Natural Resources and Colonization Simulation

We started today's lesson with a bellwork on the natural resources of Asia, and infrastructure.

After that, we began discussing the colonization simulation from last week.  Students had to answer some questions.  They'll get a chance to finish answering them tomorrow for bellwork - then we'll go over the activity in earnest.

Most of my classes also watched this clip.

If you want the extra credit, watch it and write down an explanation telling how it ties in with the colonization simulation.

Have the adult you read the blog with sign your explanation when you're done.

Turn it in tomorrow.  Make sure your name is on it.  (I've been getting quite a few extra credit papers with no identifiers...  You don't get credit for those...)

Colonization Simulation Breakdown II

The students have homework over the weekend, though most of them finished it in class.  If they haven't finished their Colonization Simulation Breakdown papers, they need to.  (I'll attach a link in case anybody was absent or lost it.)

If you were in class, it should be easy, as we discussed a lot of the questions today.  Some of the questions were pretty straight-forward, such as: "What did your flag look like?"  Or, "What was your chant?"  Other questions were more difficult though, like, "What did the flag and chant represent?"  We discussed the different aspects of culture that they represented.

I think it's fairly important to stay informed, so before the 2008 elections, I read both of Barack Obama's autobiographies/memoirs as well as John McCain's book Faith of My Fathers.  In the book, McCain tells of when he was a POW in Vietnam.  He told the story of Mike Christian making a flag out of his POW uniform.  We discussed what the flag represents, and why.  We compared that to the flags students made for the activity.

I searched out the story on youtube.  It differs slightly than how I remember it from the book.  It's embedded here if you care to take 3 minutes to watch it.




We discussed whether what happened was fair or unfair, and why students felt that way.  We discussed sporting events, reffing, and how things always seem unfair if you're on the team that loses.

We discussed ethnocentrism, and whether or not the Europeans were truly ethnocentric.  I had a student one time ask me if they were really ethnocentric, since my definition was, "thinking your culture is superior to other cultures."  The student told me that means the colonizers weren't ethnocentric.  Since they defeated everybody else, they really were the better culture.  If two basketball teams played one another, we'd all agree that the winning team was the better team - especially if it was a landslide victory. ...Like I said, we had some great discussion today.

Congratulations.  It's Friday.  I am a real human being typing this.  If you want the extra credit on Monday, have the adult you discussed the blog with sign a piece of paper and write something witty on it.

Here's the link to the paper: Colonization Simulation Breakdown Paper

Debriefing Colonization Simulation

That's right, it's time for the weekly social studies blog homework.  In case you're still wondering why I do this, the more a student discusses what goes on in the classroom, the better chance she'll have at retaining the information.  Furthermore, multiple choice testing can only assess so much.  One-on-one discussion truly shows understanding and comprehension.  Unfortunately, I can only have a limited number of one-on-one discussions in the classroom.  Finally, I'm trying to help you guys out. I believe it is important to keep families in the loop.  This is what we are studying in my class.

Yesterday we had the colonization simulation.  Today we started debriefing the activity.  The bellwork question was, "If you were in a group that was conquered, how did you feel?  Why?  If you were part of the conquering group, how did you feel?  Why?"  So far, I've received some really good responses.  Most students bought into yesterday's activity, and felt like it was unfair that one person could defeat seven or eight.  They thought it was unfair when their land was taken.

We looked at a couple maps of The British Empire:

Image Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Empire.png

Then we went back to the "Reasons Explorers Explored the World" paper from Tuesday.  Class was cut short today because of the writing prompt, so we'll have to leave the rest of the debriefing until tomorrow.  To get credit for the blog homework, discuss yesterday's activity.  Adults, ask questions about what happened.  Students, be as descriptive as possible.  Explain how the desire for natural resources was the driving force behind exploration and colonization.

After you've discussed the blog, write the following sentences on a piece of scrap paper: "I read and discussed the blog with ___________________________________."  Then have that person sign on the line.  Finally, write 3 things you told them about yesterday's simulation.  (Make sure your name is on the paper as well.)

