Saturday, September 25, 2010

September 27 to October 1






















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

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website: http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/ However, I'm afraid I do not update this regularly. I spend most of my time keeping the blog up to date.

This blogsite will have all of the changing material -- lesson plans and links to assignments. I will try to ensure that all assignments are posted here. If you see something underlined, it means that you can click on the item to have it appear. I will do this for all pdf documents, PowerPoints, videos, and even some music.

My tutorial times are officially 3:10 to 3:30 on Mondays and Fridays, however I am available most days before school, at noon and after school. Drop by or make an appointment if you need guaranteed time. I will respond to e-mails within a day at worst.

Social Studies 8

The unit test for Geography will be next Monday, October 4. Expect it to be out of around 75 marks. You need to memorize some important information for the exam, but mostly it will involve answering questions using your Canadian Oxford School Atlas 7th edition. All material that we have covered so far, and will cover this week, is fair game for the test.

  • Monday, September 27 - Memory game - a variations on the countries list game. Watch GEG-103-OL: Latitude and Longitude. (If this video is a bit difficult for you, watch the following quick videos at home: What Causes the Seasons on Earth, Absolute vs Relative Location and Latitude & Longitude.) Demonstration of latitude and longitude using Google Earth. Complete the Longitude worksheet for next class.
  • Tuesday, September 28 - Memory game - another variation on the countries list. Take up the Longitude worksheet. Social Studies Latitude and Longitude Race - Join into groups of 3 or 4 people -- complete the handout before any other group in the class. Earth Grid worksheet - complete for homework.
  • Wednesday, September 29 - Take up the Earth Grid worksheet. Watch Longitude & Time Zones and The Remarkable Story of the Discovery of Longitude by Dr. Callahan . (If you have the time and interest, why not also look at Cambridge University's video The Longitude Problem.) Introduction to time zones. See Geographical Essentials, pp. 48-54 and watch this short clip on the International Time Zone. Time Zones worksheet. Complete for homework. If you get a chance, and want to get clearer about time zones, watch GEG-103-OL: Time Zones. A very helpful description of longitude and time zones can be found at this site from Iowa State University, which quizzes you as you work through it.
  • Thursday, September 30 - Take up the Time Zone worksheet. Watch World Time Zones and Why We Have Time Zones. Second time zone worksheet - This one for Block 1 and this one for Block 3. Complete for homework.
  • Friday, October 1 - Take up the second time zone worksheet. Geography Review materials. Do the first section and then any sections that gave you trouble as we worked through the unit. The Unit Test for Geography is on Monday, October 4.
  • Social Studies 11

    We just finished one unit, so it will be at least a couple more weeks until we test again. The next unit test will be on the Legislative/Executive/Judicial branches and will be similar in size to our last test. The mark breakdown will be posted in a week or so.

    No text-book can possibly be completely up to date, so keep current by using reliable websites.Be sure to look at the Parliament of Canada website. Download, read and study from the Guide to the House of Commons.

