Today, students examined one of the aspects of early human culture, cave painting. During our discussion, students looked at the various symbols humans painted, and the interpretations that historians have purposed for their meanings. This weekend, students will be creating their own cave paintings that depict 25 events in a typical day in their lives. Students should also have turned in their Ancient Ancestor Brochure today. Just a reminder, there is school on Monday (we do NOT have Columbus Day off).
Today, we began our examination of our early human ancestors. Students worked with a series of primary source documents (news articles) that dealt with a variety of our early human ancestors. Specifically, students used the articles to gather characteristics about Ardipithecus ramidus, Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Home erectus, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens. Students will be examining the fossil remains of these groups in class tomorrow, and will then use their findings to develop an Ancient Ancestors Brochure. There was no homework given tonight.
Today, students were introduced to the social science discipline of Archaeology. We discussed some of the background information they already had about archaeology, and then watched a short video clip of Bill Nye explaining archaeology (get well soon Bill!!!!). Tonight, students need to complete a short archaeology quiz that we will discuss at the beginning of class tomorrow. Also, the Curse of King Tut's Tomb Essay is due tomorrow.
Today, students wrapped up their mini-unit on Reading Like a Historian with a documentary on the Curse of King Tut's Tomb. Tonight, students should be working on the corroboration essay, The Curse of King Tut's Tomb: Myth or Reality. This essay will be due on Wednesday, October 2.
Today, students took a field trip to the Spurlock Museum to examine three of the ancient cultures we will study this year: Egypt, China, and Greece. The museum's educator, Ms. Sheahan, provided a very informative and engaging program, were students were introduced to Greek play, the Terra Cotta Army of ancient China, and the mummification process of ancient Egypt. Take a moment to ask your students about the trip and what they learned.
This week, our students have been looking at the process of Reading Like a Historian. Within this process, students have learned sourcing, close reading, contextualization, and corroboration. Once students had become familiar with this process, we then challenged them to use this new skill to examine various primary and secondary sources to answer the question, "Was the curse of King Tut's tomb myth or reality?". During this investigation, students worked with various sources of information: written documents, sound recordings, motion pictures, artifacts, maps, and photos. The final product of this mini-unit is an essay in which the students use corroboration to back up their answer to the question of King Tut's Curse, Myth or Reality. The final essay is due on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Today, we had our first visit from Kim Sheahan, the outreach educator from the Spurlock Musuem. During her first visit, students began developing a working knowledge of the concept of artifacts, and how artifacts can "speak" to us and tell us about the cultures that created them. Students then engaged in an activity that introduced them to different artifacts from the various cultures we will be studying this year.
Today was Constitution Day. We took a break from our regular curriculum to discuss the importance of the Constitution, and how it relates to each of our students' daily lives. Specifically, we analyzed each of the amendments in the Bill of Rights, and explained what they meant in terms of individual rights, and how these rights were important to citizens within our country. Students then ranked these rights in order of most important to least important, and explained why they ranked these rights the way that they did.
Today, students began their look at the process of historical thinking. We talked about how historians go about collecting, analyzing, corroberating, and synthesizing primary sources. We will continue to discuss the topic of historical thinking/reading throughout the course of the year, and we will begin practicing this vital skill as we begin our examinination of the various ancient civilizations of the past.
Today, our students participated in a world geography group challenge, using cultural clues to locate specific countries throughout the world. Overall, the students did very well, and it was quite interesting to see how much they knew about the world. This afternoon, our second group of students attended the Red Tail traveling exhibit at the Chanute Air Museum, and did an outstanding job. No homework was assigned this week
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Mr. Cain6th Grade Social Studies Teacher - Team Adventurers Archives
October 2013
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