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Donne uses extended (long) metaphors in this poem. The poem sees in the figure of the lamb an expression of God's will and the beauty of God's creation. In this poem, award-winning American poet Jimmy Santiago Baca explores the gift of love. 3) You can use metaphors, personification, and idioms as well. Explore a few examples of the five main branches. With these engaging, humorous poems, students will be able to learn the meanings of metaphors, similes, hyperboles, alliteration, idioms, an Subjects: English Language Arts, Writing, Poetry Lewis Carroll is the writer of this poem but is not the speaker, she puts a mood of fear into the poem, and she uses figurative language to hide feelings and emotions in the poem. Blake's poems from a children's perspective are . This short poem by Carl Sandburg describes ships on the shore and a rolling tide. Celebrate with one accord. on impalpable drafts A simple apology for stealing fruit. The speaker calls the raven a messenger . o Onomatopoeia An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the natural sound of a thing. They include: 1. Oxymoron And music singing in the hills. it uses repetition really nicely as well as personification, hyperbole, metaphor, and alliteration. These lines evoke emotions, thoughts, and at times social change. Figurative language is a common technique in narrative writing, where the author strives to make emotional connections with the reader. A flash of smoldering flame and fire. Her presence in the chamber evokes rationality and learning, which the raven's presence literally and figuratively overshadows. I love you, you're so fine. The poem is told from the perspective of a child, who shows an intuitive understanding of the nature of joy and . Personification. The bust of Pallas refers to the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athena. The writer will analyze of figurative language in poem "My Friend", "My One True Love", and "No Regrets" by Shayna. Figurative language uses figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful. The dawn of a thousand dreams and thrills. This figurative language poetry bundle is a great way to teach your students figurative language. There are different kinds of figurative speech. The use of similes and hyperboles are able to affect the tone, meaning and theme that better explain the meaning in stories and songs. By formulating assumptions and opinions of how the other half lives, . Poems are listed in ascending order order from easiest to most challenging. Ed and I are deeply grateful to the students who agreed to share their work. Irony - These poems express ideas that are different from, and possibly the opposite of, the literal meaning of the words. txt) or view presentation slides online This collection of worksheets will present the student with short sentences using unfamiliar language, and ask them to identify the type being used Often the writers use figurative language to make their work more interesting Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or . You should be able to write poetry using figurative language. 3. Figurative language refers to language that contains figures of speech, while figures of speech are the particular techniques. to gong clangs. There are several types of figurative languages that are used in modern writing. Figurative language is only as fun we design our lessons to be. However, it is full of figurative language and deeper meaning. 1. Figurative language is an essential part of English fluency, and these figurative . The following are common types of figurative language. Oh teddy, you're so cuddly, I love you, you're so fine Your stuffing is all coming out But I'm still glad you're mine. The poem also contains a significant and powerful theme. He, with his contemporary, Samuel Tailor Coleridge, started . Below are some examples of poems using figurative language. This coffee shop is an icebox! Here are 10 common figures of speech and some examples of the same figurative language in use: Simile. The poem "Harlem" was written in 1951 by Langston Hughes and offers a theme in that of a warning: Those who cannot realize their dreams due to systematic oppression, will inevitably resort to violence. Informational Reading Comprehension: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass . In this article, you'll also find some suggestions for when and how to incorporate figurative language into your curriculum. Figurative speech are words or phrases that are used, to add creativity in a non-literal way. Here are some of the poems with figurative language highlighted in them. It's a common misconception that imagery, or vivid descriptive language, is a kind of figurative language. Same Song by Pat Mora Search: Poem Generator. poetry techniques (figurative language & Poetic devices) Definition and exercises Part 1 Level: elementary Age: 11-11 Downloads: 34 : Figurative Language Board game Level: intermediate Now, I'm just talking figuratively. Questions and Answers. As in Williams's poem, the figure captivates the eye, we are drawn toward it through the rain and . A sister-in-law but.Is a very good friend. In this poem, Brooks employs musical devices, figurative language that evokes feeling through the use of certain repeated sounds, in order to emphasize a certain idea or word. See more. Melissa: 6 Hooks. They are descriptions of events, people, situations, and objects that are over exaggerated. Figurative language is used in poems, songs, books, short stories, and in everyday language. A. 4 lines are called a quatrain. I think I've told you this a million times. Personification is a tool of figurative language where an inanimate object or . "Harlem" is a short, eleven line poem, consisting of three stanzas which are littered with literary and poetic devices such as imagery, italics . Listen to others (ask clarifying questions, . If figurative speech is like a dance routine, figures of speech are like the various moves that make up the routine. In the poem, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, there were many uses of symbolism, imagery, and figurative language throughout the poem. Sometimes it involves changing the arrangement of words making it more poetic, or using imagery to give a visualization on a certain topic. The poem carries deep theme of robotic life of modern man. That I ever met. She is like the wind. Analyze and evaluate in poetry the appropriateness of diction and figurative language. Figurative speech or figures of speech act as literary devices . Sara Teasdale: "There Will Come Soft Rains, " assonance. Read poems that include the following figurative language concepts: hyperbole; simile; metaphor; onomatopoeia; personification; and idioms. 7 lines are called a septet. Welcome to ESL Printables, . By Ernest Lawrence Thayer. The researchers discovered that four types of figurative language, namely a simile, Al-Lisan: Jurnal Bahasa (e-Journal), Volume 6, No. Hughes was probably . Figures of speech are literary devices that are also used throughout our society and help relay important ideas in a meaningful way. She is so Sweet. The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day; The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play, And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game. This poem offers a fun, memorable example for students as they learn to interpret figurative language in works of poetry and literature. Poe makes frequent use of allusions to Greek and Roman mythology and the Christian Bible. In this poem, Bishop uses figurative language to describe the low tide in a bight where birds, shattered boats, fishermen and the poet herself are part of the scenery. To comprehend poetry and figurative language, this paper uses three distinct poems to define imagery, metaphors, rhyme . As students read through each line, they will need to identify the figurative meanings behind Hughes's word choices. Overstatement Overstatement is a type of figurative language. Now, I'm just talking figuratively. You only have one eye left, but I'm so glad that you're mine. Figures of speech are literary devices that are also used throughout our society and help relay important ideas in a meaningful way. Write short stories, poems, plays. This Father's Day Poem Writing Activity is headed with the sentence " My Dad is ", followed by a bunch of simile sentences, such as " as funny as. 6 lines are called a sestet, or occasionally a sexain. 8 lines are called an octave. A collection of downloadable worksheets, exercises and activities to teach Figurative language, shared by English language teachers. A nonce word is a made-up word, or lexeme, created by a writer in poetry or fiction. 4. Poetry and Figurative Language. Figurative language explains the method poets use to describe a factor by comparing another factor. Imagery - These poems use figurative language in a way that appeals to the senses. Here are 10 common figures of speech and some examples of the same figurative language in use: Simile. As William Wordsworth was a poet of romantic era; he depicts beauty of nature in his poem using beautiful imagery and language full of figurative tools. Use this chart to identify figurative language, analyze a poem (or poems), and determine theme. 2) You must have at least 3 similes in your poem. . the poem calm, chaotic, etc Mood descriptive of the emotions conveyed overall feeling of the poem the feeling poem creates in the reader happy, sad, etc. Create your own Quiz. Langston Hughes' short poem "Dreams" has two types of figurative language, personification and metaphor. There is one literal, physical meaning, and then there is another, deeper, poetic meaning. William also explains how nature doesn't bring any peace to humans at all. 2. 1. In William's poem, he delivers imagery to the audience by saying, "Love itself a flower with roots in a parched ground. Aug, figurative language poem sketch by this short poem describes ships acceso the shore and a rolling tide. My sister-in-law is sweet, She is the girl on whom.I can always depend, She is much more than. Hyperbole - These are poems that include extreme exaggerations. Although the speaker has nothing material to give the reader, they show their love through poetry. The Dawn's awake! In line one of the poem, the author describes a road that . and wheels rumbling. On the other hand, alliterations, imageries, or onomatopoeias are figurative devices . 3 lines are called a tercet. For that reason, it. Towels flapped on the hooks, Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 3-7. While there are 12 common types, the five main branches of the figurative tree include metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, and symbolism. As one student noted, "Poetry has the ability to both fix that which is fleeting and collapse our familiar notions of what we thought was stable." Here is a brief sampling of poems from Pandemic Spring. Teach students to explain the purpose for the figurative language and analyze how it contributes to the theme of the poem. You should be able to explain the purpose for the figurative language and analyze how it contributes to the theme of the poem. Figurative language, or language that is used by the author to help readers paint a picture in their minds of a story or a poem's progress, is sometimes difficult to understand. Examples of Figurative Language in Poetry Answer Key for "Dreams" by Langston Hughes Directions: Great poets are masters of figurative language. Extension: Now, on binder paper, write your own figurative language poem about when you experienced something being deferred. Writers and poets use figurative language to build imagery and give words more power. Settings. Hook students in any literature, poetry, or writing unit with these unique approaches to studying literary terms. Simile is the primary type of figurative language used in the poem. Figurative language can be a difficult concept to comprehend. Figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, and allusions go beyond the literal meanings of the words to give readers new insights. While she cuts his hair, she continues to encourage him by telling him that "they can't keep turning you down; the finest gentleman's not so trim as you'". You knew I was coming for you, little one, when the kettle jumped into the fire. Figurative language is used in literature like poetry, drama, prose and even speeches. Students will be able to create their own examples of figurative language by writing a poem using similes, metaphors, and personification. The simplicity and beauty of the poem gives readers an idea that how simple things have deep effects on live of a person. Hyperbole will help you make rhymes. 'The Eagle' is one of Tennyson's shortest poems. Here are the most common of these, Stanzas of: 2 lines are called a couplet. Bishop uses alliteration, allusion, simile and metaphor within the poem. 2. One of the best ways to understand the concept of figurative language is to see it in action. Casey At The Bat. In the short poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson dubbed, "Richard Cory" is a short poem about a man who seemed to have had it all and was happy . The daffodils stand to applaud. The title 'No man is an island' is the main idea or statement of the poem and is an extended metaphor. pun - when a word or phrase is used with two different meanings. The poem "Jabberwocky" tells an interesting story and easy to follow along with. So, please don't take me literally. Simile, metaphor and a host of other non-literal methods of expression help make foreign concepts familiar and graspable. The opposite of figurative language is literal language, or phrasing that uses the exact meaning of the words without imagination or exaggeration. Although the word "imagery" sounds like it refers only to visual languagethe sense of sightit actually refers to any of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Idioms - These poems include common English expressions. 1. 1) It can be the topic of your quick write or something else. Tell me what type of figurative language is being used. 29 Questions | By Lorileaann | Last updated: Mar 22, 2022 | Total Attempts: 5164. 2. In "Boy with His Hair Cut Short", the boy comes home after yet another unsuccessful day of Job-seeking. Figurative language is meant to appeal to the senses in order to provide interest and evoke emotion in what is being . Personification makes the sad clouds cry. John Spacey, November 05, 2018. The Windigo is a flesh-eating, wintry demon with a man buried deep inside of it. Hook students in any literature, poetry, or writing unit with these unique approaches to studying literary terms. The poem Daffodils is the depiction of natural beauty. suggested reading level for this text grade. To answer this question you first have to interpret the literal meaning of the poem. The poem encourages the reader to never give up on hopes and goals. 21 Types of Figurative Language. Poetry is a type of literature written in meter. Voices the new awakening. Good poets pack worlds of meaning into tiny little lines. William used figurative language of imagery and irony to express his point on nature. This is an example of figurative language that is used to . This activity allows students to break down the various components of the extended metaphor in "Mother to Son". Read Complete Poem. Cervantes uses descriptive language about describing the five fingered specimens sprawled along the beach, she compared them to martyrs, soldiers and called it an artless suicide.She uses similes and metaphors as well as strong imagery to describe the pure beauty of starfish and weave an overall tale about how humans destroy everything for no reason beyond personal gain. Poetry is a rich source of figurative language. A simile uses the words "like" or "as" to compare two things, and a series of similes are used in the poem to compare a dream deferred to rotting, aging or burdensome items. The researchers analyzed figurative language in Kaur's selected poems from The Sun and Her Flowers in this study. Students should be able to cite a line from the poem and understand its literal meaning (as . Figurative language definition, language that contains or uses figures of speech, especially metaphors. Figurative language is any language that isn't intended to be taken literally. Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,.. O for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,. Shakespeare: "Sonnet 18" is a love poem that the narrator praised someone he thinks that is perfect. ( William Carlos Williams, "The Great Figure") If rhythm is the heart and breath of poetry, then surely figurative language is its beguiling and sexy skin and musculature. Cure it if you can ". Take a look lines sixteen through twenty-three: Black-and-white man-of-war birds soar. Figurative language is used in literature like poetry, drama, prose and even speeches. Shakespeare begins with a rhetorical question and then he is referring and answering the question in the rest of the sonnet by . 5th grade. He personifies beauty and use couple of similes to make the wording appealing. ". Alliteration makes you try, try, try. There are many different types of symbolism in the poem, "The Road Not Taken". siren howls. Teach students to identify examples of figurative language in poetry on their own. Though there are examples of figurative language to be found in all genres of literature, perhaps none more than in poetry. 3. Oh teddy, you're so brilliant. "The Lamb" is a poem by English visionary William Blake, published in his 1789 collection Songs of Innocence. Teach students to write poems with figurative language. Teasdale was an American writer, and her work fits nicely into an American literature curriculum. In this article, you'll also find some suggestions for when and how to incorporate figurative language into your curriculum. 2, August 2021 154 fAyuni Kabobu Heda & Barli Bram Available Online at https://journal . In some Chippewa stories, a young girl vanquishes this monster by forcing boiling lard down its throat, thereby releasing the human at the core of ice. Melissa: 6 Hooks. Teaching figurative language with recent poetry is a bonus. Reading & Writing. Your tummy's nearly threadbare but 4) Your poem must be at least 5 lines long. Read the questions. Even though he's crestfallen, his sister offers to assist him by cutting his hair shorter. It uses repetition really nicely as well as personification, hyperbole, metaphor, and alliteration. This poem is devoid of almost any literary elements and figurative language; however, the words themselves still have resonance. Let's look at the. 5 lines are called a cinquain. In the left column, provide a specific example of figurative language from the poem you are reading. There are any kinds of English language figurative elements such as metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, allegory, and other. You should be able to identify examples of figurative language in poetry on your own. Worksheet. Empty pockets make empty heads. In line 3 of the poem its states " a pint of joy and a peck of trouble". To get his point across Dunbar uses figurative language to convey the meaning of life. ( metaphor) Figurative language is only as fun we design our lessons to be. Get LitCharts A +. This is a type of literary device that is typically used to convey complex meaning or effects. This is a poem that many people should understand even though there is some . The poem Leisure by W. H. Davies is very simple and short poem published in 1911. This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams Why it's so great: This poem reads like a casual note left on the refrigerator, and the fun of teaching it is in helping students discover why it was written. It's tempting to think that direct language is the easiest for us to understand, but sometimes we respond better to more creative wording. A simile is used with the aim of sparking an interesting connection in the reader's mind. You'll be so hungry you'll eat a horse. Metaphor. Activity Overview. Tone descriptive of the voice of the narrator the creation of attitude in poem how the poem is read serious, comic, etc Those three are created through the diction the imagery used - Waco Animal Shelter Dogs - Shell Fuel Save Diesel Specification - Pathfinder Wrath Of The Righteous Unarmed Monk Build - True Lemon Energy Wild - Venetian Marina & Yacht Club - Shooting Gender Reveal Ideas - Tormentor Release Date Xbox Series X - Socketing Shield Cube - Best Florida Beaches Near Airports - Shell Recharge Account - Partition Function Notes

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A Short History of The United StatesThe history of the United States has been a trial in democracy for more than 236 years. Subjects and concerns that were tackled in the early years continue to be addressed and resolved today: big government versus small government, individual rights versus group rights, free markets versus regulated commerce and labor, support for other countries versus isolationism. The expectations for American democracy have always been elevated, and the reality has sometimes been disappointing. Despite these occasional setbacks, the nation has grown and flourished, through a recurrent process of adjustment and compromise. United States History: Early HistoryDuring the world’s most recent Ice Age, which occurred roughly 35,000 years ago, much of the world’s water was frozen into big sheets of ice. A land bridge, which was estimated to be as wide as 1,500 kilometers (932 miles), then connected Asia and North America. Fast forward to 12,000 years ago, and you’ll find there is evidence that humans existed in the region that is now the United States, as well as in other parts of North and South America. The first settlers in what is now America crossed the land bridge from Asia. Historians believe they lived in the part of North America that is now Alaska for thousands of years. Later they moved south into today’s mainland United States, settling along the Pacific Ocean in the Northwest, in the mountains and deserts of the Southwest, and along the Mississippi River in the Midwest. Known as the Hohokam, Adenans, Hopewellians, and Anasazi, these early groups of human settlers built crude villages and began growing crops. Their lives were connected to the land; and family and community were very important to them. Researchers have shown they relied on storytelling as a way to share information, as well as picture writing known as hieroglyphics. The Native Americans prized nature as a spiritual force, traded with other tribes for food and other needed goods, and created enormous piles of earth in the shapes of snakes, birds and/or pyramids. They also fought regularly, largely due to land disputes. Historians are not certain why these early humans disappeared, but they were replaced by other Native American tribes—the Zuni, Hopi, etc.—who prospered for hundreds of years. By the time the first Europeans arrived in what is now the United Sates roughly two million people inhabited the region. United States History: European Exploration of AmericaAccording to historians, the first Europeans to arrive in the “New World” were the Norse. They sailed from Greenland, where Erik Ericson (Erik the Red) had established a settlement in 985. In 1001, Ericson’s son, Leif Ericson, explored the northeast coast of what is now Canada. It was there, in Newfoundland, Canada, that archaeologists found traces of the Norsemen’s explorations. Nearly 500 years would pass before other Europeans reached North America, and another 100 years for them to build permanent settlements. The early explorers did not originally set out to find America, nor did they know it even existed. Upon setting sail they were originally looking for seagoing trade routes between Europe and Asia. Even Christopher Columbus, who is often credited with the discovery of America, never reached what is now the mainland United States. An Italian, whose voyage was paid for by the Spanish Queen Isabella, Columbus merely reached some of the islands of the Caribbean in 1492. When the Europeans finally arrived in America—mostly from Spain and Portugal, but also from France, England and Holland—they discovered and a land with all the vast natural resources needed to create permanent settlements. In 1497, an English explorer by the name of John Cabot arrived on Canada’s eastern seaboard, establishing a British claim to land in North America. During the 16 century, Spain sponsored multiple explorations to the New World, claiming more land in the Americas than did any other country. In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida. Several years later, Hernando De Soto also landed in Florida and conducted explorations all the way to the Mississippi River to the northeast. Spain conquered Mexico in 1522, and in 1540, a Spanish explorer named Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola, traveled north to the Grand Canyon in Arizona and into the Great Plains. Other Europeans, including Giovanni da Verrazano, Jacques Cartier, and Amerigo Vespucci, for whom the two American continents are named, explored further north. The first European settlement in North America was Spanish, founded in what is now St. Augustine in Florida. Thirteen British colonies to the north would later be established, marking the beginning of the formation of the United States of America. United States History: The Colonial PeriodThe majority of people who came to the British colonies in the 17 century were of English descent. Others came from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, Scotland and Northern Island. Some came to avoid religious or political persecution in their mother country, while others came looking for economic opportunity. Some had to work as servants to pay back the cost of their trip before gaining their freedom, and some, like black Africans, were brought here as slaves. In 1690, 250,000 people had settled in America—a number that would jump to 2.5 million one century later in 1790. Over time the 13 colonies that comprised America were established within three distinct regions. Most of the initial settlements were founded along the Atlantic Coast and on the rivers that flowed into the ocean. The first of these regions was in the Northeast, where, trees which could be used for timber covered the hills, and water power was widely available. This region, which would take on the name New England, included the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Here the economy was based on timber, fishing, ship-building, and various trade. 8 The second region is known as the Middle Colonies and included the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. Here, due largely to the proximity to the Atlantic ocean, the weather was milder and the countryside was more varied, allowing people to find success in the fields of industry and agriculture. The society in the Middle Colonies was more diverse and sophisticated than that of the other two regions. People who settled in New York, for example, came from all over Europe, including many families of great wealth. The third colonial region was known as the Southern Colonies, which included the states of Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Due to the temperate climate in this region of the New World, the growing season was long and the soil was fertile. Most who settled here were simple farmers—farmers that often worked their small farms themselves The wealthy landowners, however, boasted large plantations on which crops such as cotton and tobacco were grown for commerce. Many of these landowners used slaves to work the fields in exchange for food and shelter. The relationships forged between settlers and the Native Americans (also called Indians) were good and bad. In some regions of the country, the two groups traded and, for the most part, were friendly. In most cases, however, especially as the settlements began to grow larger and larger, the Native Americans were compelled by force to move from the colonial regions, with most of them eventually heading east across the Mississippi River. As the settlements grew, governments were established in each of the original 13 colonies—governments based on the British system that involved citizen participation. Back in Britain, the “Glorious Revolution of 1688-89” limited the king’s powers and added additional authority to the citizens. Meanwhile, the colonists in America began to observe these changes, and created colonial assemblies which claimed the right to act as local parliaments. These government bodies passed laws that limited the authority of the royal governor (a representative of the British monarchy) and increased their own authority. Major disagreements between the royal governors and the assemblies continued for several years, as the colonists began to realize that their interests often were different from those of the British government. Initially, the colonists fought for a form of self-government within a British commonwealth, but resistance from the British government ultimately sparked a call for total independence. United States History: American IndependenceThe road toward American Independence was a rocky one; a road based on the idea of true democracy and liberalism. As the colonies continued to evolve and gain in population these ideas would eventually translate into action. Following a costly war in the 1750s, in which England narrowly defeated the French, the American colonists were asked to provide monetary compensation to Britain to help pay for the monetary losses caused by the war and further establish the British Empire. Naturally, these policies, which restricted the colonists’ way of life and their own economic growth, were not very popular to say the least. Some of these policies included the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which restricted the colonists from settling any new land; the Currency Act of 1764, which prohibited the colonists from printing money; the Quartering Act of 1765, mandating colonists to provide food and shelter to royal soldiers; and the Stamp Act of 1765, which set a tax on all legal papers, licenses, newspapers and leases. Angered over these prohibitive policies, the colonies united to form an organized resistance movement. Their main issue that sparked this movement was their inability to participate in the very government that taxed them, a concept known as “taxation without representation.” In October of 1765, delegates from nine of the thirteen colonies met in New York and passed resolutions banning the practice of unfair taxation. This move satisfied most of the people, however, a smaller group of radicals, which included Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, pushed for complete independence from Britain. Adams penned numerous newspaper articles on the subject and made scores of speeches, ultimately helping groups to organize as part of the revolutionary movement. In 1773, a tea tax imposed by the British angered a group of colonial traders, who would ultimately sneak on to three British ships in the Boston harbor and throw its entire cargo of tea overboard. This renowned and very memorable act of resistance came to be known as the Boston Tea Party. In 1774, delegates of all the colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. Although all were angry over the British policies being imposed on them, the group was split between Loyalists, who wanted to remain subjects of the Crown, Moderates, who wanted to compromise and build a better relationship with England; and Revolutionaries, who wanted total independence. The latter group began stockpiling weapons in preparation for what they knew would be a bloody fight for independence. The American Revolution and the War of Independence from Britain began in April of 1775 with a small fight between British troops and colonists. At Lexington those troops met armed colonists called Minutemen, named so because they could be prepared to fight on a moment’s notice. From that small battle sprouted a full-scale war for Independence; a seven-year war that resulted in the death and wounding of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Later in 1775, Colonial representatives met again in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. They established a committee to create a document highlighting the colonies complaints against the king, and carefully explained their decision to separate from Britain. Thomas Jefferson was the primary writer of this document—a document entitled the Declaration of Independence that announced to the world the birth of a new nation; a nation based on ideals of freedom and universal human rights. The Declaration of Independence was accepted and ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. That date, now known as the Fourth of July or Independence Day, has since been celebrated annually in the U.S. in honor of the nation’s birthday. United States History: The American ConstitutionIn 1783, the 13 original colonies officially became the United States of America. Prior to the end of the war, the colonies had developed Articles of Confederation—a plan to work together as one nation—but the connections between the 13 colonies were too fragmented. At the time, each state had their own money, army, navy and trade systems, resulting in an America that was essentially a nation of 13 countries. Many of the colonists, including Alexander Hamilton of New York, believed that the Articles of Confederation, while well intentioned, needed to be rethought. Thus, in May of 1787, delegates gathered once again in Philadelphia with the aim of drafting a United States Constitution. After months of work, in September of 1787, the American Constitution was ratified, creating a three-branch system of central government and guaranteeing basic freedoms and liberty to all American citizens. United States History: The United States of America: The Early YearsOn April 30, 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States of America. Washington had served as a general in the War of Independence and was well-respected throughout the new union. With the assistance of the Congress, he created the Treasury, Justice and War departments. Together, the heads of these agencies—and the others that would later be created—form the President’s Cabinet. Washington served as president for a total of 8 years—two four-year terms. Following Washington as President of the United States were John Adams and then Thomas Jefferson. These two presidents had dissimilar ideas about the role the government should play in the lives of Americans, which ultimately led to the creation of political parties. Alexander Hamilton led the Federalist Party, whose supporters included people involved with trade and manufacturing. They believed in a strong central government, with less power in the hands of the states. Most of their support was in the Northern regions, where most American manufacturing took place. The Republican Party, whose supporters included farmers primarily in the American South, was led by Thomas Jefferson. This party opposed a strong central government, believing the states should have more authority. For the first twenty years of its existence, the United States, while friendly to all nations, remained neutral and loyal to none. However, France and Britain were again at war, threatening the security of the United States. America would ultimately go to war with Britain in 1812—the War of 1812—where the battles were mostly contained to the northeastern states along the American coast. One unit of the British army made its way to Washington D.C., the new U.S. capital, where it proceeded to set fire to the presidential mansion, forcing them President James Madison to flee the White House as it burned. America would eventually win the War of 1812, which culminated in the Treaty of Ghent of 1815. Among other things, the treaty ensured that Britain would not establish colonies south of the Canadian border. By 1815, America was running much more smoothly, aided by a Constitution that provided a balance of liberty and order. The country enjoyed a low national debt, peace, prosperity and social progress. An important addition to American foreign policy was the Monroe Doctrine, named for President James Monroe. Among other provisions outlined in this document, the doctrine announced the solidarity of the newly independent nations in Central and South America, which served as a warning to Europe not to seek colonies in Latin America. The United States doubled in size with the Louisiana Purchase, and grew even larger with the purchase of Florida from the Spaniards. From 1816 to 1821, six new states were created, and between 1812 and 1852, the population of the country tripled in size. However, as the country grew, differences between the states became more evident and problematic. The United States was a country of civilized cities and lawless frontiers, one that loved the idea of freedom yet also tolerated slavery. Slavery became a major issue in the 1850s and early 1860s. Most Northerners, while morally against the idea of slavery, did not want to prevent it in the rural south, but they did oppose slavery in the new territories. The Southerners believed that these territories had the right to decide for themselves whether slavery would be allowed. It was at this time that a young politician from Illinois came along, a man named Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln believed that slavery was not a local issue, but a national one. He initially agreed that the South could keep its slaves, but he fought to keep slavery out of the territories. His hope was that over time slavery would end of its own volition, as reflected in his famous quote: “A house divided against itself cannot stand. This government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free.” The South threatened to leave the Union if Lincoln became president, which he did in 1860, becoming the 16 President of the United States. Prior to delivering his First Inaugural Address in 1861, seven southern states had already seceded from the Union, tensions remained high between the North and the South, and the country was on the brink of Civil War. United States History: Civil War and ReconstructionWith tensions between the North and South at an all-time high, the American Civil War erupted in 1861, with the first shots being fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Feeling the country, also known as the “Union,” was threatening their state and individual rights, the people of the South claimed the right to disengage from the Union and eventually formed its own Confederacy. Determined to keep the nation unified, President Lincoln led the Northern States into what would become the deadliest war in American history. During the Civil War, both sides had certain advantages: the North had more raw materials for producing war supplies and a better railway system, while the South had more experienced military leaders and a better knowledge of the battlefields, as most of the battles were fought in Southern territory. The Civil War spanned 4 years in total, with tens of thousands of soldiers engaged. The bloodiest day of the war came on September 17, 1862, during the Battle of Antietam in Maryland. The Southern forces, led by General Robert E. Lee, failed to force back the Union troops led by General George McClellan. Lee escaped with his army, but the defeat signaled a major turnaround in the war. Later in 1862, President Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation that effectively freed all slaves in the Confederate states, many of whom then joined the Union army. With the extra manpower and better supplies, the North began winning one important battle after another. Near the end of the war, General William T. Sherman and his troops marched across the southern states of Georgia and South Carolina, leaving a path of scorched destruction in their wake. This event marked the end of the war, and General Lee officially surrendered in Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April of 1865. Less than a week after the South surrendered, a Confederate sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln as he enjoyed a dramatic play at Ford’s theater in Washington D.C. Vice President Andrew Johnson was sworn in as the 17 president of the United States, and faced the challenge of reuniting the country in a period that is known as “Post-War-Reconstruction.” President Johnson was a southerner by birth, and after taking over for President Lincoln he issued many pardons to southern soldiers and resistance leaders and gave them back their political rights. By the close of 1865, most of the Confederate states canceled the acts of secession but refused to abolish slavery. In addition, all of the southern states, except Tennessee, refused to give full citizenship to African American men. In response to this, the Republican led Congress passed a law barring rebel leaders from holding political office. The Union generals that now governed the South also blocked anyone who would not take an oath of loyalty to the Union from voting in elections. Congress strongly supported the rights of African Americans, but President Johnson, a southerner, tried to stop many of the policies aimed to help them. As a result, the House of Representatives impeached President Johnson, but because the Senate came up one vote shy of the two-thirds majority needed to remove him from office, he was allowed to finish his term, and eventually began giving in to the Republican led Congress. During Reconstruction, the Southern states were prohibited from sending representatives to Congress until they passed constitutional amendments abolishing slavery, giving black males the right to vote and granting all citizens—white and black—equal protection under the law. For a time the Southern states abided by these new policies, but once the Union General-Governors left the South, especially during the 1870s, white Southerners began to deny the newly-freed slaves their rights. Black men had the right to vote, but the threat of violence made them afraid to use their suffrage. Southern states introduced laws of segregation, a system that required black Americans and white Americans to use separate public facilities. Blacks had to drink from a different water fountain than whites, were denied entry into restaurants and other businesses, and were forced to sit at the back of the bus when using public transportation. Naturally, the facilities for blacks were nowhere near as nice as those reserved for whites, and this type of almost inhumane segregation would continue for the next 100 years, finally becoming a national issue towards the latter half of the 20 century. United States History: The Post-Reconstruction EraThe Post-Reconstruction era in the United States was a time of growth and transformation: the frontier became tamer; cities grew in size and number; factories, steel mills and railroads were built; and immigrants flocked to the United States with hopes of a better existence. The era is appropriately nicknamed the “Age of Inventions,” a time during which Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone; Thomas Edison invented the light bulb; and George Eastman invented the moving picture, later called a movie. Prior to 1860, the government had issued 36,000 patents in total, but from 1860-1890, 440,000 new patents were given to a wave of inventors and scientists. Farming was still America’s primary economic sector, and business was booming. New discoveries helped scientists improve seeds; and new machines, like Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin began doing the same work that once took hundreds of hours of manpower. As a result, Americans produced enough crops to not only sustain themselves, but to sell to overseas markets for a hefty profit. Near the end of the 19 century, many of the European powers began to colonize Africa and parts of Asia. Many people thought that America should do the same, while others resisted these efforts as imperialistic. Following a short war with Spain in 1898, the United States took control over many Spanish possessions, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. From an official standpoint, the U.S. encouraged these colonies to become self-governing, but in reality the United States maintained their control. Idealism became the tone of American foreign policy during the late 1800s, but it coexisted with the desire to prevent European powers from acquiring any territory that might enable them to project military power towards the U.S. As the 20 century dawned, America had officially emerged as one of the world’s most powerful countries. United States History: World War I and the Great DepressionFollowing the Assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand in 1914, World War I erupted, a battle that initially pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey against Britain, France, Italy and Russia. Other nations would eventually join the conflict, and eventually the war reached across the Atlantic to affect the United States. The Navies of Britain and Germany blocked American shipping lanes, and in 1915, nearly 130 Americans were killed when a German submarine sunk the British ocean liner Lusitania. America’s president at the time, Woodrow Wilson, demanded a stop to the attacks, but when they started again in 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and their allies. By the time World War I was over, nearly 2 million American soldiers had helped to defeat the German and Austrian-Hungarian forces. The war officially came to an end on November 11, 1918, when a truce was signed at the Palace of Versailles in France. President Wilson adopted a “14-Point Plan,” which included the creation of the League of Nations. After the war, the United States had problems with racial tension, struggling farms, and labor unrest. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, fear grew among Americans regarding the spread of communism, a fear that was nicknamed the “Red Scare.” Despite these problems, the U.S. enjoyed a brief period of prosperity. Many families purchased their first automobile, radio and refrigerator; women were granted the right to vote; and the musical style of Jazz was born. This period, or decade, of prosperity is appropriately nicknamed the “Roaring 20s.” The boon of the 1920s would literally come crashing down on October 23, 1929—Black Tuesday—when the stock market collapsed, often seen as the event that ushered in the Great Depression. This bleak period in American history saw businesses and factories close, banks fail and farms depleted. By the winter of 1932, nearly a quarter of American adults were jobless. The elections of 1932 saw the incumbent President Herbert Hoover lose to Franklin Roosevelt, who would later become one of the most influential presidents in American history. United States History: The New Deal and the Second World WarWith the country in grave economic trouble, President Roosevelt proposed a “New Deal” to bring a close to the Great Depression, and during his first 100 days of office passed more legislation to that end than any president in United States history. The New Deal included many new U.S. programs: bank accounts became insured, new stock market rules were implemented, and workers gained the right to form unions to protect their rights. Farmers received much-needed aid, and people were hired by the government to plant trees, clean waterways and perform other projects designed to beautify America. The Social Security System was implemented to help the poor, the elderly and the disabled; and many Americans previously out of work found jobs to support their family. Although the programs of the New Deal sparked a slight uptick in the economy, it wasn’t until the onset of the Second World War that Americans would fully recover economically. Although America had initially adopted a policy of neutrality while Germany, Italy and Japan were attacking other countries, the gloves came off, so to speak, when Japan attacked an American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, marking the beginning of the United States’ involvement in World War II. As Americans fought both in Japan and Europe, American industry focused heavily on the war effort. With most of the men away at war, women were enlisted into factories and built over 400,000 items of war machinery, from aircraft, to cargo ships, to tanks. American troops fought with Great Britain and the Soviet Union against the Nazi threat in Europe. From the time that Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939 (Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941) until the German surrender in 1945, millions of people died on the battlefield, and millions more (mainly Jews and other minorities) were killed in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. The fighting continued in the Asian/Pacific Theater, even after the war had ended in Europe. These latter battles were among the bloodiest for American forces, as Japan refused to surrender even as American soldiers were approaching its doorstep. Most of the American people had had their fill of war, and believed invading Japan would cost far too many lives. The U.S. president at the time, Harry S. Truman, agreed with this notion, and decided instead to launch the world’s first (and still only) nuclear strike on Japan, first on Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki. The war finally ended in 1945, but the threat of nuclear weapons ending up in the hands of any United States enemy would soon cause widespread fear among the American population. United States History: The Cold War Era to the PresentFollowing World War II, the United States and Great Britain had long-term disagreements with the Soviet Union over the future of Europe, most of which had been freed from Nazi occupation through their joint effort. The democratic United States and Communist Russia both wanted to establish governments that were friendly to their interests in Europe, and each believed that their system could best ensure its security, and produce the most liberty, equality and prosperity in the region. This period of disagreement has come to be known as the Cold War. Much of Europe laid in ruin after World War II, and the U.S. feared that postwar economic weakness would increase the popularity of communism. To try and avoid this, the United States offered Europeans nations, including the Soviet Union, large sums of money to help them rebuild. Most Western European nations gladly accepted these offerings, but the communist nations of Eastern Europe refused. By 1952, through a program to rebuild Western Europe (called the Marshall Plan), the United States had invested $13.3 billion. Meanwhile, the Soviet military forced communist governments on nations in Central and Eastern Europe. The United States wanted to limit Soviet expansion, and demanded Soviet withdrawal from northern Iran. When the Soviets blockaded West Berlin, a U.S. airlift brought millions of tons of supplies to the divided city. In 1949, the communist forces of Mao Zedong took control of China. Communist North Korea invaded South Korea with the support of China and the Soviet Union in 1950. The United States got support from the United Nations, formerly the League of Nations, for military intervention, and a bloody war—the Korean War—continued into 1953. Although an armistice eventually was signed, U.S. troops remain in South Korea to this day. In the 1960s, the United States aided South Vietnam in its defense against communist North Vietnam in what would later be known as the Vietnam War. Thousands of American soldiers were killed and/or wounded in this (very unpopular) war, and with no foreseeable end to the conflict in sight, all American troops were called home by the end of 1973. Despite our help, in 1975 North Vietnam would eventually conquer the depleted armies of South Vietnam, prompting thousands of Vietnamese to relocate to the United States. The 1960s through the 1980s was a period of major cultural change. Segregation, which had long affected the South, was officially abolished, thanks largely to the Civil Rights Movement and its remarkable leader Martin Luther King Jr. Women grew angry that they lacked the same opportunity as men, and women like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem worked on laws that would ultimately grant women more educational and economic equality. Hispanic farm workers, under the leadership of Cesar Chavez, also saw major life improvements, allowing them to form unions to help improve their working conditions and compensation. As the new millennium dawned, newly elected President George W. Bush intended to focus his efforts on improving education, the United States economy and the Social Security system. This focus changed, however, on September 11, 2001, when foreign terrorists crashed four United States passenger planes: two into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the U.S. Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the last into a field in rural Pennsylvania, after the brave passengers fought back against the suicide bombers. President Bush declared war on worldwide terrorism and sent United States troops into Afghanistan and Iraq. These moves initially garnered nationwide approval from the American people, but as the wars dragged on, the people grew increasingly uneasy with his policies. In 2008, the American citizens chose Barack Obama as their new president—the first African American to ever hold that office. Once in office, Obama focused on improving the worst economic recession Americans had faced since the Great Depression of the 1930s—a focus he maintains today in his second (and legally, last) term in office.

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This text is a comprehensive introduction to the vital subject of American government and politics. Governments decide who gets what, when, how (See Harold D. Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1936]); they make policies and pass laws that are binding on all a society’s members; they decide about taxation and spending, benefits and costs, even life and death.Governments possess power—the ability to gain compliance and to get people under their jurisdiction to obey them—and they may exercise their power by using the police and military to enforce their decisions. However, power need not involve the exercise of force or compulsion; people often obey because they think it is in their interest to do so, they have no reason to disobey, or they fear punishment. Above all, people obey their government because it has authority; its power is seen by people as rightfully held, as legitimate. People can grant their government legitimacy because they have been socialized to do so; because there are processes, such as elections, that enable them to choose and change their rulers; and because they believe that their governing institutions operate justly.Politics is the process by which leaders are selected and policy decisions are made and executed. It involves people and groups, both inside and outside of government, engaged in deliberation and debate, disagreement and conflict, cooperation and consensus, and power struggles.In covering American government and politics, this text introduces the intricacies of the Constitution, the complexities of federalism, the meanings of civil liberties, and the conflicts over civil rights;explains how people are socialized to politics, acquire and express opinions, and participate in political life; describes interest groups, political parties, and elections—the intermediaries that link people to government and politics; details the branches of government and how they operate; and shows how policies are made and affect people’s lives. This book is suited for Business Writing, Business English or Business Research/Report Writing courses.Basics of Written Business Communication presents basic business communication concepts, vocabulary, models, and exercises in a clear, practical, and engaging way. The author provides a set of core chapters intended to provide a highly focused introduction to the field. Then, he provides an optional series of modules that provide instructors with complete flexibility to emphasize additional topics of their choice. The Changing Story gives you assignments, resources, and examples to use in your teaching and learning. It will also help you think of ways digital stories can be used in your teaching, and help students harness the power of visual storytelling. College Success takes a fresh look at what it means, in today’s world, with today’s students, to be successful in college.Although many of the topics included—from study skills to personal health, from test-taking to managing time and money—will look familiar to those who have used student success texts that have been around for many editions, College Success takes a new approach. The focus is on realistic, practical tools for the students who need them. This is a book designed, frankly, for students who may have difficulty with traditional college texts. The style is direct and to the point. Information is presented concisely and as simply as possible. This is not a weighty tome that discusses student success—this is a manual for doing it.College student demographics have changed considerably in recent decades. More than a third of all students enroll not directly from high school but after a delay of some years. More students are working and have families. More students come from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds. More students are the first in their family to attend college. More students have grown up with electronic media and now read and think in ways different from the previous generation. With these and so many other cultural changes, more students are not well prepared for a college education with the study skills and life skills they need to become successful students.For each student to get the most out of College Success and their college experience they must understand who they are as it relates to college. To that end, in every chapter students explore themselves, because success starts with recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses. Students make their own goals based on this self-assessment, determining what success in college really means for them as individuals. Interactive activities then help students learn the choices available to them and the possibilities for improving their skills. Skills are presented in step-by-step processes, tips for success in manageable highlighted displays. Most important, students always see the value of what they are reading—and how they can begin to apply it immediately in their own lives.College Success is intended for use in Freshmen Orientation, Study Skills or Student Success courses. A 2009 study revealed that currently nationwide, 34% of college freshmen do not return to their college for their sophomore year. This book is designed to help change that. Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies overviews the time-tested conceptual foundations of the field, while incorporating the latest research and cutting-edge applications of these basics. Each chapter will include timely, concrete, and real-life examples of communication concepts in action. A key feature of this book is the integration of content regarding diversity and organizational communication in each chapter through examples and/or discrete sub-sections. Discussions of diversity are not relegated to feature boxes. Also integrated into the content are examples that are inclusive in terms of race, gender, sexuality, ability, age, marital status, religion, and other diverse identity characteristics. The author's goals in writing Exploring Business were simple: (1) introduce students to business in an exciting way and (2) provide faculty with a fully developed teaching package that allows them to do the former. Toward those ends, the following features are included in this text:1- Integrated (Optional) Nike Case Study: A Nike case study is available for instructors who wish to introduce students to business using an exciting and integrated case. Through an in-depth study of a real company, students learn about the functional areas of business and how these areas fit together. Studying a dynamic organization on a real-time basis allows students to discover the challenges that it faces, and exposes them to critical issues affecting the business, such as globalization, ethics and social responsibility, product innovation, diversity, supply chain management, and e-business.2- A Progressive (Optional) Business Plan: Having students develop a business plan in the course introduces students to the excitement and challenges of starting a business and helps them discover how the functional areas of business interact. This textbook package includes an optionalintegrated business plan project modeled after one refined by the author and her teaching team over the past ten years.3- AACSB Emphasis: The text provides end-of-chapter questions, problems, and cases that ask students to do more than regurgitate information. Most require students to gather information, assess a situation, think about it critically, and reach a conclusion. Each chapter presents ten Questions and Problems as well as five cases on areas of skill and knowledge endorsed by AACSB: Learning on the Web, Career Opportunities, The Ethics Angle, Team-Building Skills, and The Global View. More than 70% of end-of-chapter items help students build skills in areas designated as critical by AACSB, including analytical skills, ethical awareness and reasoning abilities, multicultural understanding and globalization, use of information technology, and communications and team oriented skills. Each AACSB inspired exercise is identified by an AACSB tag and a note indicating the relevant skill area.4- Author-Written Instructor Manual (IM): For the past eleven years, Karen Collins has been developing, coordinating and teaching (to over 3,500 students) an Introduction to Business course. Sections of the course have been taught by a mix of permanent faculty, graduate students, and adjuncts. This book is suitable for an undergraduate or MBA level Financial Accounting course. The authors bring their collective teaching wisdom to bear in this book not by changing "the message"(financial accounting content), but by changing "the messenger" (the way the content is presented). The approach centers around utilizing the Socratic method, or simply put, asking and answering questions. The reason that this approach continues to be glorified after thousands of years is simple - it engages students and stresses understanding over memorization. So this text covers standard topics in a standard sequence, but does so through asking a carefully constructed series of questions along with their individual answers. Human Resource Management by Laura Portolese Dias teaches HRM strategies and theories that any managerŃnot just those in HRŃneeds to know about recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating people.Most students will be managing people at some point in their careers and not necessarily in a human resource management capacity. As businesses cut back, they may outsource HR duties to outside vendors. Or, in smaller businesses, the HR department is sometimes small or non-existent, and managers from other departments have to perform their own HRM. Therefore, teaching HRM from the perspective of a general manager, in addition to an HR manager, provides more relevance to studentsŐ careers and will give them a competitive advantage in the workplace. Immigrant and Refugee Families: Global Perspectives on Displacement and Resettlement Experiences uses a family systems lens to discuss challenges and strengths of immigrant and refugee families in the United States. Chapters address immigration policy, human rights issues, economic stress, mental health and traumatic stress, domestic violence, substance abuse, family resilience, and methods of integration. The definitive text for the information search and evaluation process as practiced by news and strategic communication message producers. Currently used at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication; JOUR 3004W/V, Information for Mass Communication. Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology V1.2 is intended for use in undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Management Information Systems and Information Technology.Version 1.2 of John's book retains the same structure and theory of version 1.1, but refreshes key statistics, examples, and brings case material up to date (vital when covering firms that move as fast as Facebook, Google, and Netflix). Adopting version 1.2 guarantees your students will have the most current text on the market, drawing real and applicable lessons from material that will keep your class offerings current and accessible.One of BusinessWeek’s "Professors of the Year", John Gallaugher of Boston College, brings you a brand new Management Information Systems textbook that teaches students how he or she will experience IS from a Managers perspective first hand through interesting coverage and bleeding-edge cases.Get involved with John's community by visiting and subscribing to his blog, The Week In Geek, where courseware, technology and strategy intersect and joining his Ning IT Community site where you can get more resources to teach Information Systems.Shockingly, at a time when technology regularly appears on the cover of every major business publication, students find IS among the least appealing of management disciplines.The teaching approach in Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology V 1.2 can change this. The text offers a proven approach that has garnered student praise, increased IS enrollment, and engaged students to think deeper and more practically about the space where business and technology meet. Every topic is related to specific business examples, so students gain an immediate appreciation of its importance. Rather than lead with technical topics, the book starts with strategic thinking, focusing on big-picture issues that have confounded experts but will engage students. And while chapters introduce concepts, cases on approachable, exciting firms across industries further challenge students to apply what they've learned, asking questions like:Why was NetFlix able to repel Blockbuster and WalMart? How did Harrah's Casino's become twice as profitable as comparably-sized Caesar's, enabling the former to acquire the latter? How does Spain's fashion giant Zara, a firm that shuns the sort of offshore manufacturing used by every other popular clothing chain, offer cheap fashions that fly off the shelves, all while achieving growth rates and profit margins that put Gap to shame? Why do technology markets often evolve into winner-take-all or winner take-most scenarios? And how can managers compete when these dynamics are present? Why is Google more profitable than Disney? How much is Facebook really worthThe Information Systems course and discipline have never seemed more relevant, more interesting, and more exciting. Gallaugher's textbook can help teachers make students understand why. This textbook introduces readers to the idea of cooperation and mutualism. Cooperatives and mutuals are participatory organizations in which members participate in control and governance, receive economic benefits through patronage refunds or net income, and become owners through equity. These mutual-benefit organizations exist alongside non-profit organizations and investor-benefit organizations through the global economy. Teaching the strategic management course can be a challenge for many professors. In most business schools, strategic management is a ŇcapstoneÓ course that requires students to draw on insights from various functional courses they have completed (such as marketing, finance, and accounting) in order to understand how top executives make the strategic decisions that drive whether organizations succeed or fail. Although students have taken these functional courses, many students have very little experience with major organizational choices. It is this inexperience that can undermine many studentsŐ engagement in the course. Organizational Behavior bridges the gap between theory and practice with a distinct "experiential" approach. On average, a worker in the USA will change jobs 10 times in 20 years. In order to succeed in this type of career situation, individuals need to be armed with the tools necessary to be life-long learners. To that end, this book is not be about giving students all the answers to every situation they may encounter when they start their first job or as they continue up the career ladder. Instead, this book gives students the vocabulary, framework, and critical thinking skills necessary to diagnose situations, ask tough questions, evaluate the answers received, and to act in an effective and ethical manner regardless of situational characteristics. This textbook teaches management principles to tomorrow’s business leaders by weaving three threads through every chapter: strategy, entrepreneurship and active leadership. This book's modular format easily maps to a POLC course organization (Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling, attributed to Henri Fayol (1949, General and industrial management. London. Pitman Publishing company), and suits the needs of most undergraduate or graduate course in Principles of Management. Principles of Marketing by Tanner, Raymond and Schuster teaches the experience and process of actually doing marketing - not just the vocabulary. It carries five dominant themes throughout in order to expose students to marketing in today's environment: Service dominant logic, sustainability, ethics and social responsibility, global coverage, and metrics. In a world that is becoming more virtual, more global, and more complex, the project manager's ability to function in this environment becomes critical to the success of the project. Project Management from Simple to Complex explores project management within this complex, virtual, and global environment. This is not a standard textbook that was adapted to the new publishing paradigm but was designed from the beginning to utilize its capabilities. The book is written in collaboration by an expert in Project Management—Russell Darnall—and an expert in writing instructional texts and using technology for communicating online—John Preston—to create a unique learning environment that prepares students to manage projects in a global, multicultural, and online environment. Project Management from Simple to Complex features a new model for managing projects, as well as, exploration into the personal dynamics of project management and the role those dynamics play in project outcomes. Social Problems: Continuity and Change by Steve Barkan is a realistic but motivating look at the many issues that are facing our society today. As this book’s subtitle, Continuity and Change, implies, social problems are persistent, but they have also improved in the past and can be improved in the present and future, provided that our nation has the wisdom and will to address them. It is easy for students to read a social problems textbook and come away feeling frustrated by the enormity of the many social problems facing us today. Social Problems: Continuity and Change certainly does not minimize the persistence of social problems, but neither does it overlook the possibilities for change offered by social research and by the activities of everyday citizens working to make a difference. Readers of Steve Barkan’s book will find many examples of how social problems have been improved and of strategies that hold great potential for solving them today and in the future. You will find several pedagogical features help to convey the “continuity and change” theme of this text and the service sociology vision in which it is grounded: Each chapter begins with a “Social Problems in the News” story related to the social problem discussed in that chapter. These stories provide an interesting starting point for the chapter’s discussion and show its relevance for real-life issues. Three types of boxes in each chapter provide examples of how social problems have been changed and can be changed. The founders of sociology in the United States wanted to make a difference. A central aim of the sociologists of the Chicago school was to use sociological knowledge to achieve social reform. A related aim of sociologists like Jane Addams, W.E.B. DuBois, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett and others since was to use sociological knowledge to understand and alleviate gender, racial, and class inequality. Steve Barkan’s Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World makes sociology relevant for today’s students by balancing traditional coverage with a fresh approach that takes them back to sociology’s American roots in the use of sociological knowledge for social reform. From audience analysis to giving a presentation, Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking will guide students through the speech making process. The authors focus on the process of speech making because they have created this book to be a user-friendly guide to creating, researching, and presenting public speeches. While both classic and current academic research in public speaking guide this book, the authors believe that a new textbook in public speaking should first, and foremost, be a practical book that helps students prepare and deliver a variety of different types of speeches — and that is the primary goal of this book.With practicality in mind, the authors developed, Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking, as a streamlined public speaking textbook. Many public speaking textbooks today contain over twenty different chapters, which is often impossible to cover in a ten-week quarter or a sixteen-week semester; this textbook is eighteen unique chapters. The fifteen chapters are divided into four clear units of information: introduction to public speaking, speech preparation, speech creation, and speech presentation. Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication was written to squarely emphasize media technology. Jack believes that an introduction to mass communication text should be a compelling, historical narrative sketching the *ongoing evolution* of media technology and how that technology shapes and is shaped by culture — and that is what he set out to deliver with his new textbook. Today’s students are immersed in media technology. They live in a world of cell phones, smart phones, video games, iPods, laptops, Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, and more. They fully expect that new technology will be developed tomorrow. Yet students often lack an historical perspective on media technology. They lack knowledge of the social, political and economic forces that shape media technology. This is not knowledge for knowledge’s sake. It is knowledge that can help them understand, comprehend, appreciate, anticipate, shape and control media technology. With this focus, Understanding Media and Culture becomes an appropriate title. Indeed, the title has particular significance. Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media is a key text in media studies. Written in the 1960s, Understanding Media was the subject of intense debates that continue to this day. Its central message was that the technology of media — not their content — was their most important feature. In a typically pithy phrase, McLuhan said, ”The medium is the message.“ The title, Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, situates the introductory text in a large, engrossing theoretical conversation. The goal is to adopt a textbook that will support and complement your teaching of this course. Jack Lule’s, Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, will support an engaging and interesting course experience for students that will not only show them the powerful social, political and economic forces will affect the future of media technology, but will challenge students to do their part in shaping that future. The discipline of geography bridges the social sciences with the physical sciences and can provide a framework for understanding our world. By studying geography, we can begin to understand the relationships and common factors that tie our human community together. The world is undergoing globalization on a massive scale as a result of the rapid transfer of information and technology and the growth of modes of transportation and communication. The more we understand our world, the better prepared we will be to address the issues that confront our future. There are many approaches to studying world geography. This textbook takes a regional approach and focuses on themes that illustrate the globalization process, which in turn assists us in better understanding our global community and its current affairs. This a text that provides instruction in steps, builds writing, reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition.

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During the final twenty years of the nineteenth century, the Arab Renaissance, al-Nahda, took off throughout the Middle East. It began several decades after a clash with the Western hemisphere via Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798, and it resulted in the modernization of Arabic religions, language, and, most famously, literature and poetry. Within this literary revival, a group of poets known as the Mahjar Poets provided the Arab World with a new array of poetic topics from the West. Moving away from religious and narrative subjects, the Mahjar Poets homed in on themes of globalism and Western influence throughout the Arab World by adopting classical poetic form. They later adopted nineteenth century American free verse forms during a period of mass immigration to America. During the same period, the American Fireside Poets, consisting of Henry Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, John Whittier, James Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, became the most widely studied and popular poets of nineteenth century America. Due to the increase in immigration from the Middle East to America, along with the early stages of al-Nahda influence, the later works of the Fireside Poets and the early works of the Mahjar Poets use similar themes and poetic forms to frame their cross-cultural critiques. This time period was not so much a westernization of Arab poetry (as some critics have claimed) as it was a collision of worldviews and sharing of values between the Middle Eastern and Western spheres. Today this poetic interaction provides modern readers with a unique view of American society through the lens of Arab poetry and the orientalist response thereto. Al-Nahda (النهضة) is the Arabic term for “the awakening” or “the renaissance,” and this era of Middle Eastern history began at roughly the same time in the cities of Cairo and Beirut, capitals of Egypt and Lebanon. Several key players include Egyptian philosopher Gamal al-Din al-Afghani, Egyptian jurist Muhammad Abduh, and Lebanese novelist Jurji Zaydan. In all three of their fields, they treated al-Nahda as a project to modernize the Arab World, promoting rationalist, secularist, urban, and individualist thought throughout most of the region in the late 1800’s. Meanwhile, the increased work opportunities and industrialism in America drew Arabs from places such as Egypt and the Levant (including Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria). This emigration facilitated the spread of al-Nahda’s ideas and gave rise to one of the most prolific groups of poets, the Mahjars. The Mahjar Poets were those poets who embraced the Arab renaissance most fully by providing nineteenth century Arab poetry with modernist and western themes (Di-Capua). These new wave poets, however, did not begin writing in America. Rather, they represent a literary and poetic revolution that began throughout the Arab World before moving westward (and before adopting the name Mahjar). Thus, the Mahjar movement was not just an Americanization of Arab poets—it was the acknowledgement of similar poetic roots shared by the Middle East and the Americas. As Lisa Suhair Majaj suggests in her article “Arab-American Literature: Origins and Developments,” the Mahjar Poets “emphasized those aspects of their identities likely to gain acceptance by white Americans, and distanced themselves from those elements of Arab culture viewed as less readily assimilable.” However, these poets were not attempting to completely merge Eastern and Western cultures; rather, they aimed to use nineteenth century American poetry conventions to voice their celebration and concerns about globalization, a concept common to those in America and the Arab World. Abdulrazzak Patel’s article “Nahḍah Oratory: Western Rhetoric in al-Shartūnī's Manual on the Art of the Orator” focuses on absorptions of Western rhetoric in al-Nahda literature long before its American contact. In this case study, Patel discusses the linguist, literary figure, and teacher Sa‘id al-Shartun who studied nineteenth century Western rhetoric. After finding that not much ancient Islamic rhetorical criticism was available to study, he concentrated on ancient Greek criticism instead. He noticed that many of its principles were applicable to nineteenth century Arab oration techniques. This finding implies that nineteenth century Arab rhetoric, prior to mass Arab emigration to America, was already adopting western writing techniques. Before the late nineteenth century, Arab poets and “orators focused mainly on rhyme and figures of speech”; however, the advent of al-Nahda “brought important changes to Arab rhetoric” including “secularism and modernization of Arab society”—changes that predated major cultural exchange with the United States (Patel 239). Patel’s presentation on Al-Shartun’s findings show that classical western rhetoric and style influenced al-Nahda writers before America did specifically. Only upon immigrating to the Americas did al-Nahda writers become the Mahjar Poets. Mahjar (مهجر) is the Arabic word for “displaced” and is therefore a misnomer because these people willingly left their countries for better job opportunities and to escape the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the Mahjar Poets were “predominantly Christians who migrated to America due to socio-political and economic unrest that prevailed” in Egypt and the Levant (Talukdar 22). Once in the United States, the Mahjar Poets began to adopt new poetic forms and themes: while earlier forms of Arabic poetry consisted of baroque language, late nineteenth century Mahjar poetry centers on “clarity of style… and language” by a distinct narrator (Patel 252). Patel’s observation about clarity accords with scholar Mizazur Talukdar’s point that the Mahjar Poets “wanted to make Arabic literature more people friendly, fascinating, and easily understandable” in America (Talukdar 22). In his article “Arabic Migration Literature of America,” Talukdar discusses the influx of Lebanese immigrants to America during the late 1800’s. Marked by a blend of Eastern and Western poetry, Mahjar poetry focused on free verse and political discourse to gain momentum in this new land. As its school became prominent throughout North America, “Western ideas got prominence over the traditional values,” and so this Mahjar poetry came to more closely resemble poetry by European-Americans. Talukdar even believes that it added to literary modernism beginning in twentieth century America (22). As “a hybrid of both English and Arabic literatures,” Mahjar poetry utilizes American form and poetic style as a platform to voice Arab concerns about the Ottoman Empires; it also shares themes of globalism with nineteenth century American poetry (22). Furthermore, Mahjar poetry helped share Middle Eastern cultures via poetry published in America—Arab poetry being the oldest form of art and religious language in the Arab World. While traditional Arab poetry consists of steady, metric measurement, the Mahjar Poets began implementing nineteenth century American free verse in order to bring the two regions together poetically. Eventually, Mahjar poetry became known in America for its “adoption of modern literary styles” (22). In other words, Mahjar poetry is unique—both among nineteenth century American poetry and poetry of the Arab World—in that it has traces of some Western poetic devices such as uneven rhyme schemes, free verse, and voice (narration separate from authorship). As Talukdar mentions, the Mahjar Poets took advantage of this new poetic platform to voice disdain for the Ottoman Empire and advocate for social integration between Arab immigrants and European Americans in the United States. Nineteenth-century Lebanese-American poet Ameen Rihani exemplifies this push for globalism in his works of Mahjar poetry. In his article "The Rise of Arab-American Literature: Orientalism and Cultural Translation in the Work of Ameen Rihani,” Waïl Hassan focuses on the works of Rihani, the first published Majhar Poet. From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, he published collections of poetry, novels, speeches, and literary criticism across America. Through his work, Rihani called for “reinterpreting the ‘East’ and the ‘West’ to each other and bringing about a civilizational synthesis, coupled with a tireless pursuit of Arab independence” (Hassan 246). In much of his poetry, Rihani represents the thematic interests of the Mahjar Poets. These themes include an outward distaste for Ottoman rule, the need for social integration between Arab and European Americans, and the idea that God is a constant throughout Christianity and Islam. Rihani’s subjectivity and globalist mindset were a departure from traditional Arabic poetry and offered a foothold for nineteenth century American readers. Upon immigrating he believed that “because of its historical experience as a former colony and the ideas expressed in its Declaration of Independence, the US would be a natural ally in the Arab struggle for national liberation” (248). Rihani represents the political, modern, and cosmopolitan nexus of late 1800’s Mahjar and American poetry. For example, his poem “I am the East,” though a translation from Arabic, uses free verse and narratorial subjectivity to comment on the Ottoman Empire’s push for modern warfare. It reads: I am the East, I am the corner stone Of the first temple of God And the first throne of Humanity… I am the East, I possess philosophies and creeds So who would exchange them with me for technology At first Rihani’s narrator appears to separate the East from the West, praising his homeland as housing the “first temple of God” and “first throne of Humanity;” however, the tone of the poem holds a certain complacency due to the monotony created by enjambment and a general lack of punctuation (lines 2, 3). Together, these two elements make the reading of “I am the East” unexcited and distant. “I am the East” recognizes the Eastern-Western convergence during the latter years of Ottoman rule. In exchanging Eastern “philosophies and creeds” for “technology,” the speaker comments on the adoption of European warfare by the Ottoman army in preparation for the First World War (lines 6, 7). According to Ottoman science and technology scholar Zakaria Virk, “From 15th century onward the Ottomans adopted European technologies especially those that related to firearms, cartography and mining” (Virk). Perhaps Rihani’s speaker feels that this method of connecting the Arab and Western worlds is unnatural, yielding a stunned tone. Regardless, the poem remarks on globalism and recognizes the growing connection between the Levant and America. Rihani’s poetry also sheds a more positive light on the blending of Middle Eastern and American cultures. For example, his poem “Light” addresses the differences between people and how they can reconcile these differences through the observance of nature. It reads, Light! Light! let it shine in our hearts, however dark the world may be. let it flow from our hearts, however somber the horizons may be. though I have only a hut in the valley, lit in the night by a meager candle. my eye reflects in the hut all the light it beholds in the world. and should the storm blow and uproot my hut as it uproots the trees, carrying it to the river's mouth, there is a cave there among the rocks impregnable to the storm and there is the light of the sun and the stars and should the heavens darken and the planets and the stars be eclipsed, still in this human heart is light eternal. Let the light shine in our hearts, however somber the horizons may be In lines 3 and 4 particularly, the narrator recognizes himself as a person apart from others (as living in a “hut in the valley”). Yet somehow he possesses something common to all of mankind around the world: light. The narrator claims that “the human heart is light eternal” to make a point that no matter where one’s roots are, globalization is an opportunity to harmonize communities—even in the most unfamiliar lands (such as a “cave among the rocks impregnable to the storm”) (lines 10, 7). While “Light” offers a positive perspective on cultural contact, Rihani’s role as an Arab-American poet renders his own culture vulnerable to orientalist views. A term coined by post-colonial studies founder Edward Said, orientalism “is a way of seeing that imagines, emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S. It often involves seeing Arab culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized, and at times dangerous” (“What Is Orientalism?”). As the first published Arab-American poet, Rihani’s default role in late nineteenth century America was to represent the entire Middle East through his work. His poetry therefore runs the risk of cultural reductionism. In other words, condensing the entire history and culture of the Middle East into a poem or group of poems is not possible because 1) the history and culture is too vast and varies depending on location, and 2) Rihani is not from the entire Middle East; he is from Lebanon. When writing in Arabic, for an Arabic audience, he “enjoyed greater discursive latitude in that… [he was] not expected to… pose as [an] Oriental spokesman” (Hassan 249). However, due to his new American environment, he and many other Mahjar Poets most likely felt burdened by having to appeal to a Western audience while still creating innovative, provocative work. Only in the early twentieth century did Rihani’s poems begin to address the clash of Middle Eastern and American cultures head on. His 1921 work “A Chant of Mystics” rehashes a theme similar to that of “Light” by claiming that “we are not of the East of the West; / No boundaries exist in our breast: / We are free” (254 lines 8-10). For the majority of his multicultural career, however, Rihani had to “couch [his] messages in ways that guaranteed, or at least increased, the likelihood of [his poetry’s] acceptance,” echoing the pressures many Majhar Poets faced while writing in America (249). Katherine Wardi-Zonna and Anissa J. Wardi, authors of "In Passing: Arab American Poetry and the Politics of Race," points out that upon the immigration of Arabs in the late nineteenth century many Americans developed orientalist perceptions. Aware of these associations, Arab-Americans would try to racially pass, a social technique in which one suppresses his or her native culture around others outside of it for the purpose of fitting in. Still, Arab cultures would manifest themselves in the popular form of nineteenth century poetry, though, like Rihani, many Arab poets could not fully express or address cultural contact for fear of discrimination or lack of success. The early stages of this cross-cultural contact posed a dilemma for Arab immigrants: In fact, “English and French literature in general and that of Long Fellow [sic], Walt Whitman and Edgar Alan [sic] in particular greatly influenced the literary activities of Mahjar writers… [who were] equally influenced by the earlier modern Arabic literary schools” (Talukdar 22). Essentially, the Mahjar Poets were a blend of classical Arabic and nineteenth century European and American influence. Much of this latter influence stemmed from a group known as the Fireside Poets, which included Henry Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, John Whittier, James Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. As Talukdar notes, Mahjar poetry contains strains of Fireside themes and forms. Both groups of poets focus on globalism as a predominant topic; however, while the Majhars take a more positive look at how the Middle East and America have come in contact, the Fireside Poets neither praise nor critique it. Instead, the Fireside Poets provide a more skeptical perspective on cross-cultural contact. Nevertheless, Mahjar writing affected Fireside poetry in a way that shifted the predominant nineteenth century American themes. Mahjar poetry entered the American scene in the late nineteenth century when American poetry was undergoing major changes, including adopting unique globalist views. Critics have generally attributed these changes to the cataclysm of the Civil War. But in their article “Against 1865: Reperiodizing the Nineteenth Century,” Christopher Hager and Cody Marrs contend that the antebellum-postbellum way of looking at nineteenth century American poetry does not accurately reflect the way poetry changed during that time period. Instead, they see this period as one in which many popular poets challenged realism, which exaggerates commonplace situations one finds in the real world. It also centers on mundane daily life within nineteenth century American society in order to emphasize inconsistencies and divergence. Among the Fireside Poets Whittier, along with avant garde poet Walt Whitman, was categorized during the antebellum-postbellum period as a realist writer; however, he and Whitman were not just realists. They were much more. When describing shifts in poetic themes throughout the late nineteenth century, critics overlook the possibility of Arab influence—they focus on the Civil War as the primary influence instead. But much of Whittier’s subjective, free verse writing outsold the realist collections, and Whitman’s poetry carved the way for the sub-genre known as “mysticism.” This new sub-genre of realist poetry focused on the ambiguous origins of American realism and subjectivity in the context of globalism. For example, Whitman’s 1888 poem “Orange Buds by Mail from Florida” reads: A lesser proof than old Voltaire's, yet greater, Proof of this present time, and thee, thy broad To my plain Northern hut, in outside clouds Brought safely for a thousand miles o'er land Some three days since on their own soil live Now here their sweetness through my room un- A bunch of orange buds by mail from Florida. Whitman takes the voice of a presumably Western-hemisphere northerner (perhaps from Scandinavia or the British Isles) to subtly comment that America’s “broad / expanse” involves the contact it has with other cultures (lines 2-3). To recognize that the orange buds are from the American state of Florida is to recognize the globalization of America in the late 1800’s, and not simply the trade patterns resulting from American discord. As Hager and Marrs mention, this poem “discovers the simple act of receiving mail a sublime proof of American ‘progress,’” if, in fact, progress involves the acceptance of a globalized nineteenth century society (269). Further, the American Civil War is not a sufficient lens through which to read “Orange Buds” because although it is categorically a “postbellum” piece, it does not serve as commentary on the war itself. Instead, cross-cultural influences are at work. According to Hager and Marrs, “if such a recategorization of Whitman seems a bit odd, that is not only because such writers have been placed in fixed epochal categories like ‘antebellum’ and ‘postbellum’ but also because the difference between those categories is frequently grasped generically” (270). In other words, Whitman’s new self-created category of “mysticism” was not a rogue genre of poetry, nor was it simply a result of the Civil War; other poetic influences were at work. Likely, these were the Mahjar Poets. As for these American poets, however, they did not return any interest in classical Arabic poetry. Instead, they were curious about this new, other culture. While both groups of poets shared an awareness of cross-cultural contact, the Fireside Poets recorded the reception of the first Arab-American immigrants. John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1858 poem “The Palm-Tree” is one of the earliest works to discuss the influx of Arabs to America. Though reductionist, it does not hold any contention; rather, it packages the Middle Eastern immigrants with exoticism, simplicity, and earthiness. Whittier, being an abolitionist and political activist, typically used “verse to advance the cause of emancipation,” among other socially impactful movements (Bercovitch 139). Readers can therefore assume that no harm is meant by this condensed representation of the immigrants. He simply charges himself with commenting on this social phenomenon. For example, an excerpt of “The Palm-Tree” reads: Who smokes his nargileh, cool and calm? The master, whose cunning and skill could charm Cargo and ship from the bounteous palm. In the cabin he sits on a palm-mat soft, From a beaker of palm his drink is quaffed, And a palm-thatch shields from the sun aloft! His dress is woven of palmy strands, And he holds a palm-leaf scroll in his hands, Traced with the Prophet's wise commands! Whittier’s tone is exploratory and descriptive, not accusatory or contentious. However, words such as “cunning,” “charm,” and “commands” help paint a vivid image—one that categorizes Arabs as perhaps manipulative and harsh (lines 2,9). Though the narrator does not seem fearful of this Eastern man, an element of skepticism still persists throughout the poem. The narrator separates the subject of the poem from his own American point of view, creating a sense of otherness around the man. Similarly, Whittier’s poem “The Haschish” (1854) is the first poem to ever reference foreign drug use in America. Since the concept of hashish (الحشيش) was novel to Whittier and his contemporaries, he put himself in charge of making his readers aware of Arab influence. An excerpt of it reads: The Arab by his desert well Sits choosing from some Caliph’s daughters, And hears his single camel’s bell Sound welcome to his regal quarters. The Koran’s reader makes complaint Of Shitan dancing on and off it; The robber offers alms, the saint Drinks Tokay and blasphemes the Prophet Such scenes that Eastern plant awakes; But we have one ordained to beat it, The Haschish of the West, it makes Or fools or knaves of all who eat it. The narrator goes on to say that the Middle Eastern hashish pales in comparison to the Western plant cotton. Throughout “The Haschish,” the narrator alludes to many stereotypes of the Arab world including deserts, camels, dancing, and robbers, thus perpetuating orientalist views of Arab immigrants. However, at the time the concept of orientalism was not yet named. While Whitman calls attention to the larger implications of Eastern-Western contact, Whittier, as a Fireside Poet, focuses reader attention more on understanding the cultural impact of this contact on a smaller, more personal scale. The Mahjars did not reciprocate this focus; rather, as my analysis of Rihani has shown, they concentrated on the larger, positive effects of immigration and cultural clash. As for the Fireside Poets, their reception of Arab culture, as expressed through their poetry, is ambiguous. The lack of praise or disdain for immigration and cultural contact leaves readers wondering whether they actually find it to be a positive experience. As “The Haschish” depicts, Whittier finds a way to directly compare America to the entire Middle East in a competitive and skeptical way—much as a cat will try and decipher whatever new animal it comes into contact with before deciding on whether or not it is actually a threat. For both European-American settlers and Arab-American immigrants, the late nineteenth century proved to be a time of intense social changes in the new country. Though these changes were felt throughout the population, poetry during this time period captured most accurately the varying points of view on the mingling of Western and Middle Eastern cultures. On one hand, the Mahjar Poets, including the famous Ameen Rihani, took to social passing in order to praise cross-cultural interaction. Americans, on the other hand, were perhaps more skeptical of the influx of immigrants. The Fireside Poets, in particular, charged themselves with voicing popular concerns about the recognition of these primarily Levantine immigrants. Both groups’ poetry presents an awareness of late 1800’s cultural contact; however, while the Mahjars depicted this contact as an opportunity to highlight the commonalities between the two hemispheres, the Fireside Poets wrote on the defensive, painting these Arab immigrants in simplistic, reductionist, and alien colors. Even so, the late nineteenth century American backdrop has traces of cosmopolitan ideals, brought from the Middle East and inevitably echoed by the West. Streaks of al-Nahda’s influence will forever be etched into the canon of American poetry. - Abdullah, Abdul-Samad. "Arabic Poetry in West Africa: An Assessment of the Panegyric and Elegy Genres in Arabic Poetry of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Senegal and Nigeria." Journal of Arabic Literature, vol. 35, no. 3, 2004, pp. 368-390. doi:10.1163/1570064042565302. - “Al-Nahda - The Influence of Al-Nahda – Literature.” Liquisearch, n.d. Retrieved from http://www.liquisearch.com/al-nahda/the_influence_of_al-nahda/literature. - Di-Capua, Yoav. “The Nahda.” The University of Texas at Austin Department of History. 2007. Retrieved from http://laits.utexas.edu/modern_me/egypt/1/nahda. - Hager, Christopher, and Cody Marrs. "Against 1865: Reperiodizing the Nineteenth Century." J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists, vol. 1, no. 2, 2013, pp. 259-284. doi:10.1353/jnc.2013.0026. - Hassan, Waïl. "The Rise of Arab-American Literature: Orientalism and Cultural Translation in the Work of Ameen Rihani." American Literary History, vol. 20, no. 1-2, 2008, pp. 245-275. doi:10.1093/alh/ajm039. - Majaj, Lisa S. “Arab-American Literature: Origins and Developments.” American Studies Journal, no. 52, 2008. Retrieved from http://www.asjournal.org/52-2008/arab-american-literature-origins-and-developments/. - Patel, Abdulrazzak. "Nahḍah Oratory: Western Rhetoric in Al-Shartūnī's Manual on the Art of the Orator1." Middle Eastern Literatures, vol. 12, no. 3, 2009, pp. 233-269. doi:10.1080/14752620903302186. - Rihani, Ameen. “I Am The East.” PoemHunter, April 17, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-the-east/. - Rihani, Ameen. “Light.” PoemHunter, April 17, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/light-190/. Talukdar, Mizazur. “Arabic Migration Literature of America.” The Echo, vol. 1, no. 3, 2013, pp. 20-24. Web. Retrieved from https://www.thecho.in/files/mizazur-rahman,-english.pdf. - Virk, Zakaria. “Science and Technology in the Ottoman Sultanate.” Al Islam, n.d. Retrieved from - Wardi-Zonna, Katherine and Wardi, Anissa J. "In Passing: Arab American Poetry and the Politics of Race." Ethnic Studies Review, vol. 28, no. 2, 2005, pp. 17-37. - “What Is Orientalism?” ArabStereotypes, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.arabstereotypes.org/why-stereotypes/what-orientalism. - Whitman, Walt. “Orange Buds by Mail from Florida.” The Walt Whitman Archive, n.d. Retrieved from http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/periodical/poems/per.00126. - Whittier, John Greenleaf. “The Palm-Tree.” PoemHunter, April 6, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-palm-tree/. - Whittier, John Greenleaf. The Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier. Ticknor and Fields, 1857. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=0OurQYwn5O8C&pg=PA246&dq=The+Haschish&ei=KTDxR6aHAZCSzQTf07XnBw#v=onepage&q&f=false.

