All homework needs to be on its own side of a page. The homework number must be written at the center of the top of the page, with your choice of at least 3 key terms through the homework underlined or highlighted, so that you can look at it and in 2 seconds know what it is about. Handwriting and typing are both acceptable.
If a date and day of the week for an assignment disagree, the assignment is due the later of the two.
The date of this "blog post" will not change. The most recent homework will usually be on top, but read down until one you did, because sometimes I will post a few days at once, with future homeworks on top of the current one.
New semester, new site
https://sites.google.com/site/berman9thgradeworldspring/
REVIEW!
Take a few minutes (do not make yourself crazy) to peruse (look especially at blue terms and red section titles) these chapters for these days:
1-4 for Thursday 1/21
5-8 for Friday 1/22
9-11 for Monday 1/25
FINAL EXAM 1/26 8:30am
The presentation conclusion test has been downgraded to a quizzam (worth half a test) and will be next Tuesday (Jan 19).
This special quizzam/quiz/quizzicle will have 34 questions (one about each presentation), and each question will be worth 1.5 points, so it is out of 51 points. (Note: if I can't find/make questions for some presentations, there may be fewer questions, resulting in the quizzicle having between the value of a quiz and a quizzam, between 25 and 50 points, but remain at 1.5 points per question, so each question will be worth less than on other tests/quizzes we have had, which were 2 points each.)
Some questions I will use exactly as submitted.
Some questions I will alter and use.
Some questions I will throw out and write my own question on that content.
Studying that you do for the quizzam will double as studying for the final, because it is mostly the same material. Plus, of course, about the test.
Your final exam will be Jan 26 at 8:30am. It will have 100 questions, each worth 1 point, for a total of 100 points, and is worth 10% of your semester grade, equivalent to the project and slightly more than a test.
We will spend Jan 20, 21, 22, and 25 preparing for the final exam.
David Bowie died yesterday (1/10). He sang about feeling under pressure, something you may know something about.
Presentation schedules: 9, 10
OVER BREAK
No, we don't have homework. But maybe, just maybe, you'd like to watch TV, but want to claim to your parents that you are doing homework. So watch Guns Germs and Steel (3x60min) or How We Got to Now (6x60min), or, of course Crash Course.
For turning in online versions of papers you must do BOTH
1. In turnitin go to class ID 11328073 password empires. Project is the only assignment in there.
2. ALSO submit it to my online form.
3. I know that is duplication, but it's all required, and points will be taken off if I see one version isn't there.
For Monday (or whenever your project is due):
Think about the rubric. Think about what kind of presentation you would learn the most from: how would it engage you? How would the information be organized?
Your presentation must be at least 7 and no more than 9 minutes. At 7 minutes your timer will hold up a green card saying "2 minutes left," at 8 minutes a red card saying "1 minute left" and at 9 minutes the class will applaud you even if you are in the middle of a sentence.
9 minutes x 4 presentations = 36 minutes, which only leaves 60 seconds between presentations. The first presentation must begin within 60 seconds of the start bell. Have all your projects loaded and ready when the start bell rings.
HW 43 due Thursday 12/17
Think about your project and the project instructions. Write down three questions you have about either your topic or the project instructions.
HW 42 due Wednesday 12/16
Fill out the Project Idea Worksheet. Here is the project instruction sheet.
HW 41 due Tuesday 12/15
Study the Cities chart on the bottom of 273 and The Thousand and One Nights box on the bottom of 276. Explain them each in a sentence.
HW 40 due Monday 12/14
Read about science! And art! Read pages 275 and 277 and answer the questions there. Use the words Arabesque, calligraphy, astrolabe, and armillary sphere in your answers and underline those terms.
HW 39 due Friday 12/10
Read pages 262-268. Answer the two questions on the bottom of 266 AND use all of the blue terms (also listed on page 268) in a very short story.
Homework 38 due Tuesday 12/8
Draw a map of the Old World and mark these trade routes around 500 CE. (Asia ends right where the map cuts off). Mark Mecca and Medina. Write one sentence about why Arabia was so important.
Homework 37 due Monday 12/7
Watch Crash Course Islam. Take at least 50 words of notes.
About the test Friday.
Homework #36 due Tuesday 12/1
Watch Crash Course Buddha and Ashoka. Write down five proper nouns that he mentions, in addition to Buddha and Ashoka.
