✏ Writing Assignment
Fill out the 4-square sheet on biomes by taking the subtopics and details and putting one in each of the first 3 boxes.
Study/Learn:
Make sure you take notes! You will need those to write your article 🙂
Read Chapter 14 of STOW, the section titled, “The Next-To-Last Czar of Russia”
Read Chapter 17of STOW, the section titled, “The Czar and the Admiral”
Read chapter 21 of STOW, the section titled, “The Russian Revolution”
Read Chapter 23 of STOW, the section titled, “The Rise of Joseph Stalin”
Know/Understand:
Go back over those notes and write up the who, what, why, when, where and how of the Russian Revolution. This will probably be pretty easy because this is such a BIG topic to write into a concise 500 words.
Click here to access the newspaper template you will be using for this class.
Just like last month these are the guidelines for your article, please read this carefully:
- The requirements for this assignment are to first, write a headline and create an article for the main story. The main story must cover the Who, What, Why, When and Where of the Russian Revolution. Working with the 8.5 type size in the template means this article is less than 500 words! Do not be intimidated, that is not a lot of words. I do expect you to use that space but you may adjust your font size to be 7.5 or 9.5 if that is helpful. We are going to get really good at summarizing and learning key points this school year by working on these newspaper articles each month. I do not expect you to write in newspaper style because we haven’t taught that to you — just write an informative 500 (ish) words covering the 5 w’s of the Russian Revolution. (Keep it between 400- 500 words)
- NEXT, you get to write a sub-article for the sidebar. This sub-article is of a topic of your choosing. I want you to pick a topic dealing with Russia in this ear and write an interesting but concise summary of that topic. Things that may spark your interest could be: Tsar Nicholas II, Marxism, Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Grigori Rasputin, Soviet social reforms, the Russian Famine of 1921-22, the “Scissors Crisis,” the decline and weaking of the Romanovs power leading up to the revolution, the Cheka, the Red Terror, Stalin, causes of the Russian Revolution, why we should care about the Russian Revolution today,
- Both articles need to have a photograph — that’s what the green and blue box is for. I would like you to use a historical photo for both spots! We have entered the era where we can actually see photos of this time period so we’re going to seek out and use those photos. A simple google search will bring up ample photographs for you to use.
IN CLASS you will be put in groups to share your sidebar article! Each group will vote on the most interesting article they heard in their group. Yes, I understand that “interesting” is a relative word — this could mean that your article was very articulate or written in a fascinating way. It could mean you chose a really unique topic. It could mean that you chose something your classmates had never learned about before. So the goal is to be consise and interesting 🙂 Each group will send their “most interesting” representative to read their article for the entire class.
Tip for success: Practice reading your article out loud (both of them) to hear how they flow and catch any mistakes. Also, I recommend having a parent proofread them AND do not go over the space limit. I know this is so hard because some of these topics are so deep and fascinating BUT it is a great life skill to be able to study, discern key details and craft an interesting summary. That’s the goal!
Also this week we will be seeing a commercial from ETHAN, WILL, SAM and ABBY. I can’t wait! Text me if you have any questions!
- Art: My Own Sacred Grove by Emily Shay Art
Become/Serve
When I was in college my sophomore year I was far away from home and had no car or cell phone and my parents were in a situation where I knew they couldn’t really help me financially in any way. I started the school year with several set backs and it was a very difficult time. I found myself sleeping way more than normal and I was starting to question if the Holy Ghost was even present in my life because I felt like my ability to feel the spirit was dead. I had no idea what was wrong with me. Thankfully that night I decided to attend my Relief Society activity that was put on by the bishops wife. In this activity she gave us a yellow sheet of paper that listed out symptoms of stress and I was SO SHOCKED. I quickly saw myself checking off several of those symptoms (including “the feeling like something was missing” which for me was feeling like the spirit was gone!). I felt healed and empowered! Now that I knew I was experiencing dibilitating stress I could come up with a plan to solve it and I was no longer afraid of all the weird experiences I was having because they were simply a result of my stress.
I think we talk about stress and mental health TONS more now then when I was in college 20+ years ago but I want to include a list here as we are learning about how to manage stress and allow ourselves to grow slowly, stay strong and withstand the difficult times like the bristlecone trees!
If you are stressed, you might feel:
- Irritable, angry, impatient or wound up
- Over-burdened or overwhelmed
- Anxious, nervous or afraid
- Like your thoughts are racing and you can’t switch off
- Unable to enjoy yourself
- Depressed
- Uninterested in life
- Like you’ve lost your sense of humour
- A sense of dread
- Worried or tense
- Neglected or lonely
- Existing mental health problems getting worse
Our bodies release certain hormones in response to stress and those hormones can cause physical symptoms such as difficulty breathing, panic attacks, blurred eyesight or sore eyes, sleep problems, fatigue, muscle aches and headaches, chest pains, indegestion, feeling sick or dizzy, sudden weight gain or weight loss, rashes, sweating and more.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms then it’s time to take a step back and identify the stressors in our life. Sometimes we can’t just make them go away, there will be challenges that come that stick around for awhile that can be hard. We need tools that can help us to navigate through those times of stress and one of the most powerful tools at your disposal is verbal prayer to your Father in Heaven.
As you watch this video from Elder Holland listen for the spirit to teach YOU where you can pray out loud, when you can pray out loud or how you can decrease stress in your life through talking to your Father in meangingful prayer.
Finally, after watching the video make the time and find a place for at least one verbal prayer this week. Tell Him all about what you have going on! Take all the time you want thanking him for all that He has given you. Ask Him for help with your struggles. And listen for how He responds to you.
