September 29

Social 23

We continued watching "The French Revolution: Years of Hope" in class today. If missed today's class you missed a lot of exciting parts of the film, including: Louis XVI being imprisoned, the September Massacres, the abolishment of the monarchy, the French victory at the battle in Valmy, the trial of Louis XVI and his execution, and Charlotte Corday killing Marat. I told you that on Wednesday, October 5th your research assignment is due. As well on that day, you will have your French Revolution Unit Exam (the study guide appears below).
Upcoming important dates for Social 23 students:

• French Revolution Writing Assignment (Letter) due Monday, October 3rd
• French Revolution Research Assignment due Wednesday, October 5th
• French Revolution Unit Exam is on Wednesday, October 5th

Study guide for French Revolution Unit Exam:

The following guide will only provide you with general topics for review (how you review and study for this exam is entirely up to you).

1. Key People in the French Revolution

• Danton
• Robespierre
• Lafayette
• Louis XVI
• Marie Antoinette
• Marat
• Necker
• Mirabeau

don't forget the "philosophes"! (Smith, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau)

2. Organization of French Society:

• First Estate
• Second Estate
• Third Estate

3. Key Events in the French Revolution:

• Calling of the Estates-General
• Tennis Court Oath
• storming of the Bastille
• creation of the National Assembly
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
• Women's March to Versailles
• Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are forced to return to Paris
• Louis XVI is imprisoned
• September Massacres
• French victory at Valmy
• Louis XVI's trial and execution
• creation of the Committee of Public Safety
• the Reign of Terror
• Marat is killed
• collapse of the Committee of Public Safety
• execution of Robespierre

4. Causes of the French Revolution

• underlying causes
• immediate causes

5. Key Terms:

• Old Regime
• bourgeoisie
• assignats
• estates
• cahiers
• coup d'etat
• the Estates-General
• the National Assembly
• the National Convention
• the Directory
• Bourbon
• plus other key events and key people

Please use any notes or presentations that have been delivered in class as study materials. I will include some websites very soon to use to review for this exam, and to aid in the research assignment.

Social 10

Today we discussed the two articles regarding Albertan independence in class. We first collected ideas pertaining to arguments for and against independence that appeared in the articles. Next, I asked you to develop some ideas for or against independence. Finally, we had a class discussion on this issue, with people who were "undecided" in the middle, and people who were either "for" or "against" sitting on opposite ends of the room. I hope that you enjoyed this class discussion today.
Upcoming important dates for Social 10 students:

• Regionalism Unit Final is Monday, October 3rd
• French-English Relations Timeline is due on Monday, October 3rd

September 28

Social 10

We began our look at the topic of Western alienation today in class. I had a class set of readings from which you were to take notes. This took most of the class period. Topics covered in the note-taking session were:

• What is alienation?
• Concerns raised by Western provinces
• Regional political parties formed in the West (founding date, leaders, where they were active, and objectives of the party)
• Seeds of Western Alienation (root causes)
• Growth of Western Alienation (Great Depression, protective tariffs, OPEC, Reform Party)

I also distributed a booklet with two handouts: one of which argued for Albertan independence, and the other against independence. Here's what I'd like you to do with these articles: read them, take notes on arguments for and against, and differentiate between fact and opinion. We will be discussing these articles and issues that they raise in class tomorrow.

Social 23

We continued viewing the video "The French Revolution: Years of Hope" in class today. The main event in today's portion was the capture of Louis XVI at Varennes. I also gave you some class time to work on a rough draft of your letter assignment or you could have worked on the research assignment. I have set due dates for this two assignments. The letter assignment is due on Monday, October 3rd and the research assignment is due on Wednesday, October 5th.

September 27

Once again, I apologize for the late posting...

Social 10

We watched a couple of excerpts of the CBC News in Review. One of which was a 20th anniversary retrospective on the FLQ-October Crisis of 1970. The other dealt with the lead up to a referendum vote in Quebec in 1995. I collected extra credit assignments as well today. I'm still trying to get the e-mail distribution list working smoothly. This morning I sent out the three PowerPoint presentations that I have delivered thus far in class. If you didn't receive these presentations in your e-mail account, then you need to send me an e-mail message. Here is my e-mail address in case you didn't copy it down today: krgilchrist@cbe.ab.ca
Please review the previous posting for a study guide for the Regionalism final.

Social 23

We continued watching the video "The French Revolution: Years of Hope". The events that we watched today were: the storming of the Bastille, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Women's March to Versailles, and we were getting to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's attempt to escape from France. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow.

September 26

Sorry for the late posting tonight....

Social 10

If you missed class today, I delivered a presentation which covered a "Brief History of French-English Relations". I will be sending this PowerPoint presentation out very soon. I would still like you to reply to the original "ping" message that I sent out on Friday night. If you have a Hotmail account, the e-mail message may have been sent directly to your junk mail folder, so please look for it and respond back. If you still didn't receive the original "ping" message then you need to send an e-mail directly to me. My e-mail address is on this blog. You just need to "view my complete profile" and then you will see a hyperlink to my e-mail address on the left hand side of the website. I also gave you some time to complete gathering information on your French-English relations timelines. This timeline assignment will be due on Monday, October 3rd. Additionally, on October 3rd, I have tentatively scheduled your Regionalism Final Exam (this date may be subject to rescheduling, depending on covering topics sufficiently). It will consist of approximately 60-65 multiple choice questions. The following is meant to act as a study guide of major topics and themes that we have covered during our study of Regionalism:

1. Regions of Canada

• physiographic regions
• climatic regions
• physiographic regions (chart)
• basic Canadian geography (provinces, territories, capitals, rivers and bodies of water)

2. Regionalism

• what is regionalism?
• causes of regionalism in Canada

3. Regional Disparity

• what is regional disparity?
• what causes regional disparity?
• "have" and "have not" provinces
• what does the government do to ease regional disparity?
• shared-cost programs
• personal transfers
• equalization payments
• indicators/signposts of regional disparity

4. French-English relations

• Treaty of Paris (1763)
• Quebec Act
• Constitutional Act
• Act of Union
• Confederation
• Riel Rebellions
• WWI Conscription Crisis
• Quiet Revolution (1960-66)- Jean Lesage
• FLQ Crisis
• Parti Quebecois-Rene Levesque
• 1980 Referendum
• Meech Lake Accord
• Charlottetown Accord-referendum

5. Western alienation

• Causes of Western alienation (root causes)
• Development of Western alienation (Great Depression)
• formation of regional political parties (UFA, Social Credit, CCF/NDP, Reform, etc.)
• regional political party ideas/objectives

Upcoming important dates for Social 10 students:

• French-English relations Timeline assignment is due on October 3rd
• Regionalism Final is on October 3rd (subject to change)

Social 23

Today I distributed three handouts to you. One of which was to accompany the film "The French Revolution: Years of Hope". The other two were assignments. One of the assignments is a letter writing assignment and the other is a research assignment related to the French Revolution. I have not set a due date for either of these assignments, but I will very soon. We watched most of Part I of the film, and we reached the day of the storming of the Bastille, which is what we'll start with tomorrow.

September 23

Social 10

I gave you some time to finish the "Regional Challenges" worksheet, and if you were able to finish it you were to continue working on gathering information for your French-English Relations timeline assignment. You do not have any homework for this weekend. I have not set a due date for this timeline assignment or essay as of yet, but I will set it on Monday. Don't forget that the extra credit assignment is due on Tuesday.

Social 23

You wrote your European Geography Quiz today. After completing the quiz you had some time to complete some French Revolution themed puzzles. These puzzles are due on Monday.

September 22

Social 23

I delivered a PowerPoint presentation today covering the key events of the French Revolution. I would like to send this presentation out by e-mail once you have all responded to my initial test of the e-mail distribution list. We also reviewed the answers to the Chapter 4 questions that I assigned for homework yesterday. We also started discussing answers to the Chapter 4 "Test" (worksheet) that I handed out. Don't forget to study for your European Geography Test which is tomorrow. Please use the hyperlinks that I posted a couple of days ago to aid in your studying.

Social 10

We briefly discussed the article "Guarding Alberta's Vault" at the start of class. I had you copy down your latest assignment, a timeline and essay on French-English relations. I have not set a due date for either assignment as of yet. I gave you some class time today to do some background work for the timeline. I will give you more specific requirements and what I will be looking for when I am evaluating this assignment very soon. You will have a homework assignment for the weekend, but it will not include the timeline or essay. Please remember that if you are completing the extra credit assignment to accompany the promotional brochure, it is due on Tuesday, September 27th.

