Tuesday - 10/30/2018

What We Did Today
We finished talking about temporal frames as a way to organize and analyze historical information.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Eras; Beginnings of Human Society; Foraging Era; Agrarian Era; Early Civilizations and Pastoral Peoples; Classical Civilizations, World Religions, and Major Empires; Industrial Era.

Monday - 10/29/2018

What We Did Today
We continued discussing calendar systems of the world.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Eras; calendar systems.

Friday - 10/26/2018

What We Did Today
We continued examining calendar systems of the world (Muslim/Islamic, Jewish/Hebrew, Chinese, and Mayan).

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How were the calendars similar?  What problems might having different calendar systems present for an historian?

Thursday - 10/25/2018

What We Did Today
We began discussing calendar systems of the world.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Gregorian calendar; BCE/CE; BC/AD.

Wednesday - 10/24/2018

What We Did Today
We started discussing temporal frames (how historians organize and analyze events by time).

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
If you were writing a history of the United States, what point in history would start your story?

Tuesday - 10/23/2018

What We Did Today
We watched a few crash course: world history and CNN10.

Homework
None, though the grades for the test are in the gradebook; if you are unhappy with your score, come see me at lunch.  If you received a score less than 41, you need to come see me at lunch, too, so we can fix your grade!

Discussion Starters
How'd you do on your test?

Monday - 10/22/2018

What We Did Today
We took our test in the media center/lab.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How'd the test go?

Friday - 10/19/2018

What We Did Today
We received the last of our study guides and practiced studying for the test on Monday, Oct. 22.

Homework
Study for the test, using the study guides provided.

• Use the adjacent map to study for the continents and oceans map portion of the test.
• Use the vocabulary study guide to study for the vocab portion of the test.
• Use this study guide to study for the remaining questions of the test.

Discussion Starters
Let's study!

Thursday - 10/18/2018

What We Did Today
We practiced recognizing/identifying social institutions in a text about the Iroquois Confederacy, then received a vocab study guide for our test on Monday and studied with partners.

Homework
Use your vocab study guide to get ready for Monday's test.

Discussion Starters
Let me quiz you on your vocabulary words for your social studies test.

Wednesday - 10/17/2018

What We Did Today
We finished talking about social institutions, watch CNN10, and began previewing Monday's test.

Homework
You can begin studying for the test using the image in this post.

Discussion Starters
Examples of social institutions; Monday's test.

Tuesday - 10/16/2018

What We Did Today
We engaged in a "conversation line" (we took turns answering questions for two minutes with a partner, then switched partners) about social institutions.  Mr. L also let us know there is going to be a test next Monday; we will be creating a study guide this week to help us get ready for it.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters

• Are social institutions necessary elements in human culture or society? Why or why not?
• What did you notice about your thinking as you participated in the "conversation line"?

Monday - 10/15/2018

What We Did Today
We began discussing social institutions.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
The things a group of people needs to survive 100 years.

Friday - 10/12/2018

What We Did Today
We finished making our list/poster/bookmarks of what makes an event significant.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
What makes an event significant?

Thursday - 10/11/2018

What We Did Today
We continued talking about importance/significance; we shared our personal theories, then worked to develop a consensus on what makes something significant or important (we are developing a class list).

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
What makes something important or significant?

Wednesday - 10/10/2018

What We Did Today
We focused on significance/importance as an organizational scheme.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
What is your theory of significance and importance?  What, for you, makes something significant or important?

Tuesday - 10/09/2018

What We Did Today
We continued examining organizational schemes that historians use, focusing on significance/importance.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Time capsule; significance.

Monday - 10/08/2018

What We Did Today
We started discussing tools that historians use to create accounts.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How can historians organize their historical accounts?

Friday - 10/05/2018

What We Did Today
We continued learning the steps that historians take to create historical accounts, then watched CNN10.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Why must historians be selective with sources and evidence?  Why must historians organize their sources and evidence when creating accounts?

Thursday - 10/04/2018

What We Did Today
We began exploring processes historians use to investigate the past.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters

Frame the problem; Select and analyze evidence; Organize the information; Construct an account.

Wednesday - 10/03/2018

What We Did Today
We analyzed a "letter from Paris" for accuracy.  We identified facts and opinions, looked for internal contradictions, identified facts that could be corroborated by external facts, then determined if the letter could be trusted (spoiler: it couldn't).

Homework
None.

Discussion Starter
Letter from Paris; why was the letter untrustworthy? what was the internal contradiction?

Tuesday - 10/02/2018

What We Did Today
We discussed how historians can check the accuracy of sources (checking for facts/opinions, checking for internal/external consistencies and contradictions).

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Facts and opinions; internal/external consistencies and contradictions.

Monday - 10/01/2018

What We Did Today
We explored two sources (one primary, one secondary) on the same topic and analyzed their usefulness.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Working in a factory in England in the 1830s.