Students received their New York Times Upfront World Affairs 2015 issue today. We will use this atlas/almanac throughout the semester. After students looked through it for a few minutes, we learned how to read and understand the almanac information. Students then read three selections about the Middle East: pp. 25-27 and pp. 12-13.
We spent time completing the map of the Middle East, which is due on Monday, and watched the CNN Student News.
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Students answered two questions on the white board that were connected to the CNN Student News. We watched the news, discovering that Hawaii is the southernmost state in the U.S. and what west African countries are experiencing the Ebola epidemic.
We learned the Father Abraham is the father of three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Students then read Chapter 23, Section 1, and answered questions 1-5 on page 474. After a break, we began working on a map of the Middle East, which we continue in class on Friday. Because today is Disney Day for the high school students, we watched the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie, from 1928. Students have a news assignment, which is listed under assignments on the Home page. We defined terms,talked about the Silk Road and watched a world history video clip about trade along the Silk Road. Then we discussed modern versions of the road, like Amazon.com, Ali Baba, and how today the internet and international airline travel connect the world in similar ways to the Silk Road.
Students answered questions on pp. 466-467: #7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 23 and 24. Today we studied Chapter 21, Introduction to Central and Southwest Asia. Students created a sketch map of the region (using the maps in this chapter as guides), identifying countries, capitals, and some bodies of water and rivers. We will continue to add to this map after I return from Chicago. If you did not finish today's work on your map, complete it at home.
We also watched the CNN Student News, listened to music played on dudek (a popular instrument of this region of Asia) and lute, learned more about Islam, and tied in current events in Iraq with what we learned in this chapter. We began class with the CNN Students News.
The last nation we are visiting on our European vacation this week is Scotland. Yes, Scotland is a nation, part of the nation state of the United Kingdom. Students read pages 310-312, then answered questions #1, 2 and 3a on page 313. We watched a video tour of Scotland with Rick Steves. Students jotted down things they learned while watching the video and turned that in with their answers to the questions above. Remember to keep up with your reading assignments. We started class by answering questions about the European nations we visited on Monday. Students answered the following questions and turned in their answers at the end of class: p. 330, #1, 2, & 4; p. 335, # 1& 2.
Today we continued our European journey, visiting the Benelux nations of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Students read Chapter 16, Section 3, answered questions about the Netherlands, then watched a video tour of Holland. They then read Chapter 16, Section 4, followed by a Rick Steves tour of the Jungfrau region of Switzerland. Students wrote down a few things they learned while watching both videos and turned them in with the questions from the beginning of class. We have Geography this Friday. Today we went to Paris and Berlin. I built a catchup week into our schedule, but we don't have anything to catchup on, so we're studying Europe this week. Students read sections 1 & 2 of Chapter 16, we discussed aspects of French and German geography, then watched video tours of Paris and Berlin.
This is our no homework week. Be sure to read Chapter 21 by next week. Students began class by writing on the following topic: what are five important U.S. cities? Why? After writing, we shared and discussed their answers, and cleared up a few misconceptions along the way.
After watching the CNN Student News, we read Chapter 4 Section 2. I asked students questions based on their reading, we discussed the concepts of primary, secondary and tertiary economic activities, and I quizzed them on which category certain jobs would be in. The CA Drought assignment is due next week. We will have a no homework week after that, learning in class, but taking a break on assignments outside of class. |
James WaltersMr. Walters has taught at RAA since 1985. He currently teaches Geography, World History, American History, Government, Economics and Handbell Ensembles. He is Music Director/Organist of Magnolia Presbyterian Church and is an adjunct professor at Concordia University Wisconsin, teaching Handbell Methods and Materials. Archives
August 2017
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