IMC Research

Hello! Today we went to the IMC and researched. Students were to print off a copy of the information for their country from the CIA world fact book site from the weekend post. If you didn't get that done yesterday, you should get that done as soon as possible. Students will need to bring that with them everyday. Tomorrow we will finish the work on the Inflation mini-lesson.

Monday

Today in social studies we viewed two Kahn Academy video clips on Inflation. We discussed the topic and looked at inflation rate as well. We will pick up this mini lesson again on Wednesday for completion. The video clips are posted below.

Friday

Hey, it's Friday. Students today took a self assessment test to recognize where they stand on the vocabulary terms we began this week. There are quite a few at 36 and some of them are actually concepts so they have lengthy meanings. We will be using this list as we build our country presentations as well as have mini lessons throughout the next weeks. The key or at least the definitions to the terms is posted below.

Thursday

Hi guys. Sorry this post is a bit late. I will post the vocabulary "key" tomorrow. Sorry, if this is an inconvenience for you all. Tomorrow, we will spend some time practicing and working with your terms and have the self evaluation test. Remember, not for a grade. That is where the "self assessment" comes in. I hope your day went smooth as you had a chance to choose your country of either Latin America or Western Europe. I am really exited about this project we will be working on for a few weeks. We will be stretching you as we move into terminology that you are not used to. We will have mini lessons here and there to help you be grounded in your search and as to what the terms mean and how they are used. This will give you, hopefully, a great foothold on how they are used in "real life" as they are connected to various countries and their cultures, politics, and governments. Hold on to your hat and here we go!

Wednesday

Hello! Today we worked on the vocabulary words some more and many papers were passed back and discussed. (socratic seminar, PLT Q2 grade, PLT Q3 no grade) The practice test will be given on Friday on all the vocabulary words. The final test will be given after ISTEP. Those definitions should be completed soon. We will spend a little time in class each day until Friday, but not likely enough to complete all the definitions. Friday we will discuss them all after the practice test.

Retakes and Vocab Work

Hello! Today we worked on the vocabulary words some more and many papers were passed back and discussed. (socratic seminar, PLT Q2 grade, PLT Q3 no grade) The practice test will be given on Friday on all the vocabulary words. The final test will be given after ISTEP. Those definitions should be completed soon. We will spend a little time in class each day until Friday, but not likely enough to complete all the definitions. Friday we will discuss them all after the practice test.

Tuesday - Vocabulary Search

Today we had a bit of a snafu on what we wanted to do. Due to wireless limitations we elected to search out the vocabulary sheet of terms and concepts the old fashioned way. We used textbooks and dictionaries. Some students who had access to 3G and 4G or had previously downloaded of line dictionary type apps could use their phones or iPods off the wireless connection. The vocabulary list is available on yesterday's post. It is not due tomorrow but students should be moving forward on gathering the information as a self assessment will take place on Friday to see where they have progressed. After ISTEP week we will have an assessment that will be scored as a grade. I will update you when that date nears and is finalized. Note! It will be after ISTEP week. You may complete the sheet in hard copy form or on Google Docs or a combination of both. You may also choose flash cards or any other mode we have looked at so far this year. You have that option or choice.

Vocabulary and Concept Review Terms

Here is a copy of the Vocabulary and Concept Review Terms.

Googgle Drive:

Computer Lab Typing Skill Day

Hello! Today students worked in the computer labs on their typing technique and speed. This is definitely a skill that students should be practicing at home until they are proficient. Tomorrow is a BYOD (bring your own devise) day with parental permission. Students will be working on vocabulary definitions in the LGI.

Hello! Today we completed our socratic seminar and self-evaluation. Some classes were able to complete the performance literacy task self-evaluation. Great job everyone! Enjoy the weekend!

Friday

Friday students completed the Socratic Seminar covering the two questions on the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. Any student who did not participate in the live academic dialogue will need to turn in their research and essay responses to the two questions and will be scored according to those documents. All who participated live will be scored based on their sharing of information in the seminar. They also completed a self assessment of the activity and turned that "pink" half sheet in with their material.

Wednesday - Final Socratic Seminar Preparation

Wednesday in class students shared their data information onto posters. The class went on a "gallery" walk to augment their own data charts. Students had some time to complete a pre-write for both Socratic Seminar questions and began writing their final copy for the seminar. You will have to have your two questions answered in essay form due at the start of class Thursday. Failure to have that completed will result in you missing the seminar, completing your work in the Mall, and your assessment will be scored on your written response. You would miss out on the academic dialogue that will be taking place in class. Also, if you are absent both days, your score will be based on your written response to the questions.

Tuesday

Tuesday students took the PLT over Inventions and Scientific Revolution. This Performance Task was not so much of what students know but how students use primary source documents to support an argument and follow directions. This is the 3rd of 4 total PLT assessments for social studies. After completing the assessment, students continued work gathering information for their Data Charts that will be used to answer the two Socratic Seminar questions for Thursday. You should have your Data Chart completed by Wednesday when we will share them and write both your rough draft and final draft responses to the two questions.

