Saturday, January 12, 2008

January 14-18














For those of you new to my blogsite, it is intended to work alongside my website at:



http://kbenoy.googlepages.com/


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


Sutherland has a license to access Discovery Channel's United Streaming video collection. Students may download or stream videos from the collection by going to http://www.unitedstreaming.com/ . Use the passcode posted in the classroom to register. If you have lost it, see me, or e-mail me, for this information. Students are licensed to include this content within their own creations.



Social Studies 11



Your unit test on chapters 2 & 3 -- population and standards of living -- will be this Friday. This will be your last full-blown unit test as we cannot afford to use more class time for testing. I may quiz you as we work through the final two chapters, but there will be on unit test. Expect the following breakdown on the chapter 2-3 test: 65 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) and a choice of 3 long answer questions from 10 options (6 marks each), for a total of 83 marks. 5 Bonus marks are available for flash cards (minimum of 30 cards).



It is important to prepare for your Provincial Final Exam. Go to the Ministry website and look at the exam table of specifications, familiarize yourself with key exam terms, access past exams and answer keys, and look at the essay scoring criteria to see how your essays will be marked.


Your Geography textbook is also available online at http://www.design4effect.com/soc11/ . Though we will use some material from the other text, most will be from this e-text. Be aware that this text is now a few years old and many hyperlinks are broken. Rewriting is a massive job that I have not had time to take on yet.





  • Monday, January 14 - Take up #1-3, p. 48. Begin chapter 3 PowerPoint. Read pp. 57-61. Do #1-8, p. 61.

  • Tuesday, January 15 - Take up homework. Video - Gwynne Dyer's Escaping From History. (Sorry, this one is not available on the Internet). 1) What are living conditions like in Mexico City? 2) Why are people abandoning the countryside? 3) What does Dyer believe must happen for the developing world to get their fair share of consumer goods? Read pp. 62-64. Do #1-5, p. 64.

  • Wednesday, January 16 - Take up homework, continue PowerPoint on chapter 3. If we do not finish this in class, be sure to download and work through the remainder. Read pp. 64-73. Do #1-3, p. 70, #1-8, p. 73.

  • Thursday, January 17 - Take up homework. Video: Gwynne Dyer's The Bomb Under the World." (Sorry, it is not available on the Internet). While watching this video, answer the questions: How is consumerism changing India? What are the positive and negative consequences for this developing country and for the world? Prepare for chapter 2 & 3 unit test next class.

  • Friday, January 18 - Unit Test on Chapter 2 (Population) and Chapter 3 (Standards of Living). Read pp. 83-86. Do #1-3, p. 84, #1-4, p. 85 & 1-2, p. 86. Be sure to spend time preparing for the final exam on the weekend.


Comparative Civilizations 12

With only three weeks remaining, we will not have another unit test. The remaining material will be tested on the final exam.


The final examination in this course will be held on the last two days of class, instead of during exam week. This test is worth 15% of your course mark. Only the first part of the test is closed book. You may refer to your notebooks in answering all other material.


Final Exam, Day 1: Slide Identification (closed book). Expect 50 items. You are to identify the work, the artist and the period (100 marks - since not all items have all three parts, we will give bonus marks for any third part identified). The remaining part of day 1 is an essay question - choose 1 from among 4 options (24 marks - 6 for composition and 18 for content -- marked according to the provincial examinations English & History rubrics).


Final Exam, Day 2: 15 matching items (1 mark each), 10 identifying styles from written descriptions (10 marks), 80 multiple choice (80 marks), and two from 5 long answer questions (20 marks - 10 each).


The final examination is, therefore, out of 249 marks -- but this is scaled to 15% of your final course mark.


The Mannerism and Reformation packages are due on Monday, January 14 -- by 4:30 p.m.

The Grandeur and Obedience package is due on Monday, January 21 -- by 4:30 p.m.

  • Monday, January 14 - Bernini - Scupture. Short video clip of Bernini's works. Work on packages.
  • Tuesday, January 15 - Video: Art of the Western World; Realms of Light, on Baroque art. work on Grandeur and Obedience Package.
  • Wednesday, January 16- Painters - Rubens and Velasquez. Sister Wendy segments. Work on Grandeur and Obedience package. Watch Great Artists; Rubens. England's National Gallery has a nice podcast on their Velasquez exhibit, with great information on the artist and his work.
  • Thursday, January 17 - Painters -- Carravaggio and Gentilleschi. Work on Grandeur and Obedience package. Watch Simon Schama's video on Carravaggio (59 minutes). A nice short video showing examples of Carravaggio's work with music can be seen here, or try this short clip on how Carravaggio painted. There is a good feature film on Gentilleschi, Artemisia. This is worth watching if you can acquire a copy. An Open University courseware section on Helen Langdon's Biography on Carravaggio has excellent and detailed information -- having a copy of the biography on the side makes it even better.
  • Friday, January 18 - The Light of Experience package assigned (this package will be due on Friday, January 25, at the end of the 2nd day of the final exam). We will see either the filmstrip, or the Kenneth Clark video.

History 12

This unit is global in scope -- far more than previous units. I will tend to focus on one region or issue at a time, which will mean that we will jump around more in time order. We did a bit of this in the last unit, but expect far more from now on. It is, therefore, essential that you find a way to make sure that you get the chronology right. I strongly suggest that you create a time line, with years on one axis and a series of columns, labelled Europe, Asia, North America, and South America on the other axis. Put major events on this timeline in the appropriate location and time. This will help you see events graphically -- recognizing how they might influence other events, elsewhere in the world, in the Cold War era.



You must begin to prepare for the final examination, which is worth 40% of your over-all mark. Go to the Ministry of Education's History 12 website and access the following material: The exam table of specifications, the description of key verbs used on the exam, a description of the scoring criteria used in marking the exam, and, of course, familiarize yourself with the look of the exam itself -- the response booklet, sample and released examinations and answer keys. The best way to prepare for this exam is to actually write a previous exam.


Because we have lost so much class time and we need every remaining class minute, I have cancelled the scheduled in-class essay. I do this reluctantly as it is good practice heading into the final exam. I will soon post a list of typical final exam essay topics here. You should create rough plans for answering each. This will not be submitted for marks. If we are unable to complete any lecture material, it will be your responsibility to read the lecture notes. I will post these on the blog.

The only remaining option for improving your mark is to get in overdue work or to submit the bonus Glossary Assignment, given at the start of the year. In order to process this work and get your mark added, it must be handed in by Monday, January 21 at the very latest. (Please note that although up to 5% bonus is possible on your overall mark, this is a huge bonus and most bonus marks earned are in the 1-2.5 percent range. Only two marks of 5% have been earned in the last 15 years.).


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