Monday, November 9, 2009

Homework week of 11/09/09


 (Cllick on the above images to view printable JPGs of the homework assignment and handouts)

Middle School Humanities and Language Arts Homework
Week of 11/09/09

History
1. Read “A Restless Peace” chapter 3 of A Nation Torn. Complete questions.
Due in 2nd block this week (I-Friday, II-Thursday, III-Wed.)
2. Complete the United States map(s) to be handed out in class in 1st block.
Due in 2nd block this week (I-Friday, II-Thursday, III-Wed.)
3. You may receive a second reading assignment to be due in first block next week. Stay tuned.

Language Arts
All students:
1. Choose and begin a new independent book. It must be approved by your language arts teacher by Tuesday, Nov. 10th. Read a minimum of 50 pages per week. We will assign literary logs each week and there will be a book review due by Dec. 11th.

6th grade
Final Anthony Burns projects are due this week:
Newspaper article is due on Tuesday, November 10th. Art project is due Thursday, Nov. 12th.

7th grade
Final Anthony Burns projects are due this week:
Newspaper article and art project are due Friday, November 13th.
2. Complete illustration of farm school poem. Due Friday, Nov. 13th.

8th grade
Final Anthony Burns projects are due this week:
Newspaper article is due on Monday, Nov. 9th. Art project is due Friday, November 16th.
3. Poetry homework will be assigned on Monday and due on Friday, Nov. 13th.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Study Guide for "America, North and South" and maps







(Click on the thumbnails above to view printable JPG images of the 5 page study guide)


Study Guide for test on “America, North and South” and Maps we have done

(Pages 17-23)
1. Why did the population of the US grow so fast between 1800 and 1860?


2. The expansion of the railroad was important in a number of ways. Explain what these were in detail.


3. In what important ways was life in the North different from life in the South?


4. Explain the way the in the South depended on the North and the economy of the North depended on the South.


5. This relationship caused many difficulties. Explain these conflicts.


6. Who was John Calhoun and what did he propose?

Was this a good idea? Explain your answer.

Slavery - We watched the film and also you read about slavery in the reading packet. The following questions draw from both the film and the reading.
7. The earliest colonists, who came in the mid 1600’s, brought slaves and indentured servants with them. Would you say the lives of these early enslaved people were better or worse than those of slaves in the 1800’s? Explain your answer.

8. Where did the slaves come from and how did they get to the Americas?

9. Who was Eli Whitney and what did he do?

When was this? What difference did it make and why?

10. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote an important book called
What impact did it have and why?

11. Abolitionists were people who _________________________________________________.
What are some things abolitionists did?

Who was William Lloyd Garrison and what did he do?


12. How did Southerners see the people they enslaved and justify slavery?

From the Maps and Timeline
13. People from what 3 countries came to the Americas starting in the 1600’s?


What are some of the reasons they came?


14. Who was already here and what happened to them?

15. There were two major trade triangles. One went from ______________________ to ________________________ to ___________________________. The other one went from ________________________ to _________________________ to _______________________
Draw them on the map and show what was traded in each direction. Were people in both the Northern and Southern colonies involved on these trade triangles? Explain.

16. The 13 original colonies belonged to which country? ____________________________
When did they become the United States and how? ___________________________________

17. The United States grew by buying land, annexing land and having land ceded to it. Explain what each of these words means.

18. What happened in 1803? Be specific and explain the importance of this.


19. How and when the US get land that is now part of Florida?

20. Explain what a border adjustment is.

Where did this happen and with what country?
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Monday, November 2, 2009

homework week of 11/2/09


(Click on the image above to see a large printable JPG image of this week's homework)


Middle School Language Arts and Humanities Homework
Week of Nov. 2nd, 2009
History
1. Study for the history test this week. The test days have been changed. The test will be on Thursday during language arts for 6th and 8th graders, and on Wed. for 7th graders.
• Complete the study guide by rereading the packet, looking at your maps and looking at the “Questions North and South” sheet. Have someone at home or a friend ask you the questions and you tell them the answers as if they are a story. Learning things by rote without understanding them will not help you. We will re-word many of the questions.
• Take blank maps and fill them in lightly in pencil without looking at your original maps. Then look at your map and make any changes. Erase and try again.
• Look carefully at your timeline. You don’t need to remember actual dates, but you do need to know why things are important. For example, why was the invention of the cotton gin important? What did it mean for the continuation of slavery? How did the invention of factories change the North? Be specific.

