14. What does it mean to you to be financially responsible?

My Grandma will walk out of a restaurant rather then pay more then 8 dollars for a meal. She cans the peaches from the trees in her backyard, reuses tinfoil and for Christmas I get a 5 dollar bill. She is cheap because she grew up in The Great Depression. The memories of doing without have been a powerful motivation for how she lives her life. I am thankful for the conservative financial values she has instilled in me. Your assignment is to talk to someone who has lived through an economic depression. Economic depression means to be broke, poor, having to do without. Ask them what it was like, how they survived and how it changed their relationship with money.

13. 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s

Nicole Forbes asked, “Ms. Frederick, back in the 60s what was it like being a hippie?” You’re new homework assignment is inspired by that question. Task: If you had to travel back in time to live though a decade of theTwentieth Century in these United States – which would you choose? Be specific, describe at least five major events which support your answer. Wikipedia is an unacceptable resource for most all of the academic historiography we do but for a flip assignment like this I believe it’s quite fun and suggest you check out their decade summaries. ex. 1960s

12. The State of the Economy. Due Fri. Jan. 19th

Katherine Newman, a sociology professor at Princeton, has studied the plight of the Americans she terms the "missing class"--people who are not classified as poor but whose incomes are so low that they lead what she calls a "fragile existence." Her findings are the subject of the first student reading which I handed out in class. Proposals to address the needs of the "missing class" are itemized in the second reading. The inquiry activities that follow include suggestions for researching how the current presidential candidates would address the problem of low-income Americans.

Assignment: Go to a presidential candidate's website. Find out what proposals and/or programs, if any, does this candidate support that would benefit "the missing class"? Write a short response on what reasons are there to believe a particular proposal would work? What reasons are there that it would not?.

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?