Experiment Week: Get Connected!

Good morning and hello. This is experiment week here at Water for Sixth Grade. With Christmas over, we find ourselves on Monday morning with an entire week off from school. You may be thinking to yourselves: "What am I going to do all week?" Well, the answer is simple. Blog. Not just blog, but blog with a purpose. Let me explain. I purposely did NOT tell anybody about this blog post before vacation started. The reason is simple. I want to do an experiment on Water for Sixth Grade, and based on today's unbelievable technology and "connectedness," I am very interested to find out what happens. Okay, let me explain. The experiment is this: I want to see how "connected" we are in the sixth grade. To do that, we will use Water for Sixth Grade. Post a comment to this blog post so I know you were here. Just tell me Hi, or tell me what you have been up to, it doesn't matter. Just post anything so I know you were on WSG. Now, here's the experiment part. I want to see how many students I can get to blog this week. Again, this was a secret blog experiment, so now we must work together. If you are reading this now, that means you have visited the blog during vacation. Good Job. Post a comment. Now, you must tell your friends to visit the blog as well and take part in the experiment. Call them. Email them. Text them. Post a message on Facebook. Anything, but you need to let them know what is going on so they can be a part of the experiment. My goal is to get at least 50% of my students to post a comment during this week. Here's how it will work: You read this, post a comment, then text three (or four or ten or however many you want) friends to visit WSG and post a comment for the experiment, then those three friends each text three people and let them know, then it just keeps spreading, like wildfire. In a matter of minutes, hundreds of people could know about this. If you are here, right now, you must spread the word. It is up to you! I know I can count on you. Just how social are we? Just how "connected" are we? Let's find out....

Midway Point Survey

Ancient China Review

Ancient China Review by danklumper on Ediscio.

Dynasties of China: Review Prezi

Dynasties of Ancient China on Prezi

Need to review the first four dynasties of China? Here you go, a Prezi just for you. Click the arrow pointing to the right and the Prezi will take you through the major aspects of the first four dynasties of China that you need to know. Use this. It will help you.

Blog Challenge. First 10 Wins!

Students, what is this word? Translate this chinese word into English and post the answer in a comment. First 10 CORRECT comments wins! Good Luck.



Use this website to help you translate this word: Chinese Translation Site

Ask an Expert: Mr. Sturgeon

On December 10th, 2010, we will have an awesome opportunity to listen to a China expert tell us all about the wonders of the country. Mr. Sturgeon, renowned world traveler and English teacher, will be joining us to tell us all about his trip to China and his stay there for 3 weeks. These types of opportunities do not come along every day, so we need to make sure we are prepared and take advantage of this great thing. Mr. Sturgeon will be telling us all about the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, Terra Cotta Warriors, Daily Life/What its like there, food, entertainment, and many other things. For this blog post, you need to get prepared for this visit. To get prepared, we are going to start thinking about questions we might want to ask Mr. Sturgeon when he visits. Be thinking about something you want to know about or something you have been wondering about in relation to China, past or present. I will publish these comments a few days before his visit, so he will have a chance to look them over and see what he knows the answers too. Depending on how many questions get posted, he might not be able to get to all of them, but I am sure he will try to answer as many as possible.

Task: Prepare for Mr. Sturgeon's visit by posting questions you have about China for him to answer.

DUE: Please try to have a question posted by December 8th, 2010. Thank you.

**Ask serious questions, things you are legitimately wondering about or want to know about.

**You may want to look some of the above topics up on the Internet and see what they are, which might get you thinking about something you want to know about.

Welcome to Ancient China

Welcome to ancient China. As we begin our new unit, I would like to give a little preview into this unit and cue you in on some of the things coming your way. For this post, you do not need to post a comment, it is simply a informational post for you to read and be aware of. Throughout this unit, we will see how very diverse the geography of China is. With deserts, rivers, plateaus, mountains, and plains, China has a wide variety of landforms. Having so many different land forms matters and will effect certain things that we will discover along the way. One of those things that is effected by the physical features is the Silk Road and the people who travel it. You will read a story called "I Traveled the Silk Road" which you will see our main character trying to make the journey. In the story, you will learn all about the Silk Road and what it was like traveling this very dangerous, but important trade route. You will learn about the first four Dynasties of China, the Great Wall, and the many, many important inventions China produced. The White Shirt production for this unit will show you some of the ancient Chinese Weapons in Action, letting you decide for yourself which were the most effective. You will see that ancient China is a very interesting, intriguing place. You will also see that ancient China has greatly influenced the world today.

Ancient China Test: December 21st, 2010

Ancient Egypt: Teach Timmers

As we sprint to the finish of the ancient Egypt unit, it is that time once again to share our knowledge with the world, specifically, Timmers. Though his brain is overflowing with Stone Age and Mesopotamia knowledge, he is ready and waiting for some ancient Egypt information. Unlike past units, we will not have computer lab time to "teach" Timmers, so this is something you must do on your own. Be responsible and own this post. Though our previous two units have been intrigueing, they don't even come close to as amazing as this place called Egypt. Pyramids, Mummification, Pharaohs, Nile River, Hieroglyphics, gods and goddesses and the list goes on! Show Timmers just how great this civilization is by explaining to him all the things we have learned this unit. Though you do not know anything about Timmers, you do know a lot about Egypt, so prove it!

