Friday, November 29, 2013

November 29

You wrote your Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz today, and then you had time to work on your Great Depression and New Deal study guide. This is due on Monday. You can find this handout on the IB 30/35 wiki under The Great Depression and the Americas.
We went to the Blenheim Room today to type up the first paragraph of your Unit 2 WRA II Essay. You were to save this essay to your H drive and print off a hard copy of it to have it peer edited by a classmate. You will write the remainder of your Unit 2 WRA II Essay on Monday in the Blenheim Room.
I gave you your USA-Canada Comparative Government Assignment today. It is strongly recommended that you work with a partner for this assignment. This assignment is due on Tuesday, December 10th. I also had you write a response to two of the following questions:
  • Should the voting age be lowered?
  • Should voting be mandatory?
  • Should everyone over the age of 18 be allowed to vote?
I then had you split into groups to deal with the questions and discuss them. Please don't forget that you have your Unit 2 WRA II Essay on Monday. Please go to the Social 30-1 wiki under the section called WRA II Essay Writing.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

November 27


We continued examining the process of writing a WRA II Essay today. I gave you the essay question sheet, and you had some time for some small group brainstorming of arguments and evidence. I then walked you through the structure of the first paragraph by showing you an example of an outline for the Unit 2 WRA II essay source. I will post this on the wiki today, so please check the section on the Social 20-1 wiki called WRA II Essay Writing. I also did a homework check on your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions. Please remember that your Chapter 7-8 Test is tomorrow, please check out the study guide here (scroll down to find it).  
I did a homework check on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions. I went through a lot of political concepts today, so you'll need to get these notes from a classmate if you were away. We covered direct democracy, representative democracy, parliamentary democracy and presidential democracy. Our example of a parliamentary democracy that we'll examine in greater detail is Canada. We talked about the organization/structure of the Canadian political system, responsible government and the Senate and House of Commons. Other concepts that you should understand moving forward are representation by population, minority government, majority government and non-confidence votes. Tomorrow, we'll finish off our examination of the Canadian political system. I will also give you your Unit 2 WRA II Essay question sheet tomorrow.
I went through a lot of economic concepts today, so if you missed class you will need to get these notes from a classmate. I went through the basic economic problem facing all societies (scarcity), economic systems, economic values, basic economic questions and how the economic systems would answer the questions differently. I also reviewed the economic-political grid, the law of supply and demand and the boom and bust cycle (the business cycle). I will start tomorrow with the boom and bust cycle and discuss what the Keynesian economic response will be to the various stages of the cycle. Please remember that you have your Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz on Friday.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

November 26


You wrote your Paper 1 today, and I started to give back some IAs. Please remember that you have a Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz on Friday, which consists of a matching section and some other "surprises". Your 1920s Study Guide is due tomorrow.


You got the results back for your Unit 2 Final Exam today. You also had class time to work on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions, which are due tomorrow.


We started looking at positional thinking today, and the differences between argumentation and evidence as well. Tomorrow, you'll get the "recipe for success" for writing WRA II essays. I will also give you the Unit 2 WRA II Essay Question Sheet, and we'll start building the essay together tomorrow. You will be writing the first paragraph of the Unit 2 WRA II essay on Friday, and then you'll finish it off on Monday. Please remember that you have your Chapter 7-8 Test on Thursday, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

Monday, November 25, 2013

November 25

We started class today by watching a video called "The Roaring Twenties" from the U.S. History series. You then had the remainder of class time to work on the 1920s Study Guide. You were to bring your United States and Its People textbook to class today, and use it answer the questions from the 1920s Study Guide. The most useful chapter in the textbook to answer the questions would be Chapter 20: The Twenties: Blowing the Lid Off 1919-1928. This study guide is due on Wednesday. Please remember that you're writing your Paper 1 tomorrow.

