Happy Holidays!

To all my 6th graders, 7th graders, 8th graders, and 9th graders and their families...

I wish to you all a wonderful and safe holiday weekend! I hope you have a wonderful time with friends, family, or the other special people in your life!

Happy Day!
KF

7th Grade: Half-of-the-World and Map Scale Quiz

Hey 7th graders:

Please remember that you have your Half-of-the-World and Map Scale Quiz tomorrow during class! Be sure to study the locations of all the countries we have studied so far (Americas, Europe, Russia and the Republics.)

You might also want to brush up on your map scale skills with an atlas at home!

Remember you can't use notes on the quiz tomorrow because it's an identification and skills quiz!

Let me know if you have questions!
KF

8th Grade: Ancient Rome Review Questions (+Answers)

Hey 8th graders:

I hope you have fun on your field trip tomorrow morning, but please remember that you have a quiz in my class tomorrow afternoon!!

->As always, you may have 1 page of notes (front side only) out on your desk during the quiz. Please do bring these notes with you--remember it has been proven that those with notes do better than those without!<-

Here are your review questions (+answers)

1. Describe one of the founding stories of Rome. (Latins found cities on hill, eventually they grow together as a city; Greek soldier makes treaty with Latins and marries Latin King's daughter; Romulus and Remus being raised by a wolf, Romulus kills Remus and founds Rome)

2. How many Etruscan kings were there in Rome? (3—7 kings total)

3. Were the Roman kings good or bad and why? (depends-last one was so bad he was removed from power)

4. Was the founder of Rome Latin, Etruscan, or Sabine? (Latin)

5. Name one of the important geographical formations of Rome and explain why it was important. (Palatine Hill, Tiber River, Mediterranean Sea, Italian Peninsula, Alps Mountains, Sicily/Corsica/other islands--importance varies with formation)

6. Why did Rome have the perfect location? (top of a hill, near river, not a coastal city so could not be influenced by outside ideas, etc)

7. What was the first government of Rome? (Monarchy)

8. What was the forum and what was its importance? (meeting area, market place, hangout)

9. What does the word republic mean? (Thing of the people)

10. Who were the patricians? (upper class)

11. Who were the plebeians? (lower class)

12. Who were the consuls? (2 elected members of the senate, one was in charge of army, one in charge of the government/senate)

13. What was the government of the patricians called and what was their governmental role? (Senate, made laws that affected everyone, elected consuls, dictators)

14. What was the government of the plebeians called and what was their governmental role? (Tribune, made laws that affected plebs and vetoed senate laws that affected plebs)

15. What was different about dictators in Ancient Rome? (were elected, served for 6 months only)

16. How did Senators get their job? (inherited)

17. How did members of the tribune get their job? (elected)

18. What were the laws of Rome called and where were they located? (12 Tablets, forum)

19. What was a legion? (basic military unit of 5,000 footsoldiers)

20. What was Rome’s second government? (Republic)

21. How many Punic Wars did we talk about in class? (3)

22. Explain what happened in the Punic Wars (1-Carthaginians attacked, Rome wins, 2-Hannibal comes by land with elephants, Rome wins, 3-Rome attacks Carthage, decimates the city)

23. Explain the importance and death of Julius Caesar (was a senator elected dictator, his policies led to fall of Republic, was killed (possibly) to save republic, etc-specifics!)

24. What was the third government of Rome? (Empire)

25. Who was the first emperor of Rome? (Octavian/Augustus)

26. What is a triumvirate? (ruling group of 3)

27. Who made up the 2^nd triumvirate and what happened to it? (Octavian, Antony, Lepidus—Lepidus died, Octavian and Antony fought, Octavian won, became first emperor)

28. Explain Cleopatra of Egypt’s role in Roman history (relationships with important leaders)

29. Explain the social problems of Ancient Rome (poor have high rent, small homes, bread and circuses, Rich were distracted by entertainments)

30. How did the rise of Christianity cause the decline of Rome? (many, many reasons--use your notes!)

31. What does Pax Romana mean and what was it? (Roman peace, 200 year span of peace followed by 50-year period of war)

32. What group of people eventually caused the fall of Rome and why? (Germans—were hired to fight for Rome, but turned on them and fought with the Visigoths)

