US History– Ms. Ulfers' ClassroomDearborn Public Schools

Mar 13th Thursday, March 14th!

Over halfway done with the week… and only 2 and a half more weeks until SPRING BREAK! But plenty of learning to do in the meantime 🙂

3/14 Quick Write: debrief on yesterday. You will not need to write down a quick write entry today; this week you will turn in FOUR quick writes.

Today we will review the Louisiana Purchase annotations and multiple choice questions we did together on Tuesday (if you need another copy of the reading or questions, click The Louisiana Purchase Reading). 

We will discuss as a class the question: Do you think Jefferson made the right decision when he chose to purchase Louisiana? Why or why not?

After class discussions, we will progress into the Louis and Clark Expedition by creating Cornell Notes from pages 309-310 in the textbook (textbook pages are posted below).

Follow the following instructions:

These Cornell Notes are to be completed in class, or they will be homework.

REMEMBER! Current Event due tomorrow 🙂

Mar 12th Wednesday, March 13th!

Time to talk about Sacagawea, Lewis, and Clark!

3/13 Quick Write:

Today there will be a substitute. I expect for you to treat the substitute even better than you usually treat me: with respect and understanding. Any misbehavior will result in:

• Call home
• Signature
• Lunch detention (you will spend lunch with me) 

Do not embarrass yourself, and DO NOT embarrass me. The substitute will be instructed to call/text me if there are ANY issues. I will be in the building, and will leave training immediately if necessary.

Today we are watching a documentary on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. You will fill out the Lewis and Clark Documentary Notes while watching the video, and keep in mind our focus question: How did Lewis and Clark help establish the US’s place in the world?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcWS-TI38XA

YOU WILL KEEP THE MOVIE HANDOUT, and bring it to class on Thursday. Work on #15 and #16 at home tonight.
On Thursday, also bring your Louisiana Purchase Annotations/Questions too.

You should have completed THREE Quick Writes by the end of today, and your Current Event is due on Friday (I will accept it early!).

Mar 11th Tuesday, March 12th:

There will be a substitute teacher in class tomorrow. You all know exactly what I expect of you, and I have faith you will not disappoint me. As a reminder: I expect for you to treat the substitute even better than you usually treat me: with respect and understanding. Any misbehavior will result in:

• Call home
• Signature
• Lunch detention (you will spend lunch with me) 

Do not embarrass yourself, and DO NOT embarrass me. The substitute will be instructed to call/text me if there are ANY issues. I will be in the building, and will leave training immediately if necessary. Be the responsible, respectful and accountable person I know you to be.

3/12 Quick Write:

Today we are digging into the Louisiana Purchase… a purchase Thomas Jefferson made that changed the trajectory, or path, of America. However, Jefferson was very hesitant in making this decision, and his reasoning relates back to topics we have discussed at length– how much power should the Federal government have, and how should the Constitution be interpreted: strictly or loosely?

Take a look at the map below. Do you notice how the size of the US nearly doubled when the Louisiana Territory was added? What consequences could such a large addition of land have on a new country?

As a class we will read The Louisiana Purchase Reading, annotating the article together.

Then we will answer the multiple choice and short response questions on the back of the reading.

Questions and annotated reading will be collected at the end of class.

Reminder: Current Event is due this Friday!

Mar 10th Monday, March 11th

Happy Monday!

Housekeeping:

• If you didn’t turn in your Current Event on Friday, you must turn it in today (otherwise you will receive a signature)
• Many of you still have not completed your Marbury vs. Madison analyses (1 written CER, 1 creative analysis). These need to be turned in ASAP
• I will not hunt you down for these assignments… they are YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to turn in

3/11 Quick Write:

Today will be an opportunity to wrap up the court cases we read through last week. Each of you received a case that related to school, teenagers, or both (see Landmark Court Cases for Teens). We will continue to share out each court case to the class, emphasizing:

• What happened that lead to the case
• What the issue of judicial review was
• How the court ruled
• What the impact of the decision is today

We will end class by clarifying the significance of judicial review, and reminding ourselves of the context in which judicial review was established… during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency!

Mar 7th Friday, March 8th!!

Happy Friday! We did it!

3/8 Quick Write: I will be collecting your Quick Writes and Current Event TODAY.

Today we will continue our discussion of judicial review and court cases related specifically to teens, schools and the Constitution.

You and a partner will receive a court case and on the attached sheet (Landmark Cases Activity) you will determine the following:

• Who?
• When?
• Issue?
• Decision?
• Effects?
• Agree?

We will then share out, so everyone in class can hear about all of these landmark cases. If you want to read about each of the cases, see “Landmark Court Cases for Teens“.