Task: Teach Timmers about ancient Egypt by sharing with him AT LEAST ONE thing from the following topics: (You may do more if you want)
Nile River
Pyramids of Egypt
Gods and Goddesses
Daily Life
Mummification
DUE: This post is due on Wednesday, November 24th, 2010.
Points: 20 points completion

I talked to Timmers last weekend and he said he is excited about Egypt. Don't let him down. Good Luck and Thank you for your great effort.

Test Your Classmates

As we near the completion of the ancient Egypt unit, we are going to take some time to create a study guide-blog style. This is going to be a student-created study guide, so the harder you work, the more effort you put forth, the better this study guide will be. In other words, do a good job, it will benefit yourself and your classmates. Throughout the ancient Egypt unit, we have learned about many things from this great civilization. The specific topics we have covered are: Nile River, Pyramids of Egypt, Mummification, Daily Life of Egypt, and Gods and Goddesses of ancient Egypt. Your test will cover all five of those topics, plus one word from the vocab packet. For this blog post, you will be posting "test questions," or in other words, questions about the five topics. Your comment will be six questions about ancient Egypt, then next week, we will follow up this blog post by answering a fellow classmates questions.

Task: Publish a comment on this post with SIX questions about ancient Egypt. You need to come up with one question from each of the five guided notes we filled out plus one word from the vocab packet.

Format: The questions that you post can be short answer, multiple choice, fill in the blank, or true/false. You can do a variety of question-types, or all the same. Number your questions 1-.6 Use good grammar and capitalization. Do NOT include the answer.

DUE: In-Class.

In my opinion, you have all done a great job during this unit. You have worked very hard and shown a great attitude towards Egypt. Thank you.

Giza: Our mini-necropolis

Giza: A necropolis, or ancient burial ground. It contains four main structures: Sphinx, Pyramid of Menkaure, Pyramid of Khafre, and Pyramid of Khufu.

Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses

Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!


Guess the Sketches. Would you like to see a different one? Let me know.

Let's Have a Chat about Egypt

This has been, in my opinion, a great week on WSG. Water for Sixth Grade continues to surpass its traffic totals each day and Ediscio blew up (Not literally, that would be bad) by having over 100 students sign up and having over 600 ancient Egypt flashcards viewed. All this in only 3 days. That, my faithful students, is awesome. Great Job. Today, we will be having a conversation about Ancient Egypt. We are going to use some of the information we have gathered thus far, and use it in a different way. For your blog post, you will be having an imaginary conversation with someone about either the Nile River, or the Pyramids of Egypt. I know what your first question is: "Can the person be anyone?" And the answer to that would be yes, it can. The person you have your imaginary conversation with can be a real person, someone you actually know, a movie star, a famous athlete, your Wax Museum character, someone dead, someone living, etc. You will type your imaginary conversation as a comment and post it to this blog post. Let's use our Egypt knowledge and have a little fun with it.

Task: Write an imaginary conversation with whoever you want about Ancient Egypt. The person you are having a conversation with does NOT know anything about your topic, so teach them!

Details: If your LAST name starts with A-K, your conversation needs to be about the Nile River. If your LAST name starts with L-Z, your conversation needs to be about the Pyramids of Egypt. Use your guided notes to help you.
Amount: You need to tell your "person" about AT LEAST five things about your topic.

Creative: Being that you are making this conversation up, be creative. In addition to your Egypt topic, your conversation can also include additional things unrelated to Egypt, but related to your person. See Example below.

Points: 20
DUE: Monday, November 8th, 2010. 8:00 a.m.

My Conversation with Miranda Cosgrove:
Me: "Hi Miranda, my name is Mr. Klumper. How are you?"
Miranda Cosgrove: "Hi. Nice to meet you. I am doing great."
Me: "Good to hear. Hey, by the way, I think you are really funny in iCarly."
Miranda: "Oh! Thank you so much. That means a lot. I love to hear from my fans."
Me: "Actually, I was kidding. I haven't laughed one time while watching your show."
Miranda: (starting to cry) "Oh, ok. Well, I'll try to get some better jokes."
Me: "That would be a good idea. By the way, have you ever heard of the Nile River?"
Miranda: "No, uh..not exactly. What is it?"
Me: "Well, Miranda, it's the major river of Egypt. It is very important"
Miranda: "Cool! But why is it so important?"
....and the conversation continues about the Nile River.

Welcome to Ancient Egypt!

Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!


Water for Sixth Grade Bloggers: Here is a new sketch introducing you to Ancient Egypt. Watch it. Watch it again. And again. Let's make this the most viewed sketch for the month of November!

