US History
Mr. Chrisman | Room E-8
Embedded Files
Welcome to U.S. History 2026-2027
Thanks for checking out the website. I've been maintaining a classroom website for ten years. I update it every day and it's available to anyone with internet access. It's extremely important that you bookmark this website on your bookmarks bar.
If you want to buy classroom supplies, you will need mechanical pencils and a spiral college-ruled (not wide-ruled) notebook that is used exclusively for this class. Any work done in a wide-ruled notebook or a notebook that is shared with other classes will not be given credit. These are available for about 35 cents at Target and I have a bunch in my classroom if you want to buy one for 35 cents. If you take care of this notebook, it will last all year.
Please click on the dates to see the day's slides show. All homework is highlighted on the first slide.
Also: Please do not email me about missing assignments or tell me about missing assignments. You have to come in at lunch to address these. I do not respond to these emails. If coming in at lunch is too much trouble, I would encourage you to submit your work on time. It's on the website, it's on the board, it's in your planner.
Week 11
October 22, 2026
There isn't a slides show today because we had our Inclusion and Belonging Training with Ms. Dugan. Your only job is to be respectful. There may be a vocab quiz tomorrow so be ready for that. You don't have to write down any homework today.
Today we talked about the Battle of Saratoga which is generally regarded as the turning point of the war because it was the battle that convinced the French to support the colonies in their war for independence. There were two videos we watched and we did a peardeck. We also reviewed some new vocab for chapter 4. Could be a vocab quiz this week on these terms (there are only 16 of them). Study on Formative.
Today we finished our Revolutionary War Timelines and got those stamped. Then we took a quiz on the timelines to make sure we had good, readable information. We also watched a bit of Hamilton ("Alexander Hamilton" and "Right Hand Man"). Tonight's homework is to get the best score you can on the Ch. 4 Entry Test Formative if you don't get 100 percent in class. New Vocabulary terms for chapter 4 are also on Formative.
Today we looked at our grievances and fixed the ones that didn't make it onto the final slides show. Then we worked on our timelines and watched a short video on the Invasion of New York. from 1776. Please finish timeline by tomorrow.
Week 10
Today we made some AI images of different Grievances from the Declaration of Independence. We also started working on our Revolutionary War timeline.
Today we reviewed the Declaration of Independence and took a quick review Formative. We also watched a Brainpop and started a Revolutionary War Timeline. We will finish this timeline next week.
October 14, 2026 (no slides show)
UPDATE: I got a very positive report from Ms. Bell, the class was clean and when I checked in on Classwize it looked like everyone was locked in. So If you didn't get your work done today try to get at least 75 percent done by Friday at 3:00 p.m. and I'll add the grades before I leave here for the weekend. If you get above 75 I'll give some bonus points. The assignment should be open until then. I won't give any other homework tomorrow.
I'm on campus today but won't be in the classroom. This is a great opportunity for Smartbook 2.0 on Chapter 3. This assignment will be available for exactly 42 minutes on McGraw-Hill. It is designed to take 35 minutes, so realistically you should be able to finish. I cannot accept this late as it is classwork and not homework. I reccomend reading the question and the click "Read About It" to find the answer. I will be on classwize so no looking up answers.
If you finish, here are some things you can do.
Practice Vocabulary on Formative (ch. 3 vocabulary)
Blooket (chapter 3 vocabulary)
Read about the Declaration of Independence (Everything you need no know about U.S. History)
Annotated Declaration of Independence (Annotated copy of the D.o.I.)
Be good and don't get your name written down (or two detentions). See you on Thursday.
Today we took a quiz on the Animated Battlefield video and read some of the textbook about the early days of the Revolutionary War and maybe saw some Hamilton (?)
Today we heard the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, a poem written Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1860. We also did a Peardeck on the early days of the Revolutionary War and talked about the Battle of Bunker Hill. There will me a short quiz on the first 5 minutes and 18 seconds of the Animated Battlefield Video that we watched Friday and today. The questions are on the last three slides.
Week 9
Today we took a vocab quiz and read about the "Shot Heard Round the World". We watched an Animated Battlefields video and also talked about King George III. We finished by watching one or two songs from Hamilton and tried to figure out what the authors of that play were trying to compare King George III to.
Today we did some peardecking and took a quiz using our timeline notes and the information from the video of the Boston Massacre. Tonight's only homework is to study the vocabulary on Formative using this link. Assume there will be a quiz tomorrow.
