Historical Investigation, Day 2 - Class Recap

The Washington Monument, as seen from across the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC in 2010. We have no school on Monday, because it is Presidents Day, which originally was meant to observe President George Washington's birthday.

Hi everyone,

It does seem like I will be posting the recaps on A Days a little bit later in the evening, just due to how much I have going on. They will still be up way before next class (in your case, Tuesday) though! Thanks for your hard work today. Here's what we did:

Learning Targets Addressed (Remember, due to proficiency standards, this is how you will be graded):
SS.HS.RE.ALT.04: I can use evidence from my research to effectively address the research topic.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.01: I can organize ideas in a logically sequenced manner and in a way that is appropriate to the content area.

SS.HS.CR.ALT.04: I can evaluate information and explanations within a given context and develop a relevant conclusion. 

SS.HS.RE.ALT.02: I can access relevant information from multiple and varied sources. 

SS.HS.CR.ALT.05: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.

Soundtrack: “Rockin’ In The Free World” by Neil Young. I chose this song for today because we are studying the US, which is typically seen as part of the "free world" and because you have Monday off for Presidents Day, so you will be free to enjoy a long weekend. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/13/14:
News Brief
Grading
Historical Investigation Overview
Computer Lab Time – S220

Homework: Check the blog and post a comment! Keep working on your historical investigation! Ask about your family history – how did you get here? Next news brief: Israel.

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News Brief: Brooklyn chose an article about the United States Olympic Team taking all three medals in the men's sloplestyle skiing competition in Sochi, earlier today. Though it technically happened outside the United States, I used the article to talk a little bit about our history with the Olympics. The last time the Olympics were held in Russian territory, the US boycotted, due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan (and the Cold War, of course). Thanks for leading us off, Brooklyn!

Grading: Next, I talked about proficiency grading and why it is so important to get off to a good start with the historical investigation. It counts for so many learning targets! If you are interested in knowing how you are going to be graded this semester (I sure hope you are), you can see every learning target and rubric for grading proficiency here:

Google Drive - American Studies 10 LTs and Rubrics 

That is the entire class, right there. We probably will not be able to hit every learning target, because the assumption is that you worked on a few of these last semester. In any case, look at the LTs that relate to the historical investigation (above) and compare it with how you will be graded by the rubric. That could help you with how your paper should be written.

Historical Investigation Overview: Speaking of the historical investigation, I went through and explained it with the authoritative voice of someone who is actually going to be grading it. For whatever reason, it seemed like a few students were under the impression that the investigation could be focused on a world history topic. Unfortunately, it cannot. Since this is American Studies, your historical investigation must be related to the United States. Here is the main assignment handout again:

Google Drive - Historical Investigation Overview

Next class, I will talk about Part C, the OPVL section. Please bring two sources of evidence to class, so you can get a good start. Hopefully, you are getting to be close to finished with Parts A, B, and F (the bibliography), with just C, D (your analysis), and E (the conclusion) to go. A reminder: I am going to wait just a little bit longer before assigning an actual due date here. It will probably be the week after next.

Computer Lab Time: The rest of the class was spent in S220, where I think almost everyone was productive. It was good to check in and see where you were at with everything. I am here to help! Let me know if you have any more questions I can help with.

That's all for now! Have a great weekend and I will see you on Tuesday!