I hope all of my students are enjoying a safe and fun-filled Christmas vacation. My grandson, Brandon, enjoyed the wrappings as much as the gifts! Having a house full of “20 somethings” (six in all) meant LOTS of food and lots of interesting discussions. They my parents, who are in their 80’s, were also with us so we had most of the possible generations covered! Besides eating, we watched movies (The Kingdom, Syriana and Kite Runner - so far!), played cards (”500″ and Cribbage), and watched lots of football (Go Pack!).
My Dad, who is 80, loves telling stories from the past. I always seem to learn something new about our family that I didn’t know. He told us this story: Growing up on a small, poor dairy farm in WI (1930’s-40’s), he told about the problem of keeping the milk cold enough for collection. It had to be kept less than 50 F and they didn’t have refrigeration. So during the summer the boys of the farm walked to their school (about a mile away) to collect cold water from the school well and carried it back to tubs that held the farm milk containers that were waiting for delivery. I never knew about that one. We also reminisced about tobagganning on the hills of his family farm when I was a little girl. I took the time to thank him for pulling me UP the hill on the tobaggin ‘many a time!’ I also remember when he told me I was ‘old enough’ to walk up by myself! Ha.
Over the holidays, did you share any family stories? Did you hear any new stories from the memories of your grandparents, or aunts and uncles?
Let me encourage you take the time to thank someone in your family for something extra that they’ve done or do for you. It’s a great way to start the New Year.
Happy New Year … and see you all soon!
PS: I drove my parents out to KFHS. They were a bit amazed at its size! They took time to look at the good student work around the room and were impressed! I bragged about ya’all!
Just when I was wondering if all the work we did on “Manufactured Landscapes” was worth it, I opened the VA Pilot this morning (Sun. 12.30) and quickly came across a two page article on the Three Gorges Dam. Written by Audra Ang of the Associated Press, the article is titled “Behind masive dam, human fears build up”. I realized that without the previous study of the Three Gorges Dam, this article would not have meant so much to me. But, as I read, I found myself identifying with the people who currently live in great (real) fear, others who are being relocated for the THIRD time, and those who are debating the worth of this whole project, the world’s largest dam project.
I learned some new things about the dam project that build on our original information — things that present new problems and concerns. This article informs and builds on the knowledge that we all have studied so far. If an imminent disaster is something sure to be, as some continue to warn, then we will be able to represent ourselves as ‘educated’ on something that will certainly fill news media airwaves and conversations.
This article is a required read. The assignment from this reading will be to design a political cartoon that communicates the dangers, or concerns of this project as communicated in this news article. If you are reading this before vacation ends, then you have a heads-up on the first assignment that will be due the 3rd class period after you have returned.
1. Read - Location of article: VA Pilot - Sunday, 12/30/07 News 2 section, page 2-3.
2. Assignment: Draw a one picture-frame cartoon. Finished product should be in pencil on a plain white 81/2 X 11 sheet of paper.
3. Research: Just what a political cartoon is — look at some examples in the editorial page of the paper; read Wikepedia’s definition; think about what ONE message you wish to communicate in the picture.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/browse.cfm At this web site, plug in a key word and see some great examples of editorial cartoons … cartoons that communicate a message/opinion.
I look forward to discussing this article with all of you upon your return.
PS: I hope you are sharing with your family what you are learning about the industrialization of China and the effects that this is having globally in both positive and negative ways.
