Today, students:

• Concluded their reading and discussion of The Crimson Cap
• Read Chapter 6/Sec. 3 and listed reasons for Spanish neglect of Texas but also Spanish contributions to Texas - Click here to view.

No Assignment for Wednesday

Christmas Review - Overview Review - 3 Filibusters

Today we eased back into the school year by:

• Sharing a few Christmas experiences 
• Rereading the first four columns of the Chart: Time Periods of Texas History
• Working collaboratively on a chart over 3 Filibusters During the Late Spanish Period

Assignments for Tuesday

1. Finish the 3 Filibusters chart
2. Finish reading The Crimson Cap and write and post discussion questions in a blog post.

Quiz Return - CrimCapDisc - Calligraphy Lesson

Today our seventh graders:

• Examined their graded Quizzes over the Ch. 6 Summary: End of Spanish Rule
• Discussed Part II of Ellen Howard's The Crimson Cap (student recorders' notes here)
• Received gifts of calligraphy pen sets and began to learn Edward Johnston's Foundational Hand; you can find online illustrations here, here, and many other places online.
• Worked briefly on a Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol

Assignment:

1. Read Part III, Ch. 1-3 of The Crimson Cap and write and post discussion questions at your blog.
2. Post at your blog your analysis of "Using Primary Sources to Evaluate the Accuracy of Ellen Howard's The Crimson Cap".

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.

Student Presentations (cont'd) - The Crimson Cap: Discussion & Primary Sources Analysis and Evaluation

Today our young scholars:

• Continued their presentations analyzing various aspect of the Ch. 6 Summary: End of Spanish Rule
• Read pages from the documented 1698 interrogation of two Talon brothers, survivors of La Salle's colony, Indian captivity, and Spanish "rescue"
• Discussed The Crimson Cap, Part I, Ch. 6-9 - See notes by student recorder here.
• Began a activity called "Using Primary Sources to Evaluate the Accuracy of Ellen Howard's The Crimson Cap"

Assignment

For Wednesday:

1. Quiz over Ch. 6 Summary: End of Spanish Rule (as announced yesterday)
2. Read and write discussion questions over The Crimson Cap, Part II, Ch. 1-5; post your questions, with illustration(s) at your blog.

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.

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.

La Salle & The Talon Children - A Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol

Today our students:

• Looked at the Table of Contents & Reading Schedule for Ellen Howard's historical novel, The Crimson Cap
• Hypothesized as to the 3 Parts of TCC
• Read the HOTO article on the Talon Children
• Examined a HOTO-Based Chronology of the Talon Children
• Went to the Parish Hall & practiced singing A Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol, making revisions as needed.

Assignment for Monday

1. Read Part One/Chapters 1-5 in The Crimson Cap.
2. Write one discussion question per chapter.

Spanish-French Rivalry - The Crimson Cap - A Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol

Today our seventh graders:

• Continued their analysis of a color-coded Chronology of Spanish Texas, noting how Spanish interest in Texas waxed and waned, based on perceived threats from the French
• Used this map on Spanish Texas to gain further understanding of the concepts
• Asked questions about the Chronology dealing with the French and Indian War, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War of 1898 (and its leading to the acquisition of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba), and the just-released Senate report on the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation on suspected terrorists

• Were introduced to the historical novel, The Crimson Cap, dealing with the Talon children, survivors of La Salle's French colony at Matagorda Bay (aka "Fort St. Louis)
• Collaborated on the Class Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol by
• Working together on this Google Doc
• Gathering around the piano in the parish hall and practicing singing our lyrics to 12345's piano accompaniment

Assignments

1. Finish reading the Chronology of Spanish Texas
2. Reread textbook Ch. 4/Sec. 3 on La Salle's colony
3. Read the following in The Crimson Cap:
• Acknowledgments (I added this; sorry, guys.) - page v
• Characters in This Story
• Before

Chapel - Quiz Makeup - Dramatization - Carol of a Carol

Today our students:

• Attended chapel
• Took a makeup quiz over the Chapter 5 Summary (as needed)
• Imagined and dramatized (using sign language only) the first meeting of Spanish missionaries and Hasinai Indians of East Texas; they focused mainly on attempts to
• Convert the Indians to Roman Catholic Christianity
• Get the Indians to enter the missions
• Get the Indians to substitute the Spanish way of life for their native ways
• Collaborated on the Class Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol

Assignment: Use the Synopses of the 5 Staves to write your portion of the Class Christmas Carol; click here to add your part. If you have suggestions for classmates, add them as Comments.

A Christmas Carol, Stave 4 - Google+ Chat/Videoconference - Reading Ch. 5 on Spanish Missions & Settlements

Students today:

• Discussed several students' questions about Stave 4 of A Christmas Carol in various ways:
• Orally
• Google Chat
• Google Videoconference
• Semi-silently read Chapter 5 on Spanish Missions & Settlements, intermittently pausing to discuss key concepts:
• The role of French imperialism in Spanish policy toward Texas
• The relative importance of God, gold, glory, and the French in Spanish decisions whether or not to settle people in Texas

Assignments - For Thursday:
1. A Christmas Carol

• Read rest of the Carol (Stave Five).
• Write discussion questions.
• Stave Five Vocabulary, if you need it

2. Finish reading textbook Ch. 5: Missions & Settlements.

• Be thinking about the key concepts & questions mentioned above.

Comparing a Mission & a Presidio

Today students:

• Did an activity called Comparing a Mission & a Presidio
• Used Google Maps to visit mission sites of Spanish Texas
• Discussed some of the similarities and differences students noticed 
• Discussed which type of compound would be easier to defend & why
• Compared the Los Adaes presidio with other presidios in the Spanish, French, and British empires

Assignments

1. Finish Comparing a Mission & a Presidio
• Post your comparison at your blog by 8 A.M., Monday, 12/8/14
2. Read Stave Three of A Christmas Carol
• Write discussion questions & post them to your blog.
• Continue working on your Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol.
• Come prepared to discuss Staves Two and Three on Monday.

