September 30

Song of the week: That's Alright by Elvis
Today students worked on the their spoke diagrams and I reviewed the Study Guide for the unit test, which will be next Friday, Oct. 7. The final spoke diagrams will be due next Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Here is the study guide:

Rome Unit Test: Study Guide


• If you make index cards as a study aid, I will give you extra credit on the test.


Terms/People to Know

Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Diocletion, Constantine
Justinian, Jesus, Judaism, The Huns
Barbarians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Patriarch
Pope, Constantinople, Republic, Clovis
Byzantium, Citizenship, Hagia Sophia
Justinian Code , Aqueduct, Legacy
Analyze , mosaic, Roman Catholic Church, Empire


On a Map you will need to be able to identify:
Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Europe
Constantinople,Greece , Black Sea, Atlantic Ocean
The Western Roman Empire, The Eastern Roman Empire
Rome


Short answer questions to prepare for:
I. What are the 6 important legacies of Ancient Rome that we discussed in class? Be able to explain them. Which legacy do you feel is most important?
II. Why did the Western half of the Roman Empire “fall?” What factors led to the successful barbarian take-over?
III. How did the Romans preserve Christianity?
IV. Explain the differences between the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches.

September 28 and 29

Students are working on creating an illustrated spoke diagram that shows the 6 legacies of Ancient Rome that we've spoke of in class (see directions below). Our unit test for Rome will be next week. I'll pass out study guides tomorrow.

Guidelines for Creating a Photoshop Spoke Diagram

You and your partner will create an illustrated spoke diagram that illustrates the Legacy of Ancient Rome. An illustrated spoke diagram is a way of organizing information or ideas around a central idea. At the hub of a spoke diagram is the main idea or central topic, around which are spokes that connect carefully arranged key ideas, symbols, and illustrations on a subtopic to a central topic. The central idea or central topic in this case is the Legacy of Ancient Rome.



1. Gather the information you'll include: your text, and the Legacy of Rome ppt.

2. Brainstorm ideas to include on the diagram. By examining your illustrated spoke diagram the other students should be able to view/read it and understand the Legacy of Ancient Rome.


3. Your diagram must include:

-Six spokes that represent the 6 important legacies of Ancient Rome

-At least two visual elements (symbols or pictures) that represent the 6 legacies of Ancient Rome. Organize your images correctly around the appropriate legacy.

-A written element. This will be separate from your spoke diagram.

4. Create your diagram. Use Photoshop to create the final version of your spoke diagram. Use color and other creative touches to make the spoke diagram visually appealing.

5. Make your Photoshop document 10” X 8” (inches, not pixels)

September 26 and 27

Monday: I collected the packets of student work. I added two additional assignments to the list and collected them at the end of class. The additional assignments were a postcard from Constantinople/worksheet for chapter 2, lesson 3.

Tuesday: We talked about the Schism of 1054 (split of the Roman Catholic Church). Students answered questions from the text and illustrated the Schism.

Here is the list of work that was collected:

1. Vocab: Empire
2. Chapter 2, Lesson 1: Rise of Christianity Reading Guide
3. 3 emperors fill-ins
4. The Empire Divides: Map
5. Photoshop Timeline: fill-ins
6. Fall of Rome: fill-ins
7. Obituary for Rome (periods 1 and 6 only)
8. Emperor Justinian film questions
9. Byzantine Empire Map
10. Postcard from Constantinople
Longitude Latitude (period 6 only)

Hope to see you tomorrow night at back to school night.

September 22 and 23

Thursday: Students had their last class time to finish the Roman timelines. I also attempted to teach students how to turn in their work digitally into a "drop box."

Friday: Song of the week: The Mess Around by Ray Charles
We watched a video selection about Justinian and then students worked on a map the Byzantine Empire under Justinian. Packets will be due on Monday - here are the assignments:

1. Vocabulary Word Study: Empire
2. Chapter 2, Lesson 2 Rise of Christianity Reading Guide pp. 50-51
3. 3 Emperors to Remember: fill-ins
4. The Empire Divides: Map
5. Photoshop Timeline fill-ins
6. Fall of Roman Empire fill-ins
7. Obituary for Rome (period 1 only)
8. Emperor Justinian
9. Byzantine Empire Map

If you're a parent you might want to help your student organize the assignments before Monday. You might want to make sure that assignments 2, 4, 7 (period 1 only) and 9 are done.

Thursday 9.15 - Wednesday 9.21

Thursday: Students worked on their emperor baseball cards. Students also created the template for an assignment we'll do next week in Photoshop.

Friday: Students worked on a map of the divided Roman Empire and we did our first "song of the week." The song was Crossroads by Robert Johnson.

Monday: Students began working on a digital timeline of the Roman Empire. First they found the dates for the timeine in their texts.

Tuesday/Wednesday: Work on the digital timelines.

Packet list so far:

1. Vocab: Empire
2. Chapter 2, lesson 1 Rise of Christianity reading guide
3. 3 Emperors fill-ins
4. The Empire Divides: Map
5. Photoshop timeline fill-ins
6. Fall of Roman Empire notes - fill ins

Tuesday Sept. 13 and Wednesday Sept. 14

Tuesday: Students worked on a reading guide about the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire (pp. 50-51). Students then worked on their Photoshop montage.

Wednesday: Students began work on a baseball card style illustration of both Diocletian and Constantine. It is done on cardstock with a drawn image on one side and biographical information on the back. Students had 15 minutes to complete their Photoshop montage.

Thursday Sept. 8, Friday Sept. 9, and Monday Sept. 13

Thursday 9.8: Students worked on creating a Photoshop montage that illustrates the engineering legacy of ancient Rome.

Friday 9.9: Students had time to complete work in their packets, and then worked on their montages.

Monday 9.13: I returned the packets (out of 65 points). We then did a vocabulary word study. Today's word was "empire." Students then worked to complete their montages.

Wednesday, Sept. 7

Today we did a vocabulary word study on the word "Legacy." We then finished the Engineering an Empire segments by viewing one on the Colosseum. Packets will be due this Friday. Here is the list as of today:

1. Rome: Republic to Empire (map/timeline)
2. Engineering an Empire I
3. Engineering an Empire II
4. Reading Guide Chapter 2, Lesson I pp. 47-49 (homework)
5. Roman Empire A.D. 117 Map
6. Vocab: Legacy
7. Engineering an Empire III

Friday Sept. 2, and Tuesday Sept. 6

Friday: Classes who did not see the entire dvd segment from Thursday finished that, and then worked on a reading guide from Lesson 1 in Chapter 2. It needed to be finished by 9/6.

Tuesday: We reviewed some of the reading guide, discussed the legendary founding of Rome and worked on a map of the empire in 117 A.D. Students also watched a short segment of video about the Roman aqueducts and water in Roman cities.

August 30, 31 and Sept. 1

Tuesday 8.30 - We worked on a Longitude and Latitude assignment. Students also continued to work in Photoshop.

Wednesday 8.31 - Students continued analyzing Longitude and Latitude and worked on determining coordinates and using those locations to "break a code." Continued Photoshop as well. I also collected the work from the first week, here's the list:

1. Vocabulary: Analyze
2. Course Outline Fill-Ins
3. Get to know your text
4. Physical Features Map
5. Latitude/Longitude
6. Briefing: Codebreaker

Thursday 9.1
We began our unit on Rome with a map of the Empire ca. 120 A.D., and watched a short selection about Caesar from the History Channel's Engineering an Empire series.