Saturday, April 21, 2012

April 23-27

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

So you just want to see photos of SuthLinkerland activities? Click here to see my Picassa Albums.

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/.

Notice to Graduates and Parents: I regret to inform you that I am withdrawing from voluntary activities until further notice. My reasons are two-fold, relating to the current labour dispute and concerns for my personal health. I cannot legally say much more than this to students, but would be more than willing to explain my concerns to parents if they e-mail me. The 86% Club will not meet for the remainder of this year (fortunately we have covered the most important material in earlier meetings) and Mr. Benoy is no longer co-chairing the Sutherland Scholarship Committee, nor is he sitting as a member of the committee. Please direct any scholarship questions to Principal McGowan and the Sutherland Administration. I will still help any graduating students who ask me for individual help. 

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 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 Monk, The Damsel, The Minstrel, The Philosopher, The Outlaw, The 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 Sword, Weapons that Made Britain; the Shield and The Weapons that Made Britain; The Longbow.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 London - not 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 1. Part 2). I have booked three library blocks (computer lab & print sources) on Wednesday, April 25, Monday April 30 and Monday, May 7. The assignment will be due on Monday, May 14.

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 her Castelology 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; Learn about prosperous peasant life after the Black Death from the short video Yeoman England; The Monk's Manor is a 45 minute video about archeologists digging up a Monastic manor;  History Learning Site's Medieval Manor Houses webpage 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, watch Monastic 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 Jerusalem,Jihad, and Destruction.   A great documentary on the Crusades isThe Crescent and the Cross  (1 hour 30 minutes). Christianity; A History; The Crusades (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4).  

  •  Tuesday, April 24 - Take up #1-7, p. 63. The revival of trade and growth of towns. Mr. Zoller's Video Podcast; the Revival of Medieval Trade. Hosford Atlas pp. 19-20 & 31. Working alone or in 2s or 3s, answer the following questions: 1) How did its location help Coventry grow? 2) How big did Coventry grow in the 14th century? 3) Were Medieval towns very big by modern standards? 4) What kinds of businesses were found in Coventry? On p. 31, answer the following: 5) What were the main trade goods of Europe in the Middle Ages? 6) What cities dominated Mediterranean trade? What League dominated northern European trade? Handout: Medieval Guild Regulations. Do the questions on the handout.  Read pp. 58-63. Do #1-7, p. 63. Watch Mr. Zoller's Video Podcast; Medieval Guilds. 
  • Wednesday, April 25 - Attendance in the classroom then we will go to the Library computer lab.  Ms. Clark will go over important research information including an introduction to Bibme.org.  This is an online bibliography constructing site which will enable you to write perfect bibliographies in a fraction of the time it usually takes to do so.
  • Thursday, April 26 - Take up Medieval Guild Regulations. Introduction to Medieval Church architecture - Romanesque to Gothic. PowerPoint - Romanesque to Gothic Architecture. Super-deluxe Benoy field trip and demonstration of Medieval engineering. Handouts: Romanesque to Gothic Architecture - online only - unless you request a copy. If time: Mr. Benoy's slides of Medieval European churches. Read pp. 63-69. Do #1-6, p. 69. 
  • Friday, April 27 - Take up #1-6, p. 69. Video: David Macauley's Cathedral and questions.

 Social Studies 11

***Here is a set of summary notes for the Social Studies 11 course -- excellent to study from for the final exam.

I expect our next test is in about 2 weeks. The mark breakdown for the test is as follows: 70 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 5 map items (1 mark each) and 2 from a choice of 4 long answer questions (10 marks each). The total is, therefore, out of 95 marks.

We will watch the Canada Remembers video series to trace Canada's involvement in World War II.  There is another outstanding series that you should watch if you are interested in Canada's role in the war. From military historian Norm Christie, the series is called For King and Country -- not to be mistaken for CBC's "The Journal" episode entitled King and Country.  Access six 47 minute episodes at the Knowledge Network's For King and Country page.


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