In today’s assignment you will learn about the California Gold Rush. This would have been our final topic in class related to westward expansion and covers the “Mormon Trail” as well. There are about 10 questions within the assignment and several interesting video links posted at the bottom of the assignment if you want to start there before you read, feel free to do so! This activity will be due on WEDNESDAY 3/18/20 If it is not turned in that day I will be contacting you and parents to check in and see what we can do to help!

Expect to see another activity posted on Wednesday! Click here for a direct link to Google Classroom: http://classroom.google.com

-Mr. Trerice

trericm@dearbornschools.org

Google Classroom – check every few days

Over this time that we are going to be out of school I will be updating the blog every couple of days. Most of the posts will just be telling students and parents to check the latest post on Google Classroom (here is a link now: https://classroom.google.com). It is important to note that this link will be active FOR STUDENTS ONLY. Parents will not be able to directly see what is posted to Google Classroom. However, if you want to see what is posted you can simply have your child log in and ask to see their screen. The assignments posted to Google Classroom will have “due dates” and checked to see that they are complete during this time and if students are not completing the assignments I will be reaching out to parents to check in (this has been mandated by our principal Ms. Jebril). Our goal is to help keep students sharp academically during this unprecedented time in our country!

Missing work from before March 13th.

So, many students have emailed me asking about missing work that they are missing from student connect. I am still accepting ALL missing work that can be submitted digitally. Now what does this mean? Well, many of the assignments in the grade-book can be found on Google Classroom and others can be emailed out to students upon request. There are a few assignments though, that unfortunately will not be able to be made up due to the constraints of digital technology (however this is the VAST minority in the grade-book). My goal is to update the grade-book today and tomorrow to reflect the most recent work collected last week. After this time, any LATE WORK submitted from before March 12th will still be graded BUT please EMAIL me DIRECTLY (trericm@dearbornschools.org) to tell me the NAME of the Assignment and how you submitted it. You could submit late work on Google Classroom OR attach it in the email you have sent me.

Please look for the FIRST post to hit Google Classroom later this morning with another update here to the blog.

Please email me with any questions or concerns! Stay healthy!

-Mr. Trerice

Foreign Affairs Book- Research Project

This week students have been researching several major events in US History that happened in the years following Washington’s Presidency. All the events dealt with how the United States handled issues with Foreign Nations (Britain, France, and Spain mostly). Each day we have started class with a discussion and a video clip about the event/treaty and students have been using the rest of their class time to complete a page in their book about the event (directions and resources for this project are posted to Google Classroom). The book is due at the end of class on 12/20/19, which is the last day before break. Student MAY work on the book at home throughout the week and should come to class on Friday with MOST of the book completed (the final day of the week will be a catch-up day with no new event to be added to the project).

After Break- end of Unit 2

When we return from break we will have a couple of lessons to close out unit 2. Our tentative date for the unit 2 test will be the second Tuesday after break 1/14/20 (although this might change). A study guide will be given the day we return from break. If you would like to start studying earlier, please look back at all the posts from Unit 2 on Google Classroom and focus on the central questions for each assignment for review.

As always, if you have any questions please let me know!

Have a wonderful break, Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate and a Happy New Year!

-Mr. Trerice

trericm@deabornschools.org

Week 15 (12/2-12/6)- Unit 1 Test and Washington’s Presidency

The unit 1 test was given on Tuesday 12/10. Students grades were released on Wednesday and retakes were made available for qualifying students. Ask your child for more details (Google Classroom explains).

On Wednesday we began looking at the Presidency of George Washington and have spent the last several days into Week 16 working on a timeline about the events that occurred during his presidency. Directions for this and various homework assignments are on Gooogle Classroom.

Week 16 (12/9-12/13)

This week we are finishing our look at George Washington’s Presidency by completing the timeline project (posted to google Classroom) and identifying the main points he laid out in his farewell address. We will be using this as a roadmap of sorts to look at how the United States handled many events the 20 years after his presidency.

The final project for the (calendar) year will be a look at our connections with foreign countries in the years that followed Washington’s Presidency. Students will be researching 7 different events (a different event each day) and compiling a book that seeks to answer the Question: Did the USA follow Washington’s advice about avoiding foreign entanglements? Directions for this will be posted on Google Classroom on Thursday or Friday.

As always if you have any questions, please let me know.

