Missing! 2.0

Today in class we participated in a simulation called “Missing!”, in which Juan Verdad, an editor of a newspaper in Barbarica is kidnapped due to a piece he published in his newspaper exposing the massacre and torture of the Indigi peoples. The Humongous International (HI) corporation is taking over Indigi lands in order to mine there, using torture and massacre to “convince” the Indigi peoples to leave their land. Once Juan’s article is published exposing this to the Barbarican people, he is missing!

In your paragraph, tell me how you think this simulation applies to the real world. Do you think things like this happen?

What are “human rights”? What sorts of human rights violations occur? How would having more rights in Barbarica have helped Juan?

Do you think this simulation was realistic? If you had lived in a country like Barbarica all your life, would YOU ever take risks?

Have your feelings about life in our country changed as a result of today’s simulation?

Due by Friday, January 30, at 3:00pm.

01.23.09

This week in geography, students learned about Pacific South America, including Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. Next week we will move on to learn about Central America and Mexico, before coming back to South America for a project. Be on the lookout for a rubric and the requirements to come home with your child. As usual, this project will be completed in class.

Right now the South America test is scheduled for February 25. If that changes, I will let you know.

01.16.09

Wow – I have been terrible about updating the blog this year! Yikes! I guess I need to make it a New Years resolution to do this weekly.

With a brand new semester comes a brand new continent, South America! South America is an exciting, unique continent, and we’ll be doing some fun activities and projects this quarter. This past week we focused on Chapter 11 in the textbook, learning about Brazil and Argentina. Next week we will move on to Paraguay and Uraguay, as well as the Pacific countries of South America.

Adios!