socialstudieswithasmile.com Blog

The Weekend of 5/26

There are many war movies playing this weekend on TCM and AMC. Check them out.

Check out this play. It is tough to see unless you are watching in full screen mode.

Reds lost last night. Thankfully, so did the Cardinals so the Reds hang on to their small 1/2 game lead. On Sunday the Reds face 49 year old Jaime Moyer. I remember Moyer when he first started in the league. I think it was around 1987. I was 6 years old!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Television,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have No Comments

Friday, 5/25

I’m sure at some point your chuckled as you had the opportunity to sleep late while teachers had to go to work today! Thankfully, it was only a 3/4 day. I also enjoyed my time working and reflecting on our practices this year and beyond. I think of this day as a chance to re-energize.
We had a great discussion today on Cyberbullying and some of the risky behaviors youngsters get involved in. I also had a chance to work with the Social Studies department on ideas for next year.

Did you hear about the Reds? They’ve now won 6 in a row (I’m hoping for more!!!). Not only that, they are now in first place. The Reds lead the Cardinals by 1/2 game.

4 Year Old Saves Brother By Calling 911
Great story. Sometimes when we are faced with scary situations like this family encountered we panic. This little girl didn’t. As a result of her call to 911, the 4 year old girl’s little brother was saved from choking.

More Current Events

http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/jobs/gillibrand-backs-pay-parity-for-women-1.3734210 is an article from Newsday about Sen. Gillibrand calling for pay parity (equality) for women workers. It was pretty fitting that this article was in the paper only a handful of days after discussing this in class.
This article was shared with my Core Extension on Thursday.

Did you hear about the girl who won the golf tournament? No big deal right? Well it turns out that she won the Nassau County BOYS championship. Check out the article here.
Here is a fitting cartoon from today’s newspaper.

Finally, because I haven’t shared one in awhile, here is a picture of Casey. She’s almost a year old.

Enjoy the weekend. Don’t forget that you have a homework assignment due on Tuesday.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Casey,Current Events,School,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have No Comments

The Final Countdown

We’re getting down to the very end now.  We are now down to exactly one month of school.

Our final is scheduled for June 11.  To prepare for the Final, I’ve announced 6 review sessions.  You can find the schedule on socialstudieswithasmile.com or on 10 different posters hanging in my room.

I hope to see you as often as you feel necessary.  We also have a few review classes scheduled.  But first, we have to get through our final topic, The Civil War.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Uncategorized and have No Comments

Monday, May 21

It was bound to happen…I finally finished my book on George Washington. Yes, that book. The one that I’ve been reading since January. Ron Chernow’s biography of Washington was excellent. I thought I knew a lot about Washington until I read this book.
As I’ve mentioned in class (and Core Extension several times), my goal is to read a biography of each President of the United States in order of their presidency (with a few exceptions). Then I’ll have each book in the back of the room in our class library. I’ve already read McCulloch’s John Adams so I’m skipping Adams and moving on to Jefferson (after a short break).
This is definitely a long term goal of mine and helps me to remain passionate about history and reading. Find what makes you passionate about reading and do it.

The Reds took 2 of 3 from the Yankees this weekend. I was at Sunday’s game for my first Reds game of the year and first game ever at the New Yankee stadium. There isn’t too much to get excited about for the common fan in my opinion but the stadium is great for the fan that shows up to watch the game.
Between the two, I’d go with CitiField but I might be in the minority with that opinion.
What do you think? Do you like CitiField or Yankee Stadium better? Why?

It appears that Aroldis Chapman is going to be the Reds closer going forward. I’m not entirely upset by that but I was looking forward to seeing Chapman as a starter this year. I suppose I will forget about Chapman the starter if Mike Leake and Homer Bailey continue to pitch the way they did in their last starts.
As predicted the Reds went 4-3 last week. Since the Cardinals are struggling, it allowed them to move to within 1/2 game of first place. The Reds have the Braves and Rockies this week at home. I’d be happy with 4-3 again but crave much more. This team needs to have an extended winning streak.
By the way, you can watch tonight’s game (while studying of course) on ESPN.

