Monday, April 9, 2012

Review Week

Parents: We have begun to review for CRCT. The Social Studies CRCT will be given Tuesday, April 24. We will be reviewing in class up until this point. The students can use the blog, OAS, or Study Island to review at home.

Students: Review the notes we are taking in class. Below are some of the School House Rock videos that we watch in class.

Delcaration of Independence
The Shot Heard Round the World
No More Kings
Constitution
Government

Liberty Kids

Monday, March 19, 2012

Industrial Revolution, Slavery, and Suffrage

Parents: *We will test on Wednesday this week.*

Students: Harriet Tubman cartoon

Notes for this week's quiz:

Industrial Revolution
-roads were built
-canals were made
-railroads were made
These methods of transportation made it easier to get to the west. It also made it easier, faster, and cheaper to transport goods.

Inventions
steam engine: the steam engine went on steamboats and the steam locomotive
telegraph: people could send messages very quickly over long distances
Samuel F. B. Morse: invented the telegraph
Robert Fulton: he made the first successful steamboat trip on the Clermont

Slavery
Abolitionists: people who wanted to end slavery immediately
Underground Railroad: secret network of safe houses set up by the abolitionists to help slaves escape the South to free territory

Harriet Tubman:
-escaped slavery in Maryland
-conductor for the underground railroad
-took 19 trips to help over 300 slaves escape
-called "Black Moses"

Suffrage
What does it mean? the right to vote
Elizabeth Cady Stanton:
-fought for women's rights
-held meeting at Seneca Falls Convention to make a declaration for women's rights

Sojourner Truth:
-former slave
-was an abolitionists and fought for women's rights
-wrote a famous speech called "Ain't I a Woman?" about women's rights and slavery

Monday, March 12, 2012

States

Parents: *We will test on Wednesday.* We are beginning a new unit further into westward expansion. This week the students will test over all 50 states. They must label all states correctly.

Students: Map Game
Drag the falling states

Monday, March 5, 2012

Posttest 3

Parents: *Posttest 3 will be given on Wednesday.* Each student has a study guide to use.

Notes for Posttest 3:

Government
What are the 3 branches of government and what do they do?
Executive: enforces laws
Legislative: makes laws
Judicial: makes sure laws are constitutional


What term describes how our government is separated into different branches? seperation of powers

Describe checks and balances. the ability that each branch of government has to limit the other two branches

For congress to override a president’s veto, two-thirds of the congress has to vote in favor of it.

The Great Compromise divided our Congress into two houses; the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Constitution replaced the Articles, becausethe articles were too weak to work effectively (to create a new nation).

The Bill of Rights protects the rights states and the rights of the people.

The First Amendment protects freedom of: Speech, Religion, Press, Petition and Assesmbly.

Westward Expansion
What did the U.S. gain by purchasing the Louisiana Territory? a port in the Gulf of Mexico

What was the purchase called? Louisiana Purchase

What two explorers went on an expedition into this territory? Lewis and Clark

What was the hardest part of Lewis and Clark’s journey? Rocky Mountains

Monday, February 27, 2012

Westward Expansion 2

Parents: This week's test will be on Wednesday. Next Thursday will be Posttest 3.

Students: Time Warp Trio

Notes for this week's quiz:

Louisiana Purchase
What was it? The United States bought land from France.
Who made it? Thomas Jefferson made the purchase.
What did it do? The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the U.S.

Lewis and Clark
Who were they? They were explorers sent on an expedition into the west.
What did they do? Their goal was to discover information about the geography, people, and natural resources of this new area.
Where did they go? They started in St. Louis, MO and traveled up the Missouri River, through the plains and over the Rocky Mountains to reach the Pacific Ocean.
Who sent them on their trip? Thomas Jefferson

Oregon Trail
-pioneers followed this route west
-trip took about 6 months
-they used what was on the trail to survive

Alamo
-Texas wanted to be independent from Mexico.
-Texas had to fight the Mexican army and they lost at the Alamo.
-Texas did eventually win and became part of the U.S.