Destination Ancient Egypt

We have closed the book on the first ancient civilization of the world, Mesopotamia. Now, we will be traveling west from Mesopotamia to another great civilization of the world: Ancient Egypt. As we explore and discover all this civilization has to offer, you will be amazed at what we will find. Pyramids, Mummification, gods/goddesses, pharaohs, Giza, Sphynx, the Nile River, Hieroglyphics, etc...The list goes on! As we begin our quest for Ancietn Egypt knowledge, we are going to start by scouring the internet for helpful websites that can aid in our never ending thirst for knowledge. For this Ancient Egypt introductory post, we will be searching for and gathering websites about ancient Egypt. We are looking for good, quality websites. Perhpas you want to simply search for "Ancient egypt" or perhaps you want to get specific and actually take a more focused approach like searching for "pyramids of egypt," or "King Tut" or "Nile River" or "Mummification" or any other topic you are interested in. At the end of the week, I will look through all the websites you have found and compile a list of only the best and form a Ancient Egypt Websites gadget on the side of Water for Sixth Grade. Perhaps your website will make the list!

Task: Search the internet by using google or bing to find good, quality, interesting websites about Ancient Egypt.
DUE: Friday, October 29th, 2010

Helpful Hints: websites ending in .gov, .edu, .net are usually the best, most trusted.

Good Luck!

Wax Museum 2010: A Look Back

Wax Museum 2010: A Look Back at the First Show from Dan Klumper on Vimeo.

Ladies and Gentleman of 6th grade: Welcome to the Wax Museum 2011. With this video of last years Wax Museum performance, we will be kicking off this year's version of the Wax Museum. This will be the single biggest event of your sixth grade life, possibly your whole middle school experience. The experience of doing the Wax Museum will be something you hold on to and remember for the rest of your life. I already feel very confident that this year's Wax Museum performance will be a great one. As we kick off this year-long project, take a look at the list of people, share it with your parents, and think about who you might want to be. I can not guarantee that everyone will get who they want, but there are hundreds of great characters to choose. Being a little nervous at this point in the project is totally naturally and normal. However, you will see that as we go throughout the year, we will work hard on this project getting prepared so when the big night comes, you will be excited, not nervous. April 12th, 2011 will be a day like no other in your young lives. I am already greatly anticipating the night and watching all of you perform splendidly.
Wax Museum 2011: April 12th, 2011. 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Teach Timmers about Mesopotamia

I can not believe how fast time goes. It seems just yesterday was the introduction to the "Teach Timmers" feature. Now, here we are four weeks later, for round two of "Teach Timmers." Today, we will be teaching Timmers about Mesopotamia. Throughout this unit, we have covered many different topics and done many different activities to try and gain an understanding and knowledge base of this first civilization of the world. Now, we will review all of our Mesopotamia information by teaching Timmers. Like you at the beginning of the unit, Timmers perhaps does not know a great deal about Mesopotamia. Though it is the first civilization of the world, it is something that few people know a lot about. Fortunately for Timmers, all of you now know a lot, so share your knowledge about this very interesting place. Read your "task" to get started.

Task: post a comment to Timmers telling him about Mesopotamia. Topics you should explain in your comment: vocabulary words, Lesson 1 guided notes, Lesson 2 Guided Notes, Flip packet, problem/solution poster, Mesopotamia Vs. USA, Cuneiform, "I Invented Farming", irrigation, the fabulous four inventions, Epic of Gilgamesh, Code of Hammurabi, Deadliest Warrior, Ziggurat tournament, and anything else you would like to include from this unit.

Length: You need to thoroughly explain five topics from above.

Points: 20 completion points.

Remember, Timmers is a real person. He will respond to only the best comments, so do a good job of teaching him about Mesopotamia and you might get a reply back!

Sumer Vs. Akkad Sketch

Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!


Post a comment summarizing the sketch comparing Sumer and Akkad.

Major gods of Mesopotamia

Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!


Students, my below average art skills are on display once again in trying to give you a visual of the major gods of Mesopotamia. This is an activity sketch. Try figuring out what each is the god of based on the sketch. There are 6 major gods and one bonus question at the end. Post a comment and see if you can figure out all 6!
Example:
1. god of _____________.
2. god of _____________.
and so on.....

Good Luck!

The Code of Hammurabi: Fair or Cruel?

Being put to death for false accusations. Having your tongue cut out for insulting someone. Having your hands cut off for giving the wrong kind of haircut. Being thrown into a fire for looking upon someone else's property. What do all these things have in common? They are all punishments found in the Code of Hammurabi. Now, one question lingers: Fair or Cruel? That is the question we will be dealing with for this blog post. That is the question that you will have to think about and come to your own opinion. Both sides of the arguement make a compelling case supporting what they believe. There is no clear cut answer whether the Code of Hammurabi is fair or cruel. One thing we do know for sure, though, is that it was a major aspect of the Mesopotamian civilization. I have linked an article for you to read about the Code of Hammurabi being fair or cruel. In the article, both sides are given with reasons supporting the "fair" side and the "cruel" side. After reading the article, your task is simple: decide for yourself whether the Code is fair or cruel. Then, tell me why you think that.

Read article: The Code of Hammurabi: Fair or Cruel?

Task: Read the above article about the Code of Hammurabi being fair or cruel. Post your opinioni in a comment and explain why you think that. Minimum five sentences. Anything short of five sentences would not do a good enough job explaining your opinion.

In-Class Blogging. Good Luck!

