Research Project + Pre-Reading for Galveston's Summer of the Storm + Galveston Hurricane of 1900 + Crash Course Vid on Progressive Era

Students today:

• Worked on their Research Project on a 20th/21st-Century topic of their choice
• Wrote ideas and stories about storms and hurricanes in anticipation of reading Julie Lake's Galveston's Summer of the Storm; click here to see the GooDoc of what we came up with
• Read a HOTO article on the Galveston Hurricane of 1900
• Viewed most of a Crash Course video on The Progressive Era

Assignments

For Friday

1. Read Chapter 1 of Galveston's Summer of the Storm; come prepared to discuss it and apply what we learned from HOTO about the 1900 hurricane
2. Finish Steps 1-4 on the Step-by-Step Research Procedure for your 20th-Century Research Project.
3. Read and write your 1-Pager from Fehrenbach's Lone Star and post it at your blog.

For Tuesday: Quiz over Ch. 20 & 21 Chapter Summaries

Flags + Chapel + Research Project + Unit 7 Chapter Summaries + Timeline of 20th/21st Centuries

Students today:

• Held our daily flag ceremony
• Attended chapel
• Announced their Research Project topics
• Displayed the pictures they had collected on their topics
• Took research notes from the first couple of sources on the Step-by-Step Procedure GooDoc
• Began our study of the years 1900-1950
• Examined the handout of the Unit 7 Chapter Summaries and read the one for Chapter 20: A New Century (Progressive Era 1900-1920)
• Examined a simple Timeline of the 20th & 21st Centuries

Assignments
For Friday

1. Complete the first 4 steps of the Step-by-Step Procedure
2. Be sure to SHARE your Step-by-Step GooDoc with me. 
3. Please give me permission to edit it so I can write suggestions on it.

For Tuesday: Quiz over Ch. 20 & 21 Summaries - Many thanks to dear old young 12345 for already making a Quizlet!

Research Project + Twain's Jumping Frog

Today students:

• Received preliminary instructions for a Research Project over Texas History, 1900-2015
• Paged through Chapters 20-27 in the textbook to get an overview look at Texas history from 1900-2003 and to examine pictures and topics that might interest them for the research project
• Examined "A Step-by-Step Procedure for Research in Texas History"
• It was pointed out that they will begin their research with a source containing visual representations of their topic. 
• They will then go to a source with a small amount of information on their topic and then proceed to sources with increasingly detailed information.
• Discussed (finally!) Mark Twain's short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Notes on some of what was said can be found here.

Assignments for Wednesday:

1. Finish paging through Ch. 20-27 in your textbook.
2. Choose your topic.
3. Begin Step 1 of "A Step-by-Step Procedure" by collecting pictures, maps, and diagrams of your topic. 

Quiz over Ch. 18 & 19 (Gilded Age)

Students today:

Knew so much about the Gilded Age that they spent most or all of the period demonstrating their knowledge on the quiz over Chapters 18 & 19 (Ranching & Farming/Politics & Progress).

Assignments for Tuesday:
1. Read Ch. 18 & 19 in the textbook.
2. Review Twain's ". . . Jumping Frog . . ." and come prepared to discuss it.

Gilded Age Railroad Growth + Read Ch. 19 Summary + Temple, TX Founded in 1881 + Twain's "Jumping Frog"

Students today:

• Analyzed and compared railroad growth in the USA & Texas during the Gilded Age

• Read, discussed, and analyzed the Ch. 19 Summary: Politics & Progress
• Wrote their own version of "Temple, Texas," as it might appear in the Handbook of Texas Online (HOTO) & compared their versions with the HOTO version
• Very briefly discussed Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"--to be continued on Monday

Assignment for Monday:
1. Quiz over the Ch. 18 & 19 Summaries

• Learn the worded information, maps and pictures.
• Many thanks to Mr. 12345 for the excellent Quizlet below, the Ch. 18 Picture Study Guide, and Ch. 19 Picture Study Guide.

2. Be ready to continue our discussion of Twain's ". . . Jumping Frog . . .."

Frontier Lines + Turner's Frontier Thesis + "Man with the Big Hat" + Mini-Debate + Mark Twain

Students today:

• Analyzed a 5-map sequence showing the movement of the frontier in American history

• Learned basic arguments in Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 "Frontier Thesis"

• Analyzed the Frummox song, "Man with the Big Hat"

• Listened to Frummox sing the song (via recording, not in person)

• Held a mini-debate based on the last line of the song, in which the man with the big hat states that if it wasn't (sic) for the life the cowboys led there wouldn't be no (sic) West. The question students debated was: Who was more important in the settlement of the Great Plains of Texas: the soldiers or the cowboys?