-Mr. Trerice trericm@dearbornschools.org

Parent Teacher Conferences this week

Don’t forget that conferences are Monday and Wednesday of this week.

Investigation 2- Would the founders have approved of executive actions concerning DACA?

Last week we began investigating the issues surrounding DACA and executive actions. We then looked at what the founders and others had to say about the Powers of the Presidency. This week students will begin to write their argumentative response to the central question: Would the founders have approved of executive actions concerning DACA? This is especially timely since the Supreme Court of the United States is scheduled to review the actions and laws connected to DACA this very week.

The writing and analyzing of sources will continue to take place this week and students will be writing a first draft in class on Wednesday, revise on Thursday and will submit the final argument Friday by the end of class.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know.

-Matt Trerice (trericm@dearbornschools.org)

The past two weeks we have been examining the events that led up to the Revolutionary War. We took a formative assessment on Friday 10/18 about many of the events and then on Monday of this week we did a short re-teaching lesson over some of the most missed questions. Then, students retook the formative assessment. Overall, most classes did very well!

Colonial Women in America Revisions

Students received their argumentative writing back with feedback and then were given time in class to revise their work (more details can be found on Google Classroom). Most students worked on revisions in class this week and have already submitted their revisions to be graded. However, please encourage your child to be sure to submit their final revisions this week as the Card Marking will come to end next week!

Declaration of Independence Breakup Letter

This week our focus in class has been looking at how the colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence to King George to tell him they were through! Students have been taking notes on the Declaration and will work on writing a Breakup style letter to King George as if they were the American Colonies. Details for the assignment are on Google Classroom along with helpful ideas and examples of how to get started for anyone struggling.

End of Card Marking is NEXT WEEK

Please have your child check their gradebook for any missing work in my class to be submitted by next WEDNESDAY! Because of the end of the card marking I will not be accepting work after Wednesday as it takes time to grade and then update any missing work in time for Report Card deadlines.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know!

-Mr. Trerice trericm@dearbornschools.org

This week we are concluding our investigation looking at sources from the 1700s about women and their common experiences. Students will conclude the investigation by planning out and framing a response to the central question: Was there a common experience for women in Colonial North America? Students will be asked to answer the question as part of a writing response and this will take place during classes on Friday. To prepare for the writing response I will be encouraging students to review their sources for homework on Thursday and begin thinking about their response to the central question. Students should re-read each source (there are 4 of them) and begin thinking about the commonalities they notice or don’t. There is not one correct answer for this writing assignment.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

-Mr. Trerice trericm@dearbornschools.org

Was the experience for all women in colonial America the same?

This week our focus will be on analyzing sources from the 16 and 1700’s that deal with the experiences of women in colonial times. We have already started reviewing this time period and will try to make it more meaningful by using this focus question to try to understand what it was really like for those people living during the time.

This week also marks the 232nd anniversary of the Constitution. We will spend one day this week looking at the preamble of the Constitution through the lense of a historian. Check out the official Constitution Day website by clicking HERE.

Also, please begin looking at parent connect for updated grades this week from some of the work we did last week while examining the geographic features of the United States and reviewing Native Americans life prior to European colonization. I was planning to grade some work and post this weekend but due to the power outage, I was unable to accomplish this task. I will try to have grades input by Wednesday at the latest.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns,

-Mr. Trerice trericm@dearbornschools.org

Please let me know if you have any questions!

-Mr. Trerice trericm@dearbornschools.org

This year I will be using the blog to keep you updated on events happening the following week. I will typically update the blog between Friday and Sunday. Please subscribe so you don’t miss an update. Obviously as your child is now in 8th grade the responsibility for studying for upcoming tests or completing assignments and projects falls on their shoulders. However, I encourage you to check here each week to facilitate a conversation to encourage them to be prepared for the upcoming week.

I am sharing my class syllabus that I handed out the first week of school. Every student has their binder already and we have started to organize them and have already placed our first assignment in the vocabulary section! Click here to access the class syllabus.

UPCOMING: This week we will be taking the NWEA Fall test to see where each student begins. In addition to this, we are also taking a History pretest on Monday. Please encourage your child to get a goo night’s sleep this week and to do their best to show what they know. Also this week we will be logging into Google Classroom for the first time and students will begin receiving assignments and updates on their Google Classroom page.

OPEN HOUSE: This Wednesday at 6pm please join us for Open House!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

-Mr. Trerice trericm@dearbornschools.org