicago.

3.     ____________________________ helped form a company to build the Transcontinental Railroad.

4.     Who caused the steel industry to grow in the US? ______________________________

5.     How did the U.S. Government speed up work on the Transcontinental Railroad? ________________________________________________________

6.     What are settlement houses? ________________________________________________________

7.     How did the Chinese contribute to the West? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8.     Why did some workers form labor unions in the late 1800s? What were they fighting for? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9.     Most immigrants settled in ________________ when they came to the US.

10.                        What two ethnic groups helped build the Transcontinental RR ? __________________   and _____________________.

11.                         __________________________’s  invention made electricity available to homes and factories.

12.                        __________________________ was an entrepreneur who became famous in the oil industry.
  
Match the inventor with his invention:

 ____ 15. George Westinghouse                           A. Power Station
                                                                                 B. Telephone
____ 16. Alexander Bell                                        C. Skyscrapers
                                                                                 D. Air Brake system
____ 17. Thomas Edison                                        E. Telegraph System
                                                                                  F. Steel Suspension Bridges
____ 18. William Jenney

____ 19. Granville Woods

____ 20. John Roebling

21. ____________________ allows employers and workers to discuss and agree on working conditions.

22.  Poorly built apartment buildings were called __________________.

23.  Describe what life was like for immigrants in the overcrowded cities.  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

24.  How was Andrew Carnegie able to gain control of most of the steel industry in the United States? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

25.  Why did the growth of cities lead to new kinds of transportation?  ____________________________________________________________________________

26.  Which group had the most dangerous jobs in building the Transcontinental Railroad and also worked for the Central Pacific Railroad? _________________________________

27. How did the US government restrict immigrants from China from entering the country?  _________________________________________________________

28.  How did the steel industry change cities and railroads? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Chapter 5 New Industries and People

10/28/13-11/01/13

In Chapter 5 we will continue our discussion of why the population, economy, and size of the United States continued to grow through out the 1800's. As always, the link for worksheets and note pages are at the top of the page.

This chapter will introduce students to a lot of new and some familiar people. It is important that they study up on what each person did.

Lesson 1 - (10/28/13) Railroads link the Nation
  • Transcontinental Railroad provided a safer and faster way for people to travel and allowed for faster movement of raw materials in the West to the factories and markets in the East.
  • George Westinghouse developed an air brake system to stop individual cars.
  • Granville T. Woods developed a telegraph system that allows each train car to communicate with each other.
  • The Central Pacific Railroad was created by the "Big Four" (Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins, and Crocker) along with Theodore Judah who engineered the pass through the Sierra Nevadas.
  • The railroad was payed for by the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act.
  • Central Pacific Railroad moved west from Sacramento, California, while the Union Pacific Railroad moved east from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
  • After six years, the two railroads met at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869.



Lesson 2 - New Industries (10/29/13)

In this lesson, students learned about some of the nation's leaders of industry. They need to know what each one accomplished. This information should be in their notes.

Edwin Drake
John D. Rockefeller
Andrew Carnegie
William Jenney
John Roebling
Thomas Edison
Alexander Graham Bell
Lewis Lattimer

Lesson 3 - A Changing People (10/30/13)

In this lesson, students learned about the reason for the numerous immigrants that entered the United States at the end of the 19th century. 

  • Most came to America to start a new life and flee from a poor repressive country.
  • Mostly they settled in the cities near people from their country forming ethnic neighborhoods.
  • Life was difficult for immigrants living in tenements, struggling to find jobs, and learning English.
  • On top of that many immigrants faced severe prejudices!
8 Facts About Ellis Island . Infographic

Lesson 4 - Growth of Cities (11/1/13)

In this lesson, students examined the problems associated with overcrowding cities:
  • disease
  • garbage piled up
  • fires spreading quickly
  • crime increased
  • insects and rats
They also examined the reform movements led by Jacob Riis, who photographed and reported on the tenements, and Jane Addams, who began a settlement house in Chicago called Hull House.

Cities also changes in transportation with the invention  of the cable car and trolley car.

Finally, students saw the formation of labor unions were formed and began to lead to change in working conditions across the country. Students also examined one of the worst work place accidents in American History - the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.






