October 10-14

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/.
Expect a unit test around Friday of next week (September 30), worth around 75 marks. 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.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 Wednesday, September 7 posting.

Social Studies 8

Expect the next unit test in about two weeks. However, be sure to be making and using your flash cards every day to master vocabulary and names. Your test on Rome will include the following: 40 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 5 definition items (2 marks each) and 3 long answer questions (6 marks each). The total is, therefore, out of 68 marks. You can earn up to 5 bonus marks for submitting at least 25 correctly made flash cards (term or name only on the front and definition or why the person is important on the back) at the time of the exam. You may not hand these in late to earn marks; they must be submitted when you write the test.

Be sure to visit the BBC's Roman Empire pages. There is plenty of fascinating material to interest anyone interested in this ancient empire.

• Monday, October 10 - Eat Turkey (or Tofu if you are so inclined) and relax. Enjoy the Thanksgiving break -- unless you are one of those who have not handed in all of their work -- you should catch up!
• Tuesday, October 11 - Hand in the Architecture Hunt assignment. Take up #1-6, p. 10. Watch The Western Tradition; Early Christianity (you may need to register to use this resource -- but this is American public television and they do not sell your contact information, so it is safe for you to do so) and do the questions. Assignment: Conversion to Christianity -- Imagine that you are a young Greek person living in the city of Rome. Write a letter to your parents in Athens explaining why you have decided to give up worshiping the old Greek Gods and become a Christian. You will have to find out something about both Ancient Greek religion and early Christianity to do this. The assignment will be marked out of 10 and will be marked on both content and composition. It is due next class. Note: When we deal with religion in this course it is not with the intention of supporting one religious view over another. What we want to do is to understand basic beliefs of each religion and know something about the impact that any particular religion has had on the world. We do this using an historical approach.
• Wednesday, October 12 - Hand in the Conversion to Christianity assignment. Video Legions of Rome (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) andquestions. Read pp. 10-12. Do #1-6, p. 12. You might enjoy playing a small game from the BBC - Romans vs. Britons.
• Thursday, October 13 - Take up #1-6, p. 12. Look at the sidebar on p. 11. Video: Constantine and questions. Read pp. 12-16. Do #1-6, p. 16. Bring coloured pencils to next class for map work.
• Friday, October 14 - Take up #1-6, p. 16. Complete watching Constantine and complete the questions. Hosford Atlas, pp. 3 & 4. Screencast on the Decline of Rome. Also look at this video of the changing map of Europe during this time. Map Assignment: The "Barbarian Invasions." 10 marks. Complete for next class.

Social Studies 11

We just completed a big unit test and we will now finish our last Government unit - a short one on Provincial and Municipal government. You will receive a take-home test on Friday -- to be returned next Monday. We will, however, start the History unit on Friday, before you receive the test. Flash card marks will not be added to this test, though it is a very good idea to continue making and using flash cards to use in reviewing before the provincial final exam.

There is a major research assignment starting now, the Family History - Immigration Assignment (With additional options for International and First Nations students.) The due date for this work is not until right after the Christmas holidays, to allow plenty of time for research and discussion with family members.)

• Monday, October 10 - Eat turkey (or Tofu if you are so inclined) and relax -- unless you have incomplete work to submit!
• Tuesday, October 11 - Take up homework. Comparison of BC Provincial and Federal systems of Government. Video BC's Government House. Watch this video on the work of an MLA -- Having Your Say Through Your MLA. While doing so, do the following: 1) note the tasks that an MLA is expected to do, and 2) List similarities and differences between the setup of the Provincial Legislature and the Federal Parliament. Download and read Welcome to the House to fill in any gaps and to better understand the workings of provincial government. You might also like to look at other brochures and documents from this website. Government (red) texts. Read pp. 170-178. Do #1-3, p. 178. Note: Municipal Government will be tested using a take home test on Friday.
• Wednesday, October 12 - Take up homework, #1-3, p. 178. Municipal government introduced. Video & questions on Provincial and Municipal Government. Read (red book) pp. 186-196. Do #1-6, p 196. Read (blue book) pp. 245-246. Do #2-4, p. 246.
• Thursday, October 13 - Take up #1-6, p 196 (red book) and #2-4, p. 246 (blue book). Take up homework. Discuss Aboriginal self-government. Mayor Mussatto's PowerPoint on Municipal affairs. Write a paragraph to a page explaining why we should study History. 10 marks. Due next class.
• Friday, October 14 - Introduction to History. Family History and Immigration Assignment or alternative (see above) assigned and explained. Take home test assigned. Read pp. 4-10. Do #1-3, p. 9 and the questions in figure 1-2, p. 6 and 1-5, p. 8.

