Social Studies NOW!

Elizabeth Brito, Heather Puffenbarger

Current Event
Any congressperson can call for a vote on a bill at any time The GOP changed the rules hours before the shutdown so only the House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, can call for the shutdown to end.

Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is NOT allowed to.

Video Congressman Chris Van Hollen
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2013/10/14/2984407/ http://www.upworthy.com/congress-did-something-so-spectacularly-creepy-that-its-toounbelievable-to-make-up?c=ufb1

Update on Current Event

WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives late on Wednesday passed legislation to avoid a damaging default on government debt and to reopen federal agencies shuttered when funding ran out on October 1.

The House vote came hours after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill.
President Barack Obama earlier on Wednesday said he will promptly sign the bill into law.

Current Event
Some Irish Need Not Apply: On October 15, 2013, David Conrad published an article in the New York Times addressing racial violence in Ireland. Ms. Kavanaugh, a 22 year-old woman who was adopted by an Irish woman when she was 6 weeks old from Vietnam was assaulted by a group of teenagers, attacking her because of her asian features. According to recent statistics 17% of Irish citizens were born outside of Ireland. To further complicate the situations in Ireland, any Irish immigrant or citizen who was not born on the island cannot transfer citizenship to their children and any child born in Ireland is not entitled citizenship unless at least one of their parents/grandparents was an Irish citizen born in Ireland.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/opinion/some-irish-need-not-apply.html?hp

Today in History
1823- James Monroe wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson asking for advice on Foreign Policy. 1916 - Dutch women demonstrate for female suffrage 1933 - Albert Einstein arrives in US, a refugee from Nazi Germany 1979 - Mother Teresa of India, awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2005 - The Colbert Report first airs 2006 - The United States population reaches 300 million.

Around Town... Culture

How to Help a Friend in Distress Workshop
When: Tonight, October 17th from 6-7pm Where: Health and Human Services 2210 Cost: FREE Other workshops by topic: https://www.jmu.edu/counselingctr/services/certifi cate.shtml

Around Town... Culture/Economics

Parade of Champions Marching Band Competition
When: Saturday, October 19th Gates open at 7:30 am - event lasts all day Where: Bridgeforth Stadium Cost: General Admission: $15 Students and Seniors: $10 Children under 2: Free What: 36th annual competition featuring 46 high-school marching bands that compete in their respective classes. The JMU Marching Royal Dukes perform in the afternoon and at night.

Around Town... Geography

Childrens Harvest Festival
When: Saturday, October 19 from 1pm - 5pm Where: Edith J. Carrier Arboretum Cost: FREE What: Dance and music exhibitions, lessons, crafts and sidewalk chalk art, singers and performances, Gus Bus story time, snacks, tours, and a harvesting seeds activity. Additional Information: Call 540-568-3194 or visit

Childrens Literature
So You Want To Be President by Judith St. George
St. George, J. (2004). So you want to be president?. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

This childrens book is the winner of the 2000 Caldecott Medal. It utilizes caricature-style illustrations that are done in ink, watercolor, and pastel chalk to effectively supplement the message that presidents are not one-size-fits-all. The book discusses the different sizes, shapes, personality traits, professions, ages, pets, likes, and dislikes of the presidents from George Washington through George W. Bush. Children learn that not all presidents were perfect and some were even impeached, but most they did the best they could to do a good job. The only changes I would make to the book would be because it was originally published in 2000 and updated in 2004, some of the facts are outof-date. The book discusses that a woman has ever been president and that a person of color has never been president. It is important to note for children that a woman has campaigned for the presidency (Hillary Clinton) and that President Barack Obama is our first president of color.

Childrens Literature
This childrens book explores the culture of those who live in Baghdad. The boy in the story, whose name is Ali, lives in Baghdad and loves calligraphy. He describes the writing how it moves across the page from left to right, how he has a hero who was a great calligrapher and how he uses his writing to stay brave while bombs and missiles fell on his city in 2003. For him writing represents peace. This book is easy for students relate to no matter what culture they are from because most cultures use some form of writing to communicate. It also provides some global history and can be used to lead into a conversation about war and peace and what each one means for our country, state, city and community.

Moment of Wonder
What if Albert Einstein had never arrived in the U.S. as a refugee from Nazi Germany?
Thought:
We probably would still have modern technology that has developed from his work; however, it probably would have taken longer to come into existence. Many of the scientific theory that have been accredited to him would not be claimed by the United States and may not ever have been theorized. This would probably change what students in classrooms across the United States learn about him, if anything at all.

Works Cited
Conrad, D. (2013). Some irish need not apply. Retrieved from the New York Times site: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/opinion/some-irish-need-not-apply.html?hpSt. George, J. (2004). So you want to be president?. New York, NY: Philomel Books. History Org. (2000). Historical events on 17th october. Retrieved October 16, 2013, from http://www.historyorb.com/events/october/17http://www.jmu.edu/events/index.shtmlhttp://w ww.upworthy.com/congress-did-something-so-spectacularly-creepy-that-its-too-unbelieva ble-to-make-up?c=ufb1 Reuters. (2013). U.S. house passes bill to reopen government, increase debt limit. Retrieved from the New York Times site: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/10/16/us/politics/16reuters-usa-fiscal-house-vote html?_r=0&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1381977039-h7sy9cTa0oiR2Nc+dm6CYg Rumford, J. (2008). Silent music a story of baghdad. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press. The Library of Congress. (2010). Today in history: october 17. Retrieved October 16, 2013, from http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct17.html