Finally, snow!

And to celebrate, tomorrow we will have current events quiz...

Note: The USA Today links are not working presently. Thanks to Lauren for emailing me to let me know. Please do a search on USA Today (or CNN.com) for "Guantanamo Bay detainees" and "Taiwan protesters" to find out what the stories are about. Good luck!

• The U.S. is planning a test of the newest missile defense technology.

• 12 Gitmo detainees have been transferred elsewhere.

• Thousands of Taiwanese protesters take to the streets.

• The iron sign that hung over the gate to the Auschwitz memorial has been stolen.

• In technology news, this little function is pretty neat. (Even though the iPhone app for Amazon.com has been doing that for a year!
  

This week...

• Did you ever see that movie with Nicholas Cage called "Lord of War"? That's what this story reminded me of.

• Hundreds of protesters are freed in Copenhagen.
  

• Mmmmm... What's for lunch?

• The number of police offers who have been shot in the line of duty has skyrocketed in the past year.

• Oh, Iran.

After the current events quiz tomorrow, we will continue with Ch21Sec3 ("India: One of Asia's Economic Giants"). This section, along with the map of India, is what you will be quizzed on this week.

Current events quiz for tomorrow...

• Over 100 people were killed when a pyrotechnics show caused a fire in a nightclub in this country.

• Unable to repay their massive debt, this part of the world sends investors into a panic this week.

• Tuesday night, President Obama addressed the nation, outlining his plan for Afghanistan.

• Forgive me for the personal commentary, but I think these people are nuts! The hottest toy of the season seems to have come under some recent scrutiny.*

• The Copenhagen summit is going on now. What is it?
  

• AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

*Nevermind the fact that as I type this, Mr. Cullen is out trying to find one to give to our cat for Christmas.

Back to school tomorrow!

As discussed, there will be no current events quiz tomorrow. However, we will have a current events discussion, so please be sure to read the news!

Also, a reminder: extra-credit posters are due tomorrow. While I will still accept them on Wednesday, I will deduct 20% each day that it is late. No posters will be accepted past Friday.

See you tomorrow!
~Mrs. S.

Current events tomorrow

As usual, we'll start off with a 5-point quiz. Then we'll have an activity where we have to put into the order the events of the Iran hostage crisis. Finally, we will go over the homework from last week about the Kurds in Iraq.

Without further ado, here are some news links for your reading pleasure...

• Here is a story that links two topics we've discussed in class, though never at the same time: Cuban dissidents and fasting.

• Critics are questioning President Obama's decision to try 9/11 suspects on U.S. soil.

• The President met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday to discuss further disarmament.

• Here is an update on Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.

• This New York City teen has a pretty solid alibi.
  

Quizzes on Monday and Tuesday...

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we covered Chapter 19, Section 4 in detail. Please see me for Power Point blank notes if you were not here.

On Monday you will have your current events quiz as usual.

On Tuesday, you will have a 20-p0int quiz; as previously explained, 10 points will be on Ch19Sec4 and 10 points will be on the Five Pillars. The quiz will be objective-- multiple choice, matching, and fill-in-the-blanks (with a word bank.) There will be more words than answers, FYI.

Have a wonderful 3-day weekend!

What beautiful weather we're having...

(See, I'm trying to stay positive despite this week's plethora of tragedies...)

This week, I'm not going to post links-- I just want you to be familiar with the major events of the week. I've posted a link to the USAToday weekly news quiz, so check it out-- but you should also take the initiative to look up the stories on your own. Just an FYI, I pull nearly all of my current events questions from CNN.com, FOXNews.com, and USAToday.com.)

Click here for the USAToday weekly news quiz...

Bonus point: by the end of day (Sunday), post a comment with a link to an *uplifting* news story for the week. We all have to remember that good things do happen, but they rarely make headlines.

Now go enjoy the sunshine!

The week in review...

This week, we completed Power Point notes for the Five Pillars of Islam. This religion will be compared/contrasted with Judaism so that we can try to understand the Middle East conflict. Please see me for the worksheet.

Middle East maps (10 pts) were due today (Friday) and the quiz was today as well (18 pts.) Please make this up on Monday during activity period if you were absent today.

