Saturday, September 12, 2009

September 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 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.

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 and given to you on your course outline 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.

My tutorial times are officially 2:55-3:15 every Monday and Friday. However, I am available most days before school, at noon and after school. Drop by or make an appointment if you need guaranteed time.

Social Studies 8

Expect a unit test in about 2 to 3 weeks - it will be based on map reading and the use of your Canadian Oxford World Atlas. We will have a number of quizzes, worth 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 time 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 with at least 1 GB of space on it, and lined paper. Keep all of your materials, in order, in a section of a multi-course binder or in a smaller binder for this course only. Use section dividers between units and have a section in your binder for map work. You will need to save all of your notes to study from for the final exam at the end of the year, but you only need to have the current unit with you in class. I suggest that you keep your notes safe at home after completing each unit test.

National Geographic has some nice overview PowerPoints for this unit. See Map Elements and Map Skills.


    • Monday, September 14 - 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 (we did not get as far as I had hoped). 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 15 - 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.
    • Wednesday, September 16 - 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. Map Assignment - School to Home (valued at 10 marks - due Monday).
    • Thursday, September 17 - Take up homework. Naming countries contest. More symbols review - Symbols Worksheet 2 - complete for homework, and also remember to complete the school to home map.
    • Friday, September 18 - No Class; this is a school professional day. Don't forget to complete homework and the map assignment!
Social Studies 11

The test for Ideologies/Parties/Elections is on __________ (I will fill this in when I have a clear idea of when it might be -- expect it to be in about 2 weeks). The mark breakdown is as follows: 30 multiple choice questions at one mark each; 10 identify the ideology of a statement questions at one mark each; four items to identify on a graphic element at one mark each; 5 definitions - write a sentence or two about terms or names that you are given - at two marks apiece; and two long answer questions from four options at six marks each. The test total is, therefore, out of 66 marks.

I will give bonus marks on your tests for completing flash cards and handing them in at the start of the test. On any test with fewer than 50 marks, you may receive up to 3 bonus marks. For tests over 50 marks, 5 bonus can be earned. See how to do them here.




  • Monday, September 14 - 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 15 - Take up Ideologies Identification homework. Video clip on ideologies - sorry, not available online. Other ways to show political spectrum. More practice with ideologies.
  • Wednesday, September 16 - 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 politics while 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 17 - 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 18 - No class today. This is a school professional day. Be sure to complete all homework and use some time to review.
Social Studies 11H

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.

Expect a chapter 1 quiz -- probably on Thursday, Sept. 17. The mark breakdown will be roughly as follows: 15 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) and 3 long answer questions from 5 options (6 marks each). The total will be out of around 33 marks. 3 bonus marks are available for completing flash cards. Later tests will also have this bonus opportunity, but when tests are valued at over 50 marks, it is possible to earn 5 bonus marks, rather than 3.



  • Monday, September 14 - Hand in work from Essay Workshop. Take up homework, Do #1-5, p. 11#1-9, p. 16 and #1-4, p. 17. Begin watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and questions. Read pp. 17-22. Do #1-2, p. 17. #1-4, p. 21.
  • Tuesday, September 15 - Take up homework. Complete An Inconvenient Truth and questions. Discuss the video -- Why is it sometimes seen as controversial? Read p. 22 and do the "Further Thought questions, #1-2, on p. 22. Optional: For an alternative view, see The Great Global Warming Swindle. (You will need to do a video search for following segments.) To make sense of this debate you could look into what respectable academic bodies say. Many countries have academies of science; investigate their views. The United Nations' Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon recently traveled to the Arctic and he is on record as speaking on the subject during this trip. His view is representative of most of the world's nations on the topic. Also last year's United Nations Human Development Report took as its over-arching theme Climate Change. You will find the report's accompanying video interesting (choose your download speed and language).
  • Wednesday, September 16 - Take up homework. Essay Writing Workshop Part 3. If we have time, we may look at additional ch. 1 related video resources. Complete the Essay Outline, the asignment for part 3 of the Essay Writing Workshop, for Monday. Prepare for the test tomorrow.
  • Thursday, September 17 - Essay Writing Workshop - Part 4 -- research techniques, including Citing Sources & bibliographies. Chapter 1 quiz. Work on the assignment for part 3 of the Essay Writing Workshop. Read pp. 29-31. Do both #1-3 on p. 31. In Part 4 I refer to Zotero (www.zotero.org ) - If you are interested in this Firefox Plugin that magically helps you gather and sort research notes while automatically setting up citations and bibliographies, be sure to go to http://www.zotero.org/support/screencast_tutorials and watch the screencasts that tell about these features.
  • Friday, September 18 - No classes because of the school professional day. However, ensure that you are up to date and do a little review if you get the chance. Start to think about your upcoming research essay and look for resources.
History 12

Expect to write your first quiz on Thursday, September 17. The test is likely to have 15 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 10 definitions, where I give you the definition and you provide the name or term (1 mark each), 5 definitions (2 marks each), and 1 essay (18 marks - 6 for composition and 2 x 6 for content). The total is, therefore 53 marks -- though I reserve the right to adjust the test, based on our progress in the first unit.

All topic #1 work is due by 4:30 p.m. on this day. Essay #1 is a couple of weeks after the first unit ends -- my target date is Wednesday, September 30. I posted it on the Topic #1 plan for Tuesday the 29th but note that there is no History 12 class on this date because of post- secondary liaison day, which is unusually early this year.

Topic #2's plan and questions are now available.
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