SIATech Inc.
Southwest Social Studies
Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 3 October 31, 2011
Arizona and New Mexico
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. John Kennedy
Upcoming Events:
Election Day
November 8th
Veteran’s Day
November 11th
Thanksgiving Holiday
November 24 & 25
NMHSCE Testing
January 9 thru 27
Southwest Social Studies Teacher Workshop
January 26 & 27 2012.
Featuring Gary Smith,
ELL Specialist for
SIATech. Planning
has begun and this is a
call for ideas for the
meeting. What projects do you want to
work on? Please let me
know, this is our
meeting and we want
it to be as productive
as possible.
Bell Work Suggestions: For November—On the 11th
of 1918 an armistice between the Allies and Germany
was signed ending the fighting in World War I. It took
effect at 11:00 AM. In 1954 the term “Armistice” was
officially changed to “Veterans” to honor American
veterans who had fought in all wars. On the 19th in 1863
Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in
Pennsylvania at the site of the famous Civil War battle.
The question often asked is why is this 2 minute speech
such an important speech in American history? On the
20th the Nuremberg Trials began in 1945 with 24 Nazi
leaders going on trial for war crimes. Explore the trial,
international justice and the rule of law, even when it
comes to war. On the 22nd of 1963 the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas and the
subsequent shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald on the 24th
by Jack Ruby. This is an excellent example to discuss the
peaceful transition of power in the U.S. and the 25th
amendment, plus Presidential succession. Additionally,
there are all the unanswered questions and the conspiracy
theories that people have put forward. Maybe you can
separate fact from fiction, explain the Kennedy mystic
and why this tragedy shocked the nation.
Did you know?
Theodore Roosevelt, the
26th President was the
youngest man to serve as
United States President.
He assumed the office
after the assassination of
William McKinley in
1901 at the age of 42
years and 322 days. In
1960 John F. Kennedy
became the youngest
person ever to be elected
as President. He was
inaugurated at the age of
43 years and 236 days on
January 20, 1961.
I found a new website for current events, actually it had been passed along by the
Department of Education here in Arizona, it is called 10x10. Basically, when you go
into the website, http://www.tenbyten.org you click on the term 10 x 10 and up pops
a grid with 100 current events pictures. These events are updated hourly, as need be.
When you put your cursor on a picture or a number on the right-hand side of the page
a topic is emphasized. If you click onto the picture or word a pop-box appears and 3
or 4 current events stories are highlighted. You can choose one of the highlighted
sentences that paraphrase the article. When you click onto the sentence the full
article comes up. The articles, from a major publications are presently in the news. So
you are getting the news immediately as it is occurring. Some of the stories that pop
Page 2
Southwest Social Studies Newsletter
“The government is us, we are the government, you and I” Theodore Roosevelt
By Candra Tsosie
State Route 264 Dedicated as Navajo Code Talkers Highway
In a ceremony that took place on the day of Veteran’s Day 2010, the President of the Navajo Nation
Joe Shirley Jr. and New Mexico Governor Bill Richard and officials of the New Mexico Department of
Transportation were on hand for the dedication of the Navajo Code Talkers highway that stretches from
Ya-Ta-Hey, New Mexico to Window Rock, Arizona.
The reason they dedicated this highway
was because many Navajo men who served in the
Marines often spent their one hundred and
forty-seven dollar exit check that they received
from the Marines Corps to buy a one way bus
ticket from Camp Pendleton, California back to
the reservation.
The effort to begin a Navajo Code Talker
Highway began in 1998 when the Navajo council
delegate Ronald Gishey presented the request to
the State Highway Commission, but the commission did not act.
Later that year Leroy Sandoval, the Navajo Nation’s Director of transportation presented the request to the commission again. This time it was approved. It was not until later that the district engineer
Larry Maynard decided on a formal dedication ceremony for the Code Talkers that government officials
got involved.
Many people who attended the ceremony, there also to celebrate the 235th birthday of the United
States Marine Corps, were Miss Navajo 2010 Winifred B. Jumbo, Miss Eastern Navajo Khrissy Endito,
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley and
New Mexico Governor Bill
Richardson.
Volume 1, Issue 3 October 31, 2011 Arizona and New Mexico
Page 3
(Continued from page 1)
up will appear in various boxes in the 10 x 10 grid, so they are actually on the grid in multiple locations. This
site is good for visual learners, plus it is a fun site for all students and it helps to create an interest in current
events. From the stories and pictures that appear you can develop a host of lessons or activities for students. I
find that the site is beneficial relating current events to historical events for students, and it helps to make them
understand the relevancy of Social Studies.
Thanksgiving Day
We all have learned that the first Thanksgiving ceremony was celebrated in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 when the Pilgrims shared “an autumn harvest feast’ with the Wampanoag Native American
tribe. Throughout early American history various Thanksgiving Day celebrations were had in all the
colonies. Although, it was not until 1863, at the height of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln
finally issued a proclamation making the last Thursday in November, Thanksgiving. President Lincoln
finally had given into the 36 year
lobbying effort of the writer Sara
Josepha Hale to make Thanksgiving
Day a national holiday. A little
trivia, Ms Hale is better known as
the person who wrote the nursery
rhyme, “Mary had a Little Lamb.”
