Science Academy STEM Magnet

Dr. Sanders - Grade 8 US History Summer Assignment

Due: Tuesday, August 16, 2024

Does America live up to its ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity, and justice for all?
Dear Future 8th Grade Historians,
Welcome to 8th grade US History! We will explore four important and relevant themes in depth
over the course of our year together. These four themes, also known as ideals, define and
highlight the values that the United States has been built on, and elucidates that controversies
that persist in upholding them.
The ideals are: (1) freedom (2) equality (3) opportunity (4) justice.
Over the course of the school year, we will focus on one essential question & ideal -
 Does America live up to its ideal of “freedom for all?”
 Does America live up to its ideal of “equality for all?”
 Does America live up to its ideal of “opportunity for all?”
 Does America live up to its ideal of “justice for all?”

To keep you fresh and mentally prepared for our work together, your summer assignment is to
keep up with current event news in California and the United States.

Your task for the summer is to read and respond to three current event articles that connect to the
essential questions. The articles and events must be focused on issues affecting or relevant to
either California or the United States as a whole. All summer work is due on is due on the first
Friday of school, August 16, 2024.

I am thrilled and looking forward to working with you in August!

Sincerely,

Eric Sanders, EdD, MBA

Teacher, History Department Chair
Science Academy STEM Magnet
Grade 8 US History Summer Assignment
Due: Tuesday, August 18, 2020

TASK: Read and respond to three current event articles written over the summer from credible
news sources.

PART I – READING
Locate and read three current event articles that connect to three different essential questions (1
article for one essential question). The articles and events you choose must take place or refer to
California and the United States, should be current and written between the dates of June 1st -
August 10, 2024. Copy and paste the text of the article as an addendum to your report. If
necessary, you may include a image of the newspaper if the article is printed.

Criteria for article choices:

 Current Event Article #1 – focused on California
 Current Event Article #2 – focused on the United States
 Current Event Article #3 – free choice - California or the United States

PART II – WRITING
For each article, you will write a summary and response which will include reactions, opinions,
connections, and questions to the event/issue discussed in the article. Discuss and explain how
the article connects to one of more of the United States’ ideal(s)

Criteria for written assignments:

 Reports must be typed. Must be in Times New Roman, 12pt. font. 1-inch margins.
 Four paragraphs
 300-400 words
Assignment Format
Proper Heading (upper right-hand corner) Must be included in the report
 Last name, First name  Title:
 US History  Author:
 Due Date (August 18, 2024)  Source (name of newspaper,
magazine, news, or organization):
 (On first line of text, centered,
assignment title) - Summer  Date (of the article):
Assignment
 Essential Question you are responding
to:
 Copy of Original Article
Paragraph 1 - Summary
Write a summary of the article in your own words. This summary should clearly demonstrate
understanding of the material. [Who is the story about? Where does the story take place?
When did this event happen? What happened?]

Paragraph 2 – Reactions / Opinions

Share your thinking around this article and the problems / issues it presents.
How do you feel about what is happening? Why? What is your opinion about the issue being
discussed?
What were you thinking about as you read the article? What were you thinking about after?
Do you agree/disagree with the perspective of the writer/creator of this news item? Why or
why not?

Paragraph 3 - Connections & Questions

Connections - Choose one connection to write about:
 Text-to-Self - In what ways does this issue/event affect you? Why?
 Text-to-World - What current or historical events / knowledge does this article
remind you of? Why?
 Text-to-Text - What texts (books, films, art, music, etc.) does this remind you
of? Why?
Questions - Ask 1 or 2 clarifying and/or discussion questions:
 What questions does this article raise for you about the event / issue or events
mentioned in the article?
 Paragraph 4 - Explain how this article and the event / issue connects to one (or more) of the
ideals.
RESOURCE PAGE
Definitions -
Ideal – desirable or perfect, but not likely to become a reality; how things should be

Freedom - the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without interference or
restraint; to not be physically enslaved

Equality - the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities

Opportunity - a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something you want to do, or
have to do; to be given a chance to make a change, often for the better

Justice - to be impartial, morally correct, or fair; the system of laws by which people are judged
and punished

CREDIBLE NEWS SOURCES

Real newspapers and magazines may be used – make sure it’s a news article, not an opinion
piece (or editorial)

Magazines Newspapers Other Online News Sources

 Time Magazine:  New York Times:  National Public
www.time.com www.newyorktimes.com Radio: www.npr.org

 The Economist:  Propublica:  MSNBC:

www.economist.co www.propublica.org www.msnbc.com
m

 Washington Post:  CNN: www.cnn.com

 U.S. News and www.washingtonpost.co
World Report: m
www.usnews.com  PBS News
  Slate:  LA Times:  ABC:
www.slate.com www.latimes.com abcnews.go.com

