Welcome back to MPA World History. (or welcome if you are new to
MPA...) As I said back at Upper School
Back-to-School Night, I taught all of the brand new World History 9
classes three years ago, as well as one section of 9th grade last year. I also taught the new World History 10
curriculum the previous two years. I'm looking forward to continuing to make some additions (and
improvements) to what I have done
in World History 10, and I expect we should have a pretty good year.
Basically, we'll pick up with Unit #5, and our goal will be to get up to very recent/current
events around the world.
What will be the same as last year? For those of you I worked with last year, you should have a good feeling for what to expect this year.
I recognize that you are a year older (more mature???) and you no doubt
have some more developed skills in many areas than you had at the start
of 9th grade. We'll try and challenge those new abilities. We'll use
the same book as last year, and we'll tackle the final four units- two each quarter.
What will be different this year? Now that you've had a year with your laptops, I'm
expecting that you've got all those annoying 9th grade computer
behaviors under control... I am also going to make a more concerted
effort to focus on the readings you will be asked to do. One way we'll do
that is through almost daily reading quizzes. More on that below.
Daily reading quizzes: You can expect a short and,
hopefully, straight-forward quiz at the start of class each day a
reading assignment is due. I will rotate through the following four types of quizzes. All quizzes will be worth five points.
- Multiple choice (10 questions)
- Fill-in-the-Blank (10 questions)
- True-False (10 questions)
- Matching (10 items)
In
all cases, these quizzes will focus on the "big picture" ideas,
examples and specifics. They will be easier than the multiple choice
questions on the unit exams. I'll always have a key ready, and you can
immediately see what your score will be.
Why
am I doing this? There are a couple reasons. First, I felt there was a
wide range in the way people were approaching their homework when I first started World History 9 three years ago. I was
pleased to see many people having highlighted and/or taken notes in
their readings. I suspect there were others who did the reading only
infrequently. Hopefully, taking the quizzes will reward those who are
ready for class and provide an incentive for those who need one.
We'll start with a quiz tomorrow on Chapter 21, Section 1 (Spain's Empire and European Absolutism) on pages 589 - 595.
Introductory / Review Activities: We'll begin with Unit #5 tomorrow, but we'll do a couple of
other things today. I propose the following:
1. Current Events
- We can briefly discuss some major events from recent weeks and months, but I'd
also like us to brainstorm a list of ten stories we should be watching
closely over the course of our time together.
2. Twenty-Five Events
- We'll have you work in groups of four on this one. We'll make it a
competition to spice things up. I'll give you slips containing 25
events from World History 9. Your job is to put them in the correct
order. Once you think you are ready, let me know. If you're right, I'll
give you a sheet with all 25 events listed in order to aid in your
review. If you're wrong, keep working.
3. Password and/or Charades -
We'll give you each a chance to shine with this activity. When it is
your turn, you'll draw a slip which features a person, place or thing
from last year. Your job is to communicate it to the class in one of
two ways - Password or Charades.
If you choose
Password, here are the rules. You give single word clues, one at a
time. Call on someone who raises their hand to answer. If they are
wrong, you give another clue. You can give up to five clues before
you're done.
If you choose Charades, here are
the rules. You cannot talk, and you cannot write out your clue. You
have 30 seconds to convey your clue's meaning to the class.
HOMEWORK for tomorrow - Tuesday, August 31st:
Please
read Chapter 21, Section 1 (Spain's Empire and European Absolutism) on
pages 589 - 595. You will have a reading quiz (multiple choice) at the start of the hour.
