Period 4: World War I, Day 4 - Class Recap

Today's talk about writing essays included a bunch of pictures of Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco. Here's a picture of the city from that trip (Spring Break in 2011).

Dear class,

I realize that there has been a lot of me standing and talking to the class this last week! I apologize - hopefully it will not stay that way. I am simply guessing that you would rather hear all of this information personally explained to you, rather than copy notes from the textbook. In any case, I appreciated your effort today during our final class of Semester 1! On to the recap:

Essential Question: Why do wars happen? - There was an obvious connection between this question and what we worked on in class.

Soundtrack: "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer. Lyrics here. Picked because it is a good song and mentions war.

AGENDA 1/30/13

News Brief/Blog Recap
The Most Important Skill
Graphic Organizing
Why Did World War I Begin?

Homework: Check the class blog and post a comment if you have not already done so! Good luck on finals!
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News Brief/Blog Recap: Sai brought in this article about the situation in Syria. CNN.com - Syrians flee violence in dangerous nighttime trek to Jordan. I mentioned the ongoing conflict there over the form of government that Syrians want to have. This is very much related to the uprising against dictators in many places in the Middle East and North Africa - The Arab Spring.

We talked a bit about the Blazers comeback win over Dallas last night, as well. :-)

I forgot to assign the next news brief, but I will try to catch someone before next class and see if they would be willing to do it. Thanks!

The Most Important Skill: I said this in class and I really believe it: the ability to write (especially a good essay) is the most important skill that you will need in order to be successful in high school and college. Thus, this lecture was something I hope you paid very close attention to. Please see the PowerPoint below (remember that if the text doesn't show up in Google Docs, click "File" then "Download" and it should when you have a copy on your own computer):

Google Docs: Writing Easy Essays in Social Studies PowerPoint

The basics: every essay needs to start out with a "thesis statement" in the first paragraph (the introduction). Each of the three paragraphs after that should contain one main point you are trying to make. The format (or recipe) for those "body" paragraphs are like this: topic sentence, concrete detail/fact, concrete detail/fact, commentary/opinion, and then a concluding sentence. Finally, after the three body paragraphs, you will write a conclusion that restates the thesis. This is a LOT of information to try and learn, I know. That is why I am having you practice in class before I ask you to write me a real one at the end of the World War I unit.

Graphic Organizing: Based on the essay question on the last slide of the PowerPoint, I gave three different examples of "graphic organizing" your essay. I asked you to use one of these examples to start up your essay. If you missed class, here is one of the examples that you can use to start thinking about your essay:

Google Docs - Graphic Organizer for Writing Essays

Along with this, I gave the class a good format for writing a thesis (and even included one on World War I to start you off, if you were having trouble):

Google Docs - Thesis Statement Formula and Example

Hopefully this made sense. It is okay if it does not right away. That is why we are practicing!

Why Did World War I Begin? For the rest of class, I had you start up your essays using your graphic organizers - then the actual writing if you finished that. Here are the prompts that we were using (the last slide of the PowerPoint): 

Question: Why did World War I start and what happened at the beginning of it?

Words to use: militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, Franz Ferdinand, Sarajevo, Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, June 28th 1914, trenches, Eastern Front, Western Front.

Use your notes! Cite my presentation as (Fritz Lecture) for any concrete details directly from me. You can also use the textbook, if you like.

Again, we will continue working on this in class. The essay is not homework - I want to help you through each step this time. Next time, it will be an actual assignment/test. You will be including your work here with that final assignment - so it is not like this work will not count.

Phew! I know that is a lot. Please let me know if you have any questions! Good luck on finals - see you next week!

Period 4: World War I, Day 3 - Class Recap

My Great-Grandfather, Joseph Herbert "Bert" Frank, who was a medic for Great Britain during World War I. Photo courtesy of a conversation with my grandmother in 2007!

Hello everyone,

Thanks for another great class! I thought it was a good mix of new content and reflecting on what we have learned so far. I appreciate your willingness to listen and follow your own ground rules.

Essential Question: Why do wars happen?

Soundtrack: “The War Was In Color" by Carbon Leaf. Chosen because the song directly relates to learning about World War I. This was not just some old black and white documentary. I felt like it is probably what my great-grandfather would say if he were still alive and I asked him what it was like. Lyrics here. A sample I love: This black and white photo don't capture the skin/From the flash of a gun to a soldier who's done/Trust me grandson/The war was in color.

