Ancient Civilizations Venn Diagram... And Cuneiform

We're almost finished with ancient civilizations - and we're having a test over them next Thursday.  ...Not tomorrow, mind you, but Thursday the 12th - and we may extend it to the 13th.

So, we worked on a Venn Diagram today.  Students took it home, but they didn't actually have to do it for homework.  The diagram will be handy when it comes to studying for the test.  In fact, it's the first part of the review guide.  They'll receive the second one tomorrow or Friday.

I made some pictures to help you with the diagram.  And to help you study.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Indus River Valley Civilization

Ancient Mesopotamia

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.  ...Yes, these are basically the answers.  Again, this would be one of the posts to come to if you want to study.  I'll tag it as "Study 2013" that way if you type that in to the search bar in the upper left of the webpage, it will bring you right to this post.  (Also, if I missed anything important for any of the civilizations, let me know either in class or in the comments.)

If you want the extra credit for reading and discussing this blog with an adult, have the adult quiz you over the various civilizations for about 3-5 minutes.  Have them ask you what each item on the list means.  Have them ask you which language goes with which civilization - NO PEEKING!  Etc...

When you're done, write down the word "architecture" and then write a quick definition for that word.  (If you don't know the definition, look it up.  If you don't have a dictionary, google it.  The adult can tell you, if that's easier - but you have to be the one to write it.)  Then, write down an example of architecture for each of the 3 ancient civilizations.  Have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper, and turn it in tomorrow.

We also wrote in cuneiform (SUMERIANS!) today.  So, if you want to check out some pictures (and maybe a video) from that, feel free to keep scrolling.  ...You might be in here.  

Ancient Civs

The bellwork today was sort of a catch-all for ancient civilizations.  Where they are.  Where we are.  What they were.

We graded it, so it was worth a little more than the typical five points.  That also means students can make it up.  You can get it by going to the H-Block Assignments page and clicking on "27.2 ancient civs map bellwork," or just click on the link right there - and  it will take you straight to it.

We've got a couple more ancient civilizations to cover before we get into governments.  Rest assured there will be a test shortly after we get back from break.  I'll have a review guide for you all soon.  For now, just rest easy.

We spent 2/3 of the class working on and grading the paper.  After that, we watched the first part of the Indus River crash course.  I would put it up here, but I'm not going to because we're going to finish it tomorrow.  You can watch it then.  Of course, it's on youtube.  So if you want to check it out now, I can't stop you.

As always, thanks for reading and discussing the blog.

If you want the extra credit for reading and discussing it today, click on the link above.  Adults, quiz your kid over the bellwork we did today.  It should be pretty easy since it was already review, and we just did it in class.  If they struggle with it too much, glare at them a little bit for me, ok?  That's the type of stuff that will show up on the test.

Then, when you're done.  Write down which question was the easiest, and which one was the most difficult.  (You don't have to ask every question.  But ask at least five.)

Then, as always, have the adult sign the paper and turn it in tomorrow.

Beginning of Ancient Civilizations

Whew! It has been a crazy week here at CJHS, and it has been several days since we last spoke. This is Mr. Helmuth wrapping up a week of ancient civilizations here on the blog.

The students spent most of their time this week learning about the Fertile Crescent, and why civilizations began to form in this area. Today our focus was on Mesopotamia, which is just another name for the Fertile Crescent. We spent most of our time reading a section from the textbook as a class, with occasional interruptions from Mr. Helmuth (sorry!).

Following our discussions, questions, and answers about the reading, the classes got to see a music video produced by students of a similar age from a different school. While it may seem a little bit goofy, it helps to remind us of the names of some of the great leaders from this time period and their accomplishments.

You can watch the video here: 

Finally, after a long week, I’m sure everyone is ready for a break…or just the extra credit. That’s understandable. For the extra credit tonight, discuss the blog with an adult, have them sign a piece of paper, put your name, date and hour on it, and turn it in on Monday. Make sure to include something interesting you did this weekend.

Have a great weekend, and we will see you “BETWEEN THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES, BABY!”

