Mr. Heller’s Class

I hope you have enjoyed our study of ancient cultures, specifically those in Mesopotamia, during the 1st quarter. During the 2nd quarter we are going to be shifting focus both in what we study and how we study it. All of the 6th grade Social Studies teachers have collaborated on this and are working together. What you will be doing is independent study, with group work, and with teacher support and direction, on a subject of your choice. We have several small quizzes, just like we did for 1st quarter, but you will take these when you have progressed through a certain amount of work. At the end of the quarter we will have presentations to the whole class from selected individuals.

You will be able to sign up to study one of the following topics, based upon chapters in our textbook: Egypt and Nubia, China, India and Persia, or Mesoamerica (Aztec, Maya). If you read this in advance, start thinking about your top 2 or 3 choices, just in case you do not get the chance to sign up for your top choice.

I can assure you that all of these cultures and civilizations have a lot of fascinating information to learn about, so even if you do not get to study your top choice, do not be too disappointed.

On Friday, October 16 all 6th grade Social Studies classes welcomed Mr. Aaron Fricke, an attorney in Reno, to Cold Springs Middle School to discuss the law, legal systems, and the reasons for having laws based upon our study of Hammurabi and his law code from ancient Mesopotamia.

Your second internet assignment is to submit a 1-2 sentence review of his visit. Please indicate what you liked or did not like; or, write something that you learned from his visit.

To receive full credit, your submission must be received by Friday, November 13.

Alright! Your first assignment, my eager 6th graders, is to submit a response right here for the “Class Goal” homework assignment. If you’re reading this then you are in the right place.

Click on the “Comments” link below to submit (Before anyone responds, it will say “No Comments”). All I am asking is that you write a 1 or 2 sentence reply this question: What do you hope to learn in my class this year?

When you create a username, only use your first name and last initial (for example, I am pheller). This will protect your privacy online.

Please email me with any questions. Your response is due Friday, September 18.

I realize that with an entirely new group of students, no one is currently waiting in cyberspace to read this. But, I want to make an inital kick-off post to start off the year, where I will give some basic info. First, this year I have a social studies class as well as a language arts elective, so I am going to be using my blog for both courses; last year, I used the blog solely for my 8th grade language arts classes.  Additionally, I may post a few items that relate to my Credit Recovery classes (I am wearing many hats this year!).

I have created a section for Social Studies links…take a look at the right side of the blog. Right now I’ve got a link to a National Geographic site about the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. It has information on each one, plus it includes information on the 7 Modern Wonders. We’ll be taking a look the 7 Ancient Wonders as we encounter the early civilizations in world history: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome in particular.

Below is a link to a site that explains Anglo-Saxon/Old English. It’s fairly detailed and can be confusing, but there is a display of the alphabet and an example from Beowulf of Anglo-Saxon text.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/oldenglish.htm

We will use some of the information at the website linked to below in my introduction to the text and story before we actually read it. There is a wealth of information here: the text itself, pictures of the modern day site of the battle, Viking information, and much more.

http://www.battleofmaldon.org.uk/index.htm

Later this week we will begin a heroic poem titled The Battle of Maldon. It was written in the late 10th century in Anglo-Saxon – what we usually refer to as Old English. The translation into modern English switches from poem to prose, and we will read it as if it were a short story.

I will be posting some information that goes along with the subject matter for The Battle of Maldon for those of you who are interested in learning more about this time period. To start, I am posting a link to the Wikipedia page (well done) that lists all of the English monarchs. The Battle of Maldon was written in 991 C.E., during the reign of “Ethelred the Unready”.

List of English Monarchs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_England

Biographic information on Ethelred:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethelred_the_Unready

This is the link that we looked at in class when talking about Inferno and it’s relationship to Metallica’s Master of Puppets.

http://web.eku.edu/flash/inferno/

So today was our first day of the adjusted schedules. We made some changes this afternoon to balance out class sizes a bit better. We’ll see what we have tomorrow.

As I said in class, please share comments with us (you can do so here, if you want) on how the changes are working for you.

It’s been awhile since I last wrote, with the holiday break and basketball coaching, which takes a lot of time. The 8th Grade Writing Exam is just a couple weeks away! Many students have been making progress in their writing abilities. I am hopeful that we have a high percentage pass the exam.

ALM students, there is a note on my whiteboard but will say it here too…check your email regarding the independent study project I talked to you about before the holiday break.