BioPoster Presentation

According to SOL 5ef, students need to know twelve Greek contributors.  Instead of having students reading about them or presenting a long power point I decided to let students take 2 half periods to research one of the twelve contributors and then create a bioposter.  Again, I found this idea on Pinterest!

The idea is that students cut out a face (and an arm hole if there is room) and decorate their poster to reflect the person their project is on.  Students could draw or print out their pictures. I also gave the students a rubric.  One item that I forgot to add to the rubric is their presentation to the class- I'll be sure to add that next year!

Students then half a class on the third day to present their posters.  Students set up their notes prior to the presentations (folded the paper in eight boxes and I kept the contributors on the same row) and filled in the information as their classmates presented their posters.  At the end I, or my co-teacher, went over the information to ensure that students got all of the needed information.

I took these pictures of some of the best ones from the morning presentations.  I liked how the letters were big and colorful.

Happy Teaching!
C

Story Tower

Our Ancient Greece unit has recently wrapped up and I want to share a couple of things the students created.

The first thing is a Story Tower.  I found it on Pinterest as an English activity to help younger students place story action in sequential order.  I thought to myself- "Self, why can't I do this for history?"  After all, history is a long story.  

I chose to use it with SOL 5d The Persian War.  Students need to know the two victories at Salamis and Marathon.  We also discuss Thermopylae as a defeat.  

 For this activity you will need 10 index cards, five different colors of markers, and scissors.  Students will need to separate their index cards into five pairs.  The first pair (I chose green because green means go) said "Persian Wars: Greece vs. Persia" and the other "started as a result of Greek riots in Asia Minor".  The next set of cards was in blue and read "Battle of Marathon 490 BCE" and the other "Greek victory over Persians".  The next pair was written in orange "Battle of Thermopylae 480 BCE" and the other "Greek loss as a result of much larger Persian army."  The fourth pair was written in purple "Battle of Salamis 480 BCE" and the other "Greek naval victory due to superior navy". The last pair was written in red (Red means end!).  The first one said "Outcome of Persian War" and the other "More unified Greece for a time".

To construct the tower have the student put their green pair off to the side and then stack the other four pairs on top of the others.  Then one inch into each side cut a slit about 3/4 inch.  The first level is the green, the next level is blue, the third level is orange, the fourth level is blue and then finally, the last level is red.

Students may have a difficult time building the tower.  I would suggest using more heavy duty cards as flimsy index cards have a more difficult time staying up.

Once the students built the tower I gave them a paperclip to keep the index cards in their binder.

Happy Teaching!
C

Semester One: Post Mortem

Well...here I am...on Christmas break and semester one is OVER! Exams have been given, final comments for report cards (except two classes) are finished and two weeks of lessons in January are done.

Today's post is going to be a post-mortem of sorts.  If you are not familiar with a post-mortem it is when you look at something after it has happened to figure out what went well and what didn't go well.  Medically, it's like an autopsy.  So, what went well in semester one and what didn't go well in semester one.  If something went well, can I duplicate it in semester two?  If something did not go well, can I avoid it in semester 2?  So here goes....


What didn't go well:

1. I lost TWO flash drives.  This was a major stressor for me.  The first one was lost during teacher work week and the other was lost sometime later in the second nine-weeks.  My husband tried to fix the problem by giving me a flash drive attached to my lanyard.  This did not work as I lost that flash drive.  My fix: use google docs or dropbox.

2. Missing one week of school due to family deaths.  Yes, I said deaths.  My dear grandmother passed after an illness in October.  The morning of her funeral we found out that my husband's grandfather had passed.  As fellow teachers can attest, you can leave the most fabulous plans but get a cruddy sub and nothing goes as planned.  I had five different subs for those five different days.  My fix: hope no one dies until summer break ( a long time from now).

What could have gone better (okay- adding another category):

1. My Ancient Greece and Rome knowledge.  What? You may ask: you don't know anything about Ancient Greece or Rome?  And I would say: I do now!  During my time at Roanoke College I took Western Civ I & II but then focused my history classes on three areas: Africa, Medieval/Renaissance Italy and Modern Asia.  So....I would like to expand my knowledge for both of these areas.

What went well:

1. Pass rates.  I have 98 students who are passing World History I. However, I have one student that is totally failing.  I have offered tutoring, help with test corrections and contacted howe with little change.  As for the my quarterly assessments and exams: both of those have pass rates in the 90s.

2. Lessons.  I think, for the most part, my lessons are well developed and varied.  I am hoping to keep this momentum up and keep it through the end of the school year.  



I hope I've inspired you to conduct your own post-mortem.

Happy Teaching!
C

Greek Hoplite Demo

One of my colleagues is quite the military historian.  He invited me, and the other World History teacher, to his room for a hoplite demonstration.  If you are not familiar with a hoplite they were the foot soldier of the Greek city-state army.  For more information click here.

Students drew straws and the short straw drawer was the "winner".  Three of the four winners were from my class!

Here is first period's student in the red tunic, his long Spartan hair and his Corinthian helmet.  

Close up of the helmet. 

Ready for battle!  

Wouldn't want to see the business end of that spear!  

Of course I love talking about history but I double love it when the kids get to participate in an reenactment.  

Happy Teaching!

C

Greek Mythology Advertisements

It has been a while.  I missed a week of school as a result of two grandparent deaths.  My grandmother passed at the end of October and dear husband's grandfather passed a few days later in early November.  

Today's post is the product of our Greek mythology discussion.  The SOL lists 6 Greek mythological gods and goddesses.  We discussed the and took notes.  Then I had the students pick one of the six and come up with a fictional product that somehow correlates to the deity they chose.  In addition to the company the student had to come up with a catch phrase or motto.  

 

Artemis was chosen for this bow and arrow store since she is the goddess of the hunt.  

Zeus was chosen for this towing company because he was known for throwing lightning bolts.  Lightning bolts
are thought to be quick; therefore, the towing company is quick like lightning!    

Hera is the goddess of women and marriage.  This student chose Hera to be the  name for her wedding dress company.  Also, the "dress(es are) fit for a Queen".  Nice!   

Apollo is the god of the sun and was chosen to represent these microwaves.  

Apollo was chosen for this sunscreen.  

Aphrodite is the goddess of love.  This student chose Aphrodite and made up an online dating site.

There were many other examples.  They were so good about a third of the advertisements earned spots in the hallway beside my door!  

Happy Teaching!

C