September 21

Social 10

I had you read two newspaper articles today that dealt with the topic of equalization of regional disparities in Canada. I had you summarize arguments for and against equalization payments. I also distributed another newspaper article entitled "Guarding Alberta's Vault". You are to read this article tonight, and be prepared to discuss it tomorrow in class.

Social 23

We began class by reviewing the answers to the questions that I had assigned for homework last night. I gave you a timeline of key events in the French Revolution and I discussed some key points with the class on various events in the revolution. I also assigned the following questions for homework: page 74, Q1-5. Most of you finished this in class. I have set up the e-mail distribution list for this class, so please check your e-mail tonight or tomorrow, and respond back if it you got the message. (Please respond back with the word "pong") Thanks!

September 20

Social 10

I delivered a presentation today on causes of regional disparities. If you missed today's class, you will have to get notes from a classmate. I collected your promotional brochure assignments, and returned your Canadian Geography quiz answer sheets. I would like to set up an e-mail distribution list for both Social 10 classes, so please remind me tomorrow to send around the sign up list. You do not have any homework for tomorrow, unless you did not get your brochure in on time.

Social 23

I delivered a presentation today on the Causes of the French Revolution. This presentation covered the underlying and immediate causes of the revolution, and events leading up to the storming of the Bastille in 1789. I also assigned the following questions from the textbook for homework:

• page 65 Q2, Q4
• page 70 Q1, Q2, Q5

These questions are for homework for tomorrow. Please don't forget that you have a European Geography Quiz on Friday!!

September 19

Social 10

If you are in Social 10-1 you had your library orientation today for the first part of class. Both classes wrote the Canadian Geography Quiz today. I also gave you some time to work on the next assignment, which dealt with regional challenges and "signposts" (indicators) of regional disparity. We will be exploring these issues in greater detail in the days to come. We will continue working on this tomorrow in class. Please don't forget that you have an assignment that is due tomorrow, the promotional brochure. Get it in on time!!

Social 23

We wrote the Age of Reason Quiz today in class. The results of this quiz were quite good. I also told you that I wanted to set up an e-mail distribution list for this class so if you could come to class tomorrow with a working e-mail address that will be great. This will help me with distributing notes and PowerPoint presentations to you, rather than using valuable class time copying down notes. I had you read in Chapter 4, pages 61-73, which should cover most of the major events of the French Revolution. If you did not finish reading this in class, then please finish it tonight! Also, you will be having a European Geography Quiz on Friday. The quiz will consist of two maps which you must be able to label. The first map will be a political map, which will require you to label countries of Europe. The second map will cover major bodies of water and mountain ranges in Europe. Please study for this quiz. The following might be useful hyperlinks when studying for this quiz:

• Europe Quiz
• Triviaplaza (multiple choice format)
• Europe Map Quiz
• Thrillionaire Game (multiple choice format)
  

September 16

Social 10

I collected your essay responses today in class. You were given most of the period to do research in the library for the promotional brochure assignment. This project is due on Tuesday, September 20th. Please don't forget to study for your Canadian geography quiz which is on Monday!

Social 23

I reviewed with you the answers to all of the Chapter 2 questions. Please don't forget to study for your Chapter 2 "Age of Reason" quiz.

September 15 (Part 2)

Social 10 Links for Canadian Geography:

The following is not meant to be an exhaustive list of websites, however it may be useful to examine them as a starting point in your research.

• Canadian Landscapes Photo Collection (click on "Search by Physiographic Region")
• Canadian Tourism Commission Photo Gallery
• Images of Canada from VIA Rail (select a photo album to view)
• The Parliament of Canada Photo Gallery (only useful for St. Lawrence Lowlands region)
• Statistics Canada: Thematic Maps (may be useful)
• Travel Links: Canada (Travel Canada, most useful set of links. Includes links to provincial tourism websites)

September 15

Social 10

I gave you some class time today to finish off the last exercises in your first Regionalism booklet. There is an essay-style question due for tomorrow, the topic of the question is related to factors that have led to the concentration of manufacturing in eastern Canada (mainly Ontario and Quebec).I then distributed your Promotional Brochure assignment, and discussed the requirements of this particular assignment. We will be going to the library tomorrow to do some research. This assignment will be due on Tuesday, September 20th. If you decide to do the extra credit component of this assignment, that will be due on the following Tuesday, September 27th, however, you will not receive any class time to complete it.

Upcoming important dates for Social 10:

• Promotional Brochure due September 20th
• Canadian Geography Quiz is on Monday, September 19th
• Manufacturing essay question answer (good copy) is due tomorrow
  
  

Social 23

Today we went over some of the answers to previous exercises and worksheets that you have completed. I also collected your three maps of Europe. We went over the answers to the Chapter 2 "Test", and the Age of Enlightenment crossword puzzle. I assigned the following quesions from the textbook for homework, all of which are from Chapter 2:

• p.31 Q2, Q5
• p.33 Q1, Q4
• p.37 Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4
• p.38-39 Q1, Q3, Q10, Q11
  

Upcoming important dates for Social 23:

• Chapter 2: Age of Reason Quiz is on Monday, September 19th
• Chapter 2 review questions are due tomorrow

September 14

Social 10

In today's class I delivered a short introductory presentation on the six geographical regions of Canada. I gave you the remainder of the class time to work on activities in your Regionalism booklet, namely, filling out information in a retrieval chart on the geographical regions of Canada. You should have completed this chart in class. Many of you moved on to the next exercise, which dealt with the distribution of the population of Canada. Just a reminder, your Geography of Canada quiz has been postponed until Monday, so that we may do some research in the library on Friday (the scheduled day for the quiz).

Social 23

I showed you part of a video on the Enlightenment today in class. From this video you should have been able to take some notes on key ideas that developed during the Enlightenment. I next gave you a crossword puzzle which covered some key people, events and ideas of the Age of Reason. Since many of you had issues in completing your maps, I gave you an extension, until tomorrow (Thursday) to complete all three maps. Don't forget to color them! On the third map, don't forget to label all of the capital cities of Europe.

September 13

Social 10

I gave you some class time today to work on both Part "B" and Part "C" in the Regionalism booklet. You were to have completed Part "A" (the two maps) for today's class. Both Part "B" and Part "C" are for homework. Your Canadian Geography Quiz has been postponed from Friday until Monday, in order to make time for some library research.

Social 23

If you missed today's class, you missed a lot of notes on the Age of Reason. You will need to get these notes from a classmate. I also gave you a two-sided worksheet that covers Chapter 2: The Age of Reason from your textbook. This worksheet, plus the three maps of Europe (properly colored and labeled) are due tomorrow.

September 12

Social 10

At the start of the period I gave you some time to work on the "Basic Canadian Geographical Information" worksheet that I gave to you on Friday. I distributed a booklet that covers some of the major topics that we'll be covering in our study of Canadian regionlism. You do have an assignment that it is in this booklet, and it is due tomorrow. The assignment is Part "A" part of the map assignment, for this assignment you must complete the two maps on climate regions and physiographic regions of Canada. I returned your map assignments today as well.

Social 23

I collected your assignments that were due today at the beginning of class. I handed out a set of maps of Europe. This was the only class time that I will be able to give you to work on these maps. All of the maps are due on Wednesday, September 14th. Please don't forget to read Chapter 2 in the textbook tonight.

September 9

Social 10

I distributed a handout today entitled "Basic Canadian Geographical Information". I gave you the class period (55 minutes) to work on this handout, and very few of you were able to complete it in the time alotted. We will continue with this on Monday, it was not assigned for homework. Next week, we will begin examining how the geographical size of our country and distribution of resources leads to regionalism (one of the major themes of Social 10) and regional disparity. I also collected your maps which were due today.

Social 23

I gave you some time today to work on the question that accompanied the handout for the A&E Top 10 Most Influential People of the Millennium video. This will be due on Monday. As well, the "Introduction to History and Change" assignment (Parts "A", "B" and "C") will be due on Monday. Please bring pencil crayons on Monday.

September 8

Today will probably be a very short posting...

Social 23

In this morning's class we reviewed very quickly the two parts of the "Nature of History" assignment that we were working on in class yesterday. I gave you A&E's Top 100 Most Influential People of the Millennium list, and had you highlight the names on the list you recognized. I also distributed a handout to help you take notes during viewing of the accompanying Top 10 video. I then had you work on Part "C" of the assignment from yesterday. This assignment is due on Monday, September 12. Please remember that your letters of introduction are due tomorrow!

Social 10

I collected your letters of introduction today in class. I must say that I was very impressed with the number of students who completed this assignment, the quality of the writing, and the interesting contents of the letters. You are all very interesting to read about. I distributed two maps of Canada, and a list of items that would like to be labeled on the maps. These maps must be labeled and colored for tomorrow's class. A word or two about evaluation of these maps: you will all start with 100% on these maps and I will make deductions for mistakes (in labeling and coloring, so don't color islands blue!), and of course for neatness.

