Flags + Chapel + Research Project + Unit 7 Chapter Summaries + Timeline of 20th/21st Centuries

Students today:

• Held our daily flag ceremony
• Attended chapel
• Announced their Research Project topics
• Displayed the pictures they had collected on their topics
• Took research notes from the first couple of sources on the Step-by-Step Procedure GooDoc
• Began our study of the years 1900-1950
• Examined the handout of the Unit 7 Chapter Summaries and read the one for Chapter 20: A New Century (Progressive Era 1900-1920)
• Examined a simple Timeline of the 20th & 21st Centuries

Assignments
For Friday

1. Complete the first 4 steps of the Step-by-Step Procedure
2. Be sure to SHARE your Step-by-Step GooDoc with me. 
3. Please give me permission to edit it so I can write suggestions on it.

For Tuesday: Quiz over Ch. 20 & 21 Summaries - Many thanks to dear old young 12345 for already making a Quizlet!

Cattle Trails Analysis + Cattle Drive Organization + Google Hangout w/ Vacationing Student + Ch. 18 Summary

Today our students did the following learning activities:

• Looked at their Map Analysis: Cattle Trails, begun on Friday
• Added to it by speculating as to How a Cattle Trail Drive Was Organized
• Used Google Hangouts to interact and collaborate with Student 12345, who was vacationing with his family in the Southeast
• Read and discussed a blogpost on cattle drives at the Cactus Rose blog
• Read and briefly discussed the Ch. 18 Summary: Ranching & Farming

Assignment for Monday, 4/27: Quiz over Ch. 18 & 19 Summaries (including maps, pictures, diagram)

TL of African American History + Brief Summary of Gilded Age + Examples of "Gilded" + Paulsen's Canyons

Today students:

• Examined and analyzed a Timeline of African-American History
• Read and discussed A Brief Summary of the Gilded Age
• Began working on a GooDoc giving examples of how the Gilded Age was "gilded"

Assignments

For Thursday

1. Fill out the GooDoc on "Gilded" - I've shared it with you, so please check your Gmail.
2. Read pp. 3-27 in Gary Paulsen's historical novel, Canyons.

• Be prepared to discuss it tomorrow. 
• Be thinking especially how to relate the story to what we are studying in Chapter 17: Cultures in Conflict (the final defeat of the Indians of Texas)

For Friday: Quiz over Chapter 17 Summary

For Monday: Quiz over Timeline of U. S. History 1861-Present

• You only need to be able to write the names of the time periods in their correct locations.
• You may do the dates, symbols, and other information for EXTRA CREDIT.

Quiz-Ch. 15 Summary: The Civil War - Textbook Reading - Planning for Field Trip to Austin

Today our students:

• Took the Quiz over the Chapter 15 Summary: The Civil War
• Read Ch. 15, Sections 2 & 3 in the textbook, mentally filling in details about Texas and the Civil War

Assignment for Friday:
1. Finish reading Ch. 15/Secs. 2 & 3 on Texas and the Civil War.
2. Do some background reading in preparation for tomorrow's field trip to Austin. Click some of the links within the articles to explore further.

• Short Wikipedia Article on Texas State Government
• Texas State Capitol
• Texas Governor's Mansion
• Bob Bullock Museum - Be thinking of some of the things you would particularly like to see.

3. Be thinking about ways we can make our vist to these places as valuable a learning experience as possible. Write your ideas onto this Google Document.

4. No One-Pager due Friday or Monday.

Spanish-French Rivalry - The Crimson Cap - A Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol

Today our seventh graders:

• Continued their analysis of a color-coded Chronology of Spanish Texas, noting how Spanish interest in Texas waxed and waned, based on perceived threats from the French
• Used this map on Spanish Texas to gain further understanding of the concepts
• Asked questions about the Chronology dealing with the French and Indian War, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War of 1898 (and its leading to the acquisition of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba), and the just-released Senate report on the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation on suspected terrorists

• Were introduced to the historical novel, The Crimson Cap, dealing with the Talon children, survivors of La Salle's French colony at Matagorda Bay (aka "Fort St. Louis)
• Collaborated on the Class Christmas Carol of A Christmas Carol by
• Working together on this Google Doc
• Gathering around the piano in the parish hall and practicing singing our lyrics to 12345's piano accompaniment

