Final Blog Post - Please Join Us in Canvas

Greetings,
Over the course of this school year we have been involved in big transitions. We began the year using Edmodo to make our connection to home and also using it as a student academic dialogue tool. It served us very well and its Facebook look alike features were very popular. We also posted to Blogger as per our beginning of the year announcement at our family "meet and greet." We employed both systems until mid October when we began making a transition away from Edmodo to Canvas. We ran Canvas announcements as our daily blog and mirrored that blog post to this Blogger site where some of you and your children were following our posts to recount what happened in class each day.

Today, after 32,500 page views in two years, will be the final blog post to Blogger. As stated we have been mirroring our announcement posts here for the benefit of you that have followed. If you are following these posts via notifications or email thank you for your participation in your child's education. I hope this vehicle worked for you and I also hope you join us by following our blog posts in the daily announcements posted on Canvas. Canvas has features that allow you to set notifications to email or even text you when a new announcement or assignment is posted. You may log on as your child, look over their shoulder, or follow specifics through your child's period class where you are included as an "observer." I will be posting farther instructions on how to set up notifications. If you would like more information on that and I have not addressed it, please email me and I will do so. I will not be taking down this Blogger site but will not be updating nor posting any new information as we are making the complete switch to the Canvas Student Management System.

See you in Canvas,
Mr. Hogue and Mrs. Cobb

Thursday Test Day

Today in class students took the test over lesson 32. It was in two parts. Part one was multiple choice and included the ten vocabulary terms plus five content questions. Part two consisted of eight matching and one essay question. The "ticket" to begin the test was a completed "Exit Chart" and students that did not have that completed worked on it during the class today and must complete it by Monday and will be set to take the test. You will miss work completed in class on Monday so that will have to be completed that night to keep you up with the class.

Mr. Hogue's second period class had some major Canvas disruptions and will be completing the essay portion of the test Monday. About 20 minutes will be allowed to complete that portion of the test as that is about how much time was lost reloading it.

We will be starting lesson 32 about the scientific revolution on Monday. See you then. Have a nice short break.

Study Day

Today students spent class time in the way listed below.You will need to work the impact of your choice over very carefully to prepare for the essay part of the exam on Thursday.

Tomorrow will be a study day and you will be given increments of time to work on each segment.

Wednesday Class Study Time:
- 5 minutes to login to your computer/TCI-Canvas-Drive
- 5 minutes to study vocabulary- Study your definitions document or Study Stack definitions below the game options.
- 5 minutes to play with the flash cards in Study Stack. Choose each term, say the definition quietly to yourself or write it down, and check by turning the card over. Place the ones you get correct in the correct pile and ones you miss in the incorrect pile.
- 5 minutes to take the test/quiz provided in Study Stack to see how you are set for the vocabulary. Remember, the Study Stack link is on your Hogue/Cobb class in Exploration Module or click here. If you do poorly, as in miss more than 2, you need more work on your vocabulary. Remember, there are five additional questions concerning the content learned from lesson 32. They are included in the Study Stack practice below the vocabulary terms.
- 20 minutes to complete or study the Explorers Table or play with the Gliffy sorting activity. This will prepare you for the eight matching questions over the explorers, their country they sailed for, and the region/country they sailed to.
- 20 minutes to review or rework your impact slide of choice. You should have made a copy in class Tuesday or you may click the link in the Hogue/Cobb class and make a copy of your choice. Remember, the essay will require you write about one of the impacts which will include the following information: Use the following bullet points to guide the content of your response: name of impact name of explorer responsible for impact country explorer sailed for name of country/settlement impacted (only explain about one) explain the exploration fully explain the impact (only explain about one)

Use the following bullet points to guide the content of your response:

• name of impact 
• name of explorer responsible for impact 
• country explorer sailed for 
• name of country/settlement impacted (only explain about one) 
• explain the exploration fully 
• explain the impact (only explain about one) 
• 
  
• Remember, the impacts are clearly spelled out in the second half of each reading section. You only need to choose one impact and be sure to include the bullet points above on your essay.

Final Exploration Work

Today students worked to complete their impact slides. I have posted a final copy to Hogue/Cobb class for Mr. Hogue's class and Mrs. Cobb's class made copies of theirs. Mrs. Cobb's class is free to use Hogue's as well. Use these to help you study but remember they are student created and may not be perfect on facts. You will need to work the impact of your choice over very carefully to prepare for the essay part of the exam on Thursday.

Tomorrow will be a study day and you will be given increments of time to work on each segment.

