HISTORY TEST PREPARATION

Nathan Page & Warren Hall

History 2710

Service Learning Report
History Test Preparation

This semester we decided that it would be beneficial to return to Mrs. Wasden’s 7^th grade history class, and help them study for another test. Very early in the semester we went to Cedar City Middle School and discussed the idea with Mrs. Wasden. She said that she would be very grateful and appreciative to have the help. Mrs. Wasden told us that the students really enjoyed the last time we helped, and would be thrilled to have us for a second time.

To get this project started we needed to know the test dates, so that we could help the students prepare for the test. It was difficult to find a date that would work for everyone. Nathan was busy with golf, Mrs. Wasden was going to be receiving a student-teacher, and Warren wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Finally, it was decided that we would go in on February 28^th.

We met with Mrs. Wasden and discussed what we would be covering. She gave us the book the students would be using and told us to find questions in the chapter they would be finishing. The chapter was called, Jefferson’s Presidency. We took the book and took turns reading the chapter. Then we got together, on a Saturday, and prepared the questions. We chose twenty-five questions. The chapter was broken down into five sections, so we took five questions from each section. Many of the questions also had bonus questions. The bonus questions usually were more difficult, and were based on more specific details.

After we found the questions, we put them into a point system. That way, easier questions would be worth ten points, and as the questions got harder they would be worth more. The hardest questions were worth fifty points. Finding the questions is probably the most difficult part of our entire project. It is time consuming to read the chapter, find possible questions, double check the answers, and debate their point value. Here are the questions that we finally decided to use:

Section 1

What year did Thomas Jefferson become president? 1801.

What was the #1 profession when Jefferson was elected? Farmer.

Bonus: What Percntage of people were farmers? 90%.

Name one way Jefferson tried to reduce the role of government in the lives of the people? Reduced size of government departments or cut federal budget.

Who was John Marshall? Supreme Court Chief Justice.

What was Judicial Review? Power of the Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of laws.

Section 2

What was the Louisiana Purchase? Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803.

How much did the Louisiana Purchase cost? $15 Million

Bonus: Who did we buy it from? Napoleon

Who is Sacajawea? Native American Woman who led Lois and Clark on their journey.

What is a Continental Divide? A mountain ridge that separates the river systems, and which ocean they run to.

Bonus: What mountain range makes up the continental divide in the United States? The Rocky Mountains

What year did Lois and Clark embark on their expedition? May 1804

Section 3

What is a Smuggler? Someone who illegally sneaks goods in or out of a country

What is impressment? The British Navy forced American Sailors to serve their navy.

What is an embargo? Ban on trade with other countries.

Bonus: What year was The Embargo Act passed? 1807

What are Barbary States? States in North Africa that had pirate ships that would attack European and American ships.

What did Stephen Decatur do in Tripoli? Burned the Philadelphia ship that was stolen by the pirates.

Section 4

What does being neutral mean? Not to get involved in a war between countries.

Bonus: What two countries did the USA promise to stay neutral? Britain and France

Who was supplying the Native Americans with guns and ammunition? The British

What is Nationalism? To have pride or devotion to ones country

Who were the two Shawnee leaders that grew angry with American settlers? Tecumsah and his brother “The Prophet”

What year did Ohio join the Union? 1803

Section 5

Name two of the five reasons for the war of 1812…

To seize Canada, To take Florida from Spain, To end British aid to Native Americans in the west, To demonstrate the strength of the USA, to stop British seizure of American ships

In 1814 what battle did Andrew Jackson win? Battle of Horseshoe bend

What year was the White House burned? 1814

Bonus: Who burned it? The British

Who wrote the Star Spangled Banner? Francis Scott Key

What was the Treaty of Ghent? The treaty that ended the war of 1812

We went to Cedar Middle School on February 28^th before 8:00 am. We got everything set up and ready for the students. They came in and were really excited to see us again. Mrs. Wasden had a plan that, only the students that were all caught up could play the game. That way it made everyone want to play the game. The students that were not caught up hurried and finished their work. Mrs. Wasden also had us ask the students how they wanted to divide the teams. Every class wanted to go girls against boys. Each gender won about the same amount of times.

We were really surprised at how well the students did. Even Mrs. Wasden was really impressed. After, she praised the students for their great knowledge. It was great to see them excited about knowing the answers. They had a lot of fun. We even took them candy to reward them for knowing the answers. Mrs. Wasden had already approved us to bring candy for them. We stayed there the entire school day. The day went by really fast, and was a lot of fun.

We feel that our service was very beneficial to everyone involved. We learned about history, and we showed the students that history can be fun and interesting. They were provided with a service that would help them to like history. It also helped them prepare for their test. This will help them feel confident about history, and they will be open to learning in the future.

It was great to be able to see this learning process happening. We feel that watching the students have fun was the most rewarding part for us. It was a great feeling to know that we were able to help them. It was also great to be remembered. All of the students brightened up when they walked into the classroom and saw us. They remembered that we had been there before. All of the students were excited to play the game again. That showed us that they really enjoyed our first game, and would be really willing to participate in our second game.

It was also nice to see Mrs. Wasden able to sit back and just watch. It is obvious that she works really hard with her students. Mrs. Wasden tries to push them to do their best. They also respect her very much. She deserves a nice break every once and awhile. After spending two days in her classroom, I can say that middle school students are not really easy to teach, but they can be a lot of fun.

In total we spent about fourteen hours on this project. We spent almost three hours with Mrs. Wasden or planning our project. Then we had to each read the chapter. That took us a couple of hours to each go through the chapter. After we read, we got together to prepare the questions. We did that on a Saturday morning, and stayed until the afternoon getting everything ready. Then we got to the school before 8:00 and we were there until almost 3:00.

We learned more about how to help younger students. Warren is planning on going into education, so the experience for him was very helpful. We both learned about how to control a classroom, and how to make learning more interesting.

Our service learning project was worth the time we spent. It was fun for everyone involved, and provided us with a great opportunity to help these younger students. We believe that these types of projects are worth the effort. They help everyone involved, and let us be apart of the community.