AGENDA 1/28/13:
News Brief/Blog Recap
Sparks Into Fire
My Connection
Life in the Trenches
Grades/Make Up Work

Homework: Check the blog and post a comment if you have not done so! Have a great weekend!
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News Brief: Sarah presented an article (no direct link because it was in a magazine, but here's one close to it: USAToday.com - Russian adoption ban frustrates American couples) about how there are 700,000 orphans needing to be adopted in Russia, with only 18,000 Russian families willing to adopt. A new law is banning Americans from adopting Russian children. This seems pretty ridiculous to me, but hey, maybe there is more to it.

Zakeiba mentioned the fire in Brazil that killed many people yesterday. ABCNews.go.com - Brazil Nightclub Fire Kills More Than 230 People. This is such a terrible event, and it is great that we now know about it. It reminded me of this famous Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in New York City in 1911, which killed 146 people.

Another news topic that I brought up Iran threatening to attack anyone that tries to intervene in Syria (remind anyone of the World War I alliances?): LATimes.com - Iran issues threatening warning against attack in Syria.

You can always count on having at least some discussion on what is currently going on around the world in this class! Sai, you have the news brief for next class, please!

Blog Recap: Thank you to everyone that has commented already. Also, if a PowerPoint does not display correctly when you click on the link, please download the file in Google Docs.

Sparks Into Fire: During this section, I showed the class the map animations slideshow for the start of World War I here: PBS.org - Europe in 1914 and here: PBS.org - The Great War. I asked the class to take general notes about what the maps dealt with - especially in regards to the "Western Front" and "Eastern Front" relating to Germany. These are two very famous terms that you will hear about later in life, I am sure. It is important to learn about all of the different "dominoes" that fell in terms of alliances at the start of the war, as well.

My Connection: This section was a short and sweet (I hope) presentation about my great-grandfather's involvement in World War I as a medic. I did not ask the class to take notes. In case you missed class, or wanted to see the pictures again, here it is:

Google Docs - Mr. Fritz's Connection to World War I PowerPoint

I hope it was interesting, and I hope that you ask about your own family history! It was fascinating for me to learn about it from my grandmother over tea. :-)

Life in the Trenches: This section consisted of two parts. First, I showed the class a few minutes of a documentary on World War I (in color!) that talked about how awful the war was from the perspective of those who fought in it. That video can be found here (I started it at 7:49 and stopped it about 11:30 or so into it): YouTube.com - World War I in Color, Episode 2: Slaughter in the Trenches.

After watching the video clip, I talked a little more about conditions in the trenches, which were long lines dug out in the ground, not far away from each other. Over the course of the war, not much progress was made in the battles, since any advance by the opposition was fairly easy to stop. I believe I called the whole idea "stupid" quite a bit in class. It totally was. Someone asked about soldiers literally using dead bodies as "meat shields" to cover themselves. I could not find anything about that specifically. Here's some similar terms: Wikipedia - "Cannon Fodder"

I said that World War I was way different from wars in the past (like the Revolutionary War), especially because of the difference between machine guns and muskets. military.discovery.com - Revolutionary War Flintlock Musket. Twenty seconds and 13 steps per shot. Obviously a machine gun that fires multiple rounds per second is much more deadly to large armies.

I handed out a worksheet of letters home from soldiers on in the trenches, and then had the class imagine they were in the same position. This was what the work was for the rest of the class - making up your own letter on the back of the worksheet. If you missed class, you can download the worksheet and create your letter here:

Google Docs: Life in the Trenches - Letters Home Worksheet

Thank you for your work on this. It should be fairly easy points for me to give you. I am trying to help you out if you are close to that next letter grade!

Grades/Make Up Work: The rest of the class was devoted to me checking in with everyone about exactly where they stand and what you need to make up, if there is anything.

If you want to turn in any late work or revise your Rwanda speech, you need to have it into me as soon as possible. As in, if you are reading this at home, it is probably already too late - but ask/send them to me anyway. You also need to include the original graded copy of the speech, so I can see the changes you made. Sound good?

Good luck on finals! Please remember we do not have a final in this class, but we will definitely be working hard.

Period 4: World War I, Day 2 - Class Recap

The current background on my phone (it has been for a while). Dreaming of warm and sunny days! Picture taken on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, September 21, 2011.

Hello everyone,

Thanks for another great class! I really enjoy days like today. Some great learning going on, I think! I appreciate your willingness to listen and follow your own ground rules. On to the recap!

Essential Question: Why do wars happen?

