Religion, Day 6 - Class Recap

The streets of Kathmandu at night are really something. The prayer flags lining the streets in Thamel are a nice touch. I have obviously been thinking a lot about my time in Nepal over Spring Break, since the enormous earthquake that killed 4,000+ people over the weekend. Photo taken in March, 2015.

Dear class,

Today was a lot of talking about many different types of beliefs, again! The last day of new notes for the Religion unit! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Mustt Mustt" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Selected because this is a representation of Sufism (some consider this to be a branch of Islam), Explanation of the song can be found here.

AGENDA 4/29/15:

News Brief – Alex D.
ISIS and Sunni/Shia
More Religions/Atheism
Vocabulary Guide

Homework: Read the blog! Study the religion vocabulary! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found on this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well (if you want to turn in a revised copy, please give me the original graded copy for review, as well). Next news brief: Zachary V.

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News Brief: Alex D. had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - NASA: Russia seeks contact with craft bound for International Space Station. We found Russia on our world maps and talked about the ISS for a bit, too.

We also watched VICE News for the day, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Zachary V.

ISIS and Sunni/Shia: To start this section, I asked the class to brainstorm what we knew about ISIS, especially as we have been talking about the group in our news briefs for the entire year so far. I wanted to hear what we remembered and also maybe some assumptions. Next, I asked students to get out paper for notes on the rest of the class and I played this video from the New York Times: NYTimes.com - The Evolution of ISIS. I also talked a bit about the demographics in the Middle East. Specifically, I wanted to look in depth at the central role that the two main sects of Islam have in conflict, by watching this video:

One of my main points with this is that we cannot stereotype "all Muslims" in many of the conflicts that the world is in, just as we cannot stereotype "all Christians" or any other religion. If you are really interested in learning a lot more about ISIS, I encourage you to read through this lengthy article: TheAtlantic.com - What ISIS Really Wants.

At the end of this section, we watched the short video called FIVE, looking at children in the five major religions we talked about with the PowerPoint slides:

Five from The Mercadantes on Vimeo.

More Religions/Atheism: Next, we did a sort of blitz through a few other religions that students wrote to me they identified with (I think these are important to cover), along with Atheism (belief that there is no God or gods at all).

Here are the resources we looked at as a class, as students took brief notes (there will be a few questions about these on the test):

Shintoism (based in Japan, focused on ancestral spirits).

Jainism (based in India, focused on nonviolence and sanctity of life).

Taoism (mostly found in China, based on concept of yin and yang).

Sikhism (based in India, focused on one God, rejection of caste system).

Finally, we ended by watching part of this video about Atheism, which is the belief that there is no God or gods, and that faith, being unscientific and not testable, is impossible to prove:

I thought the above videos and articles did a pretty good job explaining the points of view of some important philosophies in a short amount of time. Thanks for hanging in there with me as we looked at all of these!

Vocabulary Guide: At the end of class, I passed out a vocabulary sheet to study for the quiz. Please note that there will also be a question or two based on some of the religions we talked about today in class, too! This guide is intended for you to help review your Religion PowerPoint notes. Here it is:

Google Drive: Major Religions Vocabulary Study Guide

Be aware that Google Drive makes the sheet two pages, whereas the copy I passed out in class is just one page. Study the vocabulary and your notes from the beliefs we went over today! Next class, we will play PowerPoint Jeopardy to review, then take the religion test next week.

Religion, Day 5 - Class Recap

Arabic calligraphy that surrounds the entrance to the Taj Mahal, in India. We learned about Islam today in class - this is a famous example of Islamic architecture in the world! Photo taken over Spring Break, 2015. 

Hi everyone,

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend! I did a ton of grading on Friday and felt very accomplished at the end of a long day here at Westview, then really enjoyed my time at the Oregon Coast with my girlfriend the rest of the weekend. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. Selected for today because of our ongoing religion unit. The lyrics also mention Jesus, who we talked about today and last class in regards to Christianity.