Wednesday Class Study Time:
- 5 minutes to login to your computer/TCI-Canvas-Drive
- 5 minutes to study vocabulary- Study your definitions document or Study Stack definitions below the game options.
- 5 minutes to play with the flash cards in Study Stack. Choose each term, say the definition quietly to yourself or write it down, and check by turning the card over. Place the ones you get correct in the correct pile and ones you miss in the incorrect pile.
- 5 minutes to take the test/quiz provided in Study Stack to see how you are set for the vocabulary. Remember, the Study Stack link is on your Hogue/Cobb class in Exploration Module or click here. If you do poorly, as in miss more than 2, you need more work on your vocabulary. Remember, there are five additional questions concerning the content learned from lesson 32. They are included in the Study Stack practice below the vocabulary terms.
- 20 minutes to complete or study the Explorers Table or play with the Gliffy sorting activity. This will prepare you for the eight matching questions over the explorers, their country they sailed for, and the region/country they sailed to.
- 20 minutes to review or rework your impact slide of choice. You should have made a copy in class Tuesday or you may click the link in the Hogue/Cobb class and make a copy of your choice. Remember, the essay will require you write about one of the impacts which will include the following information: Use the following bullet points to guide the content of your response: name of impact name of explorer responsible for impact country explorer sailed for name of country/settlement impacted (only explain about one) explain the exploration fully explain the impact (only explain about one)

Welcome Back

**This will be the last week I will be posting our announcements to Blogger. After this week, please check up with your child's period class or look over their shoulder to the Hogue/Cobb class. You can set notifications to have an email sent to your inbox, if desired, so that all new announcements come directly to you. (Go to settings/notifications and set the type you want. You may even choose a text message.)

Here we are at the start of the last 8 weeks of school. We are gaining momentum and will be concluding the section on explorers this Thursday with our lesson 32 test. Today students worked on completing their Exit Chart which focusses on the impacts of the explorers on the places they visited. This chart will be student's ticket to take the test and failure to complete it will result in a delayed test taking event until the chart is complete. Tomorrow, we will be working on the viewing and note taking of video #2 as well as the Explorer frayer model chart. It seems that we are working on a number of charts that is correct as we are pulling together information to help you study for the exam.

The following are the charts and activities you should have complete to this point:

Age of Exploration - Video #1 Lesson 32 Video Notes Chart: video #1 - Reasons to, not to, and Problems they faced as well as connections on the right column. (Video #2 has not been viewed yet.)

Lesson 32 Vocabulary Chart: 10 vocabulary terms with definitions and tweets - hash-tags. TCI Setting the Stage Europe Enters the Modern Age lesson 32 (geography challenge - which is the map and five questions)

TCI Lesson 32 reading notes for questions spelled out in the module. We are not doing them all.

Exit Chart should be completed for Hogue.

Study Tips: We are building quite the arsenal of study tools to help you prepare for the first assessment of the fourth quarter. Use them wisely. 

Exit chart: This will be your required "ticket" to begin the test. Study Stack for lesson 32. This includes vocabulary and multiple choice items to help you prepare.

Explorers Practice by Gliffy. This chart will allow you to manipulate the shapes and categorize explorers with their deeds. If this is your style, complete and organize them correctly to sort into the correct groups. Groups should include where the explorer went and who sailed for.

Explorer Table. Complete this table to help you study for the matching portion of the exam.

Exploration Continued

Today students continued working on the exploration lesson 32. We have been working through the reading notes and have completed the following items to date. If you have any of these blank or missing, that is what you need to complete before Monday April 14. The test will be Wednesday, April 16. Mrs. Cobb is working through the reading notes and completing the Exit Chart at the same time. Mr. Hogue's class should be complete with the reading notes and is working through the Exit Chart and it should be complete down to the start of the Spanish Exploration section. We will complete the last four sections on Monday. You also have been introduced to the Explorers Practice on Gliffy. There is a link in the Age of Exploration module in your Hogue/Cobb class as well as below. This is for practice making connections between explorers and who they were. You may also regroup the shapes to exhibit a better understanding of the concepts. There is a match component on the test. If you are behind on any of the forms, you should use TCI lesson 32 to answer all your questions. Remember, that is where our information is coming from. The video clip is just another source and is available in the module as well.

Age of Exploration - Video #1 Lesson 32
Video Notes Chart: video #1 - Reasons to, not to, and Problems they faced as well as connections on the right column. (Video #2 has not been viewed yet.)
Lesson 32 Vocabulary Chart: 10 vocabulary terms with definitions and tweets - hash-tags.
TCI Setting the Stage Europe Enters the Modern Age lesson 32 (geography challenge - which is the map and five questions)
TCI Lesson 32 reading notes for questions spelled out in the module. We are not doing them all.
Exit Chart should be completed down to start of Spanish Exploration for Hogue.

