Sixth Grade Homework

Sixth Graders!

Remember that you need to finish your homework tonight. You need to ask three adults (or high schoolers) these questions: Should we study history? Why or why not? You need to write down at least three sentences for each person you ask along with telling me who you ask.

If you have your notebook for my class already (due Friday for credit!) put the assignment in there. If not, please hold on to it and put it in your notebook when you get one.

I will check your notebook for this assignment on Friday.

Sixth Grade Homework

Students read the You Decide! in our textbook on whether Confucianism was a good solution to the problems that Confucius' society faced. Then they answered questions one and three. Three must be an essay of at least three paragraphs and use quotes and modern-day examples.

Sixth Grade Homework

We're still learning about the philosophies of China and East Asia (Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism.) Today we reviewed all four, and learned a bit more about Legalism. Our homework, though, is to make our own Yin-Yang design and represent the Taoist "unity of opposites" with fifteen pairs of opposites inside the Yin-Yang.

Please use color! Remember that the opposites are not always good/bad. Other examples could be: stillness/motion or night/day.

Due tomorrow!

Sixth Grade Work for Monday, April 7th

Today in class, the quizzes on Zoroastrianism and the worksheet and illustrated booklets for the Odyssey were returned.

We also discussed Confucianism and watched a short video and took notes. The video (we watched about the first six minutes) is below:






We then reread pages 287-289 and answered the two questions below. I will collect the answers tomorrow in class for credit.

* Confucius' followers compiled a book of his teachings. What is it called?
* Why do you think people in government didn't like his ideas at first?

Sixth Grade Odyssey Work, Wednesday, April 2nd

I will collect the Odyssey illustrated books and worksheets this Friday.

After the stop of Calypso, students should read this passage here to see Odysseus arrive home in Ithaca. Although the story continues, we will have to leave our hero here. Ithaca will be the final stop in the booklets and on the worksheet.

Sixth Grade Classwork and Homework

We are still working on the Odyssey in class. Remember to use Ms Carranza's site!

In class we answered the five questions about the sirens. I checked them off in class, but we will discuss the answers tomorrow. Tonight, you need to finish the readings and answer the last six questions about Helios, Charybdis, and Calypso.

Your illustrated books and Stops worksheet will be collected on Wednesday.

Sixth Grade Quiz on Zoroastrianism

A reminder that sixth graders will have a short quiz tomorrow on Zoroastrianism. What should they know?

+That it was founded by Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra)
+That the religion is a monotheistic one
+That their one true god is Ahura Mazda, described as The Creator, The Lord of Light, and Source of All That is Good
+That Ahura Mazda is opposed by Angra Mainyu, also called Ahriman—who is the Source of All That is Bad, a Liar, and Destroyer of the Good
+Zoroastrians believe that at the end of time Ahura Mazda will defeat Angra Mainyu once and for all
+To Zoroastrians, fire is a powerful symbol of purity. Water is also a symbol of purity. Both are used in Fire Temples, where Zoroastrians worship.

+The Faravahar (seen above) is a symbol used by both Zoroastrians and Iranians
+The man symbolizes the soul; he is an older man to symbolize wisdom
+In one hand he holds a ring, symbolizing faith; the other points forwards and upwards, symbolizing a life lived in the right directions
+A ring encircles his lower body and stands for the eternality of the soul
+Each wing has three rows of feathers, reminders of 'Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds'
+Below are three rows of feathers, 'Bad Thoughts, Bad Words, and Bad Deeds' that the man must rise above
+Ribbons point in each direction, symbolizing the choice between right and wrong that one always faces

Sixth Grade Presentation Project on Middle, New, and Kingdom of Kush

We've been learning about the Middle and New Kingdoms of Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush in class. Recently we've started looking at how to make our Keynote presentations even better. Our current project is to combine both.

Students have been given a skeleton of a Keynote slideshow with ten slides. Students may not change the theme, but they may add text to slides, or change the order. Students must add ten slides of their own and prepare a presentation on the three Kingdoms that lasts between two and five minutes. They may discuss the pharoahs, the religious changes, similarities and differences, etc.

Students will be graded on the following

• is their presentation between two and five minutes?
• are there at least twenty slides in the presentation? (ten from the starter and ten added)
• is there only one point on each slide? (per our class discussion on good presentations—the only exception can be introductory and summary slides)
• is there only one image per slide?
• is the image pixelated or watermarked?
• is there a structure to the presentation?
• is the student giving a meaningful presentation? (per our class discussion)

The slideshow and presentation is due on next Thursday, February 27th.

Slideshow on Basics of Hinduism

Study Guide for Maya

Maya Civilization Study Guide
1) How did astronomy and math play a role in the Mayan civilization? (Notes and book on page 321)
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2) How did the Mayans try to please their gods and what did they hope to get in return? (Notes and book on page 320)
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3) What role did religion play in the Mayan government? (notes and books on page 320)
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4) How were royal women able to impact the well-being of their city-state? (notes and book on page 320-321)
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5) What is the Maya Ball game? How and why was it played? (notes)
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6) Describe the Maya number system (notes)
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7) What are codices? Why and how were so many codices destroyed? (video, notes)
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Sixth Grade Assignment on Maya

Using all your composition book notes on the Maya, create a ten question multiple-choice quiz. Your quiz should have ten questions with a, b, c, d, answers. Of course, one of the answers needs to be correct!

You may have a couple jokey answers and bonus questions, if you like!

Due tomorrow.

Poll, Uh huh!