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Natural language generation Natural language generation (NLG) is a software process that produces natural language output. In one of the most widely-cited survey of NLG methods, NLG is characterized as "the subfield of artificial intelligence and computational linguistics that is concerned with the construction of computer systems than can produce understandable texts in English or other human languages from some underlying non-linguistic representation of information". While it is widely agreed that the output of any NLG process is text, there is some disagreement on whether the inputs of an NLG system need to be non-linguistic. Common applications of NLG methods include the production of various reports, for example weather and patient reports; image captions; and chatbots. Automated NLG can be compared to the process humans use when they turn ideas into writing or speech. Psycholinguists prefer the term language production for this process, which can also be described in mathematical terms, or modeled in a computer for psychological research. NLG systems can also be compared to translators of artificial computer languages, such as decompilers or transpilers, which also produce human-readable code generated from an intermediate representation. Human languages tend to be considerably more complex and allow for much more ambiguity and variety of expression than programming languages, which makes NLG more challenging. NLG may be viewed as complementary to natural-language understanding (NLU): whereas in natural-language understanding, the system needs to disambiguate the input sentence to produce the machine representation language, in NLG the system needs to make decisions about how to put a representation into words. The practical considerations in building NLU vs. NLG systems are not symmetrical. NLU needs to deal with ambiguous or erroneous user input, whereas the ideas the system wants to express through NLG are generally known precisely. NLG needs to choose a specific, self-consistent textual representation from many potential representations, whereas NLU generally tries to produce a single, normalized representation of the idea expressed. NLG has existed since ELIZA was developed in the mid 1960s, but the methods were first used commercially in the 1990s. NLG techniques range from simple template-based systems like a mail merge that generates form letters, to systems that have a complex understanding of human grammar. NLG can also be accomplished by training a statistical model using machine learning, typically on a large corpus of human-written texts. The Pollen Forecast for Scotland system is a simple example of a simple NLG system that could essentially be a template. This system takes as input six numbers, which give predicted pollen levels in different parts of Scotland. From these numbers, the system generates a short textual summary of pollen levels as its output. For example, using the historical data for July 1, 2005, the software produces: Grass pollen levels for Friday have increased from the moderate to high levels of yesterday with values of around 6 to 7 across most parts of the country. However, in Northern areas, pollen levels will be moderate with values of 4. In contrast, the actual forecast (written by a human meteorologist) from this data was: Pollen counts are expected to remain high at level 6 over most of Scotland, and even level 7 in the south east. The only relief is in the Northern Isles and far northeast of mainland Scotland with medium levels of pollen count. Comparing these two illustrates some of the choices that NLG systems must make; these are further discussed below. The process to generate text can be as simple as keeping a list of canned text that is copied and pasted, possibly linked with some glue text. The results may be satisfactory in simple domains such as horoscope machines or generators of personalised business letters. However, a sophisticated NLG system needs to include stages of planning and merging of information to enable the generation of text that looks natural and does not become repetitive. The typical stages of natural-language generation, as proposed by Dale and Reiter, are: Content determination: Deciding what information to mention in the text. For instance, in the pollen example above, deciding whether to explicitly mention that pollen level is 7 in the south east. Document structuring: Overall organisation of the information to convey. For example, deciding to describe the areas with high pollen levels first, instead of the areas with low pollen levels. Aggregation: Merging of similar sentences to improve readability and naturalness. For instance, merging the two following sentences: - Grass pollen levels for Friday have increased from the moderate to high levels of yesterday and - Grass pollen levels will be around 6 to 7 across most parts of the country into the following single sentence: - Grass pollen levels for Friday have increased from the moderate to high levels of yesterday with values of around 6 to 7 across most parts of the country. Lexical choice: Putting words to the concepts. For example, deciding whether medium or moderate should be used when describing a pollen level of 4. Referring expression generation: Creating referring expressions that identify objects and regions. For example, deciding to use in the Northern Isles and far northeast of mainland Scotland to refer to a certain region in Scotland. This task also includes making decisions about pronouns and other types of anaphora. An alternative approach to NLG is to use "end-to-end" machine learning to build a system, without having separate stages as above. In other words, we build an NLG system by training a machine learning algorithm (often an LSTM) on a large data set of input data and corresponding (human-written) output texts. The end-to-end approach has perhaps been most successful in image captioning, that is automatically generating a textual caption for an image. Automatic Report Generation From a commercial perspective, the most successful NLG applications have been data-to-text systems which generate textual summaries of databases and data sets; these systems usually perform data analysis as well as text generation. Research has shown that textual summaries can be more effective than graphs and other visuals for decision support, and that computer-generated texts can be superior (from the reader's perspective) to human-written texts. The first commercial data-to-text systems produced weather forecasts from weather data. The earliest such system to be deployed was FoG, which was used by Environment Canada to generate weather forecasts in French and English in the early 1990s. The success of FoG triggered other work, both research and commercial. Recent applications include the UK Met Office's text-enhanced forecast. Data-to-text systems have since been applied in a range of settings. Following the minor earthquake near Beverly Hills, California on March 17, 2014, The Los Angeles Times reported details about the time, location and strength of the quake within 3 minutes of the event. This report was automatically generated by a ‘robo-journalist’, which converted the incoming data into text via a preset template. Currently there is considerable commercial interest in using NLG to summarise financial and business data. Indeed, Gartner has said that NLG will become a standard feature of 90% of modern BI and analytics platforms. NLG is also being used commercially in automated journalism, chatbots, generating product descriptions for e-commerce sites, summarising medical records, and enhancing accessibility (for example by describing graphs and data sets to blind people). An example of an interactive use of NLG is the WYSIWYM framework. It stands for What you see is what you meant and allows users to see and manipulate the continuously rendered view (NLG output) of an underlying formal language document (NLG input), thereby editing the formal language without learning it. Looking ahead, the current progress in data-to-text generation paves the way for tailoring texts to specific audiences. For example, data from babies in neonatal care can be converted into text differently in a clinical setting, with different levels of technical detail and explanatory language, depending on intended recipient of the text (doctor, nurse, patient). The same idea can be applied in a sports setting, with different reports generated for fans of specific teams. Over the past few years, there has been an increased interest in automatically generating captions for images, as part of a broader endeavor to investigate the interface between vision and language. A case of data-to-text generation, the algorithm of image captioning (or automatic image description) involves taking an image, analyzing its visual content, and generating a textual description (typically a sentence) that verbalizes the most prominent aspects of the image. An image captioning system involves two sub-tasks. In Image Analysis, features and attributes of an image are detected and labelled, before mapping these outputs to linguistic structures. Recent research utilizes deep learning approaches through features from a pre-trained convolutional neural network such as AlexNet, VGG or Caffe, where caption generators use an activation layer from the pre-trained network as their input features. Text Generation, the second task, is performed using a wide range of techniques. For example, in the Midge system, input images are represented as triples consisting of object/stuff detections, action/pose detections and spatial relations. These are subsequently mapped to <noun, verb, preposition> triples and realized using a tree substitution grammar. Despite advancements, challenges and opportunities remain in image capturing research. Notwithstanding the recent introduction of Flickr30K, MS COCO and other large datasets have enabled the training of more complex models such as neural networks, it has been argued that research in image captioning could benefit from larger and diversified datasets. Designing automatic measures that can mimic human judgments in evaluating the suitability of image descriptions is another need in the area. Other open challenges include visual question-answering (VQA), as well as the construction and evaluation multilingual repositories for image description. Another area where NLG has been widely applied is automated dialogue systems, frequently in the form of chatbots. A chatbot or chatterbot is a software application used to conduct an on-line chat conversation via text or text-to-speech, in lieu of providing direct contact with a live human agent. While Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques are applied in deciphering human input, NLG informs the output part of the chatbot algorithms in facilitating real-time dialogues. Early Chatbot systems, including CleverBot created by Rollo Carpenter in 1988 and published in 1997, reply to questions by identifying how a human responded to the same question in a conversation database via an Informational Retrieval (IR) approach. Modern chatbot systems predominantly rely on machine learning (ML) models, such as sequence-to-sequence learning and reinforcement learning in generating human language output. Hybrid models have also been explored. For example, Alibaba shopping assistant uses an IR approach to retrieve the best candidates from the knowledge base, before the ML-driven seq2seq model is used to re-rank the candidates and generate the answer. Creative Writing and Computational Humor Creative language generation by NLG has been hypothesized since the field’s origins. A recent pioneer in the area is Phillip Parker, who has developed an arsenal of algorithms capable of automatically generating textbooks, crossword puzzles, poems and books on topics ranging from bookbinding to cataracts. The advent of large pretrained transformer-based language models such as GPT-3 has also enabled breakthroughs, with such models demonstrating recognizable ability for creating-writing tasks. A related area of NLG application is computational humor production. JAPE (Joke Analysis and Production Engine) is one of the earliest large, automated humor production systems that uses a hand-coded template-based approach to create punning riddles for children. HAHAcronym creates humorous reinterpretations of any given acronym, as well as proposing new fitting acronyms given some keywords. Despite progresses, many challenges remain in producing automated creative and humorous content that rival human output. In an experiment for generating satirical headlines, outputs of their best BERT-based model were perceived as funny 9.4% of the time (while real Onion headlines were 38.4%) and a GPT-2 model fine-tuned on satirical headlines achieved 6.9%. It has been pointed out that two main issues with humor-generation systems are the lack of annotated data sets and the lack of formal evaluation methods, which could be applicable to other creative content generation. Some have argued relative to other applications, there has been a lack of attention to creative aspects of language production within NLG. NLG researchers stand to benefit from insights into what constitutes creative language production, as well as structural features of narrative that have the potential to improve NLG output even in data-to-text systems. As in other scientific fields, NLG researchers need to test how well their systems, modules, and algorithms work. This is called evaluation. There are three basic techniques for evaluating NLG systems: - Task-based (extrinsic) evaluation: give the generated text to a person, and assess how well it helps them perform a task (or otherwise achieves its communicative goal). For example, a system which generates summaries of medical data can be evaluated by giving these summaries to doctors, and assessing whether the summaries help doctors make better decisions. - Human ratings: give the generated text to a person, and ask them to rate the quality and usefulness of the text. - Metrics: compare generated texts to texts written by people from the same input data, using an automatic metric such as BLEU, METEOR, ROUGE and LEPOR. An ultimate goal is how useful NLG systems are at helping people, which is the first of the above techniques. However, task-based evaluations are time-consuming and expensive, and can be difficult to carry out (especially if they require subjects with specialised expertise, such as doctors). Hence (as in other areas of NLP) task-based evaluations are the exception, not the norm. Recently researchers are assessing how well human-ratings and metrics correlate with (predict) task-based evaluations. Work is being conducted in the context of Generation Challenges shared-task events. Initial results suggest that human ratings are much better than metrics in this regard. In other words, human ratings usually do predict task-effectiveness at least to some degree (although there are exceptions), while ratings produced by metrics often do not predict task-effectiveness well. These results are preliminary. In any case, human ratings are the most popular evaluation technique in NLG; this is contrast to machine translation, where metrics are widely used. - Automated journalism - Automated paraphrasing - Markov text generators - Meaning-text theory - Generative art § Literature - Reiter, Ehud; Dale, Robert (March 1997). "Building applied natural language generation systems". Natural Language Engineering. 3 (1): 57–87. doi:10.1017/S1351324997001502. ISSN 1469-8110. S2CID 8460470. - Gatt A, Krahmer E (2018). "Survey of the state of the art in natural language generation: Core tasks, applications and evaluation". Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research. 61 (61): 65–170. arXiv:1703.09902. doi:10.1613/jair.5477. S2CID 16946362. - Goldberg E, Driedger N, Kittredge R (1994). "Using Natural-Language Processing to Produce Weather Forecasts". IEEE Expert. 9 (2): 45–53. doi:10.1109/64.294135. S2CID 9709337. - Portet F, Reiter E, Gatt A, Hunter J, Sripada S, Freer Y, Sykes C (2009). "Automatic Generation of Textual Summaries from Neonatal Intensive Care Data" (PDF). Artificial Intelligence. 173 (7–8): 789–816. doi:10.1016/j.artint.2008.12.002. - Farhadi A, Hejrati M, Sadeghi MA, Young P, Rashtchian C, Hockenmaier J, Forsyth D (2010-09-05). Every picture tells a story: Generating sentences from images (PDF). European conference on computer vision. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 15–29. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-15561-1_2. - Dale, Robert; Reiter, Ehud (2000). Building natural language generation systems. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-02451-8. - Ehud Reiter (2021-03-21). History of NLG. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. - Perera R, Nand P (2017). "Recent Advances in Natural Language Generation: A Survey and Classification of the Empirical Literature". Computing and Informatics. 36 (1): 1–32. doi:10.4149/cai_2017_1_1. hdl:10292/10691. - R Turner, S Sripada, E Reiter, I Davy (2006). Generating Spatio-Temporal Descriptions in Pollen Forecasts. Proceedings of EACL06 - "E2E NLG Challenge". - "DataLabCup: Image Caption". - Law A, Freer Y, Hunter J, Logie R, McIntosh N, Quinn J (2005). "A Comparison of Graphical and Textual Presentations of Time Series Data to Support Medical Decision Making in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit". Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing. 19 (3): 183–94. doi:10.1007/s10877-005-0879-3. PMID 16244840. S2CID 5569544. - Gkatzia D, Lemon O, Reiser V (2017). "Data-to-Text Generation Improves Decision-Making Under Uncertainty" (PDF). IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine. 12 (3): 10–17. doi:10.1109/MCI.2017.2708998. S2CID 9544295. - "Text or Graphics?". 2016-12-26. - Reiter E, Sripada S, Hunter J, Yu J, Davy I (2005). "Choosing Words in Computer-Generated Weather Forecasts". Artificial Intelligence. 167 (1–2): 137–69. doi:10.1016/j.artint.2005.06.006. - S Sripada, N Burnett, R Turner, J Mastin, D Evans(2014). Generating A Case Study: NLG meeting Weather Industry Demand for Quality and Quantity of Textual Weather Forecasts. Proceedings of INLG 2014 - Schwencke, Ken Schwencke Ken; Journalist, A.; Programmer, Computer; in 2014, left the Los Angeles Times (2014-03-17). "Earthquake aftershock: 2.7 quake strikes near Westwood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-06-03. - Levenson, Eric (2014-03-17). "L.A. Times Journalist Explains How a Bot Wrote His Earthquake Story for Him". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-06-03. - "Neural Networks and Modern BI Platforms Will Evolve Data and Analytics". - Harris MD (2008). "Building a Large-Scale Commercial NLG System for an EMR" (PDF). Proceedings of the Fifth International Natural Language Generation Conference. pp. 157–60. - "Welcome to the iGraph-Lite page". www.inf.udec.cl. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. - Gatt, Albert; Krahmer, Emiel (2018-01-29). "Survey of the State of the Art in Natural Language Generation: Core tasks, applications and evaluation". arXiv:1703.09902 [cs.CL]. - Kodali, Venkat; Berleant, Daniel (2022). "Recent, Rapid Advancement in Visual Question Answering Architecture: a Review". Proceedings of the 22nd IEEE International Conference on EIT. pp. 133–146. - Mnasri, Maali (2019-03-21). "Recent advances in conversational NLP : Towards the standardization of Chatbot building". arXiv:1903.09025 [cs.CL]. - "How To Author Over 1 Million Books". HuffPost. 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2022-06-03. - "Exploring GPT-3: A New Breakthrough in Language Generation". KDnuggets. Retrieved 2022-06-03. - Winters, Thomas (2021-04-30). "Computers Learning Humor Is No Joke". Harvard Data Science Review. 3 (2). doi:10.1162/99608f92.f13a2337. S2CID 235589737. - Horvitz, Zachary; Do, Nam; Littman, Michael L. (July 2020). "Context-Driven Satirical News Generation". Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Figurative Language Processing. Online: Association for Computational Linguistics: 40–50. doi:10.18653/v1/2020.figlang-1.5. S2CID 220330989. - Generation Challenges 2009 - Dale, Robert; Reiter, Ehud (2000). Building natural language generation systems. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-02451-8. - Evans, Roger; Piwek, Paul; Cahill, Lynne (2002). What is NLG?. INLG2002. New York, US. paper - Gatt, Albert; Krahmer, Emiel (2018). "Survey of the State of the Art in Natural Language Generation: Core tasks, applications and evaluation". Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research. 61: 65–170. arXiv:1703.09902. doi:10.1613/jair.5477. S2CID 16946362. - Reiter, Ehud (2018-01-16). "How do I Learn about NLG?". - ACL Special Interest Group on Generation (SIGGEN) - SIGGEN part of ACL Anthology (contains NLG research papers) - ACL NLG Portal (contains list of NLG resources) - Bateman and Zock's 'almost complete' list of NLG systems now maintained as a Wiki with a variety of visualisations and overview tables available on demand - Ehud Reiter's blog on Natural Language Generation - Interactive Multimedia Explanation for Equipment Maintenance and Repair - article describing Coordinated Multimedia Explanation Testbed (COMET)

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The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture American Indians living in Oklahoma have a complicated, interesting, and unique history. Their story involves hardship, tribal and individual victories, clashes of cultures, and juxtaposed realities with the American mainstream. Several themes resonate throughout the history of Oklahoma Indians, and they all involve a Native reality of physical and metaphysical forces. Understanding these themes gives much insight into the Indian identity. Adaptation and adjustment, always an important part of Native cultures, became an integral part of Oklahoma Indian lives, especially after removal to Indian Territory, as tribal communities rebuilt their governments and medicine people reestablished ceremonial ways. The story of Oklahoma Indians begins with the people already here many centuries ago, the indigenous Spiro Mound builders, 500 to 1300 A.D. Regulators of early trade, these proud people flourished as an extension of the Mississippian mound builders east of the great Mississippi River. In the following generation early people settled along rivers: indigenous Caddoans (Caddo, Wichita, and Pawnee), Siouans (Quapaw and Osage), and Athapascans (Plains Apache). The early Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado recorded observations of Indian activities during the sixteenth century, and his men encountered Plains tribes hunting and raiding in this part of the vast West. Kiowa, Comanche, Arapaho, and Apache raided into the region and claimed hunting territories. The Cheyenne also used the region. For Native peoples, the early decades of the nineteenth century became the period of "Indian Removal." Over a period of years in the 1830s the U.S. government removed eastern Indian tribes to Indian Territory. These people included the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw. Other southeastern tribes included the Alabama. Later, around the time of the Civil War and afterward, removed tribes from the Northeast would join them—the Delaware, Sac and Fox, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Peoria, Ottawa, Wyandotte, Seneca, and Iowa. Prairie tribes included the Kaw, Ponca, Otoe, and Missouri. The Indian Wars of the 1870s produced "reservations" in the Oklahoma region for Plains tribes such as the Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and others. Further western tribes represented here included the Nez Perce and Modoc. In the end, the U.S. government removed a total of sixty-seven different tribes. All of these peoples and their communities developed cultures whose traditions have survived today in spite of several setbacks due to contact with non-Indians. After Indian Removal and reservation making brought them here, these Native peoples adapted to the environmental conditions and climate. Elemental forces of creation—the sun, water, earth, and wind—guided their daily lives. Daily rituals of life and many traditional ceremonies continued to be practiced on a regular basis and continued to evolve as the indigenous cultures reemerged and readapted to new conditions. The oral tradition of storytelling preserved legends about important leaders and events and also recorded verbal accounts of new experiences and leaders. Thus, tribal accounts of the past continue to be based on oral tradition, rather than written, documentary sources. The survival and success of Oklahoma Indians incorporates several significant themes. One theme involves a learned, shared experience that comprises a presumptive "collective identity" called "Oklahoma Indian." It has been said by many non-Oklahoma Indians and noted by other people that Oklahoma Indians are "different." But why? Perhaps they are so because of the collective experience of tragedy and triumph, defeat and survival, destruction and reconstruction, a shared fate of having to overcome setbacks and being forced to rebuild their communities and their nations several times. Oklahoma Indians are much like the metaphorical phoenix rising from the ashes in a rebirth. Each time, Oklahoma Indians have had to reconstruct their families, homes, communities, and nations. A second theme involves the Indian view of the universe, of the physical and metaphysical worlds that comprise the Indian universe. The reality of Oklahoma Indians is one that comprises seeming contradictions: on the one hand, there is a continuation of traditional values and beliefs, deriving from their ancient forefathers from all parts of America. On the other hand, there is a progressive outlook. This "Indianness" is usually manifested via mixed-bloods raised in the Oklahoma Indian communities. Oklahoma Indians are steeped in this Native ethos. The tribes of Oklahoma carried the ethos, the beliefs, with them during their removals to the Indian Territory, and it sustained them while they rebuilt their fires of communities during the nineteenth century. In this Native mind-set, physical and metaphysical dimensions work in tandem, so that dreams, visions, and aberrations are very much a part of the reality and the "day" consciousness of Indian people. In addition, Oklahoma Indians who hold closest to their traditional beliefs also bear witness to the influence of ghosts, spirits, and witches in their lives. Indian traditionalists believe that spiritual beings have control over their lives, and they use protective medicines and take precautions to keep themselves safe. In this kind of life, the metaphysical is more powerful than the physical world, and certain ceremonies and important rites need to be performed in order to ensure that greater powers will give protection or bestow blessings. Whether ultratraditional or progressive, the vast majority of these people are industrious, hardworking, educated, and intelligent. A third theme involves the traditional Native belief in devotion to family and community, with a corresponding de-emphasis on the "individual" person. In this scheme of things, a natural democracy exists among human beings, flora, and fauna; a physical creation such as a river, a meadow, a mountain, or a cloud also has a life and a spirit. Man is not above nature. All things are related. Within this natural democracy, the Creator made a universe of four elements—earth, fire, water, and air. From earth springs life; fire, also represented by sun, gives light and warmth; water, a substance necessary for life, is also symbolized by blood; and air is not only the oxygen for breathing but is also the wind of a tornado or even a song carried on the wings of the wind. Indians believe in fate and believe certain things were meant to be, since all is in order according to the Creator. Thus, Native logic is guided by the knowledge that the metaphysical and physical forces both operate in life, by thinking from a communal perspective, and also by thinking in a circular pattern. As nonlinear people, Indians are cyclical by nature. Day changing into night is a cycle, the full moon's monthly repetition is another cycle, and the seasons rotate as well. Life itself, then, is a rotation of circles. Indian peoples' concept of time is that their stories, transmitted through the oral tradition, enliven the past, and that prophecies bring the future back to the present in a time continuum. This is Indian reality; this is the thought pattern of Oklahoma traditional Indians. Nonlinear reality is a powerful theme in the Oklahoma Indian experience. The presence of the white man and development of the United States government and its military brought radical change to Indians in their home regions. It also brought about the forced removal of Indian nations from many parts of the United States to what was called Indian Territory. The ensuing destruction of Native peoples' settled lives also reflects the history of Oklahoma and that of Oklahoma Indians. Moving fires is another powerful theme in native traditional history, because the people had to camp frequently during the sad process of being forced to come to Indian Territory. Many died along the trail; hence, the people created a new terminology to describe the experience: the Trail of Tears, or the Trail of Courage (also called Trail of Death) in the case of the Potawatomi. During the 1840s and 1850s missionaries, especially the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians, worked among the tribes to help the people, and in the process they converted many Indians to Christianity. Thereafter, many Indians practiced both Christianity and traditional beliefs and continued to do so even into the twenty-first century. Many tribal leaders viewed education as an important social mechanism, and schools were built all over the Indian nations during the pre–Civil War years. In the 1860s the United States and also the territories became embroiled in the struggle between North and South. Forced to fight for the Confederacy, the tribes of Indian Territory suffered much devastation and death in their homeland, and their lives were uprooted again. The largest conflict of the American Civil War in Oklahoma was the Battle of Honey Springs on July 17, 1863. Involving nine thousand soldiers, it represented a turning of the war in favor of the North. Gen. Stand Watie, a Cherokee, was the last Confederate general to surrender. A Union victory and the tribes' allegiance to the Confederacy compelled retaliation by the United States. Forced to sign the Reconstruction Treaties of 1866, the Five Tribes found their lands reduced in order for the U.S. to move more western tribes into Indian Territory. Subsequently, railroads were allowed across Indian lands. Despite these hardships, the tribes rebuilt their lives and rekindled community fires again during the era that mainstream historians call Reconstruction. Mixed-blood Indians and all of those who were progressive toward the ways of the white man believed that seminaries, missions, and schools were important and continued building them. In the late nineteenth century Oklahoma Indians of all tribes and nations experienced a new federal Indian policy, much of which was aimed at destroying de facto tribal sovereignty by ending the traditional Indian system of tribal, rather than individual, land ownership. The much debated Dawes Severalty Act (General Allotment Act) of 1887 promised individual land ownership and U.S. citizenship to American Indians. Although the Oklahoma tribes of the eastern half of the Indian Territory at first were exempt from the Dawes Act, successive amendments to the law began the process of allotment of tribal lands to individual Indians. The Jerome Commission and Dawes Commission carried out the surveying and distributing of allotments to the tribes. The recipients were registered in what came to be called the Dawes Rolls of tribal memberships. Over all, allotment of tribal land stripped Oklahoma Indian nations of about twenty-seven million acres. Then came an in-migration of fifty thousand non-Indian settlers with the first land opening, the Land Run of April 22, 1889, into the Unassigned Lands of central Oklahoma. Within the next two decades additional land lotteries brought hundreds of thousands more outsiders into the territories, but primarily into the western half of present Oklahoma. Cattlemen and mining interests in southeastern Indian Territory increased pressure for white ways among the tribes and caused political strife within tribes as Indian Territory became increasingly open to white opportunists. The Curtis Act of 1898, designed to permanently dissolve all formal tribal governments, cancelled reservation status and nullified tribal schools and judicial systems. Political pressure for statehood compelled Indian tribes to push for a state of their own, called the State of Sequoyah, but they had little lobbying power in Washington. Despite these setbacks, and despite the federal demand for the end of tribal sovereignty, informal government still ran most tribes' affairs. The Indian nations did not disappear. They rebuilt again following Oklahoma statehood in 1907, when federal paternalism suppressed their sovereignty. Of an estimated ten thousand American Indians who served in World War I for the United States, many of them from Oklahoma. Although many Oklahoma Indians became U.S. citizens upon receiving land allotments, they ultimately lost their lands by fraud and deception from white opportunists. During the Great Depression that began in 1929 and held on into the 1930s, Indian communities suffered, as did all Americans. Many Oklahoma Indians moved westward during the Dust Bowl years. An increasing Native population in California was part of the now-famous Dust Bowl migration. Like the Dawes Act, the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934 exempted American Indians of Oklahoma. Two years later the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act extended IRA provisions, allowing Oklahoma Indians to reestablish tribal entities and Indian communities into Native governments patterned after the U.S. government. Other provisions of this Indian New Deal legislation helped Oklahoma Indian communities, as well as communities throughout Indian Country, to pull through the Great Depression. The sudden entrance of the United States into World War II in 1941 encouraged many Oklahoma Indian young men to join the armed services. Oklahoma Indians, many of whom were already members of National Guard units, filled a noticeable portion of the ranks of the U.S. Army's famed Forty-fifth Division. Serving courageously, Oklahoma Indians earned many medals. Ernest Childers, a Muscogee Creek, Jack Montgomery, a Cherokee, and Ernest Evans, a Cherokee-Pawnee, received Medals of Honor. They were the only Native Americans to win the nation's highest military honor in World War II. Following the war, Congress recognized the United Keetoowah Band of Indians under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, but further recognition of tribes in general halted in the following decade. Termination, a new federal Indian policy of the 1950s and 1960s, once again threatened to end all tribal self-government, but Oklahoma tribes were able to avoid the final ending of trust obligations by the United States. Tribal governments remained under the firm control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior. The Relocation Program of 1952, however, affected many individual Oklahoma Indians by sending them to major cities for employment and housing. This program continued until the early 1970s and in many instances had negative consequences for Native family life. The cycle of change continued through the twentieth century. In 1975 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act supported and reinforced tribal governments. As a result of the IRA legislation and Indian self-determination policy, American Indians in Oklahoma formed thirty-nine tribal governments that have been federally recognized. These nations exercise powers of self-government, including business councils, and many have tribal courts with law enforcement. These tribal governments and communities have formed a positive relationship with the state of Oklahoma, and their progress in the last decades of the twentieth century truly reflect Oklahoma's deep heritage as the "Land of the Red Man." Self-determination was a modest boon to the Oklahoma Indian community's economy. By the end of the twentieth century the tribes in Oklahoma owned twenty-three bingo and gaming operations. Eight tribes (the Choctaw Nation, Citizen Band of Potawatomi Nation, Comanche Indian Tribe, Iowa Tribe, Miami Tribe, Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, Otoe-Missouri Tribe, and Tonkawa Tribe of Indians) had successfully negotiated gaming compacts with the State of Oklahoma. In addition to gaming, the Oklahoma tribes invested in various businesses and industries, and their success produced tribal programs of college scholarships, elder care, health care services, and other social services. Old fires of communal life were renewed as the Oklahoma tribes developed new economic and health programs to assist their peoples. Cultural revitalization among Oklahoma's Indian communities has followed the national pattern from the 1920s. The pan-Indian movements of the early and mid-twentieth century, as well as cultural activities generated by the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1935 and the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act, motivated many tribes to reinstate traditional sacred rites and ceremonies and also to present public events expressing Native community identity. For example, many tribes now host an annual heritage day, festival, or homecoming. Powwows and dances, both private and public, became regular community activities in the late twentieth century. Revival of arts and crafts also became important as forces to unify Native communities and also to generate much-needed income. Tribal historic preservation officers monitor threats to sites important in the community's history. Many tribes have opened museums at tribal headquarters complexes. Most importantly, because the survival of language is the key to the survival of culture, many Oklahoma tribes have instituted preservation policies and activities, such as language classes and dictionary compilation projects. The Oklahoma Indian experience is a collective saga of many encounters with external forces that caused permanent changes to traditional communities. All of the recurring themes of Indian removal, renewed tribalism, moving fires, destruction, rebirth, Native ethos, Native sovereignty, identity, and inherent communal beliefs comprise a collective epic. It reflects the Native peoples' strength and traditionalism within a Native reality that experienced and successfully withstood abrupt changes. These resilient people have integrated a successful dichotomy (traditionalism and progressivism) as a part of their lives and prosperity. ALLOTMENT, AMERICAN INDIANS AND CHRISTIANITY, AMERICAN INDIANS AND EDUCATION, INDIAN REMOVAL, INDIAN TERRITORY, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY, PREHISTORIC NATIVE PEOPLES, SETTLEMENT PATTERNS, TERMINATION AND RELOCATION PROGRAMS Jeffrey Burton, Indian Territory and the United States, 1866–1906: Courts, Government, and the Movement for Oklahoma Statehood (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995). Angie Debo, And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1940; reprint, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1984). Angie Debo, The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic (2d ed.; Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961). Angie Debo, The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1941). Clyde Ellis, To Change Them Forever: Indian Education at the Rainy Mountain Boarding School, 1893–1920 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996). Sandra Faiman-Silva, Choctaws at the Crossroads: The Political Economy Class and Culture in the Oklahoma Timber Region (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997). Grant Foreman, Advancing the Frontier, 1830–1860 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1933). Grant Foreman, The Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1934). Grant Foreman, Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932). Arrell M. Gibson, The Chickasaws (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972). James H. Howard, with Willie Lena, Oklahoma Seminoles, Medicines, Magic, and Religion (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1984). Jack F. Kilpatrick and Anna G. Kilpatrick, Friends of Thunder: Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokee (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994). Georgia Rae Leeds, The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (New York: Peter Lang, 1996). Daniel L. Littlefield, Jr., Alex Posey, Creek Poet, Journalist, & Humorist (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991). Daniel L. Littlefield, Jr., and Carol A. Petty Hunter, eds., The Fus Fixico Letters (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993). K. Tsianina Lomawaima, They Called It Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco Indian School (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994). Edwin C. McReynolds, The Seminoles (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957). Wilma Mankiller and Michael Wallis, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993). John Joseph Mathews, The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961). Amos D. Maxwell, The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention (Boston: Meador Publishing Co., 1953). Katja May, African Americans and Native Americans in the Creek and Cherokee Nations, 1830s to 1920s (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996). William C. Meadows, Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche Military Societies: Enduring Veterans, 1800 to the Present (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999). Howard L. Meredith, Bartley Milam: Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (Muskogee, Okla.: Indian University Press. 1985). Devon A. Mihesuah, Cultivating the Rosebuds: The Education of Women at the Cherokee Female Seminary, 1851–1909 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993). H. Craig Miner, The Corporation and the Indian: Tribal Sovereignty And Industrial Civilization in Indian Territory, 1865–1907 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1976). James D. Morrison, The Social History of the Choctaw Nation: 1865–1907 (Durant, Okla.: Creative Informatics, Inc., 1987). Theda Perdue, ed., Nations Remembered: An Oral History of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1865–1907 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980). George A. Schultz, An Indian Canaan: Isaac McCoy and the Vision for an Indian State (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972). Christine Schultze and Benton R. White, Now the Wolf Has Come: The Creek Nation in the Civil War (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1996). Alexander Spoehr, Changing Kinship Systems: A Study in the Acculturation of the Creeks, Cherokee, and Choctaw (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1947). Emmet Starr, History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore (Oklahoma City, Okla.: Warden Co., 1921; reprinted Tulsa, Okla.: Oklahoma Yesterday Publications, 1984). Rennard A. Strickland, Fire and the Spirits: Cherokee Law from Clan to Court (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975). Rennard Strickland, The Indians of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1981). John R. Swanton, Social Organization and Social Usage of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy, Forty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1924–25 (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1928). William R. Unrau, Mixed-bloods and Tribal Dissoluton: Charles Curtis and the Quest for Indian Identity (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1989). Mary Jane Warde, George Washington Grayson and the Creek Nation, 1843–1920 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999). Morris L. Wardell, A Political History of the Cherokee Nation, 1838–1907 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1938). Terry P. Wilson, The Underground Reservation: Osage Oil (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985). Grace Steele Woodward, The Cherokees (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963). Muriel H. Wright, A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951). Browse By TopicAmerican Indians The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles: Donald Fixico, “American Indians,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=AM010. © Oklahoma Historical Society

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Using adjectives in descriptive writing - middle school worksheet. Have them share their words, and create a class list. 2. Distribute students’ previously assessed writings, and have students look through them to find commonly misspelled words to add to the chart. 3. Compare the class list with a published list of commonly misspelled words, such as one contained in a grammar book. 03.01.2020 · 10 adjectives worksheets; Range of levels from gaining initial knowledge to applying it in sentence writing. Hope that people find them useful.. Resources Resources home Early years / Pre-K and TEENgarten Primary / Elementary Middle school Secondary / High school Whole school Special Educational Needs Blog. Oct 6, 2016 - Give your TEEN adjective practice with this simple worksheet. After filling in the blanks, they'll see how many different adjectives they can add to the list. Descriptive Adjectives: Fantastic! | Worksheet | Education.com The sentences on this third grade writing worksheet are pretty boring. TEENs liven up the sentences by adding descriptive adjectives to the fairy tale nouns. Descriptive Writing : Writing : Fourth Grade English Language Arts Worksheets. Here is a collection of our printable worksheets for topic Descriptive Writing of chapter Writing Narratives in section Writing. A brief description of the worksheets is on each of the worksheet widgets. Click on the images to view, download, or print them. What is Descriptive Writing? When it comes to writing in English, there are thought be four different types of pieces. These include expository, persuasive, narrative, and descriptive. In this section, our focus will be on descriptive writing. As its name suggests, this type of English writing gives a clear and concise description of everything. Adjective Worksheet for Middle School Here is an adjective worksheet for middle school that will review adjectives. The second worksheet will have the students identify adjectives and learn the different types of adjectives. Advertisement Worksheets that Review Adjectives The first worksheet is partially a review of the kinds of adjectives. Descriptive Adjectives Worksheets and Printables “You are exploring Descriptive Adjectives worksheets section of EnglishBix. Here You would find resources of general adjective words which describe both nouns and pronouns. 19.08.2021 · English worksheets for grade 5 adjectives. These worksheets review the ordering of adjectives in sentences and introduce adverb phrases and the use of prepositional phrases as adjectives and adverbs. The same word can serve as an adjective of quantity or adjective of number. A good collection of worksheet for grade 5 students for english grammar. Middle School English: Narrative and Descriptive Writing Unit for Grades 7-8This highly engaging and enjoyable creative writing unit is designed to help students write effectively with a particular focus on narrative and descriptive writing. It supports students in actively exploring and enjoying bo 10.02.2022 · Descriptive adjectives By Rotetho This worksheet can be used in 2 ways: your student can just use it as a picture 'dictionary' and learn the meaning of the adjectives, or. Descriptive writing is an attempt to give a clear description of people, places, objects, or events using descriptive language and informative details. Descriptive writing exercises can include: brainstorming. outlining. word sorting. sentence writing with pictures. transitions exercises. Descriptive Prompts for Elementary, Middle and High Schools Note: Most states do not ask students to describe people, so only one prompt of this type is included in the suggested topics. Some states require that students write only a visual description and others ask students to include other senses such as feel, touch, smell, and taste. Descriptiveness is essential to good writing. Unfortunately, it’s a skill not readily achieved by many language impaired students. This four-page worksheet begins with a clear discussion of descriptive writing and the use of adjectives, followed by an exercise requiring students to insert adjectives from a given list into various sentences. Adjectives are a basic building block of our sentences. With the help of our adjectives worksheets, your students will learn how to identify and use adjectives in their own writing. No matter your TEEN's age or skill level, these adjectives worksheets provide the perfect challenge--from defining adjectives and exploring comparatives and antonyms to building descriptive. Good descriptive writing often uses figurative language that is precise and lends itself to using sensory language to make people, events, and concepts lively. When preparing to write in this fashion you should ask yourself what you want your reader to see, hear, taste, smell, or feel. Seasons – Write one sentence to describe each of the four seasons with descriptive words (adjectives.) Use at least 3 adjectives in each sentence. Self Portrait – Students are going to create a "self portrait with adjectives." You will get a. Descriptive Adjectives: Handsome, Silly, Stupid, Fast, Loud,. Write one meaningful sentence using each of the adjective examples provided in the “Adjective Examples. While helping my TEENs with their studies I find that schools are providing very few worksheets for practice at home which is not sufficient for the TEENs to think beyond the. 16.05.2021 · Regular Adjectives Worksheets Descriptive Adjectives Worksheet Adjective Worksheet Describing Words Adjectives . Adjectives Worksheets Regular Adjectives Worksheets In 2020 Adjective Worksheet Adjectives Nouns Verbs Adjectives . Free Common Core Worksheets Pin Common Core Worksheets Teaching Writing Middle School. Middle School Writing Worksheets in PDF: Linguistic Specificity.. Descriptive Writing - Adjectives and Adverbs. This four-page worksheet, also found in Grammar section, contains a wide variety of exercises teaching students to use adjectives and adverbs in their writing.. 26.01.2021 · Worksheets grammar grade 4 adjectives adverbs. Help your fourth grader recognize adjectives that start with the letter a. Writing sentences with multiple adjectives. Adjective clauses are easy to find in a sentence if you know how to look for them. Order adjectives within sentences. In this adjective clause worksheet you re the grammar detective. Adjectives #10: Identifying Proper Adjectives Directions: Write all the proper adjectives on a sheet of notebook paper. Not every capitalized word is a proper adjective, and many sentences will have more than one. 1. The remains of several Roman roads can be seen in England today. 2. American tourists in Paris enjoy going to the Eiffel Tower. 3. 1. An adjective describes a verb. The answer is: B. False. An adjective describes a noun. An adverb describes a verb. 2. You can begin a sentence with an adjective. The answer is: A. True: e.g. Loud music was playing all night. 3. It is very _____ to write clearly. The answer is: B. It is very important to write clearly. 4. Adjective Worksheets. A series of adjective worksheets ranging from basic to intermediate. Adjective modify nouns and help the reader better understand the attributes of the noun. For example, The man ran past me. Let's add an adjective. The big man ran past me. Now you have a description of the man. Mastering the use of Adjectives - We use a. Descriptive Writing Skill Sheet Generates attribute charts to develop and sort ideas and details for descriptive writing. Writes concluding sentences that use a concluding word or phrase, give advice, or summarize the description. Organizes descriptions either by time, visual field (left to right; top to bottom; small to large), details, or. 28.12.2021 · Ezschool s grade 4 english adjectives. Displaying top 8 worksheets found for types of adjectives grade 4. Our grade 4 adjectives worksheets focus on using the correct order of adjectives within sentences the big blue car rather than the blue big car. Often we use more than one adjective to describe a noun. Live worksheets > English. Descriptive adjectives. Descriptive adjectives Weather, atmosphere, taste. ID: 431445. Language: English. School subject: English as a Second Language (ESL) Grade/level: Pre-intermediate. Age: 12+. Main content: Descriptive adjectives. Descriptive Writing Worksheets. A collection of descriptive writing worksheets and resources. Descriptive writing is writing that describes people, places, animals or objects in such a way that allows the reader to build a strong image in their. 24.09.2011 · Printable Adjective Worksheets 4th Grade Using Descriptive Words Worksheet Describing Objects Worksheets The Highwayman Poem Worksheet using descriptive words worksheet and descriptive writing word search are three main things we want to present to you based on. 19 Photos of Tell Me About Yourself Worksheet Middle School. The Family Descriptions (elementary /middle school) family relationships and family tree. Spanish Adjectives Agreement Worksheets & Handouts: Hispanic N ationalities Worksheet Spanish 4 Teachers.org (middle/high school). Fill the chart with the nationality for masculine, feminine, singular and plural. Using adjectives to make sentences more interesting. In these worksheets, students rewrite sentences with their own adjectives to make the sentences more interesting. Answers will vary, but students should be encouraged to use a variety of strong adjectives. Open PDF. Displaying all worksheets related to - Using Descriptive Adjectives. Worksheets are Adjective, Adjectives, Using adjectives work, Name date grammar work adjectives describing people, Commas with adjectives, Word choice, Adjectives with er and est, Lesson 81 adjectives describing our classmate. *Click on Open button to open and print to worksheet. 26.01.2020 · Adjective worksheets can provide direct instruction and a quick review. If your students need in-depth practice with adjectives, add a one-pager, station work, or task cards to your adjective lesson plans. Mentor sentences or a writing opportunity can mold grammar lessons for mature students. List of adjectives for TEENs. Interesting adjectives list for students, storytellers, creative writing. Choose adjectives word list for elementary or advanced adjectives lists for TEENs in middle school grades. Lists of interesting adjectives. 01.01.2021 · Grade 5 grammar worksheets. Multiple versions of some worksheets are provided for additional practice. These worksheets ask students to list adjectives in the correct order. These grammar worksheets help grade 1 3 students learn to recognize and use adjectives adjectives are words that describe nouns. All worksheets are pdf files. Displaying all worksheets related to - Writing Adjectives Using Adjectives. Worksheets are Using a blog to guide beginner students to use adjectives, Grade 2 grammar work, Adjectives, Grade 3 grammar work, Name date grammar work adjectives and adverbs, Lesson skill developing an essay using specific nouns, Adverb or adjective, Grab and go writing activity. Procedure: 1. After having students brainstorm ideas of what descriptive writing may be, offer feedback to the students about what a possible definition could be. 2. Ask students to think of ways in which to make their writing descriptive. Example: word choice, terminology, adjectives, using senses. 3. With this worksheet, students can choose from a variety of fun and engaging activities for learning or reviewing vocabulary words. Vocabulary Worksheets. Writing Worksheets. Worksheets For TEENs. School Resources. Learning Resources. Teaching Tools. F Adjectives. Middle School Reading. Printable adjective worksheets. Includes finding adjectives in sentences, comparative and superlative adjectives, and more. 05.10.2020 · Descriptive Writing : Worksheet for Fourth Grade English Language Arts . Some of the worksheets for this concept are Writing, Descriptive paragraphs work,. 4th grade, and 5th grade Regular Adjectives Worksheets. A collection of fiction and non-fiction passages written for middle school students in students in 6th, 7th,. Adjective Worksheets for Elementary and Middle School. Adjective worksheets for TEENs and tweens can be used to teach or practice adjective lessons. Challenge elementary students to find adjectives in simple sentences, then move on for. by using adjectives, by “showing” specific details in a sentence, by incorporating similes and metaphors, etc. Pick at least five of the sentences below and make this idea more evocative, fresh, or appealing. pptx, 148.48 KB. This resource revises the use of adverbs in different positions within sentences and asks pupils to create sentences using adverbs appropriately. Students rearrange sentences to make them flow and look at descriptive extracts which. Everything you need for an entire unit to get middle & high school students actively engaged in describing themselves and others using Spanish descriptive adjectives and the verb SER! 120 pages of engaging and meaningful activities to promote. 13.01.2022 · 3 adjectives to describe crowd. In figurative language the reader must determine the writers intended meaning as the words by themselves do not express it clearly. Figurative language is the opposite of literal language where the words convey meaning exactly as defined. Descriptive adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns.. Scripts prior The top 10 high schools in the USA are some of the most exclusive. That goes without saying. But if you’ve got a bright TEEN (or indeed you are one), they’re well worth the effort to get in — even if it involves moving out of state. Granted. Oct 18, 2021. Help students with descriptive writing skills by teaching these five writing activities that will allow them to practice "showing not . Your TEEN’s education is one of the greatest investments you will ever make. Choosing the right school will help your TEEN through their high school years, but how do you choose the ‘right’ school? There are so many things to consider, an. It's a secret! You can find them for sure. Seasons – Write one sentence to describe each of the four seasons with descriptive words (adjectives.) Use . Help me find my tender heart that I lost along the way. Take me back to where it all began. In that hospital room. In that hospital gown. With you. Edit Your Post Published by jthreeNMe on July 24, 2021 Help me find my tender heart that I. My first purpose was to use it for descriptive writing. Students can keep track of wonderful sensory words that they come across in their reading or in other . Results 1 - 24 of 39000+. Not only will this help students practice using adjectives,. 15 NO PREP DESCRIPTIVE WRITING WORKSHEETS designed to help students . this worksheet helps build vocabulary and develop students' understanding of parts of speech. For more adjectives practice, try Adding Details with . Results 1 - 24 of 42000+. This is a fun and creative activity for students to practice writing and using adjectives. Students write adjectives about a monster . Creative writing can be a powerful tool for increasing your students' vocabulary. Having fun whilst learning is an objective that most teachers aim for and . Adjective Sentences Worksheet. Students will practice writing sentences using five adjectives on this worksheet. Students will also need to choose an adjective . Here, students will learn to craft vivid scenes by selecting powerful verbs and adjectives, as well as to critique descriptive writing using the same . simple yet evocative sentences in this short essay, but other descriptive, by using adjectives, by “showing” specific details in a sentence, . . Results 1 - 24 of 39000+. Not only will this help students practice using adjectives,. 15 NO PREP DESCRIPTIVE WRITING WORKSHEETS designed to help students . It's a secret! You can find them for sure. Seasons – Write one sentence to describe each of the four seasons with descriptive words (adjectives.) Use . this worksheet helps build vocabulary and develop students' understanding of parts of speech. For more adjectives practice, try Adding Details with . Adjective Sentences Worksheet. Students will practice writing sentences using five adjectives on this worksheet. Students will also need to choose an adjective . Creative writing can be a powerful tool for increasing your students' vocabulary. Having fun whilst learning is an objective that most teachers aim for and . simple yet evocative sentences in this short essay, but other descriptive, by using adjectives, by “showing” specific details in a sentence, . Oct 18, 2021. Help students with descriptive writing skills by teaching these five writing activities that will allow them to practice "showing not . Results 1 - 24 of 42000+. This is a fun and creative activity for students to practice writing and using adjectives. Students write adjectives about a monster . Help me find my tender heart that I lost along the way. Take me back to where it all began. In that hospital room. In that hospital gown. With you. Edit Your Post Published by jthreeNMe on July 24, 2021 Help me find my tender heart that I. Here, students will learn to craft vivid scenes by selecting powerful verbs and adjectives, as well as to critique descriptive writing using the same . My first purpose was to use it for descriptive writing. Students can keep track of wonderful sensory words that they come across in their reading or in other . Your TEEN’s education is one of the greatest investments you will ever make. Choosing the right school will help your TEEN through their high school years, but how do you choose the ‘right’ school? There are so many things to consider, an. The top 10 high schools in the USA are some of the most exclusive. That goes without saying. But if you’ve got a bright TEEN (or indeed you are one), they’re well worth the effort to get in — even if it involves moving out of state. Granted. One of the ways it. Without any legal basis in Cycle 4 curated server and email account. Also the party in our newest political revolution the Committees like the make a martyr. 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Part 5: Chapter 28 Learning to write argumentatively is an important part of academic writing and the following section from Rhetoric and Composition, introduces the concept of argument and the tools to create an argumentative essay. What Is an Argument? When you hear the word argument, what do you think of? A shouting match or a fist fight? When instructors use the word argument, they’re typically thinking about something else. What they’re actually referring to is a position supported by the analysis that preceded its conception, not necessarily supporting antagonism. More to the point, instructors are talking about defending a certain point of view through writing or speech. Usually called a claim or a thesis, this point of view is concerned with an issue that doesn’t have a clear right or wrong answer (e.g., four and two make six). Also, this argument should not only be concerned with personal opinion (e.g., I really like carrots). Instead, an argument might tackle issues like abortion, capital punishment, stem cell research, or gun control. However, what distinguishes an argument from a descriptive essay or report is that the argument must take a stance; if you’re merely summarizing both sides of an issue or pointing out the pros and cons, you’re not writing an argument. “Stricter gun control laws will likely result in a decrease in gun-related violence” is an argument. Note that people can and will disagree with this argument, which is precisely why so many instructors find this type of assignment so useful — they make you think! Academic arguments usually articulate an opinion. This opinion is always carefully defended with good reasoning and supported by plenty of research. Research? Yes, research! Indeed, part of learning to write effective arguments is finding reliable sources (or other documents) that lend credibility to your position. It’s not enough to say “capital punishment is wrong because that’s the way I feel.” Instead, you need to adequately support your claim by finding: Quotations from recognized authorities, and any other types of evidence You won’t always win, and that’s fine. The goal of an argument is simply to: Make a claim Support your claim with the most credible reasoning and any evidence you can muster Hope that the reader will at least understand your position Hope that your claim is taken seriously If you defend your argument’s position with good reasoning and evidence (and follow other criteria in the teacher’s rubric), you should earn a high grade, even if your instructor personally disagrees with the views you are defending. We will be covering the basic format of how to structure an argument. This includes the general written argument structure, and the position and proposal variations of that basic form. If you want to make a claim about a particular (usually controversial) issue, you can use the position argument form. Alternately, if you would like to offer a solution to a particular situation that you see as problematic, such as the rising cost of education, you can use a proposal argument. By adapting one of these three methods, you will be well on the way to making your point. Argument structures are amazingly versatile. Once you become familiar with this basic structure of the argumentative essay, you will be able to clearly argue about almost anything! “If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing.” –Kingsley Amis (1922 – 1995) Basic Argument Essay Structure The first paragraph of your argument is used to introduce your topic and the issues surrounding it. This information needs to be introduced using clear, easily understandable language. Your readers need to know what you’re writing about before they can decide if they believe you or not. Once you have introduced your general subject, it’s time to state your claim. Your claim will serve as the thesis for your essay. Make sure that you use clear and precise language. Your reader needs to understand exactly where you stand on the issue. The clarity of your claim affects your readers’ understanding of your views. Also, it’s important to highlight supporting information throughout the essay. These highlights will help keep the reader engaged, add support to your claim, and allow your reader to know what direction you will be taking with your argument in the body paragraphs. By mentioning the points or arguments you will further discuss in the body, you are outlining your paper’s goals. This part comes at the end of the thesis and can be named as the guide. The guide is a useful organizational tool for you as well as the readers. In addition, your audience will have a clear cut idea as to what will be discussed in the body. Once your position is stated you should establish your credibility. There are two or more sides to every argument. This means not everyone will agree with your viewpoint. So try to form a common ground with the audience. Think about who may be undecided or opposed to your viewpoint. Take the audience’s age, education, values, gender, culture, ethnicity, and all other variables into consideration as you introduce your topic. These variables will affect your word choice, and could potentially open your audience’s mind to consider your viewpoint. Developing Your Argument Back up your thesis with logical and persuasive arguments. During your pre-writing phase, outline the main points you might use to support your claim, and decide which are the strongest and most logical. Eliminate those which are based on emotion rather than fact. Your corroborating evidence should be well-researched, such as statistics, examples, and expert opinions. You can also reference personal experience, and it’s a good idea to have a mixture. However, you should avoid leaning too heavily on personal experience, as you want to present an argument that appears objective as you are using it to persuade your reader. There are a couple different methods of developing your argument. Two variations of the basic argument structure are the Position Method and the Proposal Method. The position method is used to try to convince your audience that you are in the right, and the other view of your argument is wrong. Introduce and define your topic. Never assume that your reader is familiar with the issues surrounding your topic. This is your chance to set up the premise (point of view) you want to use. This is also a good time to present your claim statement. Background information. Do your research! The more knowledgeable you are, the more concise an argument you will be able to give. You will now be able to provide your reader with the best information possible. This will allow your audience to read your paper with the same knowledge you possess on the topic. Information is the backbone to a solid argument. You have your argument, and you may have even stated your claim. Now, start developing your ideas. Provide evidence and reasoning. Be prepared to deal with the opposition. There will be those who oppose your argument. Be prepared to answer those opinions or points of view with knowledgeable responses. If you have done your homework and know your material, you will be able to address any opposing arguments with ease and authority. In conclusion… Now is the time to drive home your point. Re-emphasize your main arguments and claim statement. The proposal method of argument is used when there is a problematic situation, and you would like to offer a solution to the situation. The structure of the proposal method is similar to the above position method, but there are slight differences. Introduce and define the nature of the problematic situation. Make sure to focus on the problem and its causes. This may seem simple, but many people focus solely on the effects of a problematic situation. By focusing on the actual problem, your readers will see your proposal as a solution to the problem. If you don’t, your readers might see your solution as a mere complaint. Propose a solution, or a number of solutions, to the problem. Be specific about these solutions. If you have one solution, you may choose to break it into parts and spend a paragraph or so describing each part. If you have several solutions, you may instead choose to spend a paragraph on each scenario. Each additional solution will add both depth and length to your argument. But remember to stay focused. Added length does not always equal a better argument. Describe the workability of the various solutions. There are a variety of ways that this could be done. With a single-solution paper you could break the feasibility down into short and long term goals and plans. With a multiple-solution essay, you may instead highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the individual solutions, and establish which would be the most successful, based on your original statement of the problem and its causes. Summarize and conclude your proposal. Summarize your solutions, re-state how the solution or solutions would work to remedy the problematic situation, and you’re done. Dealing with the Opposition When writing an argument, expect that you will have opposition. Skeptical readers will have their own beliefs and points of view. When conducting your research, make sure to review the opposing side of your argument. You need to be prepared to counter those ideas. Remember, in order for people to give up their position, they must see how your position is more reasonable than their own. When you address the opposing point of view in your essay and demonstrate how your own claim is stronger, you neutralize their argument. By failing to address a non-coinciding view, you leave a reason for your reader to disagree with you, and therefore weaken your persuasive power. Methods of addressing the opposition vary. You may choose to state your main points, then address and refute the opposition, and then conclude. Conversely, you might summarize the opposition’s views early in your argument, and then revisit them after you’ve presented your side or the argument. This will show how your information is more reasonable than their own. You have introduced your topic, stated your claim, supported that claim with logical and reasonable evidence, and refuted your opposition’s viewpoint. The hard work is done. Now it’s time to wrap up your argument. By the time readers get to the end of your paper, they should have learned something. You should have learned something, too. Give readers an idea to take away with them. The conclusion should end the paper and support your position and the significance of your argument. One word of caution: avoid introducing any new information in your conclusion. If you find that there’s another point that you wanted to include, revise your essay. Include this new information into the body of your essay. The conclusion should only review what the rest of your essay has offered. Strengthening Your Argument In argumentative writing, it is important to clearly state and support your position. However, it is just as important to present all of the information that you’ve gathered in an objective manner. Using language that is demeaning or non-objective will undermine the strength of your argument. This destroys your credibility and will reduce your audience on the spot. For example, a student writing an argument about why a particular football team has a good chance of going to the Superbowl is making a strategic error by stating that “anyone who doesn’t think that the Minnesota Vikings deserve to win the Super Bowl is a total idiot.” Not only has the writer risked alienating any number of her readers, s/he has also made the argument seem shallow and poorly researched. In addition, she has committed a third mistake: making a sweeping generalization that cannot be supported. Use phrasing that does not: Alienate any part of your audience Make an argument that is poorly researched or shallow Make an unsupported generalization Contain mistakes that could ruin your argument Contain objective Language In argumentative writing, your instructor may ask you to avoid using I and My (subjective) statements. You should only use I or My if you are an expert in your field (on a given topic). Instead choose more objective language to get your point across. Consider the following: I believe that the United States Government is failing to meet the needs of today’s average college student through the under-funding of need-based grants, increasingly restrictive financial aid eligibility requirements, and a lack of flexible student loan options. “Great,” your reader thinks, “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.” Now let’s look at this sentence again, but without the I at the beginning. Does the same sentence becomes a strong statement of fact without your I tacked to the front?: The United States Government is failing to meet the needs of today’s average college student through the underfunding of need-based grants, increasingly restrictive financial aid eligibility requirements, and a lack of flexible student loan options. “Wow,” your reader thinks, “that sounds like a problem.” A small change like the removal of I and My can make all the difference in how a reader perceives your argument– as such, it’s always good to proofread your rough draft and look for places where you could use objective rather than subjective language. The Fallacies of Argument Now your paper is filled with quality research. You’re feeling good about your paper. But when you get the paper back your instructor has left a comment like, “This is an argument fallacy”. So now you’re left wondering what is “false” about the argument; and what is this “argument fallacy”? Argumentative fallacies are sometimes called logical fallacies. Usually these fallacies are created when the reasoning behind the argument lacks validity. A lack of validity weakens your argument, and then leads to a failure to provide a sufficient claim. Don’t feel badly if your instructor writes argumentative fallacy on your essay. This is a common error in argumentative papers. An argumentative fallacy can be caused by your negligence or lack of rigor and attention while making a certain argument. In other words, an undeveloped argument can resemble an argumentative fallacy. So, never generalize; don’t just say and leave — pursue your point to its logical termination. Logical fallacies are discussed in more depth in Chapter 26 of this textbook. A Side Note Many topics that are written about in college are very controversial. When approaching a topic it is critical that you think about your argument’s implications. If, for example, you are writing a paper on abortion, you need to think about your audience. There will certainly be people in each of your classes with a different relationship to this topic. While you shouldn’t let readers’ feelings sway your argument, you should approach each topic with a neutral mind and stay away from personal attacks. Keep your mind open to the implications of the opposition and formulate a logical stance considering the binaries equally. People may be offended by something you write, but if you have taken the time to think about the ideas that go into your paper, you should have no problem defending it. Adapted from Rhetoric and Composition, 2013, used under creative commons 3.0 cc-by-sa What is Persuasion? The success of an argument can be measured by its persuasiveness. In the previous section, we discussed the basics of structuring argumentative essays. In this section, we hone in on some strategies of persuasion that can improve your argumentative writing. Students often feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing persuasively, but persuasive writing techniques are present in many of the documents and images students review. The purpose of persuasion in writing is to convince, motivate, or move readers toward a certain point of view or opinion. The act of trying to persuade automatically implies more than one opinion on the subject can be argued, so it’s important to understand that persuasive writing requires writers to take a stand on debatable topic. The idea of an argument often conjures up images of two people yelling and screaming in anger. In writing, however, both the development and goal for an argument is different. A written argument requires a reasoned opinion supported and explained by evidence. To argue in writing is to advance knowledge and ideas in a positive way. Written arguments often fail when they employ ranting rather than reasoning. Most of us feel inclined to try to win the arguments we engage in. On some level, we all want to be right, and we want others to see the error of their ways. More times than not, however, arguments in which both sides try to win end up producing losers all around. The more productive approach is to persuade your audience to consider your opinion as a valid one, not simply the right one. The Structure of a Persuasive Essay The following five features make up the structure of a persuasive essay: - Introduction and thesis - Opposing and qualifying ideas - Strong evidence in support of claim - Style and tone of language - A compelling conclusion Creating an Introduction and Thesis The persuasive essay begins with an engaging introduction that presents the general topic.The introduction should create a foundation of knowledge for the reader, so you want to add any information or descriptions the reader will need to understand as they read the rest of the essay. The thesis typically appears somewhere in the introduction and states the writer’s point of view. Avoid forming a thesis based on a negative claim. For example, “The hourly minimum wage is not high enough for the average worker to live on.” This is probably a true statement, but persuasive arguments should make a positive case. That is, the thesis statement should focus on how the hourly minimum wage is low or insufficient. Acknowledging Opposing Ideas and Limits to Your Argument Because an argument implies differing points of view on the subject, students must be sure to acknowledge those opposing ideas. Avoiding ideas that conflict with your own gives the reader the impression that you may be uncertain, fearful, or unaware of opposing ideas. Thus it is essential that you not only address counterarguments but also do so respectfully. Try to address opposing arguments earlier rather than later in your essay. Rhetorically speaking, ordering your essay so that your opposing argument appears at the beginning allows you to better address ideas that conflict with your own, so you can spend the rest of the essay countering those arguments and introducing ideas that support your position. This way, you leave your reader thinking about your argument rather than someone else’s. You have the last word. Acknowledging points of view different from your own also has the effect of fostering more credibility between you and the audience. They know from the outset that you are aware of opposing ideas and that you are not afraid to give them space. Another helpful technique is to establish the limits of your argument and what you are trying to accomplish. In effect, you are conceding early on that your argument is not the ultimate authority on a given topic. Such humility can go a long way toward earning credibility and trust with an audience. Audience members will know from the beginning that you are a reasonable writer, and audience members will trust your argument as a result. For example, in the following concessionary statement, the writer advocates for stricter gun control laws, but she admits it will not solve all of our problems with crime: Although tougher gun control laws are a powerful first step in decreasing violence in our streets, such legislation alone cannot end these problems since guns are not the only problem we face. Such a concession will be welcome by those who might disagree with this writer’s argument in the first place. To effectively persuade their readers, writers need to be modest in their goals and humble in their approach to encourage readers to listen to the ideas. See Table 28.1 below for some useful phrases of concession. |Phrases of concession| Bias in Writing Everyone has various biases on any number of topics. For example, you might have a bias toward wearing black instead of brightly colored clothes or wearing jeans rather than formal wear. You might have a bias toward working at night rather than in the morning, or working by deadlines rather than completing tasks in advance. These examples identify minor biases, of course, but they still indicate preferences and opinions. Handling bias in writing and in daily life can be a useful skill, and it will allow you to articulate your own points of view while also defending yourself against unreasonable points of view. The ideal in persuasive writing is to let your reader know your bias, but do not let that bias blind you to the primary components of good argumentation: sound, thoughtful evidence and a respectful and reasonable address of opposing sides. The strength of a personal bias is that it can motivate you to construct a strong argument. If you are invested in the topic, you are more likely to care about the piece of writing. Similarly, the more you care, the more time and effort you are apt to put forth and the better the final product will be. The weakness of bias is when the bias begins to take over the essay—when, for example, you neglect opposing ideas, exaggerate your points, or repeatedly insert yourself ahead of the subject by using I too often. Being aware of all three of these pitfalls will help you avoid them. The Use of I in Writing The use of I in writing is often a topic of debate, and the acceptance of its usage varies from instructor to instructor. It is difficult to predict the preferences for all your present and future instructors, but consider the effects it can potentially have on your writing. Be mindful of the use of I in your writing because it can make your argument sound overly biased. There are two primary reasons: Excessive repetition of any word will eventually catch the reader’s attention—and usually not in a good way. The use of I is no different. - The insertion of I into a sentence alters not only the way a sentence might sound but also the composition of the sentence itself. I is often the subject of a sentence. If the subject of the essay is supposed to be, say, smoking, then by inserting yourself into the sentence, you are effectively displacing the subject of the essay into a secondary position. In the following example, the subject of the sentence is underlined: Smoking is bad. I think smoking is bad. In the first sentence, the rightful subject, smoking, is in the subject position in the sentence. In the second sentence, the insertion of I and think replaces smoking as the subject, which draws attention to I and away from the topic that is supposed to be discussed. Remember to keep the message (the subject) and the messenger (the writer) separate. Ultimately the use of I in writing will be determined by your genre, instructor’s preference, and the essay’s goals. Developing Sound Arguments Does my essay contain the following elements? An engaging introduction A reasonable, specific thesis that can be supported by evidence A varied range of evidence from credible sources Respectful acknowledgement and explanation of opposing ideas A style and tone of language that is appropriate for the subject and audience Acknowledgement of the argument’s limits A conclusion that will adequately summarize the essay and reinforce the thesis Fact and Opinion Facts are statements that can be definitely proven using objective data. The statement that is a fact is absolutely valid. In other words, the statement can be pronounced as true or false. For example, 2 + 2 = 4. This expression identifies a true statement, or a fact, because it can be proved with objective data. Opinions are personal views, or judgments. An opinion is what an individual believes about a particular subject. However, an opinion in argumentation must have legitimate backing; adequate evidence and credibility should support the opinion. Consider the credibility of expert opinions. Experts in a given field have the knowledge and credentials to make their opinion meaningful to a larger audience. For example, you seek the opinion of your dentist when it comes to the health of your gums, and you seek the opinion of your mechanic when it comes to the maintenance of your car. Both have knowledge and credentials in those respective fields, which is why their opinions matter to you. But the authority of your dentist may be greatly diminished should he or she offer an opinion about your car, and vice versa. In writing, you want to strike a balance between credible facts and authoritative opinions. Relying on one or the other will likely lose more of your audience than it gains. The word prove is frequently used in the discussion of persuasive writing. Writers may claim that one piece of evidence or another proves the argument, but proving an argument is often not possible. No evidence proves a debatable topic one way or the other; that is why the topic is debatable. Facts can be proved, but opinions can only be supported, explained, and persuaded. Using Visual Elements to Strengthen Arguments Adding visual elements to a persuasive argument can often strengthen its persuasive effect. There are two main types of visual elements: quantitative visuals and qualitative visuals. Quantitative visuals present data graphically. They allow the audience to see statistics spatially. The purpose of using quantitative visuals is to make logical appeals to the audience. For example, sometimes it is easier to understand the disparity in certain statistics if you can see how the disparity looks graphically. Bar graphs, pie charts, Venn diagrams, histograms, and line graphs are all ways of presenting quantitative data in spatial dimensions. Qualitative visuals present images that appeal to the audience’s emotions. Photographs and pictorial images are examples of qualitative visuals. Such images often try to convey a story, and seeing an actual example can carry more power than hearing or reading about the example. For example, one image of a malnourished child will likely have more of an emotional impact than pages dedicated to describing that same condition in writing. Tips for Writing a Persuasive Essay Choose a topic that you feel passionate about. If your instructor requires you to write about a specific topic, approach the subject from an angle that interests you. Begin your essay with an engaging introduction. Your thesis should typically appear somewhere in your introduction. Start by acknowledging and explaining points of view that may conflict with your own to build credibility and trust with your audience. Also state the limits of your argument. This too helps you sound more reasonable and honest to those who may naturally be inclined to disagree with your view. By respectfully acknowledging opposing arguments and conceding limitations to your own view, you set a measured and responsible tone for the essay. Make your appeals in support of your thesis by using sound, credible evidence. Use a balance of facts and opinions from a wide range of sources, such as scientific studies, expert testimony, statistics, and personal anecdotes. Each piece of evidence should be fully explained and clearly stated. Make sure that your style and tone are appropriate for your subject and audience. Tailor your language and word choice to these two factors, while still being true to your own voice. Finally, write a conclusion that effectively summarizes the main argument and reinforces your thesis.