Monday, October 21, 2013

Ch. 4 Homesteading



October 21st - 25th
During this week we will be examining the move west following the Civil War. We will examine the Homestead Act and how it allowed many immigrants and women own land for the first time! We will also examine how hard it was for settlers to live in the Great Plains, once known as the Desert of America. Finally, we will examine how the United States began to acquire territory outside of the continental U.S. for the first time with the purchase of Alaska and the annexation of Hawaii. This will set us up for the development of the United States as a world power at the turn of the century.

Notes for the Chapter can be found in the link, labeled Ch. 4, at the top of the blog (underneath the title). Since this is a short chapter we will have our Chapter 4 test on Thursday, October 24th.



In Chapter 4 Lesson 1 we learned about why settlers began moving west.

1. 1849 and 1868 prospectors moved west in search of Gold and Silver. This created boom where towns grew rapidly, but once the gold and silver were gone, these towns went bust
2. 1862 the Homestead Act allowed anyone 21 years old and head of the family to get 160 acres of land if they worked it for five years. These people became known as homesteaders.
3. Of course, during this time ranchers and farmers had disagreements that led to range wars and fences being put up to block each other from getting to the water.
4. Between 1865 and 1880, Native Americans were forced to move to reservations and as some resisted battles were fought, as in the case of the Battle of Little Bighorn where General Custer and his men were killed by the Sioux Indians led by Crazy Horse.

Chapter 4 Lesson 2:

1. Homesteaders faced a tough life with limited resources and the hardships of the Great Plains, many were not able to last long. Drought, dust storms, insects in the summer, and cold, hard winters, were just a few of the problems. However, some were able to survive thanks to new technologies that were available, such as, the steel plow, windmills to pump water, dry farming method, planting Russian wheat, and the use of the reaper.
2. Ranchers faced long cattle drives to get their cattle to the markets back East, until the railroads were built after the Civil War. While cattle drives still took place, using the railroads were faster and cheaper.

Chapter 4 Lesson 3

1. The United States added two new territories, Alaska and Hawaii.
2. Alaska was bought from Russia for $7 million dollars in 1867 by Secretary of State William Seward. Many people thought this idea was foolish and called this deal Seward's Folly.
3. Eventually gold and other minerals were found in Alaska leading to thousands of prospectors looking to get rich. Alaska's population soon doubled and was on the road to becoming a territory in 1912 and a state in 1959.
4. Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898, following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. In 1900, Hawaii became a territory and in 1959 became the 50th state.

Chapter 4 test Thursday!!



Friday, October 4, 2013

Heritage Research Project

10/4 - 10/16

Today students will receive information that will describe their research project that they will begin on Monday. The research will be about their family heritage as we begin to study the immigration into the United States by a variety of ethnic groups. Students should be interviewing family members about their family tree and the origin and meaning of a family name. So that means another FAMILY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT!!! Students were excited the last time we had a family homework assignment. Use this opportunity to discuss with your child about their family heritage and maybe everyone will learn something unique. You never know there may be a future historian in the making!! :)

As always there will be a link to the Heritage Research Packet as well as the power point template so students can download and work on it at home if they desire or need to. I hope everyone has fun with this assignment and learns some interesting facts.

Final two days of our project are beginning today. Students should be working on their power points and getting ready for their presentations.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Ch. 16 Government Test

Our Chapter 16 Government test will be Friday, September 27th. Study guide can be found by clicking on the government link a the top of the page.  The study guide questions are below. Students should have this complete by Thursday.



1.  What branch of government has 100 senators and 435 representatives? ____________________________
2. What branch of government has the President?  _____________________________________
3. What branch of government has enforces the nation’s law?  _______________________________
4. What branch of government has makes the laws for the nation?  _________________________________
5. What branch of government is made up of two house of Congress? _______________________________
6. What branch of government can declare a law unconstitutional? ______________________________
7. What branch of government has can veto a bill passed by Congress? _______________________________
8. What branch of government has officials that are not elected? ____________________________________
9. What branch of government has officials that are elected?  ___________________ __________________
10. What is the title give for the head of the state government?  _______________________________
11. What is the title give for the head local government?  __________________________
In the space provided, write a brief definition of the terms below:
12. Republic: ______________________________________________________________________
13. Bill of Rights____________________________________________________________________
14. Checks and balances _______________________________________________________________
15. Why do people register to vote? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16. How old do you have to be to vote? ______________
17. How old do you have to be to run for President? _________________
18. Who is President of the United States of America? (spell correctly) ___________________________