33. Who was Constantine? (first Christian Roman Emperor)

34. Give one military, one political, and one social reason for the “fall” of Rome

35. Describe Rome’s policy toward different religions

36. Why were the Romans able to conquer Italy and the Mediterranean world?

37. Do you think the Roman Republic owed its success more to its form of government or its army, and why?

38. How did the Roman Army change over time? (initially all had to be a part, were very loyal to Rome, then became loyal to men, then didn’t have enough so had to hire out)

39. Name and describe how one Roman achievement affects your life today. (varies)

40. Be sure you have read over your four notes pages!!!

Happy studying!
KF

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Winter Break! (Week of December 12-15)

(Season's) Greetings!

Can you feel it? I think it's...Winter Break, just around the corner! In fact, just in case you'd forgotten, Winter Break begins this Friday, December 16! (But please don't forget to return to school on Wednesday, January 4!)

But before we get to that point, we have to get through all the major events coming up during this four-day week!

Here are some general announcements you need to know:

CHRISTMAS SUPPORT STAFF BASKETS: As a tradition at Discovery School, we are starting our drive for the support personnel holiday baskets. Please bring these items to your homeroom teacher no later than Tuesday, December 13.

Pre Kinder and 6^th grade students 1 5-lb bag of beans

Kinder and 7^th grade students 1 5 lb bag of rice

1^st grade and 8^th grade students 1 5-lb bag of sugar

2^nd grade and 9^th grade students 1 bottle or 2 bags of oil, 2 boxes of margarine, OR 3 lbs of lard

3^rd grade and 10^th grade students 1 4lb-bag of MASECA

4^th grade and 11^th grade students 3 lbs of spaghetti (six packages) OR 1 bag of coffee

5^th grade and 12^th grade students 4 packages of tomato paste

SEMESTER EXAMS FOR GRADES 9 - 12
The schedule is as follows:

	Monday, December 12	Tuesday, December 13	Wednesday, December 14
8:00 – 10:00	Math	Social Studies	Science
	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH
10:30 – 12:30	Spanish	Language Arts

Thursday, November 15 is exam revision day.

Grades 6 - 8 have regular school from 8:00 - 3:00.
High school students (grades 9-12) may leave with their parents/drivers after their second exam; however they must request a dismissal pass from Ms. Carolina or Ms. Gloria.
If a student wishes to leave with another student, he/she needs to bring a note in advance from parents.

SONGFEST: A reminder that Discovery School's winter musical event is this Thursday night from 6:00-8:00 PM. Please double-check with your student's homeroom teacher for the time they need to arrive for the event. (9th grade, let's meet at 5:30 to practice the play one more time).

FOOD SALE DURING SONGFEST: The Juniors and Seniors will be selling food and baked goods before Songfest, Thursday, December 15. Please bring money to support this fundraiser.


And here are some specifics:
6th grade: I hope you have your projects ready, because they are due for presentations on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday! On Thursday you will have a geography game day.
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7th grade: Monday and Tuesday will be computer lab days during which you will be practicing for your "Half of the Whole World" Quiz, which will be held Wednesday, December 14. Thursday will be a geography game day.
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8th grade: Monday will be a review game day, and Tuesday, December 13 will be your Ancient Rome Quiz. Wednesday and Thursday will be semester review days in anticipation of the Semester Exams you will have after Second Semester.
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9th grade: Good luck on your finals this week! Remember to study hard and review those connections for your Social Studies quiz on Tuesday! Thursday is revision day (if you need it). You can do it!
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I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
KF

7th Grade: Russia and the Republics Quiz...

Hey 7th graders:

I apologize that I did not get these up sooner, but in all honesty, if you did a good job yesterday of taking notes you probably won't need this information.

As I said in class, your quiz is going to ask you to find similarities and differences in the elements of the project; things like religion, physical features, crops, natural resources, etc will be fair game for the quiz.

Remember the 11 countries you will be asked to identify are:
Russia
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Georgia
Belarus
Ukraine

Happy studying!
KF

6th Grade: American Indian Research Links

Hey 6th graders:

Here are some links you can use to do your research!

http://www.learner.org/interactives/historymap/indians.html This is the one I told you to start with...just click the link below the map and hit the "next" button until it's talking about the region you are researching!

http://bigorrin.org/ This is a site most of you have found, and found to be awesome!

