Unit 1: First Five Days!The first five (or so) days are a fantastic opportunity to set the stage for the school year. We'll spend the first two weeks of the year laying the foundation for the challenging tasks we'll undertake during the rest of the school year. Specifically, we'll create expectations democratically, establish routines, get to know each other, and practice the elements of design thinking.
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Unit 2: ExpansionFrom the Civil War to the First World War, America expanded, conquering peoples in the American West, the Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean in its quest to become a world power. In this unit, we explore how and why America projected its power on the world stage; how this expansion caused conflict; and whether America's actions during this period were justified.
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Unit 3: LaborAt the turn of the 20th century, child labor was routine in the United States, prompting a movement of activists to fight for labor protections for children--but today, child labor remains a problem throughout the developing world. Immigration, likewise, is a debate that has spanned the history of our country. In this unit, students will select a topic (child labor or immigration) and trace it through the last 150 years--contextualizing current events and examining how activists fight for social justice.
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Unit 4: War & SocietyIn 1914, after almost a century of "peace" in Europe, the powder keg that was European politics exploded, setting the world on fire. Students will explore the causes, conflict, and reverberations that The Great War sent through the twentieth century in this unit--all while tracking its effects on the societies it nearly destroyed.
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Unit 5: Women's SuffrageOver the course of this unit, students will analyze primary source documents in order to examine the factors that contributed to the exclusion of American women from the right to vote and the battle for full enfranchisement. They will read and interpret complex documents, engage in discussions, and, in order to demonstrate comprehension, answer critical thinking questions.
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Unit 6: Boom and BustAfter World War I, America entered the Roaring Twenties, a period commonly understood as one of prosperity and growth. But many of the factors that characterized the 1920s led directly to depression and disaster in the 1930s. In this unit, students will explore the causes of the Great Depression; it’s effect on individuals and groups; responses to the Great Depression; and the costs of human impacts on the environment.
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Unit 7: Hate & GenocideIn the 1930s and 1940s, fascists used fear, propaganda, and violence to take control over (mostly) democratic countries--oppressing entire groups and people, resulting in genocide. At the same time, upstanders fought these movements by taking direct action. In this unit, students will compare how authoritarian governments commit genocide and how upstanders fight back.
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Unit 8: War and MemoryFor decades historians have debated the morality and necessity of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this unit, students read four different accounts of the bombings and must decide for themselves how we should remember the dropping of the atomic bombs by designing a historical accurate and just memorial for the events of 1945.
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Unit 8: The Civil Rights Movement |
Unit 9: The Vietnam Era |
Unit 10: The End of the Twentieth Century |
Unit 11: The Age of Terror |