May 10-14

Those of you new to my blogsite, it is intended to work alongside my website at:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/

e-mail me at http://kbenoy@nvsd44.bc.ca/

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- will be posted on the website.This blogsite will have the changing material -- lesson plans and links to particular assignments. I will try to ensure that all assignments are made available on the Internet in this way. If something is underlined on the blog, it means that you can click on it to see a copy of the particular item -- this could be a pdf document, PowerPoint, music or a video.

Use this blog to see what is coming up each week. I will usually post it on Saturdays for the following week. If you are away, you can check up on what you are missing. There is no reason for you not to know what is happening. If you do not have an Internet connection, you certainly know someone who does. If too ill to work while away, be sure to attach a note from home to any overdue work when you hand it in and I will most likely waive any late deduction.

If you can't read the PowerPoint material on your computer, download PowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft. It is free.

Cool tech tip for Google searches. Did you know that Google allows you to search in a mind-map format -- with the standard search still showing in a sidebar on the right. Here is a quick introduction toGoogle's "Wonder Wheel" search.

Sutherland has a license to access Discovery Education's United Streaming video collection.
Students may download or stream videos from the collection by going to http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm . Use the passcode posted in the classroom. I cannot post this online, but you can confirm the new number by looking at what is posted in the classroom.

Please note: North Vancouver schools have a hold-back imposed on our supplies budget. As a result, I shall be handing out far fewer paper handouts in class than in the past. Fortunately it is all available here, online. Paper copies will be made available for many items only to those students who specifically request them because they have difficulty accessing online material. Help me save money for the school and also preserve forests by using online material as much as possible. With less than $900 left in our paper budget for the remainder of the year, you know we need to conserve.

Unpaid Advertisement!

Sutherland's Cancer Awareness Club is participating in the North Shore Relay 2010 at Mahon Park on Saturday, June 12, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The deadline for signing up is May 15. $15 for youth (code NSYOUTH2010) and $35 for adults. For more information or questions, contact Ms. Matsubuchi, or Tamsyn, nothshorerelay@bc.cancer.ca or 1.604.815.3329 or 604 985 8585.

History 12

Here are the Topic #4 Plan and questions.

Essay 3 is here at last -- due at the end of the first week in June.

Here is the Topic 5 & 6 Plan.

Here are the Topic 5 & 6 Questions.

Save trees and school money by using the online versions. I will print copies for you, if you ask, but stick to the digital if at all possible.

I need to tell Ms. Buchanan how many of you are planning to write the Provincial Exam in June. It is still possible to switch to the in-class exam later -- but it is not possible to change from the in-class to the provincial, as exams have to be ordered and printed in Victoria.

Do not expect a unit test on the Cold War, though I will collect up to question #62 near the end of the term. I want you all to have a very clear idea of your class mark before you go into the final examination as this is needed to decide logically on whether you should write the in-class exam (20% value) or the provincial exam (40% value).

Ordinarily I suggest your default setting should be the provincial exam. If you are college or university bound, they tend to take the better of your class mark (including the in-class final) or your composite (after povincial exam)mark. A 40% exam obviously allows greater movement -- up or down -- and they will not worry about a reduction in their calculation (unless, of course, you fail the course!). If there is danger of failing on a bad day -- if your class mark is under 55% -- you should write the in-class test, rather than the provincial. If you are under 50%, write the provincial as it has the greatest potential for raising your mark. In the end it is your decision. Make up your mind and live with it. I will need to know your decision at least a week before the final to ensure that I run off sufficient numbers of in-class test papers. Both final exams have exactly the same level of difficulty as I model the in-class final on the provincial exam, using questions from the same test bank.

• Monday, May 10 - Curriculum Implementation Day. Teachers work, but you get the day off -- well a day to catch up on class work, anyway.
• Tuesday, May 11 - We did not complete all as planned last week, so we will continue with what we missed on Friday. The Middle East to 1956 (base notes). Video clip from the 20th Century History series - if avalable. Click here to see what Arab leaders at the time said about Palestine. Watch the BBC documentary The Birth of Israel. For those really interested in the Middle East - try The 50 Years War; Israel and the Arabs (chunked into 29 parts, I just link to the Youtube directory for its parts). There is a nice BBC documentary on the 1956 war - The Other Side Of Suez 1956 (part 1, part 2, part 3).
• Wednesday, May 12 -Complete the Middle East to 1956. If time, begin video Mr. Kennedy & Mr. Khrushchev (sorry, not available online).
• Thursday, May 13 - The Cuban Missile Crisis (base notes). We have a guest presenter to talk about the Cuban Revolution and Castro's Cuba. I will deal with the world situation before the crisis and the crisis itself. You absolutely must watch CNN's Cold War; Episode 10; Cuba 1959-1962. Thirteen Days is a decent Hollywood treatment of the crisis, though it is a little loose in dealing with people and events -- not enough to worry about messing up your knowledge for the final exam though.
• Friday, May 14 - Deterrence & Nuclear War (base notes). See Robert McNamara's comments on nuclear war. Watch CNN's Cold War; M.A.D. to see terrific coverage of the nuclear conflict between 1960-1972. If you have almost two hours available, get in the mood for Wednesday's lecture on nuclear war by viewing Threads, a British docudrama from the 1980s about a nuclear war -- banned from British TV at the time, it is a highly praised production that gives a frightening, but important view of what such a war might be like. For a straight-forward documentary 0n what would happen to a city hit by a nuclear bomb, watch Nuclear War; A Guide to Armageddon - this links to the first episode, go to the sidebar to link to the other segments. You might also look at Defcon 2 - Cuban Missile Crisis (Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6).

