9th Grade: French Explorer Weblinks

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/french_explorers.htm (lists a lot)
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/explorers/frenchexplorers.htm (lists a lot)
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/giovanni-da-verrazzano.htm (Verrazzano)
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/jacques-cartier.htm (Cartier)
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/jacques-marquette.htm (Marquette)
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/louis-joliet.htm (Joliet)
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/samuel-de-champlain.htm (Champlain)
http://library.thinkquest.org/10320/DuSable.htm (du Sable)
http://www.kreyol.com/xhistory/1history.html (du Sable)
http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/lasalle.html (la Salle)

8th Grade Ancient Mesopotamia Timeline Project Information

Hello 8th graders:

Your assignment today is to research and create a piece of a timeline about one Ancient Mesopotamian society or kingdom!

Your timeline piece should include:
-Name of Society/Kingdom

-Dates of Existence (beginning-end)

-Rise of the society/kingdom, including:
How they came to power/Who they defeated (if they defeated anyone) to become powerful

-Inventions and accomplishments/importance of their society (why are we still learning about them today) No less than 5 -- name + explain!!

-Important Leader(s) (name and give information about at least one)

-Fall of the society/kingdom, including:
How they lost power/Who they were defeated by (if they were defeated by anyone)

-Map of Ancient Mesopotamia with the area covered by the society/kingdom clearly colored in

You may find the following websites helpful while doing your research:
http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/
http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/menu.html
http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/

You may also use a basic Google search to find the information. Please try to find the answers someplace other than Wikipedia...its information is not always reliable. If you are stuck, see if the links at the bottom of the Wikipedia page can help you before you use the Wikipedia site itself.

Timeline pages with ALL the information listed above will be due in class on Thursday, September 1.

Happy Hunting! :)
KF

Week of August 29-September 2

Hello again, everyone!

We had a great time again last week, with fun projects in all classes...I think the 8th graders especially enjoyed their Ancient Civilizations activities, which included hunting/gathering food, building shelters, and taking water from the "river" to their own settlements:



















The 9th graders also had fun putting Christopher Columbus on trial, and finding him, on the whole, not guilty of some of the crimes history has charged him with.

The 7th graders got to relive their summer vacation "Place"

And the 6th graders got to do one of my all-time favorite activities: gridding the chocolate chip cookie!

























And, we have more fun things to look forward to this week as well!!

6th grade: Students will continue with their map and gridding skills by finishing up with latitude and longitude on Monday and Tuesday. The Around the World with Latitude and Longitude Project is due Tuesday, August 30. Wednesday-Friday will be spent on their Make-A-Map Project, which should be able to be completed in class and will be due Monday, September 5th. The students will have their first social studies quiz of the year on Friday, September 9th!
--

7th grade will continue looking at the 5 Themes of Geography. We will finish Regions on Monday, and will move on to Movement and Human-Environment interaction on Tuesday and Thursday. As was the case last week, the students have 30-45 min in class to finish their day's assignments; those who do not finish may need to devote some time to their work at home, but there will be no "assigned" homework. Last week's "Place" assignments will be turned in tomorrow. The students will have their 5 Themes quiz on Friday, September 9th!
--

8th grade is heavily into Ancient Mesopotamia now, and will spend the week focusing on the various aspects of the culture and daily life in Ancient Mesopotamia. The students will also be assigned one Ancient Mesopotamia society/kingdom to research and present to the class as an in-class timeline project. The students will have their Ancient Mesopotamia quiz on Friday, September 9th!
--

9th grade: Students will continue their overview of the Age of Exploration by looking at those who explored for The Netherlands, England, and France. We will have a shortened class on Thursday, September 1, due to the Flag Day ceremony. We will finish the week looking at the colonies that were set up in the New World due to the explorations. The students will have their Age of Explorations quiz on Friday, September 9th!
--

As always, if you have any questions you are welcome to contact me at any time! :)

Have a great week!
KF

A Note about Homework...

As a general rule, there will be no homework given for my class.

I define HOMEWORK as an assignment given at the end of the class, which has not been worked on during class time, and is due at some time in the future. I do not give this type of work.

Most work in my class begins as in-class work. It only needs to be taken home if class worktime is not used effectively, and the activity is not finished during the class period.

If true homework is given, it will be reflected here. However, your student may have work for me to do at home that is not reflected in the weekly blog posts if their class work has not been completed during class worktime.

Please let me known if you have any questions. Thank you.

Week of August 22-26

Hello everyone:

We had a great week last week, and have more to look forward to in the coming week!

