Lost Treasures of Ancient Greece

Hello World History Students,

I have found this series of videos from the Discovery Channel on Ancient Greece. It is divided into 5 parts on YouTube, I have posted the link to the first part and there you may find the links to the continuations. Remember to just click on the title of this post and it will automatically redirect you to the proper page. I have found these videos to be very interesting and very well made. They serve as an excellent introduction to the new unit we will be discussing in class. I suggest you take the time to watch them during your break as it is a possibility you will have to answer a few questions on them when we get back. Hope you all have wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! Take care!

Paradise Now on YouTube

World History Students,


Hello girls, as you know, we have been discussing the origins of Judaism as of late but I have also wanted to bring that into perspective with some of the current issues the Jewish nation, Israel, is going through. I have talked about this recent Palestinian film called "Paradie Now" which shows the perspective of two young, Palestinian men on the verge of commiting a suicide attack. I have found the entire movie for you on YouTube. It is divided into 9 parts, so look for the continuations of this first one I am posting on that page. If you click on the title of this post, it will link automatically to the YouTube page. I am also including the address in case that does not work. You may watch the film in its entirety here or use the videos as supplements for what you have not understood or remember from class. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gkvj30aNiE&feature=player_embedded#

Middle Eastern Recipe Websites

World Cultures,

Salam Alaykum, (Peace be upon you)

Hello girls, as promised, I'm posting up a few websites I found might be useful for your "Food Day" research. I hope you find things that are worthwhile and tasty. Please remember to consult with your parents before incurring in any costs or making any plans. Remember, many ingredients needed to make some of these recipes can already be found in your cupboards at home, so just ask. I wish you luck, see you on Friday!

http://www.whats4eats.com/middle-east
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/world-cuisine/Middle-East/Main.aspx
http://www.hilalplaza.com/Middle_Eastern_Recipes.htm
http://www.world-recipes.info/middle-eastern/index.html
http://www.goodcooking.com/mideast.htm

Remember that these are just a few general sites that I happened to find so that I could give you an idea of what you need to look for. Your recipe does not necessarily have to be from one of these sites and you can find more recipes if you search for them by individual country.

If you have any questions or comments, let me know.

No Reservations: Saudi Arabia

World Cultures,

Hello girls, the title of this post links directly to YouTube's videos of Anthony Bourdain's program "No Reservations: Saudi Arabia". I thought it would be interesting for you to see. Look up the continuations of the first part on that same page. While you watch it, I am sure you will remember many of the things that came up during Mr. Kutbi's interview last week. Hope you enjoy it!

Here is the address, just in case clicking on the title of the post does not work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO8msDjEAS4

New Date for the "Create Your Own Civilization Project"

Hello World History students,

I just wanted to let you all know the new final date for your "Create Your Civilization Project" will be Friday, October 9. Also, be ready for a general quiz on Chapter 2, all sections, including the documentaries you were supposed to watch on topdocumentaryfilms.com. You can use the questions you were to have answered on Wednesday as a partial review. Read and study the last 2 sections of the chapter (China and India), they will be discussed in class. There is no final date for the quiz as of yet. I will let you know in class.

I also wanted to mention that a lot of the work I have already received on the "Civilizations" project has been excellent. Congratulations, and keep up the good work!

World History Assignment: October 1, 2009

Hello girls,

For today's assignment I would like you to focus on your "Create Your Own Civilization" Project. Keep up your research and organize a way to be able to communicate with the rest of the girls in your group. It is imperative that you think about all the aspects that entail the development of a civilization. Use what you are reading in your textbooks about the "Ancient River Valley Civilizations" to base your arguments upon when I ask you as a group. Remember, this is a competition. At the end of the day I want you to email me the work that you've done so far so that I can see the progress that you've made and give you suggestions on how to proceed.

Mucho éxito a todas!

World Cultures: Middle East Groups

Hello World Cultures students,

I am posting up the groups with their new assigned countries so that you are able to look up the information on the religious life of your respective countries over the weekend and are able to give your reports next week. Remember to also prepare the interview questions for our invited speaker, Mr. Kutbi; two per person, not two per group.

Take care!

Saudi Arabia: Gabriela & Gladys
Israel: Marta & Andrea
Iran: Joyce & Anushka
Turkey: Lorena & Sofía
Pakistan: Verónica L. & Adriana
Lebanon: Patricia & Verónica H.
Afghanistan: Suzette & Alejandra
Egypt: Katiana & Marilia
Iraq: Lissa & Maricelis
Jordan: Claudia & Paola

Making the clarification! READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello students,

I just wanted to clarify any doubts as to the official assignments for my World History class. The homework I am sending for the World History class will be labeled appropriately. YOU MUST READ THE HEADINGS!!! Remember that this blog is for all of my students, whether it be from the World History courses, the World Cultures, or the Italian course. The assignment for the interview questions that are to be written for Camille's father, Mr. Kutbi, is for my WORLD CULTURES, SOPHOMORE students. I hope this makes everything clear.

