News from Nepal

As some of you know, Saroj and some of his family are back in Nepal. Interestingly, Nepal today ended it's monarchy and gave the current king 15 days to leave the palace. Here's a link to the story on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/28/nepal/index.html

argh! Try THIS!

I guess I have to INVITE you all to VIEW the docs, so unless you want to make your google apps user name now, you DON'T HAVE TO until you want to use it when you are next working a group (for some of you, that will be September!).

So, I THINK this will work. Click on the links below. (While I am not as smart as I thought I was, I AM learning!)

Save the World Rubric

Learning Journals

Save the World Assignment

so I Aha'd too early...

I guess in order to access the files on google docs, you need a log in. The cool thing is, it's free. The next cool thing is, you can sign in to with BHS people. The third thing, that may not be soooo cool to you is that other teachers are requiring that you use this to collaborate on projects. Now, for the REALLY cool thing -- you CAN collaborate on projects using this google docs site. You post your doc, and people in your group who you allow can actually edit it too!! Now isn't that just amazing??!! No more waiting for someone to send you a file....

Okay, so here's what you need to do:

1. Go to this site: http://www.google.com/apps/edu/index.html

2. on the right, type in your FULL school email address

3. follow the rest of the prompts

4. Your login will be your school email address. Your password is whatever you set it to be. So my new login that I created as a test at gmail is SShirley@branford.k12.ct.us . It was REALLY easy.

Remind me to show you more in class.

AHA!

I found a way to link directly to .doc files for you! Here are the links for the final assessment task, rubric, and learning journals!

Save the World Project

Blank Journals

Save the World Rubric


Remember, check in with us often and repeatedly to make sure you are doing what you need to do. You MUST have Ms. Lepre or myself sign off on your learning goals by FRIDAY of this week!

Assignment Due

Textbook assignment supporting class discussion of Modern Monotheism:

Protestant Reformation

• Read Page 423 - 433
• Answer 4 and 5 on 427 (fully develop your responses -- explain and support w/evidence from text)
• Define all terms (in blue) in your notebooks.

Due no later than Thursday for Yellow, Red, Purple, Blue; Friday for Green.

The last few days have included a further examination of the role of religion in society. We watched a video (One God, Three Religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam) which explored the common aspects of those three religions as well as the history of conflict between them. It also raised questions about how we can possibly change the focus from conflict to peaceful co-existence.

In Yellow, Red, and Purple, we used the religion charts that you created as a foundation for small-group discussions about religion and its role in and impact on civilization. The discussions were really good, and I hope you found them helpful as well. I'm looking forward to hearing Green and Blue having their discussions next week.

While we are studying religion, we are looking at some of the Bible stories that you need to understand in order to fully grasp some of the ideas that Daniel Quinn presents in the book Ishmael. As mentioned in class, these stories are taught as stories, not as truth. In this unit, just as in any other unit of study in this course, students are encouraged to examine and try to understand ideas and beliefs or others in a respectful atmosphere, and we attempt to teach the ideas as objectively as possible.

Stories from the Judeo-Christian background of relevance to Ishmael include:

The Creation Story (Genesis 1 - 2:1)
Key question: According to this story, what do people from Judeo-Christian backgrounds believe is different about God's creation of man than his other creations?

The Garden of Eden -- Paradise (Genesis 2:3 - )
Key question: What is Paradise?

The Serpent in the Garden, or The Fall (Genesis 3)
Key question: What impact does the punishment by God for Adam and Eve's choice have on mankind?

Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)Understanding this story is vital to understanding one of Daniel Quinn's key ideas in Ishmael. Remember which one is the farmer of crops (Cain starts with C, so does crops), and which one was the shephard (Abel starts with A and so does, well, animal).

Abram and God's Promise (Genesis 12 -13)
Key Question: What did God promise to Abram? How does this relate to the Story of the Serpent in the Garden?

Promise of a Son (Genesis 15 - 17:15 and Genesis 21:1 - 20)
Key Questions: How did God fulfill his promise to Abram? How is this story relevant to Daniel Quinn's Ishmael?