Mrs. Glenn

May 21-25

Fri, 18 May 2007 15:42:53 -0500

Yes, it's the last week of school, but we're still involved in dynamic learning opportunities. Students should have turned their books in by now and will have taken their final exams. Notebooks can be cleaned out.
At the first of the week we'll focus on the "SOCIAL ISSUES" of WORLD HUNGER and CHILD LABOR that not only pervade Africa, but also many areas of Asia that we have studied during the year.
Mid-week we'll shift to debate format,examining a variety of issues that American politicians must address---rapid transit, environmental concerns, benefits for working mothers, social spending, crime, lotteries,legal reform, immigration, socialized medicine, and a number of other political issues. As you know, your middle schooler enjoys expressing his/her opinion.
WEDNESDAY during DEAR we'll read an interesting article called "Smuggled to America" about a teenager whose parents paid to get him out of China and into America in hopes of a better life. He spent years paying for their decision.

May 14-18

Fri, 11 May 2007 15:42:24 -0500

Since all grade levels have Field Day this week we'll have some schedule alterations and special group activities during regular connections time.
MONDAY: Book report museums will be set up and then we'll have a lesson on Child Labor in Africa. Students will present role plays from the various aspects of the child labor problem-UNICEF, former child slave, former child trafficker, and government official.
TUESDAY: We'll have a a chance to see museums from other classes and students will present theirs. View the attached rubric. Download file
WEDNESDAY: FIELD DAY
THURSDAY: KENTE cloth is due today. Students will take an open note test on African economics and government. This will count as their last test grade.
FRIDAY: I will be out today. Students will have a lesson on the OAU, Organization of Africa Unity, and a number of other organizations that aid in the development of Africa.

May 7-11

Fri, 04 May 2007 15:41:57 -0500

MONDAY we'll begin our study of African government with a lesson on the ethnic problems that African countries have had after being freed from colonial rule.
TUESDAY As we study Foreign Involvement students will be able to explain the effect that world rivalries and foreign intervention has had on the governments of independent African nations. Students will explore further to understand the effects that civil wars and ethnic violence have had on children and other civilians.
WEDNESDAY DEAR today....don't forget NEXT MONDAY our Class Museum book reports are due!!! Dissecting Dictatorships is the lesson today and we'll learn why many African countries became dictatorships in the years after colonial rule ended.
THURSDAY Emerging Democracies is the topic today as we examine how some governments are successfully moving to democracies in Africa.
FRIDAY Students will recognize similarities and differences between the Kingdom of Morocco's government and other African governments as we study this unique government. The OAU (Organization of African Unity) role in Modern Africa will also be explored.
Homework: WordSearch on Government terms

Museum Book Report on Africa

Tue, 01 May 2007 13:49:08 -0500

Download file Our final book report will be due MONDAY, MAY 14, and is on Africa. While a couple of selections are about Egypt, most are about problems associated with apartheid in South Africa. This is a group project, although students will also be evaluated for their personal contribution. Groups should be of three or four students and they all should read the same book. The project description is attached along with a photo from last year's projects. Students will create a "museum" of artifacts and cards to be displayed against a backdrop. It's one of their favorite projects, and as you can see from years before, quite beautiful! It's a way I can remember students as well as I see their artifacts in our classroom museum from year to year.

Book selections include Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Beverly Naidoo's books on apartheid, Chain of Fire, No Turning Back and The Other Side of the Truth. Students may select their own book for approval from me. It is important to remember that these books are not selected for their reading level, but for the historical and cultural content.

April 30-May 4

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:41:21 -0500

African Culture is incredibly interesting. This week we'll start with general traditions.
MONDAY students will kick into drama gear with dramatizations of five African folktales in the lesson, "Tell Me a Story", but first we'll examine a graph depicting Africa's diversity.
TUESDAY "In the Spirit" more closely examines some of the beliefs and practices of Africa's traditional religions.
WEDNESDAY Today we'll explore more of the history of the affects of colonialism on Africa...just not enough time to finish that last week! It's DEAR today as well...a good suggestion-start reviewing for Friday's history and culture test!
I will be OUT today at an inservice, but will review for the test tomorrow.
THURSDAY your student may come home "clicking" or speaking Swahili as we study language in Africa. We'll also study the Lemba, an African tribe with an interesting history. Homework: Crossword puzzle on history, study for tomorrow's test.
FRIDAY we'll take a test on African history and culture as studied in the past two weeks. Then we'll read more about Kente cloths, their history and related traditions. We'll look at some sites that show the various colorful patterns of this traditional Africa cloth and next week students can design their own Kente cloth. Read more about Kente on these sites.
http://www.marshall.edu/akanart/cloth_kente.html
http://members.aol.com/davilojo/p1.htm
http://www.virtualexplorers.org/ghana/kente.htm

April 23-27

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:40:47 -0500

AH! Back to our joyous high level learning and thinking.
We'll have the AFRICA MAP TEST on Wednesday of this week...we keep running out of time to discuss what is on the PHYSICAL FEATURES portion! Students will be given 2 maps. One to identify the countries and one to identify the physical features that will include the following: Sahara, Kalahari and Namib Deserts; the Great Rift Valley; Mt. Kenya, Mt. Kilamanjaro and the Atlas Mountains; the Nile, Orange, Niger, Zambezi and Congo/Zaire Rivers; Lake Chad, Lake Victoria and Lake Nyasa.
MONDAY we'll review the African history we covered before CRCT and begin with a History Mystery about African Trade.
TUESDAY students will learn about the African slave trade and read a primary source of one slave's experiences.
WEDNESDAY brings the MAP tests and DEAR. Students are currently working on their FINAL book report of the year in a mini-museum form. It is due on May 14.
THURSDAY topics include colonial rule and a short play; students will create a mind map of as they take notes.
FRIDAY we'll wrap up with a timeline of African history from as early as the 1600's that influenced the creation of apartheid and its eventual demise. We also have a crossword of African history terms.
NEXT WEEK: AFRICAN CULTURE!

