Horses

Mr. McCarthy's Horse:

Troy's Horse:

Which one is better??

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: