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Contact me by e-mail at: kbenoy@nvsd44.bc.ca
This blog provides lesson plans for each week. Look ahead to see where we are going. Look back to see what you might have missed. All assignments are provided here. If anything is underlined, click on it to bring up the document or, in the case of videos, link to an online version of what was scheduled for seeing in class or as enrichment.
So you just want to see photos of Sutherland activities? Click here to see my Picasa Albums.
Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/. Admittedly, I do not update this site regularly, so there may be dead links.
I take a few photos around the school, if you are interested, click here to see my Public Picassa photo albums.
Grad Boat Cruise photos are now posted.
Recent albums include the Centennnial Theater and Sutherland concerts of the Asahikawa High School Wind Orchestra, the Senior Girls' soccer games vs Howe Sound and Carson, The Junior Girls vs Windsor, and the Junior Boys' rugby game vs Seycove.
Social Studies 8
We are now entering the longest unit of the year -- The Middle Ages in Europe. This will involve studying all of chapters 3, 4 and 5 before we write out next test. This is a number of weeks away I will notify you of the next test with at least a week to go, but I cannot exactly predict when this will be just yet.
We will watch 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 Lance and The Weapons that Made Britain; The Longbow, Weapons that Made Britain; the Shield. 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. 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 have an ongoing major assignment -- the Medieval project. ( Part 1. Part 2). We have three library blocks booked -- April 22, April 29 and May 8. The assignment is due on Monday, May 12.
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 herCastelology 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; The Monk's Manor is a 45 minute video about archeologists digging up a Monastic manor; History Learning Site's Medieval Manor Houseswebpage 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, watchMonastic 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 minuteseach). Christianity; A History; The Crusades (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4).
- Monday, April 21 - Easter Monday Holiday.
- Tuesday, April 22 - Library Block. We take attendance in class and go to the Library, where Ms. Clark will introduce you to available resources,
- Wednesday, April 23 - Monasticism clip from the video: Connections; Faith in Numbers - Part 1, from 3:35 to 10:00. How Castles developed - Examples from Mr. Benoy's Castle slides. For fun, watch The Worst Jobs in History; The Dark Ages (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,Part 6) and The Worst Jobs in History; the Middle Ages (Part 1,Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6).
- Thursday, April 24 - Video: David Macauley's Castleand questions . If we have time we will look at slides of European Castles.(Optional)Read Castles and Fortifications; Fortifications After the Norman Conquest. Also read Castles and Fortifications; Concentric Castles. If you have time, watch one or more of the following videos on castles by Marc Morris: Episode 1, Episode 2,Episode 3. Find out about Medieval warfare in Battlefield Britain; Battle for Wales (59 minutes).
- Friday, April 25 - 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.
Social Studies 11
Our next test is a little way off -- we will complete the interwar period and World War II first. This is a few weeks off and I will post the test day when we get a little closer and I can confirm times.
We are looking at some Economics in this unit. Why not learn more. Here are some good quick intro videos: How the Stock Exchange Works, 60 Second Adventures in Economics, Mark Blythe on Austerity, How the Economic Machine Works in 30 Minutes.
- Monday, April 21 - Easter Monday Holiday.
- Tuesday, April 22 - We will begin by watching Fear the Boom and Bust; Keynes vs Hayek Rap. Take up sidebar #1-4, p. 81, sidebar questions p. 82 & #3-4, p. 85 & #1-3, p. 86. Watch Canada; A People’s History; Hard Times and do the viewing guide questions. If time we will continue with the PowerPoint on the interwar years. Read to p. 86. Do #3-4, p. 85, #1-3, p. 86 and the sidebar on p. 82. Make flash cards for this unit. On the Internet, watch The Crash of 1929.
- Wednesday, April 23 - Watch Fight of the Century; Keynes vs Hayek; Round 2 -- on Keynsian and Supply Side Economics and today's economic crisis (Great production, but I personally don't agree with the writers' conclusions -- any more than I agree with Deck the Halls With Macro Follies -- but I love their approach in teaching Economics. #3-4, p. 85, #1-3, p. 86 and the sidebar on p.82. Complete PowerPoint - Canada Between the Wars; 1919-1939. If time, watch more segments of Canada; A People's History; Hard Times. Read pp. 92-98. Do #1-5, p. 98. Oh dear! I neglected to post this on the classroom wall, so cannot expect everyone to have this done. Please add it to Thursday's homework.
- Thursday, April 24 - Take up homework. Video King & Country (sorry, unavailable on the Internet) & questions. Be sure to look back on the red note on Thursday's posting! Read pp. 100-110. Do 1-4, p. 105, sidebar questions p. 106, 107, 110 & #1-3, p. 110. If you are interested and have the time, watch this British anti-war advertisement from the 1930s to understand the roots of appeasement. Watch the 20 minute 30's documentary: The European Arms Race 1935 - 1939 part 1 andpart 2. To see Nazi Germany, watch this largely unnarrated documentary, Nazi Germany Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 & Part 9. Look at Hitler's art: Part 1, Part 2.
- Friday, April 25 - Take up #1-4, p. 105, sidebar questions p. 106, 107, 110 & #1-3, p. 110. Complete King & Country video and questions. Introduction to World War II. Begin video series and questions; Episode I; Canada Remembers; Turning the Tide). WWII series. pp. 111-115. Do #1-4, p. 115.