Today we did a mini-group project for the first time by making an inventory of the information from last night's homework. Hopefully this clarified the adversarial dynamic between the British Goverment and the Colonists. We also watched a short video on the Boston Massacre and answered some questions. Any other time was spent annotating chapter 3.3. Homework is to have those seven questions answered in your notebook. We will have a quiz on that and the timeline tomorrow.
Today we finished up our timelines and got them stamped. We also tried to use the Flashcards on Formative (not sure how this works, but hopefully it went well) and we also reviewed Chapter 3.2. Homework is easy: in Chapter 3 Lesson 3 try to highlight the actions of the British Government in pink and the Reactions of the Colonists in Green. This should take between 10 and 15 minutes. When you are done, turn in your annotations pdf. Here is a screencast.
Today we reviewed the French and Indian War, did a Kahoot/Video challenge using John Green's Crash Course U.S. History and started our Taxation timeline. I will stamp these tomorrow. Here's the full Crash Course U.S. History video.
Week 8
Today we talked about the French and Indian war (1754-1763) and its causes and effects. Simply put, it was a global war between France and England and England one. But, England was broke afterwards and had to squeeze the colonies for money and this led to another war that.... didn't go so well for England. Have a great weekend.
Today we took our Chapter 1 and 2 test. Scores should be out by the end of the day. Homework is to check out this pdf on the French and Indian War to get ready for tomorrow's lesson.
Today the site was down for most of the day. I do this so people don't just write all their homework down at the last minute (we should write in our planner every day, not just the day of the planner quiz). The site should be restored by 2:00 p.m. today. If not let me know. Test is tomorrow. See study guide.
Today we reviewed using Jeopardy, Brainpop and maybe (not sure if this is going to work) something called Flashcard factory. Tomorrow we will have a stamp and planner quiz and I will stamp your cheat sheets. You can get more than two stamps on this if it's amazing. So if you have a great cheat sheet you can get points for the stamps, do well on Thursday's test, and also give yourself a chance to do a retake if things go sideways for you. Please make sure your cheatsheets have lots of information on them.
Here are the answers and questions from today's Jeopardy
Today was mostly a review day. We finished the Pear Practice, did a quizlet and also did a practice test on McGraw Hill. This test will be eerily similar to the real test. So make sure that cheat sheet is filled out. I've seen some amazing cheat sheets and some that just say cheat sheet written at the top. You should go through the study guide and write down anything you think needs to be on the cheat sheet.
Week 7
Today we took a review quiz on Triangular Trade. Then we tried to play a game (not sure if it worked, fingers crossed). We also talked a little bit about the Great Awakening and saw a quick video.
Today we talked about Triangular Trade and watched a short video and took a few notes. We also had an open note quiz on the last three assignments (Early Colonies, Resources of the 13 colonies and King Philip's War). Please come it at lunch to take those if you were absent.
Today we reviewed the Southern Colonies, stamped our 13 Colonies Resource Map and looked at our study guide. You should start making a one-page cheat sheet, but PLEASE keep it in your notebook for now. You will tear it out before the test next week, but I don't want these things getting lost or ruined as we study. I will stamp these probably next Wednesday but now is a great time to start working on them.
Today was a fairly busy day. We started by getting a stamp for our King Philip's War notes. Then we watched a Brainpop on the Regions of the 13 Colonies. Then we finished the Brainpop Quiz (which is homework if you don't finish it, but you can take it several times if you want). Then we finished up our 13 Colonies Resource Map (we started this last week). We had to use the Key from the maps in our textbook to point out all the resources from each one of these sections. I will stamp this tomorrow so there may be some time in class to finish it up. If you finished that there was a Blooket Challenge for Chapter 1 and 2 that I just put up.
Today we reviewed the Smartbook homework, talked about the how New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut were started and learned about King Philips' War. The notes for King Philip's war are due tomorrow.
Week 6
Today we finished up all the presentations and reviewed with a Kahoot. If you want to practice this weekend, the Kahoot is here and you can review today's questions. There is some information on King Philip's War on the slides show but we'll start that next week. Have a great weekend. :D
Today we reviewed the three early colonies, retook our map quiz and also reviewed what happened to New England.
13 Colonies Seterra Map | 7 Rivers Seterra Map
Today we took our Rivers and Colonies quiz. I realize that many of these sites are blocked by the district, so I gave everyone some time to study in class before the quiz and if people want to retake it tomorrow at the beginning of class they can do that. The reality is that the information on yesterday's slides show is enough to study, but the websites make it easier. Trust me: I've send many, many requests to the district about blocking these sites because I'm trying to make it easy for people to study, but you can study and learn without an online map game so let's not get overly frustrated about a situation that can be fixed. Some students said they were able to study on their phones or by using a non-ousd google account, but it might just be easierst to look at the maps on yesterday's slides show.
