Materials for First Week Unit
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Letter to parents
Letter to students
Teacher Introduction Outline (links to videos)
Chart for students to sign on the 2nd day
Current event article for the 3rd day
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Hello! My name is Miss Manion and I am your child’s US History teacher for the
semester. I am incredibly excited to start working with your child and cannot wait to see
how much they will learn and create this year! I am so excited to have been chosen to join
the team here in the General School System District, and am so fortunate to be able to work
alongside such esteemed and caring professionals. I am so happy to begin the journey of
providing your son or daughter with what they deserve: the highest standard of education
possible.
I graduated from Butler University in the spring of 2013 with a major in Secondary Social
Studies Education and a license to teach Social Studies in the state of Indiana. The rigorous
course load that Butler offered in history, government, sociology, and the other social
sciences have fully prepared me to be a knowledgeable asset to your son or daughters
classroom. Since fall of 2009, I have been experiencing classrooms and learning from the
best teachers as I progressed through the College of Education’s curriculum required for
every future teacher. Not only have I worked to gain the knowledge needed to teach, but I
have also been privileged enough to gain pedagogical experience in the classroom that
many first-year teachers have not already had. It is for this reason that I feel absolutely
prepared and excited to teach your son or daughter this upcoming semester!
United States History is a vast subject that is often intimidating for students as they look
ahead to the amount of information that will be on the final. I assure you that though the
amount of information to be covered is vast, your son or daughter will not be merely
memorizing facts to answer correctly on the District’s final exam. Instead, I have
constructed a course that will push each student to really think about the importance of the
subject matter and relate it to his or her life. I hope to assist in the student’s learning as
they begin to experience critical thinking and begin to challenge the process of why things
were or are the way that they are. I cannot wait to watch every single student in this
classroom grow throughout this next semester!
If at any point this semester you have any questions or concerns about your child, the class,
my teaching, a project, etc. please feel free to contact me! My cell phone number is 585777-8888 and my e-mail is Kmanion@butler.edu. Throughout the semester I will also be
available to meet with you or your child individually after school if you wish to do so.
Again, do not hesitate to contact me if something comes up, I am here to help make your
child’s educational experience worth-while, and I would love to hear input from you!
Thank you,
Miss K. Manion
Hello Game Changers!
My name is Miss Manion, and I will be teaching your US History class this semester! I am so
excited to start this semester and cannot wait until I’ve gotten to know each of you
personally! Before we continue, first thing is first, a little bit about me…
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I come from a small, Midwestern town in the middle of nowhere: Covington, IN.
I went to Butler University for my undergraduate degree in Secondary Social Studies
Education
I a younger brother, a younger sister and a cat. My cat is definitely my favorite,
except for when she decides to misbehave, and then my brother is my favorite.
Over the years music has played a huge role in my life, I play the clarinet, bari sax,
piano and I sing. I am not extraordinarily talented, so don’t expect any solos, but I
can read music and I consider playing music some of the most fun I could have.
Butler Basketball is definitely a passion of mine.
One of my favorite historical characters is Isaac Trimble (ask me about him!).
History has always been an incredible passion for me. Ever since I visited Gettysburg and
Washington D.C. my junior year of High School, I have been passionate for learning about
the stories that have gone one before me. I always believe that there is something to be
learned from every situation, past or present, and I consider myself so lucky to now have
the opportunity to learn with each of you this year!
Speaking of you all, you’re probably wondering why I referred to you all as “game changers”
at the beginning of this letter. Well this was an intentional name that I chose. The idea of
being a “game changer” is something that I’ve always heard referenced in basketball and
other sports. A “game changer” is someone who enters the game and changes the
momentum of the team for the positive. Often times, these are the individuals that are
looked at as the reason why the team was able to win. I refer to you all as game changers
because every single one of you has the potential to be a “game changer” in your own life,
the life of your family, community, and (dare I say it) even the world. I am so privileged to
be able to teach such potentially impactful group of students, I cannot wait to begin the
journey of learning and working together!
I cannot wait to have each and everyone one of you in my class this year!! If you ever have
any questions/comments/concerns, please feel free to talk to me! You can talk to me after
class, during my prep period, during lunch, just after school, or you can even email me if
that is easier for you! I can already tell that we’re going to have a great year!
I can’t wait to meet you!
Miss K. Manion
kmanion@butler.edu
Teacher Introduction
Cotton Eyed Joe -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX_Cwt6XbeA
- Introduction to my hometown
The War Song -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPr1K274uWo
- I attended Butler University and played in the band. I was given the opportunity to
travel across the country while earning my degree before I became a teacher.
Maino ft. T-Pain -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEYxOPtQqWw
- A song that inspires me on my worst days.