AGENDA 4/27/15:

News Brief – Anju
Is America a Christian Nation?
The Pluralism Project
Islam

Homework: Read the blog!  Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found on this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well (if you want to turn in a revised copy, please give me the original graded copy for review, as well). Next news brief: Alex D.

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News Brief: Anju had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Nepal quake: Death toll passes 3,200 as nation struggles with devastation. This story has dominated international news, and I obviously feel a personal connection to this, as I was just in Kathmandu, Nepal last month for Spring Break. I showed this article (which has some stunning before/after images) in class, to talk about the religious impact of the earthquake: CNN.com - How Hindus and Buddhists view Nepal's devastating earthquake. I also showed some Facebook posts, of places in Kathmandu that I stayed or went to - it seems like the people I interacted with are fine, but the devastation is extreme.

We also watched VICE News for the day and talked about our weekends, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Alex D.

Is America A Christian Nation?: This was not meant as a debate question in class, but rather a look at how religion impacts and shapes our own society (relating, as always, to the learning target for the unit). I had students create a YES/NO t-chart on a piece of paper to look at both sides of this. To start with this, we watched the video clip from this story from nearby in Washington:

KGW.com - Clark County building will display 'In God We Trust'

This was meant as a call back to earlier in the year, when we had a Forced Choice debate on whether or not the phrase In God We Trust should be removed from our currency. It was also meant to show how fired up both sides were, and how religion impacts our society.

Next, we watched a short clip of President Obama saying that the United States is no longer a Christian nation, which upset a lot of people at the time.

Then, we watched this debate on the TV show Hardball in 2009, between an Atheist and a Christian, talking about the origins of the United States government and the role religion should play in our lives (again, students were supposed to note both sides of the debate):

Finally, I showed some more Pro/Con quotes. Again, this was not a debate we had in class - I just wanted everyone to see that it IS a debate, and be able to identify some different perspectives.

The Pluralism Project: Next, I passed out this in-class assignment, which is a reading and some questions on the back:

Google Drive: Harvard University - The Pluralism Project

The point here was to see that there are a variety of different religions (and people who don't believe in religion) in the United States, which the article makes the case is a reason our society has been shaped (get it - the learning target again!). Students were expected to read the article and answer the three questions on the back. I called on students randomly to talk about the answers. As part of this, we looked at the U.S. Census Population Clock to see how many people are in America.

Christianity: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the last religion in the PowerPoint - Islam. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. It was also great to have students be able to share and explain more about their own faiths!

Thanks for your continued hard work! Only six more weeks left until the end of the year! Let's keep at it!

Religion, Day 4 - Class Recap

We took notes about Christianity today in class. This is a photo from the top of a mountain overlook Cabo San Lucas, at the tip of Baja California in Mexico. Taken over Winter Break, 2014.

Dear class,

What a relief for me to be able to pass back your graded Historical Investigations today! Whew! They definitely take a ton of time to grade. It was also nice to be able to continue looking at how religion impacts society, and with taking notes on a new religion. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor" from The Pianist (Wladek Szpilman). Selected for today because of the story of Szpilman, who was a Jewish pianist that survived the Holocaust. No lyrics, but listen to the song here.

AGENDA 4/22/15:

News Brief – Braydan
Historical Investigation Grades
Israel and Religion
Christianity
Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found on this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Anju.

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News Brief: Braydan had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Drone with radioactive material found on Japanese Prime Minister's roof. Woah! What a story! How is this not a bigger deal? When Braydan told us about this story in the morning, I almost couldn't believe it! It's like the plot of a movie!

We also watched VICE News for the day, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Anju.

Historical Investigation Grades: I spent about 8-9 hours the last couple of days, grading. The result was getting your class graded.

I cannot promise that your revisions on this will be graded by progress reports, if you give them to me by Thursday, because I still have the first editions of the other two classes to go through. But turning in revisions would wipe out the current N grades on the project, which would be massively helpful in improving your grade.