Judge and Jury

Hopefully you noticed the polls I put up at the top of the blog.  As a class, we finished up the webquest and powerpoint about Hammurabi yesterday.  Most of them looked really good.  There were a couple kids who didn't get done, but the majority did.

I don't know if you can access them from home or not.  The students that read the blog Thursday said they couldn't get them to open up from home.  I'm going to look into that because... I mean... what's the point of having all this technology if you can't access it?

The project reviewed a lot of what we covered in class - reasons ancient civilizations were found near rivers, what it took to be an ancient civilization, ethnocentrism, as well as some of the specifics about Mesopotamia.

It really introduced historical context though.  We haven't had discussions about this before.  Good teachers are always trying to include higher level questioning and Bloom's Taxonomy into their lessons:




(Image courtesy of: dkuropatwa)

This lesson, and the question of historical context really nails the upper levels of Bloom's.

Oftentimes social studies is memorizing facts: ancient civilizations are found near rivers for silt, transportation, drinking water, and irrigation...  But to answer the questions of which legal system is more just, and whether or not it's even fair to ask that question take critical thinking skills like analyzing and evaluating both sets of laws and coming to a personal conclusion.


And, lets face it... the question of historical context and justification of the past is tough.  Maybe we say we shouldn't judge Hammurabi according to today.  Being beat 60 times with an ox whip for hitting someone of a higher rank seemed like a just punishment at the time...  But then can we apply that to other areas of history?  Slavery? Nazism/Fascism?  Child sacrifice to Moloch?  If we went back in time, would we say... "well... when in Rome...?"

The opposite, to me seems equally distasteful.  If we come down too hard against the past, how will we be judged based on the lives we're leading?  What if in the future, the world is overpopulated and people are upset at the "selfishness" of families in the past that had more than one child?

We'll be wrapping up this discussion on Monday in class.  We'll see what everyone thinks.

Like I mentioned at the top of the blog, I hope you noticed the polls.  In order to get the extra credit, first have your kid vote on them.  Then, discuss why they voted the way they did.  Ask them about the two laws we looked at as a class.  What were the punishments doled out under each legal system?  Ask them if there are ever any exceptions to their views.

In order to get the extra credit, vote on the polls and discuss those questions directly above the bold text.  Once you have done that, write the following phrase on a scrap of paper: "Four more days until a little break."  Finally, adult: sign your name.  By signing, you're saying that you really did read the blog and discuss it with whoever is turning in that paper.

Ancient Civs Venn

Students completed a Venn Diagram of the ancient civilizations today.  It was classwork, and we graded it already.  The grades should be entered by 3:30 today.

If you weren't here, you can download it and print it from THIS PAGE.  Actually, if you're missing anything, it can be downloaded from that page.  If you don't have a printer - don't fear: there's one in the Media Center.  Just ask your CAP teacher if you may go during CAP.  Ask early, CAP teachers only have 2 passes a piece.

We reviewed the ancient civilizations, and I tried to reinforce some of the more minor differences.  Since we do have a test coming up on Friday, it might be a good idea to review these:

If you've read and discussed the blog with an adult, write two sentences telling me about that discussion.  Then, have them sign the paper.  Turn it in tomorrow.  (Make sure your name, date, and hour are on the paper.  If they're not, you won't receive the credit for it.)

Ancient Civs Quiz Friday

Make sure you're ready for a quiz over the ancient civilizations on Friday.  It shouldn't be anything TOO difficult.

If you weren't in class today, you need to print out this EGYPT MAP and turn it in as soon as you are able.

I'm not going to make a long post today, as I'm getting tomorrow's review game together.

If you want extra credit, here's how you can prove you were here:

List all 4 ancient civilizations that we've studied, and tell me what rivers they are found near.

Make sure your name, date, and hour are on the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow.


Also, if you didn't watch this video last week, here it is:

Egypt

To any veterans that stumble across this page, Happy Veteran's Day, and thank you for your service.

We will be studying ancient civilizations a little while longer.  I'm debating whether I'll try to finish before Thanksgiving or not.  We have yet to talk about Ancient China, but the concepts students have learned about the other civilizations may be enough for now.  (Ancient China began by a river for it's silt, irrigation, drinking water, fish, and transportation/trade.  They had their own code of laws, specialized workers, cities, and written language...  You know...)

