6th+Grade

**WELCOME 6th GRADERS to POPE JOHN PAUL II MIDDLE SCHOOL!! **

**WELCOME** to your Social Studies page! This year we will study Europe and the Americas (South, Central, & North America) from about 1900 B.C. to the present. We will these regions using History, Geography, Economics, and Cultural Studies. The school year is going by so fast! The 6th graders have done some creative work so far! I can't wait to see what they have in store for the National History Day projects. Below are two photos from the 6th grade Medieval Castle Build project (December). I will rotate new castle pictures in a couple of weeks!



__***NEW - June 1st - Tests and Quizzes for Extra Credit Quiz!**__  Below are the four tests and quizzes I will be using to create the 10 - question extra credit quiz for tomorrow. Each question I use will be worth one (1) point. The questions will be exactly as they were on the original test. (HINT: Look for the questions that were the hardest for you, I use the ones people missed the most.) -- Mr. Stickler 





        __**May 31st - "Native American" Studystack cards posted! -**__  I have created all the Studystack cards for tomorrow's quiz. Follow this link to the Studystack.com page with the Native American flashcards. -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="color: #d07116; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__**Saturday, May 14th - Religion StudyStack cards for Monday's Test**__ - Here are Studystack cards for our Easter/ Chapter 18 Religion test this Monday. So far I have only done the Chapter 18 "A Strong People" flashcards. I will post the rest later. If you want to see the flashcards on the Studystack page so you can print them, click this link. -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">__** MONDAY, MAY 9TH - Studystack cards for "Mexico, Panama, and Cuba" Test - **__ Below are the Studystack cards for our test this Wednesday. Remember, I do not put 100% of the test material on Studystack. There will be a few questions from either the textbook or worksheets, too. Here is the link to the Studystack page in case you want to print them out.

__**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #d07116; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Monday, April 18th - "Incas & Independence" Studystack Cards - **__<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Here is the link for the "Incas & Independence" unit test this Wednesday. Click on the link below to go to the first page of the set of flashcards. If you have problems with the link, please send me an E mail on our class website E mail address (sticklers.class@Yahoo.com). Go to "Incas & Independence" studystack. -- Mr. Stickler

__**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #d07116; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Saturday, March 5th - Schedule for Next Week - **__<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Next week we will be finishing Chapter 8 - and the "Medieval Times to Today" books - on Wednesday. Monday, we will finish our World War I poetry as a primary source lesson and review Section 3 of the chapter. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Tuesday, we will play the Study Guide Review Game to review for the unit test and earn some extra credit! Wednesday, we will take our unit test over Chapter 8 and turn in our "Medieval Times" books and pick up the next one. On Thursday, we will preview the new book and begin with Chapter 2. Friday, we will have our last National History Day project work day. (We will also work on our NHD projects & current events during Computer Lab this Thursday.)

DON'T FORGET - ALL NATIONAL HISTORY DAY PROJECTS WILL BE DUE MONDAY, MARCH 14TH!!! <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">This includes the project itself and the 500 - word Process Paper. Since we have been working on these since Christmas break, projects cannot be turned in late. Your NHD project should represent your best work. Not only will it be worth a lot of points, it will show me how much you know about your topic, how well you can do historical research, whether or not you managed your time well, and it will be seen by any visitors who come to our class to see the project presentations! All parents/ guardians and other St. Mary's classes will be invited to come to class Monday & Tuesday to watch presentations and see your finished products. (The class will be split by alphabetical order to decide which day you present.) MAKE SURE YOUR PROJECT SHOWS YOUR BEST WORK AND THAT YOU PRACTICE YOUR PRESENTATION SEVERAL TIMES! You can use 3 x 5 note cards during your presentation, so think about what reminders you want on your cards to help it go smoothly.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">If you need extra help with your project, I can stay after school until 4:15 P.M. every day except Wednesday. You could come by for the whole time, or, you could stay for 30 minutes and practice your presentation. I can also look over any rough drafts of papers you have and give you suggestions for editing. If you need to stay after school this week, please send me an E mail to our E mail dropbox for this website (sticklers.class@Yahoo.com). This will help me to plan for the number of students we will have each day. I will see how many E mails I get, then I will put sign up sheets in the class room to sign up for the day (or days if you need more help) you would like to come.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**__*Updated: 4:30 P.M. - Studystack cards__** - The Studystack cards for this week's test are now posted! Follow this link to the 6th grade "A Century of Turmoil" electronic flashcards. Remember, there is more to do than just flashcards on Studystack.com. There are other games and self - quizzes to do to help you learn. Start practicing these flash cards as soon as you can. In addition to the Studystack cards, you should review your notes from the WW I trench warfare photo activity, the bubbl.us/ Mind Map for Section 1 (posted below), and the information in the textbook. I don't put 100% of the test on Studystack, so you must review the other things, too. //Do not wait until Wednesday to get a print out Studystack cards and then study// them during the 10 minutes before we start the test! By then, it's too late to get the information into your long - term memory! You will forget after the test. Our goal is to learn the material well enough that it stays in our memory. I have high expectations for all of you and you have proven that you can do very well!! Remember, you are on "Mr. Stickler's 3 - year plan" to get you ready to take Advanced Placement (Honors) History in high school. At the rate you are going, you will ALL be ready for this by the end of 8th grade! -- Mr. Stickler

