ATAT

Thanks for all the birthday wishes.  It's going to be a great weekend.

We've started looking at the Arab Spring the past couple days.  Hopefully your son or daughter can give you a little insight into what happened.  Go ahead and ask them.  Right now.  Just stop reading for a moment and see if they look confused or if they know their stuff.  (And students, come on... a great birthday present would be respecting your parents and not rolling your eyes at them when they start questioning you on the Arab Spring...)

We'll finish it up Tuesday and Wednesday, and then we'll move into studying religions.

I'm not going to post too much about the Arab Spring today though.  I'll save that for next week.  Today I want to post about Popeye.

Now, I don't have any tattoos - and I'm neither condoning them, nor disparaging them.  But Popeye?  That man has a couple.  And he's tough.  I always loved the episodes when he'd eat some spinach and his tattoos would come alive with power:



...Ok... so technically that's just his bicep.  But that's the best I could find on youtube with the time crunch I'm under.  If you find a better one, send it to me.  I'll embed it in here.

I've taught my kids what "unlimited governments" are.  They're governments with unlimited power: dictatorships, oligarchies, theocracies, and absolute monarchies.  But they don't know the many synonyms for unlimited governments: ATAT.

A: Autocracy
T: Totalitarian
A: Authoritarian
T: Tyranny

In those types of governments, all the power lies with the government itself.

There's a good chance there will be a short quiz over ATAT on Tuesday.  Until then, have a great weekend.  If you are looking for some extra credit, write the 4 synonyms for unlimited government on a scrap of paper 4 times, then have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.  Turn it in on Tuesday.

Government Video Pop Quiz

I gave a pop quiz today.  It was pretty fetch.  I gave them a little time to complete their government pictures and then study for it.  Here's how it went - I showed them a short video clip, and they had to write down the name of the type of government I was showing.  I'll post them up here so you can see what I showed.  For the record, there was some feigned controversy over whether I was showing R-Rated movies in class.  I wasn't.  I did show previews for The Kings Speech as well as The Last King of Scotland, but the previews were NOT rated R.  (I haven't even seen The Last King of Scotland... but it looks good.)

When I post them here, I'll tell you the type of government.  Consider it my gift to you:

The King's Speech - Constitutional Monarchy:





Mean Girls - Oligarchy:







Napoleon Dynamite - Representative Democracy (Republic):









Alice in Wonderland - Absolute Monarchy:








Gilmore Girls - Direct Democracy:







The Last King of Scotland - Dictatorship:








The Prince of Egypt - Theocracy:






If you want some extra credit - yes, it will still go on the 2nd 9 weeks if I get it right after break...  Then, discuss these clips with an adult.  Tell them (and write down) why each one shows the type of government it does.  If you need a to use your government chart to help you, you may.  If you don't have one, don't forget you can find it on the blog.  Once you write them down, have your parent sign it.  Turn it in when you get back.

Have a great break.  Get some rest.  Read some books.  See you soon... but not too soon.

Government Pictures - Quiz Yourself

Do you have the power to do whatever you want in a limited government?  Do you have the power to do whatever you want in an unlimited government?

Students sometimes have a difficult time with pronouns - particularly the pronoun "you."  Students (and others when writing informally) use this word to indicate various pronouns...  For instance, you can mean me, or them.  So, students sometimes say - incorrectly - that in an unlimited government, you have unlimited power.

This is only true if the you in that statement refers to the government.

The citizens living in an unlimited government definitely do NOT have unlimited power.

In class, we also traded pictures.  We tried to figure out which government was being portrayed, quizzing each other.  Some were easy, some were not.  How well the students did depended both on how well the pictures were drawn - both artistically, and accurately - as well as whether or not the student looking at the picture new the answer.

Here are some examples, (Click the pictures to enlarge them):

The first quiz comes from Jana Fisher:

The second quiz comes from Eliut Ramirez:

If you want the extra credit, read and discuss the blog with an adult.  Then, take the two quizzes.  (You may use your chart.)  Discuss the pictures from one of the quizzes with an adult.  Explain to them why each picture is a good representation of that type of government.  Have the adult sign your paper.  Turn it in tomorrow.