History 12

Topic #3 Plan

Topic #3 Questions

Essay #2

• Monday, October 10 - Eat turkey (or Tofu) and enjoy the break -- or, better still, work on essay #2 and your Topic #3 questions.
• Tuesday, October 11 - Russia Before the Revolutions and The Russian Revolutions. (Base notes). Be sure to look at the excellent resources at The History Guide's Russian Revolution Resources.Spartacus Schoolnet's Russian Revolutionaries page has links to great material. Scott Masters has a decent PowerPoint on the revolution. If you are interested in finding out more about Lenin, try Lenin; Revolutionary (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4).
• Wednesday, October 12 - The Russian Revolutions (Base Notes). Be sure to look at the excellent resources at The History Guide's Russian Revolution Resources. Spartacus Schoolnet's Russian Revolutionaries page has links to great material. Scott Masters has a decent PowerPoint on the Revolution. Watch The Russian Revolution (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.) You might also have a look at World War I; The Russian Revolution (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4) - this deals with the importance of the war in leading to the momentous events of 1917.
• Thursday, October 13 - The USSR From Lenin to Stalin (Base Notes). You should consider watching the following biographical treatment, Stalin (Part 1, Part 2).
• Friday, October 14 - Complete From Lenin to Stalin (Base Notes) and begin The Stalin Revolution; Collectivization and Industrialization (Base Notes). If you have an hour and a half to spare, watch Stalin; Man of Steel.

October 3-7

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/.
Expect a unit test around Friday of next week (September 30), worth around 75 marks. 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.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 Wednesday, September 7 posting.

Social Studies 8

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

We have just completed the Geography unit. The unit test is on Monday, October 3. Expect it to be around 75 marks. You need to memorize some important information for the exam, but mostly it will involve answering questions using your Canadian Oxford School Atlas 7th edition. All material that we have covered so far, and will cover this week, is fair game for the test.

• Monday, October 3 - Geography Unit Test. Return Geographical Essentials and the Canadian Oxford School Atlas 7th Edition. Look over the new textbook if you have some time.
• Tuesday, October 4 - Test post-mortem (discussion of how the class did and how things can be improved in the future). Time Line Field Trip. Introduction to the Greco-Roman world. Watch What the Romans Did For Us; Life of Luxury & What the Romans Did For Us; Ahead of Their Time. List Roman inventions that we need and use today. Read Patterns of Civilization, pp. 2-6. Do #1-6, p. 6.
• Wednesday, October 5 - Take up homework. Video - Roman City and questions. . Note: Block 2 will be visited by the Public Health Nurse for about 30 minutes and will need to see the remainder of the film online -- or come in and see it after school -- Strangely this did not occur; I imagine it will be rescheduled. Block 4 is not affected.
  
• Thursday, October 6 - Take up the video questions on David Macauley's Roman City. Introduction to Classical Architecture -- how the Romans built and how this knowledge is the foundation of modern building today. PowerPoint on Roman Architecture -- from Mr. Benoy's Comparative Civilizations 12 course. If we have time, we will watch What the Ancients Knew; The Romans. Read the handout and do questions for homework. Also complete the Architecture Hunt assignment -- value: 10 marks and due next Wednesday. Are you interested in learning more about Roman engineering? Check out the BBC's animation on the Roman Colosseum.
• Friday, October 7 - Take up handout questions. Introduction to Ancient Religions: Paganism, Judaism, Mystery Cults and Christianity. Watch Ancient Roman Religion. (On your own, watch this tongue-in-cheek account of Roman Religion - History With a Twist of Lime; The Early Roman Religion. You might not get all the jokes, or you might find them cheesy, but the information about Roman religion is good and at 7:00 minutes, it is an easy review.) We will also watch two more short clips that examine Pagan influences on early Christianity: Mithras - Pagan Origins of Christianity and Osiris - Pagan Origins of Christianity. Be sure to list things that seem to be common to these pagan religions and Christianity. Read pp. 6-10. Do #1-6, p. 10 for homework. Don't forget to complete the Architecture Hunt assignment.