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In the early stages of planning this unit, I knew that the end product would be a trial of some sort. Whether this took the shape of an actual trial with witnesses, of a grand jury indictment, was unclear. However, because it is necessary to present students with a balanced and fair evaluation of the time period so that a trial be successful for all students involved, I realized that an incredible breadth of information would need to be covered. At first, rewinding to the onset of the Cold War in the immediate aftermath of World War Two seemed sufficient. But students would need to review the causes of World War Two, and maybe the Great Depression not only in American History, but also as a worldwide event. But the Red Scare of the 1950's can trace its roots back to World War One and the communist revolutions of that time period. However, then the communist revolutions, their ideals and goals, would need to be included as well. This process led me back -- way back -- to the earliest writings of Karl Marx and James Monroe. As the unit began to take shape, it became evident that the design of this unit would be ideal for a course taught in a thematic manner. The War of 1812 questioned the strength of the United States and its ability to ward off an invasion force. The troubles of Europe, the defeat of Napoleon, the impending crisis of the Bourban return to power in Spain, and the threat of European influences in both North and South American prompted President James Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams to issue what has become known as the Monroe Doctrine. Issued to Congress in the State of the Union, the message urged that while the US has strived "not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers" any infringement or intervention by Europe into the affairs of North and South America would be paramount to "endangering our peace and happiness". Monroe hoped that the resulting foreign policy, a standard that would remain as the precedent for the next 100 years, would allow "the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in the hope that other powers will pursue the same course." The ideology asserted by Monroe would lay the foundation for a foreign policy of isolationism. Clear connections can be made between this foreign policy, the onset of the Cold War, and the fear embedded among the people of the United States in regard to foreigners and ideas contrary to democratic thought. McCarthy's crusade would only work if the country was in a position to hear his message. It is important to note that he did not invent the idea of a communist threat to democracy, just as the Weimar Republic, and other contributing factors, created conditions that would allow the Nazi Party to become elected to power. People were ready for McCarthy, and in some ways, needed him to be the voice of the movement -- a role he welcomed for the political advancement it provided. As an introduction the principle of isolationism is critical to analyzing McCarthy. In the aftermath of World War Two, when isolationism had been shattered by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when totalitarian regimes seemed to be gaining momentum, and the United States seemed to be the only power capable of combating the threat from abroad, people were afraid. For over a century, a foreign power had not waged an attack on the United States in the United States such as Japan had done. This drastically altered the perception of safety. The enemy was no longer overseas, but capable of a direct attack on American soil. Perhaps the best way to combat the possibility of attack is to continually be on the defensive. The Midwest, a region where isolationism has a particular stronghold even in the present day, in some ways welcomed the ideas of McCarthy. Connections to the present day, especially in the aftermath of September 11th, can be made. Why was the United States, the government and the citizenry, so willing to participate in conflict, both armed conflict and ideological conflict? It is possible that the perception of safety vanished, and it became our civic duty to protect ourselves and our loved ones in a seemingly impending crisis. In the early stages of the Cold War, public sentiment was no different. Communal living has a limited presence in American History. Although individuals, such as George Ripley and Robert Owen, would try to create small Utopian societies, these colonies had short life spans. At Brook Farm all members were equal, and each would share equally in the production of goods, their consumption, and consequently in the abundant spare time that would follow. The community struggled to survive, many members became disenchanted, and when a fire destroyed the Community Building, the experiment in utopia came to an end. The phenomena of communism drew worldwide attention in the mid 19th century. This topic may seem irrelevant to McCarthyism, but it does have a place in this unit. The idea of communal living, of individuals working collectively for the benefit of the state, has been attempted, and explored. However, these attempts have largely been unsuccessful, and this happened for a reason. The democratic liberal philosophies of the American citizenry prohibit the masses from living in such a state. Simply stated, we choose to not live in this manner because it is somehow un-American. An exploration as to why these ventures are largely unsuccessful may not be necessarily be required in this unit, but could serve as a possible extension. The disenchantment of the common man with government, specifically monarchy and tyranny, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, forced individuals to adopt new political ideologies. Combined with the Industrial Revolution, the worker was livid and ready for change. The Industrial Revolution brought to the world production that was inconceivable just decades earlier. The Revolution allowed the owner to increase wealth, and although the workingman's lot would improve, he could not enjoy the fruit of his labor to the same extent as the owner. Karl Marx and Frederiech Engels would write a pamphlet for the International Communist Party, a work so influential that even in the present time the impact can be felt. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, and although a product of the time period written to specifically combat the social and economic problems of mid 19th century Europe, the Manifesto resonates today. The revolution that Marx envisioned would eventually take place, but in many ways, his ideas were abandoned and manipulated by those who came to power. In Russia, the Soviet Union was born out of the need to reform the inadequacies of the Tsar's government and his policies. Around the world, revolutions took place, and several regimes toppled only to be replaced by a new world order. Lenin and Trotsky led Russia out of World War I and into a hopeful new being. However, what Lenin would create would not be the social utopia that Marx had envisioned. Although Marx prophesized about the possibility of a violent revolution, he did not envision the consolidation of power that Lenin embraced. Lenin, and later Stalin, moved away from the ideals of Marx, and in doing so, set the stage for McCarthy. The communist government of the Soviet Union would taint the reputation of communism around the world. Perhaps this is why the Red Scare of the early 20th century did not have as much public support as McCarthy's crusade. There was no proof that communism was necessarily bad. Communism, at least the Marxist version, was not yet associated with dictatorship. And while the principles of communism differ greatly from democracy, even in the Marxist version, it was possible to have a country embrace communist and socialist ideals without completely rejecting the economic principles of a free market economy. Once Stalin came to power this could no longer be. Communism was inextricably linked to a totalitarian government; and that was too closely linked to the Fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini. In the aftermath of World War, especially a war fought specifically to ensure that people worldwide could enjoy the Four Freedoms , a war in which many Americans died, a war that allowed military conflict to come to the United States, there was no room for a totalitarian regime that could threaten our democracy. The dissemination of new ideas in the 19th century was more laborious than in the present day. Modern technology quickened the rate at which new information is passed along. While during the War of 1812 news of the Treaty of Ghent -- which effectively ended the war -- did not reach the United States until after the Battle of New Orleans, the news media and the public found out about Vice President Cheney's hunting incident before President Bush. This phenomenon is due to the prevalence of television, and society's need to know what is going on in the world we live in. News broadcasts are abundantly available. NBC30, A local affiliate of NBC has four news broadcasts daily, one at daybreak, one in the late morning, one in the early evening, and finally at 11pm each night. And this is only a local broadcast. National news is aired twice daily: first during the Today Show and later on NBC Nightly News. This is not unique to NBC, with ABC and CBS following a similar schedule. Furthermore, FOX News, MSNBC, and CNN primarily broadcast only news shows. Add in the Financial news stations, and as a society we are inundated with information. This is primarily a development of the late 20th century, and television was still in its infant stages during the McCarthy Era. However, the man who would be most closely associated with combating McCarthy and his crusade against communist infiltration in the United States, would begin his journalism career first on radio, and later would be instrumental in shaping the format and ideals of television. Edward R. Murrow first came into the public limelight during World War Two. His broadcasts via the radio airwaves during the war kept America informed. Other journalists, such as Ernie Pyle, would bring a different voice -- a literary one -- into the foray. However, Murrow's voice stands out as being one of the earliest and most trusted in the business. Born Egbert Roscoe Murrow in 1908, Murrow would move with his family to from Polecat Creek, NC to Blanchard, WA. In high school he would change his name to Edward R. A graduate of Washington State College, where he excelled in speech and debate, Murrow would later become involved in as organization dedicated to helping persecuted scholars escape from Nazi Germany. Only in 1937, at the age of 29, did Murrow begin his career in broadcast journalism, a forum that is still defined by Murrow's contributions. As the impending doom of World War II began to take shape in the late 30's, Murrow realized the need to report the stories as they were uncovered. Murrow would assemble a crew of young journalists, Murrow's Boys, capable of broadcasting events as they occurred. In an early standoff with the network higher-ups, Murrow would insist that his reporters have two distinct qualifications, and disregarded the quality of the journalists speaking voice. "Murrow put his foot down: he was not hiring announcers, he said, but people who could think and write." Throughout his career, Murrow would contend with the Network executives who were often more concerned with using the news division as profitable entertainment than with the ideals of journalism. As the war broke out, Murrow and his boys were there to report and broadcast the uncovering stories. But the public was not ready for war. Many did not want to become involved in Europe's affairs. At the end of 1940 a poll indicated that 95% of Americans were against war with Germany. It would be the Battle of Britain that would alter the public opinion, and Edward R. Murrow's voice, intermingled with the resounding disaster of bombs, would be brought from Europe into the living room of the United State's. But for Murrow, "radio's task was not to bring the story to the listener, but to bring the listener to the story." Later, Archibald MacLeish would allude to the effect Murrow's broadcasts. After the War, Murrow's radio show, Hear It Now, would be adapted for television and renamed See It Now. Both Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly would set the standard for the weekly news magazine, and remnants of their ideas are still present today when viewers tune into 60 minutes, 20/20, or DatelineNBC. For that matter, one can still hear the presence of Murrow's style each day on NPR -- the radio format of this show is very reminiscent of Murrow. Murrow would mesh popular culture and serious news to appeal to the viewer, and just as the networks are today, he was forced to succumb to the pressures of advertisers and their money. Perhaps that is what is so remarkable about his efforts to expose McCarthy. In an episode of See it Now, in which McCarthy's campaign was only alluded to, the chief sponsor of the show withdrew its monetary support. Able to broadcast without this financial support, Friendly and Murrow instead subsidized the show themselves, a testament to their diligence. Senator McCarthy began his crusade at Wheeling, West Virginia. In a speech he announced to the world that he had in his hand a list of card carrying members of the communist party, all of whom worked for the National Government. Although he would never produce the list, and the number would dwindle from 256 to 40, McCarthy grabbed national attention by the horns. In addition to McCarthy's list anti-communist activists alleged the infiltration of communists into Hollywood, and later the Rosenbergs and Alger Hiss would draw national attention. It is important to note, that although most that were accused were done so wrongly, there were some communists that had in fact infiltrated the national government. Also, cases of espionage were present and very likely, just not likely to the extent that McCarthy asserted. Most were afraid to combat McCarthy and a sense of hysteria quickly spread throughout the United States. Standing up against McCarthy most assuredly meant that a person was perceived by the public to be a communist, or at least a communist sympathizer -- a fate with potentially equal consequences. In some ways this makes Murrow's stand even more heroic. Murrow's crusade would come in two distinct phases. The first would be a story about the discharge of a man from the Air Force, whose father was a supposed member of the communist party. The most frightening aspect of this incident is the speed in which the "trial" took place. The hearing was neither broadcast nor open to the public, which is not uncommon. However, the evidence that was used to convict the man was in a sealed envelope -- the man himself was never given the opportunity to examine this evidence. Murrow broadcast a story about this man, and although he never mentioned McCarthy's name, Murrow was linking the Senator's actions and ideas to this case. Months later Murrow would attack McCarthy directly. This episode would be Murrow's finest hour, and in some ways his own downfall. The episode was antagonistic and exceedingly biased. The show utilized McCarthy's own words and portrayed him to be a madman. McCarthy was later given the opportunity to rebut Murrow's accusations on See It Now. However, soon after this episode, Murrow's show was redesigned. It was expanded to an hour and broadcast on Sundays -- a move that basically killed his ratings. This was a move by the CBS executives to quiet Murrow and Friendly, and furthermore, to appease the network sponsors. Teaching with the Sources This unit relies heavily upon primary source documents, supplemented by secondary sources. The beauty of teaching with such material is that is forces students to interpret history, a skill that is vastly different than recalling history. When students are forced to interpret history for themselves there are several important outcomes. First, they automatically assume more personal accountability to the material and its meaning -- after all, it is their own ideas that are being tested, not the teacher's nor some random textbook author. They are then more likely to retain the information. This is the type of organic learning that is needed so sorely in the modern classroom. After all, the study of history is not about distant figure and events in the past, it is the study of us and of the present day and more importantly of the student. That is why relevant connections must be made to the present -- not because it makes history come alive to the student, but because it helps the student see why the world is the way it is and why as humans we make certain decisions -- decisions not only on a grand international scale, but on the local and personal level. A great starting point for this unit is with Monroe's Message to Congress in 1823. I realize that it is seemingly too distant from McCarthyism, but allows the student to develop a foundation in isolationism, a concept of foreign policy that dictated the US role in the world for over a century. Parts of the speech can be excerpted for use in the classroom, and I suggest specifically examining the passages that lay out Monroe's ideas. The teacher should have students identify these ideas. The first being that Europe ought to stay out of the affairs of the Americas, and America would stay out of the affairs of Europe, and secondly, that any interference by Europe would be considered an attack on the United States. Students could also be asked to define isolation and should later be able to explain why this term is, or perhaps is not, a good way to describe the foreign policy. The second step would be to read excerpts from the Communist Manifesto. Specifically, the section on the proletariat and the bourgeoisie would be the most important. In this section Marx explains the difference between the two classes, outlines how the two came to be in such conflict, and then describes how the communist revolution will take place. An upper level class might be able to read larger chunks of this work, others might only be able to read very short passages. The piece is long, and can be difficult to comprehend, but certainly this should not distract from its use in the classroom. When faced with a difficult reading, students often rise to the challenge, and although they might need much help at the outset, they will be able to do the work. A second option would be to have students read a secondary source document that explains the Communist Manifesto and Marx's ideas. Students might struggle with these concepts, and that is to be expected. A comparison of communism and democracy would be a great way to clarify the two ideologies. In the present day oppression is closely linked to communism, but in its inception, Marx actually was searching for a way to ensure equality. In this way, he does not differ from the Founding Fathers -- both strive for equality. It is in methodology that differences emerge. Only later would communist governments use oppression to control the masses and keep a communist government in power -- a government that strays away from equality for all and that asserts itself as a totalitarian regime. A typical graphic organizer to visually depict various political ideologies is to draw a straight line. To start, the line should be labeled left, center, and right. Next, add in liberal and conservative on the left and right, respectively. At this time it would be important to define what these terms mean. Liberal generally implies the desire to change and reform public policy, while conservative implies a willingness to stay with the status quo. Of course, in our modern political world these words have greater meaning than that, but in the root sense, these definitions are adequate. Radical can be added to the left of liberal, and reactionary to the right of conservative. These, too, should be defined; Radical is equated with broad sweeping changes and reactionary with a desire to return to past. Students, if they are ready, should now be able to place Communism and Democracy on the spectrum. One possible method is to have students decide where they believe the two terms belong, and then defend their position. These predictions help to clarify student thinking. Of course, students will choose both ends of the spectrum, and that is ok. Sometimes, a well reasoned wrong answer is better than a poorly defended right answer. These ideas can be explored further by reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. Allegorical in nature, this novel explores the Russian Revolution and the rise of Lenin and Stalin to power. This work is useful for several reasons. First, it is a great piece of fiction. It embodies all the elements of a good piece of literature, character development, rising action, falling action, climax, etc. The novel is also a great piece of history. It makes the confusion of the Russian Revolution accessible, and explores the ideas of communism -- both Marxism and Leninism, in a way that most are able to comprehend. It is the type of book that can be read with a lower level class and an upper level class and still be successful. Finally, it is a great example of allegory. Symbolism, to this extent, is often difficult to interpret -- like Edgar Allen Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" -- but Orwell puts the reader at ease in this novel. Orwell, who must have drawn inspiration from Jonathan Swift's , created a masterpiece of satire. The work is meant to ridicule a topic and in turn prompt change. Orwell's target in this piece of literature was the problems associated with tyrannical rule and the absence of democratic principles. Manor Farm symbolizes Tsarist Russia, Animal Farm the new U.S.S.R. Each character, and consequently each event, parallels a part of the Russian Revolution. Old Major is Lenin, Snowball is Trotsky, Napoleon is Stalin, Animalism is Communism. The characters are wildly fantastic and at times are downright hilarious. Thematically, the story examines a ruler's need to control the citizenry, and the dangers of the communist regime. Orwell is heavily critical of Stalin and his dictatorship, but even more importantly, the author is skeptical of the United States and Great Britain for doing little to combat Stalin. The Tehran Conference of 1943 is symbolized in the animal's game of cards where Napoleon and Pilkington first compliment each other only to cheat and betray the other's trust. Orwell, in his rich satirical voice, is in actuality insisting that both the United States and Great Britain do more to contain Stalin and his vicious tactics of ruling. Orwell is also skeptical of leaders who adopt grand ideas for the betterment of society, but in turn, choose only to hold onto power through oppressive means. At this time, students should place George Orwell, and the characters of Animal Farm on the political ideology spectrum that was created earlier in the unit. Is Orwell a liberal, a conservative, a radical, or a reactionary? Students should defend their opinions using specific evidence from the text. Of course, it is possible to build more elaborate lessons and activities to accompany this text, but that might detract from the unit too much. Animal Farm is a useful tool to explore the development of a communist regime, but this is only part of understanding why communism was viewed as being so evil. Animal Farm does allow students to build a strong foundation to argue for McCarthy's crusade, an important aspect of creating a successful trial in the classroom. Animal Farm allows the scholar to examine a difficult topic in an accessible manner. Squealer, a symbol of propaganda, controls what the other animals ought to think. Arguing against the regime means inevitable doom for the animals. At this juncture students should define the terms dissent and disloyalty. The two should not be confused with each as being synonymous, nor should the former automatically lead to the latter. Herein lies the greatest difference between a communist and democratic regime. In the latter, dissent dos not automatically mean disloyalty, while in the former it does. Is Murrow the dissenting voice, or is McCarthy? Is McCarthy being loyal and Murrow disloyal or vice versa? Certainly, arguments can be made to support and answer to these questions. The trial of McCarthy, or perhaps of Murrow, needs to be both highly structured, and also allow for organic and constructivist growth. Structured means that students need to know what they will be arguing for and against -- they will also need to have access to documents that can be used for evidence. Organic growth means that students should have the freedom to draw their own conclusions and to have these conclusions validated. Make sure that students have adequate evidence to both convict and acquit whoever is being tried. Also, do not get bogged down in procedure. The trial, in this unit, is meant to teach students to argue and defend using evidence and not the procedure of an actual trial. That can be taught in a separate lesson. Also, if so desired, the teacher can choose to have witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense, or they can safely be removed from the picture. In this case, the trial ceases to be a trial, and become an indictment hearing. Depending on student level, the teacher can prepare evidence packets in advance, or if desired, students could be asked to search for their own evidence. Be aware that this takes more time, and also implies that students will need to be taught how to locate relevant primary source materials. At the end of the unit, if the unit has been Successful, students should be ready to take on this task in a mostly independent manner. An important quote by Edward R. Murrow can be used and analyzed. It might even be a document to include into an evidence packet for students to use in preparing for the trial. It provides insight into democratic principles, and relevant connections can be made to the present day. An obvious avenue to the present day, and an important connection to be made, is to examine how certain groups were represented in the media and targeted for investigation in the aftermath of 9/11. A central theme to explore is how much should freedom be restricted in order to preserve the safety of the country. This is evident in the following quote from Murrow: "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men-- not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular . . . We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." Can dissent cross into treason, and at what point does dissent qualify as such? What role as citizens ought we to play in speaking out against the government? By examining these ideas in the historical context, we then examine ourselves and decide the role we will play as individuals in the modern world. After all, this is why we study history. History it is not just the study of the past, nor is history only the study of how we came to be who we are. We study history in an effort to understand ourselves in the present and who we should be in the future. Murrow's words and advice ring true more now than they ever did before.

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Why is it called Five in a Row? Because you will read the story aloud to your child for five consecutive days before doing the lesson(s). (This applies to the picture books found from More Before through Volume 5; it doesn’t apply to Before Five in a Row or the chapter books in the later volumes.) Be sure to read “Reading the Stories Five Days in a Row” in the “How to Use Five in a Row” section of each manual, Volumes 1-5. This explains more fully why Jane Claire Lambert created FIAR based on the philosophy of reading aloud, and repetitively, to your student. How do I know which level of Five in a Row to start with? Whether you have one child or several, click here to get an overview of the various levels of the FIAR curriculum. Downloading the sample units that are available for Before, More Before, and Five in a Row and reading through the lessons will give you a good idea of which manual is best suited to your student(s). To view and compare the volumes, click here for preschool and kindergarten manuals, and click here for Volumes 1-8. To download the booklists and sample units from each, click here. Do FIAR Volumes 1-8 correspond to grades 1-8? They can, but they don’t have to. You could begin your child with Volume 1 in first grade and theoretically use one volume per year, but it’s not necessary to use FIAR in this way. Many families do use one volume per year even though there aren’t 30+ books in each volume. This is because you’ll likely spend certain weeks on holiday studies, your children (or you!) will have illnesses, there will be vacations or other breaks from school, etc. There are also Mini Units you can use to fill in during the school year. In addition to all of this flexibility, Volumes 1-3 are interchangeable (regarding their level of difficulty), and you may wish to combine or alternate volumes if you have a wide range of ages. Five in a Row is an extremely flexible curriculum and all of these options work very well. What else do I need to supplement in order to have a full curriculum? For preschool (Before FIAR and More Before FIAR), you’ll need no other formal curriculum. You may want to do counting practice or pre-math skills at that age, just as a part of your day-to-day life with your child. For your FIAR-aged child (Volume 1 and up) who is not reading yet, you’ll need a good phonics program and a simple math curriculum at the appropriate age level. For children who are already reading successfully, many families choose to no longer teach phonics but to simply let the child read books that interest him (and you, of course, will continue to read aloud to him!). You’ll continue to do a math curriculum daily, and at some point (this varies for individual children), you’ll want to add spelling, handwriting, and grammar as individual subjects in language arts. You won’t need to add a separate history or science curriculum while using Five in a Row. If your child is especially interested in science or history, we strongly encourage you to help them find library books and other resources in these areas, and you might consider read-alouds on these topics just for fun! Do the picture books or chapter books that we’ll read come with the manuals? No, you’ll need to obtain the books separately, whether from the library or by purchasing them. Do I have to purchase the books that go along with the manuals? You can, but you don’t have to. Many people choose to use the library for all books, or purchase only certain titles. That said, other FIAR families DO eventually purchase many (if not all!) of the books because they’re such wonderful, heartwarming, unforgettable stories. They want to treasure them and someday pass them on to the next generation. Do I need to order one FIAR manual for each child? No. The FIAR books are teacher’s guides and you’ll only need one manual to use with your family. What does “rowing a book” mean? Many families who use Five in a Row refer to “rowing” a book, which simply means doing the FIAR unit study using the lessons and the selected book. Do I have to do the books in order? And how does FIAR progress in difficulty through the 8 You don’t have to do the books in any particular order. Feel free to mix and match the units depending on the needs of your student. Volumes 1-3 are based on books that are about the same level. Volume 4 increases in difficulty and length of study for each book (two weeks for each unit instead of one). Volume 5 is a transition volume, containing both picture books and chapter books. Volumes 6 and 7 (chapter books) are similar in level, and Volume 8 contains two more chapter books plus the longest FIAR unit, a semester-long study of a more advanced chapter book. To view and compare the volumes, click here. To download the booklists and sample units from each, click here. What are the differences between Before Five in a Row and More Before Five in a Row? Do I need to do Before Five in a Row first? Before Five in a Row is designed for ages 2-4 while More Before Five in a Row is designed for ages 3-5. Before Five in a Row is not a traditional curriculum, but instead a collection of discussion- and play-based lessons based on classic books for young children, to do for 10-20 minutes, two or three days a week. More Before provides a more structured, 5 days a week, preschool or kindergarten experience. Depending on the age of your child, you can do Before Five in a Row first or jump in with More Before. Many families have had great success in combining Before and More Before for their young children, alternating between the volumes. To view and compare the volumes, click here.To download the booklists and sample units from each, click here. What are Story Disks and Storybook Maps? How do I use them? Story Disks are circles that have an image that corresponds to a picture book used in Before, More Before, or Five in a Row Volumes 1-5 (picture book units). They are available in black and white at the back of each manual for you to photocopy and color in or have your child color in. Full-color, laminated story disks come free with your manual purchase from fiveinarow.com (you do not have to add the story disks to your cart if you purchase the manual here). If you need to purchase story disks without ordering a manual, please contact firstname.lastname@example.org. For Five in a Row Volumes 1-5, the disks are used as a geography aid for the picture book units. You cut out the laminated disk and using removeable teacher’s putty, you’ll attach the disk to a world map or U.S. map on the location where the story takes place. (Most families purchase both maps for use with Five in a Row; you can purchase the maps of your choice.) For instance, while studying the Madeline unit of Five in a Row you will discuss the geography lesson from the manual that talks about how Madeline lived in Paris, which is in a country named France. Then you’ll go to the world map with your child and find France, then Paris, and place the (Eiffel Tower) Madeline disk on that location. You can review this each day (taking the disk off after your lesson so that your child can find it again tomorrow on the map). For Before and More Before, you will use the Storybook Map (purchase the maps here and here) to place the disk for the location of where each story takes place—much like the Volume 1-5 disks above, but with a “make-believe” map rather than a real-world map. (The locations to place the disks are noted in the teacher’s manual at the end of each unit.) For instance, while doing the unit on Owl Babies (More Before), your child will find the hollowed-out tree on the map to place the Owl Babies story disk on. This activity helps your child learn map skills in a gentle, fun manner, laying a foundation for future geography lessons they’ll do in Five in a Row. You might choose to ask some basic questions like, “Is the hollow owl tree above or below the lake?” What if my child is already reading, or has already read some of the books found in the manuals? The Five in a Row curriculum, from Before FIAR to Volume 8, is not based on the student’s reading ability, and it works well with fluent readers, struggling readers, and non-readers. With the FIAR picture books, you will read the stories aloud to your children regardless of age or ability because of the warm, relational tone it sets for each teaching day. (For the chapter books, you may read aloud or your child may read; this is covered in the front matter of Volumes 5-8.) Be sure to read “Reading the Stories Five Days in a Row” in the “How to Use Five in a Row” section of each manual, Volumes 1-5. This explains more fully why Jane Claire Lambert created FIAR based on the philosophy of reading aloud, and repetitively, to your student. Will my child get bored if we read the same book more than once? Most likely not. The first time you read a story, children simply want to discover what happens. But each day we peel back the story, learning to write using some of the techniques the author has used, or learning to draw or paint using some of the techniques, materials or palettes the illustrator has used. We learn more about the culture or setting where the story took place, we pull out interesting science topics to discuss and explore, etc. So with each new reading, the child can look at the illustrations, think about the cuisine or the architecture; appreciate the writing style, etc. Each day builds on the previous day’s learning experience. And each reading builds a bond with the book for your child so that they develop a deep and abiding love for each wonderful story. Then each time they read the story they’ll recall and strengthen their grasp on the many lessons learned from that beloved book. What if my child balks at reading the story more than once? There are lots of easy tricks you can use to make the re-reading fun! For instance, you might tell the student you are going to leave OUT certain words and you want to see if they can catch you when you make a mistake. Or you might ask him to call out each time you read a certain character’s name and see how many times the author has included that name or word. You can ask your child to be looking for pictures that have a particular color scheme or technique from the art lesson while you’re reading the story, etc. Be sure to read “Suggestions for a Resistant Student” in the “How to Use Five in a Row” section of each manual. I’ve heard that several of the books are out of print. What if I can’t obtain a specific book? “In print” inventories from publishers change from month to month. Most FIAR titles are in print and are readily available to order or to request from the library. At the back of each manual, Volumes 1-5, you’ll find a section called “Finding the Books” which has helpful information on locating out of print titles. Other options include inter-library loan, various used book websites, library sales, or (not ideal but can be used in a pinch) watching a video of a read-through of the book online. Some families choose to simply skip a title that they have difficulty finding. Because lessons don’t specifically build on one another from book to book, and because many lessons will be revisited in different ways in other units, you can skip books if needed. Can my 2 or 3-year-old join in with the older children? Of course! But you’ll find that Before FIAR is aimed directly at their learning readiness needs and provides a very special 10-20 minutes a few times a week that is “their time” just like big brother or big sister. How long does it take to do Five in a Row each day? For Before Five in a Row you’ll want to spend 5-10 minutes reading the story to your toddler and then doing one fun activity. You may choose to do this more than once each day but don’t make it “work”—keep it fun. With More Before, you’ll spend around 15-30 minutes reading the story to your preschooler or kindergartener and then choosing one or more lessons from the manual. More time will be spent on days that your child becomes invested in an art project or wants to play what they’ve been learning (play-based learning is encouraged and ideas/lessons are provided for you). For Five in a Row picture books (found in Volumes 1-5), plan to spend anywhere from 15 to 60+ minutes per day in addition to whatever time you set aside for math, phonics, spelling, etc. The reason for the wide variance in times is because the lessons you choose vary greatly in length. You may spend only 15 minutes discussing a topic in social studies or language arts, or you may spend an hour and half on a science experiment or an art project—and everything in between! The longer you “row” (use the FIAR curriculum), the more you’ll have a good grasp on how long each activity is likely to take. For Five in a Row chapter books (found in Volumes 5-8), plan to spend anywhere from 30 minutes on up. The time varies greatly for the same reasons mentioned in the paragraph above. You also won’t read a chapter from the book every day, which will affect how long your school time will last. Do I have to do every activity in the teacher’s manual? No—in fact, you’ll want to select only one or two activities each day. There are more lessons in the manual than you will be able to (or likely, want to) use. Some of the stories seem to be seasonal. Should I do specific stories or volumes at certain times? There are several stories mixed throughout the volumes that are indeed seasonal. And it would be lovely to do those stories at the appropriate time of the year. But the majority of the stories can be done anytime. How long does each chapter book unit (Volumes 5-8) take to complete? It depends entirely on you and your student. Most people find they spend 6-8 weeks on each unit, but some spend longer. In the back of Volumes 5-8, you’ll find sample lesson planning pages that walk you through two weeks of a chapter book study that is found in that particular manual. Those sample lessons are just one way you could approach two weeks of study. In addition to planned study, many families also find themselves on “rabbit trails” at any FIAR level. For example, a passing mention of the solar system or the Revolutionary War may lead to a two-week rabbit trail on that subject as you visit planetariums or battlefields, go to the library, do self-directed research and more. The goal is to get your child excited about learning! What are the Five in a Row Mini Units? When and how can I incorporate them into our studies? Mini Units are picture book units that are released periodically and are available in digital format. They are called Mini Units because there is one lesson for each subject for ages 5-9 (Social Studies, Language Arts, Art, Applied Math, and Science). There are also two additional lessons for older students (age 9-12) that expand on the younger lessons, as well as suggestions, ideas, go-along books, and teaching tips for ages 2-4. Mini Units cover every age level! The lessons in the Mini Unit are deep and rich … and the work of finding extra materials (go-along books, videos, websites, etc., for all age levels) has been done for you already. You’ll also find activity sheets for hands-on learning/documentation and a recipe that pairs with the story to make together and share. The Mini Units are really anything but mini! If you use all the age group lessons in each Mini Unit (or will use them at a later time with your children as they get older) then you are really purchasing three separate week-long units of learning based on the same picture book. You can row it with a 2, 3 or 4-year-old and then come back around to it in 2-3 years with a 5-8-year-old, and again a few years later with a 9-12-year-old. Each time they will learn new things and revisit a favorite picture book. Many of the Mini Units have a holiday theme, but the lessons are written to be used at any time during the year. Click here to see all Mini Unit options. You can also get a FREE Mini Unit by clicking here and using coupon code mini0920 at checkout. What is your #1 tip for new users to FIAR? Our # 1 tip would be to read the front matter (and back matter) in your Five in a Row manual. You’ll find Jane Claire Lambert’s tips for beginning Five in a Row, how to find out of print books, getting the most out of Five in a Row, sample lesson planning pages, how to do a Five in a Row review week … and much more! Spending 5-10 minutes reading through the front and back of each FIAR manual (even at the beginning of each school year!) will benefit you and your student for the length of their education with Five in a Row. What does “Second Edition” mean regarding the FIAR manuals? Several years ago, we were looking forward to the next 25 years of Five in a Row. We wanted to continue to provide the amazing content that our rowers know and love while improving each volume with activity pages, teachers notes, a beautiful layout, and a new design, including wide margins for notes, updated illustrations, and more. These changes provide over 100+ new pages of content to each volume. Most of all, we wanted to provide a clearer sense of continuity to the curriculum as a whole. We are now well into the Second Edition changes for FIAR Volumes 1-8 and the feedback from those who’ve used the new volumes has been overwhelmingly positive! For more details on updates and changes to each volume, click here and select the FIAR level that you are interested in by clicking on the cover of any volume. Here’s to an amazing 25+ years of Five in a Row and to the next 25 years! Can I still order the first edition Beyond Five in a Row manuals? If you have already finished a volume of Beyond Five in a Row, first edition, at this time you will be able to purchase these first edition volumes to finish out your Beyond Five in a Row journey with your student. Please contact email@example.com to purchase a Beyond Five in a Row manual. Where can I purchase the curriculum if I do not live in the U.S.? Five in a Row does not sell internationally through our website but does sell internationally through Rainbow Resource Center and Amazon. Is FIAR a Christian curriculum? We are Christians, but FIAR manuals are used successfully by both Christian and non-Christian families. Before Five in a Row and More Before include Bible devotionals for parent and child that can be used or skipped over. For Volumes 1-8, Bible lessons are not included in the manuals because some homeschoolers are not able to purchase religious curricula in order to stay in compliance with their state’s homeschool laws. So for Volumes 1-8, FIAR offers a separate Bible Supplement (in two volumes) that pairs up with each individual story unit. Hundreds of lessons in character development with accompanying Bible references are provided, as well as Teacher‘s Notes pages to record Bible memory verses or copywork, related worship songs or hymns, your student’s drawing of the Bible story you’ve discussed, and more. Find more information on the FIAR Bible Supplements here, and click here for all FIAR sample units, which includes a Bible Supplement sample. What denomination are the lessons in the Bible Supplement? Which translation of the Bible do you use? We don’t teach “doctrinal” lessons. Rather we connect familiar Bible stories with the stories children are reading. Further, we teach broad Biblical values: honesty, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, etc. You won’t find lessons on which type of baptism is “best” or women’s role in the church or speaking in tongues or church government. We’ll leave that for you to teach. In the rare cases where the Bible is directly quoted in the Bible Supplement (in almost all cases, chapter and verse numbers are given rather than direct quotes), we have used the ESV translation of the Bible. But overall, the Bible Supplement is designed for you to read directly from your Bible and share with your children. Find more information on the FIAR Bible Supplements here, and click here for all FIAR sample units, which includes a Bible Supplement sample. Is there a cookbook for FIAR, and how can I purchase it? The second edition of the FIAR cookbook will be available soon! It will actually be a cooking curriculum that will help you teach your child lessons in the kitchen through recipes that pair with each Five in a Row book. See this page for more information, as well as details on how to purchase the digital cookbook that was previously available. What are “rabbit trails” and should we take them? Rabbit trails, or going down a rabbit hole, happens when your student’s curiosity spurs a question that isn’t part of the lesson, or when they become deeply interested in a topic/subject and want to dive into learning more than what’s provided in a lesson. When rabbit trails are driven by your student’s curiosity, they provide interest-based learning opportunities that are powerful and have a high information retention rate. Five in a Row is based on a learning concept called “low floor/high ceiling.” Rabbit trails and natural curiosity mean that there is no end to what your student can learn if they follow the trail. (To learn more about the low floor/high ceiling concept and how rabbit trails are part of the high ceiling, click here.) Should you follow rabbit trails? We encourage you to do this if your student initiates it! Of course, not all students will ask questions that lead to rabbit trails, and that’s also perfectly fine—the FIAR manuals are providing everything they need! It’s a bit like healthy eating … the lessons in each manual provide a healthy “meal” (or the appropriate educational material for each student), while rabbit trails are the equivalent of a second serving of your favorite food or a dessert. It’s not necessary but, for some, it’s enjoyable! Does Five in a Row cover history chronologically? No, Five in a Row covers history topically, depending on the book that is being studied. This method creates interest-based, historical lessons—as they are tied to a character or story that your students is interested in, versus simply learning about an event or period in history because it comes next in a textbook. As your student progresses through the FIAR curriculum, they’ll learn about many topics/time periods/places more than once, at a somewhat higher level each time. This method allows your student to recall and build on previous knowledge, which is highly effective for learning at younger ages. In late middle school and high school, your child will likely study history in a more structured and/or chronological manner. Five in a Row encourages the use of a timeline if you want to foster a chronological understanding while embracing the topically-driven study of history provided through FIAR. The Homeschool History Book of Centuries: A Portable Timeline for the Young Historian by Anna Travis is one option. What about possible “gaps” in my student’s learning? The idea of “learning gaps” is deceiving. We all have learning gaps, no matter where we went to school or what curriculum we might have used—and today’s students are no exception. No one can cover everything or learn everything, nor should they. From Before FIAR to Volume 8, Five in a Row teaches children to love learning, how to learn, and how to find information. FIAR equips your children to fill in the inevitable gaps whenever they run into them—whether in high school, college, or later in life. With Five in a Row, your child won’t be learning information for a test and then forgetting it a week later. They’ll be digging into topics that spark their interest, learning about things that are new to them in every subject area, and then moving on to high school, where they’ll cover subjects in (mostly) a more systematic and structured way. This method of learning has proven successful for thousands of FIAR families over the past 25+ years. In today’s world especially, information is at our fingertips in seconds. Five in a Row teaches so much more than mere information. It develops skills and habits of learning that will serve your child well no matter what they decide to pursue after their FIAR studies are complete. They’ll learn how to become critical thinkers, how to enjoy literature and other creative arts, how to research and express their ideas, how to make connections between the things they learn, how to direct their own learning when needed, and much more—all in the relaxed atmosphere of “inspired learning through great books” that FIAR provides. Gaps are a natural part of the learning process. No need to be afraid or worry about them! What makes Five in a Row different from other curricula? First, it was developed by a successful homeschool teacher, so it’s geared for success in the home environment. Second, it’s relational at its very core. While a great deal of information is imparted to young learners, it’s done in a home/family/relational setting. By gathering your family together each morning and snuggling as you read a wonderful story aloud to your children, the tone of each teaching day is relational and fun rather than rigorous and sterile. If earning is consistently fun and enjoyable, they’ll be lifetime learners whether you (the teacher/parent) are there to push them or not. The core philosophy of Five in a Row is to teach children to love learning! Do you offer an affiliate program? No, we don’t. Will there be a Five in a Row booth at my homeschool convention? How do I get the free FOLD&LEARNs™? When you subscribe to the blog, you’ll be taken to the page that has all of the free FOLD&LEARNs™ upon completing all of the confirmation steps. If you didn’t bookmark that page, the link to the FOLD&LEARNs™ is at the top right center of any email. You can subscribe to the blog on the fiveinarow.com homepage; just scroll down to “sign up now” after clicking here. What additional curricula do you recommend for the subjects that Five in a Row doesn’t cover? Five in a Row covers Social Studies (including History, Geography, and Career Paths), Language Arts (including Writing and Discussion Questions and Vocabulary), Art, Applied Math, Science, and Life Skills for ages 5-12+. Finding the right fit for you (the teacher) and your student is the most important criterion when choosing any curriculum. So it’s entirely possible that you will need different curricula for different children in your family. That said, programs that we have personally used and would recommend include those below. Most of these resources can be found through the Five in a Row Amazon shop. You will need to add a math program to Five in a Row. Many people do this around first grade. Math-U-See (includes video option) Math Lessons for a Living Education (foundational math textbooks with a literature/story-driven theme in each lesson) Teaching Textbooks (online program with video lessons) CTC Math (online program with video lessons) Five in a Row doesn’t teach how to read. Keep in mind that children may begin reading at 4, or they may begin at 8—both are completely within the usual range of beginning to read. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (phonics) Dash Into Reading (phonics) All About Reading (phonics) Bob books (phonics based; each simple, short storybook addresses a stage in a child’s reading development) Explode the Code (basic phonics and handwriting practice) Handwriting Without Tears (multi-sensory approach to handwriting) Some children will do well beginning spelling in earlier grades (especially if they need more practice), while some can wait until later elementary. Spelling Power (one book for K-12, includes placement tests, works well for natural spellers) All About Spelling (open-and-go program based on the Orton-Gillingham approach; hands-on, multi-sensory, good for dyslexia or struggling spellers) If you have a child who loves language arts and is ready for more formal grammar study, you might want to begin in mid-elementary years, around 3rd grade. But many children have greater success with grammar by waiting until later elementary grades to begin. Easy Grammar and Daily Grams (quick and easy to use, focuses on correct usage) Rod & Staff English (a more rigorous, traditional approach, includes diagramming and writing exercises in mid-elementary grades; from a Christian perspective) Five in a Row draws many lessons about music, famous composers, and musicians from the selected picture books. We highly recommend the following study to dive more deeply into a composer study or to incorporate a consistent music study into your week. Conversations with Composers, which can be found at myhomegrownsymphony.com Have a question we didn’t answer? Feel free to email us at firstname.lastname@example.org!

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15 Principles for Reading to Deaf Children The ultimate authorities in reading to deaf children are deaf adults. Comparative studies of deaf children with hearing parents and deaf children with deaf parents show that deaf children with deaf parents are superior in academic achievement, reading and writing, and social development (Ewoldt, Hoffmeister, & Israelite, 1992). Hearing parents and teachers can learn from the read aloud strategies used by deaf parents. The following 15 principles have been identified based on research that examined deaf parents and deaf teachers reading to deaf children: Deaf readers translate stories using American Sign Language When it comes to reading stories to deaf children, one of the most prominent dilemmas is whether to sign the stories in ASL or in a manual code developed to represent English. Parents and teachers worry that if they don't sign every word in English word order, the deaf children will not pick up on the English in the text. However, a look at research on how deaf mothers and fathers read to their children makes it clear: they use ASL to read the stories to their children (Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Mather, 1989; Schick & Gale, 1995; Whitesell, 1991). A study by Schick and Gale (1995) noted that children found stories told in ASL more interesting and engaging. Deaf readers keep both languages visible (ASL and English) Although deaf readers use American Sign Language, they also place great importance on the written English of the text. Deaf parents demonstrate this when they read to their deaf children by keeping the English print visible while they interpret the story in ASL (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Mather, 1989; Schleper, 1995b; Stewart, Bonkowski, & Bennett, 1990). This allows the children to look freely from parent (ASL) to the book (English), making sense of both. In one reading session, a deaf child interrupted his mother to ask, "Where does it say that?" The mother traced her finger along the part of the story that she had just signed. The child looked from the page to his mom, back to the page again, then looked again to his mother and with a nod signaled that he was ready for her to proceed with the rest of the story. Researchers have observed deaf parents frequently calling attention to text in a story, then signing, then pointing again to the text to help the child connect to both languages. In related research, Mather (1989) observed a deaf and hearing teacher read stories to deaf students in a classroom. One primary difference observed by the two readers, both fluent signers, was that the hearing teacher did not keep the text visible while signing a story to her class, while the deaf teacher did. Deaf readers are not constrained by the text Erting (1991) observed a deaf teacher reading the story Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells to a group of preschool children. This, translated from ASL, is what the teacher signed: Daddy is busy. So, Nora goes over to see Mommy, taps Mommy, and says, Mommy. But Mommy has to pick the baby up and burp the baby. Maybe the baby has to burp. So she is patting him on the back. Nora tries to get Mommy's attention, but Mommy is busy with the baby. This is what the text on the page said: Jack needed burping. Obviously, the deaf reader has elaborated extensively on the text. The other information comes from the illustrations, from what has happened in the story thus far, from the underlying theme of the book, and from the needs of the deaf children who are enjoying the story. The reader helps build the background knowledge necessary to understand the story. This tendency to elaborate on the text has also been observed in deaf mothers (Andrews & Taylor, 1987). This suggests that when reading to deaf children, parents and teachers need not be obsessively concerned about knowing each and every word within the text, but should place higher priority on conveying the story. Deaf readers re-read stories on a "storytelling" to "story reading" continuum Like their hearing counterparts, emerging deaf readers enjoy having the same story read over and over to them. Trelease (1995) explains that this is a natural and necessary part of language development. "These rereadings coincide with the way children learn. Like their parents, they are most comfortable with the familiar, and when they are relaxed, they're better able to absorb. The repetition improves their vocabulary, sequencing, and memory skills. Research shows that preschoolers often ask as many questions (and sometimes the same questions) after a dozen readings of the same book, because they are learning language in increments not all at once. Each reading often brings an inch or two of meaning to the story." According to Schleper (1995a), deaf readers elaborate on the text extensively the first time they read a story, but then each successive reading of the same text has less and less elaboration. The signing comes closer and closer to the actual text. What occurs is a continuum, moving from a great deal of signed elaboration toward a more direct translation of the English text into American Sign Language. The same process is used by teachers in a process known as shared reading, where the same story is read and re-read in the classroom to help emerging readers learn about stories (Schleper, 1995b). One can logically conclude that deaf readers use less elaboration in subsequent readings of the same text because they have already built the background knowledge the child needs during the initial readings of the story. Deaf readers follow the child's lead Deaf readers let children take the lead during read aloud sessions (Ewoldt, 1994; Maxwell, 1984; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). This can be as simple as allowing the deaf child to select the book to be read, permitting the child to turn the pages, and waiting for the child to examine the pictures and text in a book and then look up prior to reading the story. Following the child's lead also involves adjusting the reading style to fit the child's developmental level. With young children, or children who have had limited exposure to books, this may mean initially focusing on what is happening in the pictures. As children grow older and their attention spans increase, deaf adults tend to read more complete versions of the texts. This can be illustrated by observing a deaf father while reading to his deaf children, a daughter, 3, and a son, 6 (Schleper, 1995a). The father initially read Little Red Riding Hood by William Wegman to his young daughter. This book has lots of text that accompanies photos of dogs dressed up as characters in the story. As the father read the story, his daughter turned the pages. She was clearly interested in the pictures. Following his daughter's lead, the father allowed her lots of time to examine each picture; when she looked back at him, he signed what was happening. During this reading, the father essentially ignored the printed text and instead retold the familiar tale. In contrast, when he read to his 6-year-old son, the father followed the text, carefully translating into ASL. The son also held the book and turned the pages. The father traced his finger along the text before signing each page, and occasionally paused to allow his son to fill in the next part of text. Because the son was already beginning to read on his own, the father was again following his child's lead. Although deaf parents consistently follow their children's lead, classroom teachers seem to struggle with this concept. Ewoldt (1994) observed parents and teachers in booksharing sessions over a four-year period and noted that parents were more likely to follow the children's lead, while teachers were more inclined to establish their own agenda and struggle to get children to fit into this agenda. Deaf readers make what is implied explicit When deaf readers sign a story, they tend to add information to emphasize ideas in a story that are not directly stated in the text, but are clearly implied. For example, when a deaf father read Little Red Riding Hood to his daughter, he explained how the wolf donned Red Riding Hood's grandmother's clothing. Then the father added, "He is trying to fool the girl." The text never stated directly the reason behind the action, but the deaf reader wanted to make the reason obvious for his daughter. The addition of information to make the meaning of the story explicit, or to clearly state the main idea or moral of a story, appears to be a common technique used by deaf readers. This principle can be further illustrated by examining how deaf readers interpret the story, The Dancing Fly, by Joy Cowley. This is a predictable story about a pesky fly that buzzes around a store and annoys a storekeeper, who tries unsuccessfully to swat the fly with a fly swatter. The first couple of lines of the text are: "There was a little fly, and it flew into the store. It danced on the window, and it danced on the door." Schleper observed 10 different deaf readers sign the story. Inevitably, each reader began the story in a similar manner. First he or she introduced the fly, then added a sign for "arrogant" or "big-headed." Although the text never mentions the fly's personality, this characteristic is implied throughout the story through the struggle between the storekeeper and the fly. Like most of the principles observed with deaf parents and deaf teachers, this technique appears to be intuitive and unconscious on the part of the deaf readers. However, one can surmise that such a practice directly impacts the deaf children's reading achievement. By modeling the comprehension process and reading between the lines, deaf readers are showing how a story has meaning that goes beyond the printed text. Deaf readers adjust sign placement to fit the story A common strategy used by deaf adults reading to deaf children is to adjust the placement of signs to maintain interest and variety (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). Occasionally, the reader will place a sign directly on a child, such as making the sign for "cat" directly on the child's face. Other times, the reader will make the sign on the book or an illustration. For example, a deaf parent might use the classifier for a vehicle, place the sign on an illustration of a car, and then move the sign along the picture of the road in a book, as if the car is driving along the street. In one situation, a father who was reading to his daughter came to the last picture in a book about Little Red Riding Hood. In the picture, Red Riding Hood and her grandmother were eating cake with the woodsman. The father asked, "Are you hungry?" When his daughter nodded, the father mimed taking a piece of cake from the picture and offered it to his daughter. His use of sign placement helped his daughter interact with the story. At other times, deaf parents make the signs in the usual place. It appears that variation in placement of the signs, from on the child, to on the text, to the regular place, helps deaf children connect to the stories being read. Deaf readers adjust signing style to fit the story Critical aspects of speech are tone, intensity, and pitch of voice. Skilled readers to hearing children vary their intonation and volume to give life to the characters in the story. They vary their pitch to illustrate the high pitched voice of the baby bear or the booming voice of the papa bear in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In a similar way, deaf readers adjust their signing style to bring characters to life. A skilled deaf reader will adopt a more rigid, stilted signing style to portray an uptight person, sign using miniature signs and small signing space to depict someone who is timid, or use big exaggerated signs to show a "loud" character. Research on deaf parents shows that they use extensive variation in how they make their signs to make the stories interesting for their deaf children (Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Mather, 1989; Stewart, Bonkowski, & Bennett, 1990; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). Deaf readers connect concepts in the story to the real world Skillful deaf readers constantly relate experiences of their own to the characters and events in the stories they are reading (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Andrews & Taylor, 1987; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Stewart, Bonkowski, & Bennett, 1990; Whitesell, 1991). Deaf readers help children build this skill by regularly making connections between the story and the lives of the children they are reading to. As one deaf mother read a story about a cat which lapped up some milk, she added, "You know, the same as Sparky (their dog) drinks his water." The child laughed and nodded, clearly making the connection of their shared experience. A father who read Whales, the Gentle Giants to his children paused periodically to help them connect the story to their own experiences. The children had chosen the book because it reminded them of the movie Free Willy. After the father read a section of the text about a blue whale, he turned to his 3-year-old daughter and asked, "Are whales big or small?" "Big," the girl replied. "Really big!" the father agreed. Then his 6-year-old son walked over to the far wall of the family room to show his sister how big a blue whale really is. "That big," he said. His father told him that a blue whale is much bigger, but they remained skeptical. Then the father tried to help the children relate the whale's size to objects in their own lives. He said, "It's huge. It's the same as when you see a football field. It's big, right? This whale is bigger!" Deaf readers use attention maintenance strategies It is perfectly natural for deaf children to look away or down at the book sometimes while an adult is reading a story. Although this can be frustrating, experienced deaf readers find appropriate ways to respond (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Andrews & Taylor, 1987; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). Usually, deaf readers wait patiently until the child looks up again, then continue to read. Deaf readers also use a variety of strategies to keep their deaf children's attention. Most commonly, a parent will lightly tap the child on the shoulder or leg to get attention. If the parent is sitting alongside the child, the parent will often gently nudge the child, or shift the book to first draw the child's attention back to the text, and then to the waiting parent. The deaf parent also uses facial expression to maintain attention, and eye contact appears to be central in holding the child's interest. One behavior noticed with hearing parents and teachers, but absent with deaf parents, is grabbing the child by the chin and forcibly pulling the child's face to attention. While young children sometimes do this with their parents, it is not an acceptable practice to model for the children. Deaf readers also recognize the power of peripheral vision. They note that deaf children pick up a lot even when they are not looking directly at the reader's signs. And, since the deaf reader will often read the same story over and over again, the child will have plenty of opportunities to get any information missed during any one reading. Deaf readers use eye gaze to elicit participation Eye contact is clearly an important consideration when reading to deaf children. Mather (1989) researched the importance of eye gaze when reading to deaf children. She found readers used two types of eye gaze during reading sessions: individual and group gaze. One deaf teacher used group gaze effectively to involve all of the students in the reading and individual gaze to direct questions or comments to particular children. Mather noticed that hearing teachers sometimes used inappropriate eye gaze with deaf students, leading to miscommunication during reading sessions. One teacher, for example, commented to her class, "Some of you don't know this story." Instead of including the whole group, her gaze was focused on just one student. The child being singled out replied defensively, "I know! I know!" It is clear that eye gaze plays a key role in maintaining attention and eliciting responses during read aloud sessions. Deaf readers engage in role play to extend concepts Several researchers point out that deaf readers often act out parts of a story to help clarify meaning (Ewoldt, 1984; Mather, 1989; Rogers, 1989). A deaf teacher who was reading The Three Little Kittens to a group of preschool deaf children noticed that the children were not following the story. Quickly, the teacher mimed the kittens tracking mud into the house. Then she brought the children into the role play by becoming the mother cat and scolding the kittens. The children's grins demonstrated their renewed understanding and involvement. A mother and her 4-year-old deaf son also used role play during a session with the book Roll Over! A Counting Song by Merle Peek. This story is about a boy who shares his bed with nine animals. Each time they roll over, one animal falls out of bed. During the booksharing session, the deaf mother and her son were sitting on the bed as the mother read, "Ten in the bed and the little one said, 'Roll over! Roll over!' They all rolled over and one fell out." When she finished the section, her son stood up and fell dramatically off his bed, landing exactly in the same spot as the monkey in the book. He climbed back into bed, and as his mother went on reading, he continued to role play the animals, each time falling happily out of bed. Deaf readers use ASL variations to sign repetitive English phrases Many predictable books for young children have phrases that are repeated over and over again. For example, "He huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in," from The Three Little Pigs, or "Fee! Fie! Fo! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!" from Jack and the Beanstalk. When deaf readers read these repetitive phrases, they don't always sign them the exact same way. In fact, evidence suggests that deaf readers vary the way they sign repetitive English phrases. In these situations, the children see the English text remain constant in the book, while also being exposed to various ways to sign the concepts. Sometimes these sign variations are used to maintain interest in the story. For example, in the story Roll Over! A Counting Song by Merle Peek, the chant, "Roll over! Roll over!" is repeated 10 times as each character in turn rolls off the bed. When a deaf mother read this book to her son, she pointed to the English text (which was the same each time), but then signed the text in various ways. Sometimes she used a classifier to show the animals rolling together. Other times, she used a different sign for "roll." Sometimes she used other variations. The variety of ways she used to express the concept seemed to hold her son's interest in the story. Other times the use of sign variations helped to convey increased intensity or "volume," such as when each successive troll crosses over the bridge in The Three Billy Goats Gruff. While the English words remained the same, the deaf adult used different ASL translations each time the English phrase was repeated. Perhaps the readers were subconsciously demonstrating that there is no direct word-to-sign correspondence between English and ASL, and that, in fact, there are multiple ways to convey the English meaning in American Sign Language. In the process, the deaf readers are also developing the children's signed vocabulary, and, one can assume, promoting the children's ability to make meaning from the English text. Deaf readers provide a positive and reinforcing environment Reading is supposed to be fun. It is also supposed to involve the construction of meaning through reciprocal interaction between readers and text. Unfortunately, in many classrooms with deaf children, the teacher controls both the interactions and the interpretation of the text. Ewoldt (1994) observed extensive control on the part of teachers during booksharing. The teachers she observed used a variety of correction responses to children's comments. Those responses ranged from simply telling a child, "You're wrong," to ignoring the child's answer, providing a different answer, changing the meaning of a child's message to fit the teacher's version of the story, or restating the teacher's own interpretation. In contrast, research with deaf parents shows they provided a positive, interactive environment (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Andrews & Taylor, 1987; Ewoldt, 1994; Rogers, 1989). They did not seek "correct" answers from the children during reading. Rather, they set up a mutually rewarding atmosphere that encouraged the creative interpretation of text. In one reading session (Schleper, 1995a), a deaf father was reading Little Red Riding Hood to his daughter. His daughter tapped his knee, then turned back to the previous page and pointed. "Look at the teeth!" she said. "Yeah, the teeth are sharp! Like fangs," the father said, reinforcing the child's observation. "They have blood on them," the daughter pointed out. The father questioned this, pointing to the illustration. "Where?" he asked. They examined the picture together. "Maybe you re right. They do have blood!" the father said. Instead of ignoring his daughter, or telling her she was wrong, the father let her make her point. His positive, reinforcing response helped make booksharing enjoyable. And when the read aloud sessions are enjoyable, it is more likely that the child will retain fond, positive associations with books and reading. Deaf readers expect the child to become literate A final principle that seems to underlie the read aloud sessions between deaf adults and deaf children is the positive belief in the children's abilities. Whitesell (1991) observed a deaf teacher with a reputation for producing good, enthusiastic readers, hoping to determine which of her teaching strategies and practices seemed most critical. After observing for an extended period of time, Whitesell discovered the key: "The teacher expected them to become literate." Most deaf parents do not read to their children in order to teach them English or to instruct them in the reading process. They want to share their own love of books. While they may expect some academic benefit for the children, that is clearly secondary. When Schleper (1995a) asked deaf parents if they thought their children would become literate in English, they all replied, "Of course!" There was never any doubt.

