Tiberius Gracchus meets his end

Section 1 finished watching the video on Tiberius Gracchus today, and the question remains:

Was he truly a hero of the people, 

or just another power-hungry politician?

Carthage...latifundia...Gracchi... hopefully, these names and vocab terms are making more sense to you, as we see them played out in the video we're watching in class.  Remember, the link can be found on this blog if you want to re-watch at home, or if you want to race ahead.  See me if you have any questions.

Well, THAT was interesting.

You can look at it as getting yelled at, or getting a pep talk.  In any case, I hope you come in next week with a new attitude, a little more businesslike, ready to work.  I refuse to believe that every one of you is doing your best, and that you aren't capable of doing any better.  I think many of you have lots of room for improvement, and you can start proving it to me - and to yourself - next class.


BTW, your WestCiv final exam is Tues., June 4, at 10:00 - just 40 days away.

In the meantime, make sure you have given LO-3 (p. 97-101) a good look so you understand the overthrow of the Republic.  I also suggest you watch the video I have posted in the links column.  This was a big deal in Great Britain back in 2006, when millions of viewers a night tuned in to watch the story of ancient Rome.  If you like the first part, feel free to check out the episodes that follow.  Even better than Hillbilly Handfishin'!

Have a great weekend.

Rome - continued

Section 2 and 3: after you finish your test, see how things are about to get ugly for Rome.  Read about the overthrow of the Republic (LO-3, p. 97-101) to prepare for tomorrow's class.

deeper into Rome

Sections 2 and 3: your homework is to study up for tomorrow's quiz/test.  See yesterday's blog for deets.

Also, we were discussing how "the rich were getting richer" back in Rome, and comparing it to the situation in modern-day America.  Then this story comes out, just yesterday.  Interesting...

Section 1: things are about to get ugly for Rome.  Read about the overthrow of the Republic (LO-3, p. 97-101) to prepare for Friday.

And, as always, everybody blogs.

1/2 quiz, 1/2 test

Is it a "tizz"?   A "quest"?  Call it what you want, but it's 1/2 quiz, 1/2 test, and it's worth 75 points. It will cover LO-1 and LO-2, or the first two stanzas of the "Rome" song.  It will be given to section 1 tomorrow (Wednesday) and to sections 2 and 3 on Thursday.  I would recommend re-reading the text, and reviewing the song, to be ready.  You will not be allowed to use your blog or any other notes, so pack as much knowledge as possible into your head.

Changes and announcements as we sail into a three-day weekend:

There were an awful lot of unforeseen technical difficulties with the movie-making project.  I had originally planned on grading this as a project-type assignment.  But after seeing so many people, through no fault of their own, struggle with the basics, I have decided to make a change in the assignment.  This will now be a 10-point extra credit assignment.  If you decide to do it, I will give you somewhere between 1 and 10 extra credit points, depending how awesome it is.  It is probably worth putting some effort into this, not just because of the EC, but because it will be an effective study guide as well.  I will grade these Sunday morning, so consider the "assignment" due Saturday night (April 20) at midnight.

Also:  I have been asked to have you take a Survey Monkey on this class.  Here is the link:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y2T6FBJ

We will test on Rome late next week.  I will give you the exact date soon.  Watch this space for more details.

Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome...

Section 1 continues their work on the video project.  Work in your group and continue to add images to your Rome video.  See yesterday's blogs if you have questions about the details.

In order to truly synthesize the information in my song - which was intended as a summary of the history of ancient Rome - we are going to do some video editing.

Here's how to proceed.

• click on "Rome by Chi Cago (video)", found in my links, and copy the web address
• go to www.youtube-mp3.org, and paste the address in
• after the video has been converted, download it.  The mp3 has now been installed in iTunes
• open Movie Maker - you'll need to use version 2.6, which can be downloaded here
• perform all the necessary steps - run the install, agree to terms, etc. - to open it
• If you have your own preferred software (iMovie, Camtasia, etc.) feel free to use that
• once it's open, step 1 is to "import audio or music" - click that link
• a window will open.  Take "Rome" and drag it from iTunes to this window
• you have successfully laid down the audio track!

Next... find images that describe what I am singing about (Etruscans: find pic of Etruscans, or a map showing their location; Punic Wars: plenty of paintings of these famous battles; latifundia: don't know what that is?  Find a picture of one!) and paste them into your timeline.

We will continue work on this next class - Tuesday for section 1, Wednesday for sections 2 and 3.  Feel free to work on this at home if you like.  Have fun!

Rap-ucation

I want to thank all of you for your enthusiastic response to Chi Cago.  As promised, I've posted the lyrics to Rome.  Hope you like it - better yet, hope it helps you learn about Rome.  I'll work on getting the actual song posted on this blog when I get back from my tour trip.

Here is what you are doing in class on Thursday and Friday while I am gone.

As myth has it, the founding of Rome involves two brothers named Romulus and Remus.   On Thursday, Section 02 and 03 will work in pairs on a Pixton cartoon describing the story of Romulus and Remus.  The link to Pixton is in my Links section.  When you sign up, choose the Pixton for Fun option.

The following sites should prove helpful in researching this tale.

http://www.unrv.com/culture/romulus-and-remus.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/romulus_and_remus.htm

You might finish this in class - if you don't, finish it for homework.  Post the link to your finished comic on your blog.  Remember to tell me who you worked with on your comic.

On Friday, Section 01 will do the Pixton assignment described above.  Section 02 and 03 will work independently taking notes on LO-2 in their text, putting the notes in their blog.  Section 01 may have begun this work Thursday night; in any case, all sections must have the LO-2 notes, AND the link to their Pixton comic, posted to their blog by midnight Saturday night, so I can view it Sunday morning.

The Pixton comic is worth 25 points.  Late penalties will apply.  

Have fun with this, be nice to your subs, and I will see you next Monday!

another good day

Good old Section 1.  They got their Alexander tests back (class average: 88!) amid lots of bell dinging.  Then we began our studies of ancient Rome, reviewing the homework assignment from last night.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

On to Rome!

Now that we have tested on Greece, time to sail across the Adriatic Sea to ancient Rome.

After you have completed your test, read and take fantastic notes on your blog, covering LO-1 City-State and Empire: The Roman Republic, found on p. 88-94.  There is a lot of information here, including at least a dozen key terms you should be familiar with.

end of the break...almost

I hope you have all had a terrific break!  We're back tomorrow, and we will hit the ground running.  The first part of class will be a review of the life of Alexander, followed by a test.  I recommend you review the notes you were taking during all of your PowerPoint presentations, and copy them into your blog.