Social Studies 11

The next unit test is scheduled for Friday of this week. The mark breakdown should be roughly as follows: 35 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 2 from 4 long answer questions (6 marks each), and one essay question on what should be done with the Canadian Senate (12 marks - 2 x 6). The total is, therefore, most likely to be out of 59 marks. Create and use flashcards now to master terms and names. This not only helps you with subject content, but it ensures that you know what test questions are asking. At least 25 flash flash cards are needed to earn the 5 bonus marks.

No text-book can possibly be completely up to date, so keep current by using reliable websites.Be sure to look at the Parliament of Canada website. Download, read and study from the Guide to the House of Commons.

• Monday, October 3 - Take up #1-2, p. 264. Do #1-3, p. 267. Overview of the Judiciary - PowerPoint - go to the section on the Judiciary. Read pp. 270-275. Do #1-3, p. 275.
• Tuesday, October 4 - Take up homework, #1-3, p. 275. Complete PowerPoint material from last class Comparison of Adversarial vs. Inquisitorial court systems. Read pp. 277-288. Do #1-3, p. 280, & 1 & 4, p. 288. Please bring your red Government text to class next day -- along with your blue text.
• Wednesday, October 5 - Take up homework. Video’s on the court system. While watching the video, identify the positions of court officials and note the roles that they play. Introduce concept of Human rights – examine text p. 294. Students to list what they would expect fundamental rights to be in Canada - Think-Pair-Share. Use Government text p. 60 to list Schweitzer’s list of fundamental rights. Government text pp. 152-158. Read pp. 292-312. Do #1, p. 297, #2-3 sidebar p. 303, #1 & 3, p. 304, #3, p. 308 & #2, p. 312. Remember to bring 25+ flashcards to the test Friday to earn 5 bonus marks.
• Thursday, October 6 - Take up homework. Examine the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - see PowerPoint; The Constitution. Summarize each of the key sections in your notes. Effect of passing the Charter on Canadian law -- all laws in Canada must conform unless passed using the notwithstanding clause or if they can withstand a challenge based on their being within reasonable limits. Study for the test next class
• Friday, October 7 - Unit Test on the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of government. Read pp. 240-246. Do #1-3, p. 246, & sidebar #1, p. 244.

History 12

Topic #2 will be tested on Tuesday. Expect the breakdown of marks to be roughly as follows: 60 multiple choice questions (1 mark each), 10 map items (1 mark each), 5 definitions (2 marks each) and 2 long answer questions (10 marks each). The total is, therefore, out of roughly 100 marks.

Topic #2 Plan.

Topic #2 Questions

Topic #3 Plan

Topic #3 Questions

• Monday, October 3 - The Paris Peace Conference PowerPoint. Base lecture notes. If time - AV material: Video Make Germany Pay Currently available in two parts on YouTube; Part 1, Part 2. - The War to End All Wars - but note, the conference was held in Paris, not Versailles as the film indicates - this film is from a US perspective -- something I do not always present effectively in class (5 minutes), World War One: 1914-1918 Map - a multimedia summary of the war's main events. If you can manage the time, watch Secrets of the Dead; Killer Flu - which deals with the dangers of the flu pandemic that killed up to 30 million people at the end of the First World War.
• Tuesday, October 4 - Unit Test on Topic 2. Be sure to pick up the plan for Topic #3 and the Topic #3 Questions. Note: Because we have a shortened day today, I will switch the test to Wednesday and go over Wednesday material today.
  
• Wednesday, October 5 - The League of Nations. Base lecture notes.For a good treatment of the League's dealing with a major dispute, see ITV Schools' TV's The League of Nations and the Manchurian Dispute (20 minutes). There is much fascinating material at theLeague of Nations Homepage. M. Cliffe has a couple of online PowerPoints on the League: The League of Nations and Failures of the League.
• Thursday, October 6 - Quick test post-mortem. The Origins of Socialism. Base lecture notes. A great comedic presentation of Marx' ideas and their relevance today can be had in British Socialist Mark Steel's talk The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx - warning: there is some strong language used.
• Friday, October 7 - Origins of Socialism and Russia Before the Revolutions. (Base notes). See Susan Pojer's PowerPoint on the 1905 Russian Rebellion.