Your Unit 2 Research Project was due in class today. If this project is handed in late, you lose 10% off in marks for every day that it is late. I also did a homework check on your "Gandhi" film study. We tied up some loose ends in the Unit 2 material today by covering the case study of Kosovo declaring its independence in 2008. We watched a CBC News in Review video on this topic. Your Kosovo CBC News in Review Questions are due tomorrow (November 26th) and your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday (November 27th). Please remember that you are writing your Chapter 7-8 Test this Thursday (November 28th). Please check out the study guide below.



This test is on Thursday, November 28th. It will consist of 20-24 key terms in a matching section, and 3-4 short answer questions. Please study the following PowerPoint presentations:

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:

  • 36 Questions About The Holocaust
  • Turning Points in History: The Atomic Bomb (film notes)
  • White Light/Black Rain (film notes)
  • Shake Hands with the Devil (film notes + package)
  • Unit 2 Worksheet (chapter questions for Chapter 7 and 8)
  • make sure that you have read Chapters 7 and 8!

1. Please study the following key concepts/key people/key events:
genocide:


  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • the Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination
  • Wansee Conference
  • Nuremberg Trials
  • Mahatma Gandhi
  • Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Mohammed Ali Jinnah
  • home rule
  • Hutu
  • Tutsi
  • Romeo Dallaire
  • Manhattan Project
  • Hiroshima
  • Nagasaki
  • Robert Oppenheimer
  • FDR
  • Harry Truman
  • Potsdam Conference
  • Slobodan Milosevic

2. You should be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 2 worksheet from Chapter 7 and 8. 


You wrote your Unit 2 Final Exam today. I also did a homework check on your "10 Questions About Democracy" booklet as well.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

November 21

We started Unit 3 by looking at your results for the Political Compass survey. We also watched a video from BBC World called "10 Questions About Democracy" (here is a link to the companion website if you'd like to hear what people had to say again). You are responsible for finishing the entire film study that went along with this video for Monday's class (I'll be doing a homework check on it, and in all likelihood, we'll be able to discuss some of the questions in the video). One of the people that was interviewed in the video, Stanley Fish, is a writer for the New York Times; here's an article he wrote after he was interviewed for the documentary.



It will be a 75 multiple choice question test which will be held on Monday, November 25th. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

  • study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
  • study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
  • study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
  • please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
  • supply-side economics
  • boom and bust cycle/business cycle
  • laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
  • self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
  • basic economic problems/questions
  • advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
  • causes of the Great Depression
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
    also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
  • characteristics of a mixed economy
  • nationalization
  • privatization
  • democratic socialism
  • welfare capitalism
  • Keynesian economics
  • the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
  • demand-side economics
  • neo-conservatives
  • monetarism
  • trickle down economics
  • supply-side economics
  • Thatcherism and Reaganomics
  • Milton Friedman
  • Friedrich Hayek
  • how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
  • how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
  • advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
  • neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
  • characteristics of a centrally planned economy
  • advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
  • Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
  • Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • establishment of the Soviet Union
  • Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
  • Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
  • "Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
  • Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • "Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
  • Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
  • Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
  • techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
  • modern liberalism
  • features of the Nazi state
  • Hitler's rise to power
  • Democratic Systems notes
  • Non-Democratic Systems notes
  • Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
  • A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
  • Totalitarianism notes
  • Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
  • do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

We finished watching "Gandhi" today. The film study guide for "Gandhi" is due on Monday. One week from today, you have your Chapter 7-8 Test. Please remember that your Unit 2 Research Project is due on Monday, November 25th.


This test is on Thursday, November 24th. It will consist of 20-24 key terms in a matching section, and 3-4 short answer questions. Please study the following PowerPoint presentations:
  • "The Holocaust"
  • "8 Stages of Genocide" (see the Genocide Watch website: http://www.genocidewatch.org/)
  • "Contemporary Examples of Genocide" (you have a hard copy in your Social 20-1 blue study booklets)

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:
  • 36 Questions About The Holocaust
  • Turning Points in History: The Atomic Bomb (film notes)
  • White Light/Black Rain (film notes)
  • Shake Hands with the Devil (film notes + package)
  • Unit 2 Worksheet (chapter questions for Chapter 7 and 8)
  • make sure that you have read Chapters 7 and 8!

