Today, we worked on an assignment together. Ben was afforded supports while reviewing the material and was tasked with responding to ten open-ended questions on material from Chapter 27 about immigrants and urbanization. Ben asked to respond to the questions verbally today; he was permitted to do so. He was receptive to collaborating on the assignment and demonstrated good comprehension and synthesis of the information, often interjecting his personal opinion, especially when summarizing the "racist" attitudes expressed toward the new immigrants. Ben achieved 90% on his homework, answering 9 out of the 10 questions correctly.

We reactivated prior knowledge where we left off in yesterday's discussion about women's rights and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibited state and federal governments from denying citizens the right to vote based on gender. We recalled that that, however, did not apply or exend to all citizens. This led us to a dsscussion about antidiscrimination movements such as the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League. We discussed the different groups facing discrimination and the emergence of two major schools of activism, one led by Booker T. Washington and the other by W.E.B Bois. We reviewed that which they believed and that which they disagreed about - which was primarily whether the Black community's priority should be a focus on economic freedom or political freedom. I encouraged Ben to share his thoughts on the topic.

We began today's lesson continuing our discussion about labor reform. We read about the Shirt Company and the fire which killed nearly 150 workers who were locked inside by the company to prevent theft - and how and why they were mostly women. This proved to be a good segue to a discussion of women's rights, suffrage, and some notable figures, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and "Mother Jones" We will explore the achievements of these women in tomorrow's session. We ended our session reviewing the nineteenth amendment, noting that although it gave women the right to vote, it failed to protect the rights of Black, Indigenous, and Asian women. Ben offered his thoughts freely and empathetically about the subject.

We attempted to work on women's rights and the suffrage movement however Ben stated that he had a very difficult night and morning; he did not sleep well and was very hungry. He was easily frustrated and agitated, and he could barely keep his eyes open this morning when I attempted to work with him, so I let him close his eyes and rest. We will resume our planned work next week when class reconvenes.

We picked up on yesterday's discussion that most active Progressives in the late 1800's were women and reviewed reasons why, including that by the turn of the century, families tended to be smaller. and advances in technology, such as the vacuum cleaner, helped with housework and freed up more of women's time to create change. We then examined some of the reform movements that emerged, including Political Reform, Education Reform, Anti-Alcohol Reform, and Labor Reform. We discussed the changes that were affected by each of these movements, which aimed to remedy the social and economic problems from the earlier corrupt state legislatures and practices that were prevalent during the previous 'gilded age.'

We began today's lesson by defining consumerism and discussing how factory workers (and the wealthy) had time off which resulted in leisure time becoming more common in the late 1800's. We reviewed examples of how society encouraged consumerism and listed some of the activities that became popular. Our reading took us into a discussion of corruption in the gilded age and the form it took and the 'political machines such as New York's Tammany Hall, led by William Magear "Boss" Tweed, who is said to have stolen millions of dollars from the city. We also began to reading about the progressive movement and the form it took, noting that many of the most active Progressives were middle-class women and we discussed the reasons why many reform movements grew during this time. Subject-specific vocabulary included the terms "muckrakers." We began to review reformers and their projects before our session ended but we will discuss the reform movements that were created in greater detail tomorrow. Ben agreed to work/collaborate on our next homework assignment covering Chapter 27 "New Immigrants/New Cities." I gave him a copy to prepare for it.

We continued our discussion about the concept of the 'melting pot,' and how it applied to the assimilation of immigrants in the US. We collaboratively read and learned more about the growing middle class, the working class, and how certain areas of American cities become slums. We identified the factors that led to the growth of the suburbs, and why settlement houses became necessary (since the government was not providing for people living below the poverty threshold.) I will work with Ben as we assess knowledge on this material while working on an assignment later this week.

Ben was encouraged to participate in a school-wide Spring celebration that was planned and scheduled for the beginning of his class session today. He opted to pass. We then resumed reading about becoming American, and the concepts of assimilation and nativism, as we reactivated prior knowledge before moving on to urbanization, or the growth of cities. We discussed how American was becoming a "melting pot,' or blending of American cultures.

Ben and I continued to read about "Becoming American" in Chapter 27 in his text (page 336 - 337). We discussed how the new immigrants were likely to be of different races, and the diversity brought to cities was often seen as a negative by the people who already occupied the land. We discussed the reason why, such as fear they would take jobs away by working for less money into American culture. Others thought they should 'assimilate' into American culture as quickly as possible. 'Nativism' and opposition to immigration was on the rise again and racism against immigrants of color increased and became formalized.

The early part of today's session reactivated prior knowledge about the Reconstruction era during the mid to late nineteenth century, when the nation struggled to find a balance between uniting the country and assisting the newly freed Black population of the South, called freedmen. We examined the months after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery. We discussed the Freedmen's Bureau - an agency whose goal was to help the newly 'freed men' by providing education, housing, food, and medical aid. We noted that although the Thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, it had a loophole that allowed prisoners to be used as unpaid laborers. We then transitioned to a discussion about the new immigrants and the reasons for the waves of immigration, which was mainly to escape the overcrowding, religious and political persecution, and economic problems of their homelands. This material is covered in Chapter 27 in our text.