A Return to Bartering
6 Dec
Many Indian villages are returning to bartering amid a nationwide cash crisis. Hard currency is in short supply following the government’s surprise decision to scrap 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in an effort to curb corruption. The BBC visited a village in the state of West Bengal to meet farmers and laborers who are trying desperately to survive without cash in hand. This article makes me think about ancient history and how people traded.
Photo by Axel
The Silk Roads (Videos)
5 Dec
The legacy of Ancient China: Chinese silk was important in opening trade routes to the west. The trade routes stretched westward from China through central Asia to Mesopotamia and Europe. I have included several videos which tell the history of the Silk Roads, as well as talk about the Silk Roads today. Watch a video and comment about three things you learned about the Silk Roads from one or more of these videos.
Three More Geography Games!
4 Dec
I am a little late, but as promised I am sharing three more geography games. It seems like some of you really enjoyed the speed test game where you had to name all of the countries in the world. Here are some more games you might like that were featured in this blog post by another teacher:
GameOn World is a multiplayer geography game developed by a high school teacher and his student in Portland, Maine. The game is similar in structure to that of Kahoot. In GameOn World the teacher selects a game category (cities, places, and timeline are three of the nine categories) and starts the game. The students join the game by going to GameOn.World and entering a game pin. In the location and timeline games, students answer the questions by moving a placemark on a map or selecting a date on a timeline. In some of the other games students answer by choosing a number on a sliding scale. See the directions in the video above.
Capital Toss is a free geography game from ABCya. The game has a state capitals mode and a country capitals mode. In both modes of the game works the same way. The name of a state or country appears at the bottom of the screen and three rows of capital names scroll across the top. When the correct capital name appears players virtually toss a ball at it. After ten correct answers players can choose a new ball. Three consecutive incorrect answers ends the game.
Where is…? is another good game geography game. This game uses a popular format for geography games; the name of a city is presented to the players and they have to click the map to guess where the city is located. Players are given immediate feedback on their accuracy in the form of a measurement, in kilometers, of the distance between their guesses and the correct answers.
Have fun playing the games!
December Birthdays
30 Nov
Happy birthday to the following students celebrating their birthday in the month of December: Seohyun (2), Sanjeev (3), Hyewon & Jinwon (9), Natalie and Nathan (13), Akshaya (14), Shanmugam (24), Samira (30), Riley (31). Let me know if I forgot anyone or made an error.
Cool Maps – Population Growth
28 Nov
Mr. Jet shared this map on Twitter and I thought it was cool. World Population History is an interactive map and timeline of the world’s population growth from 1 C.E. to today. The map is essentially a heat map of population centers. The timeline at the bottom of the map features little place marks that feature developments in science, trade, and major political events. You can click on the markers in the timeline to learn more about each development. Check it out!
Cities of the Indus Valley
22 Nov
How was the Harappan civilization similar to other civilizations we have studied? What made it unique? Watch a video and add a comment.
Out of Eden Learn Footstep #3 Photos
20 NovHere are a few photos from Out of Eden Learn, Footstep #3 – Neighborhood Walk Photos. We are enjoying the photos and stories from this footstep project. Please remember to post your photos and story on Out of Eden Learn, reply to any questions your receive, and thank other students from our walking party who comment or praise your work. Continue to comment and share your questions in our walking party.
Photo by AllbyMyself
Photo by Don’tStealmyPotato
Photo by Donoughtman
Photo by Jeveboss
Photo by Keeptrekking
Photo by the DiscoDog
Monsoons and India’s Climate
17 Nov
What is a monsoon? As we enter monsoon season in India, how do these seasonal winds shape, influence , or affect India’s climate?
Incredible India
17 Nov
Here is the advertisement we watched in your last class. There is another advertisement (#2) along with some short videos which show the amazing physical and human geography of India.
Photography Workshop
15 Nov
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
We look forward to seeing your photos for Footstep #3 this week. I am happy that Mr. Aneesh and Mr. Carl stopped by our classes to share some of their knowledge about taking good photographs. We hope you apply some of their ideas, as you take photos of your neighborhood. The directions for the project have been shared with you and are on Out of Eden Learn. I have also shared both of these presentations and will add them to Moodle under Out of Eden Learn. Remember to write a story to go along with your two photos. Prompts or directions have been shared as well, along with a rubric.
Help me find this book!
14 Nov
Please help me find this book. If you borrowed it, please return it to the library as soon as possible. I sign out books under my name and will not let students borrow books from my class if I cannot get them returned. In the future, you will need to sign out it out from the library. Thanks for helping me find it. – Mr. Martin
Geography Awareness Week: November 13 – 19
13 Nov
Image source: http://www.fhsu.edu/geo/Events/GAW/
Each year, over 100,000 Americans actively participate in Geography Awareness Week. Established by Presidential proclamation over 25 years ago, this annual public awareness program organized by National Geographic Education Programs (NGEP) encourages citizens young and old to think and learn about the interconnectedness of our world. During this week, I will post fun games for you to try out. Here is the first one, which many of my students have enjoyed:
Countries of the World Quiz – a timed (15 minutes) quiz to see how many countries you can identify on a world map
Taking Neighborhood Walks (OOEL – Footstep #3)
11 NovWe are launching Footstep #3 today and Monday (11/14). The footstep is posted on Out of Eden and you can see the directions there. They have also been added to the Moodle folder for Out of Eden Learn, along with a rubric. Here is a video of the directions, along with a a video I made of some photos made by students. You will see more examples of photos by looking at examples done by other students in our walking party. Out of Eden Walk has an Instagram page where you can see Paul’s photos. Click on the link to see some amazing photos!