See you tomorrow in class!!

September 7

Social 10

Today was spent introducing you to the Social Studies 10 course. I outlined my simple classroom rules and expectations. I gave you some time to begin drafting a letter of introduction (friendly letter format) which you should have been able to finish. The "good copy" of this letter is due tomorrow. I also gave you a short "quiz" on Canada (which wasn't for marks) just to see how much you know about Canada. Some of those questions may appear on a later quiz or exam. Please remember to bring pencil crayons tomorrow!!

Social 23

Today I handed out the course outline for Social Studies 23, and went over my classroom rules and expectations. I gave you a handout entitled "An Introduction to History and Change". This handout is made up of three parts: Part "A" which dealt with how change affects the individual. For this part you were asked to identify events, happenings and items you would have missed during a 20 year period (1984-2004) if you had been locked in isolation with NO contact during that time. What would you have missed? You were asked to categorize the changes that you would have missed. Part "B" dealt with inviting three people to a dinner party. Your three guests had to have lived in the 20th or 21st century, be either living or dead at the present moment, and be a real people. You also had to state the reasons why you would invite these people. Part "B" was an individual activity. We will do Part "C" tomorrow in conjunction with viewing a video about the most influential people of the millennium. The due date for this assignment has not been set just yet, but it will be set tomorrow in class.

June 21

Why are you spending time reading this? You know what you could be doing right now? STUDYING! Here are some hyperlinks that may help you:

• LA Part "B" (2000)
• LA Part "B" (2001)
• Social Studies (1998)
• Social Studies (1999)
• Social Studies (2000)
• Social Studies (2001)

June 20

During class today, I divided you into pairs to analyze sample questions from past Social Studies Provincial Achievement Tests. With your partner you were to analyze each question, determining the answer and indicating WHY it was the right answer. You were also expected to discuss why the other alternatives were incorrect. Then you had to present to the class the questions you had analyzed and why you selected certain answers to the questions. The results of this were quite good, with 9A only getting 4 questions wrong and 9B getting 6 questions wrong.

Keep studying!!

June 17

Today, we played a review game on key terms from the Canada, USA and USSR units. I also gave you back your writer's workshop folders, and the mark sheet for this project. If you did not get a mark sheet back from me, and you were in class today that means that you did not hand in your folder, and you have received a mark of zero for the Writer's Workshop project.

Notice to parents: I have sent home a slip of paper with students from 9A and 9B detailing their Humanities marks from Term 1, Term 2, Term 3, and the Term average. The term average is the student's mark that they have heading into their Provincial Achievement Tests. In order to get into English 10-1 or Social 10 you need a mark of 65% or higher. I would like a parent or guardian to sign these slips of paper by Monday. I will be making phone calls to student's parents that have not signed the mark sheet.

Notice to students: STUDY!!

June 16

I'm sorry that I'm posting so late at night, but I was at the school until 7:35 getting your marks ready for tomorrow.
I booked the laptops today so that you could do some more studying online today. You also did another reading test practice.
I'll see you tomorrow with your final marks going into the Provincial Achievement Tests.

June 15

Today we wrote another practice test with about 21 questions on it in preparation for your upcoming LA Part "B" Provincial Achievement Test. I gave you some time as well to work on your flash cards. These flash cards are due tomorrow. The flash cards cover the key concepts and ideas from all three Social Studies units (Canada, USA, USSR). Please make sure that you have this completed because it is a very large homework check!

Also, it looks like I will be able to give you a final mark for Humanities this week. What it will look like will be a slip of paper with your Term 1, Term 2 and Term 3 marks in Humanities, with the average mark of the three terms. This average mark is the mark that you will be taking into the exams next week. Please remember that ALL of your work from the three terms amounts to 85%, and your Final exams count for 15%. You should be studying every night!!

Here are some links to past Provincial exams, namely LA Part "B":

• 1998 LA Part "B" exam
• 1999 LA Part "B" exam

Please keep in mind that some material has been removed from the provincial website due to not having permission to publish material online.

June 13

I had the laptops booked today, and I gave you some class time to find some answers to questions from the review booklet. You need to buy index cards, since the binder rings came in this morning. Please make sure that you transfer your questions and answers onto the flash cards.

We also did some preparation for the LA Part "B" Provincial Achievement Test by doing some practice readings and questions.

June 10

I frantically went through the answers to the USSR unit today with you. I did not finish all of them in class. With both classes I did about 30 of the review questions, and I assigned the rest of the questions for homework for Monday.

Have a great weekend!

June 9

Today you wrote the Canadian Test of Basic Skills for Ms. McKen, which took the better part of two class periods. You also watched the last video in the Canadian history series.
Don't forget that you must have either your USA or USSR part of your study guide complete for tomorrow.

June 8

You wrote your Canada Unit Finals today in class, and you got your results back for these tests as well. I was pretty pleased with the class averages with both 9A and 9B. I would like to see some of you improve your marks more still. Don't be satisfied with just a 60 or 65%, strive for more! I'd like to see our class averages for the Provincial Achievement Tests be higher than today's class average! Don't be complacent, don't take a holiday. You have to keep working hard and studying and reviewing for these upcoming Provincial tests EVERY night! You'll have 8 weeks off this summer, after June 30th is when your holidays start, so keep working until then.

June 7

We watched a couple of videos in the Canadian History video series today. The two videos combined covered the years 1973-1988.
Please don't forget that you have your Canada Unit Final tomorrow. Study hard! Also, tomorrow is the last day that I will be accepting any Writer's Workshop pieces.

June 6

I gave you some class time today to work on your "Putting It All Together" review booklets. Next, we covered another Technology Journal prompt and had a brief discussion about the topic. I also collected your Writer's Workshop projects. Please remember that you MUST study for your Canada unit final, it's on Wednesday. Study hard! Good luck!

June 3

Sorry, it's been a bad week for blogging. Of course, one day I couldn't blog because we were doing our "unplug from technology challenge". That having been said, I do apologize for being a little negligent with keeping this blog up-to-date.
Today in class, we covered the review questions from the Canada unit. Please take those questions and answers and put them on the index cards that you have purchased. Here are some hyperlinks that may help you with some of the harder questions:

• Economic Principles of the Mixed Economy
• Automation, Specialization, Mechanization
• Private Sector and Public Sector

Please don't forget these upcoming important dates:

• Writer's Workshop is due June 6th
• Canada Unit Final is on June 8th

May 31

In case you missed it, the month of May has passed us by very quickly! Now we are getting into "crunch time", the month of June, and all of the studying and review, and writing of exams that goes with it.

Today we did another Technology Journal entry (#5), and had a short discussion on this topic. Next, we worked on starting to answer some of the review questions from the "Putting It All Together" booklet. Finally, we wrapped up by watching another 30 minute video from the Canadian history series, this time it was "Optimism and Uncertainty: Canada (1955-1964)". While you were watching this video you were supposed to be taking notes on the video.

As I stated in the previous post, you need to working on your Writer's Workshop EVERY day. You also need to be studying for your Canada Unit Final!!

Upcoming important dates:

• Writer's Workshop is due on June 6th
• Canada Unit Final is on June 8th

May 30

Today we did three different things: Technology Journal #4, Key Terms Pop Quiz #2, and I handed out the review booklet called "Putting It All Together". It is EXPECTED that you are doing homework for me every night! You MUST be working on your Writer's Workshop projects, and you MUST be studying for your Canada Unit Final!

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Writer's Workshop (6 projects) is due Monday, June 6th
• Canada Unit Final is on Wednesday, June 8th

May 27

Both classes had their last class time to work on Writer's Workshop material. You will not have any more class time to work on these projects. Please remember that all six (6) projects are due on Monday June 6th. For the rest of the day, you were able to enjoy the fantastic weather and the Sports Day activities.

May 26

Today, we did Technology Journal #3 and a discussion about the topic posed in the question. I also gave you some Writer's Workshop time. Finally, we watched a 30 minute video entitled "Canada: Land of Promise (1945-1954)". You were required to take notes on the video while you watched it, and then we talked about some of the key economic developments, technological developments, issues in society, and developments in society that occurred during this time period. Tomorrow will be Sports Day if the weather is nice, but I will still see both 9A and 9B.

May 25

Today I gave you another technology journal topic, and we discussed the topic as a class. I then gave you some time to work on Writer's Workshop projects. I think that you should be working on a Writer's Workshop project tonight for homework. I think that you should have at least 3 projects finished by now. Please remember to review your key terms from the Canada unit, it will be useful.

May 24

Today we started something new: a technology journal prompt. We then discussed the technology journal topic. I also gave you time to work on your Writer's Workshop projects.