1. Please study the following key concepts/key people/key events:
genocide:

  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • the Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination
  • Wansee Conference
  • Nuremberg Trials
  • Mahatma Gandhi
  • Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Mohammed Ali Jinnah
  • home rule
  • Hutu
  • Tutsi
  • Romeo Dallaire
  • Manhattan Project
  • Hiroshima
  • Nagasaki
  • Robert Oppenheimer
  • FDR
  • Harry Truman
  • Potsdam Conference
  • Slobodan Milosevic

2. You should be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 2 worksheet from Chapter 7 and 8.



Despite the delays with the fire alarm, we were able to finish off the "1920s Conservatism in the USA" PowerPoint presentation. Please bring your United States and Its People textbooks to class on Monday. You are writing your Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 on Tuesday, November 26th. This is your last weekend to prepare for it, so I suggest that you work very methodically through the Paper 1 duotang, and do some research into historiography for the various topics that the sources potentially could be on with the Paper 1. Use this long weekend to your advantage!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

November 20

We continued our film study of "Gandhi", we should be able to finish it off tomorrow. I did a homework check on the Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions and the colonial background information on India. You have your Chapter 7-8 Test on Thursday, November 28th, please see the study guide below.



This test is on Friday, November 26th. It will consist of 20-24 key terms in a matching section, and 3-4 short answer questions. Please study the following PowerPoint presentations:

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:

  • 36 Questions About The Holocaust
  • Turning Points in History: The Atomic Bomb (film notes)
  • White Light/Black Rain (film notes)
  • Shake Hands with the Devil (film notes + package)
  • Unit 2 Worksheet (chapter questions for Chapter 7 and 8)
  • make sure that you have read Chapters 7 and 8!

1. Please study the following key concepts/key people/key events:
genocide:


  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • the Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination
  • Wansee Conference
  • Nuremberg Trials
  • Mahatma Gandhi
  • Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Mohammed Ali Jinnah
  • home rule
  • Hutu
  • Tutsi
  • Romeo Dallaire
  • Manhattan Project
  • Hiroshima
  • Nagasaki
  • Robert Oppenheimer
  • FDR
  • Harry Truman
  • Potsdam Conference
  • Slobodan Milosevic

2. You should be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 2 worksheet from Chapter 7 and 8. We did some housekeeping today, with me returning some homework checked assignments and sharing results on the Cold War Exam. We watched the National Geographic documentary called "Inside North Korea" as well today. Please complete the Political Compass survey and bring in your quadrant print out to class tomorrow. Please check out the Unit 2 Final Exam study guide below.

This Unit Final is on Monday, November 25th, it will be a 75 multiple choice question test. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

  • study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
  • study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
  • study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
  • please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
  • supply-side economics
  • boom and bust cycle/business cycle
  • laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
    self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
  • basic economic problems/questions
  • advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
  • causes of the Great Depression
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
  • also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
  • characteristics of a mixed economy
  • nationalization
  • privatization
  • democratic socialism
  • welfare capitalism
  • Keynesian economics
  • the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
  • demand-side economics
  • neo-conservatives
  • monetarism
  • trickle down economics
  • supply-side economics
  • Thatcherism and Reaganomics
  • Milton Friedman
  • Friedrich Hayek
  • how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
  • how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
  • advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
  • neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
  • characteristics of a centrally planned economy
  • advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
  • Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
  • Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • establishment of the Soviet Union
  • Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
  • Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
  • "Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
  • Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • "Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
  • Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
  • Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
  • techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
  • modern liberalism
  • features of the Nazi state
  • Hitler's rise to power
  • Characteristics of Democracy
  • Characteristics of Dictatorship
  • Democratic Systems notes
  • Non-Democratic Systems notes
  • Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
  • A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
  • Totalitarianism notes
  • Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
  • do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

You watched the A & E Biography of Benito Mussolini. I also shared some upcoming key dates with you on the IB calendar.
  • Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1: Tuesday, November 26th
  • Diploma students: TOK Essay meeting during tutorial on Thursday, November 28th. Attendance is mandatory.
  • Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz on Friday, November 29th                                        .

