Finished Quiz + Read Ch. 21 + Research Project + Discussed Ch. 5 of GSotS + Petroleum in Texas 1902-29

Today our students:

• Finished yesterday's Quiz over Ch. 20/21 Summaries
• Read Ch. 21 on WW I & the Roaring 20s
• Worked on their Research Project
• Discussed Ch. 5 of Galveston's Summer of the Storm
• Analyzed a Map of Major Petroleum Discoveries in Texas, 1901-1929
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Assignments - for Friday

1. Finish reading Ch. 21 in your textbook.
2. Be ready to have your Research Project notes graded through Step 5.
3. Write your weekly 1-Pager from Fehrenbach and post it to your blog.
4. Read Ch. 6 of Galveston's Summer of the Storm and be prepared to discuss it.

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.

Excel Presentations on Slave Population - Housekeeping - Finished Ch. 14 Quiz

Today our students:

• Presented and explained their Excel spreadsheets on the Slave Population & Total Population of Texas from 1819-1860
• Did some "housekeeping" with previous assignments and blog posts
• Finished writing their Essay Question answers on the Chapter 14 Quiz

Assignments for Thursday
1. Do the final reading (pp. 144-158) in To Be a Slave and complete your Pictorial Presentation on TBaS
2. Do your Lone Star One-Pager

• Include page number & topic in the blog post title
• At the top of the post insert a picture illustrating the topic.
• Write a one-sentence introduction telling the topic & time period discussed on the page.
• Example: On page 305 Fehrenbach discusses the importance of the planter class in Texas prior to the Civil War.
• Write five (5) bullet-pointed complete sentences on key points you learned from the page.

Quiz over Republic - Silent Reading

On this day students:

• Took the Quiz over Ch. 12 & 13 on the Republic of Texas and Pioneer Life during the Republic and Early Statehood periods
• Read as much as they could of Ch. 2 in To Be a Slave

Assignment for Wednesday: Finish reading Ch. 2 of TBAS and come prepared to discuss it.

Rodeo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                              Squealer-Napoleon oinkfest

We had a rip-roarin', cowboys-soarin' (off-the-backs-of-buckin'-brahmerbulls) time at the Bell County Rodeo, Fair & Livestock Show. (Well, I wasn't at the Fair & Livestock part , but I'm told the students enjoyed some of the sights, sounds, and smells of them.)

Assignments

For Thursday - Quiz over 1836 Phase of the Texas Revolution (Thanks to Sr. 12345 for the excellent Quizlet embedded below and the Pic ID ppt here. I would mention, though, that the Goliad Massacre was not actually a battle; it was carried out after the Battle of Coleto Creek. Also,  Santa Anna almost captured Provisional President Burnet and Texian government officials on April 15. Burnet and the others did manage to escape! Finally, the major battle of San Jacinto was fought on April 21, 1836.)

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 going to watch.)

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:

Quiz Feedback - Video on Empresarios/Causes of TxRev - Debate Prep

Students today:

• Got back their graded quizzes on the Ch. 8 Summary: Growing Tensions Lead to the Texas Revolution
• Watched, analyzed, and evaluated Gone to Texas, an online video on Mexican Texas: the empresarios & the causes of the Texas Revolution
• Read and highlighted a 2-page outline on Causes of the Texas Revolution--They highlighted/color coded pro-Mexican and pro-Texan information to be used in Wednesday's Debate: Did the Texans have the right and good excuses to revolt against Mexico?

Assignment for Tuesday:

1. Finish reading and color coding Causes of the Texas Revolution (see link above).
2. Students, I will be using this document about and by Mier y Terán  during the debate. I am making it available for use by all participants in the debate. You will notice that the first part provides secondary source background information, followed by primary source information by Mier y Terán.

Gen. Manuel Mier y Terán

Dads Rock - Ch. 8 Quiz - Silent Reading of Ch. 8

Still under construction, but perhaps useful. You can download it here. Zoom & scroll as needed.

Yes, it can now be revealed: all the rocking we did this week was for our students' fathers, who, after they got to eat their Doughnuts for Dads, received their limestone-mediated paperweights labelled "Dad Rocks." And don't worry, Moms, your day is on the way!

Students then did a bit of last-minute review for the Ch. 8 Quiz, focusing especially on the study aide 12345 made for his classmates.