 Salon:  Wall Street Journal:  CBS:

www.salon.com www.online.wsj.com www.cbsnews.com/us
/

 Politico:
www.politico.com

 USA today:
www.usatoday.com

- Possible Groups - - Possible Topics / Issues –

Women Racism
LGBTQ+ Sexism
People with Disabilities Discrimination
Native Americans Immigration
Asian-Americans Housing
Muslim-Americans Education
African-Americans Public Transportation
Latinx Americans Civil Rights
Immigrants (voting rights, citizenship rights, etc.)
Children Profiling
Others? (racial, ethnic, religious, sexual preference, etc.
8th Grade US History
Summer Assignment Rubric

4 3 2 1 0

My work is submitted on time My work is submitted My work is not submitted My work is submitted very I did not
and all assignments exceed on time and all on time, is partially late, is less than half complete the
expectations. I plan on assignments meet complete and approaches complete, and far below assignment.
working this hard all year! expectations. I got this! expectations. I can do expectations. I have work to
better! do!

Assignment Includes: Assignment Includes: Assignment Includes: Assignment Includes:

Four written assignments Three written Two written assignments One written assignment No written
assignments assignment

Articles – all are printed, Articles – two or more Articles – one article printed
attached to appropriate Articles – three articles articles printed and and attached No articles
assignments, and well- printed, attached, and attached, and/or may not be
organized fairly organized organized

Summary is in my own words, Summary in my own Summary is mostly in my

and clearly demonstrates an words own words, though some Summary is copied from the
understanding of the article parts may be copied from article
the article

Reactions / Opinions – my
thinking and ideas are clearly Reactions / Opinions – Reactions / Opinions – I
expressed, and sophisticated; my thinking and ideas express a reaction or Reactions / Opinions – I
I explain “why” are clearly expressed opinion to the article express a reaction or opinion,
although my ideas are not
clear or difficult to
understand
Connections – I make two or Connections – I make Connections – I make one
more clear and relevant one relevant connection connection to the article,
connections to the article to the article although it may not be
relevant Connections – I do not make
any connections

Questions – I ask two or more Questions – I ask one

discussion and clarifying discussion or clarifying Questions – I ask one
questions question question, although it may
not be connected to the
Questions – I do not ask any
article or my thinking
questions
I explain how the article
connects to one or more of the
ideals
My work is late, and not
submitted on the due date
EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT (500 Words)

Smith, Jane
US History
August 18, 2020
Summer Assignment
Title: Ecuadorean Dad Has Deportation Suspended After His Arrest During Pizza Delivery
Author: Avi Selk
Source: Washington Post
Date: June 10, 2018
Essential Question(s): Does America live up to its ideal of “opportunity for all?”
Pablo Villavicencio is a 35 year old undocumented immigrant who came to the United
States from Ecuador in 2008. He is married to a US citizen and the father of two young girls. On
June 1st, Villavicencio delivered food to a military base in Brooklyn and was asked to show ID,
either a driver’s license or Social Security card, which he did not have. The police were called,
did a background check, and found an old ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Warrant
ordering him to leave the US in 2010. Villavicencio was reported to ICE, and sent to an
immigration prison where he awaited deportation to Ecuador. With support from immigration
advocates and Governor Cuomo, a NY Federal judge blocked the deportation order until July 20,
when a judge will decide whether or not Villavicencio can remain in the United States.
Villavicencio should be allowed to remain in the United States. He has no criminal
record, and is trying to make an honest living to support his family. The fact that he has delivered
to this military base before without problems raises concerns about the effects of Trump’s
immigration policies, and how it profiles specific groups of people. It is understandable for a
military base to take precautions by asking for ID; however, I don’t believe it is the military’s
place to involve ICE, or determine a person’s eligibility to remain in this country. If you are
going to ask one person to show a valid driver’s license or social security card, then everyone,
regardless of name, skin color, or ethnicity should be required to as well. This sounds like a clear
example of ethnic profiling. If Villavicencio was not a Latino man, would he have been asked to
show multiple pieces of ID? If undocumented immigrants demonstrate their willingness to work
hard and be part of the United States, why don’t we embrace them rather than punish?
This reminds me of “The Chinese Exclusion Act,” a law that targeted Chinese
immigrants by creating racist policies that lead to fear and resentment amongst US citizens.
Chinese, like black and brown skinned people, are more easily identified in the United States,
thus making it easier to be ethnically and racially profiled. If a group is willing to work hard and
improve their lives, why should anyone in the US feel threatened? Why do we need to create
laws or policies that divide, rather than unite?

This article connects to America’s ideal of “opportunity” because Villavicencio wants

nothing more than to stay with and provide for his family. He has a life here, and to deport him
would be unfair and unjust to him and his family. Villavicencio and many other immigrants who
come here are not dangerous; it is the opposite - they are escaping violence and terror in their
home countries. Villavicencio came to America for “opportunity” and a chance for a better life.
He found both with his family and job. He deserves to stay in the country he calls “home.”