The Rocket Summer -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrP9SrMJ00c
- A song that reminds me that I’m not the only person in the world
Underoath -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCwNG1YqhEU
- I love this genre of music! Don’t be scared to try new things!
Cloud Cult -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCg8DsJv-t4
- This is why I am a teacher today.
Name: ______________________________________
Directions: Please have a classmate sign in each square. A person may only sign this sheet twice.
Someone who has a
dog
Someone who has
three or more
siblings
Someone who is
working
Someone who can
play a musical
instrument
Someone who likes
to write
Someone who
celebrates a holiday
that you do not
celebrate
Someone who likes
History
Someone who
doesn’t like History
Someone who has a
weird talent
Someone who can
roll their tongue
Someone who has
been to a different
country
Someone who has
never been on a
rollercoaster
Someone who plays
a sport
Someone who likes
to shop for clothes
Someone who
wants to go to
college
Someone who likes
to dance
Someone who can
do push ups
Someone who is
proud of their hair
Someone who
doesn’t like spicy
food
Someone who has
gone to a different
school than you
have
April 13, 2012
Justice for Trayvon
By CHARLES M. BLOW
America has heard the calls for justice from a Florida family.
A boy’s blood had been spilled on a rain-soaked patch of grass behind a row of mustard-colored
condominiums by a man who had pursued him against the advice of 911 dispatchers. That man carried a
9-millimeter handgun. The boy carried a bag of candy.
Yet it seems, largely on the weight of his own word, the man who killed the boy was allowed to walk out
of the police station that night without even a charge.
The boy’s body was taken to the medical examiner’s office and kept in a morgue. The man who killed
him was able to return home.
The dead boy was Trayvon Martin. The man who killed him was George Zimmerman. The bullet that
passed between them silenced a child but ignited a nation.
Americans saw the anguish of the boy’s father and the tears of his mother. America saw a child who was
its own. America saw its concept of basic fairness sinking in to the marsh of miscarried justice.
So America rose up. Thousands marched in the streets. Millions signed petitions online. Hearts poured
out for justice to rain down.
With the force of public pressure at its back, the system kicked into gear. A state attorney in the Florida
county where the shooting death occurred recused himself, and the local police chief stepped down — at
least “temporarily.” The governor appointed a special prosecutor, Angela Corey, to lead the state’s
investigation in the case, and the United States Department of Justice’s civil rights division and the F.B.I.
opened their own investigations.
On Wednesday, Corey charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder and he was taken into custody.
On Thursday, Zimmerman appeared in a Florida courtroom, and Corey released a simple but chilling
affidavit for probable cause that painted a disturbing portrait of Zimmerman as a man who “profiled,”
“followed” and “confronted” the boy.
This is a moment when America should be proud. The wheels of justice are finally turning. The State of
Florida has taken up the cause of the dead boy. His life is no more, but his legacy will live forever.
The state will vigorously prosecute, and Zimmerman will be vigorously defended as is his constitutional
right.
The facts should come out in court and under oath and not just over airwaves and in newspapers. Truth
will be sought and, hopefully, found. And whatever the verdict, it will be based on the presentation of
evidence and the interpretation of the law, as it should be.
That is not to say that the quest for justice in this case has been without incident.
Some have sought to demagogue the boy’s death and shroud his lifeless body in partisan politics. Some
have pressed their passion for justice beyond the bounds of what is proper. Some have sought to besmirch
the boy’s life to minimize the resonance of his death.
But, in the end, all of this was just a diversion from the central issue, a noble good, a moral right: the
quest for truth and justice for a child by the people who loved him and a nation who refused to forget him.
None but those who themselves have lost a child can ever know his parents’ pain, but we can all
sympathize with their sorrow.
America doesn’t always get it right, but she is in her greatest glory when she turns her face toward
righteousness. She is not perfect, but men and women of good will and good conscience toil endlessly to
make her better.
And, in this case, America seems to be finally getting it right because equal justice under the law is one of
her greatest ideals.
By the way, it is important to remember here that no one should take joy in any dark days that may come
Zimmerman’s way, even as we take great joy in seeking justice for the child he killed. Crusading for
justice is an act of love and honor, not of vengeance or spite or hatred. Justice is a high calling, not a low
pursuit.
And, because of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law and Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense, there is a
possibility that the case may never go to trial or, even if it does, there will be no conviction. But whatever
the outcome, satisfaction must be taken in the fact that the system recognized the value of Trayvon’s life
and the tragic circumstances of his death.
As his mother said after the charge was announced: “We simply wanted an arrest. We wanted nothing
more, nothing less. We just wanted an arrest. And we got it. And I just want to say, ‘Thank you. Thank
you, Lord. Thank You, Jesus.’ ”