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!

Greece Unit 12/8 - 1/15

All Hail Mighty Greeks! We have begun our study of Ancient Greece. To accomplish this labor, we have divided into city-states in class. Our first task is to learn about Greek Mythology. This will involve learning the Olympian Gods, reading some myths, and becoming acquainted with some Greek monsters. Then we will learn the stories of the Greek Heroes, including Herakles (more commonly known by his Roman name, Hercules). We will compare the traditional story of Herakles Labors with the more recent Disney film version. After Christmas, we will study more about the city-states and their relations with each other, including wars and the Olympics. We will demonstrate what we have learned by putting together a newspaper from our city-states. Instructions and rubrics will be coming home after Christmas.

This is an exciting unit for kids and teacher alike! There is so much energy in the classroom. I have updated the resource links to the right for more research at home.

Egypt Books

We have been working on our Egypt books all week. Students should have 3-4 pages in some stage or another. We will be going to the computer lab next week on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If students do not need to use the computers, they will be allowed to work on their books in the labs on those days. Remember books are due next Friday, 11/13! Use the Online Resources to the right...

BrainPOP is temporarily unavailable while the school looks into renewing our license.