During the 4th quarter, 9th grade students of African American history created 30-second commercials.  Several components of the project included the following:

• Inquiry: Students defined their own questions and topics about African American history (1865-present)
• Research: Students researched "freedom and liberty" (as described in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights) and related each to their inquiry
• Collaboration: Students worked together to write a non-fictional profile of a historical event and how it relates to freedom and responsibility --- with 3 MLA citations.
• Presentation: Students used a variety of media (iMovie, garage band, blip.tv, Wikispaces) to organize and
  share their non-fiction profile essays and 30-second commercials.

Here are a few student samples:

Danny Weinman's take on Martin Luther King, Jr.

Samantha Beattie

Copper Stream

C Band

CHARACTERS:

Samantha Beattie

Copper Stream

C Band

CHARACTERS:

this is a link to my wiki space

This is a link to the mock up video in my dropbox

This project was to pick a point in history then change the outcome. What If Child Labor Laws Were Never Passed?

What if the Emancipation Proclamation was never issued?

http://prezi.com/zxthisoiqcaa/

http://amcgrortyq4benchmark2010.wikispaces.com/

http://www.spicynodes.org/a/bf861ab7a3db21e1c15ad06482118544

This is my project in American History, our assignment was to pick a time in history that we would like to change. I had choosen when Lincoln was assassinated on April 14th, 1865. I made it as though he did not die from the shoot. my creativity is i showed it by publishing a newspaper. There is two, one for the day after the incident and one for the present time now.

Resourse:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/abraham_lincoln.html

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h124.html

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/John_w_booth.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Wilkes_Booth-portrait.jpg

http://www.sodahead.com/fun/old-abe-was-he-a-prophet/blog-173233/?link=i...

For American History our quarter four benchmark could be on any topic that would have a drastic impact on American History. We had to identify a point of divergence, include 3 primary source documents, show how it would change 2010, and lastly find a way to present this information. I decided to create a Wiki, and for my 3 sources I made a newpaper article, my own set of laws, and fake statistics. Here is the link to my wiki:

http://earlyreconstruction.wikispaces.com/

My Final Project

My quarter four history project. Changing the course of the history of women's rights.

CLICK HERE!

*Make sure to click the "sound" button for the audio clip of Harvey Milk's last words.

http://prezi.com/uhtfv8w_3_0t/

http://prezi.com/t4yl1xtyczdg/

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Performance:

Narrator: In 1865 we were coming to the end of the civil war
in our country. People were dying and not a lot of money was going around
because men had been at war instead of working at home. Animals were assistants
in the work force and many were just dealt with and held no significant
importance in our lives.

Scene:

Backdrop: Puppies in a cage.

Person1: What are we gonna do with these puppies? They have
no homes.

Person2: We stick them in the cage and chuck them in the
river.

Change Backdrop: Water splash.

Person1: Should we have done that?

Person2: They’re just dogs.

Narrator: Homeless dogs were thrown in the East River
(Puppies on screen), horses were helping lazy people plow their fields and were
being whipped (Abused Horses)… and then, in 1866, the ASPCA was born.

Scene:

Backdrop: Abused horses

Person1: *appears to lash out with whip*

Person2: Stop!

Person1: It’s just a horse; I’ve been doing this for years.

Person2: And now it’s time you didn’t. Such crimes against
animals are now illegal.

Person 1: You’re joking right?

Person 2: No. I’m Henry Bergh and you’re under arrest for
mistreatment of your animal.

Narrator: And so the ASPCA lives on and thanks to Henry
Bergh and the founding of the ASPCA animals throughout America are leading
better lives. And animals’ having better lives is important to us all because
animals play an enormous role in the lives of people. Take Archie for example.
Archie is an 8-year-old black lab that just recently won the Dog of the Year
Award from the ASPCA. His owner, Clay Rankin, is a war veteran that suffered
head and spinal injuries in Iraq.

Scene:

Backdrop:

Interviewer: We’re here with Clay Rankin, a war veteran with
a phenomenal dog. *Clay waves* Clay
what can you tell us about your dog?

Clay: "This guy, he's pulled muscles because the only
thing he cares about is helping me." Like, "I've fallen in public and
people [rushed] to help [and] maybe I'm a jerk, but most of the time I say no.
I get up; it may take me a while, but with Archie, I can do it."

Interviewer: How much, would you say does Archie do for you?