Today the students worked on a map, reviewed the Indus River Valley Civilization, and watched a short (2 minute) video on Egypt.

The map was 20 points.  If you were absent, you can download it HERE.  (It's pretty easy.)

If you want the extra credit for reading and discussing the blog today, define "architecture" and then draw a picture of the most famous piece of architecture for each of the 4 civilizations we've studied.  Don't spend more than 1 minute on your drawing.

Have the adult you discussed with sign the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow.

The Biggest Discovery/Invention of All Time

Every year, we discuss the agricultural revolution.

I tell the students that agriculture is the most important invention, or discovery of all time.

It would be worthwhile to scroll through some old blog posts.  Like I said, I've taught this every year.

Agriculture = farming.

Think about what all farming has given us.  I ask students to think about how hungry they are.  They're all hungry.  Pretty much all of them.  All the time.

A burger from McDonalds or Burger King?  How much of that come from farms?  Wheat.  Lettuce.  The cow.  ...Pretty much every part of it, right?

If we had to chase our food down (as in, we couldn't grow it ourselves, or have others grow it for us) we would be in trouble.  

I can just imagine that first person who came up with the idea.  ...Why not bring the food to us?  The crowd slowly lowering their spears.  Each person thinking, "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?"

Students today discussed inventions and discoveries that were game-changers.

Agriculture tops my list.  And we're leading into ancient civilizations.  Most all ancient civilizations were found near rivers.  Any guesses as to why?  #agriculture.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog, ask the adult you read and discussed it with what they think the most important invention/discovery of all time is.  Write it down with a brief explanation telling why.

Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.  Then, turn it in tomorrow.

Don't forget, we've got a government quiz on Friday.  We have a quiz over the Middle East next week.

I'd study.

Monotheism: Abraham's Journey; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Yesterday we started class by reading a passage from Genesis - from the Christian and Jewish Holy books.  According to Jews and Christians, God and Abraham made a covenant, or agreement/promise.

You can read what we read HERE.  They answered a few questions from the reading.

After they were done, we had a little refresher on the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt.  Abraham left Mesopotamia, and by the end of the passage we read yesterday, ended up in Egypt.

We reviewed the polytheism of these ancient civilizations, and then I read a section from the Qur'an.  In book 6, God shows the errors of polytheism.  Abraham tries to explain this to the people of Mesopotamia, but they will not listen.  (In fact, later in the Qur'an Abraham's father threatens to stone him if he doesn't accept the Mesopotamian gods.)

You can read the section of the Qur'an HERE.  (We actually read 72-81.)

The point of yesterday's lesson was that all three major monotheistic religions trace their roots back to Abraham.  An interesting thing to consider: the lives of more than 3 billion people today are directly influenced by that man.  (2 billion Christians, and 1 billion Muslims.)  That doesn't even take into account the number of non-religious people whose lives are influenced by him because of the countries in which they live.  Governments are set up that use the Qur'an or Bible or Torah to help inform how their countries are run.

Side note: In a couple classes, we discussed social media: many of my students have Facebook or Instagram.  We all agreed that it's fun when people "like" the stuff we post.  I happen to love being able to experience winter.  Driving in to work yesterday, the trees looked AMAZING, so I snapped a picture.

Social media connects us to other people.  It allows us to influence others.  It's crazy to think about how much influence Abraham has had on the world.  How many people would follow him on Facebook or Twitter...

We finished out yesterday by beginning a map of Abraham's journey.  Instead of giving it as an assignment, we're completing it as a class.

We haven't finished it yet.  I plan on wrapping it up tomorrow.  I'll post a picture when it's finished.

Today we've moved on from Judaism and Christianity to Islam.  We watched the Islam video - the last video we'll watch for quite some time.

If you want extra credit today, you need to write two names on a piece of scrap paper, then have the adult you read it with sign the paper.  All three major monotheistic religions trace their roots back to one man, who is it?  Who is the founder of Islam?  Those are the names you need.  ...Well... you should also make sure your name is on it...

...Man... I didn't even get to tell how I time-traveled with a couple classes...  Was it your class?

