Weekly overview, Sept. 24

Part One - Weekly Update

Part Two - Some Helpful Suggestions (email homework relates to this reading).

I. What’s going on in class this week in LASS7 Rodgers:

Class Website

Always review the weekly schedule on the class website.

Projects/Units tab

1. If you miss any notebook entries, please refer to the projects/units tab - Notebook TOC. 
2. Also on the projects/units tab Look out for the Roman Unit page that is taking shape, 
3. and the Stargirl page also taking shape. 
4. Important links for each unit will also appear in the weekly calendar.

Notebooks will be collected this week, five or six a day in a random manner until all notebooks are graded. Grades for five key entries, will be awarded - two for SS7. The notebook will be graded as a whole as a major writing category grade in LA7

SS7 - Beginning the Roman Unit: Review of foundations of Rome - Etruscans, Greeks, Republican government, Patricians and  Plebians, Senate and Assemblies, Equestrian  Class, Roman Censor, 12 Tablets, Civil Rights. Punic Wars. Our unit will then jump to the collapse of the Republic next week, followed by the Julius Caesar debate. We will survey key emperors, and major shifts in the empire, before examining some of its later weaknesses, division and Fall of the West. Along the way, we will examine the religions of the day, look at the birth of Christianity and its eventual rise in the East and West. We will also look at powerful women’s issues, concrete and Roman Architecture, trade, how the Parthians (Persians) viewed Rome, and examine the life of Cicero. We will develop a class wide historical atlas of the rise and fall of Rome, discuss the canonization of the New Testament and cover early Christian schisms. Along the way, we will evaluate some great Sword and Sandal film classic clips from the 1950s and 1960s - Spartacus, Ben Hur, I Claudius (BBC), and Cleopatra to examine the accuracy of some common conceptions of Roman History, along with a brief discussion of Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar.

LA7

We will continue reading the in class novel, Stargirl. Students will receive directions on our first speaking contest to take place the week of October 2 in class based on the completion of our outside Realist Fiction novel assigned the end of August. The final round of the contest will take place on Wednesday, October 4, in the library and judged by Mr. R, Ms. King, and Ms. Merrill. We will continue writing entries in our notebook based on Stargirl that will be used to help us develop a personal narrative piece and a record keeping system for our second class pocket book that will start at the end of the week. Details to come.

(homework question sent in email follows from this section below):

II. Some helpful suggestions 

for completing assignments and getting help: A couple more suggestions to doing your best.

Give me Five!

1. When you think you are finished with an assignment:

• Reread the directions to make sure you did everything needed to fully complete the assignment. Finish what you did not cover.
• Reread your work. 
• Correct any mistakes.
• Add details that you know you can add that will improve the assignment.
• Fix any parts of  the assignment where you know you cut corners or did not do very well on. 

2. Put a star next to your best part of the assignment.

1. At the bottom of the front page of the assignment, write down any questions that you would like to ask about the assignment before turning the assignment in.

Things to do before starting an assignment

1. Find the listing for the assignment on the website. Refer to any in class directions or handouts.
2. Read the directions completely. Highlight any directions that need rereading for better understanding.
3. Gather ALL of the necessary materials before starting the assignment.
4. Do all of the required reading before attempting to reply to the activity prompt, questions, or activity sequence. (Usually the reading will make the directions much clearer).

How to ask for help 

1. Always bring your work in progress to class so the teacher or friend can see where you need help.
2. Reread the directions.
3. Always sketch out or plan what you think you are bring asked to do if you are not completely sure. Sometimes this step will help you understand the directions.
4. Highlight specific elements of the directions that you need help with. 
5. Email a friend and/or the teacher if at home with your specific questions.
6. If in class, 

• ask a neighbor what they are doing with this assignment during the appropriate work session.
• ask the teacher the specific questions that you have.
• Make sure you get the help you need from the teacher before you walk away. Never walk away if you do not understand after asking for help.

7. If you still need help, then schedule additional time to meet with the teacher - recess, lunch, after school, or during advisory.

1. If you need more time, you can ALWAYS turn in an assignment (does not apply to quizzes or tests) late, with a small penalty, if you need to redo part of or all of an assignment. 

• BUT if you can show a good effort of the work, the penalty may be waived for one day in order to make corrections. Always bring work to class in order to get help with good feedback.
• It is always better, for your own complete learning and class performance to redo and do an assignment better, that to turn in a poor or misunderstood effort. The grading penalty is usually less than an improved assignment.