Homework #35 due Monday 11/30
Read 189-197 about Guptas and Mauryans. Make a T chart of Guptas vs. Mauryans. Include leaders, dates, and any facts you can come up with. Students (understandably) often confuse these, so getting them even a little straight in your head is great. Is Chandra Gupta Maurya a Gupta or a Maurya? [If you are travelling over break, this homework assignment can be done without a textbook. You can do the research online.]
And hey, look, mercenaries! In today's (Wednesday's) NYTimes!
Homework #34 due Wednesday 11/25.
First, read the paragraph in the middle of 196 about the ancient Silk Road, and look at the maps in the chapter to see the Silk Roads. Add those roads to the map you drew last night. Then, read/skim this article published YESTERDAY about currently building the Silk Road. Then write two sentences:
The ancient Silk Road and today's Silk Road are similar in that...
The ancient Silk Road and today's Silk Road are different in that...
Homework #33 due Tuesday 11/24
Draw the map on the first page of Ch 7. Label ten things (you might need other maps to fill them in).
Quiz Monday.
It will be either 12 questions multiple choice or 10 questions and a short response. It will cover the following terms:
Huns
Atilla
Germanic tribes
Octavian
Cleopatra
Byzantium (city)
Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire)
Constantinople
Goths
Diocletian
mercenary
Julius Caesar
Mithraism
ISIS/DAESH
IS
HW #32 due Wednesday 11/17
Spend 10 minutes reading (and looking at the pictures) of http://www.mysterium.com/mithras.html. Then write a paragraph about Mithraism. What does it tell us about the Roman Empire? Does it tell us anything about Persia? Could David Ulansey be wrong about his theory about Mithraism?
Access to your grades is in the Other than Homework page to your right. GRADES LINK UPDATED TUESDAY 8:30 AM
Quiz Tuesday on the terms for HW #31 plus:
republic
empire
plebeian
patrician
Romulus
Carthage
Gladiator
Jesus
Pantheon
acropolis
#31 for Monday 11/16
Define, using your textbook:
dictator
Punic Wars
Hannibal
Triumvirate
numina (164)
Pax Romana
Fresco
apostles
diaspora
bishop
pope
Constantine
#30 for Thursday 11/13
Look at all the pictures from chapter 6. Write a sentence each about the most interesting 10 things you saw in a picture.
#29 for Tuesday 11/10
Have a parent sign the bottom of your contract. Bring it in to class. If you don't bring it tomorrow, you get no credit for homework and you still have to bring it in another day. Here is the blue pamphlet. Here are links to both in other languages. (link fixed)
Watch Crash Course #10 Rome. Write a paragraph on the difference between a republic and an empire.
For Friday
Prepare for quest
For Thursday
Review the Ch 5 vocab list. Cross reference it with your notes from the videos. Come to class tomorrow with questions about terms you aren't familiar with. If there are any terms underlined in blue in Ch 5 that I forgot to put on the list, add those to the list.
HW #27 due Tuesday 11/3
Yesterday (Sunday) was the NY Marathon. Look up the original marathon (in your textbook or elsewhere) and draw a picture of the story of the original marathon.
HW #26 due Monday 11/2
Draw a map of Alexander's empire.
HW #24 due Friday 10/30
Read 142-149. Write a short story from the perspective of a Greek using all the blue words. Underline those blue words.
HW #23 due Wednesday 10/28
Read this article from yesterday's (10/26/15) New York Times. Answer these questions:
1. How are the Mycenaeans related to the Minoans?
2. How are the Mycenaeans related to later Greeks?
3. Why is this archaeological find important?
4. What's the story with the combs?
5. What is one other thing you found interesting in the article?
PLEASE PUT HW # ON TOP OF EVERY HW.
PLEASE HIGHLIGHT OR UNDERLINE A COUPLE OF KEY TERMS ON EVERY HW.
It is now after 3:00 so no HW due Tuesday.
For Monday 10/26
Get your notebook in order. See syllabus for notebook requirements. I'll be checking them next week.
