Cold War America, Day 1 - Class Recap

My thoughts on the Berlin Wall, as aptly summed up by some graffiti there. That is how high the wall is, for anyone wondering. Photo taken in June 2013.

Hi everyone,

I am not sure about you, but I have a To Do list that is about a mile long at this point. I do like writing the blogs, though! It reminds me of everything we did today in class and makes me think of how it all went. In this case, I think it went well! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “The Times They Are a-Changin’” by Bob Dylan. Selected because we are changing to a new unit and this is a very famous song about American society changing. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/16/14:
News Brief
Newsflash
Cold War America PowerPoint
Pro/Con: The Bomb

Homework: Missing and/or late work to me by next Wednesday for progress report grades. Read the blog! Next news brief: Cocoro.

News Brief: Nikhil had the news brief today and brought in this developing story: CNN.com - South Korean shipwreck survivors: Passengers told 'don't move' as ship sank. Of course, I asked how this was related to the United States and Nikhil had a great (and correct) reply that the U.S. military was helping with the search for survivors. Here's hoping that more of the missing will be found alive and well.

Newsflash: This is absolutely my favorite way to start a new unit. Good teachers always try and assess where students are at before they teach any specific content (otherwise, we would have no idea if you had actually learned anything or not). If you wanted to see the hilarious "Whose Line is it Anyway?" clip again, here it is:

So awesome. Next, I passed out the "pre-assessment" paper that was geared around going back in time to the Cold War. If you did not know what the Cold War was about, that was fine! Here's the pre-assessment:

Google Drive: The Cold War Pre-Assessment

I enjoyed all the made up news reports! Brr! Many of them seemed to be quite cold in nature!

Cold War America PowerPoint: Next, I started actually teaching the class about the Cold War. If you missed class, or wanted to see the PowerPoint again, here it is (the notes guide is in class - I do not have an electronic copy):

Google Drive: The Cold War and McCarthyism PowerPoint

As I said in class, I really like PowerPoints that are more visual and interactive, so I try to include personal pictures and stories to connect the material with real life. Thank you for all the questions! I am looking forward to diving into the material even more with you.

Pro/Con: The Bomb: One of the slides in the PowerPoint was about the Arms and Space Races between the United States and the Soviet Union. When I asked the class how many atomic weapons had exploded in the world, we had a range from 2 to 80 or so. Here was the video that I showed in class (well, not all of it, but enough to get the point), which gives a visual reference for how many nuclear bombs have been detonated in the world's history:

As anyone can clearly see, there have been quite a lot of nuclear bombs detonated - most of which happened during the "Cold" War as a form of intimidation and power.

To end class, I passed out this reading about the ethics of dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to essentially end World War II. Next class, we will be debating both sides of this issue. Here is the sheet of possible reasons on either side. I would like everyone to come prepared with their top three reasons on either YES or NO, ready to debate next class.

wednet.edu - Was the Atomic Bomb Necessary to Win World War II?

Please be ready to talk about this! Thanks for an enjoyable class. See you next time! :-)

Civil Rights, Day 11 - Class Recap

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2011.

Dear class,

I hope that you enjoyed your sunny weekend! I know I sure did, especially with being able to go through all of your activist projects! Today is really the last day of the Civil Rights unit. Here's what we did:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.
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.

Soundtrack: “Pride (In the Name of Love)” by U2. Selected for today because the song is about Martin Luther King Jr., who was one of your options to write about in the in-class DBQ. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/14/14:
News Brief
Activist Project Grades
DBQ Write
Make Up Work Time

Homework: Turn in any late/missing work by next Wednesday for progress report grades. Read the blog! Next news brief: Nikhil.

News Brief: Gabby selected this story to talk about today in class: CNN.com - Obama strengthens equal pay protections. There are some pretty frightening statistics involved with equal pay (which is already the law of the land). On average, women make 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes for doing the same work (this has only gone up about 5 cents in 30 years). The President is trying to counter that. Thanks, Gabby!

Activist Project Grades: If you turned in the activist project last class, I graded it and got it back to you today in class. How is that for a quick turnaround? Here is how I broke down the grading rubric for the assignment:

RE.ALT.04: Use evidence

Present evidence = look of poster/brochure, amount of time and effort put into the design and writing sections, slogan

Synthesize specific information = overall message/point and how well it is conveyed

CO.ALT.01: Organize ideas

Transitions effectively/develop the topic thoroughly = spelling, grammar, amount of time and effort put into the writing

CR.ALT.04: Evaluate information 

Conclusion = strategies and recommendations for help section

Clearly analyze and explain strengths and weaknesses = opposition section

Please see me if you are at all confused about the grade you received. Thanks for your hard work on these!

DBQ Write: The rest of the class was for actually writing the five paragraph Document Based Question that we started brainstorming last week. The entire Civil Rights unit was fair game for writing about and using in your essay response to the prompt of: How did social hierarchies lead to the Civil Rights Movement and which method of activism was more efficient for promoting change?

The document packet (which you had to use two sources from) contained perspectives from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as to their methods of activism. There were also a lot of other in class materials that you could use to get to your four total sources needed. Thank you for your hard work on this in class! I know this was not the most fun day for many of you. The ability to write a basic essay is so important for your academic success, though!

Make Up Work Time: If you were able to finish the DBQ early, the rest of the time in class was for making up missing and/or late work for me. Please be checking your grade print outs (by student ID) in the room, to stay updated about your current grade as progress reports and the end of the year approaches!

Civil Rights, Day 10 - Class Recap

A few students had projects relating to animal abuse or the environment, which made me think about this picture I took in New Zealand in February. Herding sheep off the road in my rental car was pretty fun!

Dear class,

Thank you so much for your work with the activism project! From what I saw, students really seemed to know their stuff about their topic. Please remember to email me at luke_fritz@beaverton.k12.or.us if you need to turn in your works cited page!

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.
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.

Soundtrack: “Applause” by Lady Gaga. Selected for today because I was applauding your effort with the projects! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/10/14:
News Brief
Showcase Showdown
Activist Debrief
DBQ Introduction

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Gabby.

News Brief: Brandon had the news brief today and chose this article to talk about: LATimes.com - Pennsylvania school stabbing: Authorities try to pin down a motive. A frightening story, to say the least. We related it in class to the possibility that bullying may have played a role. Be good to each other and yourselves, in every aspect of your lives, please.

Showcase Showdown: Finally, it was time to talk a little about your project with other students in the class! I handed out a paper that had a table with columns for names, activism topics, why it is important, and if you agreed. One side of the class went over to the other side to interview them, then the second side reversed it. I hope that you enjoyed learning about what everyone was interested in and their projects were interesting! I am excited to look more in depth at them.

Activist Debrief: After the sharing was done, I asked a few questions from the back of the interview sheet about the projects:

1) Which project do you think had the most powerful message? Why?
2) Which project do you think could be the most effective at eliciting change? Why?
3) Which project had the best presentation? Why?

DBQ Introduction: We are at the close of the Civil Rights unit, as of next class. For the final, you will be writing an in-class essay about social hierarchies and the best way to change in regards to equal rights. Today was a brainstorming day in class. If you missed class, then please bring everything from the Civil Rights unit (basically, anything since the Historical Investigation) to class, as it will help you. Basically, you are using 4 documents from the unit (there are 4 in the packet that I gave you as options in class). Those four documents (two have to be from the packet) should be used to construct a five paragraph essay, including a thesis statement in the introduction, three body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a conclusion that has the thesis statement restated again. This assignment will hit four different learning targets! Be prepared to write next class!

Have a great weekend!