May 19

The "big day" finally arrived. You wrote your LA Part "A" exam today. These exams will be marked by Grade 9 teachers in the school and then they will be sent off to Edmonton to marked once again by different teachers. You were very lucky to have option classes in the afternoon. I hope that you all did well on the exam.

Please have a fun long weekend. Get some rest! Please don't forget to review for your other Provincial exams, which you will be writing next month!

May 18

I'm way too tired to blog tonight....
If you were in class today, you know what happened, if you weren't then please remember that LA Part "A" takes place tomorrow. You must check in to your TA at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Sleep well tonight, you're going to need your brains to be well-rested for tomorrow.

May 17

We did a fair bit of review today, we looked back on the basic economic questions, and the advantages and disadvantages of the command, market and mixed economies. For some of you, it was VERY apparent that you have forgotten a lot of this material, so I would like to recommend you review these topics from the Social Studies Web:

• Basic Economic Questions
• Advantages and Disadvantages of the Economic Systems

As some of you may have read in the school newsletter that was sent home today your Provincial Achievement Tests are fast approaching. It is recommended that ALL grade nine students should be reviewing for 60-90 minutes per night for these exams starting NOW! There was a mistake in the newsletter that I'd like to highlight, these final exams are worth 15% of your final grade, NOT 10%. It is REALLY important that you come to school on the day of the exams confident and prepared. Coming into these exams confident is achievable, if you know the material you'll be more confident. You will have 8 weeks off this summer before you enter grade 10, please don't start your summer vacation in May, save the "mental vacation" for after you've written your last final exam.

We also had about 35 minutes for Writer's Workshop today.

May 16

If you missed class today, you'll have to get some the notes you missed on the mixed economy. I also reviewed economic values while I was talking about the mixed economy. If you would like to read more about the mixed economy, and economic values or possibly take a quiz on this subject, please check out the hyperlinks below:

• Mixed Economy
• Economic Values

I also gave you some class time to work on Writer's Workshop. Please remember that ALL six pieces for Writer's Workshop are due on Monday June 6th!!

How are you preparing for LA Part "A"?

May 13

Since we had our short Friday schedule in effect today, I gave you both periods to work on Writer's Workshop. Please remember that ALL Writer's Workshop assignments are due (published form) by Monday June 6th. Please check the previous post for hyperlinks to previous LA Part "A" exams. Have a great weekend!

May 12

I gave you some time to work on your Writer's Workshop projects today. I also set a deadline to have your six pieces completed in Writer's Workshop for Monday June 6th.
You also had a pop quiz on the key terms from the Canada unit today. For 9B, this was a surprise, for 9A, it seemed as if you had some inside knowledge of the quiz. How strange.....

May 11

Today, most of the class time was spent writing a sample essay/narrative question from a past Provincial Achievement Test. I gave you 80 minutes to write your narrative or essay. If you missed class today (or even if you were in class), you can go to the Alberta Education website to look over some past Provincial Achievement Test questions. Please check out some of these hyperlinks:

• LA Part "A" (1998)
• LA Part "A" (1999)
• LA Part "A" (2000)
• LA Part "A" (2001)

May 10

We did a little practice today for the LA Part "A" exam, specifically the functional writing section (the business letter). This practice was designed to help you realize how much time will be necessary to write a business letter under pressure. You need to study your notes on how to write a business letter because it will help you with the Provincial Achievement Test. Tomorrow we will do a practice run through writing a narrative or essay for the achievement test.

May 9

Today we did a lot of review of the format of the business letter. There were a lot of people away today because of the Track meet. If you missed class today then you need to get the notes from someone.

May 5

Today was the field trip to Mount Royal College for "The Economics of Staying in School", so there was no homework today.

May 4

Today you had your last class period to work on your glossary of key terms for the Canada unit. Many of you have finished this glossary, and had some extra time to work on Writer's Workshop. The mini-lesson for Writer's Workshop centered around a handout called "Ways to Develop a Character". If you missed class today, then you need to get this handout, there are extras in the classroom.
Tomorrow we'll be going to Mount Royal College to participate in the Junior Achievement program "The Economics of Staying in School".

May 3

We continued working with the Anticipation Guide today. You were still working on creating your glossary of key terms for this unit.
During Writer's Workshop we looked at "Considerations in Creating a Character". This is a good supplement for creating a character sketch. If you missed class today you missed this mini-lesson and some notes.

May 2

Today I gave you the Anticipation Guide for our next unit: Canada. The anticipation guide is a list of 82 key terms (all of which are "fair game" on any test in this unit). I asked you to mark next to the key terms with a checkmark if you knew the key term, an * (asterisk) if you knew something about the key term, and a ? (question mark) if you didn't know anything about the key term. If you were being honest, realistically you should have had about 40 question marks. You were then responsible for alphabetizing your list of key terms and you started creating a glossary of key terms.
Next, in Writer's Workshop we looked at "The Really Bad Words". No, no, it's not those really bad words. The really bad words are words that students use in their writing everyday that detract for their writing. For example, if you were describing someone that is beautiful, why would you write, "She was really beautiful"? Why not write, "She was exquisite"? Or if you were writing that someone was "very funny", why not write "hilarious" or "hysterical". Do you get the idea? I also had you copy down a "really bad paragraph", and then asked you to edit and polish it.

April 29

In Writer's Workshop today we looked at writing good narrative leads. I gave you a handout with four examples of narrative leads: typical, dialogue, action, and reaction. I asked you to write an example of each on your own for the first part of our Writer's Workshop time. For the remainder of the time, I gave you class time to work on your own projects for Writer's Workshop.
Here's your homework assignment for the weekend: please write four more narrative leads (one of each style) for Monday. You should have in total 8 narrative leads for Monday.
Some of you still did not bring in your forms and money for the "Economics of Staying School" field trip, please make sure that you do this today after school, if you're one of the ones who forgot to bring it in today.

Homework assignment:

• Write four more narrative leads (for a total of 8) for Monday, May 2nd

April 28

Today's mini-lesson was on a "Main Character Questionnaire", which was a series of questions you could pose to a fictional character in order to develop more believable characters for your stories. This exercise would be helpful as a starting point for a character sketch or just for creating characters. I asked you try using the questions to start a character sketch in class. Then I gave you some time to work on whatever you needed to in Writer's Workshop.
I also did a brief introduction of the next unit of study: Economic Growth in Canada. I gave you a handout for this, it was the Topic 9C unit outline. If you missed class today you will have to get this handout from me.
I also talked briefly about the Grade 9 Social Studies Provincial Achievement Test. I pointed out to you that there is a "blueprint" for this final exam that is online at the Alberta Education website. This blueprint essentially tells you what topics will be tested in the provincial final. If you would like to have a look at the actual "blueprint", please click here. There's also a blueprint for LA Part "A" and LA Part "B" . In case you're wondering, yes there is a Math blueprint and a Science blueprint too.

A special message to students in 9A: You need to bring in your forms and $3 for the field trip to Mount Royal College for the "Economics of Staying in School" tomorrow. Please don't forget!!

April 27

The bulk of our time today was spent on various Writer's Workshop activities. I started off with a mini-lesson on "Polishing Your Prose Writing". If you missed today's class you'll have to get the notes from one of your classmates. The remainder of the class period was spent working on projects from Writer's Workshop.

A special message to the students in 9A:
I would like to remind you that you have to hand in your permission forms, your acknowledgement of risk forms (with your Alberta Health Care number), and $3 in to me by Friday, April 29th for our field trip to Mount Royal College for the "Economics of Staying in School".

April 26

Today I talked about getting serious about studying for exams. You have a little over two months left in the school year, and for some of you, how well you do on your June exams will determine what core academic courses you'll be able to take in high school. I really want to emphasize with you how important it is to review for your exams because ultimately it will be you who will have to write them, not me. I can do only so much to prepare you for these exams, you have to meet me more than half way in preparing for these exams by always studying and reviewing between now and the exams dates. The test dates for your Provincial Achievement Exams are as follows:

• LA Part "A": Thursday, May 19th
• Math: Wednesday, June 22nd
• Science: Thursday, June 23rd
• LA Part "B": Friday, June 24th
• Social Studies: Monday, June 27th

For the remainder of the class we talked about Writer's Workshop. You got two handouts from me: "The Chicken Bones Rubric" and "The Writer's Workshop Progress Report". We also talked about potential rewards for meeting due dates. I then gave you about 30 minutes to write.

April 25

Good evening.
Today you wrote your USA Unit Final. It took the better part of two periods. I also collected your Made in the USA textbooks since we are now officially finished with this unit.