Friday, also, we began notes on Chapter 19, Section 4, focusing on how the Middle East was carved up post-WWI.

NOTE: I mentioned going to see "The Men Who Stare at Goats" this weekend, and said that if you saw it and could post a comment about it on this blog, I would grant bonus points. I have to take that back, as I didn't realize the movie is rated "R" (I thought it was PG-13). So, if you are 17 and want to see the movie, fantastic, but I can't give you bonus points for it. No worries, though-- next week I will give you specifics on earning (up to) 10 points for an extra credit poster. Many of you need those points-- some of you do not. I'll give you the details by Wednesday.

Have a good weekend! I will update the blog with current events posts on Monday.

"This is Halloween (Halloween, Halloween!)"

Trick-or-treat, history students. Monday's current events quiz is on schedule as usual...

• A Coast Guard plane carrying 2 and a Marine helicopter carrying 7crashed on Thursday. Rescue efforts continue...

• Somalia pirates are holding a yachting couple hostage. What is their motive? What do they want?

• Be sure to read about the possible election run-off boycott in Afghanistan.

• Another car bomb in the news this week, this time in Islamabad, Pakistan.

• Former tennis champ Andre Agassi admitted to using drugs throughout 1997.

I haven't decided what the bonus will be this week, but it will probably be about something that happens on Sunday that I haven't posted.

Monday, after the quiz, we will start a Power Point on the Five Pillars. We will finish it up on Tuesday Wednesday.

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy Halloween!

~Mrs. S.

Current Events

Tomorrow is Monday, and you know what that means. After the Current Events quiz and discussion, we will talk about "Dear America: Letters Home to Vietnam". By Tuesday, I hope to have the rest of your Cold War Unit exams graded; they will be done by Wednesday at the latest. It's taking a lot of time this weekend to grade those essays-- but most of you have done a very nice job, and it's evident that there was a lot of studying going on!

After we go over the unit test scores, we will kick off our unit on the Modern Middle East.

So, on with the current events...

• On Sunday morning, two car bombings killed at least 135 and wounded at least 520 civilians.

• In China, three coal miners were rescued after having been trapped for eight days. Why do you think the number of mining accidents is so high in China?

• President Obama has declared the H1N1 virus situation a national emergency.

• The three last questions on tomorrow's quiz will actually come from this article about tourism in Berlin, Germany. This article is a very timely one for us to read considering we are just wrapping up our unit on the Berlin Wall. Be sure to read the whole article, and try to view the Photo Gallery (though it wasn't working for me on this Sunday morning, so we'll see...)
  
  Either way, the article is available for you to read, so why don't you take care of that right now and get it out of the way?
  
  
  

Khrushchev in Pittsburgh?

You can read an interesting story in the Post Gazette about Nikita Khrushchev visiting Pittsburgh in 1959. The story is linked here.



What in particular made Khrushchev want to visit Pittsburgh?

Today, of course, we took the 80-point Cold War Unit Exam. If you were absent only today, you will have to make up the test tomorrow (Friday) during class. The substitute teacher will have your name and blank test.

For those of you who took the test already, tomorrow you will be watching a classic HBO production about veterans' experiences in Vietnam called Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam. We will discuss the Emmy award-winning show after our current events quiz on Monday.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend. Don't forget that if you post a news article as a comment in this blog entry, you may earn bonus points if I use it in the quiz!

Rainy, dreary, cold.

That about sums up the weather report for this weekend, no? Mr. Cullen and I went to see "Where the Wild Things Are" this morning and it was nice to hide away from the dreary skies for a short bit.

I'm updating the website a bit early this weekend, hoping to re-work this week's Cold War exam tomorrow afternoon. I want to make sure the essay question is worded in a fair way and that students know what is expected of them, so for now-- Monday's current event clues!

• Mr. Cullen thought we were under attack by aliens when he first saw this footage, but it turned out just to be balloon boy... or was it?

• 3,500 troops who were supposed to ship out to Iraq won't be leaving, afterall.

• A fireworks blaze kills 32 in India just days before a big holiday.

• This article has to do with a different kind of "Cold War" in Moscow.