Soundtrack: “Eleanor Put Your Boots On” by Franz Ferdinand. Chosen because of the band name - after the Archduke of Austria-Hungary who we talked about being assassinated to start World War I. This is definitely my favorite song of theirs - they are a band from Scotland that is sort of indie rock. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/24/13:
News Brief
Blog Recap
Ominous Beginnings PowerPoint
Murder of the Archduke
Grades/Make Up Work

Homework: Check the blog and post a comment if you have not done so! Have a great weekend!
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News Brief: Kourtney had the first news brief today! She brought in this article to talk about: JapanTimes.co.jp - Robot facility aims to aid nation in nuclear crisis. What a great start to the news brief section! Really interesting to hear about how robotics could help save lives, due to all the radiation. I said in class that after the earthquake/tsunami resulted in a nuclear meltdown in Japan, some elderly people *volunteered* to try and fix the problem, because they knew they were close to dying and could help save the lives of younger people. Here's an article about that: CNN.com - Japanese seniors volunteer for Fukushima 'suicide corps'.

The recent outrage over a gang rape that resulted in a death in India was also brought up. Here's an article about that: LATimes.com - Trial in Indian gang-rape case begins.

I also talked about the United States military saying that women can now be on the "front lines" of combat. Here's an article about that: LATimes.com - Military to lift ban on women in combat.

Finally, I mentioned North Korea threatening the United States, especially in regards to their nuclear weapons program (which is somewhat frightening, living here on the West Coast): NYTimes.com - North Korea Issues Blunt New Threat to United States. You can always count on having at least some discussion on what is currently going on around the world in this class!

Blog Recap: I wanted to make sure that everyone saw again how much effort I put into the class recaps, and why it is so important to check in here! Thank you to everyone that has commented already. Easy points!

Ominous Beginnings PowerPoint: I went over the definition of "ominous" and used the example of music in a scary movie: you know something bad is about to happen. The rest of the PowerPoint was about the M.A.I.N. causes of World War I, which you learned about last class. The class took notes on each slide - which will come in handy at the end of this unit. Please review the presentation if you missed class, or did not have enough time to finish up your notes:

Google Docs - World War I: Ominous Beginnings PowerPoint

Thank you so much for your focus during this part of class! You all seemed to really be getting what I was talking about, which is great to see. If you were at all interested in what I was saying about the genocide in the Belgian Congo that nobody ever talks about, check out: Yale.edu - Genocide Studies Program: Belgian Congo. A quote: "From 1885 to 1908, it is estimated that the Congolese native population decreased by about ten million people."

Murder of the Archduke: I passed this document around, and read it aloud to the class - Borijove Jevtic: The Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo, 28 June 1914. This is the story of how World War I started. I had the class answer some questions about the document in writing. It is such an important event in history - all set up by the MAIN causes of World War I. Here are the questions to answer, if you missed the class or need to finish up:

1. Describe the plans to kill Franz Ferdinand.
2. Describe the scene at the time of the murder.
3. How does the author justify the events?
4. Who is the "oppressor" that Franz Ferdinand represents? Why is Franz Ferdinand called the "new oppressor"?
5. Why is the date, 28 June, an unfortunate date for Franz Ferdinand to visit Sarajevo?

Thank you for your work on this. It should be fairly easy points for me to give you.

Grades/Make Up Work: Speaking of points, I posted your current grades in the classroom (except if you did a blog comment after 4:00 yesterday) and gave back your Rwanda speeches that Mrs. DeFrance Gilman graded before having her baby. If you want to turn in any late work or revise your Rwanda speech, you need to have it into me as soon as possible. Definitely by Monday at the absolute latest. You also need to include the original graded copy of the speech, so I can see the changes you made. Sound good?

Have a great weekend!

Period 4: World War I, Day 1 - Class Recap

First: Mrs. DeFrance Gilman had her baby! From what I've heard, both mother and child are happy and healthy. :-)

We talked a bit about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, since we had the day off from school yesterday to honor and remember him. I took this picture of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC on October 1, 2011.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for a great first class with me as your teacher! It was really fun for me to be back doing my dream job. I hope you didn't mind all the talking at the start. It was necessary to be clear about what class will look like with me as your teacher. Read on, for the recap!

Essential Question: "Why does war happen?" - Essential questions are very broad (they do not have yes or no answers) ways of looking at content. I might eventually have you write an essay, do a speech, make a presentation, or something along those lines, with the essential question for a unit. It will always be highlighted during my opening remarks.

Soundtrack: "Changes" by 2Pac. I will always have some sort of relevant music playing before class starts - for many reasons. I always start new classes with this song, because my classroom should be a little different than what you've had in the past, but some things never change. Lyrics here.

