Sept. 11, The Middle East, and The United States

First of all, sorry that the map didn't work yesterday.  It works from my computer, but not from mobile devices.  If you read and discussed, and told me about it, you still got the credit yesterday.  I've changed it, but I don't love the new map, as it is a bit difficult to read the coordinates.

For the rest of the week, we're discussing the Middle East, the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks - how they changed the world, and how they changed the United States.

Today, I tried to get a feeling for what the students have already learned.  There is a lot of misinformation out there.

After that, and a little discussion, we watch the news bulletins as they happened.  What we watch is actually a much shorter version of the clips you'll see below.  If you weren't here, check them out.

Students may earn extra credit by reading and discussing the blog with an adult.  Ask the adult what they remember from 9/11 and the days and months that followed.  Write down a few of their responses on a sheet of paper and have them sign it.  Make sure that your name, date and hour are on the paper and turn it in tomorrow.

Arab Spring - Junior Scholastic

We're continuing on/wrapping up the Arab Spring.  ...We did some map work from Junior Scholastic, and played the online geography games.  If you were absent today, you need to see me in order to complete the assignment.

If students want extra credit today, they should play THE MIDDLE EAST five times, starting at the last level they completed in class today.  (So, if they made it to level 7 - start there... don't just play level 1 again...)

Print out the scores, or take a picture of them if you want the credit.

A Couple Games

To get the extra credit today, play the Middle East Geography Games found HERE.

We spent a little time today discussing similarities between the three monotheistic religions - Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.  One of the similarities we mentioned is that they all originated in the Middle East.

Some of the students were unsure of what/where the Middle East is, so I talked about the term a little bit - and how it's Eurocentric - and therefore, one could argue - ethnocentric.  (Basically, the term comes from the European point of view.)

Here's a nice picture:

To get the extra credit today, students have to play the game (play the "country" column - in the middle) 5 times, and show an adult that they've played it 5 times. Once they're done, have the adult sign a piece of scrap paper, along with the scores.

Online Maps

We've basically finished up the 3 monotheistic religions.  We'll come back to it next week to see how they all relate, but for the most part we're finished.

Today we looked at the Middle East.  The Middle East is predominately Islamic, so it fits right in.  (And of course it ties in with multiple standards.  Because of the continuing Reading and Math Push my students are frightfully behind on basic map skills.  The online games we played in class are a great way to help them with spacial recognition.  Don't forget, I give extra credit for every five games they play.  They can play the Middle East game right here. 
Tomorrow we're going to review Mesopotamia and Hammurabi.  I'm pretty excited about that.  I've been waiting to try out this webquest I made up.  You can take a sneak peak by clicking on Mesopotamia and Hammurabi.  ...Either one.

If you didn't do the homework over the weekend - which was to visit this blog and discuss the questions, make sure you do that.  (Friday's blog entry...)  Turn in the sheet before 8:00 AM if you want to get credit for it on your progress report.

If you want to get extra credit for reading and discussing todays blog here's what you have to do:
Click on the Middle East game link.  Challenge whoever you're reading/discussing this with to a best 2 out of three games Middle East Countries (middle column) level one.  Student goes first.

When you're finished, write the following on a piece of scrap paper: Computers are our friends.  Have the adult that played the game with you sign the paper.  Adult, by signing the paper you are stating that you really did play at least the best 2 out of 3 games.  If you got smoked and played more - bravo.

Love this one...  ...so where's the Middle East?  And Where's the Mid-West?


If you like this comic, and want to see more of this type of humor, feel free to check out xkcd here.  Enter at your own risk.  I haven't read all of the comics.