Hello.
On Wednesday, we will continue to look at the American Revolution. However, we will begin to analyze primary source documents from the 18th century. Using our prior knowledge and the primary sources, we will then decide if the American Revolution was in fact revolutionary.
This lesson will be your first DBQ (document based question), which means this will be your first essay.
I will talk more about this in class.
Have a good Tuesday!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Liberty/Equality
Be sure to read chapter 21 (pages 691 - 696, up to the French Revolution) in McCay's book.
Take notes, from McCay's perspective, on liberty and equality. How does he define liberty? How does he define equality?
Also, don't forget to bring in an envelope and your writing on your strengths and weaknesses (eight different types of intelligences).
Take notes, from McCay's perspective, on liberty and equality. How does he define liberty? How does he define equality?
Also, don't forget to bring in an envelope and your writing on your strengths and weaknesses (eight different types of intelligences).
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Welcome to the new school year!
Throughout the year, I will post information on this blog about our class. You will be able to find assignments, due dates, suggested resources, and some Lycèe announcements. I will update the blog every 7 - 10 days.
If you need to contact me, however, please call the American Section and leave me a message at 01 34 51 74 85 or you could email me at michelesilvestri@yahoo.com. Please note, I check my email three times a week.
Below you will find some information about this class.
Content
This class explores the fascinating period of the nineteenth century in both the United States and Europe. We open the year by reviewing the American Revolution and then consider the birth of a national identity during the first decades after independence. We also explore several additional themes concerning the U. S. in the 1800s: the emergence of a stable democracy, the conquest of the western frontier, the origins, course and consequences of the United States Civil War and the emergence of modern America. The other subject to which we devote our attention is that of European history from 1789 onwards: liberalism, romanticism, nationalism and Marxism are among our principal themes. As starting in Seconde the American Section is expected to teach a portion of the French geography curriculum, we will also examine interesting issues related to demography and urbanization in the twenty-first century, thus adding an invaluable contemporary dimension to some of the historical phenomena being studied.
Texts
The main texts in Seconde are Alan Brinkley's American History, Rémy Knafou's Seconde Géographie: Occuper et Aménager la Terre and John P. McKay's, Bennet D. Hill's and John Buckler's A History of Western Society. Primary materials, what one historian has called "witnesses" of the past, also figure a great deal in our documentation. These sources range from literary texts to political speeches.
Objectives
The year has a number of pedagogical objectives. First, we aim to provide students with the background knowledge they require to excel in the challenging program of the Option Internationale du Baccalauréat. Second, we focus on developing four important skills students will also need in the future: practical skills, like the ability to take notes and to retain important information; research skills, such as the capacity to undertake personal investigations into significant questions about history; analytical skills, including the aptitude to determine what is essential concerning an historical development, to understand broad patterns in the course of history, to weigh the merits of contradictory opinions about specific events on the basis of the facts and to place historical documents in their original context; and expressive skills, like the ability to engage in discussion about history and, above all, to write structured, documented and persuasive research papers and essays.
Expectations
On the whole, students are asked to read 10 to 15 pages per week and to prepare the assigned passages for class discussion. Quizzes are given on a regular basis and papers are assigned as homework, but the bulk of our writing takes the form of research projects and essay exams.
Evaluation
Students receive grades out of 20: 16/20 corresponds to an "A" and 13/20 to a "B". Yet whatever the work, numerous factors enter into any given grade: the effort a student has made, the historical accuracy of what he or she has said or written, the extent to which each student has used important information, and the strength of his or her argumentation.
If you need to contact me, however, please call the American Section and leave me a message at 01 34 51 74 85 or you could email me at michelesilvestri@yahoo.com. Please note, I check my email three times a week.
Below you will find some information about this class.
Content
This class explores the fascinating period of the nineteenth century in both the United States and Europe. We open the year by reviewing the American Revolution and then consider the birth of a national identity during the first decades after independence. We also explore several additional themes concerning the U. S. in the 1800s: the emergence of a stable democracy, the conquest of the western frontier, the origins, course and consequences of the United States Civil War and the emergence of modern America. The other subject to which we devote our attention is that of European history from 1789 onwards: liberalism, romanticism, nationalism and Marxism are among our principal themes. As starting in Seconde the American Section is expected to teach a portion of the French geography curriculum, we will also examine interesting issues related to demography and urbanization in the twenty-first century, thus adding an invaluable contemporary dimension to some of the historical phenomena being studied.
Texts
The main texts in Seconde are Alan Brinkley's American History, Rémy Knafou's Seconde Géographie: Occuper et Aménager la Terre and John P. McKay's, Bennet D. Hill's and John Buckler's A History of Western Society. Primary materials, what one historian has called "witnesses" of the past, also figure a great deal in our documentation. These sources range from literary texts to political speeches.
Objectives
The year has a number of pedagogical objectives. First, we aim to provide students with the background knowledge they require to excel in the challenging program of the Option Internationale du Baccalauréat. Second, we focus on developing four important skills students will also need in the future: practical skills, like the ability to take notes and to retain important information; research skills, such as the capacity to undertake personal investigations into significant questions about history; analytical skills, including the aptitude to determine what is essential concerning an historical development, to understand broad patterns in the course of history, to weigh the merits of contradictory opinions about specific events on the basis of the facts and to place historical documents in their original context; and expressive skills, like the ability to engage in discussion about history and, above all, to write structured, documented and persuasive research papers and essays.
Expectations
On the whole, students are asked to read 10 to 15 pages per week and to prepare the assigned passages for class discussion. Quizzes are given on a regular basis and papers are assigned as homework, but the bulk of our writing takes the form of research projects and essay exams.
Evaluation
Students receive grades out of 20: 16/20 corresponds to an "A" and 13/20 to a "B". Yet whatever the work, numerous factors enter into any given grade: the effort a student has made, the historical accuracy of what he or she has said or written, the extent to which each student has used important information, and the strength of his or her argumentation.