Differences Among the North and the South

Hello.

Just a reminer:

Be sure to bring to class your notes on the differences between the North and the South.

By the next class, you should have read pages 128 - 134 in your book.

**Don't forget to tell your parents about Parent Forums.**

Roby, September 25

Lycèe, September 26

Map, Nation Divided 1861

Your completed map is due Friday, September 14 (Lycee) and Wednesday, September 19 (Roby).

See pages 122 - 123 in your book.

Your map should include:
Union States
Border States
Confederate States
Territories
Major Cities
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Gulf of Mexico
Canada
Mexico
Rocky Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
Great Lakes

Please, be sure it is neat and colorful.

Have fun!!

Letter to Self

Letter to Self
You are going to write a letter to yourself explaining your personal goals for this school year. You will hand your letter in at the beginning of our next history class and you will not get it back until the end of the school year. It is always fun and exciting to reread the same letter nine months later. It will make you smile and, hopefully, remind you of the goals you have met and exceeded throughout the 2006 - 2007 school year.

Your letter must include:
*description of yourself
*explanation of your feelings at the beginning of this school year
*at least TWO personal goals
*at least TWO academic goals

Due date:
*the beginning of our next history class

Grade:
*this completed letter will count as a homework grade

HAVE FUN,
but be sure to include proper grammar, spelling, and structure

Welcome to the new school year!

Throughout the year, I will post information on this blog about our class. You will be able to find assignments, due dates, suggested resources, and some Lycèe/Roby announcements. I will update the blog every 7 - 10 days.

If you need to contact me, however, please call the American Section and leave me a message at 01 34 51 74 85 or you could email me at michelesilvestri@yahoo.com. Please note, I check my email three times a week.

Below you will find some information about this class.

Content
This course covers the period in American history stretching from the end of the Civil War to modern times. We explore the evolution of the United States chronologically as well as thematically, learning about the course of US history from the experience of reconstruction through the advent of the American nation as a world power to the challenge of the Great Depression, while looking in detail at various aspects of United States civilization during these years: government, society, culture, industry and science, among many other interesting topics. In addition, our class places considerable emphasis on the ways in which American history has influenced US identity today.

Texts
The book we use this year is entitled United States in Modern Times (Harcourt Brace & Company). As much as possible, we also consider primary sources, what one historian has called "witnesses of the past."

Objectives
This course has numerous aims, beginning with the goal of enhancing student knowledge about the fascinating era under consideration, knowledge that will be essential in middle school, high school and beyond. We also emphasize the refinement of research, writing and oral skills so that participants become historians who are both impassioned by and practiced in the fascinating craft of historical scholarship.

Expectations
Students are asked to read several pages per week and to prepare the assigned passages for active engagement in class discussion. Once in the classroom, participants are expected to show respect for the opinions of others and to help in the building of a constructive learning environment. While some assignments take the form of research projects and in-class tests, students are asked to complete other forms of homework and classwork during the year.

Evaluation
Participants earn grades out of 20: 17/20 corresponds to an "A" and 14/20 to a "B". Yet whatever the work, various factors enter into any given mark, including the effort a student has made, the historical accuracy of what he or she has said or written, the extent to which each participant has included important information, and the strength of his or her argumentation.