Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tuesday, Februray 28th

Today we:
  • Finished learning about Martin Behaim and his "Erdapfel"
  • Created our "Earth Apples" and learned about what educated Europeans thought the world was like in the 15th Century - boy, were they way off!
  • Introduced "Prince Henry the Navigator" - did a play of his life and learned about his part in the Great Age of European Exploration!

Could this be what Dom Henrique looked like?

Monday, February 27, 2012

Monday, February 27th

Our class today:
  • Reviewed the 1) Importance of the Columbus Voyage, and 2)How and Why the Great Age of Exploration Began
  • Performed a short skit on the development of trade between Europe and the Near East during the Crusades
  • Examined Renaissance Art to look for clues to the value Europeans placed upon trade goods from the east.
  • Learned what educated Europeans knew of the world in the 15th century - made our own Behaim "ErdApfel"

A classic "stuff" painting by Jan Van Eyck

Friday, February 24, 2012

Friday, February 24th

Agenda for today:
  • Reviewed why the Columbus voyage was so important.
  • Finished the Decline of Feudalism and the Reemerging of Towns and Trade (as a factor leading to a Great Age of Exploration)
  • Continued with the other two factors: The Crusades and The Renaissance
  • Watched part of Kingdom of Heaven to show what the Crusades were about
The Siege of Jerusalem 1187 AD

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Thursday, February 23rd

Contact with Native Americans - The Great Age of European Exploration!

Wednesday, February 22nd

We welcomed our Lower School friends today! The students shared their stories and had fun! We even watched a clip from "Dances with Wolves" (buffalo hunt scene) since not one of my students had seen this movie or heard about it.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tuesday, February 21st

Okay, welcome back from the 4 day weekend! Today we finished creating our animated storybooks. Tomorrow we share them with our friends from the lower school.

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

Guest Speaker - Mr. Salerno's visit to the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Monday, February 13th - Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Native American Folklore
We are taking some time during our Pre-Columbian America unit to explore further an important part of Native American culture - storytelling. We are creating animated story books. We will be sharing these with Lower School children next week!

Here are the two main sites for stories. Read several before you decide on one.

Long List of Native American stories

Another site with stories - many stories!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Friday, February 10th

The Mound Builders!



Thursday, February 9th

Short class today because of the assembly. Here was our agenda:
  • Mr.M reviewed the Anasazi virtual field trip from the night before. Students checked their answers...
  • Mr.M presented pics of Anasazi ruins and other things left behind, like a road.
  • The question was brought up - What happened to the Anasazi? Students chimed in with answers and Mr. M said, "What if everything we thought about the Anasazi was inaccurate?" Mr. M showed part of the video from the PBS series "Secrets of the Dead" focusing on possible/most likely cannibalism in the Anasazi culture. Fascinating stuff! Check it out below:

Watch further parts of the episode on youtube. This was just the first ten minutes of the show!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Wednesday, February 8th

Pre-Columbian America - today our agenda was:
  • First, to get organized we spent time looking at the Binder Page. Mr. M handed back some items and updated grades.
  • Mr.M also handed back the rubric goals and discussed them.
  • Review of Kennewick Man with a lead into the speeches - Who should keep the Kennewick Man remains? Students did a nice job. Our results, though, were very one-sided = 74 on the side of the scientists and 7 on the side of the Native groups. This was very interesting.....
  • Began our look at ancient civilizations in what is now the United States. Started with the Anasazi. Showed a video to begin...check it out below....

THE ANCIENT ONES

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Wednesday, February 8th

THE ANCIENT ONES

Tuesday, February 7th

Moving forward in Pre-Columbian History, today we:
  • Reviewed the lesson from the night before, students investigated further what the belief is in the Bering Land Bridge Theory and checked out some other ideas, too, like a like to Europe. We reviewed their homework.
  • Mr. M throws some more information at them with the discovery of Kennewick Man! We watched part of the NOVA video and discussed the possible implications...
Time Magazine story on Kennewick Man

Monday, February 6, 2012

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Welcome to Pre-Columbian History! Our agenda today was:
  • Collect the Rubric Goals - will return with feedback.
  • Began the Pre-Columbian unit with an overview of what we'd be learning.
  • Introduced the Bering Land Bridge Theory with a play - The First Americans?

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Thursday, February 2nd

Happy Ground Hog Day!

Today was the Big Geography Test! See you tomorrow........

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

February 1st, 2012

Welcome to February! Yay!

Today was the super awesome major huge Geography review challenge!  Students are preparing for their test tomorrow!