Friday, November 15, 2013

November 15

After your current events quiz today we began our examination of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. We'll finish off this topic on Monday. Please make sure that you keep up with the topics that we're covering in Prescribed Subject 1. Make sure that you know that the areas on which the source-based questions in Paper 1 will focus on are:
  • aims of the participants and peacemakers: Wilson and the Fourteen Points
  • terms of the Paris Peace Treaties 1919-1920: Versailles, St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, S'evres/Lausanne 1923
  • the geopolitical and economic impact of the treaties on Europe; the establishment of the mandate system
  • enforcement of the provisions of the treaties: U.S. isolationism-the retreat from the Anglo-American Guarantee; disarmament-Washington, London, Geneva conferences
  • the League of Nations: effects of the absence of major powers; the principles of collective security and early attempts at peacekeeping (1920-1925)
  • the Ruhr Crisis (1923); Locarno and "the Locarno Spring" (1925)
  • Depression and threats to international peace and collective security: Manchuria (1931-1933) and Abyssinia (1935-1936).
You'll be writing a Paper 1 during the week of November 25th. We'll have a definite date for you next week.
We finished off our film study of "Shake Hands with the Devil" today. Your film study answers will be due on Monday. This would be a great weekend to get some work completed on your Unit 2 Research Project, which is due on November 25th. Your Chapter 7-8 Test is on November 28th, I will be posting the study guide on the blog next week.

We finished watching "Good Night, and Good Luck" today. Your film study questions are due tomorrow. The film study for this is due on Monday, November 18th. "Good Night, and Good Luck" contains a few powerful scenes that I will post here on the blog. Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam on Tuesday, November 19th. You can find the study guide here (scroll down to find it).



This film explores a lot of issues that are relevant to today. You also have to understand the political climate at the time in the United States to fully understand the movie. Many Americans were drawn to communism in the 1930s due to the effects of the Great Depression, especially academics and those in the labour fields. In the movie they made reference to friends and spouses that had attended meetings long ago. The "Red Scare" caused a huge backlash against those sympathetic to communism or the USSR. Remember, during WWII the Soviet Union was an ally, and many people may have attended meetings out of curiosity. The junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy in 1950 charged there were communist sympathizers in the U.S. State Department. Hearings were held, charges were discovered to be unfounded. McCarthy continued accusing communist infiltration in the Democratic Party. McCarthy became the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the investigation of un-American activity (HUAC). On December 2, 1954, McCarthy’s actions were called into question and his accusations were deemed unfounded. On Murrow's show "See it Now", he begins to publicly go after McCarthy. A very public feud develops when McCarthy responds by accusing Murrow of being a communist. Murrow is accused of having been a member of the leftist union Industrial Workers of the World, which Murrow claimed was false.
In this climate of fear and reprisal (which we now refer to as McCarthyism), the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity ultimately strikes a historic blow against McCarthy. Historical footage in the movie also shows the questioning of Annie Lee Moss, a Pentagon communication worker accused of being a communist based on her name appearing on a list seen by an FBI infiltrator of the American Communist Party. In the first half of the film Murrow talks about how McCarthy didn't create the political climate and anti-Communist hysteria sweeping the country, but that he capitalized on it for political gain very effectively. As David Strathairn, playing Murrow in the film says, "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment, unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate responsibility." The film is framed by the performance of the speech given by Murrow to the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 1958, in which Murrow harshly admonishes his audience not to squander the potential of television to inform and educate the public. I found this short video on YouTube that spliced together Edward R. Murrow's speech that appears at the beginning of the film and continues at the end of the film. I find that this speech has relevance even today when you talk about the level of discourse in the media.



Thursday, November 14, 2013

November 14


We started our film study of "Good Night, and Good Luck." today. We'll finish it off tomorrow. The film study guide questions will be due on Monday. Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam on Tuesday, November 19th, please see the study guide for this test here.
 
