March 30 - April 3 A Long Walk to Water Reading Week

• This is just an overview and FYI for next week.  
• ALL the details and information you need are in ItsLearning which will go live Monday morning.  
• You DO NOT need to do anything in the Digital Backpack for Social Studies for the week of March 30-April 3 (but you may do any of it that appeals to you). 
• Miss y'all!  Please email if you need anything!

March 23-27,  y’all learned about the Ganges/Ganga River and how essential it is to the spiritual and physical health of India.  It also plays a huge role in the economics and politics.

This week, we’re finally going to read A Long Walk to Water – another example of how essential water is to humans. You will have several options to get the book, so don’t stress. 

Salva Dut – who is featured in the book was supposed to visit our school next month.  Because of the virus, he is rescheduled to come in October.  You will STILL get a chance to see him/meet him next school year.  

Task One: Read the background information about Sudan and South Sudan. 

Task Two: Read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and answer the questions in Google Docs.

Options to read the book:  (The audio version narrated by David Baker and Cynthia Bishop is far superior to the one on YouTube. It also includes music made with traditional Sudanese instruments used as transitions.)

1) If you have an older sibling who went through MMS, they may have a copy.

2) You can find the audio book free on YouTube.

3) Get a free copy of the better version of the audio book on Amazon with a free Audible trial.

4) Check out the electronic or print version from the school or public library.

4) Buy an electronic version of the print or audio book from Amazon, Audible, Barns and Nobel, Kindle, etc.

Task Three: Share your answers in Google Docs with me.  Jennifer.Connor@springbranchisd.com

Task Four: Join us for a Zoom discussion/question and answer session on Friday at 1:00 pm OR 2:00 pm.  Ideally, 1st and 2nd period will meet at 1:00 and 3rd and 7th will meet at 2:00, but if you need to swap it's not a problem. 

1.       Dress appropriately for video conferencing.

2.       Mute your mic unless you have been called.

3.       Raise your hand and the teacher will call on you.

4.      Check your surroundings for anything you would not want to share with the world.

5.      Act as if the meeting will be recorded and played for the principal.

March 25 - Bonus Material

I've built a plan with some cool stuff about West Africa in ItsLearning. It's all optional, but interesting stuff we would have covered. After the video and stories, there is a discussion board for talking about them - or just how you're doing. The discussion is open from 8 am Wed. 2/25- 4 pm Thu. 2/26. I will be responding on and off all day, both days. Hope to see you there!

Hint: 🦁♔

March 23-27

Howdy from my couch! I know things are going to be a little unusual to say the least. For this week there are three essentials for GT Social Studies:   1) WHEN we get to the point where there are actual grades for this 9 weeks, I will keep track of stickers and get them to you at some point! 2) The Digital Backpack assignments are about Asia and good information we would have gotten to in a few weeks anyway, so please do them so you have the information. 3) I will put a couple of enrichment pieces on It's learning this Wednesday. They are a few fun activities we won't be able to get to now. They are NOT a grade and NOT required.   Email me with questions, and I will do the best I can to help you out! Miss y'all!   Mrs. Connor

March 9-13

Friday, March 13 Update: Y'all all stay healthy and safe and enjoy your rest!  I'm happy to take the Jordan Royal Tour extra credit via email today.  IF there is a need to send further updates after Spring Break, I will post them all here and in ItsLearning.  I will assume not everyone has their ISN, but that you all have your textbook at home. 


Almost to Spring Break! ☘

Monday - Must have completed the Silk Road questions in ItsLearning before class today.
-debrief Silk Road
-quick vote on Wed. or Thur. for Pre-school viewing of Nile IMAX
-Nile Reading  ( We are reviewing selective highlighting, then you are going to read the article and highlight or underline in two different colors.  Color 1= how the Nile River has impacted people and culture.  Color 2 = stuff you think is cool/interesting.)

Tuesday and Wednesday - Practice STAAR testing for 6th grade.
-background on Israel and start reading Three Wishes

Tuesday after school - Nile IMAX in my room.  Starts promptly at 3:35.  Will be over by 4:30.

Jordan Royal Tour Extra Credit - must be turned in by Wednesday, 3:30.

