Greece

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have officially reached our unit on Greece. In the spirit of Socrates, students will be "teaching" their classmates. I will pose a question that each pair will have to research and create a mini-lesson for the class to present the answer. I am hoping that you find lots of interesting details to add to the GRAPES outline that covers our basic curriculum. (No, you can't all do the Big 3...yes, I saw Percy Jackson.)

To the right, I am posting a list of many sites you may visit for information. Each pair will have to create some kind of handout for the rest of the class. We will have 3-4 days in the computer lab to research and type. We will go over the details in class after we pre-assess our knowledge of ancient Greece.

Have fun!

Some Short Chapters...

Students -

We are covering 3 chapters in short, condensed weeks. These chapters are important for your overall class knowledge (there will be questions on the end of the year test), but not as crucial as our "BIG" units on Egypt, Greece, and Rome. We have covered/will be covering the following chapters before Thanksgiving:
Chapter 7: The Hebrews
Chapter 5: Ancient India
Chapter 6: Ancient China

We will review these civilizations and religions on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving together in class. After Thanksgiving break, we will begin our work on Greece. (Start studying for the pre-test...)

Engineering an Empire: Egypt

We began watching a video today in class. If you want to watch parts that we skipped due to time, here is the You Tube link for the program. It is in 10 parts...
Engineering an Empire: Egypt on You Tube

Have a great weekend!

Egypt Unit

In class, we are reading the book Mummies, Tombs, and Treasure:Secrets of Ancient Egypt by Lila Perl. Along with this, we are answering questions which will be turned in. After we complete this non-fiction book, we will be working for 2 weeks on our Egypt books. I have scheduled computer lab time for research and for typing. Students are required to read and answer questions on each page they are creating, develop a table of contents and glossary, and to decorate each page as they wish (to go along with the theme). Instructions packets were passed out to students last Friday (10/8). These books will be due on Friday, 10/29. To the right in the Online Resources list, I have updated links to Egyptian sites that are informational and fun. I recommend that students start with these sites and move on to more complex or specific information if they wish.

Code of Hammurabi

Here is the link to the website with the complete text of the Code of Hammurabi.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: If you would like to earn some extra credit (maximum 10 points), then please copy 5 of the laws as written, translate them (tell what they mean in easy to understand language), and give a modern equivalent (if there is one, if not, please mention that). You could use federal, state, or local laws for the modern equivalent - please be sure to tell me which one it is.

Good luck!

Mesopotamia...No such place!

Mesopotamia, aka the Fertile Crescent, was actually a bunch of city-states and then empires which all existed around the 2 rivers - Tigris and Euphrates (you-fray-teas). It is an area that has seen continual strife for thousands of years, but it is also the "cradle" of civilization, because so many things were invented/first used there.
I've put some links on the Online Resources list if you'd like to do some peeking around!
Our test is TENTATIVELY scheduled for Tues. Oct. 5.

Early Man and Culture

We are halfway through our Early Man and Culture unit. This unit is about man's beginnings and how cultures developed through the environments that humans found themselves in. We have covered the ideas that geography affects the environment and the differences between history and archaeology. Next week we will tackle the beginnings of mankind and the revolutions of tools and farming. Our test is tentatively scheduled for Monday, 9/20, but may be pushed back a day due to this week's busy school schedule. Don't forget that the paleontologist from the Dinosaur museum will be coming on Monday to speak during 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period.
Sometime next week, we will begin our unit on Mesopotamia...after that, Egypt!

End of the Geography Unit

Parents and Students,
We will finish up our Geography unit this week with a test and your island maps due (both on Friday). While we may have some time in class to work on the maps, you will probably need to do 5-10 minutes a night on your maps at home. I have the white construction paper for the final copy in my room when you are ready.
Our test will be the same as the pre-test. If you have that in your folder, along with the notes & handouts we've done over the last week, you should have everything you need to study. We will do a review in class on Thursday.
Email me if you have any questions, or you can leave a comment here with a Google address.

New Year 2010-2011

Parents and Students,
Welcome to the Social Studies blog. This is where I keep all the things that could come in handy for our class units. Notice on the right that there is a username and password for your Online World History book, as well as for BrainPop. Underneath that is a list of links for the current unit we are studying. At the bottom is a list of the units we will cover this year.
If you have a question, feel free to email me, or if you have a Google address, you can comment here on the blog, and I will receive that through email.
Thanks for visiting!
Mrs. W

Middle Ages

We will be learning about feudalism, the importance of the Christian Church in Europe, and how towns and eventually countries developed in Europe. We will be creating a brochure for the Crusades next week. We will be in the computer lab on Monday and Tuesday next week.

Rome

We have begun our study of ancient Rome. We will be learning about its history from the Republic through the Byzantine Empire. This unit includes a lot of information about the foundations of our culture. Since we will be outlining these chapters, please make sure that you have paper in your folder to use everyday.

I have put links to Roman information in the Online Resources on the right side. Also, BrainPop is back running!