Thursday, February 28th

The last day of February! Woohoo! Today we:

• Got organized - looked at the Binder Page, talked about what was needed and where. Mr. M also reminded students about the current Extra Credit assignment.
• History Editing - students worked with partners to read over their essays about How The Great Age of Exploration Began.  Using a checklist of information which should have been included students had the  opportunity to see how concise their essays were or were not. 
• Evidence of Trade between Europeans and Muslims after the end of the Crusades. Using a painting by Jan Van Eck, students examined the painting and identified items which were not from Europe. Mr. M explained that this was a "stuff" painting. We will continue this tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 27th

Snow Day!

Tuesday, February 26th

Today we:

• Finished the Crusades play in some classes and learned how the Renaissance also played a part in helping begin the Great Age of Exploration.
• Learned about Martin Behaim's "Earth Apple". Many still think that all Europeans of the 15th century believed the world was flat and Columbus proved it was round. Columbus was not the only one.
• Students created their own "Erdapfel" with a ballon and a sharpie! They look awesome.

If you missed the Power Point from class today - here it is!

The Crusades and the Renaissance by mrmarkwald

Monday, February 25th, 2013

Today our agenda was as follows:

• Revealed the symbolism in the movie 1492: Conquest of Paradise - specifically the scene where Columbus comes ashore - camera focuses on his boots. In the background you hear two styles of music, a Native American man and what sounds something like Gregorian Chant. What does it mean when Columbus falls to his knees and the Native man stops singing? What does it mean focusing on Sr. Columbus's boots slowly coming out of the water?
• Introduced the topic - How the Great Age of Exploration Began?
• Started with the question - "Why Europe?" Europe was a mess after the fall of Rome. The Dark Ages. The Crusades (later). The Bubonic Plague.  Europe fragmented/fractured - the Feudal Age - need we go on?
• Moved into the three sweeping events which will change all of this...The Decline of Feudalism, The Crusades and Trade with the East, and the Renaissance.
• Did TWO skits - The Revival of Towns and Trade and The Crusades!

The Crusades!

Friday, February 23rd

Today our agenda was:

• Discussed the online quiz about Pre-Columbian civilizations from the night before. 
• Began the part of this unit about The Great Age of Exploration!
• Background on Columbus and the reason for sailing west. 
• Introduction to the situation in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in the 15th century.
• Video clip from the movie 1492 The Conquest of Paradise - symbolism in the scene where Columbus walks onto shore October 12, 1492. 
• Students wrote in journal what they thought this scene was really about (the symbolism).

Thursday, February 21st

Story Sharing Day! The Seventh Graders traveled to the Lower School classrooms to share their stories from Native American folklore. We had lots of fun with the little ones!

Wednesday, February 20th

Our final day of looking at the Haudenosaunee and the Great Law of Peace!

• We finished hearing the legend of the birth of the Confederacy of the Five Nations.
• Used the America's First Nations video series on the Discovery Learning website. Good stuff!
• Discussion about the story from yesterday and today. Students completed forms.
• Re-enacted Iroquois life in the play The Grand Council of Peace. 

Our focus for the next two days - The Iroquois Confederacy!

The Dark Times
Ayonwentah: Warrior and Leader
Birth of the Peacemaker - Deganiwidah
Life in an Iroquois Village
Spreading the Message of Peace
The Iroquois Confederacy is Born

Tuesday, February 12th-Thursday, February 14th

Story Project Work Days...

Monday, February 11th, 2013

Native American Story Project: Our agenda today....

• Get organized! Mr. M handed back a bunch of quizzes and the Geo test to put in black binders. Also, looked to get organized in the dropbox binder as well. Students had a chance to see their current grades.
• Story Project - reviewed what we learned about Native American story telling on Friday.
• Students brought in lists of the stories they read. A story was chosen for their project. Tonight they are to learn that story so well that they could recite it orally the next day.
• The plan is to create a digital story book or some other format. Then we will share these stories with children in our Lower School. 
• Students practiced animating.

Thursday, February 7th, 2013

Ancient Civilizations - The "MOUND BUILDERS" 

Okay, here was our agenda today:

• Quick review of the Anasazi and then a chance to earn some EC by answering questions from the "Journey to Cahoka" story the night before. 
• Mr.M asked the students what they thought characterizes a "civilization" and we wrote these on the board. 
• Next, we viewed a short video clip on "Cahokia - City of the Sun" and had discussion 
• Mr. M also showed some images of the Mound builders which included writing down the different Types of Mounds that were built.

Cahokia - City of the Sun

Wednesday, February 6th

Lost Civilizations - The Anasazi. Today our agenda was:

• Told students it is time to take home the Toy Entrepreneur toys.
• Did a quick 10 question T/F quiz about last night's homework - follow up to the videos
• Discussed the points the students were to address from the night before.
• Mr. M took the students on a tour of Anasazi sites all over the 4 corners area.
• With any time remaining the students picked up a copy of "Journey to Cahokia" and began reading to prepare for tomorrow's lesson on the "Mound Builders".

Tuesday, February 5th

Began our first history unit today! Here was the agenda

• Reviewed the Big Geo Test - students did well!
• Introduced Pre-Columbian America - asked what it meant/referred to - discussion
• Used a 2 sided map (one side modern US/other side N. America circa 1500 with tribes) to show what happened after the voyage of 1492. Everything began to change - slowly but it changed!
• Using Google Docs - groups began to brainstorm what they know about Native Americans/American Indians - you can probably guess what they had to say......not much, stereotypical, etc...
• Ended with a discussion about the google doc and then 4 stories. Each story was about an encounter that either an explorer or an American had for the first time with at group of Native people. Some went well - some did not.

Monday, February 4th, 2013

Big Geo Test Today! 

Wednesday, January 30 - Friday, Feb 1st!

Wednesday, January 30th our focus was on Region #6 - The Mid-Atlantic and New England States

• Final Map Check and corrections
• Discussion of Region #6 videos from the night before and answering questions
• Practice on the Smart Board
• Map Quiz #5

Thursday, January 31st - Salt Dough Map Day

• The students created salt dough maps of the major physical geography of the United States. Mr. M whipped up the salt dough in his room. It was messy. Messy is fun!

Friday, February 1st - Review Challenge 

• Today we held the Geography National Championships! Students formed teams and worked through 5 rounds of various geographies questions or tasks.  The Cape Cods scored the highest points - 113! Jonah B set the record for identify states in a minute - 38!