Whoops! You may have noticed I switched my posts for English and US History please see below!

Tuesday/Wednesday and Thursday/ Friday 18-21 March

This week students turned in their Progressive Era Essay's. Periods 4,5, and 6 completed a self evaluation of the essay that was turned in with it.

The class focused on the study of America's history of war fighting for the week. Students were to complete their maping of American Wars, and then wrote several paragraphs addressing the questions:
What do you learn about America from this map? About American History? And about the History of American Foreign Policy from this map?

There were lectures on how warfare changed from WWI to WWII and modern day.

The class heard a lecture on American Aircraft Carriers which each cost 6.5 million dollars a day to operate.

Have a great break.

Tuesday / Thursday March 18th / 20th

Rough Draft of Thesis is due Thursday, 3 April

Tuesday and Thursday of this week was divided between preparing for Congressman Earl Blumenauer's visit; finishing King Korn, and a counseling presentation for Juniors.

All students were to complete a Message Triangle for a question or concern that they wanted to share with Rep. Blumenauer.

Students were to turn in a completed note taking graphic organizer on King Korn.

All students have recieved back their outlines and model sections if they had turned them in.

3rd Period Thursday we met with Congressman Blumenauer.

Have a great break!

Monday, 17 March

Students had time to finish there mapping of American wars.

The following questions were introduced:

What can be learned about America, American Hitory, and the History of American Foreign Policy form this map?

What questions does this map raise?

4th period should bring the beginning of their answer to this question to class on Tuesday.

March 11-15th

Students were reminded of the March 20/21 deadline for the final draft Progressive Era Esay. Students were urged to create a plan to work on the draft that allows them to come to tutorial next week if they encounter any problems.

We spent the week studying conflicts that the United States participated in. We added the vocabulary words "causae belli" and "Lost Generation".

Students worked in groups to analyze the following list of conflicts and then began individually mapping them:

Below is a partial list of times when American troops were in action. Draw an outline or place a mark on the world map showing the location or locations of the conflict, include a date or dates. Use one color to indicate if you believe America was the aggressor; use a different color if you believe America was responding to aggression; use a third color if you believe the United States was trying to act as “World Police”.

Indian Wars (colonial era to 1890) U.S. expansionism led to numerous military conflicts with the indigenous inhabitants of North America, forcing them to give up their land. The massacre at Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1890 is generally considered the last of these conflicts. (There were a lot over a long period.)

American Revolution (1775–1783) Great Britain forced its 13 American colonies to pay taxes but did not give them representation in the British Parliament. This and other injustices led the colonies to declare independence on July 4, 1776. Independence was achieved in 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed with Britain.

War of 1812 (1812–1815) British interference with American trade, impressment of American seamen, and “war hawks” in Congress calling for western expansion into British territory led to war. At the war's conclusion, trade issues remained unresolved, but Britain gave up some of its territorial claims on the continent.

Mexican War (1846–1848) The U.S. annexation of Texas, and its stated desire to acquire California and other Mexican territory, precipitated this war. Mexico was forced to give up two-fifths of its territory. This land eventually became the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Civil War (1861–1865) Economic and political rivalry between an agrarian South and an industrial North grew into a civil war fought over slavery and states' rights. Eleven states seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. The Union victory led to the reunification of the country and ended slavery.

Indian Wars (colonial era to 1890)

Spanish American War (1898) The U.S. supported Cuba's desire for independence from Spanish rule, and seized the opportunity to expand U.S. powers in other parts of the world. At the end of the brief conflict, Cuba gained its independence, and the U.S. gained several former Spanish territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

World War I (1914–1918) Rivalries over power, territory, and wealth led to the “Great War.” In 1917, the U.S. joined the Allies (Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan), who were at war with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey), after German submarines began sinking unarmed ships.

World War II (1939–1945) The Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—attempted to dominate the world. The Allies (U.S., Britain, France, USSR, and others) fought to stop them. The United States entered the war in 1941, after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Germany surrendered in 1945, and Japan surrendered later that same year, after the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Korean War (1950–1953) Communist North Korea, supported by China, invaded non-communist South Korea. UN forces, principally made up of U.S. troops, fought successfully to protect South Korea. The Korean War was the first armed conflict in the global struggle between democracy and communism, called the cold war.

Bay of Pigs (1961) The U.S. orchestrated the invasion, an unsuccessful attempt by Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist regime in Cuba.

Vietnam War (1961–1973) In 1955, communist North Vietnam invaded non-communist South Vietnam in an attempt to unify the country and impose communist rule. The United States joined the war on the side of South Vietnam in 1961, but withdrew combat troops in 1973. In 1975 North Vietnam succeeded in taking control of South Vietnam.

