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Miss Manwell's Social Studies classes allow students to discover the
"American Experience" from exploration through to the present time.
The units students study have been developed within the framework of Washington's
Essential Academic Learning
Requirements for History.
Unit 1: Geography
In this unit, comprised of both geography and exploration, students will
discover how geography has shaped and influenced who we are as people.
The main focus of this unit is to examine how American geography as affected
the growth and development of our country. S tudents
learn or review geographic concepts on a local, regional, national, global
and universal level by using the "5 Themes of Geography" (place,
location, region, movement and human/environment interaction).
Students' knowledge of the 5 Themes of Geography will be demonstrated in a
mini-project which will take place during our study of Colonial America.
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Unit
2: Exploration and
Colonization of Early
America
This unit focuses on the factors that caused the
explorers to reach out and find new places. The latest navigational
technologies, such as
 celestial navigation, dead reckoning navigation,
astrolabes/quadrants, compasses and ship building, allowed for the explorers
to be successful in what they did. The students will have the
opportunity to experience some of this technology in the making of
compasses and astrolabes or quadrants.
As students examine the colonization of America, they will analyze the
causes and conditions of colonization. Students will focus most of
their energy on culture and conflicts of this time period. As students
analyze the successes and hardships of the 13 English colonies, they will
begin to make plans for starting an English colony. The students will
submit a proposal for their new settlement which includes a map and full-block
business letter in the Colony Project
(sample letter explained).
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Unit 3: Revolutionary
America
Students will explore the American cultural climate as they take a closer
look at education, religion, government and foreign policies that escalated
to a war for independence from Britain. The students will also examine
the birth of our national government and all the struggles the founding
fathers faced to create a system that led to the pursuit of life, liberty
and happiness.
As students learn more about the fight for freedom, they will create a
Revolutionary War
 Journal of a character who has witnessed the
major events of this era. The journal will be comprised of entries in
which the character tells of the American Revolution through his or her
eyes. If you would like to see the exact assignment specifications and
how students self-assess their work, navigate to the
Revolutionary Era Journal Project.
 | Road to Revolution
Discover American diversity's role in leading towards independence. |
| French & Indian War
In part one of this article, learn about the historical significance of
this conflict and how it led to the first strife and conflict
within the British Colonies. Part two is focused on the role of
"loyalists", people who supported the idea of the 13 Colonies remaining
loyal to King and country. Contrary to popular belief, not everybody in
the Colonies thought ol' George III needed to be canned. |
| Ben Franklin: Birds,
Snakes, and Flags Franklin was not the Bald Eagle's greatest fan.
Read excerpts from his letters describing his stance on the matter. |
| The Great Seal of
United States Most Americans don't know it, but they often carry
around a piece of American history and heritage with them on a daily basis
in their wallets or purses. Our one dollar bill has both sides of the
Great Seal on its back.
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Unit 4:Birth of a Nation
As the students learn about the birth of our nation, they will discover
the foundational views of the founding fathers as they wrote the Articles of
 Confederation and then the Constitution. The students will learn how
the Constitution has shaped the way our government operates. They will
learn about the relationship between the three branches of government.
One of the activities the students will participate in is
Bill of Rights Mini-debates.
Students will research an issue relating to a constitutional right and
present a speech using supporting evidence to persuade. Some of the
topics include:
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Unit 5: Westward
Expansion
Students research the driving factors in America's race to claim all the
land possible to make the phrase "from sea to shining sea" a great
descriptor of America.
Who knew that my time machine would be so handy in this
class? In this study of westward expansion, students, a.k.a.
historical news journalists, will be hopping into my faithful time machine
and setting the dial to times in the 1800s
 for the sole purpose of
researching interesting topics to write about. Once they have returned
back to the 21st century, these journalists will be writing their newspaper
complete with articles on their findings. Fortunately for them, they
will be able to cover exciting events from various years of the Westward
Expansion time period thanks to my time machine, and since they were
witnesses to the actual events, they will report their findings as a
journalist in first person. Newspapers will be created in
Microsoft Publisher.
Some students will expand their study of Westward Expansion
through additional projects. If you would like to learn about the project
choices, visit the Westward
Expansion Project page. Students may find the PBS site,
"The West", inspired
from the Ken Burns documentary, a valuable resource in researching some of
the topics. For more useful West Bookmarks that will be helpful in our
Westward Newspaper Project, click on the Western
Times!
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Unit 6: Rift
and Reunion / Civil War
Students examines the forces and condition leading up to the outbreak of
the Civil War and through the period of Reconstruction in our country.
Special emphasis is placed on the development of sectionalism in the
country, with an ever widening gap in beliefs, ways of life, and economics.
Students take a closer look at the beliefs, tensions, conditions and
sectional differences present prior
 to, during and after the civil war.
During this unit, students can expect to learn more about the cultural
climate of the North, South and West as they study the key events and
occurrences from the time of sectionalism to reconstruction. Students
will have two major projects during their study of the Civil War, the
Civil War Mini-Project and a
Civil War News Report.
| Slavery Background Discover
the ugly reality of the institution of slavery and the role it played in
American history. Slavery shaped the way Americans viewed fellow
human beings and wounds of slavery are still healing today. This
article offers some background information on slavery to help in
understanding the horrors and realities of what it meant to be enslaved.
This article ties in perfectly with our reading and questions packet on Walter Dean Meyers' novel,
The Glory Field.
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Slave Narratives and Harriet
Beecher Stowe Slavery was not supported by all during this time
period. Those opposed to slavery became known as abolitionists, and they
worked very hard to spread their message of the evils of slavery. Freed
slaves contributed greatly to this movement by writing, telling, and
lecturing about their experiences as slaves. It was, however, author
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, that probably had
the most profound effect on the movement. This literary work solidified
attitudes towards slavery, expressing the rising tension and seemingly
irreconcilable differences between North and South. |
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a vast network of people and places leading
enslaved African Americans to freedom. Discover how a song could
save lives. |
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Walt Whitman, Abe Lincoln,
and the Civil War
Walt Whitman, born May 31, 1819, is one of
America's most celebrated poets. He is remembered best, perhaps, for
his work "Leaves of Grass", but some of his better known work came from
the period during the Civil War when he worked and lived in Washington
D.C. It was there that he wrote some of the famous poems mourning
the fallen President Abraham Lincoln. |
| Bookmarks for the
Civil War Check out what you have always been dying to know
about the Civil War. |
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Unit 7: 20th
Century and Beyond
Students review 20th century history, examining the "American Dream" and
modern challenges in obtaining it. Major projects in this unit include
theme based 20th Century Time Lines and the ever popular American History
Hall of Fame inductions.
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