Saturday, September 28, 2013







SUBJECT: The West Transformed, 1860-1896 A.D.




REMEMBER!!! - YOU MUST TAKE NOTES ON YOUR READING![either jot down your notes in your spiral notebook, OR print and paste the reading into your spiral notebook and highlight ~ I will accept that as notes!]

The READING this week is:
DEADLINE: due THURSDAY! (reading will be due every week)
DON'T FORGET YOUR THREE CURRENTS ARE ALSO DUE EVERY THURSDAY!

***TEST!***WEDNESDAY - go over your notes
YOU WILL HAVE TO KNOW THE PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION!
(And be prepared to answer questions about the Constitutionalism and other government types)

...and for goodness sakes - make sure you have your Constitution!!!

   

Sunday, September 22, 2013
















SUBJECT: Reconstruction (Impeachment), 1863-1896



Your weekly reading assignments will be online. (click links above)

YOU MUST TAKE NOTES ON YOUR READING!

The READING is the same as last week - but this week you will read:
REMEMBER page 4 of the QUESTIONS is intended to be a REVIEWComplete that page, as best you can, without notes or your reading questions.

DEADLINE: due THURSDAY! (reading will be due every week)

***QUIZ!***WEDNESDAY - go over your notes
(And be prepared to answer questions about the Constitutionalism and other government types)

Thursday, September 19, 2013



STYLE GUIDE - click here for your copy



You have an assignment, like National History Day.
You have been asked to not only take notes on notecards, but to provide BIBLIOGRAPHY CARDS. But....but....how do you write out the information ABOUT that source?
Should the title of the source (book, magazine, encyclopaedia, or whatever) go first? Should you write the author's name last? What about the date? And is punctuation important...

...OH!!! WHAT WILL YOU DOOOOOO????!!!!!

[INSERT HEROIC MUSIC HERE...tum, ta-ta, tum-tum-tum, ta-ta, tum-tum-tum, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da....well, you get the idea...]

NEVER FEAR, CITIZEN! YOUR DAY IS SAVED!!!

MLA (MODERN LANGUAGE USAGE) Style is a DOCUMENTATION CONVENTION. That's really just a big, fancy way of simply saying, "Hey, I have this book I'm using for Mr. Johnson and I need to tell him about it for my bibliography - and I KNOW EXACTLY how to write out that information!!! THANK YOU!....THANK YOU, MLA!....my hero...."

In the words of the MLA website:

MLA style has been widely adopted by schools, academic departments, and instructors for over half a century. The association's guidelines are also used by over 1,100 scholarly and literary journals, newsletters, and magazines and by many university and commercial presses. The MLA's guidelines are followed throughout North America and in Brazil, China, India, Japan, Taiwan, and other countries around the world.

IT IS REQUIRED IN MY CLASS TO USE MLA STYLE FOR ANY AND ALL SOURCE INFORMATION!!! SO GET USED TO IT...AND USE THE LINKED GUIDE OR GO TO THE MLA WEBSITE IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS...

http://www.mla.org/

Sunday, September 15, 2013











SUBJECT: Reconstruction, 1863-1896
 



REMEMBER ~ scan news sources for THREE STORIES (2 national, political or world news and 1 on any subject you chose) - learn about your world!
DOWNLOAD A FORM HERE (or get one in class) 







This year you will be provided your weekly reading online. (click links above)

YOU MUST TAKE NOTES ON YOUR READING!
 
YOU MAY PRINT OUT YOUR OWN, if you wish - and, as last year, paste a copy in your notebooks and highlight. One way or another, you will still be required to take notes on your reading in your notebooks.


DEADLINE: Read "Weekly Reading" page 1-2 and complete "Weekly Questions", page 1 - due THURSDAY! (reading will be due every week)

The links provide this and next week's reading (in case you want to read ahead)...

***POP QUIZ!***
BE PREPARED THIS WEEK - go over your notes
(And be prepared to answer questions about the Constitution as well)


Saturday, September 7, 2013


 














To help you know what is due each week, a weekly calendar will be posted weekly. Remember the assignments are also posted in the classroom on the bathroom door each week.

Weekly CURRENTS handout can be downloaded here.















I could give you a boring, long, drawn-out research paper on a dusty, decrepit, old, [yawn] snoresville topic you really, REALLY could care less about...zzzz...
OR
We can participate in National History Day (NHD) again! [YEAH! YEAH!]
You know - NHD - the national contest where you will research a topic of YOUR CHOICE and create a project of YOUR CHOICE...you know...something fun!

This year's theme: RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
(American History Only)


You may be in a GROUP OF 2-5 STUDENTS or work INDIVIDUALLY (I highly recommend you join a group, though).