Assignments

For Friday

1. Read Mark Twain's short story (clicky clicky), "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
2. Write five discussion questions over the story and post them on your blog.
3. Come prepared to discuss the story.

For Monday: Quiz over Ch. 18 & Ch. 19 Summaries

Earth Day & Arbor Day

Students attended chapel and participated in the Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration.

Cattle Trails Analysis + Cattle Drive Organization + Google Hangout w/ Vacationing Student + Ch. 18 Summary

Today our students did the following learning activities:

• Looked at their Map Analysis: Cattle Trails, begun on Friday
• Added to it by speculating as to How a Cattle Trail Drive Was Organized
• Used Google Hangouts to interact and collaborate with Student 12345, who was vacationing with his family in the Southeast
• Read and discussed a blogpost on cattle drives at the Cactus Rose blog
• Read and briefly discussed the Ch. 18 Summary: Ranching & Farming

Assignment for Monday, 4/27: Quiz over Ch. 18 & 19 Summaries (including maps, pictures, diagram)

Peaceable Kingdom

Students enjoyed the Peaceable Kingdom field trip.

Gilded Age, cont'd - Began Ch. 18 on Ranching & Farming + Cowboys Survey + Cattle Trails + Ch. 18 Summary

Today our wonderful students:

• Began our study of "the Cowboy Era," (although the first cowboys - vaqueros - were during the Spanish Period)
• Responded to a student's question, What Makes a Person a Cowboy?
• Listened to The Smother Brothers' reductionist version of how to be a cowboy (begins c. 2:40)

• Responded to a Survey - Are You a Cowboy?
• Did some Map Analysis-Cattle Trails
• Discussed whether the cowboy should the iconic symbol of Texans

Assignments: None

Stanford Achievement Tests-Day 3

Stanford Achievement Tests-Day 2

Stanford Achievement Tests-Day 1

TL Quiz-1861-Present + Debate Planning + Debate: Indians + Discuss Canyons

Today our students:

• Took the Timeline Quiz over U. S. History 1861-Present
• Got with their teammate and planned strategy for the Debate: Were the white men and buffalo soldiers right in invading West Texas and defeating the Indians, slaughtering the buffalo, and placing the Indians on reservations? 
• Debated - Both sides made excellent arguments and backed them with sound reasoning and evidence.
• Briefly discussed the third reading in Gary Paulsen's Canyons, particularly the question as to whether the picture on one of the book covers accurately depicts how Brennan discovered the skull.

Assignment for Friday: Read the rest of Canyons by Friday. It is probably a good idea to keep up with the schedule given you several days ago, just to make sure you don't have too heavy a reading load on Thursday night.

• Students will be taking the Stanford Achievement Tests the next three days, and will be using classroom time after finishing each section of the test to read the rest of the book by this coming Friday, 4/17/15.. 
• We will have the Grand Discussion of it this coming Friday.

Quiz over Ch. 17 Summary + Gala Prep + GA Indians Chart + Timeline Quiz Prep

Today our students:

• Took the Quiz over the Ch. 17 Summary: Clash of Cultures
• Helped with Gala Prep
• Continued working on the Gilded Age - Chart - Gilded Age - Final Defeat of the Indians
• Briefly discussed the Timeline Quiz coming up on Monday

Assignments for Monday

1. Quiz - Timeline of U.S. History 1861-Present - Click here to use the Animated TL Quiz Prep ppt. I made for you (if you want to).

• Learn names of Time Periods.
• All else (dates, symbols, descriptions) counts as EXTRA CREDIT.

2. Read pp. 57-84 in Canyons and come prepared to discuss.
3. Finish your part of the Chart - Gilded Age - Final Defeat of the Indians.

• Fill in the rest of the Details of What Happened for your 3 topics.
• Fill in the two columns on the right for your 3 topics.