April 22

Instead of what I had planned to do with you today, I gave you the class period to study for your USA Unit Final. I saw 9B in period 3 and 9A in period 4 due to the Earth Day demonstration in the afternoon. Due to the short periods, we didn't play the review game that we had planned.

April 21

Today we had our first true mini-lesson for Writer's Workshop. We discussed possible idea starters for personal narratives called "Questions for Memoirists". After this mini-lesson you had a significant piece of time to do work on a piece for Writer's Workshop. I also gave you some time to study for your USA Unit Final (which is on Monday).
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Entrepreneur essays (good copy) are due tomorrow
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (here's the study guide)
• Economics of Staying in School permission forms are due on April 29th

April 20

Today you got your first taste of what Writer's Workshop will be. We discussed and brainstormed a list of what our "writing territories" were. When considering "writing territiories" think about topics, genres and forms that your writing might take. I discussed my own "writing territories" and then I gave you a list of possible idea starters to help you along the way in your own brainstorming about your "writing territiories". After about 15-20 minutes of writing we shared as a class some of the things that we might be able to write about.
For the remainder of the class period I gave you time to do some review of the USA unit. You made up multiple choice questions, find the fib and taboo cards for our review game on Friday.

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Entrepreneur essay (good copy) is due on Friday, April 22nd
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (the study guide is here)

April 19

Today we continued working on your Writer's Workshop folders. These should be completed for tomorrow. It will be a homework check mark for completion. I also gave you a handout dealing with how Writer's Workshop will work in my class, the rules and expectations for our time together. I also gave you some class time to do peer editing of your 2nd drafts of your Entrepreneur essays. These essays are due on Friday.
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Writer's Workshop folders are due tomorrow (April 20th)
• Entrepreneur essays (good copy) are due Friday, April 22nd
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (the study guide is here)

April 18

At the very beginning of class I asked you to hand in your Romeo & Juliet projects. Projects must be handed in today, or submitted electronically via e-mail prior to midnight in order to be considered handed in "on time". I really strongly urge you to hand these projects in earlier rather than later. For every day that they are late you will lose 10% off your total mark. If you do submit these projects before the "midnight deadline", you should be asking yourself this question,"Why did I leave this to the last minute?" or possibly even, "What kind of impression am I sending to Mr. Gilchrist by submitting it so late?"
Today I returned some assignments, and your Chapter 6-8 Test. We did corrections to your test as a whole class. I also returned your 2nd drafts of your entrepreneur essays today as well. These essays (good copy) are due on Friday. We also talked about doing Writer's Workshop over the next few weeks in preparation for your LA Part "A" (Written Response Test) which will be happening in about one month's time. I have given you a schedule of all of your Provincial Exam dates, but I will also post them here on this blog.

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Entrepreneur Essays (good copy) due Friday, April 22nd
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (the study guide is here)

Provincial Achievement Exam dates:

• LA Part "A" (Written Response) is on Thursday, May 19th
• Math is on Wednesday, June 22nd
• Science is on Thursday, June 23rd
• LA Part "B" (Reading) is on Friday, June 24th
• Social Studies is on Monday, June 27th

April 15

Today you wrote your Chapter 6-8 Test in class. I also gave you the study guide for your USA Unit Final. This Unit Final will be held on Monday, April 25th. This is an extremely difficult unit final, similar to the one you wrote for the USSR unit. Here are the main topics for this unit final (with hyperlinks to the Social Studies Web that I created):

• USA Geography (specifically, the Regions of the USA)
• U.S. History (settlement, effects of Civil War on industrialization, etc.)
• Enclosure Acts
• Industrial Revolution
• American Industrialization
• Cottage System & Factory System (similarities/differences, advantages/disadvantages)
• Trigger Industry
• Basic Economics
• Scarcity
• Means of Production
• Basic Economic Questions
• Command Economy, Mixed Economy, Market Economy (advantages/disadvantages of each system, ownership of means of production, how each system answers the basic economic questions)
• Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations, "invisible hand")
• Law of Supply and Demand
• Characteristics of a Market Economy
• Entrepreneurs (characteristics, role in the economy)
• Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie
• Collective Bargaining
• Binding Arbitration & Mediation
• The Business Cycle
• Advertising & Planned Obsolescence
• Government, Business and Labour
• Quality of Life
• Economic Spectrum
• Economic Values
• Political Cartoons

Here is another useful hyperlink from the Social Studies Web, it's an exam bank of past Provincial Achievement Test questions. Please be warned that these questions are drawn from all three Grade 9 Social Studies units so there will be questions from the USSR unit, the USA unit, and the Canada unit. It might be worth taking a few of these tests from the exam bank. It's a 125 question exam bank, and every time that you visit this site you will get 30 questions from the bank. This will be extremely helpful when it comes time to do your final review.

Here are some helpful hints at writing, studying and preparing for multiple choice tests:

• Take time to preview the test. Consider the time allotted for the test and determine how much time you can reasonably spend on each question.
• Start with questions that you can easily answer. Don't waste time on the more difficult questions.
• Read the question carefully. Try to answer the question before you look at the choices.
• Circle or underline key words in the question. Your ability to read carefully and critically is just as important as your ability to recall and reason.
• Be sure to read all of the choices given, even if the first or second one seems right. The best answer may be the last choice. Sometimes the last choice is "all of the above."
• Watch for key words such as always, only, all, never, only, or completely. These absolute terms imply that the answer is either right or wrong, and this is often not the case. Relative words such as often, seem, may, and usually are generally more accurate.
• Treat each statement as true or false.
• Examine each of the choices carefully when two choices differ by only one or two words. Read the question with the first possible answer while covering up the remaining choices. Try the same procedure with the second possible answer. Try treating each statement as true or false. Methodically examine the choices and eliminate the one that doesn't correctly complete the question.
• Keep in mind that the answer is often found in one of two very similar pairs. The "most correct" answer is often the one that uses the course terminology correctly.
• Lightly cross out the choices you know are wrong if you are not sure of the answer. Then pick the best answer from the remaining choices. If you are still unsure, make an educated guess.
• Use logic and common sense if you must guess. Remember that you are looking for the best answer, not only a correct one.

Good luck on this unit final!

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Romeo & Juliet projects are due on Monday, April 18th
• USA Unit Final is April 25th

April 14

Today we played USA Jeopardy with the SMART Board. It was a lot of fun, despite some technical difficulties.
After we finished playing the game I gave you the remainder of the time to work on one of the following items:

• Study for Chapter 6-8 Test (it's tomorrow)
• Entrepreneur essay (2nd draft, it's due tomorrow)
• Work on Romeo & Juliet projects

I'll see you tomorrow! Good luck on your test. Speaking of tests, I've set the date for the USA Unit Final. The USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th.

April 13

I gave you some class time today to work on one of three things: study for your upcoming Chapter 6-8 Test, or work on your Romeo & Juliet projects, or finish writing your rough draft of Entrepreneur case study essay. While you were doing this, I was finishing off our Jeopardy game, which we'll be playing tomorrow.
Here's just a reminder of some upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 6-8 Test is on Friday, April 15th
• Entrepreneur case study essay (2nd draft) is due on April 15th
• Romeo & Juliet projects are due Monday, April 18th

April 12

I gave you some time today in class to create questions for our Jeopardy! review game. This review game will be played on Thursday, and we'll be using the SMART Board! It's all very exciting.
I also gave you some time to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects. This will be one of the last class periods that I'll be able to give you to work on this project. It's due on Monday April 18th, in case you've forgotten.

April 11

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted anything to this blog! A nice two week break was exactly what I needed. I hope that you all enjoyed your time off.
I gave you some class time today to get started on the second half of your Entrepreneur projects: the case study essay. You are to use your research notes and power notes to write your essays. Here's the deal: if you are able to complete a 2nd draft of this essay you can hand it in this Friday (April 15th) and then you will get it back from me on Monday, April 18th. This way, you can get some feedback from me prior to me marking your essays. In all likelihood, the good copy of your entrepreneur case study essays will be due on or near Friday, April 22nd (although at this point, this may change). I also gave you some class time to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects. Please keep in mind that your USA Unit Final will be fast approaching!
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 6-8 Test is on Friday, April 15th
• Entrepreneur Case Study Essay (2nd draft) is due on April 15th (this is optional, either you take advantage of this offer or you don't!)
• Romeo & Juliet projects are due Monday, April 18th

March 24

Konnichiwa.
We split our time today between working on Romeo & Juliet projects and studying for the upcoming Chapter 6-8 Test. I gave you the study guide for this test, here it is:

Topics:

• Labour Movement
• Labour Unions
• Collective Bargaining process
• Binding Arbitration
• Corporations (Here's a good hyperlink for this topic, direct from the Social Studies Web click here)
• Stock Market
• Trust Companies
• The Great Depression
• F.D.R. and the New Deal
• Business Cycle (Here's the hyperlink for the Business Cycle from the Social Studies Web)
• Consumption
• Consumers/Consumerism
• Consumer Movement

Key Terms:

• labour movement
• collective bargaining
• indentured servants
• closed shop
• suffragette
• bargaining in bad faith
• mediate
• mediator
• arbitrator
• prosperity
• depression
• recession
• F.D.R.
• business cycle
• boom
• bust
• stocks
• corporation
• stock market
• consumption
• binding arbitration
• migrant workers
• humanitarianism
• merger
• dues
• blue collar workers
• aggregate
• equity
• the Great Depression
• the New Deal
• consumer
• consumerism
• inflation
• union
• mechanization
• specialization

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• March 25th-April 10th: Spring Break
• Chapter 6-8 Test: Friday, April 15th
• Romeo & Juliet projects are due on Monday, April 18th

Some of you still haven't sent me your American Entrepreneur PowerPoint projects. Please send them to my Yahoo! e-mail account address (which I gave you in class).

