December 11th

Bellwork

Word—Predestination

Def—Please use your text book page 427

Question—How/why would predestination be a threat to the Church?

————-Today we had time to finish working on our renaissance trading cards.  All 18 are due on Monday.  Please come to class prepared and with them done.  The activity we are planning will work better if more of you have the cards complete.  We also watched a short video clip of a theory behind Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”    Much like you all did with your DBQ projects this particular historian has looked at documents and writings and paintings and drawings of the time and came to a conclusion of his own.  He interpreted his material and is proving his opinion with evidence.  History is great.  Check out the video clip below.  For the weeks bellwork click here.  Today I also announced that my last day will be on Thursday December 17th.  All good things must come to end.

December 10th

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SNOWDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 9th

Bellwork

Word—Renaissance

Def—Please use pages 410-411

Question—Why might there need to be a renaissance (rebirth) after the medieval times?

————-Today we began our journey into the renaissance in Europe.  We started out with a very brief introduction to the topic by Mr. McCullough.  We learned about some famouse people, places and things through a short slide show of pictures, learning what each contributed to the renaissance and why it was important.  For the slide show click here.  We then were introduced to our assignment.  We are making trading cards of renaissance people, places, and things.  They are just like any sports trading card but instead of a football player and his stats you will have Leonardo Da Vinci and his stats (facts about him).  For the complete assignment click here.

December 8th

Bellwork

Word—Perseverance

Def—Steady work toward the same goal.  Never giving up

Question—What do you do when you fall?

———–Today we wrapped up the middle ages with a test.  Those of you who did what you were supposed to do during the museum and took notes should not have had any problem with todays test.  We also had a guest speaker come in, Mr. Hobson the 9th grade counselor.    He talked to us about the hard work it takes to succeed and that if we set our minds to it we can achieve.  Our job here is to get an education and get a high school diploma so we must do what is necessary to accomplish that goal.  You don’t just wake up one morning and play in the NBA you must put in the hours and hours of training and practice in order to make.  The same thing with school.  You cant just wake up one day with a high school diploma and a college acceptance letter.  You must work and do what is needed to get those things.  You all can do it.  I have seen it first hand just make up your mind right now and say TODAY IS A NEW DAY TODAY I MAKE THE DECISION TO WORK UP TO MY FULL POTENTIAL.

December 7th

Today was the grand opening of your Medieval Museum.  While you toured you had to fill out this questionaire to help you learn.  Thank you to all who stopped by to view the hard work put in by the students.  You all did a great job and should be very proud of yourselves.  I will be honest with you… you may have even done better than last years WWII museum.  This will not be our last exhibit.  The demand for more will be met.  Great job again you guys.

For 1st mods museum click here

For 2nd mods museum click here

For 3rd mods museum click here

For 4th mods museum click here

December 4th

Today is the last day to work on your project in class. You should be placing the final touches on it and making sure all members of your group are able to talk about your topic. The museum goes on display at the beginning of class on Monday December 7th.  So far I have seen some great work.   Your curators have been keeping me posted by filling out this sheet on a daily basis.   Today I also had each group fill out this check list to ensure that your project was going to meet all expectations. Good luck to all of you.  For the weeks bellwork click here.  To see a clip of all the hard work you put in this week check out the video below.

!!!!EXTRA CREDIT!!!!!

As the season of giving nears we all have an amazing opportunity. As
many of you know there is a Holiday Food Drive in Kalamazoo that has
been going on since 1993. It is a great tradition that has helped and
continues to help a great deal of families in the Kalamazoo community.
This year over 1500 families will receive food baskets from the Holiday
Food Drive. A great deal of these families will be KPS students and many
will be directly related to Kalamazoo Central High School.

Your task-—For every can you bring into class you will receive 1 extra credit point up to 100 points.  WOW!  But there is a catch.  For each type of food you bring in you must include a sentence that connects it to world history.  Where did it come from? What do you know about that place?  Has it been involved in any famines?  ETC.  Anything that connects it to world history.  So for example 100 cans of corn is worth 100 pts.  Since it is only 1 type of food you only need to write 1 sentence.  50 cans of corn and 50 cans of peas is worth 100 pts but since it is 2 types of food you need 2 sentences one for each.  Pretty simple.  You can better your grade and help those in need at the same time.  You have until DEC 15th

November 30th

Bellwork

Word—Research

Def—diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications

Question—Why is it important to gather information, and how can we tell if it is from a reliable source?

———-Today we were introduced to our week long project of putting together a Middle Ages Museum.  This is going to take alot of research on your part.  Luckily you have such great instructors who have collected loads of information from the internet as well as from our library so part of the work is done.  Now you must sift through it all to find the really important things about your topic.  Paint me a good overall picture of what your topic is all about.  We have 6 groups each of you has a topic that deals with an aspect of the Middle Ages,  Kings/Nobles, Knights, Peasants, Disease, Castles, Life/Religion/Torture.  Your goal is to become an expert at your topic then design a museum exhibit to display so that all can learn about your topic.  Remember museums are for everyone and everyone is invited.  Other teachers, administrators, security, district administration. and many more.  This is your time to show off.   Remember to work hard because you are not only  being graded by me but by the other members in your group not to mention that many people will be viewing your work.  For the museum project explaination click here.  Click on your topic and your links below for all the information I collected for you.  Your welcome.  Castles link 1—Castle link 2.—Disease link 1—King/Noble link 1—King/Noble link 2—Lifestyle link 1—Lifestyle link 2—Lifestyle link 3—Knights link 1—Knights link 2—Peasants link 1.  Good luck everyone.  Let your creative juices flow.  Below is a video slideshow of last years WWII museum.

November 24th

Bellwork

Word—Heraldry

Def—Personal design to express family identity and social status in society.

Question—Why would identity be important during medieval times?

—–Today we learned about Heraldry.  We did this be creating our own coat of arms.  For a short history/explaination of heraldry along with the assignment and the packet containing meanings and examples click here.  For examples of heraldry click here.  For the weeks bellwork click here.  Enjoy your thanksgiving break.

November 23rd

Bellwork

Word—Feudalism

Def—Please use your textbook

Question—Based off the definition does this sound like a good idea?  Why or why not?

———–The last 2 weeks we have learned about MesoAmerica and the Natives that lived there and the European explorers that came and conquered.  All of this occurred roughly around 13-1600 A.D.  Today we are going back in time across the ocean back to Europe in the year 1000 A.D.  In order to better understand what happened in the Americas we must understand what was happening in Europe that made them want to explore for wealth and to spread religion.  We began by learning about the social, political, and economic system that governed Europe for hundreds of years, Feudalism.  Today we made a Feudal Power Pyramid.  For the short reading and assignment click here. For examples of a power pyramid click here.