October 29

I'm sorry that I didn't post this blog earlier today, but it was kind of a busy day. If you missed today's class, here's what happened: I did a homework check on the website notes (see previous post) on the Social and Political System in the Soviet Union. Additionally, both classes had access to the laptops, and were able to work on the Edgar Allan Poe webquest.

Don't forget to study for your Chapter 6 Quiz, which is on Monday. In case you missed it, here is the study guide for the upcoming quiz:

Format:

1. Matching Section
2. Short Answer Section

Topics:

• Key Terms
• Basic Features of the Centrally Planned Economy
• Basic Economic Questions
• Differences between a Market Economy, Mixed Economy, and a Command Economy
• Characteristics of Socialism
• What is communism?
• State farms (sovkhoz) and Collective farms (kolkhoz)
• How the Soviet economy worked
• What was the role of the Communist Party, Gosplan, Ministries, and Directors in the Soviet economy?

These are the key terms that will appear on the quiz:

• capital
• scarcity
• Gosplan
• enterprise
• market economy
• mixed economy
• command economy
• state farms
• collective farms
• producers
• production target
• consumers
• "storming"
• goods
• means of production
• the second economy
• socialism
• communism
• means of production

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 6 Quiz, Monday, November 1st
• Soviet Timeline Project is due Thursday, November 4th

October 28

Today, depending on whether or not you're in 9A or 9B your homework assignment might vary slightly. This is the basic homework assignment, please check to make sure which of these assignments apply to you:

• read p.190-194 in the text
• print off website notes
• study for the Chapter 6 Quiz (Monday)

Here's the hyperlink for the website notes, please print off the PDF file (the Handout link is at the bottom of the page):

http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9Btut9.htm

This is just a gentle reminder: your Soviet Timeline Project (this is a group project) is due next Thursday (one week from today). Has your group been meeting to finish this project off?

October 27

Depending on whether you're in 9A or 9B, the class was a little different today. If you're in 9A or 9B, you missed some class notes if you were away. In the notes, we compared the three economic systems that we'll be studying this year: the command economy, the market economy, and the mixed economy. If you're in 9B, you should have notes on economic values of the economic systems as well. 9B continued working on the Edgar Allan Poe webquest, as did 9A, however, 9A had the laptops for about an hour today. No due date has been set yet for this webquest, although it looks like it will be around mid-November.

Don't forget to study for your Chapter 6 Quiz, which is on Monday!

October 26

Please check the previous blog posting for the hyperlink to the Social Studies Web. You need to print off the handout from the bottom of the Soviet Economy webpage for tomorrow. Today we started the Edgar Allan Poe Webquest in class. Details of this project are available here:
http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/poe.htm

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Soviet Timeline Project due Thursday, November 4th
• Soviet Economy website notes due tomorrow
• Chapter 6 Quiz is on Monday, November 1st

October 25

Today you wrote your Chapter 5 Quiz. If you missed class today, then you will have to schedule a time to write this quiz with me. We started Chapter 6 today. I gave you some notes on Features of the Soviet Economy in class, specifically State Ownership and Control of the Means of Production, and Central Planning of Production. You are required to finish off the notes on the Soviet economy that we started in class, you can find the information on page 167 from your text. We also talked about Scarcity briefly, and the Basic Economic Questions. I also gave you the Chapter 6 Quiz Study Guide. The Chapter 6 Quiz will next Monday, November 1st. You must print off some notes from the Social Studies Web again, this time the notes will be on the Soviet Economy. Here's the hyperlink for the notes:
http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9Btut8.htm

Please scroll down to the bottom of the webpage, open up the Handout link, and print off the PDF file.

Here is the Chapter 6 Quiz Study Guide

Format:

1. Matching Section
2. Short Answer Section

Topics:

• Key Terms
• Basic Features of the Centrally Planned Economy
• Basic Economic Questions
• Differences between a Market Economy, Mixed Economy, and a Command Economy
• Characteristics of Socialism
• What is communism?
• State farms (sovkhoz) and Collective farms (kolkhoz)
• How the Soviet economy worked
• What was the role of the Communist Party, Gosplan, Ministries, and Directors in the Soviet economy?