Assignments

1. Finish reading the Chronology of Spanish Texas
2. Reread textbook Ch. 4/Sec. 3 on La Salle's colony
3. Read the following in The Crimson Cap:
• Acknowledgments (I added this; sorry, guys.) - page v
• Characters in This Story
• Before

Tiny Tim - Discussion of A Christmas Carol

The Ghost of Christmas Present

Today students:

• Checked one another's blog-posted questions over Staves Two & Three of  A Christmas Carol
• Discussed Staves Two & Three of A Christmas Carol - A few insights here
• Decided to write a collaborative Christmas carol over A Christmas Carol rather than individual carols
• Set up a Google Doc to compile ideas they had written so far
• In answer to a question about Dickens' Tiny Tim learned there was another Tiny Tim from the 1960s. As it turned out, they'd already learned about his music from its being in various computer games, t.v. programs (Spongebob SquarepantsI, etc.). They just hadn't known the singer looked as follows:

Assignment for Tuesday

1. Read Stave Four of A Christmas Carol.
2. Write and post to your blog possible discussion questions over Stave Four.
3. Use the Vocabulary for Stave Four as needed.

Relating Lord of the Flies to Our Previous Studies - Collaborative Planning for Spanish Period Unit

Pineda Expedition Map, 1519 

1. Today we first worked collaboratively to relate aspects of Lord of the Flies to stories and topics we've studied so far this school year. Check out the Google Doc by clicking "Google Doc."

2. Then we looked ahead toward our study of the Spanish Period of Texas history.

• Students read the three (3) chapter summaries on the Spanish Period: Ch. 4, Ch. 5, & Ch. 6.
• Each then chose a chapter and wrote down possible learning activities we could do while studying the Spanish Period. Click here to see what they've thought of so far.
• We also took a quick look at what Professor Donald E. Chipman calls "the oldest known document of Texas history," the Pineda expedition's map of the Texas coastline, drawn in 1519.

Assignments for Friday

1. Add to your LOTF/Previous Learning Activities GooDoc.
2. Add some more possible learning activities to the Brainstorming the Spanish Period GooDoc. Also, add to your classmates' ideas. Be sure to color code or use your initials or numbers (wink) to indicate who is making each suggestion.
3. Optional: I thought you tech-oriented scholars would find this article, "The Creepy New Wave of the Internet," interesting. I surely did and would enjoy discussing it with you.

RalphnJack Chronology Challenge - Natural Features of Texas - Predictions About Indians

Today our 7th Graders learned through the following:

• Did a RalphnJack Chronology Challenge, placing pictures in plot order and analyzing Golding's development of the two characters in Lord of the Flies
• Briefly analyzed key natural features of Texas as seen on this map and this map - They were given the option of taking a quiz over either or both of the two maps. There was no wild stampede to sign up.
• Made Predictions About Indians of Texas Based on Geography - We're working on this collaboratively, as seen in the embedded map below. View full-size here.

Assignments for Friday

• Finish the PPT on RalphnJack, upload it to Google Docs, & embed it in a blog post.
• Finish your part of the collaborative Google Doc on the Indians & Geography
• Read Ch. 4 of Lord of the Flies and post 5 good discussion questions in a blog post. 

Quiz over Rivers - "Wrong-Way Rivers" - Ralph & Jack in LOTF

After chapel, students:

• Did some last minute review for the Quiz over Rivers of Texas
• Speculated as to why Texas rivers are sometimes called "wrong-way rivers"
• Were given an analysis handout on "Wrong-Way Rivers"
• Took the Quiz (& did spectacularly WELL!!)
• Had the analysis handout postponed due to time constraints
• Began working collaboratively on a Google Document analyzing The Relationship Between Ralph & Jack as presented by author William Golding in Chapters 1-3 of Lord of the Flies. Here is an embed of the table.

Assignment due Thursday

• Finish collaborating on the Google Document on The Relationship between Ralph & Jack.
• Be sure to color code each character, as seen in the directions. I haven't noticed anyone's doing that so far.