Today we finished our notes on the Early English Colonies and talked about the Pilgrims and how they ended up at Plymouth instead of New York or Boston. Homework is to study maps of the seven major rivers in North America and to study the original 13 colonies. There are a lot of links on today's slides show on the 21st slide (some may work, others may not but either way you should be able to study at home, in class today, and for a little bit in class tomorrow).
Today we reviewed the three Rs and started talking about the first English Colonies in the New World and saw a quick video on Roanoke. Homework is to finish the notes on the Early English Colonies. We may add a bit more to it tomorrow before I stamp but for now everything up to Jamestown is enough.
Week 5
Today we reviewed Representative Government and saw a short synopsis of Lord of the Flies (this relates to Thomas Hobbes' theory that humans will resort to violence if there is not a strong government to control them). We also did a Jeopardy Review. Below is the game we played today. Please practice a bit if you were having trouble in class on Friday.
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Today we worked on our Enlightenment Thinkers notes. Once you get a stamp, I will give you a password to the quiz. After the quiz you can study the Major U.S. Rivers on Seterra and rewiew some new and old vocabulary on this Blooket challenge. Please put your name on the leaderboard once you get 100 percent on the map quiz. The open note quiz is due tomorrow and I will remove the password at 3:00pm.
Today we reviewed last night's homework and also started talking about some of the Enlightenment Thinkers and completed a few notes on that topic. Make sure your notes are up to date for tomorrow.
You have the option of finishing the Enlightenment Thinkers notes tonight or completing parts of it tonight on your own. There will be time in class to copy this down tomorrow but we'll get started at the beginning of class and I will still stamp it at the end of class tomorrow.
Today we reviewed capitalism and the Protestant Reformation. We tried to do a Peardeck and a Quizlet Blast as well. Homework is to do the Inquiry Journal assignment "Competing For Colonies". Check the due dates (they are different for each class to give everyone the same amount of time). Please get this turned in using McGraw-Hill before the due date. We will start in class. If you have any technical problems, do not give up on the assignment. You can email me before the due date or you can just do it on paper using the workbook you got a few weeks ago.
If you can't access ch. 1 lesson 4 I made a pdf here.
Be sure to press Submit to turn it in
Week 4
Today I stamped yesterday chart on Mercantilism vs. Capitalism and we started talking about the Protestant Reformation focusing on Martin Luther and his 95 Thesis and the major differences between Catholocism and Protestantism. Please finish those notes if you didn't get them done in class. I am in the process of inputing the grades for last night's assignment. I added a lot of scores but I will make another pass at the end of the day once all the deadlines have passed. So if you got your work done today during advisory and are in 6th or 7th period, you can theoretically get a better score once I get a chance to update.
Today we reviewed Mercantilism and Capitalism and completed a chart in class. We also did our first Smartbook 2.0 which is due tomorrow. You should be able to finish in class but if not it's homework. Check to due date and the due times because I have adjusted the due dates so they are due before class starts. This will give everyone an opportunity to work during advisory if they need to.
Today we reviewed our Chapter 1 vocabulary and talked about the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) and what is meant for Spain and Portugal. We also talked about Mercantilism and Capitalism and which one is better and which one is used today. Homework is to study Chapter 1 Vocabulary. Actually log into quizlet and study. If you don't log in and if you haven't changed your name then you will not get credit. Please ask if you have any questions. If you can't get logged in at home, please send a screenshot to david.chrisman@oside.us
Unfortunately the district has blocked Quizlet for whatever reason. Not much we can do about it at this point. Here's a pdf of the vocab words for right now. I'll try to figure something out by tomorrow so we can all study these words.
Here's a blooket you guys can try to do as well. I really don't know if this will work at home at this point but if someone could give it a try I can assign it for tomorrow.
Today we reviewed the Columbian Exchange, talked a little bit about Hernan Cortez and Francisco Pizzaro, and started annotating chapter 1 lesson 3. Homework is to underline and explain seven vocabulary terms (Capitalism, Finance, Joint Stock Company, Entrepreneurs, Mercantilism, Bullion, Colony) and write them in our own words as annotations in your McGraw-Hill digital textbook. There is a screencast on today's slides show that explains how to do this. Due tomorrow.
Today we took our first Stamp and Planner Quiz. Because of this, I took down the website for the day but it should be back at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. We also saw a video on the Columbian Exchange and took some notes in our notebooks. I will stamp these tomorrow so if you were absent use the Stamp Board to get the information and print out the handout. If you can't print the handout, I will give you one tomorrow to glue in.
