Open Book Quiz, Mexico Map possible Homework

Today the classes did the open-book quiz on page 12; this was over Section 3.  The students were required to use a page number with their answer.  The point is to teach them how to use the textbook; I try to continue to point out that the questions move in a linear fashion from the beginning to the end of each section. If  quiz is HOMEWORK if it was not completed in class.  The quiz is graded for correct answers to the questions and correct page numbers.

A map of Mexico was also assigned and will be due on Thursday.  The students are asked to label and color major landforms on one map, and number and record the 31 states and the Federal District on another map.  They are to use their book to complete the assignments.

Tomorrow we will work on our flipbooks.

Thanks,
Cathy

Mexico Flipbook

The Mexico Flip book will be due Friday, May 4.  This will be graded as the test for Chapter 8 "Mexico".  We spent Wednesday and Thursday in the Computer Lab doing "research", but we will not have the opportunity to use the lab before the flip book is due.  If your child still needs to do research and does not have access to a computer at home, I will write a pass for GA on Tuesday, May 1 or Wednesday, May 2.  If your child completes the flip book prior to the due date, it is perfectly acceptable, in fact I encouraged, to turn in the project early.

On Tuesday, we will fold paper to create the book!  After that, facts can either be hand-written or typed, cut, and pasted into the booklet.

I have told the kids that this is a TEST, and I expect them to understand every fact they put in their booklet.  It is not an exercise in "Copy-Cut-Paste" from the Internet; even I know how to do that task!!  The goal if for them to expand their knowledge of Mexico by finding facts they find interesting, understand, and could explain to a classmate.

Some kids have asked about facts for the heading of Government/Economy.  Today we went over a few options, which are listed below.  Facts from the book are fine, but I would like the name of the current President of Mexico :-)

Government:
Who is the current leader? What is his "title"? (President, Prime Minister, Supreme Leader?)
Does Mexico have a congress? Parliament?
Do they have elections? How often?
What type of government does Mexico have?

Economy:
What is the per capita GDP? (Current info)
What is the exchange rate of peso/dollar?
What type of work is the main work: primary? secondary? tieratary/quantanary?
What do they import?
What do they export?

If your child still needs to do research if you put this in the Google search bar, you will get good sites!
Mexico facts for kids

Mexico Flipbook Research Started

Today we started research for Mexico Flipbook.  This project takes the place of a test over Chapter 8, so it is important that everyone take the assignment seriously.  This assignment will be due Friday, May 4.  We will have one more day of computer lab time prior to May 4, but if your child asks to do a little work at home, please allow them to "explore" Mexico. 

The requirements for this assignment can be found on the April 24 blog, in the documents section of my web-site, and kids can also access the requirements via the "Pick Up Drive"; so there are no excuses for not knowing the requirements :-)

We will be correcting page 10 of the booklet on Thurday, so make sure it is complete!

Mexico Market Day May 4

This note will be coming home with your child later this week, but I thought I would give you a "heads up"!  This is a fun day for the kids, so start looking for those items to trade or barter!

Mexican Market Trade and Barter Day

Who: 6^th grade students

What: Bring in items to trade and barter with their classmates. * Items must fit into one grocery bag.  Students should also bring in a colorful beach towel which will help to organize the merchandise.

When: Friday, May 4 2012

Where: Media center

Why: Markets are essential in Mexico. This activity gives students the opportunity to experience a market setting where they can trade and barter.

* Items to consider for trade: CD’s DVD’s, computer games, old toys, jewelry, crafts, if it’s handmade it probably is OK to trade. All items to trade should pass parental inspection and approval. Items not permitted: food, old clothing, lotions, makeup, body spray, candles, or anything flammable. Use good judgement

Mexico

Today the assignment was to read pages 198-201 in the textbook and do page 10 in the booklet (pages 13 & 14 in the Modified booklet).  We will correct this in class tomorrow, so if the work was not completed in class, it is HOMEWORK.

I also introduced the "Mexico Flipbook" which will be our next assessment tool. I am posting the requirements below; although we have not set a due date for the booklet, I'm guessing it will be next Thursday or Friday, May 3rd or 4th. I can't believe it will be May next week!

We will have time in the computer lab for research, beginning tomorrow.  Not everyone will be able to go at the same time as we are sharing the lab with Mr. Vandenberg.