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After this chapter, you should be able to: - Compare and contrast Piaget and Vygotsky’s beliefs about cognitive development. - Explain the role of information processing in cognitive development. - Discuss how preschool-aged children understand their worlds. - Put cognitive milestones into the order in which they appear in typically developing children. Discuss how early child education supports development and how our understanding of development influence education. - Describe autism spectrum disorder as atypical cognitive development Understanding of cognitive development is advancing on many different fronts. One exciting area is linking changes in brain activity to changes in children’s thinking (Nelson et al., 2006, as cited in Leon, n.d.). Although many people believe that brain maturation is something that occurs before birth, the brain actually continues to change in large ways for many years thereafter. For example, a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, which is located at the front of the brain and is particularly involved with planning and flexible problem solving, continues to develop throughout adolescence (Blakemore & Choudhury, 2006, as cited in Leon, n.d.). preschool cognitive skills The Continuum of Development (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014) describes the core skills which are part of the preschool/ kindergarten stage of development. These skills are also reflected the overall and specific expectations in the four frames in Ontario’s the Kindergarten Program (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016). This document will be referred to throughout the chapters on preschool development. Below is a summary of the core skills in preschool cognitive development as described in the Continuum of Development by Ontario Ministry of Education (2014). During the preschool years children continue to observe their world, ask questions, and develop and test their theories about how things work. During this stage of development children master new ways of describing and making meaning of their experiences. At this stage their reasoning is more logical. They solve problems by collecting and organizing information, reflecting on it, drawing conclusions and communicating their findings with others. This may include the skills of classifying and seriating. Increased verbal abilities allow them to use spatial terms and positional words such as behind, inside, in front of, between. They can follow directions, creating and using maps. Preschoolers’ exploration of mathematics continues to grow with an increasing understanding of numeracy, which includes counting in meaningful ways to determine quantity, comparing quantities, and completing simple number operations using number symbols. They explore ways to represent number such as tally marks. They demonstrate a growing ability to describe attributes of 2 dimensional figures and 3 dimensional solids, to identify patterns and show an interest in measurement, particularly linear measurement. They become more skilled at understanding time and how it is measured. The ability to represent is demonstrated through using materials to express ideas which may be in the form of 2D and 3D creations. In socio dramatic play preschoolers can take on a role pretending to be someone else, sustaining the play, and using props to tell a story. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014) Early childhood is a time of pretending, blending fact and fiction, and learning to think of the world using language. As young children move away from needing to touch, feel, and hear about the world toward learning some basic principles about how the world works, they hold some interesting ideas. For example, while adults have no concerns with taking a bath, a child of three might genuinely worry about being sucked down the drain. A child might protest if told that something will happen “tomorrow” but be willing to accept an explanation that an event will occur “today after we sleep.” Or the young child may ask, “How long are we staying? From here to here?” while pointing to two points on a table. Concepts such as tomorrow, time, size and distance are not easy to grasp at this young age. Understanding size, time, distance, fact and fiction are all tasks that are part of cognitive development in the preschool years. Piaget’s Preoperational Intelligence Piaget’s stage that coincides with early childhood is the preoperational stage. The word operational means logical, children are learning to use language and to think about the world symbolically. Let’s examine some of Piaget’s assertions about children’s cognitive abilities at this age. As children move through substage 6 in sensorimotor development they begin to work with symbols, words ,and gestures to form an internal working model of their world. They demonstrate deferred imitation by imitating actions they have seen at a previous time. They begin to use objects to represent other things so a block can be a phone for example. These new skills support the emergence of make-believe play. Pretending is a favourite activity at this time. A toy has qualities beyond the way it was designed to function and can now be used to stand for a character or object unlike anything originally intended. A teddy bear, for example, can be a baby or the queen of a faraway land! Figure 10.1: A child pretending to buy items at a toy grocery store. (Image by Ermalfaro is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0) According to Piaget, children’s pretend play helps them solidify new schemes they were developing cognitively. This play, then, reflects changes in their conceptions or thoughts. However, children also learn as they take on roles. examine perspectives, pretend and experiment. Their play does not simply represent what they have learned (Berk, 2007, as cited Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). In their play they make meaning of their lived experiences and explore possibilities as they consider ‘what is’ and ‘what if’? This is the perfect age to introduce Indigenous Storytelling with role playing the animals in the story. Let them change the story and have fun with it. Children will see themselves in the story. This relates to what Piaget says: “In their play, they make meaning of their lived experiences and explore possibilities as they consider ‘what is’ and ‘what if’?”. Plenty of outdoor play will help to connect children to the land. At this age, children also have to have clear directions in order to complete what they are asked to do. For example, if the child is not looking at you. You say listen to me. The child says “I am listening to you.” The educator has to be precise in what they are asking of the child. It is important to note that a lot of Indigenous children might not look you in the eyes. This is a cultural thing. Egocentrism in early childhood refers to the tendency of young children to think that everyone sees things in the same way as the child. Piaget’s classic experiment on egocentrism involved showing children a 3-dimensional model of a mountain and asking them to describe what a doll that is looking at the mountain from a different angle might see. Children tend to choose a picture that represents their own view, rather than that of the doll. However, children tend to use different sentence structures and vocabulary when addressing a younger child or an older adult. This indicates some awareness of the views of others. Figure 10.2: Piaget’s egocentrism experiment. (Image by Rosenfeld Media is licensed under CC BY 2.0) Syncretism refers to a tendency to think that if two events occur simultaneously, one caused the other. Example: A family is planning to go on a picnic. The preschooler misbehaves by taking a toy away from their younger sibling who cries. The family reacts firmly to the situation. As they are sorting out the situation, they hear the sound of distant thunder and decide to postpone the picnic. The preschooler may believe that their behaviour caused the storm which resulted in the cancellation of the plans. Attributing lifelike qualities to objects is referred to as animism. The cup is alive, the chair that falls down and hits the child’s ankle is mean, and the toys need to stay home because they are tired. Cartoons and animation frequently show objects that appear alive and take on lifelike qualities. They may also think that a small gardening tool could grow up to be a full-size shovel. Young children do seem to think that objects that move may be alive but after age 3, they seldom refer to objects as being alive (Berk, 2007, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Preoperational children have difficulty understanding that an object can be classified in more than one way. For example, if shown three white buttons and four black buttons and asked whether there are more black buttons or buttons, the child is likely to respond that there are more black buttons. As the child’s vocabulary improves and more schemes are developed, the ability to classify objects improves. Conservation refers to the ability to recognize that moving or rearranging matter does not change the quantity. Let’s look at an example. A father gave a slice of pizza to 10-year-old Keiko and another slice to 3-year-old Kenny. Kenny’s pizza slice was cut into five pieces, so Kenny told his sister that he got more pizza than she did. Kenny did not understand that cutting the pizza into smaller pieces did not increase the overall amount. This was because Kenny exhibited Centration or focused on only one characteristic or attribute of an object to the exclusion of others. Kenny focused on the five pieces of pizza to his sister’s one piece even though the total amount of pizza was the same. Keiko was able to consider several characteristics of an object rather than just one. The classic Piagetian experiment associated with conservation involves liquid (Crain, 2005, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). As seen below, the child is shown two glasses (as shown in a) which are filled to the same level and asked if they have the same amount. Usually, the child agrees they have the same amount. The researcher then pours the liquid from one glass to a taller and thinner glass (as shown in b). The child is again asked if the two glasses have the same amount of liquid. The preoperational child will typically say the taller glass now has more liquid because it is taller. The child has concentrated on the height of the glass and fails to conserve (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). Figure 10.3: Piagetian liquid conservation experiments. (Image by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) As introduced in the first chapter, Piaget believed that in a quest for cognitive equilibrium, we use schemas (categories of knowledge) to make sense of the world. And when new experiences fit into existing schemas, we use assimilation to add that new knowledge to the schema. But when new experiences do not match an existing schema, we use accommodation to add a new schema. During early childhood, children use accommodation often as they build their understanding of the world around them. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Development Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding Vygotsky’s best-known concept is the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Vygotsky stated that children should be taught in the ZPD, which occurs when they can perform a task with assistance, but not quite yet on their own. With the right kind of teaching, however, they can accomplish it successfully. A good teacher identifies a child’s ZPD and helps the child stretch beyond it. Then the adult (teacher) gradually withdraws support until the child can then perform the task unaided. Researchers have applied the metaphor of scaffolds (the temporary platforms on which construction workers stand) to this way of teaching. Scaffolding is the temporary support that parents or teachers give a child to do a task. Figure 10.4: Zone of proximal development. (Image by Dcoetzee is licensed under CC0 1.0) Do you ever talk to yourself? Why? Chances are, this occurs when you are struggling with a problem, trying to remember something, or feel very emotional about a situation. Children talk to themselves too. Piaget interpreted this as egocentric speech or a practice engaged in because of a child’s inability to see things from another’s point of view. Vygotsky, however, believed that children talk to themselves in order to solve problems or clarify thoughts. As children learn to think in words, they do so aloud before eventually closing their lips to engage in private speech or inner speech. Thinking out loud eventually becomes thought accompanied by internal speech, and talking to oneself becomes a practice only engaged in when we are trying to learn something or remember something. This inner speech is not as elaborate as the speech we use when communicating with others (Vygotsky, 1962, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Contrast with Piaget Piaget was highly critical of teacher-directed instruction, believing that teachers who take control of the child’s learning place the child into a passive role (Crain, 2005, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Further, teachers may present abstract ideas without the child’s true understanding, and instead they just repeat back what they heard. Piaget believed children must be given opportunities to discover concepts on their own. As previously stated, Vygotsky did not believe children could reach a higher cognitive level without instruction from more learned individuals. Who is correct? Both theories certainly contribute to our understanding of how children learn. Information processing researchers have focused on several issues in cognitive development for this age group, including improvements in attention skills, changes in the capacity, and the emergence of executive functions in working memory. Additionally, in early childhood memory strategies, memory accuracy, and autobiographical memory emerge. Early childhood is seen by many researchers as a crucial time period in memory development (Posner & Rothbart, 2007, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Figure 10.5: How information is processed. (Image by Gradient drift is in the public domain) Changes in attention have been described by many as the key to changes in human memory (Nelson & Fivush, 2004; Posner & Rothbart, 2007, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). However, attention is not a unified function; it is comprised of sub-processes. The ability to switch our focus between tasks or external stimuli is called divided attention or multitasking. This is separate from our ability to focus on a single task or stimulus, while ignoring distracting information, called selective attention. Different from these is sustained attention, or the ability to stay on task for long periods of time. Moreover, we also have attention processes that influence our behaviour and enable us to inhibit a habitual or dominant response, and others that enable us to distract ourselves when upset or frustrated. Children’s ability with selective attention tasks, improve as they age. However, this ability is also greatly influenced by the child’s temperament (Rothbart & Rueda, 2005, as cited Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021), the complexity of the stimulus or task (Porporino, Shore, Iarocci & Burack, 2004), and whether the stimuli are visual or auditory (Guy, Rogers & Cornish, 2013, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Guy et al. (2013, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021) found that children’s ability to selectively attend to visual information outpaced that of auditory stimuli. This may explain why young children are not able to hear the voice of the teacher over the cacophony of sounds in the typical preschool classroom (Jones, Moore & Amitay, 2015, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Jones and his colleagues found that 4- to 7-year-olds could not filter out background noise, especially when its frequencies were close in sound to the target sound. In comparison, 8- to 11-year-old children often performed similar to adults. Figure 10.6: A child playing a game that measures her sustained attention. (Image by Fabrice Florin is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0) Based on studies of adults, people with amnesia, and neurological research on memory, researchers have proposed several “types” of memory (see Figure 4.14). Sensory memory (also called the sensory register) is the first stage of the memory system, and it stores sensory input in its raw form for a very brief duration; essentially long enough for the brain to register and start processing the information. Studies of auditory sensory memory show that it lasts about one second in 2-year-olds, two seconds in 3-year-olds, more than two seconds in 4-year-olds, and three to five seconds in 6-year-olds (Glass, Sachse, & von Suchodoletz, 2008, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Other researchers have also found that young children hold sounds for a shorter duration than do older children and adults, and that this deficit is not due to attentional differences between these age groups, but reflects differences in the performance of the sensory memory system (Gomes et al., 1999, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). The second stage of the memory system is called short-term or working memory. Working memory is the component of memory in which current conscious mental activity occurs. Working memory often requires conscious effort and adequate use of attention to function effectively. As you read earlier, children in this age group struggle with many aspects of attention and this greatly diminishes their ability to consciously juggle several pieces of information in memory. The capacity of working memory, that is the amount of information someone can hold in consciousness, is smaller in young children than in older children and adults. The typical adult and teenager can hold a 7-digit number active in their short-term memory. The typical 5-year-old can hold only a 4-digit number active. This means that the more complex a mental task is, the less efficient a younger child will be in paying attention to, and actively processing, information in order to complete the task. Changes in attention and the working memory system also involve changes in executive function. Executive function (EF) refers to self-regulatory processes, such as the ability to inhibit a behaviour or cognitive flexibility, that enable adaptive responses to new situations or to reach a specific goal. Executive function skills gradually emerge during early childhood and continue to develop throughout childhood and adolescence. Like many cognitive changes, brain maturation, especially the prefrontal cortex, along with experience influence the development of executive function skills. A child shows higher executive functioning skills when the parents are more warm and responsive, use scaffolding when the child is trying to solve a problem, and provide cognitively stimulating environments for the child (Fay-Stammbach, Hawes & Meredith, 2014, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). For instance, scaffolding was positively correlated with greater cognitive flexibility at age two and inhibitory control at age four (Bibok, Carpendale & Müller, 2009, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). In Schneider, Kron-Sperl and Hunnerkopf’s (2009, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021) longitudinal study of 102 kindergarten children, the majority of children used no strategy to remember information, a finding that was consistent with previous research. As a result, their memory performance was poor when compared to their abilities as they aged and started to use more effective memory strategies. The third component in memory is long-term memory, which is also known as permanent memory. A basic division of long- term memory is between declarative and non-declarative memory. Declarative memories, sometimes referred to as explicit memories, are memories for facts or events that we can consciously recollect. Declarative memory is further divided into semantic and episodic memory. Semantic memories are memories for facts and knowledge that are not tied to a timeline, episodic memories are tied to specific events in time. Non- declarative memories, sometimes referred to as implicit memories, are typically automated skills that do not require conscious recollection. As previously discussed, Piaget’s theory has been criticized on many fronts, and updates to reflect more current research have been provided by the Neo-Piagetians, or those theorists who provide “new” interpretations of Piaget’s theory. Morra, Gobbo, Marini and Sheese (2008, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021) reviewed Neo-Piagetian theories, which were first presented in the 1970s, and identified how these “new” theories combined Piagetian concepts with those found in Information Processing. Similar to Piaget’s theory, Neo- Piagetian theories believe in constructivism, assume cognitive development can be separated into different stages with qualitatively different characteristics, and advocate that children’s thinking becomes more complex in advanced stages. Unlike Piaget, Neo-Piagetians believe that aspects of information processing change the complexity of each stage, not logic as determined by Piaget. Neo-Piagetians propose that working memory capacity is affected by biological maturation, and therefore restricts young children’s ability to acquire complex thinking and reasoning skills. Increases in working memory performance and cognitive skills development coincide with the timing of several neurodevelopmental processes. These include myelination, axonal and synaptic pruning, changes in cerebral metabolism, and changes in brain activity (Morra et al., 2008, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Myelination especially occurs in waves between birth and adolescence, and the degree of myelination in particular areas explain the increasing efficiency of certain skills. Therefore, brain maturation, which occurs in spurts, affects how and when cognitive skills develop. Additionally, all Neo-Piagetian theories support that experience and learning interact with biological maturation in shaping cognitive development (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). Children’s Understanding of the World Both Piaget and Vygotsky believed that children actively try to understand the world around them. More recently developmentalists have added to this understanding by examining how children organize information and develop their own theories about the world. The tendency of children to generate theories to explain everything they encounter is called theory-theory. This concept implies that humans are naturally inclined to find reasons and generate explanations for why things occur. Children frequently ask questions about what they see or hear around them. When the answers provided do not satisfy their curiosity or are too complicated for them to understand, they generate their own theories. In much the same way that scientists construct and revise their theories, children do the same with their intuitions about the world as they encounter new experiences (Gopnik & Wellman, 2012, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). One of the theories they start to generate in early childhood centers on the mental states; both their own and those of others. Figure 10.7: What theories might this boy be creating? (Image by Eglin Air Force Base is in the public domain) Theory of Mind Theory of mind refers to the ability to think about other people’s thoughts. This mental mind reading helps humans to understand and predict the reactions of others, thus playing a crucial role in social development. One common method for determining if a child has reached this mental milestone is the false belief task, described below. The research began with a clever experiment by Wimmer and Perner (1983, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021), who tested whether children can pass a false-belief test (see Figure 4.17). The child is shown a picture story of Sally, who puts her ball in a basket and leaves the room. While Sally is out of the room, Anne comes along and takes the ball from the basket and puts it inside a box. The child is then asked where Sally thinks the ball is located when she comes back to the room. Is she going to look first in the box or in the basket? The right answer is that she will look in the basket, because that’s where she put it and thinks it is; but we have to infer this false belief against our own better knowledge that the ball is in the box. Figure 10.8: A ball. (Image is in the public domain) Figure 10.9: A basket. (Image is in the public domain) Figure 10.10: A box. (Image is licensed under CC0) This is very difficult for children before the age of four because of the cognitive effort it takes. Three-year-olds have difficulty distinguishing between what they once thought was true and what they now know to be true. They feel confident that what they know now is what they have always known (Birch & Bloom, 2003, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Even adults need to think through this task (Epley, Morewedge, & Keysar, 2004, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). To be successful at solving this type of task the child must separate what he or she “knows” to be true from what someone else might “think” is true. In Piagetian terms, they must give up a tendency toward egocentrism. The child must also understand that what guides people’s actions and responses are what they “believe” rather than what is reality. In other words, people can mistakenly believe things that are false and will act based on this false knowledge. Consequently, prior to age four children are rarely successful at solving such a task (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Researchers examining the development of theory of mind have been concerned by the overemphasis on the mastery of false belief as the primary measure of whether a child has attained theory of mind. Wellman and his colleagues (Wellman, Fang, Liu, Zhu & Liu, 2006, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021) suggest that theory of mind is comprised of a number of components, each with its own developmental timeline (see Table 4.2). Two-year-olds understand the diversity of desires, yet as noted earlier it is not until age four or five that children grasp false belief, and often not until middle childhood do they understand that people may hide how they really feel. In part, because children in early childhood have difficulty hiding how they really feel. This awareness of the existence of theory of mind is part of social intelligence, such as recognizing that others can think differently about situations. It helps us to be self-conscious or aware that others can think of us in different ways and it helps us to be able to be understanding or be empathetic toward others. Moreover, this mind-reading ability helps us to anticipate and predict people’s actions. The awareness of the mental states of others is important for communication and social skills (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). The many theories of cognitive development and the different research that has been done about how children understand the world has allowed researchers to study the milestones that children who are typically developing experience in early childhood. Understanding how children think and learn has proven useful for improving education. In 2010, Ontario introduced the full day kindergarten program which was fully implemented by 2014. Children can attend the program at 3 years 8 month of age. There is a year one and a year two of the program. In 2016 The Kindergarten Program document was released describing a play-based curriculum which includes four frames to guide teaching, learning and assessment of learning. Overall and specific expectations are described in each of the four frames. The frames are: - Self-regulation and Well-Being - Belonging and Contributing - Problem Solving and Innovating - Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours In each kindergarten classroom an RECE and a qualified teacher registered with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) work in partnership as an educator team to implement the curriculum. There is an expectation for the educator team to observe children’s play, ‘notice and name’ the learning and assess individual progress against the Overall and Specific Expectations. The progress is formally shared with families as their child moves through Year One and Year Two of the Kindergarten Program. In the delivery of the curriculum the educator team provides opportunities for children to demonstrate the expectations, and design and implement learning opportunities specifically related to the expectations. Two of the four frames; Problem Solving and Innovating and Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours relate directly to children’s cognitive development. In the latter frame children are expected to, for example, use language to communicate their thinking and to solve problems, to demonstrate an interest in writing and reading, to demonstrate cardinality and the ability to subitize, to describe the properties of three-dimensional solids and to identify, create and describe simple patterns in mathematical terms (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016). Application of “The Kindergarten Program” to the Early Years Even before they enter kindergarten, the mathematical knowledge of children from low-income backgrounds lags far behind that of children from more affluent backgrounds. Ramani and Siegler (2008, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021) hypothesized that this difference is due to the children in middle- and upper-income families engaging more frequently in numerical activities, for example playing numerical board games such as Chutes and Ladders. Chutes and Ladders is a game with a number in each square; children start at the number one and spin a spinner or throw a dice to determine how far to move their token. Playing this game seemed likely to teach children about numbers, because in it, larger numbers are associated with greater values on a variety of dimensions. In particular, the higher the number that a child’s token reaches, the greater the distance the token will have traveled from the starting point, the greater the number of physical movements the child will have made in moving the token from one square to another, the greater the number of number-words the child will have said and heard, and the more time will have passed since the beginning of the game. These spatial, kinesthetic, verbal, and time- based cues provide a broad-based, multisensory foundation for knowledge of numerical magnitudes (the sizes of numbers), a type of knowledge that is closely related to mathematics achievement test scores (Booth & Siegler, 2006, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). Playing this numerical board game for roughly 1 hour, distributed over a 2-week period, improved low-income children’s knowledge of numerical magnitudes, ability to read printed numbers, and skill at learning novel arithmetic problems. The gains lasted for months after the game-playing experience (Ramani & Siegler, 2008; Siegler & Ramani, 2009, as cited in Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021). An advantage of this type of educational intervention is that it has minimal if any cost—a parent could just draw a game on a piece of paper. Autism: Defining Spectrum Disorder Sometimes children’s brains work differently. One form of this neuro-diversity is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD describes a range of conditions classified as neuro-developmental disorders in the fifth revision of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The DSM-5, published in 2013, redefined the autism spectrum to encompass the previous (DSM-IV-TR) diagnoses of autism, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and childhood disintegrative disorder. These disorders are characterized by social deficits and communication difficulties, repetitive behaviours and interests, sensory issues, and in some cases, cognitive delays. Autism spectrum disorders are considered to be on a spectrum because each individual with ASD expresses the disorder uniquely and has varying degrees of functionality. Many have above-average intellectual abilities and excel in visual skills, music, math, and the arts, while others have significant disabilities and are unable to live independently. About 25 percent of individuals with ASD are nonverbal; however, they may learn to communicate using other means. In Canada 1 in 66 children between the ages of 5 and 17 years of age are diagnosed on the ASD spectrum (Government of Canada, 2018). Males are four times more likely to be diagnosed than females. The statistics are one in 44 males compared to one in 165 females (Government of Canada, 2018). - Piaget’s preoperational stage. - Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. - Information processing. - How young children understand the world. - The Full Day Kindergarten Program - Autism spectrum disorder. Lally, M. & Valentine-French, S. (2019). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/LifespanDevelopment.pdf Leon, A. (n.d.). Children’s development: Prenatal through adolescent development. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k1xtrXy6j9_NAqZdGv8nBn_I6-lDtEgEFf7skHjvE-Y/edit Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014). Exerpts from “ELECT”. Retrieved from https://countrycasa.ca/images/ExcerptsFromELECT.pdf Government of Canada. (2018).Autism prevalence among children and youth in Canada: Report of the national autism spectrum disorder (ASD) surveillance system. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/infographic-autism-spectrum-disorder-children-youth-canada-2018.html Ontario Ministry of Education (2016). The kindergarten program. Retrieved from https://files.ontario.ca/books/kindergarten-program-en.pdf?_ga=2.18670905.1886719864.1639406346-482631340.1639406346

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1. Reflecting on your responses to a text. In preparation for preparing lessons for teaching a text, you need to be able to reflect on your own responses to a text to consider the kinds of responses, interpretative strategies, themes, topics, issues, or critical lenses to focus on in your instruction. And, you need to recognize the differences between your own level of interpretation and those of your students, differences reflecting your knowledge, training, life experiences, and purposes for reading as a teacher. Read a poem or short story that you have not read before. During the reading, or immediately after, write a journal entry in which you respond as fully as you can to the text you have read. Then reflect on your responses and interpretations, noting certain patterns in your responses or interpretations. Then consider some possible reasons for those patterns in terms of the text, your critical preferences/approaches, or your purpose for reading. Then, based on your reflections, predict how students at a certain grade level, possibly ones you’ll be teaching, will respond to this text and how their responses might differ from your responses. 2. Developing response tasks and purposes for tasks. Select a text and think about what you would like students to learn from interpreting this text. Based on what you want students to learn, select some talk, writing, or drama tools that will best achieve what you want them to learn. By defining what you want students to learn, you can link your tasks to your purposes—what students will learn. Devise some tasks, and for each task, define the purpose for that activity based on what you want students to learn from doing that task and from using the tools designed to fulfill an activity—for example, that you want students to learn how to contrast different cultures in a text so that they can define the conflicting forces shaping characters using a mapping tool. Then, write a clear set of directions for these tasks, including your purposes—students will want to know: “why are we doing this?” 3. Sequencing tasks. In formulating your tasks, you also need to think about how to best sequence tasks so that each tasks prepares students for subsequent tasks “first things first.” In thinking about sequencing tasks, you are continually asking, will students be able to do this task, and, if not, what can I do to prepare them for this task so that each task serves to prepare students for the next task. For example, rather than start out with a discussion of a text, you may need to prepare students for that discussion with some free writing or listing-questions tasks. Or, for a mapping task, you may first want to have students list different items to include in their maps. For the tasks you developed for #2, sequence the tasks so that each task serves to prepare students for subsequent tasks “first things first.” You may need to add some new tasks that will prepare them for a certain task. 4. Formulating alternative versions of tasks. Because you’ll be using the same or similar activities with different grade or ability levels, you will need to be able to create alternative versions of your tasks to match differences in students’ grade or ability levels. For younger grades or lower ability levels, you may need to provide more specific directions or scaffolding or you may need to substitute less difficult tasks. Even within the same class, you may need to provide some students with more structured directions than other students. You will also be continually revising your tasks even during your instruction to accommodate for differences in students’ abilities, engagement, interests, attitudes, and performance. For example, you may find that students are simply not able to keep up with the reading, so you will then need to alter your plans. You therefore need to plan ahead for potential challenges, particularly related to reading ability. In reflecting on his teaching of Catcher in the Rye in student teaching, Chris Johnson noted the ways in which he accommodated to his students’ background reading experience. I asked, who’s read a novel? Not many hands went up and they, I guess most of them had read one. Some had read one of those adolescent novels, but I don’t think any of them, well some of them, I’m sure had read, in fact I know one in particular that is a reader of paperbacks, and she read quite a few but a loot of them hadn’t really read any “adult” novels before. So, I took it real slow. We did maybe two or three chapters a day, no more than 10 or 20 pages per day, and I uh, had study questions for each chapter that I made sure they had to and they could really skim through that. I didn’t make the questions too challenging because I didn’t want them to get hung up on questions, have that interrupt the reading. What I did to settle the questions and I tried to direct them towards um, specific things in the novel that I just wanted to make sure they noted. Why they were in there? What did they represent? So when we went into discussion they already had the details down. After we had finished reading the book, I wanted them to focus on Holden and his struggle with growing up, saving sexuality, and the death of his brother, basically all the issues he had gone through. So I did a group activity where I gave them a list of 5 essay questions and they picked one of them to put on the test. I broke them up into groups of about 4 or 5 kids in each group, and each group had to take an essay question, and had to discuss it and they each had a role. One person was the recorder, one person was the facilitator and so each group had to discuss the essay questions and come up with a way that they would answer the question on a test to present their findings to the class. I was a little nervous about it, because they were in-depth questions. I mean, they were college-level questions. And I thought, oh boy they’re really going to bang their heads against these ones, but I was really pleasantly surprised that they all, all the groups came up with real solid answers and I was going around as they were working on them and helping out here and there, but I really didn’t have to do as much as I thought I would do, I just had to nudge them along, so that really showed me that they had been listening and paying attention and it wasn’t just two or three kids that did a lot of participation in the discussions who understood what was going on but they really most of them you know had been listening to what we’re talking about. I was real happy with that. Take the directions formulated for #2 and formulate them for a 9th grade class. Then, revise your directions for a 12th grade class. Reflect on differences in your directions and reasons for these differences. 5. Considering alternative “intelligences” in devising tasks. In devising tasks, you need to recognize differences in the “intelligences” (Gardner, 1993; 2000) students bring to your classroom. When English classes may focus primarily on logical/linguistic intelligences, it is important to consider all seven optional “intelligences” in planning tasks: Logical-Mathematical Intelligence--consists of the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking. Linguistic Intelligence--involves having a mastery of language. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively manipulate language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically. It also allows one to use language as a means to remember information. Visual/Spatial Intelligence--gives one the ability to manipulate and create mental images in order to solve problems. This intelligence is not limited to visual domains--Gardner notes that spatial intelligence is also formed in blind children. Musical Intelligence--encompasses the capability to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. (Auditory functions are required for a person to develop this intelligence in relation to pitch and tone, but it is not needed for the knowledge of rhythm.) Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence--is the ability to use one's mental abilities to coordinate one's own bodily movements. This intelligence challenges the popular belief that mental and physical activities are unrelated. The Personal Intelligences--includes interpersonal feelings and intentions of others--and intrapersonal intelligence--the ability to understand one's own feelings and motivations. These two intelligences are separate from each other. Nevertheless, because of their close association in most cultures, they are often linked together. These seven intelligences are not separate phenomena, but continually interact with each other. However, certain students develop particular skills associated with certain of these intelligences. For example, they have developed talents as artists, musicians, athletes, or socially-adept persons. In a unit on The Grapes of Wrath, Michelle used some drama activities designed to help them visualize images about the novel, empathy with others’ perspectives, and apply a variety of lenses/perspectives. Her directions for each activity highlighted what she wanted them to learn from separate groups doing different drama activities: Analogy Strategy: In this activity, your group should enact a personal experience that parallels in some way a scene from the reading. Make sure that you think about the tone, the urgency of the situation, and the emotions conveyed in creating a parallel situation. You will mime your parallel situation. Then, as a class, we will discuss how your enactment connects with the text. Slide Show: Your group will create a series of “slides” to tell about the major scenes from the chapter. You may add a caption to each of your slides. Be prepared to answer some questions about each of your slides concerning how you decided to depict the particular scene. Hotseating and Inner Hotseating: In your group, a student will play the role of a character and answer questions as if at a press conference. Another student, standing behind the character, will respond as the “inner self” of the character telling what that character might be really thinking, feeling, and wanting to say. News Flash: Your group will conduct a brief news flash about what happened in this scene/chapter. You may choose to interview someone from the scene or just give an overview of what happened. Guided imagery: This activity is similar to the game of Pictionary. In your group, someone will play the role of the teacher and read a scene. The remaining group members should draw what they picture up on the board when they hear the scene read. You may do this spontaneously. Drawers, be prepared to explain your drawings. Dramatic Play: Your group will “enter into character” and act out a scene from your chapter. However, you should incorporate acting out imagined conversations and interactions between/among characters depending on your interpretation of those characters’ thoughts and feelings. Missing Scenes: Your group will create a missing scene or missing scenes that you feel were implied by the story or could have happened. You will act these out for the class and be prepared to have supporting evidence from the text that shows these scenes might have logically occurred. Revolving Role-Play: In this activity, each group member will choose a character to play from the scene. After acting out that particular scene, everyone will “switch” into a new role and reenact that scene from a new perspective. This activity is similar to the dramatic play activity because you may be creative in acting out imagined conversations and interactions between/among characters. To help student connect their participation in each activity to the larger purpose, she asked each group to choose one character or key event to portray through their specific drama activity. Each group then prepared a 3-5 minute presentation to include their dramatic activity as well as a brief explanation of why they chose to focus on that given character or scene/event, and subsequently, what their dramatic activity highlights. The students also had to write in their journals about their experience in their dramatic activity and how it offered new perspectives or made the text more relevant to their personal lives. Devise some tasks that draw on intelligences other than just the logical/linguistic intelligences. Consider how you would integrate some of these other intelligences with uses of logical/linguistic intelligences, how, for example, mime or pantomime drama tools can be used to foster writing tasks. 6. Adding criteria for self-evaluating tasks. In completing tasks, students need to know what it means to do a task well. For example, if you ask students to list some different character traits to understanding that character’s complexity and they only list one or two, they haven’t successfully completed that task. You may therefore want to include some criteria to help them self-evaluate successful completion of a task. For example, in asking them to list different traits, you could ask them, “have you listed enough different traits so that you can understand a character’s complexity?” In formulating criteria, you are asking students to consider the amount (“do you have enough/sufficient amount”), range (“do you have a good variety/different aspects”), relevancy (“are your examples relevant”), significance (“did you select the most significant aspects”), or validity (“do your have evidence to support the validity of your point”). For your directions in #2, take one or more of the tasks and add some criteria to help students self-evaluate successful completion of those tasks. 7. Modeling tasks for students. In giving directions for tasks, students often need to be shown what or how to complete a task. You there need to model a task for students — demonstrating how you would complete a task in a manner that you’re not telling them what to do. In demonstrating tasks, you may also refer to some criteria by which you reflect on successful completion of a task. For your directions developed in #2, in a micro-teaching session in your course, working with 3-4 of your peers, give your directions to you peers. Then model the tasks you want them to complete. After completing the activity, elicit their feedback on the clarity of the directions and demonstration. 8. Selecting an organizational framework for a unit. In designing units, you are going beyond planning for individual activities to organize your activities according to some coherent, overall topic, theme, issue, genre, archetypes, historical/literary period, or production. During your student teaching, you may be employing a number of different units lasting from a couple of days to several weeks. It is important to prepare these units in advance of student teaching when you have the time to conduct research and pull together relevant resources. You can also discuss you units with your cooperating teachers in terms of how they are integrated into that teacher’s curriculum. In devising a literature unit, you will be developing a series of tasks for a week or several weeks organized around a topic, theme, issue, ideas, text, genre, literary period, world, etc. In devising a unit, you need to select some texts (books, videos, Websites, etc.) and the some tasks that are related to your overall focus, tasks that involve students in inductive development of the unit’s focus. - Topics. Organizing your unit around a topic such as power, evil, suburbia, the family, etc., means that you are finding texts that portray these different topics. For example, you may select a series of texts that portray mother/daughter relationships, as in The Bean Trees or A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. Students may then compare or contrast the different portrayals of the same topic across different texts. It is important to select topics about which students have some familiarity or interest, or that may engage them. You may also want to have students study how certain topics are represented in literature and/or the media. For example, students may examine how the family is represented in 19th century literature compared to 20th century representations. Or, how the rural, small-town social worlds are represented in 20th century American literature. One advantage of a topics approach is that topics do not imply the kind of value or cultural orientation associated with a thematic or issue unit. Students may construct their own value stance related to a topic, for example, defining different attitudes towards the topic of mother/daughter relationships. However, without that additional value orientation, students may lack motivation to be engaged in a topic. - Themes. You may also organize your unit around certain themes portrayed in texts. A frequently used theme is that of individualism or conformity to society—the extent to which characters must conform to or resist societal norms. As we just noted, one advantage of thematic units is that students may become engaged with related attitudes or values associated with a theme. One disadvantage of thematic units is that they can readily become too didactic, in which you attempt to have students “learn” certain thematic lessons—the importance of not conforming to society or the need to be courageous. This problem of didacticism relates to how you organize your unit. You can organize your unit in both a “top-down” deductive manner, providing students with theoretical perspectives or frames for them to apply in a deductive manner. You can also organize your unit in a “bottom-up” inductive manner, encouraging students to make their own connections and applications. To avoid the didactic tendency of thematic unit, you can move more to an inductive approach, allowing students to make their own interpretations and connections that may different from any presupposed central thematic focus. - Issues. You can also organize your units around issues, for example, the issue of gender and power—the degree to which women may have to assume subordinate roles in a culture. One advantage of an issue is that students may adopt different, competing perspectives about an issue, tensions that may create interest in that issue. Students can also adopt an inquiry-based approach in which they frame questions related to an issue and then those questions drive the unit. One disadvantage of studying issues is that students may bring often rigidly defined stances on issues such as gun control or school vouchers, which may not allow for further development or consideration of alternative perspectives. You may have students identify their own issues or inquiry-based questions portrayed in a text. For example, students may identify the issue of social pressure from peers to adopt certain practices valued by the group, but perceived as problematic by certain group members. They could then explore this issue of social peer pressure in Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War or Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. - Genres. You may also organize your unit around studying a particular genre—short story, novel, ballad, rap, drama, memoir, biography, poetry, film noir, or hybrid combinations or mixtures of genres evident in a multi-genre approach to writing instruction (Romano, 2000). (For discussion of genres in film/television, see Chapter 11). In studying a particular genre, students examine similar features of that genre in terms of prototypical settings, characters, storylines, and themes, as well as shared literary techniques. One advantage of a genre approach is that students learn a larger literacy practice of making generalizations about similarities between different texts based on certain genre features. One disadvantage of a genre approach is that is leads readily into pigeonholing or categorizing texts as representing certain genre features without critically analyzing those texts. Moreover, such reductionist genre approaches can also reify a formalist approach to English instruction—overemphasizing the study of formal structures without examining other aspects of texts. For example, it may be assumed that all short stories have “rising action,” “conflict,” and “resolution,” when in fact there are many stories that do not follow that formal structure. In organizing genre units, you need to work deductively to provide certain frameworks or concepts about genre features, while, at the same time, allowing students to inductively make their own inductive connections between texts. You may also organize a unit around producing or writing certain genres, integrating reading and writing instruction. Students need to have opportunities to create their own genre texts based on their study of genre. For example, after studying the genre of rap, they create their own raps. In studying texts, students may then focus on techniques being employed with an eye towards producing such texts. In writing texts, they then draw on their genre knowledge in providing feedback to each others’ texts. - Archetypes. You can also organize units around mythic or literacy archetypes, drawing on the critical approach of the archetypal approach discussed in Chapter 10 (see also the Mythology/Fantasy links). For example, you may organize a unit around the archetype of the Romance quest narrative pattern evident in epic and medieval texts, as well as contemporary journey or travel quests or the Star Wars and Fellowship of the Rings series. As part of this unit, you may focus on the initial initiation of the hero in preparation for the quest, linking the hero’s initiation to adolescents’ own experiences of initiation in their own lives. One advantage of archetypal approaches is that students may enjoy studying what are larger mythic aspects underlying a range of different texts associated with their own lives. If, for example, they understand that initiation rites as portrayed in literature also pervade their own experiences. One disadvantage of archetypal units is that they may lead to the same pigeonholing as with genre units. Moreover, unless students are familiar with a lot of literature, they may not be able to make generalizations about certain archetypical patterns in that literature. - Literary periods. You may also create units based on certain literary periods, for example, the Romantic or Victorian period in British literature or the Harlem Renaissance in American literature. In studying these periods, you can incorporate background historical events or cultural attitudes shaping texts, as well as similarities between literature, art, music, and popular media. For example, Coleridge’s and Byron’s art work reflect much of the spiritual and political romantic perspectives found in their poetry. One advantage of such units is that you can study writers’ work as shaped by their historical and cultural contexts. One disadvantage is that it may simply become matter of covering a lot of historical information or facts about features of the period without fostering critical response to the literature itself. - Historical/regional/cultural worlds. You may also organize units around certain historical, regional, or cultural worlds, for example, the short story literature of the American South—stories by William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Reynolds Price, Bobbie Joe Mason, and others whose stories portrayed the world of the “Old South” and “New South.” Or, you could organize a unit around the historical period of Puritan America based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories and The Crucible (See the following unit which links The Crucible to the McCarthy period http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cruc/cructg.html) Select a particular organizational framework or combination of frameworks and consider some tasks or texts that could be used within this framework. 9. Formulating objectives for a unit and aligning objective to curriculum standards. As you did in devising tasks, you then need to formulate some objectives for what you want your students to learn in this unit. These objectives need to go beyond simply stating what students will do in the unit—they need to define what students will learn from doing various tasks. Based on the idea of “backwards” planning—starting with how you will assess your students’ learning, it is also important that you formulate your objectives in terms of specific interpretive strategies or critical lenses you want students to learn. The following are some examples of objectives based on some interpretive strategies: Emotions. Students will identify the emotions they experience and reasons for those emotions associated with different characters or text worlds. Defining narrative development. Students will define the causal relationships between unfolding story events, as well as predict story outcomes based on knowledge of prototypical genre storylines. Character actions as social practices. Students will infer characters’ social practices based on inferences about patterns in characters’ actions. Constructing social and cultural worlds. Students will explain or judge characters’ actions in terms of the purposes, roles, rules, beliefs, traditions or history operating in social world or cultures. Elaborating on connections to other texts. Students will reflect and elaborate on connections between the current text and similar images, characters, storylines, or themes from previous texts. Positioning/stances. Students will define how they are being positioned to respond according to certain invited stances and negotiate or resist those stances. Voices/language/discourses. Students will identify characters’ uses of different voices and social languages in terms of the discourses and ideological stances operating in the text. The following are some objectives based on applying different critical lenses (see Chapter 10): Applying a reader-response lens. Students will describe their responses to a text and how that text or a social context positioned them to respond as they did. Applying a semiotic lens. Students will identify the signs and images operating in a text and the underlying codes shaping the cultural meanings of those signs and images. Applying a poststructuralist lens. Students will critically analyze the category systems operating in a text and how these systems shape characters’ perceptions of self and others. Applying a psychological lens. Students will critically analyze the underlying psychological forces shaping characters’ actions, feelings, and desires. Applying an archetypal approach. Students will critically analyze the archetypal use of symbolism, character prototypes, narrative patterns, and themes related to underlying cultural values. Applying analysis of gender, class, race approach. Students will critically analyze the portrayals of characters’ social practices and cultural worlds as reflecting ideological assumptions about gender, class, and race. In formulating your unit or course learning objectives, you also need to relate them to local school district, state, or national standards. Many schools’ English curriculums are organized around standards derived from district, state, or national standards. These standards attempt to articulate what students should be able to do and know at different grade levels. In some cases, state standards specify certain content that needs to be mastered, for example, that students should know certain literary critical concepts or texts. One problem with content-based standards is that they can homogenize or “standardize” the curriculum in ways that limit teachers’ autonomy. Another problem with content-based standards is that they tend to perpetuate a transmission model of instruction in which teachers primary impart and test for content knowledge. In contrast, other states define standards more in terms of general competencies, thought processes, or strategies based on a constructivist curriculum model. Students are evaluated based on performance assessments what they can do and know. Standards formulated in terms of performance allow for more teacher autonomy in terms of teaching their own specific content. By evaluating students according to performance, students have to apply what they learn to demonstrate their ability to, for example, critically analyze texts to be included in an anthology. Go to your school district’s and/or state’s Department of Education/Public Instruction Website and locate the English/language arts standards for your unit’s grade level. How would you characterize the overall focus of the standards related to literature instruction in terms of the models of instruction? Then, review your unit objectives and identity those standards that are addressed by your objectives. Then, list the standards addressed by your unit. 10. Developing unit tasks. You then need to specify your tasks, formulating them as in #1 – 7. You then need to consider an appropriate sequence for your tasks, so that each task leads, “first things first,” to the next task. Initial interest rousers. In designing units, you need to begin with an interest rouser task that hooks students into the topic, issue, theme, genre, etc. By initially engaging them with texts, material, or phenomena you will be studying, you are providing them with an experience that enhance their interest and lead them to perceive the value or worth of the unit. For example, in doing a poetry unit, rather than beginning with a discussion of “what is poetry,” students may begin by bringing in and sharing favorite poems. Providing variety/choice. In planning your unit, you also want to include a variety of different types of experiences in order to avoid redundancy and repetition. You can create variety by incorporating a range of different tools discussed in the next chapter: drama, videos/DVD’s, different forms of discussion, art-work, creative writing, hypermedia, etc. You may also build in choices between uses of these different tools; again, students are more likely to be motivated to participate when they are given options. For example, rather than writing a final report, students may have the option of creating a hypermedia production. Drawing on school resources. In planning your instruction, before you begin your student teaching, you need to determine what resources are available in the school. For example, if you are going to teach a single text to an entire class, you need to know if there are class sets of that text in the bookroom. You also need to examine the literature anthologies available and whether or how you may use those anthologies. Literature anthologies have become increasingly user-friendly, and many publishers have created a wealth of supplementary material including related web sites, books on-line, reading guides, and art transparencies. On the other hand, recognize that you, and not the textbook, should drive the curriculum. Think of the textbook as a rich repository of source materials, and then determine how you might best use that book to serve your students' needs. School technology resources. You also need to scope out the types of technology tools available for student use—whether students need to go to computer labs (and when those labs are available) or whether they can use laptops, the software tools on the school computers, and student access to the Web. You also need to determine school policies regarding student access to Web-based e-mail, chat rooms, blogs, and Web sites, to determine, for example, how and whether you can create a classroom blog. Classroom contexts and climates. Your different classes will vary according to their demographic make-up, social dynamics, history, attitudes, interests, knowledge, experience, reading ability, or engagement with your activities. Two different groups of students at the same grade level may be totally different due to the make-up or size of the group, the ability levels of students, or even the time of day. Your period one of American literature at 8:00 may lethargic and disengaged, while your period two of the same course and same texts may be lively and engaged. The majority of students in a class have had classes based on teacher recitation discussions and lack prior experience sharing their responses in small or large group discussions. If students lack a sense of classroom community, you could do some additional group process activities that serve to bolster classroom community. If students are intimidated about sharing their responses because they feel intimidated by other students in the class, you could meet privately with these other students and share your concerns with them. Recognizing/respecting diversity. It is important that your unit reflects the larger diversity of society in terms of differences in gender, class, race, and learning orientations/ accommodations. This involves recognizing stereotyping, biases, or language use/categories inherent in exploration of multicultural literature or topics related to gender, class, race, and learning differences. It is requires consistently modeling ways of being respectful of others, as well as a willingness to address issues of sexism, class bias, and institutional racism in students lives and as portrayed in literature. Final projects. You should also include a culminating final project that serves to draw together the different, disparate elements of the unit. This final project should provide students with an opportunity to extend approaches and ideas from the unit to create their own interpretations of texts. For example, in a unit on gender and power, students could analyze the portrayal or representations of gender roles in texts not read in the unit. Again, providing choices for different projects enhances motivation to complete their chosen project. 11. Evaluating your own and others’ units. Review your unit based on the criteria listed below. If you haven’t yet developed a unit, click on the “student units” link in the Website that takes you to units developed by preservice teachers. Select two of these units. What do you perceive to be strengths and limitations of these units? How would you revise these units to improve them? - appeal: will the unit appeal to students? - appropriateness for grade level: are the texts and assignments appropriate for the targeted grade level? - variety: is there a variety of different types of texts and activities? - writing: are there ample opportunities to use writing about and/or of literature? - student choice: do students have choices or options? - inductive vs. deductive: do students work both from a “top-down” deductive and a “bottom-up” inductive manner? - logical sequence: do the assignments build logically so that initial assignments prepare students for subsequent assignments? - beginnings: does the beginning create some interest in the unit? - endings: do the culminating activities or projects help students define their own overall connections? 12. Devise a WebQuest. In devising a WebQuest—an inquiry based unit based on Web-based resources and design, you are trying to go beyond simply providing students with tasks to exploit the use of Web-based tolls. In learning to address their issue or question using web-based resources, students are learning how to use the web as a learning tool. They are also learning how to reflect on and extend the material they acquire from the web. And, in many cases, they are assuming the perspective of a role-a song writer, detective, movie producer, scientist, city planner, etc., who must address a problem or issue or who must produce a final product. One example of an activity involving mystery tasks is “Who Killed William Robinson,” developed by Ruth Sandwell and John Lutz, University of British Columbia. This simulation based on an actual historical person, William Robinson, a Black American who was murdered in British Columbia in 1868. An Aboriginal man named Tshuanhusset, also called Tom, was charged with the murder, convicted and hanged, but a closer look at the evidence challenges the guilty verdict. Students need to sift through various clues to determine who may have been the murderer. http://web.uvic.ca/history-robinson/ In B. J. Dodge's model, http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designsteps/index.html WebQuests consist of: - an introduction: describes the overall activity, the purpose for the activity, and student's role. - task/outcome: describes the overall final outcome or product-formulating a solution to a problem or a position, or creating a product-an ad, song, story, final report, etc. - activities linked to web-sites: specific step-by-step activities that are linked to web-sites that provide relevant material. - guidance: help for students in how to organize their material to achieve the final outcome or report. - assessment: a specific rubric for assessing their work. - summary: a summary of what they learned from completing the webquest Go to the Website and find some WebQuest and/or Google a text and/or unit topic, theme, issue, genre, literary period, archetype, writing production that you’re interested in developing to find some WebQuest similar to your unit. Identify the kinds of tasks in these WebQuest and the degree to which they engage students in inquiry-based learning as opposed to simply completing a series of tasks. Select a text and/or topic, theme, issue, genre, literary period, archetype, writing production and then conduct a Web search to some links that you could use in a WebQuest. Assess the quality, appropriateness, and level of engagement of these links. Then using Filamentality http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/index.html or another WebQuest design tool, using some of the links you identified, devise a WebQuest using many of the techniques involved in devising a unit.

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This file is also available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format "The history of punishment can serve as a lens to illuminate major cultural changes in a society." Myra C. Glenn ONE OF THE MORE interesting and too often overlooked figures in American maritime history is Uriah P. Levy, an enigmatic nineteenth-century Jewish naval officer. Variously described by historians as pugnacious, controversial, and flamboyant, Levy was an anomaly for his time. Few Jews in the early nineteenth century were naval officers. Fewer still rose to the rank of Captain. Uriah Levys colorful career as a sailor included fighting in the War of 1812, chasing pirates in the Caribbean, surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Honduras, challenging and killing a man in a duel, and saving the life of a fellow U.S. sailor in a Rio de Janiero street brawl. For his heroism in the latter episode and his overall reputation as an exceptional seaman, the Emperor of Brazil offered Levy command of a new sixty-gun Brazilian frigate. Ever the uncompromising American loyalist, Levy turned down the offer claiming that he would rather serve in the American Navy as a cabin boy than as a captain in any other service in the world.1 A great admirer of Thomas Jefferson, not only did Levy procure and donate to the U.S. government a statue of the nations third president, but he purchased Monticello from the debt ridden descendants of Jefferson in 1836 and sought thereafter to restore the beleaguered two hundred-acre estate.2 His mother, Rachel Levy, is buried on the site, which remained in the Levy family until it was purchased by the Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923. But Levy is perhaps most famous neither for his devotion to Jefferson and curatorial care of Monticello nor for his successes in American maritime, but for the unusual forms of discipline he employed on the ships he commanded. In fact, Levy viewed as among his greatest accomplishments his role in ridding the U.S. Navy of corporal punishment. On his tombstone it is recorded, as directed by his will, Father of the law for the abolition of the barbarous practice of corporal punishment in the United States Navy.3 During his life, Levy was known for his opposition to corporal punishment, but he was even better known for the alternative forms of punishment that he imposed. Curiously, in his attempts to stamp out corporal punishment, Commodore Levy reverted to forms of discipline more typical of the colonial period. Instead of flogging drunken sailors, the usual practice of the time, Levy made each violator wear a black wooden bottle inscribed with the words punishment for drunkenness around his neck. Petty thieves would be made to wear a wooden collar or some other badge proclaiming their crime. Those who engaged in fighting would be made to drink a pot of sea water to cool the blood and clean the stomach.4 Levys most notorious act of punishment occurred on 7 July 1839. At the time Levy was the Commander of the U.S.S. Vandalia. A mess boy named John Thompson had mimicked a junior officer. For his infraction Thompson was strapped to a gun in front of a crowd of sailors, his pants were then removed, and tar and parrot feathers were applied to his buttocks.5 Levys actions angered many of his fellow officers who eventually had him court martialed. George Hooe, Levys first lieutenant on the Van-dalia, formally charged his commanding officer with scandalous and cruel conduct. The punishment was particularly abhorrent to Hooe because it humiliated and degraded a sailor in front of his peers. The court reviewing the case upheld Hooes charges and decried Levys actions as not only unusual but wholly unlawful and at the same time exceedingly cruel. And this, because its aim was to dishonor and degrade Mr. Thompson.6 For this incident Levy was stripped of his command and ultimately dismissed from the Navy.7 Punishment and Culture This extraordinary anecdote in the annals of U.S. military history raises several important questions as it concerns the larger issue of the meaning and practice of punishment. Why were Levys actions viewed as so draconian? More generally, why are some forms of punishment considered acceptable in one period and regarded as scandalous in another? How are we to understand the social acceptance or the implausibility of particular types of social control at different historical moments? Central to answering these questions is understanding the cultural context within which particular types of punishment are practiced. As sociologists have long held (albeit from varying theoretical vantage points), the moral codes and symbols pervading a particular culture at a particular time greatly influence which behaviors will be regarded as deviant and what types of punishment will be used to sanction them. Today Ameri-cans clearly reject the shame-based disciplinary practices of Puritan New England as well as the types of corporal punishment used during the ante-bellum period. Changing cultural codes of moral understanding have played no small part in effecting departures from these previous practices.8 But what new disciplinary practices have emerged in the criminal justice system at the turn of the twenty-first century, and how has culture shaped these new forms of social control? For Uriah Levy to have sent someone to court monitored treatment for drunkenness would have been regarded as just as unacceptable in 1839 as making someone wear a scarlet letter for adultery or disciplining another through some form of corporal punishment would be today. Why would employing Levys disciplinary practices as well as those he was trying to abolish be regarded as entirely unacceptable in the contemporary United States? Relatedly, what does the current acceptance of alternative forms of social control tell us about contemporary American culture? And how do culturally inspired new forms of legal social control, in turn, shape public understandings of justice, guilt, and crime? A comprehensive examination of the American drug court movement promises to offer insights into these questions. The burgeoning drug court movement first developed in response to the growing number of drug cases overcrowding Americas criminal court calendars. The drug court offers mostly drug offenders the choice of participating in an intensive court-monitored treatment program as an alternative to the normal adjudication process. The innovative adjudicative model draws heavily on the American therapeutic idiom to give direction and meaning to its philosophy, forms, and procedures.9 Since the first drug court was launched in Dade County, Florida, in 1989, more than eight hundred similar courts have been initiated or are in the planning stages.10 The model has received almost uniformly positive media coverage and overwhelming public support at both the national and local levels. Judges celebrate the drug court as an exciting movement, a new way of justice, even a revolution in American jurisprudence. Before considering a detailed account of the historical developments that led to the emergence and proliferation of drug courts, we first make some initial forays into several of Americas local drug courts, where we find a form of criminal adjudication as dissimilar as one could imagine to the types of punishment practiced by Commodore Levy. Snapshots of Americas Drug Courts On a summer afternoon in 1998 several dozen drug offenders sat in the Hayward County Criminal Court, situated about forty miles outside of San Francisco. These defendants were participants in Haywards drug treatment court, presided over by Judge Peggy Hora. After an introduction by the court clerk, Judge Hora entered the courtroom and seated herself behind the bench. Before starting into the court calendar the judge made several special announcements. A drug court participant who had recently passed his GED test was called forward and presented with a graduation balloon. The judge explained that graduation balloons are hard to find in August and that she had trudged through several stores before finally locating one. The judge then orchestrated a raffle of sorts, where the names from a pool of successful drug court clients (as they are commonly referred in the drug court setting) were selected to receive special prizes. One client received four tickets to a Giants baseball game; another, a mug; and another, a hat. After each name was drawn and announced the whole court applauded. The judge then made another special announcement. This day was the last for the drug court defense attorney, who after being with the court since its inception was getting a new assignment. For her service to the court the defense lawyer was awarded a balloon, a cook book, and a certificate. Taken aback, the defense attorney began to cry. She stood up to receive her gifts, then turned to address the audience of drug court participants. You guys make everything worthwhile, she said. I want so bad for you all to succeed. We all want you to do what you need to do to get through this. I am going to miss you. This is the hardest part of my reassignment. Appearing touched by the sentiments conveyed, the judge invited participants to come forward and share their thoughts. One participant presented the departing defense attorney with a large cup of cappuccino coffee he had purchased especially for her. Another came forward, hugged the lawyer, and tearfully thanked her for all the help she had been to her and to everyone else in the program. The judge then began the court calendar. She started with successful drug court clients. Among them was the recent GED graduate, who although he had not used drugs for several months had come up positive for marijuana on his most recent urinalysis test. The judge and this client talked at length about the incident trying to make sense of what triggered the use. According to the client, he had been given a bag of marijuana from a friend for his birthday. The judge mused, Funny, my friends dont give me marijuana for my birthday. She discussed with the client the problem with having friends who do such things. Later during the proceedings, another client came before the bench. Hi dear, he said to the judge. Visibly irritated with the greeting, Judge Hora retorted, That will be judge dear for you, or how about just judge. Later another client who had been doing well in the program said, Im proud of myself. You should be proud of yourself the judge responded. We are proud of you. You are doing well. To others Judge Hora said things like, You can get what you want, you deserve it. To others, I want you to become NORPsnormal, ordinary, responsible people. Throughout the afternoon Judge Hora offered similar admonishments, compliments, and entreaties in her unusual judicial role of directly helping clients in their recovery efforts. On the other side of the country, in Washington, D.C., a similar court operates under the judicial watch of Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters. Unlike Judge Hora, who in traditional style sits behind the bench, Judge Duncan-Peters with microphone in hand roams the courtroom like a daytime talk show host. At one drug court session held in the winter of 1996, Judge Duncan-Peters initiated the proceedings with a discussion of two movies the drug court clients had recently seen as part of the drug court treatment program. Of the two movies, the one of greatest interest to the participants was White Mans Birth. The mostly African American participants reflected on some of the racial issues raised by the movie; they discussed the problems with racism and the importance of justice and equality. One client talked about the foolishness of acting on impulse. Another discussed the impressionability of children and recognized that using drugs in front of children problematically communicates to them that such behavior is somehow acceptable. Judge Duncan-Peters customarily conducts talks like this at the beginning of her drug court sessions. She has found movies to be a useful tool in the treatment process. So I think thats kind of good, she later explained to me of the practice. It gets them thinking and discussing other things. Obviously they need to talk about their own problems and what leads to them, but I also think its good to have distractions in life. Ive found that if there are periods of your life when you are unhappy, sometimes going out to see an interesting movie or going out with a friend and talking about something else, or going to the gym to work out, these kinds of things can help you through a bad day. This judge, therefore, does not want to focus only on individual problems and strategies for solving them; in addition, she wants to give clients, through watching movies and other activities, the ability to see something else that might challenge their minds and distract them in a positive way from their problems. After discussing the movies, Judge Duncan-Peters then called up individual clients who were on the drug court calendar. One client summoned, a Mr. Taylor, was moving to a higher level in the treatment program that day. Drug court programs typically have several levels of treatment through which clients progress as they successfully comply with the treatment regimen. The following exchange transpired between Judge Duncan-Peters and this advancing client. |DUNCAN-PETERS:||How are you doing today Mr. Taylor? | |DUNCAN-PETERS:||And you are moving up to level three, having survived| | ||level two. So, how are you feeling?| |TAYLOR: ||Feeling good. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Feeling good? How come? | |TAYLOR: ||Im moving. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Youre moving up. Moving up in the world. Moving up | | ||and out of the program. Keep on going.And that | | ||gives you a good feeling, right? Well, you got some | | ||words of advice for these other folks that are trying to | | ||move up to where you are? | |TAYLOR: ||Stay focused. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Stay focused. Yep. How long have you had a problem | | ||with drugs? | |TAYLOR: ||Not long. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Not too long. Not too long. Think you are going to be | | ||able to make it a permanent good-bye to these drugs? | |TAYLOR: ||Yeah, as long as I got these court dates. [Laughter in | | ||audience] | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Even if you dont have them, do you think you are going | | ||to be able to stay off of them even if you dont have | | ||the court building, and you dont have to come back | | ||to court except for good reasons? | |TAYLOR: ||I aint coming back. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||No way, huh. Well, here is your mug, and here is your | | ||certificate. Congratulations. | At this point everyone in the courtroom applauded. These kind of exchanges with clients are typical in Judge Duncan-Peterss drug court. Later in the session another client, a Mr. Stevens, was called forward and had the following discussion with the judge. |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Where is Mr. Stevens? Mr. Stevens is moving right along | | ||too. Right? | |STEVENS: ||Yep. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||How come? How come it is going so great? | |STEVENS: ||I made a choice. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||You made a choice. Why did you do that? Why did you | | ||make that choice? What helped you to make up your | | ||mind to do it? | |STEVENS: ||There had to be a better way than the way I was doing | | ||it. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||What was wrong with the way you were living? What | | ||didnt you like about it? | |STEVENS: ||It was wild. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||It was wild, like too dangerous? Is that what you mean | | ||by wild? | |STEVENS: ||Dangerous. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Too dangerous, for you personally, like a bad roller | | ||coaster ride. So, what do you think? Is this new life | | ||boring? | |STEVENS: ||No, not at all. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Not at all. What do you like about the new life? | |STEVENS: ||I like it better than the old. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Even though the old one was wild, the wild was kind of | | ||not a good wild. You like this way. | |STEVENS: ||I love it. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||You love it. Well, were glad that you love it. Were very | | ||proud of you. In addition to your certificate, youre | | ||getting your pen which says, I made it to level four, | | ||almost out the door. How about that? Anybody in | | ||the program that you are helping out a little bit, do | | ||you think? | |STEVENS: ||Trying to help everybody if I can. | |DUNCAN-PETERS: ||Trying to help everybody if you can. Well, hopefully you | | ||are helping them, because I think that it is interesting for | | || them to hear what you feel about having given up this old | | ||style, and starting a new one. | Mr. Stevens was also applauded by everyone in the crowded courtroom for his efforts. The judge proceeded through the court calendar and had similar exchanges with other clients. To those who were doing well and graduating to higher levels of treatment, she offered certificates, mugs, pens, and words of encouragement. Judge Stanley Goldstein presided over the Miami, Florida, drug court from its inception in 1989 until his retirement in 1999. A crusty ex-prosecutor and street cop, Goldstein would mix tough talk with words of encouragement in discussions with his clients. Between exchanges, he offered commentary, even short sermons, about the harms of drug use, the efficacy and basic focus of the drug court program, and his personal concern for the clients success in drug court. During a January 1995 court session, for example, he explained: This is a two part program. First is to get you off drugs. Second is to teach you how to live in this world. The first lesson you learn is you follow the rules. Later during the same session he offered the following. Let me tell you guys something. I told almost everyone of you when you came in here, there aint no other way. Any other way out of here and you lose. You stay being a junky: you lose, I win. You die: I win, you lose. You burn your brain out: you lose, I win. Forget about it. You hate me, want to get even with me? Quit using drugs, and get yourself a good job. Then you get even with me. I love you. I want everyone here to beat me into the ground with goodness. A female defendant stood before Judge Goldstein. You looked in the mirror lately? he asked her. Yeah, the client responded with a smile. Nice, huh? Goldstein continued. Again, the client smiled and answered, Yeah. Keep it up baby, Goldstein offered before calling up another client. To another participant who had not been doing so well he implored, When are you going to stop using cocaine? I cant stop it for you. Nobody can stop it for you. You have worked hard enough to get yourself into Phase III. Youre getting pretty close to graduation, and you got to go out and use cocaine. Are you a little baby? Do I have to treat you like a little baby. Huh? Say no more. I will see you back here in sixty days. To another who had also had a recent failure in the program, Goldstein exhorted, Any problem you got, you come to me. Im your Daddy Youre a little baby. Hey little baby boy. There is only one way to stop and that is to stop. And it is going to hurt. It is going to hurt a lot of ways. You got three options: You can die. You can go insane. You can quit. Knock it off. Knock it off. To a client holding a young child Goldstein instructed, Stop thinking about yourself all the time. Youre going to make that kid a junky by going out and having a good time for a couple hours. Youre dirty every day and youre killing your baby. Another client who stood before Goldstein was accompanied by her mother and asked the judge if she could graduate from the program early. Goldstein explained, The deal was one year. The statute says one year Okay? You look beautiful. You looked like hell when I first saw you. Your gorgeous. Then to the mother standing beside the client, What did I tell you? Didnt I tell you Id give you a new daughter? Right out of the factory. To another client who unexpectedly came into contact with drugs, Goldstein warned, What do you do at a party and someone lights up? Get the hell out of there. If youre in a car and someone lights up? Get the hell out of there. During the court session Goldstein reflected on his experience in the drug court program and on his previous experience in a regular criminal court. I used to sit up here and try cases. And I had big jury trials, with murderers, and with robbers, and all of this crap. And I put people away for seventy years and seventy-five years. During those years in a regular criminal court, Goldstein explained, he found his work profoundly unsatisfying. It never made me feel like I did anything I was taking one jackass off the street, that was all. With the drug court, contrastingly, I walk out of this program almost everyday and feel like I have accomplished something. If I save one guy a day Im happy. It took me awhile to realize that you cant save everybody. Some of them just aint got it Some people I praise. Some people I try to insult. Some people, Ill try anything, anything that might work. These examples provide just a glimpse into the unique character of the American drug court model. The chapters that follow consider in more detail the various qualities and consequences of this new form of criminal adjudication. Such an examination aims not only to explicate the defining features of the drug court movement and the reasons behind its widespread proliferation but to make sense of its effects, both practical and theoretical, on legal and public understandings of justice. A Note on Method The findings reported in this book are based upon ethnographic observation of drug courts throughout the United States. In the four-year period between August 1994 and August 1998, I visited twenty-one different drug courts in a total of eleven different states and the District of Colum-bia. The drug courts I visited varied by region. Seven were in the Northeast, six on the West Coast, five in the Mid Atlantic region (i.e., Mary-land, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia), and three in the South. The courts also varied with respect to the size of the locations in which they were situated. Twelve of the courts were in large urban areas; five were in rural regions; three were in midsize cities of around 100,000 residents; and one was in an outlying suburban area of a Northeastern city. The courts also varied with respect to how long they had been in existence, varying from first generation drug courts to courts that were still in the planning stages. Eleven of the courts I visited had been in existence for more than one year; eight had been in existence for less than a year; and two were still in the planning stages. At each of the drug courts, I conducted a face-to-face open-ended interview with the judge. I also had occasion to interview three other judges whose drug courts I did not visit. In all, I formally interviewed twenty-four different drug court judges. At the drug court locations, national drug court conferences, and mentoring court programs I attended, I also formally interviewed or had informal discussions with dozens of other drug court officials, including district attorneys, public defenders, treatment counselors, private attorneys, program coordinators, evaluators, and acupuncturists. I also, on occasion, had informal conversations with drug court clients. At each court I visited, in addition to interviewing the judge, I talked with other drug court officials, and if allowed, visited one of the outside-of-the-court treatment sites serving the drug court. The treatment modalities that I observed included acupuncture sessions, Alcoholics/Narcotics Anonymous meetings, group counseling sessions, and a probationary/ treatment introductory meeting. At five of the courts I was invited to sit in on the preliminary meetings preceding the drug court session. At these meetings the judge and other drug court officials discussed each of the clients who would be appearing in the drug court that day. In addition to visiting individual courts I also attended three national drug court conferences; one in Portland, Oregon, in December 1995; one in Washington, D.C., in May 1996; and another in Washington, D.C., in June 1998.11 At the conferences, I attended lectures and panel discussions featuring key players in the drug court movement; I interviewed drug court officials; and collected valuable written materials from drug courts throughout the country. I also attended two training or mentoring court programs. Mentoring courts are drug courts that have been in operation for several years and have been designated as locations where emerging courts can visit and receive training in the operation of a drug court. I attended a training session in Louisville, Kentucky, in April 1996, and another in Rochester, New York, in June 1997. There were representatives from five courts at the Louisville program, and representatives from twelve courts at Rochester. Finally I participated in the planning stages of a local drug court (near where I lived at the time) over a period of approximately four months. Officials had heard about my research from another court in the state and invited me to be on their planning board. We made a deal of sorts. They would allow me to sit in on their planning meetings, some of which I was allowed to tape-record, and they could draw upon the expertise I had acquired from having visited other courts around the country. My contribution was limited basically to a short presentation at one meeting, where I briefly described the features and structure of four other courts I had recently visited. On occasion they would ask me a question about how other courts operated, but for the most part I remained a very quiet observer. With the exception of drug court client/defendants, all drug court offi-cials and drug court sites identified in the book are actual names and places. I provide pseudonyms for any drug court client whose behavior is discussed or whose words are quoted in this book, the only exception being names cited in already public sources (e.g., justice department reports or newspaper descriptions of individual drug courts).12 I should note that, by in large, I found the people in this movement to be courteous, welcoming, and accessible. I also found drug court movement activists to be earnest, committed, and sacrificially generous in the amount of time and energy they devoted to the drug courts. I imagine that some may be disappointed by what they find in this book. It is not a celebration of the movement, but neither is it a policy oriented debunking of the movement. Rather it seeks to place the phenomenon in a broader socio-historical context, and it attempts to bring to the surface what might be some of the unintended consequences of the drug court movement as it relates to practical and theoretical understandings of justice. In any respect, I am very grateful for the level of access I was afforded by a group of hardworking and dedicated people, and hope that, even if not satisfied with the sociological focus of the analysis, drug court officials will find my treatment of their words and of the broader movement to be fair and even handed. Again, the book is not a policy statement, though it may have certain policy implications. Any program alternative to the drug court, however, is not given specific articulation. Furthermore, while the book touches upon issues of efficacy in certain contexts, the project is not an analysis of the utility of the drug courts, which has been the focus of most academic investigations of the drug court movement to date. A question about whether the drug courts work is certainly a valid question in its rightful place, but it is not the inquiry pursued here, nor is it, I would argue, the more important question to ask of the movement. Rather, the book seeks to understand the movement against the backdrop of the history of the social control of drugs in the United States and to understand the consequences of this judicial innovation on the processes of criminal adjudication and on social and legal understandings of justice. Toward this end, chapter 1 begins with a review of the various legal responses to drug use during the twentieth century leading up to the years just prior to the drug court movement. Chapter 2 considers in some detail the initiation and expansion of the drug court movement by examining the structural and cultural causes of the movement, an analysis which reveals limitations in the conventional political categories typically used to make sense of phenomenon like the drug court. Chapter 3 investigates the unique features of the drug court theater, that is, the radically redefined roles of the various actors in the courtroom drama and the subsequent tensions sometimes created by these new roles. The next three chapters consider some of the intended and unintended consequences of the drug court model. Chapter 4 evaluates the extent to which the drug court, particularly as it concerns the new role of the judge, departs from the American common law tradition. Chapter 5 analyzes the centrality of storytelling to the drug court drama and considers the extent to which the poignancy of a good story becomes an increasingly plausible criteria for evaluating the success of judicial programs. Chapter 6 assesses the manner in which a growing number of criminal behaviors (not just drug offenses) have, in the context of the drug court, been redefined in pathological terms, thus making increasingly obsoleteboth philosophically and practicallythe legal salience of guilt. Finally, the last two chapters specifically focus on the meaning of justice. Chapter 7 situates the drug court within a broader discussion of philosophical and cultural understandings of the goals of punishment, moving from the retributivist theories of Kant and Hegel in the early modern period to the rehabilitative ideal of the first part of the twentieth century. Chapter 8 investigates the manner in which the drug courts quintessential embodiment of therapeutic jurisprudence theory represents a significant break from previous understandings of the purposes of punishment and criminal adjudication. Taken together, the unique qualities and consequences of the drug court movement portend to redefine the very meaning of justice. Return to Book Description File created: 8/7/2007 Questions and comments to: firstname.lastname@example.org Princeton University Press

