Period 2: Last Week, Day 2/2 - Class Recap

Sunset over London, in 2007 as I was studying abroad there. I am very sad to be leaving teaching at Westview and also excited to be able to travel to one of my favorite cities in the world next month!

Dear class,

Thank you for a wonderful last day, full of fun, laughter, and a bit of learning. I will really miss you all - so much so that I will probably be back the very next class to check in and help out Mrs. DeFrance Gilman. I hope you enjoyed my time as your long term substitute teacher, because I thoroughly enjoyed working for you. On to the last recap!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart? - Something that brings people together is education. Something that tears people apart could be the lack of available funding for more full time teaching jobs - which eventually meant that I was available to be the substitute for your class! A big circle. :-)

Soundtrack: "Thankful" by Kelly Clarkson. I always have this at the entrance music for my last classes, because I truly am thankful for the all the blessings, and the lessons that I have learned with everyone! Lyrics (some of which I read to the class) here.

AGENDA 4/26/13:
News Brief
Final Jeopardy
Geo. Comp.
The Long Goodbye

Homework: Keep in touch! Work hard for Mrs. DeFrance Gilman!

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News Brief: Jose and Daisy presented the news brief today. Thank you both!

I hope that everyone enjoyed the news brief section as much as I do! It is always interesting to hear about what is happening around the world. That curiosity is something that really helped me in my time as a student.

Final Jeopardy: I loved this so much. It is always fun to play - congratulations to Team 1 for winning the friendly competition! As a reminder, the categories were: World War I, Russian Revolution, 9/11 Unit, The Class, Mr. Fritz, and "Places in Pictures."

A little loud and rowdy (I'm sure Mrs. Carpenter loved it next door), but that was okay.

Geo. Comp.: Yes, the return of the geography world map quiz! Your class scored 137 out of 197, good for third place in my Global Studies classes. I am a nerd, so I love playing this game (I have named all 197 a few times, but not recently). Let me know if you play it and how you score, without cheating!

The Long Goodbye: At the end of class, I said a few words about how grateful I was to be able to teach your class, and talked a bit about ways in which you can stay in touch with me, if you would like to. I am not sure how long I will continue to have the Beaverton school district email, so if I do not respond to that, you can write to me at lukefritz64@gmail.com - I would love to help look at papers, give advice on school stuff, or just check in!

I also talked about social media, because I know that students are aware of my presence there. So yes, a good way to follow what I will be up to is bookmark and/or follow me on twitter, here: @LukeFritz64 on Twitter - I made sure to explain that what I post on twitter is NOT teaching - it is my own commentary and should not be seen as factual. Also, if you want me to follow you, let me know. I will just assume that you do not want me to unless you tell me. Another social media site that I am on (also publicly, so you can follow without me following you, if you want) is www.instagram.com/LukeFritz.

We talked in class about my role (just like any other adult that works with students) as a mandatory reporter, meaning that if you post something that threatens your own life or others, or about physical, mental, or sexual abuse, I am required by law to contact Child Protective Services to try and get you help.

In general, I would love to be a resource to help you and keep in touch in the future! I hope to see everyone again soon. Please keep working hard for Mrs. DeFrance Gilman the rest of the year!

Here's the picture that we took of the class as a panorama at the end (click to make big):

It messed up a bit, but still pretty cool!

Until next time, thank you so much again! :-)

Period 2: Last Week, Day 1/2 - Class Recap

The one fun event I was able to attend this weekend was the Portland Thorns FC home opener, in the middle of grading historical investigation papers. Here's the awesome Rose City Riveters supporters group (I am a part of developing it), holding a welcoming display for our new team!

Dear class,

Welcome to the last week with me as your teacher! Only one more day after today as your long term substitute teacher. Plenty of work for me to do, so I will not dwell on that fact. Thank you for your hard work and focus today! On to the recap:

Soundtrack: “At Last” by Etta James. Selected because this is the last week as your substitute! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/24/13:
News Brief
Middle East Map Quiz
Letter to Mrs. DeFrance Gilman
Historical Investigation Grades

Homework:  Check the blog.

Next news brief: Everyone that has not gone yet! I have that as Juan, Jose, and Daisy.
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News Brief: The three articles that were brought in today were from Ryan, Tracey, and Steve. Here they are:

1) BBC.co.uk - Same-sex marriage: French parliament approves new law

2) CNN.com - Car bomb explodes outside French embassy in Tripoli; 2 guards, girl injured

3) CNN.com - Bangladesh building collapse kills more than 70

Only one more news brief section left! I hope you enjoy talking about what is happening around the world as much as I do!

Middle East Map Quiz: Almost everyone did well on this - probably because I gave you time to study right before. I was able to grade these and get them back to you in class. Fast grading in action! Thank you for studying this important area of the world. The points from this helped many get some back from the research project grades.

Letter to Mrs. DeFrance Gilman: For the rest of class, I had everyone write a letter to Mrs. DeFrance Gilman, explaining what you have been up to in the time she has been away (I gave you four areas to write about, with some examples):

What history content have you learned since January?
- World War I
- Russian Revolution
- Historical Investigation
- 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq
- News Briefs
What skills have you developed?
- Essay writing
- Forced Choice Debates
- Researching
- Citing sources
- News gathering
How was Mr. Fritz as a teacher?
What have you been up to since you last saw Mrs. DeFrance Gilman? What should she know about what she has missed with class?

Thank you for working on these! I will pass them on to Mrs. DeFrance Gilman, probably on Friday.

Historical Investigation Grades: Like I said, I spent almost all weekend grading these. Overall, the class average was around a high C. I explained how I graded and that I put lots of comments throughout each paper. I really value your time and effort in working on this difficult project! If you would like to revise it, I am guessing that Mrs. DeFrance Gilman will let you do so (I am not sure I will have the time to take revisions this week).

See you next class! It should be fun, if I have the time to get ready for it! :-)

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 9 - Class Recap

This is my friend Beri, who is from Kurdistan, which is a region that contains parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran (all countries in the Middle East). We were hiking with my great friend Clarke (Beri's boyfriend) in Vietnam and saw this buffalo in the forest!

