Congratulations on completing the 2019-2020 school year! I know the end of this year was unprecedented, challenging, and frankly quite different than all of the ones before it. I am so grateful to have spent the year learning and growing with you. I love watching you problem solve, work through questions you have, and add knowledge and skills as you learn.
Lunches will be available on Wednesdays all summer! “The summer meal distribution will be once a week on Wednesdays starting June 17. Food will be handed out every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon at the seven locations. Each bag will contain seven breakfasts and seven lunches for each child under the age of 18. Each child will also get a half gallon of milk. The distribution locations will continue to be Fordson, Dearborn and Edsel Ford high schools, Woodworth and Smith middle schools, Salina Intermediate, and McCollough/Unis School. One person can pick up food for any child living in the home. The child does not need to attend that school.” More info here.
I will miss you all over the summer! I hope you have a fun and safe summer. Enjoy some time in nature, read, eat good food, and rest up. Love you all!
Congratulations on making it to the last week of work for the 2019-2020 school year! We have one last Article Reflection Sheet and iLearn meeting. Next week we will have time for makeup work. ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE Tuesday, June 9th, 2020.
To receive an A: Complete 5 Article Reflection assignments and attend 3 online meetings since April 20th.
To receive a G (credit): Complete 4 Article Reflection assignments and attend 2 online meetings since April 20th.
Directions: Read each of the four articles below about topics from the late 1960s on. Choose one article and answer the questions on the Weekly Reflection Activity template below. Please share your Google Doc with connore@dearbornschools.org by 11:59pm on Sunday, June 7th, 2020. You may share it earlier if you complete it sooner. We will discuss these articles during our online class meetings. Please try to read them before our meeting.
I hope you had had a wonderful Eid & Memorial Weekend! It was nice to have time off with beautiful weather. We will have meetings on iLearn this week and next. If you still need to make 3 for an A, I would attend these last two meetings.
To receive an A: Complete 5 assignments and attend 3 online meetings since April 20th.
To receive a G (credit): Complete 4 assignments and attend 2 online meetings since April 20th.
ALL assignments for this class are due by Tuesday, June 9th, 2020.
Chapter 23: An Era of Social Change
Directions: Read each of the four articles below about topics from Chapters 23. Choose one article and answer the questions on the Weekly Reflection Activity template below. Please share your Google Doc with connore@dearbornschools.org by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 31st, 2020. You may share it earlier if you complete it sooner. We will discuss these articles during our online class meetings on Google Meet. Please try to read them before our meeting.
It is a shorter week this week! Next week also. This week we have school Monday-Thursday. We are off Friday and Monday for Memorial Day and Eid. I hope you all have a fantastic Eid! Eid Mubarak!
We will meet this week at our usual times on iLearn. I hope to see you all there!
Announcements: Food distribution at the schools will be Monday and Wednesday this week. Read all about the changes here. Note the later times this week due to Ramadan.
If you have items in your hallway or gym locker that you want to pick up, click on this link and fill out the form: https://forms.gle/V8YJweLi19jPGVxk7. Complete it by this Friday, May 22! The scheduled “pick-up” of the items is on June 1st from 10 am-12 pm. *If the form is not filled out, the lock will be taken off (in the gym lockers) and the items in the locker will be discarded. Thank you!
Chapter 22: The Vietnam Years
Directions: Read each of the four articles below about topics from Chapters 22. Choose one article and answer the questions on the Weekly Reflection Activity template below. Please share your Google Doc with connore@dearbornschools.org by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 24th, 2020. You may share it earlier if you complete it sooner. We will discuss these articles during our online class meetings on Google Meet. Please try to read them before our meeting.
Chapter 22: The Vietnam Years Vocabulary (Part II)
silent majority: an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by United States President Richard Nixon in a November 3, 1969.
Tet Offensive: a series of attacks staged by North Vietnamese forces beginning in the early hours of January 31, 1968. They consisted of simultaneous attacks by some 85,000 troops under the direction of the North Vietnamese government.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution: a resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression” by the communist government of North Vietnam.
Vietnamization: one of President Nixon’s policies aimed at ending America’s involvement in the Vietnam War training and equipping South Vietnam’s forces against North Vietnam.
War Powers Act: a federal law intended to check the president’s power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S. Congress.
I hope everyone is doing well and you had a great weekend! This week we are focused on Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and Malcolm X for our last two Civil Rights related articles. Our other two articles will involve the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a highly contested and protested war as you will find out. The Draft (remember the Selective Service Act?) will bring many of our young men into a very challenging war in Vietnam in which a great number of them will not return. Those that do return will struggle with PTSD, mental health issues, and other injuries. The “Baby Boomers” (aka Boomers) born right after WWII will be tested with issues around the Vietnam War as well as with other topics we have been discussing like Civil Rights, the Cold War with the Soviets, and the containment of communism worldwide.
