Today we started out the lesson by talking about the Monroe Doctrine as an early statement of American Foreign Policy. It is important to think about where this fits in American history.  Before it was written, America had a very hands-off policy when it came to Europe. The Monroe Doctrine was the first expression of the Foreign Policy that explained why America made later decisions, such as entering Cuba.

,Debate Option Speech, due Monday. In our options groups, we looked at the full options packet (speech, beliefs and assumptions, and historical record). Working in our groups, we tried to understand the stance of our option by putting the belief and assumption statements from the packet in our own words, and tying evidence from the "historical record" section to those statements. We used this chart to organize that material. 

A few important things to note as you prepare your Debate Option Speech: 

1. Please bring THREE copies to class, even though the handout says two. 
2. Remember that your sources of information are: the Historical Record in the Options packet, the Choices readings (Parts I and II), and any past information that we have studied.
3. Also Mr. Kramer and I will be grading these short speeches in class, so please have fun with them, and make sure to practice reading them aloud! 

Imperialism Day 1

First of all, thank you so much for being so welcoming and patient with me in your class. I am very honored to go through this experience with all of you. 

Today, we began a unit on Imperialism and America on a World Stage.  In order to do this, we spent some time looking at some primary documents that reflected different attitudes about America, the world, and other people.  If you were not in class today, you will want to take a look at these documents (1-4, 6, 7) and be able to explain the different perspectives of Americans during this period.

We ended class today with a quick look at the Monroe Doctrine. I cannot wait to see your slogans/hashtags. #youguysareawesome!!

Home work for tomorrow.

Choices Packet on Spanish American War part II AND Option Speech as assigned

Option 1, Option 2 OR Option 3

To help with your options reading please use:

https://docs.google.com/a/dist113.org/file/d/0BzRHVmWoUg2ja0FxMUs3QW52OGc/edit

These are suggested questions to help you through your reading, but they are not a requirement.

Have a wonderful night!

February 23rd Sharing Our Research Papers

Today we shared our research papers. To do this used this handout.

We also handed out the reading packet for this unit. The first page is "the Monroe Doctrine." This is followed by an activity entitled "Americans Abroad," and several pages of documents on Theodore Roosevelt. Your homework for our next class meeting is to read and annotate the introduction and part one which follow those activities. You will notice these are page numbers 1-11. We also passed out study guides for the first two assignments in the unit.

Home work for tomorrow is:

Read and annotate: Choices Packet on Spanish American War part I (pages 1-11)

Complete Study Guide Part I.

Finishing Up

Today in class and over the weekend, you will work to edit and revise your paper.
First you should look at the rubric that I will be using to assess your work.
Next, you must use this revision checklist to take you through the process of editing and revising.
As you do your final edit, pay attention to the "No Excuse List" and fix any errors that appear.

Outlining Your Argument

By this point in the research process you should have a working thesis and a clear sense of what you want to prove in your paper. Today you are going to work on organizing your research to determine the ways in which your information will help you prove your thesis.  Here is where your notecards are going to come into play.
There are two ways to think about using your notecards:

1) Look at your working thesis and then the body sections that come out of that thesis. Then determine which cards apply to which elements of your thesis.
or
2) Spread out all of your cards and see which cards connect.  Begin to group them together in categories and then see how those categories apply to your thesis.

You must complete one of the above tasks before moving into your outline.

Once you have your notecards reorganized, then you can begin to insert your information into the outline.  Your completed outline is due to be submitted to turnitin.com anytime before 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning, 2/17.

Research Paper

The next phase of the process is listed in the assignment sheet that is also posted in the Unit 5 tab above. There are links to all of the documents, worksheets, and information you'll need in that assignment sheet.

Today in Class

We followed the activities listed on the assignment sheet.
We then received our research assignment.  Assigned topics are listed on the assignment.
HW for Thursday is the following:

1. Get yourself  colored notecards: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and White

2. Read about your topic in your online text (chapter is listed on the research assignment).  In this Google Doc, do a brief summary of the information.

3. Go back into the group Google Doc of initial research.  Skim through the terms, notes and questions listed for the section most closely aligned with your topic.

4. Begin to develop research questions using the Bowdoin method discussed in class. Come to class with those questions written out.