Hi everyone,

Woo hoo! Today was the day we have been looking forward to, even before Spring Break! Hopefully you are feeling quite accomplished with turning in your historical investigation. If you did not, please get it in to me as soon as possible. My last day as your teacher has been changed to next Friday.

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “We Are The Champions” by Queen. Selected for today because you should feel like a champion for completing the historical investigation! If you did not, I definitely do not think you are losers, as the song says! Please just keep working on it and turn it in ASAP. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/19/13:
News Brief
Editorial Analysis
Study for Middle East Map Quiz

Homework: Study for Middle East Map Quiz next class! Check the blog. Next news brief: Ryan and Tracey (and anyone else who has not done one yet)

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News Brief: Seriously SO MANY news articles brought in today. Five, by my count. Courtney, Evita, Ian, Cindy O., and Zahara selected these to talk about:

1)  CNN.com - Message in a bottle found after 28-year trip from Canada to Croatia

2) CNN.com - Billionaire Saudi prince tweets support for women driving

3) CNN.com - Deadly wave of bombings across Iraq ahead of elections

4) USAToday.com - 7.0 quake hits ocean off Japan, Russia; no damage (after this one, I showed the class the USGS.gov website where you can see a map of all the recent earthquakes in the world)

5) CNN.com - Mysterious structure found at bottom of ancient lake

This week was just packed full of major international and national news. So much to talk about and be aware of! We also talked about the latest news from Boston and the region of Chechnya in Russia, which is possibly connected. Two more days of classes left, two more news brief sections!

Editorial Analysis: To start this, I played a four minute clip of the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11, which talked a bit about the lead up to the Iraq invasion by the United States. Then, I asked students to get into groups of four and analyze one of the editorial articles linked to here:

Google Drive: Reasons for the Iraq War Editorials

Then, the class tried to come up with as many reasons as possible for why the United States invaded Iraq. We came up with a really good list! This activity was to again show the class that there are many different perspectives of history. You might be asked to give your own editorial on the US involvement in the Middle East next class.

Study for Middle East Map Quiz: For the last part of class, I passed out blank maps of the Middle East and explained how I remember where each one goes. Here it is to download if you want another copy:

Google Drive: Blank Middle East Map

The countries that you will need to know for next class (the quiz will look very similar to the map above - I will give you the country names, as well) are: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Sudan, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Remember that the reason we are doing this is that a study in 2006 found that 88% of Americans aged 18-24 could not find Afghanistan (a place where over 2,000 US soldiers have died) on a map. 

Be ready for the map quiz at the start of next class! Get your historical investigations in if you did not turn it in today in class!

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 8 - Class Recap

An overview of the city of Boston, from the top of the Bunker Hill Monument. As I told the class today, I flew into or out of Boston a combined 53 times in 2011 as part of the JetBlue "Blue Pass" promotion. I took this picture on my last trip, before seeing Jay-Z and Kanye West in concert.

Hi everyone,

Only two more classes as your teacher! Plenty of work to do before then, so let's get to it.

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: "More Than A Feeling" by Boston. Selected for today because of the obvious connection of the band name to the bombings in Boston. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/17/13:
News Brief
Rough Draft Peer Review
Finish Understanding Afghanistan
Reasons for War

Homework: ***FINAL draft of Historical Investigation due next class – printed and ready to turn in with the grading rubric stapled to the front (no work in class on it)!*** Study for Middle East map quiz.

Next news brief: Cindy O., Steve, Evita, Ian
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News Brief: The news article brought in today by both Chris and Cindy N. was this: CNN.com - 4-year-old bird flu 'carrier' worries China.

The obvious big news from the top of the class was about the bombs in Boston, so I went over everything that is known so far and what we don't know and are total guesses. I talked about the bad information that flies all over the place immediately after events like this, and how this may or may not be connected to what we are learning about in class.

Rough Draft Peer Review: After the more lengthy than usual news brief, we moved on to reviewing the historical investigation rough drafts. As I told the class, this is a BIG deal. If you had an A in the class and do not turn this in next class, you will have a D at the very highest until it is turned in and complete.

Here is the peer review form that I passed out during class. Please remember that this is a general guide for what to look for - I am specifically grading on the rubric:

Google Drive: Historical Investigation Rough Draft Peer Review Form

If you missed class, or wanted to see for yourself the absolute basics of what you need to do, please check out that form.

Finish Understanding Afghanistan: After devoting a fair amount of time to reviewing (and worryingly, many students still seemed to have a lot of the historical investigation missing), I moved on to finishing up the PowerPoint we started last class. If you missed class, or I went too fast, here it is to check out again:

Google Drive: Understanding Afghanistan PowerPoint

Remember that I will be using some of this information for the Jeopardy game we will play during my last class as your teacher, next week. Mrs. DeFrance Gilman also might use it in her lessons for you in the future.

Reasons for War: At the end of class, we ran out of time to really get into this section fully, but we did get to talk a bit about why the United States invaded Iraq in 2002. Next class, we will come back to this and wrap it up, before I give you the rest of the period to study for the Middle East map quiz (I will give you a blank map to study from and the countries you will need to know).

Get your historical investigations reviewed, edited, and ready to turn in next class! Let me know how if you need help!

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 7 - Class Recap

This was my view at "Ground Zero" in 2011, as the Freedom Tower was being built in New York City. There is a permanent 9/11 memorial in place now, as well.

Dear class,

I enjoyed today! A little more laid back, with working, reviewing, studying, and some new content. Hopefully, this helped you not be as stressed about the historical investigation being due on Friday!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Under Pressure” by David Bowie. Selected for today because I think we are all feeling the pressure of quite a lot of work. Pressure can do one of two things: make diamonds or cause something to burst. I hope you are all diamonds by the end of this! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/15/13:
News Brief
Part C + D Peer Review
Understanding Afghanistan

Homework: ***Rough draft of Historical Investigation due next class - Parts A, B, C, D, and E!*** Study for Middle East map quiz. Next news brief: Courtney, Chris, Cindy N. Three C's, count on me!