• Pakistan has launched an offensive attack against Taliban and Al-Quaeda strongholds along the Afghanistan border.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Your unit final exam on the Cold War will take place this Thursday. On Monday I will have study guides for you that include a long list of topics that will be included on the exam. Although I have not finished re-working the test, I can tell you that it will have a map section, a matching section, and one essay question worth approximately 30 points.

On Monday and Tuesday we will go over Chapter 18, Section 5 (The End of the Cold War) and on Wednesday we will have a review in preparation for Thursday's exam.

ugh

I am suffering from the worst flu! I hope you all are healthy and enjoyed a safe and fun Homecoming weekend. Regardless of whether or not I am well enough to return tomorrow, you will have a current events quiz...

• Who was chosen to be this year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, leaving some feeling confused?

• Talk about rights we take for granted... in this country, three people (amongst tens of thousands) who protested what they believed to be a rigged election are being sentenced to death.

• Are you worried that the world will end in 2012? According to the Mayan elder Chile Pixtun, the Western world is worrying needlessly.

• NASA crashed two U.S. spacecraft into the moon in search of water. Were they successful in their pursuits?

• Militants took 42 people hostage in this nation's military headquarters on Sunday.
  

Tuesday!

Today we took a quiz on Chapter 18, Section 3 (Communism Spreads in East Asia). Even with open notes, some found it to be tricky-- so be sure to study for it!

With the remaining time we completed some map work, labeling countries in Asia, color-coding it to help us study for the Cold War exam (which will be in about two weeks-- more info to follow--) and listing the leaders of those countries.

Here is a link to a copy of the map-- you can easily Google "Asia map" if you don't have an atlas at home-- but there are several countries missing from this version that you need to add. Below is a complete list.

Asia map

North Korea
South Korea
Vietnam (distinguish "north" and "south")
U.S.S.R.
Turkey
Cambodia
Laos
Japan
Turkey
Indonesia
Philippines
China
Taiwan

Current events tomorrow, plus an open-notes quiz.

Tomorrow we will have our regularly scheduled current events quiz, and then go back to our Chapter 18, Section 3 notes (most classes only have three or four slides to finish.) If time allows, we will have an open-notes 10-point quiz on Section 3; if we run out of time we will take the quiz on Tuesday and then move on to talk about the conflict in Southeast Asia (the Vietnam War).

Here are some links for you to check out for tomorrow's quiz!

• This city won the bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Where will the next Olympics take place (in 2012)?

• Iran agrees to let the U.N. inspect the controversial uranium enrichment site on October 25th.

• A typhoon whips through the already storm-battered Philippean Islands.

• Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood is calling this act while driving a "national epidemic".

• Binge-drinking is becoming a problem in Rome, Italy. To what do they attribute this recent change in culture?
  

Communism Spreads in East Asia

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we talked about the Communist Revolution in China (today coincidentally marks the 60th anniversary, or 60th "birthday" of communist China.

If you missed those days, here are the notes:

Chapter 18 Section 3

On Thursday and Friday we are watching a video about the Korean War-- a very good film produced by PBS about America's "Forgotten War". If you have Netflix at home, you can watch this on streaming video (on your computer). Here is the information about the documentary:

Korean War Stories (You have to answer the questions that are included on this link. Many thanks to the author of "The Educated Teacher" blog, because the questions that go along with the video are incredibly helpful!)

As always, remember you have a current events quiz on Monday. The site should be updated by early-ish Sunday morning this week.

Monday, Monday

Today in class we took the current events quiz. If you were not in class today, be sure to make it up tomorrow during activity period.

We also wrote the key terms from Chapter 18 Section 2 ("Industrialized Democracies After WWII") in our notebooks and took the Ch18Sec2 (10-pt) quiz-- but it was open book. See me if you need to make this up, and I will let you sign out a book and take a copy of the quiz.

Tomorrow begins Chapter 18 Section 3. We're trying something a little different tomorrow: instead of having you write down ALL of the notes, I've made copies of the entire Power Point slide show for everyone with blanks to fill in here and there. I'm hoping this will alleviate some of the frantic note-taking and allow you to really listen to my lecture and provide some input during class discussion. I don't know how often I will be able to make so many copies, though, so eventually this might be a "print-it-at-home" assignment to bring in to class with you. For now, though, enjoy.