Please enjoy your Spring Break! See you in two weeks!

March 23

Today we had some technical difficulties, but eventually many more students were able to do their Entrepreneur PowerPoint presentations. While we were waiting for the network to come back online, I gave you some more time to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects.

I request that if you sent your PowerPoint presentations to my CBE e-mail account to re-submit it again to my Yahoo! e-mail account. If you missed class today, and didn't get this e-mail address, please get it from a classmate! My mailbox to my CBE account is apparently 25 megs, and my Yahoo! account is 250 megs, so there's plenty of room.

March 21

Konbanwa. (Good evening)
As I sit at home this evening writing this post, I hope that more of you will be submitting your American Entrepreneur PowerPoint presentations to my e-mail account tonight. Please don't assume that you won't be presenting tomorrow, come to class prepared. Either submit the PowerPoint presentation into my submissions folder at school, send it to me by e-mail, or bring the PowerPoint saved to a CD (I prefer a CD-R or CD-RW over a floppy disk). Ultimately, your presentation must be electronically submitted into my submissions folder at school. In case you have forgotten my e-mail address, here it is again: krgilchrist@cbe.ab.ca

During class today, I gave you most of both periods to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects. For about 15-20 minutes Ms. Holland had you do an evaluation of her student teaching experience at Terry Fox.

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Tuesday (March 22nd) and Wednesday (March 23rd) presentation days for the American Entrepreneur PowerPoint projects
• Good Friday, March 25th (no school)
• March 25th-April 10th Spring Break (no classes)

Mata ashita ne! (See you tomorrow!)

March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Once again, you were given one class period to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects. You will get some time next week to work on them, but you should try to work on this project at home too. Please don't forget to finish your American Entrepreneur PowerPoint presentations for Tuesday. If you are working on this at home you can send your finished presentation to my CBE e-mail account, in case you forgot, here it is: krgilchrist@cbe.ab.ca

During the second period of Humanities, Ms. Holland did some brainstorming with you about what makes a good presentation. She then gave you some notes on presentations, the following are just a brief summary of the notes:
A. The Planning Stage
   1. Know your audience
   2. Know what you want to achieve (leave out unnecessary details, focus on most important details)
   3. Practice (practice delivering your presentation with someone you trust; practice without the PowerPoint presentation; try different approaches, with different introductions
   4. PowerPoint is a visual aid (words are not visuals; keep it simple)
B. The Presentation
   1. Opening and Introduction (sets the tone)
   2. Introduce (introduce yourself, introduce your topic, introduce your presentation)
   3. Body of the Presentation (keep it simple, group your information in groups of three)
C. Prompt Cards
   1. Use a dark color on your cards
   2. Put a heading on each card
   3. Large, clear writing
   4. Keep it simple (don't overload the cards with information)
   5. The point of the prompt cards is to jog your memory
   6. Number at the bottom of each card
D. Keeping your nerves in check
   1. Rehearse
   2. Smile/Confidence/Posture
   3. Make eye contact with several people in the audience
   4. Watch your tempo and volume (focus on your breathing)
E. Hints for Creating Interest
   1. Visual Aids
   2. Try to connect your topic to a current affair or event
   3. You can ask questions of your audience
   4. Mottos, slogans, quotes
   5. Poetic devices (alliteration, similes, metaphors)

Additionally, Ms. Holland did a homework check in class for yesterday's homework and led you through a discussion of the effect of advertising in today's society.

Upcoming important dates:

• T.A. Conferences: Friday, March 18th
• American Entrepreneur PowerPoint presentations due Tuesday, March 22nd

March 16

Good morrow coz.
You were given class time today to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects, one class period to be exact. During the second period, you watched a video from the TV program "21c" on advertising and marketing to teenagers. Ms. Holland gave you some questions to go with the video. You also had a small homework assignment based on the video. You had some choice as to what you were going to do for homework, and the choices were on the question sheet.

Please don't forget that your American Entrepreneur PowerPoint presentations are due very soon (Tuesday to be exact). Please make sure that your PowerPoint is finished and is submitted into my submissions folder on the Assignments drive at school.

March 15

Good evening!
Today was your first chance to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects in class. You were given one class period to work on this project.
In the second half of the class you looked at some work scenarios with Ms. Holland, and talked about the "world of work" for young people, and some rights that you have as employees.
Just a reminder: you have to finish your Chapter 8 Power Notes for tomorrow!

March 14

Konbanwa.
Today we covered a few different topics: I distributed the Romeo & Juliet project list, we talked about doing proper citations in bibliographies, and I gave you the Chapter 8 Power Notes assignment.
If you missed class today, you need to get the Romeo & Juliet project list from me, I still have extra copies.
I also gave you a handout on doing citations according to the CBE format. This will help you to do your bibliography properly for your PowerPoint presentations. We will be doing the presentations for the American Entrepreneur project on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Everyone must be ready to present for Tuesday!

Here is the Chapter 8 Power Notes assignment:
1. What is consumption?
1. What is a consumer?
1. History of the consumer movement
1. Areas of concern for the consumer movement
1. Causes of consumerism
1. Impersonal and unresponsive companies
1. The budget squeeze and the American family
1. Working for consumer rights
1. How consumer critics and business see the world differently
1. Where do consumer complaints go?

These power notes are due on Wednesday!

Here are some upcoming important events:

• Rough draft of the American Entrepreneur bibliography is due tomorrow (Tuesday)
• Chapter 8 Power Notes (due Wednesday, March 16th)
• American Entrepreneur PowerPoint presentations must be finished by next Tuesday, March 22nd (there will not be any more class time for this project)
• American Entrepreneur Case Study Essays due date is still T.B.A.

March 11

Konnichiwa.
You wrote a "surprise" pop quiz today, on Chapter 7. You were allowed to use your Chapter 7 power notes to help you with this test. I'm still a little bit amazed by people that don't do their homework... you're throwing EASY marks away!

I also briefly introduced your Romeo & Juliet projects to you. I'll be going into much more detail about this assignment on Monday. No homework for this weekend. Enjoy!

Just a quick reminder:
If you are not planning on going to James Fowler next year (for example, you've been accepted into I.B. at Pearson) you need to go to Fowler in person with a parent or guardian with transcripts from Terry Fox and formally transfer.

Have a great weekend!

March 10

Greetings!
We finished watching Romeo & Juliet in class. This was the second half of the movie that we started watching on Tuesday. At the conclusion of the film we had an interesting conversation about one of the "controversial issues" that is sometimes overlooked when students study this play, namely Shakespeare's comment on arranged marriages. We had an interesting discussion about this topic with students sharing information about religions or cultures that have arranged marriages. In Shakespeare's time arranged marriages were far more commonplace, whereas today, it is not as commonplace in Europe or North America. I really enjoyed this discussion because it allowed for people to contribute to the discussion, and share their thoughts, and maybe "break down" some misconceptions about arranged marriages in their religion or culture.

We also briefly looked at the business cycle at the end of the class.

Just a reminder that your Chapter 7 power notes are due tomorrow! Please make sure that you finish them tonight and bring them to class tomorrow!! In case you missed it, here are the main ideas (the "1's") for the power notes:
1. The USA-NOT a pure market system
1. The Beginnings of American Business
1. The Corporation
1. How does a corporation work?
1. How does a stock market work?
1. Trust Companies
1. American Government Legislation against Trusts
1. The Great Depression and Changes to Government Intervention
1. The Impact of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
1. The New Deal
1. The Government's Response to Business Cycles

March 9

Today we split time between doing work on the American Entrepreneur project and creating power notes for Chapter 7. Essentially, if you had access to a laptop in the first period you worked on your project, while the other half of the class worked on the power notes. Then, in the second period we flipped it, and people who had been working on their power notes got computer access, while the other half of the class worked on their power notes. These power notes are due on Friday.