September 26-30

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/.
Expect a unit test around Friday of next week (September 30), worth around 75 marks. 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.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 Wednesday, September 7 posting.

Social Studies 8

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

We will complete the Geography unit this week. Be sure to get help for anything that gave you trouble. The unit test will be on Monday, October 3. Expect it to be around 75 marks. You need to memorize some important information for the exam, but mostly it will involve answering questions using your Canadian Oxford School Atlas 7th edition. All material that we have covered so far, and will cover this week, is fair game for the test.

• Monday, September 26 - Memory game - another variation on the countries list. Take up the Longitude worksheet. Social Studies Latitude and Longitude Race - Join into groups of 3 or 4 people -- complete the handout before any other group in the class. Earth Grid worksheet - complete for homework.
• Tuesday, September 27 - Take up the Earth Grid worksheet. Watch Longitude & Time Zones and The Remarkable Story of the Discovery of Longitude by Dr. Callahan . (If you have the time and interest, why not also look at Cambridge University's video The Longitude Problem.) Introduction to time zones. See Geographical Essentials, pp. 48-54 and watch this short clip on the International Time Zone, and NASA e-Clips; Real World Longitude and Time Zones. Time Zones worksheet. Complete for homework. If you get a chance, and want to get clearer about time zones, watch GEG-103-OL: Time Zones. A very helpful description of longitude and time zones can be found at this site from Iowa State University, which quizzes you as you work through it.
• Wednesday, September 28 - Take up the Time Zone worksheet. Watch World Time Zones and Why We Have Time Zones. Second time zone worksheet - This one for Block 2 and this one for Block 4. Complete for homework.
• Thursday, September 29 - Take up the second time zone worksheet. Geography Review materials. Do the first section and then any sections that gave you trouble as we worked through the unit. The Unit Test for Geography is on Monday, October 4.
• Friday, September 30 - Sign out new texts (return old ones after the test). What is History? Why study it? What will we study this semester? Introduction to History text and to SQ3R study method. 3 Timeline assignment - personal/family/world - 10 marks, due Tuesday.

Social Studies 11

We just finished a unit, so the next test is now a few weeks away. I will post the date and the exam breakdown as we get closer to it. The next unit test will be on the Legislative/Executive/Judicial branches and will be similar in size to our last test.

No text-book can possibly be completely up to date, so keep current by using reliable websites.Be sure to look at the Parliament of Canada website. Download, read and study from the Guide to the House of Commons.

• Monday, September 26 - Take up #1-3 in the sidebar on p. 233. Reminder of the physical layout of Parliament. Video - Government in Canada; Citizenship in Action; Our National Parliament; the Inside Story and questions. Discuss the job of a Member of Parliament - within and outside the House of Commons. Go online to read On the Job With a Member of Parliament). Read 226-231. Do #1-3, p. 231.
• Tuesday, September 27 - Take up homework, #1-3, p. 233. Introduction to the Senate – Pros and cons of present setup (Be sure to look at the Senate material at Mapleleafweb). Essay Writing. There will be an essay question on what shall be done with the Canadian Senate on the next unit test. Introduction to Essay Writing. Read pp. 47-54 in Red Government text. Do #1-4, p. 48 and #1-5 and 7 on p. 54. For homework, come up with a three column table listing: reasons to keep the Senate as it is; reasons to change it; reasons why we should get rid of it. If you have time at the end of the class, discuss it with people around you.
• Wednesday, September 28 - Introduction to the executive branch. Role of the Queen, Governor General and Prime Minister. Read “Constitutional Monarchy” on p. 222-224 & "The GovernorGeneral" on p. 234. Identify points for and against getting rid of the Queen and Governor General. Should Canada become a Republic? Why or why not? Identify 3 reasons for and 3 reasons against doing so. Look at the Monarchist League of Canada and the Canadian Monarchist Online websites for arguments supporting the monarch; seeCitizens for a Canadian Republic for arguments against retaining the monarchy. There has also been an active debate in Australia and New Zealand on this topic. Web searches would yield useful information.
• Thursday, September 29 - Take up homework. Discuss the role of the PM., Cabinet & the bureaucracy. Watch Yes, Minister episode. Read pp. 234-240. Do #1-4, p. 240. Assignment: Value 5 marks, Identify by name each member of the federal (national) cabinet and their department. This is an assignment, not a homework check, so accuracy is part of the mark.
• Friday, September 30 - Take up #1-4, p. 240 and hand in the Cabinet assignment. Lobbying & Pressure Groups. Look at the list of institutionalized groups on p. 259 (Click here for an online list of federal lobby groups - interest groups and social movements). Explain what lobbying is and look at the activities of several lobby groups -- also describe Pressure Groups and their purpose. Divide into groups (with printed - or online --background information) Each group is to come up with a poster to make their group's case to the public. Poster Assignment - on a regular size sheet of paper -- 8 1/" by 11" is fine (due Monday) . Read pp. 258-267. Do #1-2, p. 264. Do #1-3, p. 267.

