Smiley Face Theory of Reconstruction - Andrew Johnson On the Freedmen - Good Old Rebel - Black Codes - 5 Military Districts

On this day, students deepened their knowledge of Reconstruction by doing the following:

• Applied the Smiley Face Theory of Reconstruction to hypothesize as to why it was almost impossible to solve the two major problems of Reconstruction simultaneously (Leniency to the Southern rebels leads to persecution of the freedmen; helping the freedmen causes anger and violence by Southern whites toward freedmen.)
• Read, analyzed, and listened to the song, "The Good Old Rebel."
• Briefly analyzed a Thomas Nast cartoon depicting a ex-CSA soldier
• Analyzed a passage from a biography of President Andrew Johnson showing his hateful, racist attitude toward the freedmen
• Read and analyzed a Black Code
• Learned and used mnenomic devices for remembering the 5 Military Districts under Radical Reconstruction

Assignments

For Wednesday: Read and come prepared to discuss the Ambrose Bierce short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."

For Thursday: Prepare for Thursday's Quiz over Reconstruction - See details from yesterday's blog.

Great-Great-Grandpa Karbach - Ch. 15 Summary - Animated Chronology of CW Battles in Texas - Resources of North & South in 1861

Today our students:

• Viewed pictures and Civil War documents of Great-Great-Grandfather Karbach, a German immigrant to New Braunfels who fought for the Union in the Civil War
• Prepared for tomorrow's Ch. 15 Quiz over the Civil War in Texas by reading & analyzing various parts of it.
• Critiqued the choices made by map designers who showed the South in blue!!!
• Debated whether one of the Taylor brothers resembled a certain student in our school.
• Learned the chronology of Civil War battles in Texas by viewing these Animated Chronology Maps of Civil War Battles in Texas (Actually, one of the maps had disappeared, but it's been restored.)
• Analyzed a table showing comparative Resources of the North & South in 1861

We didn't quite get to these two items, but I'm leaving them here for their links' value.

• Chart-Civil War Battles in Texas
• Ambrose Bierce - "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Assignment for Thursday:
1. Quiz over Ch. 15 Summary: The Civil War

• Learn all the wordy stuff.
• Be able to identify and discuss the pictures.
• Show knowledge of the chronology of CW battles in TX (Use the Animated Chronology Maps to prepare.)
• Be able to analyze the other maps.

2. You do not need to do the One-Pager tonight.

Annexation of Texas

Students:

• Attended Eucharistic chapel service
• Analyzed a color-coded map on the 1845 Annexation of Texas to the United States
• Received a videomusical answer to the student who asked "Who was Polk?"
• Received a sheet of two primary sources showing opposing viewpoints on the Annexation of Texas

Assignments

For Thursday
1. To Be a Slave

• Read Ch. 3 on "The Plantation"
• Begin working on a pictorial presentation of each reading assignment we've done so far on To Be a Slave, beginning with "Author's Note & Prologue" (on capture in Africa & transport via the "Middle Passage" to America) - Add a subtitle & a brief quotation from the book for each picture.

2. Identifying Points of View (on the Annexation of Texas)

• Answer the questions.
• Draw a picture of President Andrew Jackson in the left margin beside his name and a picture of John Quincy Adams in the right margin beside his name.

For Friday
Have your pictorial presentation caught up with p. 95 by Friday.

For Tuesday - Quiz over Ch. 14 Summary - The Lone Star State

Today students:

• Augmented their analysis of Austin's Journal with additional entries once he left San Antonio to choose his actual land grant
• Did an excellent job of analyzing a "mystery document," noticing and hypothesizing and writing questions about it in impressive depth; they used this slightly more legible copy as well.
• Received by email the Chapter 7 Summary: The Age of Empresarios and were given a headsup about a Quiz over it this coming Wednesday, 1/14/15

Assignments

1. For Tuesday, 1/13: Finish your analysis of the "mystery document" and post it at your blog
2. For Wednesday, 1/14: Quiz over Chapter 7 Summary: The Age of Empresarios

The Crimson Cap, Part I, Chapters 1-5 --- Chapter 6 Summary: End of Spanish Rule

Today students:

• Discussed Part I,, Ch. 1-5 of The Crimson Cap
• We considered questions students posted at their blogs: here, here, & here.
• The notes by a student recorder can be viewed here.

• Read & analyzed the Ch. 6 Summary: End of Spanish Rule
• First students read the Summary.
• Then each student took a paragraph and related it to the maps and pictures on the Summary page and/or found illustrations online.
• Quiz Wednesday, 12/17 over the Summary page (text & illustrations)
• Students began explaining their paragraphs to the rest of the class. (To be completed tomorrow.)