Colonization Simulation

Today we did one of my favorite activities of the year, the Colonization Simulation.  I wish I was allowed to post pictures of students on here.  Most of them really got into it.

The room was covered in blue butcher paper, with spaces of carpet representing the continents.  Students take time developing their own cultures.  They're supposed to make a chant/cheer, design a flag, and alter their style of dress somehow - cuffing their pants or rolling up their sleeve...

Then, the smallest of the continents sails across the sea and tries to colonize the others.  If they succeed, they tear up the flag, and force the people to dress the way they dress.  They always succeed.  (At least in the simulation...  I guess we're having another Great Britain/Falklands flare-up...)

We're going to debrief the activity at length tomorrow.  There may be a little bit of homework as well.  (Shock and sadness from all students involved.)

In order to get the extra credit for reading this, students must discuss this blog with a parent or adult that lives in their home.  Students, tell your parents about the activity.  What continent were you on?  What continent do you think it represented?  What did your flag look like?  What happened to it?

After you've discussed the blog and the questions in bold above, write the following quote and sentence on a scrap of paper.  "'What were the political ramifications of the 1986 quarter-final World Cup game?'  I read and discussed the blog with ___________________________."  Then have the parent/adult from your home that you discussed it with sign the scrap paper on the line.

Colonization Simulation Breakdown

If you were absent Friday, instructions are at the bottom.

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, I know some of you like to check it right away - especially if you were absent and need to download the homework...  I had a meeting during prep, then I played a minor role in a movie (don't worry, you'll probably get to see it and make fun of me...)  Then, I went to the High School to get tickets for sectionals - the athletic office closed at 3:30, and Friday was the last day to order tickets.  I'm sure those of us who missed the game are all bummed we missed it last night.  Another reason I didn't post this until now was because I was watching and rewatching this clip from WNDU:




Yeah.  There you go.  Fantastic.

How can you go from that to social studies?  Good question.

We started to debrief the colonization simulation.  We'll finish up on Monday.  Because of the two hour delay, the we didn't have as much time in class, so the students all had homework.  To get the extra credit for reading the blog tonight, discuss that (completed) homework with whoever it is you read the blog with.

Have them sign the homework.  Turn it in on Monday, but make sure that the signature is prominent, so that I'll definitely see it when I'm grading those things.

Also, the key here is that you discuss it.  So, make sure that happens.  I trust you guys.

*But what about 6th hour, Mr. Habecker?  What about us?  We finished it in class...  (sad face)*

6th hour, you can discuss it, find a scrap piece of paper lying around the house, and have the adult you read the blog with sign it, stating you did discuss the homework that you turned in Friday.  If I find out Monday you conned your parents, and you didn't actually turn in the homework, you won't get credit for the extra credit either.

And if you were absent, you can download the homework here: BLOCK H RESOURCES and download the "colonization break down."

Colonization Simulation

Today was a good day.  Stressful, but one of the best.  We started working on the colonization simulation.  The desks are cleared out of my room.and students worked on creating their own culture.  They were divided up into continents, and then within those continents, they formed smaller groups - symbolizing the fact that even though they were all part of the same continent, there's great diversity found within.

I don't want to give away what it all means, but here are some pictures from the day:

If you want extra credit for reading about, and discussing the blog with an adult... make sure you've read and discussed it.  Tell the adult what your flag looks like.  Tell them some of the natural resources your continent has.  Tell them the chant you came up with, and why.

When you're done, write two sentences from your discussion.  Also, tell me which of the pictures is your favorite, and why.  Then, have the adult you read and discussed the blog with sign the paper.

See you tomorrow.

The Last Vestiges

Today, as I was setting up the room, I found this.  One of my classes had apparently slid it under the wall so that it would escape total destruction.  It is the last vestige of the Saian culture, which has been completely destroyed and replaced by the Eropan culture.