You may enter one of FIVE CATEGORIES:
  • paper (individual only)
  • exhibit
  • performance
  • documentary (video)
  • web site
We will work on this in class each week on Thursdays. The following assignments will be required for classwork, as well as the final contest entry:

[1] 120 notecards.
You will be required to research your topic and provide me 10 notecards (10 facts) each Thursday before Christmas. I will be checking on your progress each week and keep prompting you to stay current with only 10 facts weekly.You will be required to find sources that are:
  • At least 5 different type of sources (newspaper, magazine, book, interview, encyclopaedia, website [with two confirmation sources], journal, map, photo, video, lecture...to mention a few), and...
  • At least 2 PRIMARY SOURCES (we will discuss this in class, but a PRIMARY SOURCE is from someone who was actually there at the event in history)
YOU WILL NEED TO COME TO CLASS WITH SOME RESEARCH MATERIAL!
We are limited on computers so make sure you go to the library or order material through the BOOKMOBILE (it will come to school every two weeks) to have material to conduct research. 
• DUE DATE: Thursday, December 12, 2013
   
[2] An annotated bibliography.
You will be doing research - and you need to provide a list of the sources you will use on your project, with a short, two-sentence description of each source (with correct MLA citation of your sources).
• DUE DATE: Thursday, January 30, 2014
   
[3] A process paper.
You will be required to show how you have conducted research on your project (with correct MLA citation of your sources). 
• DUE DATE: Thursday, February 6, 2014 
  
[4] The actual project - see above for the five categories you may complete for the final project.
SEE THE RULES for each project type for details. I will also provide other details for each project category. For right now, start thinking of what you would like to do.
• DUE DATE: Thursday, February 20, 2014

(for certain categories, other assignments with deadlines not indicated here [storyboards, website maps, models, for instance] will be assigned as we progress) 

The Idaho State History Day site is located here.
  • We will hold a School Contest at the end of February, 2014 (Date TBA). 
  • The winner will be selected to go to the Regional Contest in Kellogg on March 8, 2014. DETAILS will be provided later. 
  • The Idaho State History Day competition will be in Boise held on April 12, 2014.

The National History Day competition will be held at the University of Maryland between June 15-19, 2014.

The official rule book may be downloaded here.
The theme overview sheet may be downloaded here.
The sample topics sheet may be downloaded here.

Go to http://www.nhd.org/ for more information (or click the logo below).


FINAL DUE DATE: February 20, 2014 (the final project)

Thursday, September 5, 2013



ASSIGNMENT



You will be adding your creativity to the LIBERTY TREE growing in my room.
You will add your "LEAF" (from the paper provided in class) to help it grow...
 
Research the President(s) provided and visually indicate FIVE MAJOR EVENTS during his (their) administration(s). Then point out ONE MAJOR EVENT of the five that you feel is the MAJOR EVENT during that time period.

The specific details are included in the ASSIGNMENT/RUBRIC SHEET that was handed out in class (click here for another copy, if you lost yours).

YOU WILL HAVE ONE MINUTE TO PRESENT YOUR "LEAF" TO THE CLASS ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th...

DUE DATE: Wednesday, September 11th

Wednesday, September 4, 2013


YOUR FIRST READING ASSIGNMENT DUE NEXT THURSDAY, September 12th - read all SEVEN ARTICLES of the U.S. Constitution. (It's short - only about 15-18 pages) And yes, even if you read it last year, you must read it again - there will be questions asked about what you read.
 
EVERY American citizen should own their own copy of the CONSTITUTION.
AND EVERY student in my class MUST have one, yes even…..YOU!!!

So your first assignment is simple. Order at least one. I recommend you order two (a printed copy and a digital copy).

[1] ORDER a FREE PRINTED COPY. It will only cost you $0.65 postage
[and please let me know if you do not have $0.65 - do not let that stop you from ordering your own copy]

Go to http://www.nccs.net/us_constitution.html.


Locate on the page where it says "Get your FREE Pocket Constitution". Follow the instructions and order your own copy.
By the end of the year, you are REQUIRED to have read the entire Constitution at least once - you may even sign the pledge on the back of the copy that will be sent to you (optional).

FOLKS you can also purchase a cheap U.S. Constitution at most department stores (I know Fred Myers and ShopKO have copies). OR you may download a free copy online and print one out, if you prefer.

[2] ORDER a FREE DIGITAL COPY. You will need to determine what technology you are using then download what works best on your machine. Here are a few options:


If any of these do not work on your particular technology, Google "Free Constitution" and add your technology to the search field.

If you do NOT have a smart phone, e-reader, tablet or other technology device, you are not required to download a free digital copy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUE DATE: Monday, September 16th - NO you do not need to have a copy, if you ordered it online, but you must indicate that you have sent off for your own copy. Just provide me a note from your parents indicating you have ordered a copy or have one on the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



[Click the image for a high resolution .jpg of the first page]

Monday, September 2, 2013

WELCOME BACK!






Welcome to North Idaho STEM Charter Academy's second year! I am so glad to join you in exploring the history of our great nation, where we have the potential to live in freedom ~ to learn, live and profit!

The following blogspot is dedicated to Mr. Johnson's Social Studies class, where you will not only learn of wonderful inventions and innovations throughout history, but also the blessings you have as a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of mankind, your own United States of America.

Hang on for a FANTASTIC YEAR! Here we go again! EXCELLENTÉ!

(By the way, this is the letter sent home to your parents).