Study Tips: We are building quite the arsenal of study tools to help you prepare for the first assessment of the fourth quarter. Use them wisely.
Exit chart: This will be your required "ticket" to begin the test. Study Stack for lesson 32. This includes vocabulary and multiple choice items to help you prepare.
Explorers Practice by Gliffy. This chart will allow you to manipulate the shapes and categorize explorers with their deeds.

More Exploration

Today students worked in their TCI textbooks on lesson 32 reading notes. Each should pay special attention to the assigned questions as we are not doing them all. The list is in the Age of Exploration module under TCI Instructions. Some began work on the Exit Chart and Mr. Hogue's class will start that tomorrow. Yesterday's post an updated list plus the textbook below of what should be complete as of today. Mrs. Cobb's class may only have half of the reading notes complete as they worked back and forth on the Exit Chart. By the way, the Exit Chart is the ticket to take the test early in the week after break.

We added the TCI textbook lesson 32 reading notes to our complete list. Mrs. Cobb's class is working with the Exit Chart at the same time so is probably about 1/2 way through them both. Hogue will start Exit Chart tomorrow.

Exploration

Today students had an additional opportunity to complete their Geography Challenge for lesson 37. We also gathered in groups to share out your tweets and hash-tags for the vocabulary. After reading your tweets, although some were very interesting, I noticed that many of you missed the point. The point was that your tweets should have reflected the definition or by reading them you could tell what the definition of the vocabulary term was. This was another way to write sentences that reflect the vocabulary.

We are quickly gathering our completed resources together that must be finished for Monday when we come back after break. This material is not homework as we have given you plenty of in-class time to work. They must be complete so you can review and prepare for the assessment to follow. Below is a list of what you should have completed by now in class.

Age of Exploration - Video #1 Lesson 32 Video Notes Chart: video #1 - Reasons to, not to, and Problems they faced as well as connections on the right column. (Video #2 has not been viewed yet.)

Lesson 32 Vocabulary Chart: 10 vocabulary terms with definitions and tweets - hash-tags. TCI Setting the Stage Europe Enters the Modern Age lesson 32 (geography challenge - which is the map and five questions)
You should have placed copies of each in your Exploration folder (if you followed directions).

Study Stack for lesson 37 is provided, as well.

This list will grow after Thursday and Friday's class.

The bolded titles are linked if you go to Canvas class Hogue/Cobb.

Age of Exploration

Today students had an opportunity to complete their Geography Challenge for the Age of Exploration. It was a map and six questions covering the routes of four explorers. If you missed today, please go to the module titled Age of Exploration and choose the fourth sequence TCI reading instructions. The assignment was the first one listed: Setting the Stage Europe Enters the Modern Age. You were to complete the map in TCI lesson 32. When students finished they were to complete the rest of the vocabulary we worked on yesterday. We have to stay on top of things as the days are winding down. Tomorrow, we will continue reading in TCI and move through the reading notes. We have selected a number of questions to complete and will not use all of them. The test for this lesson will be approximately one day after we return and have a chance to work on some review. There is a Study Stack posted on the Age of Exploration module if you wish to work ahead for this lesson.

Document Work

Today students wrapped up a bit of document work. We looked at a number of Reformation period primary source documents that were difficult to analyze but the experience should be a good start to working with more documents in the future. Students will work with documents on the Performance Task and ECA assessments to be completed during the fourth quarter. We will begin work with explorers on Monday.

Students also had an opportunity to retake the Reformation assessment. This retake was for students who did not fare well on the first one and held a score cap of 75%.

E-Learning Assessment

Students today took the assessment covering the material they studied during the e-learning activities over the last week. It will be the final grade for the third nine week period. We continued working on the text coding activity we began yesterday and will move on to more documents tomorrow.

Reformation Document Based Work

Today students began a continued work in the Reformation. This time, however, we will be using documents as a basis for our work. Students will practice using documents as a specific resource on which they will base their analysis.

E-Learning Follow Up

Today in class students had an opportunity to take the Reading Challenge over lesson 30 Reformation. This was the lesson students were to complete for their Snow Make Up assignment. There will be an assessment on Wednesday over the material and it will be the final grade for the third nine weeks. Also available is a Study Stack over the same lesson that may be used to help you prepare for the test. We will begin work on the Reformation again tomorrow but will not focus on the material from the E-Learning. We will be using documents from the period.

Sunday Afternoon

Greetings to Mr. Hogue's classes. My office hours have now expired and I have made comments on all the TCI submissions and video paragraph submissions that I am able. If you still have more questions or concerns, please go ahead and email as I will monitor my email to help you. Congratulations to all my students who were "on it" for the Snow Day e-learning activities and completed yours in a timely fashion. You still have tonight and tomorrow to submit your responses but I am only going to respond with "Completed for Credit" for each. The TCI will get a 4 score and the paragraphs will get a 1 score. If you look on the rubric you will see the 1 score registers a Complete for Credit note and there is no special treatment for TCI. That is why I will use the 4 there. Remember, these are not really scores at this point. They are just recorded showing that you completed them. It is very important to complete them, still, because you will be responsible for the information for the test on Wednesday wether you do or not. Tomorrow, when the due date expires, I will tabulate my record of students that completed the make up work and students that did not.

