Thursday, December 9, 2010

Congratulations!

Congratulations Period 5 Technology Class!

60% of our class has an A!

Keep on typing fast!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Egyptian Pyramid Project

Egyptian Pyramid Project

Assignment Goal:

With a partner, pretend you are Egyptian pharaohs and build a model of the pyramid that will serve as your tomb. Write a summary (two paragraphs of 5 or more sentences each). The first paragraph should explain what is inside of your pyramid. The second paragraph should explain how the pyramid and its features will serve you, the pharaohs, in the afterlife.

Due Date: December 17, 2010

Project Check-List:

- I built a pyramid out of any material I want, with four corners at the base, and one point on top.

-I wrote a description of what is inside of my pyramid (1st paragraph of summary)

-I explained how what is inside of my pyramid will serve me in the afterlife (2nd paragraph of summary)

-I prepared a presentation that explains my pyramid, and how it will serve me in the afterlife


§ I

Rubric

6.2.5 Students discuss the main features of Egyptian art and architecture.

5

4

3

2

1

Model (6.2.5)

Pyramid is 3-dimensional and includes a four-corner base, and one point at the top. Pyramid is well crafted, and resembles the real Great Pyramid at Giza.

Pyramid is 3-dimensional and includes a four corner base, and one point at the top. Pyramid is well crafted.

Pyramid includes a four-corner base, and one point at the top.

Pyramid may not be 3-dimensional and does not include a four corner base.

Student does not include a model.

Paragraphs (6.2.5)

Uses 5 or more specific pieces of evidence to explain how the pyramid serves the pharaoh in the afterlife.

Uses 4 specific pieces of evidence to explain how the pyramid serves the pharaoh in the afterlife.

Uses 3 pieces of evidence to explain how the pyramid serves the pharaoh in the afterlife.

Uses 2 pieces of evidence to explain how the pyramid serves the pharaoh in the afterlife.

Uses 1 piece of evidence or none to explain how the pyramid serves the pharaoh in the afterlife.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

How does the Nubia/Kush Civilization relate to the song "I Can" by Nas?




What does this song teach us about the Nubia/Kush civilization?
What did the Kush export into Egypt that made them rich and powerful?

"I Can"

[Kids]
I know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I'll be where I wanna be (I'll be where I wanna be)











[Nas]
Be, B-Boys and girls, listen up
You can be anything in the world, in God we trust
An architect, doctor, maybe an actress
But nothing comes easy it takes much practice
Like, I met a woman who's becoming a star
She was very beautiful, leaving people in awe
Singing songs, Lina Horn, but the younger version
Hung with the wrong person
Got her strung on that
Heroin, cocaine, sniffin up drugs all in her nose...
Coulda died, so young, now looks ugly and old
No fun cause now when she reaches for hugs people hold they breath
Cause she smells of corrosion and death
Watch the company you keep and the crowd you bring
Cause they came to do drugs and you came to sing
So if you gonna be the best, I'ma tell you how,
Put your hands in the air, and take a vow

[Chorus - 2x (Nas and Kids)]
I know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I'll be where I wanna be (I'll be where I wanna be)

[Nas]
Be, B-Boys and girls, listen again
This is for grown looking girls who's only ten
The ones who watch videos and do what they see
As cute as can be, up in the club with fake ID
Careful, 'fore you meet a man with HIV
You can host the TV like Oprah Winfrey
Whatever you decide, be careful, some men be
Rapists, so act your age, don't pretend to be
Older than you are, give yourself time to grow
You thinking he can give you wealth, but so
Young boys, you can use a lot of help, you know
You thinkin life's all about smokin weed and ice
You don't wanna be my age and can't read and write
Begging different women for a place to sleep at night
Smart boys turn to men and do whatever they wish
If you believe you can achieve, then say it like this

[Chorus]

[Nas]
Be, be, 'fore we came to this country
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys
There was empires in Africa called Kush
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
To learn from black teachers who taught Greeks and Romans
Asian Arabs and gave them gold when
Gold was converted to money it all changed
Money then became empowerment for Europeans
The Persian military invaded
They heard about the gold, the teachings, and everything sacred
Africa was almost robbed naked
Slavery was money, so they began making slave ships
Egypt was the place that Alexander the Great went
He was so shocked at the mountains with black faces
Shot up they nose to impose what basically
Still goes on today, you see?
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe
Ghetto children, do your thing
Hold your head up, little man, you're a king
Young Princess when you get your wedding ring
Your man is saying "She's my queen"

[Chorus]

Save the music y'all, save the music y'all
Save the music y'all, save the music y'all
Save the music

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Today's Lesson

Dear Sixth Graders,
I wanted to tell you how proud I was of your participation in today's Social Studies lesson. I watched many of you deliver persuasive speeches that were extraordinarily powerful.

