The Culture Vultures

This week in World Cultures, we’re continuing our unit on North Africa and Southwest Asia by comparing and contrasting the ancient Egyptian civilization with that of the Sumerians from Mesopotamia. We’ll stay in North Africa for a few days discussing just how people adapt to living in the largest desert on Earth–the Sahara! We’ll wrap up desert life by discussing the unique culture that arises from living a nomadic life in inhospitable places.

Our first Social Studies CBA will be on Friday, Nov. 6. I will update our assignment page tomorrow with the names and due dates of our activities for this week!

This week in Texas History, we’re continuing our look at Empresarios and Immigration. We’ll complete the notes over section 5.1 tomorrow, and then take a look at the life of Moses Austin. Of course, we’ll also see why his son, Stephen F., is known as the “Father of Texas”  by reading, note-taking, and finally, putting ourselves in the shoes of possible immigrants looking to get some land in Austin’s Colony.

Our first Social Studies CBA will be on Friday, Nov. 6. I’ll update the Assignments page tomorrow with names and due dates of this week’s activities…

I apologize for the late update this week!

In World Cultures, we’re wrapping up our unit on Government and Economics by reviewing Types of Industry and Types of Economies today and taking a QUIZ tomorrow!

In Texas History, we’ve begun a new unit on Missions and Mexican Independence. We started by learning about 5 important Texas missions, and starting today, students will be working on creating their own Mission Plan. This will be a multi-day project, due next Tuesday!

Good morning, 7th graders!

We’re continuing our study of Explorers and Conquistadors this week, and we’ll have an open-notebook quiz on Friday. That means your notebook needs to be in order! Here’s what’s coming up for the rest of the week:

• Tuesday: European Explorers Meet Native Texans (3.3)
• Wednesday: Successes and Failures (3.4)
• Thursday: French Explorers (3.5)
• Friday: Chapter 3 Quiz!

Next week we’ll move on to a closer look at how the Spanish, in particular, created settlements in Texas with the Mission-Presidio system.

The amount of activities and assignments for Texas History is going to be ramping up now. Make sure you are keeping up with your agenda (for due dates) and your notebook!!

-Ms. Phillips

Whew! I’m a day behind getting this posted, because my weekend was consumed with getting everything graded and in on time! (Teachers also have to struggle to keep up with their work.)

But now that that’s done, here’s what’s coming up this week as we begin looking at Economics:

• Tuesday: Types of Industries
• Wednesday: Economics Vocabulary
• Thursday: Types of Economies
• Friday: Types of Economies

We’ll be having a short Economics quiz next week, but we’ll try to keep this topic as simple as possible. Just like Government, this is an institution that we’ll revisit in every region as we study for the rest of the year!

Have a great week!

-Ms. Phillips

I’ve posted tutorial times for this week and upcoming assignments. Please use the appropriate tabs at the top to view this information!

This is the final week of the first grading period. All missing or incomplete assignments should be turned in by Thursday!

We will not be using class time to catch up on work–this must be done on your own time. I will be after school for tutorials on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Please come see me if you need help!

Good afternoon, 6th graders!

I will return Monday, and we will return to our overview of governments. On Monday, we’ll start our government vocabulary. Tuesday we’ll review everything we’ve learned about government so far (limited v. unlimited; rule by one, few, or many; and types of government). On Wednesday, we’ll have our government quiz!

We’ll finish our introduction of government on Thursday by creating maps of democratic and nondemocratic countries around the world. On Friday, we’ll have the laptops again, so that you can compare how a handful of governments around the world function.

Good afternoon, 7th graders!

I will be back on Monday, and we will resume our Native Texans poster project. We’ll be in the computer lab on Monday to finish gathering research and graphics, then we’ll have Tuesday and Wednesday in class to put the poster together. The finished product is due on Thursday, Oct. 1!

On Thursday, we’ll look at everyone’s posters and begin taking notes on the different groups. Friday will be our last day of working with Native Texans as we finish our notes and begin looking ahead to the cultural exchange between native groups and European explorers.

In World Cultures this week, we’ll be wrapping up our first unit on Citizenship and Culture. Here’s a look at what we’ll be doing:

• Monday: PISD Migration Map activity
• Tuesday: Culture Vocabulary
• Wednesday: Citizenship and Culture Review
• Thursday: Citizenship and Culture Test
• Friday: School Picture Day

I’m looking forward to a great week!

This week, we’re going to wrap up our introductory unit on Texas geography by focusing on the Four Regions of Texas. Here’s a snapshot of the week:

• Monday: Reading and taking Cornell Notes over section 1.4
• Tuesday: Creating a map of the four regions of Texas
• Wednesday: Beginning our Four Regions Postcard project
• Thursday: Continue working on postcards
• Friday: School Picture Day, Four Regions postcards due

We will not have a test over this first unit; the Four Regions Postcards will be considered your end of unit assessment. We’ll talk more about it this week!