The American Dream, Day 2 - Class Recap

A poster from some of my work before coming back to teach at Westview, helping 9th graders make the transition to high school.

Dear class,

It was a short week, as we continued thinking about the American Dream and creating work that might reflect it. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "American Teen" by Khalid. Selected for today because it came up as an example of a related song to the American Dream in one of my classes on Tuesday. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/17/19:
News Brief/Blog Recap - Alexis
Slogans
Dream Posters
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. The American Dream poster assignment is due at the start of next class! The next news brief is assigned to: Emma.

News Brief/Blog Recap: Today's news brief was brought in by Alexis, who selected an article about this story: VICE.com - The Navy Says the UFOs in Tom DeLonge’s Videos Are ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena’. We discussed this story for a bit and then moved on.

We also checked in about the weekend and if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Emma was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the news brief, we also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also showed this website and the blog post from last class, so students could see the level of detail with each post.

Slogans: Last class, we ended by discussing what slogans for advertising the American Dream. Students were asked to come up with one as homework, and we shared a few in class. Here are some more examples (no, you cannot use any of these for your poster):

HubSpot.com - 22 Companies With Really Catchy Slogans & Brand Taglines

Hopefully these help a little in terms of thinking about slogans, if you had a difficult time with this.

Dream Poster: The main assignment for this introduction to the American Dream unit is creating a poster with your slogan/catchphrase, along with images, captions, and an explanation on the back. The full poster assignment is here:

Google Drive - American Dream Poster Assignment

We went through this carefully in class - my hope is that this is something fun and interesting for you to do, and that we can use the end products in creating a more colorful classroom for the rest of the year.

Work Time: The rest of class was devoted to work time on the American Dream posters, which will be due next class for grading. Please let me know if you have any questions!

The American Dream, Day 1 - Class Recap

At the New York Stock Exchange in 2009. Photo taken by my friend Ryan!

Hello everyone,

Today, we started up with class content for real, as we began thinking about what makes someone "American" and what the "American Dream" is. Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "Dream On" by Aerosmith. Selected for today because of our discussion of what the American Dream is and whether or not it exists. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/13/19:
News Brief/Blog Recap - Delaney
9/11 and 12/7 Speeches
American Dream
Mother to Son

Homework: Read the blog. Create a slogan about the American Dream, ready to share next class. Bring art supplies if you want, as we will be creating posters next class! The next news brief is assigned to: Alexis.

News Brief/Blog Recap: Today's news brief was brought in by Delaney, who selected an article about this story: LATimes.com - 34 people trapped on burning boat. The crew was asleep and unable to help, officials say. We discussed this for a bit and then moved on.

We also checked in about the weekend and if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Alexis was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the news brief, we also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also showed this website and the blog post from last class, so students could see the level of detail with each post.

9/11 and 12/7 Speeches: This was connected to our lesson last class for September 11th, when I wanted students to look at speeches from President George W. Bush on 9/11/2001 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12/8/1941, which led the United States into war after attacks. Here they are again (questions at the bottom):

Google Drive - September 11th and December 7th Response Speeches

 I really appreciated the text analysis and conversations here - thanks!

American Dream: To really start with content for the course this year, I wanted to begin by defining "American" and the idea of the "American Dream" in class. To go with this, here is the PowerPoint we went through together:

Google Slides - American Dream PowerPoint

First, we defined "American" by ourselves, then worked in small groups to come up with combined definitions, then talked together as a class about what makes someone American.

I then asked everyone to try and define with the "American Dream" is in a free write. After the free write, I showed this video:

We have a fair amount of first generation American students in our classes, so I was particularly interested in these definitions!

Mother to Son: Next, we read a poem called "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes. Here is the poem and the in class assignment that goes with it (it is also posted in Google Classroom if you missed class):

Google Drive - Mother to Son Poem Analysis

We discussed in class about the tone and dialect of the poem, as Mr. Puterbaugh noted some of the historical context to me when I shared it with him.

We ended by continuing to investigate the American Dream and thinking of slogans that we will use next class in your first graded assignment. Thank you for your work in class today!

September 11th, 2001 - Class Recap

This is part of N591UA, which operated United Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001, and was hijacked for possible use against the White House. Instead, a passenger revolt forced down the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. A part of my 9/11 story is that I once flew on that exact same plane, from Portland to Chicago in 1996. Check out my FlightMemory map of lifetime flights.

Hi everyone,

It has been a pleasure getting to know you all and continue trying to learn your names as fast as possible. Today, we had a timely look at what happened on September 11th, 2001 and December 7th, 1941, as well as what happened over the summer. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "Comin' From Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton. Selected for today because we used the ball of yarn to connect to each other about where we were from. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/11/19:
News Brief - Logan
Class Unity Activity
September 11/December 7
The Summer

Homework: Read the blog. Ask your parents/guardians for their memories of September 11th, 2001. The next news brief is assigned to: Delaney.

News Brief/Blog Recap: Today's news brief was brought in by Logan, who selected an article about this story: KPTV.com - McNary HS soccer team helps Westview HS players sandbag gym during heavy rain. We discussed this story for a bit and then moved on.

We also checked in about the weekend and if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Delaney was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the news brief, we also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Class Unity Activity: I always love this, for many reasons. One, because I love hearing about how everyone came to be in our classroom. Two, because of how the yarn connects us all. Three, because it helps the class (and me) learn names and a little about each other! Thank you for participating in this. It can get lengthy, I know, but I value it so much more than just lecturing for that time. It was nice to enjoy being outside the classroom for a bit, too!

September 11/December 7: To start this section, I asked students to do a free write for about 5 minutes on the following questions:

What do you know about September 11th and on December 7th? What have you heard about it?  What have you learned before, in class, or from parents?

After the free write time, we shared responses as a class and I told my story about September 11th. I was starting my Sophomore year at Wilson High School in Portland. It was definitely a day I will remember for the rest of my life. To drive home the point as to what the day was like, I showed this video in class, which was a timeline of the day:

From there, I moved on to discussing how September 11th, 2001 came about and some facts regarding the day.

We also talked in class about another incredibly important day in American history: December 7th, 1941, which is when the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked by Japan, which caused the US to enter World War II officially. Here was the video I showed in class about the attack and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech the next day:

Next, we analyzed the two speeches from US presidents about these two days: President George W. Bush on 9/11 and President FDR on 12/7. Here are the speeches:

Google Drive - September 11 and December 7 Speeches

The questions we looked at were here:

Are there common themes running through these speeches? Be specific.

•  What was the reason for delivering each of these speeches?
•  What effect do you think each of these speeches had on the nation and/or the rest of the world?
•  What are the most important lines in each of these speeches?

Thanks for the discussion here!

We finished with that. Please be ready to discuss next class. See you next class!