Week in Review: April 19-23

American Studies: The Mindmeister mind maps are built and the research questions are confirmed. It is a good time to begin the conversation with your child about his/her learning that is coming from doing the research on his/her topic. Ask about how your son/daughter is using search techniques while determining which Web resources are valid and which are not. This use of information literacy is a very important skill in our social studies curriculum. The students will be providing analysis to explain their findings while working to synthesize the content and their conclusions to answer their research questions. 

Our studies now take us to the end of WWI. We are discussing Wilson's 14 Points while connecting to the Essential Question of "How to prevent conflict and keep the peace?". 

Week in Review: April 6-9

American Studies: The week before the holiday ended with students sharing their research on how new forms of technology influenced the soldiers during the war. The students then worked to put themselves into the position of the soldiers by writing a letter as a blog post explaining to their families what life was like on the western front in France. Look for this post at your child's blog.

We begin this coming week with a visit by our wonderful librarian, Ms. Breard. She will be giving her second lesson on the research process. You can follow the steps and tasks your child is experiencing by reviewing with him/her the Research Learning Pursuit site. By the end of this week, each student will determine his/her research question.

Week in Review: March 29 - April 2

American Studies: We are concluding the unit on imperialism and the progressive age. The students are working in teams to write up their study guides. We will start the next unit on WWI this coming week.

IB History: This will be my last post for IB History as our remaining weeks will be going through the revision process. The seniors created their assigned study guides and will review them in the coming weeks.

Week in Review: March 15-19

American Studies: The students continued reflecting and writing this past week. As we complete this unit on imperialism, the students are answering the Essential Questions working individually and with partners. They used mind maps to brainstorm their responses to then make connections between their ideas. The next step was to write an outline answer that they then wrote into essays.


IB History: We completed the unit on 20th century China by having the students create possible questions for the exam and then write rubrics for them. See below for examples of the student developed questions. Looking at the coming week, we have the Paper 1 Mock exam on Monday and Tuesday. The remainder of our time together before the IB exams will be reviewing using the student created study guides on all the topics from the past two years of study.

China Unit Questions:



How did Mao rise to power? What were his methods? What was his skill set?

In what ways was the CCP a single party, totalitarian state?

To what extent was Mao  successful in advancing the nation socially, economically and politically?

What were the factors leading to the Communist victory of the Chinese Civil War?

Week in Review: March 8-12

American Studies: We continue to learn about American imperialism during the latter part of the 1800s and the start of the 20th century. The Spanish-American War was a case study that involved a look at the media and its power to influence public opinion. Continuing on the theme of newspapers, the students are now writing an OP-ED article for their blogs on the following question. Do take some time to read their posts and make comments.

Looking back at the start of American Imperialism in the latter 1800s and into the 20th century, in your opinion, did the positives outweigh the negatives for American expansionism? Look at this question from an American & from an outside of the US perspective.

One of the important tools teachers use is when we provide the structure or scaffolding as we say to guide students through the learning process. In the case of the OP-ED piece, the students had reading and notes from a previous lesson to draw upon. They then had to build out the following chart with responses as they prepared their article.

Causes of Imperialism in US in latter 1800s>>>>

Examples of Imperialism in US in latter 1800s>>>>

Effects of Imperialism in US & other territories in latter 1800s>>>>

Arguments for imperialism>>>>

Arguments against imperialism>>>>

Write your op-ed outline>>>>

Write your op-ed article>>>>


IB History: Mock exams are over and we now move into reviewing mode for the exams in May. You can view the topics and assigned study guides at the Revision Learning Pursuit site.

Week in Review: February 22-26

American Studies: With the completion of the unit on the Industrial Revolution, we began our study of the next unit entitled “Expansionism, Imperialism and Progressivism”. With all these “isms”, the students are already working to build their understanding of these concepts by seeing how they are in also in place in our world today. 

Our time frame of study is the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. The content for the unit centers on American efforts to compete with European powers for territory and influence. 

Here are the Essential Questions for this unit:

• Why do nations expand? 
• How can nationalism go too far? 
• How to control excesses?

IB History: We completed our study of 20th century China up through 1977. With mock exams starting Monday, the students will do some review work for the China exam during the following week. The full review for the IB exams in May will then begin in earnest. 

To assist the students in their review work, I created the Revision Learning Pursuit site. The site is divided into one page for each of the exams. One can find a listing of the IB main themes and subtopics for each exam listed on each page. You will also find the names of all the seniors assigned to specific topics. Each student will be responsible to prepare a study guide for his/her fellow learners on the assigned topic. 

Week in Review: February 8-12

American Studies: We made connections this week with globalization and its ESPRAT+G effects. As we are reviewing the chapter and the students are creating their study guides, they are seeing how change is a constant in our "flat" world. There will be a test this week followed by an lesson on using documents and questions to learn more about why Americans in the latter part of the 1800s were moving to cities in much larger numbers than before.