Thinking About Hammurbi's Code

Another first for Mesopotamia: Laws. Before Mesopotamian civilization, the world was without Laws. People of the world could go out, do whatever horrible acts they wanted, and go unpunished. The people had no consequences, they had no punishments. There was nothing to hold them accountable for their actions, nothing hanging over their head, discouraging them from committing crimes. That is, until Hammurabi entered the scene. Hammurabi, the king of Babylonia which is in Mesopotamia, came along and wrote down a set of laws. It was this set of the laws that began to instill some order and justice in the world. A group of people without a written set of laws is no civilization at all, therefore, Hammurabi's Code was a major step toward establishing Mesopotamia as a legitimate civilization. We have been discussing some of the laws in class. We have discussed the basic principle: "eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth." We have also seen how harsh the consequences are for breaking Hammurabi's laws. Some would say the punishments are too harsh. Some would say the punishments are justified. That, though, is for you to decide for yourself. I have listed four laws below from the Code of Hammurabi. I have also listed the Code of Hammurabi website link to see more of the laws. I want you to think about the Code of Hammurabi by reading the four laws I have posted for your and/or reading additional laws from the link.
Four Laws from the Code of Hammurabi:
1. If a man has put our the eye of another man, they shall put our his eye as well.
2. If a builder has built a house for a man, with the result that the house falls down and kills the owner, the builder shall be put to death.
3. If a son has struck his father, they shall cut off his hand.
4. If a man has accused another man and has brought a charger of murder against him but has not proved it, the accuser shall be put to death.

Answer the following Questions by telling me what YOU think:
1. Why did Hammurabi make a set of laws?
2. How did the Code of Hammurabi change Mesopotamia?
3. Do you think the people needed these laws? Explain your answer.
4. Why did Hammurabi make the consequences so severe?
5. What would the world be like today if everybody still followed Hammurabi's Code?
6. What Laws effect you the most in your life? What would you change about today's laws and rules? (This could be not necessarily laws, but school rules, rules your parents have for you, etc...)

In-Class Blogging.

Irrigation Animation

Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!

The Tigris and Euphrates Scream

The Tigris and Euphrates Scream from Dan Klumper on Vimeo.

The Tigris and Euphrates are the two major rivers in Mesopotamia. These two rivers are so important to the people of Mesopotamia, that without the rivers, this ancient civilization would have never exsisted. Because of the Tigris and Euphrates, Mesopotamians had irrigation, transportation, and a source of fresh water. Indeed, these two rivers are extremely important. So don't forget them!
Which class period was the loudest? Post a comment. Don't forget to vote on our Loudest Scream poll.

Mesopotamia: The Cradle of Civilization

We have begun our second major unit of this school year in Social Studies: Mesopotamia. This first civilization is one that many people don't know much about. It is not as common as the pyramids of Egypt, Zeus of Greek Mythology or the Great Wall of China of, well, China. However, this first great civilization invented things and developed things that helped people and the world itself progress. Mesopotamia witnessed the development of many things we use every day in 2010, things that we might take for granted. Just think, how hard would it be to drive a car without wheels? Thank you Mesopotamia for the wheel. Just think, how hard would it be to buy a box of Gushers without money? Thank you Mesopotamia for money. So, you can see that Mesopotamia is to thanks for many very important things. The name Mesopotamia comes from where this civlization is located. It is located between the Tigris and Euphrates river. The word Mesopotamia literally means "land between the rivers." As we begin this unit, we are going to spend sometime looking at one specific websites about Mesopotamia. In this website, you will find information, stories, interactive pages, and games. This website is called "The British Museum" and we will focus on the Mesopotamia section, of course. While we explore this site, we will be writing a few things down as far as what we have found out about three certain places in Mesopotamia: Assyria, Babylonia, and Sumer.

Task: Go to "The British Museum: Mesopotamia" and fill out your sheet by exploring Assyria, Babylonia, and Sumer. To 'enter' each section, click on the name and then choose one of the options.

Points: 30 points.

DUE: October 6th, 2010.

Johnny Rawten Goes to the Stone Age

Catch the latest adventure of Johnny Rawten as he makes his way through the Stone Age. Can you figure out what he sees and does as he explores this uncivilized place?

Read Chapter 2: Johnny Rawten Goes to the Stone Age.

"Teach Timmers"

Water for Sixth Grade is glad you have returned. This is the very first post of its kind in the history of Water for Sixth Grade. At no other time in its 3 year history has there been a post this monumental. I would like to introduce you to our newest character that will be going along with us in our ancient civlization adventure: "Timmers." Today, for this post, you will be reviewing material we have learned about thus far in our Stone Age unit by "Teaching Timmers" all about the Stone Age and the wonder that it is. Timmers is a real person who would like to learn more about ancient civilization. From time to time, he may also be able to add some interesting tidbits of information. Who is Timmers exactly? That will remain a mystery at this point. Perhaps in the future, the identity of "Timmers" will be revealed. Just know this, he is a real person and he will be logged on to Water for Sixth Grade the same time you are today and will possibly blog back to what you are teaching him. Let's show "Timmers" how smart we are and how much we know about the Stone Age. Good Luck.

