Welcome to Ms. Orleck's History site. This site is designed to keep Juniors (and parents) updated on readings, announcements, homework, and other assignments. Please check this site regularly to view and/or download the weekly homework sheets, readings, handouts, or other documents.

Monday, December 13, 2010

TR & Conservationism


For homework, please read the information on the website for Ken Burn's Film "America's Best Idea" as well as watch the short clip of TR.

Be prepared to DISCUSS what you read/saw/heard in class.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Progress Reports are on their way home!

Hi Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that Progress Reports were sent home for all students today.

If the grade is a C- or below, please sign the report and have your student return it to me as soon as possible. You may also acknowledge receipt of the progress report by emailing me.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you!
JLO

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Gentle Reminder!

Being absent is not an excuse for being unprepared for class. Check with a friend, check the blog.

Here is the Eugenics packet #2. Please READ #2 and #4.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Eugenics & Progressivism Reading

Read 43-45 and 47-50.

Reading is from "Race and Membership in American History", Facing History and Ourselves. Brookline, MA

Thursday, November 18, 2010

18.1 Homework

You must read 18.1 in your textbook for homework. You can either take notes or use the guided reading below. But, you must do ONE for full credit.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Extra Credit: Quarter 2

The presidential election of 1896 was one of the most exciting and complicated in U.S. history. It touched on many different themes that were important to life in the United States at the time, such as:
  • Free Coinage of Silver: The most controversial issue in the election concerned the use of gold and/or silver to back the nation's currency. The nation was divided between those who believed in the unlimited coinage of silver (known as free silver) and those who supported the exclusive use of gold.
  • Women's Issues: Even though women could only vote for national offices in three states, they were politically active throughout the election and called attention to issues that affected their lives.
  • Farmers' Issues: Farmers argued for a looser money supply that would benefit debtors; lower tariffs that would benefit working-class consumers; an income tax on the wealthy; and a fight against monopolies and trusts.
  • Prohibition: Some people believed that the consumption of alcoholic beverages threatened social, commercial, industrial, and political aspects of American life and were therefore opposed to its manufacture and sale.
  • Tariffs: Tariffs had been a key political issue throughout the 19th century, with industrial and Northeastern interests generally in favor, farmers usually opposed.
  • Trusts and Monopolies: Working-class people, many of whom faced either hazardous working conditions and low wages or had to pay prices imposed by monopolies, were opposed to the size and power of big business in America.
Think about the different views surrounding these divisive issues and how each might be portrayed in a political cartoon.

Then click on the following political cartoons about the 1896 election.

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0725judge.html

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/1114cn.html

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0911sppp.html

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0921slpd.html

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0912ramshorn.html

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0914rmn.html

For each cartoon, answer the following questions:
  1. Which major theme of the 1896 presidential election does this cartoon portray?
  2. What is the main idea of this political cartoon?

Essay Question/Graphic Organizer

If you would like, you may prepare and use this for your essay on the test

Friday, November 5, 2010

Homework: yes you have it!

Period 7-

I was so busy handing back work, I forgot to hand out your guided reading for Chapter 17.2. Please read and complete the worksheet. I will also accept handwritten notes. You are responsible for reading this chapter by next class.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Last Chance!!! Extra Credit.


This one is simple. Read this article. Raise your hand in class. Talk about the article. You should be able to share the information in the article comfortably with your classmates.

GOOD LUCK

and for the record, this is one of my favorite political cartoons.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

This should help!

For ALL groups, the Library of Congress maintains a collection about immigration.

Go to the website. On the left hand side are small thumbnails about certain immigrant groups. Click on those!

Happy Weekend!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Immigration Project

Description is below.

Check out these websites

Suggested websites

Destination America (great starting point for ALL groups. This is an excellent resource to click through for stats, reasons for emigrating, etc)

http://www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/usim_wn.html

http://www.ny.com/articles/chinatown.html

Musuem of Chinese in America http://www.mocanyc.org/

Center for Jewish History http://www.cjh.org/

American Jewish Historical Society http://www.ajhs.org/

Lower East Side Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/

Ellis Island http://ellisisland.org

PBS’ The Jewish Americans http://www.pbs.org/jewishamericans/watch/index.html#1

(especially clips from Migration and Assimilation).

The Irish in America http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2008/February/20080307131416ebyessedo0.6800043.html

Library of Congress: From Haven to Home http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/haventohome/haven-century.html

Italian Immigration http://www.ailf.org/awards/benefit2004/ahp04essay.asp

Irish American Heritage Museum

http://www.irishamericanheritagemuseum.org/

New York Irish American Heritage Museum

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/NY/200003396.html

Background info from for most groups:

http://www.tenement.org/encyclopedia/irish.htm

http://www.tenement.org/encyclopedia/Jews.htm

http://www.tenement.org/encyclopedia/italians.htm


Immigration Project

Monday, October 11, 2010

Extra Credit Opportunity: Bill Gates and the 'New' Gospel of Wealth


In 2006, Warren Buffett, the American financier famously announced that he would be donating the majority of his lifetime wealth to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was founded by the Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates a decade earlier.

The Gates Foundation is arguably one of the worlds most effective philanthropic organizations, donating enormous amounts of capital toward issues in American public education and global public health.

Both Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have been called modern day "captains of industry" and have been compared to industrial predecessors Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: please read Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" and do some research about Gates and Buffett's motivation toward philanthropy.

Please write a well constructed paragraph that compares Carnegie's beliefs and the modern spin by philanthropists like Bill Gates.

This is due by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15th.

Weekly Calendar: Quarter1, Week 7

USII 10-12

Monday, October 4, 2010

What does transportation look like around the world in 1900?

For the World's Fair/Columbian Exposition in Chicago at the turn of the century, railroad publicist Joseph Gladding Pangborn organized the World's Transportation Commission to gather information about foreign transportation systems, especially railroads, for the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago. At that time, the Field Columbian Museum had acquired several exhibits from the World's Columbian Exposition, including extensive displays on transportation and the railway.

The U. S. was in the midst of an economic depression when Pangborn's grand tour began. He intended to win friends for American businesses interested in international markets by gathering information about the far away lands and providing information about products available from the States. Besides Pangborn, the Commission included a railroad engineer, a graphic artist, and photographer William Henry Jackson (1842-1943), who had extensive experience photographing for American railroads and geological survey expeditions.

Please check out his photos in the Library of Congress' online gallery. They are organized by country.

Key to transportation above:

1| Saddled camel, William Henry Jackson, [1894].

2| Four turbanned natives pushing Pangborn in hand-car in Bolan Pass, William Henry Jackson, [1895].

3| Jinricksha, William Henry Jackson, [1895].

HW: Guided Reading 15.1

15.1 Guided Reading

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Progress Reports are on their way home!

Hi Parents,

I just wanted to let you know that Progress Reports were sent home for all students today.

If the grade is a C- or below, please sign the report and have your student return it to me as soon as possible. You may also acknowledge receipt of the progress report by emailing me.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you!
JLO

Gentle Reminder: Make a study tool

For your test tomorrow, you MUST prepare a study tool of your choosing. The goal is that you will use this tool to prepare for Friday's exam.

You may make flashcards, a game, type up your study guide, etc.

Check out these resources to help you prepare:


Also, there are some helpful quizzes available online for our subject material


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

In what ways does your name reflect your identity and your history?


Last week, the New York TImes published an article that noted that most recent immigrants to this country no longer change their names upon entering

Check out the article and think about the ways that your name reflects your identity and your own history.



photo from New York Times.