Various Zany Approaches to A Christmas Carol - Less Zany Approaches to Spanish Texas

Today students:

• Discussed some of their questions over Stave One of A Christmas Carol - View them here and here.
• Acted out key words describing Scrooge, particularly this passage: "Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." Things got a little zany indeed, but no one complained.
• Examined the mystery of the origins of the word humbug
• Began writing A Christmas Carol about A Christmas Carol
• We brainstormed various Christmas carols.
• Students chose one and then began writing their own carol based on what happened in Stave One.
• They will keep adding stanzas as we read each Stave.
• Things got a little zany during this activity as well. Indeed.

• Read one another's Essay Ranking Spanish Explorers. They can be read here and here. (You will need to select the second one by hovering and clicking, as it seems to be written in black. It can be read, though!)
• Examined and analyzed two sets of maps showing the competition between European powers to build colonial empires in the Americas
• Began examining a rather complex Chronology of Spanish Texas to note how Spain's interest in settling Texas waned and waxed as French threats to Texas waned and waxed.

Assignment: A Christmas Carol

1. Read Stave Two.
2. Write discussion questions, post them at your blog, add picture(s).
3. Write Verse 2 of your Christmas Carol, based on what happens in Stave Two.
4. Vocabulary help for Stave Two can be found here.

Communion - Brief Review for Quiz - Quiz over Ch. 5 Summary

Today students:

• Attended communion chapel
• Reviewed briefly for the Quiz over Ch. 5: Missions & Settlements
• Took the Quiz

Assignments - Due Thursday

1. Essay Ranking Spanish Explorers - 
• Have your finished essay posted at your blog by 8 A.M. on Thursday. 
• You can copy and paste it but also link to it in Dropbox.
• Mrs. Horner will let you work on it this afternoon, so use your time well.
• Add one or more pictures to the post, just to, you know, spiff it up.
2. A Christmas Carol - Stave One
• Read the rest of Stave One.
• Write good discussion questions. You can add them to the ones you wrote over the first 8 paragraphs.
• Post the questions to your blog. 
• Be sure to add a picture to the post.
• Use the Vocabulary list for Stave One to help you with difficult words.

Quiz Prep - Pre-Reading Discussion for A Christmas Carol

Today, the student and I:

• Prepared for tomorrow's Quiz over the Chapter 5 Summary: Missions and Settlements
• Examined an Animated Chronology of Spanish Settlement in Texas
• Finished reading, highlighting, and analyzing the Ch. 5 Summary
• Quizzed one another over key facts and concepts in the Summary
• Used a Practice Study Map to quiz one another over locations of key missions and presidios
• Prepared to Read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol by
• Generating a list of Possible Discussion Questions About Christmas
• Choosing one of the questions and discussing it
• Agreeing to read the first few paragraphs of ACC (see below)

Assignments

1. Quiz over Chapter 5 Summary
2. Be working on your Essay Ranking the Explorers (Due Thursday; Mrs. Horner will let you continue working on it in Grammar/Writing class.)
3. Read the first 8 paragraphs of Stave One of ACC (clicky clicky): "Marley's Ghost" 
4. Write at least two discussion questions over the reading.
5. Vocabulary for ACC: If you're having trouble understanding some of Dickens' "big words," here are some Stave-by-Stave lists of words, defined for your learning and reading pleasure. (Thanks to Phil Jones for doing this!!) 

• Stave One 
• Stave Two  
• Stave Three 
• Stave Four 
• Stave Five

Tolsto(r)y Followup - Explorers Essay - Ch. 5 Summary

Students returned from Thanksgiving and:

• Discussed several followup questions over Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"
• Began writing an Essay Ranking the Spanish Explorers - See instructions here.
• They will be able to work on it in Grammar class with Mrs. Horner.
• The essay will be due Thursday.
• Began reading and discussing the Chapter 5 Summary: Missions and Settlements
• Students will take a Quiz over the Ch. 5 Summary on Wednesday.
• We finished the first paragraph, pausing to relate key terminology from the reading to things depicted in the maps and pictures to the right.
• We color-coded key terminology and then inserted arrows stretching from the words to the picture. Click here to get an idea of how this was done.
• We distinguished between missions & presidios.
• Did a sort of anticipatory discussion of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which we will read and discuss over the next week. One question raised and discussed was "Why does Dickens call his chapters "Staves"? Click here to see various formats available.

Assignments

For Wednesday - Quiz over Ch. 5 Summary: Missions and Settlements
For Thursday - Essay Ranking the Explorers

Sell Myself Presentations - Discussion of Tolsto(r)y - Wishes for Happy Thanksgiving

Today students:

• Sold Themselves to Queen Jill and the Royal Court of Grade the Fourth
• Discussed Tolstoy's short story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" - 
• See students' discussion questions here, here, and here.
• See our riff on this here.
• Gave and received wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

Assignments: (See wishes above.)

Sell Myself Project - Tolsto(r)y - La Salle's La Belle Documentary

Today students:

• Got back their graded Quizzes over Chapter 4: Early Explorers - The celebration almost got out of hand! (j/k)
• Had the choice of working on their Sell Myself Project or reading the Tolstoy short story (or doing some of each); both are due tomorrow
• Shared their lists of "Wants" and "Needs" at their blogs. Click here, here, and here to view.
• Watched some of a documentary of the La Salle Shipwreck Project, embedded above:

Assignments: See instructions in yesterday's class blog post.

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.