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Monday, May 6, 2013

Review Assignment


This project is pretty simple in conception.  You are going to work in groups to create a timeline of events/people organized by the themes of the class.  The timeline will encompass all the time periods of the course, from 4000 BCE through to 2000 CE.


You will be broken into teams of students based on the themes of the course. I will take care of the first theme.  I will generate a google document for each theme, and share it with teams from each period.  As a team, you are to go through each time period (listed on the board and on the Google Document) and come up with items to be placed on the timeline.  Each theme has its own color scheme, and there are markers/pencils designated as such on the table.  Each theme also has a designated location (indicated by the theme itself) on the timeline.  The timeline itself is posted on the walls in the alcove outside the classroom, as it won’t fit inside the classroom.


You are to generate a list first by brainstorming, which means you are to write down everything you think of as being relevant/important without trying to filter them for importance.
Those items you brainstormed then need to be curated. This means that
you are to go through and collectively determine what you think are the most likely events/topics/people who will show up on the exam, and then place those items on the timeline.
 Next to each time period in the Google Doc is a percentage.  That percentage represents how much of the multiple choice section of the exam is given to that time period.  So 15% of the 70 total questions are from 600 BCE - 600 CE.  In other words there are 10 or 11 questions on the test that are drawn from that time period. This information means you are to determine no more than 11 items for the timeline for that period. So winnow your list to those 11. You will have Monday and Tuesday's classes to complete this process.

Each team will be presented with a folder that contains several pages of small icons that represent the different geographic regions. When you put an event/topic on the timeline, it must be accompanied by the appropriate geographic location icon, so you will need to cut those out and tape or glue them on.  This is just a starter pack; I can make more if you need them. So on the Google Doc, be sure to include information about location, as well as the names and events themselves. So for instance, if your theme is Gender Roles, then you would want to write: Footbinding begins as a practice in China under the Song Dynasty, and the years of the Song Dynasty.

The Process
Your first step is to generate the list of items for the time line. You can split up your team into time period groups (or have one period take the first three, the other take the remainder) if you like, or you can all just contribute as you go. Use the book, your notes, old tests, blog posts, etc. to help you come up with ideas. Both periods will be working on the same document with the same topics. You should leave a note to the other period to indicate what you have accomplished. This you will do on your own, with no real help from me.

Your second step is to calculate the number of items you can have for your time periods on the test (yes, do some math...) and curate that brainstormed list down to that number. I am available to help you with this process if you want. You will need to run your choices by me for approval before proceeding to step the third.

Your third step is to place those items on the timeline in the appropriate color with the appropriate geographic icon. I have started that process with the first theme on the walls outside the classroom. (hopefully you noticed that on the way in to class...check it out to see how this is going to work!)

The timeline is to be completed by the end of the day on Friday, May 10th. You may then take pictures of it or transcribe it in some other manner so you have it to guide your studies.


The groups are linked up here, and the google documents have been shared with groups via school emails.

On the board are the time periods, themes and information about each of the essays. Be sure to review on your own as well!

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