Watts New?

19^th Edition Friday June 5^th!   

Hello everyone and welcome to the 19^th edition and Final Edition of Watts New for Semester I!  (This final edition does not need to be returned as all students will be given a free 2 points added into their accumulated Watts New scoring system. I will tallying the final points and posting everyones Watts New grade Friday or Monday.

Finishing Off Greece, Starting Ancient Rome Ending a Great Era!

Monday we finished off Greece by completing our Unit Test in style!

Tuesday and Thursday we began preparing for our final exam which will be taken next Thurs 6/11. It is a cumulative test. My kids will be well prepared!

Sandwiched in between we began our Ancient Rome Unit by getting a thorough introduction. After discovering how Rome was founded, (Historical & Mythical) students were then introduced to the surrounding geography of the civilization by completing a map that also included questions that helped the students understand the transition from Etruscan domination to the Roman Republic. (The map & questions are due Mon. 6/8) We also focused on the structure of the Roman Republic government and emphasized the division in the Roman social system created by the Etruscans, in which the Patricians did not allow the lower class Plebeians many rights at all. We discussed how the Plebeians made up the army did most of the work in Rome and during the Conflict of Order marched out of the city in protest. Slowly they were given more rights. We also discovered how the 12 Tables (Roman Law that was finally posted) acted as an early form of constitution) We also learned about some of the reasons to why the Republic failed (inflation, unemployment, tax farmers, lack of a police force, power hungry generals, politicians buying votes, etc)    

We were introduced to the transition to the Empire as Julius Caesar became a dictator and although he actually created some improvements in Rome, he was assassinated by enemies, who persuaded by the Senate, felt they were saving the Republic! We met the Emperor of Rome Augustus and came to understand how created a sense of peace and prosperity in the Empire (Pax Romana) that lasted almost 200 years.

            We then briefly discussed how the Empire grew too large for 1 Emperor and the empire actually split into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire.

ALERT: We will be taking our Final Test Mon 6/11/09 (It is a County Wide CRES which will cover select topics from all of our past units)

NEXT WEEK!

Will start our last activity of the semester as students will get together in groups and began creating a Roman Newspaper which will help us learn more about all the various aspects of this grand civilization! We will also be taking our Final CRES Exam!

Parents please check with your child and make sure they have turned in their History Alive Textbook by this coming Monday!

OVERTIME TUESDAY:  The next O.T will be Tuesday 6/9

Homework

Study for our Ancient World CRES Test set for Thursday 6/11

Ancient Rome Map & Questions due Monday 6/8

Textbooks should be back Monday 6/8

I cannot believe our time has come to a close! It has been a pleasure working with all of you this semester! Good luck in 7^th Grade and have a fantastic and restful summer!