But What Happened the Day Before THAT?

Starting tomorrow, we're going to look at ancient civilizations.

Here's a memory exercise we did today in class: think about what you did yesterday.  The go to the day before that.  Now, go back to the day before.  Continue on until you start getting confused about what day events took place.  How far back could you go?

Here is an overwhelming thought: 10 years.  100 years.  500 years.  1000 years.  2000 years.

For real.

Here is an overwhelming thought: 7 billion people.  S.e.v.e.n. b....i.....l.....l.....i.....o....n. Every person is an individual, thinking their own thoughts.  Each person has his own problems.  Dreams.  And the same has been true for the past.

These thoughts overwhelms me.  I think about them every time I'm stuck in traffic.  "Man, there are a lot of people, and there's a lot of time."

So, we're going back in time.  Way back.  Way, way, way back.  To study people.

It's easy for students to write them off because they existed so long ago.  It's easy for us to think that we're so much smarter than they were - but I don't think we are.  We're more advanced, and have a deeper understanding of the way things work as a society.  But I'm not sure we're actually smarter.  I mean, I'm using a computer right now, and I have a basic understanding of how the computer works - I press a button and the screen lights up...


Students, you can still get extra credit for reading and discussing the blog with an adult.  Here are some things you could discuss:

• What do you hope to learn about ancient civilizations?
• Why do you think the state of Indiana says they're important to learn about?
• Do you agree?  Are they important to learn about?

Students, write down 2 thoughts that came from the discussion, then have the adult you read and discussed the blog with sign the paper.

Consider posting this to facebook.  If it was a facebook post that reminded you to complete the extra credit blog, write down the person's name that reminded you, and they'll get added extra credit.  (If you post it as well, and you help someone else discuss social studies, you'll be rewarded as well.)

Agriculture

There's a scene we're probably all familiar with... at least if you're one of my students reading this.  Indiana, oh Indiana.  Thank you for your corn.

What did we learn today?  2 main things: agriculture is a big deal historically, and ancient civilizations are found near rivers.  The 7th grade social studies department lists it as the most important/influential discovery or invention of all time.  How do we quantify that?  Well, it's just a difficult algorithm - we went with the consensus majority of the department.  Sure, there are others out there who would disagree, but other academic sources agree with us as well: the lexile's a little higher, but feel free to check it out...  Granted, any time you a list like this is created it's up for discussion.  And we did discuss it for a while.

It was a lot of fun hearing the ideas the students came up with.  Some of their answers were right on with the majority of academia - the wheel, fire, the internet, language, books, guns, math, etc...  Granted, some were probably jokes... like the group that came up with hair straighteners.  Probably important.  I wouldn't know.

I also gave 4 reasons ancient civilizations were found near rivers: transportation, agriculture, drinking water, and silt.  I promise: that is going to be on every test from here on out.  Promise.

If you want the extra credit, read and discuss the blog with an adult.  Talk about why agriculture was so important.  What did it allow people to do?  Do you agree that it was the most important invention/discovery of all time?  When you're finished, write 2 sentences about the discussion.  Have the adult you discussed it with sign the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow.

The Fate of Mankind; The Issue of My Friend

The Epic of Gilgamesh is almost always credited with being the oldest written story in the world.  It's a fantastic story, and if you've never read this - mankind's first piece of writing - I highly recommend it.

We've been studying ancient civilizations, so it's only appropriate that we take a peek inside Mesopotamia's most famous book - and their most famous super-hero.

Since the book was written in Cuneiform, it was written on clay tablets.  We only read a portion from Tablet 10, the translation of which comes from San Jose State University's webpage.  You can read what we read HERE.  It's only a page, and it will give you some context for this post.

In the portion we read today, Gilgamesh is afraid.  Gilgamesh - this EPIC warrior - is afraid.  Terrified.  The guy who challenged the gods.  The guy who killed Humbaba (the body-guard to the gods), the guy who killed the Bull of Heaven: he's afraid.  The text says his cheeks are emaciated, his expression is desolate and his features are haggard.  From fear.

