Your Final

Today in class we began by doing some self-reflection on our America Redefined portfolios using this self-assessment tool. 
We then talked through each piece of the Final Project for the year.   This is the rubric I'll be using to assess your final.  This is a brainstorming chart that will help you get started.

Wrapping Up and Moving Forward

As our unit on Redefining America concludes, we need to begin to think about how we will bring all of the information that we've been studying over the last several weeks together. Your task to close the unit is to explore changes in the Presidency, America's role in the world, or changing social norms and views during this era more explicitly. You should choose whichever of those topics have been most consistently named in your portfolio and identify a progression or pattern that you see emerging.   Once you've done so, work to create a thesis or assertion about that topic that will guide your argument which you can present either in writing or in a creative/visual format.  Make sure that you are not merely making observations about the events occurring but instead that you are making an assertion about how, why, so what, cause/effect, etc.
Today in class, we'll be using this brainstorming sheet in order to work towards arriving at a thesis for the synthesis piece that you'll create. Notice, that the sheet also asks you to categorize the moments that you identify according to the Preamble section that you can most readily connect them to.  This is intended to give you a "twofer"-not just prepping for the synthesis of this unit, but also to begin brainstorming for your final.  We'll be going over the requirements and instructions for the final on Friday in class, so please read through it before then.  You will have Thursday in class to work on your synthesis piece.

70's and 80's

Yesterday and today in class, we'll be using episodes of The Century to supplement our reading of the Foner text and continue considering the changes in the presidency, social norms and views, and America's role on the world stage.
Here is the link to Starting Over and the corresponding study guide.
Here is the link to A New World and the corresponding study guide.

End of Vietnam

Today we heard a speaker, Jon Schaefer, share his experiences of what it's like to be in war from the Vietnam War. His presentation can be found below.
In class, Mr. Kramer presented a lecture on the end of the war and we discussed its legacy. You can see the lecture slides here.
Jon Schaefer Presentation
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Schaefer's "Considerations Before Going to War".

Slides from the presentation.

Freedom at Home-The Great Society

As we continue our look at the 1960's and the Vietnam War, it's important to remember the other issues in the United States at the time and how LBJ and the government attempted to respond to those issues. How much of an impact did the War have on the United States' ability to meet Johnson's vision of a Great Society? In order to address that question, please complete the tasks in this web activity. You should work with a partner to discuss your responses.  Note-You should be able to finish somewhat quicker than the times listed on the document because you've already read the Washington Post article in the "Looking at the Legacy" section.

1968

Today in class, we'll be taking a closer look at significant aspects and events of the Vietnam War-the draft, the Tet Offensive, the My Lai Massacre, the 1968 Democratic Convention, and the shootings at Kent St. University. To do so, please complete this webquest.
Be sure to look at the calendar for your homework for this weekend, there have been some changes made.

Intro to Vietnam

Yesterday in class we began to discuss the causes of the Vietnam War. Mr. Kramer used this PRESENTATION to guide us through our learning. After looking at the clip from The Century: Poisoned Dreams that identifies Kennedy's call to action in the Peace Corps and the creation of the Green Berets (30:00-36:00), we looked at a letter from a concerned citizen about American involvement in Vietnam as well as Kennedy's response to it.
Today in class we'll be discussing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and starting to watch Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam.  As we watch, we'll be taking notes about the details of the war, things that were being expressed in the letters, important images, and songs/lyrics used.

Kennedy and the Cold War

Today we are going to look at President's Kennedy's Inaugural Address and consider it in light of the Cold War conflicts with the Soviet Union.  To do so we will start by getting a brief introduction to President Kennedy from The Century: Poisoned Dreams and then we'll  use this copy of the speech with the questions that follow to analyze his ideas. We'll return to Poisoned Dreams to expand on the events listed in your Foner reading for today and use this note taking sheet as we watch.

Freedom in the 1950's

Yesterday, with a substitute, we started our look at the next episode of The Century called Happy Daze, using this VIEWING GUIDE as we watched.  The episode is embedded below.
Then, today, in addition to finishing the film, we went back into our notes from the Foner readings of the last couple of nights to continue to try to determine how freedom was being defined at this time. We tried to answer that question in a reflective piece of writing in our notebooks while also determining how those definitions shaped the idea of what it meant to be an American. We tried to identify specific examples that showed the ways in which freedom was being defined.
We then turned our attention to two of the voices of freedom found on pages 718-719 of Foner and with partners discussed how each was defining freedom and then answering the questions on page 719.

The Cold War Heats Up

Yesterday in class we began by looking at this IMAGE and discussed what kinds of conclusions we could draw about the era from it.  We then watched the end of The Century: The Best Years and finished filling out the study guide. We took some time to fill in the left column and discussed what seemed to be emerging from the events shown.
After the film, we read the story about the freedom train from the beginning of the Foner chapter that you had read for homework for today and discussed what it suggested about the central issue of the time (defining freedom).
We then narrowed our focus to take a closer look at the Truman Doctrine by reading excerpts from the speech and then answering the first two questions on this WORKSHEET (Scroll through to the end).

Today in class we will take a closer look at the Marshall Plan and discuss how it relates to the Truman Doctrine first by reading the document and then answering the next two questions from the worksheet.
We will finish class today by gathering some details about the Korean War and reflecting on its legacy, what it says about the time period as well as why it's considered the "forgotten war".   We will use this web activity to do so.