Guest Blogger - (Cameron)

For our Question of the Day, we talked about slavery in Greece. After that we worked in our groups and read about Sparta. We continued our characteristic maps of the Athenians and Spartans. Tomorrow, we will have the beginning of class to finish them. Remember that you must have at least ten facts for each city-state. For the rest of the period, we will go over the chart and make a class list. This will be a great study guide for the assessment!
-Cameron (:

Sparta and Athens

The first essential question that we will focus on involves comparing/contrasting the Spartans and Athenians.  Today we began to record the characteristics of the Athenians in our notebooks and tomorrow we will do the same for the Spartans.  By the end of the week, I hope that we are able to take those two lists and write a solid essay which answers the essential question.  We will also be discussing slavery in ancient Greece tomorrow.

Vocabulary Review

I know that today was a tough day for all of us; tomorrow will be better!  We took a breather today and some of us spent a lot of time reflecting on the past.  It is okay to have days like this once in awhile, but tomorrow is a new day and we need to move on.

Today we tried our best to finish up reviewing the vocabulary from sections 7.1 and 7.2, and I checked those sheets and gave credit to those who had them completed.  That will be the last grade for the third marking period.  Tomorrow we will begin to take a look at the text and read some parts of it in class.  We will also begin to explore the two essential questions.

My plan for the fourth quarter is to spend half of the time discussing ancient Rome and the rest of the time discussing Europe in the Middle Ages.  I will also fit in a mini-unit on Islam.

Have a good night, get some sleep tonight, and I will see you all tomorrow!

Weekend Discussion Question

Who was Geraldine Ferraro and why was she an important American figure?

Gender Roles

Today we discussed the interesting topic of gender roles in society. 

As we read, it was apparent that there were distinctly different roles for men and women in ancient Athens.  The men, had much more freedom and opportunities.  They were able to go to the Agora and spend time socializing with their friends, engaging in discussions regarding politics and philosophy, and even had some time to sit back and relax.

Meanwhile, the woman's place was in the home.  Basically, the women were responsible for doing anything and everything pertaining to the upkeep of the house, nurturing of the children, and were not permitted to venture out in public alone in most cases.  They were seen as vulnerable and it was thought that they needed to be protected.

Do we have gender roles in the American society today?  If so, can you describe them?  How have they changed over time?

Feel free to post any questions or comments that you may have!

Living in Ancient Greece

In some ways, life in ancient Greece wasn't too much different from life in the United States today.  Caution:  I am over-simplifing things by making that statement!  That being said, there were a lot of differences. 

In this part of the unit we will look at ancient Greece through the eyes of the Athenians and the Spartans.  People from each of these city-states had different priorities.  Those priorities will become a focus for us as we learn about their cultures.  Furthermore, we will look at the ways in which said Greek culture(s) spread around the world as well as the people who helped to make that happen.

Tomorrow we will resume reviewing the vocabulary terms from sections one and two and discuss the way in which we will move through the chapter.

Presentations Day 2

Today we continued with our presentations; tomorrow will be the LAST day.  Students who do not have their presentations complete by the end of class tomorrow will earn a zero for the presentation part of the grade (unless there are specific exceptions made).

Presentations

Today was the first day of presentations.  We will continue tomorrow and see how many we can fit in.  Make sure that you have everything submitted so that we can wrap these up.

See you in class tomorrow...

Disappointment...

Unfortunately, I have to deal with the fact that 69 of you did not submit your social studies projects on time.  I guess I will spend Monday having you call your parents one-by-one.  What did you do with all of the class time I gave you?  Do you care if you fail?  Think about that for a little...  Post your thoughts. 

Reminder

Remember, your projects are due on Friday by 11:59 PM!  Please, please, please do not plagiarize!  To date, seven people have turned in their projects and one of them has already been caught.  Trust me, it is not hard for me to determine who has done it and I can easily prove it.  A zero on this assignment will guarantee that you will fail the marking period, and I don't want to see that happen.  Let me know if you have any questions! 

What is a Prime Minister?

According to Merriem-Webster Dictionary, a Prime Minister is:  1.  The chief minister of a ruler or state. 2.The official head of a cabinet or ministry; especially, the chief executive of a parliamentary government.

In Greece, today, they have a parliamentary government with a Prime Minister; his name is George Papandreou. The Prime Minister serves a different role from that of the President of Greece, whose name is Karolos Papoulias.  While the President is the head of state, the Prime Minister is the head of government.

One thing that I think is interesting about Greece is that although it is a democracy it can function like a dictatorship. 

For more information, check out the following link which has a ton of information!


http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3395.htm

Back on track...sort of!

Well, we put the ancient Greece project behind us and today we began to think about chapter seven.  Today I handed out the two vocabulary sheets (7.1 and 7.2) and students had some time to work on those sheets today.  Unfortunately, I won't see many of my classes over the next few days because of PSSAs; therefore, my goal is to be able to discuss the terms on the sheet on Friday of this week.  There will be two essential questions and then it is off to Rome! 