We've all dealt with fear before.  Sometimes it's embarrassing, right?  I shared this picture with most of my students:

Most of us aren't as fearless as Gilgamesh.  Why is he afraid?  What is he scared of?  What is "the fate of mankind" that so terrifies him?  And why does it terrify him?  And if it's something that scares one such as Gilgamesh, is it something I should fear as well?

If you were in class today, you know your job: read and discuss the blog with an adult.  Tell them what we talked about in class.  What was it that Gilgamesh feared?  What was the fate of Enkidu, his friend?  Is it a legitimate fear?  Why or why not?  After your done discussing, write a short paragraph about your discussion.  Have the adult you discussed it with sign the paper, and turn it in tomorrow.

If you weren't in class, read the section of the story we read today: found here.  Then write me a paragraph telling me what it is Gilgamesh fears.  Give me 3 examples from the text that support your conclusion.  You don't have to do all this with your parents or an adult.  Just turn it in when you return to school.  

Not to show my hand too much, but this is what we'll be talking about tomorrow as well.  Part of the point I'm trying to get across (aside from teaching ancient texts from the civilizations we're studying) is the commonality humanity shares across both time and cultures.

The fears of Gilgamesh are the same as the Pharaohs.  The same as Emperor Qin, who drank the mercury and jade.  The same as Juan Ponce de Leon - or at least, the legend of him which says he was searching for the Fountain of Youth.  ...And it's the same as one of our newest heros: Augustus Waters.  This is one of the major themes of The Fault in Our Stars, right?  Raise your hand if you've read it.  The point is, maybe we're not so far removed from the Mesopotamians after all.

T minus 67 Hours

67 hours until the social studies ISTEP.  ARE. YOU. READY.?!?!

I like to think we are.  We spent today (and will spend the next couple days) going over a light review.

Today we went back over the ancient civilizations and the religions we studied earlier this year.  ...In the case of the civilizations, much earlier.

Teaching is crazy.  Sometimes I'm shocked by what my students forget, other times I'm shocked by what they remember.  Shocked, I tell you.

We spent some time looking at synonyms and various ways of wording questions.  It's probably a good skill to have in general.  And it always frustrates me when students act like I didn't teach them something because the question uses the wording "Nile River Valley Civilization" instead "Ancient Egyptian Civilization."

If you want the extra credit today, read and discuss the blog.  In the discussion, students, tell the adult some of the types of questions that were given today.  What all did you compare?  (If you have the paper, it'd be handy to go over it...)

Then, find a scrap piece of paper and write the following quote on it: "Stupid people are dangerous." -Katniss Everdeen, from Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.

Start Writing

Today's lesson was mainly about writing.  How did it originate?  How does written language work?  What ancient languages should students be familiar with in this class?

I started the lesson by connecting it to previous learning.

Students came in and had to quickly draw two pictures.  One picture depicted the reasons ancient civilizations were found near rivers.  The other picture showed some of what helps anthropologists qualify a civilization as a civilization.

Here are the pictures.  We're all artists:

If you weren't here today, you should draw these and show them to me tomorrow.  If you were here, don't worry about it.  That's not the requirement for extra credit.

Hopefully most students already knew this - as Mr. Helmuth taught it to them.  I know they spent quite a bit of time checking out Hammurabi's Code.  You know - the code of laws for Mesopotamia.

Written language (a system of writing) is crazy.  It's like magic.  Most of you are probably reading this right now.  RIGHT NOW.  You just read that.  I wrote this a while ago, and you're reading it now.  That's a big deal.  And you can read it again if you want to.  (Ok... rereading this paragraph might seem a little pointless...  but I'm sure some of you just did...)

Obviously, when writing first came about, not everyone could do it.  Scribes must have looked like magicians.

We discussed writing coming from ideograms and pictograms.  Hieroglyphs.  We looked at the move to symbols representing sounds.  Phonetics.   The Phoenicians.  We discussed how ancient languages started as a mnemonic device - and that we still use ideograms, pictograms, and mnemonic devices today.

Obviously, we covered a lot more in 45 minutes, but I don't want to overwhelm you - you were here.  I just want you to talk to the adult you read this with and tell them how class went.  You could also mention the maps we looked at (on population/ population density) or what we read on the SMARTboard.