Where would you like to go on our Google Earth Trip?
	SeaWorld in San Diego
	LegoLand
	The Roman Colloseum
	Big Ben in London
	Alcatraz Prison
	Statue of Liberty
	Mt Rushmore
	Mt Everest
	The White House
	Heidelberg, Germany
	Hawaiian Active Volcanoes
	Mount Olympus
	Lake Elsinore
	Patriots Stadium
	Six Flags
	Norte Chico/Caral
	Somewhere in Sumer or Mesopotamia
	Great Barrier Reef
	Angels Stadium
	Eiffel Tower
	Somewhere in Australia
	Somewhere in Canada
	NASA
	Sesame Street
	Mexico City
	Somewhere in Scotland
pollcode.com free polls

Some Links on Ancient Greek and Egyptian Mythology and Religious Beliefs

Mr. Donn's page on Greek Gods

Mr. Donn's page on Egyptian Gods

Sixth Grade Work on Egypt

Today in class, after reviewing the Minoans and Mycenaeans, we returned to Egypt. This time, instead of the Egypt of Narmer and his Double Crown, we are now learning about the Old Kingdom. This time, instead of mastabas, we see pyramids!

What are the other changes? Read and see! Students read this page and then looked at this timeline. Students also took notes on both pages.

We're also taking pictures of our Egypt projects and sending them home this week.

Sixth Grade Work on Ancient Greeks

Today we are learning about the ancient Greeks, specifically the Minoans and the Mycenaeans. We discussed the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur and then read this page on the Minoans and this page on the Mycenaeans.

From reading those pages, students need to write in their composition books Three facts you learned, Two questions you have, and One thing you find interesting. Do a 3-2-1 for Minoans and one for the Mycenaeans.

Sixth Grade Work and Quiz!

Hello, students! We are having a quiz this Friday (as we have already discussed in class.) As promised, I gave you a study guide today and your maps and foldables to help you prepare.

This quiz is on Sumer, Ancient Egypt, and Caral/Norte Chico. Below you can find the study guide reproduced.

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 Sumer/Mesopotamia 

In Asia, in what is now Iran. Part of the “Fertile Crescent” stretching from Iran through Iraq and into Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries. “Mesopotamia” means “between the rivers”, as it was located between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. “Sumer” means “land of the civilized kings.”

Sumerians developed wheeled vehicles, writing (cuneiform), a polytheistic religion (multiple gods), governments based on walled city-states (which went to war with one another), social classes with priests and kings at the top, warriors and scribes second, down to farmers and merchants with slaves and peasants at the bottom. Sumerian city-states had ziggurats (stepped pyramids) as temples in their centers.

The earliest known written story is of the Mesopotamian hero-king Gilgamesh. In the story, he is two-thirds god, one-third man. He has adventures with his friend, the wildman Enkidu until Enkidu dies. In the story, the Sumerian idea of the afterlife is of the “House of Dust” where all is dark and gloomy. Gilgamesh learns that no man can live forever.

Caral/Norte Chico 

In what is now Peru. The people of Caral built pyramids earlier than the Egyptians. They made flutes and trumpets out of bones. The people of Caral had no pottery, so they could not boil food; they could only roast food. They used gourds to store food and seeds. They had stone tools and knew how to weave reeds together. They developed a drug out of the achiote plant. They had no warfare in Norte Chico! So their cities had no walls and no defensive weapons at all! This forced some historians to change their ideas about how civilizations develop.

Ancient Egypt 

In Northeast Africa. The Nile River runs through the center and the Sahara (serving as a natural protection) surrounds it. The Egyptians called the area near the Nile the “Black Land” and the Sahara the “Red Land.” Egypt was originally two kingdoms, Upper Egypt (in the South, near the source of the Nile) and Lower Egypt (in the North, near the mouth of the Nile.) The two kingdoms were united by Narmer in ~3000 BC. Narmer then created a double crown out of the crowns of the two kingdoms.

Egyptians built mastabas in this time period, but no pyramids. They believed the afterlife was for kings, pharaohs, and the rich and powerful. The dead had to pass the test at the Scales of Ma’at (was the heart as light as a feather?), have their body preserved, and have their name written down (in hieroglyphics) to pass on to the Two Fields, an afterlife that was happy and blessed.

 How are these societies similar? How are they different? How do they compare to the other societies we have learned about?

Sixth Grade Gilgamesh Short Film

Here is the short film we watched that summarizes the Epic of Gilgamesh. Students should notice that we learn a little about what the Sumerians believed about the afterlife from this story. We'll compare this with the Egyptian view of the afterlife soon!

Slideshow for Mesopotamia and Sumer

Here is the slideshow that Ms. Carranza and I used in our classes on Mesopotamia and Sumer.

Sixth Grade Work

This week in class we are learning about the Mesopotamians. We began to create a foldable with vocabulary:

• Cradle of Civilization
• fertility
• Fertile Crescent
• cuneiform
• Sumerians
• ziggurat

We will continue with the foldable tomorrow. We also began to fill out a map of the area, and will keep working on that tomorrow also.

We did start an assignment that needs to be turned in tomorrow. Students should draw a triangle that shows how the social classes were in Mesopotamia. Who was at the top? Who was in the middle? Who was at the bottom of their society?

There is information in section two of chapter one in the textbook. You can also find information here at Mr. Donn's site and here on the Land Between the Rivers site. Please also include illustrations on your picture.

Progress Report and Grade Update

Students and Parents,

I am busily updating grades for the first progress report. You will receive the progress report later this week.