Water for Sixth Grade: Live. Learn. Blog.

Welcome to Water for Sixth Grade. Since July of 2008, WSG has been growing and expanding to become a very valuable website for sixth grade ancient civilization. Since its inception, it has helped students learn, grow, create, imagine, and collaborate. It has been and will always be a place for students to share ideas, state opinions and discuss with fellow classmates. Now, as Water for Sixth Grade makes its 200th post, we shall celebrate this milestone with the "wordle" picture that I have posted with this post. Click the picture for a bigger view. I have reached into the depths of my brain to share with you all the things that have been featured on Water for Sixth Grade since its birth in 2008. Read the words and reflect and discover what has passed through this website. As we move forward, Water for Sixth Grade will continue to grow, expand and influence the lives of my students. It is my hope that my students will continue to blog, continue to share, continue to create on WSG and utilize it for what it is: a great resource for their social studies learning. It is also my hope that we can use this blog to not only grow in our ancient civilization knowledge, but also as a person, as a thinker, and as a learner in a community that spans more than Brandon, but a community that spans the globe. If you visit this blog and are not a student of mine, I hope you return to see what wonderful students I have. They truly are gifted, every one of them. Just like water is the essential element for life, Water for Sixth Grade, this blog, is the essential element for my students' social studies life. This blog is a three headed monster because of what it DOES. At WSG, Students THINK. Students WRITE. Students READ. Water for Sixth Grade. Live. Learn. Blog.

6th Grade Students on Flocab's "Week In Rap"

Check out the week in rap by Flocab. Listen very carefully at the end when Flocab gives the 6th graders of Brandon Valley a shout out. "...shout out to the sixth graders who blog with me!" (That's us)
Thank you, Flocab. I thought it was great.

Ancient India Standard Check

Students, this week we will be having a standard check on Water for Sixth Grade. At this point in our ancient India Unit, we have covered all topics. We will be finishing up our ancient India collage this week, as well as reviewing with Looping, Johnny Rawten, and Ediscio. We will then finish the week with out test on Friday. As you know, we have covered eight topics of ancient India. Allow me to list them for you: Geography of India, Early Civilizations, Aryans, Persians, Indians, Hinduism, Buddhism, and our Vocabulary Packet. The answer to question five is vedas. These are the topics you will be tested over. These are the topics that you will be covering in this standard check. There is a great chance that these standard check questions might also appear on your ancient India test. Therefore, make sure you do a good job on this standard check. Being that this is a blog standard check, you may use your notes to answer the questions. Just one more advantage of blogging :)
Good Luck! (post your answers as a comment)

DO NOT FORGET YOUR NAME!

Standard Check: Ancient India
1. What was the language of the Aryans?
2. What mountain range contains Mt. Everest?
3. Which river is furthest east: Indus River or Ganges River?
4. What is the definition of subsistence farming?
5. What is the book of worship for believers of Hinduism?
6. What is it called when a Hindu believer dies and comes back as something else?
7. This system of Hinduism divides the people up into strict social classes, in which people can not change.
8. Who is the founder of Buddhism?
9. What is the name of the plateau located in the southern area of India?
10. What was the main religion of the Persian empire?

DUE: Friday, January 28th, 2011. 5:00 p.m.

Thank you. Take Care.

50th Anniversary of JFK's Inaugural Address

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the day President John F. Kennedy spoke his famous words, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," which were contained in his inaugural address. Let us celebrate his words, his wisdom, and his vision. Too often, people are looking for their country to do things for them. We must remember JFK's words and heed his advice. We must look to help out our country. We must look for ways we can make a contribution, a lasting legacy, a fingerprint on the world. Go out, make a difference, don't let the word "impossible" be in your vocabulary. Watch the video I have included. It will be three and half minutes of time well spent. Show your parents. Watch the video with them. Ask them about JFK, about what they believe, about the world. Go out, make a difference.

Water for Sixth Grade Welcomes Blake Harrison of "Flocab"

Water for Sixth Grade would like to welcome Blake Harrison of the rap group: Flocabulary, commonly known as "Flocab." If you are new to Flocab, here is a quick description: Flocab is a rap group that performs on ChannelOne news each Friday to give the "Week in Rap." The Week-in-Rap highlights the major current events from around the world of the previous week. This is a great way to conclude the week and the major current events in a way that the students can follow and understand.
It seems to me that most rap music being made today is a contest to see who can get the most profanity into a song. However, rap music is very popular. Kids like it. That's why I think Flocab is even more important. They take rap music, something kids really get into, and turn it into something that is actually worth listening to and important.
Thanks to the kindness of Blake Harrison of Flocab, we have a great opportunity to get to know this group a little bit better by asking a few questions. So, without further adieu, I introduce Blake Harrison of Flocabulary:

Questions for Blake:
1. Where are you from originally? Where do you live now?