Thank you, and sorry for the misunderstanding.

World History Students' Assignment for Wednesday, Sept. 30

Hello girls,

As you know, due to the extraordinary circumstances our class is going through and the precautionary measures the school must take, you are to fulfill a set of required assignments in your home and complete them daily. These questions will be counted as a full quiz grade and are compulsory. Today's assignment will be the following:

In your textbooks, Chapter 2, Section 1, pg. 27, there is a question in the margin that you must answer:

"Why was silt so important to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia?"

On pg. 31, another question in the margin:

"How does an empire differ from a city-state?"

Page 32, "Section Assessment", questions number 3 and 4:

"3) What advantages did living in cities offer the people of Ancient Mesopotamia? Do modern cities offer any of the same advantages? Support your answer with references from the text. Think about: characteristics of Sumer's city-states, characteristics of Sumer's economy and society, and the development of organized government."

"4) Do you think that living in a river valley with little rainfall helped or hurt the development of civilization in Mesopotamia? Explain your response."

Section 2, page 34, another question in the margin:

"What was the main difference between the flooding of the Nile and that of the rivers of Mesopotamia?"

This question refers to the documentary you were supposed to have watched for the class on the Ancient EGYPTIAN civilization. Again, here is the URL for the website in which you can find the needed documentary:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/legacy-the-origins-of-civilization/:

According to the documentary "Legacy: Egypt, the Habit of Civilization", what is the mayor difference between the personalities of the Egyptians as a culture and the Iraqis as a culture? How could this have affected their development as a civilization?

Page 35, in the margin:

"Why were Egypt's pharaohs unusually powerful rulers?"

Page 39, in the margin:

"Comparing. How was the status of women similar in Egyptian and Sumerian society?"

World Cultures, New Region

Hello all,

As you know, the next region to be studied in class will be the Middle East. I would love to be able to invite Mr. Kutbi to our class so as to enjoy from the experience of learning from a Middle Eastern Native. Normally, we don't necessarily have access to someone that can teach and enlighten us through his or her experiences which may be so drastically different from our own. On the other hand, we may also be surprised to find out that these experiences, although geographically distant to our own cultural realities and contexts may also be more similar to our own ways life than we realize; the Philippines, anyone? Remember, as a part of this experience, you are ALL REQUIRED to prepare at least two (2) interview questions for Mr. Kutbi and you must hand them in by POSTING THEM ON THE BLOG! I will be keeping track of the posts. Thank you, and good luck.

Asian Food Website

Hello World Cultures Students,

I found this website to be quite complete on explaining some of the characteristics of Asian cuisine and there are also some simple but tasty recipes on the site which might interest you.

http://www.asianonlinerecipes.com/

"Legacy: The Origins of Civilizations" Documentary

Hello all,
Here are the documentaries of the first mayor river civilizations we have been studying in class. You may view them in their entirety for free on this site and feel free to do so since they are quite interesting and very informative. They include video of beautiful landscapes of these countries and some of the monuments these civilizations have left us and serve as an excellent visual reference. Enjoy!

http://www.topdocumentaryfilms.com/legacy-the-origins-of-civilization/

Food Day Permission Letter for the World Cultures Class

Hello World Cultures students,

As a reminder, we are planning on having our Asian "Food Day" tomorrow, September 22, and as we discussed in class, you will not be able to participate in the activity unless you hand in the permission slip signed by your parents. Remember to download this document, print it out and bring it to class tomorrow. Good luck to all! P.S. Remember to copy and paste as a Word document. See you tomorrow!

Academia San José, High School

Villa Caparra, Puerto Rico

Department of History and Social Studies

Ms. Carina E. Dimas, B.A.

Dear Parents,

It is my pleasure and privilege to be able to teach the World Cultures elective course at our school. As part of this enlightening and enriching course, which centers upon familiarizing our students with varying aspects of differents cultures around the World, part of my objective is to expose the students to one of the most defining characteristics of any culture; its cuisine.

