9/29/17

Happy Friday, Folks! I hope you’re ready to enjoy this gorgeous weekend ahead of us. Here’s how our week went at WHS and what your students can expect for next week.

World History 7:

Our seventh graders spent some time reading about Hammurabi of Babylon and his strict and harsh laws he imposed on his people. The students were placed in groups and given a “crime” to summarize, evaluate, and judge based upon the written codes of Hammurabi. They used evidence from the code to support their judgments and they shared the punishments the criminals endured with the class. The kids had a reflection in which they compared Hammurabi’s Code to modern U.S. laws and handed those in for me to look over. It seemed the kids did a great job of finding similarities and differences and discussing them in their reflection.

The kids wrapped up their week by beginning work on their Mesopotamian advertisements. They have elected to either work on this by themselves, with a partner, or in a group of three or four students total. They have all chosen an item invented by the Mesopotamians and are going to create a technology-based advertisement to pitch the product to the class as if they were also Mesopotamians. They are to provide accurate information about what the product is, what it can do, and why it would make the lives of Mesopotamians easier. The last part of this assignment is a three-paragraph essay that each student will write on their own. This essay should discuss how the invention of this item shaped the humans who used it, how the item (or its “relatives”) is still used today, and how the item still shapes the lives of modern humans. This project as a whole is worth 40 points and will be a significant portion of their unit and quarter grade. They have the next two class periods to work on this and we begin presentations next Friday (October 6th).

World History 10:

This week, we were finishing up our unit on Islam, Asia, and Africa. We started our week by watching an episode of the Deadliest Warrior about the Samurai and the Viking. We have been discussing ancient Asian cultures and Japan is one country we’ve discussed. The students learned about the role that samurais played in medieval Japan and I wanted them to see how samurais were trained, what weapons they used, and how they fought their opponents. Though this may seem like a passive class period, students were really engaged (especially when a little gore was involved). To round out our week, we revisited some Asian religions that we discussed earlier in the unit, but I wanted to be sure kids had a grasp on the beliefs and practices of each religions’ practitioners.

Next week, my WH10 students have their first exam. This will be on Wednesday (A Day) and Thursday (B Day). Kids should already be studying and preparing for the exam, which will be 50 points and a mixture of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. On Monday and Tuesday, we will have a review day where we will play a review game and students will have time to do some individual or partner studying. This is also a great time for students to turn in any missing work from this unit, as they must turn in all late work or redos before they take the exam.

Cultural Geography:

This week, we started working on North American culture and students had to fill out maps of the U.S., Canada, and Central America. It was a great way to see what kids have remembered from other classes and I think they learned a lot about North American geography! We also took some time to analyze American culture, which is very difficult for kids to break down. I asked students to put together a presentation as if they would be introducing a foreign exchange students to life in America, specifically life in Wilton. Each partnership was assigned to explain just one part of our culture, but they worked as a whole class on a presentation and they gave the presentation on Friday. It went pretty well and I think the kids did a nice job of explaining these norms.

Next week, we will spend time discussing current U.S. issues and how those issues impact culture in our country. We’ll end our week by learning about Canada and their culture and ultimately comparing cultures of these two nations.

REMINDER: Parent-Teacher Conferences are the next two Wednesday evenings (October 4 and October 11). I hope you can attend one of those nights and I recommend you bring your student(s) along!

That’s all for me this week. I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

9/22/17

Happy Homecoming, Beaver Nation! It’s been a great week filled with school pride (and tons of interesting outfits). Though it’s been a short and very busy week, we’ve done lots of great things!

World History 7:

This week, we learned a bit more about Mesopotamia and some of its rulers. In particular, we learned about Hammurabi of Babylon. Hammurabi was remembered for his strict laws and rules that he enforced throughout his kingdom. To illustrate what this code looked like, students did an activity where they were given a scenario and had to decide what the judgment would be based on Hammurabi’s Code. This is always a really fun activity, and it gets kids to think about justice systems of the past and the present. We compare this code to our own laws in the U.S., which is a great way to see what kids understand about the law (usually, the understanding is minimal, but some kids do surprise me!). The questions they did at the end of the activity were for a participation grade that will go in the grade book early next week.

In last week’s post, I stated we were going to be starting a project over Mesopotamian inventions, but my plans changed slightly and I decided to push it back to next week. I promise we will begin this project Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. In next Friday’s blog, I’ll update you on the exact due date and how the projects are going. When they are completed, I’ll share some student work on my blog so you can see what hard work these kids put into their projects!