Mexico “Flipbook” Assessment (Test)

Scoring Rubric

Label your book with the following Headings (spelling COUNTS!)

Climate/Wild Life/Vegetation           Government and Economy        History            Geography/Physical Features        Culture

You will need three (3) illustrations (hand drawings), three (3) pictures, or a combination of both, in your flipbook.

For each of the Headings, you will need to list five (5) facts.  You may use three (3) facts from your book, but at least two (2) facts must come from “research” you do in the Computer Lab.  If you want to do ALL your facts from your “research” that is perfectly acceptable. J  Your Headings may be in any order you choose. 

Consider including the following information for each Heading:

Climate:  types of climates and their locations, native plants, native animals

Geography/Physical Features: bodies of water and their locations, landforms and their locations, borders, Resources and their locations

Government and Economy:  Structure of Government, the type of work done by the people of Mexico, Wages, Maquiladoras

History:  Ancient Civilizations, Spanish Conquest

Culture: Food, Customs/Holidays, Dress, Sports, Music, dance

There is much more information that can be added to each Heading; these are just ideas.  As you do your research, you may find some aspect that is more interesting to you.

You will be graded thusly:

Title Page – 1 point

Heading Labels –1 point

3 Pictures/Illustrations – 3 points

Geography – Five Facts, 5 points

Climate- Five Facts, 5 points

Culture – Five Facts, 5 points

History – Five Facts, 5 points

Government and Economy – Five Facts, 5 points

Total = 30 points

No Homework Today

Today we corrected pages 3,4, and 5 from the "Mexico" booklet. 
There is no homework.

Disappointing Day

Today, I felt disappointed.  Several kids did not have their paragraph ready to turn in; others had not followed the directions and needed to re-write their paper.

We have been working on this assignment for three days; actually six if one includes the days used to take notes in class.  The paragraph was a very simple, basic assignment.  The students needed to write only 11 sentences about either the Inca, Aztec, or Maya.  In Sixth Grade, 11 sentences should be a walk in the park, especially at this time of the school year. 

All the information one needed to write the paper has been available via the blog since last Friday.  I demonstrated, in each class, how to access the information on the blog, so there should have been no question about the assignment requirements. 

Today we watched a movie about Mexico, and I passed out the new "booklet" that will be used as we read the chapter.  There is no homework.

Directions for Chapter 8 Notes

Chapter 8 “Mexico

Notes

Directions:  Fold a sheet of copy paper into four quarters.  Label the quarters:

Landforms:  7 items

Example: Baja California

Bodies of Water:   5 items

Example: Gulf of Mexico

Climate/Plants/Animals:  15 items

Example: savanna

Resources: 6items

Example: Petroleum (oil)

You will have 10 minutes tomorrow to finish these notes, they will be due at

Ancient Civilization Paper due TOMORROW!

Just a reminder that the Ancient Civilization paper, actually an 11 sentence paragraph, is due tomorrow at the beginning of class.  There will be NO time to work on the paper tomorrow; it needs to be complete and ready to hand in before attendance.  Please be sure to have your blue paragraph diagram, too.  There will be points given for having it completed and attached to your paragraph.

We started Chapter 8 -Mexico today.  The assignment was to take notes over pages 186-190.  The kids were given a piece of blank paper which needed to be folded into quarters, and labeled with these headings:
Landforms (7)
Bodies of Water (5)
Climate/plants/animals (15)
Resources (6)

The number following each heading indicates the number of "notes" needed for each section.  I will give kids about 10 minutes to complete notes tomorrow if they are not completed.

Thanks,
Cathy

Ancient Civilization Paper due April 17

Today we started writing the "Ancient Civilization" paper.  This paper takes the place of a "book test" on Chapter 7 "History of Middle and South America".  This paper has involved several steps: taking notes, completing a paragraph diagram, and writing the paper.  The paper is actually very easy; 11 sentences about one of the ancient civilizations, and is the type of paragraph the kids have been asked to write in their ELA classes.

This paper is due Tuesday, April 17, at the beginning of class.  We had time in class today to write the paper, and I will give the kids "some time" on Monday to finish their paper. However, we will not spend the entire class period working on the paper as many kids turned in their paper today :-)

Below are the directions for the paper:

Ancient Civilization Paper

1.   You MUST skip lines when you write your paper!!  If you do not skip lines, I WILL NOT accept your paper!

2.   Spelling Counts!!  Take time to make sure your paper has no misspelled words.

3.   Your paper will be due Tuesday, April 17, when you walk in the door!!

4.   If you are going to type your paper, you will need to type at home.  There are no computer labs available! 

5.   If you type, you need to follow these directions :

Use “Comic Sans” font

Use 12 or 14 as your font size

Use 1.5  or 2 spacing

Use Spell Check!

