Crazy Izzy's Ancient Timeline

Want to know when our ancient worlds happened throughout history? Want to just watch something funny? Then check out Crazy Izzy's Ancient Timeline to see when our ancient world's happened or to just see a crazy little girl. If you decide to watch it, don't miss the "Deleted Scenes" at the end. You won't want to miss them. 

Student Task: Keep working towards that WSG Badge! If you comment with each ancient world and when they happened, you will earn points for your Cave! 
Example: Stone Age: 10,000 BC. 
This post closes at Friday, September 12th, 2014. Midnight. 

CLOSED

Ancient Recipe: A White Shirt Production

Having a difficult time remembering all the names of the places we learn about? Well, worry no more because I have just the thing that will help you remember the names better. It's an "Ancient Recipe" and it will help you learn the names of the world. Good Luck! 
Student Task: If you can tell me what each ancient world equals in the cooking demonstration, you will earn a point towards the WSG Badge. 
 For Example: Stone Age = The grill. 
 Now you just have to figure out the other seven. Good Luck!

CLOSED

Ancient Civilization Overview Challenge

The Giant Book of Mesopotamia

Welcome to the "Giant Book" project. We have covered many important topics of Mesopotamia. Yet, there are a few that we still haven't covered. The Giant Book will allow us to bring everything we have learned together, yet still learn a few new things. Now, the Giant Book is not something that one can tackle alone. This must be done in a group because the Giant Book is far too vast for one individual. You will use this blog post for direction in completing your Giant Book. 

The Giant Book Details

Links that will help you with your Giant Book:
People of Mesopotamia PPT
Epic of Gilgamesh PowerPoint
Religion Prezi (gods/goddesses)
I Invent Farming story
Map of Mesopotamia
Events of Mesopotamia overview
Irrigation sketch
Stone Age Review 

Timeline:Wednesday: Begin Giant Book
Thursday: Continue to work on Giant Book
Friday: Finish Giant Book

Our Ancient Quest Begins...

It is time to begin our Ancient Quest. Three years ago, I wanted to find a novel that my students could read that would be entertaining, exciting, but yet still teach them about the ancient worlds we study. I could not find such book, so I decided to write my own. I created Johnny Rawten, who is the main character in my books. In book 1, called "Johnny Rawten," he is a 6th grader who discovers that he has the ability to time travel to the ancient world. Throughout 6th grade, he has amazing adventures. At the end of 6th grade, he is faced with a choice: time travel again or go to the spring dance with his girlfriend. He chooses the dance, which he regrets immediately for he lost he chance at another adventure. Johnny spends the next 5 years desperately searching for another time warp portal. No matter how hard he tries, he can not find another time warp portal to go back to the ancient world, that is, however, until he is presented with, the Ancient Quest....
Accept the Quest and enter the Ancient Quest Official Website

Prologue: Johnny Rawten Returns
Chapter 1: I am Challenged

Entering the Ancient World

Our mini-geography unit is over so now it is time to enter the Ancient World. This week, we will be getting an introduction to the 8 ancient civilizations we will be studying by looking at a brief summary of each. We will also begin reading the book Ancient Quest, so we know what is going on with that story. Ancient Quest is a book that will help us learn and visualize the ancient world more so than a textbook. Once you enter the Ancient World, your life will never be the same...
Task: Using the Ancient World Link, read about each ancient civilization we will be studying. Post a COMMENT telling me ONE thing about EACH ancient world. You must use COMPLETE sentences. You can post a comment or write your assignment on a piece of paper. 
DUE: Sunday, September 8th, 2013. 11:59 p.m.
Points: 20. (2 points for each ancient world (16) and 4 points for getting it done on time.)

An Ancient Recipe

We study 8 ancient civilizations in 6th grade social studies. This week, we are getting a little bit of an overview of these ancient worlds. One thing that I want to do is to help you get to know the names of all these places. So, I decided to put together a video that will help you remember some of these names in a different way. It is a cooking show. I am going to make my favorite type of hamburger and in the process, introduce you to all 8 names of the ancient world. So, watch the video, see the most delicious hamburger ever created and begin to learn these names!

Welcome to the Ancient World

In 6th grade social studies, we learn about the Ancient World. The ancient world is a fascinating place that I think you will find very interesting to learn about. It is a place of excitement, danger, mystery and intrigue. To wrap up our first week of middle school, we are going to get introduced to the ancient world. Let's see what we already know and what we can figure out. 
We focus on eight ancient worlds. 
Answer WORD BANK
Stone Age
Mesopotamia
Egypt
China
India
Greece
Rome 
Medieval Times (Europe, England)

Task: Using the internet, figure out which ancient world each term on the list is from. The 8 ancient worlds I listed above is your word bank. Each ancient world will be used many times. 
In-class activity. NOT homework. 

Ancient World Highlights

Ancient Quest: "I Build Houses in Mohenjo-Daro"

Johnny has completed the first half of his ancient quest. He discovered fire, invented farming, mummified a pharaoh and traveled the Silk Road. Now, as he enters the second half of his quest, he will face frustration as the task in India remains hidden from him. As he struggles to find his task, his living arrangements make things almost unbearable. Can Johnny survive his frustration and complete his task? He is about to try.
Read: Chapter 6: "I Build Houses in Mohenjo-Daro"

Ancient Civilization Hall of Fame

Welcome to the Ancient Civilization Hall of Fame. The ancient civilization Hall of Fame is designed to emphasize those ancient civilization items that are the most important and most influential items in the ancient world. It is our job to think, collaborate, and decide what should be in the Hall of Fame. We are at the midway point of the school year. We have studied four ancient worlds. Before we move on to the second half, we are going to figure out who/what should be in the Hall of Fame from the first half of the year. There are only 20 spots in the Hall of Fame, so at this point, we are going to decide the first 10 items to be enshrined. In the four ancient worlds we've studied, we have covered many, many important and influential items. The problem, though, is that not everything can get in. Just like in sports, only the BEST players make it into the Hall of Fame. We have some tough work and some tough decisions ahead. I have posted the "Showcase" to help us remember and reflect on what we have learned about so far. This will perhaps help remind us and help us make some decisions.
Finally, what do you think should be in the Hall of Fame? Post a comment to get us thinking about what should get selected. This is your chance to persuade "voters" to vote for the ones you think should be in the Hall of Fame, so tell me WHY it should be in. 
Post your comment by FRIDAY MORNING!

