Animal Farm Discussion, Ch. V & VI - Audio Inquiry Mystery???????

I patched together the above Timeline of the Russian Revolution from an excellent video you can view below or by clicking here. This provides some of the historical background some of you were saying you'd like to have.

On this day, students:

• Received documents relating characters and events in Animal Farm to real-life persons involved in the Russian Revolution- Click here and here to view them.
• Received a list of Vocabulary words for AF
• Discussed Ch. V & VI of AF
• Got the Mimeo device up and running and almost got the Mimeo tablet up and running
• Took notes during an Audio Inquiry about a Mystery Event--View students analyses and hypotheses here.

Assignments - Due Monday:

1. Read the documents linked to above relating AF characters to RR persons.
2. Read and be prepared to discuss Ch. VII & VIII of AF.
3. Be learning the Vocabulary words for a Quiz next week.

Animal Farm, Ch. III & IV - Debate on Causes of Texas Revolution

Today we:

• Discussed Ch. III & IV of Animal Farm - Click here to see discussion notes.
• Debated the question: "Did the Texans have the right and good excuses to revolt against Mexico?" Students debated superbly! 
• Here's the goofy doc we used to demonstrate Google Docs.

Assignment for Friday: Read Ch. V & VI in Animal Farm.

Chapel - Animal Farm Anthem & Discussion of Ch. I & II

Today our students:

• Attended chapel
• Practiced singing "Beasts of England," first to the tune of "Clementine" and then to "La Cucaracha
• Viewed a video presentation of "Beasts of England" found by a student

• Discussed Ch. I & II of George Orwell's novel, Animal Farm - Click here to see notes during discussion.
• Attended the Grade 4 presentation on Beowulf
• Did not have time to begin the debate over the Causes of the Texas Revolution and will therefore begin it on Thursday

Assignments for Thursday

1. Read and come prepared to discuss Ch. III & IV of Animal Farm.
2. Be prepared to debate the causes of the Texas Revolution.

Good background info on Russian Revolution & Animal Farm:

• Timeline Video on Russian Revolution
• Prezi on RussRev & Animal Farm
• Characters: AF & Real-life
• Top 10 Notes: Animal Farm - SPOILER ALERT - You might want to watch this one after we've finish reading the novel. (But then again, maybe you just can't wait.)

Pre-Farm Discussion - Began Animal Farm - Team Planning for TxRev Debate

Today our 7th graders:

• Hypothesized as to why the people of a country might revolt against their government (See collaborative document here.)
• Began reading George Orwell's allegorical novel, Animal Farm
• Paused from time-to-time in the reading to examine some of the events and people allegorized in the article, for example the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Karl Marx, etc.
• Watched a 5-minute video on Orwell
• Got together with their teammate to plan strategies for tomorrow's debate on the Causes of the Texas Revolution

Assignments for Wednesday:

1. Finish reading Chapters I & II in Animal Farm
2. Come prepared to debate whether the Texans had the right and good excuses to revolt against Mexico.

Quiz Feedback - Video on Empresarios/Causes of TxRev - Debate Prep

Students today:

• Got back their graded quizzes on the Ch. 8 Summary: Growing Tensions Lead to the Texas Revolution
• Watched, analyzed, and evaluated Gone to Texas, an online video on Mexican Texas: the empresarios & the causes of the Texas Revolution
• Read and highlighted a 2-page outline on Causes of the Texas Revolution--They highlighted/color coded pro-Mexican and pro-Texan information to be used in Wednesday's Debate: Did the Texans have the right and good excuses to revolt against Mexico?

Assignment for Tuesday:

1. Finish reading and color coding Causes of the Texas Revolution (see link above).
2. Students, I will be using this document about and by Mier y Terán  during the debate. I am making it available for use by all participants in the debate. You will notice that the first part provides secondary source background information, followed by primary source information by Mier y Terán.

Gen. Manuel Mier y Terán

Dads Rock - Ch. 8 Quiz - Silent Reading of Ch. 8

Still under construction, but perhaps useful. You can download it here. Zoom & scroll as needed.

Yes, it can now be revealed: all the rocking we did this week was for our students' fathers, who, after they got to eat their Doughnuts for Dads, received their limestone-mediated paperweights labelled "Dad Rocks." And don't worry, Moms, your day is on the way!

Students then did a bit of last-minute review for the Ch. 8 Quiz, focusing especially on the study aide 12345 made for his classmates.

Students then took the Quiz and after that, began reading Ch. 8 in the textbook: Growing Tensions Leading to the Texas Revolution. They were also asked to take notes pointing toward next week's debate: "Did the Texans have the right and good excuses to revolt against Mexico?"

Assignments for Monday

1. Finish reading Ch. 8 and taking your Debate Notes. You can take the notes in any way that you feel best prepares you. One way might be to make a simple T-chart answering the debate question in one column saying "Yes" and another column saying "No." Be sure to write the debate question.
2. Write 2-3 paragraphs summarizing our trip to San Antonio last week. Illustrate it if you can and post your writing and pictures at your blog. (I've been meaning for us to do this this past week but could never quite squeeze it in.)
3. Have a great weekend!

Ch. 8 Quiz Prep - Debate Prep on Texas Revolution

Students today:

• Rocked a little more
• Prepared for tomorrow's Ch. 8 Quiz by reading together, discussing, and annotating the Ch. 8 Summary: Growing Tensions Lead to Texas Revolution
• Analyzed the Ch. 8 Summary looking toward next week's debate over this question: "Did the Texans and Tejanos have the right and good excuses to revolt against the government of Mexico?"

