Friday Folder Updates
Friday, August 8th, 2014 was our first Friday Folder Update. The students should have received a paper in homeroom to write down the weekly update in each class. In case they did not receive the paper, I have posted the weekly update below. Please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Friday, February 27, 2015
This week we focused on the time period known as Westward Expansion, from 1789-1840. This week we learned about key developments that lead to the growth of Georgia during this time period. Some of those developments include the founding of the University of Georgia, Louisville as Georgia's third capital, and the spread of the Baptist and Methodist churches. We also discussed land policies, such as the headright system, land lotteries, and the Yazoo Land Fraud, which distributed land to the early Georgians who moved to the state's western frontier. Technological advancements that impacted our state included Eli Whitney's cotton gin, which increased cotton production and the need for slaves, and the railroads. Lastly, we learned about the removal of the Creek and Cherokee Native Americans on the Trail of Tears. Key people that played in role in their removal include President Andrew Jackson, Chief Alexander McGillivray, Chief William McIntosh, Chief John Ross, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, Missionary Sam Worcester, and Sequoyah. The Dahlonega Gold Rush of 1829 also influenced the Native Americans removal from Georgia. Next week will be covering the Civil War and taking the third quarter benchmark exam.
Friday, February 6, 2015
We are putting the finishing touches on our government unit. To start the week, we took short quiz that covered the Georgia judicial branch and juvenile justice. We also discussed local government (county and city) and funding state and local governments. The class notes are posted on Edmodo.
Friday, January 30,2015
We are in the final stretch of our government unit. Once we are finished with our government unit we will transitioning back to learning about Georgia's history. On Friday, we took an awesome trip to the Atlanta History Center's Smith plantation to learn about life in Georgia during the antebellum and Civil War time periods. We learned a lot and had a great time. The field trip was a preview into what we will be learning once we finish our government unit.
Friday, January 16 & 23, 2015
We are moving through our government unit. Over the past two weeks we have discussed Georgia's legislative and judicial branches. As citizens of Georgia it is very important to understand our state's government, how we can participate as citizens, and how we are impacted by government decisions.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Happy New Year! We started off the second semester by reviewing the 1st semester final exam. Based upon the feedback from the exam we reviewed key history and government concepts that were covered on the exam. We also pushed forward with our government unit by continuing to learn about Georgia's legislative branch of government.
Friday, December 5, 2014
We started the week back after Thanksgiving break diving into our Georgia government unit. This week we reviewed the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial branches) and the three levels of government (federal/national, state, and local). We also learned about the purpose and structure of the Georgia constitution, the concepts of separation of powers, and checks and balances. Lastly, we learned about citizen rights and responsibilities. On Friday, we took a brief quiz to check what we know about what we learned this week.
Friday, November 21, 2014
This week in class we finished learning about our country's first government, the Articles of Confederation, the creation of the U.S. Constitution, and the Georgia Constitution of 1777. On Friday, we took a quiz to check what we knew about these founding documents.
Friday, November 14, 2014
This week in class we began learning about the founding of our country's government during the American Revolution. The Articles of Confederation was our country's first government. Unfortunately, the Articles of Confederation was a week document that was eventually thrown our and our current constitution written. In class we discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. We also began discussing the Georgia Constitution of 1777. We also worked on our National History Day projects in class on Thursday.
Friday, November 7, 2014
This week we finished our American Revolution standards. We did review stations to prepare for the American Revolution test. The test was given on Thursday. In the coming weeks we will be moving onto our government standards that focus on Georgia's 3 branches of state government.
Friday, October 31, 2014
This week we reviewed the causes of the American Revolution. We also learned about the roles Georgians and Georgian events played in the Revolutionary War. We learned about the contributions of Nancy Hart (Hart County is named in honor of her), Austin Dabney, Elijah Clarke (Clarke county is named in honor of him), as well as Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton). We also learned about significant Georgia Battles. The Battle of Kettle Creek was a must needed victory for the Georgia militia. On the other hand the Siege of Savannah was a failed attempt to regain the city of Savannah from British control. On Friday we began our research for our National History Day project.
Friday, October 24, 2014
This week we have been learning about the causes of the American Revolution. The causes that we focused on were the French and Indian War, the Stamp Act, the Intolerable Acts, and the Declaration of Independence. We also discussed the 3 Georgians that represented the Georgia colony and signed the Declaration of Independence. Those Georgians were Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton. These Georgians also have counties named after them. We also completed our weekly quiz. Final topic selection for National History Day projects was due on Friday, October 24, 2014. This is a graded project. We will dedicate some class time to completing the project, however, the majority of the project will be completed at home. Please visit the National History Day Page of my website for more information.
Friday, September 19 & 26, 2014
For the past two weeks we have been learning about the start of the Georgia colony and three cultural groups that impacted the Georgia colony. Those groups were the Salzburgers, the Highland Scots, and the Malcontents. We also discussed the threat from Spanish soldiers that wanted to invade the colony from Florida. We also started learning about Georgia's transition from a proprietary colony to a royal colony. Next week we will be reviewing for the benchmark exam which will be conducted on Thursday, October 2, 2014.
Friday, September 5 & 12, 2014
For the past two weeks we have be working hard learning about the reasons for European exploration. We have also been learning about the start of the Georgia colony. King George II of Great Britain granted the Charter of 1732 to James Oglethorpe. The charter contained the rules and regulations for establishing the colony. According to the charter four groups of people could not become members of the colony. Those groups were Blacks, liquor dealers, lawyers, and Catholics. Oglethorpe and the colonists arrived in Georgia in 1733. The three main reasons the Georgia colony was founded were Charity (to help the worthy poor), Economics (to help Great Britain to grow economically), and Defense (to protect the other 12 British colonies from attacks from the French, Spanish, and Native Americans). When James Oglethorpe arrived in Georgia, they settled at Yamacraw Bluff. Creek Indian Chief Tomochichi granted permission to Oglethorpe to settle there. Mary Musgrove served as the interpreter or translator between James Oglethorpe and Tomchichi.
Friday, August 29, 2014
This week in social studies we reviewed the 4 groups of pre-historic Native American cultures that lived in Georgia. We also discussed the main reasons Europeans went exploring; those reasons are the 3 G's: gold, glory, and God. Finally, we learned about Hernando de Soto. He was a Spanish explorer who arrived in Georgia in 1540. He was the first European to explore Georgia. De Soto came to Georgia in search of gold, but did not find any. In periods 3-5 we took Cornell notes, completed a guided reading assignment, and began a fun review activity called "What if Hernando de Soto had a Twitter account?" We also took a brief quiz. In 6th period, we worked on an European Explorers video newscast project. We completed our research and put our presentations together. We will present to the class on next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Friday, August 22, 2014
This week in social studies we learned about the 4 groups of pre-historic Native Americans that lived in Georgia. The 4 pre-historic Native American groups were the Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippians. Overtime each groups evolved or developed as evidenced by the food they ate, their shelter, tools, weapons, and other artifacts, such as pottery. We also took and reviewed the Georgia's Geography unit test. On Friday, we had a brief vocabulary quiz.
Friday, August 15, 2014
This week in social studies we learned about Georgia's 5 geographic regions (location and characteristics), key physical features, climate, and transportation systems. On Friday, we received a study guide to complete over the weekend in preparation for Monday's unit test.
Friday, August 8, 2014
This week in social studies we reviewed Georgia’s location in relation to the hemispheres, continent, country, and region where it is located. We also completed a travel booklet as an introduction to Georgia’s 5 geographic regions and key physical features. We took a quiz on Friday.