Social Studies

                      

                         Pearson Learning~Core Knowledge
                                    The Vikings
                                    The Big Idea
     The Vikings were medieval Europe's raiders and traders.  Between 
approximately A.D. 800 and 1100, these skillful shipbuilders and daring 
sailors from the area now called Scandinavia plundered and traded throughout 
Europe and sailed as far west as North America.  The Vikings struck terror 
wherever they traveled because their ships were so swift and their attacks 
so unexpected and brutal.
     The Vikings were adventurers who explored uncharted territory in the 
North Atlantic.  Eric the Red, banished from Iceland, explored and then led 
a group of hardy settlers to the island of Greenland.  His son, Leif 
Ericson, sailed farther west to Newfoundland, in Canada, to become the first 
known Eruopean to set foot in North America.  The Vikings were fierce 
warriors--but they were also sailors, traders, explorers, settlers, farmers, 
craftworkers, poets, and storytellers.

Ms. Nelson's Homeroom
11/16/09 - Lesson 1 The Vikings
11/17/09 - Lesson 2 Where did the Vikings come from?
11/18/09 - Lesson 3 Shipbuilders and Sailors
11/19/09 - Lesson 4 Traders and Raiders
11/20/09 - Lesson 4 (con't)
11/23/09 - Lesson 5 Eric the Red
11/24/09 - Lesson 6 Leif Ericson
11/30/09 - Lesson 7 Viking gods and myths
12/01/09 - prepare for Viking Feast
12/02/09 - prepare for Viking Feast
12/03/09 - Viking Feast
                          


              Pearson Learning~Core Knowledge
		           Canada Today

		           The Big Idea
     Canada is an important neighbor to the United States.  It is larger in 
area than the United States, yet the United States has almost nine times as 
many people.  Most of Canada’s population lives close to the U.S. border.  
Superficially, many parts of Canada seem so much like many parts of the 
United States that an American visitor can forget that he or she is in 
another country.  In many parts of Canada, English is the dominant language.  
Styles of architecture, clothing, and food may be very similar or even 
identical to those found in the United States. 
     A closer look reveals that Canada is not only a separate country but a 
different culture.  French is widely used, and the influence of French 
culture is strong, especially in Quebec.  Canada’s history and relationship 
with Britain is different from that of the United States.  Canada’s vast 
wilderness has a strong effect on the economies of different regions as well 
as on its history and culture.

Mrs. Halpert/Knapp's Homeroom
     10/26/09 - Begin Canada Lesson 1
     10/27/09 - Canada Lesson 2
     11/2/09 - Canada Lesson 2 (con't)
     11/3/09 - Canada Lesson 3
     11/4/09 - Unit Assmnt
     


                    Pearson Learning~Core Knowledge
                                 World Rivers

                                  The Big Idea

     People have always gravitated to and settled along the rivers and 
streams of the world.  Rivers have supplied water for drinking, bathing, 
laundering, recreation, and transportation.  Rivers are also an important 
source of food.  Rivers establish natural boundaries between states, 
countries, provinces, and districts.  They irrigate our farms and groves and 
rice paddies.  They sculpt our planet.
     Then there are the mighty rivers of the world--those celebrated in 
song, art, literature, history, and even religion.  We know their names, 
though perhaps we know few details agout them.  Nile, Ganges, Mississippi, 
Amazon, Congo, Yukon, Rhine, Danube, Volga, Niger--these are the rivers that 
have shaped human history, created cultures, and somethimes destroyed 
lives. 

Ms. Nelson's Homeroom 
10/5/09- Introduction and Vocabulary
10/6/09- Rivers of Asia
         Yangtze, Yellow, Ob, Indus, Ganges
10/6/09- Rivers of Asia (con't)
10/8/09- Rivers of South America
         Amazon, Orinoco, Parana
         Rivers Vocabulary Quiz
10/9/09- Rivers of North America
10/12/09- Rivers of Africa
           Nile, Niger, Congo
10/13/09- Rivers of Europe
          Volga, Danube, Rhine
10/14/09- Australia
          Murray
10/15/09- Unit Assessment


                       

                Pearson Learning~Core Knowledge
		           Canada Today

		           The Big Idea
     Canada is an important neighbor to the United States.  It is larger in 
area than the United States, yet the United States has almost nine times as 
many people.  Most of Canada’s population lives close to the U.S. border.  
Superficially, many parts of Canada seem so much like many parts of the 
United States that an American visitor can forget that he or she is in 
another country.  In many parts of Canada, English is the dominant language.  
Styles of architecture, clothing, and food may be very similar or even 
identical to those found in the United States. 
     A closer look reveals that Canada is not only a separate country but a 
different culture.  French is widely used, and the influence of French 
culture is strong, especially in Quebec.  Canada’s history and relationship 
with Britain is different from that of the United States.  Canada’s vast 
wilderness has a strong effect on the economies of different regions as well 
as on its history and culture.

Ms. Nelson's Homeroom
     9/24/09 - Begin Canada Lesson 1
     9/28/09 - Canada Lesson 2
     9/29/09 - Canada Lesson 2 (con't)
     9/30/09 - Canada Lesson 3
     10/1/09 - Lesson 3 (con't)/Flip chart
     10/2/09 - Canada Unit Assmnt
                            

                         Pearson Learning~Core Knowledge
                                The Earliest Americans

                                     The Big Idea
     
     When Europeans came to the Americas about 400 years ago, they found 
peoples who had already been living there for thousands of years.  Although 
these earliest Americans had no written history, modern archaeologists, 
anthroppologists, and historians, have been able to piece together the story 
of their settlement of the Americas through the discovery of ancient sites 
and artifacts.  In addition, Native Americans' oral traditions tell much 
about their history.
     The wide variety of traditions, lifestyles, and ancestry among these 
earliest Americans defies stereotyping.  Such variety celebrates the ability 
of humans to adapt to their environments, be it desert, woodland, wetland, 
or Arctic tundra.
    

Mrs. Halpert/Knapp's Homeroom  9/4/09 - 
     9/ 4/09- Culture
     9/ 8/09- The Land Bridge - Beringia
     9/ 9/09- Finish Land Bridge
     9/10/09- The Inuit
     9/11/09- The Northwest Coast
     9/14/09- The Plains Indians
     9/15/09- The Anasazi
     9/16/09- After the Anasazi(Pueblo, Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Apache,    
              Comanche) Started Review
     9/17/09- Mound Builders
     9/18/09- After the Mound Builders
     9/21/09- The Eastern Woodlands
     9/22/09- Con't Eastern Woodlands

 

Ms. Nelson’s Homeroom  8/13/09 - 
     8/13/09- Map skills
     8/14/09- Map skills and Culture 
     8/17/09- The Land Bridge - Beringia
     8/18/09- The Inuit
     8/19/09- Finish Inuit begin The Northwest Coast
     8/20/09- Northwest Coast
     8/21/09- Finish Totem 
     8/24/09- The Plains Indians
     8/25/09- The Anasazi 
     8/26/09- After the Anasazi  (Pueblo, Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Apache,    
              Comanche)
     8/27/09- Mound Builders
     8/28/09- After the Mound Builders 
     8/31/09- The Eastern Woodlands
     9/01/09-  review
     Unit Assessment Thursday, 9/3/2009