Assignment for Friday: Quiz over Ch. 8 Summary

Rocking - Discussion of Early Anglo Hostility Toward Mexicans - Ch. 8 Summary

Today students:

• Rocked
• Discussed the article "Early Anglo Settlers View Mexicans with Hostility"
• Received the Chapter 8 Summary: Growing Tensions Lead to Texas Revolution & were given notice of a Quiz over it on Friday, 1/23/15.

Assignment - For Friday: Quiz over Chapter 8 Summary

Rock Hunting - Timeline of Mexican Texas - Prejudice: In General & During the Mexican Period

Students today:

• Went on a secret hunting and gathering mission involving rocks
• Read and color coded the timeline of Mexican Texas, first coming up with categories for color coding (blue for U.S.A. terms, green for Mexican, red for battles, etc.)
• Prepared to read a scholarly article on Anglo Americans colonists' hostility against Mexicans by discussing various aspects of PREJUDICE - Click here to see notes taken during the discussion.
• Began reading the scholarly article; a list of difficult vocabulary words was added to assist with the reading.

Assignment - Due Wednesday: Read and come prepared to discuss the article on Anglo Americans'hostility toward Mexicans during the 1820s & 1830s.

Quick Review - Ch. 7 Quiz - Silent Reading

Fresh back from our field trip to San Antonio, our weary but game students:

• Reviewed two maps for the upcoming Ch. 7 Quiz
• Took the Quiz
• Filled in details about the Age of Empresarios by reading Ch. 7

Assignments for Monday

1. Finish reading Ch. 7.
2. Enjoy your three-day weekend!

San Antonio Field Trip Discussion - Discussion of Graphs of Population Growth 1821-1845 - Timeline of Mexican Period

Students continued their study of the Mexican Period by doing the following:

• Discussed some of their preferences for tomorrow's field trip to San Antonio
• Shared their analyses of the graph showing Population Growth in Texas, 1821-1845
• Read and annotated a Timeline of the Mexican Period, 1821-1936

Assignments
For Thursday--Read and examine as much of the following as you can in preparation for the field trip to San Antonio:

Brochures of Missions
Mission San Jose Website
The Alamo Website
The Spanish Governor's Palace Website
Short Movies on the Spanish Missions in Texas
Institute of Texan Cultures
San Antonio Museum of Art

For Friday--Quiz over Chapter 7 Summary: Age of Empresarios

Chapter 7 Summary - Using Austin's Journal & 1822 Map - Contrasting Austin's Texas with Spanish Explorers' Texas - Population Growth 1821-1845

Today our students:

• Read and made individual presentations on the Chapter 7 Summary: Age of Empresarios
• Imagined Austin advertising to attract settlers to his colony in the 1820's and using his journal and 1822 map we analyzed yesterday to emphasize positive features while omitting negative features; student analysis here
• Contrasted Austin's portrayal of Texas in his journal with that of Spanish explorers Coronado & Moscoso
• Analyzed a graph showing population growth in Texas between 1821-1845

Assignment for Wednesday
1. Finish analyzing the graph of population growth
2. Continue studying for the Quiz over Ch. 7, which is postponed until Friday, 1/16/15

Today students:

• Augmented their analysis of Austin's Journal with additional entries once he left San Antonio to choose his actual land grant
• Did an excellent job of analyzing a "mystery document," noticing and hypothesizing and writing questions about it in impressive depth; they used this slightly more legible copy as well.
• Received by email the Chapter 7 Summary: The Age of Empresarios and were given a headsup about a Quiz over it this coming Wednesday, 1/14/15

Assignments

1. For Tuesday, 1/13: Finish your analysis of the "mystery document" and post it at your blog
2. For Wednesday, 1/14: Quiz over Chapter 7 Summary: The Age of Empresarios

Inquiry on Empresario Grants, cont'd

Students continued the inquiry activity begun with Hi, Empresario! They:

• Completed their hypotheses as to the order in which actual empresario grants were chosen
• Compared their hypotheses with a chronology of the actual years in which the empresario grants were made
• Hypothesized as to why Stephen F. Austin, who received the first empresario grant, chose the land he did
• Read a primary source by Austin describing his first entry into the Province of Texas in 1821 and what he liked best about Texas

Assignment for Monday: Analyze the primary source by Austin and fill out the chart and list on what he observed

Inquiry Activity on Empresario Grants During the Mexican Period

Students:

• Did an activity called "Hi, Empresario!" They pretended they were empresarios during the 1820s and carved out a colony in whatever part of Texas they chosen.
• Displayed their maps to one another and defended each as the best 
• Examined a blank map of actual empresario grants and hypothesized as to the order in which they were chosen

Assignment - For Friday: Finish your hypotheses on the blank map of actual empresario grants.

Chapel - Epiphany Ceremony - Carol of the Carol

Today we:

• Did the flag ceremony
• Attended chapel
• Chalked the front door for Epiphany
• Had our last session working on the Class Carol of A Christmas Carol - We didn't quite finish, but the students are free to finish it on their own.

Assignment for Thursday: None

Today, students:

• Concluded their reading and discussion of The Crimson Cap
• Read Chapter 6/Sec. 3 and listed reasons for Spanish neglect of Texas but also Spanish contributions to Texas - Click here to view.

No Assignment for Wednesday

Christmas Review - Overview Review - 3 Filibusters

Today we eased back into the school year by:

• Sharing a few Christmas experiences 
• Rereading the first four columns of the Chart: Time Periods of Texas History
• Working collaboratively on a chart over 3 Filibusters During the Late Spanish Period

Assignments for Tuesday

1. Finish the 3 Filibusters chart
2. Finish reading The Crimson Cap and write and post discussion questions in a blog post.