Task: Post a comment that teaches Timmers something about the Stone Age. Possible topics to teach him about: Cave Art, hunting methods, Otiz the Iceman, Vocabulary words, Neanderthal Vs. Cro-Magnon, and anything else you can think of. When you are teaching him, you must use complete sentences.
Teach him about 5 topics. You do not have to include everything we learned about from each topic. For each topic, you need to teach him AT LEAST 3 things about that topic. If I were you, I would focus on the five topics I listed above. You may do more than 5 if you would like.
**Check back to see if "Timmers" has responded to your knowledge, or asked you a follow up question.

In-Class Blogging.

Enter the Stone Age

The Stone Age has come to Water for Sixth Grade. We will be exploring many fascinating aspects of this time period. Much of what we learn about is in theory only, that means it hasn't actually been proven, it's just what some scientists and historians THINK. Nontheless, I will try to introduce you to various things and let you decide for yourself what you think is true and what is not. The discovery of fire, hunting methods, behavior and appearance of 'caveman', cave painting, and way of life will all be explored. I don't want to limit you to learning about the Stone Age just in social studies class. Therefore, Water for Sixth Grade is providing you with an opportunity to discover things on your own about this amazing unit. You will be using the Internet to "Enter the Stone Age." Good Luck!

Task: Using the websites I have found for you about the Stone Age, post a comment telling me 2 things you learned while looking at the websites. That's it. Pretty simple, huh?

Once again, all you have to do is check out the Stone Age websites on the right of this page under the section titled "Stone Age Websites" and post a comment telling me 2 things you learned.

Points: 10 Points.

DUE: Wednesday, September 15th, 2010. Midnight.

Hello, Johnny Rawten

Water for Sixth Grade would like to introduce Johnny Rawten, Ancient Traveler. Throughout the year, we will be reading about Johnny Rawten and the adventures he goes on. As a sixth grader, Johnny discovers he can time warp. He goes into the past and discovers all sorts of ancient worlds. Your task, as the reader, is to figure out where Johnny is and what he is seeing. It all starts now.
Chapter 1: Hello, Johnny Rawten

Chapter 1 Questions for Students

They both have a LEGEND

They Both have a legend.

Geography Mini-Unit: Open Note Test: August 27th (Friday)

Sixth graders, you have a test on friday, August 27th, 2010 over our short Geography unit. This is an open note test so make sure you have your notes. If you do not have all the notes, or you lost them, use the Geography Mini-Unit gadget located on the right side of this blog and get what you need or just use it to review. This is not one of our major units of the school year, but I feel that it is importnat to "brush up" on our geography skills, our maps skills, and our thinking skills. While we navigate our way through the ancient world, we will encounter maps that will help us learn and discover. A map is simply a picture unless we know how to read it and use it as a tool. Throughout our mini-geography unit week, we are only going to touch on a few items: where we live/our surroundings, map elements, different types of maps, and geographical physical features. It is important that you pay attention and use the Geography Mini-unit gadget located on the right side of this blog. Use those links to learn, review, or if you lost something. You do not have an assignment on this blog, though it is open ended. If you have something about geography you would like to say to us, simply post a comment. If you have a question about something pertaining to geography, post a comment and I will answer it or one of your splendid students will answer it.

Task: If you would like to say something about geography, post a comment.

Task: If you have a question about something we are going over, post a comment and an answer will come quickly.

Good Luck!

Welcome to Water for Sixth Grade.

Welcome to Water for Sixth Grade. Thank you for coming. This site is the single most important thing in your social studies life. The name of this blog means something: water is the most essential part of life. Without it, a person can not live. For your 6th grade social studies life, this blog is the single most important thing. Water for Sixth Grade will allow every advantage to you in helping you have a successful social studies year. On this site, you will find many different things, all of which will help you become a better student, a better person, and a better blogger. This is essentially a welcome post, which we will use to practice blogging. Trust me, you will be blogger experts in a very short time. To practice and get you thinking, we are going to start with some basic writing prompts.

For each task, you must have at least 5 sentenses. (Essentially a paragraph)
Task #1: Tell me about 5th grade. Include anything you want about your 5th grade year.
Task #2: Tell me about your summer. What did you do? Anything fun? Tell me anything you want about your summer.

**Remember, at least 5 sentenses for EACH task. Thank you.

Good Luck on your first of many Water for Sixth Grade posts.

