Ohanenye

Homework Review Packet: Ancient Civilizations of Latin America

Sixth Grade: (Today's Classwork): Use the links in this document to complete the graphic organizer you created along the criteria given by the teacher.  Download Grand Tour of Inca and Mayan Civilizations 2

Seventh Grade: Complete the packet as the final assignment for your Africa post-test tomorrow. 

Building a Bridge With Current Events: In order to connect what we are learning in the classroom with events that occur in those countries in real life, we are attaching a current event angle to our curriculum.  Therefore, students, go on adventures!  Locate current events in any of the countries we are studying or have studied this year.  Clip the article, write a one-paragraph (minimum) review about it, and turn it in with your name and date for 10 bonus points per review.  One-paragraph summaries will count only 5 (five) points, but one-paragraph reviews will count double that--10 points.

What is the difference?

A summary is the shortened restatement of a longer passage in one's own words.

A review is the restatement of a longer piece/pasage in one's own words, but it goes further to include the opinion of the reviewer on the people in the story/passage, the events themselves, the style of the author who wrote the piece, the writer/author himself/herself, and the elements of the story (setting, plot, theme, characters, etc.).  It takes the passage apart (good or bad) and shares personal feelings about several parts of it.

Ancient Civilizations of Latin America; Review Packet on Africa Due

Sixth Grade: Go to this link to obtain information on the ancient civilizations of the Incans, the Mayans, and the Aztecs.  Use your self-created organizer to record your findings from our grand tour today.  Download Grand Tour of Inca and Mayan Civilizations

Seventh Grade: The Africa review packet you obtained yesterday is due tomorrow at the beginning of class.  Those who showed me their completed ones received incentive points.

Virtual Tour of Africa Continues; Latin America: The People

Seventh Grade:

Classwork: Touring Africa and its attributes/charateristics virtually (as a review for the test): Download VIRTUAL TOUR OF AFRICA Newer

Download Africa and the natural characteristics--newest

Homework: Packet on Africa as a review for the test on Friday, 2/27/09; the packet is due on Thursday.

Sixth Grade: Perceptions of the Latin American region, people, and cultures: complete the map, chart, and regional divisions handout.

What do Latin Americans want from the United States that money cannot buy?

2.  Exactly what makes up this cultural region called Latin America?

Homework: Pages 46 and 47 of the Reading Study Guide, all.

Homework: Latin America History and Africa's Packet

Seventh Grade Homework: Complete the Africa's Packet you received in class today.  Blank spaces, incorrect, or half-hearted answers will be penalized.

Sixth Grade: Work on the rest of the classwork activities that you did not finish in class on Latin American history.  Did you make a point to cover all the vocabulary words on the board?  Did you write them down as you came across them?  As indicated in your agenda entry, today's unfinished classwork becomes homework automatically.  Therefore, failing to write down the page numbers of your unfinished classwork is an unacceptable reason for not doing your homework.

FIELDTRIP UPDATE:

All classes are working very hard to make sure we go on our fieldtrip to the King Tut Exhibit.  Thank you! Thank you!! It is worth mentioning that the most improved class period (as far as the number of people who brought in their donations) is 5th period.  The number of people almost trippled from only 5 people as of last Thursday to 13 people within one day ( by Friday)!  Let's see what class period will be the first to have everyone donating!  

Flu and Others; Links and Outstanding Assignments

Influenza (flu) and Others: Several students have been out sick, and I am attempting to prevent more students from being sick.  As you know, influenza and similar illnesses are contagious.  Therefore, I am trying to cleanse my classroom with the anti-bacterial and anti-viral sprays that parents sent in last fall.  Fortunately, that is helping somewhat.  Unfortunately, we are running out of supplies and need some more.  Please send in any of the following items whenever you can: boxes of tissues and aerosol room sprays--the anti-bacterial and/or anti-viral kind.  Thank you so much for your generous spirit!

In connection with students being out sick, I do not mind exempting students from assignments when they are out sick.  However, knowledge missed is knowledge lost.  The reason I do not exempt students from every assignment they miss is because they need the knowledge as a vital foundation for future assignments and as a required curriculum knowledge for the CRCT.  Parents, please encourage your students to turn in the work they missed after they get well.  They need to visit my blog and/or leaf through the make up folder in the classroom to find the assignment(s) they missed.

