History Do Now! The Fall of Empires by Thomas Cole

This is "The Fall of Empire" by Thomas Cole, a 19th century American painter.

Use this picture as either the beginning, the middle or the end of a story that you create.  

Start by doing a quick sketch of the painting, all of it or just part of it, in your history journal.  

Next, on the same page write a story based on the picture.  Write only the parts that are not the picture.  For example, if you decide to make the picture the end of your story, then you would write the beginning and the middle.  Then you would write see picture as the last line of your story.  Each part of the story you write should be one paragraph.  

This entire assignment must fit on one page of your journal, both the picture and the paragraphs.

Most students will have completed this assignment in class.

What Makes a Hero?

Here are the two videos from last weeks English class on the Hero's Journey.

First is "What Makes a Hero?" which illustrates most of the steps/parts in the Hero's Journey.

Next up is the animation "Dot the World" which is the world's smallest animated movie, made by Aardman studios.  This shows the steps of the Hero's Journey in action.

Use these two videos and the article you read to annotate the Hero's Journey map on pages six and seven of your English journal.

Homework: Rome in Your Home

Due Thursday (Friday for period 4).

Reread pages 10-17 in your history book.

Look for three things in your home (or community) that are a legacy of Roman culture.  Find things in three of the four categories from your notes.

Get or create a picture of each. Pictures should all fit on three quarters of a regular piece of paper.

You may sketch, draw or paint your pictures.  You may photograph things in your house and print out pictures. You may get pictures from on-line sources or magazines.

Bring actual pictures to class on Thursday.




For extra credit points on this project, post a picture in a comment by Thursday morning.

Do Now! for Tuesday's history class. We'll do this in class.

 

Take a look at this painting of a Medieval knight by Lucas Cranach the Elder.  It was painted around 1520 and shows a man wearing full ceremonial armor.  (except for the helmet).

Spend three minutes sketching all or part of the picture in your history journal. Use 1/3 of a page. You may sketch the entire painting or just a portion of it. Use the entire time.

Next you'll do a 2 by 10 activity which your teacher will describe.

Finally, answer your teachers questions in your journal after you hear the story of St. Maurice and the Theban band.

Welcome to Mr. Chester's Class

This is my dog, Clovis

Welcome to what will be a great 2017-2018 school year! My name is James Chester and I am your student’s Language Arts and/or History teacher.  I am confident we will have an outstanding year and am looking forward to developing deeper relationship with each of my students.

Class Objectives (from the State Standards)

Students will demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking while exploring various fiction and non-fiction genres.  In addition, students in history will have proficiency in European history from the Roman Empire through the Enlightenment, Medieval China and Japan, Mesoamerica, the Middle East, and West Africa.

Texts

Language Arts: The Language of Literature by McDougall Littell, Novels, Supplementary Materials.

Social Science: History Alive: The Medieval World and Beyond, TCI, Supplementary Materials

Grades

Assignments are given letter grades to help approximate equal interval grading.  The Aeries app on your phone converts these to percentages.  Student grades should be checked regularly on a computer for more accurate grades.  Incomplete assignments are marked “I”.

Homework

All homework must be completed on time to earn full credit.  Worked turned in up to one week late will be marked down one grade.  Work over one week late may not be accepted. Late work deadlines are listed in Aeries whenever possible.  Students are expected to read a book of their choice as part of the regular homework.  Therefore, they have homework every night.

Behavior/Consequences

All students at SJMS are expected to be Responsible and Respectful. For a more detailed description of school behavioral expectations and consequences, please review the parent handbook or student planner.

Classroom Tardies/Consequences

All students at SJMS are expected to be seated and working on the Do Now! before the bell rings.  I am very strict about this rule.  If the Do Now! refers to homework a student has not completed on time, that student may be marked tardy as a result.

To receive regular homework updates, please send me a request at jchester@nusd.org  You may list as many addresses as you like.  Updates will start sometime next week.

Thank you.

P.S. If you scroll down you can see some of the assignments we have done in previous years.  We'll be doing some of them again this year, too.