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News Brief: The news brief articles brought in today were from Cara and Connor L. (more C names!):
Yahoo.com - Boat filled with protected species hits coral reef and CNN.com - At least 33 dead in Peru bus crash.

I talked about my experience with crazy bus rides in foreign countries. I also showed this video of the winning goal in the Timbers game last night as an example of something that brings people together.

Part C + D Peer Review: I really hope that you used this section to improve your historical investigation in some way. Parts C and D were due in class, so if you did your homework, you should now have everything looked over by at least one other person to help improve your work. Some basics that you were supposed to be looking for: No first person (I, me, you, us, we). Times New Roman font, size 12. Double Spaced. Part C is one full page or more. Part D is one full paragraph that has the research question answered with a thesis.

When in doubt, look at the grading rubric for how I am going to give you a grade on this! Improve, improve, improve. Get your rough draft to be in as good a position as you can for next class on Tuesday. We will do a similar exercise in class. If you are behind, you have all weekend to be working on your historical investigation. Please let me know if you are confused about what to do!

Here is the assignment sheet: Google Drive - Historical Investigation Assignment

Really, everything you need to know how to be successful is linked on the blog.

Understanding Afghanistan: To start this bit of new content, I played a selection from this video, which asked people from New York City about places in the Middle East, with humorous results. I also showed the class an article from CNN.com in 2006 (I doubt that the results of the study would be much different today) that shows how terrible young Americans are at geography: CNN.com - Study: Geography Greek to young Americans. I mean, about 60% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East and 88% could not find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.

As a Social Studies teacher, I find this completely unacceptable. Over 4,000 US servicemen and women died in Iraq in the last 10 years, and we can't even point to it on a map? This is why I am having you do the Middle East map quiz, on my last day as your teacher (April 24).

After that introduction, I started going through a PowerPoint about what has happened in Afghanistan since the end of World War I. There should be all sorts of mind blowing facts about the United States relationship there, even with Osama bin Laden himself. Here's the PowerPoint to review (we will finish next class):

Google Drive - Understanding Afghanistan PowerPoint

Thanks for being good at taking notes here.

Please remember to be working on your historical investigation! Your rough draft of everything is due in class on Wednesday!

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 6 - Class Recap

Next class, we will keep talking about the effects of 9/11 on the world. Here's the remaining antenna from one of the World Trade Center towers, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Hi everyone,

Now only FOUR classes left as your long term substitute teacher! I'm trying not to think about it too much. Which is fairly easy, since there is a TON of work left to do. On to the recap:

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Comin’ From Where I’m From” by Anthony Hamilton. Selected for today because Parts C and D of the historical investigation are analyzing the research question from your own perspective. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/10/13:
News Brief
Part B Review
Computer Lab Work Time – N210

Homework: ***IMPORTANT*** Parts C and D due next class! Study for Middle East map quiz. Next news brief: Connor L., Tracey, and Cara.

If you are confused about what to do with Parts C and D, which are the analysis (a page or more, double spaced) and conclusion (at least a paragraph), please see these links that might help:

Google Drive: Revolution Historical Investigation Assignment Overview

Google Drive: Mrs. DeFrance Gilman's Part C Analysis Example

You could also look at the grading rubric that I passed out at the start of the assignment.

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News Brief: Today's news articles were brought in by Connor J. and Ethan: CNN.com - U.S. official: North Korea could test fire missiles at any time and CNN.com - Death penalty for British grandmother upheld in Bali. That last story in particular is a great example of a forced choice debate, which involves 1) countries being able decide what they want, 2) the death penalty, and 3) drug control.

For the first story, I showed the class this link, which is a map of the missile range (both real and theoretical) of North Korean missiles: CNN.com - North Korea's missile capabilities.

It's an interesting story, for sure!

Part B Review: I passed back the Part B papers that were turned in last class, with some smaller comments. Keep revising this in preparation for next week! Many of you needed to get the citation format (both in text and in the bibliography) down better, so I explained MLA format again, using this link: MLA Citations Guide.

Computer Lab Work Time - N210: This was the last time we are going to the computer lab for writing the historical investigation. All of your work that you have left for this needs to be finished outside of class. Remember, next class, your Parts C and D are due. We will do a peer edit exercise, then your rough draft will be due next week.

Please let me know if you need any more help or support on this! I would be happy to write you a pass to the library and/or computer lab to finish!

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 5 - Class Recap

Today, we started talking about 9/11 and the impact it has had on the world. I told you that I was on the exact same plane that crashed in Pennsylvania (United Flight 93), earlier in my life. Here's a picture of one of the remaining scraps from the plane, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Dear class,

Only five class periods left as your substitute teacher! I'm getting sad already. Thanks for a really interesting class today. I appreciated the huge amounts of energy, even if it does get a little tiresome to keep waiting for quiet to move on. I would much rather have that problem over a completely non-responsive group. On to the recap!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Mean” by Taylor Swift. Selected for today because you might think I am mean for assigning you the historical investigation and because we were learning about some pretty mean people. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/8/13:
News Brief
9/11
The “F” Word
Parts C + D/Study for Map Quiz

Homework: Work on Part C and D, ready to type next class! Study for Middle East map quiz (I'll warn you when this is coming). Next news brief: Connor J. and Ethan.
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News Brief: The two news articles brought in today (by Molly J. and Ben H.) were: CNN.com - Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female PM, dead at 87 and CNN.com - U.S. diplomat died 'doing what she loved' in Afghanistan. I talked a little bit about "The Iron Lady" - Margaret Thatcher - and her importance to the United Kingdom. The second article was a very nice transition into talking about the importance of September 11th, considering the United States is still fighting a war in Afghanistan, over a decade after it started.

9/11: To begin this section, I asked the class to write a response to these questions: What do you know about September 11th, 2001? What have you heard about it? Do you remember anything? What have you learned before, in class, or from parents?