Outstanding Assignments:

Seventh Grade: Those who have been absent this week, the following assignments have been outstanding for two weeks now; they need to be completed and turned in on Tuesday: (1) Standard of Living Chart--use the CIA website to complete the rest of it.   https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

(2) The Africa's Major Cities and Landforms Chart (a.k.a.--also known as Virtual Tour of Africa Chart): Download VIRTUALTOUR OF AFRICA--CHART  Use the link below and the CIA website above to collect information about each African country on the list. 

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/za.htm 

Click on the list of African countries to go inside each country for a list of its bodies of water and landforms. Due Tuesday (2/24/09)

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Finalizing Cultural Museum; Canada Completed; Fieldtrip Update

Seventh Grade: Homework tonight: (1) The Governments Chart on Sudan, Kenya, and South Africa.  We discussed it in class and some facts were provided.  This is a five to ten-minute assignment.

Download Education Compared in Sudan and Kenya--Chart (Print only what you need out of the three pages: The charts on government and education are on the same page.  The literature on the availability of education in Sudan and Kenya are on pages 2 and 3--just FYI.)

(2) The real homework tonight is to finalize the cultural museum using Powerpoint. If all you did in class was to put up the walls for your museum, you need to start all over now that you know how to do that faster and since you did not send your work to yourself.  If you have done an extensive amount of work already (clipping and pasting cultural items), then you need to finish up what you have left tonight. Send it to me before 8 P.M. tonight or save it on your flash.  Alternatively, if you have no Powerpoint at home, here are your options: (a) Your parents can download a copy of the software from the Microsoft Company to try it out for 90 days.  If they like it, they can commit to buying it at that time.  Here is the link:

http://www.microsoft.com/products/info/product.aspx?view=22&pcid=1172ffa8-dd3b-41d2-8a75-b423a0b80b9e&crumb=catpage&catid=9d273393-92c9-4807-be9c-515a0d152415

(b) Come to the library in the morning before homeroom tomorrow and work on it.

(c) Come to my room and use the laptops to work on your wall museum.  

******To record your voice, go to "Insert," Come down to "Movies and Sounds," go across to "Record Sound," and begin speaking.  Suggestion: You may want to have a script ready.  You will be glad you did because you will be spared a lot of frustration. 

Sixth Grade: Homework--Pages 40 and 41 of the Reading Study Guide workbook.  Answer all the questions correctly--due tomorrow.

(Please disregard the underlining.  I tried to remove it, but the command to remove the underlining does not work today.) 

Dear Parents:

Fieldtrip Update: 1. Admission Fee: I am moved by the impressive response to our request for the fieldtrip donation.  We were able to send the money to the King Tut Exhibit Group today to secure our spot.  Thank you so much for your kindness! 

2.  Transportation: However, the battle is not over.  For those parents who have not sent it their donations, we are counting on your money for the transportation (two buses).  Please send in the money by the 27th of this month so that the County will confirm our buses.  The estimated cost for both buses (drivers, mileage, and gas) will run us up to $500.  Because of the small number of students who are attending, we certainly need everyone's donation.  According to the Cobb County School Distsrict's guideline: The fieldtrip is available to all students regardless of the ability or willingness of their parents to donate funds in support of it.  However, this fieldtrip may be cancelled if insufficient funds are obtained.

Please do not let the bus donation cost us the fieldtrip after all the hardwork we have all put in to come up with the admission fee into the King Tut Exhibit.

Those parents who have volunteered to be chaperones, I will contact you as soon as I know for certain that we are going.  Once again, thank you for your volunteer spirit!

Yours truly,
Ms. Frances Ohanenye
6th/7th Grade Target/AC Social Studies
Tapp Middle School
(770) 222-3758
Cobb e-mail: frances.ohanenye@cobbk12.org
E-Pals e-mail: mso1@epals.com
Blog: http://tappmiddleschool.typepad.com/ohanenye

"Thinking outside the box ignites passion, power, and purpose.  Just do it!" --Frances Ohanenye

Cultural Museum for Africa; Finalizing Visual Tour

Seventh Grade: Pull up the document and read it in its entirety.

Download Cultural Museum Room Perspective Rubric and instructions on the assignment.

Download HOW TO BUILD A MUSEUM Instuctions on how to create a room

Sixth Grade: No official homework; however, if you are behind on the Visual Tour Technology activity, you need to work on it tonight so that you can catch up with the rest of the class.  All notes should have been taken in class on the six Canadian video clips.  Now, focus on polishing up your Word document.  See yesterday's blog entry for the rubric on what to include and how to include bells and whistles on your Word document. 

