Quiz - Ch. 20/21 Summaries + Reading Ch. 20 & GSotS

Once again, our students knew so much about the chapters over which they were being quizzed that taking the Quiz was all most of them had time to complete.

Assignments

For Thursday
1. Read Ch. 6 of GSotS

• Come prepared to discuss. 
• Notice the important historical references in the chapter.

2. Read Ch. 20 in your textbook to learn more details about the Progressive Era.

• Mentally compare the account of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 with what we are learning in GSotS.
• Pay close attention to Spindletop and how this first huge owl gusher began the transformation of Texas and the United States.
• Notice the details about the Progressive Era reforms.and the  discriminatory treatment of African Americans and Mexican Americans

For Friday - Complete Steps 4 & 5 for the Research Project.

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.

Quiz-Ch. 15 Summary: The Civil War - Textbook Reading - Planning for Field Trip to Austin

Today our students:

• Took the Quiz over the Chapter 15 Summary: The Civil War
• Read Ch. 15, Sections 2 & 3 in the textbook, mentally filling in details about Texas and the Civil War

Assignment for Friday:
1. Finish reading Ch. 15/Secs. 2 & 3 on Texas and the Civil War.
2. Do some background reading in preparation for tomorrow's field trip to Austin. Click some of the links within the articles to explore further.

• Short Wikipedia Article on Texas State Government
• Texas State Capitol
• Texas Governor's Mansion
• Bob Bullock Museum - Be thinking of some of the things you would particularly like to see.

3. Be thinking about ways we can make our vist to these places as valuable a learning experience as possible. Write your ideas onto this Google Document.

4. No One-Pager due Friday or Monday.

Ch. 14 Quiz - Review of Maps on Immigration & Transportation - Excel SS on Slavery in Texas 1819-1860

Students:

• Celebrated a student's animation of his spreadsheet on Slave Pop. & Total Pop., 1819-1860
• Requested and received further discussion of the maps in the Ch. 14 Summary
• Took the Quiz over Ch. 14: The Young State

Assignments for Wednesday

1. Read pp. 130-143 on Emancipation in To Be a Slave & add to your Pictorial Presentation.
2. Finish Excel Spreadsheet & Chart & write the 7 sentences called for in the Instructions (5 on slave population 1819-1860 & 2 relating slave population to total population). Write more for Extra Credit.

Texas Revolution: 1836 Quiz - Alamo Tech

Today our young Texians:

• Received a bit of last-minute info prior to the Quiz
• Took the Quiz over the 1836 Phase of the TxRev
• Began watching a History Channel video called Alamo Tech

Assignments

For Friday - Animal Farm Essay due

For Tuesday - ¡Hola, General! due (Notice that extra time is being given so you can incorporate information from the Alamo Tech dvd we're watching.)

1835 Quiz - ¡Hola, General! Simulation

Today our students:

• Took the Quiz over the 1835 Phase of the Texas Revolution
• Began working on ¡Hola, General!, an activity in which students simulate being Mexican General Santa Anna planning strategy and tactics for attacking the Alamo in 1836.

Assignments

For Thursday - Quiz over 1836 Phase of Texas Revolution

For Friday

1. ¡Hola, General! is due.
2. Animal Farm Essay is due.

Chapel - Animal Farm: Vocab Quiz & Diagram Analysis

Students today:

• Attended chapel
• Took the Vocabulary Quiz over Animal Farm
• Worked collaboratively (or individually--their choice) to analyze and annotate a Diagram of Animal Farm. We brainstormed some of the things students could do to demonstrate their knowledge of the novel. Due tomorrow.
• Thanks to Jaycolt for this link showing whom the Animal Farm characters represent.
• Kudos to Wingboy for his Tagxedo of Animal Farm:

Assignments

1. For Thursday: Finish annotating the Diagram of Animal Farm
2. For Tuesday, 2/10 
• Quiz over Ch. 9, 10, 11 Summaries on the Texas Revolution
• Thanks to Mr. 12345 for kindly preparing a first set of Quizlet flash cards for your learning pleasure:

Ch. 8 Quiz Prep - Debate Prep on Texas Revolution

Students today:

• Rocked a little more
• Prepared for tomorrow's Ch. 8 Quiz by reading together, discussing, and annotating the Ch. 8 Summary: Growing Tensions Lead to Texas Revolution
• Analyzed the Ch. 8 Summary looking toward next week's debate over this question: "Did the Texans and Tejanos have the right and good excuses to revolt against the government of Mexico?"

