8th Grade SOS #6

Yellow fever is caused by a small virus that is spread by the bite of mosquitoes.  An outbreak as far north as Philadelphia in 1793 resulted in the deaths of several thousand people and forced the administration to flee the city, including President George Washington. 
Click on the following link (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/yellowfever.htm) and read the about Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia.  Then, return to the blog and compose a prediction about the novel you will begin tomorrow titled Fever 1793.  Consider who the characters might be, what their experience will be, where the events will take place, when the events will take place, and how things might end in the novel.  * Remember, when making predictions, be as thorough as possible!

8th Grade SOS #5

The French had helped the Americans in their struggle for independence, so the French Revolution seemed to embody many of the ideals of the American Revolution.  By 1793, the French Revolution turned bloody with the execution of Louis XVI, Marie Antionette, and thousands of French citizens.  Click on the Guillotine website (http://www.theguillotine.info/facts/index.php) and read the FACTS as well as the TIMELINE information to review this event.  Then, return to the blog and reflect on the following question:

* In your opinion, what did the French Revolution have in common with the American Revolution?  Explain. 

8th Grade SOS #4

George Washington stands before you in a full-length portrait by Gilbert Stuart. The painting, done in 1796, is known as the Lansdowne portrait because it was a gift to the Marquis of Lansdowne, an English supporter of American independence, from Senator and Mrs. William Bingham of Pennsylvania.

Click on the Smithsonian Website (http://www.georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/index.html) and launch the interactive portrait to explore the painting in detail, from three very different vantage points: the symbolic, the biographic, and the artistic. Each filter highlights an element in the portrait and provides unique information and a distinct interpretation. 

Choose one detail that interests you and view it from all three vantage points.  Then answer the following questions on the blog.

1.  What element did you choose?  (For example: hand/gesture)

2.  a.  What is the symbolic meaning?  

     b.  What is the biographic meaning? 

     c.  What is the artistic meaning?

3.  In your opinion, why do you think the artist used this detail when painting George Washington?  Explain.

8th Grade SOS #3

How much do you know about America's earliest days of independence?  Take the following FactMonster quiz by clicking on
http://sf.factmonster.com/quizzes/declaration-independence/1.html.

Then, return to the blog and answer the following questions:

1.  What was your score on the quiz?

2.  The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence states:  "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."  What do you think that means?

3.  The Declaration of Independence also states:  "all men are created equal, that they are endowed... with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."  Do you believe this was true in 1776?  Why or why not?  Do you believe this is true in 2011?  Why or why not?