__**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #d07116; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">February 27, 2011 - Mind Map for Ch. 8, Sect. 1 - **__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> I am embedding a Mind Map of Chap. 8, Sect. 1 to help you see the relationships between the different subjects in this section. Use the "+" and "-" buttons to zoom in and out and study the connections between topics. Draw this Mind Map into your notes using different colors to study wherever you go. This is one way you can use to learn the material in the chapter! -- Mr. Stickler

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 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #d07116; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__January 23rd, 2011 - Hyperhistory Interactive Timeline -__ **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">I found a very good website with an interactive timeline of world history you can use to study information about the Renaissance & Reformation. This is on the Hyperhistory website I've mentioned before. (Sometimes the computers in the Computer Lab at school don't run it very well.) Follow this link to the World History: Hyperhistory "1500 - 2010" portion of the timeline. There you will see many links to more information. You will also be able to see how the time period we are studying fits in with other units we have done (just use the links on the right to see other time periods)**.** This <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">will help you understand how all the pieces fit together.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">You can also use the Kidspast.com website to see photos or Renaissance art and read short passages about the things we have studied in class. Follow this link to the Kidspast Renaissance page. After you read the page (or look at the photos), click the "next" button to scroll through the Renaissance pages. (There are also pages for the Reformation.) This resource will help you learn the information, too! -- Mr. Stickler


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #d07116; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__January 15, 2011 - "Renaissance", quiz 1 flashcards on Studystack -__ **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> I have created electronic flashcards for our first quiz of the semester! Remember, we will have 1 of these during every unit we study. Questions will be mostly short answer because that is what we need to work on as a class! When students have lost points on past quizzes & tests, it has been mainly because they did not use complete sentences to answer questions or left out minor details. So - as we discussed in class, there will be more short answers questions on all quizzes and tests the rest of the year. (We'll also keep working on writing skills with our daily journaling.)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">All of this means that you will need to make sure you know the content from the chapters very well. This includes how details relate to each other. This will help you write complete sentences in our test format. (Ex: Write at least 4 sentences, use complete sentences, etc.). That makes knowing the flashcards on Studystack that much more important. They are the "building blocks" of your answer. Follow this link to the 6th Grade Quiz 1 Studystack. -- Mr. Sticker


