American Studies Summer 2021
WELCOME! This site will serve as our HOME BASE for American Studies - Summer 2021 incoming Berman Freshman. This site will be where you can access your summer homework, geography, and history games to help you prepare for school this fall (tab at top of page), and find GREAT documentaries which will help you get ready for class this year (tab at top of page). Please check out the tabs above for FUN and INTERESTING activities to keep you busy and learning when you are bored!!
Please complete all the assignments (for all five themes) by the first day of school. Don't wait until the last minute - it will be really hard to get all the assignments completed in the last couple of days before school. The idea is that you will work on these assignments a little bit all summer long. That way, the work will not be too onerous and will give you the best chance of mastering the material.
SIGN UP FOR GOOGLE CLASSROOM
AM STUDIES - SUMMER 2021: Google Classroom Code: gc3ueuj Please find assignments in your CLASSWORK TAB (where assignments are arranged by theme), not in Classroom stream. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Johnson at johnsonn@mjbha.org
SUMMER WORK: On-Going Assignments
TERMS LIST -- In any of your reading or work, please write down ANY term you don't know, whenever you run across one. VOCAB is the key to future academic success. We are going to start strong and begin building your vocabulary this summer! The goal is to identify 25 terms over the course of the summer.
TRADING CARDS -- Throughout the summer reading, you will learn about dozens of interesting and significant people. I have included a TRADING CARD assignment for you to work on in each unit. When you start the year, you will already have a stack of people that you will be expected to know that you are already familiar with -- isn't that cool! The goal is to make 15 Trading Cards over the course of the summer.
SUMMER WORK: Five Themes
THEME READING: There will be a combination of articles to read (posted on Classroom) and a short book to read (order from Amazon). There are FIVE themes to the summer work. You do not have to do the readings in any particular order - they are thematic so you can do whichever you want first. Each theme has questions and activities for you to complete. You can find the theme-specific assignments in our Summer Google Classroom.
Theme One: Geography
Geography Assignments
1) World Regions Activity (locate, label and color!)
2) Continents and Bodies of Water (Locate on the map and answers Questions)
3) Latitude and Longitude (using the coordinates on page 1, locate those places on the map on page 2)
EXTRA CREDIT: State Capitals Exercise
(Don't forget to write down terms you don't know AND make trading cards for KEY individuals)
Theme Two: Scientific Revolution
1) Summer Book - Reading Questions to accompany the book - The questions are posted on Google Classroom. Please write a response on a Google Doc and submit it in the summer classroom!
2) Galileo vs The Pope - Reading and complete the "SIT" Notetaking sheet.
(Don't forget to write down terms you don't know AND make trading cards for KEY individuals)
Theme Three: Life in Europe
Life in Europe Assignments
1) Read - Portugal and Spain Begin Exploring Answer questions on a google doc - upload like to this assignment in Google classroom.
2) Read - Reasons for Exploration Answer questions on a google doc - upload like to this assignment in Google classroom.
3) Read - Where Columbus Was Coming From Write a letter to your family describing what Europe of this period is like. Post your letter to Classroom.
(Don't forget to write down terms you don't know AND make trading cards for KEY individuals)
Theme Four: Life in the Americas
Life in the Americas - Assignments
You will have an opportunity to learn a little bit about THREE of the great native cultures - the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan.
After watching the video and completing the SIT chart for each culture, complete the Meso American geography assignment.
(Don't forget to write down terms you don't know AND make trading cards for KEY individuals)
Theme Five: Earliest Exploration
Exploration Assignments
1) Zheng He - Watch the video and complete SIT chart;
2) Ibn Battuta - Watch the video and complete SIT chart;
3) Lief Eriksson - Watch the video and complete SIT chart.
4) Early world exploration geography - follow instructions in classroom.
(Don't forget to write down terms you don't know AND make trading cards for KEY individuals)