Agenda 1/22/13:
Introduction/Attendance
Create Ground Rules
The Blog
News Brief
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Causes of World War I

Homework: Check the blog and post a comment! Many of you have already done this. If you have not, go to the bottom of this post and click on "comments" to post yours. Please remember to use your name, so I can give you credit!
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Introduction/Attendance: As it sounds, I introduced how I like to start my classes - with the essential question, soundtrack, agenda, and homework all up on the board. Again, it might take me a bit to learn all of your names - hopefully I am able to by the end of finals next week! Thank you for sitting where you were supposed to be and allowing attendance to go smoothly. The faster I learn your names, the faster we get rid of the seating chart!

Create Ground Rules: This actually did not take as long as I thought it might, nor was it as tedious as it could have been! Here's what your class agreed on as ground rules. I will hold you to these, both in class and on the blog! You will see them on the upper right hand corner of the blog at all times.

Your Period 4 Ground Rules:

- Respect Everybody/Everything
- Be Responsible
- Be Prepared
- Have Fun
- Stay Engaged

The Blog: After making the ground rules, I introduced everyone to this website! Possibly the one time I will allow everyone to have your cell phones/iPods out. Thank you for bookmarking this page - I hope it will be useful for you in the future!

News Brief: I talked about how I like to start each class, with a "current event" section. No worries, though - this involves no writing on your part. Simply find a news article about something that has recently happened outside of the United States, read it, bring it in, and talk about it for maybe 30 seconds. Then I will try and add to it and we will all find the location of the country in the article on the world map. My example from today was this article: CNN.com - For Israeli voters, missile fire, money main issues in Tuesday election. So, I talked a little bit about the election in Israel, the ongoing conflict there, and I had you find the country on your map and highlight it. Not so bad, right? We will begin each class with a current events type focus. Because Global Studies is not just ancient history - it is what is happening right now, especially as the present has been influenced by the past.

Kourtney volunteered to bring in the first news brief article for the class. Please remember it, Kourtney! :-)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Since we had yesterday off for a social studies reason, I felt like it was very important for us to talk about why that was. We discussed who Martin Luther King Jr. was and what he was fighting for. Many of you asked if we were going to watch the famous "I Have A Dream" speech. We did not, but you can find it here: YouTube - Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech - August 28th, 1965.

The speech (or at least, part of the speech) that we watched in class was this one - his last speech before being assassinated. His words here make it sound like he knew exactly what was happening:

Very powerful stuff. Martin Luther King Jr. was once called "the most dangerous man in America" by the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover - who thought he was a communist for being against the war in Vietnam. There is much more to MLK than what most people commonly think of - you could spend an entire unit on him in American Studies or AP US History next year. At some point here, the "Death Star" petition to the US Government was brought up, and I said I would post a link to the official response (which is hilariously awesome). Here it is: WhiteHouse.gov - "This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For.

Causes of World War I: The last part of class was devoted to learning a little more about the vocabulary relating to the causes of World War I. The class completed this worksheet and then we went over it together:

Google Docs - Causes of World War I worksheet

Keep this, because we will be using these same vocabulary words next class.

Thank you again for a great first day! I'm looking forward to Thursday. Please leave a comment so I know that you came and did your homework!

Welcome to the Blog!

The Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London. I have this picture framed!
Hello all,

Welcome to the Global Studies Period 4 blog for while I am long term substitute teaching at Westview in 2013! Before I begin with posting updates, let me give you a little introduction to this website.

First off, comments can be made on any post by anyone. They can also be anonymous (though I would really prefer that you leave your name - by selecting "Name/URL" on the right, underneath the comment box - so that I can follow up with you in person). Please try to use good spelling and grammar in your comments! I have to approve the comments before they are posted, so don't worry if you don't see your comment right away. :-)

Secondly, because I will be putting up the class agenda and homework, as well as any interesting links (after class has met), I will attempt to give you ways to download the relevant files and documents you may have missed in class or would be interested in seeing again for your homework (or just because). For instance, here is a PowerPoint I made for teaching about the genocide in Rwanda:

Google Docs - Genocide in Rwanda Powerpoint
Finally, to contact me personally (other than leaving a comment - which I may or may not see immediately), please e-mail me at luke_fritz@beaverton.k12.or.us - this can always be found by clicking on "View My Complete Profile" on the right, where my picture is, then clicking on "Email" on the left sidebar. I will get back to you ASAP! Again, please use grammatically correct language and spelling, to the best of your ability. It really is appreciated and will go a long way for you in the future!

I know it might be a lot to take in, but hopefully we will all get used to it! I envision this blog as a place where you will be able to come to converse with your classmates and me, as well as get all the latest assignments, updates from class, and further information.

If you have any questions or comments, please never hesitate to let me know!

Welcome again - thanks for visiting. Please bookmark this site and come back soon! :-)