Oral Traditions and Chapter 1, Section 1

Today we began by discussing the importance of oral traditions to various different cultures. I wanted the students to see that we (residents of the United States) typically view oral traditions differently than residents of other countries around the world. For instance, countries with low literacy rates, or longer histories than the United States, may place a greater value on oral traditions simply because that is all that they have. We don't often think of ourselves as being a 'young' country, but in the grand scheme of things we are very young. This influences our viewpoints on a lot of things.

We also spent some time reading chapter one, section one, of the text. Students were to preview pages 6 to 9, write three questions in anticipation of the reading, and begin a group discussion about the material. We will pick up there tomorrow!

Discussion Question #1

The question came up in class today: Is it human nature to judge people based on their looks or the clothes that they wear? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Share your thoughts and comments here... Feel free to share your experiences!

What does human nature mean anyway?

Otzi Discussion/Video

Today we read about Otzi, otherwise known as the Ice Man. We also watched a short 6 or 7 minute video showing his remains and the artifacts found with him. We had an interesting discussion about him based on those remains and listened to some theories about who he was and what he was doing at the time of his death. We were also able to watch the scientists perform an archaeological experiment.

We also spent some time discussing the before, during, and after reading strategy which will be used in this class. We will use this for the first time on Monday. I decided to alter my plans a little bit because I felt it made more sense to talk about the Ice Man first.

Finally, we talked about notebook checks. I will look at students notebooks from time to time (my goal is twice a quarter) and I will focus on the following contents: Questions of the Day, BDA Reading Notes, Maps, and Notes/Handouts. All students should have a notebook/binder in which they keep everything organized by date.

Archeaology

Today we began class by making a list of the 'things' an archaeologist would be interested in examining. Some of the following were answers given in class: bones, bodies, pottery, tools, artwork, textiles, structures (like buildings and houses), and toys. The purpose of archaeology is to learn about people (from the past) based on what they have left behind. To help see how it works, I distributed a few items to the students and we imagined that we were archaeologists and found the items. They were simple items, like: traffic cones, a track baton, pencils, a small stone pyramid, and a tennis ball. It was interesting how we looked at these items and were able to find all kinds of uses and potential purposes. Archaeology involves a lot of guess-work but in some cases it is all that we have to learn about the past. We also took some time to look at some of the bags students brought with for their English bag speeches (those who have Mr. Bezler) and we were able to see what we could learn about individuals based on the items they had with them.

Tomorrow we will begin our first in class reading assignment in groups. Make sure that you have your books!

Community

Today, we talked about the word community as an introduction to class. A community is a a group of people (or a population) who live in the same area and share a common interest. We talked about what makes a community, how communities have changed over time, and we even described our own communities. Although almost everyone had a slightly different definition, in the end they were all the same.

We also discussed the design of the class. There will be vocabulary exercises which I created to help student understand new terms as opposed to memorizing and forgetting after a test. We will also have reading activities which will be done using the BDA reading strategy (before, during, and after reading) and projects along the way.

The words we discussed today were: history, pre-history, and archeologist. All students should understand the meaning of those three words at this point.

First Vocabulary Assignment

Today, students were given their first vocabulary assignment for the year. They were provided a 'table' with three columns and several rows. In the first column the vocabulary terms are listed. The terms are to be defined in the second column and 'applied' in the third. They were permitted to work in small groups today.

Before they were given the assignment, we discussed the meaning of the word 'migration.' All students should have defined that term in their social studies notebooks. We also discussed my rules for working in groups: 1. Be Quiet (students should be speaking in an appropriate tone), 2. Be Respectful (no making fun of anyone or disrespectful language), 3. Be on task (stay focused on the assignment), and Stop and Go (those are the commands that I use to communicate with the class during a group assignment).

Tomorrow, students will be given a little time to complete their vocabulary assignment and then we will begin our vocabulary discussion.

Migration!

The term migration came up in class today. Here is a definition that I found online:

Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. The movement of populations in modern times has continued under the form of both voluntary migration within one's region, country, or beyond, and involuntary migration (which includes the slave trade, Human traffic in human beings and ethnic cleansing). People who migrate are called migrants or more specifically, emigrants, immigrants, or settlers, depending on historical setting, circumstances and perspective.

What are your comments? Is there anything that you don't agree with in this definition? Are you confused? Give me feedback...