Friday, October 28, 2016

Culture, Day 8 - Class Recap


Camels in front of the entrance to The Treasury in Petra, Jordan. Photo taken July 2014.

Hi everyone,

Today was an in-class work day for the Culture Project assignment, which will be due next class, and in starting the DBQ that you will be finishing in class on Thursday. Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets:
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Selected for today because of the association with Halloween! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/28/16:
News Brief – Olvia
Reflect/Shape
How To DBQ
Culture Project

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on the Culture Project - due next class! Next news brief: Louis.

News Brief: Olivia had the news brief today and came in early to find this article with me before class: CNN.com - Syrian airstrikes hit school, killing 20 children, rescuers say. We found Syria on our world maps and talked a bit about the continuing violence from many different sides (including the United States) around Aleppo, and with ISIS in Northern Syria and Iraq. Thanks, Olivia!

Louis was selected to bring in the next news brief, and we checked in about the upcoming weekend, as well.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Reflect/Shape: I wanted to be sure students had another opportunity to understand how to respond to the learning target of how culture both reflects and shapes society, so we went through this quick PowerPoint together in seeking to provide some more information about the terms:


Hopefully this helped!

How to DBQ: Since the end of the Culture unit is your first DBQ in high school, I wanted to give as much preparation time as possible. So today was spent analyzing the actual documents on the test and writing out answers to five of the eight document questions. On Thursday, you will use three of the five documents you analyzed in order to construct your essay (due in class).

We went through a guide together in class, learning about how to write a DBQ. Again, I think this is going to be a really helpful resource for you in planning what to write (especially the graphic organizers on pages 8 and 9):

Google Drive - How to Write a Document Based Question

Please let me know if you are confused on any of this - and come prepared ready to work next Thursday on the timed in class essay!

Culture Project: The rest of class was devoted to work time on the DBQ (which students passed back at the end of class) and continuing to work on the culture project. There are a lot of options of what to do - it could be writing, a visual, a presentation, or something else. Here's the assignment:


This will be due in class on Tuesday, so be working on it at home and ask questions if you need help!

Have a great weekend, everyone!
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Culture, Day 7 - Class Recap


A big part of American culture is sports. This was taken at the 2010 Holiday Bowl, before Oregon played Oklahoma State, and won! :-)

Dear class,

Most of today was taken up with working on your Culture Project, which is due next week on Tuesday! Here's the recap for today:

Learning Targets:
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. Selected for today because we talked about Miley Cyrus and American culture, as well as Halloween upcoming. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/26/16:
News Brief – Carson
Culture Project
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on the Culture Project - due next Tuesday! Next news brief: Olivia.

News Brief: Carson had the news brief today and came in early to find this article with me before class: CNN.com - Russia unveils 'Satan 2' missile, could wipe out France or Texas, report says. We found Russia on our world maps and talked about this concerning story, as well as nuclear weapons in general, as I showed this fascinating video about how many nuclear bombs have been detonated in the history of the world:


Olivia was randomly drawn to bring in the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

Culture Project/Work Time: After watching the updates, the rest of class was devoted to work time, in completing the Time for School questions, and continuing to work on the culture project. There are a lot of options of what to do - it could be writing, a visual, a presentation, or something else. Here's the assignment:


This will be due in class next week on Tuesday, so be working on it at home, bring work into class to do next class, and ask questions if you need help! I went around the class and answered questions about it, or helped brainstorm ideas. Please continue to be working on this at home! See you next class. :-)
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Monday, October 24, 2016

Culture, Day 6 - Class Recap


A pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This was right across the street from where my friend Clarke lived for a while. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Today, we had some exchange students come in, we finished the Time For School assignment, and continued to work on the Culture Project. Here's the recap for today:

Learning Targets:
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "Rhapsody in Blue" by Leonard Bernstein. Selected for today because I went flying over the weekend, and this song is used in United Airlines commercials. No lyrics, but listen here.

AGENDA 10/24/16:
News Brief – Isaac
Exchange Students
Time for School
Culture Project

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on the Culture Project! Next news brief: Carson.

