KCC

The scored Brown essay analysis ('circles") pages were returned and discussed.  Research can be submitted today; if you'd like to finish/improve it over the break, it does not need to be turned in until Tuesday, January 3rd. We began work on the end-of-unit essay writing today; score sheets were distributed (choose one of the E.Q.s on which to write) and reminders given to use the feedback on the previous writing and the "Writing Notes to Self" you compiled for yourselves.  We'll be back in the lab to write on the Tuesday (3rd) and Wednesday (4th) of our return to school after break.  Essays will be due Friday, January 6th.  (They'll need to be finished for homework after the 4th...Obviously, feel free to work ahead on this over break if you wish.)

World History

Shang Dynasty case study -- note packet, slideshow presentation, scroll on display.  We then moved on to our last two case studies:  Olmec and Chavin; a map was distributed and color-coded.

U.S. History

Research day -- looking up questions from our "A New Republic C.Q." page for 35 minutes.  Follow the instructions for desired scores on the new copy of the 1/2-sheet "Curiosity Research Scale" that was distributed today.  (IF you desire to pump up this grade with some extra time and effort, perhaps, to help boost your overall class grade, take a look at the criteria at the 4.0 level....to help clarify further how to do those things, consider doing additional research outside of class to bulk up the quantity of expert articles (have more stuff to turn in) and using multiple expert articles on one topic, and after reading and highlighting key points, then also write up a short compare/contrast paragraph to turn it with it all.) 

KCC

Scored colonialism argumentative essays were returned to students today -- look over the feedback carefully, see me to do conference on your writing, and add notes to your "Writing Notes to Self" page...We begin our next essay on Monday.  (Be sure to follow the 4-page criteria to hit the rubric criteria appropriately on this next essay; KCC has a 10-page per semester minimum for earning the college credit.)  Time was provided to finish the analysis ("circles" page) on the Dee Brown essay about the Trail of Tears, and then students were asked to assess their own work in discerning individually whether to submit this new page for scoring or to "stay" with their most recent, previous "Reading Claim & Evidence" score.  Research will be done on Monday, and today we discussed how to score over the 3.0...for those interested.  Writing, then, starts Tuesday.

World History

Finish the Indus River Valley reading and note taking as begun yesterday -- finish for homework as needed.  Students collaborated on their Egypt and IRV E.Q. notes, added to their C.Q. pages from these cultures, and completed the Egypt and IRV parts of Part II of the Unit-Closure Work Packet.  For fun, we listened to a bit of very modern Indian music -- bhangra!

U.S. History

We continued our work on the Trail of Tears web quest for 30 minutes.  Then, the handout with Part II of the Unit-Closure Work Page was distributed -- complete it and staple it onto Part I so as to have one, complete packet prepared for final exam review.  (Research Monday and writing starts Tuesday...)

KCC

UCWP -- Part II was distributed; finish for homework as you have time...sometime soon.  (It will take ~ 5 minutes, and it completes the study guide for this unit.)  The class time was provided for students to work on the individual, scored analysis ("circles" page) for the Dee Brown essay about the Trail of Tears -- to be finished in class tomorrow.

World History

Finish the Egypt reading/notes that was begun yesterday.  Then, begin the same style of notes on the E.Q. page (w/ +s and -s) for the subtopic (case study) Indus River Valley, using pp.66-71 and 76-81 -- to be finished in class tomorrow.

U.S. History

In 2nd hour we discussed and edited the Hamilton Context/Lens assignment.  In all hours, students used the Meacham "circles" page, the Crash Course "circles" page, and the Hamilton Context & Lens to finish #2 & 11 on the Unit-Closure Work Packet.  Then, scan through your U.C.W.P. to see if there are any big ideas from the unit you need to add to your E.Q. notes that you might have overlooked.  Finally, we began a web quest about the Trail of Tears -- pick up a notes/question packet and follow the directions.  (Clarifier:  the url should be www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears; the instructions said in error only www.history.com.)  ; )  

KCC

Students collaborated on their homework reading notes.  The final reading for this unit is pp.286-313; I suggest reading very carefully the introductions and summaries (as usual), but then to be selected in mining from the body of the chapters only the needed/desired evidence for the writing on the E.Q.s that we'll begin on Friday.  (Research will be done in class on Thursday.)  Scored Reading Claim & Evidence work pages for Wilson's article were returned and discussed.  Students then resumed individual work on Larkin's essay.