EXAMPLE NEWS ARTICLE

Immigrant arrested while delivering pasta to military base will get

to stay in U.S. — for now
By Avi Selk - June 10, 2018

A federal judge has given a last-minute reprieve to a New York

restaurant worker who was fast-tracked for deportation this month after
he showed up at an Army base with a delivery of pasta and the wrong
type of ID.
Pablo Villavicencio, along with his wife and two young American daughters, has become a
live chip in the political fight over deportations since he was arrested on a years-old immigration

warrant less than two weeks ago.

Saturday’s court order temporarily halting Villavicencio’s immediate removal to Ecuador means
his allies, including New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Democratic lawmakers, will have at
least another month to try to free him from federal custody.

Villavicencio entered the United States illegally in 2008, in his mid-20s, according to the New
York Times. He has committed no crimes since then, a spokeswoman for Immigration Customs
and Enforcement told the newspaper, but an immigration judge ordered him to leave the country
in 2010.

Instead, he got married and started a family in New York — where local laws somewhat shield
undocumented immigrants from federal authorities, even as President Trump’s
administration detains thousands of people it accuses of entering the United States illegally.
Villavicencio knew he was a fugitive, always at risk of deportation, the Times wrote. But by age
35, after years with no trouble, he had settled into a routine of family life and a job working at a
Queens pizzeria called Nonna Delia’s.
Fort Hamilton, a small Army garrison in Brooklyn, was about an hour from the restaurant. But a
sergeant there regularly placed bulk orders, the New York Post wrote, and Villavicencio was
used to the trip when he pulled up to the checkpoint lunchtime on Friday, June 1.

He later told the New York Post that he flashed his city ID card at the guard, as he had done
before.
But “there was a different security guard,” Villavicencio said, and an official began to question
him — first asking for a driver’s license, then a Social Security card, then calling police to ask
about his background and discovering the old ICE warrant.
An Army spokeswoman later told the Times that anyone trying to enter the base without a
military ID gets a check, but Villavicencio said the sergeant came to the checkpoint and tried to
stop his interrogation.
“The sergeant was telling the man … he had no business calling ICE,” Villavicencio told the
New York Post. “He just has to verify I had no problems and let [me] through.”
Instead, the Times reported, the sergeant phoned Villavicencio’s wife, Sandra Chica, and broke
the news that he had been arrested. Villavicencio was taken to a New Jersey jail to await
deportation, and his wife said she went to the base to collect his car, where she learned soldiers
had still eaten the pasta.

Immigrant advocate groups launched a public-relations campaign to urge release of the

deliveryman within days of his arrest.
“He’s the center of our family. He’s the main support,” Chica pleaded in a Twitter video. “We’re
really going to suffer if he’s deported.”
Two New York City officials joined her and the couple’s 2- and 3-year-old daughters for a news
conference in front of the Army base. “Is our city, state and nation any safer today because they
took a pizza delivery guy off the streets?” City Council member Justin Brannan asked the
cameras.
Not everyone was sympathetic to Villavicencio. “He promised a judge that he would leave the
country within two months, and instead he chose to stay for eight years,” Jim Geraghty wrote in
the National Review. “He might be a swell guy with adorable daughters, but … what should be
the consequence of not keeping a promise to a judge and defying a legal order for nearly a
decade?”

But as the news spread, workers and managers at some other New York restaurants became
unwilling to send deliveries to the base. “I would feel guilty if something happened,” one
owner told the Post. And on Friday — a week after the arrest — the Democratic governor of
New York sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, copying Trump:
 “I am writing to request that your office launch an investigation into
the conduct of ICE agents to ensure they are abiding by the rule of
law,” Cuomo wrote. “His arrest and detention appears to be a result
of ethnic profiling and does nothing to make our communities
safer.”
The same day, the Legal Aid Society of New York filed a petition
with ICE to halt the deportation, the Times wrote.
Villavicencio’s lawyer asked the agency for leniency, writing that he was his family’s main
breadwinner and that his younger daughter had a congenital heart defect.

If those efforts moved the federal government, it was not apparent. On Friday night, the Times
wrote, ICE cleared Villavicencio for an immediate flight to Ecuador.
In a last-ditch attempt to keep him in the country, the lawyers asked a federal judge to
temporarily block the deportation over the weekend. On Saturday, they announced
Villavicencio’s first victory since the pasta order came in.
The judge ordered the federal government to submit reasons Villavicencio should be
immediately deported and scheduled a hearing for July 20, buying the jailed Ecuadoran and his
supporters a few more weeks to look for a way to keep him in the country.
The ruling is “a reminder that the judiciary can still serve as a powerful check when other
branches of government make hasty, cruel and reckless decisions,” Legal Aid’s supervising
immigration attorney told the Associated Press.