News Brief: Isaac had the news brief today and talked about this story with the class: BBC.com - Belgium Walloons block key EU Ceta trade deal with Canada. We found Belgium on our world maps (in Europe) and talked about this story for a little bit, as I tried to explain what free trade deals are and why a part of Belgium being against the deal means that all of the rest of Europe cannot sign it. Carson was selected to do the next news brief.

We checked in about the weekend (I am still quite tired from my quick weekend trip to the Bay Area!), and anything else that was happening, as well.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finally, we watched Wildcat News. If you missed class or wanted to see it again, here it is:



Exchange Students: We were very fortunate to have two exchange students at Westview present about their culture today in class: Laura from Brazil and Philine from Germany! I really enjoyed hearing about their culture and perspective on our culture. Thank you for your focus and great questions during this time! If you see either of them around Westview, be sure to say hi and thank her again for coming in! :-)

Here was Laura's presentation that she went through in class (Philine had her's on a USB drive, so I don't have a copy of it):

So cool! My thanks again to Laura and Philine for coming in!

Time For School: We finished Time For School today. If you missed class and the handout, here it is:


Again, the point to this was to analyze how we see surface culture and what deeper culture is like in different areas around the world.

We finished this video last class, if you missed class and need to catch up, or simply want to review it again:

PBS.org - Time For School 2003-2016

Today, we went back to the assignment, talked about the students and their culture, then answered the three questions on the back side of the paper.

Culture Project: I introduced this last class. This is one of the main assignments for the culture unit, and I hope it is interesting for students to work on! There are a lot of options of what to do - it could be writing, a visual, a presentation, or something else. Here's the assignment:


This will be due in class next week (on Tuesday), so be working on it at home, bring work into class to do, and ask questions if you need help!

The rest of class was devoted to working on the Culture Project, as I went around the class and answered questions about it, or brainstormed ideas. Please continue to be working on this at home! See you next class. :-)
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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Culture, Day 5 - Class Recap

On the football field at Westview, later this past summer. Athletic events are a big part of Westview culture!

Hi everyone,

We continued learning about culture today and I enjoyed hearing the Nacirema stories students came up with, as well as beginning the Time For School series of videos. Here's the recap for today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "Represent" by Weezer. Selected for today because we were talking about how people in different cultures represent themselves. This was also a pump up song for the 2010 World Cup. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/20/16:
News Brief – Alexander C.
Culture Project
Exchange Student Questions
Time for School

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in missing/incomplete geography work ASAP. Start working on your Culture Project! Next news brief: Isaac.

News Brief: Alexander C. had the news brief today and talked about this story with the class: CNN.com - Mosul: Most intense day of fighting since offensive began. We found the Iraq on our world maps (in Egypt) and talked about the ongoing battle to defeat ISIS in Mosul. Thanks, Alexander C! Isaac volunteered to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finally, we checked in about the upcoming weekend, and anything else that was happening, as well.

Culture Project: This is one of the main assignments for the culture unit, and I hope it is interesting for students to work on! There are a lot of options of what to do - it could be writing, a visual, a presentation, or something else. I'm really interested in learning more about your own culture, and I hope that you are able to learn more about your own culture, too. Here's the assignment:


This will be due in class on Tuesday, November 1, so be working on it at home, bring work into class to do, and ask questions if you need help! Talk with me if you are thinking about doing something in the "Other" category!

 Exchange Student Presentations: In preparation for our next class, when some of Westview's exchange students are scheduled to be visiting us, I had students write at least two questions they might be interested in having the exchange students answer about their culture (surface or deep). Keep these for next week, please!

Time For School: I really like this documentary as part of our unit on culture, because it is especially interesting to me to see how school and education is a part of different cultures around the world. Here was the handout that I gave to students to fill out as we were watching:


Again, the point to this was to analyze how we see surface culture and what deeper culture is like in different areas around the world.

We finished this video today, if you missed class and need to catch up, or simply want to review it again:


I hope you found this interesting and engaging! See you next week! :-)
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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Culture, Day 4 - Class Recap


I really like this picture I took of a kid (I have no idea who it is) at Trillium Lake by Mt. Hood, last summer. Fishing could be a part of his family culture!

