Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

Today's activity enabled students to process America's foreign policy stance since it was developed in the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. The Doctrine was written to protect many newly-independent nations in Latin America from any possible European colonization. It states that the United States would consider colonization as a threat to its own safety and would take appropriate measures to counteract it.   Students were asked to think of instances that the United States has gone into other countries on both peace-keeping and military actions. They were then given the task of analyzing this essential statement:   America should be the world's peacekeepers .   Students needed to explain what excites them about this statement, what worries them about it, what more they need to know in order to come to a conclusion, and finally formulate their stance on the issue. The small group discussion was very lively, full of critical t...

The topics of nationalism and sectionalism relating to American culture were the focus of today's class.   Students had a great discussion of the definition of culture and we examined a sketch ("Crossing of Carson River" by Lt. J.H. Simpson) determine what aspects of the sketch showed American culture in the early 1800s. Students then defined nationalism and sectionalism and discussed whether a person could show loyalty to both their country and region if forced to choose. Today's themes are "big picture" themes in US History for the rest of the school year and I'm glad that students were able to use much of their prior knowledge in order to learn about and think about the issues during the time leading up to the US Civil War.   http://docsteach.org/documents/305640/detail?menu=closed&mode=search&sortBy=relevance&q=utah

This week students will conduct an online primary source research activity about the Lewis and Clark Expedition from either the US Government and the Native American perspective. Students will analyze four documents from the National Archives online library and determine what the documents meant for their selected group of people. The link to the activity is found here: http://docsteach.org/activities/18014  

Students today analyzed the accomplishments of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams and nominated one of these men for a Nobel Prize in a persuasive writing activity today in class. To prepare for this activity we read about and discussed these men and familiarized ourselves with the Nobel Organization--even watching a video clip from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, given in 1955. (link: http://www.nobelprize.org/ ) 

Students today learned about the many roles of the head of the Executive Branch, the President of the United States. I found several images of former Presidents in these roles--can you guess which is which? Post your answers below or email them to me. Choices: Commander-In-Chief Chief Executive Political Party Head Chief Diplomat 1. President Eisenhower 2. President George HW Bush (on the right side of the picture) 3. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 4. President Reagan meeting with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (this one's a bit of a giveaway!)

We spent a few minutes today discussing the impact the Kennedy assassination had on America and in the 1960s. Students in middle school have little knowledge of 20th century history, I try to incorporate it into class as much as possible.

Students used their understanding of the events surrounding the Battle of Trenton today and "stepped inside" an iconic painting of George Washington. Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) by Emanuel Leutz is one of the most famous images of George Washington and a wonderful subject for my fellow historians to analyze in class. Students thought about the beliefs and concerns of the people (or even objects!) in the painting and this examination deepened their knowledge of  the importance of the battle and of Washington's leadership. I am looking forward to our discussion of this activity next week. (Students: share the "triangles" with your parents!) :)     For more information: http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/11417