A sign that was in the hotel I stayed at last summer in Amman, Jordan, which was hosting refugees from the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip.
Hi everyone,
Welcome back from the weekend, for a short 4 day week, followed by a 4 day weekend, followed by another short 4 day week! Today, we started work on our final unit for the year, on Israel and Palestine. Here's what we did today in class:
Welcome back from the weekend, for a short 4 day week, followed by a 4 day weekend, followed by another short 4 day week! Today, we started work on our final unit for the year, on Israel and Palestine. Here's what we did today in class:
Learning Targets:
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements. Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements. Knowledge LT 22: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Soundtrack: "Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks. Selected for today because the end of the year feels like a battle, and because the country of Israel is seen as a battlefield by many. Lyrics here.
AGENDA 5/18/15:
News Brief – Raedene
Grades
The Lesson of War
Brainstorm
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Grades
The Lesson of War
Brainstorm
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade (updated on StudentVUE and on by ID number on the wall) and how to improve it, if possible. Start working on your final project for the year (overview here). Next news brief: Xavier.
---
News Brief: Raedene had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: IsraelNationalNews.com - Paris Jew Pinned Down and Savagely Beaten in Anti-Semitic Attack. A horrible story that just goes to show that Jewish people still face persecution in Europe. This linked with our look at Israel and Palestine today, which was helpful.
We also watched VICE News for the day and talked about the weekend, before moving on.
The next news brief was assigned to Xavier.
Grades: I passed back all of the work that students turned in last week, whether it was the demographics collection of evidence, or the final day that Historical Investigations were able to be turned in. As of this morning, everyone's grade should be up to date in Synergy.
The reason that I wanted to get your demographics work back to you immediately was because you can use the statistics packet to start working on your final project for Israel and Palestine. As such, I was looking through the demographic collection of evidence for your ability to demonstrate proficiency with explaining demographic changes in the world and their effects. If you did a great job with this, it was a 4, if it was okay and still demonstrated proficiency, it was a 3, and if there was obvious missing work, it was a 2 or below.
We also watched VICE News for the day and talked about the weekend, before moving on.
The next news brief was assigned to Xavier.
Grades: I passed back all of the work that students turned in last week, whether it was the demographics collection of evidence, or the final day that Historical Investigations were able to be turned in. As of this morning, everyone's grade should be up to date in Synergy.
The reason that I wanted to get your demographics work back to you immediately was because you can use the statistics packet to start working on your final project for Israel and Palestine. As such, I was looking through the demographic collection of evidence for your ability to demonstrate proficiency with explaining demographic changes in the world and their effects. If you did a great job with this, it was a 4, if it was okay and still demonstrated proficiency, it was a 3, and if there was obvious missing work, it was a 2 or below.
The Lesson of War: To start the Israel and Palestine unit, we watched this video, about children on both sides of the recent war in the Gaza Strip:
Brainstorm: After the video, we brainstormed the conflict in Israel and Palestine by noting what we did know at this point, and questions we still had to learn the answers to. Here is what your class came up with:
We have lots to learn about, which is good!
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: This was a PowerPoint that I went through with the class. I decided to be nice and pre-print all of the notes to hand out, because I know that it has been a challenging last few months, and I wanted to give everyone a break. I did want to make sure everyone focused on the images and words in the presentation, too. Here's the PowerPoint, for those who missed class:
I asked students to take notes about what was happening in the war and how each side was impacted.
Brainstorm: After the video, we brainstormed the conflict in Israel and Palestine by noting what we did know at this point, and questions we still had to learn the answers to. Here is what your class came up with:
We have lots to learn about, which is good!
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: This was a PowerPoint that I went through with the class. I decided to be nice and pre-print all of the notes to hand out, because I know that it has been a challenging last few months, and I wanted to give everyone a break. I did want to make sure everyone focused on the images and words in the presentation, too. Here's the PowerPoint, for those who missed class:
And here are the pre-printed notes that I handed out:
After the presentation, I passed out the first look at what your final project will be, which is a simulation on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. We went through this in class in detail, but basically, you can pick any (or all) of the five learning targets listed at the top of this post to show proficiency on, by either writing a paper to be turned in on finals day, or creating a presentation (which might also involve writing a paper), if you are in big time need of improving your grade. Here's the handout (notice that the second page is the backside) that I passed out:
There were lots of questions here, which was good. Hopefully, students are starting to understand what I am going to be looking for!
Finally, at the end of class, we watched the Crash Course video on Israel and Palestine, which does a really good job at explaining a large amount of details about the conflict in 13 minutes. I know this was a lot at once, so turning the captions on is definitely a good idea:
This should give you a solid framework with which to start thinking about how you want to do your final project, and what you should focus on! We will continue to be investigating this in the next few classes. Thanks for your focus today! :-)
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