Culture, Day 1 - Class Recap

Part of my family's culture is attending Oregon Duck football games (well, maybe not so much for my sister). This is us outside the 2011 BCS National Championship Game in Arizona.

Hi everyone,

Today, we moved on to a new unit: Culture! What an interesting topic. Culture defines who we are, yet we shape and create it every day! Here's what happened today in class (we did a lot, so be ready for a fair amount of reading):

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.

Soundtrack: "Food" by Common and Kanye West. Selected because we talked about what we had for breakfast today, as a part of our culture. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/7/16:
News Brief – CJ
What is Culture?
The Lost Boys
Our Culture

Homework: Read the blog. Make sure you have all of your Geography unit work turned in if you haven't turned it in already! Next news brief: Karly.

News Brief: Before the news brief today, I passed back the grades from the Geography unit (record turnaround on them for me - helped by staying at school for Back to School Night) and explained why I gave what I did. Then, CJ brought in an article about this story for the news brief: SeattleTimes.com - Russia lawmakers approve indefinite Syria military presence. We found Syria in the world map packet and talked about the ongoing situation there in regards to all of the different groups.

Thanks, CJ. Karly. was assigned to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also asked about the upcoming weekend and had a good time hearing what students were up to, before we moved on.

What is Culture?: I started this section and new unit by asking what everyone had for breakfast today. The answers were:

Nothing x 8
Cereal x 6
Muffin x 1
Pancakes x 4
Fruit bar/”breadish thing” x 2
Bacon x 2
Shake x 2
Toast x 3
Waffles x 2
Eggs x 3
Rice x 2

I saw this article a while ago and thought it was interesting, which is why I asked:

NYTimes.com - Rise and Shine: What Kids All Over the World Eat For Breakfast

We looked at a few of these different types of breakfast (all of which were certainly better than "nothing" as the high answer - you need to eat before school, everyone!) and identified "food" as an aspect of culture. Then, I passed out this sheet:

Google Drive - What is Culture? PowerPoint Picture Activity Worksheet

I had students guess about what culture is with the top space on the worksheet, then we brainstormed as a class all the different aspects that could go in the second box, of 10 characteristics of culture.

After that, we went through this slideshow of pictures from the National Geographic Photography: Culture website. Here are the photos we went through:

Google Drive - Culture Around the World Slideshow

I love all of these pictures because the world is such a diverse and interesting place! I enjoyed the class guesses as to what was going on in each.

The Lost Boys: Next, I showed part of a documentary on The Lost Boys of Sudan. This shows the dramatic differences between the culture in Sudan and the culture in America - something I think we do not think much about at all:

National Geographic - Lost Boys of Sudan: Cultural Differences

As a counterbalance, I showed this commercial that was made about Lopez Lomong, who was one of the "Lost Boys" and who eventually gained American citizenship, made the US Olympic Team, and carried the American flag into the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing:

I showed these videos to highlight some key aspects to American and Sudanese culture. We will continue to explore cultural similarities and differences of various different cultures during this unit.

Our Culture: We didn't have the time at the end of class to dive into this, so I ended it here. Next time, we will finish the photo slides and continue introducing culture. Have a great weekend!

Geography, Day 9 - Class Recap

This is me doing the Gangnam Style dance, at Gangnam Station in Seoul, South Korea, in January of 2014. Yes, the Korean girl who took this was laughing at me.

Dear class,

We are finally done with map quizzes and most of the Geography unit! Thank you for your patience and understanding as we finished today and there was a flurry of activity. I will grade your packets in the coming days for your upcoming progress reports. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets:
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.
Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: "Gangnam Style" by PSY. Selected because we had our last map quiz today, on Asia. South Korea is where PSY is from, which is in Asia. Lyrics (which are mostly Korean, and hilariously translated to the English alphabet) here.

AGENDA 10/5/16:
News Brief – Victor
Asia Map Quiz
Atlas/Map Work
Turn in Collection of Evidence

Homework: Read the blog. Your geography packet needed to be turned in today, so if you have parts you did not turn in, please get it to me ASAP. Next news brief: CJ.