Finally, please don't forget that your 10 point "protest posters" were due today. I will still accept them tomorrow, but at a 10% decrease in points.

See you tomorrow!

Are you enjoying your weekend?

Good! Let's take a look at some of the events of the past week...

• President Obama and other world leaders have warned the leader of Iran to "come clean" about a recently discovered nuclear site.
  

• Ousted president Zelaya is still hiding out in the Brazilian embassy after returning to his home country.

• The total arrested in Pittsburgh during the G20 protests can be found here.

• Two recipients of this type of transplant show off how successful the operations were.

• Floods in this country left 106 people dead or missing.

• A couple makes a tough decision after learning that the baby the mother was carrying in her womb was not their biological child.
  

This week...

Is a very busy week! We'll be taking a lot of notes, listening to a lot of lectures, and having a lot of discussions!

• Monday was the current events quiz, as usual. If you weren't here, make sure you see me to make it up before the end of the week! After we discussed the week's events, I passed back the 32-point Cold War Mid-Unit Quiz and met with students individually about their grades.
• On Tuesday, there were notes and lecture on Chapter 18, Section 1. You can view the PowerPoint presentation here: The Cold War Unfolds.
  
• Wednesday is the day for our 10-point matching/multiple choice quiz on Ch18Sec1. Afterwards, we started the next section, Ch18Sec2 with a focus on the prosperity of America post-WWII.
• On Thursday we will finish the PowerPoint that we started yesterday, which can be found here: The Industrialized Democracies Post-WWII.
• Of course, no Modern World course could go the whole week without learning about the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, so that's exactly what we'll be doing today. What's all the hoopla about, anyway?

Go, Steelers!

Might as well get this done before everyone is wrapped up in the Big Game, huh?

• "Peace Without Borders" concert in Havana, Cuba has resulted in death threats being sent via Twitter to this Cuban singer.

• Two big holidays for other cultures this weekend: Rosh Hashana, or Jewish New Year, and this Muslim holiday which is the "breaking of the fast" at the end of month-long Ramadan.

• A boy threw bombs and attacked classmates and a teacher with an axe in this country.

• Obama's plan to scrap a missile defense shield in Russia is receiving some criticism.

• In the news of the weird, an endoscope showed the foreign object that had been lodged in this man's lung, causing vomiting, coughing, and pain for two years.

• A Pittsburgh man who had gone missing showed up, and it was determined that he died from this cause.
  

That's it!

Just another manic Monday...

• Today in class we finished Thirteen Days and wrapped up the questions. I will collect them tomorrow for 15 points-- pay special attention to #26. The questions can be found here:
  

• On Tuesday, we will review Traditional - Command - Market economic systems and there will be notes/lecture on the three types of "mixed" systems-- Communism, Capitalism, and Socialism. The chart we will use can be printed here:

• We will read about the Bay of Pigs invasion on Wednesday, and answer some questions in groups and then as a class.

• Thursday is National Constitution Day, so we will deviate from our Cold War unit long enough to talk about a Constitution-specific lesson plan.

• On Friday you will have your first test. It's the Cold War "mid-unit" test to try and help you prepare for the 60-point one that is coming up in a few weeks. This one (on Friday) will be worth approximately 30 points and will cover everything we've learned so far about the Cold War, including information on Thirteen Days. More details will follow...
  

Good for you-- you checked the blog!

You get a gold star for the day. Actually, your reward will be even greater, as you'll probably score 100% on the quiz tomorrow.

So, what happened this week?

• Remember that local project we talked about? Looks like it's $28 million closer to becoming a reality.
  

• If you've been paying attention to Thirteen Days, then you might be a bit worried by the claims Hugo Chavez is making.

• In sad news, four U.S. service members were killed on Saturday.

• Over 640 people were arrested in riots that took place in this African nation.

• A mystery is unfolding at this Ivy League school regarding a coed who went missing on her wedding day.

• In a rare move, Cuba moves a wee bit further towards capitalism by granting these licenses for the first time in over a decade.
  

Labor Day Week...

Monday we didn't have school (obviously!)

