Intro to American History

Unit 2: Trouble in the Colonies

Mr. Grifka

For this week, you will be required to complete all the assignments. As always, I will have office hours
during 1st hour and will be available if you choose to learn face-to-face. I will not have guaranteed
access to a computer lab, but you are welcome to bring your laptops or any questions you have. I will
be live streaming from my room during this time for those not in attendance. Your physical attendance
is not required. Your tasks for the week are as follows:

State standards: 5-U3.1.3 and 5-U3.1.4

Target goal for the week: I can explain the reasons why the colonists objected to British rule and
wanted their own country.

Monday: Read pp. 98-103 in the text and answer the question, Which colony would you have chosen
to live in during this tumultuous time? Please give at least five reasons and write this in paragraph
form. This is due Wednesday but I will give feedback to any entries submitted before 8am Tuesday
morning.

Tuesday: Read the documents linked to the Edmodo page (sheg.stanford.edu) that deal with the Stamp
Act. If your last name starts with A-G, summarize document A, letters H-O analyze document B, and
letters P-Z summarize document C. This post is entitled: Summarize your document to the best of your
ability and tell me if the author is loyal to Britain or loyal to the Patriots. I will be available from 7:518:52 via e-mail or in person if you are having great difficulty with this. This is our first exposure to
original documents so I will value effort over perfect accuracy on this assignment.

Wednesday: Look back in your textbook and choose one of the acts (Stamp Act, Navigation Act,
Intolerable Acts, etc.) and do additional research and write a letter using the following format:
Introduction: Explain what act you chose and what it entailed.
Body: Assume the role of a colonist and write a letter to the British king explaining why this act was
unfair and how it affects you. Please use spell check and grammar check to ensure that this makes
sense. If you are unsure, please submit this to me by e-mail by Wednesday at 9 pm and I will give you
suggestions. This letter is due to jgrifka@wcskids.net by 9pm Friday night. As always, I am available in
class from 7:51-8:52 and via e-mail after school.

Thursday: Continue work on your letters to the British. Please post comments on the class Edmodo
page on new and different taxes the British could have implemented to anger the colonists further.
Please have fun and be creative with this.

Friday: Submit your letters via e-mail or by posting it to the class wikispaces page (that is where I will
post it anyway). The letter is your assessment for the unit.

Spoiler alert: The American Revolution is in its early stages. Please start thinking about an important
Revolutionary figure to do your project on. I am limiting each historical figure to two reports (Meaning
only two people can choose George Washington, so keep your options open). Submit your top three
choices to me by Sunday at noon and we will have a lottery if needed.

Some important notes:

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All essays will be graded on the three-point rubric I posted on the class Edmodo page.
Your discussion board posts will count as homework grades and will account for 25% of your
grade. They will be scored from 1-5 based on how much effort and depth of thought I see.
Although I have set deadlines, I will accept two late assignments per quarter as long as they are
turned in before the end of the card marking. Everybody has issues that come up and I
understand that.