Thursday, February 21, 2019

The Roaring 20s, Day 5 - Class Recap


Last class, we looked at the famous "Somewhere West of Laramie" car advertisement. This is a photo I took of some multicolored cars in Bogota, Colombia in 2009 (the cars happen to be the colors as the flag of the country).

Dear class,

We mostly had a work day on the advertising assignment, as I also went through the Social Studies course offerings for students to think about forecasting for next year. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
KNOWLEDGE ALT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Sinnerman" by Nina Simone. Selected for today because Nina Simone was born on this day in 1933 and we are continuing to listen to black artists for the soundtrack this month. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/21/19:
News Brief - Jaida
Social Studies Forecasting
Advertising
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Advertising assignment due at the start of class on Monday! Next news brief: Gerardo.

News Brief: Jaida had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Actor Jussie Smollett faces a felony charge for allegedly filing a false police report. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Gerardo was assigned to do the next news brief.

Today's Black History Month fact is that Malcolm X was killed on February 21, 1965, at the age of 39. We learned about Malcolm X during our civil rights unit and he has obviously had a lasting impact on America.

As part of the news brief, we also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Social Studies Forecasting: Because all 9-11 grade students were given forecasting forms yesterday (which are due next week), I wanted to go over your options for next year's Social Studies classes. Most students will have earned 2 out of the 3 required Social Studies credit for graduating after this year. Here's the presentation that I went through with everyone:


As a part of this, I was happy to answer any questions that came up, to the best of my ability. I was also happy to sign forecasting forms as needed.

Furthermore, I told students to look in their emails for a "Know Your Numbers" document that was sent by me yesterday, which should help in figuring out where you are in your high school journey and what the next steps could be. This document was also sent to your parents/guardians. Let me know if you have any further questions!

Advertising: The activity that I introduced last class related to the Business of America notes is here:


This assignment is based on choosing a product from the last slide from this presentation:

Google Slides - The Business of America in the 1920s PowerPoint


Students were assigned a product in class to create an advertisement for. If you missed class, you can select a product from the last slide to focus on. 

Work Time: The rest of class was spent working on the advertising assignment, which is due at the start of next class (Monday). Please let me know if you have any questions - I am looking forward to seeing what you can come up with!

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

The Roaring 20s, Day 4 - Class Recap


I spent part of the long weekend in Minnesota and St. Louis, where much of my wife's family lives! This is a photo I took in 2015 at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your long Presidents Day weekend! We continued our work in understanding how America was changed in the 1920s. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
KNOWLEDGE ALT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "I Will Get There" by Boyz II Men. Selected for today because it might seem like a long way left to go in the semester, but you will get there! Also, because this song was made to help advertise a movie: the Prince of Egypt. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/19/19:
News Brief - Michael
Cartoon Analysis
Business of America
Advertising

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade (updated on StudentVUE) and how to improve it, if possible! Next news brief: Jaida.

News Brief: Michael had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: FoxNews.com - Jonas Brothers to reunite, release documentary and new music: report. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Jaida was assigned to do the next news brief.

Today's Black History Month fact is that on February 19, 1942 the Army Air Corps' all African American 100th Pursuit Squadron, later designated a fighter squadron, was activated at Tuskegee Institute. The squadron later served in England and Europe during WWII.

As part of the news brief, we also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Finally, we also watched Westview Wildcat News. If you missed class or wanted to see it again, it is available here:



Cartoon Analysis: Last class, we ended by looking at some political cartoons from the 1920s in class today. Here are the cartoons and the assignment that went with it:


We finished going through this analysis in class (if we did not last class). Please keep this to use later in the unit, as with all work with the 1920s!

Business of America: To continue our rhythm with this unit of notes then an activity, we looked at how business changed during 1920s America. The presentation we went through in class as students took Cornell Notes is here:


Through this presentation, we learned about the impact of mass advertising and new consumer products. The last slide in the presentation is directly connected to this assignment:

Advertising: The activity that I introduced today related to the Business of America notes is here:


Students were assigned a product in class to create an advertisement for. If you missed class, you can select a product from the last slide to focus on. Next class, we will have a work day on this assignment, before it is due at the start of class on Monday, February 25. Hopefully, this is an interesting way of interacting with some of the historical content we have been going through!

Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Roaring 20s, Day 3 - Class Recap


Today is the State of Oregon's 160th birthday! This is a photo I took at Trillium Lake by Mt. Hood. I have no idea who the boy fishing is, but loved the scene.

Dear class,

We continued our unit on the "Roaring" 1920s in class and celebrated Oregon's birthday! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
KNOWLEDGE ALT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Love Language" by Talib Kweli and Hi Tek. Selected for today because of it being Valentine's Day and because of the ongoing Black History Month of black artists as the soundtrack. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/14/19:
News Brief - Esther
Politics in the 1920s
Cartoon Analysis
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade (updated on StudentVUE) and how to improve it, if possible! Next news brief: Michael.

News Brief: Esther had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - FBI releases serial killer Samuel Little's drawings of victims. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Michael was assigned to do the next news brief.

Today's Black History Month fact is that on February 14, 1817 (202 years ago exactly), Frederick Douglass (who was a black intellectual and abolitionist, born into slavery and who taught himself to read) was born.

As part of the news brief, we also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Politics of the 1920s: We started this section by watching some of the scandals that were a part of President Harding's administration in the early 1920s (including the famous Teapot Dome scandal):



To continue our dive into learning about various aspects of the 1920s, we went through this PowerPoint together as students took Cornell Notes:


We finished the presentation in class, and made a summary of notes (using the Cornell Notes process). As I said in class, you will be using all of your notes from this unit (and the Great Depression) to write a final in class essay, in a Documents Based Question format.

Cartoon Analysis: As the end of the slideshow indicates, we also looked at some political cartoons from the 1920s in class today. Here are the cartoons and the assignment that went with it:


As the PowerPoint above states, students were partnered up to analyze one cartoon together, then they joined another partnership who did the other cartoon, in order to share out their analysis. This is what we spent the rest of the class on today - please keep your completed analysis to use later in this unit! Have a great long weekend!