This week our study of Syria, Egypt and Afghanistan mirrored
the nightly newscasts. As the leader of
Syria, President Bashar al-Assad, became more desperate to hold on to power, he
took actions that indicated he might be preparing to use chemical weapons against
his people, as his father did during an earlier revolt. This would be an act so extreme that even Russia,
one of Assad’s closest allies, joined the US in urging Syria not to use such weapons.
We also watched Egyptians continue their protests as the new
president, Mohammed Morsi, extended his power in an effort to ensure the country’s
new constitution incorporates Muslim law. Many Egyptians want a secular government
that would provide for religious liberty, and even some who share Morsi’s religious
convictions oppose his authoritarian power grab.
And finally, we watched the interview with President Karzai
of Afghanistan where he stated that much of the instability and violence in his
country is directly related to the American troops and contractors. This was discouraging news to Americans who
have spent over 11 years in this country and lost over 2100 soldiers.
Syrian Group Project
Our last CWI classes reported out their findings from our
Syrian group project. We looked at the
players within the country, the impact of the war on neighboring countries and the
role the international community is playing.
After our class discussion you had the opportunity to write about the
conflict from your perspective.
Afghan Profile
Using your text and the Goode’s Atlas, you developed a
statistical profile of Afghanistan. I
especially like Goode’s Atlas as the maps give us a great deal of information
visually. Using the atlas you discovered
clean water is scarce (only about 22% of the population has it), the country
has negligible exports, the people are suffering from malnutrition and only
about 30% are literate. You can see why the Taliban, an organization that
offers food, clothing, shelter and some degree of hope to young people can be
appealing. TED features a video on how the Taliban recruits youngsters to
become suicide bombers and next week we will watch a clip as part of our study
of Pakistan.
Afghan Star
We finished watching this documentary that shows life in
Afghanistan before, during and after the rule by the Taliban. The movie allowed you to see firsthand what
the country looks like and how the people are trying to restore their culture
after years of Taliban censorship. You
also saw how the show “Afghan Star,” modeled after “American Idol,” is teaching
people about democracy. Afghans are
encouraged to vote for the best singer, not the one from their region or tribe.
We also witnessed one of the female singers who was roundly condemned by
viewers for performing a simple dance on stage, a violation of tradition. Her life was threatened so she sought safety with
her family. The TV show is now in its eighth season and over 11 million people watch it each week.
Task
This week you received your portfolio task rubric and had
time in the library to find articles that you will need to write your reflective
essay. You must select an international
issue to analyze. You must have three
current event articles to attach to your reflective essay. Your topic must be preapproved. We
will go over the rubric again next week.
Writing will take two days in the computer lab. This is a great opportunity to complete a
portfolio task AND receive class credit as this will be your major project for
second quarter. I have not assigned any
homework since giving out the task so that you could spend your time finding
the articles, reading and summarizing. To meet standard, your reader is going
to look for your ability to synthesize and analyze the issue and come up with a
solution or recommendation. You must
also include why this issue is important to you and its impact on the world
community. Your graphic organizer (optional) helps you think about how you want
to organize your essay.
We also looked at past essays so you would see examples of
precise language that the task rubric requires.
You may also find it useful to talk with family and friends about your
topic. By talking and making connections
you can think more deeply about your issue and come up with a possible solution
or recommendation.
Final Assessment
We have completed our class study of South West Asia so it
is time for an assessment that will give you the opportunity to write about
this region. You will be able to use
your map for the in class writing assignment.
It will be an open ended question so you will have flexibility in how
you respond. We will be looking for accurate
information that reflects the nature of this region.
Interterms
It is time for interterm grades so on Friday we updated the
status of assignment sheet. If you have
been absent it is your responsibility to come by before or after school to make
up the work. Do not put it off!
World History
This week we focused on the causes and course of the French Revolution.
We used the History Channel video to help us better visualize the extreme frustration
that led the people of France to revolt against their King. We made a list of causes on the board and we
broke the revolution into four phases so you could see how the revolution grew
in intensity but ultimately ended with a government that became a constitutional
monarchy with a greater voice for the people.
At the same time the role of the Catholic Church was greatly diminished.
The three key documents we looked at were the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and
the Constitution of 1791. These notes should be in your notebook. By listening to the discussion, writing the
notes in your notebook and then seeing the action in the movie, you should be
able to retrieve this information and apply it during our quizzes and
assessment.
Congratulations to all of you who improved on the last
quiz. By using the guide for reading and
the section review to prepare for the quiz, you should earn a great score. The quizzes are based on the key concepts and
vocabulary and your text does a good job of telling you in both of these
sections what you need to know. Great
job…keep it up!
For homework you have a guided reading sheet for chapter 19,
section 3, on the Radical Days. You will
be reading about the Reign of Terror (which we saw on the video), which
included the beheading of the King and Queen. You also read about Robespierre,
a great orator who became a key leader.
He stated “liberty cannot be secured unless criminals (the old regime)
lose their heads.”
The guillotine that was used so swiftly during the Reign of
Terror would ultimately turn on its leaders as people feared more bloodshed and
chaos. The revolution now moves into the
third stage of moderation.
Extra Credit
On December 15, room 246 will be decked out in lights! What major event will we be celebrating? Be the first in your class to email me your
response using your MHS account to earn extra credit.
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