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Mr. Rowan, Social Studies - D

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Social Studies Weekly Update week of 1/16/2023

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
This week will be used reviewing for, and taking a test on what students have learned during our Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny Unit. Students will be given specific topics and questions and will work collaboratively to add information to a Padlet board that will be accessible by all students. Then students will complete a Question That activity where they generate questions from the notes they and their classmates have generated. Questions for the study guide will be chosen from this list and incorporated into the test. In addition, students will write about how the painting American Progress represents what we have learned during this unit.
 
We will only meet three days this week due to MLK Day and MAPS testing, so we will either take the test on Friday or next Monday.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 1/9/2023

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Before break, students were learning about how the United States expanded by studying the concepts of Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny. When they left, we were looking at the Oregon Trail and the Pioneers who moved west. As we return, we will do some review and then continue on to finish our unit on Westward Expansion. This will include the Mexican-American war and the land we acquired through the treaty of Guadalupe Hildago. 
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 12/12/2022

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students took a closer look at the story of Texas and how this territory of Mexico became an independent Republic and then a part of the United States. Students also were introduced to how the Oregon Territory became part of the United States.
 
This week, students will learn more about the Oregon Trail as they complete a WebQuest. Students will use the National Oregon/California Trail Center website to answer a variety of questions about the Oregon Trail and the Pioneers who moved west.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 12/5/2022

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students took a closer look at Indian removal policy and how it affected the Cherokee and learned ways these different Native American Nations resisted removal and how hey rebuilt after being removed from their traditional homelands. We are also following a current event about the Cherokee nation seeking a non-voting seat in the House of Representatives based on the promises of the the Treaty of New Echota. 
 
This week we will transition to the story of Texas and how this territory of Mexico became an independent Republic and then a part of the United States. As part of this study, students will complete Part F of the Growth of the United States Map project. 
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students learned about the Lewis and Clark expedition from multiple perspectives: secondary sources, the perspective of the Native American tribes they encountered and from the diaries of Lewis and Clark themselves. 
 
This week, students will complete Section C of their Growth of US Map Project that will teach students how the Florida territory was acquired from Spain. As the United States acquired the territory that make up the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee, it included the tradition lands of the Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw and Seminole Indian Tribes. As settlers arrived and gold was found on these lands it put a lot of pressure on these tribes and the question was should their native lands be protected, should they give up their land and assimilate to the American's culture or should they be removed to a new homeland further west away from the encroaching United States citizens. We will explore these questions and more during the week.
 
Students will not have class on Tuesday as they will be going on a field trip to the Broomfield Veterans Museum.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 10/31/2022

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students completed section D or their map project that included the history of the Louisiana Purchase. They will also learn about the Lewis and Clark expedition and answered the question: What did Thomas Jefferson buy in 1803. This week students will look more closely at the Lewis and Clark Expedition and ask the question: What did Lewis and Clark discover? As part of this lesson students will get to answer this question by looking at the perspectives of both Lewis and Clark and the Native American Tribes they encountered on their expedition. Finally, we will read primary documents to answer one final question: Were Lewis and Clark respectful to the Native Americans they encountered?
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 10/24/2022

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
This week we will continue learning about Westward Expansion and how the nation grew from 13 states to the country we know today. Students completed sections A and B of their Growth of the United States map project where students will watch video segments to help them learn about how each piece of the puzzle we call the United States was acquired. Student will label the states, rivers, trails and answer questions about how the section of land was acquired. This week students will complete section C about the Louisiana Purchase. They will also learn about the Lewis and Clark expedition from the perspectives of both Lewis and Clark and the Native Americans they encountered.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 10717/2022

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Welcome back! Our focus in Quarter 2 will be Westward Expansion and how the nation grew from 13 states to the country we know today. We will begin by analyzing the painting American Progress. We will then start our Growth of the United States map project where students will watch video segments to help them learn about how each piece of the puzzle we call the United States was acquired. Student will label the states, rivers, trails and answer questions about how the section of land was acquired.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 9/19/2022

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students finished up their study of the three branches of government by taking notes on each branch and making a 6-sided cube. Students also played an iCivics game to strengthen their knowledge on the three branches.
  1. Law Craft: students learn about the law making process in Congress
  2. Executive Command: students learn what it's like to be the President
  3. Argument Wars: students get to argue a case at the Supreme Court.
This week we will be studying the Bill of Rights: the first 10 amendments to the constitution. Students will be taking notes on the Bill of Rights and then creating a digital poster about which of these rights they think is the most important. We will then look at specific Supreme Court cases that are associated with the rights of students at school and answer the question: do students have the same rights protected in the Bill of Rights in school that they have outside of school.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 9/12/2022

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students finished up their study of the Preamble to the Constitution and learned about what type of government the Founders wanted to create based on the line found in the beginning of the Constitution. We also learned about the roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government. 
 
This week we take a closer look at the three branches by making a poster and 4 sided di for each branch. We will also play 3 different iCivics games.
  1. Law Craft: students learn about the law making process in Congress
  2. Executive Command: students learn what it's like to be the President
  3. Argument Wars: students get to argue a case at the Supreme Court.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 9/6/22

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students finished up the conflicts and compromises of the Constitutional Convention as the nation decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation and start anew.
This week we will  begin by looking at the meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution and then construct the meaning of our three branches of government and how they balance each other out. 
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 8/28/22

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students finished up their study of the Articles of Confederation and learned about what taxes are used for and how they are collected.
 
This week we will look at the conflicts and compromises of the Constitutional Convention as the nation decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation and start anew. After this we will uncover this amazing document our founders created. We will  begin by looking at the meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution and then construct the meaning of our three branches of government and how they balance each other out. 
 
As a reminder, there is no school on Friday of this week or Monday of next week for a teacher work day and for Labor Day
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 8/22/22

Hello 8 grade Social Studies Families!
 
Last week students worked to uncover what the details about the Articles of Confederation, which was our nation's first Constitution. We looked at the strengths and weaknesses by watching videos, taking notes and having discussions. 
 
This week, students will create a tombstone for the Articles of Confederation focusing on its weaknesses. They will then take a short quiz on the Articles of Confederation. We will start our How 13 Colonies became 50 states map by completing the first 13 states and the territory acquired from the treaty we signed with England after winning the Revolutionary War. We will then move into the debates of the Constitutional Convention as the founders decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation and start again.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 8/15/22

Greetings Social Studies families!
Unfortunately I was out sick last week Wednesday through Friday, so we will begin Monday by regrouping and touching base on how things went while I was gone. We will review different student samples of our assignment and talk about how to create answers that Restate and Answer the question, Cite evidence from the text and explain how the Evidence provided supports your answer. I also want to review the assignments assigned while I was gone and check in on student progress. 
It will then be time to begin understanding how the 13 colonies became a nation of 13 states after the Revolutionary War. We will do this by looking at the Articles of Confederation and the strengths and weaknesses of our first Constitution.
If you have any questions, please email.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 8/8/2022

This week, we will review some ideas of early America including the origins of race in America, the history of slavery and wrestle with the idea that our founders believed in Equality, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness while at the same time believing that it was ok to enslave peoples of African descent. Students will get a chance to learn about the Declaration of Independence and its author, Thomas Jefferson and decide if Jefferson was a hero, villain or like a lot things in history, was he complicated and influenced by the times he lived in. As we move through this course it will be important that students are able to understand that there is more than one side to the people and events we study and how important it is to look at them with different lenses from multiple perspectives.