Please see my extensive comments in the text of your paper, along with the grading sheet comments, to determine what you need to do. If you have not turned anything in to me yet, that needs to happen ASAP to avoid a bad grade on your progress report.

Israel and Religion: To focus on how the Jewish religion impacts and shapes society, it is easy to point to the only country in the world where Judaism is the main religion: Israel. To start this section, I played this video that my Period 3 student Orel sent me, which is about the Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, and stopping everything for a minute to reflect:

הדקה הזאת...
Holocaust Memorial Day - יום השואה
Posted by ‎ערבות‎ on Thursday, April 16, 2015

What an incredibly powerful video! Thank you for sharing it with us, Orel!

The next document I showed the class was this recent survey of Americans about their attitudes towards Israel: Gallup.com - Seven in 10 Americans Continue to View Israel Favorably. I showed this to demonstrate that there is still huge support for Israel here in the United States, and I talked about the reasons why this might be - again, how religion impacts society.

Finally, I showed this video from the New York Times: NYTimes.com - Israelis Split Over Service. This was to show the conflict within Israel between Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the military, who mandates that people of the country serve when they turn 18.

After the video, I asked the question of whether or not students thought the Jewish people in the video should be forced to serve in the military, and we had an interesting discussion about it.

Christianity: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the fourth religion in the PowerPoint - Christianity. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. :-)

Grade Check: The rest of class was devoted to working on improving your grade if at all possible! I talked students that I had specific concerns about for grades on this upcoming progress report, and my message was largely that you can still save yourself by getting credit for the year, even if you have an F. There is lots of work to do, but it is not too late! I have updated your grades online to reflect the Historical Investigation, as well. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help!

Religion, Day 3 - Class Recap

Today, I wanted students to envision themselves at a beach. This is one of my favorite beaches in the world: Maho Beach, St. Martin, in the Caribbean. Home to one of the greatest places to photograph planes on Earth! Photo taken in 2009. 

Hi everyone,

It was a fun class today - I am glad that we were able to go outside for a bit, to enjoy the weather! Thanks for participating in our class activities today! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Beach Chair" by Jay Z and Chris Martin. Selected for today because of the breathing exercises we did, envisioning ourselves at the beach! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/20/15:

News Brief - Gavin

Failing Religion
Breathing
Judaism

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not. All late/incomplete/missing work for progress report grades is due this Thursday. Next news brief: Braydan.

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News Brief: Gavin had the news brief today, but was absent, so Maddy filled in and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Earthquake off Taiwan and Okinawa kills one. I talked about how Japan has done a very good job at building structures that can withstand large earthquakes. We also checked in about the weekend.

We also watched VICE News for the day (which actually from last Friday, because it had a section on India and cows - exactly what we were talking about last week - SO cool!), before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Braydan.

I also talked about errors I was noticing in Historical Investigations in Period 3. Here's a link to that, if you want to see (and possibly start revising already).

Failing Religion: This section was looking at an article on American's knowledge of religion. Students were able to work in small groups, pairs, or by themselves to read the article and answer the questions at the end:

Google Drive - USAToday: Americans Get an 'F' in Religion Assignment

I randomly called on a few students to talk about their responses on this. Basically, the point here was that we need to learn more about religion.

As part of this section, I showed this clip of a bar owner in Myanmar being accused of insulting Buddhism by having an online advertisement with headphones on a Buddha, connected to a dance party with alcoholic drinks:

This is another relationship of religion to society, which is our learning target for this unit. I showed this article about the man being sentenced to two years in prison, as well: NYTimes.com - Myanmar Sentences 3 to Prison for Depicting Buddha Wearing Headphones.

Breathing: I was really excited to try this today - especially as it meant a trip outside! :-) Thank you for being willing to participate in a walk out to the football field to do some breathing and meditation type exercises! The sun was so nice! The whole point of this was to just relax. Hopefully, it did the trick!