In order to be able to reach that goal, I very humbly solicit your cooperation in the activity I have designated as “Food Day”. In this activity, students are to investigate what is the local cuisine of the of the country they have been assigned and choose the recipe of a traditional dish of that area. I very much encourage my students to be considerate of their parents’ budget and availability to help out as much in the kitchen as at the grocery store. I urge my students to pick simple dishes, that if possible, can be made with ingredients they may readily find at home.

In the past, this wonderful activity has proven to be extremely memorable and enjoyable amongst the students, and it is a tradition I would very much like to continue. Please consider this petition as a step towards the cultural growth of your daughter, as one of our missions in the classroom is to try to metaphorically travel around the World without leaving our seats as a way to understand the cultural differences that make humankind unique. Let us not forget that the most enduring part of any culture is, in fact its food, for it is hardpressed to change despite the passage of time, social disruption, or cataclysmic events. Traditional food is always a part of the culture one can count on to define us.

Thank you very much for your cooperation,

Ms. Carina E. Dimas

I,_____________________, parent or guardian of_____________________, have read and understood the above provided letter of permission and grant aforesaid permission for the aforesaid student to participate in the “Food Day” activity. I understand this activity is completely voluntary and am able/willing to provide any needed support.

Guidelines for the next part of your work...

Hello girls,

I am sorry I have not been able to log on before, as I explained earlier, my laptop died out last week and I haven't had access to another computer until today. I am including here the guidelines for the first half of the body of your work to be submitted tomorrow, Sept. 21. I hope these are useful to you. If you have any questions, try e-mailing me, although I may not be able to read it before tomorrow, so keep that in mind. If you are desperate enough because you are totally lost and confused you may give me a call. My num. is 787.460.5983.

Remember that this part of your work should begin immediately at the top of the page, but before you begin writing you must include your name and period on the upper left hand corner and the page number with your last name on the upper right hand corner. Here are the instructions for that:

To Start Numbering From the Beginning of the Document

1. Step 1

   Open the document.

2. Step 2

   Click "Insert" at the top toolbar. A drop down menu will appear. Click "Page Numbers" from the menu. The "Page Numbers" tool box will appear.

3. Step 3

   Choose where you would like your page numbers to be placed. You will be given the option of inserting the numbers at the top of the page (the header) or at the bottom (the footer).

4. Step 4

   Decide the alignment. Choose if you would like the number at the right, left, center or the inside or outside of the pages.

5. Step 5

   Click the box that says "Show Number on First Page" or leave it blank if you want the document to begin numbering at "2" on the second page.

6. Step 6

   Click the "Format" button at the bottom of the toolbox. You will be given some options of what kind of numbering format you would like to use. Click and add your choices and click "OK.

After you have done that, remember to insert your last name next to the number on the upper, right hand corner by double clicking on the number itself and then writing your last name in the box provided. Remember to press "Tab" or the Space bar multiple times until it is correctly placed next to the number.

I found that this website has some great tips on how to use the correct MLA format. This will be useful for your entire work so keep this in mind:

http://www.csus.edu/owl/index/mla/mla_format.htm

In terms of content, remember that the first paragraph of your work should be a description of the documentary you viewed. For example:

The documentary film "Zeitgeist" presents an alternate, more controversial version of the events that occured on September 11, 2001. It implies that the United States government was deeply involved in the planning of the terrorist attacks and that they may have caused them in order to gain support for their own political agenda and interests that were, and still are, tied to the Middle East...

The second paragraph should compare the documentary's version of the historical events on which it focuses and the film's version of those same events. For example:

On the other hand, in the film "World Trade Center" another perspective is shown. Throughout the film, news channels report on what was taking place the morning of September 11, 2001. In these official reports, the media blames a group of 19 Middle Eastern hijackers in accordance with the official version of the events put forth by the government of the United States...

Your third paragraph should be an analysis, a comparison between what both the documentary and the film present and what you know/believe to be true about the way those historical events took place. Obviously this means that you will have to do additional research on the historical events themselves. An example:

Perhaps nobody will ever know exactly what occurred the morning of September 11, 2001. Both films present a possibility of what took place. One that is popularly and widely believed to be true, by the government and the population alike, and one that is more in tune with conspiracy theories that may or may not hold some semblance of truth, but that at times seem very likely...

Alright girls, I hope this helps you better understand what is expected of you in this part of the work. I wish you great success!

Because "The Truth is Free". Another documentary website I found useful

http://freedocumentaries.org/index.php

I found this site to have quite a few excellent and very interesting documentaries.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/

Srta. Costas's Blog

Hello all. I'm posting up a link to Srta. Costa's (the Puerto Rican History and Latin American Cultures teacher) because it has some excellent resources which you can use for your projects in my own class. Hope this is helpful.

www.humanidadesjcc.blogspot.com

A few useful links for documentaries...

