January 30 - February 3

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/.

Notice to Parents: Because of the current labour dispute, only grade 12 marks are supposed to be provided on report cards. Written comments are proscribed. This does not mean that we are not reporting marks to students and parents regularly.

If you want an update regarding marks or other information you need only e-mail me at the address above. I am happy to give a full account that goes well beyond what a report card provides.

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.

Course outlines are posted in the material for the first class this semester - go to the Monday, January 30 posting.

Social Studies 8

We will begin with a Geography unit. Expect a unit test at the end of this, worth around 75 marks. This will be in roughly 3 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, January 30 - Introduction and Expectations. Course Outline. Texts assigned. Map Rules rubric. Canada Political Map Assignment (10 marks and due next class).
• Tuesday, January 31 - Complete the text book sign-out, if not done Wednesday. Hand in map assignment. Mind Map (Explained in class and not for marks.) Block 1 - complete up to #15 on the Atlas worksheet.
• Wednesday, February 1 - Country memorization game. Take up #1-15 on the Atlas Worksheet. Complete the rest of the questions for next class.
• Thursday, February 2 - If you looked at this entry earlier in the week it would have looked different -- I messed up and missed a lesson, which is now here. 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. Scale Worksheet. 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.
• Friday, February 3 - Take up scale worksheet. Countries game - girls vs boys. Direction on maps - points on a compass. -- introduction and video clip. Direction & Scale Worksheet. Struggling with figuring out how compass directions work? Use this simple elementary school explanation from the BBC in Britain.

Social Studies 11

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

Expect your first unit test on Ideologies/Parties/Elections to be on Wednesday, February 15 -- or thereabout. 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, January 30 - Outline and expectations PowerPoints. paper course of course outline. Final Exam table of specifications (link from here to additional exam material). Handout: What is Government? Complete the questions for next class.
• Tuesday, January 31 - Hand out textbooks. Complete anything missed from yesterday's introduction. Discuss whether or not government is necessary. Introduction to the three branches of government. Read pp. 2-6 in red Government text. Do #1-4, p. 6.
• Wednesday, February 1 - Take up homework. Introduction to ideologies. Origins of the Political Spectrum. Read pp. 7-15 in Government text. Do #1-5, p. 11 and #1-6, pp. 15-16. To identify your own ideology, take the online Political Compass Quiz.
• Thursday, February 2 - Origins of the Political Spectrum - including summary handout sheet. ( We did not get to the work within these parenthesis. Some of it moves to the next few days. 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."
• Friday, February 3 - Ideologies Identification homework. PowerPoint – “Ideologies” Video clip on ideologies - sorry, not available online. Other ways to show political spectrum. More practice with ideologies.