HW: Apartheid: Mandela and De Klerk; Study for Benchmark

PROGRESS REPORTS HAVE BEEN SENT HOME TODAY.  PLEASE ASK YOUR CHILD FOR HIS/HERS.

Sixth Grade: Classwork--Download the handout and rubric for Canada's Visual Tour.  Finalize all aspects today. Download VISUAL TOUR OF CANADA RUBRIC

Download VISUAL TOUR OF CANADA 021209

Homework for Sixth Grade: Study for the benchmark test by reviewing the activities we have down in the last four or five weeks.  The test will be administered during class tomorrow.

Homework for Seventh Grade--Compare and contrast Nelson Mandela and Willem F. de Klerk in terms of their roles in ending apartheid in South Africa.  Use the matrix sheet you were given in class today.  Provide five facts for each category: Five facts on how Mandela is different from De Klerk, five facts on how De Klerk is different from Mandela, and five facts on how both men contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa.  If you choose to color-code the facts for each category, please provide a key/legend to explain the content of the 15 boxes.

If you did not get enough information from the two video clips you watched in class today, consult your textbook for additional information, pages 561 to 563.

Outstanding Assignments: Because of the award ceremony on Friday, several students were not in class to take advantage of the "Catch-up Day" privilege.  Therefore, please finalize the following assignments and bring them to class on Wednesday. Fill in all  the sections with correct facts/details: "Age of Imperialism" chart for Africa, "Independence from Colonial Rule," and "Post-Independence Record" sheet.

TOMORROW: (1) We will begin "building" our culture museum tomorrow.  Start gathering cultural information on five traits of your African country.  Use the example the teacher showed in class today as your springboard.

The teacher will provide additional information tomorrow on these two outstanding assignments: "Standard of Living" chart and "Country/Capital City/Landmarks Within" chart.

Download LITERACY RATE AND STANDARD OF LIVING--AFRICA

Websites for Africa Charts; Canada: Post-Test and Visual Tour

        Enjoy your three-day weekend! Sit a spell and enjoy nature!     

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html 

Go to these websites to gather information for the standard of living/literacy rate chart.  You can use this same website for any other missing data on your colonial handouts/charts.

All other assignments should have been completed in class today.  Except for the independence charts (front and back) and the standard of living chart, all other assignments should have been completed.  I will collect the entire packet of all outstanding activities (stapled together) on Tuesday.

POSSIBLE POST-TEST ON AFRICA: 2/25/09!

Sixth Grade: We have completed our VIRTUAL TOUR.  We are now engaging in a VISUAL TOUR of Canada.  We took our post-test today.  County Benchmark Test is next Wednesday, 2/18/09. We begin Latin America next week.

FIELD TRIP UPDATE: Thirty people out of 71 have paid.  This is good news!  However, next Thursday is the 19th.  The deadline is approaching fast!

VISUAL TOUR OF CANADA--MOVIE CLIPS; EDUCATION IN AFRICA

SIXTH GRADE: Homework: Study for the Canada post-test tonight.  We went over the actual questions.  However, a person is never over-prepared.  I suggest you study some more tonight.  Your warm up calendar from January contains almost all the questions that will be on the post-test tomorrow.

Classwork: Use the handout here to respond to the questions about the video clips of Canada you watched in class today.  This is a visual tour of Canada.  Follow the teacher's instructions completely.  

SEVENTH GRADE: A tale of two countries: compare and contrast the availability of education in Kenya and Sudan.  What impact do politics, gender, and tradition have on access to education in these two countries?  Use the chart the teacher gave you in class to compete the assignment.

Tomorrow is going to be a "Catch-up Day."  Therefore, bring all outstanding assignments: 1. Standard of Living, 2.  Colonial Rule Chart (2/10/09), 3.  Age of Imperialism Chart, 4. Post-Independence Record handout, and 5. African Country/Capital City/Landmarks Chart (2/10/09). 

The only sheets that should be worked on in class are the two right columns of the Standard of Living, 2.  The entire Age of Imperialism Chart, and 3. The last two right columns of African Country/Capital City/Landmarks Chart of 2/10/09.  Those students who did what they were supposed to do all along have answered all questions on the other handouts including the Post-Independence handout.