Judaism: At the end of class, we came back to the room and continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the third religion in the PowerPoint - Judaism. This was somewhat lengthy, so I appreciate your focus to it! :-)

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! I have updated your grades online to reflect whether or not you have turned in your Historical Investigation, as well. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!

Religion, Day 2 - Class Recap

At the end of class today, we took notes on the aspects of Buddhism. This is a statue of Buddha at the Monkey Temple in Kathmandu. Photo taken on Spring Break 2015.

Dear class,

I am enjoying our new religion unit, especially because this I get to use a lot of the photos I have taken and experiences I have had around the world! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Karma" by Alicia Keys. Selected because we were continuing to talk today about Hinduism, which has the idea of karma as a central idea. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/16/15:

News Brief - Patrick

Mad About Cows
Modi and Hindu Nationalism
Religions PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not. Next news brief: Gavin.

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News Brief: Patrick had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: LATimes.com - Search area for missing Malaysian Airlines jet could be doubled, officials say. This is a story related to the MH370 flight that went missing last year and no trace has ever been found of. I also brought up this article about the Kardashians visiting Armenia to bring attention to the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide starting.

We also watched VICE News for the day, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Clara.

I showed the blog from last class to highlight all of the Russian Revolution links and we also reviewed and made questions/summary on the Cornell Notes from last class.

Mad About Cows: This was an interesting sort of Language Arts style activity to analyze a newspaper article. Before looking at the article, I showed the class a list of words from it, and asked if anyone knew all of them. Nobody did, which was the point - it's okay to not know and try your best to guess! Here's the list:

Erstwhile:
Chauvinist:
Pantheon:
Bucolic:
Conundrums:
Burgeoning:
Syncopated:
Nominally:
Draught:
Bemoaned:
Lineages:
Indigenous:
Curdle:
Inanities:
Sententious:
Masqueraded:

The directions were to get into groups of FOUR (there may be 1-2 groups of three). Select someone to be the designated writer of vocabulary guesses. Select someone to be the designated speaker. All group members collaborate on trying to guess what the vocabulary words mean through the context of the article.

This was the article we were looking at, which relates to the unit learning target of how religion helps shape society: NYTimes.com - Cow Mad in India. Like I said, it was a somewhat challenging article as far as vocabulary goes. I do like the point about beef exports, though!

The groups had about 20 minutes in class to read the article and try to come up with their best guesses for definitions of words. This was a literacy strategy to help in the future! Then, we went through and made guesses in each group with the class, before I revealed the actual definition online using Dictionary.com. I enjoyed seeing many students get really excited if they had a close definition! Thanks for participating in this new way to read an article together. :-)

Modi and Hindu Nationalism: After reading the article, I played this video (warning: some graphic descriptions of violence) about the history of India's new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Again, we were looking at how society is impacted by religion, and it is clear that Modi's Hindu Nationalist Party is shaping society through religion in one way or another.

The last example I gave of this was this recent New York Times editorial about Modi and how India is promoting mass conversions of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism: NYTimes.com - Modi's Dangerous Silence.

With over a billion people, India is the world's largest democracy. Having just visited during Spring Break, I was especially interested in focusing on it!

Religions PowerPoint: At the end of class, we continued the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the second religion in the PowerPoint - Buddhism. Next class, we will look at how Buddhism shapes society and then move on to taking notes on Judaism. See the pattern here? :-)

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! I have updated your grades online to reflect whether or not you have turned in your Historical Investigation, as well. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!

Religion, Day 1 - Class Recap

We started going over some of the world's major religions today in class. The first one in the PowerPoint was Hinduism. This is a Hindu temple in New Delhi, India! Photo taken over Spring Break, 2015.

Hi everyone,

I hope many of you (about half the class turned in the Historical Investigation on time today) are feeling a great sense of relief after being done with the biggest project all year! Today, we started out religion unit. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "God Moving Over The Face of The Waters" by Moby. Selected for today because we started talking about religion today in class. This was an instrumental song with no lyrics. Listen to it again if you want here.