On Tuesday, we took our first "real" current events quiz. I also checked homework for completion (questions that went along with "Lies, Spies, and the Berlin Wall".

On Wednesday, there was a class lecture about the differences between traditional, command, and market economic systems. For practice, in pairs, we completed the handout Classifying Types of Economic Activity. Please mark each statement with T, C, or M.

Thursday and Friday, we will watch the movie Thirteen Days, about the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Be sure to rent the movie if you miss class, because there will be questions on the first exam (not "quiz") that have to do with the way the crisis was portrayed in the film.

This is the real deal.

• Apple is hosting an invitation-only meeting on Wednesday to unveil a new product. One of the rumors circulating is that people will now be able to buy these on iTunes.

• The U.S. military denies having barged through this structure while searching for an insurgent in Afghanistan.

• Amidst controversy surrounding President Obama's plan to address school students on Tuesday, this person defended the idea.

• A Regent Square (Pittsburgh) man is heading to court this week to convince a federal jury that his right to free speech was violated.

• 2,000 troops from this group may be added to the 4,000 officers who are already scheduled to be at the G-20 Summit at the end of the month.

• Super Ferry 9 capsized with almost 1,000 people on board. Where did it happen?

Back in the swing of things...

Welcome back, Hempfield Students!

We're off to a good start in our Modern World classes. If you haven't already, please bookmark this site and refer to it often, especially:

• If you miss a day of school, so you can see what you missed in class
• The evening before a current events class, like this upcoming Monday (Labor Day).

This past week, we studied Chapter 17, Section 5, which had to do with The End of WWII. Below you will find the course syllabus as well as the first PowerPoint presentation, which will help you study for Friday's quiz on Ch17Sec5.

Modern World Syllabus

60-seat Majority?

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a long-time member of the Republican Party, announced today that he switched to the Democratic party.

In Modern World this week:

Monday:

• Current Events quiz
• HW: Create a 1o-pt multiple choice quiz (a, b, c) in preparation for tomorrow's exam.

Tuesday:

• 30-point exam on the Middle East, including Ch.20Sec.3, Judaism Vocabulary, and map of Israel. There will a short essay comparing the monotheistic religions. There will be NO word bank.

Wednesday:

• We will go over the answers to the exam so you know your grade. We will also work on a map of India.

Thursday and Friday:

• Notes / PowerPoint presentation on Ch.21Sec1: The Challenges of Development.

Inside with the A/C on?

Good. Then you have time to read the news for this week!

• First, there was the bird flu, and now, this.
• Sri Lanka is trying to get the Tamil Tigers to surrender.
• There was a rally in Pittsburgh to raise consciousness for the so-called invisible children.
• The PA legislature will vote on a bill that directly involves teenage drivers.
• Two earthquakes shook eastern Afghanistan yesterday.
  

Ready? Here We Go...

• Oh my goodness, more pirate scares.
• Obama met with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
• Sometimes, when there is public outcry,there can be positive change.
• An Iranian-American journalist is "holding up" well enough in an Iranian jail.
• It looks like I might just get to visit Havana in my lifetime, afterall!

Uhhhh, where are the links?

I'm glad everyone is having a nice break (as am I), but you guys were supposed to find links to use for the current events quiz. So far I have one link from a student in 7th period.

You have until 5 to post things-- I will update the site by 7 at the latest, but if I don't have any student-submitted news stories, tomorrow's quiz is going to be a doozie because you won't have any clues this time!

Tragedy in Pittsburgh and Binghamton, NYC.

Shooting in Binghamton, NYC...

Shooting in Pittsburgh...

Korea launched that rocket, afterall...

Afghanistan is receiving pressure from the West over their return to sharia law...

President Obama gave a speech in France...

An activist for Sudanese refugees spoke to an audience at East Liberty Presbyterian Church...

What's Goin' On?

In the comments section of this post, please copy and paste a link to a news story you have read and found interesting. Include your name, period #, and a short summary of the story.

Bonus points will be awarded for the stories that I include on Monday's current events quiz!

Read up! Current events quiz tomorrow...