We began our examination of the Rwandan genocide today. I gave you some class time to read the synopsis for the film "Shake Hands with the Devil" and complete the pre-viewing questions in the study guide prior to starting the film. We'll finish off "Shake Hands with the Devil" tomorrow.
 
We went through a PowerPoint called "Disarmament and Enforcement of the Treaties" today. You can find this presentation on the IB 30/35 wiki under Prescribed Subject 1.
You have homework tonight out of the Prescribed Subject 1 duotang:
  • Read pages 50-55 in the Paper 1 study duotang
  • Complete the Student Study Sections on page 52 (both questions) and p. 55 (just the top study section question)
Please make sure that there are enough good current events on the wiki to make a current events quiz, or else I'll have to go back a couple of weeks for questions.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

November 13


We finished off the film study of "Scream Bloody Murder" today. I also told you to read the following sections in your Social 20-1 blue study booklets:

  • Contemporary Examples of Genocide (ppt) on pages 227-231
  • Ukraine Famine (the Holodomor) on pages 232-234
  • If you're doing your Unit 2 Research Project (due on November 25th) on a 20th century genocide, you might want to read the Samantha Power article "Never Again: The World's Most Unfulfilled Promise"
We'll continue with the topic of genocide this week by examining a case study of the Rwandan genocide. We'll start "Shake Hands with the Devil" tomorrow.
We finished off the tail-end of the "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam" documentary today. I also gave you some handouts on the Korean War today (I realize that I was back-tracking with this, but it was necessary because we need to talk next week at the consequences of the Cold War in the present day). I also gave you some notes on the board on bilateral arms agreements between the USA and the USSR and multilateral arms control agreements. Make sure that you understand the concepts of deterrence, MAD (mutually assured destruction), arms race, SALT I, INF Treaty, SALT II, and START I and START II, and detente. Make sure that you read section on McCarthyism (p. 265-267) in Perspectives on Ideologies prior to class tomorrow. We'll be starting a film study of "Good Night, and Good Luck." Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam on Tuesday, November 19th, please see the study guide here. Please remember that your Vietnam War Assignment is due on Friday, November 15th.
We actually covered a lot of ground today. We finished off the "League of Nations" PowerPoint presentation, and also talked about the League of Nations' mandate system. We also watched a video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Make Germany Pay". While you watched this video you should have been taking notes. You do have a brief homework assignment tonight that you can find on the IB 30/35 wiki under Prescribed Subject 1 on the Convenant of the League of Nations. It should take you about 20 minutes to complete this homework assignment that is due tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

November 12

We examined the League of Nations today, and we'll continue this topic tomorrow. You were also assigned your Prescribed Subject 1 duotangs today. If you missed class today, you'll need to get one of these duotangs from me tomorrow. If you missed class today, and you missed an assessment that happened last week, you'll need to write it tomorrow.
We watched part of "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam" today. I did a homework check on your Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions as well. Your Vietnam War Assignment is due on November 15th (Friday). Please see the Chapter 7 Cold War Exam study guide below.
It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. You will write this test on Tuesday, November 19th. Please make sure that you have read Chapter 7. Here are some other study tips:
  • study "The Origins of the Cold War (ppt)"
  • study all notes on the Origins and Causes of the Cold War
  • study notes on the Korean War
  • study notes on the Cuban Missile Crisis
  • study notes on the Vietnam War (see notes package and Vietnam War booklet, and the notes that I sent to you on the Vietnam War)
  • make sure that you know all the Cold War Concepts
  • know the chronology of events of the Cold War (study the Cold War timeline and the Vietnam War timeline, and the end of the Cold War timeline that I will be giving you in subsequent class)
  • know key events that we've emphasized in class (for example: Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War) plus other key events from the timeline
  • know major arms reduction agreements (bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements), please study the notes that I will give you next week on this topic.
  • know about the formation of alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact) and the formation of "spheres of influence"
  • anything that I gave you as a handout is testable material and should be reviewed!!
  • know how the Cold War ends and its results/consequences

Most of today's class was spent watching the CNN documentary "Scream Bloody Murder" which should help you to understand contemporary examples of genocide in the 20th and 21st century. We'll finish this video off tomorrow. We should be able to get into our case study of the Rwandan genocide this week as well.

