Class Updates 4/29 and 4/30

Yesterday and today, we have been working on our Oregon Trail game projects, watching a movie about cowboys, or finishing up anything else we needed to. The cowboys in the movie were more dramatic and violent than real cowboys, who only needed to look after the cattle. I posted my project last night, and it made its way to an online newspaper.

Oregon Trail Game

Here's the link to my game:

The Oregon Trail: Choose Your Own Adventure

Class Updates 4/24 and 4/25

Yesterday, April 25th, we went to the library computers to research farming tools used on the prairie. We broke into groups and each group created a Google Presentation on their invention to try to convince a group of "entrepreneurs" to buy it. My group was the reaper; an invention that made it easier to harvest grain.

Today, April 25th, we presented what we did yesterday. The "entrepreneurs" chose to buy the thresher and the reaper, but not the barbed wire or the steel plow.

Class Updates 4/22 and 4/23

Yesterday, April 22nd, we started on our "Triton 16% Plan" projects. We created our own accounts on a Smithsonian website to earn badges from doing quests. What we do will be seen by a group of experts who will judge our work and give us recognition.

Today, April 23rd, we did a few activities to see what life in a sod-house would be like. We smelled sod, planned out how people would sleep and eat in a sod house, and tried to stay still as long as possible to see what old-fashioned pictures would be like. Near the end of class, we turned off the lights (there are no windows in the classroom) and put a campfire image on the projector to simulate what being in a sod house would be like. These activities were a fun way to imagine what life would have been like. Living in a soddie would be difficult. There would be little light and little space. The smell could affect you, or you might get used to it. There would also be a lot of hard work to do for farming. I probably wouldn't last too long. I like to read most of the time, which I would need to go outside to do and only if the weather was nice. Being outside in the open and seeing the various animals would be fun for a time, but there is only so far you can go in a day, and only so much to see. We might have been able to make up games, but those would eventually get tiring, as would the view. I probably would have stayed in the city, depending on how well my family was doing economically. If we were really struggling and needed the cheap land, then I might have gone, though. 

Class Updates 4/11 and 4/12

I was out sick both yesterday and today. The class did skits on Manifest Destiny yesterday, and today they watched something about Push and Pull Factors that convinced people to go west.

Class Updates 4/8-4/9 and Erie Canal Diary Entry

Yesterday, April 8th, we has a substitute and did a bunch of worksheets on the Oregon Trail.

Today, April 9th, we read about the Erie Canal and made a chart on the effects of it.


Diary Entry (New Yorker):

I don't like the new Erie Canal. The canal brings strangers. Strangers bring disease and crime to our peaceful town. The dreaded cholera disease spreads like weeds, without a hint of stopping. On top of that, when the feeder canal freezes, our streets flood.

The trade is good and many people are prospering economically, so I suppose it isn't all bad. Goods are cheaper and easier to ship. More job opportunities have arisen. People can travel easier. Bridges have been built in nearby farms that were cut in half by the canal.

 Still, I prefer my quiet town. I might seek out new land to the west, to get away from all this hustle and bustle.

Class Updates 4/4 and 4/5

Yesterday, we talked about slogans from the War of 1812. We broke into groups and made a slogan, icon, and poem for a group from the war (the militia, the women, the Canadians, the British, or the Native Americans).

Today, we didn't have class because it was a half day.

Class Updates 4/2 and 4/3

Yesterday, we did the debate (last post).

Today, we didn't have class because of the Accuplacer test to practice for college entrance exams.

Snap Debate Reflection

Today, we had a debate on what was the main cause of the War of !812; impressment, the Chesapeake Affair, Orders in Court, or incitement of Native Americans. At the beginning and end of the debate, I thought that impressment was the main factor. Impressment was when the British pressed Americans into service for the British navy. They still saw the Americans as British citizens, even after they declared citizenship. Most of the impressed people were American, not British. This angered the Americans, especially since the British considered it perfectly legal. I think the debate was a good idea. It allowed us as students to have a more interactive learning experience and it challenged our assumptions from the beginning of class..