Studycast - Social Studies Chapter 5

Click here to listen to our studycast for our upcoming Chapter 5 Social Studies test.  You can download the studycast to your computer by right-clicking the link and choosing "Save As."  You can also find this studycast on iTunes - see the sidebar to the right for the link.  The study guide came home on Monday, November 15 and the test is this Friday, November 19.  If you have any questions about the material, leave a comment below this post or send me an email.  Good luck!

Studycast Correction

It was brought to my attention that I may have left out some information on the Social Studies Chapter 3-4 studycast.  The last two questions on your study guide ask about encomiendas.  You can read about this on page 148 in your textbook (and we covered it in class today).  An encomienda is a large piece of land owned by a peninsulare (a person born in Spain).  The peninsulare controlled all of the Native Americans living on his land.  The Native Americans were forced to work for the land owner and give him the crops they grew or goods they produced.  Often times the Native Americans were also forced to convert to the Catholic faith and give up their own customs and culture. 

Hope this information helps! 

Studycast - Social Studies Chapters 3&4

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming social studies test on chapters 3-4.  The focus of this test is the early explorers - from Marco Polo to DeSoto.  The study guide was sent out this past Wednesday, and the test will be on Wednesday, October 13th.  If you need an extra copy of the study guide, please visit the homework page on our classroom website.  If you have any questions, leave me a comment below or send me an email.  Hope this studycast helps - good luck!

Studycast - Native Americans

Click here to listen to a studycast for our upcoming test on Native Americans.  A studycast is basically a review of all the information we covered during that particular unit of study.  I go through the study guide (which came home on Thursday), and teach through all the major concepts that will appear on the test.  I know that it's sometimes difficult for parents to help their child study for a social studies or science test.  There's a lot of content involved, and it might have been a while since you've thought about these things!  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or send me an email.  The test will be on Monday, September 20th. 

Social Studies Chapter 10 Studycast

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming test on Chapter 10.  The test will be on Wednesday, March 24th.  If you have any questions, just leave a comment below or send me an email.  Have a great day!

Studycast - Social Studies Chapter 9

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming Chapter 9 test.  You can download the audio file to your computer by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save As."  If you have iTunes, you can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes.  The podcast will be automatically downloaded to your iTunes library and will sync to your iPod.  I have a link on the right hand side of this website - it's that easy! 

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.  I think you'll enjoy this studycast!

Scenes from the American Revolution

To better understand the major events of the American Revolution, teams of students created a series of scenes that showcase the big ideas of each event.  Watching this video would be a great way to review for our upcoming test!

Social Studies Chapter 8 Studycast

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming test on Chapter 8 - The Road to the Revolution. You can download the audio file to your computer by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target (or Link) As..." The study guide for the test came home on Monday, January 25th, and the test is this Friday, January 29th. If you have any questions or thoughts, click on the "comment" link below this post and leave us a message. Good luck on the test!

Studycast - Social Studies Chapter 7

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming test on Chapter 7 - The Fight for a Continent. You can also download the studycast by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." The test is this Friday, December 18th, and the study guide came home on Monday, December 14th. If you have any questions, just leave me a comment below or send me an email. Thanks!

Studycast - Social Studies Chapter 5

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming Social Studies test on Chapter 5. You can download the audio file to your computer by right-clicking on the link. Choose "Save Target As" and save the file to an appropriate place in your computer.

If you have any questions or thoughts, click on the "comments" link below this post and leave a message. You can also email me at any time. Hope this studycast helps!

Studycast - Social Studies Chapters 3-4

Click here to download the studycast for our upcoming Social Studies test. You can right-click on the link and download the audio file to your computer.

The test is on Wednesday, October 14th. The study guide came home on Thursday, October 15th. If you have any questions, leave a comment below or send me an email. I hope this studycast helps you and your child prepare for the test!

Cortes - Spanish Explorer

We watched a video that taught us the incredible story of Cortes and how he conquered the Aztec Empire. After watching the video, we summarized the story by creating a powerpoint. I typed it in while the kids retold the main events. After we created the summary, we acted out each part of the story. This could be a great resource as you study for the Chapter 3-4 test!