Mar 6th Thursday, March 7th

3/7 Quick Write:

Now that we have analyzed judicial review, and examined how it became an established power for the Supreme Court, we are going to study how judicial review has actually played out in real life. Today we will look at landmark (important, significant) court cases where the Supreme Court has used judicial review. Every court case we’ll discuss relates to teens; the first one is Tinker v. Des Moines. 

Tinker v. Des Moines set a precedent about free speech in schools, and the ruling, or decision, in Tinker has effected other free-speech court case decisions. Consider the following things while watching the video above:

• Who?
• When?
• Issue?
• Decision?
• Effects?
• Agree?

We will read through the Tinker case, and, as a class, we will discuss the relevance of the ruling on our lives inside of school.

Tinker v. Des Moines Labelled

Reminder: CURRENT EVENT DUE TOMORROW!

Mar 5th Wednesday, March 6th!

Working towards the halfway point of the week… keep up the momentum!

3/6 Quick Write:

Today you will have an opportunity to show me how well you’re understanding judicial review and Marbury v Madison by doing two CER analyses. Both of your CERs (claim, evidence, reasoning) will explain Marbury v Madison and Judicial Review: one CER is a creative analysis, and the other is a written analysis (see instructions and document below).

Handout for CERs: CERs for MvM

Your CER analyses will be due at the end of class. If you use your phone for the creative analysis (either the tweet option of the emoji story), upload a screenshot of your analysis to Google Classroom. Upload analysis to assignment “CERs: Marbury v. Madison.” Instructions for upload is attached to Assignment.

Reminder: you have a Current Event due Friday, March 8th!

Also, here is a blind, rescue pug who goes to the courtroom with their owner, Sabrina Johnson, a district judge for Inkster, Michigan. Talk about Blind Justice!

Mar 4th Tuesday, March 5th:

Happy Tuesday!

3/5 Quick Write:

Today we are digging into Judicial Review by learning more about how this judicial power came to be in the first place: the court case Marbury vs. Madison.

I want to warn you: the actual case is quite complicated and tedious. Therefore, I am less concerned about you knowing the specifics of the actual case, and much more interested in you understanding the consequences and effects of the case.

Keep in mind, without MvM the judicial branch would not have the powers it does today and, consequently, our entire government wouldn’t function like it does today.

In class we will watch the following video, giving us an overview of the situation Jefferson found himself in.

While watching, reflect on the following:

• What was the case about?
• What is Judicial Review?
• Why is this considered the most important Supreme Court Case of all time?

After this, we will work on a handout that summarizes MvM and complete a short activity where we reflect on the effect of judicial review.

Marbury handout

Remember: Current Event due Friday!

Mar 3rd Monday, March 4th!

Welcome back!

Hopefully your weekend was restful. As I mentioned on Friday, we have a long four weeks in front of us: let’s start this Monday off right by being engaged, prepared and on-task.

3/4 Quick Write:

Note: If you didn’t turn in your current event on Friday, I am collecting it today. If you still do not have yours, you will earn a signature on the PBIS form.

Here are the objectives for today:

Today we are reviewing good ol TJ, also known as Thomas Jefferson. For three weeks we’ve discussed his political contributions prior to his presidency. This week, we are examining TJ’s rather contradictory (or inconsistent) policies and lasting influences. To start, we will go through the questions I handed out on Friday (both the reading and the questions are in Friday’s post). As a class we will discuss what he did as president, the growing power of the federal government, and introduce the idea of Judicial Review. Judicial Review is a power the Supreme Court uses to determine if an act or a law is constitutional or not.  This power will be a topic we examine all week.

You will turn in the TJ questions (answered in complete sentences) at the end of class.

Keep in mind: you have another Current Event due on Friday!

Feb 28th Friday, March 1st

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

3/1 Quick Write: I am collecting Quick Writes today… there should be FIVE.

Also, I am collecting your Current Event today.

There are a group of you who still need to complete the summative assessment from yesterday: bring ALL your notes to class so you can use them on the test.

We are putting Adams and Washington behind us, and moving on towards Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. We have discussed Jefferson for the last two weeks, and now we will finally explore what he did as our president.

First we will watch this video, which gives an overview of TJ, both in person and as president #3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NokpNOkuSYY

While watching, keep the following questions in mind:

1. What made Thomas Jefferson’s presidency stand out from #1-2?
2. What did TJ do in office?
3. How did TJ’s presidency help establish America’s place in the world?

Then we will turn to our books and, individually or in pairs, answer the following questions:

TJ Questions

TJ Takes Office reading

Everyone must answer these questions on their own piece of paper. If you do not complete it in class, it will be homework over the weekend.