Friday, September 3rd

Starter: A Significant Omission…..

Read the omitted passage from the Declaration of Independence and answer the following questions:

1. To what is Jefferson referring?

2. Why do you think Congress removed this from the adopted  draft?

He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation hither … And he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he had deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them: thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.

 The American Revolution:  Crash Course US History

• Listen for the reasons! Why were the colonists frustrated? 

WORK TIME during HONORS seminar

Read and annotate:  “Re-examining the Revolution” by Ray Raphael

9.3 American Revolution Response Questions

Respond in your digital comp books to these prompts.

1. What major understandings about the American Revolution do you have now that you didn’t have before? Did anything in the video or the reading surprise or enlighten you?

2. John Green says, “If you are going to base your society on philosophy, you should try to found it on ideals that are as inclusive and humanistic as possible--because the people executing those ideals will never be ideal.” What does he mean by this? How does it relate to the founding of America?

3. Ray Raphael says, "We continue to see ourselves as David to prove we are not Goliath..."  What does he mean by this?  How does he see this as a result of mythologizing the study of history?  Why should we care?

4. What does Raphael seem to be suggesting about the study of history? What does he want to “convince” his audience of?

Thursday, September 2nd

Starter: September

WORK TIME

•  The Ideology of the Declaration of Independence

Discuss Declaration Packet. (TURN IT IN!)

• What are the ideologies upon which our country is founded?
• What bias did you see in each of the historian excerpts?

Speaking of founding philosophy, here is a dose of rhetoric from the Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Four corners:  

• America is living up to the ideals set forth in our founding documents.

9.2 America's Democratic Ideals Freewrite:  (Comp Book!)

Free-write on your main take-aways from the discussion we have been having these last few days about America.  Try to sum up the perspective you are holding that made you align yourself to the corner you chose.

HONORS: Montana 1948 Book Club tomorrow

Book Club Prep

• Read and annotate in such a way that helps you prepare to discuss 

• Identify passages that you would like to bring into the discussion

• Develop 5 seminar-style questions for our discussion (open-ended, elicit interpretation)

• 
  

Wednesday, September 1st

Return to group work....

USA: Democracy or Empire

Share Out

1. What are the characteristics of each?

2. Which characteristics of each do we see in the USA?  

3. What are our points of disagreement?  

4. Is this question a false dichotomy?  Could democracy be compatible with empire?

5. What values, assumptions, and beliefs about human life drive each system?  (This is the stuff ideology is made of….

Key Questions:

• What were the ideals set forth in the founding of our nation?

• To what degree is America living up to those ideals?

Brainstorm answers to any of the following questions

1. What do you remember about the American Revolution?  What have you learned about it in your education?

2. What are some of the ideals upon which the Revolution was based?

3. Why was the Declaration of Independence written?  

The Declaration of Independence

History channel excerpt

• What is the tone here? What bias do you see?

The Ideology of the Declaration of Independence

Tuesday, August 31st

Starter: Project Survey

Let's analyze some more discourse! Pay attention to the RHETORIC and IDEOLOGY contained in the discourse.

• Lee Greenwood’s "God Bless the USA"
• LYRICS
• Childish Gambino’s "This Is America"
• LYRICS
• Unpacking the references in Childish Gambino’s phenomenal new video
• An Expert's Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video

 

For each song:

1. Pay attention to the details, the tone, the lyrics, the symbols: What do we notice?

2. What is being expressed about America? 

3. If the song resonates rhetorically with its audience, what does that suggest the audience may believe about America?

8.31 Song/Video Response:

Write your first TEA paragraph of the year!

Please do this in your Digital (or paper) Comp Book...

• Topic sentence makes an interpretive claim about one of the songs (or both!).
• Evidence: supporting details from the song/lyrics/videos that support your interpretation
• Analysis: Explain your connections. Draw conclusions!

GROUP WORK: DECONSTRUCT

USA: Democracy or Empire

Monday, August 30th

Let’s use our digital comp book!

Starter 8.30:  Complete this sentence as many ways as you can think of.  Be literal and/or figurative, positive and/or negative.

• America is....

PROJECT LAUNCH!   (This description can be found under the “PROJECTS” link on my DP for your reference)

So let’s deconstruct a little piece of Americana….

Pink Houses

Listen once without video and answer prompt questions 

1.  Do you think that John Cougar Mellencamp’s tone is more patriotic or cynical?  Explain why you think so, using evidence.

2.  Make an interpretive claim about this song using evidence. What is he saying?  What is the message?  What do you think this song is trying to express about America?

3.  Group share/interpretation:  What meaning do we find?  What do the people in the song believe about America?

4.  Discuss:  Does the video change your interpretation?  How and why?

IN OUR OWN WORDS (Pair Share)  What is ideology?