Scrapbooking the Ancient World

Now that we have concluded the Stone Age unit, it is time to work on our Scrapbook project. You all have a three ring binder. You are responsible for this. Take care of it. Each unit, everything we do goes into the binder so it's safe and so you don't lose it. However, in addition to each unit's materials, we will also be adding some "scrapbook requirements."  These are activities that will help us review what we learned in each ancient world. It will also enable us to reflect and remember all the things we learned throughout the year when we reach May. Before you click on the "Requirements" (which will be given to you in class as well), remember that this is YOUR scrapbook project. You make it as cool as you want. The quality of your project all depends on the amount of work and effort you put in. 
Click here to read the Scrapbook Project Details and Requirements

Ancient Quest: "I Discover Fire"

Johnny has been challenged by Buddha. He has been challenged to go back to the ancient world and complete a quest. In 6th grade, Johnny came face to face with a tiger in the Roman Colosseum. With no other choice but to fight, Johnny killed the tiger. Over the years, that decision has caused Johnny to spiral into a depression. That, and an end to his time traveling has made Johnny miserable. He wants nothing more than to go back in time on another adventure. With Buddha's challenge, Johnny is going back. This time, Johnny must complete one task in each of the eight ancient worlds. He does not know what his task is. He must figure it out and complete it. The only clue Johnny was given was that the task will somehow improve the lives of the people living there or be something very significant to that world.  Johnny is poised for his first task in his first ancient world: The Stone Age. Nervous, scared, and excited, Johnny's ancient quest starts now...
Read: Ch. 2: "I Discover Fire" 

Get ready for the Ancient Quest

The Ancient Quest is here. A few years ago, I wanted to find a novel that my students could read that would be entertaining, exciting, but yet still teach them about the ancient worlds we study. I could not find such book, so I decided to write my own. I created Johnny Rawten, who is the main character in my books. In book 1, called "Johnny Rawten," he is a 6th grader who discovers that he has the ability to time travel to the ancient world. Throughout 6th grade, he has amazing adventures. At the end of 6th grade, he is faced with a choice: time travel again or go to the spring dance with his girlfriend. He chooses the dance, which he regrets immediately for he lost he chance at another adventure. Johnny spends the next 5 years desperately searching for another time warp portal. No matter how hard he tries, he can not find another time warp portal to go back to the ancient world, that is, however, until he is presented with, the Ancient Quest....

Check out more on the book "Ancient Quest" by accepting the quest HERE.

Stepping into the Ancient World

Time to crank up the intensity of our ancient world class. Today I am going to push you. Not literally, that would be bad, but figuratively. I am going to push you to work hard, to think, to try. What I am going to launch for you today is not easy and will not be completed in 5 minutes. The ancient world is not easy street. Once we step into the ancient world, we must get focused. We must keep our eye open for any and all dangers. We must be prepared and we must be willing to push ourselves to the limit. We are going to introduce ourselves to the ancient world be going on a "search for knowledge."  I have provided you with websites. These are the ONLY websites you can use today. Below, you will see the list of tasks that you must complete. Good Luck and try your best because this is not going to be easy.

20 POINTS DUE SUNDAY at MIDNIGHT
***From the sites I have given you, choose ONE topic from any civilization on the list and tell me about it with AT LEAST 3 sentences. 


In-Class Task (NOT HOMEWORK): 
***Use the websites provided on the right to help you complete your task. 
***Click HERE for your task list. 
***Write your answers on a sheet of paper.

Lino It!

iPad day #2 is going to put the iPads back into your (clean) hands and allow you to do more creating. We practiced using Socrative yesterday and found much success in using that app. Today, we shall attempt Lino, which is an app that allows you, the student, to do more creating. I think its awesome when my students create stuff, and I think Lino will be one of the many great tech tools that will allow us to do that. Here's the deal with Lino: Imagine a giant cork board. It is blank. Your task is to fill it up and create a Lino board representing the ancient world.  For your tools, you  have virtual sticky notes and any pictures that you need.
Your Task:
1. After reading/skimming the Ancient World article, post a comment telling me what 2 ancient worlds sound the most interesting to you, and WHY.
2. Create a Lino board with the Lino app. Instructions to be delivered in class.  

WSG Meets the iPad

Today we will be working with iPads. This is the first year we have had the opportunity to use iPads, so I thought we should get right to it. We are going to attempt 2 or 3 activities on the iPads today so we can get used to using them, practice some of the things we will be doing "for real" once we get into our ancient worlds. I hope you are excited. I think iPads are cool but we need to make sure we figure out the best/most effecient/most beneficial way to use them. So today we are going to try "Socrative" and "Lino" (along with WSG, of course.) 
Today's iPad Tasks: 
1. Socrative activity to review FIRST WEEK Material 
2. Use Lino to organize some "interests" of the Ancient World. 
3. Post a comment on WSG: 
 "On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you working with iPads? Do you have one at home? What types of specific things do you usually do on them?"