Roman Eulogies and Poetry

Today in class we finished the Roman Eulogy assignment. Many of the students had thiers typed, which was awesome! Thank you parents for helping with this. While some finished thier assignment, the rest of the claas had the chance to earn extra credit points by writing a poem about the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Poems were excellent and hilarious! The students were so creative and skilled in their use of the language combined with their knowledge of the Roman Empire. An excellent friday and great way to end a hard working week!

Current Events and Roman Eulogies

Students did and excellent job of presenting thier current events today, and several great discussions resulted. Next week's students will be posted tomorrow. The example has been set by these first groups of students, and it is a very good one.

We reviewed a possible outline for the Roman Eulogy assingment, due at the end of the period tomorrow. Students will have classtime tomorrow to complete thier eulogy - the outline given in class was helpful to most students who needed assistance organizing thier thoughts into the proper 5 paragraph format.

September 26th

Today in History class we will finish the Roman Legacy booklets. Students will have a few minutes at the start of class to finish the coloring and other informaiton that shows how the Roman Empire has influenced western civilization long past the tenure of its empire.

Students will begin a new assingment, a "Eulogy for the Roman Empire" - a five paragraph essay with a thesis statement and supporting details taken directly from the class discussions and homework. We will begin the eulogy in class and it will be due friday the 28th.

Spetember 25th

Today in class we began a project that highlighted the legacy of the Roman Empire. Students created a color booklet that illustrated the 5 things the Roman Empire has left behind after its fall; Art, Architecture, Engineering, Philosophy, and Government.

Students will have a chance to finish thier booklets on wednesday in class, so there is no homework tuesday night!

Page 29 - #1-4

Today we discussed Roman philosophy, and how the legacy of Rome has influenced western nations like the US. Students identified Roman contributions that are present in the US today, and how they feel about these contributions - whether they are positive or negative.

At the end of chapter 2 section 1 there are 4 questions that the students will complete as homework, due tomorrow 9/25. Students had time in class to begin this assignment and used our in class discussion to prepare thier answers.

Current Event Names and The Fall of Rome

These are the students who will be giving current events this coming thursday.
Per 1
Riley Gallagher
Dylan Goldstein
Dakota Heath-Warr
Jacob Hosmer

Per 3
Michelle LaFarge
Vanessa Macias
Kevin Marin
Ethan Matias

Per 6
Calvin Dickenson
John Efseaf
Ulixes Flores
Aubry Fox

Today in class we disected the fall of Rome and organized Ch 2 Sec 2 into an outline that shows the main ideas covered in this section. Students are getting great practice reading history texts and finding the important information. Soon, the students will be able to do this independantly.

Back to School Night

Thank you wonderful parents for a wonderful back to school night. I enjoyed meeting you all and hope you did too.

Today in History we had excellent current events, we reviewed yesterdays notes and colored them, and then began Ch 2 Sec 2. The students are getting very good at identifying main points and also supporting details from large portions of text.

Thanks again to all my awesome parents!

Finally into the Textbook!

We began our journey into world history today by starting the chapter on the Roman Empire. Students read Ch 2 section 1 as a class and completed a cornell notes style study sheet. The class was able to identify as the main points of the section:
1. The Roman Empire was Huge!
2. The standard of Living for Roman citizens was improved
3. Christianity spread throughout Rome

Students were also assigned thier textbook, and should bring it to class each day.

World History Pre-Test

Today in class students took a pre-test on the many subjects we will cover this year in World History. Students might have felt overwhelmed with the number of questions, and also their lack of knowledge on many of the topics, yet I did my best to assure the classes that this is a form of determining what topics to cover and to what degree for the remaineder of the school year. Students were allowed to use the book to research questions they were not familiar with, and discussion on answers followed the testing portion of the class.

Happy Constitution Day!