    • Monday, September 27 - Test post-mortem. Hand in your Best Electoral SystemParagraph assignment (from the end of the 4 page Elections handout. Take up #1-3 in the sidebar on p. 233. Reminder of the physical layout of Parliament. Video - Government in Canada; Citizenship in Action; Our National Parliament; the Inside Story and questions. Discuss the job of a Member of Parliament - within and outside the House of Commons. Go online to read On the Job With a Member of Parliament). Read 226-231. Do #1-3, p. 231.
    • Tuesday, September 28 - Take up homework, #1-3, p. 233. Introduction to the Senate – Pros and cons of present setup (Be sure to look at the Senate material at Mapleleafweb). Essay Writing. There will be an essay question on what shall be done with the Canadian Senate on the next unit test. Introduction to Essay Writing. Read pp. 47-54 in RedGovernment text. Do #1-4, p. 48 and #1-5 and 7 on p. 54. For homework, come up with a three column table listing: reasons to keep the Senate as it is; reasons to change it; reasons why we should get rid of it. If you have time at the end of the class, discuss it with people around you.
    • Wednesday, September 29 - Introduction to the executive branch. Role of the Queen, Governor General and Prime Minister. Read “Constitutional Monarchy” on p. 222-224 & "The GovernorGeneral" on p. 234. Identify points for and against getting rid of the Queen and Governor General. Should Canada become a Republic? Why or why not? Identify 3 reasons for and 3 reasons against doing so. Look at the Monarchist League of Canada and the Canadian Monarchist Online websites for arguments supporting the monarch; seeCitizens for a Canadian Republic for arguments against retaining the monarchy. There has also been an active debate in Australia and New Zealand on this topic. Web searches would yield useful information.
    • Thursday, September 30 - Take up homework. Discuss the role of the PM., Cabinet & the bureaucracy. Watch Yes, Minister episode. Read pp. 234-240. Do #1-4, p. 240. Assignment: Value 5 marks, Identify by name each member of the federal (national) cabinet and their department. This is an assignment, not a homework check, so accuracy is part of the mark.
    • Friday, October 1 - Take up #1-4, p. 240 and hand in the Cabinet assignment. Lobbying & Pressure Groups. Look at the list of institutionalized groups on p. 259 (Click here for an online list of federal lobby groups - interest groups and social movements). Explain what lobbying is and look at the activities of several lobby groups -- also describe Pressure Groups and their purpose. Divide into groups (with printed - or online --background information) Each group is to come up with a poster to make their group's case to the public. Poster Assignment - on a regular size sheet of paper -- 8 1/" by 11" is fine (due Monday) . Read pp. 258-267. Do #1-2, p. 264. Do #1-3, p. 267.

    History 12

    Your next exam is approaching. If you compare the original plan with what you see below, you can see that I think we will be a little ahead of plan and should, therefore, be able to plug in some video material before the unit test. It is still my intention to test on Tuesday, October 5. Expect the unit test to be structured roughly as follows: 60

    multiple choice items.

    (1 mark each), 10 map items (1 mark each), 5 definitions and names (I give you the term and you define it or say why the person is important - valued at 2 marks each), and 2 long answer questions (10 marks each). The total value of the test is, therefore, likely to be 100 marks.

    Here is the Plan for Topic #2.

    Here are the Topic #2 Questions.

    Here is a blank Map of Europe right after World War I. Neatly label the countries and submit it with your Topic #2 questions (10 marks).

    I now have the PowerPoint for World War I available online, click here.

    We do not have enough time to watch enough video material in class. I will post material for you to see on the blog and highly recommend that you watch as much as possible.


Saturday, September 18, 2010

September 20-24
















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

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/ . I'm afraid I do not update this regularly though. Most of the time, all current material will be linked to directly from this blog.

This blogsite will have all the changing material -- lesson plans and links to particular assignments. I will try to ensure that all assignments are posted here. If you see something underlined, it means that you can click on it to go to the item. I will do this for pdf documents, PowerPoints, videos and sometimes music.

My tutorial times are officially 2:55-3:15 on Mondays and Fridays. However, I am available most days before school, at noon and after school. Drop by or make an appointment if you need guaranteed time. I also respond to e-mails within a day at worst.

Social Studies 8

Expect a unit test soon -- not next week, but early in the following week, worth around 75 marks. It will be based on map reading and the use of Canadian Oxford World Atlas (7th edition). We will also have a number of quizzes worth from 5-30 marks throughout the unit. You will not always be warned ahead of time about quizzes -- so it is important to keep up.

If you are struggling, be sure to see me outside of class for extra help!
  • Monday, September 20 - Hand in Continents and Major Water Bodies map. Take up Activity 9 #1-4 and Activity 10 work. Introduction to military grid. Military Grid Worksheet. Complete the Letter/Number Grid Worksheet for homework.
  • Tuesday, September 21 - Take up any problems with military grid. Take up the Letter/Number Grid Worksheet. Weather permitting, we will take a "Super Benoy Field Trip" to complete a Sutherland School Map assignment. Value: 10 marks, due in two classes. If the weather does not cooperate we will move on to Wednesday class material and, hopefully, complete this assignment when weather cooperates.