March 8

Today we took some brief notes on the collective bargaining process. Then, we watched the first half of the movie Romeo & Juliet. We'll be watching this movie again on Thursday. Tomorrow will be the last day that I will be giving you in class to work on your American Entrepreneur project. Hopefully, you will have a good start on your PowerPoint project by the end of this period.

March 7

Depending on which academic group you are in, the day may have varied a little. Basically, with 9B you had most of the period to work on your American Entrepreneur project. With 9A, we had to finish doing the excerpt readings from Romeo & Juliet, and then you were able to work on your projects. Most people have started building their PowerPoint presentations. There is no homework tonight in Humanities, unless you would like to do some research outside of class time. Wednesday will be the last day that you will receive class time from me to work on PowerPoint presentations, so please come to class prepared to work.

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Official registration for James Fowler will happen during class time on Wednesday, Period 5 in both my class and Ms. Peesker's class.

March 4

You wrote your Chapter 6 Open Notes Test today in class, and you also marked it. On Monday, we have the laptops booked so you will have some time to work on your American Entrepreneur project in class.

March 3

Today I had you read Chapter 6 in your textbook Made in the USA. I then gave you a power note guide for Chapter 6. You had the remainder of your Humanities period to create your Chapter 6 Power Notes. Here are the main ideas for the power notes guide:

1. Changes Brought on by Industrial Growth in America
1. Labour Movements- What are they?
1. Labour Movements- Why do they exist?
1. Labour Unions- How have they worked?
1. Growth of the American Labour Movement
1. The Rise of Labour Unions
1. The Growth of Unions
1. Relations Between Labour Unions & Management
1. Legislation That Helps Unions
1. Modern Industries- How do they work?

These power notes are for homework. This assignment is due tomorrow! The "pay off" for doing your homework (and doing it well) is an Open Notes Test that you are writing on Chapter 6 tomorrow in class.

March 2

Today you had some class time to work on your research and planning of your American Entrepreneur project. We looked at some examples from Ms. Sarsons' class. You had some time with the laptops to either continue your research or start building your PowerPoint project.

March 1

You were given both periods today to work on your research for your American Entrepreneur project. The class was split in half for both periods and half of you went to the library to do your research, while the other half of the class remained in the classroom working with the wireless laptops. We also have the laptops booked for both periods tomorrow. You will not be able to have a laptop for both periods (since we only have 15 laptops for 30 students), so please come to class with other materials to work on this project. For example, bring a book or print outs from other websites to continue compiling your power notes. Tomorrow, I will be showing you some examples of some other PowerPoint presentations on a few American Entrepreneurs at the beginning of class.

February 28

Today we split the class into two groups, some of which went to the library to do some library research on an American entrepreneur. The other half of the class remained in the classroom doing some work on the laptops on the same project.

February 25

I gave you the assignment sheet for the American Entrepreneur project. I haven't set a due date for this assignment just yet, but it will definitely be due in Term 3. We held a draft to in both 9A and 9B so each of you could select an entrepreneur to profile. Ultimately you will be doing research, writing power notes, creating a PowerPoint presentation based on the power notes, presenting the PowerPoint presentation, and finally writing a case study essay using your power notes as an outline for creating the essay.
We also continued reading excerpts from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
I recommend that you try to do some preliminary research this weekend, either online or at the nearest branch of the public library.

February 24

Today in class I gave you some more time to do your Power Notes on the two entrepreneurs that you chose to profile from Chapter 5. Here's the note-taking format for these Power Notes:
(1)Entrepreneur's Name
    (2)Biographical Details & Background
     (3)origins
     (3)family facts
     (3)education
     (3)pre-entrepreneurial life
    (2)The Entrepreneur
     (3)the creation of the business
     (3)the early days of business
     (3)entrepreneurial success
     (3)reasons for success
    (2)Hall of Fame
     (3)this person's business philosophy
     (3)his/her legacy in America
     (3)ways in which the person is an inspiration to others
Additionally, we continued our Shakespeare unit by delving in to the excerpts from the play. We finished with Act II, Scene 2 from Romeo & Juliet (the famous balcony scene).
Please remember to complete your Power Notes tonight! There will be a homework check tomorrow in class.

February 23

Today we started doing some Power Notes on the entrepreneurs featured in Chapter 5 of Made in the USA. You had to chose which two entrepreneurs you were going to take notes on. This is practice for an upcoming American entrepreneur project. We also started our Shakespeare unit with a brief introduction to the purpose of the unit. Basically, it won't be a scholarly approach to Shakespeare, but hopefully you will learn a little bit about the Bard and then you won't be too intimidated by his work when you encounter him again in high school. Essentially, you'll leave Grade 9 with an understanding of the main plot points of Romeo and Juliet, the main characters in the play, and some of the major quotes from the play.

February 15

You wrote your Chapter 4 Quiz today in class. You will get this quiz back on Tuesday, February 22nd when you come back to school. In the second period the final groups to present their "songs as poetry" presented them to the class.
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• The USA Dictionary Project is due on February 22nd
• The James Fowler Tour is also on February 22nd, please make sure that you return your forms on Tuesday!!

February 14

Today we did a little review game which covered terminology from Chapters 1-4. Don't forget that you have your Chapter 4 Quiz tomorrow. This quiz is really important because many of the concepts on this quiz (which covers the Market Economy) will appear on your Provincial Achievement Test at the end of June. Additionally, some groups did their presentations in class for Ms. Holland. Please remember that you must be prepared to present tomorrow in class. Please come prepared: that means that lyrics MUST be in my submissions folder! Also, you must bring your music to class, and don't forget your TASTE and OBJECTS. I also reminded you that a lot of you that you didn't hand in your Candy Market Simulation Writing Assignment (which was due on Friday!), please make sure that get this assignment A.S.A.P. it's now OVERDUE!! Tuesday is the last possible day to hand this assignment in and still get credit for it.

February 10

Sorry, there was no post yesterday. You wrote an Open Notes Test yesterday using your Chapter 4 Power Notes. You then marked it in class.

Today you wrote your Chapter 3 Quiz. Please don't forget that you are writing your Chapter 4 Quiz on Tuesday. Please use the weekend to review material from the Market Economy. Also don't forget to save your song to my submissions folder. All presenters must be ready to present their song to the class on Monday!!

In case you missed it, here is the Chapter 4 Study Guide:

Format:

1. Matching Section
2. Multiple Choice Section
3. Short Answer Section
4. Fill in the Blanks Section (with a word bank)
   

Topics:

• Key Terms
• Compare the Command Economy, Mixed Economy, Market Economy (How do they answer the basic economic questions?)
• Karl Marx (Check out this hyperlink on Marx from the Social Studies Web)
• Adam Smith (To read about this really cool Scottish philosopher and his ideas about the "invisible hand", please check out the hyperlink above)
• J.K. Galbraith (you'll find a little blurb about this Canadian economist in the textbook on page 49)
• Law of Supply and Demand (in your textbook from pages 50-52, also from the Social Studies Web)
• Characteristics of a Market Economy(this is straight from the Social Studies Website, please make sure that you print off the handout from this web page!!)
• Self-Interest/Freedom of Choice (How does it affect the market/price of goods?)

Here's a list of key terms, key people that will appear on this quiz:

• Karl Marx
• Adam Smith
• J.K. Galbraith
• factors of production
• goods
• capital
• antitrust laws
• monopoly
• "invisible hand"
• scarcity
• market economy
• mixed economy
• command economy
• equilibrium
• law of supply and demand
• economics
• individualism
• private ownership
• capitalism
• basic economic questions
• Wealth of Nations
• mercantilism
• marketplace
• consumers

Here's a list of upcoming important dates:

• Candy Market Simulation Writing Assignment is due Friday, February 11th
• Presentations (everyone must be ready for Monday, February 14th)
• Chapter 4 Quiz is on Tuesday, February 15th
• James Fowler Tour is on February 22nd
• USA Dictionary Projects are due February 22nd

February 8

Just a quick warning: this is going to be a long post!
Here goes: Today we did a simulation of the market economy. In the simulation you were able to use "Monopoly money" to purchase candy. The amount of money that you had to bid on the candy varied from student to student. Some students had a lot of money, some were less fortunate. This simulation allowed you to further understand the law of supply and demand. At the end of the simulation you were given an assignment related to the simulation. This assignment is very similar to the factory simulation assignment that you did for me last week. You were given a list of vocabulary words that you have to work into your description of what happened during the simulation. Here's th list of words that should be in the assignment:

• opportunity
• open market
• distribution of wealth
• scarcity
• supplier
• command economy
• mixed economy
• market economy
• captive market
• producer
• goods
• profit
• individualism
• resources
• capital
• monopoly
• buyers
• pooling resources
• equilibrium
• pricing
• consumers
• law of supply and demand

The good copy of this assignment is due on Friday, February 11th.

