Dear Period 4,
That certainly was an interesting class. I am not sure what it was about today, but there seemed to be an almost class-wide lack of focus. Possibly because it was a Monday after a sunny weekend. Possibly because the class just was not all that interesting (which I have a hard time believing, but could totally be true). Whatever the reason, I really had a difficult time quieting everyone down, making sure that people were paying attention to what was going on, being prepared, and other aspects of class that should really be entirely up to you guys. Take some ownership of class! It simply just will not work if I have to do it all. That, as we saw today, would take up most of the class.
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? How can the Middle East be stabilized?
Soundtrack: "Beautiful Day" by U2. Lyrics here. Chosen because it really is a beautiful day outside! Some of the lyrics that relate to the interconnectedness around the world:
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day
AGENDA 5/18/09:
News Brief
Promises, Part II
Final Paper Note Taking
Homework: Bring sources (at least one more) for next class. Continue to work on research and on your IP project! Read blog recap!
As I said in class, we have two different projects that we are working on. The Israeli-Palestinian project, which will probably be due next week, which can be downloaded here:
That project is designed to make each side come together for a common purpose (which you have to decide).
Secondly, the final research paper for the entire class, which is an historical investigation about anything of global significance (your choice). That will be due at the end of the year. You can download the assignment sheet for that here:
Get it? Got it? Good. :-)
News Brief: We had a few good topics to talk about this morning, but none that I actually took note of to post on the blog. However, I did have a couple of items to point out in class and on here. The first was this article: CNN.com - Woman elected in Kuwait says gender in politics is 'history'. Super interesting article, I thought! Exactly what we were talking about at the beginning of this unit with how women can have an impact in the Middle East. Yay, progress!
I also pointed out that President Obama is meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. Here is a recap of what they talked about, supposedly: HuffingtonPost.com - Obama, Netanyahu Meeting: Obama Says Israel Must Stop Expanding Settlements. Again, EXACTLY what we are talking about in class! Cool to see how it all relates, right? :-)
Abraham brought in this article TheStar.com - Tamil Canadians hold vigil outside U.S. consulate. I talked a little bit in class about the 25 year long conflict in Sri Lanka between the government and the Tamil people, frequently named the "Tamil Tigers." Here is an article about that Associated Press - Sri Lanka military cuts off rebel sea escape.
Generally, interesting news! Armando, you are up for next class. A news article about anything going on around the world outside the United States. Thanks!
Promises, Part II: We watched the film until about 20 minutes left in class, pausing to stop and write questions and conversations to the kids in the movie. I would say that we have about 30 minutes left of this for Wednesday. Hopefully, everyone can see why this documentary is so important to watch! Keep your heads up and eyes focused, please!
Final Paper Note Taking: During the final few minutes in class, I had everyone go up to the board and write down what their idea for their final research project is. I was not expecting a really concrete idea, but many of these seemed entirely too vague or not thought through enough. Again, your homework was to think of something and bring in a news article about it! That is your homework for tonight as well!
For the rest of class, I had you take notes on three separate sheets of paper in your folders. Here is exactly what I typed on my laptop, for future reference:
YELLOW SHEET:
Quotes. One sentence quotes: put quote in quotation marks "quote" in parenthesis (author, page number)
Bigger Quotes: Indent quote and single space --> for multiple sentences and paragraphs (author, page number)
RED SHEET:
Summarizing paragraphs or chunks.
Put the author's words into your own words (do NOT just rearrange the words)
PURPLE SHEET:
Summarizing entire articles.
Main points --> what is the general purpose of the source?
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We finished with these thoughts. Please be using these to take notes on your articles! Your paper will write itself, if you do this correctly!
Have a great day! Enjoy the sunny weather, but please make sure to keep working hard in all of your classes (and especially mine). The year is almost over! Let's get there together please! :-)
class was fun, i liked the promises video
ReplyDeleteChris!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that someone is actually reading this. I think you will really like the end of "Promises" tomorrow!
See you in class!