Assignments Over Thanksgiving Break

Remember this painting of William Penn's Treaty with the Indians by Benjamin West?

As always we move forward without neglecting to look back!  As you enjoy your holiday spend at least a moment reflecting on the Pilgrims and Puritans and their influence on the begining of our nation! 

I announced during class that I will not be assigning any opportunities this week, but that doesn't mean NO, homework.  Middleschool students who are keeping journals - you may choose to journal this week or not.  Here is a summary of what you do need to do before we meet again:

Text Book Reading:  
pp 220-247
(We begin Chapter 7 and our study of Andrew Jackson -- I'd like you to really learn as much as you can from the text becuase in the New Year we will be visiting the Andrew Jackson Museum in Waxhaw!)

Missouri Compromise Assignment:
Finish your maps and your worksheets and file them in Chapter 6 in your notebooks.  Also make sure that you have a summary of the Constitutional Slavery Compromises alongside these pages.  HERE is the link to the interactive map we used in class.  You will need both this map and the actual text of the Missouri Compromise (see previous post) to complete this assignment.  We will use this information again - we will build upon it when we look at the tarriffs during Jackson's presidency.  We will refer back to these worksheets leading up to our study of the the Civil War so make sure you have completed it!  It is not ok to 'guess' or estimate answers to these questions even if you think or know you are right.  Use the data on the map - it is information from historical documents and it's your first practice at using historical documents to answer questions.  As a note to help you answer the density question --- density compares the population per land area.  Division is used to calculate how many people there were per square mile.  This is already calculated for you and located at the bottom of each table, but I just wanted you to know what this number means and where it came from. 

Notebook Work: 
Use this time to reorganize and re-establish order in your notebooks.  File things where they go.  Some of your notebooks are becoming dangerous - spilling out their contents into the crate when I check them.  Also many of you are not completing notebook assignments... 
Chapter Timeline & List of Important People
This was designed as a tool to help you organize and think about your reading.  It was also designed to help you create a study guide for yourselves.  I will be making a post about each of these notebook assignments over the holidays to give you some tips and advice.  Do not neglect this notebook work - it is a part of your grade, but it will also help you be prepared for class!
Vocabulary
I apologize that we have not recently been able to fit this into our class time.  It is a valuable habit that I would like to help you develop and I'll try and reestablish this routine in the coming weeks.

Autobiography:
Those of you who are reading the autobiography use this time to either follow or catch up on your reading plans.  We will meet to talk about your readings, but it may not be until after the holidays, I'll keep you updated.

PSH:
pp 53-55 William Lloyd Garrison
I also encourage you to read the next piece which is a selection from Washington Irving's periodical in which he establishes the Gotham as a fictionalized NY!

Economics:
Make sure that you are caught up in your Penny Candy readings.  If all works out we will have a guest speaker on Economics in a few weeks.  Look over and review the handouts you've been given, and if you can, I encourage you to read the essay posted a couple of weeks ago 'I, Pencil'.

Projects:
Recitation
Use this time wisely to work on your recitations.  Finish memorizing and work on your presentation using the tips that Mrs. Calder shared with us last week.  Please refer to the recommendations and encouragements that Mrs. Newton shared with you in class today.  I had a chance to review them and they are very helpful -- Nick your's fell out of your notebook, I'll try and email you a summary soon!
Oral Family History
I'll be making a separate post detailing this project - it's due much later, but use this time of families getting together to ask for stories.  Basically, your project is just to present to the class (various formats are acceptable) something regarding your family history from the time period of this class (1400s - 1920).