World History 10:

My sophomores wrapped up talks of the spread of Islam throughout Africa and turned their focus on multiple dynasties in Asia, particularly the Tang and Song from China and the Yuan from Mongolia. We discussed economic and political instability in these regions in the past and tied cultural and religious changes to their unstable living conditions. We focused a good deal of time on the Mongols, as this group was most influential in the spread and stabilization of intercontinental trade.

Next week, we will discuss fighting tactics of the Japanese samurais and watch an episode of “Deadliest Warrior” about the weapons and fighting strategies of samurais. We will also take a deeper look at other Asian religions such as Daoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism and discuss how those belief systems impacted the cultures of East Asia.

Cultural Geography:

We wrapped up our discussions over the Five Themes of Geography by having the kids choose and country and answer questions about how geography impacts various parts of the population’s life and culture. Those assignments are due Monday.

Next week, we will begin to examine cultures, specifically North American cultures. We begin by reading about an indigenous group in North America and compare their lives to our own. The students will also complete maps of the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The maps are always an interesting activity, as kids really have to dig deep to find that information in their brain from years ago! Once we get those out of the way, the students will be tasked with putting together a presentation for a “foreign exchange student”. This is a way for students to analyze a culture that they are familiar with so that when we analyze other cultures, they know what to look for.

GENERAL REMINDER:

First quarter mid-term is Tuesday, September 26th. Please check your student’s grades to be sure they are in good standing!

Have a great weekend enjoying the homecoming festivities and stay cool out there!

9/15/17

We’ve made it through another week here at WHS and it was a busy one. Next week will be a crazy one with all of the homecoming festivities, but we’ll still be doing lots of great stuff in Ms. Moser’s classes. Here’s what you can expect:

World History 7:

This week, our seventh graders did some review over Early Humans and the Old Stone Age. This was a chance for the students to see what information they have and have not retained so far in class. It also allowed me to see if there are concepts that students are still confused on. Overall, it went just as I suspected it would. Some students remembered almost all the information presented to them, others looked as though it was brand new information. Regardless, we did go over the review as a class so that any concepts they wanted to go over again would be covered. We also watched a video from the Youtube series Crash Course about the advantages and disadvantages of agriculture. It sparked some great conversations about what other innovations and changes agriculture led to, like trade and even slavery.

Next week, we’ll focus our attention on the civilizations within the region of Mesopotamia in the Middle East. We’ll discuss why this was such a favorable location to live in and what the Mesopotamians developed in their societies. Students will begin a project to create an advertisement for a Mesopotamian invention/innovation. This is a fun project as it allows students to get a little creative, but it also helps kids understand how these innovations helped get us to where we are today.

World History 10:

This week, students worked on a multimedia project to review the information learned about the origins and beliefs of Islam. This project seemed to go well, and though I’m in the midst of grading them, the ones I’ve seen so far look pretty good! Later in the week, we discussed the movement of Islam to parts of Africa and how that impacted civilizations there.

Next week, we’ll continue focusing on Africa and look into the question “How did Islam spread all around the world?” We’ll then move to China, Japan, and Southeast Asia to look at how invading groups (like the Mongols and Arabs) impacted people in those regions. We’ll also take a closer look at some Asian religions, like Hinduism and Daoism.

Cultural Geography:

This week, we focused on themes #3 & #4 in the Themes of Geography (Human-Environment Interaction and Movement). We analyzed how our daily and seasonal activities affect our environment and how the places we live impact our lives. For movement, we looked at how religions have moved from their origins to different parts of our nation and why those religions are prevalent there. We also looked at how the ease of communication in our society make the movement and exchange of ideas and cultures so seamless.

Next week, we’ll finish up the theme of movement by discussing each of our heritages and try to figure out why our ancestors moved to the U.S. We’ll wrap up our first unit of the Five Themes by doing a couple of activities to learn about Region (theme #5) and figure out how various regions of the world are divided up.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and find some fun things to do! As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!

9/8/17

 

I hope this week has treated you all well and you’re ready for what your weekend has in store (hopefully that includes watching the Hawks win tomorrow!). We had a great week in my room, and here’s a run-down of what the kids have going on next week.

World History 7:

This week, the kids worked on their first vocabulary assignment for me. I’m in the process of getting them all graded, but the ones that I’ve seen look pretty good. Unfortunately, there was a chunk of kids who did not get the assignment finished and as thus on my Study Island list for next week. Remember, though, that students have until Monday at 11 AM to get any missing work turned in before they are placed on the FINAL SI list. Encourage your students to get their work done over the weekend, please!

The last couple days of our week were dedicated to discussing the Agricultural Revolution in various parts of the world. We learned what crops were growing in different regions and discussed how those crops have since migrated to be grown on nearly every continent. We completed a map to show this shift to farming in a visual way. We also watched a video from the Youtube channel Crash Course. This video discussed the advantages and disadvantages to Agriculture vs. hunting and gathering. The kids seemed to like the video, and I think they learned a little something, too!