Comparative Civilizations 12

This is our last week on the Man the Measure of All Things package. However, you will not need to hand in your work until Tuesday -- unless, of course, you prefer to submit it Friday. We will begin the second Renaissance unit on Friday - The Hero as Artist. We will follow that with two very short units on the Reformation and Mannerism before facing another test.

• Monday, May 10 - What a stroke of luck! This is a Curriculum Implementation Day, which means teachers work at improving our craft while you work at catching up on your assignments (or getting ahead for you keeners).
• Tuesday, May 11 - Van Eyck PowerPoint and Van der Weyden. Sister Wendy material on the Northern Renaissance. Work on thepackage. Did Flemish and Italian artists use optics in their paintings? See Charles Falco's The Tyrany of the Lens - a controversial view of art.
• Wednesday, May 12 - Grunewald (notes) & Bosch (notes). I highly recommend seeing Carol Gerten's pages on Grunewaldand Bosch - read the biographies and look at the images. Work on the package.
• Thursday, Man 14 - Durer (notes). Sister Wendy - The Northern Renaissance painters. Work on the package.
• Friday, May 14 - Hero as Artist package distributed. Watch the Clark video on Youtube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Social Studies 11

We just had a unit test, so we won't face another one for at least 2-3 weeks now.

• Monday, May 10 - Curriculum Implementation Day. Teachers work and you catch up and work ahead.
• Tuesday, May 11 - Hand in the Holocaust assignment - given out last Thursday. Take up homework. PowerPoint Post 1945 Canada. Material from Canada; A Peoples’ History; Comfort & Fear. (Comfort & Fear, From Sea to Sea and Boom- questions). Read pp. 130-139. Do figure 6-2 sidebar, p. 133, #1-4, p. 135 &#1-5, p. 139.
• Wednesday, May 12 - PowerPoint Post 1945 Canada. Material from Canada; A Peoples’ History; Comfort & Fear. (Seeing Red, On Guard for Thee and The Shadow of Nuclear War -questions). Read pp. 140-146. Do sidebar questions pp. 140, 141 #1-2, 143 #3, 145 & #1-6, p. 146. Watch some anti-communist American propaganda from the 1950's He May Be a Communist,The Red Menace, and the ever popular film used in schools --Communism.
• Thursday, May 13 - Take up homework. PowerPoint Post 1945 Canada. Material from Canada; A Peoples’ History; Comfort & Fear. ("First Tremors," "A Prairie Storm" & "The Fight for Medicare" - questions). Read pp. 146-150. Do sidebars p. 146 & #1-4, p. 150. I goofed on Thursday and in my haste to put the work on the board, I assigned Friday's material below. Please ensure that you have both Thursday and Friday completed by the end of the week. If you have the time, Watch the stunning British Documentary Nuclear War: A Guide to Armageddon (Part 1, Part 2& Part 3) to understand the stakes of nuclar confrontation. Another rivetting show on nuclear war is Threads, a BBC production about what would happen to a community if nuclear war occurred. I link to these and other Cold War videos in my Googlevideo and Youtube directory.
• Friday, May 14 - Take up homework. PowerPoint Post 1945 Canada. Material from Canada; A Peoples’ History; Comfort & Fear. ("Material from Canada; A People’s History (“First Tremors" and "The Fight for Medicare" and questions). Read pp. 150-158. Do sidebar, #1-3, p. 155, #1-5, p. 156 & #2-4, p. 158. Note the mix-up on homework identified in Thursday, above. If you have the time, Watch the stunning British Documentary Nuclear War: A Guide to Armageddon (Part 1, Part 2& Part 3) to understand the stakes of nuclar confrontation. Another rivetting show on nuclear war is Threads, a BBC production about what would happen to a community if nuclear war occurred. I link to these and other Cold War videos in my Googlevideo and Youtube directory.