Dear class,

We are now really getting into the culture unit! An exchange student visited our class today to talk about their culture, to help with understanding our own. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.

Soundtrack: "Abc" by Jackson 5. Selected because it relates to the theme of school and culture, which we learned more about today with Time for School! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/18/16:
News Brief – Katelyn
Review Cornell Notes
The Nacirema Stories
Time For School

Homework: Read the blog. Finish working on the Nacirema assignment if you did not in class (see below). Check your grade in Student VUE and improve it, if possible. Next news brief: Alexander C.

News Brief: Katelyn brought in an article about this story to talk about for the news brief today: BBC.com - China's Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission. We found China in the world map packet (the Asia map) and discussed the new Space Race (in terms of countries competing in outer space), which led to an interesting class wide discussion. Thanks, Katelyn! Alexander C. was randomly drawn as the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finally, we checked in about the weekend, and anything else that was happening, as well.

Review Cornell Notes: Last class, we went through a PowerPoint on culture. Today, we returned to our notes as part of the AVID process of Cornell Notes, and made questions about the material, as well as summarizing information. There were two handouts that went with this (from last class):



Again, here's the PowerPoint on culture that I wanted notes to be taken on:


Thanks for trying this way of taking notes!

The Nacirema Stories: We returned to the Nacirema reading and assignment from last class, as students tried to make their own versions of the Nacirema stories.


Here's the assignment that has to do with the with the Nacirema reading:


Remember, you are trying to identify something about our own culture, that, when described from an outsider's perspective, would actually seem pretty strange. We finished these in class (if you did not, please finish it at home) and shared a few out before moving on.

Time For School: I really like this documentary as part of our unit on culture, because it is especially interesting to me to see how school is a part of different cultures around the world. Here was the handout that I gave to students to fill out as we were watching:


Again, the point to this was to analyze how we see surface culture and what deeper culture is like in different areas around the world. This update to the film does not have sections on Ken (Japan) or Raluca (Romania), so we crossed those off the handout before watching.

We got about 25:00 in to the following video, if you missed class and need to catch up, or simply want to review it again:


I hope you are finding this interesting and engaging! See you next class! :-)
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Thursday, October 13, 2016

Culture, Day 3 - Class Recap


Today's soundtrack was "Wavin' Flag" by K'Naan, so the photo for today is of a picture I took of the flag of Turkey on a ferry, overlooking the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul. Photo taken in 2013.

Hi everyone,

I enjoyed blowing your minds today (see below)! I think it was a good class, with finishing the culture PowerPoint lecture notes, and then having fun with the Nacirema reading. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.

Soundtrack: "Wavin' Flag" by K'Naan. Selected for today because flags are a symbolic representation of a county, which is integrated into culture. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/13/16:
News Brief – Halima
Cornell Notes
The Nacirema
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Check your grade in Student VUE and improve it, if possible. Next news brief: Katelyn V.

Grades/News Brief: At the start of class, I again talked about grades, and that this progress report would just be based on the Geography unit grades. Any late work is due to me today (Thursday) by 2:45 to be considered for progress report grades, because I will be submitting them tomorrow.

Halima brought in an article about this story to talk about for the news brief today: ABCNews.go.com - Syria Activists Say More Than 65 Killed in 3 Days in Aleppo. We found Syria in the world map packet (the Asia/Middle East map) and discussed the ongoing situation in Aleppo. As part of this, I showed this drone video looking over the city that CNN recently posted on Twitter. Thanks, Halima! Katelyn V. was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Cornell Notes: This is a note-taking strategy that we are going to be using frequently this year at Westview - especially if you are at all familiar with the AVID class. There were two handouts that went with this:



We went through both of these together, as I made sure to talk about the way in which Cornell Notes help with retaining information. Here's the PowerPoint on culture that I wanted notes to be taken on:


Really, the Iceberg Model is all about what we cannot see. We had an interesting discussion in class with this, as we looked more into deep culture, and what some good examples might be. As I said in class, I think everyone does not want to stereotype cultures, or be prejudiced against them in some way, so we need to seek to understand cultures around the world. Your notes are a good start in this!