In the second part of the class Ms. Holland introduced the three type of presentations that you may choose from to do next week. Here is a brief summary of the three presentation types:

1. "The Music I Listen To"
2. "A Verse to Share"
3. "My Verse"

"The Music I Listen To"

The goal of this option is to persuade Ms. Holland, Mr. Gilchrist and classmates that the music you listen to is poetry. Please make sure that you connect the artist's meaning to your own life!! You must choose a song that you feel represents poetry or has poetic elements. In your presentation you will include the following:

• the lyrics of the song (save it as a Word document into Mr. Gilchrist's submission folder)
• a 'taste' that represents the mood of the song
• a visual/physical object that represents the tone or theme of the song
• communicate/express to the class what makes this song poetry? how does this song relate to your life? who wrote/performed the song? how does this song represent a verse in the "play of life" (Dead Poet's Society)

"A Verse to Share"

The goal of this option is to share a song that you feels represents poetry, has poetic elements and was written before you were born. The emphasis of this presentation is connecting the song's meaning to the time and place of the artist; what was different/the same to your life today? In your presentation you'll include the following:

• the lyrics of the song (save it as a Word document into Mr. Gilchrist's submissions folder)
• communicate/express to the class what makes this song poetry? who wrote/performed this song? how does this song represent a verse in the play of life? in other words, within what broader context does the song belong? what elements of society are important in understanding the meaning?

"My Verse"

The goal of this option is to create your own song. You can write your lyrics and music, or just write lyrics to a song that has none. You must perform this song for the class. Your presentation will include:

• the lyrics of the song (save it as a Word document into Mr. Gilchrist's submissions folder)
• include a brief outline of the process that you went through to create your masterpiece

Please refer to the assignment sheet that Ms. Holland gave you for the presentations, especially for the rules and guidelines. You must get approval for any song that you wish to present.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to give you your Chapter 4 Quiz Study Guide in class today. Here's the study guide for this quiz (it's next Tuesday):

Format:

1. Matching Section
2. Multiple Choice Section
3. Short Answer Section
4. Fill in the Blanks Section (with a word bank)

Topics:

• Key Terms
• Compare the Command Economy, Mixed Economy, Market Economy (How do they answer the basic economic questions?)
• Karl Marx (Check out this hyperlink on Marx from the Social Studies Web)
• Adam Smith (To read about this really cool Scottish philosopher and his ideas about the "invisible hand", please check out the hyperlink above)
• J.K. Galbraith (you'll find a little blurb about this Canadian economist in the textbook on page 49)
• Law of Supply and Demand (in your textbook from pages 50-52, also from the Social Studies Web)
• Characteristics of a Market Economy(this is straight from the Social Studies Website)
• Self-Interest/Freedom of Choice (How does it affect the market/price of goods?)

Here's a list of key terms, key people that will appear on this quiz:

• Karl Marx
• Adam Smith
• J.K. Galbraith
• factors of production
• goods
• capital
• antitrust laws
• monopoly
• "invisible hand"
• scarcity
• market economy
• mixed economy
• command economy
• equilibrium
• law of supply and demand
• economics
• individualism
• private ownership
• capitalism
• basic economic questions
• Wealth of Nations
• mercantilism
• marketplace
• consumers

Here are the upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 3 Quiz is on Thursday, February 10th
• Candy Market Simulation Writing Assignment is due Friday, February 11th
• Presentations (everyone must be ready for Monday, February 14th)
• Chapter 4 Quiz is on Tuesday, February 15th
• James Fowler Tour is on February 22nd
• USA Dictionary Projects are due February 22nd

February 7

Today we started off by reading Chapter 4 in the Made in the USA textbook (p.45-55). Part way through reading this chapter I distributed your Power Notes guide for this chapter. Here's what the Power Note guide looks like for this chapter:
(1) Economics
(1) Economic Systems
(1) Command Economy
(1) Mixed Economy
(1) US Market Economy
(1) Free Enterprise
(1) The Market/ Marketplace
(1) Private Ownership
(1) Self Interest and Freedom to Choose
(1) Things Adam Smith did NOT predict within the Market System

For each of these 1's (main ideas) you must find the 2's (supporting details) and the 3's (specific examples). You may even find some 4's as well. These Power notes will be due by this Wednesday!

In the second half of the class Ms Holland did a poetry lesson with you. She showed you a couple of clips from the movie Dead Poets Society. You also listened to a couple of songs. Ms. Holland will be introducing some project ideas to you tomorrow related to what she discussed with you in class today.

February 4

Today I gave you the Chapter 3 Quiz Study Guide. If you missed it, here it is, with some hyperlinks to the Social Studies Web:
Format:

1. Matching Section
2. Multiple Choice Section
3. Short Answer Section

Topics:

Key Terms (see later in this post for a complete list)

Industrial Revolution (results of the Industrial Revolution, causes of the Industrial Revolution, when did it happen?) Here's the hyperlink for the Industrial Revolution from the Social Studies Web: http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9atut3.htm

The Enclosure Acts (what are the four main components?). If you don't have the Enclosure Acts notes, please go to the Social Studies Web and print off the handout. Here's the hyperlink: http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9atut2.htm

Trigger Industry (What is a trigger industry? What are four changes that trigger industries cause? What was the trigger industry for Great Britain? What was it for the USA?) Please go to the Social Studies Web and print off the notes for Trigger Industry. Here's the hyperlink: http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9atut4.htm

You should also be able to complete a chart that deals with life before the Industrial Revolution and life after the Industrial Revolution. Specifically, dealing with the following questions: where did people work? why did people work? where did people live?

Cottage System and Factory System (You need to be able to define each of these terms. You also need to be able to list off advantages and disadvantages for both systems.) For help answering this question, please check out the Social Studies Web, here's the hyperlink: http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b689/mainFrame/departments/humanities/gilchrist/9atut1.htm

Agricultural Revolution (What were the inventions of Charles Townshend and Jethro Tull?)

Here is a list of the key terms that will appear on the quiz:

• captive market
• industrialization
• means of production
• capital
• capitalist
• tariffs
• entrepreneur
• creative innovation
• standard of living
• individualism
• social mobility
• union
• Industrial Revolution
• Enclosure Acts
• trigger industry
• Eli Whitney
• cottage system
• factory system

Please make sure that you study for this quiz! Your Chapter 3 Quiz is on Thursday, February 10th.

February 3

We started doing some power notes on American Industrialization today in class. I gave you the 1's (the main ideas), and you were asked to find the 2's (supporting details) and the 3's (specific examples). Here are the main ideas for the power notes on American Industrialization (all of these are 1's in your power notes):

(1) Reasons why the USA didn't industrialize at the same time as Great Britain
(1) Major ways industrialization in USA differed from industrialization in Great Britain
(1) Challenges the USA had to overcome in order to industrialize successfully
(1) Stages in American Industrialization
(1) Reasons for the Civil War
(1) Ways in which the Civil War encouraged industrial development
(1) Ways that the Civil War spurred change in many areas

Next, we listened to some songs in class, including "Big Rock Candy Mountain", Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi", The Talking Heads' "Nothing But Flowers", and finally we listened to John Lennon's "Imagine". Can't see the common thread between these songs? Essentially, what the common theme was in these songs was different conceptions of what "paradise" means to different people. I then asked you to brainstorm a list of what "paradise" means to you. It could be a warm embrace from a loved one, or Skittles raining down from above whenever you want them.

Just a reminder of some upcoming important dates:

• Factory Simulation Writing Assignment due tomorrow
• Chapter 3 American Industrialization Power Notes due tomorrow (see above)
• The USA Dictionary Project is due Tuesday, February 22nd

February 2

If you missed today's class, you will not be responsible for the writing assignment that goes with the simulation. Today, the class was divided into two groups which were meant to represent two factories. There were also a couple of students who acted as cottage system workers. Both the factory and cottage system workers were asked to produce "fortune tellers". At the end of the simulation we debriefed and then you were given the assignment. In the writing assignment you must use each of the following terms correctly:

• cottage system
• factory system
• mass production
• quality
• quantity
• specialization
• division of labor
• assembly line
• quality control
• skill

Please make sure that you underline the terms above in your written assignment. Also, please make sure that you demonstrate an understanding of the key terms. The good copy for this written assignment is Friday, February 4th.

February 1

Today you wrote your Chapter 2 American History Quiz in the first period. In the second period, Ms. Holland took you through a lesson on "music as poetry", and you listened to some blues music.