Friday, November 08, 2013

November 8


You wrote your WRA I three source analysis assignment today on World War I.

Mr. Fitz went through the "8 Stages of Genocide" with you today. You need to memorize these stages and remember examples of each of the stages from the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide, the Cambodian Killing Fields, etc. Depending on the time, Mr. Fitz may have started showing you "Scream Bloody Murder". If not, we'll start watching this CNN documentary on Tuesday.
You were given the Chapter 7 Worksheet today. The Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, November 12th. You saw excerpts from the Oliver Stone film "Born on the Fourth of July" as well today.

Thursday, November 07, 2013

November 7

I hope you enjoyed the Remembrance Day ceremonies today...
You had some class time to work on your Cold War Events Notes. You also received the Southeast Asia package (hopefully you had time to work on this), and the Vietnam War Assignment.
A. PEOPLE
Identify and explain the role each played in the Vietnam War
1. Ho Chi Minh
2. Ngo Dinh Diem
3. Lyndon B. Johnson
4. Richard M. Nixon
5. Viet Minh
6. Viet Cong
7. Le Duc Tho
8. Henry Kissinger
9. William Westmoreland
10. "Draft Dodger"

B. CONCEPTS/TERMS
Explain the significance of the following with regards to the Vietnam War (identify participants or individuals if appropriate)
1. Ho Chi Minh Trail
2. defoliation
3. "search and destroy" mission
4. "Vietnamization of the war"
5. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
6. My Lai Massacre
7. domino theory
8. Kent State University protest (May 4, 1970)
9. Tet Offensive (January 1968)
10. Geneva Agreement (1954)

C. ISSUES
Provide the information requested
1. The predominant religion of Vietnam
2. The battle which marked the end of French colonial rule in Indo-China
3. The scandal which led to the only resignation of an American President
4. The Vice President who replaced the President after his resignation
5. Why was November 1963 a "bad month" for the governments of South Vietnam and the United States?

As we will see, public support for the Vietnam War changes over time as more and more American soldiers are killed. We see a growth in the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, and the media also played a role in the turn of popular opinion against the war. I REALLY recommend that you have a look at the this series of photographs from the Vietnam War era, pretty powerful imagery (make sure that you read the captions too). Here is a link to the NPR that explains the story behind the photograph below, definitely worth the time to read or listen to the podcast, and make sure that you look at the photo gallery of Eddie Adams' photographs of the Vietnam War.



There are certain iconic images associated with the Vietnam War. Here is another:

The above photograph is of Phan Thị Kim Phúc, O.Ont (born in 1963), she is a Vietnamese-Canadian best known as the child subject of a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972. The iconic photo taken in Trang Bang by AP photographer Nick Ut shows her at about age nine running naked on the street after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack. Contrary to popular myth, the US Air Force were not involved in the attack, and only two US troops were within 60 miles (97 km) of the scene, neither of whom had any say in the bombings. Still, it is a powerful image associated with the war.

Today was your one and only library research day for your Unit 2 Research Project. This project is due on November 25th.


You wrote your Emergence of the Americas Unit Test today. Please remember that you are writing a WRA I three source analysis assignment tomorrow. Please review how to write a WRA I before class tomorrow, you can find this information on the IB 30/35 wiki. If you missed this test today, you will have to write an alternate assignment, a Paper 2.  

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

November 6


You finished off the film "White Light/Black Rain" today. Afterwards, Mr. Fitz should have led you in a class discussion on whether the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could be considered a war crime. You're going to be in the Library tomorrow for your Unit 2 Research Project.
You watched a video that covered the construction of the Berlin Wall today. You also started to look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, with some handouts, and by watching a video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Khrushchev".
You wrote a matching quiz on the Emergence of the Americas unit, specifically World War I. Afterwards, you tied up some loose ends on the Treaty of Versailles, and its ratification in the USA. Please remember that tomorrow you will be writing the Emergence of the Americas Unit Test.