Next week, our seventh graders will take what they learned about the growth of agriculture and apply it to the growth of cities, in particular,  cities in Mesopotamia. We will discuss the homes they lived in, the jobs they performed, and what resources they had at their disposal to survive. Later in the week, students will start to research a Mesopotamian invention or innovation for a project we will begin the week after next.

World History 10:

Our sophomores worked on a vocabulary assignment this week as well, and the results of those assignments were quite impressive. My bar is typically a little low for the first assignment of the year, but they definitely exceeded my expectations. I’m in the process of grading my B Day classes, but the ones I’ve seen have also been done well. To wrap up our week, we had some notes that discussed the beginnings of Islam and how it spread. We connected those beginnings to their current beliefs, which I think opened up a lot of eyes to what Islam actually is and how it is similar to and different from other monotheistic religions, like Christianity or Judaism.

Next week, students will be working on a multimedia project to review what they’ve learned about Early Arabs and the development of Islam. Once we wrap that up, we will begin to discuss the spread of Islam across Africa.

Cultural Geography:

My CG students worked on how to identify a geographical location based on what features make a place unique. They made post cards to describe a U.S. city and their classmates were to guess what place they were describing. It went really well and the kids’ artistic talents were pretty impressive. We wrapped up the week by writing advertisements for a place to entice visitors to go there. I’ll be grading those advertisements next week.

We’ll be learning about the third theme of geography next week, which is Human-Environment Interaction. This theme describes how citizens of a place affect their environment and vice versa. We’ll do an activity that asks kids to consider how their actions are affecting their environment, both positively and negatively. They’ll also evaluate how where we live determines HOW we live.

That’s all for me this week. I hope you have a great weekend and… GO HAWKS!

9/1/17

 

Greetings from Ms. Moser! I hope this post finds you in good spirits. I’m sure you’re all geared up for the long weekend! Here’s a quick rundown of how our week went in World History and Cultural Geography:

World History 7:

This week, our seventh graders were introduced to key concepts for the study of history. We discussed primary and secondary sources, the work that archaeologists do, and how historians organize time. Most of this should have been a review, but there was some new stuff sprinkled into the material.

To learn about these ideas, students were placed in groups to focus on a chunk of the new material. They were then placed in a new group to teach some of their classmates about what they learned and to learn other new information from their group mates. Though this took longer than expected, it went well. Students seemed focused and asked lots of great questions! Just to be sure all students received the correct information, we did go over those questions and ideas as a class.

Students had a quiz over this information this week, as well. They were able to retake the quiz until they received a grade they were pleased with. The kids did a nice job and I think we were all happy about the quiz results. The students were also assigned a vocabulary assignment to work on after they finished the quiz. The vocabulary will be due Thursday (A Day)/Friday (B Day). I’m giving students another day to work on this assignment in class so I can be sure they are completing the assignment correctly and are able to ask me questions as they work. This will help the kids in completing future assignments properly, also.

We will also look at a historical map regarding the Agricultural Revolution and place crops on a map of the world to identify which crops were grown in various regions of the world. Then, to wrap-up our week, the students will work with a partner to compare and contrast the Paleolithic Age (early human history) to the Neolithic Age (post-Agricultural Revolution humans).

World History 10:

Our tenth graders were working on researching world religions this week. Each class put together a slideshow that discussed the basic belief systems of seven popular religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism). We will be discussing the birth of Islam in depth in our first unit and focus more on Christianity and its changes throughout world history in our class this year. We look at these two religions most because of the conflicts the two groups were involved in throughout much of the Middle Ages.

The last two days, students had a brief quiz over the basic beliefs of the religions mentioned above, and most students did a really nice job with their quiz. They were then tasked to complete a vocabulary assignment over the beginnings of Islam. The kids will have next class to work on this also. To wrap-up our time next week, we will review the information they learned about Islam’s origins and the kids will begin a multimedia project to illustrate the Five Pillars (practices) of Islam.

Cultural Geography:

This week, my CG students worked on understanding the first theme of geography, location. We practiced using coordinates on a map to identify the locations of various cities around the world. We also worked on describing the relative location of a place. They then put these two concepts to use by creating their own fictitious country and placing it on our globe. They had to identify its absolute and relative locations, as well as explain the climate, exports they have, and natural resources you would find. These are due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, but most students completed them in class today.

Next week, we’ll focus on the second theme of geography: place. We will do a couple of activities to describe places around the world. Place is what makes a location unique from other locations.

That’s it for me for the week. Enjoy your weekend, all!