Monday, March 9, 2020

The Great Depression, Day 4 - Class Recap


A rainbow over Wildcat Stadium here at Westview. Photo taken in May 2017.

Dear class,

We are continuing to follow our plan of completing the 1920s/1930s Unit Project in class! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
Critical Thinking LT 5: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "Somewhere Over The Rainbow / What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Selected for today because the original "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was released in 1939 as a part of the Wizard of Oz! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/9/20:
News Brief - Kate
Culture of the 1930s
Unit Project
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it, if possible. Continue working on your unit final project. Next news brief: Bopi.

News Brief: Kate had the news brief today, but was not in class at the start, so I filled in and selected an article about this story to talk about: NPR.org - Dow Dives 1,900 Points, NYSE Halts Trading As Stock Indexes Plummet. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Bopi was assigned to do the next news brief.

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):


Culture of the 1930s: Next, I had students take the last notes of this unit (I know there were a lot - thank you for your patience!), which were on technological innovation helping to shape culture in the 1930s:


Hopefully everyone saw some familiar movie titles and how the use of radio/film very much expanded during the 1930s!

Unit Project/Work Time: I introduced this last week - this is final project for the combined Roaring 20s/Great Depression Unit, which is viewable here (it is also assigned on Google Classroom):


This project involves a lot of student choice over the physical product, as well as a write up between 850-1000 words.

The rest of the class was quiet work time for this assignment - the next few classes will follow this same pattern of a bit of new content, then work time, before this assignment is due on Friday for Period 1. Please be sure to email me if you have any questions and I will try to get back to you ASAP!
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Thursday, March 5, 2020

The Great Depression, Day 3 - Class Recap


The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC. The cloak apparently is meant to conceal his wheelchair. Photo taken in 2010.

NOTE: I was out of the building today, in France for a memorial service for my wife's grandfather. This blog post is what I hoped happened in class with Ms. Mak, my guest teacher.

Hi everyone,

It's that time again - we are nearing the end of the combined Roaring 20s/Great Depression units and thus, the unit final project (which is due next Friday). Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
Critical Thinking LT 5: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover" from Annie. Selected for today because a student recommended it as a connection to last class and the lesson on Hoover! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/5/20:
News Brief - Ethan
FDR
Impact of New Deal
Unit Project

Homework: Read the blog! Continue working on your unit project! Next news brief: Selected in class.

News Brief: Ethan had the news brief today and selected an article to talk about in class. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Someone in class was assigned to do the next news brief.

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):


FDR: To continue our look at the Great Depression, students watched this video profile of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), who had an enormous impact on America:



Hopefully this helped in understanding who FDR was and what was happening during his tenure as president (the longest tenure in United States history - he is the only President to be elected 4 (or 3!) times)!

Impact of the New Deal: The "New Deal" is a name for a variety of government programs and agencies created under FDR to help combat the Great Depression. Last class, we learned about some of them via this note sheet:


Students worked with groups on each of the programs, then we went through them all last class. Today, students took notes (though we gave most of them in a pre-printed format) on this presentation:


Here's the notesheet that was passed out in class (hopefully a welcome relief for many students, as we have taken a fair amount of notes during this unit):


Hopefully this is all making sense in terms of what the New Deal was and how it tried to improve the economy.

Unit Final Project: I introduced this last class - this is final project for the combined Roaring 20s/Great Depression Unit, which is viewable here (it is also assigned on Google Classroom):


This project involves a lot of student choice over the physical product, as well as a write up between 850-1000 words.

The rest of the class was quiet work time for this assignment - the next few classes will follow this same pattern of a bit of new content, then work time. Please be sure to email me if you have any questions and I will try to get back to you ASAP!
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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

The Great Depression, Day 2 - Class Recap


On the Hoover Dam! Photo taken in 2014.

Dear class,

Unbelievably, we now only have seven classes (including today) left before Spring Break, and a lot to get to in that time! We continued learning about the Great Depression and the governments response to it. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledg ALT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
Critical Thinking ALT 5: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.

Soundtrack: "Independent Women Part 1" by Destiny's Child. Selected for today because lest anyone forget that it is Women's History Month in March! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/3/20:
News Brief - Sheinella
Debrief Pictures
Hoover and the Depression
The New Deal
Unit Project

Homework: Read the blog! Continue to work on improving your grade in class, if possible! Next news brief: Ethan.

News Brief: Sheinella had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: FOX8.com - City forced to clean up 16,000 tires in man’s backyard after he failed to get rid of them. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Ethan was assigned to do the next news brief.

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):


Debrief Pictures: At the end of last class, I had students get up and look around the room to do some primary source analysis of photos from the Great Depression. Here are the photos that I posted around the room:


And here is the assignment that students filled out in class by selecting a few photos to analyze:


Today in class, we went through the images together and analyzed what we saw in them. Again, please hold on to this, as you will be using it at the end of the unit!

Hoover and the Depression: Next, we learned about the initial response of the United States government to the Great Depression, from President Herbert Hoover. Here's the presentation we went through in class as students took notes:


Hoover was not re-elected in 1932, largely because of the Great Depression.

The New Deal: In Hoover's place, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was elected President in 1932 (and would go on to be elected 4 times - the most ever by a U.S. president). A major part of FDR's response was the creation of "a new deal for the American people." This meant the creation of a LOT of government agencies and programs to help provide opportunities for people during the Great Depression. The programs we learned about today in class (via small group work and then presentations) were:


Students worked with groups on each of the programs, then we went through them all as a class. This is where we ended with new content today.

Unit Project: Finally, to end class, I introduced the final project for the combined Roaring 20s/Great Depression Unit, which is viewable here (it is also assigned on Google Classroom):


This project involves a lot of student choice over the physical product, as well as a write up between 850-1000 words.

Because I will be out of class the rest of the week, due to traveling to France for a memorial for my wife's grandfather, I wanted to be sure to introduce this assignment today. Please be sure to email me if you have any questions and I will try to get back to you ASAP!
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