One interesting article from the Civil Rights Movement that I wanted to share (Thanks, Gana!) is a link to an article with an actual literacy test given in Louisiana to anyone who could not prove at least a 5th grade education. This was meant to stop African Americans (and poorer people) from voting. If you did not pass it, you could not vote. Could you pass this Literacy Test? You have 10 minutes. GO. #goodluck #novotesforyou
During our meeting this week we will be playing Kahoot! on the Civil Rights Movement! Our CRM articles might help you… If you have suggestions for prizes for 1st place, let me know! 😉
Remember you need to attend at least 3 meetings to get an A and at least 2 meetings to receive credit in for this semester. If you are behind on assignments, please continue to work on them and share them with me as you complete them.
Announcement: If you are interested in being in the Link Crew next year, please fill out this survey form. Let me know if you need a recommendation letter for it and I will fill one out! https://forms.gle/aTC9Tw2aEks4SrgR7
Chapters 21 & 22 Articles & Reflection Activity
Directions: Read each of the four articles below about topics from Chapters 21 & 22. Choose one article and answer the questions on the Weekly Reflection Activity template below. Please share your Google Doc with connore@dearbornschools.org by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 17th, 2020. You may share it earlier if you complete it sooner. We will discuss these articles during our online class meetings on Google Meet. Please try to read them before our meeting.
Article 2: Biography of Malcolm X, Black Nationalist and Civil Rights Activist by Stephanie L. McKinney, PhD, Contributing Writer https://www.thoughtco.com/malcolm-x-1779823
Agent Orange: a powerful herbicide (chemical) used by U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate the forest cover and crops of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops
Domino Theory: a theory during the Cold War that said if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would fall to communism as well
Ho Chi Minh Trail: a network of roads built from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia, to provide logistical support to the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War
napalm: a highly flammable jelly like liquid substance used during the Vietnam war in incendiary bombs and flamethrowers that sticks to a person’s skin and causes severe burns when on fire
Pentagon Papers: a set of officially titled documents known as the “Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force,” designed to act as a comprehensive history of American involvement in the Vietnam from the end of World War II through 1967
Chewbacca on Star Wars Day “May the Fourth be with You”
This week we will start looking at the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) for Chapter 21. This Chapter briefly discusses some of the larger events and key people of the CRM. There are millions of people who fought during the CRM for equality, equity, and minority rights. The fight still carries on today in many ways. Hopefully the articles below will give you a basis for the history of movement and a better appreciation for those who fought and continue to fight for civil rights in America.
We will have our weekly meetings on iLearn using the Big Blue Button again this week. Please come to our scheduled meeting time.
Announcement: If you are interested in being in the Link Crew next year, please fill out this survey form. Let me know if you need a recommendation letter for it and I will fill one out! https://forms.gle/aTC9Tw2aEks4SrgR7
Chapter 21: Civil Rights Readings & Reflection Activity
Directions: Read each of the four articles below about topics from Chapter 20. Choose one article and answer the questions on the Weekly Reflection Activity template below. Please share your Google Doc with connore@dearbornschools.org by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 10th, 2020. You may share it earlier if you complete it sooner. We will discuss these articles during our online class meetings on Google Meet. Please try to read them before our meeting.
Before you read the four articles for this week, I would like you to get acquainted with the Civil Rights Movement Timeline of major events during the 1950s & 1960s.
The articles below may also be used if you would like to use them for your Reflection Activity. These are not required reading, but you might find them to be interesting and informational.
KING Issue of The Atlantic with dozens of articles about Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. & the Civil Rights Movement
Black Panthers: a revolutionary black nationalist group who worked to fight poverty and police brutality in the ghettos
Brown v. Board of Education: a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: a landmark piece of civil rights legislation which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and ended unequal voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools and the workplace.
Civil Rights Act of 1968: a landmark piece of legislation that provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin and made it a federal crime to “by force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone … based on their race, color, religion, or national origin.”
de facto segregation: a form of segregation that exists due to historical practice or customs
de jure segregation: a form of segregation that exists by law
Freedom Riders: Civil rights activists who rode buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 to challenge the non-enforcement of United States Supreme Court decisions which had ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional
sit-ins: a form of non-violent protest in which African-Americans sate a segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served
Student Nonviolence Coordination Committee (SNCC): an important Civil Rights organization which formed during a student meeting at Shaw University in April 1960
Voting Rights Act of 1965: a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination when voting by eliminating literacy tests and poll taxes
Starting this week our weekly virtual meetings will be on iLearn. There is a feature called Big Blue Button (colleges use it actually) that will allow us to go in through iLearn to meet. Each class period will have their own meeting slot. Only students in that class can enter it. I will have the window to join open from 12:55pm-1:40pm and 1:55pm-2:40pm for the 1pm and 2pm meeting slots. Remember you need to attend 3 meetings before the end of the school year to get an A in this class.
