Monday, December 1st, 2015

Announcements:
-A job shadow completion essay will be put in tomorrow. If it's not completed yet, you will receive s 50 until it is.
-Go into Google Classroom and explain your status at the TOP of the Post-Job Shadow assignment.
-If you haven't, please return your Ernie's Ark book.

Unit: Should we go to war with ISIS?
Essential Question: What should we understand before we go to war?
Learning Target: By the end of the unit, you will be able use various print and media sources to form an opinion on a complex issue in order to make a reasoned decision.
Description: This unit will be broken down into a series of sub-units with their own questions. With your group, you will be researching and answering questions that will help you decide whether going to war with ISIS is the right thing to do.
Sub-units & Questions
Vocab

imperialism
interdependence
perspective
ethnocentrism

globalization
colonization
macro view
micro view

Questions Questions Question
-Before beginning, generate a list of questions: What would you want to know before making this decisions.

Why the book The Things They Carried is a different kind of war story.

Book Reading: The Things They Carried/Mr. Burns reads.

Find images of some of the items the soldiers carried.

Our History with Middle East Interventions.
Questions: 
-What is our history in the region in terms of military action?
-How can that history help us to decide what to do?
Resources: 
-Read this article from NPR describing what's has been happening in the Middle East in the last few years.  Each person in your group take one country -- and keep it simple.
-Use this site's listing of interventions to count and describe what we have done in each Middle East country. Use a Google map to identify which countries are in the region.
--Daily Show Video about the history of our Middle East Interventions.
-Read this article explaining the view of a former military general on our war with Iraq and Afghanistan as well on his critique on current military strategy.

Geography
Question: What is the history of the geography of the Middle East that might help explain the current conflicts?
Resources: 
-This video of the history of its borders, then take notes afterwards.
-Watch this Daily Show Video making fun of the British Empire and how it is the root of all the problems.

Polling
Question: What do people in the world, the United States and the World think we should do?
Resources: 
-As a group, spend some time discovering reliable polling data on public opinion in the world and the United States
-As a group, interview 3 staff members about their opinions about what we should do.

Islam
Question: TBA
Resources: TBA 

ISIS
Question: TBA
Resources: TBA

Terrorism
Question: What are the goals and motivations of terrorists?  How do they think?
Resources: 
-This article on the paris attacks.

What is it like for the soldiers
Question: How does was impact those who have to do the actual fighting?
Resources: 
-Literature: The Things They Carried
-Documentary: Restrepo
-Video Games -- Call of Duty
-ISIS in Afghanistan
Vietnam CBS Battle footage