The Nacirema: I always enjoy this (an old school reading, but a good one). To begin, we used another AVID strategy that involves numbering the paragraphs of a reading. We read this famous article together, as most students sat perplexed about what the heck was going on.


Spoiler alert: here's the assignment that has to do with the with the Nacirema reading:


The end of class was spent looking at the reading, and trying to analyze how the Nacirema story might relate to our own culture. Next class, we will continue with this and then write a little bit about the Nacirema using similar language and theme. This is usually a pretty fun assignment, once you think of an aspect of our culture to use!

That was it for the day! See you next class! :-)
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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Culture, Day 2 - Class Recap


Another part of my culture is having dual citizenship, due to my mom being born and raised in the United Kingdom.

Dear students,

Today, we got back to work on our new unit of culture. We learned a little bit more about the "iceberg" model for it. I also made sure that everyone had their geography packets graded and back, so you know what to improve on. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.

Soundtrack: "American Pie" by Don McLean. Selected for today because we were talking more about American culture, and this song famously contains lots of references to it. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/11/16:
News Brief – Chris
NG Slides
Our Culture
Cornell Notes

Homework: Read the blog. Check your grade in Student VUE and improve it by Thursday, if possible. Next news brief: Halima.

Grades/News Brief: I wanted to make sure to explain how I assigned grades for the Geography unit and packet. I wrote comments on your self-reflection papers, which I would appreciate you reading. You should always know exactly what you have and how to improve it! I will definitely accept revised work, so please do it correctly and thoroughly, and get it to me as fast as possible so we all don't have to stress even more about it. It's still early - you have time, but don't dig yourself a huge hole right now. Let me know how I can help!

Chris brought in this article to talk about for the news brief today: CNN.com - Turkey car bombing kills 18, government blames PKK. We found Turkey in the world map packet (the Asia/Middle East map) and I talked about the Kurds and PKK in the region, and what this might be related to. Halima was assigned the next news brief.

Next, we checked in about the weekend and the second presidential debate. While our class is Global Studies, it's certainly important to know what is going on with us in relation to the rest of the world, too.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

NG Slides: After the news, we finished the National Geographic culture slides activity from last class. I passed out this sheet:


I had students guess about what culture is with the top space on the worksheet, then we brainstormed as a class all the different aspects that could go in the second box, of 10 characteristics of culture.

After that, we went through this slideshow of pictures from the National Geographic Photography: Culture website. Here are the photos we went through:


I love all of these pictures because the world is such a diverse and interesting place! I enjoyed the class guesses as to what was going on in each.

Our Culture: After the slides, we moved on to looking at what our own culture is like. I split students up into groups and had each group brainstorm the following: What is our culture like? With your group, brainstorm aspects of what culture is like at the following three levels. Use your culture traits from the slideshow last class!

American Culture
Portland/Beaverton Culture
Westview Culture

I had a lot of fun listening to the examples given for each of these, which did do a good job of highlighting different elements of culture!

This took longer than I expected to go through together, but that's okay. I think it was really fun and productive in understanding culture.

Cornell Notes: This is a note-taking strategy that we are going to be using frequently this year at Westview - especially if you are at all familiar with the AVID class. There were two handouts that went with this:



We went through both of these together, as I made sure to talk about the way in which Cornell Notes help with retaining information. We will look at these together next class! Here's the PowerPoint on culture that I wanted notes to be taken on (we were only able to get to the first slide today in class, so we will continue this next time):


Really, the Iceberg Model is all about what we cannot see. Last class, the National Geographic slides that we went through were all surface level culture. I want everyone to start thinking about DEEP culture - what is ingrained in us and we do not even think about.

That was it for the day! See you next class! :-)
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Friday, October 7, 2016

Culture, Day 1 - Class Recap

Part of my family's culture is attending Oregon Duck football games (well, maybe not so much for my sister). This is us outside the 2011 BCS National Championship Game in Arizona.