April 16-20

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 08:36:00 -0500

CRCTs this week! We'll continue to study Africa and also review for Friday's Social Studies CRCT. Don't forget your online tests which should be taken by Wednesday. You should return a sheet signed by your parents.

Homework for this week is a cubing strategy-due Friday. Cubing is a great strategy to use when you are trying to help students understand a major concept. And, it's a great pre-writing activity should the teacher choose to assign a formal paper after the cubing exercise. In this instance, we're going to cube APARTHEID in Africa because it will most likely be covered on our Social Studies CRCT on Friday. Students will basically define apartheid, discuss the laws imposed and people involved in trying to fight this separateness for decades. They'll compare apartheid with other events throughout history which sought to divide rather than to unite and collaborate. They'll be reminded of lessons where civilizations flourished because leaders respected all people and focused on education and unity.

Here's a pdf on the strategy.
Download file

There are a number of examples in class that I will show the students. It's best done on a square tissue (Kleenex) box...(minus the tissue). Here are the prompts for our assignment.
Download file

NEXT MONDAY, April 23 students will have an African Map test. Test will include identifying the countries (not capitals), the Sahara, Namib, and Kalahari deserts, Sahel, Savanna. Seregenti Plain, Nile River, Mt. Kilamanjaro, Congo/Zaire River, Congo/Zaire Basin, Great Rift Valley, Atlas Mountains and Ethiopian Highlands.

In class we'll continue to work on CRCT review...this week with a PowerPoint and online games.
Students are demonstrating remarkable recall and understanding!

Five Themes of Geography

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:51:48 -0500

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson071.shtml

http://www.runet.edu/~geog-web/whatgeog.html

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/themes.html

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Geography/GGR0011.html

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/guides/lithuania/lithgeothemes.html

Japanese Economic Review

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:45:51 -0500

Notes Below!

Maps and Atlases

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:15:40 -0500

History of Cartography
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Cartography.html

Brief History of Maps and Cartography
http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/map/h_map/h_map.htm

Map and Globe Skills games

http://ssms.pasco.k12.fl.us/jaguars/_teams/_6h/_geography/_geo/geo_cur_mapskills.htm

China

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:00:19 -0500

Click here to listen to China's national anthem. Download file

China's geographical size, population, and spheres of cultural and political influence are too vast to be ignored. The People's Republic of China has the world's third largest land area and is the world's most populous nation. The various dialects of Chinese are spoken by more people than any other language, and Chinese culture has left an indelible imprint on East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia.

Chinese immigrants and their descendants have made substantial contributions to American society and culture. Chinese laborers participated in the construction of the transcontinental railroad which hastened the settlement of the American West. Chinese immigrants worked in mining operations in the West and on Southern plantations during Reconstruction. Chinese food has become as "American" as spaghetti or tacos. Today Chinese Americans are prominent in our culture. The works of Chinese American writers, have won critical acclaim and are consistently on best seller lists.

In an era in which we are coming to recognize the fact of global interdependence and the finite nature of the earth's resources, the complete integration of the PRC's one billion producer-consumers into the world economy poses a novel developmental challenge.
(ERIC Digest)

Click here to check out The Silk Road Research Project Download file

Click here to download a map of the Silk Road Trade Route Download file Click here to play a Jeopardy Game on China Download file Click here to learn about an interesting project in China http://www.mountainvoices.org/china.asp Click here to see China's history in Political Cartoons.

India

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:00:05 -0500

Our study of India will highlight and showcase contributions the peoples of India have made in the arts and sciences. The geography of India will be taught in concert with its history. India is the largest country of the South Asian subcontinent. Its terrain, climate, and natural resources have greatly influenced conditions of life and development of cultures in the vast expanse of India. It is a nation with a multitude of cultural differences. Many Indians are descendants of Indo-European or Aryan peoples; Dravidians, or peoples of central Asian or southeast Asian backgrounds. In addition, a small number of modern European settlers call India their home. Students will explore India as an emerging nation in a complex, interdependent world community. ( ERIC Digest )

The study of the Indian subcontinent includes investigating Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Japanese History Review

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:23:45 -0500

The most important tip for studying history is to USE YOUR CORNELL NOTES!! Reflect on these questions...

INDIA

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:03:29 -0500

India Links

Mr. Dowling
http://www.mrdowling.com/612-caste.html

ONLINE Games: Asia, Middle East and Africa

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:40:35 -0500

It's such fun to use online games. Try your hand at these geography games for fun! More to follow as I create and locate additional gaming opportunities! THIS IS A GREAT CRCT REVIEW!

The GIA Quia Webpage Games

ALL Africa Games

All Asia Games

Sub-Saharan Africa Geography

Geography Competition: Asia, Middle East, North Africa

Africa Map Puzzle

Trivia Plaza Geography Games