What is social studies?

Welcome Students! 2014-2015

I am happy to be embarking on a new school year with my new students.  I will update this blog, usually weekly, with information pertaining to class.  For the next few weeks, we will be studying:

1.  The meaning of social studies:  history, geography, political science, economics, and behavioral science.
2.  The meaning of civilization:  centralized government, organized religion, job specialization/social classes, art/architecture/infrastructure, and written language.

We will apply those concepts to the following civilizations over the course of the school year:
1.  Prehistory - The Absence of Civilization
2.  The Fertile Crescent
3.  Ancient Egypt
4.  Ancient Greece
5.  Ancient Rome
6.  Middle Ages of Europe

This year, I will also be reviewing books relative to course concepts.  I can't wait to begin!

Athens and Sparta

Honors/General:  Both classes will be working on the same assignment although there will be differences in the preparation of the essay.

Students have been reading about the ancient city-states of Athens and Sparta.  There are many ways that they can be compared.  Our goal is to successfully write a five paragraph essay.  This week students created their own questions regarding the two and used them to quiz each other.  At the beginning of next week, we will sort through the information and create a graphic organizer.  Students will then use that information to write their essays.  There will be three focus corrections areas.  One half of the grade will be based on the comparisons (at least three).  A quarter of the grade will come from the introduction and conclusion paragraphs combined.  Finally, the last quarter of the grade will come from the proper usage of end punctuation and capitalization.  More details will follow as we progress.

Reminder:  There will be a map quiz on half the countries of Europe on Friday.

Ancient Greece

We are finally ready to move on to ancient Greece!

Both honors and general classes have begun to explore the physical geography of Greece.  Students have been working on completing a physical map of the region.  Those maps will be due on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 by the end of the school day.  All students have had at least forty minutes of class to work on that map and should have needed only minimal time outside of school to complete it.

General Classes:  Students will continue to study the geography of Greece for the first two days of the upcoming week.  From there, they will begin to take a look at the earliest civilizations of the land.  Both the Minoans and the Mycenaean contributed to early Greek culture.

Honors Classes:  Students will continue their group presentations regarding Egypt today.  By Wednesday we should begin to discuss the early Greek civilizations.  Students will also be given their next set of debate topics.  Grades for the presentations should be available (online) next weekend.

Mummification Lab - Students in my general sections have completed the first four portions of the mummification lab.  In approximately  two weeks, we will take a look at the results and complete the reports.

Debate Topics (Honors):
1.  Democracy is the most effective system of government.
2.  Athens was superior to Sparta.
3.  Socrates was more influential than Aristotle.
4.  The Ukraine should defy Russia and make agreements with the EU (European Union).
5.  All politicians become corrupted by power.
*The next round of debates will be scheduled for 3/28 (Updated)

Upcoming Literature Assignments (Honors):
1.  The Death of Hektor - 3/14
2.  The Wooden Horse - 3/21 (Updated)
3.  The Sirens - 4/7
4.  Atalanta - 4/14

Upcoming Maps (General/Honors):
1.  Europe #1 - Quiz - TBD
2.  Europe #2 - Quiz - TBD

The Curse of King Tut

Will we ever have a full week of school?  I'm sure we will... eventually!  Anyway, last week was cut short, so we will continue where we left off.  We have finished our discussion of ancient Egyptian religion.  I would still like to complete the mummification lab - although time is running out.

This week, we will focus on the curse of King Tut (a popular lesson with my students) and then ancient Egyptian culture.  It is important for students to understand that we only know what we know about ancient Egypt because of research and discovery.  The fact that Tut's tomb was uncovered shed some light on what life was like in his era.  The artifacts collected spoke volumes.  Think about the work of archeologists and anthropologists this week.  The video I will show in class will be a great transition to this area of study.

My honors students will take a slightly different route this week.  There is a project due on Friday which should be complete and shared with me via Google Presentations or whichever program they decided to use.  Some class time will be allotted for tying up loose ends.  All students have been given a copy of the rubric which includes grades for both the presentation itself and delivery.  At this point, I am not changing the due date.  I expect to begin presentations early next week.

All of my classes will begin transition to studying ancient Greece within the next two weeks.  There are three more units of study this year.  The final two units will take up the fourth marking period.

The Three Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt - Model Essay (Annotated)

The history of ancient Egypt has been broken down into three periods of time.  The oldest of those periods is often referred to as the Old Kingdom.  Naturally, the following two periods are referred to as the Middle and New Kingdoms.  These kingdoms were very different from one another.

{Note:  I never wrote, “I am going to tell you about...”}

During the Old Kingdom, the central focus of the Egyptians was trade.  The Egyptians traded with the Nubians, located to their south, as well as the Europeans across the Mediterranean Sea. The most important commodity was timber.  The Egyptians used the wood to build houses, boats, and furniture.  The kingdom grew weak eventually as the governors challenged the pharaoh.  This led to their demise.

{Note:  I described the Old Kingdom without copying directly from the textbook.}

During the Middle Kingdom, the focus of the Egyptians became creating infrastructure.  They spent their wealth on creating a bigger and better Egypt; but, they  neglected to build a solid and reliable defense.  This set them up for a potential disaster.  They became a sitting duck for foreign invaders who came and defeated them.

{Note:  I used the word infrastructure instead of public works to demonstrate that I understood the meaning of the word.}

Once the Egyptians were reunited, they vowed to never make that mistake again.  Therefore, the focus of the New Kingdom became building a strong military.  The new army, dressed in armor, used metal weapons and charioteers to ward off potential challenges.  This kingdom was also famous for its ‘boy king’ Tutankhamen who died at a very young age.