• Thousands of people are converging in London to protest next week's G-20 summit.
• Rapper T.I. was sentenced this week.
• Lights dimmed in 2,800 cities across the globe to observe Earth hour.
• The U.S. navy is deploying ships to the Sea of Japan in preparation for North Korea's upcoming rocket launch.
• A former Khmer Rouge leader is going on trial this week for war crimes committed during the war in Southeast Asia.
• The skyscraper going in where the former World Trade Centers once stood got a name change.
• FDR's New Deal is receiving a bit of criticism from revisionists.
• Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of the accident at TMI (and I don't mean "Too Much Information".)

Current Events Quiz Tomorrow!

• President Obama appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno this week and regrettably compared his bowling skills to those of someone in the Special Olympics.
  
• The President also sent a videotaped message of goodwill to one of the "axis of evil" nations.
• Police in China detained 95 who attacked a police station in Western China. The monks claimed to be protesting for independence of this country .
• A gunman in this U.S. city shot and killed three police officers after being pulled over for a routine traffic violation.
• This Pittsburgh celebrity was officially named as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, fittingly, on St. Patrick's Day.
• Violence in this middle-eastern nation is seeing violence at an all-time high since the intervention of U.S. troops in 2001.
  
  
  

What in the world?...

• China claims that a U.S. ship violated Chinese and international laws.



• The Iraqi journalist shoe-thrower received his sentence.



• Mass shootings took place just hours apart in Alabama and Germany.



• President Obama reversed the stem-cell funding laws previously set by President Bush.



• Historians at the Smithsonian opened President Lincoln's watch and found a secret message engraved on the inside.



• Three foreign U.N. employees were kidnapped in Somalia.

PSSAs Week

On Monday, we will have a guest coming to speak with us about an opportunity with Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week.

On Tuesday, we will have this week's current event quiz and then continue with our notes on the Vietnam conflict. Wednesday will be the time to go over the Vietnam Key Terms that we may have missed in earlier lectures. Homework for Wednesday night will be to read Chapter 18, Section 4 in the book (about the fall of the Soviet Union) and define the Key Terms in your notebook. We will review this information on Thursday and take some supplementary notes.

On Friday we will play a game to prepare us for the 60-point Cold War Unit Exam that will be given on Tuesday of next week (March 24th.)

Good luck with PSSAs!

Have you paid attention to the news?

• A Turkish Airlines plan split apart after slamming into a field near a runway here.

• Outbreaks of violence have plagued this country in the past two months due to drug cartel wars: (watch video here.)
  
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered troops to take over plants that produce this because the previous producers were ignoring government-set prices.
• A pair of twins conjoined at the abdomen were successfully separated in this part of the world.
• Cuba is waiting and watching to see if Obama will act to reverse the embargo. (<---Read this article in its entirety, as most of the information will be familiar to you based on our class discussions and readings on the Bay of Pigs, etc...)

Cultural Experience NYC Trip Countdown: 7 Days!

For those of you attending next week's trip to New York City, I have attached a slideshow full of wonderful information. Many thanks to Mr. Bertani for creating this presentation!

Parents: the contact information for the hotel is included in the first slide.

Current Events

Reports now say that this prison is now "humane".

This social networking site changed its Terms of Service, only to do an "about face" after so many users protested.

President Obama has authorized air strikes in Pakistan.

An 11-year-old boy is being charged in the shooting death of his father's pregnant girlfriend. The shooting took place near New Castle.

Quiz hints

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kicked off a four-nation Asian tour on Monday, and talked to reporters while en route to Tokyo.
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will be able to serve an indefinite number of terms.
• Two men in China were sentenced to death for their role in the milk poisoning scandal.
• Israeli troops began to pull out of Gaza after three-week fighting period.
• A Seton Hill student was shot and killed by police at the end of a three-hour standoff.
• Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps will not face criminal charges" for the now infamous photo showing him smoking out of a bong.
• The Catholic Church has reinstated the practice of issuing plenary indulgences.
  

Students in Period 4A or Period 7: Don't forget that your Bay of Pigs questions are due on Tuesday!

Upcoming Assignments/Quizzes

Students:

If you missed the viewing of "Thirteen Days", you will need to rent it or see me during activity period to watch it. The questions that go along with the movie can be printed
here and are worth 13 points.