Clay: "He provides unconditional acceptance and love
and there is nobody that doesn't want and need that in some point in their
life. Archie shows me that there is life after injury, I don’t have to crawl in
a hole and die.” He’s changed my life in so many ways, and there’s not much I
can do to repay him. I mean, "Archie saved my life. How do you say thank
you to somebody that never thinks of himself, and only what you need? And all
he asks in return is a little bit of love."

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Boys
Latin, 55^th And Hazel

1. Did you work the
   election last year?

No this is the first time I
have worked here.

1. How is this year
   different from 2009?

Last year, more people came only about 17 people came.

1. What is the best part
   of being a poll worker?

Well its hard work, but seeing the excitement of the
election and sharing our political views on it is what makes me happy.

1. What is the most
   difficult part of being a poll worker?

The most difficult part is getting
people out to vote and staying there all day.

Anthony SeeleyDid you work the election last year?YesHow is this year different from last year?It is a lot quieter than last year.What is the best part about being a poll worker?Working with your community.What is the most difficult part about being a poll worker?When machines do not work or if someone gives you a hard time.- SynopsisI went over to 501 Jackson Street, which is a retirement home. My dad wentintoOne of the booths to vote. During the time he was voting me and my sisterasked the questions and took a picture.I don’t see myself voting for awhile if I ever vote. The reason if notmany people will vote unless the president is up for election and eventhan only 70% of people will vote I don’t see my vote actually counting assomething much so I don’t see the point in doing it.I couldn't get any pictures though. They did not want their pictures takenand i could not get the pics from the camera onto the computer.

On Election day I was asked to go to my polling place and ask a Poll Worker a few questions. The Poll Worker I interviewed was Michael McBride.

Question 1 - Did you work the election last year?

Answer - Yes I did. I work here every year.

Question 2 - How is this year different than 2009?

Answer - There is a smaller turnout this year.

Question 3 - What is the Best part of being a Poll Worker?

Answer - I get to see neighbors I don't always get to see.

Question 4 - What is the most difficult part of being a Poll Worker?

Answer - Dealing with the weather is always the worst.

During my trip there I was not able to go inside the building where they were voting because I was underage, so I took a picture of the outside of the building. While I was there only one other person went to go vote, the polling place was almost deserted. 

On Nevember 3 2009 i watched the news coverage on the New Jersey governor election. Some issues surrounding this election were taxes, gay marriage, the economy, and the president. Many experts were concerned that the outcome of the election was based off of President Obama with his race and disapprovals. Despite people wanting the republicans to take control of our government again there was much concern that the issue was a race issue and the outcome would therefore result in the republicans favor. The Gay Marriage vote lost along with Governor Corzine but the vote was very close. In my opinion many people voted for Chris Christie because of the fact that Corzine focused a little bit more on gay marriage rights opposed to the economy which striked more speculation as to why the taxes are the highest in the country in New Jersey.

The place were my mom votes is now Elwood Elementry School. We went After she got off of work around three o'clock. During that time it was very little people there because lots of other voters did not get off of work. Interviewed the head poll worker who was a really nice and confident woman who was willing to answer all of my questions. This woman had worked the polls last year and has saw that there was significant decrease of voters from last year. For her the best part of being a poll worker is being involved politically in the community; and the most difficult is part is waiting for voter to come and vote.

 I have two images to post but I am unsure on how to insert them.

- Desirée Mack

Today i went to a voting place together with Chris Cothran and Vienna Tartaglia. We realized that almost all of the voting poll was located at every Catholic school, so it didn't take us that long until we found one. We were surprised because only two people were sitting outside and about 4 more inside sitting around doing absolutely nothing. We went into the voting place and met a nice lady who helped us tale pictures inside the polling station. We were surprised that no one was there to vote. My theory to why there wasnt that many people was because of first, SEPTA strike. Second, it was in the middle of the day during a weekday. Third, no one knew that there was even a voting going on because of lack of advertising. I don't think people care much about it this year. They kind of got tired of everything that has happened; the economy (job lost, etc), and phillies losing to the yankees.

Overall, it was pretty shocking that no one was voting at all. I asked the person in charge there and she said there haven;t been any voters that came in to vote. She was also nice about me taking pictures, usually we weren't allowed to take pitures. Last time i took pictures, i got kicked out of the voting place the hard way.

Today I visited my local voting place to ask a few questions about the turnout during this election and the turnout during last years election.

Did you work here during the last election?  Yes

Do you think there are as many people voting in this election as there were last year? No, this year we have had 42 people come and vote so far, and last year we had 203 voters.

