Mr. Garman's 7th Grade Social Studies

A new ASL (American Sign Language) page has been added to the top of my Blog. 

We will be using the links and information from that page during x-sail class.

Test Thursday of this week will cover Central and Southern Africa.  We are trying to pick up the pace of the class to make sure we cover everything, plus I think the kids have a good handle on Africa in general.  This test will cover pages 209-213 and 289-301 in the textbook.  Your student should be able to tell you who these two pictures are of and what they did. 

CLICK HERE FOR STUDY GUIDE

We will be reading the book Journey to Jo’Burg in Social Studies class for the first part of next week.  Click on the book title to learn more about the book.

Students have a long weekend coming up in part due to Martin Luther King Jr day.  We discussed Dr. King’s life on Friday and got a chance to watch a part of his I have a dream speech in class.  Mrs. Waterman will follow up in the future weeks from a language arts view point to take a closer look at the content of his speeches.  Below are some links to what was covered in class

I have a dream speech

Martin Luther King jr. Timeline

West Africa Test will be Monday, January 11th.  Test will cover pages 197-202 and pages 237-253.  Concept maps serve as our notes for this section.  Make sure you have your West Africa political map labled and colored.  This is the last test grade of the 2nd nine weeks so make sure and STUDY!!!!

STUDY GUIDE IS NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR THIS TEST.  PLEASE SEE ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY EARLIER THAN MONDAY.

Enjoy your time off of school and don’t forget everything you learned!!!!  See you back here on Monday, January 4th!!!!!

My daughter Emily telling Santa what she wants for Christmas.

Example of the Cultural Diversity in Nigeria and neighbors

We are currently covering West Africa in Social Studies.  This unit covers pages 197-202 and pages 237-253 in the text book.  There are 17 countries in West Africa and we will be taking a closer look at the countries of Nigeria, Ghana, and Mali.  We will cover basic concepts like cultural diversity and the problems associated with it.  In Nigeria alone there are hundreds of ethnic groups and over 400 languages!  The students get excited about covering West Africa because there are several good, useful videos that go along with this unit. 

Worlds Apart is a 7th grade favorite…. Watch a family from Alabama live with the Frafra people in Ghana for 10 days here!!!!  It is a great lesson in cultural diversity. 

Look forward to an open note quiz before Christmas break and a test shortly after you return to school in 2010!!!!!

Dates of African Independence

Test Friday (12/4) over Chapter 7, section 4 and 5.  This second half of Africa’s History deals with Independence for the African countries and Issues for Africa Today.  This test only covers 10 pages of the text book (175-185) but know them well…. I predict 6 essay questions to make sure that you understand the key concepts we have covered!

Test covers: Text pages 175-185, Concept maps, Colonization Map, Class Reading: Communication and Transportation.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS STUDY GUIDE!

Early Release day Wednesday, November 25th and then you the rest of the week off to enjoy football and turkey!  Take a second to read about the history behind Thanksgiving by clicking on the link below!

HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING

11/23—Did not get as much posted for this test as I wanted to due to a brief illness but hopefully you got a chance to get the study guide if you needed it!  Check out EGRADES link to see how you did on the test!

11/17—I will add a lot more to this post but I did promise a couple students who wanted the Study Guide early that I would post it here.

Chapter 7 Study Guide

Here are a couple pictures of my first core typing up there final-rough drafts for the writing EOG.  It really is cool to see a laptop on every desk and each one of them completely focused on what they are doing.  It makes you think about what the future for schools and technology really will be.