Good Sites for Research!

Check these out! These are really good sites for the rest of the year! These are really good research sites for your Patriot Projects!

Ben's Guide is the Official United States Government Guide to United States History. There's games, glossaries, information about the election process, citizenship and the branches of government!

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/index.html

America's Library is a website from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. A future assignment will be to learn about the Library of Congress which one of the most comprehensive libraries in the world. This Library's holdings are not just books! They are cataloguing the culture of the United States!

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi

USHistory.org is a website sponsored by the City of Philadelphia. Which is where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written!

http://www.ushistory.org/

Let me know what you think. Is there one thing on each site that you found interesting or unusual?
Email me!

Mr. Neff

The Patriots Project

Hey Now!

I knew getting to the point where everyone would have a working email, get registered with blogger.com, did some research (what do you mean you haven't done any research yet!) and start posting was going to take a bit of doing but that's okay!!! You can all breathe! Now get to work! I am sorry that the laptop cart was grabbed by other classes but I'm working on alternatives, you have the Resource Room, go to the NY Public Library, visit friends and relatives but I want to start see drafts!!!

The Deadline for Draft One is FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31st! Yes, I know that's Halloween, but don't be a Hallow- weenie, Get to school! It's not a day off!!!

Tomorrow in class we're going to work on applying the Bill of Rights. If you have the copy of the Bill of Rights I gave out last week ago bring it.

Talking about Comments

I've been reading your comments and responding to a few of them. Two things:

Thing One: I expect EVERYONE to post a comment every day. If you are sitting there listening to music you've got the wrong idea! If you don't know what to write look at the assignment.

You are supposed to be writing about your rights as a citizen. Which Amendment to the Constitution did you research? What can you say about what you learned? Think of it this way. You goal for your audience is to teach them about the Amendment you researched!

Thing Two: The idea of a comment is to demonstrate what you are learning. Some of the comments remind me of things you might yell out in a movie theater at a horror movie! "Don't go in there!!!"

It's okay to post something funny but make a point about the history!!! My goal is to help you write about history at a level that will help you pass the Regents!!!

You've got to practice writing to get better at it. Otherwise we're going to yell "Don't go in there!!!" When you are heading into the Regents!!!!

Peace!!!

Mr. Neff

Assignment for the Week October 20-24

Each student was to research one of the Amendments to the Constitution. Now that you have do the following:

1) Describe the Constitutional Amendment you selected. (Example, The 1st Amendment - Freedom of Speech)
2) What rights as a citizen does this right protect.
3) How do citizens use this right to protect their rights.
4) How has the use of this right changed over time? Are their new areas where this right is applied that could not have been imagined by the Founding Fathers?
5) Did your Patriot have anything to do with this right?

Questions? Email me at NOTE REMOVE THE "#" Symbol before sending me an email. It is put in there to prevent spam!

Mr. Neff

The Signing of The Declaration of Independence

History is told by the winners

Is the idea that history is told by the winners true? Who writes history? Who gets to tell the story about what happened? Does that story change over time?

If you want to be critical student, and informed citizens you have to start picking up books and reading about the past. There are millions of good books about American History. Please go to the library and pick some out.

You can start to browse the library on line and the library will send any book you want to your local branch. You can also use the NYPL website to find your local library...it's time!!!! You don't have to read a million books at once just find two or three good ones to start.

Check out these websites: <http://www.nypl.org>

<http://teenlink.nypl.org/index.html>>

Let me know what you find here on YOU ARE US HISTORY. Post it!