An Epic Story

Today we began reading an age-appropriate summary of Iliad and Odyssey.  It will take us two or three class periods to finish reading it at which time students will write an essay about conflict.  I introduced the concept of conflict as a problem that arises between two or more people or groups of people.  A conflict can also arise between a person and himself/herself.

Conflict is something that has happened throughout history and have characterized change throughout time.  Conflicts ranging from wars to simple disputes have shaped history and therefore it is a central theme of my class.

Unit One Assessment

Today students took the unit one assessment in their small learning groups.  Although I have not yet finished grading them, it seems that many groups did well.  Others, however, did quite poorly.  I will be giving them back on Monday in class. 

We will spend Monday and Tuesday of next week talking about the Trojan War and the rest of the week we will spend working on a character sketch project.  More details will follow next week...

Greece Assessment #1 Tomorrow/Essential Question #4

All students were given a study guide which can also be found on my wiki.  See the graphic below to help with essential question number four!  Let me know if there are any questions...

Map Quiz

In class today, students took a map quiz which included some of the countries of Europe.  They were given their map approximately ten days ago and reminded to study several times.  Some did, and some did not.  When they were finished with the quiz, they were given an additional copy of the map along with a list with more countries to study.  The next quiz will be given in a week from tomorrow.

There is a group assessment on Friday of this week and all students are encouraged to participate in the online wiki study guide.  

Please post any questions or comments pertaining to that assessment here and be prepared to spend class tomorrow reviewing in your groups!

Socrates and the Arts (Class 02/22/2011)

We began today by taking a closer look at Socrates.  I showed a short video (about five minutes in length) which featured modern-day philosophers talking about Socrates as well as clips simulating the Socratic Method.  The main idea was for students to understand the way that philosophers see the world as well as appropriate ways to question authority or norms.  If anyone has a question about this topic, please post so we can discuss.

Second, students spent some time reading about architecture and drama.  These topics, along with philosophy, relate to the fourth essential question of this unit:  What events and discoveries led to, and defined, the Golden Age of Greece?

We will spend some time on Thursday discussing our answers to that question!  Group one assessment will be given on Friday of this week!

Philosophy

What qualities or characteristics define a philosopher?  We started today's class by talking about what makes a philosopher a philosopher and listing some of those factors.  Then we talked about three philosophers in particular:  Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.  Two others came up in our reading:  Democritus and Thales.  Pick one of these philosophers and find some information on the web and post it as a comment.  Feel free to post whatever you want about them along with the website you found it!

Tomorrow we will discuss drama and the arts and apply it to the fourth and final essential question.  On Wednesday we will have a map quiz and Friday will be the first assessment about ancient Greece! 

Ancient Greek Religion, Democracy, and Discussion Question

In class today, we began by discussing some of the qualities that make a democracy function.  We almost all agreed that education is key, because we really want well-informed people to be making the tough decisions.  If we did not educate our people (any citizen of the United States, for instance, is entitled to a free, appropriate, public education), our democracy would be at risk.  This idea led me to post the following discussion question, and I would really like some of your input:  What changes could we make (as a nation) to protect our democratic ideals and help our government function better? 

We also spoke about the third essential questions of this unit, which is:  How was the Greek religion both similar and different from the religion of ancient Egypt?  I suggest that each student begin to create a "T" chart to help them organize their thoughts.  On our assessment, I will be expecting that each group can provide a minimum of three (3) similarities and three (3) differences.  We spoke about many of these in class today and everyone should be able to accomplish this task!

Finally,  It would be wise to begin thinking about the assessment which will take place on Friday of next week.  There will be four essential questions asked and students will be expected to select a few key terms to define from a list of fifteen (possibly 7 or 8).  Students should also be studying for their upcoming map quiz on Europe which will be administered on Wednesday of next week.  It would be a great idea to check out my wiki and begin to review and respond to the terms and questions.

Have a great weekend!

Pericles

Who was Pericles and why was he an important figure in ancient Greek history?

Pericles was a topic of discussion in our class today.  Students should be able to describe him by this point.  Tomorrow, we will continue our exploration of the Golden Age of Athens.  We will talk about some of the most important philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians.

Remember, you may present your extra credit projects ANY DAY.  Please take advantage of the opportunity!

Last, I want to thank the student who made my day today.  It is great to feel appreciated and I am proud to teach all of you! 

6.2 Vocabulary Review

Today we spent much of the period reviewing the vocabulary of chapter 6.2.  If there are any questions regarding those words, feel free to post on the blog and I will try to help you.  I will be collecting the graphic organizer in class tomorrow (02/17).

Be advised that we will be having a map quiz on Wednesday of next week.  All students should be spending ten minutes each night (approximately) reviewing the map and preparing for the quiz. 

Finally, tomorrow we will begin to discuss Pericles and religion in ancient Greece.

Have a good night, and I will see you all tomorrow!

Thucydides and Greek Democracy

Here is a little experiment.  In class today, we discussed an important quote by Thucydides.  Click on the link below to review the quote:

http://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com/ebook/products/0-13-166882-X/wshw_ch006_p0180q.gif

Did it work?  Let me know.  If it didn't work, I will see if I can find a way to reference the online edition of the textbook on the blog.

To sum it up...  Thucydides made it clear that he believed that the city-states of ancient Greece were models of the ideal form of government and that the world would try to copy their concept of democracy.  He believed that their focus on the majority (as opposed to the minority) was the key to forming a 'fair and just' government which also achieved a sense of equality for the poor.  What are your thoughts on this topic?  Please post them here...  