Lesson 30 Study Stack

I have provided a Study Stack to help you prepare for the Lesson 30 Assessment. This is not part of your Snow Make Up work (E-Learning) but I am posting it on an announcement and it is posted in your class period module titled Study Stack Lesson 30 to help you prepare for the assessment on Wednesday.

http://www.studystack.com/flashcard-1535830

MLA Practice

Today students participated in a MLA Citation practice where teachers demonstrated the correct way to search out source information for correct citation. Students practiced and then were advised to go to their MLA forms, make corrections, and re submit them for scoring. If you have trouble with the re submit, please email your teacher. Remember, you were to already submit this last week and we said we would go over it again so you could make any correction necessary. We will score what you submit so please be sure to check the file to see that it is the correct one.

Remember, today is Friday and you only have until Monday to complete the E-Learning work (Snow Day Make Up). Check your teacher's "Office Hours" in order to email with questions. If you email at other times, we will respond. It just might not be immediately.

Test Tips: There will be an assessment on Wednesday over the E-Learning material. It will be an online multiple choice and true/false Canvas test. It will be over the reading in lesson 30 of TCI. Use your reading notes and video to help you prepare. You can make a Study Stack for practice, as well.

Socratic Seminar Day 3

Hello! Today most classes finished their socratic seminars today. If they didn't, we will in the first few minutes. Students did a nice job sharing what they learned about their players of the Renaissance! Students should be working on their E Learning activity. It is due on Monday.:)

Snow Day Scoring

I have been scoring your snow day work in Mr. Hogue's class as you submit or at least trying to keep up with your submissions. Remember, this is formative and while it does not get an actual grade it will be an indicator of how you are doing with your understanding. If your response is in the ballpark I will probably make the remark "good." If I have other or more answers than you have made I will respond "I have other" or "I have x more answers." This means that you should go back and improve your answer. After I have made the response, I will not go back and change my comment. It is up to you to do additional research to add to your responses. After I have checked, made comments, and seen that you have responded to all the notes, I will give you a score of 5. That tells me that I have checked your work. You will have an opportunity in class to take the Reading Challenge and then the next day a graded assessment over the material. There will not be a retake on this assessment and it will be around 20 multiple choice and a few true/false questions. I will try to help you out by making up a study stack over the lesson 30 but cannot make any promises. Some of you have not begun your work. You had better get a start as the week is running out very quickly. Next week you will be receiving your next snow day work from other classes.

Socratic Day Two

Today was day two. We thought we could get through two seminars today but could not. Tomorrow will be day three and any students that have not participated yet will have a chance tomorrow. If you have not participated and miss tomorrow or have an issue with your prepared materials, you will not be able to participate and your score for the assessment will come from your research notes. We have moved the MLA Citation lesson back another day and you will still have an opportunity to re submit without penalty.

Socratic Seminar Day!

Today students started their socratic seminar assessment on the Players of the Renaissance. We will continue tomorrow. Students should continue their e-learning experience. Please be sure to email us with questions!

Snow Day Make Up

Today students were introduced officially to the social studies snow day make up. The general overview is available on the upper right hand side of the Discovery web page. Click the "click here" words and choose social studies and your teacher's name. The document gives a general overview and the web links to Canvas and the TCI textbook subscription. You already know how to get to both so you probably won't need that. Remember, to get to the Canvas link at home you have to use PHM in front of instructure. Go to the Snow Day Make Up module in your period class and begin at the first sequence. Good luck and remember you may email your teacher any time. Your teacher has published "office hours" during which we will respond as quickly as possible. They are published on the general overview page that I just mentioned and are written on the board in our class rooms. All your work will be completed on TCI and a written response directly on Canvas. No need for Google Drive in this one.

Tomorrow we will begin the Socratic Seminar. Remember to bring your completed seminar sheet with both your choice of best category and best person as far as impacting the Renaissance. Bring your talking voice as you will have to voice your responses in order to score well. Anyone that has not completed the sheet will be excused to complete it at the mall. Any questions, please don't hesitate to email or message Mr. Hogue. I will try to respond tonight if it is not too late.

Final Preparations for Socratic Seminar

Today students received hard copies of the rubric which will be used to evaluate the Socratic Seminar and Step #5 Synthesizing and Creating form. They are posted in the Renaissance Research module for your class period. We worked on putting together your final preparations for the seminar. The form has both questions which we have prepared for over the last week plus. We also submitted a copy of the MLA Format for Works Cited form. Have no fear, we will have a lesson after the seminar and will help you complete some samples and then you can re-submit with no penalty.

