Rome Test Review

Today in class we reviewed the Rome test we took yesterday. We read through the questions one by one and then checked our answers. Since Karson and Rosemary were not in class yesterday they went out in the hallway to take it before we got started. Since we were on a two hour late bell we had a short class so that was all we were able to do. Tomorrow, we will be writing the essays for our exams.

Rome Test

Today in class we took the test on Rome. I thought I did pretty well on the test even though there were two or three questions I was unsure about. I think I at least got an "A" but I'm just not sure. I felt I was pretty prepared for the test, but again except for those few questions. This is the last test we will take in Western Civ before the final exam next week. If everyone finishes the test in enough time, Mr. Schick will go and grade the tests before the end of the class period. Mr. Schick was able to grade the tests and our class average was 84%. I got an 98% on the test; I only got one questions wrong. I knew there was one question that I was not sure about. We only have two classes after this, so tomorrow I think we will review for the exam and then on Thursday we will complete the essay portion of our exam.

Class on 5/22/15

Yesterday in class we did an overview of the big slideshow of Ancient Rome in order to study for the test on Tuesday. We talked about the exam, and the essay that goes along with it. Since Mr.Schick will be busy with the academic team after the exam, we are going to write the essay in class on Thursday. He is going to give us the questions ahead of time in order to prepare for the essay because we can't take notes with us for the essay. That was all we did in class and on Tuesday we will be taking the Rome test and afterwards, reviewing for the exam.

Last Day of Presentations

Today in class we finished presenting our projects on ancient Rome. The first group that went was Alyssa, Chesca, and Jessica and they made a pot. There presentation was pretty good, I like how they explained the process of making their pot and had pictures to go along with it. The next presentation was Rory, Dylan, Jeremiah, and Parker. They did a powerpoint on Gladiators and they did a good job of not just reading off the slides but they were faced towards the boards instead of facing towards the class. The last group to present was my group and I thought we did a pretty good job but when we were playing the game things got a little out of hand. Since we finished the presentations, tomorrow I think we are going to prepare for the test that we are going to have on Tuesday.

Presentations Day 2

Today in class we continued presenting our Rome projects. Three presentation were given today. Jayla went first, and she made a Roman pot. I thought she did a good job because she explained how she made the pot and she was knowledgeable about her subject. The second group to go was Alex and Arthur. They made a Roman temple and a presentation on architecture. I was very impressed with their project because they made the temple out of legos and I can only imagine how much time it took to make. The last group to present was Caitlin and Trish and they made journals and then dressed up like a plebeian/patrician. I really like their projects because they were so creative and you could tell they spent a lot of time researching life back in ancient Rome. Tomorrow is the last day to present projects and my group is going last.

Project Presentations Day1

Today we started to present our projects on Rome. The first group to go was Veronica, Rosemary, Zaire, and Megan and they did Roman food. They had a salad, pasta, and a cookie. Overall, I think they did a very good job, they were just a little unorganized. The second group to go was Steven, Evan, and Adam and they made a song to the tune of "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea. I thought the song was very good. It was humorous but informative. The last project that went was Paj and he did a presentation on the Colosseum and Circus Maximum. I thought it had a lot of information but he read off the slides and mumbled his word I could barely understand what he was saying. Tomorrow we will continue to present projects. 

BB King

Today in class we watched a video of BB King performing his song called "Why I sing the Blues", because he died last night. BB King is one of the most well know blues artists, and he influenced people like Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones. After we watched the video we found out when we are presenting our projects. My group is the third group to present on Thursday. We were then given time to meet one last time with our groups before we start presenting on Tuesday.

Rome Pop Quiz

Today in class we had a pop quiz on Rome. Our class averaged a 72%, the other classes averaged a 77% and 68% on the quiz. I got a 90% on the pop quiz. After we took the pop quiz we were given time to work on our projects before we have to present them on Tuesday. My group is about 75% done we just have some little details to get done. The last thing we did in class today was go over the rubic and grading procedure for the projects. 

Rome Video Day 2

Today in class we finished the video we were watching about ancient Rome. We were able to get a better understanding of how the Patricians and Senate acted and the way Plebeians were treated. The Patricians were taking the Plebeians land, and ultimately making them poor. There was no middle class, you were either rich or poor. We were also able to see how voting in the Senate took place. The important people were able to speak, so they would stand up and give their opinion on what they should do. If the others stood up and clapped, that meant they were agreeing with them.  Since we finished the video today, I am not sure about what we will be doing tomorrow.

