I love all your colorful blogs! Have fun with them, add pictures, etc!

Researching a Potential Topic

Your purpose here today is to explore some topics for your project.
The answers to the following questions should be pasted on to your blog. It should be your second entry.

1. What is a social justice issue?
After reading the definitions, write a ten line poem telling me what your idea of 'social justice' is.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=what+is+social+justice&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

2. Ideas for topics:
http://www.globalissues.org/issue

Browse this website of topics you might be able to use. Pick two that interest you for this question (they don't have to be the topic you eventually end up with). Read about them, click on the links, browse around. Congratulations, you have started the research process. Then write down:
Topic 1:
A. Which topic did you choose to research? Why is this the one that interests you?

B. What are ten interesting facts or ideas that you learned? You MUST put them into your own words.

C. Can you see this becoming your exit project topic? Why/why not?

D. What is a question you have after doing your reading?

Topic 2:
A. Which topic did you choose to research? Why is this the one that interests you?

B. What are ten interesting facts or ideas that you learned? You MUST put them into your own words.

C. Can you see this becoming your exit project topic? Why/why not?

D. What is a question you have after doing your reading?


3. Other ways to get ideas for topics is to BROWSE headlines.
http://www.globalissues.org/news
http://www.oneworld.net/
http://www.ipsnews.net/
http://www.democracynow.org/#atPick two of the news websites below.
Find three interesting topics. Why would they be interesting to do as an exit project? Explain what you learned.

1. Article 1
Title:


Could this be an interesting exit project topic? Why/why not?


What did you learn about this topic that you didn't know before, after reading the article?


What questions do you still have?



2. Article 2:
Title:


Could this be an interesting exit project topic? Why/why not?


What did you learn about this topic that you didn't know before, after reading the article?


What questions do you still have?

8th Grade Ancient Civilizations Game Maker!

Yesterday we learned about the third oldest civilization called the Indus River Valley. Today you are reading about Mesopotamia - the first civilization! What is so cool about it? It's the FIRST civilization ever - they invented writing! They invented most of the tools our farms use to get us food! And because of all this excitement and development, this area prospered thousands of years later into Iraq and surrounding areas. These countries have a very complicated history that you can't understand unless you go way back to the very beginning of civilization. Today, you're going to make a game (a puzzle) based on what you read and learn about Mesopotamia. You can create one of the following: crossword puzzle or match maker.

Work in pairs.

Include BOTH of your names in the puzzle's TITLE.

Work fast writing down notes for what you want to include in your puzzle game.

Each puzzle must have at least ten questions.

Your puzzle questions should include information about all of the following:
Geography (rivers!)
City States (Babylonia or Assyria or Sumer - artifacts, how they lived)
Writing
Religion
Government

While one of you is typing up the game, someone should be hand-writing the answer key.

When you are done, print your assignment to the teacher center printer. I'll pick it up later and grade it.

Links to Readings
http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/menu.html
http://socyberty.com/history/10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-mesopotamia/

Links To Game Maker
If you want to create a crossword puzzle:
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.asp

If you want to create a match-making puzzle:
Username: MsAlbu
Password: Teacher
http://www.wordlearner.com/page/printmatchmaker_landing


Have Fun!

8th Grade HW

#1 Don't do the chart you got in class today. we'll do it tomorrow.

#2 Read the article below, draw three images to represent what you read, and then quote which part you are drawing:

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~thompsoc/Body.html

6/7 Colony Life

Go to:

Write the following chart in your Historian's Journal:

Slaves
(Field Slaves/Household Slaves)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lower Class
(Free Blacks/Farmers)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Middle Class

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gentry/Upper Class

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Go to the following website and then fill out your chart. How would the people in each of the social classes dress? Give at least four details about each one. Then copy down your homework.

http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/History/teaching/Dayseries/webactivities/dress/dress.htm

HW:
1. In HJ: Draw two people from two different classes from the colonial era. Label their clothes to show which class they are from.
2. Answer: How do you think class structure influenced everyday life in colonial America?

6/7 Latino Immigration!

Latino Immigration WebQuest

Please write the answers in your HJ


Mexican Immigration:


Go to http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/17.html

1. Remember when we studied Westward Expansion (Oh what fun! Those games! Trips to the museum! “This land is your land, This land is my land!” The sad parts about how the Native Americans and Chinese were treated –and the happy parts about how they rose above). Now also remember that we studied the Mexican American War and America gained California, Arizona, New Mexico, and other states during this time (we were getting bigger and bigger). This will be important to remember when you do this task. Read the first few paragraphs at this website and draw a timeline that starts in 1850 and goes until 1964 - list all of the key events. It should include: push factors, what the Mexicans did when they came here, why they came here, why they were pushed out, and when they were invited in again – all with dates attached (1850, 1880, 1910, 1920, 1924, 1930, 1942, 1964).

2. What was the Bracero Program? Why did it start? What changed because of it? How were workers treated?

3. Why did the American government “flip flop” on it’s immigration policy towards Mexico?

4. Go to: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/themes/story_51_3.html

Read the story. Write two postcards “back home to Mexico” about two different experiences that Juana Gallegos went through.


Puerto Rican Migration:

Go to http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/cuban3.html

5. Why don’t we call it immigration when Puerto Ricans come here? In what ways is it like immigration and in what ways is it different?

6. When did the most Puerto Ricans start coming to America and why?

7. Why didn’t they come sooner?

8. Where did Puerto Ricans settle when they came to America?

9. What was life like in Puerto Rican communities here?

10. What were three political movements that Puerto Ricans started here?

11 . Create your own web quest questions! Pick ONE of any of the below immigrant groups, go to the websites I list, and write three questions that you would have included on this web quest about them. Explain why you think they are important questions to ask.

Dominicans: http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Dominican-Americans.html

Cubans: http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/cuban5.html

Feminism Webquest

FEMINIST WEB QUEST



I. Go to: http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/the-faqs/faq-roundup/

1. Scroll down to the questions. Look around – pick a question anywhere on the site and answer that you find fascinating. Which one did you pick and explain why.




2. How would you respond to this person’s answer?






3. What would you agree or disagree with?
What would you add?






II. Go to: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/28/barnes-sotomayor-affirmative-action/
4. According to this website, how is Judge Sotomayor portrayed? What are some of the descriptions? Note: Affirmative Action is when a school or job accepts you partly because you are a minority, and your group was discriminated against in the past.





5. Go to: http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/05/29/racism-sexism-and-sotomayor-in-a-few-easy-to-read-bullet-points/
How does this feminist argue against the other two opinions you just read in questions 3 and 4? What does she say? Why does this make her a feminist? Note: “Tokenism” means you accept someone just because they are a minority or diverse and you can say “See! We accept diverse people!” even though it is just a shallow acceptance.



IV. Check out some of these feminist websites. They are all different feminist websites. Pick one:
http://www.msmagazine.com/
http://www.bust.com/
http://www.bamboogirl.com/current/index.html
http://www.girlcomic.net/
http://www.motherjones.com/
http://www.teenvoices.com/

6. Which ones do you like and why?







7. What things can you see and find on this website?





8. What do you wish was different, if anything?




9. You can answer this question or the next one. If you were to make a feminist magazine or “zine” what would you include in it? What would you leave out, if anything?









Or
9. Write up a scenario – it can be about anything. Something on the news, something that happened to you, something you observed, something you once read in a book, something you once studied in history class, something from your imagination (but it has to do with the real world). Describe what a feminist would say about it. Why is that a feminist perspective?