Week in Advance

This week's schedule of items you have to complete:

Monday: Last in-class day to complete research for Data Chart on Maya, Aztec, and Inca. You received your two questions for the Socratic Seminar and should be considering them while collecting data. You will not write your response to the questions yet.

Tuesday: Performance Literary Task in class. It will probably take all period. You are to have read the articles posted on Friday over James Watt, Samuel Morse, James Hargreaves, John Kay, and Edmond Cartwright. You need to know what they invented and the significance of the inventions. You will use your reading background and the primary source documents in the test to write an essay in class. This will not be on the Maya, Aztec, or Inca groups.

Wednesday: You will share your completed Data Chart information on Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations, write your pre-draft, and write your final draft response to the two Socratic Seminar questions (you received in class on Monday). Be sure you have what resources you used. I will post the two questions, as well.

Thursday: We will begin the Socratic Seminar event in class and conduct it in a similar way as the last seminar. You will be in the center circle talking about your responses, asking questions, and elaborating on your responses. If you are not in the center circle you will have an assigned student to observe (just like last time). Then, when you enter the circle, another student will be observing you. This will be the assessment for our study of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.

Friday: We will continue the Socratic Seminar until each student has had an opportunity to sit in the center circle to share. I will be scoring your responses on whether you speak, how much you speak, the quality of what you say, the depth of what you say, your ability to ask questions to further the discussion, Whether or not you "hogged" the conversation and if you invited others to enter in the conversation (especially those who have not spoken). Last of all, I will be listening to your responses to the two questions posed.

If you miss school the two days that we conduct the Socratic Seminar, your written essay response (to the two questions) will serve as your entry for the assessment.

Monday

Good Monday to you all. Today students had an opportunity to complete or at least add to their Data Charts. You need to read the articles posted on Friday over the people that will show up on the Performance Task for Tuesday, complete the Data Chart in order to answer the two questions for Wednesday in preparation for the Socratic Seminar (assessment) which will take place on Thursday or Friday. It will possibly take two class days to complete them. As a reminder, the Data Chart/s contain information you researched on the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. Any questions, please ask or Edmodo your teacher.

Friday - Yeah!

Hey! It's Friday. Today we took the assessment over the countries/capitals of Central America and some Caribbean islands. We also worked in the computer lab collecting data for our charts on the Maya, Aztec, and Inca people groups. The charts we war building will help you in your Socratic Seminar event which will be held next week Wednesday or later. This will be your assessment over the Mesoamerican groups Maya, Aztec, and Inca.

Research Web Pages Maya, Aztec, and Inca

Web pages for Maya, Aztec, and Inca research

More Information on the Mesoamerican BIG IDEAs

Hello! Today we completed the video notes and began the notes using the KIDS Discover magazines. Students were encouraged to view edmodo as it is a daily expectation. There are several tools for learning that are posted by both teachers and students. Check previous posts for help with political geography of Central America for the quiz TOMORROW! You can do it! Reminder....bring headsets for the computer lab tomorrow!

Wednesday

Today students took a practice quiz over the countries/capitals of Central America. We also talked about the responses to the Blue Book questions and viewed the video on the Inca. We are gathering data information on the three civilizations in order to build a data base for the three to use in our assessment. It will come next week and will be in the form of a Socratic Seminar. More information on that to come. Remember, Friday is the assessment over the countries/capitals of Central America and the islands of the Caribbean.

I have posted the video we watched today and part 2. We will not watch all parts (4) of this in class. If you like, you may watch more.

Tuesday

Today students completed viewing the Maya-Aztec video. It is posted on a Monday Edmodo post, as well. They also had an opportunity to complete the Blue Book background questions. The questions are posted on Monday and the book pages will be posted a little later today. Sorry, I forgot to take home a book to post last night. Blue Book questions are due Wednesday.

You should be creating a collection of information on your data charts which cover the standards listed at the top of the chart. These will be the focus for our next assessment which will be next week. This assessment is different from the one we will be taking Friday over the capital cities and countries of Central America and the Caribbean islands.

Welcome Back

Welcome back to the final weeks of sixth grade. For that reason your assessment load will be steadily increasing so you will have to bare down with your studies. Today, students picked up a Central American map and data chart. They received their 12 countries and worked to gather the capital cities that correspond. There is a map on page 427 in your text book. There are better maps online. There will be an assessment on Friday of this week which will cover matching the capitals with their country for the C level and location of each country on the map for the B-A+ level. Again, this assessment will be very easy if you prepare. You may prepare the same way you prepared for the South American political assessment. We will not take as much class time to study. You may build study stacks or any other tools and share them on Edmodo with your classmates.

Tomorrow, in class, there will be a retake opportunity for the chapter 35 assessment and the South American country/capital assessment. The retake covers the C level only portion of the assessment.