We have moved the Socratic Seminar back one day and will begin on Tuesday. You must have your Step #5 form complete as it will be checked that day even if you are not selected to participate until Wednesday. Incomplete forms will have consequences. Remember, it is your ticket to participate.

 Special Note: If you turned in the wrong file (like one that is blank) or your score is terrible, you need to re-submit. If you turned in the correct form but scored low (like you had less than three sources) you may want to do more research and re-submit. I'll make no promises but it can't hurt.

Gathering and Sharing Information Continues

Hello! Today students continued to work with their category groups to complete the group chart including the resources. Students were able to share at their table and most were able to create an impact statement for their category. We will continue with this tomorrow with the goal of jigsawing again so we have experts from each group sharing out the information gathered. We are looking at socratic seminar (the assessment for this lesson) to be either Friday or Monday.

Jigsaw Player Categories

Hello! Today, after working hard on the ISTEP, students moved to groups of students who had researched the same category of Renaissance Players. In those groups, students shared on the same document information about their player, including their source information. They color coded information from the same sources. Then students began to have academic dialogue about their players. This will continue tomorrow. Students should be working on the final completion of their Player Chart as well as their MLA style citation chart. We will turn those in together in class.

Research Renaissance Player Completed

Today, students completed their research for their Player of the Renaissance. They should have completed their research chart (People of the Renaissance) for class tomorrow. Students will be using it to share their information with their category players and then developing an impact statement for their category. Students should realize that while we are requiring 3 sources and information from 5 different topics, that we do not expect them to know everything there is to know about their person. They should however be able to tell the story of their person. ISTEPs start tomorrow so students should eat well and get a good night's sleep. We will be testing in period 1 classes for most and then continue about our day with shortened classes.

Beginnings of the Renaissance Research Project

Today students shared their collaborated information on the articles about the current situation in Ukraine. The research project was introduced. Students created a new folder in their google drive and named it Renaissance Reserach where they will keep all the documents on the module.

Current Events

Today students made their category selection (artist, scientist, leader, writer) and chose from a blind pile of Renaissance players as we prepare to enter our research of Renaissance characters. If you were absent today you may see your teacher to get your selection. We moved our focus for the day to the events in Ukraine as they unfold. Students worked in table groups collaboratively reading one of six pre-selected articles and built a presentation slide to be shared tomorrow in class. If you missed class today you may go to Hogue/Cobb class and choose one of the table numbered articles to read. You do not have to complete a summary. You will join the discussion tomorrow in class.

Completion of Renaissance Florence

Today students completed their video notes and the viewing of the video covering Renaissance Florence. We will not have an assessment over this material but will use it as a foundation for our research on the Players of the Renaissance. Speaking about our next area of focus please keep in mind that tomorrow we will be choosing the category you want to research from the following: Artists, Scientists, Leaders, and Writers. You will choose from these four and through a blind draw you will be assigned a player for your research.

Renaissance Florence

Yesterday and today students followed a video clip about the Medici family and Renaissance Florence. It is posted on the Canvas module Hogue/Cobb in Renaissance. They are using a video notes Google Document to record their thoughts and reflections on the video. We will complete it and discuss on Monday.

Renaissance Assessment

Today students took the lesson 27 assessment.

Renaissance Review

Today students used class time to put together a review Google document. They worked in teams to respond to particular pieces all connected to the three big ideas of Trade, City-States, and Humanism. Your document may be used for study purposes but will not be able to be used while taking the test.

Test Tips: 
The assessment over the material in lesson 27 will be Tuesday. Students that passed out of the part one pretest will be allowed to skip continued work on the vocabulary as they already earned their 100%. The rest of the class will take parts one and two. Part one will be the vocabulary and part two an essay response over the concepts discussed and read. In order to respond to the essay question you will have to be able to explain the Renaissance in terms of how travel and commerce (trade), growth of city-states, and humanism effected and made it grow. You will also be required to explain the vocabulary terms as they relate to the Renaissance in your response, as well.

Good resources to use for study would be: 
Vocabulary Table Group terms (located in your class period modules)
Vocabulary Study Stack (located on the content page of Cobb/Hogue class for lesson 27 in Renaissance) Lesson 27 TCI Reading Notes Tables shared with you Fishbone chart
Lesson 27 The Renaissance Begins (Review)

Renaissance

Today students continued work in section 2 of lesson 27. If you missed class today you should try to complete the reading notes from section one and section two. Mrs. Cobb's class is a little ahead of that point and Mr. Hogue's class will start and complete sections 3-5 tomorrow. These sections cover the ideas of Trade, Growth of city-states, and Growth of Humanism. These will be the focus of part two in the assessment on Tuesday. Both classes will wrap up lesson 27 tomorrow and spend Monday completing a review activity in preparation for the assessment on Tuesday. Check yesterday's announcement for more details about the test. You have your pre-test results from Tuesday and should use that to help you figure out which vocabulary terms gave you the most trouble.