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|Regions with significant populations| United States (Montana) |Related ethnic groups| |other Algonquian peoples| The Blackfoot confederacy of Alberta in Canada and Montana in the United States was created from closely related, Algonkian-speaking tribes: the Piegan, the Kainai (Blood), and the Siksika (from which the word Blackfoot derived). They were a powerful nation that covered the Great Plains of the North American continent. They were accomplished hunters and traders with posts that extended to the east coast and Mexico. The Blackfoot were renowned warriors and stood against white encroachment for a quarter of a century. At the end of the nineteenth century, they became nearly extinct due to disease and demise of the buffalo. The survivors were forced onto reservations. This nation once covered the vast region of central Canada and the United States uniting many tribes of people into a common bond. They lived for thousands of years in close relationship to the natural environment. In many ways, it can be said that they were masters of living with the creation. The near extinction of this nation after the arrival of European settlers and traders was a great loss to humanity and, as with all cases of genocide, there is need for restoration by acknowledgment and healing of the pain of this loss. It can only be hoped that in the future the Blackfeet will be able to bring great wisdom back to the center of humanity's treasures. The Blackfoot Confederacy consists of the North Piegan (Aapatohsipiikanii), the South Piegan (Aamsskaapipiikanii), the Kainai Nation (Blood), and the Siksika Nation ("Blackfoot") or more correctly Siksikawa ("Blackfoot people"). The South Piegan are located in Montana, and the other three are located in Alberta. Together they call themselves the Niitsitapii (the "Real People"). These groups shared a common language and culture, had treaties of mutual defense, and freely intermarried. It is also speculated that "Blackfoot Cherokee" refers to a band of Cherokee that had black ancestry, most likely from the adoption of escaped slaves into their society. This band of Cherokee, however, have no connection to the Blackfoot nations. Archaeologists have identified evidence of early native ancestors who arrived after the Pleistocene Glacial period approximately 11,000 years ago. Some evidence of the presence of humans prior to this time has raised debate among some indigenous groups and scientists regarding the actual first ancestor of the Americas. Much evidence of permanent residents has been found that dates between 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. These natives spoke the Algonkian language. The Blackfoot Nation comprises the lineages from these early people. The confederation in the United States and Canada was made up of three groups: The Northern Blackfoot or Siksika, the Kainai or Blood, and the Piegan. This structure was not an authoritative political system as such but brought the groups together for ceremonial gatherings and summer hunting. Buffalo were often hunted in drives that sent stampeding herds over steep cliffs killing them in large numbers. The Blackfoot, like other Plains Indians of North America, lived without horses for thousands of years while still maintaining a hunter-gatherer way of life. Up until around 1730, the Blackfoot traveled by foot and used dogs to carry and pull some of their goods. They had not seen horses in their previous lands, but were introduced to them on the Plains, as other tribes, such as the Shoshone, had already adopted their use. They saw the advantages of horses and wanted some. The Blackfoot called the horses ponokamita (elk dogs). The horses could carry much more weight than dogs and moved at a greater speed. They could be ridden for hunting and travel. Horses revolutionized life on the Great Plains and soon came to be regarded as a measure of wealth. Warriors regularly raided other tribes for their best horses. Horses were generally used as universal standards of barter. Shamans were paid for cures and healing with horses. Dreamers who designed shields or war bonnets were also paid in horses. The men gave horses to those who were owed gifts as well as to the needy. An individual’s wealth rose with the number of horses accumulated, but a man did not keep an abundance of them. The individual’s prestige and status was judged by the number of horses that he could give away. For the Indians who lived on the Plains, the principal value of property was to share it with others. The first contact of the Blackfoot in Southern Alberta with white traders occurred in the late 1700s. Before this, other native groups brought trade items inland and also encroached on Blackfoot territory with the advantage of European rifles and technology. The first white people to attempt to make contact were Americans. They were strongly resisted. In 1831, a peace agreement was formed with an American fur trading company at Fort Piegan in Missouri. In the next few decades after this, American traders brought smallpox disease. In 1870, the Marias Massacre occurred. American troops killed 200 Piegan women, children, and elderly despite the fact that the camp was friendly. The Blackfoot population was reduced from around 11,000 to 6,000 people in a fifty year period. "Treaty 7" was a peaceful treaty signed in 1877 between the Canadian government and the Blackfoot Confederacy including the Piegan, Blood, Sarcee, Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley/Goodstoney. The impetus for the treaty was driven by the desire of the Canadian government to assure land rights before the construction of a transcontinental railway. The signing occurred at Blackfoot Crossing on the Siksika Reserve east of Calgary. A historical park has been constructed as a cultural museum in the same place as Chief Crowfoot signed the document. In 1855, the Niitsitapi chief Lame Bull made a peace treaty with the United States government. The Lame Bull Treaty promised the Niitsitapi $20,000 annually in goods and services in exchange for their moving onto a reservation. When the Blackfeet Reservation was first established in 1855 by this treaty, it included the eastern area of the Glacier National Park up to the Continental Divide. To the Blackfeet, the mountains of this area, especially Chief Mountain and the region in the southeast at Two Medicine, were considered the "Backbone of the World" and were frequented during vision quests. In 1895, Chief White Calf of the Blackfeet authorized the sale of the mountain area, some 800,000 acres (3,200 km²), to the U.S. government for $1.5 million with the understanding that they would maintain usage rights to the land for hunting as long as the ceded stripe will be public land of the United States. This established the current boundary between Glacier National Park and the reservation. The Blackfoot were fiercely independent and very successful warriors whose territory stretched from the North Saskatchewan River along what is now Edmonton, Alberta in Canada, to the Yellowstone River of Montana, and from the Rocky Mountains and along the Saskatchewan river past Regina. The basic social unit of the Blackfoot, above the family, was the band, varying from about 10 to 30 lodges, about 80 to 240 people. This size of group was large enough to defend against attack and to undertake small communal hunts, but was also small enough for flexibility. Each band consisted of a respected leader, possibly his brothers and parents, and others who need not be related. Since the band was defined by place of residence, rather than by kinship, a person was free to leave one band and join another, which tended to ameliorate leadership disputes. As well, should a band fall upon hard times, its members could split up and join other bands. In practice, bands were constantly forming and breaking up. The system maximized flexibility and was an ideal organization for a hunting people on the Northwestern Plains. Blackfoot people were nomadic, following the American buffalo herds. Survival required their being in the proper place at the proper time. For almost half the year in the long northern winter, the Blackfoot people lived in their winter camps along a wooded river valley perhaps a day's march apart, not moving camp unless food for the people and horses or firewood became depleted. Where there was adequate wood and game resources, some bands might camp together. During this part of the year, bison wintered in wooded areas where they were partially sheltered from storms and snow, which hampered their movements, making them easier prey. In spring the bison moved out onto the grasslands to forage on new spring growth. The Blackfoot did not follow immediately, for fear of late blizzards, but eventually resources such as dried food or game became depleted, and the bands would split up and begin to hunt the bison, also called the buffalo. In mid-summer, when the Saskatoon berries ripened, the people regrouped for their major tribal ceremony, the Sun Dance. This was the only time of year when the entire tribe would assemble, and served the social purpose of reinforcing the bonds between the various groups, and re-identifying the individuals with the tribe. Communal buffalo hunts provided food and offerings of the bulls' tongues (a delicacy) for the ceremonies. After the Sun Dance, the people again separated to follow the buffalo. In the fall, the people would gradually shift to their wintering areas and prepare the buffalo jumps and pounds. Several groups of people might join together at particularly good sites. As the buffalo were naturally driven into the area by the gradual late summer drying off of the open grasslands, the Blackfoot would carry out great communal buffalo kills, and prepare dry meat and pemmican to last them through winter, and other times when hunting was poor. At the end of the fall, the Blackfoot would move to their winter camps. The Blackfoot maintained this traditional way of life based on hunting buffalo, until the near extinction of the great animal by 1881, an effect of the European colonization of the Americas, forced them to adapt their ways of life. In the United States, they were restricted to land assigned in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 and were later given a distinct reservation in the Sweetgrass Hills Treaty of 1887. In 1877, the Canadian Blackfoot signed Treaty 7, and settled on the reservation in southern Alberta. This began a period of great struggle and economic hardship, as the Blackfoot had to try to adapt to a completely new way of life, as well as suffer exposure to many diseases their people had not previously encountered. Eventually, they established a viable economy based on farming, ranching, and light industry, and their population has increased to about 16,000 in Canada and 15,000 in the U.S. With their new economic stability, the Blackfoot have been free to adapt their culture and traditions to their new circumstances, renewing their connection to their ancient roots. In Blackfoot religion, the Old Man (Na'pi) was the Creator (God) of the ancient Blackfoot tribes. The word correlates with the color white and to the light of early morning sunrise. The character of the Old Man was a constant theme of Blackfoot lore. He depicted a full spectrum of human attributes that included themes of strength, weakness, folly, malice, and so forth. It was said that he went away to the West (or East) over the mountains but told the people he would return some day. This has been interpreted by some tribal members as the return of the buffalo to the people. The Sun replaced the Old Man in the Blackfoot religious system. The Moon was the Sun's wife. The character of the Sun was benevolent, wise, and generous. The tongue of the buffalo was sacred to the Sun as was the suffering of the Sun Dancers in the Medicine Lodge. There were a number of minor deities. Animals, birds, insects, and plants were important as guides and helpers. There was a strong belief in the existence of spirits. The spirits of those that lived wicked lives were separated from good spirits and were thought to remain close to the place where they died. Sometimes these wicked spirits wished to do ill out of revenge or jealousy and could bother people. It was thought that spirits sometimes dwell in animals. Owls are thought to be inhabited by the spirits of medicine men. In the the twenty-first century, the old traditions of religious practice are still alive. The Sun Dance is maintained, as are medicine bundles, sweat lodges, and guardian spirit traditions. There is an annual Medicine Lodge ceremony and Sun Dance in July. Increased interest in the indigenous knowledge of some Native American societies emerged in the late 1900s and has brought together people from many professions, cultures, and religious belief systems. The Sun Dance ceremony, the mystery renewal of Turtle Island (the North American continent), and festivals celebrating wild things have brought together anthropologists, scientists, poets, writers, spiritual seekers, and more, resulting in an increase in books, music, art, and poetry about the ancient ways. One example of this is the book, Blackfoot Physics, based on the experiences of a theoretical physicist F. David Peat in the 1980s. He wrote, "within the Indigenous world the act of coming to know something involves a personal transformation. The knower and the known are indissolubly linked and changed in a fundamental way." The importance of animals - Buffalo (American bison) The bison was highly revered and was often regarded as a Medicine (helper) Animal. Buffalo skulls were placed outside the sweat lodges of the Medicine Lodge. The buffalo tongue was the Sun's favorite food. The white buffalo was regarded as sacred. Instead of collecting data on bison, Blackfoot performed as wolves. They tried to look like wolves and move like wolves. They became wolves in ceremonies at home camp, and in presence of bison herds … By becoming brothers to the wolf, Blackfoot could quickly discover effective means of manipulating the bison … through performances that could easily be mistaken for purely "cultural activities".ref>Russell Barsh, "Driving Bison and Blackfoot Science." Human Ecology 31 (2003).</ref> Before the introduction of horses, the Blackfoot had a "Pedestrian Culture" economy. However, no European had met the Blackfoot before they had acquired horses, so earlier periods can only be understood through inference and anthropology. There were myths about how the horse came to the Blackfoot that were passed down through generations from elders. One such Piegan myth, for example, was titled, "How Morning Star Made the First Horse," which opens, "Until this time, the people had only dogs." The historic period called the "Horse Culture Period" was from approximately 1540 - 1880. The last date corresponds roughly with the extermination of the buffalo in the Great Plains. Blackfoot social status respected the right of individual ownership. "A man owning 40 or more horses was considered to be wealthy" The butterfly and moth were common figures in Blackfoot artwork, myths, and songs. It was believed that butterflies were carriers of dreams. It was a custom for mothers to embroider a butterfly on buckskin strips to place in their baby's hair. They would then sing a lullaby calling the butterfly to bring the child sleep. Today, many of the Blackfoot live on reserves in Canada. In Canada, the Blackfoot Tribe has changed its name to Siksika Nation, and the Piegans are called both the Piegan Nation and Pikuni Nation. The Northern Piegan make clothing and moccasins, and the Kainai operate a shopping center and factory. About 8,500 Blackfeet live on the Montana reservation of 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km²). Unemployment is a challenging problem on the Blackfoot Reservations. Many people work as farmers, but there are not enough other jobs nearby. To find work, many Blackfoot have relocated from the reservation to towns and cities. Some companies pay the Blackfoot for leasing use of oil, natural gas, and other resources on the land. They operate businesses such as the Blackfoot Writing Company, a pen and pencil factory, which opened in 1972, but it closed in the late 1990s. In 1982, the tribe received a settlement of $29 million as compensation for mistakes in federal accounting practices. On March 15, 1999, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council approved the establishment of Siyeh Corporation in Browning, Montana. The corporation's purpose is to generate business development, create jobs, produce revenue, and advance the economic self-sufficiency of the Tribe by managing its tribal enterprises. Siyeh manages businesses including an Indian gaming casino, Glacier Peaks Casino in Browning, as well as the Blackfeet Heritage Center and Art Gallery. The Blackfoot continue to make advancements in education. In 1974, they opened the Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana. The school also serves as tribal headquarters. As of 1979, the Montana state government requires all public school teachers on or near the reservation to have a background in American Indian studies. In 1989, the Siksika tribe in Canada completed a high school to go along with its elementary school. Language classes are in place to keep their language alive. In Canada, the Red Crow College offers courses on the Siksika Reserve. Blackfoot students increasingly finding new means of employment based on their cultural ties and educational opportunities. Blackfoot Crossing Memorial Park The Siksika nation has created a memorial park at the the site of the signing of Treaty No. 7 in Alberta, Canada. It is called the Blackfoot Crossing Memorial Park, and represents a revival of tribal pride in their history, culture, and language that has grown in strength into the twenty-first century. In the part, storytelling and oral tradition will be used to communicate the culture of the North Plains Indians to Siksika members and visitors. There will also be traditional dances, language classes, costumes, teepee circles, and ceremonial activities held there. The symbol of the buffalo was registered as the Siksika Coat of Arms with the Heraldic Authority of Canada in 1992 (the first such registry of a First Nation in Canada). The Blackfoot continue many cultural traditions of the past and hope to extend their ancestors' traditions to their children. They want to teach their children the Pikuni language as well as other traditional knowledge. In the early twentieth century, a white woman named Frances Densmore helped the Blackfoot record their language. During the 1950s and 1960s, few Blackfoot spoke the Pikuni language. In order to save their language, the Blackfoot Council asked elders who still knew the language to teach it. The elders had agreed and succeeded in reviving the language, so today the children can learn Pikuni at school or at home. In 1994, the Blackfoot Council accepted Pikuni as the official language. The people also revived the Black Lodge Society, responsible for protecting songs and dances of the Blackfoot. They continue to announce the coming of spring by opening five medicine bundles, one at every sound of thunder during the spring. The Sun Dance, which was illegal from the 1890s-1934, has been practiced again for years. Since 1934, the Blackfoot have practiced it every summer. The event lasts eight days—time filled with prayers, dancing, singing, and offerings to honor the Creator. It provides an opportunity for the Blackfoot to get together and share views and ideas with each other, while celebrating their culture's most sacred ceremonies. - ↑ 1.0 1.1 Native History Indian Tribes of Alberta. (Calgary: Glenbow Museum, 1979). Retrieved March 23, 2007 - ↑ Marlene M. Martin, Society-BLACKFOOT. Retrieved on March 23, 2007. - ↑ George Bird Grinnell, "Early Blackfoot History," American Anthropologist 5(2) (Apr., 1892): 153-164. - ↑ Stuart J. Baldwin, "Blackfoot Neologisms," International Journal of American Linguistics 60(1) (Jan., 1994): 69-72. - ↑ David S. Murdoch, North American Indian (New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2005, ISBN 978-0132133616). - ↑ Colin Taylor, What Do We Know About The Plains Indians? (New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 1993, ISBN 978-0872262614). - ↑ Royal B. Hassrick, The Colorful Story of North American Indians (New York, NY: Book Sales, Inc., 1975, ISBN 978-0706403602), 77. - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Blackfoot Crossing, Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park (2005). Retrieved on March 20, 2007. - ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Karen Bush Gibson, The Blackfeet: People of the Dark Moccasins (Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0736848244). - ↑ The Blackfeet Nation Manataka American Indian Council. Retrieved October 4, 2011. - ↑ George Bird Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story Of A Prairie People (Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, ISBN 978-1163786611). - ↑ Mark David Spence, Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0195142433), 80. - ↑ Blackfeet Religion.www.accessgeneology.com. Retrieved April 18, 2007. - ↑ F. David Peat, Blackfoot Physics: A Journey into the Native American Universe (Fourth Estate Ltd., 1996, ISBN 1857024567) Chapter 1: Spirits of Renewal Retrieved February 29, 2008. - ↑ John C. Ewers. The Horse in Blackfoot Culture. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Library, 1955), 295. - ↑ Ewers 1955, 240. - ↑ Ron Cherry, Lepidoptera in the Mythology of Native Americans. www.insects.org. Retrieved on April 6, 2007. - ↑ Barry Pritzker, A Native American Encyclopedia. (Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0195138975) - Blackfoot Gallery Committee. The Story of the Blackfoot People: Nitsitapiisinni. Tonawanda, NY: Firefly Books, 2001. ISBN 1552975835 - Ewers, John C. The Horse in Blackfoot Culture: With Comparative Material from Other Western Tribes. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Library, 1955. ASIN B0030T1C7I - Gibson, Karen Bush.The Blackfeet: People of the Dark Moccasins. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0736848244 - Grinnell, George Bird. Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story Of A Prairie People. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010 (original 1892). ISBN 978-1163786611 - Hassrick, Royal B. The Colorful Story of North American Indians. New York, NY: Book Sales, Inc., 1975. ISBN 978-0706403602 - Murdoch, David S. North American Indian. New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2005. ISBN 978-0132133616 - Peat, F. David. Blackfoot Physics: A Journey into the Native American Universe. London: Fourth Estate Ltd, 1996. ISBN 1857024567 - Pritzker, Barry. A Native American Encyclopedia. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0195138771 - Spence, Mark David. Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0195142433 - Taylor, Colin. What Do We Know About The Plains Indians? New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 1993. ISBN 978-0872262614 All links retrieved February 11, 2014. - Blackfoot Nation - Native Languages of the Americas: Blackfoot (Siksika, Peigan, Piegan, Kainai, Blackfeet) - Blackfoot Digital Library New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

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|Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute||Home| In “Teaching Syntactic Maturity,” Hunt reports: “John Mellon conducted the first major experiment in teaching sentence-combining; his subjects were about 250 seventh graders. He divided his subjects into three groups. Two groups were control groups, one that proceeded without grammar instruction for the academic year; another, students who learned traditional parsing of the surface structure. The third group received the experimental treatment which consisted of teaching a skeletal grammar focused on those terms needed to explain in only semi-formal ways some of the more frequent sentence combining transformations. As the grammar lessons progressed, students were given sets of sentences with instructions telling which transformations to use combining them.”2 The control groups showed no significant difference, but the experimental group “showed two to three times as much gain in one year as either of the two control groups.”3 The length of the T-unit, an independent clause, was the major evaluative measure. Other experiments have been conducted. Barbara Miller and James Ney, through oral activities with fourth grade students, show that “a facility in combining sentences can be taught as early as the middle elementary school.”4 Many of the textbooks written for college students are now employing sentence-combining activities along with traditional grammar exercises. There is a demonstrated need for alternatives to traditional grammar instruction. W.S. Palmer writes: “Several different reasons have been advanced for the teaching of traditional grammar, among them the notion that it is good for mental discipline and that a knowledge of it automatically improves a student’s ability to write. Research, however, does not support these assumptions.” As early as 1902, J.M. Rice determined that many students who had a sound understanding of English grammar produced compositions of inferior quality. In research conducted in 1917, Julius Borass ascertained that a higher correlation exists between grammar and arithmetic than grammar and composition. Nora Robinson tested a group of 145 students from four urban schools in 1960 on parts of speech, general ability, and sentence analysis. The students were then asked to write three essays. The coefficients of correlation between grammar tests and composition; grades were extremely low.5 Research on the teaching of traditional grammar indicates that students show no appreciable increase in writing facility as a result. The students I teach in the seventh and eighth grade have been taught repeatedly the definition of the parts of speech. Most of them can recite these definitions from memory. The problems arise when actual writing occurs; there is little apparent transference of grammar instruction to the written sentence. One reason for this failure may be that students’ oral language skills are more sophisticated than the grammar the middle school English teacher presents. It must be anticlimactic to speak in complex sentences all day and be instructed for six weeks in the parts of speech as they apply to simple sentences. Students may also be turned off by traditional grammar instruction. Each year the language instruction begins at the same place—and proceeds through much that the student has already heard. How many deaf ears are turned to English teachers when a noun is mentioned? “Oh! Here we go again.” By the seventh grade, the immediacy of grammar instruction has been demolished. “Why should I pay attention, attempt to employ this knowledge,” the student may rightly ask, “when I know that next year we are going to do the same thing.” Students become immune to traditional instruction. James Squire in “Five Rules for Sequence” writes The exploding world of early adolescence, characterized by the discovery of new ideas, almost inevitably leads to problems in expression....During these years, teachers might best plan a sequence of composition that nourishes and encourages the expansion of ideas, rather than one so demanding that it restricts the fluency of student thinking.6In late middle school and high school, students need a more packed language to express the complicated ideas that are to be discussed in literature and to express their feelings in general. Ideas become contingent upon one another, inter-related. Eileen J. McGuire notes that “a grammar geared to the development of the student’s ability to write good sentences is especially useful at this time, helping him to sort out the onrush of new ideas and at the same time to express his own ideas with some coherence.”7 To this end, the sentence-combining curriculum which follows is presented. While I have never used sentence-combining in class other than in forming compound sentences, I’m looking forward to using it because the students, as well as I, will welcome the change. In sentence-combining, abstract labels are employed minimally and can be dispensed with in the actual practice. Models are employed which enable students to move at their own rates—-and further lessen the need for the teacher to serve as final arbiter of right and wrong. The program builds upon intuitive knowledge that the student already possesses. Sentence-combining is easier than traditional grammar for students to work with because they link already-presented sentences. To recognize an adjectival subordinate clause is, of course, more taxing than working with joining already-presented material. In addition, sentence- combining provides clues to indicate the correct embeddings. (Embedding is a sentence-combining term that will appear quite frequently in the literature; it indicates that portion of the sentence which will become a part of another in the final form.) Also, since the words are already there correctly spelled, the student need only be concerned with punctuation. Removing some of the frustration will, we hope engender a renewed desire to punctuate sentences correctly, to get everything correct. The sentence-combining program, prepared in advance, offers a not insignificant advantage over traditional grammar instruction in that the student can begin the program at any point that does not frustrate him. The program can last a quarter, a semester, or a year, depending on the school calendar and the rate of your students’ progress. Sentence-combining represents a boon to all teachers of English because it does not assume any prior knowledge of grammar. It can be used in conjunction with any language course; it can also supplement a traditional program of language instruction. Students will benefit, and they will enjoy themselves. William Strong in “Sentence-Combining: Back to Basics and Beyond” cites research done by Frank O’Hare: “The experimental group really liked the sentence-combining problems because of the intellectual challenges they presented. O’Hare’s sentence-combining practice apparently transferred to real writing, so that at the end of eight months the experimental group was writing composition of a significantly better quality than the control group—quality that went beyond mere technical correctness.”8 There are a variety of types of sentence-combining problems offered in journals and the emerging textbooks, but usually they fall into two general formats: open and signaled. In the open sequences Strong presents, several solutions are possible; no one right answer exists. The following exercise is from Strong’s Sentence-Combining: A Composing Book: 1. The patties are grayish pink. 2. They are grainy like oatmeal. 3. They have already been laid out. 4. They are on the griddle. 5. The griddle is black. 6. The griddle is old. 7. They begin to sizzle in a puddle. 8. The puddle is greasy.9 These exercises encourage flexibility. The exercises of Mellon, O’Hare, and Cooper provide more direction and include grammatical nomenclature which is essentially optional. I will include it in my program because I feel more comfortable with the old terms, even though the students will not see the terms in the exercises. Having been taught using terms such as participial phrase and infinitives, these terms have meaning to me that they do not have for my students. Seeing the terms helps me to generate additional examples or to find like examples in traditional grammar books. The students need not see these labels because they will not help them with the exercises. Charles Cooper offers the following exercises in his “An Outline for Writing Sentence-Combining Problems:” The canary flew out of the window. The canary was yellow. *The yellow canary flew out of the window. He was a student. The student was serious. *He was a serious student.10 The underlining indicates with which elements the student should be concerned. I prefer the signaled method for these reasons: First, it can be used with grammatical names if the student or the school board wants them; second, the signaled choice leads to one correct answer; my students always seem to want one right answer. Third, the signaled method gives more support to the students because they know which item(s) in the sentence must be changed—and when they just add or delete items. The sequence of sentence-combining problems that follows has been mapped by Charles Cooper in his “Outline for Sentence-Combining Problems.” Most of the major transformations that students should be familiar with are covered. The examples below are mine: they are easily generated, and the classroom teacher should endeavor to create examples which apply to his or her class, to personalize them. One word of caution: sentence-combining is not an end in itself; rather it is a method to reach an end. No one class period should be devoted to it. William Strong maintains, and I agree, that “it can be a part of a well-articulated program, but common sense suggests that it can’t be the one and only instructional strategy. It would destroy the basic rationale and usefulness of the approach just as much as using the exercises for grammatical diagramming.”11 The problems are presented to help students write better—to express complicated ideas well in a larger writing arena, which the teacher must provide. The instructor should come to using sentence-combining after having established a writing program. The program that I use involves reading literature and writing reactions and summaries. In my class, we also generate lots of creative writing: short stories, poems and one act plays. Each English teacher employs different methods to improve student facility in these areas—and sentence- combining can be integrated into any program. As an example, in the literature that my students read are many fine sentences that they can appreciate. One method of integrating sentence-combining would be to have students take one sentence that they liked and break it into its kernel or component parts. Then they could exchange these parts with classmates and have them combine them, comparing results with the original. Creative writing offers a particularly useful backdrop for sentence-combining activities. Students can find dramatic practice for their revisions in their own work while writing assignments. Second drafts provide fertile areas for more practice. What better time to instill in students the desire and necessity for combining sentences for a rich text? Students may also like to practice on papers of other students, to make suggestions that will aid their writing. Cooper defines the first major sentence-combining area as noun modifiers. These are words that change the meanings of nouns. To say in one sentence what one would sometimes say in two is the goal. Simple adjective word embeddings are as follows: Practice in each of these embeddings should be presented separately. The order of the presentation is of no consequence if labels such as subject or predicate nominative are not being used. Students should operate comfortably with one area before they move on to another. - —before the subject - The boy threw the frisbee. - The boy is young. - *The young boy threw the frisbee. - —before the object - I saw a movie. - The movie was good. - *I saw a good movie. - —before predicate nominative - He was a policeman’ - The policeman was cautious. - *He was a cautious policeman. - —before object of a preposition - She was in the garden when it began to rain. - The garden was sunny. - *She was in the sunny garden when it began to rain. Participle embeddings should be drafted as follows: The exercises should be presented quickly, intensely, and enthusiastically. Many different methods may be used. I plan to use a combination of an overhead projector and worksheets. A few examples may be prepared in advance for an overhead, and students can generate further examples. Games may be employed. Students may divide sentences into their kernel parts at the board. They may also combine kernels that the teacher provides. Teams may be formed and races held. Fluency should be striven for in these exercises. Sentences may be searched for in literature books. Students may find sentences that appeal to them. These sentences can be the basis of an exchange of sentences either in their completed form or in kerne1 parts. When received by fellow-students, the sentences can be reconstructed or divided depending on their initial form. Students must practice in order to gain fluency. The main thing is to get students interested in the sentence to give them a chance to separate sentences and reconstruct them—to get them thinking. Once students show a fluency with single word embeddings, they should proceed to adjective phrase embeddings. - Joe slapped the horse. - The horse gallops. - *Joe slapped the galloping horse. - The street had potholes, - The city repaired the patholes. - *The street had repaired - The next area to be explored should be compound adjectives. - He wore a sweater. - Moths had eaten the sweater. - *He wore a moth-eaten sweater. - Joe saw the plant. - Bugs eat the plant. - *Joe saw the bug-eaten plant. - Embeddings should also give the student practice with adverbs. - The woman is a lawyer. - The woman is downstairs. - *The woman downstairs is a lawyer. The above combinations and embeddings will probably take students several weeks to become comfortable with. For all, it will be a new experience; let them enjoy themselves. Examples from students’ own writings should be added to teachers’ examples. The teachers even like to set up a small corner where students may put sentences that they encounter in their reading on index cards. Above all, any tedium should be disassociated from sentence- combining. These exercises should be fun. Once students have mastered the above material concerning nouns and their modifiers, they are ready to deal with words and phrases that substitute for nouns. - —prepositional phrases - The woman is my mother. - The woman is in the library. - *The woman in the library is my mother. - —appositive phrases. - My older brother is an electrician. - My older brother is Nat. - *My older brother Nat is an electrician. - —participial phrases - Betty stepped over the dog. - The dog was carrying a stick. - *Betty stepped over the dog carrying a stick. - The exercises were hard. - The exercises were assigned by the gym teacher. - *The exercises assigned by the gym teacher were hard. - —infinitive phrases - I was given a bicycle for Christmas. - The bicycle was to ride. - *I was given a bicycle to ride for Christmas. - —adjective clause embeddings involving who, when, which, that, when, or where. - People drive large cars. - People aren’t interested in conserving fuel. (who) - *People who aren’t interested in conserving fuel drive large cars. - Johnny likes comic books. - The comic books present a continuing story. (which) - *Johnny likes comic books which present a continuing story. - I love some mornings. - I am happy. (when) - *I love some mornings when I’m happy. - This is the class. - I learn the most. (where) - *This is the class where I learn the most. - —multiple adjective embeddings - The man was fat. - The man was short. - The man had a heart attack. (who) - *The man who was short and fat had a heart attack. Once students become accustomed to the signaled exercises, the instructor should see improvement in their writing. They may want to try some of the complicated open exercises presented in Strong’s Sentence-Combining: A Composing Book. These exercises do not have one correct answer; they are closer to the task a writer faces—that of making stylistic choices. An early problem may be: - —noun substitutes - —fact clauses - SOMETHING made him sad. - His father died, (the fact that) - *The fact that his father died made him sad. - SOMETHING made his parents very proud. - Billy delivered the address at graduation. (that) - *That Billy delivered the address at graduation made his parents very proud. - —question clauses - We wondered SOMETHING. - Those new neighbors lived somewhere before. (where) - *We wondered where those new neighbors lived before. - The train dispatcher tried to tell us SOMETHING. - The train had derailed somehow (how). - *The train dispatcher tried to tell us how the train had derailed. - My Spanish teacher did say SOMETHING - Someone should practice his Spanish diction. (how often to) - *My Spanish teacher did say how often someone should practice his Spanish diction. - My father is not sure of SOMETHING. - Someone calls someone if the electric garage door opener needs fixing. - —noun phrases - —gerund phrases - SOMETHING was his favorite pastime. - He swam in the Pacific Ocean. (swimming) - *Swimming in the Pacific Ocean was his favorite pastime. - He liked SOMETHING. - He rode his bicycle in the hills. (riding) - *He liked riding his bicycle in the hills. - —infinitive phrases - SOMETHING was her desire. - She wanted to get an A in geometry. (to get) - *To get an A in geometry was her desire. - He tried SOMETHING - He went to the midnight show. (to go) - *He tried to go to the midnight show. - —multiple embeddings - SOMETHING bothered my sister. - The college refused her request for a scholarship. (the fact that) - The college was Dartmouth. - My sister wrote a letter to Mr. Jones. (who) - The letter was well-written - The letter was angry. - *The fact that Dartmouth college refused her request for a scholarship upset my sister, who wrote a well- written, angry letter to Mr. Jones. Possible transformations include: - 1. The cars come cruising up Broadway. - 2. The cars are glittering. - 3. The paint is harsh. - 4. The paint is metallic. - 5. The paint is highly waxed. - 6. There is a rumble of exhaust. - 7. The rumble is great. - 8. Lights explode softly on the scene. - 9. The lights are for the street. - 10. The scene is primitive. The glittering cars come cruising up Broadway. Their harsh paint is metallic and highly waxed. There is a great rumble of exhaust. The street light explodes softly off the primitive scene.Or- The cars that glitter come cruising up Broadway. Their paint is harsh, metallic, and highly waxed. There is a great rumbling of exhaust. Street lights explode softly off the scene—which is primitive.12Either choice is acceptable. A much longer, more involved example is “A1cohol and Marijuana:” part of which appears below: 1. Drunkenness leads to 30 to 50 percent of all arrests made. 2. The arrests are on the average. 3. The average is national. 4. Cirrhosis ranks sixth. 5. The ranking is causes of death. 6. Cirrhosis is a disease. 7. The disease affects the liver. 8. Alcohol causes cirrhosis.13 The student has many options available for combining the above sentence. The teacher will never lack for examples. Pick up any book, magazine, any printed matter whatsoever, and the source of sentence-combining material is available. Learning can be fun. A sentence from a short story a class is reading may be taken, separated, and students can put it together. The sentence then can be presented as it appears in the story—and results compared. Some students may have produced a sentence which pleases them more than the original. We are all sentence- combining geniuses} 2. grease pen 3. outline of simple embeddings before the subject a. The boy threw the frisbee. b. The boy is young. a. The school is dirty. b. The school is new. a. The man is drowning. b. The man is Caucasian. a. The bikes needed fixing. b. The bikes are red. 2. Using the overhead combine the first group of sentences for the students 3. Have the students combine the second group of sentences. 4. Go over the sentences and have the students do the remaining. 5. Provide the students with additional examples to explore at their seats. 6. Let the students exchange these examples and discuss possibilities. b. box of the appropriate size c. literature books - a. Explain that the corner is for the students’ use at any time. It is a place for exploration. - b. The students can place sentences on the top of large index cards in either the final form or in their component parts. - c. The students are to place their names in the corner of the cards. - d. Students may combine or break the sentences in the component parts and put their names next to their work. - e. Periodically, students should check back on the work done on their cards. - f. Discussion to ensue. b. prepared dittoes 1. The cars come cruising up Broadway. 2. The cars are glittering. 3. The paint is harsh. 4. The paint is metallic. 5. The paint is highly waxed. 6. There is a rumble of exhaust. 7. The rumble is great. 8. Lights explode softly on the scene. 9. The lights are for the street. 10. The scene is primitive. b. Have the students generate a combined sentence of the first group of sentences. c. Students are to compare the results. d. Using their own compositions, students are to revise a paragraph using sentence-combining. e. Collect revisions and originals and comment. ___________. “Sentence-Combining Aids Reading Comprehension” Journal of Reading 21 (Oct. ‘77), pp. 12-24. ___________. “Sentence-Combining Practice: Do Gains in Judgments of Writing Quality Persist?” Journal of Educational Research 70 (Jul/Aug ‘77) pp 318-21. ___________. “Further Implications and Effects of Sentence- Combining Exercises for the Secondary Language Arts Curriculum,” Dissertation Abstracts International 36 (1975). Cooper C.R. “Outline for Writing Sentence-Combining Problems,” English Journal 62 (Jan ‘73) pp 96-102. Hunt, Kellogg. “How Little Sentences Grow into Big Ones,” New Directions in Elementary English. NCTE 1967. ___________.”Teaching Syntactic Maturity,” In Applications of Linguistics. Perren, G.E. & J.L.M. Trimm (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 1971. McGuire, E.J. “Sentence Building and Transformational Grammar,” English Journal 56 (May ‘67), pp. 747- 50. Mellon, J. Sentence-Combining: A Method of Enhancing the Development of Syntactic Fluency in English Composition. (Champlain: NCTE), 1969. O’Hare, Frank. Sentence-Combining: Improving Student Writing Without Formal Grammar Instruction, (Champain: NCTE) 1973. ___________. Sentencecraft. (Lexington: Ginn & Co.), 1973. Palmer, Wm. S. “Research on Grammar: A Review of Some Pertinent Investigations.” High School Journal, 58 (March 1975), pp. 252-258. Strong, W. and R. J. Marzano, “Sentence-Combining: Pro and Con,” English Journal 65 (Fete ‘76), pp. 57-64. Vitale, M.R. et al. “Effect of Sentence-Combining upon Several Restricted Writing Composition Tasks,” Journal of Educational Psychology 62 (Dee ‘71), pp 521-55. Rippon Michelle and Walter E. Meyers. Combining Sentences. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.), 1979. Strong, William. Sentence-Combining: A Composing Book. (New York: Random House, Inc.) 1973. Contents of 1979 Volume IV | Directory of Volumes | Index | Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute

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This lesson has been designed to provide students with an understanding of strategies used for effectively solving problems in various areas. Video, hands-on activities and interaction among students show the need for forming an hypothesis and to recognize correlation between an educated guess and a solution. Video and simulated situations provide opportunities for students to internalize recognition of the real problem and how to incorporate problem solving strategies to solve it successfully. Problem Solving: Identifying the Problem Problem Solving: Simplifying the Problem Problem Solving #112 Students will be able to: - identify concrete and abstract patterns; - discuss correlation between possible and actual outcomes; - demonstrate logical reasoning in solving problems; - incorporate probability reasoning and predictions to determine intended - list ways and methods to solve problems; - explain importance of recognizing the real problem; - separate unnecessary parts of a problem from those parts needed to reach a solution; - demonstrate critical problem solving strategies. (per group of 4) - 1 chalkboard, chalk, eraser - 1 chart tablet - 1 black marking pen - 1 overhead projector - 1 sheet notebook paper - 1 pencil - 2 grocery items or their containers/wrappers - 1 calculator - 1 Activity Sheet - 1 sealable plastic bag containing 15 Red beans, 15 Lima beans and - 1 paper plate - 2 sheets notebook paper - 1 pencil Say, "Today we are going to focus on how to solve a problem." Engage students in discussion pointing out: often a problem can be solved in more than one way; and the method of solution may not be obvious or readily identifiable when someone says they don't get it or they don't understand. Divide the class into groups of four students each. Distribute a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil to each group; instruct them to select a recorder from within the group. Say, "Brainstorm within your group and decide on strategies that can be employed to figure out a problem you don't understand." Emphasize there are several things a good mathematician can do to solve a difficult problem. Say, "As your group agrees on a strategy that can be used to solve a problem, it should be written down by the recorder." Instruct students to begin the task; allow a reasonable period of time for the task to be accomplished. Allow groups to interact as they share strategies decided upon. List strategies on chalkboard as they are suggested by individual groups, then direct discussion toward combining strategies which are similar but stated differently. Guide discussion to a logical sequencing of problem solving strategies as you ultimately conclude and record the sequenced strategies on a chart tablet as: Understand the problem. (What is being asked? What are the facts? Which infor-mation is important to solving the problem? Which is not?) Plan a solution. (What options do I have for solving the problem? Which can help? (e.g.) Draw a picture; construct a model; guess and check; work backwards; make a graph or table; or use a computation skill of addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.) Solve the problem. Check your work. After completion of the strategies list, distribute a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil to each student. Say, "Use the chart tablet list and record the strategies for your own personal use and referral as you decide how to solve various Ask, "Why do you suppose understanding the problem is sequenced first on the list?" Allow students to tell it is necessary to know what a problem is before you can solve it. Say, "You are going to see a video about two girls attempting to figure out how much money is needed to buy their grandmother a jewelry box. The problem may appear simple to you, however, to a younger person it would not be easy." To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "As you watch the video, refer to your list of problem solving strategies and decide if and how the first strategy is employed by the girls, then be prepared to defend what Problem Solving: Identifying the Problem #102 BEGIN tape immediately following opening credits. PAUSE tape on visual of narrator; audio is, "...some step to take when you're sure the clues are there but you just can't find them." Allow students to tell and defend their belief about whether the girls properly implemented the first strategy. If the following wasn't included in students' rationale, ask: "What was the mistake in computation made by the girls? What gave the mistake away?" (needed to raise more money than the jewelry box cost) Emphasize the need to always use common sense when problem solving. Write the term on chalkboard as you encourage students to share their perception of common sense and as you reinforce the need to apply logic. Say, "Refer to the list of strategies and decide which ones weren't employed by the girls." Lead discussion to conclusion that the girls didn't understand the problem (strategy #1) and they didn't check their work (strategy #4). Say, "Had the girls understood the problem and had they checked their work, what should be done would have been clear to them." Ask, "Do you think either girl recognizes their mistake?" Allow for response. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch the next video and be prepared to tell what information is needed to solve the problem and which information isn't needed." RESUME tape. PAUSE tape on visual of narrator and girls; audio is, "Well, it looks like Jenny and Arlene are going to be able to buy their granny that beautiful jewelry box." Allow students to tell which information they believe is needed and which they believe isn't. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch as I freeze frame the video on a list of things we know about the jewelry box, then decide if your belief about needed information is correct." RESUME tape. FREEZE frame on graphic list of things known about the problem. Allow students to identify correct information as $40.00 and $19.20 difference. Say, "Always disregard any information that isn't needed to solve a problem so it won't interfere or be confused with information you do need." To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "In the next video, see if you can identify which is needed information and which is not needed as the narrator states the problem to be solved." RESUME tape. PAUSE tape on graphic list of what is known and what needs to be known about the problem; audio is, "What would you do with this information?" Allow students to internalize separating needed from un-needed information as you ask, "If a farm is 120 km from where they started and the occupants of an automobile have already traveled 70 km, how many more km must they travel to reach the farm?" Allow students to discuss and answer 50 km. Ask, "How did removing unnecessary information make the problem easier to solve?" Allow students to share opinions. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch the next video to test the accuracy of your opinion." RESUME tape. PAUSE tape on visual of the information blinking on the screen; audio is, "...and bingo, that solves the problem." Allow time for students to tell whether their opinions were valid. Say, "At times, a problem can appear confusing because you aren't familiar with its setting. If so and the setting can be changed to one you're more familiar with, it should be easier for you to understand." To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch the next video which shows a problem and be prepared to tell how substituting a familiar situation for one that was unfamiliar helped." RESUME tape; PAUSE tape with audio, "...that the situation you create is parallel with the problem." Allow students to describe how bicycles were substituted for chickens, thus, eliminating an unfamiliar farm setting for city children and providing a setting they could relate to with the Identify a city very different from the area or city your students have grown up in and are familiar with. (e.g.) New York vs Nashville. Have students contrast how the two would differ in: recreational opportunities, housing, means of trans-portation, etc. Encourage them to consider why a youngster from Nashville might have difficulty relating to a problem about subway schedules but not the youngster from NYC; and why the youngster from NYC might have trouble relating to rabbits or squirrels playing on your lawn but not someone from Nashville. Use the discussion to reinforce the desirability of substitute situations to help solve problems. Say, "We have discussed two important elements to help you understand problems, what are they?" List on chalkboard as students tell: eliminate unnecessary information and change an unfamiliar setting to a familiar one. Say, "A third key element to help you understand a problem is to look for a relationship between two things." To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "As you watch the next video, see if you can figure out which is the better buy as two children look for a contrast in price between different packages of hot dogs." RESUME tape; PAUSE tape with audio of girl, "...so two of the six packs of hot dogs would be a better buy than the package of ten." Allow for student response. Ask, "Who solved the problem but in a different way?" Discuss various methods that might have been used for solving the problem. Add number three to the list of elements to help you understand (solve) a problem on the chalkboard: find the relationship between two things. Ask, "In what ways do many supermarkets try to help with problem solving for shoppers?" (calculators on carts to help you find better buys; items are marked with price and unit price; store brand products priced lower than a similar product with a national brand name.) Ask, "How many keys to help with better understanding a problem do you remember?" Allow students to respond. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "As you watch the next video, check to see if you remembered all the keys to understanding a problem." RESUME tape. STOP tape after narrator has restated all methods. Engage students in discussion as they tell: 1. What do I know? 2. What do I need to know? 3. Change the setting. 4. Find the re-lationship by restating the problem in your own Distribute to each group of four students a calculator and a set of two competing grocery items which are priced differently and are of different sizes. Suggested items are: Explain the items are to be used for solving a problem. (Distribute additional notebook paper as needed) Say, "Use the items distributed to your group and determine which is the better buy." Review the problem solving strategies previously presented, then instruct students to begin the task. Upon completion, allow each group to present and defend its findings as other groups use calculators to check the presenting group for accuracy. - 2 unlike multi-packs of bath soap - 2 unlike sized boxes of cereal - 6 cans of soft drink and 1 two liter bottle - 2 unlike dish washing detergents - 1 bottle and 1 box laundry detergent - 1 half gallon and 1 gallon milk - 2 varieties of cookies - 2 rolls unlike paper towels - 2 unlike toothpastes, etc. Say, "Simplifying a problem will at times allow you to understand it more easily. In the next video two students use this strategy to determine how much candy they will have to sell in order to purchase a trampoline." To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch and be prepared to tell how they simplified their problem." Problem Solving: Simplifying the problem #107 BEGIN tape with visual of scene inside a gym; audio is, "Very nice." PAUSE tape with visual of scene inside an office; audio is, "... and that's how it's done." Allow students to tell how the video problem was simplified. Ask, "Did you find it easier to decide what to do with smaller numbers? How was it made easier? (easier to see relationships between smaller numbers) What are examples of situations when this might be a desirable strategy to employ?" Reinforce that an understanding of any problem can very well be the most critical of all steps in problem Say, "Just as mathematicians, scientists must also determine the problem before they can begin to solve it. Breaking a problem down to make it more specific will often create a clearer picture of exactly what the problem is." Explain; in the next video there is a very frustrated student attempting to prepare a science report. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch to learn why he is having difficulty developing the report and decide what he could do to make the task more manageable before the teacher shows him." RESUME tape on visual of the science topic poster; audio is, "Any problem is easier to solve if you think about a way to simplify it." STOP tape on visual of narrator; audio is, "It's a perfect way to simplify any problem." Ask, "Why was the boy having problems developing his report?" (His topic was too broad.) Ask, "When accepting a topic for research and development, why is it wise to be very specific when choosing your topic?" Accept responses. Emphasize the need to select a specific part of a topic as it permits a more in depth research strategy which will always result in a more comprehensive and thorough report. Encourage students to interact as they identify specific topics that could be selected as opposed to the following, (e.g.): Salt Water Animals; Western Ski Resorts; Balancing the National Budget; Kings and Queens of England; and The Life and Times of Reinforce a need to be specific as you use Galileo's theory of gravity as a specific topic that might be developed, segueing into the definition and a discussion on theory. Encourage students to share their knowledge of theory, leading to conclusion that a theory is a "best guess" based on a study of all available information about something or how something occurred. Allow students to have fun as they respond to "What is your theory about which came first, the chicken or the egg?" After students have had a moment of being frivolous, bring the responses to closure. Write the name Alfred Wagner on the chalkboard. Ask, "What famous theory is Alfred Wagner credited with developing?" Accept all responses. To give students a specific responsibility while viewing say, "Watch the next video and find out what Wagner's theory was?" Problem Solving #112 BEGIN tape with visual of the world map; audio is, "Let's compare shapes. Back in 1913..." STOP tape at end of video before closing credits. Ask, "What was Alfred Wagner's theory?" (Continental Drift) Ask, "Would you have been able to solve the problem Wagner theorized?" Allow students to respond. Ask, "What in-formation and clues were available for Wagner to study and base his hypothesis and theory on?" (Land formations on different continents that matched at the shorelines.) "Do patterns sometimes provide clues in other areas of problem solving?" Encourage students to interact and share their ideas. "What did Wagner name the super-continent?" (Pangea) Ask, "In what ways did patterning help Wagner solve the problem and develop his theory?" Guide discussion to realization that understanding the problem and his forming an hypothesis about known patterns between the continents were critically important to the development of his theory. Distribute to each group of four students: 1 copy of the Activity Sheet; 1 sealable plastic bag containing 15 red beans, 15 lima beans and 15 peas; and 1 paper plate. Give all students in each group a piece of notebook paper and a pencil. Use an overhead projector to show the beans and a clean sheet on the chart tablet to record results and strategies which are used by students to solve the problems. Say, "You are now going to solve problems in a hands-on process using the materials that were distributed to your group. Remember to follow the sequence of strategies discussed today in solving the problems." Explain a person familiar to the group has written a Bean Cook Book, however, the eight recipes on the Activity Sheet were returned by the publisher because some of the ingredients and amounts were not included. Say, "It is now your responsibility to solve the problems so the cookbook can be published. Each recipe must contain all three types of beans." Instruct students to begin with problem number one and use their bag of beans to solve the problem in a hands-on manner. Say, "Then, show your calculations on notebook paper." Allow time for groups to complete the task. Select a volunteer to explain how her/his group solved the problem, then have them use the overhead projector to show all beans that were used. Next, select another volunteer from the group to demonstrate their cal-culations on the chalkboard. If other groups incorporated strategies that differed from the presenting group, have them share the strategy they used. (Ans: 2 Lima beans; 4 Red beans; 4 Peas) Record the answer on the chart tablet. Say, "Some problems can have more than a single solution; others will have just one." Instruct students to continue and solve problem number two. Repeat the previous process as another group is selected to present. (Ans: 4 Red beans; 2 Peas; 4 Lima beans) Record results on the chart tablet. Instruct groups to proceed with problem three. Use the established pattern for student presentation as other groups validate correctness of the presenting group's work. (Ans: 2 Red beans; 4 Lima beans; 2 Peas) Direct groups to continue with problem number four. Again, use the previous process of presenting as another group explains and visually demonstrates their work using the overhead projector. (Ans: 5 Red beans; 5 Lima beans; 8 Peas) After presentation, validation and up-dating of the chart are completed for this problem, engage students in discussion related to examples of when concrete methods and abstract methods of problem solving have thus far been Instruct students to continue with problem number five. Follow the procedure as a different group is appointed presenter. (Ans: 6 Red beans; 3 Lima beans; Have students continue with problem number six. After groups have completed the task, point out that possible solutions can be endless as the recipe stated "at least 12 beans." Any answer is correct that contains no less than a total of 12 beans and follows the other two criteria. Direct students to compute problem number seven. (Ans: 1 Pea; 3 Red beans; 4 Lima beans) Have students solve problem number eight. Upon completion, inform students there are several solutions to this problem. Each that does not exceed a total of 20 beans is correct. Conduct a brief review of strategies to be used in problem solving. Have students consider the desirability for creating a mental picture to be used in visualizing important information and determining possible strategies they might use to solve a problem. Plan a field trip and visit the Meteorology Department of a local television station. Prepare students to look for methods of problem solving used to forecast weather. As a forecast is prepared, have students look for activities which reveal problem solving procedures. They should be able to identify and describe how each is used. Invite a law enforcement officer to visit the classroom and discuss how problem solving is an on-going responsibility in her/his profession. Ask them to include how knowledge of patterns is an integral part of identifying suspects. Use the information to create a list of situations in which students solve "cases" where patterns link a suspect(s) to a crime or to one another. Have an interested group of students write a short drama about preventing poachers from destroying animals in a wildlife preserve in Kenya. Use the creative writing drama and plan a performance. Appoint students with special interests or skills to compose or select appropriate music, design a set and costumes, serve as prop and stage hands and serve as performers. Encourage them to utilize problem solving strategies from inception and planning throughout the actual time of performance. Select an inventor, a doctor who discovered a cure for a disease, a great artist or performer, etc., and research their life to learn how they became successful. Apply how they succeeded to strategies for solving problems, then share findings by preparing a report to be presented to the class. Master Teachers: James Parsons and Sharon Braden Lesson Plan Database Thirteen Ed Online

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This text is based on the entry of Inclusive Democracy published in the year 2001 in the Routledge Encyclopedia of International Political Economy (publishing co.: Routledge). What is Inclusive Democracy? Inclusive democracy is a new conception of democracy, which, using as a starting point the classical definition of it, expresses democracy in terms of direct political democracy, economic democracy (beyond the confines of the market economy and state planning), as well as democracy in the social realm and ecological democracy. In short, inclusive democracy is a form of social organisation which re-integrates society with economy, polity and nature. The concept of inclusive democracy is derived from a synthesis of two major historical traditions, the classical democratic and the socialist, although it also encompasses radical green, feminist, and liberation movements in the South. Within the problematique of the inclusive democracy project, it is assumed that the world, at the beginning of the new millennium, faces a multi-dimensional crisis (economic, ecological, social, cultural and political) which is caused by the concentration of power in the hands of various elites, as a result of the establishment, in the last few centuries, of the system of market economy, representative democracy and the related forms of hierarchical structure. In this sense, an inclusive democracy, which involves the equal distribution of power at all levels, is seen not as a utopia (in the negative sense of the word) but as perhaps the only way out of the present crisis. The conception of inclusive democracy A fruitful way to define inclusive democracy may be to distinguish between the two main societal realms, the public and the private, to which we may add an "ecological realm", defined as the sphere of the relations between the natural and the social worlds. In this conception, the public realm, contrary to the practice of many supporters of the republican or democratic project (Hannah Arendt, Cornelius Castoriadis, Murray Bookchin et al) includes not just the political realm, but also the economic realm as well as a ‘social’ realm; in other words, any area of human activity in which decisions can be taken collectively and democratically. The political realm is defined as the sphere of political decision-taking, the area in which political power is exercised. The economic realm is defined as the sphere of economic decision-taking, the area in which economic power is exercised with respect to the broad economic choices that any scarcity society has to make. Finally, the social realm is defined as the sphere of decision-taking in the workplace, the education place and any other economic or cultural institution which is a constituent element of a democratic society. It is therefore obvious that the extension of the traditional public realm to include the economic, ecological and ‘social’ realms is an indispensable element of an inclusive democracy. Correspondingly, we may distinguish between four main constituent elements of an inclusive democracy: the political, the economic,‘democracy in the social realm’ and the ecological . The first three elements constitute the institutional framework which aims at the equal distribution of political, economic and social power respectively; in other words, the system which aims at the effective elimination of the domination of human being over human being. Similarly, ecological democracy is defined as the institutional framework which aims at the elimination of any human attempt to dominate the natural world, in other words, the system which aims to reintegrate humans and nature. Political or direct democracy In the political realm there can only be one form of democracy: what we may call political or direct democracy, in which political power is shared equally among all citizens. Political democracy is, therefore, founded on the equal distribution of political power among all citizens, the self-instituting of society. This means that the following conditions have to be satisfied for a society to be characterised as a political democracy: that democracy is grounded on the conscious choice of its citizens for individual and collective autonomy and not on any divine or mystical dogmas and preconceptions, or any closed theoretical systems involving natural or economic ‘laws’, or tendencies determining social change. that there are no institutionalised political processes of an oligarchic nature. This implies that all political decisions (including those relating to the formation and execution of laws) are taken by the citizen body collectively and without representation; that there are no institutionalised political structures embodying unequal power relations. This means, for instance, that where authority is delegated to segments of the citizen body for the purpose of carrying out specific duties (e.g., serving in popular courts, or regional and confederal councils, etc.), the delegation is assigned, on principle, by lot and on a rotational basis, and it is always recallable by the citizen body. Furthermore, as regards delegates to regional and confederal bodies, the mandates should be specific. that all residents of a particular geographical area (which today can only take the form of a geographical community), beyond a certain age of maturity (to be defined by the citizen body itself) and irrespective of gender, race, ethnic or cultural identity, are members of the citizen body and are directly involved in the decision-taking process. However, the institutionalisation of direct democracy in terms of the above conditions is only the necessary condition for the establishment of democracy. The sufficient condition refers to the citizens’ level of democratic consciousness, in which a crucial role is played by paedeia --involving not simply education but character development and a well-rounded education in knowledge and skills, i.e. the education of the individual as citizen, which alone can give substantive content to the public space. The above conditions are obviously not met by parliamentary democracy (as it functions in the West), soviet democracy (as it functioned in the East) and the various fundamentalist or semi-military regimes in the South. All these regimes are therefore forms of political oligarchy, in which political power is concentrated in the hands of various elites (professional politicians, party bureaucrats, priests, military and so on). Similarly, in the past, various forms of oligarchies dominated the political domain, when emperors, kings and their courts, with or without the co-operation of knights, priests and others, concentrated political power in their hands. However, several attempts have been made in history to institutionalise various forms of direct democracy, especially during revolutionary periods (for example, the Parisian sections of the early 1790s, the Spanish collectives in the civil war etc.). Most of these attempts were short-lived and usually did not involve the institutionalisation of democracy as a new form of political regime which replaces, and not just complements, the State. In other cases, democratic arrangements were introduced as a set of procedures for local decision-making. Perhaps the only real parallel which can be drawn with respect to Athenian democracy is that of some Swiss cantons which were governed by assemblies of the people (Landsgemeinden) and, in their day, were sovereign states. The only historical example of an institutionalised direct democracy in which, for almost two centuries (508/7 BC- 322/1 BC), the state was subsumed into the democratic form of social organisation, is that of Athenian democracy. Of course, Athenian democracy was a partial political democracy. But, what characterised it as partial was not the political institutions themselves but the very narrow definition of full citizenship adopted by the Athenians—a definition which excluded large sections of the population (women, slaves, immigrants) who, in fact, constituted the vast majority of the people living in Athens. If we define political democracy as the authority of the people (demos) in the political sphere—which implies the existence of political equality in the sense of equal distribution of political power—then economic democracy could be correspondingly defined as the authority of demos in the economic sphere —which implies the existence of economic equality in the sense of equal distribution of economic power. And, of course, we are talking about the demos and not the state, because the existence of a state means the separation of the citizen body from the political and economic process. Economic democracy therefore relates to every social system which institutionalises the integration of society and the economy. This means that, ultimately, the demos controls the economic process, within an institutional framework of demotic ownership of the means of production. In a more narrow sense, economic democracy also relates to every social system which institutionalises the minimisation of socio-economic differences, particularly those arising out of the unequal distribution of private property and the consequent unequal distribution of income and wealth. Historically, it is in this narrow sense that attempts were made by socialists to introduce economic democracy. Therefore, in contrast to the institutionalisation of political democracy, there has never been a corresponding example of an institutionalised economic democracy in the broad sense defined above. In other words, even when socialist attempts to reduce the degree of inequality in the distribution of income and wealth were successful, they were never associated with meaningful attempts to establish a system of equal distribution of economic power. This has been the case, despite the fact that in the type of society which has emerged since the rise of the market economy, there has been a definite shift of the economy from the private realm into what Hannah Arendt called the "social realm", to which the nation-state also belongs. But, it is this shift which makes any talk about democracy, which does not also refer to the question of economic power, ring hollow. In other words, to talk today about the equal sharing of political power, without conditioning it on the equal sharing of economic power, is meaningless. On the basis of the definition of political democracy given earlier, the following conditions have to be satisfied for a society to be characterised as an economic democracy: that there are no institutionalised economic processes of an oligarchic nature. This means that all ‘macro’ economic decisions, namely, decisions concerning the running of the economy as a whole (overall level of production, consumption and investment, amounts of work and leisure implied, technologies to be used, etc.) are taken by the citizen body collectively and without representation, although "micro" economic decisions at the workplace or the household levels are taken by the individual production or consumption unit and that there are no institutionalised economic structures embodying unequal economic power relations. This implies that the means of production and distribution are collectively owned and controlled by the demos, the citizen body directly. Any inequality of income is therefore the result of additional voluntary work at the individual level. Such additional work, beyond that required by any capable member of society for the satisfaction of basic needs, allows only for additional consumption, as no individual accumulation of capital is possible, and any wealth accumulated as a result of additional work is not inherited . Thus, demotic ownership of the economy provides the economic structure for democratic ownership, whereas direct citizen participation in economic decisions provides the framework for a comprehensively democratic control process of the economy. The community, therefore, becomes the authentic unit of economic life, since economic democracy is not feasible today unless both the ownership and control of productive resources are organised at the community level. So, unlike the other definitions of economic democracy, the definition given here involves the explicit negation of economic power and implies the authority of the people in the economic sphere. In this sense, economic democracy is the counterpart, as well as the foundation, of direct democracy and of an inclusive democracy in general. A model of economic democracy, as an integral part of an inclusive democracy, is described in the first book-length description of Inclusive Democracy which was published in 1997 (see further reading). Briefly, the dominant characteristic of this model, which differentiates it from similar models of centralised or decentralised Planning, is that, although it does not depend on the prior abolition of scarcity, it does secure the satisfaction of the basic needs of all citizens, without sacrificing freedom of choice, in a stateless, moneyless and marketless economy. The preconditions of economic democracy are defined as follows: community (demotic) ownership of productive resources, and confederal allocation of resources. The third condition in particular implies that the decision mechanism for the allocation of scarce resources in an inclusive democracy should be based at the confederal rather than the community level, i.e. at the level of the confederation of communities (demoi). This is in order to take into account the fact that in today’s’ societies many problems cannot be solved at the community level (energy, environment, transportation, communication, technology transfer etc.). The mechanism proposed to allocate scarce resources aims to replace both the market mechanism and the central planning mechanism. The former is rejected because it can be shown that the system of the market economy has led, in the last two hundred years since its establishment, to a continuous concentration of income and wealth at the hands of a small percentage of the world population and, consequently, to a distorted allocation of world resources. This is because in a market economy the crucial allocation decisions (what to produce, how and for whom to produce it) are conditioned by the purchasing power of those income groups which can back their demands with money. In other words, under conditions of inequality, which is an inevitable outcome of the dynamic of the market economy, the fundamental contradiction with respect to the market satisfaction of human needs becomes obvious: namely, the contradiction between the potential satisfaction of the basic needs of the whole population versus the actual satisfaction of the money-backed wants of part of it. The latter is rejected because it can be shown that centralised planning, although better than the market system in securing employment and meeting the basic needs of citizens (albeit at an elementary level), not only leads to irrationalities (which eventually precipitated its actual collapse) and is ineffective in covering non-basic needs, but it is also highly undemocratic. The system of allocation proposed by the Inclusive Democracy project aims to satisfy the twofold aim of meeting the basic needs of all citizens-- which requires that basic macro-economic decisions are taken democratically and securing freedom of choice-- which requires the individual to take important decisions affecting his/her own life (what work to do, what to consume etc.). Both the macro-economic decisions and the individual citizens’ decisions are envisaged as being implemented through a combination of democratic planning-- which involves the creation of a feedback process between workplace assemblies, community assemblies and the confederal assembly-- and an artificial ‘market’ which secures real freedom of choice, without incurring the adverse effects associated with real markets. In a nutshell, the allocation of economic resources is made first, on the basis of the citizens’ collective decisions, as expressed through the community and confederal plans, and second, on the basis of the citizens’ individual choices, as expressed through a voucher system. The general criterion for the allocation of resources is not efficiency as it is currently defined, in narrow techno- economic terms. Efficiency should be redefined to mean effectiveness in satisfying human needs and not just money-backed wants. As far as the meaning of needs is concerned, a distinction is drawn between basic and non-basic needs and a similar one between needs and ‘satisfiers’ (the form or the means by which these needs are satisfied). What constitutes a need --basic or otherwise-- is determined by the citizens themselves democratically. Then, the level of need-satisfaction is determined collectively and implemented through a democratic planning mechanism, whereas the satisfiers for both basic and non-basic needs are determined through the revealed preferences of consumers, as expressed by the use of vouchers allocated to them in exchange for their ‘basic’ and ‘non-basic’ work. Basic vouchers (BVs--allocated in exchange for ‘basic’ work, i.e. the number of hours of work required by each citizen in a job of his/her choice so that basic needs are met) are used for the satisfaction of basic needs. These vouchers-- which are personal and issued on behalf of the confederation-- entitle each citizen to a given level of satisfaction for each particular type of need which has been characterised (democratically) as ‘basic’, but do not specify the particular type of satisfier, so that choice may be secured. Non-basic vouchers (NBVs—allocated in exchange for non-basic work) are used for the satisfaction of non-basic needs (non-essential consumption) as well as for the satisfaction of basic needs beyond the level prescribed by the confederal assembly. NBVs, like BVs, are also personal but are issued on behalf of each community, rather than on behalf of the confederation. Work by citizens over and above the ‘basic’ number of hours is voluntary and entitles them to NBVs, which can be used towards the satisfaction of non-essential needs. ‘Prices’ in this system, instead of reflecting scarcities relative to a skewed income and wealth pattern (as in the market economy system), function as rationing devices to match scarcities relative to citizens’ desires, i.e. as guides for a democratic allocation of resources. Therefore, prices, instead of being the cause of rationing—as in the market system— become the effect of it and are assigned the role of equating demand and supply in an artificial "market" which secures the sovereignty of both consumers and producers. The ‘prices’ formed in this way, together with a complex ‘index of desirability’ drawn on the basis of citizens’ preferences as to the type of work which citizens wish to do, determine a ‘subjective‘ rate of remuneration for non basic work, in place of the ‘objective’ rate suggested by the labour theory of value. As the above brief description of the model of economic democracy makes clear, the project for an inclusive democracy refers to a future international political economy which transcends both the political economy of state socialism, as realised in the countries of the ex ‘actually existing socialism’ in Eastern Europe, and the political economy of the market economy, either in its mixed economy form of the social democratic consensus, or in its present neo-liberal form. Democracy in the social realm The satisfaction of the above conditions for political and economic democracy would represent the re-conquering of the political and economic realms by the public realm-- that is, the reconquering of a true social individuality, the creation of the conditions of freedom and self-determination, both at the political and the economic levels. However, political and economic power are not the only forms of power and, therefore, political and economic democracy do not, by themselves, secure an inclusive democracy. In other words, an inclusive democracy is inconceivable unless it extends to the broader social realm to embrace the workplace, the household, the educational institution and indeed any economic or cultural institution which constitutes an element of this realm. Historically, various forms of democracy in the social realm have been introduced, particularly during this century, usually in periods of revolutionary activity. However, these forms of democracy were not only short-lived but seldom extended beyond the workplace (e.g. Hungarian workers' councils in 1956) and the education institution (e.g. Paris student assemblies in 1968). The issue today is how to extend democracy to other forms of social organisation, like the household, without dissolving the private/public realm divide. In other words, how, while maintaining and enhancing the autonomy of the two realms, such institutional arrangements are adopted which introduce democracy to the household and the social realm in general and -- at the same time—enhance the institutional arrangements of political and economic democracy. In fact, an effective democracy is inconceivable unless free time is equally distributed among all citizens, and this condition can never be satisfied as long as the present hierarchical conditions in the household, the workplace and elsewhere continue. Furthermore, democracy in the social realm, particularly in the household, is impossible, unless such institutional arrangements are introduced which recognise the character of the household as a needs-satisfier and integrate the care and services provided within its framework into the general scheme of needs satisfaction. If we see democracy as a process of social self-institution in which there is no divinely or ‘objectively’ defined code of human conduct there are no guarantees that an inclusive democracy would secure an ecological democracy in the sense defined above. Therefore, the replacement of the market economy by a new institutional framework of inclusive democracy constitutes only the necessary condition for a harmonious relation between the natural and social worlds. The sufficient condition refers to the citizens’ level of ecological consciousness. Still, the radical change in the dominant social paradigm which will follow the institution of an inclusive democracy, combined with the decisive role that paedeia will play in an environmentally-friendly institutional framework, could reasonably be expected to lead to a radical change in the human attitude towards Nature. In other words, there are strong grounds for believing that the relationship between an inclusive democracy and Nature would be much more harmonious than could ever be achieved in a market economy, or one based on state socialism. The factors supporting this view refer to all three elements of an inclusive democracy: political, economic and social. At the political level, there are grounds for believing that the creation of a public space will in itself have a very significant effect on reducing the appeal of materialism. This is because the public space will provide a new meaning of life to fill the existential void that the present consumer society creates. The realisation of what it means to be human could reasonably be expected to throw us back toward Nature. Also, at the economic level, it is not accidental that, historically, the process of destroying the environment en masse has coincided with the process of marketization of the economy. In other words, the emergence of the market economy and of the consequent growth economy had crucial repercussions on the society-Nature relationship and led to the rise of the ideology of growth as the dominant social paradigm. Thus, an ‘instrumentalist’ view of Nature became dominant, in which Nature was seen as an instrument for economic growth, within a process of endless concentration of power. If we assume that only a confederal society could secure an inclusive democracy today, it would be reasonable to assume further that once the market economy is replaced by a democratically run confederal economy, the grow-or-die dynamics of the former will be replaced by the new social dynamic of the latter: a dynamic aiming at the satisfaction of the community needs and not at growth per se. If the satisfaction of community needs does not depend, as at present, on the continuous expansion of production to cover the ‘needs’ which the market creates, and if the link between economy and society is restored, then there is no reason why the present instrumentalist view of Nature should continue to condition human behaviour. Furthermore, democracy in the broader social realm could also be reasonably expected to be environmentally-friendly. The phasing out of patriarchal relations in the household and hierarchical relations in general should create a new ethos of non-domination which would embrace both Nature and Society. In other words, the creation of democratic conditions in the social realm should be a decisive step in the creation of the sufficient condition for a harmonious nature-society relationship. Finally, the fact that the basic unit of social, economic and political life in a confederal democracy would be the community might also be expected to enhance its environmentally-friendly character. It is reasonable to assume—and the evidence of the remarkable success of local communities in safeguarding their environments is overwhelming—that when people rely directly on their natural surroundings for their livelihood, they will develop an intimate knowledge of those surroundings, which will necessarily affect positively their behaviour towards them. However, the precondition for local control of the environment to be successful is that the community depends on its natural surroundings for its long-term livelihood and that it, therefore, has a direct interest in protecting it—another reason why an ecological society is impossible without economic democracy. A new conception of citizenship The above conditions for democracy imply a new conception of citizenship: economic, political, social and cultural. Thus, political citizenship involves new political structures and the return to the classical conception of politics (direct democracy). Economic citizenship involves new economic structures of community ownership and control of economic resources (economic democracy). Social citizenship involves self-management structures at the workplace, democracy in the household and new welfare structures in which all basic needs (to be democratically determined) are covered by community resources, whether they are satisfied in the household or at the community level. Finally, cultural citizenship involves new democratic structures of dissemination and control of information and culture (mass media, art, etc.), which allow every member of the community to take part in the process and at the same time develop his/her intellectual and cultural potential. Although this sense of citizenship implies a sense of political community, which, defined geographically, is the fundamental unit of political, economic and social life, still, it is assumed that this political community interlocks with various other communities (cultural, professional, ideological, etc.). Therefore, the community and citizenship arrangements do not rule out cultural differences or other differences based on gender, age, ethnicity and so on but simply provide the public space in which such differences can be expressed; furthermore, these arrangements institutionalise various safety valves that aim to rule out the marginalisation of such differences by the majority. What, therefore, unites people in a political community, or a confederation of communities, is not some set of common values, imposed by a nationalist ideology, a religious dogma, a mystical belief, or an ‘objective’ interpretation of natural or social ‘evolution’, but the democratic institutions and practices, which have been set up by citizens themselves. It is obvious that the above new conception of citizenship has very little in common with the liberal and socialist definitions of citizenship which are linked to the liberal and socialist conceptions of human rights respectively. Thus, for the liberals, the citizen is simply the individual bearer of certain freedoms and political rights recognised by law which, supposedly, secure equal distribution of political power. Also, for the socialists, the citizen is the bearer not only of political rights and freedoms but, also, of some social and economic rights, whereas for Marxists the citizenship is realised with the collective ownership of the means of production. The conception of citizenship adopted here, which could be called a democratic conception, is based on the above definition of inclusive democracy and presupposes a ‘participatory’ conception of active citizenship, like the one implied by the work of Hannah Arendt. In this conception, political activity is not a means to an end, but an end in itself. It is, therefore, obvious that this conception of citizenship is qualitatively different from the liberal and social-democratic conceptions which adopt an ‘instrumentalist’ view of citizenship, i.e. a view which implies that citizenship entitles citizens with certain rights which they can exercise as means to the end of individual welfare. A well-developed body of knowledge already exists regarding Inclusive Democracy and its applications. Crucial matters such as strategy of transition to an inclusive democracy, the relationship of science and technology to democracy, the significance of the rise of irrationalism with respect to the democratic project, the interrelationship between culture, mass media and democracy have all been explored in D&N , The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy (see further reading). Takis Fotopoulos (1997) Towards An Inclusive Democracy: The Crisis of the Growth Economy and the Need for a New Liberatory Project, (London: Cassell) pp. 401) [The definitive exposition of Inclusive Democracy]. (Italian and Greek editions of the book have been published in 1999 and a Spanish edition has been scheduled for 2001). Democracy & Nature, The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy. www.democracynature.org. The journal is published by the Taylor & Francis group three times a year. Five volumes (of three issues each) were published by the end of 1999. [Theoretical articles and dialogue on inclusive democracy and related topics]