2. How did Flocab start?

3. Have you ever rapped with any other big name rappers?

4. What is the process of writing a “week in rap”?

5. What is your favorite: movie, book, tv show, and food?

6. Did you go to college? Where?

7. How do you stay up-to-date with the current events of the world?

8. How many people are in flocab?

9. What else do you rap about besides current events?

10. How long have you been rapping? Where do you get your inspiration to write music?

Once again, Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to respond to our questions. We greatly appreciate it.

Share Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream, Fight for Respect

Martin Luther King Jr.: Remember the Dream

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 17th, 2011, we must remember and never forget the great man and what he stood for. He fought and died for equality for all races. He started a movement to change America. His eloquent words were more powerful than any army in the world. He lived and died fighting for those who were discriminated against simply because they had a different skin color. Let us not be an ignorant nation, an ignorant people that believe people are different or "lesser individuals" based on the color of their skin. But as the King said, let us be a nation "...that one day does not judge others by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Watch this video and Remember the Dream.

Mohenjo-Daro Vs. Today

Mohenjo-Daro Vs. Today on Prezi

Mohenjo-Daro, an ancient city of Ancient India, was a head of their times. Use this prezi to discover how Mohenjo-Daro and our present world are similar (and different)

Preparing for a visit from: "Flocab"

Students: we have a great opportunity before us that we must get prepared for. Let me explain : Each Friday, while you watch ChannelOne, Flocab stops by and drops some sick rhymes about all the major happenings of the week from around the world. You need to appreciate what Flocab does. It is creativity at its best. Using rap for something good. Too many times rap music is just a long list of profanity. With Flocab, they use their musical talents and writing talents in a very productive way: by teaching us. Seriously, stop and force your 6th grade minds to think about just how cool it is that Flocab can turn all the stories from the week into a rap that makes sense, covers the topics, and is highly creative with the writing. I have managed to set-up an interview with Flocab. Fortunately for us, Flocab is a group of cool people, and they have agreed to answer some questions for us. So, we have some work to do. To prepare for our interview with Flocab, you will post me a question or two that you want answered. I will read through them and pick 8 to 10 questions that I think are good ones. You will not get all your questions answered, so choose something that you want answered the MOST. I have been known to give "half truths" or exaggerate things, or mislead you on certain things. But believe me when I tell you: this is a serious/real interview with Flocab.

Task: Post a question for Flocab. I will read through all your questions and select 8 or 10 questions to ask Flocab on this blog.

Ancient India Begins

Students, we have moved on from ancient China and are now headed to Ancient India. This country, in my opinion, is under the radar when it comes to common ancinet civilizations. In Egypt, most have heard of the pyramids. Greece, Zeus and Apollo are quite common. Rome, the Gladiators and Colesseum are quite well-known. However, when the term Ancient India is spoken, perhaps nothing comes to mind. As you will see as we travel through this ancient civilization, India witnessed the start of some very prominent things in our world. Two religions were produced by ancient India: Buddhism and Hinduism. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. Houses of the ancient cities of India were ahead of their time, with many features you would find in houses today. And of course, rivers. Ancient India has two major rivers, the Indus river and the Ganges river. Like Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia, ancient India would not have grown and prospered without its rivers. Fresh Water=Life.
Work hard during the unit, I am confident you will learn a lot.

Blog Challenge: Crack the Code and Win an Augustana Jacket!

Here is your chance to win an Augustana Football jacket that was actually worn during a game. This type of opportunity doesn't come along very often! Crack the Code and Win. Good Luck!

What does this code say? Be the FIRST to post the correct answer and win the jacket.

Welcome, Mr. Eric Ellingworth

Okay, bloggers, time to welcome Mr. Eric Ellingworth to Water for Sixth Grade and to Social Studies. Mr. Ellingworth will be student teaching in social studies for the next two months. While he is here, we will be studying Ancient India and Ancient Greece, two very intriguing civilizations. Mr. Ellingworth is from Redwood Falls, MN. He went to college at Augustana College, where he played football as a wide receiver. Mr. Ellingworth, like Mr. Klumper, is a member of one of the most prestigious groups in the country, the "Flyers." While Mr. Ellingworth is here, I expect the same level of respect that you give to me. It will be a good two months.

Since Mr. Ellingworth just got here, I thought it would be very fitting to show him the power of the blog. I have told him a little bit about Water for Sixth Grade, but now I want to show him it in action. It will take awhile for Mr. Ellingworth to learn your names and get to know you. So, we are going to have a blog activity to help Mr. Ellingworth get to know you.
Here is your task: Students, post a comment on this blog post. In your comment, tell Mr. Ellingworth something about yourself. It could be your favorite movie, favorite book, what you like to do in your free time, favorite video game, anything you want to share about yourself. In addition, I also want you to post a question that you may have for Mr. Ellingworth. This will be a great opportunity for him to share about himself and get used to using Water for Sixth Grade. He will reply to your questions. This will be very helpful, as Mr. Ellingworth tries to get to know you all.

Post a comment:

1. sharing something about yourself

2. a question that you have for Mr. Ellingworth

Thank you.

I hope you are all ready for a great second half of the school year. It will be one you will never forget.