Friday, November 15, 2013

November 18-22


















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

This blog provides lesson plans for each week.  Look ahead to see where we are going.  Look back to see what you might have missed. All assignments are provided here.  If anything is underlined, click on it to bring up the document or, in the case of videos, link to an online version of what was scheduled for seeing in class or as enrichment.
So you just want to see photos of Sutherland activities? Click here to see my Picasa Albums. 


Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/
.  Admittedly, I do not update this site regularly, so there may be dead links.

Social Studies 8 

We are now in a rather long unit -- the Middle Ages -- and we will not test again for a few weeks. I will post information about the next test when we are a week or two away from it. 

To help students who struggle with reading, I have adapted readings and questions from a simpler text for them. Only do this material if you have been asked by Mr. Benoy to do so. These students will not do the regular homework when this alternative is given. If you find reading the text impossibly difficult, see Mr. Benoy to discuss the issue. The alternative is not as detailed and content will be missed by those using it. However, it is better than not understanding a thing! 

We watched two episodes of Terry Jones' Medieval Lives in class. If you want to see about the lives of other medieval people, here are links to other episodes: The MonkThe DamselThe MinstrelThe PhilosopherThe OutlawThe King. A terrific documentary about medieval life is Michael Woods' Christina; A Medieval Life. Be sure to watch this if you get the chance. It gives real insight into 14th Century peasant life. Mr. Benoy is particularly fond of this film as it describes medieval live in the English County in which he was born. We may or may not get a chance to work this into a class.

Interested in Medieval weapons? Watch Weapons that Made Britain; The Long SwordWeapons that Made Britain; the Lance and The Weapons that Made Britain; The Longbow, Weapons that Made Britain; the Shield. Watch Battlefield Britain; Hastings about the Norman conquest of Britain.

Interested in medieval lifestyles? Try Clarissa and the King's Cookbook to see how medieval royals ate. Also in the Inside the Medieval Mind series is Belief -- find out about their religious and supernatural beliefs -- with heavy stress being on the supernatural part. Try also Inside the Medieval Church; Power -- about how people were controlled. Try also Inside the Medieval World; Knowledge - what medieval people knew. Investigate life in England's greatest medieval city -- London -- in Filthy Cities; Medieval Londonnot a pretty place, but like the expanding great cities of the developing world today, a place of horror and opportunity.


We are beginning a Medieval Research Assignment. (Medieval Research Project. Part 1Part 2).  Note, the due date on the document is not correct; see below.  I have booked three library blocks (computer lab & print sources) on Thursday, November 14, Thursday, November 21 and Thursday, November 28. The assignment will be due by the end of the first week in December -- by December 6.

In addition to sources noted above, here are some additional links to sites useful for the various Medieval Research Assignments:

General:  Netserf has an excellent links page to all things medieval; If you are interested in medieval primary documents, you cannot do better than the Internet Medieval Sourcebook;  Another links page to all things medieval can be found at The Labyrinth, from Georgetown University;  Find Medieval literature at The Online Medieval and Classical Library;  If you are really interested in learning all about art and architecture from this time there is a terrific set of flashcards online at Gardner's Art Through the Ages online resource for chapter 18 - "The Age of Great Cathedrals; Gothic Art." 

