Over the past two weeks, students in Team 8-1 American History have been investigating the growth of cities during the nineteenth century. Students have also examined the inventions of the cotton gin, power loom, spinning jenny, and others that changed American manufacturing and influenced the factory system. In addition, students were provided information on early transportation (turnpikes, canals, corduroy roads, etc.) and the social/cultural aspects of nineteenth century cities. Students were then challenged to design an accurate nineteenth century city with a group of their peers. The project included certain requirements of the city and also contained a technological aspect. Students used the Aurasma application to feature augmented reality within their city design. Students also used Photo-Shop to create their own images for their projects. Please take the time to view some of the great work that students created in the pictures below! This past week, students began to investigate the Jackson Era and Jacksonian Democracy. Andrew Jackson is a very polarizing figure within American History, and students have spent the past several days becoming more acquainted with the early life of “Old Hickory”. Students used the Ed Puzzle application to view two videos: the Election of 1824/ The Corrupt Bargain and an overview of Andrew Jackson as President. In addition, students read an article titled The Nine Lives of Andrew Jackson to become more informed of Jackson’s combative nature. Congratulations to all 8th grade students for completing PSSA Testing this week!
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Over the past two weeks, students in Team 8-1 American History have been very busy with topics concerning the Jefferson Era. Students have been investigating the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, and evaluating the decisions and policies made under our third president of the United States. Students used the Near Pod application to examine Jefferson’s inaugural address and his goals as president. We also spent time to investigate the Louisiana Purchase and the inner-dilemma that must have faced Jefferson when making the Louisiana Purchase. Students also used Near Pod to gain more information on Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates. Students debated whether Jefferson handled the issues with the pirates properly using the Poll Everywhere App. Students utilized the Simple Mind application to make Mind-Maps on the Jefferson Era in order to review keep concepts from the time period. The disastrous Embargo Act of 1807 was also a topic that students were presented. Students were provided with several political cartoons from the time period and analyzed the cartoons pertaining to the embargo. The students then moved onto the presidency of James Madison and the war fever against Great Britain that engulfed the nation. Prior to a web-quest on the War of 1812, students identified causes to the war, such as impressment, issues with transatlantic trade, War Hawks in Congress, etc. During the War of 1812 web-quest, students participated in a gallery walk to examine the War of 1812 in detail. Students used guiding questions on the eBackpack application and also participated in several tasks throughout the web-quest. In addition, students used the Ed Puzzle application to further examine the Battle of Baltimore and he burning of Washington D.C. To prepare for an exam on the Jefferson Era and the War of 1812, students first completed a flow chart on the War of 1812. In addition, students used the Kahoot platform to review key concepts from the Jefferson Era. I was very impressed with the outcomes of the exam, in particular the students scored well on questions that contained documents and cumulative-type questions. Following the exam, students were given an iBook on the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. I recently finished Hamilton, a biography written by Ron Chernow and knew that I needed to share Alexander Hamilton’s story with my students. When creating the iBook, I focused on the similarities and differences between Hamilton and Burr and focused on the sources of conflict that would drive Burr to challenge Hamilton to a duel. One of my favorite parts about this iBook was that I was able to incorporate songs from Hamilton, The Musical. The musical is a hit on Broadway and is so creative in its blend of music and history! Students have really enjoyed listening to epic rap battles between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, and other songs that come from the musical. As with other iBooks that I have made, there are a plethora of galleries, interactive images, review questions, etc. While reading through the iBook, students have been participating in several activities. One of my favorites is the key-concept Post-It questions. Students are given several questions that pertain to specific sections of the iBook. Students work with their peers to answer the questions on Post-It notes and post their answers around the classroom. Students have the opportunity to see how their peers respond to the questions and have the ability to change their answers if they feel necessary. In addition, students used the Simple Mind App to create a Mind Map for specific sections of the book. Overall, I have am very pleased with the outcome of the iBook and I hope that the students share it with their families. Tomorrow, April 12th, begins PSSA Testing! Students have been preparing for these exams all school year and I am confident that each student will perform well! Good luck to everyone taking the exams! |
Mr. Steve Hartnett
Mr. Hartnett will update the Room 212 Blog with classroom updates on a regular basis. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @ MrHartnett212 Archives
July 2019
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