Friday Feb 28th

Today Friday Feb 28th

from guest Blogger Joyce -

Today was the end of the first grading period of this semester. In class, we took notes on what would be on the test Monday. We also worked on the homework that will be collected Monday (but of course we have been working so very diligently on it throughout the week as it was assigned, with original quality work ready to be turned in), and those who finished worked on their maps. The Jeopardy powerpoints, along with videos, are all available on the website. 

-- 

Joyce

Chapter 21 Test Review - ( pdf version of Jeopardy ) and this is the PowerPoint Version ( ppt )

Wednesday Feb 26th

From Guest Blogger Joyce

Wednesday, February 26th

Happy birthday to Levi Strauss, creator of blue jeans; to Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, William Frederick Cody, better known as "Buffalo Bill", and Twix, my dog (or pretty close to her birthday, anyways).

Today in class, we continued our notes of the Middle East, ending today's notes by completing notes on the five regions. We also reviewed the news for today: Mr. Gillis, ever the fearless leader, pointed out several articles related to the Middle East in a awe-inspiring patronizing voice, and only was distracted for about a minute upon seeing Salma Hayek's name in one of the articles (I've heard of her twice, and both times in the hour of that ungodly time they call "7 A.M." Otherwise, I don't even know what she does). After, we watched an amusing and educational clip on the history of Jews in Israel before using the last few minutes to work on homework or update folders.
--

Joyce

Today - Wednesday Feb 26th

We continued on the Regions presentations on the Middle East, and looked at current event news stories related to the Middle East so the geographical region became relevant to current issues.

In addition the students where shown a short video on the creation of Israel (the Promised Land) from the viewpoint of the Israeli's themselves. Students were able to understand the Jewish/Israeli perspective regarding the value and "rightful ownership" perspective of the Jewish people. In the next class we will see the Palestinian viewpoint regarding the same area of land.

Tuesday Feb 25th

Today Feb 25th -

Today was an introduction to the 5 regions of the Middle East (presentation link here)

Chapter 21 HW assignments are not due until Monday (the day of the Chapter 21 test). In case you need a reminder....those assignments are:
P 438 Q's 1,2 P 440 Q's 1,2,  (assigned Monday)
P 442 Q's 1-3, P 444 Q's 1,2 P 446 Q's 1-3 (assigned Tuesday)
P 448 Q's 1-3, ( Regional Atlas Study Guide ) (assigned Wednesday)
( Determining Causes ) (assigned Thursday)
P 451 Q's 1-4, ( Comparing Trade ) (assigned Friday)

Monday - 1st day back after the break

Today, Monday Feb 24th -

We started the Middle East Unit today with the mapping assignment. Maps were distributed and students were allowed to start to label the locations.
Blank Maps link - ( here )
Maps List  link- ( here )

Happy Valentine's Day

Today Fri 14th of Feb -

Students worked on an in-class open note quiz of the History of Latin America. In addition they turned-in their Maya, Aztec, Inca charts

An opportunity to become a Youth Ambassador for the City of San Jose on a trip to Japan was also announced. Students interested in pursuing this opportunity should click this ( link ), and follow-up on the opportunity.

History of Valentine's Day (one of many stories regarding the source)
While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

Latin America Independence

Thursday Feb 13th

Today we read a summarized the Latin American Independence article. The summary questions are found at the end of the article - ( link here )

In addition we did  a short worksheet on the Colombian Exchange - ( link here )

Tomorrow we will have an open note "quiz" on Latin american history, including the Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilizations, the Spanish colonization and well as the Independence of Latin America.

Tomorrow is also Valentine's Day, and we should ll remember someone who is special in our lives and needs a little love every once in a while (guys, don't mess this day up, its important to the girls/women in your lives)

Wednesday Feb 12th

From student blogger Joyce - 

Due to popular request (of one person. Hi neighbor, congrats on the perfect score), I will send in a lovely paragraph loaded with as much as sarcasm as possible. Which in this case, is only a little.

      In the article "Yellow Fever and Malaria in the Canal", the author is describing the problem of yellow fever and malaria during the Panama Canal project and the eventual solution. The author starts by informing the reader that more than 85% of canal workers in 1906 had taken a lovely excursion to the hospital due to either yellow fever, which gave them a lovely, cheery yellow complexion due to jaundice, headaches, pain, dark black vomit that complimented their skin tone, and often death as a free bonus; the other workers had gone due to malaria, and they were lucky enough to get to visit the hospital numerous times, as malaria could reoccur, making up for the low death rate. Although tens of thousands of workers fell ill, the author also states that doctors had not agreed on a set way to treat patients, and usually resorted to tender love and care. Doctor Gorgas, however, who had eradicated yellow fever in Havana by ridding the land (fine, city) of mosquitoes, felt he could do the same in Panama. Although his proposition was rejected due to the cost ($1 million) and because they believed the "miasma theory", a yellow fever scare hit the canal and long story very short, convinced everyone to adopt Gorgas' plan. As he started the genocide of the mosquitoes, yellow fever eventually disappeared and malaria dropped dramatically (to the disappointment of those who wanted the classic jaundice look and hospital experience), and workers and tourists both flocked to the isthmus.

