30 September & 1 October

Our starter for today was "Based on what we have seen and discussed so far, what do you think happened to the Roanoke settlers?"

We finished the video on Roanoke and then used our textbooks to fill in page 4 of our Colonization packets.

28 & 29 September

Our starter today was "List a few things that people argue or fight about today."

Today we handed out a new packet to assist us in our study of the British Colonies in America.  We wrote information on page one and filled out the map on page three.  If you were gone, you can get this information from the online textbook.

We also talked about the mystery of the Roanoke colony.  You can find more information about Roanoke here.

26 & 27 September

Today we finished the video on Hernan Cortez and his conquest of the Aztec civilization.  We corrected the Explorers packet and then took the test on the explorers.  The assignments that we handed in today are:

• The starters on exploration
• The Exploration Packet
• The "four square" video notes on Cortez and the Aztecs
• The test on explorers

22 & 23 September

Today's starter was "What do you think was the most important thing America gave Europe in the Columbian exchange?  What do you think was the most important thing Europe gave America?"  This was to help review for our test on Friday/Monday.

We also played a game called "Agree / Disagree" where I placed a number of statements on the board, related to exploration, and we chose if we agreed or disagreed with the statements.

We started watching a video on Hernan Cortez and the Aztecs.

20 & 21 September

Our starter question for today was, "How do you think Christopher Columbus felt when he and his men finally reached land?"

We discussed the starter and then finished the European Explorer assignment that we started last time.  This will be due next time.

We read a primary document on Prince Henry, paying careful attention to the motives he had for exploring.

16 & 17 September

Our starter for today was the following: "Last class period we talked about motivation.  What do you think is the most powerful motivator in the world?"

We watched a short video clip to give us a "big picture" of what we are studying today (European countries are beginning to show interest in exploring the world around them).

We began learning about life in the Middle Ages and how world events helped to spark European exploration:

• The Crusades - thousands of Europeans explored the world as they tried to regain the Holy Land from Muslim control
• They found new spices, technology, and products in the Middle East
• There was a desire to begin trading with those in the Middle East

• The Renaissance - a rebirth of the arts, science, and discovery
• Exploration by European powers

We watched a short video on Columbus - here is a link to that video if you missed it want to watch it again Columbus Video

We finished off the day by beginning an assignment on explorers.  Here is a link to that assignment

14 & 15 September

Today's starter was to write about your greatest adventure.  We used this as a springboard to talk about adventures that explorers had.

Here is a link to today's assignment, here & here - you will not be able to do the group ranking on the Lost on the Moon Activity and that's OK.

10 & 13 September

Our starter today was to list what you already know about the Aztecs, Inca, and Maya civilizations.

We took 20 minutes to finish the test and those who finished the test handed it in.  If you did not hand it in today you need to turn it in next class time.

I introduced the Aztec, Inca and Maya cultures and we added to our starter the things that we learned.  We finished class with a video on the Aztec, Inca and Maya.

8 & 9 September

There was no starter today because today we handed in the starters that we have done so far.

We finished, and corrected the Native American assignment.  We handed these in and they will all be updated to Skyward by Thursday afternoon.

We began the test on Native Americans today.  We will have a short amount of time to finish these during the next class period. 

3 & 7 September

The starter for today was "How does the geography of Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain affect the way you live?"  We then discussed the geography of Utah County and how people here adapt to their surroundings.

We then expanded our view and looked at the geography of the United States in general.

We finished looking at the Native American slideshow.  The purpose of these slides was to help us see the different ways that three Native American tribes adapted to their surroundings.  This is in preparation for our test on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.  If you would like a sneak peek of the test, look at my webpage!

We assigned textbooks.  Remember, you are responsible for keeping this book looking good!

We started working on the Native American assignment.  Doing well on this will help you on the test next week.

September 1 & 2

Today we handed out the disclosure document and explained the more important parts.  This disclosure document does not need to be signed.  If you have lost your copy, here is a link to a PDF version . 

We also discussed culture today.  We decided that culture is the entire way of life for a group of people.  We also looked at culture specific to Utah.

We talked about ways that historians use to examine past cultures.  We watched a Bill Nye video on archaeology.

To introduce Native American culture we listened to 2 primary music sources - we then began looking at ways that Native American cultures lived.

August 30 & 31

Today we looked at the question "What is History?"  To begin exploring this topic I showed the class pictures from my own family history and we briefly examined the history of Disneyland.