Hello girls,

Here are a few links I found useful for researching documentaries. This should be especially important for the World History and World Cultures students. Remember it is your job to explore these websites in order to find the necessary information required for your own research projects. Good luck to all!

http://www.onlinedocumentaries4u.com/

http://www.bodocus.com/

http://www.documentary-log.com/

World Cultures Syllabus

Academia San José, High School
Villa Caparra. Puerto Rico
Department of History and Social Studies
Miss Carina E. Dimas; B.A.

World Cultures Course Syllabus

Course Description: This course is an investigation course, which consists of the analysis of the concept of culture and of everything that that concept implies. Students will examine different components of worldwide cultures and create a broader perspective of the differences that make up humankind. Through the understanding of studies in “Center” and “Periphery”, and theories on “Otherness”, students are to develop a greater comprehension and appreciation for those whom they consider “different” because of cultural boundaries.

Course Objectives:
At the end of the course students will be able to:
1. define and explain key terms and gain a greater knowledge of geography
2. discuss the major theories and perspectives in World Cultures and apply them to the analysis of their own cultural contexts.
3. become aware of the importance of diplomacy in legal and political issues around the World
4. successfully apply the lessons learned to one’s own cultural context
5. become more understanding of cultural and ethnic differences in the classroom and in life

Teaching Strategies: lecture, group discussion, small group activities, and analysis of films and documentaries

Methods of Evaluation:

The evaluation is divided into three equal parts
· ½ part Quizzes, Assignments and Special Projects
· ½ part Class participation and Attendance

Academia San José, High School
Villa Caparra. Puerto Rico
Department of History and Social Studies
Miss Carina E. Dimas; B.A.


World History Course Syllabus

Textbook: Beck, Roger B.; et.al. World History: Patterns of Interaction.2003. McDougal Little

Course Description: The course consists of the study of the different cultures, civilizations, movements and events of the world from prehistory to present times.
Course Objectives:
At the end of the course students will be able to:
1. define and explain key terms
2. discuss the major theories and perspectives in World History and apply them to the analysis of current events.
3. become aware of the importance of history in one’s current social context
4. successfully apply the lessons learned through history to one’s current social context
5. be more understanding of cultural and ethnic differences in the classroom and in life
Course Outline:

I. “What is History and why is it important?” Introductory Unit
II. “Where are we currently”?”, Examining the Present
III. “Where did we come from?”, Exploring the Past
IV. “How did we get here?” Taking a look at the historical events that have formed current society, focusing on the “Western World” and “Civilizations”.

Teaching Strategies: lecture, group discussion, small group activities, and analysis of films and documentaries

Methods of Evaluation:
The evaluation is divided into three equal parts:
· ⅓ part Tests
· ⅓ part Quizzes, Assignments and Special Projects
· ⅓ part Class participation and Attendance

Final Project:
Students will choose a fictional film based on a historical event as well as a documentary on the same subject from a list provided by the teacher (suggestions will be considered). Their assignment will be to analyze, compare, and contrast the historical perspectives presented in both films in a 3-5 page final essay using one external resource (magazine, newspaper, or scholarly online article, book, etc.) using MLA guidelines (provided by the teacher). The project will be worked on in the classroom but must be finalized (Final Draft) at home. This assignment is a REQUIREMENT for the course and must be handed in at the end of the semester. Students must comply with all hand-in dates of every part of their work. The teacher may alter these and unless done so with previous warning the dates are as follows:

· Monday, August 31: Introduction (First Draft)
· Monday, September 21: First Half of Body (Draft)
· Monday, October 19: Second Half of Body (Draft)
· Monday, November 16: Conclusion (Draft)
· Tuesday, December 1: Final Draft

Special Notes and Class Rules:
1. All cellular phones MUST BE TURNED OFF (ALL MODES) AND PUT AWAY during class. Absolutely no phone calls or TEXT MESSAGES will be tolerated. Students who do not comply with this rule will have to turn in the device and demerits will be given out.
2. Works handed in late will lose points.
3. Plagiarism or cheating of any kind will ABSOLUTELY NOT BE TOLERATED. Any work in which plagiarism is found will receive an automatic F (“0”) and the student will receive a demerit.
4. This syllabus is subject to changes and modifications according to the teacher’s discretion.

Welcome! Bienvenidas! Benvenute! Bienvenue! Willkommen! Bem-vindo!

A warm welcome to all of Srta. Dimas' students for this new school year 2009-2010. Hoping to create responsible, conscious, and informed "Citizens of the World".