Hi everyone,

Today, we moved on to a new unit: Culture! What an interesting topic. Culture defines who we are, yet we shape and create it every day! Here's what happened today in class (we did a lot, so be ready for a fair amount of reading):

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.

Soundtrack: "Food" by Common and Kanye West. Selected because we talked about what we had for breakfast today, as a part of our culture. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/7/16:
News Brief – Richie
What is Culture?
The Lost Boys
Our Culture

Homework: Read the blog. Make sure you have all of your Geography unit work turned in if you haven't turned it in already! Next news brief: Chris.

News Brief: Before the news brief today, I passed back the grades from the Geography unit (record turnaround on them for me - helped by staying at school for Back to School Night) and explained why I gave what I did. Then, Richie brought in an article about this story for the news brief: CNN.com - The Hong Kong outcasts who gave up their beds for Edward Snowden. We found China in the world map packet and talked about what happened when Edward Snowden made his revelations about what the U.S. government was doing in terms of electronic surveillance.

Thanks, Richie. Chris was assigned to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


I also asked about the upcoming weekend and had a good time hearing what students were up to, before we moved on.

What is Culture?: I started this section and new unit by asking what everyone had for breakfast today. The answers were:

Nothing x 7
Cereal x 3
Bagel x 4
Rice x 2
Fruit x 5
Pancakes x 3
Toast x 5
Oatmeal
Eggs x 7
Bacon x 3
Bread Pudding x 1
Granola Bar x 1
Breakfast pastry x 2

I saw this article a while ago and thought it was interesting, which is why I asked:


We looked at a few of these different types of breakfast (all of which were certainly better than "nothing" as the high answer - you need to eat before school, everyone!) and identified "food" as an aspect of culture. Then, I passed out this sheet:


I had students guess about what culture is with the top space on the worksheet, then we brainstormed as a class all the different aspects that could go in the second box, of 10 characteristics of culture.

After that, we went through this slideshow of pictures from the National Geographic Photography: Culture website. Here are the photos we went through:


I love all of these pictures because the world is such a diverse and interesting place! I enjoyed the class guesses as to what was going on in each.

The Lost Boys: Next, I showed part of a documentary on The Lost Boys of Sudan. This shows the dramatic differences between the culture in Sudan and the culture in America - something I think we do not think much about at all:


As a counterbalance, I showed this commercial that was made about Lopez Lomong, who was one of the "Lost Boys" and who eventually gained American citizenship, made the US Olympic Team, and carried the American flag into the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing:


I showed these videos to highlight some key aspects to American and Sudanese culture. We will continue to explore cultural similarities and differences of various different cultures during this unit.

Our Culture: We didn't have the time at the end of class to dive into this, so I ended it here. Next time, we will finish the photo slides and continue introducing culture. Have a great weekend!
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Geography, Day 9 - Class Recap

This is me doing the Gangnam Style dance, at Gangnam Station in Seoul, South Korea, in January of 2014. Yes, the Korean girl who took this was laughing at me.

Dear class,

We are finally done with map quizzes and most of the Geography unit! Thank you for your patience and understanding as we finished today and there was a flurry of activity. I will grade your packets in the coming days for your upcoming progress reports. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets:
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.
Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: "Gangnam Style" by PSY. Selected because we had our last map quiz today, on Asia. South Korea is where PSY is from, which is in Asia. Lyrics (which are mostly Korean, and hilariously translated to the English alphabet) here.

AGENDA 10/5/16:
News Brief – Deeksha
Asia Map Quiz
Atlas/Map Work
Turn in Collection of Evidence

Homework: Read the blog. Your geography packet needed to be turned in today, so if you have parts you did not turn in, please get it to me ASAP. Next news brief: Richie.

News Brief: Deeksha brought in an article about this story for the news brief: ABC.go.com - Hurricane Matthew Continues Destructive Path Toward US, Killing 11 in Caribbean. We found Haiti in the world map packet and talked about the impact of the hurricane there, as well as a little bit about hurricanes (and typhoons) in general. Thanks, Deeksha! Richie volunteered to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


We also checked in about the Vice Presidential debate, as well as what students are up to outside of class. I hope to see many of your parents (you can come too, if you want!) tonight at Back to School Night!