AGENDA 4/14/15:

News Brief - Brenden

Turn in Historical Investigation/Russian Revolution Grades
What is Religion?
Religions PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not. Next news brief: Patrick.

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News Brief: Brenden had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - TEPCO abandons robot stranded inside Fukushima plant. This is related to the earthquake and tsunami a few years ago in Japan. Poor robot! I also talked about Pope Francis saying that the Armenian Genocide was a genocide, which upset Turkey. The 100 year anniversary of the start of the genocide is on April 24. I wonder if President Obama will call it a genocide? We shall see!

We also watched VICE News for the day, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Patrick.

Turn in H.I./R.R. Grades: As I said in class, I sent and responded to at least 100 emails and blog comments over the weekend, having to do with the Historical Investigation. I was in contact with a ton of students and parents about it, so I hope that there was a lot of productivity happening. I am excited to read the research projects! If you did not turn it in today, it will be an N grade in the gradebook (basically, an F) until you do.

The weekend also gave me time to grade your Russian Revolution packets, which I wanted to get back to you AFTER the Historical Investigation was finished, so you could concentrate on that. I did a pretty simple job of grading on this, and just wrote the two scores on the front of whatever sheet you had on your packet. Here is the breakdown:

Russian Revolution Unit Grades:
Explaining Connections LT 2
Revolution LT 20

1) The Russian Revolution Pre-Assessment/Newsflash activity

2) Vocabulary Notes on Peace, Land, and Bread PowerPoint – LT 20

3) OPVL activity on Russian Revolution Primary Sources – LT 2

4) Propaganda Poster assignment based on Soviet Propaganda PowerPoint – LT 2

5) Vocabulary Quiz (this can be retaken with me if necessary) – LT 20

The first score circled was the LT2 grade (the OPVL/Propaganda Poster). The second grade circled was LT20, which had to do with the vocabulary.

Please make sure to make up what you are missing, if possible!

What is Religion?: We started the religion unit by completing a pre-assessment in class, which students turned in after completing. Remember that there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to what you personally believe. Our study of religion is based on simply understanding what people think about spirituality around the world, which has a huge impact on life. Here's the pre-assessment:

Google Drive - World Religions Pre-Assessment

It seemed like most students were interested in talking about religion, which was good to see! If you would rather remain private about your own religion, I totally understand that, too. It is a very personal decision! Here's the video we watched for the end of the pre-assessment, which does a great job of going over five of the major world religions:

The point here was to learn some new information about major religions! I think it is a really good overview video.

Religions PowerPoint: Next, we started (it will take us a long time to finish) the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. These are particularly famous in Ms. DeFrance Gilman's classes. I spiced them up a bit with photos from my travels as a part of the slides! Here is the PowerPoint:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

We made it through Hinduism (the first religion covered) today, and will keep going next class. If you want to get ahead of the game at home, go ahead and check out the rest of the slides!

There is definitely a lot to learn about! We are going to keep moving forward with new material. If you are needing to improve your grade (I will update with the Historical Investigation N grades soon), please work hard on that, too! I am here to help! :-)

Historical Investigation, Day 8 - Class Recap

A tree with prayer flags on the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. It was quite an experience to climb up to this point! There are multiple students studying an aspect of a Chinese revolution for their historical investigation. Photo taken in 2014.

Dear class,

I have to say, I am pretty disappointed with where many students were at today in terms of the peer review on the historical investigation. Well over half the class was missing big aspects of the paper, which means there is a lot of work ahead this weekend! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Communication LT 3: I can effectively use the conventions of writing.
Research LT 1: I can develop and refine a research question or topic.
Research LT 3: I can responsibly and accurately cite sources.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "You've Got A Friend" by Carole King and James Taylor. Selected for today because a good friend doing a peer review helps a lot, and I wanted everyone to know I was going to try to help as much as possible to get you in a position to be successful on this project. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/10/15:

News Brief - Mary

Peer Review
Work Time
Conferences

Homework: Read the blog! Final draft (printed copy) of Historical Investigation is due next class. Next news brief: Brenden.