Also, prepare for a quiz on ch 4 vocab: Hatshepsut
Ramses II
Kush
Meroe
Assyrian Empire
Nebuchadnezzar
Persian Empire
Susa
Cyrus and Darius
Royal Road
satrap
Zoroaster
Confucianism
Filial piety
Lao Tzu
Taoism
Legalists
Qin (Ch’in)
Shih Huang-ti
Li Bing
Terra cotta army
Great Wall
Find a random number generator. This one is fine. Have it pick 5 random numbers between 1 and 80. Write those down. Then go to the Tao Te Ching, and read the sections with those numbers. Summarize (part or whole) of each one very briefly. Each section is very short, but dense.
HW#21 for Wednesday 10/21
Learn the Chinese dynasties song (google for it).
HW #20 For Tuesday 10/20
Write a short story from the perspective of a miner, soldier, or trader from ancient Persia or Assyria using all the blue words between pages 95 and 103. Underline those blue words.
For Monday 10/19 (HW 19)
Spend at least 15 minutes reading Ted Chiang's 2002* short story "Tower of Babylon". It is 27 pages in book form, but it is just one long web page, which might be awkward to read, sorry about that. You don't have to read it all, but it is a great story, so you might want to. Write two sentences: 1. Why did this science fiction writer rewrite a story from the Bible? 2. Why do you think he used Yahweh, referring to the monotheistic Jewish God instead of the names of Babylonian gods?
* Originally published in Omni magazine in 1990, reprinted in his book Stories of Your Life in 2002.
For Friday 10/16
Prepare for our test tomorrow.
1. Study the rubric I handed out on Wednesday. Be sure your comparisons are side by side. I won't look in two different paragraphs to make a comparison, and to be good the comparison should be in one sentence. To help with that, organize your essay to help make that clear: each paragraph should be about both things you are comparing/contrasting. Each paragraph should be making a comparison/contrast.
2. What does it mean to compare vs. to contrast?
3. On the test tomorrow I'll give you a choice of 3 of these 4 essay prompts.
A. Compare and contrast monotheism and polytheism before 500 BCE. How are they similar and how are they different?
B. Compare and contrast 2 of the following: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism. Discuss how their locations or time periods they arose impacted their beliefs.
C. How did cultural diffusion work differently in different parts of the ancient world?
D. Compare and contrast one religion we studied in chapter 3 (Hinduism, Buddhism or Judaism) with one we studied in chapter 2 (Egyptian, Mesopotamian). Discuss how their locations or time periods they arose impacted their beliefs.
YES, it is okay to bring in anything you know from outside the class as evidence, AS LONG AS IT IS BEFORE 500 BCE. So Christianity, Islam, Romans, etc. don't count.
4. Go over the vocab list.
Homework #18:
Go through the list of vocab terms for chapter 3. Write a few words for each item that you haven't already, and circle any that you are unclear about.
Homework #17:
Read pages 77-82. Write a paragraph using the following terms.
Abraham
Palestine
Canaan
Hebrews
Torah
Bible
Solomon
covenant
Moses
Exodus
Sinai
Ten Commandments
Homework #16 due Tuesday 10/13:
Read page 83 and answer the 4 questions. If you have some time, this might be a good time to skim the chapter.
No quiz Friday. Homework tonight: meditate (try not to think) for one minute. Yes, you can do this on the train!
HW #15 due Thursday 10/8: Write one long sentence using the following terms and making it clear you know what they mean:
Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama
enlightenment
Four Noble Truths
Eightfold Path
nirvana
sangha
stupas
HW #14 due Wednesday 10/7: Draw pictures of dharma, karma, and moksha.
HW #13 due Tuesday 10/6:Pick any 7 terms on the vocab list (only pick terms between Vedas and Brahmins). Find a definition (in your book or otherwise) for each of the 7 and draw a picture of it.
For Monday 10/5 (#12)
Look at this chart. Make two lists of languages: 1. What languages are NOT mentioned there? 2. What languages are you surprised are related?
For Friday 10/2 (SEE HW FOR THURSDAY BELOW!)
Study for a quest (half a test, more than a quiz) on the vocab from ch 2. There will be 20 multiple choice questions and a short creative response based on your understanding of the vocab.
Homework #11 due Thursday 10/1
Look down the list of Ch 2 vocab. Circle all the words that don't look familiar to you. For each, look it up (in your textbook or otherwise). Then write a story about a time-traveling teenager that involves all the terms. Underline your terms. There must be at least 5 terms in your story, so no matter how confident you feel, pick the 5 that you are weakest on.