Bill of Rights Matching
___ 19.  First Amendment                                                           a. It guarantees freedom of press, religion, assembly, speech, and petition.
___ 20.  Second Amendment                                                     b.  It protects the rights of the accused.
___ 21.  Third Amendment                                                          c.  The government cannot make people house soldiers in peacetime.
___ 22.  Fourth Amendment                                                      d.  It protects people against unfair searches.
___ 23. Fifth Amendment                                                            f.  It protects people’s rights to have weapons

Checks & Balances
Use Complete Sentences!!!!
24. The President checks Congress by
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25. Congress checks the President by
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Published essays are due between Wednesday, September 25th and Friday, September 27th.

Friday, September 20, 2013

9/18-9/25/13

Today Dr. Porkchop made us work like mad. We had to narrow our original five choice down to three and then ONE!!

Students then had to create an outline showing their evidence for why they picked this one particular amendment.

Step 4:  Dr. Porkchop has now decided to allow Americans to retain only ONE fundamental right. You must use all of your knowledge to convince him to keep your top choice. You will need to write a five paragraph essay in which you argue for your top right. Each body paragraph will contain one piece of evidence to support your choice. Your conclusion should acknowledge that there were other amendments you could have chosen. What you write below will help you start your rough draft!!
Right
Amendment #
1.



Introduction: (Write your HOOK sentence! Remember you want to convince Dr. Porkchop to let us keep this one right).
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence #1 – used in body paragraph #1   ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence #2 – used in body paragraph #2  ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence #3 – used in body paragraph #3  ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion: (what other amendments could have been chosen?)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On Friday students will begin their rough drafts of their five paragraph essay.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

What Rights Do I Value Most?

9/18-9/25/13

For the next week we will analyzing the Bill of Rights to determine which right students value most. Today is the first stage where we brainstorm and narrow down the ten right to five.

Here is the scenario:



Which Rights Do I Value Most?

            The United States has been invaded by hostile forces from a terrorist organization, led by the evil Dr. Porkchop! He has overthrown the federal government. Being a benevolent dictator, Dr. Porkchop is allowing American citizens to retain five of the fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. It is up to you to determine which five of those rights will be retained. Select five of that are the most important to you and list them below, along with their corresponding amendment numbers. Beneath the chart, provide evidence (Why this right should be kept, could be examples or specific reasons) to support your choices. Remember if there is no clear evidence, Dr. Porkchop will not allow us to keep any rights.
Step 1: Choose five fundamental rights from the Bill of Rights.
Right
Amendment #
1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


Evidence: ­­­­­­­________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The worksheet is in the government link section.  There is a family assignment that is due tomorrow.  Be sure to help them out!!  Here is the assignment:

STEP 2: Homework!!  Ask an adult (other than your Social Studies teacher) which five amendments they would keep and why!  Record their answers below. You may need to review what the amendments are with them. Record their answers below. You may ask more than one adult, if needed.
Name of Adult(s) _________________________________________________________
Right
Amendment #
1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


Evidence:    ­­­­­­­___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Constitution Day

9/17/13

Today is Constitution Day!!!!

We will be examining what life would be like without some of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.


In this game students will use the interactive website to find out what happens if we didn't have certain rights. To view this at home, simply go to the link below.  


Students will be filling out the charts seen below. As always, these worksheets can be found in the government link section at the top of the blog.





Monday, September 16, 2013

Close Reading of Jean Fritz's book Shh! We are Writing the Constitution

9/16/13

Today students are doing a close reading activity over Jean Fritz's book, Shh! We are Writing the Constitution. Working in pairs students were given a passage pertaining to one of five areas:


1: The plan for government

2: Compromise

3: A Work in Progress

4: Checks and Balances

5: Ratification

Tomorrow is Constitution Day and we will looking at what would happen without certain rights.