  • Wednesday, September 22 - Take up any problems with the Sutherland School Map -- if we were able to go outside on Tuesday. Latitude introduction. Geographical Essentials, pp. 32-35. Key lines of latitude and why we have seasons -- see the video Geography Seasons for this. Introduction video to Latitude and Longitude - with questions. Note: you need to login to Discovery Education's streaming video site to do this. Mr. Benoy posts the access code in the classroom -- though this is a paid service the school may not be able to afford much longer. Complete the Latitude #1 worksheet for homework - Please make the following changes to the sheet! 1. the reference should read Canadian Oxford World Atlas 7th Edition, not 5th edition. 2. On the back of the sheet change the page numbers to pages 118-119 for questions 12-14. If you make these changes, everything will make sense. Sorry about the problem.
  • Thursday, September 23 - Hand in your map of Sutherland. Take up Latitude #1 sheet. Short quiz on important lines of latitude. Review and more background on Latitude. Watch Kim Shaw's Latitude & Longitude video.Latitude #2 worksheet (Once again this sheet was geared to an earlier atlas, so make the following changes: Change the reference to the Canadian Oxford School Atlas 7th edition at the top of the first page. Change the instructions for questions 7-10 from using pages 59 and 69 to pages 56 and 60. Change the pages in the instructions at the bottom of page 1 to pages 116-117 from pages 112-113) -- note: this should be completed for homework over the weekend.

  • Friday, September 24 - This is a professional day, so you do not have classes, but your teachers get a chance to learn new things as we still go to work. If you have fallen behind in your assignments, this is the perfect chance to catch up. Remember, all work is posted on this blog!

Social Studies 11

Expect your first unit test on Ideologies/Parties/Elections to be on Thursday, September 23. The mark breakdown is most likely to be as follows: 30 multiple choice question (1 mark each); 10 statements - you identify the ideology of the speaker - 1 mark each (sorry, I forgot to mention this in class Wednesday!); 4 items to label on a diagram (1 mark each); 5 definitions - you write a sentence or two about each term or name (2 marks each); 2 long answer questions from a choice of 4 options (6 marks each). The test should, therefore, be out of about 66 marks. Bonus marks can be earned for creating flash cards. On this test, the total value of the exam is over 50 marks, so it is possible to earn up to 5 bonus marks. You need to complete at least 25 flash cards to do so.

  • Monday, September 20 - Take up I Can Vote and #1-3 & 5, p. 115. Elections handout. Elections in Canada – The first-by-the-post system. (If time; proportional representation too). Read Government pp. 88-97. Do #4, p. 97. Research Canadian federal political parties. Which party would you support in the next federal election? Why? About a half page or so of writing is needed to adequately answer this question. Value: 10 marks, due Thursday. Find political party information at Elections Canada's registered political parties page.

  • Tuesday, September 21 - Take up #1-3, p. 257 & #4, p. 97. Elections lesson – day 2. Various voting systems. BCSTV animation. Assignment: What electoral system do you feel is best? Why? (due Friday. About 1 page).

  • Wednesday, September 22 - Hand in Political Parties research. Note: We are beginning the next unit today and this material will not be on tomorrow's test. We are doing so to test on the day indicated in earlier blog-posts. I will explain my flash card bonus mark policy today. Begin Legislative Branch - focus on the House of Commons. Be sure to look at the Parliament of Canada website. Download, read and study from the Guide to the House of Commons. Read pp. 231-233 sidebar. Do #1-3 in the sidebar on p. 233. Study for the test next class.

  • Thursday, September 23 - Unit test on Ideologies, Political Parties and Elections -- the material we have studied since classes commenced. Complete the homework from Wednesday for Monday.
  • Friday, September 24 - Professional day, so classes are not in session. Use this time to catch up on any missed assignments.
History 12

We are testing the first unit on Monday, so your next exam is a long way off. The breakdown of marks for Monday's test is: 15 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 10 definitions -- where I give you the definition and you give me the term or name (1 mark each), 5 definitions -- where I give you the term or name and you provide the definition or why the person is important (2 marks each), and one essay (worth 18 marks - with 6 for composition and 2x6 for content). The test will most likely be out of 53 marks.

Here is the Plan for Topic #2.

Here are the Topic #2 Questions.

We do not have enough time to watch enough video material in class. I will post material for you to see on the blog and highly recommend that you watch as much as possible.

