Marking Period 1
The first impression of the social studies teacher wasn't exactly the best (he scared all of us on the first day of school), but after a while we got used to it. For the first marking period, we talked about the Lower East Side (LES) and immigration. Most of our first marking period also focused on introducing new things to our class - we had to write a reflection each week about what we learned and we also had a few Socratic Seminars.
Marking Period 2
For this marking period we continued to learn about immigration but we moved onto our own family backgrounds (or a friend's family background) and we had to a photo essay project about it, which was presented to the class. We also focused on developing a strong claim and finding good evidence to support it. We also learned about Jacob A. Riis and how immigrants were treated, as well as monopolies and capitalists such as John D. Rockefeller and muckrakers like Ida Tarbell, who exposed monopolies and tried to make a change (which eventually did happen).
Marking Period 3
In the third marking period we began our World War unit. We learned about World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and began to learn about World War II. We also began to work on our research paper, which was due at the end of the year and had to be 8-10 pages long. All of us had to choose a topic, develop a claim, and begin writing from there. We also had a Speakeasy Tuesday (we all had to do something fun relating to the 1920's, such as perform a song or showcase an art piece or do a biography. Near the end of the marking period we also had a cultural festival, which was fun because we got to try all sorts of different foods.
Marking Period 4
We continued to learn about World War II and we spent a lot of time on our research papers in this marking period. We also began to watch The Great Dictator starring Charlie Chaplin, which was a satirical movie that played off the hardships happening during the time (in particular the persecution of the Jews).