-- 

Joyce

Mr G's post
Today we tried something new....

We took an article about the Panama Canal and applied some structured evaluation processes to summarize the articles main concepts. We used a process to determine the key elements presented and focused on how the author delivered their message.
A summary of what we did will be due tomorrow to demonstrate the outcome of the process. We will have more activities similar to today as we move through the next Unit.

Tuesday

From guest blogger Daniel

Martes

We corrected the maps test today in class. In an exciting race to the end, we find that once again, the curve has been set way too high. Oh, and River Number One is an extra credit problem. We then watched a video on Pizarro's conquest of the Incans and met the ever wonderful professor from UCLA, Jared Diamond, yet another time.

From Mr G - 

The Curve (which was a perfect 70 out of 70) was once again established by Natalie Cavanna, as well as Sean Bui, Reva Kulkami, Murtaza Moyadi, Maya Kalbag, Sarah Kirby, and Kaitlyn Weinstock.

Latin America Political & Physical Test

Today,  Monday Feb 10th -

The day of the Mapping Test of Latin America has arrived, and wow was there plenty of complaining.

Students turned in their maps, including the 2 Political maps of Latin America (1 of Central America and the other of South America) as well as 2 Physical Maps of the same regions. Lastly they also turned in their 3 Biome Maps (Temp, Rainfall & Vegetation)

There were 71 total items on the test and the students were given a word bank of the Physical items.
1 mistake was found -  the river identified as R1 on the exam (Magdalena in Colombia) was not on the original list of items to place on the map, and therefore should not have been included on the test (my bad). That question will be thrown out bring the total down to 70.

No homework for tonight.

Today Friday Feb 7th

We finished the Colombian Exchange ppt, as well as the Maya, Aztec and & Inca chart.

In preparation for Monday's test, students should use the on-line Geography practice games on the class website (or right here)
-Practice Site #1 - Site #1
-Practice Site #1 - Site #2
-Practice Site #1 - Site #3

Guns Germs and Steel Day

Today, Feb 6th

From guest Blogger Joyce -

Let the games begin! And without offending anyone, I sincerely hope, congratulations to Google for their awesome doodle.

On the other hand, today we corrected tests. For the first time in forever (Disney!), the curve was set by someone other than Amanda Chen. But for the first time in forever, we can fix this hand in hand-

By going and retaking the test if you failed (under 79%) to get above a C+, congrats! You get to spend mandatory lunch or after school time with Mr. Gillis and learn all about his 4th grade adventures.

Joyce

 From Mr G.
We went over Chapter 13 test today and congratulations to Je min Ryu and Natalie Cavanna for getting a perfect score on the test.

After the review we watched a 20 min section on Guns, Germs, and Steel video and discussed the "factors" the author Jared Diamond claimed were the reasons behind the success of certain civilization.
Tomorrow we will finish the material on the Colombian Exchange and review for the Latin America Political and Physical test for Monday.

Test Day Chapter 13

Today Feb 5th -

Chapter 13 test was today, hopefully everyone practiced with the Jeopardy game last night.

HW - work on your Maya/Aztec/Inca chart, as well as the Maps for the Latin America Political and Physical Test for Monday

Tuesday Feb 4, 2014

Today, Tuesday Feb 4th -

We spent the period discussing the Inca Empire and their Creation Story by watching a funny little animation piece that explained the Inca explanation of the creation of the world, the creation of the people and how the Inca empire was started.

In addition, we spent a little bit of time on the Maya, Aztec & Inca chart filling-in the first few rows.

Students should prepare for tomorrow's chapter 13 test by reviewing the jeopardy game -
PowerPoint version here - (click here)
PDF printable version here - (click here)

Latin America Political and Physical test is Monday ( and your maps are due on that date as well )

Monday Feb 3rd

Today Monday Feb 3rd -

We watched the Crash Course video on the Colombian Exchange, and started the Colombian Exchange ppt to follow-up and record the details of the video.

The only Homework is to study for the Chapter 13 Test Wednesday, and to continue working on the Political and Physical maps of Latin America in preparation for the Map Test on Monday.