On Friday we are taking a step backwards, chronologically speaking, to read about the Bay of Pigs invasion. We will answer questions that go along with the reading-- see me if you are not here on Friday so that you can get the worksheet.

Since there is an in-service day on Monday, you will take your Current Events quiz on Tuesday upon your return. Tuesday we will also be working on a Nordstrom Desk Atlas activity about nations involved in the Cold War.

On Wednesday of next week, you will have a 30-point mid-Cold-War-unit test. Details will follow.

Current Events Quiz tomorrow

• German Chancellor Angela Merkell called the Pope to discuss Bishop William Richardson, whom the Pope welcomed back into the Catholic Church last week. What is the controversy surrounding Richardson?
• Nearly 100 people have died amidst wildfires in southeastern Australia.
• Two years after Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was removed from power by Ethiopian forces, he is was elected president of Somalia.
• Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the iconic Obama "Hope" posters, was arrested this week. What were his warrants for?
• Senators convened for a rare Saturday meeting in preparation for Monday's key vote. What will they be voting on?

Mixed Economies

In class today we learned about Traditional, Command, and Market economies. Tomorrow we will pick up where we left off and start to distinguish between communist, socialist, and capitalist systems.

Students who had Civics last semester will find this material familiar-- consider it a short "refresher course". Those who did not (and who miss Monday and/or Tuesday's class) must be sure to get notes and see me during activity period for an abbreviated lesson.

"U.S. Intelligence Monitoring 3 Ailing Foreign Leaders"

I heard an interesting bit on NPR's "Morning Edition" on the drive to school yesterday and thought I'd post it here. It's fitting for our Modern World class since we will spend time learning about North Korea, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. What will happen in these countries (and to the U.S.'s relationship with them) once these leaders are gone?

Click here to read the story (or to listen to the 6-minute story.)

Here We Go!

(Click on the above photo to view in its entirety.)

Don't forget your current events quiz tomorrow, young historians. It will be worth six points, and given in the same format as last Monday's quiz.

• How do you feel about the women who gave birth to octuplets? Read the story and feel free to chime in with a comment on this or any other story (it might earn you a bonus point.)
• A UC-Davis professor has found a way to breed a new variety of rice that might help alleviate some hunger in the world. What is special about the rice?
• The mood in Iraq about Saturday night's elections was much different from the mood in 2005.
• Israel's Prime Minister Olmert vows this if rocket fire continues from Gaza.
• There seems to be some controversy brewing about Slumdog Millionaire. (Have you seen it yet? I have not, but still want to. Not tonight, though, because...)
• Pittsburgh's goin' to the Superbowl!

Ugh! Bloody Monday...

Well this is disheartening... between Home Depot, Sprint/Nextel, John Deere, and others, a combined
50,000 jobs were lost today. Yup, you read that correctly-- fifty thousand.

In better news (sorta?) you don't have any Modern World homework tonight, unless you didn't finish reading Chapter 17, Section 5 (The End of WWII). Tomorrow we'll pick up where we left off with notes for that section.

Week of January 19th, 2009.

What a week it's been!

• On Tuesday, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. There was a bit of a mix-up, though, and he was sworn in again on Wednesday (just to be sure!)
• The first 100 days of a Presidency is key. Obama has already signed an order to close this place within a year's time.
• The Sri Lankan army is close to defeating an ethnic rebel army after years of fighting.
• Israel announces it will defend military officers if they are accused of war crimes during this incursion.
• The Academy Award nominees were announced, and for the second time in the history of the Oscars an actor was nominated posthumously.
• Americans' love of this food item makes the latest salmonella outbreak rather tricky to trace.

Don't forget to read the news-- tomorrow is your first current events quiz!

Welcome to Modern World!

Today in class, we:

• distributed textbooks
• took a Modern World "pre-test"
• started reading Chapter 21, Section 5 (The End of WWII)

For Monday, you must:

• Read the news! The current events quiz on Monday will be worth 6 points and will focus mainly international and national news stories (in other words, not too much "local" news).
• Cover your textbook and bring it to class, along with your 3-ring binder.
• Finish reading The End of WWII and be familiar with the key terms.

Have a good weekend!

~Miss S.