Columbus: PRO, an anti-Zinn view

Please read this article as a counter-point to the notions advanced by Professor Zinn.

Rubric for Monday and Schedule Changes

Family Cluster Project Rubric



Points based on the completeness, creativity and originality of each element.


Possible Points: Actual Points


family name 05 pts


family crest or coat of arms 15 pts


family motto, credo, maxim or quotation 15 pts


family cheer or dance 15 pts


family handshake 05 pts


family mascot or symbol 10 pts


will create a set of family goals (5) for the AP cohort 15 pts


Presentation/Originality 20 pts

Upcoming Stuff (Including Changes):

Monday, 10/1: 1st Vocab Quiz POSTPONED (instead, 2-day Family day)

Friday, 10/5: In-Class Family Presentation Prep Day

Tuesday, 10/9: Family Presentations (Double Period)

Friday, September 20th

Hey everyone...I'm rocked with flu : ( Gonna be out again. Bring access (digital or otherwise...I will warn the sub) to Scarlet Letter since I am sure that most of you would like to use this time to catch up on your reading.

Interesting Debate

Tonight will mark the first ever Univision (Spanish television) Presidential candidates forum. There has been a lot of controversy between the network and the national non-profit group that runs all Presidential debates (yep...the political jobs no one even knows about are many), primarily surrounding the group's failure to post even one Latino moderator on the panel (wow...did they really not see that coming?). Either way, unlike the other debates, this one is based on a series of questions developed by Univision viewers, so it promises to be slightly different than the others...and very possibly more interesting.

It is not mandatory, but it would be cool if you could check it out. Governor Romney tonight. The President tomorrow. To catch the English simulcast, just befriend Univsion on Fb...then you can watch it streaming live on the social media site at 10pm. Pero, si tu quedes, vee en espanol en Univision a la diez.

Welcome Parents!

Hello Parents!

My name is Joe Costal, this is my 9th year at Oakcrest, my 7th year teaching in the AP Gov/Honors 2 co-hort. I conceptualized and wrote the curriculum for this course, cumbersomely titled, "Eng Honors 2 w/ AP Gov." This important distinction provided me an opportunity to create a course that focused on current events, government issues, foreign policy and other components crucial to the AP Gov exam, while also staying true to the traditional Early American Lit curriculum.

Journal #4: Muslims, movie and mayhem

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/reaction-to-anti-islam-film-fuels-debate-on-free-speech-versus-hate-speech/

Watch the video...read the article...and comment on the central question:

Is this free speech or hate-speech? What is the difference in terms of protection and the Constitution?

"My City of Ruins"

Homework for Tuesday, September 11th

READ: Read the Purdue OWL's guide to writing narratives. I will take questions on this Wednesday.

Important (or...er...popular) Convention Moments

The Scarlet Letter Digital E-Book

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25344

Read by September 24, 2012

Journals #1 & #2: DNC speech

Tonight, the President will speak to his supporters at the DNC in Charlotte, NC. It'll be a clappy, hooty holler-fest.

Your job as AP Gov students is to watch it. If not live (he probably won't come on until around 10), then on the internet after the fact.

Journal #1 will be an assessment of what you learned after taking a perusal through the issues (link in previous post).

Journal #2 will be a reaction to the President's speech. Be prepared for discussion on both tomorrow, but as a reprieve, I will NOT be checking journals. You're welcome. : )

Welcome to the AP program...now let's get to work.

Two years ago, with the encouragement and blessing of the GEH BOE and OHS admin, I altered this course and re-wrote the curriculum. This was done for two reasons: 1. To create a greater distinct between students on the AP track and those who chose to remain in Honors. 2. To create a greater distinction between the course of study in the regular English 2 curriculum (which is designed as a survey of Early American literature and high school writing modes) and this one. Ours is a curriculum that balances the study of Early America with analysis of current events in America, especially those with a direct link to comprehensive understanding of American government.

This will be an interesting year to be in this course because we will have a Presidential election to deconstruct. Your job over this next week, while we work our way through the particulars of opening week, will be to familiarize yourself with the candidates. The sign linked below is one of thousands of ways to do this. This site claims to be "unbiased and fact based," but as we will discuss this semester, that is not always the case. Credibility of the site itself is very low, but most sources contained within are well-cited and most seem to be primary. I like the integration of multi-media here, so that's why I am using it. Provides some decent overview.

http://2012.candidate-comparison.org/?compare=Romney&vs=Obama