Find out about the conditions in 1914 by watching nicely colourized movie footage in The Great War in Colour; The Beginning - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. For a nice, quick video summary of the situation in 1914, see How Stuff Works; World War I Begins in Europe - some nice period movie footage (only 5 minutes). The standard explanations of the origins of World War I are outlined in Origins of World War I - Part 1 and Part 2, or, try this 50 minute video World War I; To Arms 1914 -- then look at the rest of the series if you want to gain some real expertise. Watch Yale University Professor John Merriman's lecture on the Origins of World War I. He also has lectures posted on other aspects of modern history that a Google search would quickly lead you to.

  • Monday, September 20 - Unit Test. Pick up Topic #2 Plan and Topic #2 Questions.
  • Tuesday, September 21 - Complete our introduction to Europe Before World War I - the Alliance system. Part 2. Begin looking at the nations of Europe before the War. Base notes. Work on Topic #2 Questions.
  • Wednesday, September 22 - Continue with the nations of Europe before the war - finish Russia/France/Britain - base notes -- then continue with the Ottoman Empire/Germany & Italy - base notes.
  • Thursday, September 23 - Finish the countries of Europe before the war - concluding Ottoman Empire/Germany & Italy - base notes. If time, look at causes of the war and reasons for peace in 1914 - base notes.
  • Friday, September 24 - Today is a professional day. Make good use of the time to complete the essay from the bottom of the Topic #1 Plan - due Tuesday of next week.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

September 13-17



















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

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/ . I'm afraid I do not update this regularly though. Most of the time, all current material will be linked to directly from this blog.

This blogsite will have all the changing material -- lesson plans and links to particular assignments. I will try to ensure that all assignments are posted here. If you see something underlined, it means that you can click on it to go to the item. I will do this for pdf documents, PowerPoints, videos and sometimes music.

Use this blog to see what is coming up each week. I will usually post it by Saturday evening 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 do know someone who does. If you are too ill to work while away, be sure to attach a note from home to any overdue work and I will most likely waive any late deduction. If you cannot read the PowerPoint material on your computer. Download PowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft. It is free.

My tutorial times are officially 2:55-3:15 on Mondays and Fridays. However, I am available most days before school, at noon and after school. Drop by or make an appointment if you need guaranteed time. I also respond to e-mails within a day at worst.

Social Studies 8

We are starting with the Geography unit. Expect a unit test at the end of this, worth around 75 marks. This will be in roughly 3 to 4 weeks. It will be based on map reading and the use of Canadian Oxford World Atlas (7th edition). We will also have a number of quizzes worth from 5-30 marks throughout the unit. You will not always be warned ahead of time about quizzes -- so it is important to keep up.

If you are struggling, be sure to see me outside of class for extra help!

You will need the following material for the Geography unit: a ruler, pens, pencils, and coloured pencils, erasers, whiteout, a portable computer storage device (USB key, with at least 1 GB of space on it -- which you can use in all of your other classes too), and lined paper.

Keep all of your material in order in either a section of a bigger binder, with work from other courses, or a smaller Social Studies binder. The choice is yours. You should also have section dividers to separate units. Keep all work to study from for the final exam at the end of the course. After unit tests, you can take this work out and leave it safe at home if you do not want to keep carrying it around -- just don't lose it.

National Geographic has some nice overview PowerPoints for this unit. See Map Elements and Map Skills.
  • Monday, September 13 - Take up homework (the Atlas worksheet) -- If your teacher collects it in class it will be marked out of 3 marks, based on completion. Do your best, even if you have errors you can still earn 3/3. Video - Types of Maps and Map Projections. Look at Geographical Essentials text, pp. 4-7 - "Map Outlines." The Basic ingredients of all maps - Outlines, Direction, Colour & Symbols (and a key or legend, Scale. If time - Mind Map of North Vancouver (10 minutes). See pages 56,57 & 58 in Geographical Essentials. Scale Worksheet - complete to #8 for homework. If you have trouble grasping how scale works, get the basics from this BBC elementary school level site on the subject. A really nice advanced summary can be found at this National Resources Canada site.