2. Bring your Anthony Burns book to class for 2nd block and all language arts classes this week.

Language Arts
EVERYBODY:
Complete the following 2 final assignments on Anthony Burns.

• Choose 1 day from 1 of the “present - 1854” chapters and write a newspaper article about what happened that day. Be sure to include all details, write descriptively, and write from the perspective of a writer in that time period. You may assume that your writer can be in the courtroom, Faneuil Hall, or any other place mentioned in the book. We’ll give you a sample article to help know how to write and present yours.

• Create an art project that explores one of the main themes in the novel. We’ll brainstorm themes in class. Your art project may be a 3 dimensional project (no dioramas), an assemblage, a collage, a drawing (colored pencils or cray pas), a painting, or a sculpture. We’ll look at some examples in class.

Newspaper article is due on Tuesday, November 10th for 6th graders and the art project is due Thursday, Nov. 12th. Other due dates are below.

6th grade:
1. Wordly Wise – We will start Wordly Wise unit 2 in class on Tuesday and it will be due on Friday, November 6. The test on unit 1 will be Tuesday, November 10th.


7th grade :
1. Wordly Wise unit 2 is due Wednesday, Nov. 4th.
2. Test on Wordly Wise units 1 and 2 will be on Friday, Nov. 6th.
3. Final Farm School essay is due Friday, Nov. 6th. You will have time to work on it in class on Wed., Nov. 4th. Bring your travel drives.
3. Complete 2 final assignments on Anthony Burns. Look under 6th grade language arts. Newspaper article is due on Wed., November 11th. Art project is due Friday, November 13th.


8th grade:

3. Complete 2 final assignments on Anthony Burns. Look under 6th grade language arts. Newspaper article is due on Monday, Nov. 9th. Art project is due Friday, November 13th

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Homework week of 10/26/09


(Click on the image above to see a large printable JPG image of this week's homework)

Middle School Humanities and Language Arts Homework
Week of 10/26/09

History
1. In your slave narrative group you will work out individual assignments for your poster and presentation. Those will be due in 2nd block this week (I-Fri., II-Thurs., III-Wed.).
For more information on the slave trade, go to http://synergyhumanities.blogspot.com
Look at the map and click on the link. This will get you to the New York Public Library abolition of slavery site. Go to maps. Choose 2 maps to look at in detail.
On a separate piece of paper, write 4 things you learned from each of the maps. Due in 2nd block this week.

2. You will have a quiz next week on the North and South Packet, the trade map (you will have to fill in the blanks on the trade routes), and on some aspects of the Slavery in America video we’ve been watching in class. For that you will be asked to write a letter like you did about slavery in the South, including information from the video. We will brainstorm for this in class this week. To study you need to re-read the chapter “North and South” from A Nation Torn, review the questions from that chapter, review the trade map, and review the notes from Slavery in America.
Quiz---Block I---Tues., Nov. 3rd, Block III---Wed., Nov. 4th, Block II, Thursday, Nov. 5th

3. You may receive the second reading packet in second block this week. (We’ll see how far we get in class).

Language Arts
6th grade
1. Complete Anthony Burns by Thursday, Oct. 29th (6th grade) and Friday, Oct. 30th for 7th and 8th grades). Keep writing reflections (quick writes) for each chapter. Those are due on the dates listed above.