Assignments

For Tuesday: Read The Crimson Cap, Part I, Ch. 6-9.

• Write post at your blog at least one discussion question for each chapter.
• Be sure to include a good illustration. You might find illustrations at the "Fort St. Louis" site at Beyond Texas History useful.
• As you read, continue considering what in the story is "fact" and what is more likely "fiction." What could author Ellen Howard support with primary source evidence?

For Wednesday: Be studying the Ch. 6 Summary for the Quiz noted above.

Primary Sources of Spanish Explorers - La Salle, Fort St. Louis, & the French Challenge

Today students:

• Worked on their Sell Myself Projects
• Examined one another's blog posts on excerpts from 3 primary sources by Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, and Moscoso
• Discussed the documents, into which students showed excellent insights
• See them here, here, and, hopefully soon, here.
• Reviewed the importance of the advent of the French presence in Texas, beginning with La Salle's establishment of Fort St. Louis, near Matagorda Bay, in 1685
• Noted on the Timeline of the Spanish Period that from the Spanish discovery of Texas in 1519  through 1682, the Spanish only established one settlement in Texas (Ysleta, near modern-day El Paso). Then, because of La Salle and the French, the Spanish began establishing missions in East Texas, along the Rio Grande River, and in-between, especially in San Antonio.
• Viewed, chortled over, and, yes, learned from the short video on La Salle and the French
• Speculated as to what is involved in marine archeology and what types of artifacts might have been found on La Salle's last ship, La Belle, which sank in Matagorda Bay. Check out the excellent audio-visual and textual information on the La Belle Project at the Texas State Historical Commission and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

• Looked at the Senex map of French claims in parts of North America, including Texas; the 1718 French version appears below.

Assignments: Quiz Wednesday over Ch. 4 Summary: Early Explorers - Learn everything in the handout!

Sell Myself Project - Ch. 4 Summary - LaSalle Video - Are You a Historian?

Today, students:

• Worked on their "Sell Myself" Projects
• Were going to discuss the 3 Primary Sources, but only one student had actually read them and followed instructions
• Were advised of a quiz Wednesday over the Chapter 4 Summary: Early Explorers 
• Viewed part of a short video on the French explorer LaSalle
• Got involved in an interesting discussion when a student asked the teacher, "Are you a historian?"

Assignments

1. For tomorrow: Do the 3 Primary Sources assignment you were supposed to do today. The student who had completed it will get full credit. The others will get partial credit but have a zero until this assignment is completed, as described in the class blog post of Friday, 11/14.
2. For Wednesday: Quiz over the Chapter 4 Summary: Early Explorers.

Proving My Yesterday - Primary & Secondary Sources - Primary Sources About Myself

Today students:

• Did an exercise called "Proving My Yesterday," in which they listed 7-10 things they did yesterday and cited people and documents that could prove they had done those things. Purpose: show how historians document the past with primary sources
• Read a handout called "Historical Evidence: Primary & Secondary Sources" - explains the difference between primary sources and secondary sources and how they are important in learning about the past
• Listed "Primary Sources About Myself" - Students brainstormed primary sources a historian could use in gathering information to write a history of their life so far. They can use this list, plus other sources they might think of, to gather and bring primary sources about themselves tomorrow.

Assignment - Due Tuesday: Bring lots of primary sources about yourself tomorrow.

• Bring lots of different sources and lots of different kinds.
• Bring series of documents, e.g., report cards over a series of years so that a historian could trace the history of your school career. If you bring photos, don't just bring 35 pictures from Aunt Susie's family reunion of this past summer; instead, bring a series of pictures that show your growth and development over the years.
• Especially bring written sources (report cards, birth certificate, schoolwork, etc. You can bring the Snuggly Buggly the Stuffed Bear Collection, too, but let's face it, a historian could only get so much information from the SBtSFC. Report cards, letters, emails, etc. would be more useful.
• You may bring photocopies of the primary sources or pictures of them if you like.
• You could store all the documents in Dropbox or on your computer if you like. That way you could fit a lot of primary sources in a relatively small place.
• You can also bring them in folders, boxes, wheelbarrows, Ryder trucks (how hard-core are you???), etc.
• You will take the sources home with you after school tomorrow, in case your parents are worried about their being away from home too long.
• Remember the purpose of this assignment: Bring lots of sources so a historian could gather lots of information about you in order to write the history of your life thus far.
• Grading: the more you bring and the more different kinds you bring, the higher your grade.