Directions: 1.) Go to https://moodle.dearbornschools.org and log in with your school account. 2.) Click on our U.S. History class. (Here is the direct link to our class https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/course/view.php?id=3172) 3.) Click on the meeting listed for your class period. For example, if you are in 1st hour click on “1st Hour U.S. History Meeting”. It will not let you in to an hour you are not in for my class. 4.) Click “Join Session”.
That’s it! If you get kicked out somehow, just do the same thing and re-join the session.
Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well and staying caught up with school work. This week brings about one more change due to the issues with Google Meet meetings (see Dr. Maleyko’s message). Instead of Google Meet we will be using iLearn for our meetings. There is a feature called Big Blue Button (BBB) that we will use to conduct our meetings. The times for each class have not changed, but our platform will.
Updates: – Chromebook distribution is today (Monday) and Tuesday from 12pm-3pm at Fordson High School near the food distribution area off of Horger. – Food distribution continues Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. During Ramadan the times have changed to 12pm noon to 2 p.m. at Fordson High School, Woodworth Middle School, Salina Intermediate and McCollough Elementary. The other buildings continue with the 10am-12pm noon times.
I will post the directions for Big Blue Button on iLearn tomorrow (Tuesday) before we meet.
Chapter 20: New Frontier & Great Society Articles & Reflection
Directions: Read each of the four articles below about topics from Chapter 20. Choose one article and answer the questions on the Weekly Reflection Activity template below. Please share your Google Doc with connore@dearbornschools.org by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 3rd, 2020. You may share it earlier if you complete it sooner. We will discuss these articles during our online class meetings on Google Meet. Please try to read them before our meeting.
Berlin Wall: a concrete wall topped with barbed wire that divided the city of Berlin into a Soviet controlled half to the East and Allied controlled half to the West
Economic Opportunity Act: a government program approved nearly $1 billion dollars for youth programs, antipoverty measures, small business loans and job training
Great Society: a program designed by Lyndon B. Johnson that would end poverty and racial injustices in America
hot line: a communication line established between the White House and the Soviet Kremlin in 1963
Limited Test Ban Treaty: an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union that barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere
Medicade: an extended form of health insurance offered to welfare recipients
Medicare: hospital and low cost health insurance offered to Americans age 65 and older
New Frontier: JFK’s broad vision of transforming America through progressive science and space programs
Peace Corps: a program created where volunteers offered assistance in such developing nations as Asia, Africa and Latin America
Warren Commission: this committee investigated the death of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the loan shooter
Hi all. Due to some major disruptions and issues with Google Meets this week, Dr. Maleyko has suspended the use of Google Meet for at least a week.
Here is the letter written by Dr. Maleyko discuss the issue and the consequences that will be dealt to those who caused disruptions. Dr. Maleyko’s Letter for April 24th, 2020 The link will take you to the English and Arabic versions of the letter.
I am likely going to use Big Blue Button on iLearn starting next week for a class meetings. I will let you know in our Monday weekly post the official plan. For now, please continue to email me (connore@dearbornschools.org) or send me messages on Remind (@ConnorsFHS) to check in and ask questions.
Reminder: Your Reflection Activity sheet for this week is due Sunday, 04-26-20 by 11:59pm.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Ramadan Kareem!
Happy Monday everyone! We begin our new online learning schedule today. I know you will likely have a lot of questions so I have created directions to help answer a few of those questions. Please add me on Remind @ConnorsFHS and be sure to check your email daily to receive the passwords for our once a week online meetings.
As you may have seen Dearborn Public Schools has submitted their plan for closing out our school year using extended remote learning and it has been approved by the Michigan Department of Education. If you are interested in reading our districts complete plan, a summary of how the plan impacts elementary, middle, and high school students, along with grading criteria for each grade level can be found at: https://dearbornschools.org/services/dearborn-public-schools-continuity-of-learning-plan
You can also check out this video posted by Dr. Maleyko on our Approval of the Continuity of Learning plan. https://youtu.be/BBF9D4DigPE Our school year will conclude as planned on Thursday, June 11th, 2020.
Included in our post today will be two key pieces of information. First in section one (Part I) I will include my plan for our weekly schedule using remote learning. Please read this carefully because it contains information pertaining to our newly updated office hours and requirements for scheduled Google Meet/Hangout meetings. The second section (Part II) will contain our assignment including vocabulary words for Chapter 19, the articles we would like you to read this week, and the template for the reflection activity.
Feel free to email me with any questions that you have, and I will get back to you as soon as I can. I will be updating grades on MISTAR as soon as I can to reflect the work we did previously and I will update the new grades for participation and the weekly assignments as soon as possible.
Please send me an email or a message on Remind if you have any questions or concerns. I hope you have a terrific week!
