Chapter 5 Vocabulary and Vocabulary Builder Worksheet Due Tomorrow, Chapter 5 - Lesson 1 Notes

*HOMEWORK ALERT*- Just a reminder that the Chapter 5 Vocabulary and Vocabulary Builder worksheet are due tomorrow at the beginning of class. We have a grade check coming up on Friday an this is definitely not the time for any student to take a "0" on an assignment.

In class today, we started the notes on the early explorers of Texas and concentrated on the Spanish Conquistadors. Cortes and Pineda were specifically mentioned and Cabeza de Vaca will be discussed tomorrow.

Below are the notes for Lesson 1.

Tests Graded, Chapter 5 Vocabulary and Vocabulary Builder Worksheet Assigned, Behavior for Substitute

Today, I handed out the graded Chapter 4 tests. The grades were good, overall, but not as high as I would have liked. This is especially true considering it was an open notes test. I did go over the graded tests with the students but took them back up when we were done. I will hold on to the tests until students who were absent have a chance to make it up. The grades have been recorded and should be available for viewing in Home Access.

I will be out tomorrow and there will be a substitute in the room. Please stress to your student the importance of behaving well for a guest (which is what I consider a sub). There will be three items the kids will be working on in class tomorrow. The Chapter 5 Vocabulary Assignment, the Chapter 5 Vocabulary Builder worksheet and an reading assignment (Lesson 1 of Chapter 5, Pages 122-125). The due date for the vocabulary and worksheet is Tuesday, November 1. I have attached the vocabulary assignment below.

Chapter 4 Exam Over The First Texans Taken Today

The students took their exam over Chapter 4 - The First Texans today. Due to some unusual circumstances during our study of this chapter, I allowed the kids to use their class notes. Many of the test grades are posted with the rest to follow by this time tomorrow.

In class tomorrow, we will begin Chapter 5 - The Early Explorers of Texas. This is one of my favorite chapters in Texas History.

Open Notes Test Over Chapter 4 Tomorrow!

The test over Chapter 4 - The First Texans will be tomorrow. Due to some circumstances beyond our control, the chapter has been stretched out over several weeks. Because of this, I will allow the students to use their notes for the test. Notes over the chapter can be found, copied and/or downloaded from this blog. Scroll down to the following dates in order to get full copies of the notes:

October 3 - Lesson 1 Notes
October 17 - Lesson 2 Notes
October 24 - Lesson 3 Notes

The exam will be a major summative grade.

Acrostic Poem on Plains Indians Assigned and Lesson 3 Notes

Friday, I taught the students how to create an acrostic poem and then gave them an assignment where they are to do two such poems over two different Plains Indian tribes. Full instructions are below. Please note that the two acrostic poems are due on Tuesday 10/25/16.

Also, attached below are the notes over Chapter 4 - Lesson 3 over the Plains Indians. This information will be very useful to the students as they complete the acrostic poems and when they need to study for their test.

*TEST ALERT* - The test over Chapter 4 is scheduled for Wednesday 10/26/16.

Tri-fold Mini-project over the Tribes of the Southeastern and Gulf Coastal Cultural Regions Assigned

Today, I assigned a "mini-project" over the tribes of the Southeastern and Gulf Coastal Cultural Regions to the students. The assignment consists of a tri-fold that will serve as an informational brochure. Each student was given a piece of blank paper with which to create their tri-fold. Full instructions are below. The tri-fold will be due at the beginning of class on Friday 10/21 and will count as a summative grade.

2nd 9 Weeks Off and Running, Chapter 4 - Lesson 2 Notes

The 2nd 9 weeks is off and running and we picked up our study of the Native American tribes of Texas. We completed Chapter 4 - Lesson 2 notes today which covered the Caddo, Karankawa, Coahuiltecan and Atakapan tribes. Below are the complete notes and some of the photos I shared with the students about the tribes.

Quiz Over Chapter 4 - Lesson 1, Chapter 4 - Lesson 2 Notes Started

The students were given a 10 question quiz over the Lesson 1 notes and reading assignment they had last night. The quiz was the exact same one located at the end of Chapter 4 - Lesson 1 in the online textbook. The grades were mediocre, at best, and clearly shows that the majority of students are simply not putting in any time at all on their own to study and/or prepare for class. Please do what you can to encourage your child to take care of their business as we only have about 2 more weeks left before report cards are issued.

Below are the notes for Chapter 4 - Lesson 2. Make sure your student has a copy of these notes when they come to class tomorrow.

Chapter 4 Lesson 1 - Ancient Texans, Chapter 4 Vocabulary Turned In

We started our discussion on the first Texans today. Discussion centered around how the first people migrated to North America from Asia via the Bering Land Bridge and then spread out across the continent. Next, we discussed what life was like for a hunter-gatherer. The notes for Lesson 1 are below. All students were also assigned a short reading assignment in the textbook. The pages in the hardcopy of the text are 102-105. If you are logging onto the digital textbook, you need to read Chapter 4, Lesson 1.

*TAG/PAP* - The visual vocabulary assignment is due tomorrow at the beginning of class.

Test Corrections Completed, Chapter 4 Vocabulary Assignments

The test corrections for the Chapter 3 test, on which the students performed very poorly, have been entered and it has helped almost all of the kids quite a bit. I had a few students who simply did not do the test corrections and will have to live with their original score. Please note, I will NOT be doing test corrections like this again. From this point forward, the students are going to have to live with the grade they earn the first time OR come in after school for a retest. Please drill into your students the importance of studying and being prepared for exams.

The vocabulary assignments for Chapter 4 - The Early People of Texas were given to the students on Friday. The vocabulary for my regular classes is below.

*TAG/PAP* - These classes also have a vocabulary assignment to complete; however, they will be going about things a bit differently. Please use the same vocabulary terms shown above and then follow the instructions for "Visual Vocabulary," an AVID strategy, below.