Wednesday before school - Nile IMAX in my room.  Starts promptly at 7:45.

Thursday - Continue Reading Three Wishes and reflection questions on page 74 in the ISN

Friday - St. Patrick's Day mini-lesson
-Syria and Jordan    Wrap up Three Wishes

Jordan Royal Tour Extra Credit

Jordan: The Royal Tour

This really is a ROYAL tour.  Jordan’s King, King Abdullah II takes Peter on a tour of Jordan.  You can find it on YouTube by searching for “Jordan: The Royal Tour”.

If you watch the episode, answer the questions, and turn-in the answers by Wednesday, March 11, you may earn up to 10 points on your lowest quiz/mini-project grade for the 4^th Nine Weeks.

Answer these questions in complete sentences.  You may type or hand write.  Be sure and put your name, date and class period on the paper.

1. What is one way King Abdullah II and former Mexican President Calderon are similar? Do you think this is a quality many leaders share or just a coincidence?

2. Name your THREE favorite spots on the tour – tell me the name, the location in Jordan, and why you liked it so much.

3. What surprised you most about Jordan?  Why?

4. When they pause for a minute before entering Petra, look at the right of the screen.  You will see feet of people and animals.  There used to be full carved caravans pointing and heading to Petra.  What is this like in modern times?

5. Who made special appearances throughout the show?

March 2-6

Monday - last Friday replacement 😀

Tuesday - Rotate through the Ancient Discoveries Presentations

Wednesday - Complete presentations with debrief and reflection, update ISN and set up for the rest of the unit*

Thursday - Rosetta Stone, Start Persia - complete for homework as needed
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-east/persian-empire


Friday - Discuss Persia and The Silk Road, draw cross-cultural conclusions about Prehistoric and ancient civilizations

Homework - in ItsLearning - what the BrainPop video, take the practice quiz on BrainPop THEN go to ItsLearning to answer the questions for a grade.

*big sent out note:

Dear Students and Parents,

I cannot believe Spring Break is so quickly approaching. This is long, but I want to keep you all in the loop – and I am tired and terrified it’s full of typos, so I am asking for grace as you read!

We have had a lot of days where curriculum took a back seat to testing or enrichment or bad water… We also have a wonderful opportunity next month when Salva Dut will come speak to MMS about Water for South Sudan and his experience as a “Lost Boy” of Sudan.

To make sure we get A Long Walk to Water read and understand the basics of the politics and history of Sudan before his visit, I am going to need to make some cuts and adjustments to the current unit, North Africa and Middle East.  The following are dates, opportunities, and general info based on those revision.

Nile River IMAX – We normally watch most of this 48 minute video in class.  We’ll still learn the essential information, but viewing is the exciting and memorable part.  So, I’m going to offer a viewing immediately after school in my room Tuesday, March 10.  It will be done by 4:30 for the late bus or pick up. Kids are welcome to bring popcorn to enjoy during the movie.  If there is demand, I will also arrange a pre-school showing starting at 7:30 am that Wednesday or Thursday.

Jordan: The Royal Tour – We watch two episodes of this wonderful travel series each year.  The first was in Mexico with a tour by a former president.  The kids loved it. In this episode, Peter Greenberg is escorted around Jordan by their king!  This video is a balance to all the conflict and struggle we learn about in this region.  I believe it’s important, therefor I am going to offer it as extra credit. Details will be on my blog and Its Learning by the end of the week.

Assessments – The map quiz was already going to be a combined map for this region and sub-Saharan Africa.  I am now going to combine the test and ISN for these two cultural regions as well.  Since they share so much history and physical space, I think it will work out well. All three of these grades will be during the 4^th Nine Weeks.

What’s up for the rest of the flying-by-year?

We will wrap up all of Africa mid-April.  Then, we will study Asia through the first week or so of May.  Then, we will do a super-fast “trip” to Australia and Antarctica.  We will wrap the year up with a “passion project”.  The kids will choose ANY topic related to culture, spend some time researching it, and then present their findings in one of the formats we have analyzed all year – maps, political cartoons, or infographics.

You made it through!  Thanks!

Niki Connor

6^th Grade GT Social Studies