Guidelines and Instructions for Weekly Assignments:
Every Monday morning, I will post the following things on the iBlog:
A set of vocabulary words that will help support your understanding of content related words associated with the chapter.
Four content related articles designed to further your understanding of the topic/standards assigned to that week.
Instructions for a reading reflection log.
The vocabulary words are for you to review and use in your reading reflection (if they fit contextually) to strengthen your response.
You will be responsible for reading all four of the articles at some point throughout the week. Each article will take you five to ten minutes to read and your reading reflection should take you roughly twenty minutes. Your reading reflection (only one per week is required) will be due by 11:59pm on the Sunday night of that week but can be sent in earlier if you finish during the week. Please share your reflection on Google Docs with connore@dearbornschools.org. I will continue to give you individual feedback and suggestions.
Students will be required to attend a minimum of three Google Meet/Hangout online meetings throughout the last eight weeks of the school year. You can earn one additional session’s worth of points by attending a 4th session. Each hour will be assigned a specific day and time for attending our Google Meet/Hangout. If you are unable to attend at that day or time due to work or family obligations you must email me in advance so I can make accommodations or send you information on one of the other meetings that you can attend. I will email each class their Google Meet information by 10:00am on the day you are scheduled to meet.
You must check your school email and Remind for the links to the meetings.
Each weekly reading reflection will be graded on a 10 point scale and each Google Meet/Hangout attended is worth 20 points.
7 remaining weekly reflections x 10 points each = 70 total points
3 Google Meet meetings x 20 points = 60 total points
For each class, if a student participates in the learning, he/she will receive credit. The following will apply:
Students who do the following will earn the grade of A recorded:
Engage in at least 75% of the remote lessons and Meet/Hangouts.
Minimum of five reflection submissions and three attended Google Meet/Hangouts.
Submit and earn a passing grade on at least 75% of the assignments.
Students who do the following will earn the grade of G which awards credit:
Engage in 60-74% of the remote lessons and Meet/Hangouts.
Submission of four reflection logs and two attended Google Meet/Hangouts.
Submit and earn a passing grade on at least 60-74% of the assignments.
Students who do the following will earn the grade of N or no credit given:
Engage in less than 60% of the remote lessons and Meet/Hangouts.
Submission of three or less reflection logs and attending one or no Google Meet/Hangouts.
Submit and earn a passing grade on less than 60% of the assignments.
If a student chooses not to participate and cannot be reached despite numerous attempts, the student receives N for no credit.
Any student who receives no credit will have to attend summer school for credit recovery. (Students must meet the Michigan Merit Curriculum requirements and earn 23 credits to graduate.)
Weekly Topic Schedule:
Week: 4/20 to 4/24 Topic: Chapter 19 Postwar Boom
Week: 4/27 to 5/01 Topic: Chapter 20 New Frontier and the Great Society
Week: 5/04 to 5/08 Topic: Chapter 21 Civil Rights
Week: 5/11 to 5/15 Topic: Chapt 21 Civil Rights & Chapt 22 Vietnam Years (2 ea)
Week: 5/18 to 5/22 Topic: Chapter 22 The Vietnam Years
Week: 5/25 to 5/29 Topic: Chapter 23 Era of Social Change
Week: 6/01 to 6/05 Topic: Vietnam (Two articles & instructions for the final)
Week: 6/08 to 6/11 Topic: Support students and grade final essay/project
Part II: Chapter 19 Vocabulary, Readings, & Reflection Activity
Chapter 19: Postwar America Vocabulary
Baby Boom: a time period marked by a greatly increased birthrate of American Children born during the late 1940s through the early 1960s
Beat Movement: an expression of the social and literary nonconformity of artists, poets and writers during the 1960s
consumerism: the belief that success is achieved by purchasing large amounts of material goods
Fair Deal: government programs introduced under President Truman that acted as an extension of FDR’s New Deal policies that included compulsory healthcare systems and crop-subsidy systems
Federal Communication Commission (FCC): the government agency that regulates and licenses television, telephones, radios, telegraphs and any other mediums operating within the communications industry
franchise: a company that offers a similar product or service in many locations
mass media: a means of communication that reaches a widespread audience
planned obsolescence: a policy where manufactures purposely produced products that easily wore out becoming quickly outdated and obsolete
suburbs: mall residential communities located around surrounding cities
urban renewal: this congressional act called for tearing down old rundown neighborhoods and constructing low-income housing in its place
Chapter 19 Readings & Weekly Reflection Activity
Directions: Read each of the four articles below about Postwar America and life in the 1950s. Choose one article and answer the questions on the Reflection Activity template. Please share your Google Doc with connore@dearbornschools.org by 11:59pm on Sunday, April 26th, 2020. You may share it earlier if you complete it sooner. We will discuss these articles during our online class meetings on Google Meet. Please try to read them before our meeting.