Assignment for Friday: Quiz over Ch. 8 Summary

Rocking - Discussion of Early Anglo Hostility Toward Mexicans - Ch. 8 Summary

Today students:

• Rocked
• Discussed the article "Early Anglo Settlers View Mexicans with Hostility"
• Received the Chapter 8 Summary: Growing Tensions Lead to Texas Revolution & were given notice of a Quiz over it on Friday, 1/23/15.

Assignment - For Friday: Quiz over Chapter 8 Summary

Map Quiz on Indians & Geography - Debate Prep

Our students today:

• Did some last-minute study for the Map Quiz - (Kudos to student 12345 for producing another study guide, this time on the Indians of Texas in 1600 & 1800!)
• Took the Map Quiz
• Prepared for the Indians Debate by reading and color coding the strong points & weak points of their tribe and their opponents' tribes.

After-Class Learning Opportunities (A-CLO, aka "Assignments") for Friday

1. Finish color coding the Strong Points/Weak Points for your tribe and each of your opponents' tribes (Jumanos vs. Comanches vs. Wichitas vs. Caddos . . . gee, I wonder if any of the central and southern tribes are feeling left out; sad, man). The color coding is being done (AS YOU WELL KNOW) on the Chart - Indians of Texas.
2. Read and write questions over Ch. 8 of Lord of the Flies: "Gift for the Darkness." Follow the Question Formulation Technique we've been using this week. Post your questions at your blog and include a picture.
3. Have a wonderful Rest-of-Thursday!

Regions Quiz - Regions Deb Prep, cont'd

Today students:

• Did last-minute studying for Regions Quiz
• Took the Regions Quiz . . . and did quite well!
• Continued Regions Debate Preparation by taking Strong Points/Weak Points notes from the textbook on each Sub-Region

Assignment

• No specific assignment due Thursday
• But continue taking Deb Prep notes for Monday's Regions Debate

Overview, cont'd: Quiz & Thinglink Thingy

Quiz - Yeller Portion of CHART: Time Periods of Texas History

Thinglink Thingy

1. Working collaboratively with your classmates, you will use Thinglink to identify and annotate the people and things in the collage at the top of this class blog
2. First grab the collage here.
3. Then go to Thinglink and sign up.
4. Read and view the basic instructions on using Thinglink.
5. Annotate as many of the people and things as you can in the collage.
6. As you notice, you can do this in quite a few different ways using Thinglink: your own words, links to websites, links to pictures, YouTube videos, Amazon book titles, etc., etc., etc.
7. Once you're done, embed your Thinglink on your blog. Write a brief introduction to your Thinglink.

Assignment: Your Thinglink with introduction should be embedded in your blog by midnight tonight.

Overview of Texas History, cont'd

Click to enlarge. (This should work with all pics inserted into blog.)

Today, students:

• Raised questions about anything they didn't understand on the "CHART: Time Periods of Texas History."
• Learned of some of the abbreviations I often use:
• c. or ca. = around, approximately
• e.g. = for example
• etc. = and so forth
• i.e., = in order words
• Noted how color coding can ease & expedite the learning process
• Identified their 3 favorite time periods on the Chart and circled specific topics they would like to learn more about
• Studied the yellow section of the chart for a quiz on Monday
• Did some teacher-based review to check their learning.
• Devised and asked one another questions about the chart
• Devised mnemonic devices to help them remember the time periods and details

Assignment: Quiz Monday - CHART: Time Periods of Texas History

• Learn all of the information in the yellow section of the chart
• You don't have to recite the dates for this quiz but do be able to recognize which time period each set of dates identifies (e.g., 1519-1821 = Spanish Period; 1861-1865 = Civil War, 1865-1900 = Gilded Age. . .etc.)