This is also information we went over, twice, in class:

Ancient Civilization Paper

1.       Choose ONE group that you will write about in your paper.  Choose from the Maya, Aztec, or Inca

2.      Use your notes and/or your book; this is NOT a test from memory!  Use the information available to you J

3.  Start completing your paragraph diagram.  The first thing you will need is a good Topic Sentence.  The topic sentence lets the reader know what the paper will be about; you can probably use a General Topic Sentence.  This will let me know what group you selected for your paper.  Example:  “The Olmec were an ancient civilization that lived in what is now southern Mexico.”

4.  Think of the three major points of interest you will be writing about; these will be your three Lead Off Sentences.  On the Paragraph Diagram they are labeled as Lead -off #1, Lead-off #2, and Lead-off #3.  Example: “The Olmec carved heads out of stone.”

5.    For each Lead-off Sentence, you will need to write two supporting sentences.  These sentences will be more information about the lead-off sentence.  Example: “The heads the Olmec carved were of massive size.  Many of the stone heads were over six feet tall and the stones used to carve the heads weighed 10 to 40 tons.” (This is an example of two follow-up sentences.)

Paragraph Diagram

The Paragraph Diagram that we will be using on Thursday can be found on my web-site in the Documents section under the title "Informal Essay Outline 2".  I don't think this can be printed; I'm not sure why it looks the way it does, but I will see if I can get a black-line document.

This IS NOT homework; it is just to let you know what tools we will be using.  This Paragraph diagram  is similar to the one used by Mr. Keg, but the kids who have Mr. B are also familiar with paragraph diagrams.

Thanks,
Cathy

Aztec Movie; Homework-completed notes from reading pages 169-179

Today we watched a short video about the Aztec; there was, of course, the mention of human sacrifice.  I tried to explain that their sacrifices were not done out of cruelty, but in an effort to please their gods.  It is shocking to think that human sacrifice was once an acceptable, honorable activity, but we made a comparison to "The Hunger Games" which the majority of my students have read.  (I read "The Hunger Games last week, and am now half-way through "Catching Fire.  I applaud the author for writing such engaging, fast-paced books!)

Tomorrow we will complete a paragraph diagram which will serve as the outline for the paper we will write on Friday.  This paper will be graded as a test, so it is important that notes be completed for class on  Thursday, and ready to be used to complete the paragraph diagram. We have had two days to read 10 pages in the textbook, which is really about six pages of actual reading. The information that MUST be in the notes was listed in yesterday's blog :-)

I'm attaching a copy of the scoring rubric I'll be using to grade the paragraphs, and a copy of the paragraph diagram can be found on my web-site, under "Documents"

Thanks,
Cathy

Name:_________________

        Hour:_________

Ancient Civilizations

Scoring Rubric

____/10  Topic Sentence

_____/5  Lead Off #1

_____/5  Follow Up

_____/5  Follow Up

_____/5  Lead Off #2

_____/5  Follow Up

_____/5  Follow Up

_____/5  Lead Off #3

_____/5  Follow Up

_____/5  Follow Up

_____/10 Closing sentence

_____/65  Letter Grade:____

Comments:

Ancient Civilizations

Today we watched a short movie about the Maya, then the assignment was to read pages 169-171 in the textbook.  The kids area also supposed to take notes, finding this information about the Maya, Aztec, and Inca:

1.  During what time period did the civilization rule?
2.  Where did they live; be specific! 
3. List at least 4 characteristics of the civilization/society.

Our book has enough information for these requirements to be met.  We will be writing a paper about these ancient civilizations later this week; the paper will serve as an assessment for the chapter.

There is no homework this evening.

Thanks,
Cathy

Weclome Back!

Greetings,

Everyone must have had a wonderful Spring Break; the kids were really tired today!

We are beginning Chapter 7, again.  I write "again" because we read the section about the Inca prior to Spring Break.  Today we read the very small section on the Olmec and watched clips of a BBC program about the Olmec. 

There was no homework today!

Cathy