Cortes vs Aztecs

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Columbus Inquiry - What We Learned

After our Columbus inquiry was over, I invited the kids to share about what they learned. I captured a few of their responses on video...

Christopher Columbus Inquiry

Last week I introduced Christopher Columbus to the class. We read a few picture books, shared our previous knowledge, and studied maps of his journeys. We then began to ask questions ,and we recorded these questions in our writer's notebooks. These questions were the basis for our inquiry. The following day, we had the opportunity to explore more resources as we searched for answers to our questions. Students used the Internet to study websites about Columbus; other students worked with partners to read non-fiction texts about this explorer. We came away from this experience with LOTS of our questions answered. I was really proud of our kids! After the inquiry was over, I asked our students to reflect on the experience. How do we go about finding answers to our questions? Here is what we came up with:

• We are curious people.
• We learned some initial facts.
• We asked questions.
• We wrote out questions in our notebook.
• We read 'big chunks" at a time.
• As we read, we asked ourselves, "What did I learn?"
• We wrote down what we learned in our own words.
• We shared our thinking and questions with our partners.
• We used the Internet and books as resources.
• We were on-task.
• We enjoyed learning new things.
• We concentrated.
• We thought about our questions as we read.

Below are some pictures of our researchers as work..

Christopher Columbus

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Native American Tableaus

In order to review our study of the early Native Americans, we decided to create tableaus to show what we've learned. Each group was assigned and specific cultural region and was asked to create five tableaus to answer the following questions:
1. What was your environment like?
2. What kind of homes did you live in?
3. How did you get food?
4. What was your most important resource? How was it used?
5. What was your culture like?

As you watch the video, ask your child to describe his or her interpretation of the tableaus. Our students should be able to connect their new learning to what they see. Enjoy!

Studycast - Native Americans

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming test on Native Americans. If you want to download the audio file to your computer, you can right click on the link and choose "Save Target As..." You will then be able to choose a location on your computer to download the file.

One of the hardest things about helping your child study for science and social studies test is simply mastering the content. With the studycast, it takes all the guesswork out of studying! You and your child can listen to the studycast in order to know exactly what information will be covered on the test. Your child can use his or her textbook, class notes, and this studycast to help them prepare for the test. If your child misplaced his or her study guide, you can click here to download an extra copy.

If you have any questions, just leave me a comment below this post or send me an email. I hope you find this studycast helpful!

Studycast - Social Studies Chapter 10

Click here to listen to the studycast for Chapter 10. You can download the audio file by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save target as..." The study guide came home on Wednesday, March 25th, and the test is on Tuesday, March 31st. If you need an extra copy of the study guide, click here. You can download the study guide from our class website's homework page.

If you have any questions about the material, just send me an email or leave a comment below this post. I'd love to hear from you!

Social Studies Chapter 7 Studycast

Click here to listen to the studycast for Chapter 7. You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and by choosing "Save Target As." The studyguide came home on Monday, December 15 and the test is on Friday, December 19. If you need to download an extra copy of the studyguide, visit the homework page on our class website. Feel free to leave me questions or comments - I'll get back to you soon! Thanks and good luck!

Current Events Journal

Our class had begun to discuss some current events, so I created a Current Events Journal for our classroom. It's just a big, blank book that hangs up in the back of the classroom. During the morning, kids can glue in current events they've brought from home or comment on articles other students have posted. We share these during class meeting once or twice a week. We've discussed a lot of interesting articles: the government bailout of the auto industry, Obama and McCain vowing to work together, the urine recycler on the international space station (yes, I'm serious), New York's big snowfall, Somalia pirates, and the war in Iraq. Rebekah, Coco, and Porter have all contributed articles to our journal. Here's a picture of Coco sharing with the class one morning.

Studycast - Social Studies Chapter 5

Click here to listen to the Social Studies Chapter 5 studycast. You can also right click on the link, "save target as," and download the file to your computer.

The study guide for the test came home on Wednesday, November 5. If you need an extra copy of the study guide, click on the homework page on our class website. The test will be on Tuesday, November 11. If you have any questions, you can let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post. I'll get back to you quickly with an answer. Enjoy learning about these early explorers!