Homework #10 due Wednesday 9/30
Read pages 51-55. Write a poem (50-100 words) from the perspective of an ancient Chinese person (noble, peasant, king, warrior, etc, your choice) discussing the Mandate of Heaven and dynastic cycle. Mention the Shang and Zhou and oracle bones.
Homework #9 due Tuesday 9/29 (see Monday homework below)
Watch Crash Course world history #4 (Egypt). (at Youtube or Khan Academy).
Draw a big chart like this. Write or draw 5-10 distinctive elements of Egyptian civilization and then in the other columns compare or contrast by writing or drawing similar or different elements or explaining why they didn't have comparable elements.
Watch Crash Course world history #2 (Indus Valley) and #3 (Mesopotamia) (at Youtube or Khan Academy). Answer the following questions:
1. What is John Green's problem with the word civilization
2. What were seals for?
3. What was great about the Great Bath?
4. How did the Indus Valley Civilization collapse?
5. Why did Mesopotamians trade?
6. Who was Hammurabi?
7. What are the Assyrians known for, and what happened to them?
Test Friday 9/25 will be on: (see homework for Tuesday below!)
Vocab from the Ch 1 vocab list, including the map and timeline instructions on that list, and:
- Gilgamesh
- Enkidu
- Cain
- Abel
- river valley
- Indus River Valley
- Nile River
- Yellow River (Huang He)
- Mesopotamia
- Tigris & Euphrates
- civilization
- cultural diffusion
The test will consist of 40 multiple choice questions, 2 pts each (which may include map and timeline elements), plus drawing a map (20 pts). The rubric for the map drawing is 1 point for each of the following being recognizable in context. No labels are necessary. Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Asia (2pts), Arabia, India, Southeast Asia peninsula, Strait of Gibraltar, Strait of Bosphorus. Isthmus of Suez, Isthmus of Panama, islands in the Caribbean, islands in Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan, Britain, Anatolia, Korea.
Homework #7 due Tuesday 9/22
Spend 10-15 minutes reading the Epic of Gilgamesh. Do not try to finish, because it is long.
Who is Gilgamesh? Who is Enkidu? Write one sentence describing each of these two main characters.
Homework #6 due Monday 9/21
Draw a pretty world map, like for HW 4. You can use the one you did for HW 4, or do it again. Mark the 4 river valleys from the map at the start of Ch 2. Skim chapter 1 and review any terms that are underlined and blue and unfamiliar. Skim chapter 2 and look at all the pictures.
Homework #5 due Friday 9/18
Watch Crash Course Agricultural Revolution (at Khan Academy or youtube). Write 50-100 words answering: Does John Green think agriculture was a revolution? Why?
(optional): read this article called "Were We Happier in the Stone Age?" (Whigs are conservatives, like Republicans.)
Homework #4
Draw a new world map on a blank piece of paper. Mark everything required in the Ch 1 vocab list.*
Use your textbook or the internet.
Also, draw the simple timeline in the vocab list.
* Your world map must include: Africa, North America, South America, and Eurasia (Eurasia must be much bigger than other continents). Asia must include 3 peninsulas on its south. Europe must be much smaller than Africa. Europe and Africa must almost touch at Gibraltar. Asia and Europe must almost touch at the Bosphorus. Asia and Africa must just touch at Suez. North America and South America must just touch at Panama. Your map must include islands in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. Your map also must include: Australia, Japan, Britain, Anatolia, Korea.
Homework #3 due Wednesday 9/16
1. Spend ten minutes reading the table of contents of your textbook, then, from what you read in the table of contents, in a rhyming poem of 40-80 words, define the term history.
2. (optional) Read this article ("Letter to My Son" by Ta-Nehisi Coates from the Atlantic July 2015). I just read the whole book length version of this article (the book is called Between the World and Me) and it's the most powerful writing I've read in a long time, and maybe says some essential things about not just what it means to be American but what it means to be human in history.
Homework #2 due Friday 9/11
Draw 18 (both sides) little world maps. No labels are necessary. Really spend between 1 and 2 minutes per map. Set a timer. Here is a blank map in case you want to glance at it.
Homework #1 due Thursday 9/10:
1. Read the syllabus.
2. Then fill out this form.