History 12

Essay #1 is due on Friday of this week.

Your next exam is approaching. If you compare the original plan with what you see below, you can see that I think we will be a little ahead of plan and should, therefore, be able to plug in some video material before the unit test. It is still my intention to test on Tuesday, October 5. Expect the unit test to be structured roughly as follows: 60 multiple choice items. (1 mark each), 10 map items (1 mark each), 5 definitions and names (I give you the term and you define it or say why the person is important - valued at 2 marks each), and 2 long answer questions (10 marks each). The total value of the test is, therefore, likely to be 100 marks.

The standard explanations of the origins of World War I are outlined in Origins of World War I - Part 1 and Part 2, or, try this 50 minute video World War I; To Arms 1914 -- then look at the rest of the series if you want to gain some real expertise. Watch Yale University Professor John Merriman's lecture on the Origins of World War I. He also has lectures posted on other aspects of modern history that a Google search would quickly lead you to. World War I film footage is in black and white and this "colours" our view of the conflict. Computer technology has allowed original film to be colourized. Watch World War I in Colour to see it as it has not been seen before (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7). Each film is about 40-50 minutes long.

Here is a blank Map of Europe right after World War I. Neatly label the countries and submit it with your Topic #2 questions (10 marks).

I now have the PowerPoint for World War I available online, click here.

We do not have enough time to watch enough video material in class. I will post material for you to see on the blog and highly recommend that you watch as much as possible.

Topic #2 Plan.

Topic #2 Question

• Monday, September 26 - Introductory video & music. Complete Lecture material for 1914, The Opening Phases of the War (base notes) and PowerPoint. I expect we will also manage to get into Stalemate - 1915-1916 (base notes).
• Tuesday, September 27 - Introductory music - The Corries:The Green Fields of France and Callin Doon the Line by Alan Brydon. Complete any material from 1915-1916 (base notes) and look at Exhaustion; 1917 (base notes). With any time remaining, look at Mr. Benoy's summer of 2010 slides of the Western Front.
• Wednesday, September 28 - Introductory music: On the Road to Passchendaele andPasschendaele. Complete 1917 (base notes) if we did not do so on Tuesday. 1918 - War's End (base notes - 1918). Be sure to look at the BBC's animated map of World War I. Another very good summary of the war's events can be found at World War One: 1914 - 1918 Map - This provides a fine description of the big events of the war and is superb summary material.
• Thursday, September 29 - Introduction - a selection of First World War popular songs from Mr. Benoy's hard drive. Total War; the German Experience (base notes).
• Friday, September 30 - Essay #1 is due today. Introductory Music: I Vow to Thee My Country. The Paris Peace Conference PowerPoint. Base lecture notes. If time - AV material - The War to End AllWars - but note, the conference was held in Paris, not Versailles as the film indicates - this film is from a US perspective -- something I do not always present effectively in class (5 minutes), World War One: 1914-1918 Map - a multimedia summary of the war's main events. If you can manage the time, watch Secrets of the Dead; Killer Flu - which deals with the dangers of the flu pandemic that killed up to 30 million people at the end of the First World War.