{Note:  I changed my wording so as to not start this paragraph the same as the previous two - I didn’t write, “During the...”}

In conclusion, historians have divided the history of ancient Egypt into three periods of time. Those kingdoms were known as the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms.  Each kingdom had a specific focus which defined it.  

{Note:  I restated the introduction, but I didn’t copy it word for word.  I didn’t want to bore the reader.  I also avoided saying, “I hope that you enjoyed reading...”}

Review- I checked my writing more than one time to make sure that I used proper capitalization and wrote in complete sentences.  I also double-checked my punctuation.  Before I was finished, I read this essay four times - I counted!

Egyptian Religion

Last week, I was unable to publish my post.  Unfortunately, I have been battling an illness.  Although I feel better than I did, I still have not recuperated completely. I hope to get this week off to a better start.

General Classes

Last week, students took a quiz on the countries of Southern Africa. Most of the students did very well demonstrating that they studied. I was especially pleased to find out that many of them have downloaded free apps which helped them prepare. My students also completed a type three writing assignment regarding the three kingdoms of ancient Egypt. On a separate post, I will provide a model essay written by myself.

This week, I will begin by reviewing the student's notes about ancient Egyptian religion. By the end of the week, we should have completed the topic. There will be a current events assignment due on Friday (periods 1, 3, 4, and 6).

Note:  Grades are up-to-date for all classes with the exception of period three.  Unfortunately, a fire alarm interrupted their quizzes - more time will be given on Monday.  To make matters worse, their essays need some work as well.  I hope to have grades updated by the middle of the week.

Honors Classes

Last week, students spent two days in the library researching various topics concerning modern Egypt. Thanks to Mrs. Diaz, students were given a mini-lesson on appropriate resources. She also worked with students as they compiled information. Students read, and recorded notes on, the story Aida. This reading will be reinforced when we travel to the high school for the musical. My students also completed a map quiz regarding the countries of Southern Africa. Most students did very well.

This week, students will continue to work in small groups. We will also discuss ancient Egyptian religion as well as the three kingdoms.  They will complete a type three writing assignment this week. I will also be checking their notes.

Second Marking Period

The second marking period is just about to end and my grades are up-to-date. That being said, some students have found themselves in a precarious situation. There are a handful of students who will not make the cut this marking period, but it is important to know that it is not over! There are two more quarters which will impact their grades (one way or another). Don't give up!

With all of these snow days, it has been hard for us all to find our groves. Plans keep changing and all due dates have been questionable. I have been very forgiving in that department - don't get used to that, because things will go back to normal.

General Classes - You should have begun to identify the countries of Southern Africa; the quiz date is tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday (January 29th). In class, we will continue to study Egypt. Our focus will be on the kingdoms for the next few days which they are appropriately named Old, Middle, and New (like the Stone Age).

Honors Classes - The Egyptian Cinderella notes were due today; obviously, it will now be due tomorrow (or on our next school day). No excuses! I have secured some library time on Thursday and Friday of this week, but I'm not sure how that will be impacted by the snow day. I will let you all know when we get back to school. Continue to think about your project topics. I reviewed your plans and I have offered some suggestions which you will see tomorrow. Most of them were great - there was one that was really lacking and one that was not turned in. In any case, you will all need to work hard to accomplish the goals you have set.

Moving beyond the Geography of Egypt

Last week, we continued to focus on the geography of Egypt. Students will begin to study other aspects of Egypt in class this week. Please refer to my previous post for my Egypt presentation.

General Classes:  We will continue to move forward in an attempt to understand Egyptian religion this week. It is very different from the religions of which most of us are familiar. As we study the gods and goddesses, we will learn about their valuable role in the culture. See assignments below...

Honors Classes:  Last week we reviewed geography and began to look at the written language of ancient Egypt. We read about the Mystery of the Hieroglyphs in our literature books and took Cornell Notes. I have reviewed the notes this weekend and I will return them to students tomorrow.  See assignments below...

Assignments -
General Classes - I will collect students Egypt maps on Monday. All students should have identified all of the locations listed on the reverse of the paper. On Friday, students will be taking a quiz on the political geography of Northern Africa (period six will be taking it on Thursday due to the early dismissal on Friday).

Honors Classes - I will collect students Egypt maps on Monday. I will also be checking their political maps at that time (a classwork grade). On Friday, students in period two will be taking a quiz on the political geography of Northern Africa (while students in period eight will take it on Thursday due to the early dismissal on Friday). All honors students should also complete reading, "The Egyptian Cinderella," before class on Tuesday, January 21st (I will collect Cornell notes at the end of the class). That assignment can be found on page seventy-three of the literature book. We will also discuss the project we will begin this week.

Advice to all students:  Study your maps!  You should be studying your map each day for ten to twenty minutes leading up to the test.  Use the resources on my teacher's page to quiz yourself.  Do not wait to the last minute as you will be overwhelmed and your efforts futile.

Geography of Egypt

I am happy to say that we made good use of our time on Thursday.  We began by looking at the geography of Africa in general - we noted that Africa was made up of two distinctly different types of geography.  The Northern part of Africa (the Saharan region or Maghreb) is largely desert.  The Central and Southern parts of Africa (sub-Saharan Africa) are made up of rain forests and savannas.  Obviously, these lands are home to very different people.

Then, we narrowed our focus to Egypt and were able to begin to see the impact of the Nile River.  We will talk more about that on Monday.

Assignments for the upcoming week:

Periods 1, 3, 4, and 6 - Current Event (in journals) DUE FRIDAY

Periods 2 and 8 - Cornell Notes - The Mysterious Hieroglyphics (pages 60 to 63) DUE FRIDAY

All Periods - Physical Map of Egypt (TBA)