Success!

This week, we had conferences. My kids are starting to slack off (end-of-the-year-itis), thus, many of the grades had dropped. I was expecting irate parents, but this is what I got...

"My daughter comes home from school, and she WON'T stop talking about WWII. She sits there, telling her brother everything that is going on, and neither one of them will go to bed!"

"Lately, my daughter's been on the computer a LOT. I expected that she was on myspace or some silly thing, but every time I checked... it was Wikipedia. She was researching WWI and WWII. She told me all sorts of things I knew nothing about... Josef Mengele, the Munich Agreement, the Manhattan Project... I couldn't believe it. I never even learned any of that stuff."

"My son knows more about science than his older sister, and she's a far better student. His head is full of facts, and I can't even pronounce the names of the organelles he keeps talking about."

"Last year, my daughter was almost failing all subjects. This year... she's excited to go to school, and she comes home full of new facts to share. She even likes math!"

Kids talking to their parents about what they learned in school??! Kids researching at home just because they want to know more?!?!

I have done my job.

Student Accomplishments...

Some things our students have done this year....

1. Learned all the countries in Asia and the Middle East.
2. Explained the causes and effects of both WWI and WWII.
3. Defined mutual symbiosis, photosynthesis, bioluminescence, eutrophication, condensation, evaporation, precipitation.
4. Brought brass knuckles to school.
5. Learned how to write Chinese characters.
6. Learned how to fold paper cranes.
7. Learned the basics of American Sign Language.
8. Formed gangs.
9. Stole all of my crayons.
10. Performed plays about the dynasties of China.
11. Written their own fractured fairy tale plays.
12. Effectively used the words conniption, chaos, pandemonium, cerulean, alliteration, onomatopoeia, idiom, simile, dilapidated, aye-aye, serene, atrocious, oryx and more.
13. Stole my rubber bands, glue, notebooks, pencils, candy, pens, markers.
14. Described the steps of mummification.
15. Described the functions of plant and animal cell organelles.
16. Brought in razor blades and threatened other students.
17. Learned all of the names of the bones, functions of bones, bone diseases and bone production.
18. Mastered fractions, decimals, story problems, basic algebra.
20. Put porn on their cell phones.
21. Made me laugh until I cried.

It has been a good year.

What do YOU know about WWI?

Here's the WWI test my kids have to take tomorrow. Can you pass?

1. ____ U-boats were created by the:

1. French
2. Italians
3. Britons
4. Germans
5. Belgiums
6. Americans

2. ____ Dangerous area between trenches:

1. Trenches
2. Frontal assault
3. Reconnaissance
4. No Man’s Land
5. Total War
6. Grenade

3. ____ Large, metal air balloon also called a dirigible.
   

1. dynamite
2. zeppelin
3. submarine
4. tank
5. chemical warfare
6. machine gun

4. ____ Country that succeeded at using chemical warfare.

1. America
2. Britain
3. Germany
4. France
5. Armenia
6. Belgium

5. ____ Country that failed at using chemical warfare, killing 60,000 of their own men.

1. America
2. Britain
3. Germany
4. France
5. Armenia
6. Belgium

6. ____ Another word for spying….

1. Reconnaissance
2. Conscription
3. Assassination
4. Genocide
5. Dirigible
6. Shrapnel

7. ____ Another term for “the draft”…..

1. Reconnaissance
2. Conscription
3. Assassination
4. Genocide
5. Dirigible
6. Shrapnel

8. ____ The killing of an entire group of people

1. Reconnaissance
2. Conscription
3. Assassination
4. Genocide
5. Dirigible
6. Shrapnel

9. ____ The entire country of people that was killed

1. American
2. Britain
3. Germany
4. France
5. Armenia
6. Belgium

10. ____ The document that officially ended the war

1. 14 points
2. Treaty of Versailles
3. The Big Three
4. Consignment
5. First Amendment
6. Espionage Act

B. Name the country each person is from!

1. Eugene Debs ___________________________________________________________
2. Kaiser William II ___________________________________________________________
3. Tsar Nicholas II ___________________________________________________________
4. Woodrow Wilson ___________________________________________________________
5. Georges Clemenceau ___________________________________________________________
6. Archduke Franz Ferdinand ___________________________________________________________
7. Rasputin ___________________________________________________________
8. Sophia ___________________________________________________________
9. Alexandra (2) ___________________________________________________________
10. Vladimir Lenin ___________________________________________________________
11. Gavrilo Princip ___________________________________________________________
12. Red Baron __________________________________________________________

D. Match the name to the action of the person. People can be used more than once!

1. Leader of Russia & head of the Bolshevik party. _____________________________________
2. Nicknames: Holy devil, mad monk _____________________________________
3. Had a messed up hand, German. _____________________________________
4. Member of the Black Hand Society. _____________________________________
5. Ruler of Germany during WWI. _____________________________________
6. Secret club that was behind the assassination of the heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne. _____________________________________

7. Ruler of Russia who was killed in his basement.
8. Was thrown into prison for speaking against the war. _____________________________________
9. Was assassinated with his wife after the driver had taken a wrong turn. _____________________________________

10. Had 80 kills, was killed in a dogfight. _____________________________________
11. Was said to have supernatural, healing powers. _____________________________________
12. Leader of France who signed Treaty of Versailles _____________________________________
13. President of the United States _____________________________________
14. Wife of Tzar Nicholas _____________________________________
15. Got himself a sandwich, and then shot and killed a very important person. _____________________________________

E. Short Answer. Give a sentence or two to explain

1. Give me two facts about the Battle of Somme.

2. Give me two facts about the Battle of Verdun.

3. What is a POW?

4. Why did America finally enter WWI?

5. What was the Espionage Act?

F. Essay. Explain in several sentences.

1.E xplain Belgium’s role in WWI. (In your sentence, make sure you include Britain, France and Germany)

2. Explain the arms race and how it contributed to WWI. (Words to include: HMS Dreadnaught, Germany, Britain, allies)

3. Explain Rasputin’s relationship with Alexandra and how it contributed to the death of the Romanov family.

4. Explain why the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was shot and what it caused. (Words to include: annex, Black Hand Society)

G. Map: Label the following countries.
Germany

Austria

Hungary

Turkey

Armenia

Italy

United Kingdom

Russia

Spain

France

Bosnia

Belgium

Extra Credit (1 pt each)

Norway

Sweden

Finland

Croatia

Ireland

Iceland

Denmark

Greece

Moldova

ETC.

NOTE: They also have the match the faces with the names of all of the people from part B!