​Last week was a bit of a departure from the way we normally do things, but with several late nights scheduled after school I decided I need a bit of a break. We are, however, using both information and imagery from The Story of Us: Cities and An American Tail to jumpstart our discussions this week as we dive deeper into the problems of urbanization.
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​Monday: After tying up a few loose ends from last week, students worked on a modified Frayer Model about the American Dream. We essentially used the Frayer Model template to hold three Thin Slides and a T-Chart illustrating key concepts associated with the American Dream and then checking in on its status in 1900.

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We spent last week digging into the Age of Industry and the lives of the wealthy during the Gilded Age, so this week we are going to switch gears and start our exploration of "How the Other Half Live[d]" with a look at the Labor Movement. When I started looking through my materials from last year for this section, I realized that I spent a lot of time talking at students. A lot of time. So I decided to switch it up this year and integrate more Eduprotocols into our lessons. Basically I took last year's Labor Movement Pear Deck, broke it down into days, decided what key understandings I wanted students to walk away with, and redesigned my instruction to match. Hopefully it goes as well as I envision. 

​Monday: LABOR DAY - NO SCHOOL

Tuesday:

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NOTE: I will use the space above to reflect on what we did each day in class. Check back for more details.

​Monday: 

Tuesday:

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Friday:

NOTE: I will use the space above to reflect on what we did each day in class. Check back for more details.

I know I still haven't finished my reflections from last week. I have been fighting my annual 'Back to School' ick along with covering classes during my prep period most days. I can't wait to share all of my photos and examples with you as soon as I get a few minutes.

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Friday:

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NOTE: I will use the space above to reflect on what we did each day in class. Check back for more details.
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After spending the first few days of school talking about the importance of having a Growth Mindset (Paper Folding Activity) and adding to our Mental Maps (Geography Challenge Lesson) of both the world and the U.S., we are ready to dive into content this week. And since our State Standards start in 1877, we are going to begin our story in the Gilded Age (Unit Guide). But since that looked different not only in different parts of the country but also to different groups of people, we are going to begin with an overview of the era. First we will use a map to compare and contrast life in the North, South, and West, and then we will use historical images to help us write a summary of those differences. Finally, we will end the week with a move west.

Monday: We started today with our first attempt with the Fast & Curious EduProtocol. I loved this last year, and students knocked it out of the park today scoring 65%, 68%, 63%, 63%, and 66%. We will use Quizizz to repeat this five times over the next two weeks, recording our class scores and looking for improvement with each attempt.

Unfortunately, I underestimated the amount of time it would take us to get started today so none of my classes finished our Gilded Age Map Challenge. They all did a great job with their preliminary research and made excellent connections as we worked together to add items to the map. Because these maps end up being such a visual reminder of life in the Gilded Age, we will work to quickly finish them before we dive into the Inquiry Activity tomorrow.

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NOTE: I will use the space above to reflect on what we did each day in class. Check back for more details.

Make a Copy
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Happy Thursday, Everyone! We are less than a week away from the start of school here in my District, so I have been working hard to organize and prep for the new year. And while I plan to eventually share my entire U.S. History course with you via my Resources page, not everything I'm putting together really fits with my unit plans and class activities. For example, I've been working to create this collection of Pear Deck template slides that you can adapt and use as you build your own lessons. It starts with a few basic image and text slides, and then continues to include a number of different activity slides you can use to help students master vocabulary, interpret map, analyze source material, compare viewpoints, etc.

As always, feel free to make a copy and use whatever you find helpful. Also, be sure to check back from time to time as I'm certain I will add more templates as the year continues. 

​​And let me know what you think.

Make a Copy

Because I wanted to avoid grading 'papers' for as long as possible today...and I already had the template made anyway, I updated my museum room to highlight Women's History Month. As always, this is just a starting point for discussions. I had to leave out as many things as I included.

​Take a look and let me know what you think.

Make a Copy

In spite of my best efforts, all of these weather-related changes to our schedule means that I've ended up with some students who have fallen behind and others who are in need of enrichment. For those that fall into the second group, I put together this Black History Month Museum Slide. I tried to capture main ideas and key people I want my students to know about by the end of the year, but this is only a starting point for our discussions. There are loads of additional topics we will analyze throughout the year. And as always, free to make a copy and adapt it for your own needs.

​Let me know what you think.