Hannah Montana Visits Bowling Alley

Wax Museum 2010: Video World Premiere

The 1,000 Word Challenge in 2010

Hello Bloggers. Water for Sixth Grade is making its glorious return to the spotlight. Now that we have completed all eight of our "major" units, we are going to take this opportunity to share what we have learned in Social Studies. But wait, we are not going simply use Social Studies, you can share what you have learned in ANY class this year. But wait even more, for this post, you can also share anything about this entire year that happened at Middle School besides what you learned in class. Maybe you want to talk about how you felt on the first day, or spring fling, or the Wax Museum, or how you have changed throughout this year, etc. This may seem like a lot of material to cover, but you will need a lot in order to 'win' this challenge. This is the 1,000 word challenge. The challenge is quite simple: post a 1,000 word comment. How much is a 1,000 word comment? It's basically one page, single spaced, 12 point font on Microsoft Word. If you reach 1,000 words, you will not only earn an "A" for this assignment, you will also earn the title of Master Blogger. WSG is ready to take your comments and continue to share your ideas and knowledge with the rest of the world. I look forward to seeing you attempt this challenge. I am also looking forward to seeing you pass this challenge.
If you are not up to the 1,000 word challenge, perhaps you would like to do the 500 word challenge, in which case you would recieve a "B." Still too many words? Your third option would be the 250 word challenge which would earn you a "C." You may not go any lower than 250 words to gain points.
Task: Post a comment about everything/anything you have learned in 6th Grade.
Format: 1,000 words=A 500 words=B 250 words=C Below 250 words: Zero
Points: A=50 points B=43 points C=38 points
DUE Date: May 21th, 2010. Midnight.

Joust Champions of 2010

In the second annual Joust Tournamnet, four students proved to have what it takes to rise above the rest and conquorer all. In a tournament that demanded excellence in speed, strength, skill, endurance, and luck, it was these four students who showed they had the mental and physical fortitude to take on and defeat all challengers. In a tournament filled with adversity and struggle, these four students showed the world that they had what it took to become 2010 Joust Tournament. These four students have now earned their rightful spot in the most elite club in the history of Brandon Valley Middle School: Joust Tournament Champions. Welcome, you deserve it.

Introducing the 2010 Joust Tournament Champions: Grace Bender, Justyna Eberle, Emily Reif, and Isaiah Blok.

Congratulations, go out and tell others of your heroics and wear your t-shirt proudly.

Crazy Izzy Live

Wax Museum 2010 Reflection

Hello 6th graders. I want to hear from you about the Wax Museum. I want you to tell me about it. I want to know what you think, what you liked, what you will remember. I thought April 13th was one of the best days of my teaching career thus far. I had so much fun. I thought it was just awesome seeing all my students dressed up and performing their speech. I have never been more proud of a group of kids. I know I have said this many times already, but I can not say it enough: Great Job. I am proud of you. Now that our big night has come and gone, I want you to reflect on the entire project. I want to read what you think. So for this post, I want you to write a reflection telling me about your experience with the wax museum.

To help give you some guidance as far as what to write about, please respond to the following:

What did you think about our Wax Museum night?

What did you like about the night when you performed? What was your favorite thing?

What did you like best about the entire project?

What do you think about the whole project from start to finish?

What did you learn from this experience?

Was anything difficult about the project? Such as?

These are just some guide questions for you to think about. Basically, I just want you to tell me your thoughts and opinions and feelings about this project, which is one of a kind. You may add anything else you would like to say about the project.

In-Class blogging. If you do not finish, or you want to write more after class, you may do so.

Thank you very much.

Welcome to the Medieval Times

Ancient Rome is over. The Wax Museum is over. Now what are we going to do? I know exactly what we are going to do: Learn about the intriguing world of the Medieval Times. In our last "big" unit of the school year in ancient civilization, we will be learning about a time period in history that is not all that long ago compared with Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Medieval Times, often referred to as the "Middle Ages," takes place roughly 1000 years ago. In this unit, we will be covering a plethora of interesting topics. You will see very quickly, this unit, as our grand finale, will be one to remember. For this blog post, as we typically do whenever we start a unit, you need to search the Medieval Times Links that I have posted for you and tell me something you have learned. How many items? Well, since there is a lot of cool stuff, please tell me 3 facts you learned will searching the websites. Good Luck!
Task: Search the websites I have found for you and post a comment with 3 facts you learned.
Points: 20
DUE: April 22nd, 2010

Mt. Vesuvius Erupts

Ancient Rome Vs. Today

Welcome to Water for Sixth Grade. Today, you will be comparing Ancient Rome with our world today, in 2010. Luckily for you, I will provide articles for you to read about Ancient Rome that will help you find similarities and differences between Ancient Rome and today. You will be comparing using three categories: Housing, Education, and Entertainment. For each category, you will tell me three differences and three similarities between Ancient Rome and today. Please follow my example, so your answer is clear and easily understood. For this post, you will use complete sentences.

Use these websites for Ancient Rome information:

Housing, Education, Entertainment.

Example:
Housing Similarities
1. Ancient Rome and today both have........
2.
3.

Housing Differences
1. Ancient Roman houses have.......
2.
3.

Then do education and entertainment, etc....

For the differences category, you can simply list what Ancient Rome had but do not need to list what its like today. For if its under the differences category, that obviously it's different than today.

You may need to think with your brain for this one in trying to come up with similarities and differences. Take some time to think about housing, entertainment, and education in our world and compare it to Ancient Rome via the websites I have for you.

Good Luck!

Points: 30

DUE: April 4th, 2010 (Easter Day) 4:00 p.m.

Olivia the Great has another Riddle

Olivia the Great has another riddle for you. This one won't be so easy. I doubt any of you will be able to get it. Listen to the riddle on the podcast and then post a comment here with your answer. Good Luck! You'll need it.

