Lesson Log:

We have continued to review time lines and time keeping over the past two days.

Lesson Log: For the past two days, students have been presenting their projects. Today, for bellwork, a quick worksheet on hemisperes was given out and taken for a grade. Also, we began to talk about timelines and the difference between AD and BC.

Key Ideas:

B.C. = Before Christ or time before the birth of Jesus.
A.D. = "Anno Domini" or "In the year of our Lord". Time from the birth of Jesus to today.

B.C.E. or Before the Common Era is the same as BC
C.E. is the same as A.D.

Both BCE and CE attempt to take the religion out of timekeeping.

Lesson Log: Today, we read an article about life for Iraqi children. Tomorrow, we will answer an extended response question regarding the perspective of these children.

Homework: First period. Due to misbehavior and a lack of focus, first period was unable to complete today's assignment. A worksheet along with a different, but very similar article was sent home in lieu of the in class assignment.

Parent Project Letter

Notes regarding this project were sent out last week. They looked like the one below. I asked that they be returned signed for a grade and very few were. Please sign the students' letter.

Dear Parent or Guardian:

Your child,__________________ , has been assigned a project in Social Studies as a culmination of our study of the Middle East and North Africa. This project, “The ABC’s of Culture” will require that your student do research and break down information about on country in the region that we have been discussing. For each letter of the alphabet there is a series of questions that need to be answered in a brief paragraph. For example, A is for “Art”. The series of questions for each letter has also been attached for the document. Your child has been asked to report on 8 letters, two of which have already been chosen for him or her. The remainder can be chosen by your child.

Your child has been assigned______________. I am requiring that he or she report on_________________________________.

On Friday, November 30, 2007, we will have our research kickoff. Reference material and laptops will be used in class to help the class get started on their research. The final project will be due on Monday, December 10, 2007. According to the district grading policy, projects and tests count for 50% of the Social Studies grade. Above all, I hope that each child gives their best effort and their work shows care and thought.

The project may be presented in two forms for full credit: as a scrapbook or as a poster. If your child is comfortable with Microsoft Powerpoint, then they can present it in that form for extra credit. Also, extra credit can be earned by “Going Beyond”.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at pmyers@dist159.com.

Thank you.

Respectfully,


Paul Myers
CPMS 6th Grade Social Studies

Other sites to try when working on your projects

For general information, you can try http://www.countryreports.org/
login: cpstudent
password: cpstudent

For flags, sports, and religion, try http://www.wikipedia.org/ and type in "flag of ________(your country)"

For food, you can also try a search on http://www.wikipedia.org/ or http://www.ask.com/ for the "cuisine of __________"

Dress

For more general information about each country you can still try the CIA
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook

or the State Department
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/

Lesson Log: Today, we began discussing our culminating project for the Middle East and North Africa. Country assignments and rubrics will be given out tomorrow. This somewhat explanatory worksheet was given out in class. We will further discuss the project tomorrow.

Homework: A reading comprehension worksheet on Israel was given out.
Side1
Side2

NB: Progress reports were given out to most students prior to break. Regardless of grade, they were to be signed. Because it seems that a great deal of them were lost, I will attempt to reissue them by the end of this week.

Lesson Log: Today we reviewed notes from reading.

Homework for periods 1-4 is the continuation of the reading of 16.3

16.3 part 1
16.3 part 2

I apologize for being unable to update this site the past two days in a timely fashion.

Mr. Myers

Again, because of the basketball game, I am posting late.

Lesson log: With the exception of 5th period, we reviewed for a quiz that we are having today.

Homework: 5th period has 16.3 Reading Notes.

Firstly, I would like to apologize for not posting sooner today or posting at all on yesterday.

Lesson Log (11/9) : Today, we discussed the idea of westernization and how western culture is received in the Middle East

Lesson Log (11/8) : During the bellwork, we talked about how women's role vary across the Middle East. We discussed how some women are subject to greater restrictions in places like Saudi Arabia. We also looked at the images below of traditional attire.

Burqa	Chador	Hijab

During class, we completed our activities using maps and the Islamic Calendar.

Lesson Log: Today, we answered questions using the Islamic Calendar and several maps that pertain to the Middle East and North Africa.

Homework: Read 458-459 and fill in the guided reading worksheet given out in class. Unfortunately, I am unable to post this worksheet at this time.

Lesson Log: Today we finished the presentation about the Middle East in most classes. The Bus Eveacuation and misconduct took away from class time in 4th and 5th periods. My notes from the presentation can be printed for any parents (or students) who want a copy.

Homework: Read Pages 455-457 in the textbook and complete the guided reading notes

Page 1
Page 2

that were distributed during advisory.

Lesson Log: Today, students took notes to complete the first 4 to 5 slides of this presentation about conflict in and from the modern Middle East. The video from this presentation is below because it cannot be uploaded as part of the presentation. (I will be updating the presentation this evening so any slide after slide 5 might be different than what it is as you read it)

Homework: None

Colin Powell

Since we are studying the time period during which Colin Powell became an important public figure, and we are Colin Powell Middle School, I thought it was only right to post a link to a biography of Colin Powell.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/barrier/powellchat/bio.htm

Lesson Log Today we discussed the Arab-Israeli Conflict as described in Chapter 16, Section 1. Children were asked what it might feel like to have to split their home with someone that they didn't like.

Homework 16.1 quiz (Open book)
(click on link to view and save a copy of the quiz)

Extra Credit A pair of Scholastic News Handouts
Handout 1
Handout 2

Yesterday began a new quarter. I look forward to updating my blog everyday. I hope that this is a service that helps both parents and children.

Lesson Log Today, we reviewed the section of the text on Muslim Empires (15.5). Bellwork was a crossword puzzle that was taken up during class. We worked on a cause/effect worksheet together.

Homework this evening is to skim Chapter 16, Section 1 and define the Terms and Names.