While the class was writing, I played this video without warning (before this, I said that anyone who felt the need to step out and compose themselves could do so without asking):

The point for playing this in the middle of writing was to kind of send a shock to the system. This is what I felt like on September 11, 2001, when I was almost exactly the age many of you are now (15 years and a little less than two months old). I told my story of September 11th and how I learned that I flew on one of the hijacked planes a few years earlier. Here's my Flight Memory map that I showed in class.

I asked the class for some reactions and memories (there were some very powerful ones), then played another video, which goes over the basic timeline of that day: YouTube.com - 9/11 Video Timeline: How the Day Unfolded.

The "F" Word: As I said at the start of class, this probably wasn't the one you were thinking of. ;-) No, this was FEAR. For sure, when September 11th happened, I was definitely in a state of fear about what was going on in the world. Next, I had the class write out a time that you experienced fear in your life, responding to these questions: What is a time in your life that you felt fear? How did it make you feel? What would you be willing to do to get away from that fear?

After responding, the class shared within small groups, then we talked about a few overall. I shared that I have a fear of letting down my parents, who have been simply incredible to me for my entire life. We will look at the role that fear plays in starting conflicts, especially with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Parts C + D/Study For Map Quiz: For the last part of class, I explained what Part C (your analysis essay for the historical investigation, which needs to be at least a page) and Part D (the conclusion) should look like. I showed the class the Historical Investigation Assignment again, which details how to write this. I am confident that everyone knows how to write an essay at this point, since you have done it multiple times for both Mrs. Carpenter and I.

As for the map quiz: if you want to get ahead of the game, here's a site you could be studying from - Rethinking Schools - Middle East Map Quiz.

At the end of class, I had students turn in Parts A, B, and E for the Historical Investigation. If you did not have this in by the end of the school day, I will attempt to try and call home to let your parents know that you are behind on the biggest assignment of the year. If you did not get this in today, please see the blog post below for instructions on what to do. Thank you!

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 4 - Class Recap

A few students are working studying the revolution in Vietnam - the August Revolution. This is a picture on top of what was formerly known as Independence Palace and is now Reunification Palace in 
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Dear class,

Plenty to go over today, because there is a whole lot due next class. No playing around: let's get to it. Read on and be sure to ask questions if you are confused!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: "Survival" by Muse. Chosen for today because it was a song that played before each event at the Olympics. Check out the video! Hopefully, you will survive this assignment and "win" a good grade!

AGENDA 4/4/13:

News Brief

Part B Q/A

Computer Lab - N210

Homework: ***DUE AT THE START OF NEXT CLASS, ON MONDAY** 

Part A: Research Question paragraph. This should already be done, before Spring Break. Even if you have handed your Part A to me in the past (or emailed it to me), I still want you to include a copy on Friday. If you don't have Part A done, this is how you will do it: Part A Paragraph Steps.

Part B: Your investigation of evidence. Remember, you need to have 4 sources. One of those has to be an in-person print source. Here is the template to help get you the information you need. Here is the overview of  what to do in Part B. Again, you are just summarizing information from your sources (as to how they relate to your research question) and combining it into a 2-3 page paper. NOT your own analysis. That is Part C, which you are doing next week.

Part E: The bibliography of your four sources. This is the full citation for each source. Here is the MLA guide for this (the second page contains the information you need for Part E, the first page has the "in text" citations for Part B).

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News Brief: The news brief articles today were brought in by Claire and Molly H. Here they are: USAToday.com - S. Korea: N. Korea moves missile to east coast and NYTimes.com - Record Flooding Kills Dozens in Argentina. The North Korea article, in particular, is one that is currently dominating conversation about current world affairs. Again, it is quite unlikely that North Korea would be able to fire a missile that could make it all the way over to the United States right now. It is quite alarming to hear that they are thinking about it, though!

Part B Q/A: I tried as best I could to explain (yet again - this was the third class in a row that I've talked about what to do) how to complete the 2-3 pages of Part B. This is just a summary of what you found in your research. Make sure to cite your sources!

Computer Lab - N210: We went to the computer lab to work on Part B. Hopefully, everyone knows what you need to be doing!

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Please let me know if I can help you with anything! I know this is quite a lot of work. I am confident that you can do this.

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 3 - Class Recap

One of the places I visited during Spring Break was Multnomah Falls (I took this picture on Friday). I actually ended my 4.5 mile hike at the bottom of the falls. It was great to get out and explore a bit!

Dear class,

It was so great to see everyone again! A week off certainly seemed like a long time to me. Now back to school with three and a half weeks left until Mrs. DeFrance Gilman comes back. Crunch time for me! Here's to a great end to my tenure as your teacher. On with the recap:

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Welcome Back” by Ma$e. Selected today for obvious reasons. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/2/13:
Spring Break Report
Part B, Explained
Library Research/Writing

Homework: ***Important*** Find all four sources for Part B – be ready to type up next class! Remember that Part B is due on Monday! Next news brief: Claire and Molly H.

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Spring Break Report: No news brief today, because I didn't assign one last class. Instead, we went around the room and said one thing we liked about Spring Break and one thing we didn't like. Students could "pass" if they wanted, but most participated and it was great to briefly hear about what many of you were up to!

Part B, Explained: Next up, I passed out the template for writing Part B of the Historical Investigation. Here it is if you missed class or somehow lost your copy:

Google Drive: Historical Investigation - Part B Template

I am going to try and make this really simple. You are finding a total of four (4) sources that help answer your research question. One of those sources has to be a book/print source. The rest can be electronic based sources.

If you are having trouble finding good sources of information online, here are a few links that might help:

1) Google Scholar web search.

2) Westview High School Library - Check out the "Research Help & Test Prep" section in the middle. Click on the "OSLIS" state logo, which will take you here. Then click on Find Information, then "High Schoolers."

You could also go to Wikipedia and look at the sources that are cited at the bottom of the page. If there is a link to see the source, evaluate it (is it a good source of information, or probably not?) check it out and see if it works for you. Again, you may NOT use Wikipedia itself as a source. Also, try not to use sources that are really old.

Once you have all four of your sources (and the template written out for each, if that will help), start thinking about how you are going to organize the information into your final Part B product. You are "telling the story" of what you found in your research!