Asia Map Quiz: This was the last map quiz opportunity (remember, you had 6 possible opportunities with different map quizzes - 4 of which you choose as your best work to be graded along with the other geography work we have been doing). We graded and passed this back in class, so everyone should have had all the graded quizzes available for selection.

Atlas/Map Work: There was time in class for students to be finishing any geography unit work, after the Asia quiz. I hope you used your time wisely! The assignments for the unit are:

1) The completed world map packet, labelled and colored. Link here.
2) Your choice of the top four out of the six map quizzes that we took in class.
3) The Five Themes of Geography Atlas activity. Link here.
4) Latitude and Longitude in Central Asia worksheet. Link here.

Turn in Collection of Evidence: Finally - the first graded packet of work for the semester! This was the accumulation of all the work we have done with the geography unit - the quizzes, five themes papers, the latitude and longitude assignment from Asia, and your completed world maps by continent (colored and labelled). Here is the rubric students used in class to self assess (I will be using this same paper to write grades and comments on):


I will look at what students wrote on this, along with the work that was stapled and turned in with it, in order to determine your proficiency grades are for these two learning targets, which is what the first progress report will be based on. Thus, if you did not do well with keeping up with your maps, doing well with the quizzes, and making sure to use class time effectively for the Five Themes of Geography packet, you may have some unfortunate news coming soon if you do not make up the work.

Next class, we will start our look at culture in depth. See you then!
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Monday, October 3, 2016

Geography, Day 8 - Class Recap


The Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, taken in July of 2014. Today, we had our Africa map quiz in class, which included Egypt!

Dear class,

Welcome back to our first week of October! This week should close out the first big unit of the year, on Geography. Next class is our last map quiz, and then we will start moving on to Culture later in the week! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 10: I can demonstrate an understanding of the connection between physical and human systems.

Soundtrack: "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck. Selected for today because an anonymous student commented on the blog with it as a suggestion. For future reference, I like song requests to tie in to what we are doing in class somehow, so for this, I said that today we are taking our fifth map quiz of the geography unit. :-)

AGENDA 10/3/16:
Wildcat News Brief – Roddy
Africa Map Quiz
Latitude/Longitude
Atlas/Map Work

Homework: Read the blog. Finish Asia/Middle East maps (colored and labeled) for the quiz next class. Bring all of your other geography unit work/quizzes to be able to turn in. Next news brief: Deeksha.

Wildcat News Brief: Roddy had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: BBC.com - Colombia referendum: Voters reject Farc peace deal. We found Colombia in our world maps and talked for a bit about what happened with this extremely close vote and the long lasting war in Colombia. Thanks, Roddy! Deeksha was drawn as the next person up.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


I also checked in about the weekend with everyone to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun, before moving on.

Finally, we watched Wildcat News for the day. Here it is again if you wanted to watch or missed class:



Africa Map Quiz: The second to last map quiz out of the six! Remember that your top four scores will be turned in for your grade for the geography targets. We corrected the quiz in class and then passed them back.

Latitude/Longitude: I wanted to make sure that we went over the concepts of latitude and longitude again, in identifying where places are in the world. With that, I passed out this worksheet having to do with Asia (which, not so coincidentally, students were labeling in class today):


I will collect these as part of the collection of evidence for the geography learning targets later in the week, along with your top four map quizzes, finished map packet, and Five Themes of Geography packet.

Atlas/Map Work: The last part of class was dedicated to labeling and coloring the Asia and Middle East sections of the map packet, in order to be able to use it on the last map quiz next class. For checking the blog, here's a question from the quiz: This island country—an archipelago made up of many atolls—is located south and west of India. If you are missing your map packet and know you need to have it done, please print out another and have it ready to go for next class:

Google Drive - World Maps Packet

Here's the Five Themes of Geography Atlas activity to continue working on (which mostly has to be in class with the atlases here):

I am looking forward to meeting your parents Wednesday night at Back To School Night! You can bet that the blog will feature heavily. Make sure to have your map packet completed, and as much of the Five Themes packet done as possible for next class!
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