Gallery Walk & Reflection (Out of Eden Learn)
11 Nov
Photos by Rob Martin
In class this week, students learned about SMART goals and created a one goal for a learning habits or area they wanted to improve in our new trimester. Students also reflected on Out of Eden Learn, Footstep #2 and responded to these two questions in their notebook:
What did you learn about your neighborhood or what did you notice about your neighborhood?
How does this activity connect with Paul’s journey and/or the Out of Eden Project?
If I Were President…
8 Nov
Congratulations to Jinwon and Hyweon, who wrote submissions for the New York Times. Click HERE to read what they wrote. Great job! We are proud of you.
November Birthdays
31 Oct
Happy birthday to the following students celebrating birthdays in the month of November: Miruna (13), ChaeYeon(17), Paula(24), and Gautham (27). If I left someone off the list, let me know. Have a great day!
Otzi’s Clothes
29 Oct
Image source: Courtesy South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, http://www.iceman.it
I just saw this article on Twitter via the website Archaeology.org. A new study has concluded that the wardrobe of the 5,300-year-old ice mummy known as Ötzi was assembled from five different animal species. To find out what animals were used to make Otzi’s clothes, click HERE to read the short article. It’s amazing how new scientific techniques continue to answer questions about Otzi.
Week Without Walls Pics
29 OctWhat an exciting week of learning! Your teachers and Utsaah are putting together an album of the best of the best of our photos we took during our week in Panchgani. You can also see all of my Tweets and photos, if you look at my Twitter feed (@DigitalNomadRob) on the right side of my blog. I also posted some photos to my Instagram page, which is also on this blog. Check them out, while we put together your album. We hope you had a great week of learning and were challenged to try new things and to make new friends. This week in advisory, you will do some reflection on your week. Enjoy your long weekend, and see you on Tuesday, November 1st (2H).
All photos taken by Rob Martin!
Creating Neighborhood Maps
23 Oct
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Students have finished Out of Eden Learn, Footstep #2 – Creating a Neighborhood Map – and written a story using one of the five prompts provided by Out of Eden. Here are is a sample of some more of the maps that were created. After Week Without Walls, we will share the maps in a Gallery Walk with our classmates. Click on the images to see a slideshow.
Social Studies Updates
19 Oct
Peer editing with a focus on capitalization (Photo by Rob Martin)
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Photo by Rob Martin
Peer editing (Photo by Rob Martin)
We have had a busy two weeks leading up to our Week Without Walls trip on Monday. You are in the process of finishing your Egypt or Mesopotamia Inquiry Project (G.R.A.P.E.S. Historical Themes), and most of you have also finished your latest Out of Eden Learn activity, Footstep #2, Creating a Neighborhood Map. I have shared some photos here of some of our work, and will share some more here on the class blog and my Twitter handle (@DigitalNomadRob – #G6SSAISC). Out of Eden Learn has already seen some of your maps and has shared them as well. Great job!
You will be given class time tomorrow and Friday to work on your project. Please finish them over the weekend, if you do not finish tomorrow. When we return from Week Without Walls on Tuesday, November 1 (No school on Monday, Oct. 31), we will only have four days left in trimester 1. Our goals for the rest of the trimester are:
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To make sure everyone has finished their summative (final) project.
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To make sure you have finished Footstep #2 (Out of Eden Learn) and posted it on their site.
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Written comments on other posts from our OOEL walking party – Part 3 of Out of Eden Learn, Footstep #2.
When these things are done, you will need to write a reflection and add both #1 and #2 above to your e-portfolio (More on this later!). Keep up the good work!
Living with Less Plastic
18 Oct
I saw this nice infographic on social media that was shared by The Tree Foundation in Chennai. Do you live with less plastic by doing any of these things?
Out of Eden Learn: Uncovering the Everyday – Share Your Photo!
16 Oct
This is a photo taken by a former student, Kennedy Porter (8th grade), when she did Out of Eden Learn. It is currently on display at Harvard University’s Monroe C. Gutman Library Gallery. Out of Eden Learn is inviting students to take photos of something interesting in their neighborhood. See the directions below. You can share your photo via Instagram or Twitter or email your photo and a brief description (example: what it is and where it was taken) to: learn@outofedenwalk.com
I have shared a few photos I have taken in my neighborhood, Kottivakkam.
Decorated dump trucks in Kottivakkam, Chennai, India (Photo by Rob Martin)
Decorated dump trucks in Kottivakkam, Chennai, India (Photo by Rob Martin)
Kottivakkam neighborhood (Photo by Rob Martin)
Kottivakkam, Chennai, India (Photo by Rob Martin)
October Birthdays + Next Week
8 Oct
Happy birthday to all of the grade 6 students celebrating birthdays this month: Leo (15), Lokesh & Seongwon(19), Junwoo (25), Yejin (26) and Hana (28). If I left anyone off this list or made an error, let me know. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and see you on Monday, which will be a 1A Day. I am enjoying my vacation in Vietnam and have added some photos to my Instagram account which is on my class blog. Here is one photo I took the other day.
We look forward to hearing about your vacation, whether you stayed in Chennai or traveled. Next week we will continue working on our research project and also introduce Out of Eden Learn Footstep #2 – Creating a Neighborhood Map. Students in our walking party have already begun posting their maps. You can see their maps and comment.
Week Without Walls Blog
28 Sep
Check out the Grade 6 Week Without Walls Blog – all your questions answered! It will be updated regularly, so check it out often.
Out of Eden Walk
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