Library Research/Writing: For the rest of class, we went up to the library and tried to find books to use as sources. Many of you worked well during this time, others were really struggling to focus and get good material.

Remember: next class you need to have all four sources (or at least an idea) that you want to use, so that you are ready to type it up in the Computer Lab. If you want to go ahead and have most or all of your Part B finished before class, that is fine, too. Just be aware that next class is the only time I am providing to be able to type up the 2-3 pages of Part B!

Please feel free to ask questions if you need help! Remember, this is going to take you quite a while. It's not like you are automatically going to be a be able to find 3 great sources that directly relate to your research question!

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 2 - Class Recap

Another picture from my Spring Break trip to Washington, D.C. in 2010: this is the National Archives building, where the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are held. Those are extremely important documents for historians researching the American Revolution!

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Spring Break! Remember that you definitely have some work to do before I see you again. Here's what we did in the last class before the break:

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart? - Obviously, your historical investigation into a revolution of your choice will have elements of answers to these questions.

Soundtrack: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. Chosen for today because if you have not been doing very well in this class (or in school), the historical investigation is a great time to "make that change" - do you want to be successful? You have to put in the work to do so! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/22/13:

News Brief/Blog Recap

Part A, Explained

Citations/Part B

Computer Lab Time - S210

Homework: Please work on Part B - researching your historical investigation! 2-3 pages will be due shortly after the break! Have a great and safe Spring Break!

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News Brief: To be determined. Zach and Kyle H. had the news brief today, and picked the exact same event (different articles)! Here they are: NPR.org - Dozens Killed By Suicide Bomber in Syrian Mosque and Associated Press - Syria: 42 killed in Damascus mosque bombing. We talked about how this relates to the "Arab Spring" revolutions that have happened and the civil war in Syria. This will be an area of ongoing concern

Part A, Explained: After the news brief, I passed around this slip of paper that explains how to write a research question and complete your Part A paragraph (at least, at first - you should be aware that this could change as you keep researching):

Google Drive: Historical Investigation, Part A - Steps to Follow

I went over this in detail with the class. Hopefully it made sense, because the paragraph was due at the end of the class, either printed out or emailed to me at luke_fritz@beaverton.k12.or.us - I also wanted you to save a copy for yourself over break. Again, a good way to do this is to email yourself the paragraph, or simply print another copy.

Citations/Part B: Before we headed over to the Computer Lab again, I went over the MLA citations guideline and how you should be citing your information that you find as part of your investigation. Here is the paper that I passed out in class: MLA citation guide - 7th edition. Every source that you use for your project should fit into one of those categories on the second page. That is what you are adding to your bibliography (Part E) as you go along.

Finally, for Part B - the Summary of Evidence, here are the two documents you will need to look at as your are researching over the break. Feel free to download and print them out during class, study hall, or after school:

Google Drive: Part B Overview (Requirements)

That document will help you with understanding what Part B is all about. We will go over it in detail after break, but remember, Part B (which is 2-3 pages) is due for Periods 2 and 4 on Monday, April 8th - soon after we get back. It is very important that you get a good start on this.

To help with Part B, here is the second document - a template for filling out as you find good sources of information that relate to your research question:

Google Drive: Part B Template Document

This is a nice and easy way to complete Part B. Remember that you need to have at least four sources (so you could fill out this document four different times, if you wanted) - a maximum of three can be electronic sources. Again, no Wikipedia - the source has to be reliable information. A GREAT way to find good, reliable information is through a search on Google Scholar, which looks through academic articles (make sure you aren't using a book review as a source, though).

Computer Lab Time - S210: After explaining all of this, we headed over to S210 to finish Part A. I wanted to make sure that I approved each research question before you moved on to writing out the whole paragraph for Part A. Hopefully, everyone was able to complete this in class. If not, email it to me ASAP, please. Also, this could have been a time you were looking at what to do for Part B and printing off the documents above.

Have a wonderful and safe Spring Break! See you in April! Make sure to check in if you have any questions or comments! I know this is quite a lot of information, all at once. I am here to help at almost any time! :-)

Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 1 - Class Recap

Today we started the Historical Investigation project, which is about revolutions. You cannot pick the American Revolution, but here is a lasting reminder of it: the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.! I took this picture during Spring Break in 2010.

Hi everyone,

As promised at the start of class, there was quite a bit we had to do today. A little fun mixed with some serious business. Please read on to go over the historical investigation and what you need to be working on!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “I Was Here” by Beyonce. Selected for today because Cara suggested it for us and you should want to leave your mark with this big project: let it be known that you were here and existed! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/20/13:
News Brief/Blog Recap
Finish The Coup
Historical Investigation – Part A
Computer Lab Time

Homework: Keep working on Part A - be ready to finish it next class. Show your parents the calendar! Read the blog. Next news brief: Kyle H. and Zach.

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News Brief: Today's articles were brought in by Ben G. and Paker. Here is what they selected (both on the Korean peninsula!): CNN.com - North Korean video shows imagined attack on Washington and CNN.com - Under threat, South Koreans mull nuclear weapons. We talked a bit about the use of nuclear weapons in the world and the possibility of a "nuclear winter" if many were detonated at once.

Finish The Coup: Ahh, yes. The calm before the storm. I heard a lot of laughs during this, and hopefully some more understanding about the elements of a revolution. At the end of the episode, we talked for a bit about how Dwight's revolution was influenced by political (power), economic (money), and social (other people) motives. He probably would have been a good example of a dictator, if he had been allowed to continue running the office.

Historical Investigation - Part A: Alert, alert! This is the start of a massive assignment. Here is what I passed out in class today:

1) The Historical Investigation Assignment. We went through this thoroughly (at least 10 minutes) in class. Basically, the assignment consists of five parts. The back side of the paper has a list of possible revolutions to choose from. If you want to choose one that is not on that list, you must clear it by me first. This is NOT a partner assignment. In fact, if you choose the same revolution as someone else, I am going to make sure that you have completely different research questions and sources.

