Thursday, September 25, 2008

September 25

831 and 802:

Find ANY article or news source on the Presidential election. Type your response to what you are reading. It must be one page long (single-spaced) and you must answer the following questions:
What is the name of the article? How did you find it? What is it about (brief summary)? How does this make you feel? Do you feel that the writer is taking any sides? Why or why not?

E-MAIL your response to mfong2@schools.nyc.gov (It can be a Microsoft Word document or abe in the text of an e-mail. Just make sure your name is on it) There are NO exceptions since I am giving you plenty of time.

This is due by MONDAY for both classes (by 6 PM).

Sources to check out

www.nytimes.com

www.newsweek.com

www.msn.com

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

September 23

Study for Thursday's Quiz/Test (Quest):

Review Questions
1) The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution protects
a) African Americans’ right to vote b) the denial of constitutional privileges to citizens without due process of law c) the institution of slavery d) the right to privacy

2)The literacy test
a) was put into effect as part of the Fifteenth Amendment b) had no impact on African Americans’ voting rights in the South c) restricted African Americans’ voting rights in the South d) supported African Americans’ voting rights in the South

3)The period of rebuilding the South after the Civil War was called
a) amnesty b) war spoils c) Reconstruction d) Freedman’s Bureau

4)President Abraham Lincoln was shot at
a) the White House b) Ford’s Theater c) Andrew Johnson’s house d) William Peterson’s House

5) To many freed men and women, slavery was reestablished in what disguise?
a) slave codes b) literacy tests c) taxes d) black codes

6) By the 1890s, the Southern states passed Jim Crow laws in order to?
a) give equal rights to African Americans b) create a segregated society c) make sure slavery never took hold again d) increase cotton production

7) Having a strong loyalty to a particular region of the country is known as
a) stateism 2) loyalism 3) secessionism 4) sectionalism

8)Which of the following statements about the Civil Rights Act of 1866 is correct?
a) It granted full citizenship to African Americans b) It denied the federal government the power to protect African Americans’ rights. C) It gave states the right to pass black codes. D) It upheld the Treaty of Paris

9) Most former Confederates were pardoned by the a) Confederate Act b) Amnesty Act c) Fifteenth Amendment d) Fourteenth Amendment

10) Republicans in Congress easily overrode Johnson’s vetoes and took charge of Reconstruction during
a) Radical Reconstruction b) Restoration c) Congressional reconstruction d) Radical rebuilding

Monday, September 22, 2008

September 22

831 and 802

Bring in review sheet tomorrow! Study for the quiz/test on Thursday!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

September 18

Quiz Review ( Quiz #1 on Thurs )
Reconstruction, Sept. 25th

Topics to study: Use the handout from class and your notes. Quiz will have 15 multiple choice questions, 4 identifications, and 1 DBQ (with 2 questions)

Confederacy Freedmen’s Bureau, Civil Rights Act (1866)
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments President Andrew Johnson
Ku Klux Klan Thaddeus Stevens and the Radical Republicans
Black Codes Sharecropping
Jim Crow Laws, racism Military Reconstruction Plan poll taxes Amnesty Act

Monday, September 15, 2008

September 15

Journal entry due tomorrow for both classes!! News article reaction due tomorrow for 802.

Starting tomorrow, I will no longer be accepting late homeworks. Any late homeworks will be marked as incomplete and you will not receive credit for it. Homework MUST be done on time ALL THE TIME since they are a major part of a student's assessment. I assess students through effort and hard work. Talk to me in room 353 after 7th period if you have a problem with this.

Friday, September 12, 2008

September 12

831 and 802

HW:Write your reaction to ONE article below using the handouts.

Topic: Environment
Redwood trees in California
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/us/09tree.html?ref=science

Global warming
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/science/earth/07arctic.html

Animal trafficking
http://www.newsweek.com/id/117875

Thursday, September 11, 2008

September 11

8th gradeSS: HW #1 In your sourcebook, write a journal entry pretending to be either a person living in the North OR the South during Reconstruction. Make up a name for yourself. What do you do for a living? How different is your life during Reconstruction. You should write more than one page for a quality entry. Due on Friday.

(i.e., Dear Diary, April 10, 1868….The humid hot air woke me long before I heard the rooster’s cry. Heaving a deep sigh, I reluctantly rose from my bed. I’m not sure what creaked more; my aching body or the bed. Life hasn’t been the same for us in Georgia after the war ended. General Sherman’s ruthless army burned our barn down to the ground. Thank goodness the house was spared. My dear Tom perished in the Battle of Gettysburg and I am left to care for our 3 children on my own. With no job and no money, I am forced to depend on the kindness of neighbors and friends for food. What was the purpose of all this fighting? To free all the slaves? I think not. The U.S. government merely wanted to punish us in the southern states for forming our Confederacy….

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

September 9

802 and 831

Written HW#1 will be due on Friday. (831 did not receive this yet). I will explain this in class on Thursday.

Monday, September 8, 2008

September 8

See below. Bring in your news article reactions tomorrow using the handouts!!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

September 4-5

831 and 802

Write your reaction and response to one of the news articles below on the Presidential election. Use the handout given to you in class.
Remember, be honest and truthful. Please give meaningful and well-thought out responses. (i.e., I enjoyed reading this article because I often hear my parents talking about this candidate. Now, I feel I am more knowledgeable about his background and what type of experience he gained throughout his years in.....) An example of what you should not write is, "I chose this article because it was extremely short..."

Governor Sarah Palin (Republican candidate for Vice President)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/politics/04assess.html

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09042008/news/columnists/barack__meet_your_nightmare_127482.htm

Senator John McCain
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/us/politics/04mccain.html?ref=politics

Senator Barack Obama
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09042008/news/columnists/barack__meet_your_nightmare_127482.htm

Monday, September 1, 2008

September 2

Dear 7th and 8th grade Students and Parents,

Welcome back to a new and exciting school year! To get started, here are a few required items that you will need to start off this semester.

1) 1 marble notebook (preferably more than 100 pages)
2) 1 folder
3) Loose leaf paper
4) 2 pens, 1 pencil
5) Markers/crayons/color pencils (for in class use)
6) Glue stick

Please have these items with you within the first few days of school. Students will receive many important handouts and it is crucial that they have a folder labeled ‘Social Studies’ in order to store everything. For the 7th grade, we will be studying American history from prehistoric times to the end of the Civil War. 8th graders will be focusing on the period after the Civil War up until the 21st century. We will be doing a lot of interactive and hands-on work involving picture/photo analysis, creating advertisements and cartoons, writing and performing scripted dialogues, etc. In addition, the 8th grade will also be taking the New York State Social Studies Grade 8 Intermediate Exam in June.

Please feel free to contact me at mfong2@schools.nyc.gov if you have any questions. Our class blogs are grade7sswjps.blogspot.com (for the 7th grade) and grade8sswjps.blogspot.com (for the 8th grade). Parents and students alike are encouraged to visit these sites for information on the class, homework, updates, etc.
I look forward to working with all of you this school year!

Sincerely,



Ms. Fong
7th and 8th grade social studies instructor