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Go back to site of the week archive index - Energy Quest (http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/index.html) This award-winning, colorful, highly-interactive site contains everything you need to teach K-12 students about all topics related to Energy. It has easy to read chapters, stories, movies, games, science projects, lesson plans, and links to valuable resources. - Department of Energy for Educators (http://www.energy.gov/foreducators.htm) This site provides high-quality, free energy related lesson plans, science fair projects, and fun activities divided by topic and grade level. You can also learn about contests and competitions available for K-12 students and teachers through the Department of Energy. - Planet Science (http://www.planet-science.com/) Planet Science is a great place to find creative science lesson plans, games, experiments, and news. The site was created to help students develop an interest in science from an early age by helping teachers find innovative ways to teach K-12 science. - Eric Weisstein's World of Science (http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/) This free site is updated daily and is an encyclopedia of astronomy, scientific biography, chemistry, math, and physics. You will find detailed illustrations and interactive demonstrations of thousands of math and science concepts. - Nutrition Explorations: Kids' Nutrition at its Best (http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/) This site provides fun interactive games for kids, handouts, and information for students, parents, and teachers about nutrition. A professional staff of nutritionists and dietitians is available to answer questions on virtually any topic related to dairy products, nutrition, scientific research, diet and health. - Strange Matter (http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/) Help your students in grades 5 to 8 discover the secrets of Materials Science. This site contains a teachers guide, curriculum materials, and online activities to enhance your science curriculum. - National Geographic Kids: Animals (http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/) Your students can visit this site to explore animals and their habitats from all over the world. The site is written in language that is easy for kids to understand, is full of interesting facts, and illustrated with vivid pictures. - EcoKids (http://www.ecokids.ca/) EcoKids was designed for children, parents, and educators to learn about the environment through fun, educational games and activities. Educators can find curriculum information, worksheets, and lesson ideas about many topics including wildlife, climate change, energy, water, and more. - Kids Health (http://kidshealth.org/classroom/) This new online resource is a one-stop shop for Health educators to download free curriculum materials for all grade levels. Materials include discussion questions, activities, handouts, and quizzes aligned with national health education standards. The site also includes teacher guides, articles to print out and send home to parents. - Get Body Smart (http://www.getbodysmart.com/) is an attempt to create a fully animated and interactive eBook about human anatomy and physiology. Visually learn about the human body using the interactive Flash animations. - Grey Matters (http://www.ucsd.tv/greymatters/) is an educational series to enhance public awareness of recent developments in brain research. It includes video presentations for key concepts, background and supplemental reading materials, and lesson ideas for high school students and teachers. - Christopher Columbus Awards (http://www.christophercolumbusawards.com/) is a national, community-based science and technology program for middle school students. Students work in teams of three to four, with an adult coach, to identify a problem in their community and apply the scientific method to create an innovative solution to that problem. - EnviroLink Network (http://envirolink.org) is dedicated to providing comprehensive, up-to-date environmental information and news. EnviroLink is committed to promoting a sustainable society by connecting individuals and organizations through communications technologies. - Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) (http://www.bnl.gov/RHIC/) introduces you to cutting-edge research on the study of ions and the exploration of new high-energy forms of matter. Learn about what happens to two intersecting beams of ions in a subatomic collision. Check out the map of the complex! - Exploratorium (http://www.exploratorium.edu/) is a collage of hundreds of science, art, and human perception exhibits. It provides access to, and information about, science, nature, art, and technology. Check out both the Educate and Explore sections! - The Shape of Life (http://www.pbs.org/kcet/shapeoflife/index.html) is a revolutionary eight-part television series that reveals the dramatic rise of the animal kingdom through the breakthroughs of scientific discovery. It features explorations, activities and lessons to accompany the series for informal science educators, teachers, students and families. - Center for History of Physics (http://www.aip.org/history/) makes known the history of modern physics and allied sciences (geophysics, astrophysics, etc.) through documentation, archival collections and educational initiatives. There are online exhibits highlighting different discoveries in these fields. There is also a section for Syllabi for Teachers. - Biozone Biolinks (http://www.biozone.co.nz/links.html) is an extensive database of biology links. Select among the 20 subject images listed to access a selection of useful websites, newsfeeds, and search facilities. - DNA Interactive (http://www.dnai.org/index.htm) teaches you about DNA science and how it can be applied to many different fields of human interest. There are six sections, which take you from the early discoveries on DNA code to the use of forensic techniques to solve historical puzzles. - Carolina Coastal Science (http://www.ncsu.edu/coast/) is an innovative, inquiry-based science resource to explore science in coastal Carolina. It follows the goals stated in the National Science Education Standards and has been designed specifically for an Environmental Science component of the K-12 science curriculum. - Kids Planet (http://www.kidsplanet.org/) is an interdisciplinary site full of animations and activities to protect animals and plants. There are many excellent sections appropriate for K-12. The Teachers Table includes curriculum on different animal species. Defend it! lets you participate in Wildlife protection in many different ways. Learn and enjoy! - Environmental Kids Club (http://www.epa.gov/kids/ ) helps you explore the environment and learn how to protect it using games, pictures, and stories. This site offers information on air, water, recycling, plants and animals, and much more. Teachers can use the Teaching Resources section for lesson plans and activities. - Penguins Around the World (http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/penguins/main.html) presents many interesting and fun facts about these animals. You can learn about the different types of penguins in the world and their habitats and then quiz yourself to see how much you know about them. Teachers find organized lesson plans, ideas for projects and much more. - Classroom Resources in Technology (http://www.suelebeau.com/techresources.htm) is an excellent data base of resources on a variety of topics for using and integrating technology in the classroom. There are five major categories: General Resources, Jeopardy Activities, Keyboarding Resources, Educational Portals and Scavenger Hunts. - Leonardo (http://www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/default.htm) introduces you to the creative work of Leonardo da Vinci. You have the opportunity to appreciate and interpret his models, machines and manuscripts. Check out Leonardos ideal city design. - Environmental Education for Kids (http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/) offers you information and activities about the natural world around us. You can learn conservation tips and make a difference to help the environment. Teachers have access to activities for Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. - ARKive (http://www.arkive.org/) is a centralized digital library containing films, photographs and audio recordings of the worlds animals, plants and fungi. It creates a unique record of the worlds biodiversity for scientists, conservationists, educators and the public as a means of building environmental awareness. - Science News for Kids (http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/) is a Web site devoted to science news for children of ages 9 to 14. It offers suggestions for hands-on activities, books, articles, Web resources, and other useful materials. There are ideas for science projects, mathematical puzzles and creative ways for teachers to use science news in their classrooms. - USGS Learning Web (http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/students/) provides scientific information to help educate the public about natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and issues that affect our quality of life. There are lessons, data, maps, and more, to support teaching, learning, education (K-12), and university-level inquiry and research. - Science U (http://www.scienceu.com/) is a web site devoted to science, education, and fun. It is filled with interactive exhibits, online simulations, graphics software, and a library of reference materials. Science comes alive in new and exciting ways with Science U! - StarChild (http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html) is a site for children to learn about the universe, our solar system, and other space subjects. You can learn how to become an astronaut, about spacesuits, and the history of space travel. The StarChild glossary will help you understand some words you will need to know about space. - Earthquake for Kids (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids.php) represents an effort to mitigate earthquake losses by developing and applying earth science data and assessments essential for land-use planning, engineering design, and emergency preparedness decisions. Check out the earthquake facts, pictures, games and puzzles. - Web Weather for Kids (http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/) offers comprehensive information about what elements in the troposphere interact together to produce the weather and learn about different weather phenomena including tornadoes, thunderstorms, hurricanes and more. Check out the games and the hands-on activities! - Global Warming Kids Site (http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/kids/index.html) provides a wealth of materials focusing on the science and impacts of global warming or climate change, and on actions that help address global warming issues. It is designed as a resource for both kids and educators. There are games, animations, events, and links to other relevant sites for kids and educators. - Biology4kids! (http://www.biology4kids.com/) is a site designed to serve as an introduction to the science of biology. You can learn about cells, microorganisms, plants, vertebrates, invertebrates, and animal systems. After each section, you can also take a quiz to see if you have understood the material presented in the specific section. There is also a list of related sites if you need more information about a specific topic. - Passport to the Rainforest (http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/main.html) is a unique multiple media teaching and learning website that focuses more on the science of the forests rather than explicit activism to protect or conserve them. It is based on the belief that more people, in nations north and south, will ultimately care about, and act to preserve rainforests, if they understand more clearly what makes them such rare and wonderful places. Whether you teach ecology or biology or general science, PTRF will help you introduce, explain and simulate such key concepts as: photosynthesis, food webs, the recycling of matter and the transfer of energy through an ecosystem, and much more. - Human Body & Mind (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/) offers you very comprehensive information about organs, muscles, bones, and the nervous system of the human body. You can play interactive games; learn facts and features about the different body parts, and look at anatomy diagrams that allow you to organize, flex, assemble, and wire the human body. In the Mind section, you can stretch your memory with fun challenges; learn about your senses and their connection to your personality. - Playing with Time (http://www.playingwithtime.org/index.html) allows you to look at how the world around you changes over many different time periods. You will see time sped up and slowed down, and behold the beauty of change. Time will be in your hands to witness, replay, and even create. You never know... you might not look at things quite the same way again. Visit the Gallery of Time to see amazing movies and check out the activities section with exciting challenges and diversions. - Beetle Science (http://explore.cornell.edu/scene.cfm?scene=Beetle%20Science) is an interactive site for you to learn about the relative abundances of various life forms on earth. See how Frances Fawcett creates amazing portraits of newly discovered beetles and look at images of different beetle specimens. Watch home videos and tour the labs of Professor Quentin Wheeler and invasive species expert Rick Hoebeke. - Bridging the Watershed (http://www.bridgingthewatershed.org/students.html) aims to provide high school students with exposure to science in their watershed by applying science concepts taught in the classroom to water quality and other watershed issues. It provides a wonderful opportunity to teach science in context and provide students with a meaningful watershed field experience. All activities are student-directed, with the teacher acting as the guide/facilitator. All lessons are correlated to national, state, and local education standards. - Newton's Castle (http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC051308/index.htm) is replete with inquiry learning, puzzle solving opportunities, and investigative training options. Learn about color, optical illusions, observations from nature, and fascinating facts about how cars roll uphill, and why dogs chase cars. There are several Project Legal (TIPS) lessons included regarding copyright and censorship issues. Take the quiz and get a perfect score to gain access to the treasures contained in the Museum of Modern Art. - NASAs KSNN (http://ksnn.larc.nasa.gov/home.html) is a standards-based program that uses the Web, animation, and video to introduce science, technology, engineering, math, and NASA concepts. It also uses animated characters (grades K-2) and web and video technology (grades 3-5) to explain everyday phenomena of our world, correct misconceptions, and answer frequently asked questions. Each newsbreak includes a follow-up written explanation, inquiry-based activities, related print and electronic resources, and a computer-graded quiz. - The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (http://www.k12science.org/currichome.html) explores Internet use in K-12 science and mathematics education. CIESE presents concise instructional activities that utilize "real world" data from the Internet to teach a discrete topic such as exponential functions in mathematics or human genetics and the dominant trait in science. The curriculum projects use data from government and commercial databases; engage students in telecollaborative projects using those databases; and provide access to unique and primary source information. - Journey North (http://www.learner.org/jnorth/) engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America. They track the coming of spring through the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, bald eagles, robins, hummingbirds, whooping cranes -- and other birds and mammals, the budding of plants, changing sunlight and other natural events. Find standards-based lesson plans, activities and information to help students make local observations and fit them into a global context. - Cool Cosmos (http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/) involves varied audiences in science with multi-disciplinary educational materials that explain the infrared as well as the multi-wavelength universe. There are short educational videos about astronomy and infrared light in the Video Gallery section. Cosmic Classroom allows you to learn about light outside the visible spectrum through experiments and other classroom activities. In Cosmic Games, you can hunt for hidden animals, solve puzzles, and play games while learning. - exploreMarsnow (http://www.exploremarsnow.org/) aims at inspiring learning about the space sciences and technology through a web-based Mars simulator. You can explore the Mars Base Habitat and Rover to learn about the science and technology underlying the design of these artifacts as well as the hostile physical environment of the Red Planet itself. You can also enter the greenhouse and go on missions in the pressurized rover to actual locations on Mars. - NOAA Research (http://www.oar.noaa.gov/k12/index.html) provides middle school science students and teachers with research and investigation experiences using on-line resources. There are 6 topic sections ranging from El Niño to oceans. Each one of these includes an introduction to the topic, comprehension questions, interpretation, application, and enrichment activities. Teachers can download materials for each topic. This information includes lesson objectives, interdisciplinary uses, standards, and teacher preparation materials. - Shape and Space in Geometry (http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/geometry/index.html) offers you a fun and colorful, instructive and practical way to deal with geometry. Experience the geometry of real things: how big they are, whether they fit, how to find them, and what they look like in a mirror. The lab activities included in this site are divided into two broad categories: the section About Shape centers on identifying properties of various shapes and measuring their dimensions, and the activities in the About Space section focus on moving objects-or yourself-around in your imagination, and visualizing how things will look. - FOSSWEB (http://www.fossweb.com/) is a research-based science curriculum for grades K-8 dedicated to improving the learning and teaching of science. The materials in this program are designed to meet the challenge of providing meaningful science education for all students in diverse American classrooms and to prepare them for life in the 21st century. FOSSWEB offers modules that include teacher guides containing a Resources folio of annotated listings for nonfiction and fiction books for students, resource books for teachers, software, multimedia, videos, and web sites that extend the hand-on science activities in each module. These modules and games are organized in three main categories: K-2, 3-6, and middle school. - Exploring the Environment (http://www.cotf.edu/ete/main.html) is a series of interdisciplinary, problem-based learning (PBL) modules for high school students. ETE engages student teams in addressing real-world problems related to weather, population growth, biodiversity, land use patterns, volcanoes, water pollution, and global warming. The teams analyze remotely-sensed satellite images to come up with solutions to open-ended earth science problems that real scientists are working on today in much the same fashion. - Interactivate (http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/ ) provides lesson plans, activities, tools, and a dictionary for the exploration of Science and Mathematics. Each lesson includes a script for teachers to follow when using the activities. The lessons and activities are arranged according to the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and the NCEE Performance Standards for Middle School. Each activity comes with a What for background information, a How for instructions, and a Why for curriculum context. The tools section offers stand-alone applications that can be used in analyzing or organizing numbers and data. - Creative Chemistry (http://www.creative-chemistry.org.uk/index.htm) has lots of full-color worksheets and teaching notes for fun activities suitable for a chemistry club, over two hundred pages of question sheets and practical guides, power point slides, and a chemistry calculator. There are also fun chemistry puzzles, interactive revision quizzes, molecular models, and the Sc1 Tune-up Garage to help improve your science investigations. - NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/) is a technological marvel featuring many innovations never before used on a space mission. It is a new platform for exploring the universe using infrared light. Astronomers find the infrared to be a valuable tool as it opens an important window into otherwise hidden regions of the universe. This site will give you a general overview of the technology that makes the science of the Spitzer mission possible. Visit the online gallery to see pictures of Spitzer and its components and learn more about the mission and its history in the About Spitzer section. - NASAs Center for Distance Learning (http://dlcenter.larc.nasa.gov/) enhances k-16 curricula by offering educators FREE multimedia instructional programs to present math, science, and technology concepts to students. Currently, there are five programs available: NASA's Kids Science News Network, the NASA SCI Files, and NASA CONNECT are grade school programs that include hands-on activities, web activities and other resources. NASA's Destination Tomorrow is a technology-based program for lifelong learners, and NASA LIVE is an interactive videoconferencing program. Teachers can air the program they choose as often as they need and make copies of the educator guides to share with colleagues. - CERES Project (http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/default.htm) offers an extensive library of on-line and interactive K-12 science education materials for teaching astronomy. The lessons and materials are closely aligned with the National Science Education Standards and use contemporary teaching strategies. Master teachers, university faculty from Montana State University, and NASA researchers have created three types of classroom-ready activities for K-12 students using NASA resources, data, and images. With these activities, the students construct first-hand knowledge about the astronomical universe, form research teams to solve scientific problems, and explore interdisciplinary science topics within the context of astrobiology. - Biodiversity and Conservation: The Web of Life (http://www.fieldmuseum.org/biodiversity/) shows you that people, plants, and animals are all interconnected in a fragile web of life called biodiversity and that every element is essential to maintain a balance. In this site, you can explore the most fragile ecosystems on Earth, find out what you can do to help, travel around the globe in an interactive experience on this planets web of life, and much more. Teachers can download guides and lesson plans about biodiversity and other conservation issues to use in their classrooms. - Kids Dig Reed (http://www.kidsdigreed.com/default.asp) discover the Reed Farmstead Archaeological site and learn about archaeology, how archaeologists work. Through a series of games, puzzles, and a virtual site tour, you are introduced to the families who lived on the farmstead over 150 years ago, and how these people were able to make a living in the rugged uplands of eastern West Virginia. - Access Excellence (http://www.accessexcellence.org/) offers innovative, successful activities to help students learn scientific concepts and processes. Students can solve interactive mysteries, learn about new developments in science, and ask experts if they have questions with their homework. Teachers can participate in the teaching and learning forum to reflect on new curriculum, assessment tools, and new teaching and learning research affecting the students understanding of science. - Amazing Space (http://amazing-space.stsci.edu) explores planets, galaxies, comets, black holes, and more. Keep updated with the most recent discoveries by clicking on The Star Witness News. Engage in adventures, look at pictures and get answers to your questions in the Capture the cosmos section. If you need help with your homework, do not miss the Homework help section. - POP Goes Antarctica? (http://literacynet.org/polar/pop/html/home.html) visit the Palmer Station, a small biology lab built in 1965, on Anvers Island in Antarctica and find out how the presence of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) affect the ecosystem of the Antarctic coastal seas. - Adventures of the Agronauts (http://www.ncsu.edu/project/agronauts) lets you join Rosy and her team to complete six missions to become an agronaut. Try the three main sections: Glossary, Career Corner, and Teacher Resources. This last section provides you with printable versions of the six missions, the glossary terms and definitions needed, and suggested activities for each mission. - Environmental Inquiry (EI) (http://ei.cornell.edu) where you will find a number of resources that can help you develop your environmental science research. If you are a teacher, EI gives you ideas and other resources to use its curricula in the classroom. - ScienceWorld (http://scienceworld.wolfram.com) makes difficult concepts and ideas easier to understand by using illustrative examples. There are five major content categories: Astronomy, Biography, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics, under which you will find a great variety of resources to consult. - Bridge (http://www.vims.edu/bridge) is the ocean sciences teacher resource center. Find out the answers to questions like these: What is an estuarine environment? What do coastal storms bring? What is an olive ridley?, and learn other interesting facts about marine life and related topics of ocean exploration. - PRISM Polar Explorer (http://ku-prism.org) find all things related to polar exploration. Keep tabs on current experiments in the Polar Regions. Follow the adventures of the Bears on Ice. - ActionBioscience.org (http://www.actionbioscience.org) offers up-to-date information on topics and developments related to biodiversity, genomics, biotechnology, and bioscience research as well as articles, lessons, and resources for classroom use. - Memory (http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory) offers useful information on how our memory works and how remembering and forgetting are possible. - Living Things (http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life) learn about the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals and about systems for their classification. - Leveraging Learning (http://ll.terc.edu/toplevel/home.cfm) gives you great hands-on activities for grades 5-8 science. It also offers teacher guides and assessments. - Inclusion of Science Education for Students with Disabilities (http://www.as.wvu.edu/%7Escidis) promotes the teaching of science, the development of curricula and instructional materials for students with any manners of disability in the learning process. - Saint Patrick's Day in the Classroom (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Forest/848...class.html) Celebrate St. Patrick's day with a great variety of fun activities to do in the classroom. Choose among creative writing, science, math, and research activities. - NASA Qwhiz (http://prime.jsc.nasa.gov/Qwhiz/libs.html) by the NASA Johnson Space Center. Great K-12 activities ranging from integers to problem solving. There are also many science activities. Check the Kid Made (http://prime.jsc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/Qwhiz/all/list_by_grades.cgi?lib=Kid) and Teacher Made (http://prime.jsc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/Qwhiz/all/list_by_grades.cgi?lib=Standards) sections and test your knowledge. - MBGnet (http://mbgnet.mobot.org) provides you with information on Biomes of the World, Freshwater Ecosystems and Marine Ecosystems. - Cool Science for Curious Kids (http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience) offers you five informative natural science projects to help kids learn to identify, classify and observe things. Great for K-3. - NASA CONNECT (http://connect.larc.nasa.gov) a series of FREE integrated mathematics, science, and technology instructional distance learning programs for students in grades 6-8. - Weather (http://www.learner.org/exhibits/weather) lots of information and related resources on what forces affect our weather conditions. - Chem4Kids (http://www.chem4kids.com) lots of information and activities on matter, atoms, reactions, elements and the like. - Am. Alliance for Health, Phys Ed, Recreation, & Dance (http://www.aahperd.org) organization of professionals supporting and assisting those involved in physical education, leisure, fitness, dance, health promotion, and education and all specialties related to achieving a healthy lifestyle.

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Mountain Humor in Folktales and Other Media Intro Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 4 Activities Whats in a Picture Book? - To equip students with skills for analysis of picture books - To encourage sharing of opinions in pairs or groups - To enable students to synthesize treatments of humor, folktale characteristics, and Appalachian values in picture books - To focus on the writing process as students develop their own critical analysis of an Appalachian folktale picture book Notes to the Teacher: This lesson will probably take a couple of days to complete. Pages in AppLit that are relevant to this lesson (see also Complete List of AppLit pages on Picture Books): - Article: Wonder Tales in Appalachia by Grace Toney Edwards - Article: Oral Traditions and Modern Adaptations: Survey of Appalachian Folktales in Children's Literature by Tina L. Hanlon - Bibliographies: Lesson Plans and Resources for Teaching Contemporary American Picture Books to Older Students by Tina L. Hanlon - Bibliographies: Annotated Index of Appalachian Folktales by Tina L. Hanlon - Bibliographies: Background Resources on Appalachian Folktales and Storytelling by Tina L. Hanlon - Bibliographies: Appalachian Folktales in Children's Literature and Collections by Tina L. Hanlon and others - Study Guides: Activities for Teaching Appalachian Folktales and Dramatizations by the Jack Tale Players by Tina L. Hanlon and R. Rex Stephenson - Study Guides: Notes on Language Use in Alan Schroeder's Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella by Stephanie Humphries - Study Guides: Exercise on Appalachian Language in Jack and the Three Sillies by Ann Fulcher and Tina L. Hanlon - Study Guides: In Support of Integrating Minority Dialect Literature Into the Classroom by Stephanie Humphries - Study Guides: Resources on Appalachian Dialects background and teaching guides by Stephanie Humphries - Study Guides: Some Features of Appalachian Dialects by Stephanie Humphries The following book and URL are excellent general resources for examining picture books: Nodelman, Perry. Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Childrens Picture Books. Athens: Georgia UP, 1988. Kay E. Vandergrift Web Pages Teachers may use any Appalachian folktale picture book for this lesson. A short bibliography is provided for your convenience. (Note: I, personally, do not believe that all of the books contained in this list present positive representations of Appalachia or Appalachians. However, I believe that it is often beneficial to have both good and bad examples of Appalachian literature so that students may form their own opinions while developing objective critical and analytical skills. Others are listed in AppLit's bibliography of Appalachian Folktales in Picture Books.) Birdseye, Tom. Soap! Soap! Dont Forget the Soap! Illus. Andrew Glass. New York: Holiday House, 1993. Compton, Joanne. Ashpet: An Appalachian Tale. Illus. Ken Compton. New York: Holiday House, 1995. Davis, Donald. Jack and the Animals: An Appalachian Folktale. Illus. Kitty Harvill. Little Rock. Arkansas: August House Little Folk, 1995. Haley, Gail E. Jack and the Bean Tree. Illus. Gail E. Haley. New York: Crown, 1986. Haley, Gail E. Jack and the Fire Dragon. Illus. Gail E. Haley. New York, Crown, 1988. Harshman, Marc, and Bonnie Collins. Rocks in My Pockets. Illus. Wendy Popp. New York: Cobblehill, 1991. Hooks, William H. The Three Little Pigs and the Fox. Illus. S. D. Schindler. New York: Macmillan, 1989. Hooks, William H. Snowbear Whittington: An Appalachian Beauty and the Beast. Illus. Victoria Lisi. New York: Macmillan, 1994. Johnson, Paul Brett. Fearless Jack. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 2001. N. pag. Schroeder, Alan. Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella. Illus. Brad Sneed. New York: Dial Books, 1997. Sloat, Teri. Sody Sallyratus. Illus. Teri Sloat. New York: Dutton Childrens Books, 1997. Wooldridge, Connie Nordhielm. Wicked Jack. Illus. Will Hillenbrand. New York: Holiday House, 1995. Wright, Jill. The Old Woman and the Willy Nilly Man. Illus. Glen Rounds. New York: Putnam, 1987. 1. Prepare and Distribute Handout 1 "Exploring the Connection Between Text and Illustrations" using the following information. Have students read the handout as homework in preparation for the following activity. (You may want to select from the following study questions that are most relevant to the books your class is examining.) EXPLORING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS (From: Nodelman, Perry. Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Childrens Picture Books. Athens: Georgia UP, 1988, and Tina Hanlons Handouts for Childrens Literature classes.) Assumptions we carry with us as we look at books: - Is it hardback with textured, one-color covers (more forbidding and respectable), hardback with luridly colored plastic coatings (conventionally popular material), or softback (disposable and unthreatening)? - Is it large (rambunctious, energetic) or small (fragile, delicate)? - Is the paper stock glossy (distancing, making it difficult to focus on specific objects; implying a sense of serenity, stillness) or roughly textured (supporting atmosphere of involvement, intimacy)? - Is the type large or small? It often conveys information about the intended audience (large print for children, small for adults). - Of what significance is the size or shape of picture books? Beatrix Potter's original small books and Maurice Sendak's Nutshell Library have been very popular with young children for decades. Large formats are also popular in picture books (e.g., Dr. Seuss, Babar books). Do horizontal or vertical formats work better for certain types of texts? Should editions of picture books be published and sold that vary from the original size and shape? Do you know of other books for which size, shape, structure, or format are especially important? - What difference does it make for an artist to illustrate a text written by someone else, and his or her own text? (Sendak and many others have done both.) - What do you see as the essential ingredients of a "true picture book"? How does the function of the illustrations, and their relationship to the text, differ in illustrated books (longer books with illustrations of selected scenes) as compared to picture books? Are retellings of folktales ever found in "true picture books"? What do you think of Sendak's 1970 comment that it is "offensive" and "insane" to publish illustrated versions of adult novels? - Does it matter whether the author or illustrator of a tale from a particular cultural tradition is a native of that culture? Pay attention to whether the books give background on the author or illustrator and their research, on the origins of the stories, or on the art work. Questions for folktale analysis: - The legends and folktales retold in many picture books are derived from ancient oral traditions; in some cases, such as Native American tales, they were told in languages that had no written forms. In what ways do they seem different from literary stories that are composed in written form by individual authors? - Do the folktales contain the types of well-developed individual characters we find in other story traditions? How do the characters function in these tales? - Myths and folktales are not realistic stories about nature or about life in a particular culture. But they do reflect realities of life that were important to the people who told the tales. One modern view of myth is that it means true story, and in addition, a story that is a most precious possession because it is sacred, exemplary, significant. What are some of the concerns or realities of life and belief that we learn about from reading tales originating in different cultural traditions? In what sense are the tales exemplary (representative), significant, or true? - Modern analysis of folktales involves tracing common motifs or themes found in tales from around the world. Do any of these folktales contain motifs or themes that you see in other folktales, legends, fairy tales, myths or stories that you are familiar with? Notice how often people, events, and objects occur in threes in folktales from around the world. Some other examples of very common folk motifs are sibling rivalry, parent-child conflict, wicked stepmothers, a quest or journey, tests of the heros abilities or character traits, help from magical characters and objects, trickster characters who use their wits to overcome obstacles, old or poor characters who need help and often offer a reward in return, transformation of people into animals or objects, rewards for deserving characters (often involving money and/or marriage). - Often in myths and folktales magic and supernatural elements and creatures reflect basic human fears and desires. How do magic and the supernatural function in the tales you have read? - Do the books you have read contain culturally specific content? That is, do they contain material that is specific to a particular cultural tradition? How much significance is there in the cultural or ethnic background of the characters or setting? In-depth questions for analysis: - How do words and pictures interact in picture books? Look for examples in which elements of character, plot, setting, or point of view that are not revealed in words are portrayed through pictures. What details or scenes from the text has the illustrator chosen not to depict? What is the difference between perceiving various details through words and through pictures? How is the flow of the story (or progression of concepts or impressions if it is not a narrative) affected by the placement of pictures? In picture books with a substantial story line, are the pictures or the words the first to indicate what is happening in the plot, or do they work together on the same two-page spread at about the same pace? - How do wordless books convey character, plot, setting, point of view, tone, theme or plot? Are wordless picture books just for very young children? Why has the author chosen to put words on some pages and not others in picture books like David Wiesner's Tuesday (Caldecott winner, 1992) or The Knight and the Dragon by Tomi de Paola? - How is action conveyed in picture books? Do different individuals, including children of different ages, read books and the actions they depict differently from the usual left to right and top to bottom? Perry Nodelman (in Words About Pictures) observes that action usually progresses from left to right, and pictures in which characters face left, or the picture is oriented toward the left, often indicate some interruption or obstacle in the action. - Does amount of white space, use of borders (doorways, windows, arches of trees, white space) or no borders, placement of text (in boxes, superimposed on pictures, placed in different parts of pages), variations in size of pictures or words, or use of pictures overflowing outlined borders contribute to the meaning of the book? Do frames make it seem tidier, less energetic, invite the reader into another world? (Notice how Maurice Sendak manipulates these elements.) - How is perspective conveyed or varied in pictures as well as text? Do we get a child's-eye view, or animal's-eye view in some pictures? If the illustrator shows certain characters looking straight out at us from the page, what is the significance of their gazing at us? - Some contemporary picture books incorporate postmodern techniques like those found in other postmodern art and literature, including various experimental literary and artistic techniques such as multiple and shifting points of view, exploration of the unconscious mind and different ways of viewing reality, parody and blending of previous literary or artistic styles and stories, blending of influences from different media (such as film, comic books, painting, folk literature, etc.), drawing attention to the artificiality of fiction and art, questioning or satirizing or violating our usual expectations about the form and nature of books, fiction, art, etc. Do you see any of these techniques in the picture books you have read? - What significance can be attached to the choice of cover picture? Are there pictures on the end pages, title page, dedication page? Do these pictures contribute to the essential nature of the story? Do they convey tone or mood? Do they present a color, shape, etc. that will be repeated throughout the story? - Is the use of color symbolic (eliciting specific emotions from the reader) or non-symbolic (characters talk of red and the foliage contains red)? Is there a predominate use of color? Is there an overall darkness or lightness to the pictures? Is there an absence of color, the use of black and white with lines creating texture? - Do the media chosen by the artist convey or impose certain moods upon the pictures? For example: crayon, supplemented with pen and ink, is pleasantly childlike; collage inhibits creation of depth; watercolor, in its translucency, creates the impression of light more readily than tempera. However, even though the characteristics of media influence the way they are used, they do not limit the artists to particular effects. - What object offers the most visual weight? (The more we notice them, the more weight they have.) People tend to focus on people; however, size, particular objects, symbols, etc. can alter visual weight. Those familiar with Christian imagery will understand a shadow of a cross differently than those not familiar with Christian imagery. Are various symbols from various sources combined? Is the reader's reaction subconscious? (We are conditioned to associating physical ugliness with spiritual evil—we may ignore the plot of "Snow White," which indicates that the evil queen is the fairest in the land.) Are animal stories symbolic of human characteristics such as the fox/craftiness, lion/arrogance, peacock/pride, pig/gluttony, mice/timidity, rat/nastiness, or do they purposefully distort these classifications? - Is there irony existent between the text and the pictures (words are different from the pictures)? For example, is there a fox following a hen that is never mentioned in the text? Does the tone of the words match the situation the picture shows us? For example, we see a boy chasing a dog with a fork but all the text says is that he was causing mischief. (From Kay E. Vandergrift Web Page): "Illustrations perform various functions with reference to the text in which they are embedded. At the simplest level they decorate the text and dramatize the action. . . . Illustrations can also interpret the text by portraying characters as dismayed or joyful, weeping or brave. . . . Illustrations may even reformulate the text by supplying information different or absent from the text. For the reader who glances at the illustration and even more for the listener whose eyes linger on pictures while someone else reads, the power of pictures to recast the text into memorable images is formidable." Questions to consider when examining a picture book: - How many of the key incidents from the text are pictures? Which ones? How does it affect the book? - How do different sequences of pictures create different rhythms in the telling of the tale? What is the effect? - Does the choice of incidents presented in visual images influence interpretation? How? - Are omissions of particular incidents significant? How? - How are specific compositional elements (character, mood, setting, etc.) enhanced or changed by their visual images? In other words, is the specific content of the story altered in any way by the illustrations–by the colors used by the type of illustration, etc.? - How does the illustrator manage details from the text? Do they add to or detract from the book? - How do illustrators use additional background details? Do they add to or detract from the book? - How does the placement of pictures on the page and from page to page contribute to the spirit and movement of the story? - Why might a particular image have been chosen? What does it convey to readers? If presented prior to the telling of the tale, can the illustration influence reader's interpretation? 2. Choose an Appalachian folktale book to use as a model for discussing Handout 1. Read aloud and show the pictures to the class. Allow for open discussion that relates to Handout 1. Be sure that students understand that the text and illustrations should work together, adding to each other. Encourage students to comment on Folktale Characteristics, Appalachian Values, and Appalachian Humor. Because many students may be unfamiliar with picture books in general, and because Appalachian students may be particularly sensitive to comical texts or illustrations, teachers need to help students see that not all comic illustrations are stereotypes (a log house is not; a shack with trash around it, pigs and chickens running in and out of the house, moonshine jugs, etc. is) and that use of regional dialect is not necessarily stereotyping (students need to learn to be proud of their dialect; however, if eye-dialect is used, it may indicate little more than an attempt to show ignorance). (Refer to Lesson 2, Handout 3: Modified). 3. Bring in as many Appalachian folktale picture books as you can locate. (Check your school and public libraries.) This will allow in-class time for students to work. 4. Pair students and provide one book for each pair. (If you do not have enough books to pair students, have them work in small groups.) Pairing students will allow them to discuss and learn from each other. Advise students to use notes and handouts from Lesson 2, along with Lesson 3, Handout 1 to analyze their book. 5. Prepare and Distribute Handout 2 "Appalachian Picture Book" using the following information. Students will be writing individual essays. Advise students to follow the writing process. Allow for in-class time for revision and editing workshops. APPALACHIAN PICTURE BOOK Directions: Use notes and handouts from Lesson 2, Handout 3: Modified, along with Handout 1 from Lesson 3. 1. Working in pairs, or small groups, analyze an Appalachian folktale picture book, writing down notes as you read and discuss. Be sure that you analyze both the text and the illustrations of the book. 2. Write an essay exploring one of the suggested questions, or choose another topic of interest to you. 3. Final paper should be typed or word-processed. Include internal citations and Works Cited page. Write an essay that includes the following: - The title (underlined), author, and illustrator - A brief summary of the book - The answer to one of the following questions: Does this book reveal something about Appalachian values? Does this book reveal something about Appalachian humor? Does this book accurately represent Appalachia, its culture, and its people? - Support your answer by incorporating information obtained from your analysis of the book. Use specific details and information from the text and illustrations of the book to support your thesis. Suggestions for structuring your paper: - Start with your introduction/thesis paragraph. Begin with an interesting opening sentence that attracts the reader's attention. - Be sure to include the title of the book (underlined), the author, and the illustrator somewhere in the first paragraph, possibly integrated in the first sentence. - Then, transition smoothly into a brief summary of the book (3-4 sentences). Again, transition into your thesis statement, which will be the last sentence. "For Appalachians, the land is . . . ." OR "Rylant's book presents one of the most positive qualities of Appalachians, that of . . . . " OR "Mama is a Miner is an accurate representation of women working in the coal mines, especially . . . ." OR "There are times when the text and illustrations of a book contradict each other, presenting both a positive and a negative picture of the region . . . ." Body Paragraphs (at least three): - Each paragraph should support your thesis. - Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence (controlling idea) which limits the content of the paragraph. (Choose three points of analysis from Lesson 2, Handout 3: Modified. Be sure to incorporate Lesson 3, Handout 1 into your analysis.) - Primary support sentences answer the questions "how?" and "why?" for each of the topic sentences (they elaborate upon the basic idea put forth in the topic sentence). Secondary sentences give details—examples to explain or clarify the primary sentence. - The first sentence begins with the specific point of the thesis statement (sums up everything said in the paper in a precise way). - The second and following sentences should effectively make general statements about the subject. - OR You can summarize the main points; give your personal opinion, why you enjoyed or did not enjoy the book; explain whether or not you would recommend it, why or why not, to whom; and offer any suggestions you feel might be relevant to others. Mountain Humor in Folktales and Other Media: Intro Complete list of AppLit pages on Folklore This Page Created: 11/08/2001 Last Update: 7/13/05

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Literature in English Writers have described Canada in many ways: for example, as a French or English colony, a "fifty-first state," a Pacific Rim country, an arctic giant, a friendly territory or an uninhabitable wilderness. Literature in EnglishThe term "Canadian Literature in English" refers to that which is written in what is now territorially Canada or written by Canadians abroad. (See alsoLITERATURE IN FRENCH.) Writers have described Canada in many ways: for example, as a French or English colony, a "fifty-first state," a Pacific Rim country, an arctic giant, a friendly territory or an uninhabitable wilderness. Canadian literature has often had to deal with such differences in attitude, not just because many Canadian authors were born elsewhere and brought outsiders' expectations with them, but also because popular attitudes often perpetuated stereotypes of Canada. Three pervasive stereotypes portray Canada as (1) a physical desert, (2) a cultural wasteland and (3) a raw land of investment opportunity and resource extraction. These distortions have created an audience for stereotypes, which Canadian writers sometimes reinforced by writing romantic adventures of the frozen North, in which everything local was savage or hostile and "civilization" was imported. But, over time, they sought to record local experience and to use literature to shape their own culture rather than to imitate or defer to the presumptions of another society. Insofar as Canadian culture continues to be shaped by a range of languages in use and by wide variations in geography, social experience, FIRST NATIONS cultures, IMMIGRATION patterns, and proximity to Europe, Asia, and the USA, the "Canadian voice" is not uniform. Nevertheless, however much their aesthetic practices and political commitments differ, Canadian writers do bring many shared perspectives to their representations of nature, civility, and human interaction, whether at home or abroad. Some critical approaches to Canadian literature have tried to identify national or regional characteristics in literature. Other criticism (SeeLITERATURE IN ENGLISH: THEORY AND CRITICISM) has fastened on language and formal strategies, theories of knowledge and meaning, ethics (variously defined), and the politics and psychology of race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, identity, and environment. "Canadian literature" does not therefore restrict itself to a particular set of topics, terms, or even Canadian settings, nor does any set of topics and terms constitute a required ingredient in a Canadian book. Motifs and Patterns Although the national character is not always the subject of Canadian literature, the culture's social attitudes and values can be seen in the language and forms it uses. (SeeLITERATURE IN ENGLISH: LANGUAGE & LITERARY FORM) For instance, communication is often achieved through tone as much as through direct statement. Irony is a dominant mode, litotes (the negative positive: not unappreciated) is a common speech pattern, trickster (rather than hero) figures recur, and a sense of humour (understatement, parody, mimicry, wry satire) punctuates much serious literary work. Some commentators have interpreted Canadian tendencies toward literary indirectness politically and psychologically, finding in it a sign of national insecurity and a group feeling of inferiority. Others argue that indirectness is a healthy demonstration of the culture's ability to adapt an inherited tongue to its own purposes. Irony, for example, can undercut as much as apologize, and the quiet demeanour of an onlooker figure in a narrative can effectively undermine positions of ostensible power. Several specific narrative patterns recur in Canadian writing, especially evident in fiction and life writing (SeeAUTOBIOGRAPHY): (1) a community walls itself off from the wilderness (the "garrison mentality"); (2) a person leaves the homeland, adjusts to the new world, then finds the "homeland" to be "alien"; (3) a person born in Canada feels like a permanent stranger in his or her own home; (4) people arrive in the new home only to find that they are excluded from power; (5) a person attempts to recover from the past the secret or suppressed life of a previous generation; (6) a woman struggles to come to terms with her own creativity and the inhibitions of her cultural upbringing (often told as conflict between colony and empire); (7) an apparently passive observer, surrounded by articulate tricksters and raconteurs, turns out to be able to tell both their story and his or her own, often ironically; (8) an adventurer turns failure into a form of grace; (9) a child grows up to inherit a world of promise, or a world of loss, frequently both at once; (10) a subjective historian meditates on place and memory; (11) characters celebrate space and wilderness, usually after a struggle to learn to accept that the wilderness provides spiritual therapy only on its own terms; (12) characters, adrift in a maze of words or a fog of ambiguity and anonymity, shape "acceptable fictions" into a workable life. Writing about their society, many writers of SHORT FICTION, the NOVEL, BIOGRAPHY, POETRY, and DRAMA have recurrently portrayed particular historical figures, both to reveal their intrinsic interest and implicitly to suggest how they epitomize certain cultural attributes or qualities of character. Such figures include Samuel HEARNE, Louis RIEL, Susanna Moodie, Sir John A. MACDONALD, Emily CARR and William Lyon MACKENZIE. In the retelling, sometimes transposed from their own time into the present, each possesses a vision but remains an ordinary human being, one with frailties, not a conventional hero. Characteristically, Canadian writing resists the binaries associated with perfectionism (right-wrong, good-evil, hero-villain dualism), embracing notions of multiple alternatives, working pluralities, multi-voicedness, and negotiated or evolving resolution instead. In narrative, violence generally functions as an instigation of action and as a penultimate event rather than as a solution or act of closure. Repeatedly, individual rights balance against community responsibilities. In more recent drama, poetry, and prose--even in much popular genre writing (SeePOPULAR LITERATURE IN ENGLISH)--open endings predominate over conventional strategies of closure, inviting readers/listeners to participate in the play of alternatives and possibilities. Settings often possess a symbolic dimension. Catholic Québec recurrently figures in anglophone writing as a land of mystery, attractive but enthralling and morally dangerous; Ontario as an enigmatic blend of moral uprightness and moral evasiveness; Atlantic Canada as a repository of old values; the North as a land of vision; the Prairies as a land of isolation and acquisition; and the West Coast as a dream of the future in which people often mistakenly believe. Europe often appears as the home of refinement, deceit, and discrimination; the US as a land of crass achievement and tangible success; and Africa as the embodiment of all that seems "other" to Protestant rationalism. In recent writing, Latin America and Asia (both East and South) are frequently configured as sites of political entanglement, which is expressed through inheritance and family ties or embodied in the complexities of larger communities. Within Canada, the land itself is recurrently associated with power, whether as property, region, a hostile force, a godly gift, the basis for resource extraction, the site of communication, the contested territory of competing cultural claims, the border, or the ecological medium in which human life integrates with all other living beings in Nature. Although most Canadians live in cities, until recently writers used rural and small-town settings more frequently than urban ones, and to the degree that they adapted conventional adventure and pastoral formulas to Canadian settings, they seldom questioned unstated assumptions about status and race. From early on in Canadian literature, however, essayists (SeeESSAY IN ENGLISH) and travel writers (SeeTRAVEL LITERATURE) analyzed and challenged as well as celebrated Canadian political life. Often women writers used fiction and autobiography to reveal social divisions within Canada that male adventure writers ignored or underplayed, and to suggest reforms. Recent writing by both women and men focuses more directly and fully on urban life as well as on social issues (ethnicity, gender, poverty, health, education) that transcend setting. "Regional" writing also conveys political stances. The term is used in two ways: to refer to places ruled by a real or imagined centre, and to configure the variant parts that make up a collective unit or community. By rejecting a single definition of "Canada," writing about regional distinctiveness sometimes declares separatist claims on identity and power and in other instances asserts the viability of a nation with a plural character (seeREGIONALISM IN LITERATURE). Increasingly, First Nations writers and writers who draw on ethnic backgrounds other than western European ones have examined the political opportunities of Canadian pluralism, but also the social limitations of local convention (seeETHNIC LITERATURE) A rough chronological guide to changes and developments in Canadian writing should not be equated with a simple chart of "progress"; each age (Colonial, Early National, Interwar and Postwar, Contemporary) reveals differing conventions, preoccupations, and accomplishments. Hence, as fashions and critical tastes change over time, so do determinations of value and significance. Colonial (SeeLITERARY HISTORY IN ENGLISH 1620-1867) Canadian literature in English can be said to begin in the early 17th century, with Jacobean poetry in Newfoundland; or in the decades that followed, with numerous explorers writing narratives of contact and discovery (SeeEXPLORATION LITERATURE); or in the mid-18th century, with the epistolary fiction of the English garrison community in Québec. After 1776, in the LOYALIST settlements of Upper Canada and the Maritimes, many writers turned to political verse satire (SeeHUMOROUS WRITING IN ENGLISH; LITERATURE AND POLITICS). Newly founded NEWSPAPERS and MAGAZINES (See alsoLITERARY MAGAZINES) became venues for political commentary, both conservative and reform-minded, as well as for literary expression, which in the 19th century generally followed romantic, Sentimental and Orientalist fashions in Britain. Some scathing satire emerged in Nova Scotia. Novels and dramas followed historical romance and Gothic paradigms, as did most long poems. Susanna Moodie's settlement narrative was one of many early autobiographies. Short personal sketches of persons and places formed the basis for much travel writing and for the short fiction that emerged as a new genre during the 19th century. Folksong and folktale survive, but Native ORAL LITERATURE received scant literary attention until the later 19th century. Early National (SeeLITERARY HISTORY IN ENGLISH 1867-1914) In the years leading to Confederation and during the five decades following, much attention turned to literacy and political organization. Schools and universities opened, as did several Carnegie Libraries. Writers celebrated their newfound nationalism and were drawn variously to such enterprises as the MECHANICS' INSTITUTES, the INSTITUT CANADIEN, the ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA, the CANADA FIRST Movement, and Imperial Federation [See: IMPERIALISM]. Philosophic and science writing flourished, encouraging thoughtful discourse across language lines. Travel (within Canada and abroad) encouraged other kinds of contact, and with it, both impressionistic and reportorial writing. By the end of the 19th century, proponents of WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE and PROHIBITION wrote stories and essays to focus on issues of social change. Many other social assumptions nevertheless remained largely unexamined. While attention turned to First Nations' oral tales, writers treated them (despite the emergence of First Nations writers publishing in English) as "simple" texts, suitable in translation (if expurgated) mainly to entertain children. Poems and tales about "Indians," however sympathetic in intent, largely assumed that First Nations people were "a dying race" and their several complex cultures unsophisticated. This romance of the Indians was matched by a continuing romance of Empire. Ontario- and Maritime-based Canadian culture remained dominantly Celtic and anglocentric. Early creative narratives from the Prairies and the West Coast, while recurrently probing the real-life travails of immigrants and the exigencies of farm and forest management, were largely overshadowed in the popular imagination by Ontario romances of Presbyterian conversion. By the early 20th century, many books won widespread international popularity, notably L.M. MONTGOMERY's ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, for its humorously told tale of an orphan's life in Prince Edward Island. C.G.D. ROBERTS' and E.T. SETON's seemingly realistic animal tales provide other examples, as do the comic sketches of Stephen LEACOCK, which parodied literary stereotypes and dealt ironically with social platitudes. In poetry, the Confederation group produced the most important writings of the late 19th century; committed to closely observed details, they variously reshaped how the lyric represented nature, winter, and the Canadian landscape. Cultural and social attitudes changed during and after the FIRST WORLD WAR. One creative generation was lost. Another emerged, objecting both to the imperial assumptions of militarism and the language associated with it. (SeeTHE FIRST WORLD WAR IN CANADIAN LITERATURE) New magazines affirmed the independence of Canadian thought. New PRIZES were established to recognize Canadian literary accomplishment. In fiction of the 1920s, while some popular family chronicles continued to affirm conventional class distinctions, anti-war novels and CLASS critiques began to appear, a trend magnified during the GREAT DEPRESSION of the 1930s. Many writers focussed on uprooted or marginalized individuals and the troubled lives of non-English-speaking immigrants. Novelists championed industrial workers' rights, and sought fresh, more direct forms of speech, spurning the sentimental romance in favour of a more 'realistic' (some called it a more 'violent') vocabulary. American literary practice--and the international avant-garde of postwar Paris--drew writers such as John GLASSCO and Morley CALLAGHAN; the short story genre thrived, espousing forms that resisted narrative closure. Young writers also rejected received social values by mounting left-wing agitprop drama, writing dramas that satirized nationalist pageantry, publishing erotica, finding inspiration in the GROUP OF SEVEN painters, and embracing the Modernist dicta of the poet T.S. Eliot and others. Chief among emerging Canadian poets at this time were those associated with the "McGill" (or "Montreal") Group, especially F.R. SCOTT, for his commitment to social justice, and Abraham KLEIN, for his passionate embrace of his Jewish heritage. Over succeeding decades Dorothy LIVESAY became the voice of socialist feminism, and Scott, with the poet- critic A.J.M. SMITH, became an influential anthologist, shaping the early teaching of Canadian literature. In the wake of the SECOND WORLD WAR came a mix of propaganda, pacifist rhetoric, parodies of military ineptitude, and a new wave of progressivist writers, by turns humanist, anti-clerical, community-minded, and intellectually anarchist. Notable names include Irving LAYTON, Earle BIRNEY, Gabrielle ROY (who remains one of the best- known francophone writers in translation), P.K. PAGE and George WOODCOCK. In the 1940s and 1950s, social policies were being drafted that would shape a Canadian sense of community for decades to come. New LITERARY PERIODICALS demanded a sharper, more locally grounded language. RADIO technology also served this end. Public radio, established in 1932, led to a wave of cross-country spoken-word broadcasts--talks, dramas, readings of short stories, children's programs, all reconfirming the sounds of Canadian speech as a literary medium--especially from 1943 on. Novelists such as Hugh MACLENNAN and Sinclair ROSS turned again to local settings, rendering the prairies, the Maritimes, and Montreal as sites of personal and political trauma. Critics now praise more highly the innovative stylistic practice of Ethel WILSON, for her insights into women's lives; Malcolm LOWRY, for his symphonies of despair and transient joy; Sheila WATSON, for her rendering of life as an elliptical mythology; and in a career that would last for half a century, Mordecai RICHLER, for his frank and animated cultural politics. Several social developments markedly changed Canadian society in the years following 1960. The large "baby-boom" generation matured, with the vocal "X" and "Y" generations following; immigration policies altered to allow greater numbers of new citizens from Asia, Africa, and Latin America; startling technological developments (from radio to the INTERNET) collapsed notions of space and speeded up communication. All these changes had an impact on literary topics and techniques. Cross-border and cross-cultural contacts validated notions of cultural "hybridity" as a social norm, challenging conventional definitions of "ethnic purity" and "fixed identity." Family biographies shifted focus from single lives onto lives-in-context. Multimedia presentations challenged conventions regarding the unity of literary form. Bilingual texts, triptychs (in fiction and drama), and discontinuous narratives in fiction and poetry all deliberately disrupted conventional linearity as a literary technique. Numerous integrated (but discontinuous) collections of short fiction--called sequences, cycles, or "composite narratives"--appeared. Some of the major writers of these decades had just been emerging in the 1950s--Richler, and two of the world's foremost authors of short fiction, Alice MUNRO and Mavis GALLANT, whose stories embed more than announce, reveal more than parade. They would be joined by Alistair MACLEOD, Clark BLAISE, and numerous others. The number of Canadian universities, SMALL PRESSES, accessible academic and literary periodicals (from CANADIAN LITERATURE to Geist), courses in Canadian Literature, and Creative Writing schools also increased, in part because of the recommendations of the MASSEY COMMISSION and the emergence of the Canada Council in the 1950s. Further government policies led to such social developments as the CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS in 1982, but a sudden shift to policies that favoured fiscal restraint and cultural cutbacks occurred in the early 21st century; the publishing industry, libraries, public media and scholarship were all affected. New technologies opened up opportunities for local (and frequently more innovative) publishing (including experiments in syllabic and concrete poetry, mixed media presentations, performance poetry, and other formats), yet they did not guarantee access to publicity and sales. Coteries came and went; so did scores of journals and papers. Publishers of formula fiction remained monetarily successful (some writers of mystery and science fiction achieving international stardom), but publishing houses that had thrived in the 1960s, when American control over the information industry was resisted, faced closure in the 2010s, with the increasing influence of electronic publishing and multi-national corporations. A plethora of prizes began to construct literature as spectacle. Many bookstores nevertheless closed. Throughout the decades from 1960-on, while there is some evidence of a literary return to older forms of expression and fundamentalist redefinitions of ethics, writers more characteristically, each generation, embraced SOCIAL JUSTICE and reformist causes: for women's rights (SeeWOMEN'S MOVEMENT), for gay and lesbian equality (SeeHOMOSEXUALITY), against colonialism, against increasing POVERTY. CHILDREN'S LITERATURE--an enterprise that flourished at this time, ranging from nonsense verse to problem-centred novels for young adults--addressed some of these same issues of RACE, gender, alcohol, drug abuse, social identity. Science writing, social history, life writing, environmental and ecocritical inquiry, and other forms of "creative non-fiction" also frequently combined discovery with protest. Critiques of social arrogance in one decade (foreign wars, napalm, racism) morphed into critiques of other disparities in the next (discrimination by sex, gender, ethnicity, economics). Margaret ATWOOD embraced the new nationalism of the 1960s and 1970s (with the CENTENNIAL celebrations in 1967), but thirty years later tempered her observations in dystopias. Robertson DAVIES' Jungian novels expressed one pervasive understanding of myth and psychology; Robert KROETSCH's poems and tales deconstructed such conventions and re-rooted the epic in everyday vernacular experience. Language and literary form again became subjects for analysis and theoretical discussion, as in the work of Marshall MCLUHAN and Northrop FRYE, as well as territories for dispute, as when Nicole BROSSARD's critiques of French grammar influenced feminist writers in English, or when, in much 21st-century fiction, conventional vulgarities became normative (and therefore potentially radical, culturally upsetting) speech. The WRITERS UNION OF CANADA formed in 1973, reflecting writers' numbers and endeavouring to help deal with the challenges they face. Other writers addressed cultural, social, and political alternatives in Canadian society, some of which were longstanding, others deriving from more recent changes in population, technology, language and communication. Many of these writers sought a balance between criticism of social practice (racism, passive dismissal, restrictive legislation) and celebration of social potential. Several MÉTIS and First Nations writers emerged (among them Thomas KING and Tomson HIGHWAY), variously critiquing the residential school system, protesting ignorance and abuse, and finding comedy in both traditional tales and contemporary life. The poet Robert BRINGHURST translated some of the great classic Haida oral tales, Al PURDY created poetry out of the rhythms of ordinary speech, Guy VANDERHAEGHE re-imagined prairie history through the politics of present-day media, Jack HODGINS turned Vancouver Island idiosyncrasy into a comedy of human aspiration, George Elliot CLARKE and Wayde Compton called attention to BLACK writing in Canada, and increasing numbers of writers (including Rohinton MISTRY, Michael ONDAATJE, and Wayson CHOY) drew on their Asian heritage both to reflect on adaptations to difference and to dramatize the challenges and rewards of a fractured or shared history. Literally scores of accomplished writers emerged during the last decades of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, testifying to the continuing vigour of the literary community Donna Bennett and Russell Brown, eds., An Anthology of Canadian Literature in English (3rd ed., 2010); Coral Ann Howells and Eva-Marie Kroller, eds., The Cambridge History of Canadian Literature (2009); Carl F. Klinck, ed., Literary History of Canada, 3 vols (2nd ed., 1976); Richard J. Lane, The Routledge Concise History of Canadian Literature (2011); Robert Lecker, Making it Real: The Canonization of English-Canadian Literature (1995); John Moss, ed., Future Indicative: Literary Theory and Canadian Literature (1987); Laura Moss and Cynthia Sugars, eds., Canadian Literature in English: Texts and Contexts (2009); W.H. New, ed., The Literary History of Canada (2nd ed., Vol. 4, 1990); W.H. New, A History of Canadian Literature (2nd ed., 2003); W.H. New, ed., Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada (2002); William Toye, ed., The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature (1983).