For Period 2/4, the rough draft of this will be due on April 17th. The final draft will be due the next class after that, which is April 19th.

***If you are a TAG student (or want a challenge, if you are not): all of these elements must be combined together into one paper. If you are not, it is okay if you have each element in a separate area for the project.***

As I was saying in class: if you want to do well on this project (and you should, considering it is one of the biggest assignments of the entire year), you will probably have to be working on it at home.

2) A calendar of the plan for the next month. Remember that we will be doing other activities than just the historical investigation. This calendar has all of the major due dates on it. Note that Part A is due at the end of next class! We will go to the computer lab for most of next class, but you need to have a plan of attack going in.

3) The grading rubric for the historical investigation. This is how I am going to assess your work on this project. Note that each section of the project can be directly related to proficiency in at least one learning target. One of the main points here is that we are hoping to finish this project and have them all graded before Mrs. DeFrance-Gilman gets back on April 25th, so she does not have to worry about it (since it is a lot of work).

Today's assignment was to start working on Part A - Framing the Issue. If you were not in class, or did not write down the questions you will be answering in your one paragraph for this, here they are:

1) Why is this topic important?
2) Why did you choose this particular question?
3) What kinds of sources might you plan on using in your research?

Computer Lab Time: At the end of class, we headed up to N210 computer lab to start researching revolutions and choosing which one you are going to investigate. This is a major decision - do not take it lightly! For next class, please come in with a good idea about what you want to investigate. Again, this needs to be a focused question. Instead of "what happened in the Russian Revolution?" think more along the lines of "How did Vladimir Lenin lead the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution in Russia?"

Please let me know if you have questions, comments, or concerns! I would be happy to help you begin this project. I am confident that all of you will do well on this! :-)

Period 2: Revolution! Day 9 - Class Recap

Today we watched part of an episode of The Office in class, while looking for different aspects of a revolution in it. This is me jumping for joy at finding the set of The Office, while on vacation in California in 2007. It is one of my favorite TV shows ever!

Hi everyone,

As I suggested at the start of class today, there was a LOT of talking from me. Usually, I try to stay away from that. Today, there was just so much interesting stuff happening in the world that we had to talk about, along with the introduction of some new content. Read on to get some clarification!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan. Selected because it is a great song and waving flags can frequently be seen as symbol of revolutions. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/18/13:
News Brief/Blog Recap
Poster Grading
Political Compass
The Coup

Homework: Read the blog. Next news brief: Ben G. and Parker. If you did not turn in your Russian Revolution work today in class, please finish it and get it to me ASAP!
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News Brief/Blog Recap: Magaly used this article for her news brief today: China.org.cn - Villager finds snow leopard in Inner Mongolia. This was apparently the first time the animal has been seen in the area in 70 years! Interesting to hear.

We also talked about the new pope: CNN.com - 5 things to know about the new pope. This sparked an interesting conversation about many things. I talked about the new pope: Francis I, from Argentina. This is an important moment in world history because 1) new popes are somewhat rare (there has only been two in my life) and 2) there are apparently over 1 billion Catholics in the world (the entire world population is just about 7 billion).

Finally, we also talked a little bit about the weekend, which is always nice.

Poster Grading: I really enjoyed this conversation! Again, the examples I gave in class were REALLY basic and probably inaccurate in the minds of people who would call themselves communists, socialists, or capitalists. I was merely presenting one way to think about it. Hopefully, it was obvious that there are problems that come up with any system. The Russian Revolution packet was due at this point during class.

Political Compass: This part of class was devoted to learning from two PowerPoints - we are starting your major "historical investigation" project this week, and these notes will help you answer some the main questions the project asks. Here are the presentations to review again, if you need to.

Google Drive: Political Compass PowerPoint

This presentation was looking at various different political philosophies that people hold. Usually, revolutions are prompted by people joining together under a similar way of thinking about what should happen. At the end of the presentation, I showed the class my own point on the political compass. If you want to take the test yourself, please do so! It is really interesting. Here it is: PoliticalCompass.org/test - I would love to see your own results, if you complete it! It is very much like the "forced choice" activity we did in class.

Google Drive: Historical Conditions for Revolution PowerPoint

The next PowerPoint was about the main ways that revolutions start. You will absolutely need to know the political, social, and economic reasons for the revolution you are studying for the historical investigation. An easy way to think about this is: political = people want power; social = people want to find others that agree with them; economic = people want money and resources.

I know I sort of blazed through these. If you are at all confused, please let me know!

The Coup: At the end of the class, we started watching the episode of "The Office" called The Coup. A "coup" (or coup d'etat) is pronounced "coo" and is a French word for the overthrow of a government, usually from a small group of insiders. Thus, this episode is a perfect way to showcase the elements of a revolution (political/social/economic reasons for why Dwight is trying to overthrow Michael as boss) while also being a humorous way to start thinking about how revolutions happen. We did not finish the episode in class. We will do so next time.

Period 2: Revolution! Day 8 - Class Recap

During today's class, we talked about the conclave for electing the next Pope and watched a live CNN feed of the signal chimney. A bird flew on top of it! Later in the day, white smoke came out: there is a new Pope! I am sure we will talk next week about who it is!

Dear class,

I enjoyed the process of finishing your propaganda posters today! Even though it took longer than I thought it would, that is okay. I am more than willing to give the class more time to finish an assignment if it is obvious that it is needed and that students are working well.

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Marry the Night” by Lady Gaga. Selected for today because of it being so dark out when we woke up for school today, thanks to the start of Daylight Savings Time! Fun fact: World War I was the first time the US implemented DST. Lyrics for the song are here.

AGENDA 3/13/13:
News Brief/Conclave
Finish Propaganda Posters
Forms of Governance

Homework: Bring in all Russian Revolution work! Pre-Assessment, Notes, OPVL analysis, Propaganda Poster. Read the blog! Magaly has the next news brief.

Here are the links to download and complete any of the missing work for the Russian Revolution:

1) Russian Revolution Pre-Assessment (newsflash). The class watched this Whose Line Is It Anyway clip and then pretended to be transported back in time to the Russian Revolution - an event which you probably knew very little about. Write a complete response - you can totally guess and/or make something up, if you don't know!