Castles: An interesting treatment of Welsh castles can be found at Castle - a 47 minute video;  Lise Hull's Castles of Britain website is a good starting point for resources.  You might also link out from herCastelology links page;  Jeffrey L. Thomas' Castles of Wales site is awesome;  Battle Castle  is a docudrama series about Medieval Castle warfare.  Go to the series' website for heaps of background information; Ordinarily I do not recommend commercial sites geared to making money from their efforts, however Medieval-Castle.comhttp://www.medieval-castle.com/ has a wealth of good information geared to about the right reading and content level for this course and another site, Castles and Manor Houses has some pretty wonderful pictures, along with attempts to sell you castle stays.  Their links page is pretty good if you are thinking about staying in a special medieval location (talk it up with your parents!);  and now that you're really interested in castles, why not think about visiting some of the best?  See Travel guru Rick Steve's page - "Medieval Castle Experiences."
The Manor:  Medieval Manor - British Social History - Changing Lives - 1066-1984 (7 minute video);  Wharram Percy; Deserted Medieval Village (website); Rural Life - sources from the British Library that includes a slideshow; The Monk's Manor is a 45 minute video about archeologists digging up a Monastic manor;  History Learning Site's Medieval Manor Houseswebpage is an excellent resource;
The Church: Church, from the British Library,;Church & Crown(video) - a short treatment of the division of power between Kings and the Church;  Medieval Minds - another short video which discusses what Medieval peasants believed; from the same series, watchMonastic Life to see what it was like to live in such institutions;
Cathedrals: Building the Great Cathedrals is a one hour documentary; Try The Medieval Mind; How to Build a Cathedral for a one hour video on cathedral construction; The Gothic Cathedral; a Landmark in Engineering is a 26 minute video -- pretty advanced stuff though; Modern Marvels; Gothic Cathedrals is a 45 minute American made video;  Watch NOVA's Building the Great Cathedrals(5 minutes);  A wonderful summary of Romanesque and Gothic architecture can be found at A White Garment of Churches, from the "Art of the Western World" series;Find great images of Cathedrals at A Digital Archive of Architecture --Romanesque and Gothic pages.  Alison Stone's Medieval Architecture site will get you to drawings and photos of an incredible selection of churches in England and France and there is also a very helpful glossary.
The Crusades: Terry Jones' The Crusades; Pilgrims in Arms.  is the first film in his series of three documentaries, the others are JerusalemJihad, and Destruction.   A great documentary on the Crusades is The Crescent and the Cross, Part 1Part 2  (1 hour 30 minuteseach). Christianity; A History; The Crusades (Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4). 

  • Monday, November 18 -  Take up #1-6, p. 69. Video: David Macauley's Cathedral and questions.  Work on your reports today for homework.
  • Tuesday, November 19 -Video: Illuminations; Treasures of the Middle Ages.Questions (will be posted on the 2nd screen in class): 1. Who wrote medieval books? 2. What were books written on before the Middle Ages? What were medieval books written on? 3. How were medieval books like modern comic books? 4. What kinds of illustrations were found in medieval books? 5. What was a “Book of Hours?” How was it a display of wealth? 6. What kinds of non-religious books were produced in the late Middle Ages? From Old English to Modern English - including the following video examples: Lord’s Prayer in Old English"The General Prologue" to The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, and this version in modern English.  If we have extra class time we will look at slides of French and English cathedrals.
  • Wednesday, November 20 - Mark Steel's video on Geoffrey Chaucer (Part 1,Part 2Part 3). Why is Chaucer considered one of the great writers in English? Problems with the research project? How to construct a point-form outline. Note: All projects need to have one when you hand them in.  If we have time we will watch a few short samples from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in modern English: "The Host's Speech"from "the General Prologue," the start of the "Pardoner's Tale,""the Sermon" from "the Pardoner's Tale," and "Chanticleer Escapes" from the Nun's Priest's Tale."  Read pp. 69-74. Do #1-6, p. 74.  Complete this for Friday's class.  We will be in the library again tomorrow.
  • Thursday, November 21 - This is another library block to work on your medieval research project (Part 1Part 2).  
  • Friday, November 22 - Take up #1-6, p. 74.  Introduction to the Crusades. Watch Terry Jones' The Crusades; Pilgrims in Arms and Questions: We will not get a chance to watch his following two documentaries, but if you can, be sure to watch them yourself: JerusalemJihad, and Destruction. I'd love to screen all of these in class, but they take too long. A great documentary on the Crusades is The Crescent and the Cross  ( part 1part 2; 1 hour 30 minutes). Work on your research assignments for homework.
Social Studies 11 

Expect the unit test on the interwar years and World War II to be around Wednesday, November 27.  We will likely finish the unit before this -- probably this Friday, but will test on Wednesday to ensure that students can have additional time to complete the test by writing into noon break if they need it.