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News Brief: Mary had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: Yahoo.com - Kenyan police official says Kenyans should resist militants. This is especially connected to the 147 college students killed as a part of a terrorist act earlier in the week.

We also watched VICE News for the day, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Brenden.

Peer Review: Today's class was supposed to be focused on getting as many good peer reviews on your historical investigation as possible. Here was the sheet I passed out in class for people to use.

Google Drive - Historical Investigation Peer Review Rubric

Make sure that you look to correct spelling and grammar, as well as the format issues!

Work Time: The rest of class was devoted to working on review or doing whatever possible on the historical investigation. Here is the final assignment, again, if you need to look at it:

Google Drive: Historical Investigation - Detailed Assignment

And here is an example of a historical investigation done by another student, which might help with formatting. The OPVL/Part C is different in this student paper, so ignore that aspect.

Conferences: As students were working on review, I called each student in the class up to talk about where they were at, what support was needed, what changes I saw needed to be done, or in some cases, just asking what in the world has been going on for the last month, since there was so little productivity to be seen. For many students, there is a LOT of work over this weekend to be done.

As always, if you are confused about what to do, please email me or comment and I would be happy to help. I suspect at this point most students know what to do - they just wanted to put it off until the very last moment to get it done. Well, that moment has arrived. Work hard this weekend, please.

Historical Investigation, Day 7 - Class Recap

Steps leading to the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in Delhi, India. Gandhi famously led a revolution in India against the British government, using non-violence as a core principle. Photo taken during Spring Break, 2015!

Hi everyone,

Today was our last day of in class Computer Lab time for the Historical Investigation. Next class, the rough draft is due to be peer reviewed! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Communication LT 3: I can effectively use the conventions of writing.
Research LT 1: I can develop and refine a research question or topic.
Research LT 3: I can responsibly and accurately cite sources.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "This Time is the Last Time" by Mae. Selected for today because it was the last time we went to the computer lab together as a class to work on the Historical Investigation! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/8/15:

News Brief - Tyler A.

Rough Draft Expectations
Final Questions?
Computer Lab S219

Homework: Read the blog! Printed copy of Historical Investigation rough draft due next class. Next news brief: Mary.

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News Brief: Tyler A. had the news brief today and selected this article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - China declares war on 'forbidden game' of golf. I really dislike golf (it is so difficult and expensive), so this made me laugh a bit. I told my story of breaking at $400 golf club at a range in Hawaii when I was younger, too. We also talked about the story of a man in South Carolina being shot in the back by a police officer - the video of the incident came out and the officer is being charged with murder.

We also watched VICE News for yesterday (which included Russia wanting to say Stalin was a great leader again - wow!), before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Mary.

Rough Draft Expectations: Here's the copy of how you will be peer reviewing the Historical Investigation next class, which is so important to being able to turn in a good research paper:

Google Drive - Historical Investigation Peer Review Rubric

Please be sure to bring in a printed copy at the start of class (I do not want a ton of students needing to print their papers out) so that we can peer review and I can have a look at it as well. I will call students up one by one in class so we can look at it together and I can go over any last changes that I am requesting. Make sure that you look to correct spelling and grammar, as well!

Final Questions? Here is the final assignment, again, if you need to look at it:

Google Drive: Historical Investigation - Detailed Assignment

And here is an example of a historical investigation done by another student, which might help with formatting. The OPVL/Part C is different in this student paper, so ignore that aspect.

Computer Lab S219: The rest of class was devoted to working in the Computer Lab on the assignment, and I was happy to try and answer questions, as well as help as much as I could. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do!

Historical Investigation, Day 6 - Class Recap

Some students are researching the French Revolution for their Historical Investigation. Here is the French flag waving in Paris, in 2013.