2) Vocabulary Notes. This was the sheet of terms that I passed out for taking notes on during the PowerPoint presentation "Peace, Land, and Bread." If you are unable to determine what some of the words are from the presentation, you can look them up online, ask me in the comments, or email me.

3) OPVL Analysis. This activity involved analyzing four different sources of information having to do with Russia and looking at the objective, purpose, value, and limitation for two of the documents posted in the classroom (I wanted students to at least look at all four). Here are the documents, if you need to see them again to analyze: Russian Revolution Primary Sources.

4) Propaganda Poster worksheet. On the front side, I asked students to analyze the five different Russian/Soviet posters presented in this PowerPoint. On the back side (blank), students were expected to make your own propaganda poster, using at least two Russian symbols (a symbol can be a color) and tying it to at least one of the vocabulary words (see #2 above) you learned earlier. Please caption this (or write a description) in English! :-)
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News Brief: The news brief today was brought in by Teresita, who selected this article: KPTV.com - Germany to legalize anonymous hospital births. We discussed reasons for this law, especially with adoption.

We also talked a little bit about the long weekend and the "conclave" to elect a new Pope (which is a fairly rare event). Here are the main contenders, apparently. As I am writing this, the white smoke signal went up and a new Pope will be announced soon! Such an interesting time in world history!

Finish Propaganda Posters: This took most of class, which was fine. If you are not finished, please do so by next class! Again, your own example of Russian propaganda, using one of the vocabulary terms, two symbols, and a caption in English.

Forms of Governance: We did not have much time at the end of class, so this was a fairly basic (I mean, REALLY basic - these could be entire year long classes by themselves) introduction to communism, socialism, and capitalism. Here is the fundamental ideas behind each form of government:

Communism: Everyone is "in it together" and thus should have the same amount of stuff (food, land, money, resources, supplies, etc). The goal is to benefit the society as a whole - so that nobody has to be poor and everyone is equal. The idea of communism was formulated by Karl Marx in his book The Communist Manifesto. The choice for the paper grade here would be that everyone in the class gets a 75% C (a passing grade, by the way), no matter how much or how little work you put in. Again, everyone is equal in communist theory.

Socialism: Some people need extra help, so the government takes resources from the most wealthy people/corporations and gives it to those that need support. The choice for the paper grade would be me taking some (but not all) of the points from the best posters and "re-distributing" them to students that did not do as well.

Capitalism: Based on the idea of private property - individual responsibility. This is "everyone for themselves"  - always looking to do what is best for you, not for anyone else. Everyone has the choice of whether or not to work or complete the assignment, even though some may not have the skills needed to get 100% credit and will fall behind those that do have those skills. For this choice, I would grade the poster like "normal" - individual students who did the best get the most credit, while students that did do well will get less (and in some cases, probably fail the assignment).

I asked students to write how you would want your propaganda posters graded on the front of your paper.

That was it for today! Please let me know if you need any help with what to do for next class!

Period 2: Revolution! Day 7 - Class Recap

In today's class, we talked about propaganda and did some analysis with Soviet posters. Here's a more current example of a propaganda poster here in the USA: the famous HOPE posters for Barack Obama. I took this picture in Philadelphia, in 2008.

Dear class,

My apologies for posting the recap later than usual - most of my day at school (after classes) was spent grading late work and calling parents with Mrs. Carpenter (I think we were pretty clear that we would be doing this if you were failing our classes). We had sort of a relaxed day today in class, I think. Lots of talking about the news and what is going on around the world, the quiz, and some work with Soviet propaganda. All in-person late work (for progress report grades) was due at the end of the day today, since we do not have school on Monday.

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2. Selected for today because it is (or was, growing up) one of my brother's favorite songs growing up. It was his 25th birthday yesterday! Also chosen because not all of my students are being successful, which means we still have work to do. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/8/13:
News Brief
Quiz Talk
Propaganda Posters
Work Time/Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog! Turn in any missing work for better progress report grades! Teresita has the next news brief.
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News Brief: Nick B. used this article about rats in Iran for the news brief today: CNN.com - Iranian sharpshooters target rats. What a crazy story! Who knew that this was such a problem?

We also talked about other happenings around the world.

Quiz Talk: I passed back your Russian Revolution vocabulary quiz and we had a somewhat spirited discussion about the results (the class average was 3.1 out of 5, which is a 62%). I was wondering what else I could be doing to help you be successful in the future with these. Obviously something went wrong, even with me giving you the vocabulary words to study for the test, the entire weekend to study, this website with the presentation and vocab to review, AND time in class right before the quiz to study. As I said in class, I take it personally when students are not successful. Let me know how I can help you do better in the future, if this was something you really struggled with.

Propaganda Posters: The next part of class was devoted to checking out some examples of Soviet Union propaganda (it is nice that you already knew what propaganda meant from studying Rwanda) and filling out a worksheet with each slide, then creating your own example on the back. If you missed class, or wanted to add to your worksheet, here is the presentation:

Google Drive: Soviet Union Propaganda PowerPoint

Here is the worksheet that goes along with the presentation:

Google Drive: Soviet Union Propaganda Worksheet

After viewing all of the slides and filling out the worksheet, I gave the class this assignment: 

On the back side of the propaganda poster worksheet, you are creating your OWN Russian poster. Please use at least two symbols. Try to connect to at least one of the vocabulary words. You do not have to use Russian. Use a English caption, please.

This is NOT homework, unless you need to get a good start on it. We will finish these in class next week.

Work Time/Grade Check: For the last section of class, I checked in with students about grades (and invited students to look at your updated grades posted on the classroom board) and gave time to work on either the propaganda poster or make up work. All late and/or missing work for progress reports was due by the end of the day today. Grades have to be posted before school on Tuesday morning. .

Please comment or email if you have any questions! Have a great long weekend!

Period 2: Revolution! Day 6 - Class Recap

We talked today about Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who died yesterday. This is a picture of a sunset on the island of Aruba - right next to Venezuela. I remember seeing Chavez on TV there, when I visited in 2011!