These are the key terms that will appear on the quiz:

• capital
• scarcity
• Gosplan
• enterprise
• market economy
• mixed economy
• command economy
• state farms
• collective farms
• producers
• production target
• consumers
• "storming"
• goods
• means of production
• the second economy
• socialism
• communism
• means of production

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Soviet Timeline Project is due Thursday, November 4th
• Chapter 6 Quiz is on Monday, November 1st
• Soviet Economy notes (from website) due Wednesday, October 27th
• Finish notes from class, due tomorrow

October 22

Today we finished off the notes booklet by doing a short reading on Khrushchev and Brezhnev. For the rest of the time you had some time to work on your group project, the Soviet Timeline. This project now has a due date, it's due on Thursday, November 4th. Today was your last class period to work on this project. I also collected the Totalitarianism Webs, which were due today. If you didn't hand them in today, they are now late. Just a gentle reminder that your Chapter 5 Quiz is on Monday. This is a very difficult quiz, so please prepare for it.
Here's the study guide for the quiz once again:

Format:
1. Matching Section (there are two matching sections)
2. Multiple Choice Section (15 questions)
3. Short Answer Section

• Key Terms, Key Events, Key People (see list later in this blog)
• War Communism and NEP (successes/failures; Why was the NEP introduced? Why was the NEP unique/unusual?)
• Lenin
• Stalin
• Totalitarianism (7 characteristics)
• Five Year Plans/Industrialization
• Goals, Objectives, Achievements and Results of the Five Year Plans
• WWII and its effects on the USSR
• Khruschev
• Brezhnev
• Soviet Leaders (Lenin to Brezhnev, key accomplishments, key events during their time in power)

Here's a list of key terms, key events and key people that you should know for the quiz (some may appear in the matching section, and some may appear throughout the quiz):

• collectivization
• Cold War
• Lenin
• Stalin
• Khrushchev
• Brezhnev
• "Brezhnev Doctrine"
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Trotsky
• de-Stalinization
• re-Stalinization
• War Communism
• NEP
• satellite countries
• propaganda
• detente
• The Great Purge
• private ownership
• means of production
• Five Year Plans
• totalitarianism
• industrialization

Here's a quick list of upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 5 Quiz Monday, October 25th
• Soviet Timeline Project due Thursday, November 4th

October 21

Today we talked a little bit about the rapid industrialization of the USSR, focusing on the effects of the Five Year Plans. Additionally, we talked about the effects of WWII on the Soviet Union. For the rest of the period you had some time to work on your Soviet Timeline project. No due date has been set for this project yet, but it will be in early November. Don't forget to study for your Chapter 5 Quiz, which is on Monday, October 25th.

October 20

Today in class, you did a short reading on the Five Year Plans and Industrialization in the USSR, as well as one on WWII. These readings were from a notes package that I gave to you. This notes package covers these two topics as well Khrushchev and Brezhnev. For the rest of class time you were working in your Soviet Timeline groups, gathering information about key dates and key events in Soviet history.

Don't forget to study for the Chapter 5 Quiz. If you missed the study guide for this quiz, please look for it on this blog in an earlier posting. Additionally, your Totalitarianism Web is due this Friday. Please make sure that you hand it in on time. If you hand this project in on Monday, it is two days late and you will lose 20% on this assignment.

October 19

If you missed today's class you will have to find some time to re-schedule your Chapter 4 Quiz with me. People who finished their quiz early were able to have some time to work on their Totalitarianism webs (these webs are due on Friday, October 22nd). We started a new group project as well today, with the final product of the group work being a Soviet History Timeline spanning the years 1914-1992. You will have time to work on the Timeline project in classes this week. No firm due date has been set for this project yet.

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Totalitarianism Web due October 22nd
• Chapter 5 Quiz is on October 25th

See you tomorrow in class!

October 18

Welcome back from your Fall break. I hope that you had a restful, stress-free break. In case you missed what we did in class today, here's a quick summary: I returned several assignments and projects to you, I gave you time to work on your Totalitarianism web, I reminded you to study for your Chapter 4 Quiz (which is tomorrow), and I gave you a study guide for your upcoming Chapter 5 Quiz. The assignments that were returned were: the Biography assignment, the Letter to the Tsar assignment, the Soviet Dictionary Project, and the Wanted Poster/Obituary.
Here's a quick summary of upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 4 Quiz is tomorrow October 19th
• Chapter 5 Quiz is Monday, October 25th
• Totalitarianism web is due Friday, October 22nd

Here's a quick recap of the Chapter 5 quiz study guide:

Format:

1. Matching Section (there are two matching sections)
2. Multiple Choice Section (15 questions)
3. Short Answer Section

Topics:

