What a great spirit week we had...funny costumes, great hallways, a winning football game and now the dance. Have a wonderful time this evening...dance...laugh...take pictures and stay safe. See you on Monday with smiles on your face and stories of a good time
CWI
This week we finished our study of economic geography by bringing in current events that had a business angle. Many news web pages and newspapers organize their stories using a business designation, so finding the international business article should not have been too much of a challenge. What can be difficult is understanding the vocabulary of a news article. Take the time to look up unfamiliar words, talk to another person about the word and try to understand the meaning within its context. Increasing your vocabulary skills will help you with your writing, verbal explanations and testing.
We finished our accountable talk activity using an article about the genocide in Darfur and an article about children soldiers. We will continue to do accountable talk as it gives you the opportunity to further clarify your thinking, to look deeply at subjects and to make connections. Scientists have told us that if we can attach new information to existing information in our brains, we are more likely to remember and use the new information. This is why we talk about making connections. Reading about the under-aged and armed reminded me of the tragic stories from our own urban areas where young people are involved in gang violence and the use of weapons.
Your first map of Africa is due Monday. You will each do two maps over the next few days. A physical map will show you the geographic diversity of this continent. A political map will show you where the 53 countries are located, the names of their capitols, and how geographers divide Africa into five regions. You have a rubric, so follow it to earn full credit.
Finally, we started our African power point project by selecting groups and assigning a country. You picked your own groups so you should be able to work well together. You are going to become the resident experts on your country as every group has a different assignment. On Monday I will check to see what information you brought to the group. You must do some of the research for homework and use class time to build the slides. The power point software is available at school so use your school time for building the slides. You should also use Monday to organize your team...who is going to be responsible for finding information on each of the three questions: what are the challenges, opportunities and successes of your country. This should be a fun activity as you get to explore a new country.
World History
This week you worked with a partner designing a chart on the explorers of the 16th century. This assignment allowed you to discover key information about leading explorers and to put the information into a chart. Using charts to organize information is a very useful exercise for any content area. Our brains like organization and we tend to remember categories of information as opposed to long narratives.
We also looked at a famous painting of Louis XIV...the Sun King who epitomized the absolute monarchs. In your readings you were able to distinguish which of his actions and decisions were good for the country and which were detrimental. Your spoke-diagram assignment gives you the opportunity to categorize this information in a visual format and write brief explanations interpreting the times of Louis XIV.
Next week you will be given your first essay assignment as we read multiple sources about Louis and write about how he kept all of his people, nobles as well as peasants, subservient to him.
Extra Credit Question
Be the first in your class to answer the question and earn extra credit:
What woman won the Nobel Peace Prize on October 17, 1979?
CWI
This week we finished our study of economic geography by bringing in current events that had a business angle. Many news web pages and newspapers organize their stories using a business designation, so finding the international business article should not have been too much of a challenge. What can be difficult is understanding the vocabulary of a news article. Take the time to look up unfamiliar words, talk to another person about the word and try to understand the meaning within its context. Increasing your vocabulary skills will help you with your writing, verbal explanations and testing.
We finished our accountable talk activity using an article about the genocide in Darfur and an article about children soldiers. We will continue to do accountable talk as it gives you the opportunity to further clarify your thinking, to look deeply at subjects and to make connections. Scientists have told us that if we can attach new information to existing information in our brains, we are more likely to remember and use the new information. This is why we talk about making connections. Reading about the under-aged and armed reminded me of the tragic stories from our own urban areas where young people are involved in gang violence and the use of weapons.
Your first map of Africa is due Monday. You will each do two maps over the next few days. A physical map will show you the geographic diversity of this continent. A political map will show you where the 53 countries are located, the names of their capitols, and how geographers divide Africa into five regions. You have a rubric, so follow it to earn full credit.
Finally, we started our African power point project by selecting groups and assigning a country. You picked your own groups so you should be able to work well together. You are going to become the resident experts on your country as every group has a different assignment. On Monday I will check to see what information you brought to the group. You must do some of the research for homework and use class time to build the slides. The power point software is available at school so use your school time for building the slides. You should also use Monday to organize your team...who is going to be responsible for finding information on each of the three questions: what are the challenges, opportunities and successes of your country. This should be a fun activity as you get to explore a new country.
World History
This week you worked with a partner designing a chart on the explorers of the 16th century. This assignment allowed you to discover key information about leading explorers and to put the information into a chart. Using charts to organize information is a very useful exercise for any content area. Our brains like organization and we tend to remember categories of information as opposed to long narratives.
We also looked at a famous painting of Louis XIV...the Sun King who epitomized the absolute monarchs. In your readings you were able to distinguish which of his actions and decisions were good for the country and which were detrimental. Your spoke-diagram assignment gives you the opportunity to categorize this information in a visual format and write brief explanations interpreting the times of Louis XIV.
Next week you will be given your first essay assignment as we read multiple sources about Louis and write about how he kept all of his people, nobles as well as peasants, subservient to him.
Extra Credit Question
Be the first in your class to answer the question and earn extra credit:
What woman won the Nobel Peace Prize on October 17, 1979?
Happy Birthday BABM!
1 comment:
Thanks for the birthday shout out Ms. Sullivan! Also, love the picture of the Mosque up top...is that in Mali? Looks like the mosque at Djenne, one of (if not THE) largest mud structures in the world!! Africa is a wonderful and fascinating country, glad you and your students had a chance to study it.
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