  • Tuesday, September 14 - Scale review -- look at pages 55-59 and 62 in Geographical Essentials. Take up Scale Worksheet homework #1-8 (This may or may not be collected. If it is, it will be marked out of 3 for completion). Review Scale. Direction on maps - points on a compass. -- introduction and video clip. Direction & Scale Worksheet - Do to #3. Struggling with figuring out how compass directions work? Use this simple elementary school explanation from the BBC in Britain. Sorry, no extra help after school today. I have a doctor's appointment
  • Wednesday, September 15 - Take up Direction & Scale Worksheet (I may or may not do a homework check - worth 3 marks for completion). Introduction to map symbols. Video clip on my symbols (sorry -- unavailable on the web). Symbols worksheet - complete for homework (Note - Block 1 - the afternoon class -- got no time to work on the sheet in class so, they should complete only to #10). Map Assignment - School to Home (valued at 10 marks - due Friday).
  • Thursday, September 16 - Take up homework including Symbols Worksheet. Naming countries contest. More symbols review - Symbols Worksheet 2 - complete for homework, and also remember to complete the school to home map.

Social Studies 11

We will begin with the Government unit and start with the old red text to deal with ideologies. You will get theCounterpoints text, which we will use for most of the semester, once we get past ideologies -- which Counterpointsdoes not deal with well.

Expect your first unit test on Ideologies/Parties/Elections to be on Thursday, September 23. The mark breakdown is most likely to be as follows: 30 multiple choice question (1 mark each); 4 items to label on a diagram (1 mark each); 5 definitions - you write a sentence or two about each term or name (2 marks each); 2 long answer questions from a choice of 4 options (6 marks each). The test should, therefore, be out of about 66 marks.

  • Monday, September 13 - Origins of the Political Spectrum - including summary handout sheet. PowerPoint – Ideologies”.Ideology identification practice. The following reading is completely optional: For an interesting American article on the difference between Lefties and Righties, see Patricia Cohen's New York Times Article: "Across the Great Divide; Investigating Links Between Personality and Politics."

  • Tuesday, September 14 - Take up Ideologies Identification homework. Video clip on ideologies - sorry, not available online. Other ways to show political spectrum. More practice with ideologies. Sorry, no extra help after school today -- I have a doctor's appointment.
  • Wednesday, September 15 - Take up homework. Lecture/discussion – from ideologies to political parties – national parties in Canada. Read Counterpoints pp. 255-258. Do #3 & 4, p. 258. For homework over the last weekend, you took an online quiz to identify your political viewpoint. To see which Canadian political party comes closest to your views (2008 comparison - according to this organization. Take a look at US national politicswhile you are here), link here and see if this is what you expected. Interested in pursuing this further? Try some more tests -- mostly American -- to see where you stand.

  • Thursday, September 16 - Take up homework. Placing parties on the political spectrum. PowerPoint. BC & Canadian political parties. Read Counterpoints pp. 249-258. Do #1-5, p. 253, #4, p. 258 & sidebar #1-3, p. 257.

  • Friday, September 17 - Take up #1-5, p. 253, #4, p. 258 & sidebar #1-3, p. 257. Review of party positions on the political spectrum and names of party leaders. Introduction to political party organizations. As part of your homework, you must go to Elections Canada's pages entitled I Can Vote, with information for young and first time voters. Answer these questions. Read pages 109-115 in the red Government text and answer questions #1-3 & 5, p. 115. Optional: Click here to go to a list of all of the political parties, with links to their we-pages.

History 12

Our first unit is an introduction to History and the Writing of History.

Be aware, this is a lecture course. Because almost all students who sign up for this course are university or college bound, I have structured the course in this way to help you make the transition to post-secondary studies easier. Class work will be done entirely outside of class time.

Expect to write your first quiz on or about Thursday, September 16. There will likely be 15 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 10 definitions -- where I give you the definition and you give me the term or name (1 mark each), 5 definitions -- where I give you the term or name and you provide the definition or why the person is important (2 marks each), and one essay (worth 18 marks - with 6 for composition and 2x6 for content). The test will most likely be out of 53 marks.

All Topic #1 work is due by 4:30 p.m. on the day of the test. Here is a rough plan for the first unit. Essay #1 is due a couple of weeks later. My initial target date is Tuesday, September 28.