Friday Fun Discussion

By popular demand, here it is:  Star Wars vs Lord of the Rings.  Which one and why?  Discuss!

Clovis vs Charles Martel

We talked about this one in class today, but I'd like to open it up for debate here.  Both Clovis and Charles Martel were powerful and influential leaders of their time.  They had major obstacles to overcome in achieving their goals.  For Clovis, uniting the Franks was a major hurdle to overcome when his people were accustomed to living as separate tribes.  For Charles Martel, the seemingly unstoppable Muslim army was a force to be reckoned with.  Who's accomplishments were greater?  Who do you think was the greater ruler?

Map Test Tomorrow!

Don't forget to study your maps for this week's big test.  We have Africa and Europe tomorrow (2/20) and the rest of the world on Thursday (2/21). This is worth quite a lot of points toward your grade so work hard!  Here are the links again to some great websites that will test your geography knowledge.

http://www.ilike2learn.com/

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/

http://freerice.com/#/identify-countries-map/874

Friday Fun Discussion

I've always wondered what it would feel like to be able to fly like a bird.  I think that having the power of super speed would also be pretty amazing.  If you could choose between being able to fly or the power of unlimited speed, which would you choose?    

Study Your Maps!

The big map test is coming up for us on February 25th.  Your only homework in my class for the next couple weeks will be to study those maps!  Don't try to do too much at a time, it's better to get things to stick in your memory then to cover a lot and forget.  Here's a link to download the world map and other maps you can use to study as well.

http://edweb.pylusd.org/echo/portal/public/files.aspx?un=sshen&dc=082&sc=ca&site=0220

Friday Fun Discussion

You encounter a magical artifact that will transform your life.  Your choice is to become either a world famous athlete or the most popular musician on the planet.  Which would you choose and why?

Discuss

This week we talked about what ordinary Japanese life was like.  We discussed some forms of entertainment and the things they did to keep busy.  Imagine yourself in a time without tv, internet, or video games.  What types of things would you do to keep yourself busy?  Would it look very different from the things that the Japanese people did to keep entertained?  

Quiz Tomorrow Chapter 5-3

Study your notes from this week.  If you weren't here for any of them you can download them from the "handouts" folder here:

http://edweb.pylusd.org/echo/portal/public/files.aspx?un=sshen&dc=082&sc=ca&site=0220

Study well and bring whatever questions you have on the notes tomorrow as I'll be happy to answer them before the quiz.  

Reminder

You have two quizzes this week.  Tomorrow's quiz is on your notes from chapter 5 section 2.  Friday's quiz will be on the North america map.  If you need the notes from this week, click this link and go to the handouts folder:

http://edweb.pylusd.org/echo/portal/public/files.aspx?un=sshen&dc=082&sc=ca&site=0220

Good Luck!

Friday Fun Discussion

Pizza vs Burgers.  You can only have one of the two for the rest of your life.  Choose!

Discuss!

We don't think of Japan as being an especially isolated place today.  Japan trades with the world and tourism both to and from is wide spread.  But it wasn't always that way.  Japan's geographic isolation resulted in developing a unique culture with very few influences from the outside world.  Despite this fact, Japan took a great deal of influence from the neighboring super power of its time, China.  What do you think?  Was Japan more an independent culture or a copy cat of China?  Argue one way or the other and be sure to give an example or two.

Reminder

 Workbook Pages 70-74 will be due on Thursday the 24th.  Don't forget to study your North America map.  Test on that will be next week.  Hit the break for maps of North America.

Discuss!

Harry Potter or Hunger games?  Which one and why?  I look forward to hear your opinions in the comments!  Have a great weekend!

Reminder

South America map test is tomorrow.  Study the entire list for South America including the geographic features.

Here are a couple links to map games you can play online:

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/
http://www.ilike2learn.com/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/

Happy studying!

Reminder

Your quiz for Chapter 4-4 is tomorrow.  Don't forget to study your notes.  Workbook pages 65-68 are also due tomorrow.

Discuss!

During the Ming Dynasty, China sent an enormous fleet of ships led by Zheng He out to explore the world.  They landed in Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and some even say North America.  No empire on earth in the 1400s could have even come close to matching their might.  When Zheng He died however, those ships were dismantled or burned to the ground.  Records of the voyages were destroyed, and China's dominance as a world power began to decline.

With very little to show for all this work, do you think these voyages should be celebrated?  Was Zheng He a hero to be commemorated for all time or in the end did his achievements mean nothing?  What do you think?  I look forward to hearing your responses in the comments!

North and South America Maps

We're starting a new map this week!  We're going to do North and South America together because there are fewer items in this part of the world than in previous maps.  We'll start with a test on all of South America on Friday, 1/18.  We'll do North America next week and then we'll have a test on both North and South America the third week.  This is a deceptively difficult map because of the islands in the Caribbean and other geographic features.  Happy studying!  Hit the break (read more) to download the most current maps.  You can also go to my district website by clicking here to download the files there.

Discuss!

For better or worse, the Mongol Empire had an undeniable impact on world history.  Some would argue that Genghis Khan and his successors were blood thirsty barbarians who left a path of destruction in their wake.  Others would say that their impact in world trade and inter culture mixing was their true legacy.  What do you think?  Does the Mongol Empire lean toward the good or bad side of history?  Did Mongol awesomeness outweigh its not so awesomeness?  I look forward to your response in the comments!

Here's a link to the Crash Course we watched in class:  Crash Course: The Mongols 

First Post!

In this increasingly digital age, I'm finding it more and more common for students and teachers to rely on the internet for information regarding schoolwork.  While my Bernardo website here does a great job of getting information out there, I believe that this can be improved in a couple ways.  First and foremost, this blog will be a place to get information on my class regarding homework and other happenings.  More importantly, I hope to be able to engage my classes in more of a discussion in digital form through the comments section.

Please keep in mind I'm not a professional blogger, and I hope that this site will grow with time. Any comments left should be appropriate.  If you're not sure what appropriate means, keep in mind that I will encourage parents to visit this site as well; so don't post anything you wouldn't want your own parents seeing!