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The Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction Effective vocabulary instruction begins with diverse opportunities for word learning: wide reading, high-quality oral language, word consciousness, explicit instruction of specific words, and independent word-learning strategies. This article explains how these opportunities can be created in the classroom. In this article: - encouraging wide reading; - exposing students to high-quality oral language; - promoting word consciousness; - providing explicit instruction of specific words; and - providing modeling and instruction in independent word-learning strategies. Each of these components contributes to helping students overcome the major obstacles to vocabulary growth. What to do about the size of the task We know that the volume of students' reading is strongly related to their vocabulary knowledge.1 Students learn new words by encountering them in text, either through their own reading or by being read to. Increasing the opportunities for such encounters improves students' vocabulary knowledge, which, in turn, improves their ability to read more and more complex text. In short, the single most important thing you can do to improve students' vocabularies is to get them to read more. - If, over a school year, a fifth-grade student reads for an hour each day, five days a week (in and out of school), at a conservative rate of 150 words per minute, the student will encounter 2,250,000 words in the course of reading. - If 2% to 5% of the words the student encounters are unknown words, he or she will encounter from 45,000 to 112,500 such words. - We know that students learn between 5% 10% of previously unknown words from a single reading. This accounts for at least 2,250 new words the student learns from context each year. The figure 2,250 new words learned a year is based on the lowest points of the estimated ranges. Even this conservative figure suggests that reading is a powerful influence on students' vocabulary growth. What kinds of reading are necessary to produce such vocabulary growth? Whereas some argue that almost any reading ultimately will have powerful benefits for students,3 others say that if students consistently select texts below their current reading levels, even wide reading will not result in measurable vocabulary growth.4 Nor is reading text that is full of unfamiliar words likely to produce large gains in word knowledge.5 To help students get the most out of reading, you should encourage them to read at a variety of levels — some text simply for enjoyment, which should benefit their fluency if nothing else — and some text that challenges them. You should also help students develop reading strategies that will allow them to read more challenging texts with lower levels of frustration. When students have been taught comprehension strategies, they tend to do more reading.6 Increasing their motivation to read is another critical factor in helping students make the most of wide reading. One powerful motivating factor associated with more reading is a classroom environment that encourages and promotes social interactions related to reading.7 Making available a variety of books and setting aside ample time for reading also motivate increased reading. As is true for any method of promoting vocabulary growth, wide reading has some limitations. One is that it obviously cannot be effective with very young students who are not yet able to read very much on their own. Another limitation is that, although wide reading may be effective in producing general vocabulary growth, it is not an effective method for teaching the words that students need to master a particular selection or a concept related to a specific content area. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that, as important as it is, wide reading does not produce immediate, magic results; its effects are cumulative, and emerge over time. You can encourage wide reading in a number of ways. You might, for example, recommend or provide lists of books for students to read outside of class, and make time in class for students to discuss what they have read. You can set aside a time each day for independent reading. And, of course, you can model the value you place on reading as they read, by telling students about the books you are reading. What to do about the differences between spoken and written English High Quality Oral Language As we discussed earlier, both English language learners and English-speaking students may achieve fluency in the language of face-to-face conversation and still have little exposure to or knowledge of the kind of language they encounter in school textbooks. Clearly these students need more exposure to written English, and wide reading is the most effective way of increasing exposure to this kind of language. But what can be done with students who are in the process of learning to read, and who cannot do a great deal of reading on their own? Here is one solution: Increase the quality of the oral language to which students are exposed — let them hear spoken English that incorporates more of the vocabulary and syntax typical of written, and particularly literate English. A very effective way to expose children to literate vocabulary is to read to them from storybooks, especially when the reading is accompanied with discussion.8 Authors of good children's literature have always found ways to talk "over children's heads" — using big words and other aspects of literate language — without decreasing children's interest or enjoyment. Both younger and older students appear to benefit from read-aloud activities, and older students can learn the meanings of new words as efficiently from hearing stories read to them as they can from reading the stories themselves.9 Making available (either in the classroom or school library) a selection of quality audio books and players that students can use on their own can also be a good way to expose them to a variety of good books and broad language experiences. Storytelling is yet another way to increase the quality of students' oral language experiences. Even when no text is involved, storytelling still exposes students to richer language than does normal conversation. Pretend play likewise involves rich language use. The quality of preschool children's conversations, and teachers' use of a more sophisticated vocabulary also have been found to affect students' language and literacy development.10 Asked what they could do to use more sophisticated vocabulary without intimidating or confusing their students, a group of teachers responded enthusiastically, "Make it fun!" We definitely agree. Playing with language is an essential component of language development. Word consciousness is the knowledge of and interest in words. Word-conscious students enjoy learning new words and engaging in word play. They know and use many words, and are aware of the subtleties of word meaning and of the power words can have.11 To become word conscious, students first need to develop a feel for how written language is different from everyday conversation. To this end, it is valuable to draw their attention to the distinctive characteristics of written language, even when reading aloud, and to help them learn to read like a writer, and to write with an audience in mind. Having students copy in their journals phrases or sentences from their reading that are examples of especially effective language use — vivid descriptions, striking metaphors, interesting similes, plays on words-can help make language more alive for them. Students can share their examples with the class, or they can post them in the classroom to serve as inspiration or models for others. Reading and discussing two versions of the same story — ideally, one with rich language and one with language that is less interesting — can promote word consciousness in younger students. Word consciousness can be promoted in a way that helps students become aware of differences between Standard English and non-standard varieties, without stigmatizing the latter. Shirley Brice Heath describes classrooms in which students learned to be "language detectives," studying how people speak differently in different groups and in different situations. She believes that this awareness made an important contribution to the students' academic success.12 It may be especially important to make such differences explicit for students less familiar with standard English. A number of oral and written word games can serve to promote word consciousness, including puns, limericks, Hink-Pinks, crossword puzzles, jokes, riddles, and anagrams.13 Encouraging students to play with words can create an interest in knowing more about them, and thus, can become a strategy for independent word learning. What to do about the limitations of sources of information about words Independent Word-Learning Strategies - the efficient use of the dictionary; - the use of word parts (prefixes, suffixes, roots, compounds) to unlock a word's meaning; and - the use of context clues. Instruction in dictionary use that focuses on having students look up words and use information from their definitions to write sentences does not provide students with the guidance they need to make dictionary use an efficient independent word-learning strategy. This is not to say, however, that dictionaries are not important aids to word learning. In fact, the more students are exposed to dictionary definitions, the better their word learning.14 The crucial point here is that students receive instruction in how to use what they find in a dictionary entry so that they are able to translate the cryptic and conventionalized content of definitions into usable word knowledge.15 This instruction includes modeling how to look up the meaning of an unknown word, thinking-aloud about the various definitions in an entry, and deciding which is the most appropriate definition for a particular context.16 Teaching students how to use information about word parts can be very valuable in promoting vocabulary growth. Many students, however, are not aware of this strategy. Even students who have learned to break words into parts in their decoding instruction may not understand that they can use this knowledge to figure out word meanings. Teacher modeling helps to make the strategy's value clear to students.17 Using word-part information can be especially helpful in learning certain content-area concepts. (See Teaching Word Meaning as Concepts) Context clues are clues to the meaning of a word contained in the text that surrounds it. These clues include definitions, examples, and restatements. Teaching students strategies for identifying and using context clues has been suggested as a major instructional technique for vocabulary development.18 A student learns a new word from context by making connections between the word and the text in which it appears. When a new word is first encountered, the student stores in memory some information about how it fits into what is being read. In subsequent encounters with the word, this information is reinforced, and more information about the word's role in particular contexts is added until the word is understood and used appropriately. As in teaching other kinds of strategies, teaching students to use context clues to develop vocabulary is an extended process that involves: modeling the strategy; providing explicit explanations of how, why, and when to use it; providing guided practice; gradually holding students accountable for independently using the strategy; and then providing intermittent reminders to apply it to reading across content areas. As we noted earlier, learning words from context is a long-term process, one that involves multiple encounters with words. The challenge is to create vocabulary instruction that compresses this process to enable students to learn more words in a shorter period of time.19 What to do about the complexity of word knowledge Explicit Instruction of Specific Words - Use both definitional and contextual information about word meanings, - Involve students actively in word learning, and - Use discussion to teach the meanings of new words and to provide meaningful information about the words. Use Definitional and Contextual Information In the past, vocabulary instruction most often consisted of learning lists of words and definitions (with a test on Friday). We now know that such instruction is of limited value, particularly in improving students' reading comprehension.20 Students need to know how a word functions in various contexts. Therefore, instructional methods that provide students with both definitional and contextual information do improve comprehension, and do so significantly. - Teach synonyms. Often a synonym is all students need to understand a new word in context. - Teach antonyms. Not all words have antonyms, but thinking about antonyms requires students to identify the crucial aspects of a word. For example, the word chaos implies an abyss, a void, or clutter, but its antonym, order, narrows the focus to the "clutter" part of the word's meaning. - Rewrite definitions. As we noted earlier, dictionary definitions can often confuse or mislead students. Asking students to restate a dictionary definition in their own words can be more effective than requiring them to remember the exact wording of the definition. - Provide example sentences. A good way to ascertain whether students understand a word's definitions is to have them provide example sentences in which they use the word. They may draw these examples from personal experiences ("Mom's kitchen is chaos.") or from textbooks ("After the great flood of 1937, there was chaos all over the Tennessee Valley."). - Provide non-examples. Another way to find out if students truly understand the meaning of a new word is to have them supply words that are not examples of the word's meaning. For example, point out to them that cry is not an example of the word guffaw, then ask them to think of other non-examples of the word (bawl, sniffle, whine, whimper). Coming up with non-examples requires students to think about the critical attributes of a word, much like providing antonyms. - Discuss the difference between the new word and related words. A discussion of the word debris, defined as "trash," "garbage," or "waste," might include a discussion of the differences between debris and trash, garbage, and waste. For example, debris might be the result of some sort of accident or disaster, whereas trash might include anything. Garbage generally refers to organic material, such as food leftovers, and waste implies something left over, rather than something resulting from a disaster. Such a thorough discussion encourages students to focus on the meanings of words. Some activities that provide students with contextual information include: - Have students create sentences that contain the new word. Encourage students to create sentences that show a clear understanding of the meaning of the word — not just "I like chaos." More acceptable sentences are those that include the definition, such as, "Chaos is when everything is in disorder." Even more acceptable are sentences that extend the definition, such as, "The scene was complete chaos — desks were turned over, paint was splashed on the floor, and the trash can was upside down." Of course, to write sentences containing a new word, students need examples of how it is used correctly. Definitions, even those that give brief examples, rarely provide enough information to guarantee that students have a real sense of how words are used. One way to scaffold students' use of new words is to have them complete sentence stems containing the word, e.g., "John thought it would pacify the teacher if "21 - Use more than one new word in a sentence. Asking students to use more than one new word in each sentence they create can force them to look for relations among words. - Discuss the meaning of the same word in different sentences. Many words have multiple meanings, which depend on the context in which the words appear. To prevent students from limiting word meanings to one particular context, have them use a new word in several different and varied sentences. For the word chaos, their sentences might include topics such as chaos in classroom behavior, chaos as clutter and mess, chaos in personal relations, and so forth. - Create a scenario. Invite students to make up a story in which a new word features prominently. If students are too young for this activity, have them draw a picture story for a new word. - Create silly questions. You might have students pair new words and use each pair to make a silly question.22 For the words actuary, hermit, philanthropist, and villain, their questions might include "Can an actuary be a hermit?" "Can an actuary be a philanthropist?" "Can a philanthropist be a hermit?" "Can a philanthropist be a villain?" Involve Students Actively in Word Learning Students remember more when they relate new information to known information, transforming it in their own words, generating examples and non-examples, producing antonyms and synonyms, and so forth. Instruction that works In one study of exemplary vocabulary instruction, activities were conducted in a five-day cycle. On the first day, the new words were defined, and students discussed the use of each word in context. This discussion took different forms, including discussion of examples and non-examples, pantomimes, and having students say "Yay" if the word was used correctly in a sentence and "Boo" if it was not. On the second day, after a review of the definitions, students might work on log sheets, completing sentences for each word. On the third day, they completed another log sheet, then worked on a timed activity in which pairs of students attempted in the shortest amount of time to match words with their definitions. This activity was repeated on the fourth day. After completion of the second timed activity, students were asked silly questions. On the fifth day, they took a post-test. These activities varied somewhat with different units. For example, students also completed a "Word Wizard" chart activity each day. A Word Wizard chart is a chart that contains new vocabulary words. These words can be taken from a storybook, from a text, or just be words that are encountered in some way. Every time a child in the class found one of these words in context, the teacher attached an adhesive note with the child's name and the context next to the word. The first child who received 5, 10, or some other number of notes became the Word Wizard. Students were given credit toward becoming a "Word Wizard" by finding examples of each word used outside of class. This program, or variations of it, significantly improved students' comprehension of texts containing words that were taught. As part of the program, it was revealed that twelve encounters with a word reliably improved comprehension, but four encounters did not. The instructional approach, which involved active processing of each words' meaning, had significantly greater effects than did a definition-only approach on measures of comprehension but not on measures involving the recall of definitions. These findings suggest that vocabulary instruction can improve comprehension, but only if the instruction is rich and extensive, and includes a great many encounters with to-be-learned words. Use discussion to teach word meanings. Discussion adds an important dimension to vocabulary instruction. Students with little or no knowledge of some new words they encounter in a vocabulary lesson are often able to construct a good idea of a word's meaning from the bits of partial knowledge contributed by their classmates. (When the class as a whole does not know much about a particular word, however, you may have to help. Perhaps supplying some information about the word, such as a quick definition.) Discussion can clarify misunderstandings of words by making the misunderstandings public. For words that a student knows partially, or knows in one particular context, the give-and-take of discussion can clarify meanings. When misunderstandings are public, the teacher can shape them into the conventional meaning. Discussion involves students in other ways. As they wait to be called on, students practice covertly, or silently prepare a response. Therefore, even though you call on only one student, many other students anticipate that they will have to come up with an answer. As a result, discussion leads to increased vocabulary learning.23 Without the practiced response, discussion is not likely to be valuable as a learning experience. Bringing instruction together This sample lesson illustrates how a teacher can bring together the three components of explicit vocabulary instruction to teach words that are key to understanding the story The Talking Eggs by Robert San Soucil. The words chosen for instruction are backwoods, contrary, dawdled, groping, rubies, and silver.24 For the key word backwoods, read the following sentence from the story: "Then the old woman took her by the hand and led her deep into the backwoods." Ask students to predict what backwoods means. Backwoods is a compound, and, when the information from the word parts is combined with some information from the context, its meaning should be fairly clear. Next, ask students to describe the backwoods briefly. The key word contrary can be taught the same way, beginning with reading this sentence from the book: "You do as I say and don't be so contrary," and asking students to predict the meaning of the word from context. For this word, have students discuss a definition for the word, such as "disagreeable, raising objections," and encourage them to explain how the definition fits in the context of the sentence. As a follow up, you have them create some sentences that contain contrary. This can lead to a discussion of another, related meaning for contrary, that of "from another point of view," as in the expression "to the contrary." For dawdled and groping, begin once again by reading sentences in the story that contain the words. Because these words are verbs, however, you might want to pantomime the meaning of each, rather than supply a conventional definition. Then ask students to create sentences that use the words. You might define dawdled with some non-examples, because it is a word that has some clear antonyms, such as hustled, ran, went quickly, and so on. For rubies and silver, begin by having the class discuss what precious things are. You might illustrate the words by providing pictures that show rubies and things made of silver. Next, work with the class to make a list of precious things, including rubies and silver, as well as gold, diamonds, and so forth. The words used in the sample lesson are highly dissimilar. They were selected for instruction only because they happen to come from the story they students were reading. The techniques used to teach the words, however, are somewhat similar. For four of the six words, the teacher starts with sentences from the text, then asks students to create additional sentences to extend the meaning of the word beyond the text. Finally, the teacher also includes a definition, either a conventional verbal one or a gestural one, for each of the words. The instruction this lesson illustrates is relatively minimal, designed to support the reading of the text. More elaborate instruction would shift the focus from the story to the vocabulary words, and might be useful in a classroom with many English language learners, or in any classroom when a greater emphasis on vocabulary is appropriate. More elaborate instruction also might include using additional sentence contexts for each word, a "yea or nay" activity ("Would you dawdle in the backwoods?"), or having students write a scenario, or story that contains these words. Explicit vocabulary instruction does seem to improve comprehension significantly, at least when the words taught come from the text students are reading. Nevertheless, some cautions are in order. First, teaching vocabulary as students read can, under certain circumstances, distract them from the main ideas of the text. Second, teaching words that are not important to understanding the text leads students to focus on individual word meanings rather than on the overall meaning of what they read. The more effort students expend focusing on word meanings, the less effort they will have available to recall information that is important to comprehension.25 Thus, to be effective, pre-reading vocabulary instruction should focus on words that relate to the major ideas in a text, rather than on words that are interesting or unusual. Click the "References" link above to hide these references. iunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1991). Tracking the unique effects of print exposure in children: Associations with vocabulary, general knowledge, and spelling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 264-274.; Fielding, L. G., Wilson, P. T., & Anderson, R. C. (1986). A new focus on free reading: The role of trade books in reading instruction. In T. Raphael & R. E. Reynolds (Eds.), The contexts of school-based literacy. New York: Random House. 2 Herman, P. A., Anderson, R. C., Pearson, P. D., & Nagy, W. E. (1987). Incidental acquisition of word meanings from expositions with varied text features. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 263–284.; Nagy, W. E., Anderson, R. C., & Herman, P. A. (1987). Learning word meanings from context during normal reading. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 237–270.; Nagy, W. E., Herman, P. A., & Anderson, R. C. (1985). Learning words from context. Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 233–253. 3 Krashen, S. (1993). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. 4 Carver, R. P. (1994). Percentage of unknown vocabulary words in text as a function of the relative difficulty of the text: Implications for instruction. Journal of Reading Behavior, 26, 413-437.; Carver, R. P., & Leibert, R.E. (1995). The effect of reading library books at different levels of difficulty upon gain in reading ability. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 26-48. 5 Shefelbine, J. L. (1990). Student factors related to variability in learning word meanings from context. Journal of Reading Behavior, 22, 71–97. 6 Guthrie J.T., Schafer, W.D., Wang, Y., & Afflerbach, P. (1995). Relationships of instruction to amount of reading: An exploration of social, cognitive and instructional connections. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 8-25. 7 Guthrie, Schafer, Wang & Afflerbach, 1995. 8 Dickinson, D.K., & Smith, M.W. (1944). Long-term effects of preschool teachers’ book readings on low-income children’s vocabulary and story comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 29, 104-122. 9 Stahl, S.A., Richek, M.G., & Vandevier, R. (1991). Learning word meanings through listening: A sixth grade replication. In J. Zutell & S. McCormick (Eds.) Learning factors/teacher factors: Issues in literacy research. Fortieth yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 185-192). Chicago National Reading Conference. 10 Dickinson & Smith, 1994. 11 Graves, M.F., Juel, C., & Graves B.B. (1997). Teaching reading in the twenty-first century. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. 12 Brice Heath, S. (1983). A lot of talk about nothing. Language Arts, 60, 39-48.; Brice Heath, S. (1983). Ways with words: Language, Life, and work in communities and classrooms. New York: Cambridge University. 13 Stahl, 1999. 14 McKeown, M. G., Beck, I. L., Omanson, R. C., & Pople, M. T. (1985). Some effects of the nature and frequency of vocabulary instruction on the knowledge and use of words. Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 522–535. 15 Scott & Nagy, 1997. 16 Graves et al., 1997. 17 Nagy, W. E., Winsor, P., Osborn, J. & O’Flahaven, J. (1994). Structural analysis: Some guidelines for instruction. In F. Lehr & J. Osborn (Eds.), Reading, language, and literacy: Instruction for the twenty-first century (pp. 45–58). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 18 Anderson & Nagy, 1991; Sternberg, R. J. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned from context. In M. G. McKeown & M. E. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 89-105). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 19 Stahl, 1999. 20 Stahl, S. A., & Fairbanks, M. M. (1986). The effects of vocabulary instruction: A model-based meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 56, 72-110. 21 Beck, I. L., Perfetti, C. A., & McKeown, M. G. (1982). Effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 506-521. 22 Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, (1982). 23 Stahl, S. A., & Clark, C. H. (1987). The effects of participatory expectations in classroom discussion on the learning of science vocabulary. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 541–556. 24 This sample lesson is adapted from Stahl, 1999. 25 Wixson, K.K. (1986). Vocabulary instruction and children’s comprehension of basal stories. Reading Research Quarterly. 21, 317-329. Excerpt from: Texas Education Agency. (2002). Promoting Vocabulary Development: Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction, 2002 Online Revisited Edition (pp. 10-20). Retrieved October 11, 2007, from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/practives/redbk5.pdf. Comments and Recommendations

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Mattaponi Indian Reservation West Point, Virginia Webster "Little Eagle" Custalow State Recognized February 25, 1983 The members of this tribe live on a reservation that stretches along the borders of the Mattaponi River in King William County, Virginia. Presently they number about seventy-five. Many of the younger members have left the reservation to seek work elsewhere. The Mattaponi Indian Reservation dates back to 1658. In those early days, the people made their living completely from nature's sources. Before the first settlers reached this land, these Indians served and worshipped the Great Spirit, who was their God in the Heavens above the sun, the moon, and the stars. Now they worship as Southern Baptists, and have their own church on the reservation. 1646, the Mattaponi Indians began paying tribute to an early Virginia governor, and this custom continues to the present day when at Thanksgiving they present game or fish to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Mattaponi Indian Reservation was created from land long held by the Tribe by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1658. Being one of the oldest reservations in the country, the Tribe traces its history back to the Great Chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas, who ruled most of Tidewater Virginia when Europeans arrived in 1607. The story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith begins here. Since the Assembly's designation of the Reservation in 1658, the Mattaponi Tribe has maintained its heritage and many of its customs despite strong pressures pushing toward assimilation with the mainstream culture. Through the years both the Reservation's physical size and the number of Tribal members have been diminished. The Reservation presently encompasses approximately 150 acres, a portion being wetland. Although the Tribal Roll numbers 450 people, not all actually live on the Reservation. The Mattaponi Indian Tribe is State recognized and continues to maintain its own Sovereign government. The Governing Body today is made up of the Chief (pictured above), Assistant Chief, and seven Councilmen. Many Mattaponis who live off the Reservation would like to return to their traditional homeland to continue the Tribe's culture and traditions. To do so will require expansion of the land holdings of the Mattaponi Tribe. The Reservation today sits on the banks of the Mattaponi River, one of the most pristine rivers in the Eastern United States. Facilities on the Reservation today include living quarters, a small church, a museum, a Fish Hatchery and Marine Science Center, and a community Tribal building that was formerly the Reservation school. While some of the residents pursue their endeavors on the Reservation, many of the younger members seek work in other areas. A Message from the Assistance Chief Carl Lone Eagle Custalow Mattaponi Indian Reservation 1467 Mattaponi Reservation Circle West Point, Virginia 804-769-4508~ FAX 804-769-0294 Dear Friend of the Mattaponi, When I was a boy in the early fifties, my father, Chief Webster Little Eagle Custalow, would bring me on a crisp spring morning to the banks of the Sandy Point tract on the Mattaponi River. I still feel the thrill of seeing the river flowing, the herons fishing, and ducks nesting in the marshes. Occasionally an eagle or an osprey would soar overhead. I used to long for this large piece of our original Homeland to become part of our Reservation again. The fish, wildlife and bird habitat make Sandy Point an especially sacred site for our Tribe. When I returned to the Reservation and became Assistant Chief of the Tribe, I had this vision of a modem Hatchery, a beautiful three story Cultural Center built over the water and a Living History Village to study and teach our culture to tribal members and the general public alike. We now have the opportunity to re-acquire this 2050 acre piece of our Homeland, known as the Sandy Point Tract, for an estimated 3 million dollars. At first, I felt overwhelmed as I considered the large sum of money needed. I didn’t know how we were going to raise this kind money. Then I realized we could not turn this opportunity down. The vision for my beloved Reservation, the beauty of it all and the chance to protect rich Virginia natural resources, forests, meadows and wetlands, while strengthening our cultural heritage, gave me the will to hope. We may have only six months in which to purchase the first 550 acre parcel. How can I even begin to express what this land means to us? It used to be part of our Reservation. It has a sacred and very special meaning to us. This land is our natural heritage and the way for us to realize our vision. On the present 150 acre Reservation, the Church still stands. The old School House is now a Community Center. One of the oldest Shad Hatcheries in the Nation has been replaced with a newly equipped modem one. The Mattaponi River flows unchanged, much as it did in the 1600’s. Last year, the Tribe returned an estimated 8 million endangered Shad to the river. We have struggled to maintain our identity for over 350 years. We have endured. The Mattaponi have been described by historians as a people who have refused to give up. I won’t give up. I am determined to raise the funds necessary to re-acquire our Homeland. This place is in our hearts. We need your help to place it safely in our stewardship. Please help us to realize our dream. What I seek to do, I can not do without you. It is critically important that you be with us in our quest. We have our work cut out for us. Can I count on you again for help in returning Pocahontas’ Homeland – our Homeland – to our Tribe? Your gift in any amount will make a difference. Thank you,Carl Lone Eagle Custalow Chief of the Mattaponi Tribe VIRGINIA COLONIAL RECORDS. Govern'r & the Councill of our Colony and Plantacon of Virginia in The West Indys. Treaty Between Virginia And The Indians Articles of Peace between the most Mighty Prince & our Dread Soveraigne Lord Charles the II by the Grace of God King of greate Brittaine, France, and Ireland. Defender of the ffaith &c: And the severall Indian Kins and Queens &c Assentors and Subscribers hereunto made and Concluded at the Camp of Middle plantacon, the 29th day of May: 1677; being the day of the most happy birth & Restauration of our s'd Soveraigne Lord, and in the XXIX yeare of his said Ma'ties Reigne. By the Right Honourable Herbert Jeffreys Esq'r Governour and Cap't Generall of his Majesties Colony of Virginia: Present the Hon'ble S'r John Berry Kn't & Francis Morrison Esq'r his most Sacred Ma'ties Commiconers appointed under the great Seale of England for the Virginia affairs, And the Hon'ble Councill of State of the said Colony. Whereas his most Sacred Ma'tie hath of his owne Royall grace and meer motion intrusted to my care and endeavours the Renewing management and concluding a good peace with the Neighbour Indians in order whereunto with the advice and Assistance of the hon'ble S'r John Berry Kn't and Francis Morrison Esq'r I have here caused to be drawne up these ensueing Articles and Overtures for the firme grounding and sure establishment of a good and just Peace with the said Indians, and that it may be a Secure and lasting one founded upon the strong Pillars of Reciprocall Justice by confirming to them their just Rights, and by Redress of their wrongs and injuries that soe the great God who is god of peace and Lover of Justice may uphold and prosper this our mutuall League & Amity. It is hereby Concluded, consented to & mutually agreed as followeth: I. That the Respective Indian Kings and Queens doe from henceforth acknowledge to have their imediate dependancy on, and Own all Subjection to the great King of England Our now dread Soveraigne his heires and Successors, when they pay their Tribute to the Right hon'ble his Ma'ties Govern'r for the time being. II. That thereupon the said Indian Kings & Queens and their Subjects shall hold their lands, and have the same confirmed to them and their posterity by Patent under the Seale of this his Magesties Colony, without any fee gratuity or Reward for ye same, in such sort, and in as free and firme manner as others his Magesties Liege Subjects, have and enjoye their Lands, and possessions, paying onely yearly for, and in Liew of a Quitrent or acknowledgement for the same three Indian Arrowes. III. That all Indians who are in amity with us, & have not land siffitient to plant up, be upon information forthwith provided for, and land laid out, and confirmed to them as affores'd never to be disturbed therein, or taken from them, soe long as they owne keep and maintaine the due obedience & Subjection to his Majestie his Govern'r and Government; & amity & friendship towards the English. IV. Whereas by the mutaull discontents, Complaints, jealousies, and feares of English and Indians occasioned by the violent intrusions of divers English into their lands, forceing the Indians by way of Revenge, to kill the Cattle & hoggs of the English, whereby offence, and injuries being given, and done on boeth sides, the peace of this his Majesties Colony hath bin much disturbed, and the late unhappy Rebellion by this means in a great measure begunne & fomented which hath involved this Country into soe much Ruine, & misery, for prevention of which injuries and evill consequences as much as possible we may for time to come it is hereby concluded and enacted that noe English, shall seate or plant nearer then three miles of any Indian towne, and whosoever hath made or shall make any encroachment upon their Lands shall be removed from thence and proceeded against as by the former peace made when the Honourable Francis Morrison was Govern'r and the act of Assembly grounded thereupon is provided & enacted. V. That the said Indians be well Secured & defended in theire persons goods and properties against all hurts and injuries of the English, and that upon any breach or violation thereof, that the aggrieved Indians doe in the first place repaire and adress themselves to the Govern'r Acquainting him therew'th without rashly and suddainly betakeing themselves to any hostile course for Satisfaction who will inflict such punishment on the wilfull infringers hereof, as the Lawes of England or this Country permitt, and as if such hurt or injury had bin done to any Englishman, which is but just and Reasonable they owneing themselves to be under the Allegiance of his most Sacred Majestie. VI. That noe Indian King or Queen be imprisoned without a Special Warrant from his Ma'ties Govern'r & two of ye Councill, and that noe other Indian be imprisoned without a warrant from a Justice of peace, upon Suffitient cause of Committment. VII. That the said Indians have and enjoy theire wonted conveniences of Oystering, fishing, and gathering Tuccahoe, Curtenemmons, wild oats, rushes, Puckoone, or any thing else for their natural Support not usefull to the English, upon the English Devidends, Alwayes provided they first repaire to some publique Magestrate of good Repute & informe him of their number and business, whoe shall not refuse them a certificate upon this, any other Lawfull occasion, soe that they make due returne thereof when they come back and goe directly home about their business without wearing or carrying any manner of weapon, or lodging under any Englishman's dwelling house on night. VIII. That noe fforreigne Indian be suffered to come to any Englishman's plantacon without a friendly Neighbour Indian in his Company with such Certificate as aforesaid, And noe Indian King to refuse to send a safe Conduct with the fforraigner upon any Lawfull occasion of his Comeing in And that noe Indian doe paint or disguise themselves when they come in. IX. That all Indian Kings, and Queens tributary to the English haveing notice of any march of strange Indians neer the English quarters or plantacons doe forthwith repaire to some of the next officers of the militia, and acquaint him of their nation number and designe, and which way they bend their Course. X. That if necessary a convenient party be presently sent out by the next Collo. of the Militia to aide strengthen and joyne, with our Friendly Indians, against any fforreigne Attempt, incursion, or depredacon upon the Indian townes. XI. That every Indian fitt to beare armes of the neighbouring Nations in peace with us, have such quantity of powder and shott allotted him as the R't Hon'le the Govern'r shall think fitt on any occasion, and that such members of them be ready to goe out with our forces upon any march against the enemy and to Receive such pay for their good services, as shall be thought fitt. XII. That each Indian King, and Queen have equall power to govern their owne people and none to have greater power then other, except the Queen of Pomunky to whom severall scattered Indians doe now againe owne their antient Subjection, and are agreed to come in and plant themselves under power and government, whoe with her are alsoe hereby included into this present League and treatie of peace, & are to keep, and observe the same towards the said Queen in all things as her Subjects, as well as towards the English. XIII. That noe persons whatsoever shall entertaine or keep any Neighbor Indian as Servant or otherwise, but by licence of ye Govern'r and to be upon obligation answerable for all Injuries and damages by him of them happening to be done upon any English. XIV. That noe English harbour or entertaine any vagrant or Runnaway Indian, but convey him home by way of pass from Justice to Justice to his owne towne under penalty of paying soe much per day for harbouring him as by the Lawe for entertaining Runnaways is Recoverable. XV. That noe Indian of those in Amity with us shall serve for any longer time then English of the like Ages should serve by act of Assembly, and shall not be sold as Slaves. XVI. That every Indian King and Queen in the month of March every yeare with some of theire great men tender their obedience to the R't Honourable his Majesties Govern'r at the place of his residence, wherever it shall be, and then and there pay the accustomed rent of twentie beaver skinns, to the Govern'r and alsoe their quit rent aforesaid, in acknowledgment that they hold their Crownes, and Lands of the great King of England. XVII. That due care be had and taken that those Indian Kings and Queens their great men and Attendance that come on any public business to the R't hono'ble the Governo'r Councill of Assembly may be accommodated with provisions, and housroome at the publique charge. And that noe English Subject shall abuse revile, hurt or wrong them at any time in word or deed. XVIII. That upon discord or breach of Peace happening to arise between any of the Indians in amity with the English upon the first appearance and beginning thereof, and before they enter into any open Acts of hostility or warr one against another they shall repaire to his Majesties Governo'r by whose Justice & wisdome, it is concluded such difference shall be made up and decided, and to whose finall determination the said Indians shall Submitt and conforme themselves. XIX. That for preventing the frequent mischeifes and mistakes occasioned by unfaithfull, & corrupt interpreters, & for the more Safetie satisfaciton, and adgvantage both of the Indians, and English, that there be one of each nation of our neighbouring Indians, that already can or may become capable of speaking of English, admitted together with those of y'e English to be their owne interpreters. XX. That the severall Indians concluded in this peace forthwith restore to the Respective English parents & owners, all such children servants, and horses, which they have at any time taken from them, and now remaining with them ye said Indians, or which they can make discovery of. XXI. That the trade with the said Indians be continued, Limited, restrained, or laid open, as shall make best for ye peace and quiett of the Country, upon which affaire the Govern'r will consult with the Counsell and Assembly, and conclude thereon at their next meeting. XXII. That it is further agreed that all Indians and English in the Province of Maryland are inclined in these Articles of peace. And that neither partie shall offend the other without breach of his Majesties Signe and Tribe of the Indian representatives who witnessed the signing of the treaty. After this treaty was confirmed presents were sent to the various Chiefs from England, together with various badges of authority. The Queen of Pamunkey received a red velvet cap to which was fastened a silver frontlet by chains of the same metal. After remaining long in the possession of the Pamunkeys at Indiantown, Va., it was given or sold by them between 1840 and 1850 to Mr. Morson, of Stafford county, Va., from whose heirs the frontlet was bought by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and is now deposited with the Virginia Historical Society. the Historical Society owns a small oval medal of rude design inscribed on one side, "Ye King of" and on the other "Patomecke." This medal was probably given soon after the treaty of 1677. © Copyright 1997, WHRO. About the Mattaponi Legacy Plan As the Mattaponi people seek to rebuild their society in their traditional lands, they are constrained by the diminution of their reservation over the past two centuries. The Reservation today consists of only 150 acres that overlook the Mattaponi River, and much of that land is designated wetlands. Clearly, the people need additional space to realize The Mattaponi Tribal Legacy Plan is designed to further those dreams. The plan calls for the expansion of the Reservation to about one thousand acres. Proposed use of the land includes the following: - Cultural and Exhibition Center - Nature Interpretative Trail - Traditional Mattaponi Village - Pottery and Craft Workshop & Classrooms - Fish Cannery - Residential Areas for Tribal Members - Center for Native American Studies - Center for Study of Mattaponi River Ecology - Center for Indigenous Knowledge Preservation |Scientific and cultural tourism along with a renewed interest in Native American culture in general, makes the development of the Mattaponi Indian Reservation a critical component of the broader vision for developing Virginia's Middle Peninsula. Along with Colonial History, historic buildings, river plantations, courthouses, churches, steamship ports-of-call, Native American encampments and Cultural Centers such as the one proposed by the Mattaponi Legacy Plan will do much to attract the kinds of low environmental impact and sustainable economic activity that is desired for the Commonwealth and the people of the Region. Increase the land base of the Mattaponi Reservation Provide relief for the impoverished and unemployed members of the Tribe Enhance the art and culture of the Mattaponi People Foster communication of Mattaponi history and heritage Assist the Tribe in achieving federal recognition Preserve the natural resources of the Reservation while developing an economically sustainable community Work with other organizations and other Tribes to develop and market a Cultural Heritage Corridor in King William County Work with the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers Association for the preservation of the quality of these marine systems The Mattaponi Connection to River and Bay Across rural Virginia, citizens are searching for ways to create sustainable communities and economies while preserving the quality and character of the landscape, their small towns and villages, and the life styles they love. For thousands of years the Mattaponi People managed to do just that. Today, with all the challenges to environmental quality, the Mattaponi Heritage Foundation and the Mattaponi People have launched an ambitious program to build an economically and environmentally sustainable community on their traditional lands along the Mattaponi River. Beginning with a grant from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to establish and operate a fish hatchery near West Point, Virginia, the Mattaponi Heritage Foundation will seek other support to allow them to extend their land holdings along the Mattaponi watershed in King William County. Activities on the Reservation supported through the Mattaponi Heritage Foundation will enable them to develop an economic base for their community through scientific and cultural tourism and as a center for Native American studies. Combining modern science with indigenous knowledge about the ecology of the river and bay, the Mattaponi people seek to show all of mankind how to live in harmony with the natural world while sustaining the highest quality of life. The success of the Mattaponi Heritage Foundation will provide benefits to all of Tidewater Virginia, as the development of cultural and scientific tourism and educational resources around Native American knowledge and culture add to the critical mass of attractions that bring visitors to Tidewater. Mission of the Mattaponi Build a sustainable community on the Mattaponi River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, that will extend the thousands of years of Mattaponi history and heritage and, in doing so, demonstrate to all people how they may live successful and rewarding lives in harmony with the earth. April 7, 1997 Indian tribe cites 320-year-old treaty to thwart reservoir plans BY ROBERT LITTLE, The Virginian-Pilot Copyright 1997, Landmark Communications Inc. You can read the years in Webster Custalow's crooked fingers like lines in a tree trunk. Time was he struck a formidable pose, Custalow will tell you, hauling railroad ties off the saw mill or hoisting 100-pound bags of salt around the cucumber-pickling plant during the Great Depression. Now he stands about chest-high to a door knob, coiled under as if all 85 of his birthdays were in a sack tied around Even the shad and the terrapin in the river out back don't fear him much anymore. These days, Custalow says, strength comes from his family. family is Virginia's Mattaponi tribe of American Indians, of which he is chief. And it's so strong that a $200 million development project could derail because of it, thwarting the King William County government and the Newport News Citing a 1677 treaty, the Indians who live on Virginia's Mattaponi reservation are challenging plans for a 1,400-acre reservoir nearby. They say it would kill the fish spawning in tribal waters and violate a guarantee from England's King Charles II that nothing would be built within three miles of their land. officials are investigating the claim, and they aren't sure what to make of it.The treaty had always made for nice Thanksgiving Day storytelling, but no one has ever tried to enforce it as a matter of law. The courts might ultimately have to decide whether it can still be enforced. If the 20 families on the Mattaponi reservation succeed, they will have won a battle their ancestors forever lost. And they will do it armed only with a 320-year-old pact with the King of England and a few thousand years of heritage. ``I've been thinking about it a long, long time,'' Chief Custalow said Friday, standing in a corner of the 150-acre reservation, on the banks of the Mattaponi River. ``I'm a person that from my youngest days God always showed me visions, and I have had a vision on that reservoir. I see terrible ``I'm sure you've read in books that wind and water are the most powerful things on the face of this Earth. We know that from living. And when you try to cage that up, man has no method of stopping what can happen.'' William County officials are planning to build the reservoir about two miles from the edge of the Mattaponi reservation. With a peak capacity of 75 million gallons a day, the reservoir would supply the city of Newport News with drinking water through 2040. The benefits to the surrounding rural county of 11,000 could be enormous. Newport News would pay $150 million or more over the next 50 years. King William could draw as much water as it needs, assess acres of new waterfront property and get five recreation centers and boat landings for its residents. government with annual revenue of about $20 million, the deal is like finding a diamond mine. County officials have worked on the project since 1987, and are willing to buy all the land around the small Cohoke Creek. They hope to have a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality soon after the public comment period closes April 15. The Army Corps of Engineers would be next. The new lake won't yield a glass of water until 2005 at the earliest. involved in this project expected it to be a free ride,'' King William Administrator David Whitlow said. ``But this is a tremendous opportunity. It's not like it's going to be an eyesore and a detriment to property values.'' Mattaponi don't care so much about eyesores. The reservoir won't flood any of their Reservation, but they dispute government claims that increased salinity won't affect fishing on the Mattaponi River. And property values aren't even worth discussing. Their property has value because the Mattaponi have lived there 1,000 years or more. ``All through the years, this is how we lost our land -- because we don't have the numbers, or the political clout,'' said Assistant Chief Carl Custalow, Webster Custalow's son and the manager of most tribal affairs. ``But just because you're small, you don't have to let them walk all over you. For years we've never exercised our treaty rights. Well, now we've had enough.'' Virginia has eight recognized Indian tribes, but only the Mattaponi and the Pamunkey have designated reservations. The Pamunkey reservation is a few miles from the Mattaponi, but its boundaries would not be encroached by the reservoir. The tiny Mattaponi reservation is two miles of wooded backroad from Route 30, a main artery through King William County. It is marked by a faded, plywood sign reading ``See Mattaponi Indian Museum. Stone Age Relics 1,000 Years Old.'' The community is a cluster of old cars and picnic tables around trailers, brick houses and rickety wooden shacks with rusty tin roofs. The government has been consistent in honoring one aspect of the Indians' treaty rights: Residents don't have to pay real estate tax for their land, or personal property tax for their vehicles. But they also don't actually own their land; It's kept in trust and passed down to new generations. The houses are modest because no one can get construction loans without a deed for collateral. are other privileges still extended the Indians. They can hunt and fish without a license, and hook into community power lines and phone lines tax-free. If they make a living on the reservation they are exempt from income tax. If they buy and sell goods among themselves, they are exempt from state sales tax, too. life is not one of luxury. The village is nearly indistinguishable from any low-income community in eastern Virginia. Only the scattered tepees -- largely for the tourists stand out. Few Indians earn a living on the reservation any more. Carl Custalow, who still makes some money fishing the river, works for an insurance agency in Mechanicsville, for instance. His two children have moved away. He hopes they'll come back. But the river doesn't yield barrels of terrapin or a net full of catfish from shore to shore anymore. And the state's restrictions on shad or rockfish make things even tougher. Some residents sell art or beadwork, a tough way to make a buck when you're milesfrom the nearest ``All my life, I've fished out there. From a little boy on up,'' said Chief Custalow. ``You had to eat the fish, you had to get out here and dig in the earth to get what you needed to live. We couldn't go to a place and buy fancy stuff. ``A lot of that's changed, I know, but I saw something with these two eyes I hope I never see again. I saw indian starving. Children, little ones, that looked like old indian the way the skin was hanging on their bones. We wouldn't be here today without that river.'' The reservoir -- and whatever it does to Indian burial grounds, campsites or to the water on the river -- is just the latest of government's indignities, tribe members ``We always look seven generations ahead,'' Carl Custalow said. ``You take somebody like Newport News, they're looking right now -- for the business. For the dollar.'' Two months ago, the Mattaponi sent a letter to the state attorney general's office announcing their intention to invoke colonial treaty rights to block the reservoir. lawyers have been looking into the issue, but don't know when they'll have something to say. on at least three areas of law and several state agencies,'' said Don Harrison, spokesman for Attorney General Jim Gilmore. ``It deals with treaty law,historic preservation, water rights -- this is fairly complex.'' According to a peace treaty between 12 Virginia Indian chiefs and King Charles II, signed May 29, 1677: shall seate or plant nearer than three miles of any Indian Towne, and whosoever hath made or shall make any encroachment upon their lands shall be removed from thence.'' The Mattaponi and Pamunkey are descendants of the chiefs who signed the pact. The three-mile buffer was created so colonists and Indians would stop killing each other, the treaty suggests. return, the Indians swore allegiance to the British crown. And they promised to return the children and horses they'd taken, to stop killing cattle and hogs and to refrain from any other injustice ``which hath involved this Country into soe much Ruine & misery.'' Their annual payment, ``in Liew of a Quitrent,'' would be three Indian arrows and 20 beaver pelts. That tradition has continued. Every Thanksgiving, members of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes leave some turkeys, some beaver pelts or a deer or two outside the governor's mansion as payment in full. attorney general might weigh in soon, but the issue could take years to resolve if the Indians take it to court. They have little money, but are trying to build a coalition of native Americans throughout the country to pitch in. indian, the heritage have been there since before this country was even founded. Why would anyone want to take that away?'' asked Thomasina Jordan, head of the state Council on Indians, a governor-appointed committee that oversees Indian affairs. not so much the treaty that matters, it's beyond that. There's so little left of the American Indians that to take away any more would be a real tragedy.'' SAVING THE MATTAPONI INDIANS AND THEIR HERITAGE "The Mattaponi indian have lived on the river that bears our name for thousands of years. We are direct descendents of the Great Chief Powhatan, Father of Pocahontas. Since the European settlement at Jamestown, much of our history and our language have been lost because we were forced into the mainstream of society. Despite this we still have our treaty, our Reservation and much of our culture. It is tragic that at a time when the Mattaponi indian and other Indian indian of Virginia are working to regain our culture and traditions, Newport News would be pushing hard for the King William Reservoir. This project threatens our traditional shad fishing and would flood Indian cultural sites and graves; land that is sacred to us.... The Mattaponi River and the Reservation are our life. If this river is destroyed, we have nowhere else to go. We are the indian of the river, and we have no alternative but to fight this reservoir." Assistant Chief of the Mattaponi Indian Tribe Eight tribes are recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia: - The Chickahominy - The Eastern Chickahominy - The Mattaponi - The Upper Mattaponi - The Monacan - The Nansemond - The Pamunkey - The Rappahannock The Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes are the two tribes in Virginia that live on reservations. They have headquarters in King William County and operate museums on the reservations. These two tribes (which are sovereign nations) have treaties with the Commonwealth of Virginia that predate the United States. They are the oldest reservations in the country. Other Native Americans represented among Virginia's population: Anishinabe, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Chippewa, Creek, Eastern Cherokee, Eno-Occaneechee, Haliwa-Saponi, Iroquois, Lumbee, Mashpee-Wampanoag, Navajo, Pocomoke-Occahannock, Powhatan, Seneca, Shawnee, Shinacock, Sioux, St. Regis Mohawk, and Tuscarora. Mattaponi Indian Reservation's Home Page |Reservation's Fish Hatchery |and Marine Science Center I do hope you have enjoyed my tribute to Chief Webster "Little Eagle" Custalow and the Mattaponi

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Introduction to Poetry Poetry Link Resources The word poetry is derived from the Greek poiesis, meaning a "making" or"creating". It is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities with or without its ostensible meaning. Poetry may be used either as an independent art by itself or in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns or lyrics. Earlier definitions of poetry focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song and comedy. Later attempts concentrated on features such as repetition and rhyme, and emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from prose. From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been more loosely defined as a fundamental creative act using language. Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poetry's use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor and simile create a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm. Some forms of poetry are specific to particular cultures and genres, responding to the characteristics of the language in which the poet writes. While readers accustomed to identifying poetry with Dante, Goethe, Mickiewicz and Rumi may think of it as being written in rhyming lines and regular meter, there are traditions, such as those of Du Fu and Beowulf, that use other approaches to achieve rhythm and euphony. In today's globalize world, poets often borrow styles, techniques and forms from diverse cultures and languages. Poetry as an art form may predate literacy. Many ancient works, from the Vedas to the Odyssey, appear to have been composed in poetic form to aid memorization and oral transmission, in prehistoric and ancient societies. Poetry appears among the earliest records of most literate cultures, with poetic fragments found on early monoliths, rune stones and stelae. The oldest surviving poem is the Epic of Gilgamesh, from the 3rd millennium BC in Sumer (in Mesopotamia, now Iraq), which was written in cuneiform script on clay tablets and, later, papyrus. Other ancient epic poetry includes the Greek epics, Iliad and Odyssey, and the Indian epics, Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The efforts of ancient thinkers to determine what makes poetry distinctive as a form, and what distinguishes good poetry from bad, resulted in "poetics" — the study of the aesthetics of poetry. Some ancient societies, such as the Chinese through the Shi Jing, one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, developed canons of poetic works that had ritual as well as aesthetic importance. More recently, thinkers have struggled to find a definition that could encompass formal differences as great as those between Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Matsuo Basho's Oku no Hosomichi, as well as differences in context spanning Tanakh religious poetry, love poetry, and rap. Context can be critical to poetics and to the development of poetic genres and forms. Poetry that records historic events in epics, such as Gilgamesh or Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, will necessarily be lengthy and narrative, while poetry used for liturgical purposes (hymns, psalms, suras and hadiths) is likely to have an inspirational tone, whereas elegy and tragedy are meant to evoke deep emotional responses. Other contexts include Gregorian chants, formal or diplomatic speech, political rhetoric and invective, light-hearted nursery and nonsense rhymes, and even medical texts. Classical Approach to Poetry Classical thinkers employed classification as a way to define and assess the quality of poetry. Notably, the existing fragments of Aristotle's Poetics describe three genres of poetry — the epic, the comic, and the tragic — and develop rules to distinguish the highest-quality poetry in each genre, based on the underlying purposes of the genre. Later aestheticians identified three major genres: epic poetry, lyric poetry and dramatic poetry, treating comedy and tragedy as subgenres of dramatic poetry. Aristotle's work was influential throughout the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, as well as in Europe during the Renaissance. Later poets and aestheticians often distinguished poetry from, and defined it in opposition to, prose, which was generally understood as writing with a proclivity to logical explication and a linear narrative structure. Modern Approach to Poetry Some 20th century literary theorists, relying less on the opposition of prose and poetry, focused on the poet as simply one who creates using language, and poetry as what the poet creates. The underlying concept of the poet as creator is not uncommon, and some modernist poets essentially do not distinguish between the creation of a poem with words, and creative acts in other media such as carpentry. Yet other modernists challenge the very attempt to define poetry as misguided, as when Archibald MacLeish concludes his paradoxical poem, "Ars Poetica," with the lines: "A poem should not mean / but be." Disputes over the definition of poetry, and over poetry's distinction from other genres of literature, have been inextricably intertwined with the debate over the role of poetic form. The rejection of traditional forms and structures for poetry that began in the first half of the twentieth century, coincided with a questioning of the purpose and meaning of traditional definitions of poetry and of distinctions between poetry and prose, particularly given examples of poetic prose and prosaic "poetry". Numerous modernist poets have written in non-traditional forms or in what traditionally would have been considered prose, although their writing was generally infused with poetic diction and often with rhythm and tone established by non-metrical means. While there was a substantial formalist reaction within the modernist schools to the breakdown of structure, this reaction focused as much on the development of new formal structures and syntheses as on the revival of older forms and structures. More recently, postmodernism has fully embraced MacLeish's concept and come to regard boundaries between prose and poetry, and also among genres of poetry, as having meaning only as cultural artifacts. Postmodernism goes beyond modernism's emphasis on the creative role of the poet, to emphasize the role of the reader of a text, and to highlight the complex cultural web within which a poem is read. Today, throughout the world, poetry often incorporates poetic form and diction from other cultures and from the past, further confounding attempts at definition and classification that were once sensible within a tradition such as the Western canon. Basic Elements of Poetry Prosody is the study of the meter, rhythm, and intonation of a poem. Meter is the definitive pattern established for a verse (such as iambic pentameter), while rhythm is the actual sound that results from a line of poetry. Prosody also may be used more specifically to refer to the scanning of poetic lines to show meter. Rhythm: The methods for creating poetic rhythm vary across languages and between poetic traditions. Languages are often described as having timing set primarily by accents, syllables, or moras, depending on how rhythm is established, though a language can be influenced by multiple approaches. For example: - Japanese is a mora-timed language. - Latin, Catalan, French and Spanish are syllable-timed languages. - English, Russian and, generally, German are stress-timed languages. - Chinese, Vietnamese, Lithuanian, and most Sub-Saharan languages are Tonal languages Meter: In the Western poetic tradition, meters are customarily grouped according to a characteristic metrical foot and the number of feet per line. Some examples of metric system are: - iambic pentameter. It contains five feet per line, in which the predominant kind of foot is the "iamb. It system originated in ancient Greek poetry, and was used by poets such as Pindar and Sappho, and by the great tragedians of Athens. - Dactylic hexameter. It has six feet per line, of which the dominant kind of foot is the dactyl. Dactylic hexameter was the traditional meter of Greek epic poetry, the earliest extant examples of which are the works of Homer and Hesiod. Meter is often scanned based on the arrangement of "poetic feet" into lines. In English, each foot usually includes one syllable with a stress and one or two without a stress. In other languages, it may be a combination of the number of syllables and the length of the vowel that determines how the foot is parsed, where one syllable with a long vowel may be treated as the equivalent of two syllables with short vowels. The generally accepted names for some of the most commonly used kinds of feet include - spondee — two stressed syllables together - iamb — unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable - trochee — one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable - dactyl — one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables - anapest — two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable - pyrrhic - two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic hexameter)\ The number of metrical feet in a line are described in Greek terminology as follows: - dimeter — two feet - trimeter — three feet - tetrameter — four feet - pentameter — five feet - hexameter — six feet - heptameter — seven feet - octameter — eight feet Rhyme, Alliteration, Assonance: Rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance are ways of creating repetitive patterns of sound. They may be used as an independent structural element in a poem, to reinforce rhythmic patterns, or as an ornamental element. - Rhyme consists of identical (hard-rhyme) or similar (soft-rhyme) sounds placed at the ends of lines or at predictable locations within lines (internal rhyme). Languages vary in the richness of their rhyming structures. - Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables. We find alliteration in many familiar phrases and expressions such as "down in the dumps." - Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words as in, "some ship in distress that cannot ever live." It is used in modern English-language poetry, and in Old French, Spanish and Celtic languages. Rhyming Schemes: In many languages poets use rhyme in set patterns as a structural element for specific poet forms, such as ballads, sonnets and rhyming couplets. However, the use of structural rhyme is not universal. Much modern poetry avoids traditional rhyme schemes. Classical Greek and Latin poetry did not use rhyme. Rhyme entered European poetry in the High Middle Ages, in part under the influence of the Arabic language in Al Andalus (modern Spain). Arabic language poets used rhyme extensively. Some rhyming schemes have become associated with a specific language, culture or period, while other rhyming schemes have achieved use across languages, cultures or time periods. Some forms of poetry carry a consistent and well-defined rhyming scheme, such as the chant royal or the rubaiyat, while other poetic forms have variable rhyme schemes. Poetic form refers to various sets of "rules" followed by poems of certain types. The rules may describe such aspects as the rhythm or meter (poetry) of the poem, its rhyme scheme, or its use of alliteration. This category contains articles discussing such concepts. Poetic form is very much more flexible nowadays than ever before. Many modern poets eschew recognizable structures or forms, and write in 'free verse'. But poetry remains distinguished from prose by its form and some regard for basic formal structures of poetry will be found in even the best free verse, however much it may appear to have been ignored. Similarly, in the best poetry written in the classical style there will be departures from strict form for emphasis or effect. Among the major structural elements often used in poetry are the line, the stanza or verse paragraph, and larger combinations of stanzas or lines such as cantos. The broader visual presentation of words and calligraphy can also be utilized. Some well known poetic forms in different languages are described below: - Sonnets: Among the most common form of poetry through the ages is the sonnet, which, by the thirteenth century, was a poem of fourteen lines following a set rhyme scheme and logical structure. The conventions associated with the sonnet have changed during its history, and so there are several different sonnet forms. - Jintishi: The jintishi is a Chinese poetic form based on a series of set tonal patterns using the four tones of the classical Chinese language in each couplet: the level, rising, falling and entering tones. The basic form of the jintishi has eight lines in four couplets, with parallelism between the lines in the second and third couplets. The couplets with parallel lines contain contrasting content but an identical grammatical relationship between words. Jintishi often have a rich poetic diction, full of allusion, and can have a wide range of subject, including history and politics. One of the masters of the form was Du Fu, who wrote during the Tang Dynasty (8th century). There are several variations on the basic form of the jintishi. - Sestina: The sestina has six stanzas, each comprising six unrhymed lines, in which the words at the end of the first stanza’s lines reappear in a rolling pattern in the other stanzas. The poem then ends with a three-line stanza in which the words again appear, two on each line. - Villanelle: The Villanelle is a nineteen-line poem made up of five triplets with a closing quatrain; the poem is characterized by having two refrains, initially used in the first and third lines of the first stanza, and then alternately used at the close of each subsequent stanza until the final quatrain, which is concluded by the two refrains. The remaining lines of the poem have an a-b alternating rhyme. The villanelle has been used regularly in the English language since the late nineteenth century by such poets as Dylan Thomas, W.H. Auden, and Elizabeth Bishop. It is a form that has gained increased use at a time when the use of received forms of poetry has generally been declining. - Pantoum: The pantoum is a rare form of poetry similar to a villanelle. It is composed of a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next. - Tanka: The Tanka is a form of Japanese poetry, generally not possessing rhyme, with five lines structured in a 5-7-5 7-7 patterns. The 5-7-5 phrase (the "upper phrase") and the 7-7 phrase (the "lower phrase") generally show a shift in tone and subject matter. Tanka was originally the shorter form of Japanese formal poetry, and was used more heavily to explore personal rather than public themes. It thus had a more informal poetic diction. By the 13th century, Tanka had become the dominant form of Japanese poetry, and it is still widely written today. - Ode: The ode generally has three parts: a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode. Odes have a formal poetic diction, and generally deal with a serious subject. They are often intended to be recited or sung by two choruses (or individuals), with the first reciting the strophe, the second the antistrophe, and both together the epode. Over time, differing forms for odes have developed with considerable variations in form and structure, but generally showing the original influence of the Pindaric or Horatian ode. One non-Western form which resembles the ode is the qasida in Persian poetry. - Ghazal: The ghazal is a form of poetry common in Arabic, Persian and Urdu poetry. In classic form, the ghazal has from five to fifteen rhyming couplets that share a refrain at the end of the second line (which need be of only a few syllables). Each line has an identical meter, and there is a set pattern of rhymes in the first couplet and among the refrains. Each couplet forms a complete thought and stands alone, and the overall ghazal often reflects on a theme of unattainable love or divinity. The last couplet generally includes the signature of the author. As with other forms with a long history in many languages, many variations have been developed, including forms with a quasi-musical poetic diction in Urdu. - Other Poetic forms: Other poetic forms include: - Acrostic, in which the first letters of the lines, when read downward, form a word, phrase, or sentence. - Cinquain, a poem that has five lines with two, four, six, eight, and two syllables, respectively. - Concrete, a poem that uses typeface, word arrangement, spacing, special characters, and color to dramatize the words’ meaning by the way they look. - Free verse, poetry that is based on the irregular rhythmic cadence or the recurrence, with variations, of phrases, images, and syntactical patterns rather than the conventional use of meter. Lines and stanzas Poetry is often separated into lines on a page. These lines may be based on the number of metrical feet, or may emphasize a rhyming pattern at the ends of lines. Lines may serve other functions, particularly where the poem is not written in a formal metrical pattern. Lines can separate, compare or contrast thoughts expressed in different units, or can highlight a change in tone. Lines of poems are often organized into stanzas, which are denominated by the number of lines included. Thus a collection of two lines is a couplet (or distich), three lines a triplet (or tercet), four lines a quatrain, five lines a quintain (or cinquain), six lines a sestet, and eight lines an octet. These lines may or may not relate to each other by rhyme or rhythm. For example, a couplet may be two lines with identical meters which rhyme or two lines held together by a common meter alone. Stanzas often have related couplets or triplets within them. Other poems may be organized into verse paragraphs, in which regular rhymes with established rhythms are not used, but the poetic tone is instead established by a collection of rhythms, alliterations, and rhymes established in paragraph form. Many medieval poems were written in verse paragraphs, even where regular rhymes and rhythms were used. Poetic diction describes the manner in which language is used and refers not only to the sound but also to the underlying meaning and its interaction with sound and form. Many languages and poetic forms have very specific poetic dictions, to the point where separate grammars and dialects are used specifically for poetry. Poetic diction can include rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor, as well as tones of voice, such as irony. Aristotle wrote in the Poetics that "the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor". Since the rise of Modernism, some poets have opted for a poetic diction that de-emphasizes rhetorical devices, attempting the direct presentation of things and experiences and the exploration of tone. On the other hand, Surrealists have pushed rhetorical devices to their limits, making frequent use of catachresis. Allegorical stories are central to the poetic diction of many cultures, and were prominent in the west during classical times, the late Middle Ages and Renaisance. Rather than being fully allegorical, a poem may contain symbols or allusion that deepens the meaning or impact of its words without constructing a full allegory. Another strong element of poetic diction can be the use of vivid imagery for effect. The juxtaposition of unexpected or impossible images is, for example, a particularly strong element in surrealist poetry and haiku. Vivid images are often endowed with symbolism as well. Many poetic dictions will use repetitive phrases for effect, either a short phrase or a longer refrain. Such repetition can add a somber tone to a poem, as in many odes, or can be laced with irony as the contexts of the words change. For example, in Anthony's famous eulogy to in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Anthony's repetition of the words, "for Brutus is an honorable man," moves from a sincere tone to one that exudes irony. Poetry is often thought of in terms of different genres and sub genres. A poetic genre is generally a tradition or classification of poetry based on the subject matter, style, or other broader literary characteristics. Some commentators view genres as natural forms of literature. Others view the study of genres as the study of how different works relate and refer to other works. Described below are some common genres, but the classification of genres, the description of their characteristics, and even the reasons for undertaking a classification into genres can take many forms. - Narrative Poetry: Narrative poetry is a genre of poetry that tells a story. Broadly it subsumes epic poetry, but the term "narrative poetry" is often reserved for smaller works, generally with more direct appeal than the epic to human interest. Narrative poetry may be the oldest genre of poetry. Many scholars of Homer have concluded that his Iliad and Odyssey were composed from compilations of shorter narrative poems that related individual episodes and were more suitable for an evening's entertainment. Much narrative poetry, such as Scots and English ballads, and Baltic and Slavic heroic poems, is performance poetry with roots in a preliterate oral tradition. Notable narrative poets have included Ovid, Dante, Chaucer, William Langland, Luís de Camões, Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Robert Burns, Adam Mickiewicz, Alexander Pushkin, Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Tennyson. - Epic poetry: Epic poetryis a genre of poetry, and a major form of narrative literature. It recounts, in a continuous narrative, the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group of persons. Western epic poems include Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Vergil's Aeneid, the Nibelungenlied and Luís de Camões' Os Lusíadas. Eastern examples are the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mahabharata, Valmiki's Ramayana, Ferdowsi's Shahnama, and the Epic of King Gesar. The composition of epic poetry, and of long poems generally, became uncommon in the west after the early 20th century, while the meaning of the term "epic" evolved to refer also to prose writings, films and similar works that are characterized by great length, multiple settings, large numbers of characters, or long span of time involved. - Dramatic poetry: Dramatic poetry is drama written in verse to be spoken or sung, and appears in varying and sometimes related forms in many cultures. In the latter half of the 20th century, verse drama fell almost completely out of favor with English-language dramatists. The best-known practitioners of this genre include Aeschylus, Kalidas, Sophocles, Gil Vicente, Jan Kochanowski and Shakespeare. - Satirical Poetry: Poetry can be a powerful vehicle for satire. The punch of an insult delivered in verse can be many times more powerful and memorable than the same when spoken or written in prose. The Greeks and Romans had a strong tradition of satirical poetry, often written for political purposes. The same is true of the English satirical tradition. Outside England, Ignacy Krasicki and Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, commonly known as Bocage, are among the greatest satirical poets. - Lyric poetry: Lyric poetry is a genre that, unlike epic poetry and dramatic poetry, does not attempt to tell a story but instead is of a more personal nature. Rather than depicting characters and actions, it portrays the poet's own feelings, states of mind, and perceptions. While the genre's name, derived from "lyre," implies that it is intended to be sung, much lyric poetry is meant purely for reading. Though lyric poetry has long celebrated love, many courtly-love poets also wrote lyric poems about war and peace, nature and nostalgia, grief and loss. Notable among these are the 15th century French lyric poets, Christine de Pizan and Charles, Duke of Orléans. Spiritual and religious themes were addressed by such medieval lyric poets as St. John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila. The tradition of lyric poetry based on spiritual experience was continued by later poets such as John Donne, Gerard Manley Hopkins and T.S. Eliot. Although the most popular form for western lyric poetry to take may be the 14-line sonnet, as practiced by Petrarch and Shakespeare, lyric poetry shows a bewildering variety of forms, including increasingly, in the 20th century, unrhymed ones. - Verse Fable: The fable is an ancient and near-ubiquitous literary genre, often, though not invariably, set in verse form. It is a brief, succinct story that features anthropomorphized animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that illustrate or imply a moral teaching. Verse fables have used a variety of meter and rhyme patterns. The Indian and Buddhist Jataka tales and the Panchatantra are some good examples of ancient verse fables. Notable verse fabulists have included Aesop (mid-6th century BCE), Vishnu Sarma (ca. 200 BCE), Phaedrus (15 BCE–50 CE), Marie de France (12th century), Biernat of Lublin (1465?–after 1529), Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95), Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Ivan Krylov (1769–1844) and Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914). - Prose poetry: Prose poetry is a hybrid genre that demonstrates attributes of both prose and poetry. It may be indistinguishable from the micro-story or short short fiction. Most critics argue that it qualifies as poetry because of its conciseness, use of metaphor, and special attention to language. While some examples of earlier prose strike modern readers as poetic, prose poetry is commonly regarded as having originated in 19th-century France, where its practitioners included Aloysius Bertrand, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé. The genre has subsequently found notable exemplars in French (Francis Ponge); Portuguese (Fernando Pessoa, Mário Cesariny, Mário De Sá-Carneiro, Eugénio de Andrade, Al Berto, Alexandre O'Neill, José Saramago, António Lobo Antunes); English (Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney, Russell Edson, Charles Simic, Robert Bly, James Wright); Spanish (Octavio Paz, Ángel Crespo); Polish (Boleslaw Prus); Russian; and Japanese.

