It's About Time! (Mrs. Eifert)

Our current unit is entitled Progressivism.  The late 1800’s and early 1900’s in the United States was often called the Gilded Age.  Gilded means “to cover something with a thin layer of gold.”  Most frequently, gilding covered a plain or unattractive service.  This time period received this nickname because, while on the surface things appeared to be wonderful, something less wonderful was also occurring.  The classes had a wonderful opportunity to review some of the previous units discussing what appeared to be wonderful and what was simultaneously unattractive.  For example, while African Americans had be freed from slavery and won the right to vote, discrimination and segregation continued to flourish.  Industrialization boosted the economy of the U.S. and increased product availability at the expense of children laboring in the factories.  Captains of Industry lived in multiple residences of extreme lavishness while immigrants and factory workers suffered in tenement buildings.

Muckrakers were journalists who exposed the corruption that existed in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.   We focused on five of these muckrakers in class.  They were Jacob Riis, Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, and Thomas Nast.  Ask your child what each of these muckrakers did to expose corruption during this time period.  They did a great job writing about them in an in-class writing!

The Progressive Era was the era of reform.  Our concentration has been on the social, economic, and political reforms of this era.  We have discussed the Civil Rights movement, the Temperance movement, and the Suffrage Movement.  These topics all provided us with wonderful discussion opportunities and allowed students to debate their views.  Every class had wonderful and very insightful discussions after we viewed the movie “Iron Jawed Angels.”  Each and every student truly seemed impacted by what some individuals have sacrificed to gain a right that so many of us take for granted today – voting.  If you are looking for some dinnertime discussion topics, here are a few:

• Did African – Americans need to prove that they deserved equality in our society?  (Ask them to explain the different philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois)
• Why did prohibition not work the way it was intended?
• Why do many U.S. citizens not vote today?
• How could we change this fact?
• Should there be requirements to vote?

Theodore Roosevelt was a dynamic and Progressive president.  We viewed a DVD that did a terrific job giving us background information on his life.  Here are a few discussion starters about T.R.:

• Theodore Roosevelt referred to his father as “the greatest man I ever knew.”  Who is the greatest person you know?
• Would Theodore Roosevelt be elected in today’s world?
• What did Theodore Roosevelt do for conservation in the United States?

Next up:  Political Cartoons

The Industrial Revolution and the immigrants who arrived in our country during the late 19th and early 20th century go hand in hand. The immigrants that came during this time period (known as New Immigration) were very different from the immigrants that arrived in the United States before the Civil War (known as Old Immigration). In class, we did several activities comparing and contrasting these two eras of immigration.
Our next step was to trace the average immigrant’s experience. Beginning with push factors and pull factors, we discussed what made immigrants want to leave their homeland and what drew them to the United States. The journey to the United States was challenging. From the journey in steerage to the processing at Ellis Island the class has looked at the taxing experience of gaining entry into the United States.
Once in the United States, some immigrants assimilated into the American culture very easily. When this occurred, we use an analogy to a melting pot. In other words, the immigrants blended in to the existing culture and were not distinguishable. Others, on the other hand, acculturated when they maintained much of their traditional culture. We compared that to a salad bowl. Immigrants became part of the American culture, but were identifiable because they maintained some aspects of their traditional culture.
The great influx of immigrants had several impacts on the United States. Such change did bring some resistance and led to some attempts to restrict immigration. The large number of immigrants also impacted our cities. With urban areas doubling and tripling in size in approximately thirty year time period, many problems arose. We compared the problems found in cities today to the problems of the early 20th century.

The Industrial Revolution unit has progressed very quickly.  The major themes of this unit included studying leading industrialists of the time period.  We focused on Milton Hershey (with the added treat of some Hershey Kisses), Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan.  We further discussed the references to these gentlemen as either Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. 

Our next area of study was the formation and impact of labor unions.  From strikes to lockouts and collective bargaining to arbitration, students learned the relationship between management and labor.  Our discussions included the positive impact labor unions had on working conditions during the Industrial Era.  We also discussed the current economic issues of outsourcing and the complex issues it poses for our country.  One area labor unions had the greatest impact was child labor.  The class did a photo analysis writing on photographs taken by photojournalists Jacob Riis and Lewis Hines.  The students’ writings showed the significant impact these primary sources had on them.

What an idea – - next stop inventions.  Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and Henry Ford were the great American inventors we learned about.  The class discussed the impact these inventors had on our society.  The invention the students most frequently thought they would see in their lifetime was . . . the hovercraft.

Finally, the unit is coming to a close with two special activities.  First, Mrs. Campbell is teaching two lessons on the stock market.  After only one lesson, the students are full of questions and are anticipating the next lesson to come!  Also coming . . . the students will be negotiating a contract.  Judging by Thursday’s lesson it should be interesting.  The students shared strategies they use when asking their parents for something.  We then applied those ideas to negotiating a contract.  Stay tuned for how this all turns out!

As much as Mother Nature tried to slow us down, we have finished the Settling the West unit! We have now moved on to the industrialization of the United States. It is remarkable to consider the significant events that occurred during an approximately 50 year time period in our country’s history. Between the years 1865 – 1914 our country faced the challenge of rebuilding our nation in the post Civil War years, settling the west, and becoming an industrialized nation.

