Springfield Trip

On April 13th and 14th, 44 students took a trip to visit Springfield. Historic sites that we toured include; the State Capital building, Lincoln's Tomb, New Salem, the Lincoln Home, the Old State Capital Building, and the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Here are some pictures from our trip:

More Life in the West

Life in the West

Life in the West

We are currently learning about what life was like in the West for eight different groups of people in the early to mid 1800's. Students are creating mini-dramas (plays) that will explain to why each group moved west, what hardships they faced, and what legacies they left. Groups that moved west included; the Explorers, the Mountain Men, the Californios, the Missionaries, Pioneer Women, the Forty-Niners, the Mormons, and the Chinese.

Here are some pictures of student groups preparing their mini-dramas:

The United States Expands

We are currently studying U.S. expansion. Instead of simply learning about how Americans came to control new areas of land, we are judging whether or not the decisions taken to gain control of these lands were right or wrong. In a “response group” activity, students play the role of American policy-makers by reading about the events that led up specific land acquisitions (Louisiana Purchase, Texas Annexation, etc.), and then making their own decisions about what the U.S. should do. Their decisions determine whether or not students can “settle” in newly acquired lands on an abstract floor map of the United States.

James K. Polk

The Battle of New Orleans

As we learned in class, the Battle of New Orleans was the biggest victory for the United States in the War of 1812. Unfortunately, the battle was completely unecessary since it took place two weeks after a peace treaty had been signed (though word hadn't gotten back to the U.S. yet).

Here is a slide show set to the song "The Battle of New Orleans" that we listened to in class on Monday:

The XYZ Affair

Here is a musical version of the XYZ Affair that we read about in chapter 12 (p. 164).

The Election of 1800

Here is what a campaign commercial might have looked like (if they had TV then) for the bitter presidential election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The song used in the commercial is from the musical Les Miserables, which is set during the French Revolution (that was supported by Jefferson).

Who Knew Alexander Hamilton Could Be Funny?

We are currently learning about Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and the emergence of political parties in the United States. As some of you may already know, Hamilton was shot and killed by Vice-President Aaron Burr in a duel on
July 12, 1804. Here is a pretty accurate re-enactment of what took place at that famous duel (for the record; due to the illegality of this event, spectators were not allowed at the actual duel).



Now here's a funny milk commercial from the 1990's that references the Burr/Hamilton Duel.

Constitution Jeopardy

As a final review for the Constitution Test, we played Constitution Jeopardy.

The Electoral College

As a part of our study of the U.S. Constitution, we learned about how the President is elected through the Electoral College. I found a cool website, 270towin.com, that let's you look up the Electoral College results of every Presidential election in our nation's history. You might want to look specifically at the elections of 1800, 1824, 1876, and 2000, and see how the actual votes of the people (popular vote) match up to the results of the Electoral College.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Here is the famous "I'm Just a Bill" video from Schoolhouse Rock. It does an excellent job of explaining the process by which a bill can become a law.

Me and Phil

Since our study of the U.S. Constitution includes learning about the U.S. Congress, I thought I would post this picture of myself with former U.S. Representative Phil Crane. Crane represented parts of northern Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1969 to 2005. He visited North Prairie in the Spring of 2004.

Constitutional Law Competition

We have spent the past week studying the Constitution. Students reasearched the three branches; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, and also learned about the system of Checks & Balances, the Amendment Process, and how the Federal System works. On Thursday, we took the "Bar Exam", a quiz on what we have learned so far. Based on the results of their "Bar Exams", students were placed into "law firms." The "law firms" then participated in a Constitutional Law Competition in which they were presented with a number of legal dilemmas. They had to use their knowledge to come up with a solution to the problem, as well as cite where in the Constitution the anwer can be found.

Here are some pictures of the law firms at work:

Is It Really This Bad?

Wally Cleaver explains school:

Particle Man

Here is the video that I told the Core D students I would post:

The Preamble

We are now beginning our study of the organization of the Constitution. the first thing we will discuss is the Preamble. The Preamble is the introduction to the Constitution, it states six specific goals of the U.S. government. Here is what it says:

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty, to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Here is a fun video about the Preamble from the Andy Griffith show (if you've never heard of the show, ask your parents or grandparents):

Constitutional Convention - The Final Day

As our Constitutional Convention came to a close, delegates showed their support for the document by signing it. Some delegates, however, chose not to sign it and had to explain their reasons. Some delegates did not sign the Consitution because they felt it gave too much power to the federal government, and they feared the return of a monarchy. Others felt that the document talked too much of the powers of government, and did not have anything in it to protect the rights of the people.

After the Constitution was written, it had to be sent to the states for ratification (official approval).

Constitutional Convention - Day 2

On the second day of the Convention, classes finished up debating the issue of how representation in the national legislature (congress) would be determined. A 2/3 majority was needed in our convention for a motion to pass. Some classes were able to agree and voted to adopt a compromise, others were not able to gather enough votes to pass any resolution.

We also began debating Issue 2 which dealt with slaves. Soouthern states wanted slaves to count as part of their poplulation so that they could have more representatives in Congress. Northern states did not agree with the South, and instead felt that the southern states should have to pay taxes on their slaves.

We will conclude the debate on this issue on Day 3. Hopefully some of the classes will be able to reach a resolution on this issue.


Delegate Alexander Hamilton of New York:


Delegate George Read of Delaware address the convention about the role of slaves in determining a states representation in Congress:

Delegates request permission to speak from the President of the Convention, General George Washington:

Delegate Charles Ellsworth of Connecticut addresses the Convention:

Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania uses a metaphor to make his point:

Delegates read about the issues before they debate:

Constitutional Convention - Day 1

On Monday we began a mock Constitutional Convention in class in order to better understand the issues that faced the delegates from each state in creating the actual Constitution. Each student has been assigned a delegate, and must act and vote the way that that person did, while I preside over the Convention as George Washington.

To open up the convention, we first discussed the rules of order and parliamentary procedure. We then took a “vow of secrecy”, to remind us that the original delegates were not allowed to speak about the convention to the public.

The first issue we discussed was about how the people would be represented in our new government. Delegates from the larger states wanted a legislature (congress) with representation based on the population of each state. Other delegates felt that all of the states should be represented equally.

None of the classes were able to reach the majority vote needed to adopt either idea. Some of them, however, were able to reach a compromise solution.


Delegates confer with each other before a vote: