Hi there! In exactly a week, we will be out of school, hopefully enjoying our holiday!

11/21 Quick Write:

Today we will get into the groups that were established yesterday, and you will begin taking notes on your specific Pharaoh. You will take notes on the Kingdom (time period) in which they ruled, and three or more accomplishments that they had during their rein.

After everyone in your group has completed the notes, you will outline a rough draft of your Pharaoh poster. Your poster must include the following information (and everyone must participate in making this poster!)

Once I have approved your rough draft, you will get started creating your final draft on a piece of large chart poster paper. Remember, work as a team, and make your information clear and accurate– other people will rely on this poster to learn about your Pharaoh!

Have a lovely day 🙂

Halfway there!! Normal schedule… finally!

11/20 Quick Write:

We will have no more than 10 minutes to wrap up our Geographic Map of Egypt– to be turned in when completed.

Today we are introducing some of Ancient Egypt’s most famous and accomplished Pharaohs! There are four that we will focus on:

First we will take a look at the three time periods that historians have created to categorize Ancient Egypt: The Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms.

After this, you will be split into groups of 3-4 people and will be given a specific Pharaoh. As a group, you will read and take notes on the Pharaoh, focused on the specific information below:

When you are completed with your notes, you and your group will be given a piece of poster paper where you will draw and write the following info:

You will have tomorrow to wrap up this poster, then on Friday we will do a Gallery Walk of each others posters, taking notes on all four Pharaohs.

Have a wonderful day!!

Hello! Remember that we have our first Target Tuesday today so you will have shortened class periods, and you will go to lunch *after* FOURTH period.

11/19 Quick Write:

Today we are reviewing two of our new vocab words– “topography” and “vegetation”. Throughout class we are considering how these two geographic features effect the settlement of a civilization.

See the attached slides: look at the picture of the Nile River Valley and consider our vocab words “topography” and “vegetation.”

After we have discussed how topography and vegetation might effect human settlement, we will create a map of Egypt. This map will focus on the geographic features we discussed. See the attached map outline and instructions below.

Remember, on the bottom of your map, complete the sentence stem: Geographic features that caused people to settle in the Nile River Valley include…

Have a great Tuesday!

Hello! Welcome back 🙂 We have slightly shortened classes today as we have an assembly after 6th period. That means we need to be extra on task with our work today in class!

11/18 Quick Write:

Today we are refreshing ourselves on some vocab we will consistently use throughout this next unit. Some terms you may already be familiar with, some will probably be new. The point is for all of us to be able to know the same definitions for relevant words so we can be on the same page during class or group discussions.

Below you will find the handout you will be filling our as you wander around the room, as well as the definitions for each of the words.

Happy Monday! Remember, this is our last full week before a nice little break 😀

Happy Friday!!! We made it!

11/15 Quick Write: I am collecting these today, so be sure your name is on it and you have completed FOUR quick writes.

We are reviewing the Behistun Inscription and the Rosetta Stone today. We will briefly discuss why these discoveries were so significant.

Then we will take a look at the cuneiform and hieroglyphic “alphabets” and take note of the similarities and differences, and discuss the various challenges you might face trying to use the “alphabet” in a translation.

The rest of class will be spent translating a short phrase into both cuneiform and hieroglyphics. See instructions below.

I hope we all have a fun, relaxing and safe weekend… one more full week before break!

Well, hello! It was really great to see so many of y’alls family last night!

11/14 Quick Write:

We are starting to shift into another civilization… Ancient Egypt! Please keep in mind, many of the civilizations we are covering existed at the same time. For example, Mesopotamia’s civilizations might have been the first, but they continued to exist after Egypt began to flourish. Essentially, just because we are learning about a new civilization, doesn’t mean other civilizations aren’t occurring at the same time.

We will be thinking about Written Language today (one of the characteristics all civilizations must have!). Many of you asked how social scientists translated cuneiform… how do we know what Hammurabi’s laws were if they were written in an ancient language that isn’t used anymore?

We will discuss two important discoveries: the Behistun Inscription in Iran and the Rosetta Stone in Egypt. If it weren’t for these discoveries, we would not understand Babylonian cuneiform or Egyptian Hieroglyphics!

See the slideshow below for more information on these two discoveries. Consider the question: Why would ancient Scribes write in multiple languages?

Here is the reading that we will read as a class:

Have a great day!

Hi, hi, hi! Hope you are all staying warm out there!

11/12 Quick Write:

We are wrapping up our revisions to the first draft of our email to the Louvre, and typing up our final and SUMMATIVE draft today!

You will have most of the period to write up your CER. Hopefully you have planned and prepared your email so it should be quick and easy to write and submit.

Final draft is due at the end of class– critique well!

Welcome back! Remember, there are Conferences tonight and Wednesday, 4pm to 7pm!

11/11 Quick Write:

We are preparing for our email critique to the Louvre! Remember, this email is summative, so take advantage of this preparation time so the end product is worthy of a 4.

Here is the Order of Organization for today:

1. We will start class by filling in the Graphic Organizer on page 10 of your Student Packet (see below).

2. You will write your first draft using the helpful vocab sheet on page 11 of your packet. Remember to SKIP LINES because a partner will be editing this.

3. You swap with someone and read through each others CER. You will underline the parts that you think are their Claim, Evidence and Reasoning.

4. When you get your work back, you will make revisions.

You will have most of tomorrow in class to type up your final draft of this email. Put the work into your rough drafts now so the final draft is easy and quick tomorrow!

Have a lovely day!

HAPPY FRIDAY!! Short weeks fly by, don’t they?

11/8 Quick Write: (periods 1, 4, 5, 6)

11/8 Quick Write: (3rd period only)

Today we are introducing a new tool called “Weigh the Evidence.” Essentially, we have spent quite a lot of time looking at these Hammurabi sources individually. Today, we are looking at all of them at once, looking to see how they compare and contrast to each other. Then, as a class, we will go over our assignment for Investigation #2– an email to the Louvre Museum critiquing their explanation of what was important to Hammurabi. We will look over the Louvre’s argument and, as a group, compile a list of problems we see with the Louvre, with evidence to support ourselves.

Below you can find the Weigh the Evidence questions, instructions for the assignment, and a Weigh the Evidence graphic organizer that we will fill out together.

Have a relaxing and SAFE weekend!!

Hello!

I will not be in class today, except for period 3. Please remember classroom expectations when there is a sub in the room. Class time will not be wasted– we have a lot to do and just because I am not in the room, doesn’t mean you won’t be working.

11/7 Quick Write (for periods 1, 4, 5, and 6):

11/7 Quick Write for period 3 only:

You will be working on annotating and answering questions for Sources 3 and 4. You will use the Bookmark Tool to guide you through each source. I EXPECT ALL SOURCES TO HAVE BEEN ANNOTATED BY FRIDAY. Do NOT waste your time.

Below are the instructions for Sources 3-4.

See you tomorrow! Make me proud 🙂