Students then took the Quiz and after that, began reading Ch. 8 in the textbook: Growing Tensions Leading to the Texas Revolution. They were also asked to take notes pointing toward next week's debate: "Did the Texans have the right and good excuses to revolt against Mexico?"

Assignments for Monday

1. Finish reading Ch. 8 and taking your Debate Notes. You can take the notes in any way that you feel best prepares you. One way might be to make a simple T-chart answering the debate question in one column saying "Yes" and another column saying "No." Be sure to write the debate question.
2. Write 2-3 paragraphs summarizing our trip to San Antonio last week. Illustrate it if you can and post your writing and pictures at your blog. (I've been meaning for us to do this this past week but could never quite squeeze it in.)
3. Have a great weekend!

Quick Review - Ch. 7 Quiz - Silent Reading

Fresh back from our field trip to San Antonio, our weary but game students:

• Reviewed two maps for the upcoming Ch. 7 Quiz
• Took the Quiz
• Filled in details about the Age of Empresarios by reading Ch. 7

Assignments for Monday

1. Finish reading Ch. 7.
2. Enjoy your three-day weekend!

Chapel - Ch. 6 Summary Quiz - Carol of a Carol

Today our students:

• Attended chapel
• Took the Quiz over the Ch. 6 Summary: End of Spanish Texas
• Recorded some music for A Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol

Assignments for Thursday

1. Finish your analysis of "Using Primary Sources to Evaluate the Accuracy of Ellen Howard's The Crimson Cap".
2. Read The Crimson Cap, Part II, Ch. 6-10, write and post discussion questions. As we had no time to discuss last night's reading today, we will discuss all of Part II on Thursday.

Flag Raising - Chapel - Fire Drill - Quiz over Ch. 4 Summary - Tolstoy

Fire drill cartoon here

Today students:

• Raised the flags and went to chapel
• Participated in a fire drill
• Did last-minute study for the Quiz
• Took the Quiz over the Ch. 4 Summary: Early Explorers
• Were emailed a link to a Tolstoy short story (See Assignments below.)

Assignments

For Thursday:

1. Continue working on your "Sell Myself" Project.
2. Make a table (chart) listing every thing you can think of that you WANT and everything you can think of that you NEED. Do this before beginning the Tolstoy story.
3. Optional: Begin reading Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need?". If you'd rather begin tomorrow, that's fine, so long as you read the story and complete the assignment by Friday.

For Friday

1. Your "Sell Myself" Project will be presented to Queen Jill and Her Royal Order of Grade the Fourthers sometime between 8-8:30 A.M.
2. Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need?
1. Have it read in full.
2. Write lots of discussion questions.
3. Post them to your blog, along with pictures & a link to something interesting relating to Tolstoy and/or the story.

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.

Map Quiz on Spanish & French Explorers - Read Ch. 4

After chapel, the awards ceremony, and first aid after a fall, students spent a few minutes reviewing for the Map Quiz over Spanish and French Exploration of Texas and then took the quiz. Students knew so much that there was little time left in class after they finished. And that's a good thing!

Assignment for Thursday: Read Ch. 4 on Spanish and French Exploration, filling in mental details about Pineda, Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, Moscoso, Onate, and LaSalle.

Today students:

• Learned to make QR Codes
• Made codes for the Google My Maps assignment from a couple of weeks ago
• Helped finalize the Texas Our Texas bulletin board in the north hall downstairs, adding their QR Codes to the Texas My Texas table/map assignment
• Analyzed the two maps from yesterday showing the relationship between Texas geography and the lifestyles of the Indian tribes living in each region and sub-region of Texas. 
• Each student took the region & sub-regions their defended in the Regions debate last week.
• Students will share their analyses with one another tomorrow.
• Looked at several other maps of Indians of Texas, noting that not every map shows the same locations as those in our textbook. Some of the more useful ones can be found here, here (1500), here (1500/1776), here (Comanche Migration), here, and here. That last site has a useful note about the challenges of mapping locations of Indian tribes.

Assignments

Lord of the Flies

• For Wednesday: Read Ch. 6. (Rescheduled from yesterday)
• Use the Questions Formulation Technique to write as many questions as you can about Ch. 6: "Beast from the Air."

Map Quiz-Indians of Texas

• The Map Quiz over the Indians was rescheduled for Thursday. 
• See the instructions at the HistLitLog blog post of Monday, 10/20.