IB History: We now moving into the single political party phase of our study of China. Students will hopefully be making comparisons on their own to Stalin and Hitler as they read further about Mao Zedong. With a few project grades coming up, it is imperative that the seniors are doing their reading for each class while also putting in time for their projects.

Week in Review: February 1-5

American Studies: The business plans are now posted for our 21st century entrepreneurs making a connection to the 19th century business tycoons we are studying. Do go to the blogs of our 9th graders and leave a comment or two about their ideas.

We are now moving into the "reaction" phase of the Gilded Age with labor unions working to stand up for the rights of their members. Be ready for your child to ask about the nature of unions in Morocco or your home country. 

IB History: With several projects including the IA Historical Investigation coming up, it is imperative that your seniors plan ahead and work proactively. We have had a light two weeks of homework with two nights specifically set aside for them to work on their IAs. Do sit down and go through the upcoming projects listed in the China Learning Pursuit site. They really will help your child gain understanding about the nature of war and single party states in China as we prepare for the unit exam in March. Waiting to the last minute to write the IA and to do project work means less understanding and lower assessment scores.

Week in Review: January 25-29

American Studies: The students are learning about the "shiny" and negative aspects of the Gilded Age. Our class discussions are rich in topics that connect the 19th century to 21st century business and labor practices. We will be doing an interesting simulation in class this week where students play the role of inventors and business people preparing their business plan for a company they would like to start. They will be asking Mr. Warren Buffet to help fund their entrepreneur ideas. :)

IB History: The student presenters are now moving into Sino-Japanese relations during the 1930s and 40s. As teams present, I add information to connect their learning to the current and past units of study. We will also be doing some document analysis to continue to fine tune the needed skills for the Paper 1 exam. Each class also includes a Keynote lecture where I share themes and content to help students build out their understanding to answer the unit questions.

Week in Review: January 18-22

American Studies: The students gave their 5 minute speeches playing the role of a consultant to the people of North Korea. It offered a good opportunity to practice their oral presentation skills focusing to not only inform but also to persuade. The students did a nice job!

We are now starting a new unit on the American Industrial Revolution. We will be making connections between the latter 1800s to the idea of our need today for a "green" industrial revolution. Be ready for your children to ask you interesting questions. :)


IB History: Table teams continued to give their presentations on the assigned reading. The students are doing a nice job using Google Presentation to share their research that goes beyond the reading. We covered the big events of the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, the Revolution of 1911 and the rise of Chiang Kai-shek.

Week in Review: January 11-15

American Studies: Students continued their research at home using the ReconstructionQuest WebQuest to guide their efforts. They completed their studies of the American Reconstruction to then focus upon the economic, political, social and technological needs of the North Korean people. The students will use their knowledge of the American South rebuilding and joining with the Union to "advise" the North Koreans to rebuild and join with South Korea. The problem solving and creativity that goes with this simulation moves our students from just learning knowledge to having to use it in new situations. This is real learning for understanding.

In class, we watched a BBC documentary on North Korea to further students' understanding of what life is like in a totalitarian dictatorship. We also worked in table teams to answer the essential questions for this unit. The students then participated in a Socratic Seminar to discuss, share and learn from each other to further build their understanding of the essential questions.


IB History: We started the last unit of the year which is a double unit on 20th century China. We will look at war and the nature of single party states as we build our understanding. You can learn more about this unit of study by reviewing the China Learning Pursuit site which lists the essential questions, unit questions, important topics, project activities and resources. It is very important for the seniors to use the resource Web sites and videos as they provide additional content to the nightly assigned textbook readings.

We began this unit by having one table group in each class share a lesson on the assigned reading. The student teachers created a Google Presentation (PowerPoint) that they shared with their classmates in class and digitally so everyone has a copy in their Google Documents folder. Collaboration is so important for learning so it was nice to see our first presentation teams do a very nice job. We will have table teams giving presentations on the reading throughout the course of this unit.

Week in Review: January 4-8

American Studies: We worked on the ReconstructionQuest this past week. Students are now on their own to do their research on the US during Reconstruction and to learn more about present day North Korea. Their "consultancy reports" and speeches are due at the start of next week. Students really need to be disciplined, active and curious to complete this project work. Do ask to see their Google Docs to view their progress in recording notes from their research. Take a look at the WebQuest to learn more about the connection between the two nations and time periods.  Students picked up with their blogging this week writing about the successes and failures of Reconstruction. Remember you can access their blogs from the right side of this page.

IB History: We concluded the unit on World War II with an essay exam and three projects that were due this past week. As we approach the middle of the term, it is a good idea for parents to sit down with their children to see how they are doing with their IB history work. Several students have slipped in turning in work which has really lowered their grades as well as prevented them from being fully prepared for the last exam. Note that the history department does not all for late work so students have to work extra hard to do well on the remaining classroom activities, quizzes, projects and exams to raise their grades for this second trimester.

We have a very interesting debate simulation coming up this week. Take a look "Task 4" on the WWII Learning Pursuit Task page to see how your students will be role playing in debating the dropping of the atomic bombs upon Japan in 1945.