Dear class,

I was feeling a lot better this morning, which certainly helped my spirits at school, along with your continued hard work on the Historical Investigation. The rough draft is due at the end of this week! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Communication LT 3: I can effectively use the conventions of writing.
Research LT 1: I can develop and refine a research question or topic.
Research LT 3: I can responsibly and accurately cite sources.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Keep Ya Head Up" by 2Pac. Selected for today because I wanted everyone to keep working hard on the historical investigation assignment, which is winding to a close in class this week. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/6/15:

News Brief - Tyler H.

HI Questions?
Computer Lab S219

Homework: Read the blog! Historical Investigation rough draft due on Friday. Next news brief: Tyler A.

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News Brief: Tyler H. had the news brief today and selected this article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Turkey blocks Twitter, YouTube over hostage photos. I know that I definitely take access to those websites for granted - especially since I use YouTube every class to show VICE News! It is interesting how other countries choose to censor their people and access to information. Of course, we also do it here in the United States, as well, to some extent.

We also watched VICE News for the day, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Tyler A.

HI Questions?: Before we went to the computer lab again, I wanted to ask if there were any general questions about the historical investigation assignment, which is linked to below:

Google Drive: Historical Investigation - Detailed Assignment

I explained that if you are not up to Part C, you are behind schedule, but there is still time to make it up! Part B (all the research and finding good sources) is the most difficult part, for sure. Let me know if you are in need of help!

Computer Lab S219: The rest of class was devoted to working in the Computer Lab on the assignment, and I was happy to try and answer questions, as well as help as much as I could.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you be successful! Keep working hard on this!

Historical Investigation, Day 5 - Class Recap

Revolution Square, in Bucharest, Romania has this monument to King Carol I. The square is quite famous in Romanian history! Photo taken in 2013.

Hi everyone,

Another work day in class today. I continued to not feel very well at all, so I am thankful for your focus and hard work. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Communication LT 3: I can effectively use the conventions of writing.
Research LT 1: I can develop and refine a research question or topic.
Research LT 3: I can responsibly and accurately cite sources.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Come Together" by The Beatles. Selected for today because Part B was due. Beatles. Part B. Get it? Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/2/15:

News Brief - John

Part B/E Peer Review
Part C

Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Keep working on your Historical Investigation. Next news brief: Tyler.

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News Brief: John had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Islamic gunmen storm Kenyan college, 15 killed; Christians targeted. This seemed to be a developing story at the time of our class. I tried to explain a bit about the Al Shabab terrorist group (which mostly operates in Somalia) and the conflict in Kenya. A really tragic story.

We also talked about this story: CNN.com - Germanwings plane crash: What we know so far. We had a pretty extensive conversation about this event in class, for good reason. There are all sorts of important aspects to this story, like trying to treat suicide and depression (please, if you are having those types of thoughts, tell somebody. Getting help is nothing to be ashamed of.), security on airplanes, why pilots are able to secure doors from the inside, and lots more. It was an interesting and good conversation - thanks!

We also watched VICE News for the day, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to John.

Part B/E Peer Review: There were many students who needed me to help them print their Part B documents, and it seemed like lots more who need to catch up with the rest of the class. If you have not finished the first draft of Part B and E, you are behind! Here's the peer review form/checklist that I passed out today to help with getting better:

Google Drive - Peer Review for Parts A, B, and E of Historical Investigation

It is your responsibility to get a great peer review and give one, too! It helps make everyone's work better. Please continue working on improving these sections!

Part C: For students who were done with Part B, I introduced Part C, which is an OPVL analysis of your sources. It may not be in your assignment packet, for some reason (the copier messed up?), but it is on page 4 here:

Google Drive - Historical Investigation Assignment Details

Origin, Purpose, Value, and Limitation of your four sources (minimum) must be done for your analysis of the sources.

Work Time: The rest of class was devoted to working quietly on the assignment, and I was happy to try and answer questions along with print off papers.

Thank you for your hard work - please let me know if there is anything else I can help with!