Thursday, August 26th-Friday, August 27th

It's a NEW YEAR! FRESH START! LET'S GET WEIRD!!

Intros: Let's Make New Ospreys Feel Welcome!

• Name

• What are you excited about?

• What is something that is confusing you, disturbing you, or amazing you about life in America right now? 

​

Who am I, Jessica, your teacher?  Questions for me?

​

A note on junior year:  Best year of your life so far?  

• "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." --Hamlet

• THIS IS YOUR EDUCATION!!!  

• Culture of Excellence! You all must share the bearing of this torch!

“Willing to Be Disturbed”

Spirit Read and Seminar

1. Read "Willing to be Disturbed" by Margaret Wheatley:

2. Mark lines that stand out

3. Identify the main argument/thesis of this writing

4. THINK or WRITE:  In what ways do you need to "be disturbed"? What ideas/beliefs/identities do you cling to that you could be challenged on?

5. THINK OR WRITE:  Why am I having you read this?

Spirit Read

1.  Everyone participates at least once.  You can speak more than once.

2.  Read a word, phrase, or sentence.

3.  No commentary or opinions.

4.  When possible, try to connect with what was just read.

5.  Give all voices a chance.

6.  Pauses can be powerful.

7. Repeating words and phrases is fine. 

Seminar Norms and Conversation Movers

Seminar: 

• What exactly is she asking us to do? Why?
• What does this reading bring up for you? Where does it hit you?
• Do you agree with Wheatley's perspective? Why or why not?
• How might cultivating our “willingness to be disturbed” help us navigate our moment in history? 
• In what ways do you/we need to embrace uncertainty?
• What do we want to create together from this year’s experience?
• What happens if we are again thrust into the unknown?
• How will we carry our culture with us into the storm?

THIS IS OURS TO DO TOGETHER.

What questions do we have at this point?

BUSINESS/LOGISTICS

Course Description and Project Essential Questions from Syllabus

Syllabus

Please return the LAST PAGE ONLY, signed by self and parent/guardian on Monday

Tell Me About You (due Monday)

Join my Google Classroom! crhjwlq

Bookmark my webpage!  

INTERESTED IN HONORS?

Review my Honors syllabus

Please read Montana 1948 for next Friday. We will have an Honors meeting and a "book club" seminar that day (September 3rd). There will be a brief analysis essay due the following Friday, September 10th. The completion of this initial assignment (on time!) is a requirement to enroll in Honors.

Digital Comp Book Set-up 

1.  Create a new Google doc and name it:  FirstName LastName Digital Comp Book 

2.  Share the document with me at jessica.mccallum@animashighschool.com.  Make sure you give me editing power!

3.  Each entry should be labeled so that it is clear to me which entry goes with which prompt.

4.  Master document on my Resources page to keep up with prompts

5.  You are responsible for all starters and entries, even if you are absent

6.  Feel free to add images, links, and other digital content in your responses!

7.  Chat with me if you prefer to keep your comp book on the Earth instead of in the Cloud.

TO-DO (by Monday)

1. Review my syllabus and have your parents review it.  Return the letter signed.

2. Join my Google Classroom

3. Tell me a little bit about you

4. Set up your Digital Comp Book and share it with me (jessica.mccallum@animashighschool.com)

5. Honors prospects ONLY:  Read my Honors syllabus and make a decision. (You have until September 10th to change your mind). Read Montana 1948 for a "book club" meeting next Friday.

Friday, May 21st Final Humanities Class!

 Announcements:

• Buy your yearbooks! Check for the QR code in your Zia or in your email! News from the Nest, other emails from Libby, etc!
• Take the Colorado Democracy Challenge survey to inform their programming!
• Please return my books!

Circle Up! "Exhibition" Prep

• What are enduring lessons that you learned this year?
• What do we love about life on Earth?
• Collage Vision Quest! What piece of yourself do you want to put into this?

1. A passage or quote from everyone! Something you have written in the project or something you write right now! Enlarge your words and make them a "pull quote"! Be sure to put your name on the quote! Play with font, color, etc! Have some fun. 
2. Project work! Art project: print your artist statement! The collage will be built around our art. Other images from the project!
3. Quotes from poets and authors that are part of our intertextuality! Images of beauty! Let's be creative here!
4. Who wants to be a part of the beautification efforts post-collage process? Jessica will write a reflection on the piece from teacher eyes. 

O Me! O Life!

BY WALT WHITMAN

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,

Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,

Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)

Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,

Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,

Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,

The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

                                       Answer.

That you are here—that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

WORK TIME?

Once you have finished your contributions to the collage, you can work on any final pieces you have to finish for Humanities....

-OR-

"Attend" virtually a senior TED talk: schedule and links here!