Tuesday and Wednesday Posts

Tuesday was a different day for scheduling. We had a two hour delay and a "Friday Reads" schedule which meant only 35 minutes of class for each content period. We viewed a cultural Skype interview, talked about the main ideas that we had placed on sticky notes, and began a video clip introduction. Wednesday we really began our work in the TCI textbook as well as another video clip introduction of the Renaissance. Students completed the reading and notes in section 27.1. Some started reading in section 27.2. We will pick up there tomorrow.

Test Tips:
The assessment over the material in lesson 27 will be either Friday or Monday depending on our progress. Students that passed out of the part one pretest will be allowed to skip continued work on the vocabulary as they already earned their 100%. The rest of the class will take parts one and two. Part one will be the vocabulary and part two an essay response over the concepts discussed and read. In order to respond to the essay question you will have to be able to explain the Renaissance in terms of how travel and commerce (trade), growth of city-states, and humanism effected and made it grow. You will also be required to explain the vocabulary terms as they relate to the Renaissance in your response, as well.

Friday!

Today students completed their Frayer Model vocabulary activity and we discussed each one for accuracy. Students may use this tool for vocabulary study or may use the Study Stack available on Lesson 27 content page or even choose their own method of study. The pre-test for the vocabulary portion of the test will be on Tuesday and 100% scores will test out ahead of the final part one test over the vocabulary.

Have a great extended weekend.

Frayer Model Vocabulary

Today students completed the Geography Challenge for the intro to the Renaissance section of study. We participated in a brand new idea for vocabulary and that was to complete Frayer Models as a jigsaw project in Canvas/Chromebooks and tomorrow we will combine them into one document that is accessible for student study. Tuesday we will offer a pre-test over the vocabulary terms (9) which are available on the Lesson 27 content page in the Hogue-Cobb class on Canvas. There is a Study Stack, as well. Students who score 100% will have "tested out" and will not have to take the part one test over the vocabulary when we finish the lesson. If you do not score 100% your score will not count.

Geography Challenge - Renaissance

Hello! Today students in Mrs. Cobb's class reviewed and discussed lesson 5 assessment. Students can now find final grades on HAC. Both classes then worked with partners to complete the geography challenge in TCI. Students were carefully to answer questions with complete sentences and complete thoughts. Tomorrow students with fully discuss the answers and then move on to a vocabulary activity related to lesson 27.

Introduction to Renaissance with Geography Challenge

Hello! Today students in Mrs. Cobb's class reviewed and discussed lesson 5 assessment. Students can now find final grades on HAC. Both classes then worked with partners to complete the geography challenge in TCI. Students were carefully to answer questions with complete sentences and complete thoughts. Tomorrow students with fully discuss the answers and then move on to a vocabulary activity related to lesson 27.

Second Semester Pre-Test

Today students who didn't finish the Midterm Exam from yesterday were able to finish and then move on to the pre-test for the second semester. This will be used for planning purposes for teachers, not as a part of their grade. Students in Mr. Hogue's class then viewed and discussed their results of Lesson 5 Assessment on the Decline of Feudalism. Mr. Cobb's students will discuss it tomorrow. Students were also given some choices for some background reading on the Renaissance, our next unit of study.

Second Semester Pre-Test

Today students who didn't finish the Midterm Exam from yesterday were able to finish and then move on to the pre-test for the second semester. This will be used for planning purposes for teachers, not as a part of their grade. Students in Mr. Hogue's class then viewed and discussed their results of Lesson 5 Assessment on the Decline of Feudalism. Mr. Cobb's students will discuss it tomorrow. Students were also given some choices for some background reading on the Renaissance, our next unit of study.

Midterm Exam

Today students took the midterm exam which covers learning spanning the 1st semester. This should be somewhat of a reflection of what you learned over the first half of the year and will be posted on HAC but with no weight scale. This test is an acuity test created by state sponsored test builders and consists of 35 multiple choice questions. These questions are on the difficult side and are of the nature of an ECA exam. Students could not really study for this exam as it covers a massive amount of information.

We will be having a pre-test tomorrow and will be information yet to come in quarters 3 and 4 (2nd semester).

Social studies in the sixth grade requires an end of course assessment (ECA) and it will be given near the end of the 4th quarter. The ECA will be scored for a weighted grade that will be credited to the fourth quarter and we will study appropriate vocabulary associated with the exam as well as curriculum concepts.

