BLOCK DAY
On Wed/Thurs (depending on when you saw me), we finished up the Native American Culture class assignment. We watched a short video on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, we unpacked that flashpoint battle, we analyzed the assimilation policy of the US government (which culminated in the passing of the Dawes Act), and we listened to the (very cool) Dave Matthews Band song "Don't Drink the Water." I don't know if you liked the song or not. It SHOULD have bothered you. A lot (or at the very least- a little bit). Or at the very least, the pictures should have clued you in as to what was going on. But, it was very powerful in spreading the message it was supposed to send: that American History can sometimes be HARSH! That is one of my favorite things about teaching this class- not everything is going to be "pretty" and "nice" and fit into our little box that we label "American History." Sometimes things are MESSY and AWFUL and HORRIBLE. But that's okay. Because history is the story of people and how we move from one period of time to another. And people sometimes make mistakes. I'll get off of my soapbox now... but I hope you liked the Native American lesson. It's near and dear to my heart.
FRIDAY
Today we kind of toned it down a little, and did some map reading/Cattle Trail discussing/Homestead Act reading. The map reading and interpretation is a necessary skill, not only for your EOC, but for life, as well. Which is why you were asked to write questions. Interacting with data (maps, charts, graphs- the stuff you all love to hate) is extremely important. So we'll do things like that from time to time.
We talked Cattle Trails and why they were important to the settlement of the West.
We started to talk Homestead Act. We'll finish it on Monday.
In the meantime, HAVE A GOOD, SAFE, AND FUN WEEKEND! And remember- your 5.3 DCN are due on Monday!
