Mapping China

 Today's Learning Objective   Explain the geographic features of China that made governance and the spread of ideas and good difficult and served to isolate the country from the rest of the world.

Video Warm-Up  Get oriented with China's geography by watching the guided Google Earth tour of China below. What observations can you make?  

Ancient China Map Project  Today you will begin creating an informative digital map of China and labeling it with essential components of its geography. China Map Directions and a blank template for the China Map assignment can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom. There are a multitude of resources you can use to help in labeling your map. An online student atlas can be found here. A physical map of China can be found here. And a political map of China can be found here. The China Map will be due Friday, April 13. 

Welcome to Ancient China

 Today's Learning Objective   Analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China.

Video Warm-Up  Welcome to Ancient China! Watch the China introductory video below and make observations about the geography and culture of China. Share your observations here.  

Ancient China Webquest  Get oriented with some of the things you'll be learning about during our unit on ancient China by starting to explore the Ancient China Webquest, which you can find in your Social Studies Google Classroom. Follow the links, research the questions, and record your answers using the document. We will work on this throughout the week.  

The Life of Buddha Comic Strip Project

Can you demonstrate what you have learned about the story of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha) 
by encapsulating his life in a comic strip, like famed cartoonist and animator Osamu Tezuka did above?

Today's Learning Objective  Know the life and moral teachings of the Buddha. 

Introducing the Comic Strip  Many of you are familiar with comics and comic books, which generally feature a story told a series of panels which include illustrations and dialogue. See an example of the classic "Garfield" comic strip below.

The Life Buddha Comic Strip Project  Today you will begin working on creating a comic strip of focused on the Buddha, as a way of demonstrating what you have learned so far about his life and teachings. Before you can begin working on your comic strip, however, you must complete your Buddha Comic Strip Story Board, which is located in your Social Studies Google Classroom. Once you have your comic planned out, you can begin drawing and designing one in the classic style using paper and colored pencils and markers.

The Life of Buddha Comic Strip Rubric (which can also be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom) explains the various criteria you must meet in order for your comic to be considered 'Proficient' work. 

Below you can find an example panel of a student who made his comic by hand.

An example of a hand-drawn comic strip panel.

The Origins of Buddhism: The Life of Buddha

 Today's Learning Objective  Know the life and moral teachings of the Buddha. 

The Life of Buddha: Examining Multiple Sources  Today we will read about the life of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha) and how Buddhism came to be. We will read excerpts about the life of the Buddha included in the Interactive Reading Guide of our Ancient Civilizations textbook below. We will also be watching recreations of parts of Buddha's life story featured in the the movies The Buddha and Little Buddha. Ultimately, our goal is to synthesize these three tellings of Buddha's life using the document Important Events in the Life of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha). 

           

 

                                     

Assessing Hinduism

 Today's Learning Objectives  * Explain the major beliefs and practice of the religion of Hinduism. * Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details.

Assessment: Hinduism Quiz  Today you will be taking a short quiz to demonstrate some of what you have learned so far about the religion of Hinduism. The quiz consists of five multiple choice questions and one short answer paragraph. You can find it here. You are allowed to utilize your Hinduism Study Guide (A Central Idea and Its Parts) notes during the quiz.

Determining the Central Idea of the Hinduism Unit  Over the course of the last several weeks as we have studied Hinduism, you have utilized the document Hinduism Study Guide (A Central Idea and Its Parts). You have taken notes on the parts, the details, and the various elements of Hinduism, while the leaving the 'Central Idea' section blank. What I want you to do today is to review your notes about the various elements of Hinduism in order to determine what is the larger, more central idea about Hinduism they work together to convey. Write a central idea statement about the religion of Hinduism based on the notes you have taken. 

The Beliefs of Hinduism: Reincarnation and Karma

 Today's Learning Objective  Explain the major beliefs and practice of the religion of Hinduism.  

The Beliefs of Hinduism: Reincarnation and Karma  Today we continue learning about some of the core beliefs Hinduism, while using our Hinduism Study Guide (A Central Idea and Its Parts) document to take notes. Our focus today is on the beliefs of reincarnation and karma. First, we will read excerpts from our Social Studies textbook Ancient Civilizations below. Then we will watch two different videos about Hindu religious beliefs. Remember to keep track of your various sources on your study guide.  

Now we will watch the video "The Hindu Belief System Dharma, Karma, and Moksha" below.

Finally, we will end today's lesson by watching Crash Course's take on some of the core beliefs of Hinduism. 

CNN Student News and The Week in Rap: Academic Conversations

Academic Conversation Topic: What do you think some of the solutions to school shootings should be? 

Academic Conversation Topic: What reasons do you think a foreign government might have for meddling or interfering in another country’s election?

Academic Conversation Topic: Why is diversity in the media important? Who would you like to see represented more frequently?

To help you dig deeper in your academic conversation refer to the poster below: