Class Updates

Sorry I haven't posted the summaries...I didn't know when we were supposed to start...
In history class, we have been studying the events that led to the Constitution, the Constitution itself, the Bill of Rights, the three branches of government, and the events leading to the Revolutionary War.
On September 4th, we talked about and defined the ten civic values: courage, initiative, vigilance, honor, justice, perseverance, moderation, respect, responsibility, and resourcefulness. We came up with solutions to various problems using these values.
On September 5th, we signed up for the various websites we would be using throughout the year, such as blogger, timetoast, voicethread, slidebombacademy, iCivics, diigo, and classroom collaborize.
On September 6th, we made a list of important issues Congress had under the Articles of Confederation, such as no power to raise money, problems with representatives not attending meetings, no military, bad relations with foreign countries, states being able to make their own currency, and a weak central government.
On September 7th, we went over the Articles of Confederation problems and Shays' Rebellion.
On September 10th, we talked about the Philadelphia Convention and the Preamble to the Constitution.
On September 12th and 13th, the class learned about representation and the legislative branch.
On September 14th and 17th, we learned about the executive branch and the powers of the president.
On September 18th, we reviewed the powers of the three branches and made an infograph on their powers and responsibilities in groups.
On September 19th, we learned about the Federalists (support Constitution) and the Anti-Federalists. We made posters on the ideas of both sides.
On September 24th, we learned about the Bill of Rights. We looked at a hypothetical case in which the rights of the people were not respected, and how it could go wrong.
On September 25th, we learned about the Federalist Party (not the ones who supported the Constitution; this party didn't value the states' rights and thought the USA should be ruled by a well-educated elite) and the Democratic-Republic Party (believed that the states should have the most power, and they took control of the government in 1800).
On September 26th, we had an Ed-Cafe on the 1st Amendment.
On September 27th, we ended the Constitution unit with a "quest" (combination between quiz and test).
On September 28th, we learned about the three colonial sections: New England, Middle Colonies, and Southern Colonies. We made voki people (online speaking avatars) for one of the three sections.
On October 2nd, we learned about the French and Indian Revolution and the Royal Proclamation preventing colonies from settling the newly won land.
On October 3rd, we worked on our Event Profiles for the Ed-Cafe (on the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts, or the First Continental Congress). I think it would have been better to go over these events in class, so everyone would have a basis for the conversation.
On October 4th, we had another Ed-Cafe. This one was different, because the leaders of the conversation had to explain their event to the group, not leaving much room for discussion. Some groups also ran out of time. The Ed-Cafe is a good idea, but we still need to get used to it.
Today, October 5th, we went over the events from the Ed-Cafe to make sure we were all on the same page. Then, we read "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Longfellow. We learned about the real ride of Paul Revere, then, seeing that the poem wasn't historically correct (for one, there were other riders who went in different directions carrying the same message) we made our own versions telling the true tale of the night.