7th grade
1. Complete Anthony Burns by Thursday, Oct. 29th (6th grade) and Friday, Oct. 30th for 7th and 8th grades). Keep writing reflections (quick writes) for each chapter. Those are due on the dates listed above.
2. Final Farm School essay due Wed., Nov. 4th.
3. We will work on Wordly Wise unit 2 in class on Wed., Oct. 28th. The entire unit is due on Wed., Nov. 4th. A quiz on the first 2 units will be on Friday, Nov. 6th.

8th grade
1. Complete Anthony Burns by Thurs., Oct. 29th (6th )Fri.Oct. 30th (7th and 8th). Keep writing reflections (quick writes) for each chapter. Those are due on the dates listed above.
2. Final Farm School essay due Friday, Oct. 30th.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade

Monday, October 19, 2009

Homework week of 10/19/09

Middle School Humanities and Language Arts Homework
Week of October 19, 2009


History
1. You will receive a slave narrative in class to read. Working with a small group, over the next week you will prepare a poster and presentation about this person. More specifics will be handed out in class.


Language Arts

6th Grade
1. Questions and quick writes/reflections for chapters 11 and 12 are due on Tuesday, Oct. 20th.
Read chapters 13, 14, 15 of Anthony Burns, The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave. Write reflections/quick writes for each chapter. Due Thursday, Oct. 22nd.

7th Grade
1. Rough draft of Farm School essay ---- Due Wed., October 21st. Be sure to turn in the planning sheet with the rough draft.

2. Read chapters 13, 14, 15 of Anthony Burns, The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave. Write reflections/quick writes for each chapter. Due Wed., Oct. 21st.

8th Grade
1. Rough draft of Farm School essay ---- Due Thursday, Oct. 22nd. Be sure to turn in the planning sheet with the rough draft.

2. Read chapters 13, 14, 15 of Anthony Burns, The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave. Write reflections/quick writes for each chapter. Due Thursday, Oct. 22nd.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Humanities and Language Arts Course Outlines

Humanities Course Overview 2009-2010

The theme for the year is United States History of the 19th century.
Topics include:
• Territorial Expansion from the colonial period through the 1860’s
• United States geography and world geography as it relates to U.S. history
• The structure of the United States government, particularly states rights and federal Rights and the role of the Judiciary
• Issues that lead up to the Civil War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction
• Industrialization
• Indian “removal”
• The U.S. war against Mexico
• Famous and not-so-famous people during the 19th century
• Other topics as they arise in our studies

Language Arts Course Overview 2009-2010

6th grade:
• Literature studies, including deepening understanding of literary elements
• Literature we study:
Anthony Burns
Collection of memoirs
One or two more class book to be decided, depending on what kids have read already.

Writing
• Memoirs
• Poetry
• Essays – learning the basics
• Literary logs
• Reports
• Paragraph writing review
• Book reviews

Grammar, parts of speech, capitalization, sentence structures

Vocabulary Development
• Wordly Wise
• Vocabulary in class books and readings as well as in history readings

Over-----------------Over---------------Over





7th grade:
• Literature studies, including deepening understanding of literary elements
• Literature we study:
Anthony Burns
Night
Collections of memoirs
One more class book to be decided

Writing
• Memoirs
• Poetry
• Essays
• Literary logs
• Reports
• Paragraph writing review
• Book reviews

Grammar, parts of speech, capitalization, sentence structures
Vocabulary Development
• Wordly Wise
• Vocabulary in class books and readings as well as in history readings

8th grade:
• Literature studies, including deepening understanding of literary elements
• Literature we study:
Anthony Burns
Twelfth Night
To Kill a Mockingbird
If time, we’ll read The Absolutely True Story of a Part-time Indian

Writing
• Poetry
• Essays
• Literary logs
• Reports
• Paragraph writing review
• Book reviews
• Researching, writing a 10 to 15 page paper, and creating a significant visual project for the 8th grade project

Grammar, parts of speech, capitalization, sentence structures
Vocabulary Development
• Vocabulary in class books and readings as well as in history readings