The Fertile Crescent Empires

This week, students in my general classes completed vocabulary charts.  Basically, they displayed all of the vocabulary terms, definitions, and applications graphically.  The application part seemed to be the most difficult based on my review of their work.  I will give some examples below.  But first, here are the definitions of their newest set of terms:

1. Empire:  many territories and peoples controlled by one government
2. Babylon:  the capital of Babylonia; a city of great wealth and luxury
3. Caravan:  a group of travelers journeying together
4. Bazaar:  a market selling different kinds of goods
5. Zoroastrianism:  a religion that developed in ancient Persia

Students also completed a physical map of the ancient Fertile Crescent.  For the most part, they scored well.  I will distribute their graded maps in class tomorrow.

Back to the vocabulary assignment...  Since so many students struggled to appropriately apply the words, I will apply each of them tonight.  I will be reviewing all of the words on Monday and sharing these sentences.

1. Scribe:  In ancient Sumer only male students could study to become scribes.
2. Fertile Crescent:  The modern-day country of Iraq is located in the middle of the ancient Fertile Crescent.
3. City-State:  Singapore is an example of a modern-day city-state; few remain.
4. Polytheism:  The polytheistic people, such as the ancient Egyptians, worshipped several gods and goddesses.
5. Myth:  Sumerian myths warned that the gods would punish the people who angered them.
6. Empire:  Hammurabi, leader of the Babylonians, created one of the first empires as he conquered many Mesopotamian city-states.
7. Babylon:  Some historians would argue that Babylon was the most gorgeous capitol city of the ancient world.
8. Caravan:  The nomads of north Africa often traveled in caravans as the moved from place to place in search of food.
9. Bazaar:  When I visited Khan al-Kahlili in Egypt, I was amazed at the variety of goods that were sold and traded at the bazaar.
10. Zoroastrianism:  The Persians, a polytheistic people, primarily practiced Zoroastrianism.

Hopefully you can see how the sentences that I created demonstrated that I fully understood the words that I defined.  You should also notice that I included words from the previous unit in my definitions.  That is what I'm looking for from my students.

Honors students completed another literature assignment.  They read about the Babylonians and the nonfiction article did a great job of showing us how people changed as time moved on.  From hunter-gatherers to somewhat modern civilizations, the Fertile Crescent transformed before our eyes.  Students took Cornell notes as they read.  I have gone through their notes and I am very pleased with the way the students interacted with the text.  Students should continue to work on their physical maps of the Fertile Crescent - they must be complete and submitted by Wednesday.

Upcoming:  Honors students will be in the library, for research, as they begin to prepare for their upcoming debates.  General students will have a review of the vocabulary and will become more familiar with Cornell notes.

Land Between Two Rivers

The vocabulary words from last week were:

1.  Scribe:  a professional writer
2.  Fertile Crescent:  a region in Southwest Asia; site of the first civilizations
3.  City-State:  a city that is also a separate, independent state
4.  Polytheism:  the belief in many gods
5.  Myth:  a traditional story; in some cultures, a legend that explains people's beliefs

In class, students read about ancient Mesopotamia and the Sumerians.  Understanding the geographic setting will help them to understand the civilizations which we will begin to study this week.

Students in my general classes wrote about current events.  Unfortunately, we did not have a lot of time to talk about them because class on Friday was very tricky.  Some students worked on retakes of the map quiz and others worked on catching up on reading and other assignments.  I also tried to conference with many students regarding their performance on the map quiz and in general.

I was disappointed when I scored the map quizzes.  It seems that many students didn't study for it at all; however some students did study and had a great deal of success.  I decided to offer retakes in class on Friday to give students time to study and improve.  Again, many students did not study and that is reflected in their scores.  My advice is to study each night, for a short amount of time, when preparing for a map quiz. Waiting until the last minute to study will be ineffective for most students.  Students should also try to play the games that I posted - they will help a lot!

In my honors classes, students took notes on, "The Monster Humbaba" from their literature books.  "The Monster Humbaba is an excerpt of the Epic of Gilgamesh.  They used the Cornell format to take their notes which I collected for review this weekend.  Overall, they were done very well.  I will be returning them during class on Monday and we will have further discussion which will include looking at some of the highlights.  I think most students enjoyed reading the story and I look forward to reviewing their notes on, "The Babylonians" this Friday.  Students should be reading, "The Babylonians" this week and taking notes (due on Friday).

Upcoming debate topics:  1.  The Hammurabi Code is more effective than modern law; 2.  Farming should be considered one of components of civilization; 3.  The Palestinians should have their own country within the boundaries of modern Israel; 4. The United States should not give aid to the Philippines after the recent typhoon; and 5.  The Patriot Act is necessary despite infringing on our privacy.

Debates will take place on Tuesday, November 26th.

The Babylonian Empire will be the central focus next week.  Along with the Babylonians, we will study the Assyrians, New Babylonians, Persians, Phoenicians, and Israelites.  It will take us two weeks or more to learn about these civilizations.

Our next set of vocabulary will include the following terms:  empire, Babylon, caravan, bazaar, and Zoroastrianism.  I will post definitions when I blog next week.

Geography and Civilization in Mesopotamia

This week students read about, and discussed, the geography of the Fertile Crescent.  Students should have learned that the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was called Mesopotamia and that it was the best place to build a civilization in the ancient Middle East.  We will continue that theme in class this week.  Students will also begin to work on their physical maps of the Middle East.  I will be allowing students to work on this assignment in class.

The map quizzes have been graded and entered.  It should be obvious that some students need to work on study skills.  That being said, students can arrange a retake with me so long as they do it before November 19th.  At that point the grades will be considered final.  Some students need to take advantage of that desperately.

Beginning on Monday, students will read about ancient Sumer.  They will have the opportunity to earn some classwork points which should help their grades.

The honors students will be given their first assignments from our literature books.  The first assignment is an example of nonfiction text.  I will be giving them note-taking instructions (see the documents tab of my webpage for details); the notes that they take will be graded.  The assignment will relate to one of the five components of civilization:  Written Language.  The second assignment will be an excerpt from an epic poem:  The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Finally, students in periods 1, 3, 4, and 6, will have a current event assignment due on November 15th.

Introduction to the Middle East

Last week we completed our study of Prehistory and the Stone Age.  All of the tests have been graded and quarter grades have been submitted.  Overall, I am pleased!  I think that the first marking period has been a success; but, there is always room for improvement.

That being said, students were given their first map assignment for the year.  Students will be learning about the Middle East in class, so it only makes sense that they should be familiar with the political geography.  I have scheduled the map quiz for Friday, November 10.  Students should be working with their maps at home.  I recommend that each student spend a little bit of time (maybe 10-15 minutes) looking over their maps each day.  POWER period would be a great time to study.  They should also explore some of the great mapping games online.  Here are a few...

Sheppards Software - Middle East Matching Game

I like to learn - Middle East Matching Game

Rethinking Schools - Middle East Game

We will also be working on a physical map in the coming weeks.

All students should be able to explain the difference between a political and physical map by this point. 

This week, we will preview the unit on Monday and begin discussing key topics on Wednesday and Thursday. 

In the coming weeks, I will be introducing all of my classes to debate as we use Middle East-based topics to work on our skills.