• Key Terms, Key Events, Key People (see list later in this blog)
• War Communism and NEP (successes/failures; Why was the NEP introduced? Why was the NEP unique/unusual?)
• Lenin
• Stalin
• Totalitarianism (7 characteristics)
• Five Year Plans/Industrialization
• Goals, Objectives, Achievements and Results of the Five Year Plans
• WWII and its effects on the USSR
• Khruschev
• Brezhnev
• Soviet Leaders (Lenin to Brezhnev, key accomplishments, key events during their time in power)

Here's a list of key terms, key events and key people that you should know for the quiz (some may appear in the matching section, and some may appear throughout the quiz):

• collectivization
• Cold War
• Lenin
• Stalin
• Khrushchev
• Brezhnev
• "Brezhnev Doctrine"
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Trotsky
• de-Stalinization
• re-Stalinization
• War Communism
• NEP
• satellite countries
• propaganda
• detente
• The Great Purge
• private ownership
• means of production
• Five Year Plans
• totalitarianism
• industrialization

October 7

Today, I collected your Obituary/Wanted Poster assignment. There were only a few people from each class that didn't have it finished. If this assignment isn't handed in by the end of the day, then I will not accept it after the Fall break. Additionally, you were given class time to work on your Movie Review assignment. Here are some important dates that you must be aware of:

• Movie Review assignment is due Monday, October 18th
• Chapter 4 Quiz is on Tuesday, October 19th

I did not set a due date for the Totalitarianism web because we'll be working on it after the Fall break. You have tomorrow (Friday) off, and you don't have school until October 18th. Please enjoy the time off!! See you after the break!

October 6

We did a quick review today of Lenin's economic policies, specifically War Communism and the New Economic Policy (NEP). I also reminded you to print off the Lenin/NEP notes from the Social Studies Web again, this is due tomorrow (and I will be doing a homework check on it). If you can't remember how to get to these notes, please check the previous post on this blog. We also looked at Stalin and Totalitarianism, with a quick reading from the textbook (p.118-119). I want you to print off the handout on Stalin and Totalitarianism from the website as well. Simply follow the hyperlink included below, and then you should be able to print off the PDF file. Here's the hyperlink:
http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9Btut5.htm

Don't forget that your Obituary/Wanted Poster assignment is due tomorrow! Your Movie Review assignment will be due the first day back from our Fall break.

To summarize, here are some important dates:

• Obituary/Wanted Poster due October 7th (this will not be accepted after the break!)
• Lenin/NEP notes due October 7th
• Stalin/Totalitarianism notes due October 7th
• Movie Review (good copy) is due October 18th
• Chapter 4 Quiz is on October 19th

October 5

Today in class you were given some time to work on your Obituary/Wanted Poster assignment, which is due on Thursday, October 7th. We also looked at doing "Power Notes" for the start of Chapter 5, specifically information about Lenin's economic policies. You did "power notes" on War Communism and the New Economic Policy (NEP). You should know this material really well for tomorrow's class!! We also worked on the Movie Review assignment a little bit. I gave you a handout on "How to Write a Movie Review", so if you missed today's class you missed this handout as well. You will be given some class time to work on your Obituary/Wanted Poster tomorrow as well as the Movie Review. I also asked you to print off notes from the websites, on this page of the Social Studies Web please scroll to the bottom to print off the notes on Lenin and the NEP.
Here's the hyperlink:
http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9Btut4.htm


Here are some key dates:

• Obituary/Wanted Poster due Thursday, October 7th
• Movie Review due Monday, October 18th
• Chapter 4 Quiz is on Tuesday, October 19th
• Print off Lenin/NEP/War Communism from the website by October 7th

October 4

In class today I collected your Soviet dictionary project. Some of you did not hand it in, so you will lose 10% per day until Wednesday, which is the last day that I will accept this project. I gave you a due date for the Obituary/Wanted Poster assignment, it's due on October 7th. I will not be accepting any obituaries or wanted posters after the Fall break. I returned your Chapter 3 Quiz, and we did corrections, so you'll have to get the correct answers from one of your classmates if you missed today's class. I also gave you a study guide for the Chapter 4 Quiz which we'll be having on Tuesday, October 19th. You'll have to get the study guide from someone who was in class today.
Here's a quick warp up of announced due dates for assignments, projects, tests:

• Obituary/Wanted Poster due October 7th
• Chapter 4 Quiz on October 19th
• Soviet dictionary project is now overdue