  • Monday, November 18 - Take up  #1-4, p. 128.  Complete  Endings & Beginnings & do questions.  If time, begin Video: The Valour & the Horror; Savage Christmas; Hong Kong 1941 and questions. Note that there is an assignment attached to the end of these questions.  This will be due the day after we complete seeing the video.  Make sure your preparations are underway for the test on 1919-1945 next week. Read the sidebar on pp. 126-127. Do #1-3, p. 127.
  • Tuesday, November 19 - Take up homework.  We will examine the treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II -- and note the apology and payment of compensation in 1988.  Continue the video: The Valour & the Horror; Savage Christmas; Hong Kong 1941 and questions. Work on the assignment that accompanies the video.  This will require some outside research on Japanese treatment of prisoners of war and the general standard of treatment expected under the "Geneva Conventions."
  • Wednesday, November 20 - Complete The Valour & the Horror; Savage Christmas; Hong Kong 1941 and questions.  If we have time, we will begin looking at the Holocaust.Do "Looking Back" #2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and; 14, p.129.
  • Thursday, November 21 - Collect POW assignments.  Take up Looking Back" #2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and; 14, p.129.  Begin:Shoah/Holocaust -PowerPoint. Video: on the Holocaust (Frontline; Memory of the Camps – Chapter 4. Available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/camp/view/.) This material is particularly horrifying. It is important to watch it if you can, but if you are unable to do so, please go to the "fishbowl" lounge area beside Mr. Nichols' room and study there until the video is over. 
  • Friday, November 22 - Complete the Holocaust video material. If time -- Introduction to post-war Canada. PowerPointPost 1945 Canada.   Study for the upcoming unit test.  Read pp. 130-135. Do sidebar questions p. 133 & 134 & #1-4, p. 135.
History 12 


Topic #4 is underway. Our preliminary plan is quite out of kilter.  I expect to finish the unit around Monday, November 25.  The unit test will include, roughly, the following:  75 multiple choice items (1 mark each -- note, this is slightly longer than indicated last week!); 5 map items (1 mark each); 2 out of 3 long answer options (12 marks each). The total is, therefore, out of 104 marks).

Click here for the Essay #2 assignment sheet.  This will be due in late November. Hand in any time in the last week of the month.

Topic #4 Plan

Topic #4 Questions.

We have a few disruptions to our regular schedule, so the plan is already a bit off.

So much of World War II is seen through black and white film images.  New colourising technology is allowing documentary film-makers to convert such footage to colour.  If you have a couple of hours to watch an overview of the war, why not watch: 

Documentary World War 2 II in Colour The Second World War color.

Social Studies 11 Honours 

Quite a while ago we started work on an essay in the Geography unit; It should come in by the end of this week --  I am prepared to extend to Monday if you have a good reason for me to do so.

We will not have another unit test for a few weeks.  We need to complete Canada before WWI and WWI first.

  • Monday, November 18 -  "Looking Back" questions #1, 2, 6 and 7 on p. 19.   Canada and the Empire PowerPointRead pp. 20-24. Do #1,2, & 4 p. 24 and the cartoon interpretation on p. 23 - Be sure to do #1-5 "Applying the Skill." Watch EA's Origins of World War Ipart 1 & part 2.
  • Tuesday, November 19 -  Take up #1,2, & 4 p. 24 and the cartoon interpretation on p. 23.  Complete PowerPoint material from Canada and the EmpireWatch, online, EAV's Origins of World War I -part 1 (9 minutes) and part 2 (8 minutes). List the causes of World War I for homework.
  • Wednesday, November 20 - Take up homework. Complete any material not covered last class on the origins of the war. Watch Blackadder's explanation of the war's origins. Begin PowerPoint on Canada & World War IWe will look at excepts from Canada; A People's History as we work through the PowerPoint (While watching these segments you need to make notes on the following 3 areas: 1) Describe attitudes toward the war. 2) Describe conditions at the front. 3) What changes did the war bring? Use the Acronym SPERMG to generate classes of ideas -- S=Social, P=Political, E=Economic, R=Religious.  
  • Thursday, November 21 -  Mr. Benoy's slides on the Western Front battlefield graves. Take up homework Continue the PowerPoint and People's History segment (part 1) (While watching these segments you need to make notes on the following 3 areas: 1) Describe attitudes toward the war. 2) Describe conditions at the front. 3) What changes did the war bring? Use the Acronym SPERMG to generate classes of ideas -- S=Social, P=Political, E=Economic, R=Religious, G=Geographic). Read pp. 28-33. Do #1 and 3, p. 33. Also answer the questions in figure 2-8, 2-9, and 2-10.
  • Friday, November 22 - We are taking a brief break from the regular flow of material to take advantage of a speaker on Aboriginal Residential Schools -- with Mr. Aw Yong's class.  This is an important aspect of Canadian social history and will come up in later classes.  If this is cancelled or if we finish early, we will come back and continue with the material we are working through as noted on Thursday.