In 1939 President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt moved the day
back one week to try to increase
retail sales during the Great
Depression. Unfortunately, for
President Roosevelt his idea was met
with tremendous opposition. People
even began calling it “Franksgiving”
in distaste for the change. As a result
to all of the criticism he received President Roosevelt reluctantly gave into the will of the people and
signed a bill, in 1941 making Thanksgiving Day the fourth Thursday of November.
Thanksgiving Day holds many traditions for American families, in addition to becoming the official start
of the Christmas holiday season. Turkey, football and warm memories are a part of this purely American
holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.
Volume 1, Issue 3 October 31, 2011 Arizona and New Mexico
Candra Tsosie the young lady who wrote
Navajo tribe. Candra was born in Tuba
She is the only girl in the family of Larry
children. Candra is the fifth child. She has
Page 4
the article on State Route 264 is a member
City, Arizona, which is a Navajo reservation.
Tsosie and Lorraine George who have eight
four older brothers and three younger ones.
Commemoratives
National American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month
National Adoption Awareness Month
COPD Awareness Month
National Epilepsy Awareness Month
Peanut Butter Lovers Month
National Diabetes Awareness Month
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
November is Transgender Awareness Month
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Each month we hear of various commemorations of one type or another. For example, October was
Breast Cancer Awareness Month and everywhere we went we saw pink ribbons and little pink reminders of the
devastation that breast cancer can cause families. We even saw NFL football players wearing pink armbands
and sneakers, for many it complemented the uniform nicely. For others it clashed. This month as you see
above there is a host of commemorations that we are being asked to remember. Have you ever wondered why
we do this and just what is involved with getting a day, a week or a month identified for a commemorative?
Usually, people want to call attention to a particular issue and even a disease, like Diabetes or Lung
Cancer in the hopes of gaining awareness to the dangers caused by it, and to raise money for research. We live
in a competitive society where organizations representing many worthy causes vie for a shrinking pool of
funding. Some people may seek to call attention to a group of people that history has overlooked. To celebrate
the richness of the culture and traditions, and to honor the contributions it’s people have made, commemorative days, weeks or a month are wonderful ways to achieve this goal.
Usually, people want to call attention to a particular issue and even a disease, like Diabetes or Lung
Cancer in the hopes of gaining awareness to the dangers caused by it, and to raise money for research. We live
in a competitive society where organizations representing many worthy causes vie for a shrinking pool of
funding. Some people may seek to call attention to a group of people that history has overlooked. To celebrate
the richness of the culture and traditions, and to honor the contributions it’s people have made,
commemorative days, weeks or a month are wonderful ways to achieve this goal.
Having a day, week or month recognized involves getting a resolution from Congress and this is a
difficult process. A resolution must be passed by at least one house of Congress, if it is a simple resolution, or
both houses if it is a concurrent resolution, and neither resolution is presented to the President for any
action: signature. The first task is getting a sponsor in Congress, and then support for the resolution has to be
gathered. Sometimes this is not as easy as that may sound.
(Continued on page 5)
Volume 1, Issue 3 October 31, 2011 Arizona and New Mexico
Page 5
Anytime one of our representatives puts their name to any type of legislation, they must weigh the
potential gain or loss to the action. To gain support usually takes about an entire year of intense educating, a
“non-political” term for lobbying. Support must come from all over the United States, so the issue has to be
broad enough to capture the attention of many people from different walks of life that are willing to support
it. Building this support involves a letter writing campaign, telephone calls; personal visits to lawmakers
and their aids and drumming up support in the media. This can be done with letters to the editor and even
speaking to friendly reporters who will publish articles. All of this is Advocating 101.
Once the resolution has passed, some organizations will request that the President issue a
proclamation commemorating the allotted time period. Here again, the process can be cumbersome because
the President has to weigh the potential gain or loss to issuing the proclamation. In the years that I was
involved in recognizing National Adoption Week and then month, Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W.
Bush and Bill Clinton issued proclamations for us.
If you are interested in this type of a project in the government module, have your students look up
information at http://www.house.gov/content/learn/legislative_process/ to learn the distinction between bills
and resolutions, and the definitions of different types of resolutions. Students might also seek to choose
whether they want to advocate for a law or to try to call attention to a particular issue by seeking to get a
resolution. This exercise will introduce them to the legislative process. It is a great way for students to put a
voice into their beliefs and to put their opinions and desires into action.
Additionally, students can go to http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php in order to take a look at
proposed legislation at the federal level. Generally, in a two-year legislative session 20,000 pieces of
legislation are introduced. If students are interested in what has been proposed in Congress, here is a good
place to get that information. I try to encourage students to become part of the process, develop educated
opinions and speak out for what they believe. Become part of the solution, a problem solver not just an
identifier of problems.
Clockwise:
Iwo Jima
Unknown
Soldier
Veteran’s
Day Parade
John
Basilone