Transcript open-house-ppt-2015

Welcome to 7th Grade Social
Studies!
7A—Mrs. Nix
About Me …
• Originally from Chattanooga, TN (Signal Mountain)
• Moved to Dalton, GA where my mother was also a 7th grade teacher
(now she teaches AC Science at Vickery Creek Middle in Forsyth)
• Attended the University of Georgia for undergraduate school (1999)
and graduated from Kennesaw State University (2006) for grad. school
• 17th year teaching social studies  (14 years at HTMS, 3 years in
Athens)
About Me
Personally…
• Moved to Atlanta in the
summer of 2002 after getting
married to my “college
sweetheart”
• 2 children—Preston (6) and
Blakely (3)
• HUGE Georgia Bulldogs fan
& alumni
• Love to travel on our yearly
SCUBA diving trips & to see
our friends in Rosemary
Beach each summer
• Teach 8th grade Sunday
School @ church & help
coordinate camp
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Area of Study: The Eastern
Hemisphere
Geography Review
The Middle East
Africa
Asia
Just like in 6th grade—
each unit will include
physical geography,
culture, history,
government, and
economics along with
application of material to
present times (less focus
on GOV/ECON if you
prove that you remember
what you learned last
year).
• Goals: Writing through
the curriculum
(preparation for Honors
and AP courses);
Exceeding standards on
standardized testing
• Current Events
discussions (Student News
is a great conversation
starter for this)
• Stock Market Game
• Global Awareness
• Art/S.S. connection
Physical Geography
• Basic map and globe
skills
• Map quizzes
• Global Awareness
• Physical and Human
geography
• Download TapQuiz!
• Bookmark the CIA
World Factbook page
on your computer
(online atlas)
The Middle East
• Geography, culture,
history, religions
• Historic conflicts
• Oil/Economics
• Common
misconceptions
• Current conflicts
• Model UN-type
debates/activities
Africa
• History, culture,
geography
• Wildlife/ National Parks
• Change/ Progress
• Colonialism and its impact
• We will work in groups to
build our own empires
• 4 unique regions:
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North Africa
Eastern/Central Africa
West Africa
Southern Africa
Asia
• Geography
• Focus on India & Pakistan,
China, Japan, North and South
Korea, Vietnam
• Spotlight on famous historic
world leaders from Asia
• We end the year with a big
modern history unit—20th
Century US/Asian relations
• Pacific Theater WW11, Korean
War, Vietnam War, modern
issues (pollution, population,
policies)
Writing Through the
Curriculum…
• SAT/ACT
• College entrance exams
• Preparation for high school
honors or AP history courses
• Life skill 
• Application of language
arts/writing skills to a given
area of study to encourage
future success
• Expect an essay question on
every test & expect it to take
me a week to grade!
Stock Market Game
• Students will compete against their
classmates along with other students across
the state of Georgia.
• Begins in September (We compete in the
Fall)
• Application of economic terms in realworld situations
• Social Studies/Math/Business Connection
• Fun game with possible prizes!
The Key to Success in Advanced
Social Studies…
• Application of
knowledge
• Motivation/effort
• Work completion
• The “Above and
Beyond” factor
Along with learning many
important skills this year, students
will see that learning about the
world around us is FUN! 