Middle East Studies

In an effort to learn more about current issues in the Middle East and to foster collaboration with other students, we will be contributing each week to a current events blog. One week, students from Yarmouth High School will post analysis of current events articles and political cartoons. Over the weekend, students from Falmouth High School will comment on those blog posts. The following week, the roles will reverse and Yarmouth students will respond to posts made by Falmouth students.

Our current events work will have three components:

1. Political Cartoons – Two students each week will be responsible for choosing and analyzing a political or editorial cartoon relevant to the Middle East (see the political cartoon guidelines on the home page for instructions).

Week of October 9-12 Yarmouth students — Dana and Sam
Week of October 15-19 Falmouth students
Week of October 22-26 Yarmouth students — Willie and Jeannie

Week of October 29-November 2 Falmouth students
Week of Nov 5-9 Yarmouth students — Christine and Kerry
Week of Nov 13-16 Falmouth students
Week of Nov 26-30 Yarmouth students — Scott and Josh
Week of Dec 3-7 Falmouth students
Week of December 10-14 Yarmouth students — Eileen and Chelsea
Week of January 7-11 Falmouth students

• Please remember to add your first name to the bottom of your post and to “check” the name and week categories when you add your post.

2. News Analysis – Students from the same high school (EXCEPT the two students posting a cartoon analysis) will complete a current events news analysis (see the news analysis guidelines on the home page for instructions).

• Please remember to add your first name to the bottom of your post and to “check” the name and week categories when you add your post.

3. Comments: Students not posting on a given week are required to comment either on another person’s current events article or one of the political cartoons each week. Students who are commenting on another student’s work should choose one the following options:

a. Read the news link posted by a student and offer a different analysis of the impact of the story.
b. Study a cartoon posted by a student and offer a different analysis of the political cartoon.
c. Offer a follow up to the article by posting another news link and summary.

Important:
• You should comment on another student’s post (either news article or political cartoon) from the current week.
• Include the name and date of the blog post on which you are commenting.
Example: Comment on Joe’s Nov. 18 post (followed by your text)
• Please add your first name to the bottom of your post in order for others to know who posted the comment and to get credit for your work.
• Send your comment (written in Microsoft Word) to your teacher using the naming protocol and method indicated in your class.

Guidelines – Please draft all work in Microsoft Word to take advantage of grammar and spell checks. Once you add a post or comment, it is available for the public to read. It is important that your work is polished!

Due dates:
• Blog posts (news analysis and cartoons) will be due on our last class meeting of the week.
• Comments should be completed over the weekend after posts are due.

HELPFUL HINTS AND REMINDERS:
• Please use Firefox as your web browser when logging onto Edublogs.
• Please draft your post and/or comments in Word and then paste it into the blog.
• Please remember to use only your first name in your comments and to add your name to and week to your post.
• Please be sure to ask for technical help if you need it. We’re all learning together!