Glory of the 54th Regiment

Today during class, Mr. Armstrong had asked the students whether we had any questions for him about the Civil War. We had many questions about the 54th regiment and whether they had won or not. Mr. Armstrong had said it wasnt about victory but about how they fought hard even if there were many consequences like losing their freedom or even their lives. Then to continue on with our topic on the 54th regiment, he played parts of the movie Glory. I thought it was really ironic on how the ex-slaves were fighting to not be whipped and treated like crap, but they were whipped from the union soldier who claim they want to stop the mistreatment. Also, i really liked how the movie showed us the process of getting ready for the battles because in the textbooks, they only tell us about the battles and the winner and loser. This was a new point of view from the slaves and the officers.  

By Micky K. 8D :)

The Civil War Begins

Today’s history class was the far most exciting and fun of all the classes I had! We learned more about the civil war which we started with Fort Sumter last week before the break. We learned about the start of the Civil War which contained group activities. Mr. Armstrong had power point presentations, text books, hand outs, visuals, and activities to help us with our learning.
We got a visual of the map of America and set the borders for the North and the South on the map. It helped me learn easier of where the state’s positions were in when the secession of the South occurred. It helped me a lot, because it was a visual and one picture contains a thousand words.
This time, our class focused on the individual and spread out to the general’s opinion. Mr. Armstrong gave an example of paint ball survival and we shared our personal experience and laughed. We also did a simulation with the fake South and the North. We had the fake North and the South and each pod chose a leader and Mr. Armstrong called the leaders out and gave out plans. The leaders came back and told the plan to the pod members and the North took the South’s belongings away. The only person in the South that protected his belongings was Jae Song. The guy that got shot in the back in paint ball survival “Eddie” was brave enough to steal a bag from the North. It was really fun and hilarious.
We also discussed about the North and the South’s advantages I was amazed that the North had so many advantages over the South and the Civil War lasted for 4 years. But I soon learned that the South had better educated generals. I also learned the importance of education and that it could be the best weapon in war.


Claire J. 8D

I AM Project and Satisfying Test Results!

On Tuesday, Mr. Armstrong and the class discussed about the I AM project that eigth grade was working on. The class discussed wether to present it in the hall ways of second and third floor, or to present it all together in the cafeteria. Most of the students wanted to present it in the cafeteria. Also, he gave us a few minutes to think and brainstorm how we are going to present our person. We had to write or draw in our notebook and many of us came up with some creative ideas. After discussing about the I AM project, our topic changed to our test results. Mr. Armstrong showed us a graph of the eight grade's average test scores. Most of the students were between the 80-90 range and a little less between teh 90-100 range. This time, not many students were below 70's. We went over the test questions that most of the students got wrong on. After, the teacher handed us the essays that students wrote for each class. He told us that those essays in the hand-out are a good example of an A-R-E format, and a well thought out answers. Most of us were very statisfied with our test results and it was clear that eight grade students improved alot comparing from the beginning of the year.
-Jee Min H. 8D

The Class Before the Last, Big Test

Today, in social studies class, we had simply put are minds together into one and discussed about the test and all the events that led up to the Civil War. We had an interesting class as Mr. Armstrong visually demonstrated the Dred Scott Case. He had Joshua Kim as Dred Scott and visually let the class see what the Dred Scott Case was about. These kind of visual acts help students really learn and understand what the actual meaning is. We had covered the elections of 1860 which was the last event that pushed the nation finally into war. Furthermore, Mr. Armstrong had the 4 pods to discuss what they did not get and sometimes asked us deep questions. One question was ,"How does the idea of popular sovereignty contradicts the Dred Scott case?" This was really a tough question and I commed Rebecca Lee for answering it thoroughly and thoughtfully. She had really thought deeply and this made the class understand the whole contradiction right there. Therefore, today was a simple gathering of our class with Mr. Armstrong for a last "discussion" and "visual explanation".

By Albert C. 8D

Seminar on Sectionalism Imersion part II

Today in class, the 8D class directed their focus to the topic covered in the sectionalism imersion part two. The key terms studied today include: popular soverignity, secede, compromise of 1850, and fugitive slave act. The class format today was basically a seminar format, where the students sit as a group and express comments and questions that are relative to the topic directed by Mr. Armstrong. During the discussion today, almost everybody participated very well, sharing their knowledge with the rest of the class to enhance our understanding about the imersion. What was really interesting about today's class discussion was the fact that some of the discussions really connected the American history to our modern world right now. For instance, we had a little discussion of whether popular soverignity, democracy, was good or bad. This was a exceptionally difficult question, because the students knew that what ever the outcome is, there was always going to be positive and negative impacts of the decision. We also talked about the morality side of slavery, when we were discussing the fugitive slave act, which specifically stated that northerns were required to send back the escaped slaves. By the intelligent conversations that went on during the whole seminar, it is pretty certain that the majority of the students had enhanced their understanding of the key terms and main ideas that were presented to them as a part of the sectionalism imersion part two.
-written by Lisa A.