I noticed that I had the wrong date on today’s post.  I realized today when I wrote the date on the board.  My bad!!!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Books,School,Television,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball,history and have Comments (5)

Budget Passes

Here are the budget results:
BUDGET:
Adopted: 2547 votes
Not Adopted: 895 votes
BOND:
Adopted: 2397 votes
Not Adopted 761 votes

Of course, all 3 candidates for the school board were elected. There were 3 candidates for 3 positions so no shocker there.
The shocker that I read this morning was that our district’s superintendent, Dr. Gordon, intends to retire after this school year ends. Things should get interesting as we try to replace the leader of our district for over ten years.

Mets vs. Reds today. It is Mike Leake vs. Johan Santana. Both teams got beat up on last night so the outcome of this game could depend on which starter has a better start. Mike Leake has been terrible lately so the edge goes to the Mets there. However, they play the games on the field and not on paper so you never know. As I said earlier in the week, I’d be happy if the Reds end this week 4-3. They have to go 3-2 against the Mets and Yankees to make that happen.

Be sure to watch the game tonight (after completing your homework of course). Have a great day! Go Reds!

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have No Comments

May 15: It Matters!

Today is the school budget vote. Remind your parents, grandparents, older brothers/sisters, neighbors, etc. to vote today.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,School,Uncategorized and have No Comments

Why I’m a Reds Fan

How it sounded on the radio:

I enjoy that even though Marty Brennamann referred to the grandslam as a grandslam homerun. That irks me a bit but I’ll get over it.

An unbelievable way to end the game…Game winning, walk off grand slam by Joey Votto. It was Votto’s 3rd homerun of the game.
Now the Reds need to keep this momentum going as they play some tough teams this week: The Braves, Mets and Yankees. I’d be thrilled with anything better than 4-3 over this week but that is easier said than done.

Good luck on your test tomorrow. Remember, there is a practice test on socialstudieswithasmile.com.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have No Comments

The Weekend of 5/12

A reminder: Don’t forget your mom this weekend. A nice card (even if it is homemade) goes a long way.

The Reds lost last night to Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals. Harper, the rookie sensation, went 0-5 and left the game after attacking a wall and ending up with a cut above his eye.
You can read more here.
The Nationals are not the Nationals of years past. They are pretty darn good. Zimmerman is my early favorite for the Gold Glove at 3rd. Their rotation is very good. I don’t expect that team to fade away at all.

Arizona High-school Baseball Team Forfeits Rather Than Face a Girl

Check this article out. Thoughts?
I played baseball against girls in Little League but I don’t recall playing against them in Middle School or High School. I never objected to it, although it was uncomfortable while I was pitching.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Current Events,The Reds,Uncategorized,baseball and have No Comments

Guinness World Record Holder for Sports Broadcasting

One of our local sportscasters was recently honored as a world record holder for his 73 years of broadcasting sports. Amazing!
To put it in perspective, I would have to teach another 64 years (I would be 95 years old) to match the amount of time in my profession.
Bob Wolff, of News12, is still hard at work. Incredible.
You can read about Wolff and his record here.

I actually hold a world record that can be found in the Guinness Book of World Records. A few years back I went to a baseball game at CitiField. During the 3rd inning they distributed potato chips for the world’s loudest potato chip crunch. The 40,000+ people in attendance all bit into a chip at the same time making quite a sound. More importantly, I got to see the Reds play (and I think they won).
You can read a little about my record here.

As a follow up on something we discussed in class, the last telegram was sent by Western Union in 2006. Check out the article here.

posted by Mr. Dowling in Uncategorized,baseball,history and have No Comments

Manifest Destiny Practice Quiz

It didn’t happen until the very end of the day, but a practice quiz for Manifest Destiny has been added to socialstudieswithasmile.com
Check it out and be sure to study!
Share this information with anyone you feel would want to know about the quiz.

posted by Mr. Dowling in School,Uncategorized and have No Comments