The 80's and 90's Overview

The 80's and 90's

What significant events
define your time?

OVERVIEW

Where are we going?

The last two decades of this century are your time. You were born in the Eighties, became a teenager in the Nineties, and find yourself on the verge of adulthood just as America enters a new millennium. Here at the end of the Twentieth Century, you may be attempting to define your own personal identity. Similarly, across the nation we find ourselves looking to the past to define who we are as Americans. Yet it often seems easier to understand the past--especially if it is distant--than to make sense of the present.

Throughout this school year we will be studying the history of the United States, focusing specifically on the last 125 years or so. We begin, however, not at the beginning, but NOW, with the events of the past two decades fresh in our minds or as close as the daily newspaper, the TV or the Internet. Throughout this first unit of study, we will grapple with an essential question: What significant events define your time?

How will we get there?

Our study of the 80's and 90's will take us to various sources, including our textbook, The American Nation in the 20th Century, primary documents and interpretive commentaries, simulations, art, literature, journalism and film, and your own memories and experiences. You will consult parents, friends and other community members to help you explore the recent past. You will take notes and have seminars on excerpts and articles from our 80's and 90's Reader. You will also read one or more prize-winning novels of the era. Throughout the unit, you will keep an interactive notebook in which you record and reflect on your learning.

How will we know when we've arrived?

As a culminating project, you will assemble a Time Capsule for future generations that answers the unit's essential question, with an accompanying essay which explains and defends your choices. Your Time Capsule will also be presented and defended orally to your class. Finally, you will complete a written assessment of your knowledge of the 80's and 90's.