Week 3
Today we got our Columbus notes stamped and watched a Brainpop on Columbus. You can work on this quiz over the weekend if you didn't get a good score on it in class. We also did some presentations. Be ready for a stamp quiz on Monday.
Today we had a quiz and watched a short video on Eratosthenes who calculated the size of the world. We also learned about Columbus and discussed why his understanding of the Earth's size was so wrong. We took a few notes as well. Tonight there is going to be a Lunar Eclipse at 9:12p.m. If you can take a picture of it and show it to me I can give bonus points. Today's lesson will explain why - even though he was wrong about the size of the Earth - Columbus' understanding of science might have saved his life. If we don't finish the notes in class we can finish them tomorrow for a stamp so the Eclipse picture is your only real homework and it's a bonus assignment.
Today we watched a short video on the Astrolabe and did our first Peardeck of the year. I also stamped yesterday's Age of Exploration notes. If you missed the open note test yesterday please come in at lunch to take it to get a grade in Aeries. Homework tonight is to study the flashcards for "Chapter 1 2026" on Quizlet. There could be a quiz tomorrow and people who actually study can retake the test if they study.
The quizlet links are right here:
Today we started some notes on the Age of Exploration and talked about the Crusades and Marco Polo's Travels which exposed Europeans to the treasures of the far east (silk, stones, spices, scents, and sugar). We also had an open note test on our first two pages of our notebooks and I also stamped our maps from yesterday.
Here are the codes for McGraw-Hill (MAKE SURE YOU USE THE RIGHT CODE)
Per. 2: C5OQnrjG
Per. 3: rpmuzedp
Per. 4: oYr6vFQV
Per 6: 72ZpGbpy
Per 7: zgtAkGdp
Today we glued two maps into our notebooks and copied some information. We also started using our McGraw Hill digital textbooks and we practiced annotating text. Finally, we did a few Bitmoji Island presentations. You should be able to organize the 7 major events from yesterday and locate 11 countries in Europe. If you were absent and want to complete the assignment, you will have to print out this map.
Week 2
Today we all tried to get onto formative and did a quick review. If you didn't finish it, you can do it here but it was mostly just a practice quize to make sure we can organize and recognize the seven major events that impacted the development of the United States. We also did some very interesting presentations and I'm enjoying listening to Olivia Rodrigo's you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love which seems to be everyone's desert island album right now.
Today we did our first page of actual notes in our notebook by looking at a timeline of major events in U.S. History between the year 1000-1800. We first tried to put these in chronological order in table groups them we reviewed the actual order of events. Be sure to have this in your notebook by tomorrow. We also started our presentations which we will be doing every day for the next few weeks. If you heard any feedback please incorporate that feedback into your projects. For this assignment, I will be putting grades in one by one rather than giving everyone a zero, that way these projects can look the best and get the highest possible scores. Be sure to get your syllabus for turned in by going to google classroom and clicking on Syllabus or going to this link
Today we talked about England/The United Kingdom/Great Britain and tried to figure out what all of those words mean. We also got a chance to finish up our Bitmoji Island Projects and we will presnt those tomorrow. Today is a great chance to ask last minute questions.
Today we did a quick review of European countries and we also learned about stamps and how they worked. We used the rest of the period to work on our Bitmoji Island Projects. These are due Thursday at 8:00 a.m. so be sure you're making progress on them and asking questions (I really don't want to start the year off by giving people zeros on their first assignment). Be sure to look at the screencasts on the second slide of the project.
Today we talked about notebooks and how those notebooks work and how it's important to be on top of assignments. I'm sure a few students did not bring a notebook today. It's hugely important to bring this by tomorrow because we will start to get some work done in those notebooks. We also looked at some Bitmoji Island to see who is making progress and who needs help and who has already completed some work. We will spend the rest of class time working on those and trying to make the perfect. They will be due Friday.
Week 1
Today we reviewed some of the campus wide rules, reviewed our rules for this class, distributed workbooks (please take these home and keep them at home). If you are in period 3 we will get these on Monday. Homework for the weekend is to get a COLLEGE RULED single subject notebook to be used for this class only (any work done in a folder that has other subjects in it will not get credit). I will be able to sell some of these starting today at lunch if you have 35 cents. Have a great weekend.
Today was the first day of class. We found our seats and reviewed some of the class rules and people got their name tags. I also showed everyone this website and the syllabus. I would like the syllabus to be returned by next Monday (September 1st). In order to return it, you have to turn in a google for form which is linked to the end of the syllabus.
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