Upcoming Podcast Episodes:
"Binders"
"Crazy Izzy sings Miley Cyrus, again"
"The Middle School Student: A three part series"
"More Riddles"

When in Rome....Find Facts.

Welcome to Water for Sixth Grade. We have begun our Ancient Rome Unit. Throughout this unit, we will be navigating our way through many different topics: gladiators, roads, religion, aqueducts, Pompeii, erupting volcanoes, roman numerals, Circus Maximus, public baths, emperor's, etc... Indeed, exciting time await you. To begin our quest for Roman knowledge, we will be sifting through websites to gain a Water for Sixth Grade introduction to ancient Rome. Using the links in the Rome Links list, find 5 facts about Rome.

Task: Find 5 facts about Rome using the Rome links posted on the side of this blog.

DUE: Friday, March 19th, 2010.

Points: 20

The Greece Unit went well, I thought, because of how hard you worked. I appreciate your attitude and effort in all that we do. Keep up the good work. Thank you.

Extra Credit: Write a Greek Mythology Story

Extra credit is a rare occasion in my class. I believe that students should work hard on the work required of them and not always get bailed out with extra credit opportunities. However, there are times when I feel extra credit opportunities are worth-while, times like this. We have been studying ancient Greece for about three weeks. We have learned about many things pertaining to Greek Mythology. For this extra credit post, like all blog posts, I am going to try to keep the instructions simple. Before I continue, keep in mind that this is EXTRA CREDIT, which means you do NOT have to do it, but can if you want if you are looking for a boost for your social studies grade. Okay, here is what you have to do: write a fiction (made up) story about characters we have learned about in Greek Mythology. I believe you know enough about the charcaters and what they do to put together a story about this topic. Your number one goal in this story is to be funny. While reading your Greek Mythology conversations, many of you have a talent for writing and creativity. So use that here as well! I want to be reading these stories and laughing out loud, so be funny! After the due date for this extra credit, I will choose the best/funniest story that was posted and read it as a podcast episode.

Task: To earn extra credit in social studies, write a fiction story about greek mythology characters. Make this a comedy story--be Funny!

Requirements: in order to gain the extra credit points, the story must be 700 words, which is basically one page on microsoft word, single spaced, size 12 font.

The most extra credit you can earn towards your social studies grade is: 20 points

DUE: If you choose to do this, you need to have it done by Friday, March 12th, 2010.

Remember, this is extra credit. You do NOT have to do it. Only if you want. If you choose not to do it, it will not effect your grade.

Student, Meet Your Greek God or Goddess

Yesterday in a thrilling selection process, each student was assigned a titan, olympian, or monster child. Today, on Water for Sixth Grade, you are going to get to know your new "friend." You will be giving a speech pretending to be your character from Greek Mythology in the coming week. Before you can give your speech, you need to learn about your character. We will be using this blog assignment to start to learn about your character. For this blog post, it will be similar to what did with the Nile River: have a conversation. You need to put on your "creativity" caps and pretend you are having a conversation with the character you selected. Pretend you are standing on the street, and all of a sudden up walks Zeus or Poseidon, or whoever you have selected. You are going to have a conversation with them. You will "talk" to your character as if you know nothing about them. Since you are going to pretend to be them for your speech, this is a great opportunity to talk to your character and learn about them. You need to format your conversation with quotation marks.

Task: You will have a pretend conversation with the character you selected. In the conversation, you will ask that character questions to learn about them for your speech. Use the websites I have posted for you to learn about your character. You must ask your character at least 5 questions for this conversation.

Points: 5 Points per question. Total of 25 points for this blog assignment.
DUE Date: Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Johnny Mac: Trick Shot quarterback

Some Amazing throws of a football. This guy is crazy good.

Start Ancient Greece, Please

Welcome to Ancient Greece. To start this unit, we are going to do something a little bit different on this blog. It is basically an online version of the Library Book Fact Search assignment that we do from time to time to begin Units. To help us start thinking about Ancient Greece and to help us get in the "Greek" frame of mind, we are going to be taking a look at some Greece websites. The websites will be listed on the side under "Greece Links." The instructions are vague, but simple: Look at the websites I have listed for you and post a comment telling me 2 things you have learned about Ancient Greece. That is all that is required of you. My thought is that with vague instructions, it will allow you to have a bit more freedom with this assignment.

DUE: Tuesday, February 16, 2010. 10:00 p.m.
Points: 10

Model T Ford Assembly Line: Fascinating

Can you believe this is how cars used to look and how they were made? Fascinating stuff once again from YouTube. Henry Ford was a genius when it came to factory word and the assembly line, being able to mass produce cars at 1/10 of the time it used to take.

Super Bowl Commercial: Doritos

Since the Super Bowl will be played on Sunday, I thought it would be fitting to get you ready for the big game, not the football part, but the commercial part. The most anticipated the commercials of the year will be played during the Super Bowl. Here is a Doritos commercial from a past Super Bowl. Watch the Super Bowl this Sunday and tell me what your favorite super bowl commercial was.

Man vs. Bear Fight Caught on Tape: Amazing!

The camera's just happened to be rolling as this guy suddenly found himself in a fight with a bear. Amazing footage caught on tape. Check it out.