Dear class,

Another good day, in my estimation! I have not looked at the majority of the quizzes yet - I hope that you did well! I should be able to get them back to you next class. Here's what we did today:

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Mother Russia” by Renaissance. Chosen for today because of the obvious connection to what we are learning about. Also, Renaissance is a really great band. Lyrics here. A little more about the composition of the song here.

AGENDA 3/6/13:
News Brief
Pop Quiz, Hotshot
OPVL
Make Up Work

Homework: Read the blog! Nick B. has the next news brief.

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News Brief: Jessica brought in the news brief for today. The one and only time I will allow a news brief to be about the United States! I noted that I hoped you were able to find the US on a world map, and that studies have found that people are really awful at geography. Here is an article about that, from 2006: CNN.com - Study: Geography Greek to young Americans.

Anyway, this is the article that Jessica chose to bring in: news.Yahoo.com - TSA to allow small knives, bats, and clubs on planes. I talked about my personal distaste for the TSA (a definite example of bias) and showed the official TSA website regulations with the update.

We also talked about Hugo Chavez dying and the story of a Portland man being arrested in connection to a 2009 suicide bomber in Pakistan: KGW.com - FBI: Portland man connected to '09 Pakistan suicide attack.

Plenty going on in the world!

Pop Quiz, Hotshot: After the news brief, I gave the class a few minutes to study up for the Russian Revolution vocab quiz, as I passed back your forced choice reflections. Your updated grades are posted by student ID number on the board. No excuses for you to not know exactly what you need to do by Friday to get your grade up for progress reports!

I'm not going to recap the quiz itself, other than to say that I hope everyone did well. If you were following along during the presentation and did your homework to review, I'm sure you were fine.

OPVL: After the quiz, I introduced a new way to think about various different documents in history. I used the textbook as an example, along with three articles that I read about Hugo Chavez last night. OPVL stands for Origin, Purpose, Value, and Limitation. Your assignment was to take the paper I handed out in class and go through the four documents on each side of the room to assess them. If you missed class, or needed to complete this outside of class, here are the links to both the OPVL sheet and the documents I posted:

Google Drive: OPVL Worksheet

Google Drive: Russian Revolution Primary Documents for Analysis

Let me know if this assignment is at all unclear. You will be turning this in as part of the Russian Revolution packet later, so please keep it with you or in your folder in class!

Make Up Work: We did not really have time to get to this. I was able to check in with most students that I am really worried about for progress reports. Please know what you need to turn in! I would be happy to help. Post a comment here or email me!

See you on Friday!

Period 2: Revolution! Day 5 - Class Recap

This is a picture I took of Maria Sharapova carrying the flag of the Russian Federation at the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics. The flag is different from the one the USSR had after the revolution!

Hi everyone,

I had a fun time last night making all of the content to go over today, and I think it went very well! Thank you for working with me on the "newsflash" pre-assessment and during the Russian Revolution presentation. Please see below if you missed out on anything!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2. Chosen for today because 1) this song came up last night when I was listening to my iTunes library on shuffle, and 2) because "Bloody Sunday" (not the same one as the song, but still) is a really important event in Russian history. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/4/13:

News Brief

Debrief Forced Choice

Newsflash

Peace, Land, and Bread

Homework: Study for quiz on Russian Revolution next class. Read the blog. Jessica, you have the next news brief.

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News Brief: Cassey selected this article for today's news brief: CNN.com - Blast kills 42, wounds dozens in Pakistani seaport city of Karachi. We talked about the possible reasons for this, with the different sects of Islam (like Protestant and Catholic for Christianity). We also talked about our weekends for a bit, including my story about talking to a tech support guy in the Philippines. Connected through technology, even when it doesn't work!

Debrief Forced Choice: We devoted a few minutes after the news brief to talk about our reactions to the "forced choice" exercise, that we spent most of two days doing. I really enjoyed all of your responses. I appreciated Daisy saying that she liked the activity, even though the questions were personal because it made her think of answers to questions she had never really had to consider before. That was definitely a main reason I do the activity. I also answered some of the questions myself, because I believe in being honest about my own perspective on the world. After this, I had everyone turn in the reflections on the activity, which were due as homework if you had not completed them last class.

Newsflash: This is absolutely my favorite way to start a new unit. Good teachers always try and assess where students are at before they teach any specific content (otherwise, we would have no idea if you had actually learned anything or not). If you wanted to see the hilarious "Whose Line is it Anyway?" clip again, here it is:

So awesome. Next, I passed out the "pre-assessment" paper that was geared around going back in time to Russia in 1917. If you did not complete this in class, you absolutely need to do this BEFORE going on to reviewing the presentation. If you missed class, or lost your copy (I will have you turn this in later), here it is to download and print:

Google Drive: "Newsflash" Russian Revolution Pre-Assessment

Again, it does not matter if you do not know very much: make an educated guess!

Peace, Land, and Bread: After the newsflash activity, I started up the Russian Revolution content. Here is the vocabulary list that students were filling out during the presentation (the quiz will be on these terms, next class):

Google Drive: Russian Revolution Vocabulary Terms

I helpfully three hole punched these, as well. See? I listened to your feedback about making notes easier!

Here is the main event - the PowerPoint of the basics of what happened during the Russian Revolution:

Google Drive: "Peace, Land, and Bread: The Russian Revolution" PowerPoint

On slide 6 of the PowerPoint, I (would have, if we had enough time - I played a bit at the end of class) stopped and played this video from YouTube (it should start at 41:11 in, and we watched almost to the end) about the process of how Lenin was able to come back to Russia from his exile, with the help of Germany during World War I.

I finished the presentation with about two minutes left in class, so I hope that I gave enough time for everyone to finish writing the notes, balanced with my need to make sure I was able to get through the entire presentation, so you had all the terms for the quiz next class.

We definitely packed quite a lot into class today. I hope it was all clear! Absolutely ask me questions if you are at all confused or need clarification. I really appreciated your focus and attention today. See you on Wednesday!