News Brief: Victor brought in an article about this story for the news brief: CNN.com - Stakes for Iraq's future couldn't be higher as Mosul offensive looms. We found Iraq in the world map packet (handy, since we did the Middle East map quiz today in class) and talked about the situation with ISIS in the region, as well as the importance of Mosul as a strategic city in Iraq. Thanks, Victor! CJ was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

We also checked in about the Vice Presidential debate, as well as what students are up to outside of class. I hope to see many of your parents (you can come too, if you want!) tonight at Back to School Night!

Asia Map Quiz: This was the last map quiz opportunity (remember, you had 6 possible opportunities with different map quizzes - 4 of which you choose as your best work to be graded along with the other geography work we have been doing). We graded and passed this back in class, so everyone should have had all the graded quizzes available for selection.

Atlas/Map Work: There was time in class for students to be finishing any geography unit work, after the Asia quiz. I hope you used your time wisely! The assignments for the unit are:

1) The completed world map packet, labelled and colored. Link here.
2) Your choice of the top four out of the six map quizzes that we took in class.
3) The Five Themes of Geography Atlas activity. Link here.
4) Latitude and Longitude in Central Asia worksheet. Link here.

Turn in Collection of Evidence: Finally - the first graded packet of work for the semester! This was the accumulation of all the work we have done with the geography unit - the quizzes, five themes papers, the latitude and longitude assignment from Asia, and your completed world maps by continent (colored and labelled). Here is the rubric students used in class to self assess (I will be using this same paper to write grades and comments on):

Google Drive - Geography LTs 7 and 10 Self Assessment Rubric

I will look at what students wrote on this, along with the work that was stapled and turned in with it, in order to determine your proficiency grades are for these two learning targets, which is what the first progress report will be based on. Thus, if you did not do well with keeping up with your maps, doing well with the quizzes, and making sure to use class time effectively for the Five Themes of Geography packet, you may have some unfortunate news coming soon if you do not make up the work.

Next class, we will start our look at culture in depth. See you then!

Geography, Day 8 - Class Recap

The Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, taken in July of 2014. Today, we had our Africa map quiz in class, which included Egypt!

Dear class,

Welcome back to our first week of October! This week should close out the first big unit of the year, on Geography. Next class is our last map quiz, and then we will start moving on to Culture later in the week! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 10: I can demonstrate an understanding of the connection between physical and human systems.

Soundtrack: "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck. Selected for today because an anonymous student commented on the blog with it as a suggestion. For future reference, I like song requests to tie in to what we are doing in class somehow, so for this, I said that today we are taking our fifth map quiz of the geography unit. :-)

AGENDA 10/3/16:
News Brief – Ashwin
Africa Map Quiz
Latitude/Longitude
Atlas/Map Work

Homework: Read the blog. Finish Asia/Middle East maps (colored and labeled) for the quiz next class. Bring all of your other geography unit work/quizzes to be able to turn in. Next news brief: Victor.

News Brief: Ashwin had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: CNN.com - Hurricane Matthew: Jamaica and Haiti brace for 'life-threatening' storm. We found Haiti in our world maps and talked for a bit about what this dangerous storm is up to. Thanks, Ashwin! Victor was drawn as the next person up.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also checked in about the weekend with everyone to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun, before moving on.

Africa Map Quiz: The second to last map quiz out of the six! Remember that your top four scores will be turned in for your grade for the geography targets. We corrected the quiz in class and then passed them back.

Latitude/Longitude: I wanted to make sure that we went over the concepts of latitude and longitude again, in identifying where places are in the world. With that, I passed out this worksheet having to do with Asia (which, not so coincidentally, students were labeling in class today):

Google Drive - Asia Latitude and Longitude Worksheet

I will collect these as part of the collection of evidence for the geography learning targets later in the week, along with your top four map quizzes, finished map packet, and Five Themes of Geography packet.

Atlas/Map Work: The last part of class was dedicated to labeling and coloring the Asia and Middle East sections of the map packet, in order to be able to use it on the last map quiz next class. For checking the blog, here's a question from the quiz: This island country—an archipelago made up of many atolls—is located south and west of India. If you are missing your map packet and know you need to have it done, please print out another and have it ready to go for next class:

Google Drive - World Maps Packet

Here's the Five Themes of Geography Atlas activity to continue working on (which mostly has to be in class with the atlases here):

Google Drive - Five Themes of Geography Atlas Packet

I am looking forward to meeting your parents Wednesday night at Back To School Night! You can bet that the blog will feature heavily. Make sure to have your map packet completed, and as much of the Five Themes packet done as possible for next class!