If you've read and discussed the blog and want extra credit.  Write a sentence or two from your discussion.  Then, have the adult you read and discussed with sign the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow in the extra credit tray.

See you then.  What a great day!  Am I right?

Study For the Test.

Study.  Study.  Study for the test.

Here's how I want you to do it: get your review guide - OR A NEW ONE, if you must.

At the top of this webpage, on the left-hand side - there's a search engine.  Use it to search for the topics you need to study about.  Try typing Ancient Civs, Ancient, Ancient Civilizations, Economy, Economics, etc...  Let your study guide guide you.

When you're done, write down 5 things you searched.  For each one, tell me one thing you found.  Have the adult you studied them with sign the paper.  Turn it in tomorrow.

Rivers, Population Density, and Civilizations

Yesterday we talked about the importance of agriculture, and the reasons ancient civilizations were found near rivers.

Today we looked at that a little bit more closely - including population density, and river terms.

Here's a picture we drew 7th hour.  It's not the best, but I erased the other ones.  I don't generally have the river snake eating someone, but whatever...  I had a little time while the students were working.  (Apologies to the family of the stick figure man being devoured.)

We talked a little bit about why a river's delta is called a delta.  I didn't teach them the entire Greek alphabet, but I did also point out that's where we get the term "alpha, bet..." (αβ)

We also looked at the difference between population and population density.  I put students in taped in areas at the front of the room.  One was over a desert... well, we changed it to The Sahel - not quite so dry... Another had a river running through it.  (A student wearing blue was the river.  He had to make a delta by raising his arms in the air.  Good jobs to all rivers.)

I think most students understood the difference before the end.  It's always encouraging when they struggle with something at the beginning of class, but then completely get it at the end.  (Or at least appear to...)

Here's the last picture from the day:

YO!  STUDENTS!  If you want extra credit, read and discuss this blog with an adult.  Tell the adult about the boxes of tape, what did you think about the activity?  Did you go in either box?  Were you a river?  What did you have to say to get to go into the box with the river?  Why?  Etc...  I'm sure you can think of plenty more to talk about.

When you're finished discussing, find a scrap piece of paper and write me your favorite part of the activity.  Then, have the adult you discussed it with sign the piece of paper.

Have a great weekend.  I look forward to meeting a bunch of parents on Monday.  Students, make sure you come too.

Back, Baby! (Governments)

The bellwork today asked students to tell us which government would be the scariest government to live under, and then explain why.

We are guessing that they'll all give one of the unlimited governments.  At least, I can't imagine anyone would find a constitutional monarchy scarier than an absolute monarchy.

And I know that Taylor (from Stars Hollow... from The Gilmore Girls) can be pretty abrasive, at times... but I would hardly count him (or the direct democracy of Star's Hollow) as scarier than, say... Islam Karimov...

For the record, I know that Taylor Doose has an elected position in Stars Hollow, but the position - at least as it's portrayed on the show - has no real power.  He's just in the front at the meetings, and the people of the town get to vote.

(...Not that I watched tons of The Gilmore Girls or anything...  Sheesh...)

Mr. Helmuth is slowly moving from governments into ancient civilizations.  And what better way to do that then with Hammurabi?  You know, I was a little bit nervous when Mr. Helmuth said that the following video was pretty graphic, and that if students couldn't hack it, they should go to the hall.  But I shouldn't have doubted him.  It's not THAT graphic.


High production quality.  Some of my students were confused... "Is that the real Hammurabi?" they asked.

We looked at some of the laws the ancient Mesopotamian government created.  It was a good day.

If you want the extra credit for reading/ discussing the blog with an adult, write two sentences from your discussion and have the adult you read it with sign the paper.

Big Grades Coming Up

Well, well, welcome back.

We finished up the Hammurabi Power Point today.  Students who did not finish, are cordially invited to finish on their own - at lunch, CAP, after school, whenever.  There may be a couple notable exceptions, come see me if you think I'm talking about you.

We've got some big grades coming up.  Get ready:

• Hammurabi ppt. 64 pts.
• Ancient Egypt Map 25 pts.
• Egypt Mesopotamia Venn Diagram 15 pts.
• Ancient Civilizations Quiz 40 pts.