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

November 5

You finished off your WWI Battle Presentations today. After the presentations Mr. Fitz went over the fight to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in the United States.
You wrote your Nazi Germany Quiz today. You watched a couple of videos from the BBC 20th Century History series: "The Road to Berlin" and "Cold War Confrontation". You should have also started the Cold War Events booklets. The Cold War Events Notes will be due on Thursday.

You started a film study of the HBO Documentary "White Light/Black Rain". While you were watching this film, you were supposed to answer the film study questions.

Monday, November 04, 2013

November 4


We started your WWI Battle Presentations today, you'll finish them off tomorrow. Please remember what assessments you are facing this week:

  • Emergence of the Americas matching quiz is on Wednesday, November 6th
  • Emergence of the Americas Test on Thursday, November 7th
  • World War I Written Response Assignment I (WRA I), three source analysis is on Friday, November 8th
We looked at the construction of the atomic bomb today by watching a video from the "History's Turning Points" series called "The Atomic Bomb", as you watched this video you should have taken notes. We also did some brainstorming at the end of the class on the causes of the Second World War. If you missed class today, please get the notes from a classmate.
I finished off the PowerPoint lecture on "The Origins of the Cold War" today. You have access to this lecture on the Social 30-1 wiki. You'll have to write the Nazi Germany matching quiz tomorrow, I completely forgot about it. Here's the study guide for the quiz (scroll down to find it). I would like you to go to the World War II Behind Closed Doors website this week, and read the sections on the Yalta Conference  and the Potsdam Conference. This is an excellent site, with tons of information, maps, video clips, timelines and archival footage and re-enactments as well. You do need to really make sure that you understand the Yalta Agreements and the Potsdam Declaration (among other things) and this is a great site to do this. Episode 3 is the one that contains most of the information that you would need to read and watch. There's a great little video clip on this website called "Stalin's Distrust of the West" that might help you see WWII from the Soviet perspective and why the Soviets might wish to extend control over Eastern Europe and be so distrustful of their wartime allies. You can find this video clip in Episode 3 (Dividing the World), scroll down and click on the video clip on the right called "Stalin's Distrust of the West". It's a short little clip, but you'll get the idea. We'll continue our look at the Cold War this week.

Friday, November 01, 2013

November 1

We finished watching "Paris 1919" today. Please make sure that you are ready to present your assigned WWI battle on Monday. Please make sure that you know what assessments will be happening next week.

  • On Wednesday, November 6th you will be writing a matching quiz on the Emergence of the Americas unit.
  • On Thursday, November 7th you will be writing a 38 question multiple choice test on the Emergence of the Americas unit (this covers World War I too).
  • On Friday, November 8th you will write a three source analysis assignment on World War I.

We watched excerpts from "Schindler's List" today and I answered questions about the Holocaust afterwards. This weekend might be a good chance to start your Unit 2 Research Project.


I started lecturing on "The Origins of the Cold War" today. I will continue this on Monday. Also on Monday, November 4th you will be writing a matching quiz on Nazi Germany. Please see the study guide for this quiz below.


This quiz is a short matching quiz, with a word bank. What you'll have is a list of key people, key terms and key events associated with Nazi Germany (this is your word bank) and then you'll have a description that you'll have to match it up with. Here's a list of possible key terms that you might see on this quiz:
  • anti-Semitism
  • Aryan
  • concentration camp
  • corporate state
  • Dachau
  • decree
  • deportation
  • dissent
  • elite
  • Enabling Act
  • ethnic
  • Führerprinzip
  • Gestapo
  • Hitler
  • Holocaust
  • indoctrination
  • inequality
  • inflation
  • judicial
  • jugend
  • Mein Kampf
  • Kristallnacht
  • nationalism
  • Nazi
  • Niemoller
  • Nuremberg
  • passive
  • plebiscites
  • pogrom
  • Reichstag
  • Ruhr
  • SA
  • SS
  • state
  • swastika
  • War Guilt Clause
  • White Rose