What do you think the best part of of working at the polls is? Getting to meet new people, and knowing that I am helping people get their voices heard.

What do you think is the worst of working at the polls? Sometimes there are a lot of people coming in at once, and it is hard to regester all of them at once, other than that everything is good.

Today when I went out to the polling facility, I quickly noticed that the election scenario this year was hardly like that of last year at all. There were no lines, and not a huge amount of people streaming in and out of the facility. The only similarity between this and last year's election that I saw was that the same people were overseeing/facilitating the voting process, such as Ms. Terry. Connor. From what I understand, today's election scene is much less active than last year's because citizens are voting for individuals for positions that aren't as high as president and vice president. For example, here in Pennsylvania, the election was for Supreme Court judges/justices, the retention of already serving Supreme Court officials, and also for election judges, which Terry was one of the candidates for. So, I would say that because less authoritative figures are being elected today, everyone isn't't as interested in the election, making the voter turnout  lower and causing the facilities to receive less activity. In New Jersey, however, the new governor is being elected, so I would assume the activity is of a higher level over there. For Pennsylvania, it's simply a drop in the frequency of business regarding this year's election due to decreased priority in people's eyes. 

The biggest difference from this years and last is the "importance" of the election. Since its just a race for a judge, instead of a president no one seems to care. Even though the judges hold more power to affect peoples lifes in their state then the president. When asking poll people they said that many people came and the answer was athe same OBAMA. "Even college kids came to vote, they even came all the way out here to vote."said a pole person.Obama starte a movement that many could never fathom. He inspired young and old. I just dont understand why many are so ignorance as to do something many of ancestors had to fight for. THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE.

I went to the Kendrick recreation center and talked to a senior lady working at the poll.  It seemed as those most of the people I saw there were fairly old, actually.  I asked her if she had been there last year for the Presidential election, and she said yes.  When I asked her is it was much difference from this year she nodded vigorously.  Last year there was a line of voters the entire day.  At the time I was there the room was pretty much empty.  
    The turnout was much less than last year, and apparently the place I went to had been doing better compared to other polling places.  Last year voters of all ages came.  She said there were a lot of enthusiastic young voters then, but not so many now.  Thats one of the reasons she enjoys working there.  She likes to meet new people and see them interested in voting.  When I asked her why she thought it was so slow, she said people don't see as much significance in this type of election because its mostly just judges.  Working there mostly just involves paper work/checking and double checking all sorts of lists.  Other than that, she said "the job is easy."

My pole worker participated as a pole worker last election. She
said that this year election outcome would be different because of the number
of people voting.

My pole worker said that the best part of being a poll
worker is that you get to be with fellow workers and interact with them.

My pole worker said the most difficult part is waiting for
the voters to come.

The visit to the poles was boring. There was hardly anyone
there. I think the response from the poll worker was predictable. Overall I can
see why not many participated. I believe less people came because of septa
going on strike.

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The polling place I attended was in the church around the
corner from my house. I did not attend a voting place last year for the
presidential election, but judging from videos and pictures posted by the media
of the packed rooms, and lines going out the door for the presidential election,
I already knew my experience was going to be drastically different. Not many
people showed up while I was there, but that may have something to do with the
fact that I did not choose a very busy time to go. However, despite the little
amount of people that showed up I was reluctant to get someone to answer some
of my questions. Finally, I noticed one of my neighbors on the committee, and
she agreed to be interviewed. She worked this years poll and last year, and she
basically said the things that I mentioned already - Far fewer people than last
year, and she said she wouldn’t even be surprised if most people didn’t know
who the candidates were. This lady has been my neighbor for years and she has
always been eager to help out in the community. So it wasn’t surprising when
she said that the most frustrating part of being a poll worker is the fact that
so little people care about these little elections, especially when these are
the people that are really going to make a difference in your community.

1. Did you work the election last year? Yes, for over 20 years
2. How is this year different from last year? Oh, gosh, the whole world stopped, it was a lot of optimism because of Obama being the first Black president. So it was so many people here to vote.
3. What is the best part of being a poll worker? You feel that your doing a community service
4. What is the most difficult part of being a poll worker? Because the responsibility is different because I am a judge, I have to make sure the polls are set up right and everything is in order, I have a much more special responsibility than everyone else. 

My overall experience was good because I got to catch with the people from my block that I haven't talked to for a long time, so that was good. And it wasn't that busy it was calm and relaxing and it was a very good experience.

No movement.