As you came to the stage, put on the pharaoh regalia, and spoke to your classmates, I hope that you recognized the amazing power your voice has to inspire and lead your community.

Many of you talked about leading your people with fairness, in which social classes would not exist. Others talked about loving each and every citizen of your nation equally, without a bias toward one person or another. You used persuasive techniques to convince your "Egyptian classmates" that you would establish a civilization you could all be proud of, with beautiful monuments, expanded territories, an economy of trade, and if necessary, implementing politics of war to protect your nation's people.

Your speeches not only demonstrated your understanding of Egyptian leadership, they also demonstrated what influential and compassionate individuals you are becoming. I hope you are proud of your school work, and recognize that what you have said today represents your character. Keep up the good work!

With Love,
Ms. Shawn

Monday, November 29, 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Propaganda

Thinking Questions:
What emotion does this commercial from Johnson's campaign for presidency appeal to?
How is this commercial an example of propaganda?

Monday, November 22, 2010

Pharaoh Hatshepsut & Ramses II

Thinking Question:
What made Ramses the Great and Queen Hatshepsut so important to ancient Egyptian history?
Ramses the Great's Mummified Corpse

Bust of Queen Hatshepsut

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Images of the Nile River


The photographs above show the contrast between the "Black Land" or the Nile Valley and the "Red Land" of the Sahara.

Critical Thinking Question: Based on these pictures, which type of land would be more attractive to settlers? Explain.

Ancient Egypt: Class Video

Monday, November 8, 2010

Do you like games and do you have a drive to improve your English skills?



Directions: All of these games will help you improve your writing, speaking, reading, and thinking skills. Start with the medium levels, and then move on to hard and really hard levels, once you've mastered the medium level.

Contractions Website

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Extra-Credit Mission:



Research the two potential governors of California. Compare and contrast their opinions on immigration, education, and any other issues:




Sunday, October 17, 2010

Figurative Language

Poets use figurative language to paint a picture for their audience with words.

In the following video, Scotty Nguyen adds hip-hop dance moves to Shihan's spoken performance of his poem: "Love Like."

See if you can identify what kind of figurative language Shihan uses, metaphor, simile, personification or onomatopoeia, to start off this poem.
I want a love like me, thinking of you, thinking of me,
thinking of you type love
or, me telling my friends more than I’ve ever admitted to
myself about how I feel about you type love
or, hating how jealous you are, but loving how much you
want me all to your self type love,
or seeing how your first name just sounds so good next to my last name,
and, I wanted to see how far I could get without
calling you, and I barely made it out of my garage.
See, I want a love that makes me wait until she falls
asleep then wonder if she dreaming about us being in love
type love,
or who loves the other more,
or what she’s doing at this exact moment,
or slow dancing in the middle of our apartment to the music of our hearts, closing my eyes and imagining how a love so good could just hurt so much when she’s not there.
I love not knowing where this love is headed type love.
And check this, I want to place those little post-it notes
all around the house so she never forgets how much I love her type love then not have enough ink in my pen to write
all there is to love about her type love.
Hope that I make her feel as good as she makes me feel, like believing that her being in my life makes me a better person type love or I want her to distract me form whatever I’m doing type love
and I want to deal with my friends making fun of me the
way I made fun of them when they went through the same kind of love type love.
Only difference is this is one of those real love type loves.
and just like in high school, I want to spend hours on the phone with her not saying shit,
then fall asleep then wake up with HER right next to me,
and smell her all up in my covers type love
I want to try to counting the ways I love her, and then
lose count in the middle just so that I have to start all
over again type love
I want to celebrate one of those month anniversaries even
though they ain’t really anniversaries, but doin’ it just
cause it makes her happy type love.
And I want to break down the time we spend together into seconds just so it sounds like we spend more time together type love
And check this, I want fall in love with the melody the
phone plays when her number is dialed into it type loves
and then talk to her until I lose my breath, she leaves me breathless, but with the expanding of my lungs I inhale all of her back into me
I want a love that makes me need to change my cell phone calling plan to something that allows me to talk to her longer
because, in all honesty, I want to avoid one of them high cell phone bill type loves.
I want a love that makes me regret how small my hands are
I mean the lines on my palms don’t give me enough time to love her as long as I’d like to type loves,
and I want a love that makes me st-st-st-st-stutter just thinking
about how strong this love is type love.
I want a love that makes me want to cut off all my hair
Well, maybe not all of the hair
maybe just cut the split ends and trim my mustache, but
it will still be a symbol of how strong my love is for her.
And check this, I kinda feel comfortable now, so I can tell y’all this I even be fantasizing about walking out on a green light just dying to get hit by a car just so I could lose my memory
get transported to some third world country just to get treated then somehow meet up again with you so that I could fall in love with you in a different language to see if it still feels the same
I want a love that’s as unexplainable as she is, but I’m married, so she is going to be the one that I share this love with.