Oh, and what is the difference between majority and minority?  Can someone define it and maybe provide an example to make it clear?

Work Day

Today students were given time to begin working on their newest map (Europe).  Not only that, they were given their next vocabulary sheets (6.2).  While students worked, I took the time to meet with some students individually and discuss their grades. 

Tomorrow, we will begin to discuss some of the new vocabulary and review the map...

The End of an Era in Egypt

As promised, here is a link to a time-line of events which led to to the resignation of President Mubarak in Egypt.  For the first three periods, we discussed this current event and we heard Mubarak's speech in which he vowed to NEVER leave Egypt.  By the time I taught periods 6-8, he had resigned his position.  This was history in action to say the least.  Regardless, feel free to look at the link below and add a comment to ask a question or share a thought...

Click Here for Time-Line Courtesy of CNN

Next, I wanted to post this graphic and ask any of you (or all of you) to try to describe it in the form of a comment...  Again, feel free to post any questions as well. 

Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday!  Who knows what will be going on in Egypt by then...

And that is how democracy impacted the world...

In the short class that we had today, we spent much of the period talking about the ways in which democracy has impacted the world...

How practical is democracy?  Can we get 100 people together?  A thousand?  A million?  A billion?  That would not be an easy feat, nor would it be something that we could do on a regular basis...

The truth is that the democracy of ancient Greece has INSPIRED many other groups of people to seek a style of government where they have a voice.  In the case of the United States, it is a Republic.  A republic is NOT the same as a democracy, but it does have democratic principals.  In a republic, the masses elect representatives who govern (and are supposed to act in their best interest of the people).  Although there are flaws in the systems in place around the world, many of the ideas that we cherish come from the ancient Greeks!

Any questions?

Note:  Tomorrow we will begin to look at a modern political map of the countries of Europe.  All students will have time to work on the map AND ask questions in class tomorrow.  There will be a quiz in a week!

Essential Question #2 (Ancient Greece)

How and why was democracy developed in Greece?  How did democracy change the world?

To help answer this essential questions (with two parts), students were presented with the following PowerPoint slide.  Please review the slide and post any questions that you have regarding the process by which ancient Greece adopted democracy and the reasons why they chose to do so...

Famous Greek Americans (E.C.)

Are you interested in earning some extra points in social studies class this marking period?  If so, you are in luck!  All you have to do is pick a famous Greek American from Wikipedia's List of Greek Americans, do a little bit of research, and present your information to the class.  You may read what you find on Wikipedia, but remember that it is wise to look at other sources too!

Here is what I am looking for:
1)  Who are you talking about?  Perhaps you want to have a picture to show the class...
2)  Why are they famous?  How are they important?
3)  What accomplishments have they made?
4)   If you can find out, how did they go about immigrating to the United States?  If they are not a first-generation Greek-Americans, how did their family immigrate to the United States and when?
5)  Provide any other details that you think are important or interesting!

Better yet (added 02/10/2011) - Can you tell me how being Greek has influenced their lives?  For example, Greek stories, traditions, mythology, philosophy, etc...

Make a poster, make a PowerPoint, or do whatever it takes to make your presentation interesting (3-5 minutes would be the ideal length)!  Please turn in a copy of whatever articles that you use (or obtain information from) to create your presentation.  Feel free to highlight and/or write notes on the articles themselves.  If you have any questions, feel free to post them or ask me in class.

Good Luck!

and then there was DEMOCRACY

Today students were expected to finish their BDA assignment and begin to answer the newest essential question.  Be sure that it is complete and ready for me to review at the start of class. 

Tomorrow we will spend the majority of the period discussing democracy.  Begin to think about the ways in which democracy has impacted the world.  Have those changes been good?  Bad?  What do you think? 

Note:  Maps of Europe are coming soon!  Maybe even tomorrow!

Democracy, Greece, and the World

New essential question:  How and why was democracy developed in Greece?  How did democracy change the world?

Students should be in the process of answering the above-mentioned essential question.  The first part of the question could be answered based on a reading assignment that we began today.  The second part of the question will be answered after we have a class discussion in the coming days...

Can you define the word citizen?  Feel free to post a definition (in your own words) which will hopefully lead to some discussion!

Notes:  I have decided to break this unit into two parts.  Instead of one large assessment at the end of the unit, there will be two smaller assessments.  Between the first and second parts, we will begin to work on a project involving people from ancient Greece.  Finally, keep checking for information regarding another extra credit assignment (for the third quarter).

Cause and Effect (Friday's Class)

We discussed the cause and effect relationship that geography has on the lives of people who live in a particular place.  Here is the chart we analyzed in class for your review:

We also reviewed all of the key terms from section 6.1 (graphic organizer was due/collected on Friday). 

If you  have any questions, please post!

The Consequences of Geography

Yes, there are CONSEQUENCES of geography.  What do I mean?  Well, what I am trying to say is that geography is the 'cause' of many 'effects,' and that is exactly what we are talking about with regard to ancient Greece.

The goal for today's class was to extend our study of the essential question regarding geography.  Previously, we took a look at the impacts of geography on people (in general); today we looked at geography with regard to the impact that geography has had on two groups of people:  the Minoans, and the Mycenaeans.  In class tomorrow, we will discuss this concept further.

Reminder:  Vocabulary Sheet 6.1 is due TOMORROW and we will have a discussion about those words in class....