The bellwork today wrapped up the colonization simulation.  In case there is any question about what I was going for, I'm going to spell it all out right here.  If I'm reposting anything from Thursday or Friday, sorry.

Students created their own cultures.  These were represented by flags, chants/cheers, and altering their style of dress.  The chants/cheers represent their language, arts, and customs.  The flags represented their government, values, etc...

The play-doh represented the natural resources found on that continent.

I had two groups per continent.  This was to represent that the continents were very large, containing different people groups.  The flags were made out of the same color construction paper, symbolizing the similarities.  But they were still different - representing the differences within each continent.

The Eropans had superior weapons.  They came and attacked the people living on each continent.  The native groups had the choice between fighting and surrendering.  Most chose to fight, and it was rigged.  They lost before they even had a chance to fight.

This was meant to signify the advanced weaponry used against the various groups - be it the Aborigines, the Aztecs, or the Indians of India.

We discussed whether  or not it was "fair."  I asked whether or not the Eropans were ethnocentric for what they did.  I would submit the answer is yes.  They believed their culture was best - so much better than the others,  in fact that the other cultures didn't even deserve to live in many cases.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog with an adult, discuss the colonization simulation one last time.  Compare it to what happened to the Banananovians.  How is the similar?  How is it different?

When you're done, find a piece of paper and write two sentences from your discussion, and have the adult you discussed it with sign the paper.


We're not there yet, but we're nearing the end of the marking period.  If you're missing anything, you can download it HERE.  (If I'm missing anything, let me know.)

Progress Reports and an Influx of People Wanting Extra Credit

So, progress reports come out tomorrow.  And we just took a little quiz that a lot of people got Ds on.  SOOOoooo... I'm anticipating an influx of students who are looking forward to some extra credit.

You've come to the right place.

We've finished studying religions.  You should now know the difference between monotheistic and polytheistic religions.  What theocracy is, and when it comes into play.  You should know some differences between the monotheistic religions - what Jews and Christians believe about the Messiah, for instance.  What are the Five Pillars of Faith for Islam?  What does "poly-morphic monotheism" mean?  Which religion is it specifying?  Which religions believe in karma and reincarnation?  How is the idea of karma in Hinduism different from the idea of mercy in Christianity?

We'll come back to the religions in review, but we're done for all intents and purposes.

For now, we're doing some moderate review - both for the ISTEP, and for our final, which is coming up in about 3 weeks.

It's been a while since we've discussed globalization, standard of living, or human capital.  Hopefully you still remember the differences between limited and unlimited governments.  More recently we've talked about colonization and imperialism.  How many of you remember the colonization simulation?

Does anyone remember why you learned TKWA?  Not just what each letter stands for, but why you learned it?

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog with an adult, you need to read and discuss it with an adult.  To get the points, write the answer to at least 3 questions asked above.  They can be any three questions.  Third paragraph.  Fifth.  Have the adult you read it with sign your paper.  Turn it in tomorrow in the extra credit tray.

Colonization Simulation 2015

Yesterday my classes worked on developing indigenous cultures on the continents I placed them.  You see, I split my room up into 4 sections; each section represented a continent.  Three of the continents were large, spacious, and had untold natural resources.

The fourth was smaller, but no less proud.

Groups were tasked with developing flags, chants and songs, changing their style of dress, and coming up with other ways that could symbolize their particular cultures.

It was a fun day, yesterday.

Then came today: exploration, conquest, colonization, disease, defeat and shame.

The small continent with few natural resources had the opportunity to explore the other continents.  The people of the other continents decided whether they wanted to fight, or work with those who were invading their land.

If you're reading this at home, discuss what happened, and what it symbolized.

If you weren't at school today, tell what you think happened.  When you come back, find out if you were right or not.

When you're done discussing it, write a few sentences about your discussion, and have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.

Here are some pictures:

First, a map of the world:

This next one is a close up of Saia.

I call this one "Negotiations."

And perhaps my favorite, "To the victor go the spoils."

