Current Event Friday

The debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was just one big story featured in this week's The Week in Rap. 

Adding to Our Social Studies Google Map  Today we are going to pin the current event story you researched this week from last week's "The Week in Rap" episode, as part of the "Current Events" layer of your Social Studies Events Map. Follow the steps: pin event in its proper geographic location, add a title, include the text from your current event summary, post a related image, and consider including a specialized icon for your pin.  

Flocabulary: The Week in Rap  Many important news events took place around the world this week. Let's review some of them with our friends at Flocabulary.

Quiz Day!

Assessing Human Migration, Surviving the Ice Age, and the Birth of Farming  Today you will be taking a quiz testing your understanding of key concepts we've studied recently, which include human migration, surviving the Ice Age, and the birth of farming. The quiz can be found here. I will read be reading all questions and answer sets aloud before providing you time to work on the quiz independently. Most of the quiz is multiple choice, however there are also two short response questions. For the short response questions, explain your ideas as completely as possible so I'm clear about what exactly you know and understand. When you are done with the quiz, click the 'submit' button. If you finish early and time permits, you may consider doing the activities listed below.

Academic Business Time Due to the fact that there are various assignments that we have been working on that are due tomorrow, I would like to give you some structured time if needed today to work on them. They include

1. Current Event Summary #3
2. Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect
3. Costs and Benefits of Farming 
   

Each of these assignments can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom and are due and must be 'turned in' by tomorrow, Friday, September 30.

Independent Literacy Time  If you have completed and 'turned in' each of the assignments above, you may use this time to do any of the following: take an Accelerated Reader quiz, read a Newsela article, or read from your A.R. book. 

Homework  Complete and 'turn in' all assignments from the past week by tomorrow, Friday, September 30, which include: Current Event Summary #3, Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect, and Costs and Benefits of Farming.  

Examining Agricultural Tools and Reviewing for Quiz

Life at the Time: Tilling the Soil  Students: How might you plant a garden without using any tools?  It would be pretty difficult, wouldn't it. Therefore, can you understand why even early on using tools for farming was so important?  

Let's read the introductory paragraph from the passage below. Now take a moment and carefully study the images and accompanying captions in order.

Who probably made the tools show in the pictures? 

How might a toolmaker have been paid for the work? 

Look at how the toolmakers improved designs as time passed. Which sickle do you think would have been most efficient? 

Now imagine that you are farmer in the ancient Middle East and you have used one of the more advanced metal sickles for the first time. Discuss with the members of your group all the various benefits of using a metal sickle. In what what ways will it help you produce more food crops?   

Reviewing for Quiz: Three Videos  We are going to have a quiz tomorrow on the following topics we've studied recently: human migration, surviving the Ice Age, and the development of farming. But before we do, we are going to watch excerpts of three short videos to help you review the content and important ideas. You may use the document From Human Migration to the Development of Farming - Video Notes, which can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom, to take notes if your choose.

Homework  Study for your quiz on 'human migration, surviving the Ice Age, and the development of farming,' which you will be taking tomorrow, September 29.

The Costs and Benefits of Farming

Writing Warm-Up  A cost is something that has a negative effect. A benefit, on the other hand, is something that has a good effect or is a positive. What do you think the costs (the negatives) and benefits (the positives) of farming are going to turn out to be? Share your ideas here.   

The Costs and Benefits of Farming: Reading and Note-Taking Activity  Today in small groups you are going to read an excerpt and study a diagram from your text regarding the costs and benefits of farming. As you read, you will take notes on the Costs and Benefits of Farming using the document of the same name in your Social Studies Google Classroom. The text passage and diagram are featured below (but can also be found on pg. 35 of your Social Studies textbook). Towards the end of the period, each member of your group must be prepared to share at least one farming cost and/or one benefit they learned during the course of their study. The Cost and Benefits of Farming assignment will be due Friday, September 30.  

Video: The Agricultural Revolution  Now let's watch as our friends at Crash Course hilariously explain the importance of the Agricultural Revolution.  

Homework  Complete the assignment Costs and Benefits of Farming, which will be due Friday, September 30, in addition to the assignment Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect. 

How the Agricultural Revolution Changed the Way People Lived

Cause and Effect Mini-Lesson  Before you can begin to understand the relationship between events related to the Agricultural Revolution you may need to a refresher on the nature of 'Cause and Effect.' Cause is what makes something happens. Effect is what happens as a result. To see 'Cause and Effect' in action, check out the video below. 

Early Agriculture: Guided Reading and Cause and Effect Activity  Today we will read about how the Agricultural Revolution changed the way people lived. The Early Agriculture - Reading Selection can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom, as well as here. As we read, you will make note of the relationship between key events related to the birth of agriculture and early farming using the Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect document, which can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom.

Homework  Complete the Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect activity, which is due Friday, September 30. 

Current Event Friday

A once-bullied teen creating the app "Sit With Us," is just one of the
current events you can choose to investigate this week.

Flocabulary: The Week in Rap  Many important news events took place around the world this week. Let's review some of them with our friends at Flocabulary.

Researching and Summarizing a Current Event  This week Flocabulary rapped about bombs exploding in New York City, a U.S. airstrike that accidentally hit Syrian soldiers, the killings of two more black men (Terence Crutcher and Keith Scott) and the protests that followed, the celebration of the International Day of Peace, a girl who was bullied creating an app called "Sit With Us," a new study that found that no matter how fast you pick up your food from the floor it will still have have bacteria on it, and the world's largest Viking ship arriving in New York City. 

In addition, yesterday CNN Student News also referenced the shooting of black men in Oklahoma and North Carolina, the importance of Pennsylvania in the presidential election, a group in California that is preparing meals for families dealing with a serious health crisis, and the Guinness world speed record set by the monowheel. 

Your objective is to select the story the most interests you, click the link for additional information, take notes, and then write a current event summary. Locate the document Current Event Notes and Summary in your Social Studies Google Classroom. This assignment will be due next Friday, September 30. 

'The Story of All of Us' and CNN Student News

Video Excerpt: "The Story of All of Us"  Let's continue to develop our understanding of human migration and early agriculture by watching an excerpt of the program "The Story of All of Us." Take notes on what you observe, learn, and what questions you may have, using the document The Story of All of Us - Video Notes, which can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom. 

 

CNN Student News  As we watch CNN Student News today, identify one news story that you can pinpoint geographically and would like to potentially place on the Current Event layer of your Social Studies Events Map via Google Maps. 

Charlotte, North Carolina; Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania; northern California; and North Yorkshire, UK were all featured in today's segment. If you choose to pin one of these places on your map, consider the important questions: What happened here? Who was involved? When did it happen? How did it happen? Why is it important? You should include a title for the event, a brief summary of what happened, and include an appropriate photo or video. If you need to refer to a transcript of today's broadcast for additional information you can find it here.

Homework  Complete your Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary, which is due tomorrow, Friday, September 23.