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Watts New?
16th Edition Friday December 19th!
Hello everyone and welcome to the 16th edition of Watts New, which will be a weekly newsletter that will keep all of you up to speed on what we accomplished in class in the past week and what to look forward to in the near future! To add some incentive and to make sure your children are getting these newsletters to you I am going to give my students the responsibility of returning these back to me each following week after they have been sent home to you! Each week they are returned on time students will be given a small amount of homework points, which will be continuously tallied and then made into one homework grade at the end of each semester! I will always offer hard copies of the Watts New at the end of each school week! (The bottom of this should be signed and returned by Thursday 1/8/09)
Greek City States Stand In Unison, Defeat the Persians
Monday we continued on in Ancient Greece as we devoted the day to breaking down the two dominant city states in Ancient Greece; Athens and Sparta. We were able to come to a consensus that these 2 powerhouses were much like opposites in the way they ran their government (Oligarchy vs. Direct Democracy); economy (Athens relied on trading for most of their goods while Sparta produced what they needed and took from others what they could not produce), and socially (The Athenians believed in reaching out to other cultures, traveling, etc, while the Spartans kept themselves mostly isolated and were all about training warriors)
Tuesday we covered the Persian Wars as we dissected each of the battles and were able to see how in each one there was great strategy used, bravery, and even involved traitors. The kids realized that this was a great example of how the favorite does not always win in life as the undermanned Greeks were able to unite and hold off the mighty Persians.
Wednesday and part of Thursday we covered the Athenian Golden Age. My students were able to choose between various activities in which to demonstrate their expertise about the different aspects of the Golden Age of Athens (Philosophy, Architecture, Sports, Religion, Drama, and Sculpture)
Thursday and Friday, we covered the Peloponnesian War and how even though Sparta was victorious, they became vulnerable, and were eventually overtaken by the Macedonians. This then allowed us to explore the reign of Alexander the Great. We discovered that he loved Greek Culture and attempted to display it in every place he conquered.
ALERT: We will be taking our Ancient Greek Test Wed 1/07/09 (After the break). Study packets will go out on Friday 12/19!
NEXT WEEK!
We will finish up our Ancient Greece Unit which will include reviewing for our Unit Test!
Watts Wall of Facts
Monday we will be continuing our mini-project known as the Watts Wall of Facts in which students will individually select their favorite fact from a current or past unit and report on it. All facts will be displayed on our bulletin board aka the Wall of Facts. Each student will complete 1 per term. The due lists will be displayed every Monday and students will have until the following Monday (1 week) to turn their fact report in. 5/6 students will be on the due list each week. I will provide directions and the template in class and on my Website. (The current groups were posted on 12/15 and their Fact is due Mon 12/22)
OVERTIME TUESDAY: The next O.T will be Tuesday 12/23
Homework
Watts New 16th Edition due back by Thursday 1/8/09
Watts Wall of Facts for selected groups due Monday 12/22
Study for our Ancient Greece Test set for Wed. 1/7/09
HAVE A SAFE A RESTFUL WINTER BREAK
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Please cut along the dotted line and return this slip back to Mr.Watts by Thurs. 1/8/09!
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Parent/Guardian Signature Student Name (Please Print
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