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Contact me by e-mail at: kbenoy@nvsd44.bc.ca
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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.
Social Studies 8
We are now in a rather long unit -- the Middle Ages -- and we will not test again for another week or so.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 is The Crescent and the Cross ( part 1, part 2; 1 hour 30 minutes). Christianity; A History; The Crusades (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4).
- Monday, April 30 - Report to the classroom for attendance, then we will go to the Library computer lab to work on the Medieval research assignment.
- Tuesday, May 1 - 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 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." Work on your research project.
- Wednesday, May 2 - Mark Steel's video on Geoffrey Chaucer (Part 1, Part 2, Part 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. Watch Horrible Histories; The Crusades. Read pp. 69-74. Do #1-6, p. 74.
- Thursday, May 3 - Take up #1-6, p. 74. Introduction to the Crusades. Watch Terry Jones' The Crusades; Pilgrims in Arms.Questions: 1) What started the First Crusade? 2) What did crusader knights hope to gain? 3) Why did peasants join the crusade? 4) Why were Jews persecuted in Medieval Europe? 5) How did the "Peoples' Crusade" end? 6) What was the relationship between the crusaders and the Byzantines? We will not get a chance to watch his following two documentaries, but if you can, be sure to watch them yourself: Jerusalem,Jihad, andDestruction. 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 1, part 2; 1 hour 30 minutes).
- Friday, May 4 - Professional Day - no classes. Why not work on your medieval research project?
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 to be next Tuesday -- though we may start the next unit on Monday -- depending on progress this week. 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.
- Monday, April 30 - Take up sidebar 5-21, p. 123 & #1-3, p. 125. Video: The Valour & the Horror; Savage Christmas; Hong Kong 1941 and questions. 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, May 1 - Complete The Valour & the Horror; Savage Christmas; Hong Kong 1941 and questions. If we have time, I will begin looking at the issue of the Holocaust. D
- Wednesday, May 2 - Take up homework.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.
- Thursday, May 3 - Hand in POW assignment from the Valour and the Horror video. Complete the Holocaust video material. If time -- Introduction to post-war Canada. PowerPoint Post 1945 Canada. Prepare for the unit test on Tuesday.
- Friday, May 4 - Professional Day. Catch up on missed work. Study for the unit test.