Gold Rush
-gold was discovered in CA
-pioneers went to CA to mine for gold
-they set up mining towns

War of 1812
-The British didn't think Americans had any rights at sea
-Neither side one the war
-The British burned the White House and the Capitol

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Westward Expansion

Parents: *We will not test this week.* We are moving into westward expansion and will test on this information next Wednesday. I will post notes as we do them in class.

Students: You can learn more about the Oregon Trail here.
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark game!
Branches of Government game
More Social Studies games

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Bill of Rights

Parents: This week's test will be on Thursday. The test will cover all information learned in this nine weeks. The students have a new study guide over the Bill of Rights. This will be a StudyIsland test I have made. The students can practice on StudyIsland at home.

Students: Learn more about the Bill of Rights here.
Congress for Kids

Notes for this week's quiz:

What are the Bill of Rights? the first ten amendments to the Constitution
What do they do for us? They protect our natural rights of liberty and property as United States citizens.

Amendments:
1-freedom of religion, speech, the press, petition, and assembly
2-right to bear arms
3-right not to quarter soldiers
4-no unlawful search and seizure
5-due process of law
6-right to a jury trial in a criminal case
7-right to a trial in a civil case
8-no cruel and unusual punishment
9-other rights not listed in the Constitution
10-powers of the states and the people

Monday, February 6, 2012

Government

Parents: We will have test on Wednesday and Friday this week. The students will test over government on Wednesday. They will use the same information they had last week. On Friday, the students will have to label 35 states correctly.

Students: Use your study guides on the branches/levels of government to study!
Map Game
More information on the branches of government

Monday, January 30, 2012

Constitution and Branches of Government 2

Parents: *This week's test will be on Thursday.* The students have a science program on Wednesday. This week's test will cover a lot of information. The students should have 4 different study guides to review; The Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Preamble to the Constitution, and the Branches/Levels of Government.

Notes for this week's quiz:

Preamble to the Constitution
"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

What is the Constitution? The plan for our nation's government.
What does it do for us? The Constitution protects our rights as citizens.

Government

How is our government set up? into three branches; Executive, Legislative, and Judicial
Why do we have a separation of powers? so no one branch has more power than the others
What is a system of checks and balances? Each branch of the government has limits on their power; they all have power over one another in some way.

Study your chart of National, State, and Local Governments.

You can review the Articles of Confederation notes below.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Constitution and Branches of Government

Parents: We will not test this Wednesday. We are learning about the Constitution and the branches of government. Next week's test will cover a lot of information. I have asked the students to review the notes they have every night. We will be building on these notes all week. The students will take a geography quiz on Friday to review direction skills.

Students:
Quick game on directions
Continue to study your states! You can learn more about each state here. Click on an individual state to learn more about it.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Articles of Confederation

Notes for this week's quiz:

What were the Articles of Confederation? the colonists first attempt to form a national government
What is a national government? a government for the whole nation (country)
What is a republic form of government? a government where citizens can elect their officials
How many states had to agree in order for a law to pass? 9 of the 13
How many representatives was each state given? 7
What does ratify mean? approve
Why did the citizens fear a national government? they didn't want to be ruled by a king again
What is a delegate? a representative
What was the Constitutional Convention? a group of delegates who were elected to re-write the Articles of Confederation

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Representatives did not know when and where to meet.
Congress could not make states pay taxes.
The Articles of Confederation gave too much power to the states and not enough power to the federal (national) government.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Geography

*This week's quiz will be on Friday*

Parents: This week's quiz will be a mixed review of geography skills that we have covered throughout the year. We are beginning a new unit on government. We are learning about the Articles of Confederation this week and will quiz over it next Wednesday. We will continue to test on Wednesdays.
*The students took an assessment last week over everything we have learned this year. This paper is coming home in Wednesday folders.*

Students: Here is the link to the map game. Practice!!! You can practice naming the Great Lakes on this site also.