Fighting Gravity

A clip from the show "America's Got Talent" The performers defy gravity in their stunt. This is crazy.

The Crazy Frog

The Crazy Frog. This video has over 13 million views on YouTube.

Strange Goats

There is a special breed of goats that faint instantly when scared. It's quite humerous to watch, actually. I think it would be very fun to get to pop out from around a corner and scare the goats, making them fall over. This is perfectly natural for these goats. It does not harm them in anyway. Check it out.

Time Warp: Water Balloon to the Face

Have you ever wondered what it would look like to get hit by a water balloon in slow motion? Well, here you go.

Slow Motion Sneezing

After watching this video, you may want to think twice about not covering your mouth next time you sneeze. It may also cause you to think twice before standing in front of someone who is sneezing.

The Rule of Three-Aryans, Persians, Indians

In class, you read about three groups of people of Ancient India: The Aryans, the Persian empire, and the Indian empire. Using the article, you summarized the information about these groups of people in your guided notes. For this blog post, your task is simple. For each question, you need to tell me if it is describing the Aryans, the Persian empire, or the Indian Empire. So, to put it in simple terms, every answer will either be "Aryans," "Persian Empire," or "Indian Empire." So, if for some reason you have no idea what the answer is, you have a 33% chance of getting it right if you guess. However, you should know the answer. If you do not know the answer, simply look it up in your notes. All answers will be found in your notes about these three groups of people. Good Luck. You will post your answers as a comment on this blog post.

Questions:

1. Which group brought the language of Sanskrit?

2. Cyrus II founded what empire?

3. Chandragupta Maurya seized power and started this empire?

4. Which group brought the horse drawn chariot to India?

5. Zoroastrianism was a religion that began in which group?

6. Ashoka took over this empire after his grandpa.

7. A caste system is how society is set up for this group of people.

8. This group of people were stronger because they had horses.

9. This empire built huge stone columns to communicate with the people.

10. This group of people made advancements in mathematics with the modern number system.

BONUS: What is the picture that I posted with this assignment above?

Points: 20 (2 points/question)

DUE Date: Friday, January 29th, 2010

Format: Make sure you answer the questions in a list format:

1.

2.

3.

and so on...

Remember, each answer is either "Aryans", "Persian Empire", or "Indian Empire." Use your guided notes to help you. Good Luck.

"Waka Waka" by Shakira: Theme song for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa

Great video and song raising awareness about Africa. Theme for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Whether your a soccer fan or not, this video will inspire you. Enjoy.

"Too Late to Apologize" by One Republic

One Republic puts a twist on "Too Late to Apologize" with this video. It's based on the American Revolution. Great song, great video, great time period. Enjoy.

Ancient India--British Museum Style

We have begun our next unit of Ancient India. We have not visited Water for Sixth Grade since Winter Vacation ended. It is time to make our return to the website that will single handily teach you everything you need to know about ancient civilization and life. You will be exploring the British Museum to learn about Ancient India. I am going to explain to you what you need to do. So focus on the following instructions. I am speaking to you. Actually read the instructions. Do NOT pretend to read them and then ask me what to do five seconds later. If you read the instructions, perhaps read them twice, you should know what to do.

Using the following link, you will complete each task in your NOTEBOOK about Ancient India describing what you learned from using the British Museum website. Once again, you will WRITE your answers in your NOTEBOOK.

Here is the Link: British Museum--Ancient India. (open this site in a new tab so you can work on the site and see WSG at the same time. Right-click and select "open in new tab")

Task #1: The Buddha: click on the link. On the left side of the screen, there is a list. Click on "The Buddha." After that, you will click on the picture in the middle of the screen. Once you have done that, you will click on the link on the left side of the screen that says "Story." This story will teach you about the man who started the religion of Buddhism. Click on "next" at the bottom of the screen to advance through the entire story. For this task, you must summarize the story of Buddha. Tell me about what happens in the story and what this guy does. Summarizing does not mean just retyping the entire story. Summarizing means to cut out the unimportant things and just explain the important parts of the story to understand what happens. For all you sentence counters: about 7-8 sentences should do that job. This will be the first item in your notebook, titled: Task #1: Story of Buddha.

Task #2: Geography: Go to the beginning of the British Museum website and click on "Geography." After you click on geography, you must click on the picture to enter the geography section. At that point, it will have a couple paragraphs about geography. Tell me three (3) things about the geography of India. That is all you have to do for this task. Three complete sentences. Label this "Task #2: Geography" in your notebook right under task #1.

Task #3: Early Hinduism: Once again, go back to the beginning of the British Museum site. Click on "Early Hinduism." Then, click on the picture to enter the site on early Hinduism. Your next step is to click on "explore" which is located on the left side of the screen. Next you will see a graphic of many gods and goddesses of ancient India. Pick THREE of them and tell me their name and what they are the god or goddess of. Label this "Task #3: Early Hinduism" in your notebook directly under task #2 answers.

Make sure you label your three tasks. This helps organize your findings and it helps me go through your information much easier.

Points: 30 (10 points per task)

DUE: Tuesday, January 19th, 2010.