Make sure you remember to bring your calculators to your homeroom for the next few day and get a good night sleep!

Also, don't forget that your raps/poems/songs are due electronically by Friday at the latest!

Annie

Last night, I was pleased to attend Muhlenberg Middle School's rendition of Annie.  I have to admit, Annie is NOT my favorite show (by far); but, the cast and crew made it an awesome experience.  I was happy to see my students singing and dancing on stage and having a great time doing it!  I am also very proud of the dedication that it took to put the show together.  There are so many valuable lessons that students can learn by performing in the arts which simply cannot be taught in the classroom.  I look forward to many more shows in the future and watching those students who performed last night blossom into even better actors in the future.  Keep up the good work MMS, your hard work is appreciated!

Mr. W

Final Work Day!

Today was the final day that students will be given the opportunity to spend class time working on their Greek character sketch assignments.  Every student should have researched, brainstormed, written a rough draft, and had peers review their work in class this week.  The final copy of the assignment is due electronically by Friday, March 18, 2011 at 11:59 PM.

There are three ways that this assignment can be submitted:  1.  Upload on my Wiki, 2.  Email, 3.  Flash Drive.  I suggest that all students submit their final copies by Thursday at the latest; if they wait until Friday, and they are not sure how to do it, they will not have the opportunity to ask me for assistance in school. 

Please make sure that you proof-read thouroughly and upload the assignment timely.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask by posting a comment or asking me in person early next week.

Have a great weekend!

BrAiNsToRm

Due today:  Brainstorm!  By the end of class today, all students should have showed me their note cards with 20-25 details about the person they have been researching.  Tomorrow, they will have time to work on a rough draft and spend some time reviewing each others work.  It is my goal that they will have their rough drafts complete by the end of this week.  I am contemplating giving students one week from Friday to turn in an electronic copy of their final product (I will post my final decision later this week).  With PSSA testing next week, I am not sure how often we will meet as a class.  Nevertheless, students should be able to get their final copies in to me by the end of the week (next week).  Please let me know if you run into any problems or need any help!

Greek Mythology Raps/Poems/Songs (Guest Blogger - Brad K.)

Today in Class we worked on our Greek Mythology projects. We started, and some of us finished, our Brainstorming and came up with around 25 facts about our gods/goddesses or monsters. Starting tomorrow we will start writing our projects using the 25 facts we have on our notecards. Some quick ideas to help... Use characteristics of your God/Goddess or Monster in whatever you are going to do for your prohect and maybe interpert where he lives/where he came from/and what he does in your project. If you have any more suggestions (Most likely MacK and Cam will) post them as comments for others to read them to make their projects better.

Caption: Thesues Kills The Minotaur by slicing his head off with his sword.

Great Job Brad!  Thanks for being my guest blogger!

Presentation Topics

In class today, students were able to pick topics for their research projects on people from ancient Greece.  They were able to pick from gods/goddesses, philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, political figures, writers, and even mythical creatures. 

Step two of the project will include compiling some information on the figures that they chose and creating a 'brainstorm' card.  Tomorrow will be a work session, so students should come prepared with any documents that they found on their own.  I do have plenty of information in my classroom as well as two computers which they may use as needed.

Have a great night; I will see you all tomorrow!

Ancient Greece Project

Today I introduced the ancient Greece project that we will begin working on this Monday.  Students will be expected to research a person (or diety) from ancient Greece and complete a creative writing assignment.  Students will be encouraged to create a song, rap, or poem pertaining to their 'character' and present their final product to the class.  What I would really like to do is create a book of 'projects' for each class that I teach and perhaps have a 'best of' book' printed and bound to be on display at our district learning fair.  It is going to be very important that students keep pace during this long term assignment.

Feel free to post any comments or questions...

For more information, visit my wiki and click on the Greece Project tab or click on the link below:

http://mrwinandsclass.wikispaces.com/Ancient+Greece+Project

Guest Blogger (MacK)

Today in class we spent time on writing an essay. The students were asked to write about a conflict in the epics, Iliad and Odyssey. The kids had to describe one conflict that included the characters involved. The students then had to explain how the conflict was resolved. Tomorrow in class we will congratulate MacK on how well she posted for me this evening. She made it look professional. I hope you have a great night.

Thanks, MacK, for filling in for me.  Anyone who wants to be a guest blogger should talk to me in class and I will arrange it.  It worked out well tonight because I am only getting home now and it is 10:24!  Thanks again...

Isn't Paris a Girls Name?

Wow!  I can't believe we were able to finish reading the epics today...  Be ready for tomorrow; you will have time to write your essays in class and hopefully you will do well.  It should be an easy grade for all of you so come ready to write...

If you  have any questions about the conflicts we read about, be prepared to ask me at the beginning of class.  Once you get started, I will not be answering any questions about the story. 

Thank you, and have a great night!

Are you there MacK?