World War II

Here is a newsreel-type cartoon that was created to explain the events leading up to World War II in Europe:



The War in Europe:



The War in the Pacific:



The Battle of Midway:



Iwo Jima:

The Grapes of Wrath

We are currently watching and discussing the film The Grapes of Wrath in class. Here is an original trailer for the movie that focuses on the popularity of the book at the time that it came out:

CD Covers

When we began studying the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, we analyzed two different songs: "Charleston Party" (which reflects the spirit of the 1920's), and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" (which reflects the hardship and despair of the 1930's). As we finished our unit of study for these decades, students created CD covers for each of the two songs, showing elements of each time period that they learned about. I put these together into slide shows to go along with each of the songs:

"Charleston Party"


"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

New Deal Act-it-Out

Civilian Conservation Corps

The CCC was one of Roosevelt's first New Deal programs. Here is a short video that gives a little more information about what this program did:

Civilian Conservation Corps

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Images of the Great Depression

Here are a couple of great slide shows of Depression era photos that I found. The first one focuses on the lives of migrant workers, people who left their homes in the midwest to seek work in California. The second has more pictures that show city life during that time period.

Great Depression Act-it-Out

All of the classes did a great job in preparing and performing their "Act-it-Outs" about the Great Depression. I put together a video that shows pictures from all of the classes accompanied with the audio from Core D's performance.

Apple-Pie Blues

As part of our study of the Great Depression we talked a little bit about Blues music. Students were encouraged to write a blues verse for extra credit. "Cuddlefish" Kate, however, went and wrote an entire blues song. It was pretty good, so I performed it live for Core D. Here is the video with a little bit of effect to make it look older:

Writing the Blues

Today in class we talked a little bit about the Blues and blues artists who made music during the 1920's and 1930's, and we even sang a little blues. For extra credit you can write a blues verse and submit it to me on Tuesday. I will take the ones that are good and turn them into a song.

Click on the title to this post to link to a set of "instructions" for writing the blues.

Crash!!

Here is the video I made of stock market activity "Crash!" that we did in class. It's accompanied by a great song from the 1920's.

Dancing the Charleston

As part of our study of the Roaring Twenties, a number of students attempted to learn how to dance the Charleston, the most popular dance of that decade. All of the students who tried the dance did great and everybody had fun, even those who decided to simply watch.

I posted the video that I made below. Don't forget to post your comments.

The Charleston

Today in class we compared the two songs Charleston Party (which characterized the mood of the 1920's) and Brother Can You Spare a Dime (which characterized the mood of the 1930's).

The instructional videos below explain how to do the Charleston, the most popular dance of the 1920's. Learn how to do this dance and we will perform it in class later this week. Anyone who participates in the dance (no matter how good you are at it) will earn extra credit.

Sufferin' Till Suffrage

The roles that women played in America during the first World War helped lead to the adoption of the 19th Amendment. If you don't remember what that was all about, here's a video that might help:

Immigration Role Plays

Current Events Analysis Form

Due to popular demand, I have uploaded a copy of the weekly Current Event Analysis form. There is a link to it on the side-bar under "documents".

Immigration Poll

Since we are currently discussing the issue of immigration in U.S. today, I have added a poll about this issue to the side-bar. All responses are anonymous, so feel free to vote your conscience without having to explain anything. We'll discuss the final results in class next week.

Immigrant Interview with Mrs. Stan

President Obama's Speech to Students

Outsourcing Your Brain

Let me know your thoughts on this issue:

NP Social Studies on Twitter

I have set up a Twitter account (@npsocialstudies) for our class! I will use this to post updates on what is going on in class, homework assignments, and more. You will also be able to read my Tweets on the sidebar of this blog.

Go to Twitter.com/npsocialstudies to find out more.