There you have it.  We probably won't talk about Egypt so much since you already know about it.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing this blog post with an adult, click on THIS LINK RIGHT HERE!!!!  That takes you to the review guide.  Have the parent or adult you read the blog with quiz you over some of the material that's going to be on the quiz.

Then, write two things you studied on a piece of scrap paper.  Write the following sentence: I studied __________ and __________ with ___________________.  On the final blank, have the parent or adult that read the blog and studied with you sign their name.

Put it in the extra credit turn in tray.

Have a great evening.

Hey: here's a picture of a ziggurat, in case you wanted to see one.  And a pyramid from Egypt.

Image Credit: http://jesseaumiller.com/track/ziggurat

 

Image Credit: http://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/the-great-pyramid/deck/2993569

 

Review and Google Docs... Reviewgle Docs... Heh...

Alright... that title needs a little work.  It's been a long day in the classroom.  I'm still trying to figure out how google docs will work for me.  For us.  For everyone.  (Kudos to those of you out there that already have all this down!)

We've got the ISTEP coming up, so I thought it best to review a little bit while also figuring out this technology piece.  Fellow Hoosier and all around awesome person Mr. John Green (et al) helped us out with that today:

After 11 minutes of historical brain candy, students had to work together on their google docs answering questions from both the film and the school year as a whole.  Some of the questions were factual recall.  Some asked for discussion...  If you want to know what I asked, here it is:  RIGHT HERE.  (I capitalized that in case you got lost.)

Here's some stuff the youtube video addressed (directly or indirectly) that may show up on the final:

• ancient civilizations
• water 
• drinking
• agriculture
• sanitation
• standard of living
• code of laws
• natural resources
• theocracy
• Hamurabi
• system of writing
• human capital
• empire
• religion
• culture
• architecture
• Great Bath
• Asia 
• South America
• ...Yeah...  that's already a lot, and I haven't had to stop and think yet...

Students, you can access your own files from home if you have a computer and the internet.  Or maybe a phone.  I haven't tried google drive on my phone yet.  I should.

In case you've forgotten your new email address, it's firstnamelastname@stu.concord.k12.in.us.  Go ahead and send Firstname Lastname some letters.  He really wishes he'd been named differently.  Don't forget the s when you type in your password.

If you came to my blog for the extra credit, you were supposed to read and discuss it with an adult.  If you did that, write down a couple sentences from your discussion.  Tell me what you talked about.  Hopefully you told them how google docs went today.  (It was much better from my vantage point.  Students were working in smaller groups instead of the whole class working on the same document together.)  Have the adult sign the paper.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.  Turn it in tomorrow.

You might take the time to show them your group's google doc.  You could even change it a little bit to show them how it works, if they're not familiar with the technology.  ...I get that most of you probably have your own google account...

Also, if you want to change your profile picture, go for it.

Authority/Power/Control

Bellwork question of the day:  "Should students have the same amount of authority as teachers?  Why or why not?  What would happen if students and teachers had the same amount of authority?  Answer in complete sentences."

So, we introduced the concept of government.  While they were working on the bellwork, I played a video from youtube:




The class was pretty well split, slightly favoring the teachers maintaining their authority.  (It's nice to know my job is safe.)  (...For now...)

The students don't know it yet, but I've introduced the political concept of rule of law, and limited and unlimited government.  We talked about the people who have the most power in our government - and whether or not that meant they got to do whatever they want...

But it was just an introduction.

We spent the rest of the time reviewing the ancient civilizations and filling in our Venn Diagrams.  (If you need one, click on the link - if you want to know what goes in them, check out yesterday's post.)

I also passed out the REVIEW GUIDE.  It'd probably be a good idea to study.  The test is a week away.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog with an adult, you've got to read and discuss it with them.  Tell them what you think about the student/teacher authority question.  Maybe study for the test for a couple minutes.

When you're done, find a scrap of paper and write the following quote:  "I!!!  HAVE!!!  THE POWER!!!"  Then, have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.  Turn it in tomorrow.


Did we also watch this clip?  ...Yes... Yes we did.