Decline of Feudalism

Today students took the Lesson Five: Decline of Feudalism assessment. It was in two parts. One being multiple choice concerning the vocabulary and the second an essay response to the question of Bubonic Plague, Hundred Years War, and Magna Carta and their effect on that decline. Tomorrow, students will take a Mid Term assessment over content previously studied. It consists entirely of multiple choice items.

Wednesday, Feb. 5th

Today students were treated to a snow day. Since yesterday was your review-catch up day and today was going to be your assessment, we will have the assessment tomorrow (Thursday). Remember, you may use your notes to write your analysis of how the Black Death, Magna Carta, and Hundred Years War affected the decline of feudalism. That will be part two. Part one will be multiple choice over the eight vocabulary terms. Please ask any questions that you would like tomorrow prior to the tests.

Reading Notes Complete for Hundred Years War/ Preparing for Test

Hello! Today we completed the reading for 5.3 Hundred Years War and created notes. The notes were added to the google drive document that the students have been creating to use for the test. The test is on Wednesday and will include the vocabulary multiple choice as part 1 and part 2 will be essay format. The vocabulary document created in class with the paragraphs included should already be in everyone's turn in folder. If not, please get it there as soon as possible.

Decline of Feudalism

Today students continued working in Lesson 5: Decline of Feudalism. They are collecting notes such as Fact, Causes, and Impacts of the Black Death, Hundred Years War, and Magna Carta in order to analyze them as to what their contribution to the decline of feudalism may be. Students are at different places in their research. All total they will have written vocabulary terms, definitions, and written the terms out in meaningful paragraphs. They should be placed in their SS turn in folders so their teacher may have access. Students should have completed their vocabulary document and be nearing 5.4 in their TCI. Everything we have done so far in lesson 5 is accessible on Canvas and TCI. Check out the content page in your Hogue/Cobb class and TCI online. Monday, we will be getting into historical fiction on the three big ideas.

If you have been absent here is a list. These are all available on the Lesson Five Content Page in the Middle Ages module in Canvas.

Create a Drive document and record the vocabulary terms/definitions and write a paragraph/s using the terms and remember to explain each term. The paragraph/s must make sense, as well. It may be a story as long as the work is correct.

Make a copy of Mr. Hogue's Chapter 5 Decline of Feudalism Notes and proceed to recording FACTS, CAUSE, IMPACT of the big ideas Black Death, Hundred Years War, and Magna Carta.

Watch the three short video clips.

Thursday January 30th

Today students Mrs. Cobb's class looked over their results from the last test of the quarter. Mr. Hogue's class was instructed to view the rubrics attached to their responses. In class we worked on gathering information for our notes page over Lesson Five. The page contains facts of the event, its causes, and the impact of the event on the decline of feudalism in medieval Europe. You will be able to use this notes page as a resource for your assessment on the decline of feudal Europe which will take place next week on Tuesday or when we finish gathering our notes. Remember, even though you may use your notes you will not be aloud to copy/paste into your test document so you will have to fully understand what your notes are about. Also, there will be a part one in which the vocabulary terms will be tested via multiple choice.

Hello Students

Hey, I hope you are all keeping warm and dry on these very snowy, blowing, and frigid days. We will be back in class soon and we will pick up where we left off in collecting information for our notes on the three events that prompted the decline of feudalism in medieval Europe. Fear not as we will put off our assessment until we have collected our notes and are ready for it. Remember, you will be able to use your notes to complete the written portion (part two) or your test. The vocabulary portion (part one) will be multiple choice and you will have to complete it from memory and your understanding. See you soon.

Cold Weather Thursday

Today students participated in an experience exercise called the Bubonic Plague. They were assigned cities of birth and were allowed to travel from city to city taking a chance that each may contract the illness. The exercise was to show the percentage chance that each could have become ill based on the average of approximate 30% casualty rate of the real life pandemic. Students also had an opportunity to work on their note gathering as we move closer to the assessment over Black Death, Magna Carta, and Hundred Years War. The test will be sometime early next week as we battle the start delays that the weather brings.

Note: The assessment will be in two parts. Part one will be the vocabulary and will be multiple choice. Part two will be an analysis of sorts of the three big ideas (in this case events) of Black Death, Hundred Years War, and Magna Carta. You will be able to make use of your Drive Notes, so make them complete. There will be a special emphasis on the source so mark them well.

Magna Carta

Today students began work with Magna Carta (TCI Lesson 5.1 and 5.2) by experiencing a simulation of making up a Magna Carta - like document and making King John sign it. They experienced him taking taxes, putting them in jail, and generally being a poor leader and thus making them write up the document. Tomorrow we will look into the Bubonic Plague.