World History

We finished the individual, scored Context & Lens over Hammurabi's Code -- see me to schedule a time to come in to make up this assessment.  Some students also began work, then, on the Unit-Closure Work Packet for the unit -- PART I and the Mesopotamia portions of PART II.

U.S. History

We viewed the rest of episode one of The Presidents (by the History Channel; available on You tube) while adding to our E.Q. and C.Q. pages and the Simplified History of Presidents' Political Parties handout.  We then focused just on the C.Q. and "Simplified..." handout as we began episode #2 (viewing to ~15 minutes).  As we are near the end of the unit, it is critical than anyone who may have gotten behind with lessons and/or make-up work to please get caught up before we start to research, write, and do our study guides.  ; )

KCC

Students were asked the reflect on their performances to decide, individual choice, whether they wish to have their  T.J. essay "circles" page scored to replace their immediately previous Reading Claim & Evidence score.  We have two more essays to analyze this unit, and then we head into research and writing to close up the unit.  We began individual, in-class work on the Larkin essay...soon to be followed by the Dee Brown essay, both of which will be "choices" for scoring.

World History

Students continued individual work on the assessment "Context & Lens" about Hammurabi's Code -- to be finished in class tomorrow.  

U.S. History

Finish Meacham's article "God and The Founders" w/ analysis ("circles") page -- in collaborative groups this time.  (Finish for homework as needed.)  We began viewing the History Channel's "The Presidents" (available on You tube) while adding E.Q. notes, a few C.Q.s, and keeping up with the new handout "Simplified History of Presidents' Political Parties."  View the first 25 minutes.

KCC

Students finished the Thomas Jefferson article by Wilson with analysis page.  Come in during Advisory today if you need extra time.  On Monday you'll be given time to consider your previous "Reading Claim & Evidence" score and decide if you want to "stay" and just keep this new page for the info or if you wish to submit it for scoring;  if submitted, the new score will replace the previous one.  So, this is some critical metacognition -- reflection on one's thinking/learning and self-assessment of performance.  Reminder -- HW reading and notes due Tuesday.

World History

Add notes to your "+" and "-" columns on your E.Q. page under our new subheading "Mesopotamia" while reading in the text book pp.26-31.  We then began an individual, scored skill assessment -- "Hammurabi's Code Context & Lens" -- to be finished in class tomorrow.

U.S. History

Students worked collaboratively to practice the Reading Claim & Evidence skill ("circles" pages) while working through an article about religious freedom -- "God and The Founders."  You'll have 10 minutes at the start of class on Monday to finish; if you need more time than that 10 minutes, borrow an article and make a bit more progress on the work in Advisory or for homework. 

KCC

We finished our analysis of the Crash Course U.S. History: Constitution video (You tube), discussed thesis answers, and then students collaborated to pull E.Q. themes and bullet-point notes onto their E.Q. pages.  Students continued individual, analytical work on the Thomas Jefferson article by Wilson in the red textbook -- to be finished in class tomorrow.

World History

We finished discussion and note-taking of/on the Outline of Popular Details handout that was given yesterday.  Students collaborated to pull bullet-point notes and themes onto their E.Q. pages, creating a sub-heading "Urban cultures in general."  Add some curiosity questions to your C.Q. page, also.  A map was distributed, color-coded, and discussed.  (See a reliable classmate for the discussion pieces.)

U.S. History

We finished our analysis of Crash Course U,S. History: Constitution (You tube), discussed the thesis parts, and then students collaborated to pull bullet-point notes and themes for their E.Q. pages.  We finished our review and checking/editing or Part I of the U.C.W.P.  

KCC

Students collaborated about the homework reading and notes (due today).  The next HW is pp.254-285 - due next Tuesday.  Crash Course post-poned to tomorrow (SMARTboard difficulties).  Read the article "God and The Founders" (individually or collaboratively) to pull notes on to your E.Q. page -- themes/big ideas as well as specific evidence.  We then began scored "circle page" work on an article on the red text...see me to set up a time to make up this individual assessment work -- to be continued in class tomorrow.

World History

We finished our note-taking from the Hebrews/Jews packet from yesterday -- borrow and finish for homework as needed.  A new handout "Outline of Popular Details -- Urban" was distributed, and we read, discussed, and highlighted parts of the first paragraph.  (Meet up with a reliable classmate.)