"Gilded" Followup - Ch. 17 Summary - Map: West Texas Wars - Chart: Final Defeat of Indians of Texas - 1st Discussion of Canyons

On this day, students:

• Examined the GooDoc with Examples of "Gilded" During the Gilded Age
• Noted that in some ways every time period and indeed each of us is in some ways "gilded"
• Read and discussed the Chapter 17 Summary: Cultures in Conflict - to understand and to prepare for tomorrow's Ch. 17 Quiz
• Looked at the map called "West Texas Wars" & came up with different titles for it, based on one's opinion of what was taking place
• Considered three questions related to events in Ch. 17:
• Was it right for the Texans and U. S. troops to go into West Texas and defeat the Indians?
• Was it right to carry out the slaughter of the buffalo?
• Was it right to place the Indians on reservations? 
• Worked collaboratively on the Chart - Gilded Age: Final Defeat of the Indians of Texas
• Discussed pp. 3-27 of Gary Paulsen's novel Canyons - See notes here.

• 
  

Assignments

For Friday

1. Quiz-Ch. 17 Summary: Cultures in Conflict - Many thanks to Sr. 12345 for the excellent, highly helpful Quizlet Study Cards:

2. Read pp. 29-54 in Canyons and be prepared to discuss. Here's the reading schedule for Canyons:

Date Due	Pages
Th, 4/9/15	3-27
F, 4/10	29-54
M, 4/13	57-84
Tu, 4/14	87-115
W, 4/15	117-150
Th, 4/16	153-184

For Monday: Quiz over Timeline: U. S. History 1861-Present (Names of time periods required; all else is EXTRA CREDIT)

TL of African American History + Brief Summary of Gilded Age + Examples of "Gilded" + Paulsen's Canyons

Today students:

• Examined and analyzed a Timeline of African-American History
• Read and discussed A Brief Summary of the Gilded Age
• Began working on a GooDoc giving examples of how the Gilded Age was "gilded"

Assignments

For Thursday

1. Fill out the GooDoc on "Gilded" - I've shared it with you, so please check your Gmail.
2. Read pp. 3-27 in Gary Paulsen's historical novel, Canyons.

• Be prepared to discuss it tomorrow. 
• Be thinking especially how to relate the story to what we are studying in Chapter 17: Cultures in Conflict (the final defeat of the Indians of Texas)

For Friday: Quiz over Chapter 17 Summary

For Monday: Quiz over Timeline of U. S. History 1861-Present

• You only need to be able to write the names of the time periods in their correct locations.
• You may do the dates, symbols, and other information for EXTRA CREDIT.

Solid South + Review TxHist through Reconstruction + Preview TxHist GA to Present + Overview U.S. History 1861-Present

Today our students:

• Examined maps showing "the Solid South" - solid for the Democratic Party for most of the years after Reconstruction until the 1960s, increasingly solid for the Republican Party since the 1960s
• Reviewed Texas history through Reconstruction, using CHART: Time Periods of Texas History
• Previewed what we will be studying the rest of the school year: Gilded Age, Early 20th Century, Modern Texas (using the same CHART)
• Got an Overview look at U. S. history from 1861-the Present, using this Timeline
• Did some oral drill over the Timeline 1861-the Present

Assignments:

For Wednesday: None

For Monday, 4/13 - Quiz over Timeline 1861-Present - You only need to write the names of the time periods in their correct locations. Dates & Symbols & other Info are for Extra Credit.

Discussion of Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge + Review for Quiz + Reconstruction Quiz

Today students:

• Discussed Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" - Click here for interesting cartoon sequence seen above. Apparently the artists used this film version:

• Did some review for the Reconstruction Quiz
• Took the Reconstruction Quiz: Brief Summary of Reconstruction, Chapter 16 Summary, Timeline of Reconstruction

Assignment: Happy Easter! Enjoy your four-day weekend.

Eucharist + Silent Reading + Chart & Practice: 3 Reconstruction Plans + Crash Course Video

Today our young scholars:

• Attended Eucharistic Chapel
• Read silently Ch. 16/Sec. 1 on Presidential Reconstruction in Texas
• Studied & did a spot of oral practice over Chart: The 3 Reconstruction Plans: Lincoln, Johnson, Radical Republican
• Viewed a Crash Course Video on Reconstruction (See below.)

Assignment for Thursday: Quiz over Reconstruction - Be sure and study the following:

• A Brief Summary of Reconstruction
• Timeline of Reconstruction
• Ch. 16 Summary: Reconstruction (in Texas)
• Chart: The 3 Reconstruction Plans