Tuesday - The Decline of Feudalism

Today students worked on vocabulary for lesson five. They should have completed in class the collection of the eight vocabulary terms as well as locating and recording their definitions. Students must write a paragraph which contains all eight terms. Remember, you cannot simply use the word in the paragraph you must also write what it means so that it is obvious that you understand the meaning of the term. All this vocabulary work should have been completed on a document of your own making from Drive. You may need more time to complete the paragraph as you learn better how to use the terms as we move through our reading.

Reminder: You can locate the vocabulary terms on the Lesson Five content page module in Middle Ages on Canvas.

Assessment Middle Ages Town Life

Students did a bit of review and then took the assessment in 2 parts. The first was multiple choice on the vocabulary and the second was short answer with sentences from the text explaining the BIG IDEAs. Students then completed an aptitude survey. In Mr. Hogue's class, students began work on the vocabulary for lesson 5. In Mrs. Cobb's class, students then read historical fiction short stories related to the Middle Ages. Please enjoy the 3 day weekend!

Test Review

Today students reviewed for the test by completing the reading notes in their on-line subscription to TCI, completing their Frayer Target (vocabulary), participating in a Cafe Conversation over the three big ideas of economy, government, and culture, and practicing analysis of some textbook statements and categorizing them into the big ideas. Whew! that was a mouthful.

Tomorrow is the assessment over Lesson 4. The first half of the test will be over the ten vocabulary terms. Part 2 will be statements of which they will choose 5 of 7 to categorize and write an explanation of why they categorized them the way they did. Both parts will be weighed accordingly to arrive at a final score.

Beginning Reading Notes Chapter 4 and Hello! to Molly O'Grady

Hello! Today we spend a few moments completing the Frayer Target for the 7 vocabulary words. Students then worked either by themselves or with a partner to begin the reading and notes for chapter 4 from the TCI on-line textbook. Tomorrow we will complete those and review vocabulary for the quiz which is Thursday. We will be having a student from Bethel College for the next 15 weeks in my classroom completing her student teaching experience. I want to welcome Molly O'Grady to Discovery and my class in a team teaching model. Attached you will find a letter of introduction from her.

Molly O'Grady, Student Teacher, Introduction

Completion of Town Life Video Notes

Today students completed the viewing and taking of notes on the medieval town. We placed facts and information to the three big ideas again today in effort to master the sorting of the three. Tomorrow, we will begin working in the TCI on-line text book on the same topic and will wrap that up on Thursday as well as review the topic and vocabulary. The assessment will be on Friday.

Test Tips:
Remember, the vocabulary will be ten questions multiple choice and the higher level questions will a category exercise similar to the experience we have had this week. The higher level will be free response. Vocabulary may be found on your Lesson 4 module in Middle Ages as well as a Study Stack for practice.

Town Life Video Notes

Today students who were eligible took the retake for the chapter 3 test. As they were retaking the class worked toward completing their Frayer Target vocabulary sheet. The 10 vocabulary terms are listed on the Lesson 4 module in Middle Ages in the Social Studies 6 Hogue Cobb class. The class continued taking notes from the Town video clip and categorized the notes into one of the three Big Ideas of economics, government, and culture. These three ideas are the focus for our study of town life in the middle ages and the assessment focus will not be on the details but placing statements into one of the big idea categories.

First Friday Back!

Well, we finally made it to Friday. Oh, that was only two days. Today students reviewed the three big ideas of economics, government, and culture. We placed some content into the three big ideas on the board and discussed them together. We also took a look at some pictures and tied them or related them to their appropriate idea. Some classes began work using your Chromebooks to take notes over the video clip "The Middle Ages - Towns" of which we will place important facts and information into one of the three big ideas of economics, government, or culture. The rest of the classes will get into the video on Monday.

The retake opportunity for the chapter 3 test is on Monday at the beginning of class. It will only take you a few minutes, more than likely, as it is only over the eight vocabulary terms that appeared on the test Friday before break. A 75% cap will be placed on the retake as has been customary.

The terms are as follows:
monastery
monk
pilgrimage
convent
nun
theology
monasticism
friar

Good luck and have a great weekend.

Welcome Back

Hey students! Welcome back to school in this brand new year 2014. My, how the time has flown by. Today in class we looked at the concepts of Economy, Government, and Culture. We are focusing on these as they pertain to medieval town life. The assessment will be over these three concepts as well as the ten established vocabulary terms listed below. We will try to assess before the quarter ends for our last test of the second quarter and that will take place late next week.

Vocabulary terms:
 1. surplus 4.2
 2. charter 4.2
 3. journeyman 4.2
 4. guilds 4.3
 5. apprentice 4.3
 6. commerce 4.4
 7. common law 4.7
 8. Economics
 9. Government
 10. Culture

These are also located in part on your Focus Sheet and on your lesson four module. Here is also a Study Stack for the terms: Link: Study Stack for Lesson Four Vocabulary Terms