Week of February 25th

Dear Parents,

Old news first. Before Theme Week, students took a final test on South America. The test was returned this week and as I told each class, I was impressed with how much they demonstrated they knew on the test. The average score was an 84%. Please ask your son/daughter to see the test.

This week, we jumped right in to a study of a new region of the world--the Middle East. From the initial day, it was clear several students remembered prior bits and pieces they have learned from years past, especiallly last year. Many gaps and a much broader understanding is certain to result in our studies. As you may well be aware, an introductory research project was outlined (please see below) and your child is in the midst of learning as much as they can about the two countries they chose. Everyone should be working on this research over the weekend. After the research is gathered, Mrs. Kaniho will be working creatively with classes in designing Power Point presentations that will be shared in Social Studies class. Should be a lot of fun!

I'll leave you with a few questions that excited me and show how capable your children are of critical thinking. I think it also exhibits how so many of them wonder and want to understand more. Have a wonderful weekend. A few questions asked the opening day were:
--"How are the economies different in the Middle East and how are they different from other regions (North and South America)?"
--"How do they get water if they don’t have access to it?"
--"Jesus was born in the Middle East, right?" "So, why aren't most of the people in the Middle East Christians?"

Pretty powerful stuff--economics, utilization of resources, and religion. Again, have an wonderufl weekend. Thanks for taking time to read this.


Kindly,
Matt

MIDDLE EAST POWER POINT

STEP ONE=RESEARCH

Pick 2 Middle Eastern countries from the list below and research them:
IRAQ..............IRAN............ SAUDI ARABIA
TURKEY ....... CYPRUS ........ ISRAEL
LEBANON......YEMEN ......... OMAN
QATAR...........BAHRAIN......UNITED ARAB EMIRATE
KUWAIT.........JORDAN.......SYRIA

WHILE RESEARCHING, TAKE NOTES. THE MINIMUM IS THAT YOU MUST FILL IN THE GRAPHIC ORGANIZER I PROVIDE (green sheet)

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STEP TWO=Make a Power point production.

Creatively introduce and teach this topic. I recommend you begin with your introduction/title and then show each of the following.

Be creative! The minimum is that you include all the information listed below. How you will teach this in your Power point will be different. I hope!
GEOGRAPHY
Where is the Middle East and what countries make up this region? These countries should be the fifteen from our introductory mapping/scramble.

Then, introduce/show the two countries you will be focusing your Power point on.

POPULATION
Who lives there? Or, what ethnicities are in each country?
How many people live there?
*More than just numbers, compare populations.

ECONOMY
How do people earn a living? How much do they earn (GDP)?
What are the most important natural resources in the country?
Where are these resources?

CULTURE
Three major religions are home to this area.
What are these religions?
Give a minimum of 3 bullets for what each religion is about.
What are people’s religion in each of your countries? (percentages)

Find out and show/explain at least 5 different cultural facts for each of your countries. (this can be a picture and an explanation for each culture)
Ideas include: music, dance, sports, language, traditions, food,
celebrations, etc.

CURRENT EVENTS
What is BIG news in the two countries you are studying? Include two current events news articles + at least 3 bulleted points that summarize the article.
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Please do your best to select creative images. Images that you don’t think other students will use.

ONLY PUT A FEW WORDS ON EACH SLIDE!!!

Please also use sound/music that best fits your presentation. I am thinking music from the region.

Also, make sure you cite where images and information comes from.