U.S. History

Crash Course will be finished tomorrow, instead, due to a SMARTboard overheating 1st hour (now repaired).  ; )  6th hour ONLY -- worked on Crash Course today.  In ALL classes -- colonialism writing was returned -- chart your score, read over your individualized feedback while adding bullet-point notes to your "Writing: Notes to Self" note page, & talk with me about your questions.  Dialogue about writing is so beneficial!  Review your Unit-Closure Work Packet ...we did practice quiz questions and students checked/edited their packets as we went over answers.  (Meet up with a reliable classmate.)  

KCC

Ditto U.S. post, 

World History

Writing is due today -- highlighted final draft in hard copy form with score sheet stapled to the top AND turnitin.com submission (without highlighting).  We organized all of our many "Ag" papers by skill.  Keep your new Urban C.Q. page (from last Tuesday) in your "current unit" section of folder/binder, and then we added to it a new "Urban E.Q." page -- see a reliable classmate for set up and discussion.  We added notes to our Mental Map Timeline with discussion, also.  Finally, we began to take E.Q. notes while reading independently about the Hebrews' transition from nomadic pastoralist agri-culture to that of urban culture -- finish for homework as needed. 

U.S. History

Finish Part I of the Unit-Closure Work Page.  View from You tube "Crash Course U.S. History: Constitution" and do a "circles" page.  

KCC

Ditto U.S. post...Plus reminder about at-home reading and note-taking as well as recommendation of an online (You tube) source that can be a good, concrete-sequential, audio-visual presentation of some U.S. History from Washington through George W. Bush -- History Channel's "The Presidents."  Students who have the time and desire supplemental "helper" materials may wish to watch these episodes as they correlate to the time period we are studying.  (Entirely optional.)

World History

Writing day 3 of 3.  Use your "Edit My Writing Now," going through each of the 5 steps in order, carefully, with highlighters.  Once you've done all the editing to create a true final draft, then print and highlight, again -- this time just to show text structure; staple the score sheet to the top.  Submit the final draft, also, to turnitin.com (no highlighting).  This is all due by the start of class tomorrow.

U.S. History

View the 4-minute video and add a few big ideas and/or details of evidence (examples) to your two essential questions note pages ("E.Q. pages") -- http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/declaration-of-independence  Pick up Part I of the new Unit-Closure Work Packet for this unit of study -- to be finished in class tomorrow.

KCC

We finished the Socratic discussion and then did some follow-up; score sheets were distributed.  Students also collaborated in groups to add notes to both E.Q.s from the Hamilton materials.  Students additionally collaborated on themes they came up with as a result of the homework reading and note-taking.  The next homework (pp.224-253) will be due next Wednesday -- please make a note of it.  Please finish the work we began on the Declaration of Independence before Monday. 

World History

Writing day #2!  ; )  The paragraphs are due by the start of class on Tuesday.  (We will be in the lab on Monday.)

U.S. History

We had some follow-up on the Socratic discussion in which I clarified some content, score sheets were distributed, and students collaborated to pull big ideas as well as detailed evidence/facts for each of their 2 essential questions onto their "E.Q." pages.  Students then worked individually to record on a sheet of their own paper the following while reading a handout of the Declaration of Independence ("The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America"): Thesis, Types of Evidence (you don't have to list the actual details of evidence, but rather a short list of themes/categories of the evidence used), and favorite line/quote.  

KCC

Socratic discussion on topics related to our work with "Hamilton."  If you were absent, pick up a make-up work page from the tray at the side of the classroom.

World History

We did a bit of follow-up from yesterday's Socratic discussion and the score sheets were distributed.  (Chart on your Skills Tracking page.)  We began work on our argumentative writing on the unit essential question.  Pick up a score sheet and read the instructions.  Additionally, before starting the "writing," you need to organize your themes and evidence either by creating an outline or color-coding the items directly on your E.Q. page.  The structure of your paragraph is critical to this type of writing! ; )  See me for help along the way; I am always happy to answer specific questions.  We'll be in the lab tomorrow and on Monday, also.  (Note to add to your score sheet as notes to self:  When you are done with the whole paragraph, you will use your "Edit My Writing Now" handout - go through the 5 steps with highlighters.  Make needed edits.  Then, when you have your true final draft, highlight that one, also for text structure.  You need to submit the final draft also to turnitin.com (NO highlights, please, on this one).  Due date is next Tuesday at the start of class. 

U.S. History

Socratic discussion today about topics related to our work with "Hamilton."  If you were absent, pick up a make-up work page from the tray at the side of the classroom.