Black History Month: The List

What with snow, standardized testing, and life, I've been pretty bad lately about keeping up with the blog.  So, my apologies.

Before I get into the actual post, a couple things: the 7th grade social studies ISTEP will be on Friday.  The IDOE has given us four topics that will likely be covered on Friday's test.  PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT RIGHT NOW.  Go to the last page, and read the middle column.  (It's really, really short.)  Consider giving a quick quiz to your kid over that stuff.

Second: yesterday we did our colonization simulation.  I'm always excited to post about it, but my phone didn't have any storage left, so I couldn't take any pictures.  If you were absent yesterday and want to make up the points, read at least two posts from this list, and do what they say at the bottom of the post.

As for Black History Month, every day we had school I added another name to the list of prominent people of African ancestry.  Students could get extra credit by researching that person and writing a paragraph about them.  I'm extending this through the end of the week.  Here's the list:

• Fannie Lou Hamer
• Mansa Musa
• Nelson Mandela
• James Baldwin
• Scott Joplin
• Nat Turner
• Sojourner Truth
• Toni Morrison
• Benjamin Banneker
• Malcolm X
• Crispus Attucks
• Colin Powell
• Richard Wright
• Desmond Tutu
• Claudette Colvin
• Thurgood Marshall
• Leo Africanus
• Muhammad Ali
• Mathias de Sousa
• Hank Aaron

The list is admittedly flawed.  It focuses too much on the 20th century.  Men heavily outnumber women.  I intentionally left off the names that students hear year after year - I wanted to expand their horizons, rather than keep them narrow.  That said, maybe I was wrong to keep them off.

Please help me out by telling me other names I should have included.  You can put them in the comments, or if you have me in class, bring in a list.

Students in my class can earn extra credit by reading and discussing this blog with an adult.  If they've done that, have them define the following 4 terms on a piece of paper.  (The terms come from the IDOE link above.)

Natural resources:

GDP:

Liberation:

Colonization:

Have the adult you read and discussed with sign the paper.  Turn it in tomorrow for extra credit.  (Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it as well.)

Flags and Culture

The colonization simulation is full of symbolism.  The play-doh represents natural resources.  Changing styles of dress represent the different styles of dress in various cultures.  The chant/cheer/song can represent the arts, or customs, maybe even religion...

But what does the flag represent?

The American Flag - although a good-looking, and artistic piece of cloth, does not represent American cultural arts.  Rather it symbolizes everything we stand for as Americans.  It represents our government, and (I would suggest) more importantly, our values.  It represents our culture as a whole.

When students made symbolic flags for their continents, they were supposed to keep this in mind.  And when those flags were destroyed, it was to represent that in all areas, their culture was gone, and replaced by another.

To hammer the point home, we watched John McCain tell a story of his days as a Prisoner of War.  You can watch the video here:

Most classes also played the listing game.  We used natural resources as our topic.  If you want the extra credit today, you have to do two things.  First, rewatch and discuss the video.  Write a couple sentences telling about your discussion.

Second, you have to challenge the adult you read the blog with to the listing game.  The topic is, of course, natural resources.  Write a sentence telling me who won.

When you're done, have the adult you read and discussed with sign the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow.

P.R.

Well, progress reports came out today. Overall, grades were good - though there were a couple bad grades in the mix. It's interesting that I'm offering more extra credit than ever, and I still have some students with low grades...

At any rate, you can get some extra credit today by discussing the following with an adult - preferably one that you live with, like a parent, or auntie, etc...

Tell what happened in today's segment of Gandhi. What points did Mr. Cowells stop it? Why?

Compare what's happening/ what happened to the Indians to the Burmese in "Shooting an Elephant" or the Banananovians, or the various continents in the colonization simulation.

Make a prediction: if the British leave India, what's going to happen?

To get the extra credit today, write the following on a sheet of scrap paper: "Nice beard, Mr. Frantz. I read and discussed this leap-blog with ___________." Then, have the adult you discussed it with sign on the line.