Here are a few others I found:

http://www.ahsd25.k12.il.us/curriculum/nativeamericans/index.html

http://www.native-languages.org/kids.htm

http://www.historyonthenet.com/Native_Americans/tribes.htm

http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/history/tm/native.html

If you find any other great websites be sure to e-mail them to me so I can put the links up on this page!

Happy Researching!
KF

7th Grade: Homework Assignment

Well, in a strange turn of events the 7th graders have a homework assignment this evening.

Please be sure that pages 47-48 in the Lake Bikal packet are completed before class time tomorrow.

Thanks!
KF

The Week Before the Week...Week of December 5-9

Hello again, everyone...

As always, I hope your weekend was happy and restful...mine was very busy, as I am getting ready for the end of the semester! (By the way, in case you were wondering...it's next THURSDAY!!!)

With that in mind, please be sure you are checking engrade and the blog to keep track of the assignments your students have, and how well they do on them. A low Semester 1 score will be a factor at the end of the year, so let's help everyone sprint to the finish and end with the highest scores possible!

In order to gain those high scores we must do some work. Here's what's going on in room #4 this week:

6th grade: I have paired you up this week for a team project on the Native American tribes of North America. You will work on this project in the computer lab on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week. On Tuesday we will have another assignment in class, and on Thursday you will want to bring your project supplies to work on your project in the classroom.
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7th grade: This is the last week you will be working on Russia and the Republics. You will have a Human-Environment Interaction study in class on Monday-Wednesday, and Thursday will be a review day. Your Russia and the Republics Quiz will be Friday, December 9.
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8th grade: Monday-Wednesday you will examine the character and actions of various important Ancient Romans by participating in a play and trial about "Who killed Mark Antony?" (the Roman, not the singer). On Thursday you will examine the accomplishments of the Romans, and Friday you will learn about the "Fall" of Rome. For your reference, your Ancient Rome Quiz will be Tuesday, December 12. (If you are planning to be gone the last week of the quarter you need to make arrangements to take your quiz before you go or you will have an incomplete semester grade.)
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9th grade: It's review week! You made it! On Monday and Tuesday, as promised, I will give you time to work on your Songfest play. On Wednesday we will play a "connections" game, and on Thursday and Friday you will have class time to work on your study guide. Your final exam will be from 8:00-10:00 on Tuesday, December 12.
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Keep working hard students! You CAN do it!!

Have a great week!
KF

6th Grade: Inca Review Questions

Hello 6th graders:

Here are some things you should think about before your Inca quiz tomorrow...

-all bolded words on pages 1-2 of the packet
-the quipu system of writing and mathematics
-the actions of the Inca government
-the end of the Inca empire
-similarities and differences between the Maya, the Aztec, and the Inca

Happy studying! :)
KF

9th Grade: Revolutions Quiz "Things to Consider..."

Hey 9th graders:

I had a really fun time being "stumped" in class this morning (haha!) I hope you are not stumped on tomorrow's test (although I know you will not if you come knowing the following information):

-Actions of Oliver Cromwell during his “rule” in England and whether he was good or bad

-Causes of the French Revolution (5)

-Formation of, changes made by, and final action of the National Assembly (Rev. Gov’t #1) in France

-Makeup of, problems facing and end of the Legislative Assembly (Rev. Gov’t #2)

-Causes and effects of the Reign of Terror and who was involved

-Actions of Napoleon during his “rule” in France and whether he was good or bad

-The social classes present in Colonial and Revolutionary Latin America

-Leaders and major events of revolutions in Latin America (Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Mexico, Brazil)

-Similarities and differences between the US “Declaration of Independence” and France’s “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen”

-Positive and negative effects of the Industrial Revolution in England and the United States

-Actions and reasons of people/groups who supported and disliked the Industrial Revolution (Luddites, Reformers, Children, Cottagers, etc)

-Match the different Revolutions with the Beatles “Revolution” songs (#1=violent, #2=laid back, #3=crazy)

-Connections between the US, French and Latin American Revolutions

Please remember that you may each bring a one-page (front side only) notes page to class for use on the quiz!

Happy Studying!
KF