“Conversos” in the News

Apropos of our Crusades studies, there is an article in today’s Boston Globe about “conversos:” Jews pressured into converting to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition.  It is an interview with Robert Maryks, an author who recently spoke at Boston College on the subject.

Check it out!

Reminder: Quiz 2

Reminder: Quiz 2 will be Monday, May 24.

This quiz covers CH 28, “The Renaissance Begins” and CH 29, “Florence: The Cradle of the Renaissance”.  Make sure you review the chapters, re-read the “Reading Notes” and “Processing” pages in your notebook, and review the definitions for this chapter’s vocabulary words.  (Hint: Make sure you understand the reasons why the Renaissance happened, including:art, humanism, trade and commerce and Italian city-states AND you can match famous historical Florentines with their artistic or scientific achievements, and can pinpoint some important places, people and works of art/architecture in Florence’s history on a map.)

The CH 28 quiz will consist of multiple choice, a Venn diagram and a design for a 4-page website describing the beginning of the Renaissance. The CH 29 quiz will consist of multiple choice, a matching diagram and a map of Renaissance Florence.

Please let me know if you have any questions–either in today’s review session, or between now and Monday via email, telephone or blog comment.

Thanks!  Kimberlee

UPDATE: CHS. 10 & 11 Test

Dear All,

Since you have all school testing next week, the CHS. 10 & 11 test will take place on Friday, 5/7.

Your CHS. 28 and 29 notebook pages (pp. 192-193; pp. 196-202) and vocabulary will still be due on Monday, 5/10.

SO SORRY for all this juggling around.  It’s that “end of the year crunch time.”

Thanks,

Kimberlee

Moving the Test on CHS. 10 & 11

Dear Group 5-ers,

Since many of you have been gone all week, and I will be returning your graded quizzes today (Friday, 4/30), I have decided to move the test to Monday, 5/10 so that you have an opportunity to go over your quizzes and ask questions to adequately prepare for the exam.

So, Monday 5/3 we will have a review session instead of the exam.  Please bring in your quizzes, notebook, book and any questions you might have.

If we have time, we will read CH 29 in class.

See you Monday!

Kimberlee

Back in the Swing

Dear Group 5-ers,

Hope you enjoyed your Patriots Day holiday.  We’re  having a quiz Monday on Chapters 10 & 11, so wanted to touch base.

Monday (4/26), when we meet, you’ll be having your quiz and then a CHS 10 & 11 test review session.

Please review your homework, notes and vocabulary, and think ahead to any questions you might have for me.  Don’t forget to check out the helpful hints on the “Quizzes” page before Monday.  And, the “Exams” page before the test on 5/3.

I will be in today for my office hour, and you of course can call or email any time.

Ciao!

Kimberlee

Inside the Hajj Pilgrimage Video

CNN has a nice video giving an insider’s look at the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.  As non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Mecca, this is as close as some of us will ever get.  Check it out.

Homework Handout – due 3/29

Please be aware that I gave the History Alive! notebook pages as a photocopied HANDOUT today. **Please contact me if you need one.**  The photocopy has the CH 10 section numbers for each of the terms/concepts that you are going to summarize (in a sentence), as well as the maps for adding symbols to.

Let me know if you have any questions.

See you Monday!

Welcome back!

Welcome back from March break everyone!  Hope you had a restful vacation.

I want to offer congratulations to our National History Day participants on a job well done.  And, especially to our two Honorable Mentions whom we honored at morning meeting today.  Great job!

Now, after a full school quarter devoted to National History Day, we are getting back into the History Alive! text for this final part of the school year.

In addition to the Clark Assignment Book, please be sure to check the homework and quizzes/exams pages on this blog for updates.

And, looking forward to some more of that yummy spring weather as we enter the home stretch.

All best,

Kimberlee

NHD Travel; Schedule of Events

Greetings NHD participants!

I just received directions to Innovation Charter School, as well as the tentative Schedule of Events for March 6 from our district organizer.

Here’s the day’s tentative schedule. Day Schedule

Please check out the travel directions; I will meet students and their chaperones/parents there.  Directions Innovation

Also, everyone should plan on arriving at 8 am and have the necessary materials in hand.  (Please check the photocopied NHD checklist for your category’s contest day requirements.  Or, see the original page 18 of the online Rulebook.  **You are responsible for having the requisite number of copies [4 for most] of your process paper, title page, annotated bibliography, and/or historical essay [5 copies of paper].**)

I’ve also attached the schedule of student times for judging, which includes the room number.  Clark_Schedule

FYI:
Students should be at the the assigned room 10 minutes before their scheduled time and wait for the judges to call them in.
Parents can view any of the performances and documentaries.
You will not be able to enter a room once a presentation has started.
Innovation Academy will have snack foods for sale.
There are plenty of restaurants for lunch on the Daniel Webster Rt.3A.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

It should be a fabulous day for everyone!  I’m really looking forward to it.

Annotated Bibliographies/Primary & Secondary Sources

Another quick note about the Bibliographies as you finalize your projects.

After annotating your sources, please don’t forget to separate your bibliography into primary and secondary sources, labeling them as such, and alphabetizing the entries.

If you are still unsure what Primary versus Secondary means, I excerpted the following helpful guide from the NHD website under Contest -> Creating an Entry -> Contest FAQ’s (http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/contestfaqs.htm).

It reads in part:

“…You *do* need to find both primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources help you to put your topic in context, that is, to see how your topic relates to the big picture and to understand its long-term causes and consequences. Primary sources help you develop your own interpretation and make your project lively and personal….

Q) …What is a primary source?

A) Primary sources are materials directly related to a topic by time or participation. These materials include letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles from the time, oral history interviews, documents, photographs, artifacts, or anything else that provides contemporary accounts about a person or event. Check out the Research Roadmap for more help….

…Here are some common questions about primary sources:

Q) Are interviews with experts primary sources?

A) No, an interview with an expert (a professor of Civil War history, for example) is not a primary source, UNLESS that expert actually lived through and has first-hand knowledge of the events being described.

Q) If I find a quote from a historical figure in my textbook or another secondary source and I use the quote in my project, should I list it as a primary source?

A) No, quotes from historical figures which are found in secondary sources are not considered primary sources. The author of the book has processed the quotation, selecting it from the original source. Without seeing the original source for yourself, you don’t know if the quotation is taken out of context, what else was in the source, what the context was, etc….”

Please let me know if you have any questions.