6th grade will continue working on map and grid skills. This week we will have a sweet activity (no spoilers here!) and will learn all about latitude and longitude, and will end the week with a trip around the world (using latitude and longitude, of course :)
--

7th grade will spend all week looking at the first three (of five) themes of geography; Location, Place, and Regions. We'll have an activity-a-day, so this is not the week to miss if you are a 7th grader!
--

8th grade: You did a GREAT job on your family history projects and presentations! This week we will transition from focusing on family to focusing on what happened when those families settled down into civilizations. We'll start and end the week with 2-day activities, which will bookend a look at the geography of the first civilizations.
--

9th grade will spend the first half of the week prosecuting (or defending) Christopher Columbus, and then will move on to looking at the conditions the explorers faced while sailing around the world.
--

Just a reminder, the science department will be hosting "Eco-Friendly Lunch Day" this Thursday, and will be going around to talk to all the classes about the importance of waste-free lunches during the week. I encourage everyone to visit the website http://www.wastefreelunches.org/ to learn more and start packing more eco-friendly foods for lunch! :)

Have a great week!
KF

Mapping Activities

Hello everyone:

I wanted to share with you some of the fun Mapping Activities the 6th and 7th graders played at last week :)

The 6th graders visited the elementary playground with the assignment to draw a map of it, including legend, scale, and all pertinent elements. They worked in groups of 3, and found scale the hardest thing to achieve:








Measuring scale using their own feet...some found it easier to use their body length instead.







The 7th graders worked on maps as well, although they have moved on from creating maps to studying the many types and intricacies of map projections. They created three types of map projections: interrupted (using tronjas), polar, and cylindrical (using pop bottles):





Drawing the "maps" on the tronjas...

Interrupted Map

Cutting the pop bottles and contemplating the earth and how to best draw it on the bottom of the pop bottle

Apparently I didn't take pictures of the cylindrical maps, but they were achieved by taping tracing paper around the length of the pop bottle and shining the light through the map a second time. It was great fun, and I THINK they learned a lot...time (and the 7th graders' quiz from the weekend) well tell :)

KF

Engrade: View Grades Online! :)

Hello Parents and Students:

Over the next week I will be handing out codes to each of my students which can be used to access their grades via the online gradebook website Engrade.

Each student was given a code that looks something like this:

mrsfink-XXXX-XXXX

(For each student, the X's above are a different series of numbers, but all follow the same basic format)

To be able to view the grades on Engrade, you must first go to the site:

http://www.engrade.com/student

Once there, follow the on-screen prompts to enter the student code. You will be able to see my class and click on the link to view your grades.

**Note: Parents, you should be able to use the same code to access your students' grades as well.**

Many of Discovery's teachers are using Engrade. If you or your student would like to have access to other classes' grades via Engrade, please be sure to contact the other teachers or myself.

Once you get the codes for the other classes, you can use this link to Engrade's help page that will teach you how to add another class to your Engrade homepage:

http://wikis.engrade.com/help/stuaddclasses

If your student has lost their code or you would like me to send you a copy directly, please e-mail me and I will be happy to provide you with the code.

Thank you!
KF

Note: You can also view Engrade from your mobile phone using the link m.engrade.com

8th Grade: Presentation Information

Hello:

There was a request today for clarification on the steps you need to take to successfully complete your Family History Presentations.

Steps 1 and 2 you should already have:
1) Family Tree
2) Information from your interview questions

Step 3: Arrange the information from the family tree and your interview questions into a presentation (this is the summary part on your rubric). You may organize it into paragraphs, note cards, on a poster, or in any other tangible (physical, able to be turned in) way you choose.

Step 4: Choose a primary source from your family's history and evaluate it using the document analysis worksheet on the back of your "Family History Project: Part 1" sheet (the one on which we wrote the interview questions). Bring this primary source (or a picture of it, if it is delicate or may be easily broken) to class for your presentation so you can explain it.

Step 5: Practice your presentation at home and be ready to go on either Thursday or Friday! :)

Bring your rubric to class on the day of your presentation!

After your presentation you will hand in the following:
-completed family tree (worth 10 pts on your presentation rubric)
-written summary (whether on a poster, note cards, paragraphs, etc.)
-original questions sheet with primary source analysis on back (and separate document sheet if you requested it)

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!

KF

8th Grade: PreHistoric Family Links

Hello 8th Graders:

Some of you wanted the links to these websites so you could read them again at home:

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2008/11/17-02.html
http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_history/mesolithic_age.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1086703/Buried-arms-Scientists-discover-remains-worlds-ancient-nuclear-family.html

Remember, the question you need to answer after reading each article is:

What does this article tell us about FAMILY in prehistoric times?

Enjoy :)

KF

**UPDATED-7th Grade** First Full Week: August 15-19

Hello again!

I hope you all had a nice weekend, recharged your batteries, and are ready for our first full week of the 2011-2012 school year!!

CLASSROOM POLICY NOTE:
Parents, hopefully you have read about this on the syllabus I sent home with your students (you were supposed to sign it; it is due for all students tomorrow, Monday August 15), but I wanted to address it on the blog, as well.