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #d07116; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">NOVEMBER 7TH ** - A Brief History of Rome website! - <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">This is a good resource to use to study for the test on Tuesday. The page contains a basic outline of the Roman Empire and covers most of what we have learned in class. Follow the link above and read the information there as a review. (And don't forget to do the flash cards on the Studystack website!) -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**THE "ICEMAN" MUSEUM!** - Last week we learned about the "Iceman" who was excavated from a glacier in the Alps of Switzerland. There is a museum that houses the mummy and all artifacts found with his body called the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. This website has many photos, interactive pages, and photos of Archaeologists excavating his body from the ice. There is also a page that explains radiocarbon dating (called "C14 dating") that I would like for everyone to read. It explains the process much better than our textbooks. (Follow this link to the Radiocarbon Dating page.) Once you get to the museum's web page, click on the links on the right side of the page to open up more menus. There you will see article titles for more information.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">This is an example of asking questions during the SQR2 process of reading a textbook. If you ask a question that the textbook cannot answer, then you have to conduct research on your own. The Internet is a good place to start (just do not use Wikipedia as a source! It's not scientific). Many of you seemed interested in the Iceman, so I did further research and found this. I also found other articles, which I will bring in on Monday.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Remember, before reading any non-fiction books for information, follow these steps: 1.) Survey all pictures, graphs, captions, and other information such as headings and subheadings; 2.) Question the textbook - use the information you learn during your survey to write 3 - 5 questions about the reading; 3.) Read the assignment (or a portion of the book) while keeping your questions in mind; 4.) Write the answers to your questions and review all your questions & answers before moving on to the next section. -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Here is a website to help you find a map for your Geography unit project: http://mapper.acme.com/. There are 6 different types of maps you can find here! -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">I hope everyone who visited our class website this summer found interesting and fun activities! (Maybe you've even learned something!) Thank you for stopping by! We will keep using this web site all year - so don't go anywhere! Stay tuned for more information and activities on our class page. This year (as you remember) we will be studying Europe and the Americas (if you don't remember where in the world they are - visit the 6th grade Archives page for maps). We'll start next week with a study of a tool that no Social Scientist can do without!! More on that next week! Have Fun! -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Odyssey Online** - The Odyssey online web site is an interactive site for ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Eastern (Chinese) history. Follow this link to the Greece Welcome page. (Make sure to use your mouse pointer to find all the hidden Easter eggs in the statues and columns!) From here you can click on interactive pages for Greek Geography, Mythology, Architecture, Death and Burial, and more. Each page has an information page (a stone tablet that drops down!) where you can scroll and read what's in that section. (Click and drag the small button on the right of the tablet.) Click the page you'd like to go to next at the bottom of each information tablet. This will show you artifacts and more information about ancient Greece. This is a really fun interactive site - one of the only ones like it around! Click here to go to the Odyssey Home Page where you can choose Egypt, Rome, or Eastern cultures. Have Fun!! -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 111%;">Virtual Archaeology! - The last post showed you artifacts removed from the La Brea Tar Pits. These were very old! You also watched the video about raising the Siberian Wooly Mammoth - I would call it "extreme archaeology!" At that site, researchers used jackhammers and shovels to chisel away the ice and remove the Mammoth. This post shows you what it is like to be an archaeologist. These researchers dig very slowly with small trowels, brushes, and screen to sift layers of dirt. Once they find an artifact, they clean, label, and catalog it. Follow this link to the Virtual Archaeological Dig sponsored by Virtual Museum Canada. Follow the instructions to excavate ("unearth") artifacts in the four red squares. See if you can figure out the time period the artifacts most likely came from. You will also get to practice cataloging artifacts by categorizing them into groups. All the instructions will appear on screen - just click "Next" where it asks you to use your cataloging sheet. Have Fun! -- Mr. Stickler

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 111%;"> __**The La Brea Tar Pits -**__ Here in North America, the La Brea Tar Pits have given us bones and fossil evidence that Wooly Mammoths once lived in the United States. When animals became trapped in the tar and died, their bones were well preserved. Here is a link to a New York Times video that gives a short overview of the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. (You will also see the skeleton of the Wooly Mammoth that was excavated and re-assembled!) The next link will take you to a video about a Mammoth discovered in Siberia (Russia). This is the last video in a 12 - part series - called "@Raising the Mammoth" - is about how the animal was found, cut from the Siberian ice, and then lifted by helicopter for further study. This will give you an idea of how many Mammoths may have lived in the world. Have Fun! -- Mr. Stickler

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 121%;"> __**Cave Paintings & Petroglyphs**__ - In the last post, you took a virtual tour of the caves in Lascaux, France. These caves contain some of the oldest cave paintings we've discovered! This post contains videos of cave paintings, petroglyphs <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 133.1%;">(" <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">A carving or line drawing on rock (especially one made by prehistoric people" - [|wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn]) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 121%;">, and other ancient art. In the first video, you may recognize some of the cave drawings from the Laxcaux tour! That video also includes rock art <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">from the remote Kimberley region of north-western Australia to the mysterious stone statues of Easter Island. This video also has cave paintings from Niaux in France and a carved giraffe in the Sahara Desert.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The second video will give you an idea of what life was like for these Neolithic people. There are pictures of cave paintings from another ancient site, Chauvet--Pont-d'Arc in south-eastern France. These paintings are 31,000 years old! You will see how high on the cliff this cave was (look for the arrow that points to it early in the video), a view from inside the cave showing the narrow entrance, and piles of animal bones and other artifacts on the cave floor. As you watch both of these videos, look at the artwork and guess how they were created (charcoal? mud? something else?). They didn't have paint - so what did they use? Have Fun! -- Mr. Stickler media type="youtube" key="U3b1sX_WOlA" height="265" width="312" align="left"

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