Website that teaches about figurative language:

Master Mesopotamia!



Curious about Mesopotamia? Want to be an expert on how the wheel was invented? Or how Babylonians designed plumbing for their city?

Explore the games, pictures, and articles in the following websites:

http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/index.html


Hammurabi's Code of Laws:

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Def Jam Poetry

Assignment: Write three paragraphs that compare and contrast the following two spoken word poems. Use quotes from the poems to justify your explanation and analysis.

First Paragraph: Compare and explain the theme of the poems.
Second Paragraph: Contrast and explain the tone of the poems.
Third Paragraph: Contrast the word choice and rhythm of the poems and how the rhythms affect the meaning.





Standards Being Addressed:

3.4 Define how tone or meaning is conveyed in poetry through word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, line length, punctuation, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme.

2.2 Analyze text that uses the compare-and-contrast organizational pattern.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Welcome New Sixth Graders!

Blog Expectations:
When you complete your homework, the class blog is here for you to "surf" internet resources related to what we are learning in class. It is a requirement of this class to find the opportunity to go on the internet, and access these resources.

Practice surfing the internet by completing the following scavenger hunt:

1) On the Discovery Education website, find thepuzzlemaker on the page, and make the puzzle of your choice.

2) On the Arcademics Skill Builders website, find the division game, and play to practice your division.

3) On the BBC website, find the game titled Spelling, and practice your spelling.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Ancient Rome Games and More!


Explore Ancient Rome:


Watch videos on Ancient Rome by pressing the link below and entering the user-name and password. Then, go into the Social Studies folder and find the video you want to watch:
User-Name: shawn525
Password: shawn

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Concepts to Review for SS CST

Early Humans/ Stone Age people

Ancient Mesopotamia

Ancient Hebrews

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Original Homo-Sapiens living in Africa

First to use irrigation

First to believe in Monotheism

First to have religious ideas of eternal life

First to create democracy

Slash-and-Burn agriculture

First permanent settlements

Ten Commandments

Writing of hieroglyphics

Political system based on independent city-states

Mammoth bone huts

Hammurabi’s Code

Moses

The Great Pyramids

Mountainous terrain

Communicated with ideograms on rocks

First code of laws and punishments

First to teach about morals and ethics, or doing right from wrong

Hieroglyphics written on Rosetta Stone

Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey

Cave-painting

Writing of cuneiform

Torah- the Jewish Scripture

Only woman pharaoh, Hatshepsut

First to create a political process based on citizenship

Synagogues develop and spread Judaism

Creator of the root words we still use today, such as herculean, and labyrinth

Ten Plagues

United into one empire by Alexander the Great

Exodus of Jewish people from Egypt

Plague of Athens

Socrates

Ancient India

Ancient China

Sub-continent

Emperor Shi Huangdi

Bay of Bengal

Era of the Warring States

Indus River Valley

Isolated from the rest of the world

Hinduism

Tibetan Plateau

Vedas

Great Wall of China

Caste System

Confucianism

The god Brahman

Daoism

Siddhartha Gautama and the Middle Way

Yin-and-Yang

Asoka, the first ruler to spread Buddhism

Dynasties

Bhagavad Gita

Ancestor Worship