Due to a large amount of missing and late work last year, I have decided to implement a new policy I call "Homework Think Sheets." Under this policy, each time an assignment is due in my class, I have required all students to have something to turn in; either the completed assignment (ideally) or one of my Homework Think Sheets (shown below-click on the image to make it larger):
As you can see, students without completed work are required to name the assignment, the reason why they don't have it completed, and give a date when they plan to turn it in. By taking the time to fill out this piece of paper, students will then be given a second chance to turn in the assignment for reduced points. Failure to turn in this "Think Sheet" will result in a grade of Ø on the assignment. If any assignment is not turned in within two days of filling out the "Think Sheet," I will be contacting parents about the situation.

Please note: This policy does not excuse students from doing their work; rather, it is a concrete way for me to keep track of students' late and missing work, and to allow students to provide feedback on why they are not completing their work. Hopefully this will be an excellent data tool which can be used to track student behavior, as well as for me to modify my assignments to student needs and interests.

If you have any questions about this policy, please feel free to e-mail me at school. :)

Now, for this week's activities:

**OPEN HOUSE! Come meet me and the other Discovery School teachers on Thursday, August 18th, from 7:30-9:00 AM!!**

6th Grade: This week we will continue looking at maps, and will do activities on the types of maps, parts of a map, geographic features, and map grids. All of these activities will be started in class, but some may require extra time to finish at home.
--

7th grade: We will continue studying maps this week by looking at the various map projections used by cartographers (map makers). **UPDATED** The first quiz of 7th grade will be sent home as a take-home exam on Friday, August 19. There will be no review questions on the blog, as this will be a take-home exam. **UPDATED**
--

8th grade: Family will continue to be our theme this week; hopefully each 8th grade student spent time this weekend interviewing their families for their family history project...that information and the family tree will be due Tuesday, and we will be working on our presentations, which will be given on Thursday and Friday.
--

9th grade: We will be finishing up our short Renaissance and Reformation review on Monday, and then moving on to the Age of Exploration/Discovery on Tuesday...we'll start out with an overview video and then focus more deeply on the first two countries to explore...can you guess which ones they were?!
--

Here's to another great week at Discovery School!

KF

8th Grade "A History of Me" Assignment and Websites

Hey 8th graders:

Here's the information I wish I'd printed off for you today...my apologies!

1. Write down the five most important things that have happened in your life, and write 2-3 sentences why they were important.

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

2. Use the Internet or books to find five important events that have happened in the span of your own lifetime, and write 2-3 sentences about them:

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

Date: Event:

3. On a separate sheet of paper, create a timeline showing the major events in the world and the events in your own life.

Here are some websites you can use to find out about the major world events during your lifetime:

http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_history_(1990–present)

http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1990timeline.htm

http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/timeline.htm

Have fun, e-mail me with questions! :)

KF

Blank timeline image retrieved from: http://www.2020site.org/templates/Blank-Timeline-Template.html

Week 1 of School! Week of August 10-12

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to a new school year!

I am so excited to get this year started!

My room is ready:












I've printed everything we'll need for the next few weeks, so all I need are my students! :)

Here's what you can look forward to during the first 3 days of classes!

All levels (6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th) will start out the year going over the classroom syllabus and rules and setting a quarter 1 goal for themselves.

On Thursday and Friday:
6th grade will be taking a Map Skills Pretest (don't panic, it's a PREtest!) and going over it to understand what you need to learn over the next few weeks.
--

7th grade will move right into a review of the parts and types of maps, something I KNOW we went over early last school year :)
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8th grade will review my favorite thing in the world, Primary Sources, on Thursday! Then on Friday we will start looking at our Family History project (don't worry, they tie in nicely :)
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9th grade will spend Thursday and Friday reviewing the Renaissance and Reformation!
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Hope you've had a wonderful summer, and that you'll return to school tomorrow fresh and ready for an AWESOME school year!!

KF

First Post of the 2011-2012 School Year!!!

Greetings Discovery School Parents and Students!

For those of you who haven't met me before, my name is Kristen Fink. I am originally from Iowa, USA, and have bachelor's degrees in history and journalism, and my Master of Arts in Teaching. This is my second year at Discovery School, and my third year of teaching. This year at Discovery I will be the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade social studies teacher. I am also the coordinator of the school yearbook and the faculty supervisor for the Model United Nations team.

This is my classroom blog, and I work very hard to make it a resource for you. Each week you can log onto this site to check out an overview of what we will be studying that week, special information and announcements from the school, and the #1 blog hits generator, quiz review questions (with answers)! Please take a moment to answer the poll question to the right: your feedback will help me make this blog the best it can be!

I am located in the secondary building, room #4, and my door is always open to parents and students...please let me know what I can do to help all our Discovery Students succeed!

Enjoy the last week of summer...
KF

The School Year is Almost Upon Us...

Look what happened in Room #4 today! It's almost school time!!!!!!! :)

BEFORE...

AFTER...
I also got to break in the library's new rug...if anyone wants to get me one of these for Christmas, I will not say no! :)
















See you next Wendesday!! :)

KF