Dominican Republic (1965) President Lyndon Johnson sent marines and troops to quash a leftist uprising in the Dominican Republic, fearing the island nation would follow in the footsteps of Cuba and turn communist.

Lebanon (1982–1984) U.S. troops formed part of a multinational peacekeeping force to help the fragile Lebanese government maintain power.

Grenada (1983) President Reagan invaded the Caribbean nation of Grenada to overthrow its socialist government, which had close ties with Cuba.

Panama (1989) President George H.W. Bush invaded Panama and overthrew Panamanian dictator and drug-smuggler Manuel Noriega.

Gulf War (1991) Iraq invaded Kuwait, and a U.S.-led multinational force came to Kuwait's aid and expelled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's forces.

Somalia (1993) A U.S.-led multinational force attempted to restore order to war-torn Somalia so that food could be delivered and distributed within the famine-stricken country.

Bosnia (1994–1995) During the Bosnian civil war, which began shortly after the country declared independence in 1992, the U.S. launched air strikes on Bosnia to prevent “ethnic cleansing,” primarily by Serbs against Bosnians. The U.S. became a part of NATO's peacekeeping force in the region.

Kosovo (1999) Yugoslavia's province of Kosovo erupted into violence in the spring of 1999. A U.S.-led NATO force intervened with air strikes after Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian forces uprooted the population and embarked on the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population.

Global War on Terror (2001– ) In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President George Bush launched the Global War on Terrorism—which has become the longest period of continuous war in U.S. history. The United Kingdom, several NATO countries, and other nations have participated to eliminate al-Qada and other militants groups.

Afghanistan (2001– ) The Taliban government harbored Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorist group, responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. After Afghanistan refused to turn over Bin Laden, the U.S. and UN coalition forces invaded. The Taliban government was ousted and many terrorist camps in Afghanistan were destroyed. U.S. and NATO troops remain in Afghanistan to support its fragile new government.

Iraq War (2003–2010) The U.S. and Great Britain invaded and toppled the government of dictator Saddam Hussein. Troops remain in Iraq to combat the insurgency that formed after Hussein's defeat.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931831.html#ixzz2vE1CNNu4

Monday, 10 March

Class was spent revising the Progressive Era essays. The final draft of this essay is due on Thursday or Friday the 20th or 21st of March.

We discussed the importance of using key words from the thesis in each body paragraph topic sentence.

Thursday/ Friday 6/7 March

Back to Foreign Policy.

Class began by watching the last twenty minutes on a biography of President John. F. Kennedy. Students were prompted to take notes on those times when Kennedy's foriegn policy was based on a "carrot" approach and seperate notes when it was based on a "stick" approach.

After viewing the film there was discussion about the Kennedy's push to put an American on the moon, and how this was, in part, posturing to show technological supiority to the Soviets.

Next the class took notes on vocabulary definitions for vocab section of notebook):

Foreign Policy are those actions (or inactions) one government does to achieve its goals.

Isolationist-- A national policy of abstaining from political or economic relations with other countries.

Interventionism --significant activity (economic or military) undertaken by a state to influence something not directly under its control.

Force (including threats): War; Threat of war; saber rattling; Cyber War

Proxy War: getting others to fight your war e.g. Vietnam; Afghan Soviet War

Economic Policies

that are “carrot”:

trade; “Most Favored Nation” Trade status;

That are stick:

tariffs; sanctions (boycotts); embargos;

Alliances, Treaties

Next the class read a short article on the "Monroe" doctrine. Each student then wrote a paraphrase of what the doctrine meant, and then a short paragraph describing whether or not they believed it to be good policy.

Tuesday/ Wednesday 4/5 March

Periods 4,5, and 7 studied a biography of President John F. Kennedy.

Next class periods these classes AND period 6 will focus on Kennedy's foreign policy as President.

Period 6 on Wednesday met with author H.W. Brands (an Oregon native) 

will be discussing his recent biography, The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace.  

Monday, 3 March 2014

First the class did a peer review activity on the Progressive Era essay. Students highlighted key words that the topic sentences of body paragraphs had in common with the thesis statement. Students also received other feedback from peers.

Students then turned in their essay drafts.

Next Mr. Zartler introduce a new unit:

American Foreign Policy: War, huh, what is it good for?

Class listened to this song, written and performed by Edwin Starr called "War." We also watched the Tom Jones version. Students wrote about whether the question at the core of the song is really a rhetorical one, or if there are appropriate times for warfare.

The class learned that America has alternated by isolationists and interventionists periods in foreign policy.

We briefly discussed the developing situation in Ukraine.

Students considered the aphorism: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." We connected this idea with the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.