Showing posts with label Dear America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dear America. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

July 20


I covered the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) today. I showed you a short documentary video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Khrushchev". While you were watching this video, you should have been taking notes. We then talked a little bit about the lead into the Vietnam War (pages 193-194 in your Social 30-1 study booklets). I then showed you a movie called "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam". I did the homework check on the Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions today as well. We started "Good Night, and Good Luck" today, but we didn't finish it. We'll finish this film study off tomorrow.


  • Vietnam War Assignment is due on Thursday, July 21st
  • Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday, July 22nd
  • Unit 2 Final Exam is on Friday, July 22nd (please see the study guide below)
  • Unit 2 WRA II Essay is on Monday, July 25th
  • Chapter 10 Test is on  (please see the study guide below)


The Unit 2 Final Exam is on Friday, July 22nd. It will be a 70-75 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



This test is multiple choice format, with 55 questions. Please review the PowerPoint "Political Challenges to Liberalism". You're responsible for all key terms and questions from the Chapter 10 Worksheet. Please review the following as well: 
  • Democratic Systems (handout notes)
  • Non-Democratic Systems (handout notes)
  • Structure of Canadian Government
  • Structure of American Government
  • similarities/differences between the parliamentary system and presidential system
  • types of dictatorships
  • techniques of dictatorships
  • authoritarian systems
  • proportional representation concept
  • first past the post system
  • review political and economic spectrum (again!)

Thursday, March 03, 2016

March 3


You watched "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam" today. Please complete an OPVL chart of the letters featured in the documentary.


You went through the "Great Depression in the USA" handout (pages 63-64), and "Democratic Socialism and the Mixed Economy" (pages 65-67). You were also supposed to complete the activities "The Welfare State: Case Study of Sweden" section of the workbook.


This test is multiple choice format. This test is on Friday, March 13th. This test covers material from Chapter 3 and part of Chapter 4. 

1. Please review material from these PowerPoint presentations: 
  • "The Development of Classical Liberalism"
  • "Responding to Classical Liberalism"
2. Be familiar with key concepts introduced in Chapters 3 and 4. 
3. The Industrial Revolution: 
  • understand fundamental economic, social and political changes that were caused by the Industrial Revolution
  • understand the connection between the Agricultural Revolution and the Enclosure Acts and the Industrial Revolution
  • understand the differences, advantages and disadvantages of the cottage system and the factory system
4. Review material in the "Philosophies of Industrialism" booklet 
5. Key beliefs of the various ideologies (review the spectrums briefly); also review this material from the "Responding to Classical Liberalism" PowerPoint presentation: 
  • Adam Smith
  • laissez faire economics/capitalism (key ideas)
  • John Stuart Mill
  • Karl Marx (key ideas and beliefs associated with Marx, Das Kapital, The Communist Manifesto, withering away of the state, dictatorship of the proletariat, view of history, etc. ) and Friedrich Engels (see "Philosophies of Industrialism" booklet)
  • Edmund Burke and classical conservatism
6. Some questions may require you to make connections between this year's material and what you learned in 10-1 and 20-1 as well 


You wrote your Unit 1 WRA I today in the Blenheim Room, which took most of the class time.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

November 12


You should have handed in your Covenant of the League of Nations worksheet homework at the beginning of class today. You should have finished up the "Treaties and Mandates" PowerPoint lecture today. Don't forget to bring in items for the Operation Christmas Child shoebox!!

You have a homework assignment that is due on Monday, November 16th--complete the Student Study Sections in your Prescribed Subject 1 duotangs on the following pages:
  • page 58
  • page 60
  • page 62
  • page 64
  • page 67



You should have handed in your Vietnam War Assignment today at the beginning of class. You should have watched "Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam" today. This would have taken up most of the period. Please see the Chapter 7 Test Study Guide below. You have a lot of review and studying to do, that's why I'm posting this study guide so far in advance (this test is on November 17th).

It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. 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



You should have handed in your Chapter 11 Key Terms today at the beginning of class. You should have finished off the "Expansion of Economic Globalization" PowerPoint lecture today. You should have been given the World Trade Organization booklets today. You must create a DETAILED chart listing off the advantages and disadvantages of the WTO system. You can't simply put "The WTO is killing people", you need to EXPLAIN your bullet points! This WTO chart is due on Monday, November 16th.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

April 22


Most of today's class was spent watching the documentary film "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam". You will be writing your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam on April 28th. Please see the study guide below.

It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. 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

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

March 4


We watched a documentary film today called "Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam", which took the entire period. The film study sheet for this documentary is due tomorrow. Tomorrow, we'll be moving on to another topic in the Cold War, namely mutually assured destruction (MAD).

I continued with the "American Revolution" PowerPoint lecture today, and then we watched a little bit more of "America: The Story of Us". You have homework tonight out of your History of the Americas textbook, please do the following:
  • Please read pages 22-26 in the History of the Americas textbook and pages 30-34
  • Complete the historiography activity on pages 22-23 (Thomas Paine's Common Sense) and the activity on page 32 on the Declaration of Independence
  • this assignment is due tomorrow!


I gave you back your "Bend it Like Beckham" film studies and your Chapter 4 Key Terms and Questions. I also showed you your result on the Chapter 1-2 Test as well. You have your Chapter 3-4 Test tomorrow (please see the study guide here) and you are writing a Unit 1 WRA I on Thursday. Your Unit 1 Final Exam is on Tuesday, March 11th, please see the study guide below.



Unit 1 Final Exam will be Tuesday, March 11th. The format for the exam is entirely multiple choice.For this multiple choice test, 60-65% of the questions will be "source-based" questions, while the remainder will be simply knowledge and comprehension style questions. In other words, the source-based questions will use political cartoons, timelines, a chart or diagram, a graph, a reading, a photo or a map, and you will have answer questions related to that source. The source-based questions will be difficult to prepare for. You must have a firm grasp of the concepts and key terms that were introduced in Unit 1, because that will allow you to apply the knowledge that you have to answer the multiple choice questions.

Please study your key terms from Chapters 1-5, and the topics covered in that unit.

1. Key Terms/Key Concepts in Unit 1:
  • globalization
  • pluralistic society
  • transnationals
  • society
  • “the global village”
  • United Nations
  • G-8
  • La Francophonie
  • NATO
  • individual identity
  • collective identity
  • traditions
  • minority group
  • official bilingualism
  • universalization of pop culture
  • hybridization
  • media transnationals
  • media consolidation
  • CBC/SRC
  • Official Languages Act
  • CRTC
  • Canadian Content (CanCon)
  • homogenization
  • monoculture
  • assimilation
  • marginalization
  • accommodation
  • secularism
  • integration
  • cosmopolitan
  • acculturation
  • cultural revitalization
  • Charter of Rights and Freedoms
2. Know your case studies extremely well!
3. Be able to apply key concepts! (see comments above)
4. Please review the "Challenges and Opportunities of Globalization" PowerPoint (it's on the wiki under Unit 1 Presentations).

Monday, April 22, 2013

April 22


We picked up where Mr. Johnson left off last week. I covered the Ford and Carter administrations very quickly. I will post this presentation on the wiki. Make sure that you check out the sections in your Modern America, your IB History Companion textbook, and The United States and Its People textbook for more information on these two administrations. I also started the Reagan administration as well today.

Most of today's class was spent watching the documentary film "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam". One week from today you will be writing your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam. Please see the study guide below. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Thursday, May 2nd. I will post the study guide for this exam later this week.


It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. 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

We started our film study of "Shake Hands with the Devil". We should be able to finish off this video tomorrow. The film study questions are due on Wednesday, April 24th.