Ancient Rome Video

Today in class after Mr.Schick took 15 minutes to set up a video, we watched a video on ancient Rome. Mr.Schick also mentioned that the academic team competition next Saturday and asked if anyone was interested in doing it because it would barely cost any money. Mr.Schick suggested that Chesca, Karson, and I do it. I will have to see what I am doing next Saturday and see if I am available, but other than that I will consider doing it.

Class on 5.6.15

Today in class we continued to take notes on ancient Rome. Here are the notes:

Roman Legion
- 5000 soldiers (not for pay)
-Heavy infantry
-Recruited exclusively from Roman Citizens
-On horseback is cavalry
-Shield, sword, dagger, and armor and tunic

Punic Wars
- The Punic Wars (264-146 BCE)
-Rome vs. Carthage
-three wars
-First Punic War (264-241 BCE)
     -Naval battles for control of Sicily
     -Rome wins
-Second Punic War (218-201 BCE)
     -Carthaginian general Hannibal almost done impossible:taking Rome
     -Attacks Rome from the North 
     -Lays siege for 15 years but can not ever get to Rome
- Third Punic War (149-146 BCE)
     -Rome wanted to finally remove threat to Carthage
     -Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others attacked the cit
     -Carthage was burned for 17 days
     -War ended- last 50,000 people in the city sold to slavery
    -Rest of Carthage's territories were annexed, made into Roman province of Africa.
 Economic Change, Social Upheaval 
- Slaves poured into Italy
-Second century BCE there were over a million slaves in Italy
-Small farmers lost their land to aristocrats

Class on 5.5.15

Today in class we took notes. The notes are below:

Patricians & Plebeians
- Rule of kings replaces by rule of two consuls
- Consuls are elected officials
-Term of office: one year
-Always aristocrats (patricians)
-Patricians traced their descent from a famous ancestor or "pater"- father
-Duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding the army
-One consuls could veto the other
-Fifth century B.C.E. patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs.
-Plebs were 98% of the population
-How did the patricians dominate:
1. Plebs had to serve in the army, but could not hold office
2. Plebs were threatened with debt slavery
3. Plebs had no legal rights
-Plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials
-Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs
-Patricians could interpret these to advantage
-Plebs refused to serve in the military until:
1. Laws were written out (The Law of the Twelve Tables)
2. These laws (on tablets) were posted in public (450 B.C.E.)
3. Tribunes ("Tribal Leaders")

-SPQR- Sentatus Populusque Romanum
-Designates any decree or decision made by "the Roman Senate and people"
- Res publica- the people's affairs
-Democracy (the people's assembly and the tribunes)
-Aristocracy(the senate- approx. 300 people)
-Monarchy (consuls)
-Not a tyranny ( mistake- they don't want to repeat)

Gov't ancient Rome/ USA
-The US modeled their new government on the model used by ancient Romans
-Not exactly the same
-Both have three branches of government- executive, legislative, judicial
- Both have legal code

Rome                                             vs.                               US
                                               ~Executive~
 - two consuls                                                      - President & VP
-one year terms                                                   - Four year terms
-each has veto power                                           - Can veto proposed laws
-controls military                                                  - Commander-in-Chief
-could appoint dictator in crisis for 6 months

                                               ~Legislative~

-Senate- 300 people- Aristocrats-members for life               -Senate -100 senators-6year terms
-Assemblies-members for life                               - House Representatives- 435 members-2 year terms

                                                ~ Judicial~
-Praetors                                                              - Supreme court
-Chosen by centuriate assembly                          - Nine members
- one year terms                                                   - Appointed by the President confirmed by state
                                                                             - Lifetime terms

                                                ~Legal Code

- Twelve Tables                                                - Bill of Rights
- Only protected free born male citizens

Catch-up Day

My class is yet again ahead of the other classes, so we had a catch-up day. I was able to work on my math homework and I am now able to get my blog done for today. My group had started to get some of the little things on our project done since Mr.Schick finished the Roman powerpoint so hopefully we will have all the little details by the time we meet on Wednesday at Karson's house.