To begin the unit, the class examined the seven factors that contributed to the Industrial Revolution in the United States. These seven factors were all key ingredients to creating an industrialized nation. Our next step was to see what changes our nation would experience during the time span of 1850 to 1900. We looked at data and graphed these changes in population, immigration, tariffs, railroad mileage, number of industrial workers, and rural vs urban population. There is quite a lot of vocabulary to consider when embarking on this unit. To assist with this terminology, the students received flashcards with which they can begin to study. While we had many interruptions and distractions that snow provides, the classes have learned quite a bit in the first days of this new unit!

The Settling the West unit is coming to a close. We have spent the last week looking at the clash of cultures that existed between the United States government and the Native Americans. Our focus this week has included the Trail of Tears, the Fort Laramie Treaty, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and the Dawes Act. We also discussed the differing view of the buffalo by the two cultures. Our study hit a bit closer to home when we discussed the Carlisle Indian School and the attempts to Americanize Native Indians.

Welcome Back! It was time to get back into our unit on the Settling of the West this week. To reacquaint and refresh what we have already learned about the people who settled the west, we took time to watch an episode of the DVD “The Story of Us: Heartland.”

We are now focusing on the impact American settlers on the Native Americans. We started this unit with a discussion of two concepts: Manifest Destiny and frontiers. We discussed how the historic philosophy of Manifest Destiny was born and how American settlers felt it was the fate of the United States to claim the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. We also did some art analysis by examining an artist’s work entitled “Manifest Destiny.” We then continued our discussion by defining the word “frontier.” The classes brainstormed what our frontiers are today. (The students came up with great thoughts such as space, the ocean, medicine, and technology.)

It was now time to get into specifics when discussing the impact American settlers had on Native Americans. We began this discussion by looking at the unfortunate event known as The Trail of Tears. This forced removal of Native Americans under the presidency of Andrew Jackson foreshadowed future relations between the two cultures. Finally, the Fort Laramie Treaty is a primary example of broken promises that will continue in the relations between the United States government and the Native Americans.

Our journey to the West continued this week with discussions about the transcontinental railroad, cowboys, farmers, and the Oklahoma Land Rush. As we discussed each group or topic, we continued to include the theme of the challenges faced by those who settled the American West. The building of the transcontinental railroad was an ambitious endeavor. Included in our discussion were the various immigrant groups who played key roles in its construction. The origin of the American cowboy was the next area for discussion. We continued this concept by examining the importance of the longhorn cattle, cow towns, cattle drives, and the conflict between farmers and cowboys. The farmer or sodbuster led us to discuss the impact of weather, locusts, and natural resources on the amount of success this group would achieve. Finally, we began our final lesson for this portion of the unit studying the Oklahoma Land Rush. We will continue our discussion of this method of land distribution next week.

We are westward bound! The classes have begun the study of the settling of the west. As we began studying what drew people to the west, we identified the various groups of people who made up this brave segment of the population. As we progress through the unit, we will look at each of these groups and how they were impacted by or had an impact on the west. The groups we will focus on are the miners in search of wealth, the builders of the transcontinental railroad who undertook an overwhelming engineering task, the cowboys and ranchers who make up a rich part of our nation’s legends, the homesteaders who literally raced across our country to claim land to farm, and the Native Americans who were forced to share this vast territory with cultures vastly different than their own. As we progress through this unit, we will examine the challenges faced by the various groups. (Look for a “Challenges of the Wild West” chart in your child’s notebook.)  This week our focus was on the miners and the builders of the transcontinental railroad.

We had another busy week as we continued our study of Reconstruction. The beginning of the week was spent focusing of vocabulary and general concepts related to this era. The students completed a series of flashcards to assist them with becoming familiar with the terms, names, and laws commonly associated with the Reconstruction era. We applied these terms as we discussed general challenges faced by our country as we reunited. The class examined the various plans that were constructed during this time period to address these challenges. We concluded the week by discussing the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the impact it had on the Reconstruction process.
As we enter the abbreviated week of Thanksgiving, the class will focus on the conflicts that arose over the Reconstruction process. Specifically, we will address the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. The class will also examine the restrictions African-Americans experienced on their freedoms. This will be done by examining the Black Codes, literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses and the creation of the Ku Klux Klan. Finally, we will be evaluating the success of Reconstruction by examining how it came to a close. Students will be assessed on their knowledge of Reconstruction with an exam on December 2nd.

This week brought the end to one unit and the beginning to another unit. We closed out our unit on the Civil War with a unit assessment. The class began to examine the challenges the nation faced as we concluded the Civil War and began the immense task of  reuniting our country. The time period after the Civil War is called Reconstruction. As we began studying this time period, our first focus was to examine the problems faced by our nation during this challenging time. We brainstormed, researched, and discussed the physical, economic, political, and social problems that faced the United States. We specifically examined the pivotal events that occurred during the month of April 1865. Our focus centered on the important role an individual can play in history. The actions of the military and political leaders (Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S Grant) of that time period shaped the events for the coming years.