11. Questions for thoughtful letters

Read all the letters. Choose a thoughtful one and provide the author with thoughtful questions.

10. Iraq document based question

In class we will be learning about US foreign policy during the oughts of the 20th century. For the web log you shall study US foreign policy during the oughts of the 21th century.

In the packet I have given you, read the excerpts from the statement by President Bush and some of the supporters and critics of U.S. policy. President Bush makes a number of assertions in this speech that have been questioned by critics. As you read the speech, underline points that might be disputed and discuss them with classmates and your family. Then, working individually, answer the questions that follow each quote, and complete the activity that follows all of the quotes.

Based on these quotes, your responses to the questions, and your knowledge about the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, write a letter to either your congressional representative or one of your U.S. senators explaining your view on what is taking place there and what the United States should do now and in the future. Your letter should be a minimum of two hundred and fifty words. Post it onto the web log, as it will be questioned by your classmates; print a hard copy, as it will be discussed in class. It will be your decision whether you want to send it to your representatives.

9. Should "illegals" be able to become citizens? Due Wednesday

Read all of the previous comments. Choose one which you think is particularly thoughtful. Summarize the comment and then ask several questions about the author's position. The questions should trouble the writers thinking and lead to more questions.

8. Both Rola and Luis ask: Should undocumented immigrants have 'a shot at the American Dream'? Due Fri. Nov. 16

In March and April, 2006, illegal immigration, mostly Hispanic, became a major national issue as Congress debated immigration legislation and well over 1 million demonstrators took to the streets of American cities seeking a path toward citizenship for undocumented migrants.

The first reading in your packet deals with undocumented immigrants and the debate about what should be done about and/or for them. After reading it answer the following questions


1. The presence of undocumented migrants pose societal, economic, security and political issues. In each case, why?

2. Why do you suppose Senator Cornyn and others in the Senate and the House oppose "an easier path to citizenship" for undocumented migrants?

3. What do you think of such a path and why?

7. Answers Lead to More Questions. Due: Fri. Oct 19th

You know the drill: Read. Summarize. Question.

Be a Muckraker DUE Oct 12th

In last week's assignment Sidra wrote:
"If a person values their freedom but takes advantage of his freedom, what can you do about it? How should they be punished?"
Our new unit will look at how indiviguals and institutions abused their freedoms during the Gilded Age.
1. Define: What is a muckraker?

2. What is a problem in contemporary America which you believe needs to be exposed? Why? Muckrake.

5. Questions about Freedom Due Friday Sep 28th

Step 1- Read all the comments from the assignment "What is Freedom?"

Step 2- Choose one comment which is thoughtful.

Step 3-

First, paraphrase the comment you are responding to: For example: “Ms. Maloney thinks that…”

Then, write a question about the chosen comment. The question must be: clear, sincere, useful and be the sort of question which leads to more questions. The question you write must complicate the comment’s argument, make the reader of the comment you are questioning think deeper. Stir up some intellectual trouble.

4. Ms. KayYan Lee asks: What is freedom? Due Friday

What is the Meaning of Freedom?

In response to the first post, KayYan Lee suggested that we needed to define freedom before we could evaluate the significance of the 13th Amendment. What exactly do people mean when they use the word freedom? Examine the chronological list of quotations about freedom.

1. Which statement about freedom comes closest to your own beliefs? Explain.

2. Do any of these authors appear to disagree with each other? Explain.

3. Write your own twenty-first century definition of freedom.


Euripides, Greek dramatist (484-406 BC). "Greeks were born to rule barbarians,... not barbarians to rule Greeks. They are slaves by nature; we have freedom in our blood."

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman (106-43 BC). "Freedom is participation in power."

Christian New Testament, Galatians, 5:1. "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Samuel Adams, American revolutionary leader (1771). "The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought."

James Madison, United States President (1788). "I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

Rosa Luxemburg, German socialist (circa 1900). "Freedom is always freedom for the man who thinks differently."

Rabindranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (1861-1941). "He only has freedom who ideally loves freedom himself and is glad to extend it to others. He who cares to have slaves must chain himself to them. He who builds walls to create exclusion for others builds walls across his own freedom. He who distrusts freedom in others loses his moral right to it."

Franklin D. Roosevelt, United States President (1934). "The freedom guaranteed by the Constitution is freedom of expression and that will be scrupulously respected - but it is not freedom to work children, or to do business in a fire trap, or violate laws against obscenity, libel and lewdness."

Franklin D. Roosevelt, United States President (1941). "(W)e look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world. The
second is the freedom of every person to worship God in his own way - everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want - which...means economic understanding.... The fourth is freedom from fear, which means...a world-wide reduction of armaments..."

Theodor Adorno, 20th century philosopher (circa 1950). "People have so manipulated the concept of freedom that it finally boils down to the right of the stronger and richer to take from the weaker and poorer whatever they have left."

Martin Luther King, Jr., American Civil Rights leader (1963). "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.... Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro."

Rudolph Giuliani, Mayor, New York City (1994). "Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it."

George W. Bush, United States President (2005). "In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. . . . By
making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear and make our society more prosperous and just and equal."

3. Questioning, Due Thursday

Step 1- Read all the comments from the previous assignment.

Step 2- Choose one comment which is thoughtful.

Step 3-

First, paraphrase the comment you are responding to: For example: “Ms. Maloney thinks that…”

Then, write a question about the chosen comment. The question must be: clear, sincere, useful and be the sort of question which leads to more questions. The question you write must complicate the comment’s argument, make the reader of the comment you are questioning think deeper. Stir up some intellectual trouble.

Invitation to Cyber American History Web Log

Why: To be engaged in a cycle of questions–answers–questions.

What: The Eighth grade Social Studies curriculum content is organized around an essential question: What and how much does every American need for a “pursuit of happiness?” This web log will discuss the best and the worst ways Americans have distributed social, political, and economic power in the Twentieth Century.

When: Anyone on the internet, really anyone on the planet, may read this web log but only those who receive permission may post to the web log. To receive permission to post you must:

1. Give Ms. Frederick your e-mail address. She will send you an invitation to the site.
2. You'll need to sign in with a Google Account to confirm the invitation and start posting to this web log. If you don't have a Google Account yet, they'll show you how to get one in minutes.
3. You must use your full name as your web log tag.

How: First, type a rough draft of your comment in a word processing program and spell check it. Second, print it out as a rough draft so that you can mark it up with a red pen and proof read it before you go back into the computer to write the final draft. When you are finished in the word processing program on your final, cut and paste it into the comment box and preview your comment before you post them.

Who: Ms. Frederick is the administrator of the Web Log. She approves your posts before they are posted and reserves the right to remove any or all of your comments if you are disrespectful of the site. If you are removed from the site you are still expected to answer the question on loose leaf and turn them in as old school homework assignments.

1. Types of Events

Take the events A, B, and C from the below post and classify each event as primarily, social, political or economic. We did this in class. Do not post comments to this assignment

2. What should be remembered from 7th grade?

Which one of these events from the 7th grade curriculum do you think is most significant in American History? Pick one and write a six sentence paragraph telling why. Use your textbook to back up your opinion with facts.

A) The invention of the cotton gin earns the United States an estimated $3.853 billion.

B) Phillis Wheatley is the first African American to publish a book.

C) The United States' institution of slavery was finally wiped out by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment on December 18, 1865.