Charlie and I reviewed vocabulary terms and discussion of geography themes. I assigned HOMEWORK which is due on Friday. Charlie will read a news article and answer questions about the newly discovered tomb within an ancient Egyptian pyramid. We followed a BBC lesson today which was a web quest to learn about the disappearance of Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley. This was interactive and included maps and games, requiring Charlie to question and discover clues about the lost civilization and to act like an archaeologist.
Yanuell and I delved deeper into our research on Puerto Rico using both books and the internet. Today, we focused on his favorite aspect, animals. He printed out images of animals found on the island and glued them onto his wildlife page. He also printed out a picture and wrote pertinent facts on the flag of Puerto Rico. Finally, we started researching the basic facts about the country such as continent, population, religion, etc. All of these pages were glued onto blue construction paper and placed in his World Culture binder.
Arianna and I reviewed vocabulary from her word wall and added new words - Constitution and biography. She suggested we draft our own Batt School Constitution, which I think is an excellent idea! We followed a CPalms lesson today "Welcome to America!" We reviewed what she already knows about immigrants and completed a KWL chart to organize her thoughts regarding what she questions and has learned. I introduced some new related vocabulary and she watched a short video about immigrants and Ellis Island. This topic touches on citizenship concepts she learned last year and government from this year. She answered some discussion questions and recalled so much information from the beginning of our school year - hunters and gatherers, motivations for immigration, etc. I was very proud of her.
This afternoon we examined the stone ages and reviewed the homework from pages 12-17 #'s 1-4. We will continue on in this section. Homework is to read pages 28-34 and complete #'s 1-4 for homework.
Arianna and I reviewed landforms and bodies of water today. She matched pictures to geographical terms. We also looked in both textbooks and learned more about our government and about the colonies in New England. We discussed laws that exist today and why we have them and we discussed how life was different for the pioneer families and colonists that lived in the past.
Charlie and I watched a short video on Study.com about how cultural differences are based on geography and climate. We discussed why civilizations formed and settled near certain regions, like the fertile crescent, how nomads became farmers, and why so many ancient civilizations started in the "cradle of civilization". We looked at lighthouses, specifically the Jupiter Lighthouse and discussed the 6 themes of geography in relation to it. We reviewed coastal geographic terms and discussed the location of lighthouses in Florida and why certain regions require them. Finally, we reviewed and discussed the 8 features of a civilization and posted a helpful chart on the wall to reference.
This morning we compared the Mayan and Aztec cultures and how their choices in government led to their taking different directions in terms of prosperity and longevity. We discussed how the Olmec influenced them in terms of art, math and astronomy. We reviewed the homework and previewed the next section on the Incan Empire. Marcos forgot his daily planner which created a bit of discomfort. He did come to class with his homework which is usually typed, well written and reflecting an appreciable effort on his part.
This afternoon we focused on a comparison between historians and archeologists. In addition, we looked at different samples or types of information that are used by historians and archeologists such as fossils, artifacts, primary and secondary sources. We reviewed the homework from page 11 before moving on. We discussed the importance of determining the credibility of your information or data before drawing a conclusion and how it is important to learn from history and to benefit from the mistakes made by people in the past. Homework: Read pages 12-17 and complete #'s 1-4