Today in class we disected the preamble to the US Constitution. Students identified the 6 goals that the framers set for the young nation, and also the methods they proposed to accomplish these goals. Students then critically analyzed how effective the Constitution has been at fulfilling the goals set forth in the preamble. Students chose one goal that they feel is not being met and explained why in written form.

Listening w/ Index Cards

Today students will finish thier textbook location activity and then turn in their answers. For the remainder of the class students will learn a reading comprehension activity using index cards. Students will practice this activity several times in class and will turn in thier index cards at the end of the period.

Names for next week's current events have been posted, yesterday's students did an excellent job!

A wonderfull second week, and the first of many Spirit Fridays!!

Current Events

Excellent Job for the students who presented the first crop of Current events. I was very pleased with the abilities shown in class today. We also started a textbook location activity, where students searched the new textbook for a variety of information. We will finish this activity tomorrow, Friday September 14.

Final Day of Wold Map Activity

Students finished thier world maps today, and we reviewed a sample of the current events that the first four students will give in class tomorrow. I was very impressed with the quality and accuracy of the Maps!

World Map Activity and Current Event

Remebering 9/11/01... we had a special school wide pledge to the flag this morning and sang God Bless America as a school durring a special ceremony. We certainly have a patriotic student body...

Today's class was spend finishing all the labels for the World Map Activity. By the end of the period, most students had all the features on thier map labeled and properly placed. Most of the maps look excellent! I can see many of the students at Rancho-Starbuck are very artistic, and tomorrow's class will be spent coloring and finishing the assignment.

We also reviewed the requirements for the Current Event Assignment, and students were given the details in a handout that should be placed securely in thier binder to stay for the remainder of the school year. It was hole punched for this reason. Parents could help thier students select an article from any world news source and review the specifics of the assignment on the earlier post on this blog.

World Map Activity

Today we began a three day assignment where students started drawing a map of the world. All seven continents, four oceans, and ten seas including several lines of lattitute and longitude will be labeld on colored maps hand drawn by the students. Most got a great start on their maps, and more detail will be added in the next two days along with a neat and creative color scheme that will make each student's map pleasing to the eye.

Knowing the basics of world geography will be such a boost to the students as the course will study many culture from various parts of the world. The first group of current events will be presented on Thursday, 9/13.

Current Event Guidelines

Current Event Assignment
Please follow the directions below to present your current event. You are required to present one article to the class per quarter. Each current event must be between 1 and 3 minutes. Give us the basic information and be sure that you know where your Current event took place so that you can place a pushpin into the world map at the end of your presentation. You may use the class newspaper, the class copy of the National Geographic or a reputable internet source to find an article. Your article may pertain to the leadership or politics of the United States but must be focused on a country outside of the US. Please use the “World news” sections out of the newspapers or off of the internet. Wherever you choose your article, you must bring the copy of the article with you to class. Also, please turn in a written page (this may be typed or hand written) with the answers to the following questions. You will use this to present your article…

Who did this article happen to?

What happened to make this Worldwide news?

Where did this happen? (Remember, after you present this article you will stick a pin in the exact location of this story. If you don’t know where this is at, ask me before Thursday.)

When did this happen? (This event should have taken place sometime within 30 days of the day you present.)

How or why did this happen? (this could be multiple reasons and may require a little more research or digging..don’t just regurgitate facts…find out what it means.)

What significance does this article have to one or any of the following: this country, our community (around Rancho), our class, or you and your family?

First Week of School

Hello to all my students and parents!

It has been a great first week of school and I'm very pleased with how well each of my students has adapted to the new experiences of intermediate school. The family history assignment went very well and I've learned so much about the diverse herritage of my studnets. Thank you to the parents and grandparents who assisted in the research portion of this assignment!

Begining next week...

1. Textbooks will be issued early in the week
2. Regular coursework will begin
3. Current events will be presented in class Thursday - the first 4 students' names are posted in class.

Thank you to all for a great first week! Heres to many more!
Mr. Collins