Image Credit: TheSayGi

He has put a knife on the things that held us together, and we have fallen apart.

There were many endings to the colonization simulation, but I would hesitate to consider any of them "happy."

Students spent the past two days building a culture, only to have it destroyed and replaced by another.

The conquering group came through, tore up the flags the others had made.  They stole their natural resources.  They fought and defeated those who resisted.  Then, they replaced the flag with their own.

Some of the original inhabitants of each of the colonies fought.  They were killed immediately.  Some surrendered.  They were forced to abandon their own culture.  Many (like James in 5th hour) were killed anyway, even though he did everything asked of him.  Occasionally, the conquering group would let someone live, but those instances were rare.

It was a sad day, and people felt cheated.

Maybe you're saying, "well... it was a happy ending for the conquering group.  They came away with natural resources and a larger empire."

You might be right, but here's another line from Achebe: 

"We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own. The Igbo, always practical, put it concretely in their proverb Onye ji onye n'ani ji onwe ya: "He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down."

The title of this post comes from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog today, tell your parents (or whoever you're reading this with) what happened.  Tell them how you felt during the activity.  Tell them what you think it means, and ask them what they think it means.

When you're done, write a paragraph about your conversation and have them sign it.

9:10:11

I can't believe I'm posting in the morning.  This is great!  Maybe I'll be able to set up the Colonization Simulation during prep today, and then I won't have to put in another 14 hour day, like yesterday.

My second hour class is at a job fair, in case you're wondering what I'm doing.  I could be up with them, but as I'm already gainfully employed I think this is a better use of my time.  Mrs. K. Dutton is up there with them as well, so they're not just roaming the halls.

Natural resources, natural resources, natural resources.  If there's one thing I want students to get out of this lesson, other than a review over karma, the caste system, and Hinduism in general, it's natural resources.

I gave the students a handout on exploration that Mr. Cowells gave me.  It's basically a cut and paste from thinkquest. How I long for the day when we have paperless classes, and I can just send students to that link to get the information.  There is Sooooo much we could do if every student had his own computer.  The future continues to impress me.

If you want some extra credit points, go to the THINKQUEST site and discuss the reasons for exploration with an adult that lives in the same house as you.  THOUGHTS:  Were some reasons better than others?  What are the implications of the sentence under Gold, Silver and Precious Stones,  "They believed that Asia was loaded with gold, silver, and precious stones, so they decided to find it and bring it back."  What about the section, Larger Empires?  Any thoughts on that one?

If you want credit for discussing this blog, write down the headings from each of those sections from the thinkquest website.  Then, write the sentence, "I discussed the thinkquest website with_________________________." on a piece of scrap paper.  Finally, have the person you discussed the blog and website with sign on the line.

The Old One Two Punch

We're going to be going back and forth here for a while - building off previous knowledge.  We were studying religions, but then started into studying imperialism and colonization.  But now we're moving into studying Hinduism and Buddhism - more religions.  And then we'll study the British colonization of India - more imperialism.

In some ways, social studies is a lot like math.  We don't have a "Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally," - which you should probably understand before attempting AP Calculus, but the concepts often do build off one another.

I collected the homework today, and we went over the symbolism from the simulation: the destroying of the flag represents the destroying of the culture, just because one culture is more advanced when it comes to weaponry does not necessarily mean that the culture is "better."  ... Or "worse."

Changing the dress symbolized... dress.  The chant/song symbolized the arts, customs, and language.

Some students had trouble with the flag.  Yes, for this activity it symbolized the arts, but more than that - as in our own society, it symbolizes our values and government.

I have a meeting right now, so I'll keep the post short.

As always, if you want the extra credit, discuss today's blog.  Adults, ask some good questions about colonization, globalization, and imperialism.  Students, if you want the extra credit, write the following quote on a piece of paper proving you were at the blog today: "What are we excusing Aunt Sally for this time?"  Then, have the adult sign it.  True, this may not prove that they discussed the blog with you, but hopefully they're aware something's going on.