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Brainstorming is a group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution of a problem. The method was first popularized in the late 1930s by Alex Faickney Osborn in a book called Applied Imagination, in which he proposed that groups could double their creative output with brainstorming. The technique typically involves gathering a group of up to 10 people, including some invited guests from other fields, posing a question, and asking them to respond with as many answers as possible. Their responses are recorded, and later sorted and evaluated. The theory is that members of the group will be stimulated by each others’ ideas to come up with new suggestions. Of the multiple ideas, one or more will be a good solution for the problem. Recent studies have show that because of such problems as distraction, social loafing, evaluation apprehension, and production blocking, brainstorming groups are little more effective than other types of groups, and they are actually less effective than individuals working independently. Numerous attempts have been made to improve brainstorming or use more effective variations of the basic technique. Modern methods such as the use of email to collect and distribute participants’ ideas, or computer applications that allow group members to log in and record their own contributions, may overcome these obstacles and increase the effectiveness of brainstorming. Although traditional brainstorming does not increase the productivity of groups, it provides other benefits, such as boosting morale, enhancing work enjoyment, and improving team work. There are four basic rules in brainstorming. These are intended to reduce social inhibitions among groups members, stimulate idea generation, and increase overall creativity of the group. - Focus on quantity: Following the maxim, quantity breeds quality, participants are urged to generate as many ideas as they can during a brainstorming session. The assumption is that the greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a radical and effective solution to the problem being discussed. - Withhold criticism: During brainstorming, criticism of ideas generated should be put 'on hold.' Instead, participants should focus on extending or adding to ideas, reserving criticism for a later 'critical stage' of the process. When judgment is suspended, participants will feel free to generate unusual ideas. - Welcome unusual ideas: In order to follow the first rule and generate as many ideas as possible, unusual ideas are welcomed. Participants are encouraged to look from new perspectives and suspend assumptions. These new ways of thinking may provide better solutions. - Combine and improve ideas: Good ideas may be combined to form a single, even better good idea, as suggested by the slogan "1+1=3." Brainstorming is believed to stimulate the building of ideas by a process of association. Set the problem Before a brainstorming session, it is critical to define the problem to be discussed. The problem must be clear, not too big, and captured in a specific question such as, "What service for mobile phones is not available now, but needed?" If the problem is too big, the facilitator should break it into smaller components, each with its own question. Some problems are multi-dimensional and non-quantified, for example, "What are the aspects involved in being a successful entrepreneur?" Finding solutions for this kind of problem can be done with morphological analysis (problem-solving). Create a background memo The background memo is the invitation and informational letter for the participants, containing the session name, problem, time, date, and place. The problem is described in the form of a question, and some example ideas are given. The ideas are solutions to the problem, and can be used when the session slows down or goes off-track. The memo is sent to the participants well in advance, so that they can think about the problem beforehand. The facilitator composes the brainstorming panel, consisting of the participants and an idea collector. A group of 10 or fewer members is generally more productive. Many variations are possible but the following composition is suggested. - Several core members of the project who have proved themselves. - Several guests from outside the project, with affinity to the problem. - One idea collector who records the suggested ideas. Create a list of lead questions During the brainstorm session the level of creativity may decrease. At this moment, the facilitator should stimulate creativity by suggesting a lead question to answer, such as Can we combine these ideas? or How about looking from another perspective? It is best to prepare a list of such leads before the session begins. The facilitator leads the brainstorming session and ensures that ground rules are followed. The steps in a typical session are: - A warm-up session, to expose novice participants to the criticism-free environment. A simple problem is brainstormed, for example What should be the CEO retirement present? or What can be improved in Microsoft Windows?. - The facilitator presents the problem and gives a further explanation if needed. - The facilitator asks the brainstorming group for their ideas. - If no ideas are forthcoming, the facilitator suggests a lead to encourage creativity. - All participants present their ideas, and the idea collector records them. - To ensure clarity, participants may elaborate on their ideas. - When time is up, the facilitator organizes the ideas based on the topic goal and encourages discussion. - Ideas are categorized. - The whole list is reviewed to ensure that everyone understands the ideas. - Duplicate ideas and obviously infeasible solutions are removed. - The facilitator thanks all participants and gives each a token of appreciation. - Participants who have ideas but were unable to present them are encouraged to write down the ideas and present them later. - The idea collector numbers the ideas as they are presented, so that the facilitator can use the number to encourage an idea generation goal, for example: We have 44 ideas now, let’s get it to 50!. - The idea collector should read back each idea as it has been recorded, to confirm that it expresses the meaning intended by the originator. - When participants are expressing several ideas at once, the one with the most associated idea should have priority. This encourages elaboration on previous ideas. - Managers and other superiors may be discouraged from attending a brainstorming session, as their presence may inhibit and reduce the effect of the four basic rules, especially the generation of unusual ideas. Brainstorming involves more than just the generation ideas for others to evaluate and select. Usually the group itself will, in its final stage, evaluate the ideas and select one as the solution to the problem proposed to the group. If the group itself is to carry out the solution: - The solution should not require resources or skills the members of the group do not have or cannot acquire. - If it is necessary to acquire additional resources or skills in order to implement the solution, they should be incorporated as the first part of the solution. - The solution must include a way to measure progress and success. - The steps to carry out the solution must be clear to all, and amenable to being assigned to the members so that each will have an important role. - There must be a common decision making process to enable a coordinated effort to proceed, and to reassign tasks as the project unfolds. - There should be evaluations at milestones to decide whether the group is on track toward a final solution. - There should be incentives to participation so that participants maintain their efforts. Nominal group technique The nominal group technique is a type of brainstorming that encourages all participants to have an equal say in the process. It is also used to generate a ranked list of ideas. Participants are asked to write their ideas anonymously. The moderator then collects the ideas and each is voted on by the group. The vote can be as simple as a show of hands in favor of a given idea. This process is called distillation. After distillation, the top-ranked ideas may be sent back to the group or to subgroups for further brainstorming. For example, one group may work on the color required in a product. Another group may work on the size, and so forth. Each group will come back to the whole group for ranking the listed ideas. Sometimes ideas that were previously dropped may be brought forward again once the group has re-evaluated the ideas. It is important that the facilitator be trained in this process before attempting to facilitate this technique. The group should be primed and encouraged to embrace the process. Like all team efforts, it may take a few practice sessions to train the team in the method before tackling the important ideas. Group passing technique Each person in a circular group writes down one idea, and then passes the piece of paper to the next person in a clockwise direction, who adds some thoughts. This continues until everybody gets his or her original piece of paper back. By this time, it is likely that the group will have extensively elaborated on each idea. The group may also create an "Idea Book" and post a distribution list or routing slip to the front of the book. On the first page is a description of the problem. The first person to receive the book lists his or her ideas and then routes the book to the next person on the distribution list. The second person can log new ideas or add to the ideas of the previous person. This continues until the distribution list is exhausted. A follow-up "read out" meeting is then held to discuss the ideas logged in the book. This technique takes longer, but it allows individuals time to think deeply about the problem. Team idea mapping method This method of brainstorming works by the method of association. It may improve collaboration and increase the quantity of ideas, and is designed so that all attendees participate and no ideas are rejected. The process begins with a well-defined topic. Each participant brainstorms individually, then all the ideas are merged onto one large visual idea map. During this consolidation phase, participants may discover a common understanding of the issues as they share the meanings behind their ideas. During this sharing, new ideas may arise by the association, and they are added to the map as well. Once all the ideas are captured, the group can prioritize and take action. Electronic brainstorming is a computerized version of the manual brainstorming technique. It can be done via email and may be browser based, or use peer-to-peer software. The facilitator sends the question out to group members, and they contribute independently by sending their ideas back to the facilitator. The facilitator then compiles a list of ideas and sends it back to the group for further feedback. Electronic brainstorming eliminates many of the problems of standard brainstorming, such as production blocking and evaluation apprehension. An additional advantage of this method is that all ideas can be archived electronically in their original form, and then retrieved later for further thought and discussion. Electronic brainstorming also enables much larger groups to brainstorm on a topic than would normally be productive in a traditional brainstorming session. Other brainstorming techniques are web-based, and allow contributors to post their comments anonymously through the use of avatars. This technique also allows users to log on over an extended time period, typically one or two weeks, to allow participants some "soak time" before posting their ideas and feedback. This technique has been used particularly in the field of new product development, but can be applied in any number of areas where collecting and evaluating ideas would be useful. Extensive research conducted by Olivier Toubia of Columbia University indicates that the use of incentives is very effective within the context of brainstorming. Directed brainstorming is a variation of electronic brainstorming (described above) that can be done manually or with computers. Directed brainstorming works when the solution space (the criteria for evaluating a good idea) is known prior to the session and can be used to intentionally constrain the ideation process. In directed brainstorming, each participant is given one sheet of paper (or electronic form) and told the brainstorming question. They are asked to produce one response and stop, then all of the papers (or forms) are randomly swapped among the participants. The participants are asked to look at the idea they received and to create a new idea that improves on that idea based on the initial criteria. The forms are then swapped again and respondents are asked to improve upon the ideas, and the process is repeated for three or more rounds. In the laboratory, directed brainstorming has been found to almost triple the productivity of groups over electronic brainstorming. “6-3-5 Brainwriting” (also known as the 6-3-5 Method, or Method 635) is a group creativity technique used in marketing, advertising, design, writing and product development originally developed by Professor Bernd Rohrbach in 1968. The aim of 6-3-5 Brainwriting is to generate 108 new ideas in half an hour. The technique involves 6 participants who sit in a group and are supervised by a moderator. Each participant thinks up 3 ideas every 5 minutes. Participants are encouraged to draw on others' ideas for inspiration, thus stimulating the creative process. After 6 rounds in 30 minutes the group has thought up a total of 108 ideas. "Individual Brainstorming" is the use of brainstorming on an individual basis. It typically includes such techniques as free writing, free speaking, word association, and the use of a "spider web," or “bubble maps” to organize ideas visually. Individual brainstorming is a useful method in creative writing and has been shown to be superior to traditional group brainstorming. Defining the problem itself and identifying the best questions to ask can be the focus of a brainstorming session. This has been called questorming. Another topic for brainstorming can be to find the best evaluation methods for a problem. Effectiveness of brainstorming Although brainstorming has become a popular group technique, researchers have not found evidence of its effectiveness for enhancing either quantity or quality of ideas generated. When placed in a group setting, colleagues or co-workers may be inhibited from speaking out by fear of criticism (evaluation apprehension), or because they believe that their ideas are not important or that others will make up for their lack of participation (social loafing). A brainstorming session is most effective if the participants are deeply motivated and believe that they have something important to contribute. “Production blocking,” the tendency for one individual to block or inhibit other people during a group discussion, is a common problem in brainstorming groups. If six people are in a group and one person is talking at length about his or her idea, then the other five people are "blocked" and less able to provide their own creative input. They may not have time to think of an idea, or they may be distracted or forget about their idea before they have an opportunity to share it. Production blocking becomes more of a problem as the size of the group increases. Studies have shown that brainstorming groups are little more effective than other types of groups, and they are actually less effective than individuals working independently. Newer versions of brainstorming, in which individuals write down their ideas and submit them for other members of the group to review, or the use of email and computer applications that allow individuals to think creatively over longer periods of time, overcome barriers like production blocking and social inhibitions. These forms may be more effective in tapping the creativity of individual members of a group and arriving at substantial solutions. How well these newer methods work, and whether or not they should be classified as brainstorming, are subjects for further research. Although traditional brainstorming does not increase the productivity of groups, it may provide other benefits, such as boosting morale, enhancing work enjoyment, and improving team work. Members of the group may become more creative when they are removed from their customary work environment. One of the most valuable benefits is exposure to the views of invited guests from outside the project, who may be able to provide new insights and perspectives from their professional or personal experience. - ↑ A.F. Osborn, 1963, Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem solving (Third Revised Edition). (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons). - ↑ Olivier Toubia, 2006, "Idea Generation, Creativity, and Incentives," Marketing Science. - ↑ E. Santanen, R. O. Briggs, and G-J. de Vreede, 2004, “Causal Relationships in Creative Problem Solving: Comparing Facilitation Interventions for Ideation.” Journal of Management Information Systems. 20(4): 167-198. - ↑ Rohrbach, Bernd: "Kreativ nach Regeln – Methode 635, eine neue Technik zum Lösen von Problemen." Creative by rules - Method 635, a new technique for solving problems first published in the German sales magazine "Absatzwirtschaft," Volume 12, (1969): 73-75 and Volume 19, October 1, 1969. - ↑ A. Furnham and Yazdanpanahi, T., 1995, “Personality differences and group versus individual brainstorming.” Personality and Individual Differences, 19: 73-80. - ↑ Questorming: An Outline of the Method, Jon Roland, 1985. Retrieved February 12, 2009. - ↑ B. A. Nijstad, W. Stroebe, H. F. M Lodewijkx, 2003, “Production blocking and idea generation: Does blocking interfere with cognitive processes?” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39: 531-548. - ↑ M. Diehl and W. Stroebe, 1991, “Productivity loss in idea-generating groups: tracking down the blocking effect.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61: 392-403. - ↑ B. Mullen, C. Johnson and E. Salas, 1991, “Productivity loss in brainstorming groups: a meta-analytic integration.” Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 12: 3-23. - ↑ In the Encyclopedia of Creativity, Tudor Rickards, in his entry on brainstorming, summarizes its controversies and indicates the dangers of conflating productivity in group work with quantity of ideas. T. Rickards, 1999, Brainstorming, M. Runco and S. Pritzker, Eds, Encyclopedia of Creativity, (San Diego: Academic Press Vol 1), 219-228. - Correll, Linda Conway. Brainstorming Reinvented: A Corporate Communications Guide to Ideation. New Delhi: Response Books. 2004. ISBN 9780761932703 - Diehl, M. and W. Stroebe. "Productivity Loss in Idea-Generating Groups: Tracking Down the Blocking Effect." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 61 (1991): 392-403. - Furnham, A. and T. Yazdanpanahi, "Personality differences and group versus individual brainstorming." Personality and Individual Differences. 19 (1995): 73-80. - Mullen, B., C. Johnson and E. Salas. "Productivity loss in brainstorming groups: a meta-analytic integration." Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 12 (1991): 3-23. - Nijstad, B. A., W. Stroebe, H. F. M. Lodewijkx. "Production Blocking and Idea Generation: Does Blocking Interfere With Cognitive Processes?" Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 39 (2003): 531-548. - Osborn, Alex F. Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem-Solving. Buffalo, NY: Creative Education Foundation. 1993. ISBN 9780930222734. *Portfolio brainstorming brainstorm, brainstorming, inspiration for your idea. [Korea]: CA Press. 2008. ISBN 9788977483309 - Rawlinson, J. G. Creative Thinking and Brainstorming. New York: Wiley. 1981. ISBN 9780470270912 - Rickards, T. "Brainstorming," Mark A. Runco, and Steven R. Pritzker. Encyclopedia of creativity. Vol 1 219-228. San Diego, Calif: Academic Press. 1999. ISBN 9780122270758 - Roland, Jon. "Questorming: An Outline of the Method", 1985. Retrieved February 12, 2009. - Santanen, E., R. O. Briggs, and G-J de Vreede. “Causal Relationships in Creative Problem Solving: Comparing Facilitation Interventions for Ideation.” Journal of Management Information Systems. 20(4) (2004): 167-198. - Toubia, Olivier. "Idea Generation, Creativity, and Incentives," Marketing Science (2006) - Warmke, Clare and Lisa Buchanan. Idea revolution: guidelines and prompts for brainstorming alone, in groups or with clients. Cincinnati, Ohio: HOW Design Books. 2003. ISBN 9781581803327 New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: - Brainstorming (Feb 12, 2009) history - Production_blocking (Feb 12, 2009) history - Social_loafing (Feb 12, 2009) history - 6-3-5_Brainwriting (Feb 12, 2009) history Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

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Communication Patterns and Assumptions of Differing Cultural Groups in the United States (Adapted from Elliott, C. E. (2010). Cross-Cultural Communication Styles, pre-publication Masters thesis) African American Communication Patterns According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1999), African Americans comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population. Animation/emotion: Communication seen as authentic is generally passionate and animated. Communication that is presented in a neutral or objective way is seen as less credible, and the motives of the speaker may be questioned. The assumption is that if you believe something, you will advocate for it. Truth is established through argument and debate. "Conversational style is provocative and challenging, and the intensity is focused on the validity of the ideas being discussed" (Kochman 1981 pp. 30-31). Effective teachers of African American students are often found "Ö.displaying emotion to garner student respect" (Delpit, 1995, p. 142). African Americans tend to perceive greater emotional intensity when rating the expressions of others (Matsumoto, Directness/indirectness: Generally directly facing and talking with the person with whom you have an issue or problem is preferred. Someone who wonít face you directly shows his or her claim or problem to be invalid; the assumption is that anyone with a legitimate problem would come to the other person directly. A lack of response to a general accusation or allegation by someone is viewed as an indication of innocence. The internal attitude of an innocent person is "I know they arenít talking about me, so I donít have to respond."(Kochman 1981 p.90). Responding to a general accusation shows that the "mark hit home." A direct accusation will usually bring a direct denial and a request to confront the person making the allegation. In terms of romance, men and often women will usually state directly whether they are interested in a potential relationship. Ignoring or acting subtly disinterested is not interpreted as a sign of disinterest from a woman; it may be seen as a rude or arrogant response (Kochman 1981). Teachers are often expected to show they care by "Öcontrolling the class; exhibiting personal power; establishing meaningful personal relationships;Ö. pushing students to achieve the (class) standard; and holding the attention of the students by incorporating African-American interactional styles in their teaching" (Delpit, 1995, p. 142). Eye contact: Tends to be quite direct and prolonged when speaking, less so when listening. This is the opposite of the dominant-culture pattern in which the speaker tends to look away from the listener and the listener looks directly at the speaker. The overall amount of eye contact is not different from dominant-culture patterns; it is when the eye contact occurs that differs (Johnson, 1971, p. 17). Gestures: Frequent and sometimes large gestures are normative. The expressiveness of the communication is what is valued, and if the gestures increase expressiveness they are seen as enhancing communication. (V. Valdez, September 1998, personal communication). Identity orientation: Traditionally, African Americans have a more collateral orientation than European Americans (Nichols 1986, management training session). Self is viewed and decisions are made within the context of the group and by assessing how the action will affect others in the collateral Turn taking and pause time: Turns are taken when the speaker is moved to speak; urgency, status, and the ability to command attention from others determines speaking order. The right to continue speaking is granted by others depending on how well the speakerís idea is being accepted (Kochman 1981 pp. 34). Responses from others are usually made at the end of each of the speakerís points, and this is not felt to be an interruption of the speaker (Kochman 1981 pp.26-27). Turn taking in dyads is also regulated by non-verbal cues that differ markedly from those of the dominant culture. These include: hand gestures, postural shifts which mirror the conversational partner, intonation drop, tempo slowing, and lessening of intensity. The change in gaze direction employed in the dominant culture is often not used (LaFrance & Mayo, 1975, pp. 7-8). Pause time is often brief; people in groups may interrupt or speak on the ends of otherís sentences. Space: Research on use of space among African Americans is mixed. Some studies indicate that, in race-matched pairs, black children will stand closer to each other during conversation than white children do. Other research has shown that African American adults employ a greater public distance from each other (LaFrance & Mayo, 1978, pp. 79-80). Time: Linear time is not internalized to the extent it is in the dominant society. Being a more relationship-oriented culture, African Americans tend to be more relaxed in this regard--"The right time is when we get there." Anger from others at being late is often met with puzzlementó"Iím here now, letís get started" is a common response to this kind of situation (Nichols 1986). Touch: Among friends, African Americans employ more physical touch than European Americans do (LaFrance & Mayo, 1978, pp. 80-81) and less than that usually seen among people of Latin or Arab cultures. African Americans tend to touch children more often and for greater lengths of time than do European-Americans (Coles, 1971). Vocal patterns: Black English contains a wide range of both volume and pitch within its acceptable pattern. The voice can range from a very quiet, deep sound to very loud and high-pitched, and all may be considered appropriate. Expressiveness and compatibility with the speaking situation is what determines whether the pitch and tone are "correct" (Olquin, 1995). There is not a fixed, relatively narrow range, as is the case in some other cultures. Native American Communication Patterns According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1999), 2.2 million persons were classified as American Indians or Alaska Natives in 1994. (Approximately 1.5% of the U.S. population). Animation/emotion: The preferred communication style is restrained, "Öin order to not impose oneís energy or emotion on others" (Elliott, 1992). Often Indians will speak dispassionately about something very meaningful and important to them. Directness/indirectness: Indirectness is usually preferable (Locust, 1988). This gives others the chance to refuse a request without directly saying no, or to evade a question that is felt to be too personal or simply a subject the listener does not want to discuss (Darnell, 1988, p. 5). Elders with high status may sometimes be very direct with those younger than themselves. An untrue allegation or accusation will often simply result in no response from an Indian person; to reply is seen as lowering oneself to the level of ignorance or over-emotionality of the other person. It also involves entering the negative energy space of the accuser (Locust, 1988, p. 122) and may be interpreted by other Indians as a sign of guilt, an indicator that the accusation is true. Silence on the part of Indian people is often interpreted by Anglos as indirectness, although the actual meaning may be quite different (Basso, 1970, Eye contact: Direct prolonged eye contact is seen as invasive. Itís avoidance is practiced to "protect the personal autonomy of the interactors" (Darnell, 1988, p. 6). Eye contact is usually fleeting, and the gaze of listener and speaker will often remain around the forehead, mouth, ear or throat area. Direct gaze to an elder or very respected person is seen as especially rude, unless one is in a formal listening/storytelling situation, in which case "Ölisteners may look at (the speaker) more directly Ö without violating his or her personal space by eye contact" ( Darnell, 1988, p. 15). Gestures: A relatively restrained use of gestures in normal conversation is typical. Storytellers or elders may often use gestures, which are larger and more frequent than those found in usual conversations. Identity orientation: Traditional American Indians have a lineal orientationótheir identity is spread vertically over time. Ancestors, the present collateral group or tribe, and the potential people who are not yet born are all part of a personís felt identity and will be considered when making important decisions (Samovar, Porter, and Jain, 1981). Turn taking and pause time: In formal group speaking situations, turns are usually taken by everyone present, and no one else speaks until the previous speaker is completely through and a few moments of silence have ensued (Darnell, 1988, p. 5). Speaking too quickly after the previous speaker may be seen to indicate that the next speaker, talking so quickly after the first, is a rash person who does not think things through before he or she speaks, or is showing disrespect for the importance of the other person or of what they had to say. Interrupting another speaker is unbearable rudeness, and may lead to severe social consequences if the person interrupted is an elder. When interacting with members of other cultures in which appropriate pause times are shorter, Indians may have to be rude (by their own standards) in order to participate in the conversation at all (Basso, 1988, p. 12). This is a stressful experience for the person, who feels forced to violate their own standards and self-concept in order to be heard. Space: Often a side-by-side arrangement is more comfortable than a face-to-face orientation, especially in two-person conversations. If interacting with non-Indians or people whom they do not know well, Native Americans often prefer a slightly larger interaction distance--more than armís length--for Psychological space can be maintained by silence. This may be employed if the listener is asked a question he or she feels is invasive or regards as something that should not be addressed with the other person, because the other does not have the standing of an intimate friend or relative. Sometimes the subject is simply seen as inappropriate. Time: For Native people raised in a traditional environment, "clock" time is not internalized to the same degree as it is in the dominant culture. The "right time" for something is when everything and everyone comes together; then the appropriate activity will ensue. Time is felt to be more a matter of season, general time of day, or when the person is internally ready for a particular activity. "Every living thing has its own inherent (time) system and you must deal with each plant or animal in terms of its own time" (Hall, 1976, p. 71). The imposition of "clock time" by members of other cultures may be interpreted as arrogant, uncaring, or oppressive behavior. Related to this is the tendency of Indian parents not to worry if their child is "not developing on time" according to othersí cultural or psychological standards. Touch: Touch is usually reserved for friends or intimates; however, many Indians have adopted the European American custom of handshaking, at least outside of traditional settings. The Indian handshake is very light and fleeting, to avoid imposing energy on the other person or receiving energy one does not want. Vocal patterns: A relatively narrow, quiet range of pitch, tone, and volume is viewed as the proper adult communication pattern, especially when non-Indians or elders are present. Talking quickly, loudly, and very animatedly may be viewed with some disapproval. Anglo or European American Communication Patterns European Americans (ERís) comprise around % of the U.S. population. Animation/Emotion: Emotionally expressive communication is not a preferred mode in public communication situations. In fact, European Americans worry that intensely emotional interactions may lead to a loss of self-control, and therefore should be avoided. (Kochman, 1981). What people know is not necessarily expressed in behavior. There is a strong preference to preserve the appearance of cordiality and friendliness, even when strong differences of opinion are present. European Americans prefer to speak about beliefs, opinions, intentions and commitments. The prescribed value of "equality" in U.S. culture commonly leads to a presumption of sameness: people assume that if they feel or think a certain way about a situation, others would feel or think much as they do, if placed in the same or a similar situation (Samovar, Porter, & Directness/indirectness: European Americans tend to speak very directly about certain things. Their general form of communication tends to rely heavily on logic and technical information rather than allusion, metaphor, or other more creative or emotional styles of persuasion. "Good" communication is believed to be linear: the speaker should move through their "points" in a straight, logical line, with an explicitly stated conclusion (Kaplan, 1967; Stewart & Bennett, 1991, p.156). Eye Contact: The European American convention for eye contact is for the speaker to make intermittent brief contact with the listener, and for the listener to gaze fairly steadily at the speaker. Children are specifically taught to look at the speaker (Kochman, 1981), and will be reprimanded if they do not. Direct eye contact is believed to be a sign of honesty and sincerity (Stewart & Bennett, 1991, p. 99; Johnson, 1971, p. 17; Althen, 1988, Gestures: European Americans tend to use a "medium" range of gestures in usual conversationónot so large or frequent as Arabs or Southern Italians but not as restrained as the English or Japanese (Althen, 1988, pp.141- 142). Identity orientation: European Americans have an individualism orientation. They view the "self" as located within the individual person, who is seen as having a separate but equal place among other individuals. Self is viewed, and mature identity is believed to be formed, primarily as an autonomous individual. Children are raised to become self-sufficient; ideally, neither they nor their parents expect them to live with older generations of the family after about the age of twenty. A young person who lives with parents after this age may be regarded questionably by themselves and others (Condon, 19; Althen, 1988, Turn taking and pause time: Ideally, turn taking is signaled by the speaker looking directly at the listener and ceasing to speak. Pause time is very brief; often people speak on the end of the first speakerís last sentence Space: The usual distance for social conversation is 2-3 feet--about armís length. Standing closer than this will usually be perceived as intimacy or invasiveness, depending on the relationship of those involved. Time: In European American culture, time is thought of as linear and monochronic ó that is, one thing or one person at a time should be given full attention. Time is conceptualized as having a past, present, and future, and is often thought of as a real object "which should be saved and not wasted" (Samovar, Porter, & Jain, 1981, pp. 113-114). It is not seen as a human-made abstraction. People often speak of losing, wasting, or finding time. Many European Americans feel pressured by the passage of time, and consequently tend to behave in an "efficient" and task-oriented way. If a person has an appointment with you at 3:00, most European Americans would begin to be affronted if the person is not there by a few minutes after 3:00, and would want an explanation of why they are not. This behavior can be interpreted by members of other cultures as coldnessóU.S. Americans may be seen as having little interest in personal relationships and trust building, valuing only efficiency Touch: Most European Americans tend to "employ very little touching in public" (Samovar, Porter, & Jain, p. 175) that is, beyond the expected greeting ritual of the handshake. Lack of touching may be related to cultural values of objectivity, efficiency, and autonomy. European Americans have been described by members of other cultures as touch-avoidant. Compared to the amount of touch that occurs in Latin American, Southern European and Arab cultures, this is certainly true. Vocal patterns: Tend to be in a mid-range of pitch and on the low end of vocal variation. "Adult," mature communication in public is believed to be objective, rational, and relatively non-emotional. Someone who is expressing himself or herself in a very passionate way may be suspected of irrationality Thought patterns and Rhetorical style: Directness in stating the point, purpose, or conclusion of a communication is the preferred style (Kaplan, 1967). Kaplan describes the English language style graphically as an arrow: This style of communication may be viewed by other cultural groups, with quite different styles, as abrupt or inappropriate. It is in strong contrast to the Asian style, portrayed by Kaplan as a spiral. It is also quite different from the Romance style (including Hispanic), which is portrayed as an arrow with sharp turns in the shaft. Asian American Communication Patterns "Asian" is a very broad term, encompassing people from southern India to Indonesia to northern Mongolia. The statements below apply most clearly to people from northern Asian countries such as Japan or China, although they may apply in varying degree to Asian people (or their descendants) from other nations. "Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are persons of Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry" and represent "more than 50 ethnic groups and speak more than 800 languages or dialects. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, nearly tripling in size from 3.5 million in 1980 to almost 9.6 million in 1998." (CDC, 1999). People designated as "Asian" comprise approximately % of the U.S. population. Animation/emotion: The control of emotional display is highly valued. An overt display of strong emotion could result in a loss of face for both the speaker and the listener. Eye contact: Japan and China are overtly hierarchical societies in which it is always important to know oneís status relative to the person one is speaking with, so the proper forms of language and nonverbal communication can be used. Direct eye contact lasting longer than a second or two is avoided, especially with those superior to oneself in the hierarchy or with elders. To behave otherwise would be disrespectful. Gestures: Gestures are usually kept close to the body and are quite restrained. They are used less frequently than is normal among English or Identity orientation: Japan is usually characterized as a group-oriented collateral society, similar to Latin American or Arab cultures. This means a personís identity and status are intimately tied to the identity and status of their family, and this persists throughout the individualís life span. Decisions are often made in relation to obligations to family, and secondarily to oneís own desires. In Japan this sense of "family obligation" and a tie to the sense of personal identity may be extended to the company one works for. China is seen as a lineal culture, also group oriented, but with a greater sense of personal identity being tied to ancestors and to forthcoming generations than is experienced by most modern Japanese-Americans. Pacing and pause time: Normally the pause employed is somewhat longer than that of European Americans, and a little shorter than the pause typical of Time: Traditionally, time is seen as cyclical and ever-returning. Asian cultures are masters of waiting till "the time is right." They excel in long-term planning and the initiation and maintenance of long-term Touch: In public settings, touch is often so rare as to be virtually non-existent. In one study which measured from, to whom, and where on the body touch was allowed, "Japanese college students received less touch from mothers and other family members than U.S. Americans received from casual acquaintances" (Barnlund 1975 p. 154). Vocal patterns: A relatively quiet and low-key vocal pattern is the ideal. The overt expression of emotion is considered unseemly and childish (Tada 1975). Northern Asians, especially Japanese, tend to express emotion by "intuitive, nonverbal communication of the sort that develops among family members living under one roof" (Kunihiro 1976, p. 53). Indirect allusion and metaphor are often used to express deep emotion. "The value of suppression and restraint has deep historical roots for the Japanese." (Ramsey 1985, p. 310). Thought patterns and Rhetorical style: Directness in stating the point, purpose, or conclusion of a communication is not considered appropriate (Kaplan, R. 1967). Kaplan describes the Asian style graphically as a spiral: This style of communication may be viewed by other cultural groups as evasive or obscure. It is in strong contrast to the European American style, portrayed by Kaplan as a straight arrow. Hispanic American Communication Patterns "There are approximately 30 million Americans living in the United States who are of Latin American or other Spanish descent, comprising 11.1% of the total population." (CDC, 1999). As of 1994, "64 percent were Mexican Americans, 11 percent were Puerto Ricans, 13 percent were from Central and South America or the Caribbean, 5 percent were Cuban Americans, and 7 percent were classified as íOtherí Hispanics." (Department of Health and Human Services/Public Health Terms used to refer to this group of people can be controversial (Andrews, 1999). Some use the expression "Spanish people" to denote all people who speak Spanish, but the expression should not apply to anyone other than individuals who are natives of Spain. Many use the term "Hispanics," to denote all who speak Spanish, but, again, this term does not literally apply to any people who do not claim a lineage or cultural heritage related to Spain. "Latino" is used to refer to people with a lineage or cultural heritage related to Latin America, but should not be used to refer to the millions of Native Americans in the region. Many use the term "Mexican" to refer to persons with a lineage or cultural heritage related to Mexico, but it should only be used to refer to the nationality of inhabitants of Mexico. U.S. citizens from Mexico often object to being referred to as "Mexicans", as do members of indigenous groups in Mexico. "Mexican-American" is another term sometimes used to refer to U.S. citizens with a lineage or cultural heritage related to Mexico, but, again, many object to this use. The argument against "Mexican-American" is that other nationalities, such as Germans, are not referred to as "German-Americans." The term "Chicano" has been used recently as a distinct way to refer to U.S. citizens of Mexican heritage, but it was originally used as a derogatory term and is sometimes considered unsavory among more "assimilated" Mexican-Americans. It often has a connotation of political awareness and activism. Another group of persons from Mexico do not refer to themselves as "Americans" at all. They consider themselves to be in an occupied country because only 150 years ago large numbers of Mexicans became "American" citizens overnight, when the United States won 50 percent of what was Mexico as the spoils of war in the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. In fact, the treaty specifically recognized the rights of such people to retain the property deeded to them by Mexican or Spanish colonial authorities and to receive education in Spanish. (The treaty has obviously not been honored.) A group that also does not refer to themselves as "Mexican-Americans" are those who are in the United States because of economic conditions and plan to return permanently to Mexico as soon as it is economically feasible. Although they may have U.S. citizenship, their ties are primarily with family and friends In short, if persons have cultural roots in Mexico, more should be learned before referring to them with any single term. If persons have a cultural heritage from Latin America, "Latino" is an appropriate term. Otherwise, "Hispanic" is the most widely used nomenclature at this time. Animation/Emotion: In public ethnically mixed settings or with unfamiliar persons, Latinos or Hispanics tend to be somewhat low-key. They may often state their points quite directly, but in a relatively quiet and respectful manner. In settings with only Hispanics present, a high level of emotional expression is acceptable. (Olquin, 1995). Eye Contact: Direct eye contact is often viewed as disrespectful. When a person from a Latin culture is being spoken to, they may look away or down as a sign of respect to the person speaking, especially if that person is significantly older than the listener or is in a position of authority over them (LaFrance & Mayo, 1976). Gestures: People from Latin cultures tend to use a medium to high level of gestures. This is consonant with a cultural pattern that considers a higher level of emotionality in expression to be the norm (Kaplan, 1967; Albert & Identity orientation: Latino cultures in general have a collateral orientation. This means the personís identity is intimately tied to the identity and status of their family throughout the individualís life span. Decisions are often made in relation to obligations to family, and secondarily to oneís own desires (Condon & Yousef, 1975). Pacing & pause time: If the personís first language is Spanish, pause time tends to be relatively short. Among indigenous groups, the pause time will be considerably longer, perhaps approaching that of Native people from what is now the continental United States (Bennett, 1996). Space: Latinoís interpersonal distance tends to be somewhat less than that of European Americans (ERís). The typical 2-3 foot "armís length" spacing preferred by European Americans is experienced by many Hispanics as cold, unfriendly, or a way for the ER to show superiority. Since both peopleís expectations for "normal" social distances are often unconscious, one can witness the phenomena of the ER being backed across the room by a Hispanic person, as each tries to conduct the conversation in a way that feels right for them. This may be amusing to witness but is very uncomfortable for both participants (Bennett, 1996). Time: Latinos tend to operate in a polychronic fashionóthat is, many activities may be going on at once, and priority is given to the immediate needs of people, especially those involved in oneís collateral network. Time is a fluid and malleable concept (Condon, 1997). Touch: Latin cultures tend to use touch more than cultures originating in Northern Europe, the U.S., or Canada. Levels of touch between members of the same sex occur far more often in public settings in predominately Hispanic cultures than they do in European American culture, and do not carry the sexual connotation such behavior often has in the U.S (Condon, 1997). Vocal patterns: The normal range of voice pitch for Spanish speakers is narrower than it is for native English speakers; often pitch and volume that are part of "normal" conversation in English are only present in Spanish in the "angry" range of conversation. Consequently the Spanish speaker may experience the European American as arrogant or intimidating. The English speaker may experience the Hispanic as shy, lacking self-confidence, or think the Spanish-speaker is mumbling when they are only speaking in the range that is "normal" for them (Olquin, 1995). Volume: In business conversation, a quiet and somewhat formal way of speaking is appropriate for the Spanish speaker. The Hispanic can experience the European American as "yelling at me" or showing irritation when the English speaker operates at their normal volume (Olquin, 1995). Thought patterns and Rhetorical style: Directness in stating the point, purpose, or conclusion of a communication is not the preferred style (Kaplan, 1967). Kaplan describes the pattern of a Romance language as an arrow that makes sharp turns before getting to its destination. The journey is part of the valued This style of communication may be viewed by European Americans as disorganized or intellectually weak, since it violates the direct linear cause-and-effect norms of English speakers. Summary of Normative Communication Styles and Values Executive Summary and List of Chapters Candia Elliott, Diversity Training Associates R. Jerry Adams, Ph.D., Evaluation and Development Institute Suganya Sockalingam, Ph.D., Office of Multicultural Health, Department of Human Resources, Oregon September 1, 2010 Back to Top Try Index, New or the Bookstore. Return to Teachers, Kids, Teens, Parents or Librarians. Spanish, French, German, Email (firstname.lastname@example.org) or find out About Us, Sponsors, Licenses.

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The state offers much topographical diversity. The rich agricultural valley of the Tennessee River occupies the extreme northern part of the state. In northeastern Alabama the broken terrain of the southwestern fringe of the Appalachian Mountains begins and continues in a southwesterly progression across the northern half of the state. Below that the band of prairie lowland known as the Black Belt has rich soils that once cradled a rural cotton-producing way of life central to the state’s development. Farther south stretch piney woods and then coastal plains until one reaches the moss-draped live oaks of Mobile and the white beaches of the gulf. The landscape of Alabama has been the scene of many of the major crises in the settlement of the continent and in the development of the country. It was a battleground for European powers vying for the lands of the New World, for the fights between the European settlers and the indigenous communities, for the struggles between North and South during the American Civil War, for the civil rights movement, and for other forces of economic and social change that have extensively altered many aspects of the Deep South in the years since the mid-20th century. Although Alabama continues to reside in the lower segment nationally in many significant social and economic rankings, there has been improvement in some areas, particularly in ethnic relations, including the integration of schools and the election of African Americans to political offices. Nevertheless, Alabamians and outsiders alike tend to agree that the state retains a distinctive way of life, rooted in the traditions of the Old South. Area Although the average elevation of Alabama is about 500 feet (150 metres) above sea level, this represents a gradation from the high point of 2,407 feet (734 metres), atop Cheaha Mountain in the northeast, down across the Black Belt to the flat, low southern Gulf Coast counties. Within this gradation, several relief regions may be distinguished. The southern extremities of the Appalachians cover nearly half the state. In the far north the Cumberland Plateau region, segmented by upper branches of the Cumberland, Kentucky, and Tennessee river systems, thrusts southward from Tennessee. Elevations rise to 1,800 feet (550 metres) in the more rugged eastern portions. The Great Appalachian Valley forms another marked division to the east. A small triangular portion of the Piedmont Plateau juts across from Georgia at an elevation averaging 1,000 feet (300 metres). The character of the state changes markedly as the rugged, forest-clad hills and ridges of the Appalachian extremities give way to the lower country of the coastal plain. The plain has a number of subdivisions: in the north lie the rolling Fall Line Hills, while farther south the pine and hardwood belts add irregularity to the flat landscapes. Arcing into the heart of the lowlands of Alabama, the Black Belt has been distinctive because of its association with the cotton production that long dominated its rich soils—though little cotton is grown there now. The 53 miles (85 km) of coastline have occasional swamps and bayous, backed by timber growth on sandy soils and fronted by stretches of white sand beaches. The Cumberland Plateau region drains to the northwest through the Tennessee River and the often deep valleys of its tributaries, with much water retained in large scenic lakes formed in the 1930s by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The rest of the state is drained southward through broad valleys. The Coosa and the Tallapoosa rivers join north of Montgomery to form the Alabama River, which meanders southwestward until it connects with the Tombigbee River, which drains the state’s western portion. Their waters are discharged into Mobile Bay through the Mobile and Tensaw rivers. There are four main soil zones found in Alabama. In the far north the Tennessee valley contains dark loams and red clays that add vivid dashes of colour to the landscape when exposed. Farther south lie the varied soils of a mineral belt, and these are succeeded by the rich limestone and marl soils of the Black Belt. The soils along the coast of Alabama consist of sandy loams and deep porous sands. The Alabama climate is temperate, with an average annual temperature of about 64 °F (18 °C), mellowed by altitude to some 60 °F (16 °C) in the northern counties and reaching 67 °F (19 °C) in the southern counties, although summer heat is often alleviated somewhat by the winds blowing in from the Gulf of Mexico. Occasionally the temperature may rise to 100 °F (38 °C) in the summer, whereas frosts occur with more frequency; snow may sometimes fall in the northern counties. The average summer temperature is 79 °F (26 °C); the winter average is 48 °F (9 °C). Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, with an annual average of 56 inches (1,420 mm) and a concentration on the coast. Droughts are infrequent. These favourable conditions have given the state a long growing season, ranging from about 200 days in the north to some 300 days in the south. Alabama is subject to severe weather, especially during the warmer months. In late summer and early fall, southern areas can be hit by strong tropical storms, including hurricanes as they sweep northward from the Gulf; Hurricanes Camille (1969) and Katrina (2005) were especially devastating to coastal areas. The northern half of the state lies in the southern range of the country that is most affected by tornadoes. Occasionally, large-scale outbreaks of multiple tornadoes have turned particularly deadly and destructive in the region, as they did in April 1974 and in April 2011. The warm climate of Alabama has nurtured a rich plant cover, including more than 100 tree varieties. Most of the thick forests are in the north and northeast. Pine trees predominate, and live oaks are also found statewide, adding character to the streets of the older towns and cities. Sweet gum and black walnut are also common, while the colourful red cedar is most abundant in the Tennessee valley and the Black Belt, with stately black cypress clustering around rivers and ponds. There are many varieties of shrubs and grasses, and bamboo, large canes, and mistletoe are widespread. Muscadine and scuppernong grapes and blackberries also flourish. Beardlike Spanish moss grows in the coastal woodlands. Birdlife too is rich. Bluebirds, cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, doves, woodpeckers, owls, hawks, yellow-shafted flickers (called yellowhammers in Alabama), and an occasional eagle are found here. Other wildlife includes rabbits, squirrels, opossums, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, muskrats, deer, and even a few bears. Coyotes and armadillos have spread into Alabama from the west. Snakes include poisonous rattlesnakes, water moccasins, copperheads, and coral snakes, as well as some nonpoisonous types, such as black snakes. Alligators still exist in some of the swamps and bayous of the coastal regions, notably in the Mobile River delta. The great majority of the state’s population is of European ancestry (white), descended primarily from 19th-century settlers who came from adjoining regions to the east and north. Alabamians of African descent (black) comprise about one-fourth of the population and largely trace their ancestry in the state to the days of slavery. Other ethnic minorities, as well as foreign-born residents, make up only a small proportion of Alabama’s population. Religious affiliations in the state are overwhelmingly Christian and predominantly Protestant, with large groups of Baptists and Methodists. By the late 20th century the state’s population had shifted from an overwhelmingly rural character to a primarily urban and suburban one. The population of much of the old cotton region of the Black Belt has been declining for many decades, relocating its residents to more-urban settings. Although the growth of cities has slowed, the suburban areas around Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, and Huntsville have been gaining population rapidly. Birmingham remains the major metropolitan area of the state, with an increasingly service-oriented economy. Mobile, the state’s port city and second largest metropolitan area, has been expanding at a moderate pace since experiencing a major growth spurt in the 1970s. Since the 1960s, Huntsville has been expanding as a result of its national defense installations and ever-enlarging high-technology industries. Growth of state government has contributed to Montgomery’s increase in population. Among the 50 states, Alabama is relatively poor, and median family income has remained well below the national average. Rural poverty skews the state average downward, however, concealing more-promising trends and the stronger economic base that exists in the urban areas. Much of this has been based on manufacturing’s steady contribution to the state economy, but an important development has been the continued growth of the service sector. The Alabamian rural economy challenges the traditional view of a dependency on cotton. Although cotton has continued to be of local importance, it suffered a heavy blow with the onset of the boll weevil blight in 1915, and acreage has continued to decline. Mechanization and consolidation increased the average farm size after the 1930s. The diversification of agricultural production then brought a great increase in the acreage devoted to forestry, and cotton fields were given over to pasture for dairy and beef cattle. Poultry has become a major farm product in the state. The principal crops are cotton, peanuts (groundnuts), soybeans, and corn (maize). Farm income has continued to rise, and the average value of a farm has multiplied many times since the mid-20th century. Farm and farm-related employment, however, have declined steadily over the same period, as has agriculture’s share of the state’s economy. Industrial development in Alabama is historically rooted in the iron and steel industry of Birmingham, the development of which was facilitated by accessible deposits of iron ore, coal, and limestone. Other minerals include the state’s well-known white marble, now distributed primarily in crushed form for use in various applications, including paper pigment. Petroleum production in commercial quantities dates from the mid-1940s; there are a number of wells in the coastal regions. Natural gas production is also significant in coastal areas. The bulk of Alabama’s electric power is generated by thermal plants, the great majority of which are coal-fired. Nuclear-generating stations contribute about one-fourth of the total. Hydroelectricity from multiple facilities, including several operated by the TVA, supplies a small but still significant fraction of the state’s overall power. World War II defense industries gave an impetus to the industrial economy of the state in the mid-20th century. Although production of iron and steel has continued to have some importance in Alabama’s economy, the manufacture of food products, textiles and apparel, wood products and paper, chemicals, and plastics has reduced the reliance on primary metals. The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, notable for producing the Saturn booster rockets that propelled the Apollo and Skylab spacecraft of the 1960s and early ’70s, has been a major contributor to the state’s economy. That and other high-value industries have contributed to Huntsville’s overall prosperity and have helped establish the city as an important nexus of technology. The number of non-U.S. companies operating industries in Alabama greatly multiplied beginning in the late 20th century. In the 1990s Alabama attracted its first automobile manufacturing plants, one near Tuscaloosa and the other near Talladega, both of which were built by foreign corporations. Others followed in the early 2000s. Birmingham has emerged as a financial and commercial centre, especially as the home of major state banks, regional utilities, national insurance companies, and international construction concerns. In its shift toward a service base, the city reflects the overall trend of Alabama’s economy, where some three-fourths of nonagricultural jobs statewide are in the service sector. Alabama has generally low taxes on property and comparatively high taxes on consumption and spends a significant percentage of its total revenue on education, health and hospitals, welfare, and highways. Various programs in those areas, as well as in agriculture, conservation, urban development, and public works, are also supported by federal funds. Several institutions in Alabama are maintained by the federal government, including the Air University in Montgomery, the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, several veterans’ hospitals, and a part of the TVA operations. Together, the six major rivers of Alabama provide about 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of navigable waterways. Mobile Bay has been deepened by a ship channel, and Mobile has developed into one of the country’s top seaports. The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, a 234-mile (377-km) canal that opened in 1985, links two of the state’s main river systems. Although railroad transportation, as elsewhere in the United States, has suffered a relative decline in Alabama, bus, truck, and airline traffic have increased in the state. Interstate highways link Alabama’s major population centres and connect the state to the national highway system. Alabama is governed by a bicameral legislature and a governor and cabinet. The legislature consists of the Senate, with 35 members, and the House of Representatives, with 105 members, who meet annually in regular sessions; members of both chambers are elected for four-year terms. The constitution is a complex document dating from 1901, with hundreds of subsequent amendments. The chief administrative officers of the state, ranging from the governor to the state Board of Education, are also all elected for four-year terms. The state Supreme Court of nine elected members is the highest judicial body. At the county level the chief elected officials in Alabama are the county commissioners, judges of probate, tax assessors and collectors, and boards of education. In the municipalities there is no uniform system of government; the mayor-council form is most common, but some cities have a commission, and some employ a city manager. Alabama’s penal system has been stretched well beyond capacity. Although the rate of imprisonment for violent crimes peaked in the early 1990s before beginning a steady decline, more citizens have been incarcerated for drug-related offenses. Alabama typically ranks among the top states for the highest murder rate per capita. The state built new prisons in the 1980s and ’90s and for a time reinstituted a system of convicts working on state roads; the program was abandoned near the end of the 20th century. The Democratic Party of Alabama has long held political control of the state government, although there has been an increased Republican showing. In 1986 the state elected its first Republican governor since Reconstruction, and beginning in the 1990s, Republicans, usually from suburban areas, won places in the state legislature, on judicial benches, and in local government bodies. Even though the Democrats have continued to control the state legislature, most white Democratic representatives are fairly conservative in political orientation. At the national level, Republicans generally comprise the majority of the Alabama delegation, and Republican presidential candidates have won the state in most elections since 1964. African Americans holding public office had become well-established by the 1970s, with Birmingham electing its first African American mayor in 1979. Several political organizations have also helped increase African American participation in the political process. In rural areas and within minority communities, educational and economic opportunities are fewer, and health and medical resources and services are less available. Some rural areas of the state continue to be plagued with high rates of infant mortality. Welfare payments in Alabama rank low by national standards. Penal institutions include several prisons and camps for youthful offenders. Elementary and secondary education in Alabama improved substantially in the latter half of the 20th century, though public schools in the state have continued to suffer from weak local funding resulting from the state’s low property taxes. Teachers’ salaries have been rising, but still rank among the lowest in the country. Rural schools receive less support than those in urban and metropolitan areas. Alabama has state-supported four-year colleges, private colleges and universities, a large network of junior colleges and trade schools, and, increasingly, online degree-granting institutions. The University of Alabama system comprises the state’s original college at Tuscaloosa and newer campuses in Huntsville and Birmingham, the latter being home to a nationally renowned medical centre. Auburn University and Alabama A & M (Agricultural and Mechanical) University, the state’s two land-grant institutions, provide the headquarters for agricultural extension work. Many African American college students are enrolled in historically black institutions, the best-known of which is Tuskegee University (founded in 1881), which was the home of its founder, Booker T. Washington, and of the renowned agricultural chemist George Washington Carver. Higher education in Alabama suffers from duplication of effort caused by the overabundance of institutions, which dilutes resources. This duplication was the product of both a dual system for racial separation that persisted into the 1960s and a tendency to build schools as political favours. Alabama is rich in rural cultural traditions. Storytelling in particular has attracted the attention of folklore specialists, and quilt making is also a highly developed art. Sacred music, in the form of gospel ensembles and shape-note, or “fa-so-la,” singing, remains a vital part of Alabama’s cultural life. The experiences of rural life have contributed important elements to various genres of American popular music, including ragtime, jazz, and country music. W.C. Handy, noted for blending blues and ragtime into a new popular style in the early 20th century, and Hank Williams, a mid-20th-century pioneer of country music, are among Alabama’s most musically influential progeny. During the 1960s and ’70s, numerous hit records were made in studios in the Muscle Shoals region (a section of the Tennessee River in the northwest corner of the state). Several Alabama writers have won attention through their focus on local themes. Johnson J. Hooper, John Gorman Barr, and Joseph G. Baldwin were popular local-colour writers in the 19th century. Booker T. Washington and Helen Keller wrote powerful and popular autobiographies in the early 20th century. The novelist William March made a distinguished literary contribution in his stories and novels in the 1930s and ’40s, particularly Company K and The Looking Glass. T.S. Stribling, in a trilogy of realistic novels in the 1930s; Harper Lee, in To Kill a Mockingbird (1960); and Mary Ward Brown, in Tongues of Flame (1986), explored social conditions, especially racial issues, in critically acclaimed works. Major art museums are found in Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile, and Birmingham, the latter containing an especially notable collection of American art. The George Washington Carver Museum at Tuskegee University has unique material on African American history. The Sloss Furnace Museum focuses on Birmingham’s industrial history, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute documents the city’s struggle with racial conflicts in the 20th century. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville chronicles the development of space travel, and the EarlyWorks Museum Complex exhibits Huntsville’s early history. Special library collections include those on medical history at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham, the Booker T. Washington Collection of black history material at Tuskegee University, and the Alabama and Southern history material at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, founded in 1901 as the first such department established in the United States. Several historic places in Alabama are supervised by the state, including the Mound State Monument in Hale county, an important site of the prehistoric Mississippian culture; and Fort Morgan, a Confederate fortress standing at the entrance to Mobile Bay. Alabama boasts many surviving examples of 19th-century residential architecture, perhaps most notably Gaineswood Mansion in Demopolis. The U.S. National Park Service maintains two national historic sites of significance to black history: Tuskegee Institute (1974) and Tuskegee Airmen (1998). Distinctive festivals are celebrated in various places. Mobile’s Mardi Gras (in February) is a major event, as are its springtime Azalea Trail garden tours and the annual America’s Junior Miss pageant. Birmingham explores culture from across the globe in its annual International Festival. The town of Opp hosts a yearly Rattlesnake Rodeo that draws large participation. Most Alabama towns and cities sponsor historical pilgrimages in April to celebrate architectural survivals. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery offers professional productions of classic and modern plays. The state maintains many parks and several large public lakes. Waterskiing, boating, and stock-car racing rank among the most popular recreational activities among Alabamians. The Talladega Superspeedway attracts hundreds of thousands of auto-racing enthusiasts each year. College gridiron football, especially the teams fielded by Auburn University and the University of Alabama (the latter of which has captured or shared several national championships), elicits avid devotion from a large proportion of the state’s residents. Daily newspapers are published in all of Alabama’s major cities. The Birmingham News, the Birmingham Post-Herald, the Montgomery Advertiser, and the Mobile Register are among the state’s leading newspapers, though none is distinctive for more than local or state reporting. Alabama is served by an extensive system of radio and television stations. Most commercial stations are now owned by out-of-state corporations. The state has a strong network of public television stations, a reflection of Alabama having established the country’s first state-owned educational television network in 1955.

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Did you know... SOS Children have produced a selection of wikipedia articles for schools since 2005. Do you want to know about sponsoring? See www.sponsorachild.org.uk Dice (the plural of Die, from Old French dé, from Latin datum "something given or played") are small polyhedral objects, usually cubic, used for generating random numbers or other symbols. This makes dice suitable as gambling devices, especially for craps or sic bo, or for use in non-gambling tabletop games. A traditional die is a cube (often with corners slightly rounded), marked on each of its six faces with a different number of circular patches or pits called pips. All of these pips have the same appearance within a pair, or larger set of dice, and are sized for ease of recognizing the pattern formed by the pips on a face. The design as a whole is aimed at each die providing one randomly determined integer, in the range from one to six, with each of those values being equally likely. More generally, a variety of analogous devices are often described as dice, but necessarily in a context, or with a word or two preceding "die" or "dice", that avoids the assumption that traditional dice are intended. Such specialized dice may have cubical or other polyhedral shapes, with faces marked with various collections of symbols, and be used to produce other random results than one through six. There are also "loaded" or "crooked" dice (especially otherwise traditional ones), meant to produce skewed or even predictable results, for purposes of deception or amusement. The common dice are small cubes 1 to 2 cm along an edge (16mm being the standard), whose faces are numbered from one to six (usually by patterns of dots called pips). It is traditional to assign pairs of numbers that total seven to opposite faces (it has been since at least classical antiquity); this implies that at one vertex the faces 1, 2 and 3 intersect. It leaves one other abstract design choice: the faces representing 1, 2 and 3 respectively can be placed in either clockwise or counterclockwise order about this vertex. The pips on traditional European-style dice are arranged in specific patterns. The face with two usually has the dots in opposite corners, with the third face containing one between these two. The fourth face has one in each corner, and the fifth adds one in the centre, forming a quincunx. The final face has two rows of three pips along opposite edges of the face. Pips on Asian-style dice are in a similar pattern, but are typically closer to the centre of the die, and the "one" pip is larger than the others. A unique feature about Asian dice is the fact that the pips for both "one" and "four" are colored red. Why this is so is unknown. But it is suggested that an entirely black and white color combination on the one side would be unlucky and red (a lucky colour in Chinese culture) would counteract this. Several legends also mention that the "four" side is colored red because a Chinese emperor (one legend said it was a Ming dynasty emperor, while another stated it was Chung Tsung) ordered it as "fours" helped him win a dice game ( sugoroku) against his empress. This story, however, is questionable at best, as it is also probable that "red fours" are also of common Indian origin. Dice are thrown to provide random numbers for gambling and other games, and thus are a type of hardware random number generator. The result of a die roll is random in the sense of lacking predictability, not lacking cause. Exactly how dice are thrown determines how they will land according to the laws of classical mechanics. However, dice also can exhibit sensitive dependence on initial conditions, making it difficult to predict the outcome of a die roll even with good information about exactly how it is thrown. Also, because the numbers on typical dice are marked with small indentations, slightly more material is removed from the higher numbered faces. This results in a small bias, and they do not provide fair (uniform) random numbers. The bias is reduced somewhat in the Japanese die with its oversized single pip (pictured). Casino dice have markings that are flush with the surface and come very close to providing true uniformly distributed random numbers. Dice are thrown, singly or in groups, from the hand or from a cup or box designed for the purpose, onto a flat surface. The face of each die that is uppermost when it comes to rest provides the value of the throw. A typical dice game today is craps, wherein two dice are thrown at a time, and wagers are made on the total value of up-facing pips on the two dice. They are also frequently used to randomize allowable moves in board games, usually by deciding the distance through which a piece will move along the board; examples of this are ludo and backgammon. Precision casino dice, used for the game of craps, may have a polished finish, making them transparent, or a sand finish, making them translucent. Casino dice have their pips drilled, and then filled flush with a paint of the same density as the acetate used for the dice, such that the dice remain in balance. In casino play, a stick of 5 dice are used, all stamped with a matching serial number to prevent a cheat from substituting a die. Precision backgammon dice are also made with the pips filled in as with casino dice. While casino dice are noticeably larger than common dice, with sharp edges and corners, precision backgammon dice tend to be somewhat smaller. Their corners and edges are beveled to allow greater movement inside the dice cup and prevent chaotic rolls from damaging the playing surface. Dice were probably originally made from the ankle bones (specifically the talus or "astragalus") of hoofed animals (such as oxen), colloquially known as " knucklebones", which are approximately tetrahedral. Modern Mongolians still use such bones, known as shagai, for games and fortunetelling. In addition to bone, ivory, wood, metal, and stone materials have been commonly used. Recently, the use of plastics, including cellulose acetate and bakelite, is nearly universal. It is almost impossible to trace clearly the development of dice as distinguished from knucklebones, because ancient writers confused the two. It is certain, however, that both were used in prehistoric times. Dice have been used throughout Asia since before recorded history. The oldest known dice were excavated as part of a 5000-year-old backgammon set, at the Burnt City archeological site in south-eastern Iran. Excavations from ancient tombs in the Harappan civilization, seem to further indicate a South Asian origin. Dicing is mentioned as an Indian game in the Rig Veda, Atharva Veda and Buddha games list. It is also mentioned in the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where Yudhisthira plays a game of dice against the Kauravas for the northern kingdom of Hastinapura. In its primitive form knucklebones was essentially a game of skill played by women and children. In a derivative form of knucklebones, the four sides of the bones received different values and were counted as with modern dice. Gambling with three or sometimes two dice was a very popular form of amusement in Greece, especially with the upper classes, and was an almost invariable accompaniment to symposia. The Romans were passionate gamblers, especially in the luxurious days of the Roman Empire, and dicing was a favorite form, though it was forbidden except during the Saturnalia. Horace derided what he presented as a typical youth of the period, who wasted his time amid the dangers of dicing instead of taming his charger and giving himself up to the hardships of the chase. Throwing dice for money was the cause of many special laws in Rome. One of these stated that no suit could be brought by a person who allowed gambling in his house, even if he had been cheated or assaulted. Professional gamblers were common, and some of their loaded dice are preserved in museums. The common public-houses were the resorts of gamblers, and a fresco is extant showing two quarrelling dicers being ejected by the indignant host. Tacitus states that the Germans were passionately fond of dicing, so much so, indeed, that, having lost everything, they would even stake their personal liberty. Centuries later, during the Middle Ages, dicing became the favorite pastime of the knights, and both dicing schools and guilds of dicers existed. After the downfall of feudalism the famous German mercenaries called landsknechts established a reputation as the most notorious dicing gamblers of their time. Many of the dice of the period were curiously carved in the images of men and beasts. In France both knights and ladies were given to dicing. This persisted through repeated legislation, including interdictions on the part of St. Louis in 1254 and 1256. While the terms ace, deuce, trey, cater, cinque and sice are hardly common today having been replaced with the ordinary names of the numbers one to six, they are still used by some professional gamblers to describe the different sides of the dice. Ace is from the Latin as, meaning "a unit" ; the others are the numbers 2–6 in old French. (The dice game marketed as Kismet uses ace, deuce, and trey.) In many modern gaming contexts, the count and number of sides of dice to be rolled at any given time is reduced to a common set of notations. Typically this involves the lower-case letter "d", preceded by a die count and followed by (optionally) the number of sides of the dice. For example, 2d6; the former meaning "six eight-sided dice," and the latter meaning "two six-sided dice." Addition or various other arithmetic operations are often added at the end as well, e.g. 3d6+4 "three six-sided dice plus four to the outcome thereof". "Crooked dice" refers to dice that have been altered in some way to change the distribution of their outcome. A loaded or gaffed die is a die that has been tampered with to land with a selected side facing upwards more often than it otherwise would simply by chance. There are methods of creating loaded dice, including having some edges round and other sharp and slightly off square faces. If the dice are not transparent, weights can be added to one side or the other. They can be modified to produce winners ("passers") or losers ("miss-outs"). "Tappers" have a drop of mercury in a reservoir at the centre of the cube, with a capillary tube leading to another mercury reservoir at the side of the cube. The load is activated by tapping the die on the table so that the mercury leaves the centre and travels to the side. Often one can see the circle of the cut used to remove the face and bury the weight. In a professional die, the weight is inserted in manufacture; in the case of a wooden die, this can be done by carving the die around a heavy inclusion, like a pebble around which a tree has grown. A variable loaded die is hollow with a small weight and a semi-solid substance inside, usually wax, whose melting point is just lower than the temperature of the human body. This allows the cheater to change the loading of the die by breathing on it or holding it firmly in hand, causing the wax to melt and the weight to drift down, making the chosen opposite face more likely to land up. A less common type of variable die can be made by inserting a magnet into the die and embedding a coil of wire in the game table. Then, either leave the current off and let the die roll unchanged or run current through the coil to increase the likelihood that the north side or the south side will land on the bottom depending on the direction of the current. Plastic dice can be biased to roll a certain number by heating them (for example in an oven) with the desired face upward, so that the plastic will soften slightly and "pool" at the opposite (bottom) side of the die without showing much, if any, visible distortion. Transparent acetate dice, used in all reputable casinos, are harder to tamper with. Cheat dice (see below) are often sold as loaded dice but usually are not technically loaded. A die can be "shaved" on one side i.e. slightly shorter in one dimension, making it slightly rectangular and thus affecting its outcome. One countermeasure employed by casinos against shaved dice is to measure the dice with a micrometer. Dice with faces other than digit sequences As noted, the faces of most dice are labeled using an unbroken series of whole numbers, starting at one (rarely zero), expressed with either pips or digits. Common exceptions include: - colour dice (e.g., with the colors of the playing pieces used in a game) - Poker dice, with labels reminiscent of playing cards. Several varieties exist, but the most common contain the following pattern: 9♣, 10♦, Jack (blue), Queen (green), King (red), A♠ - dice with letters (e.g. in Boggle) - average dice (2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5) (In some war games, units are identified as regulars or irregulars. Because regulars are more predictable, the strength of a regular unit is multiplied by an average die. For this reason, average dice are jocularly called regular dice.) - cheat dice, such as: - one face each with two through five, and two with sixes, or - for craps, a pair of dice in which one die has five on each face, and its mate has a mixture of twos and sixes, guaranteeing rolls of seven or 11. - dice with a single sequence of markings repeated multiple times, for example: - a cubical die numbered twice from 1 to 3, or thrice from 1 to 2. - icosahedral dice numbered twice from 1 to 10 (commonly used in Dungeons & Dragons before the popularization of ten-sided dice). - Fudge dice, numbered twice from −1 to 1, represented as −, blank, +. - random direction dice, also known as scatter dice. The dice have arrows on each side; the outcome of a roll is a random direction. Scatter dice are used in tabletop wargames such as Warhammer Fantasy Battle to determine random movements of troops, wind direction or direction of misfired arms. Note that this is an unusual case where the majority of the time the die is read not according to which symbol is shown on its uppermost face, but its compass orientation. - A doubling cube with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 is used in backgammon and some other boardgames. This die is not actually rolled; it is used to denote the current stakes of the game. There is also a doubling octahedron with 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128. - Some board games use dice with positive and negative numbers for use in gain or loss of something. - Sicherman dice, a pair having the same odds of rolling a given sum as a pair of standard six-sided dice, but with different markings: one die has 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8, and the other has 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, and 4. Sicherman dice are the only such alternative arrangement if positive whole numbers are used. - I Ching dice such as - Eight-sided dice bearing the eight trigrams - Six-sided dice bearing yin and yang twice each, and old yin and old yang once each - "Projector dice" which are clear and marked only on one of each pair of opposing faces. For a "six"-sided die, e.g., a clear twelve sided-shape is used. Rolled on an overhead projector such a die will have the top or bottom marking equally readable. Some dice are polyhedral other than cubical in shape. They became popular around the early 1950s among players of wargames and have since been used extensively in trading card games, German-style board games, and role-playing games. Although polyhedral dice are a relative novelty during modern times, some ancient cultures appear to have used them in games (as evidenced by the presence of two icosahedral dice dating from the days of ancient Rome on display in the British Museum). Such dice are typically plastic, and have faces bearing numerals rather than patterns of dots. Reciprocally symmetric numerals are distinguished with a dot in the lower right corner (6. vs 9.) or by being underlined (6 vs 9). The platonic solids are commonly used to make dice of 4, 6, 8, 12, and 20 faces. Other shapes can be found to make dice with other numbers of faces, but other than the 10 sided, they are rarely used. (See Zocchihedron.) The 4 sided platonic solid is difficult to roll, and a few games like Daldøs use a 4 sided rolling pin instead. A large number of different probability distributions can be obtained using these dice in various ways; for example, 10-sided dice (or 20-sided dice labeled with single digits) are often used in pairs to produce a uniform distribution of random percentages. Summing multiple dice approximates a normal distribution (a "bell curve"), while eliminating high or low throws can be used to skew the distribution in various ways. Using these techniques, games can closely approximate the real probability distributions of the events they simulate. There is some controversy over whether manufacturing processes create genuinely "fair" dice (dice that roll with even distributions over their number span). Casino dice are legally required to be fair; those used by others hold no such requirement. Spherical dice also exist; these function like the plain cubic dice, but have an octahedral internal cavity in which a weight moves which causes them to settle in one of six orientations when rolled. However, these dice are somewhat awkward in use because they require a flat and level surface to roll properly — an uneven surface often causes them to stop partway between two numbers, while a sloped surface will obviously cause the dice to keep rolling. Cowry shells or coins may be used as a kind of two-sided dice. (Because of their shape, cowry shells probably do not yield a uniform distribution.) The most common non-cubical dice — often sold in sets of five or six that are each differently shaped but with the same pair of background and marking colors — include one each of the five Platonic solids, which are highly symmetrical. The six-die versions add the pentagonal trapezohedron, in which the faces (identical to one another as to angles and edge lengths) each have two different lengths of side, and three different sizes of angle; the corners at which multiple faces meet are also of two different kinds. |4||tetrahedron||Each face has three numbers: they are arranged such that the upright number (which counts) is the same on all three visible faces. Alternatively, all of the sides have the same number in the lowest edge and no number on the top. This die does not roll well and thus it is usually thrown into the air instead.| |6||cube||A common die. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is seven.| |8||octahedron||Each face is triangular; looks something like two Egyptian pyramids attached at the base. Usually, the sum of the opposite faces is 9.| |10||pentagonal trapezohedron||Each face is kite-shaped; five of them meet at the same sharp corner (as at the top of the diagram in this row), and five at another equally sharp one; about halfway between them, a different group of three faces converges at each of ten blunter corners. The ten faces usually bear numbers from zero to nine, rather than one to ten (zero being read as "ten" in many applications), and often all odd numbered faces converge at the same sharp corner, and the even ones at the other.| |12||dodecahedron||Each face is a regular pentagon.| |20||icosahedron||Faces are equilateral triangles. Typically, opposite faces add to twenty-one. A 2nd century CE Roman icosahedron die is in the collection of the British Museum, though the game it was used for is not known.| |1||sphere||Most commonly a joke die, this is just a sphere with a 1 marked on it. There exist spherical dice constructed of a spherical weight glued between two hemispherical pieces, which have been hollowed to create a certain number places where the weight can rest. The weight effectively pins one side of the sphere down, revealing the number directly opposite.| |2||cylinder||This is nothing more than a coin shape with 1 marked on one side and 2 on the other. While some tasks in roleplaying require flipping a coin, it is usually referred to as such, and not as rolling a two-sided die. It is possible, however, to find dice of this sort for purchase, but they are rare, and can typically be found among other joke dice.| |3||Rounded-off triangular prism||This is a rounded-off triangular prism, intended to be rolled like a rolling-pin style die. The die is rounded-off at the edges to make it impossible for it to somehow land on the triangular sides, which makes it look a bit like a jewel. When the die is rolled, one edge (rather than a side) appears facing upwards. On either side of each edge the same number is printed (from 1 to 3). The numbers on either side of the up-facing edge are read as the result of the die roll. Another possible shape is the "American Football" or " Rugby ball" shape, where the ends are pointed (with rounded points) rather than just rounded.| |5||Triangular prism||This is a prism that is thin enough to land either on its "edge" or "face". When landing on an edge, the result is displayed by digits (2–4) close to the prism's top edge. The triangular faces are labeled with the digits 1 and 5.| |7||Pentagonal prism||Similar in constitution to the 5-sided die. When landing on an edge, the topmost edge has pips for 1–5. The pentagonal faces are labeled with the digits 6 and 7. This kind of die is particularly odd since it has pips for five of its results and digits for two of them. Seven sided dice are used in a seven-player variant of backgammon. Some variants have heptagonal ends and rectangular faces.| |12||rhombic dodecahedron||Each face is in the shape of a rhombus.| |14||heptagonal trapezohedron||Each face is in the shape of a kite.| |16||octagonal dipyramid||Each face is in the shape of an isosceles triangle.| |24||tetrakis hexahedron||Each face is in the shape of an isosceles triangle.| |24||deltoidal icositetrahedron||Each face is in the shape of a kite.| |30||rhombic triacontahedron||Each face is in the shape of a rhombus (diamond-shaped). A thirty sided die is the largest multi-faced die that is a symmetrical polyhedron. It is considered to have the highest rate of generating random numbers due to its large array of numbers and natural spherical shape. Although it is not included in most dice kits, 30 sided die can be found in most hobby and game stores.| |34||heptadecagonal trapezohedron||Each face is in the shape of a kite.| |50||icosakaipentagonal trapezohedron||Similar to the 14- and 16-sided dice, the faces of the 50-sided die are kites, although very narrow.| |100||Zocchihedron||Dice of this sort are rare. However, they can be found at most hobby and game stores. They are not, however, a true polyhedron. A 100-sided die is made by taking a sphere and placing 100 equally spaced flat planes on the surface. The name Zocchihedron is coined from its creator, Lou Zocchi.| The full geometric set of "uniform fair dice" ( face-transitive) are: - Platonic solids: 5 regular polyhedra: (4, 6, 8, 12, 20 sides) - Catalan solids: 13 Archimedean duals: (12, 24, 30, 48, 60, 120 sides) - Bipyramids: infinite set of prism duals, triangle faces: (6, 8, 10, 12, ... sides) - Trapezohedrons: infinite set of antiprism duals, kite faces: (6, 8, 10, 12, ... sides) - Disphenoids: infinite set of tetrahedra made from congruent non-regular triangles (4 sides) - "Rolling-pin style dice" (also called "rolling logs" ) are the only way to make dice with an odd number of faces . They are based on an infinite set of prisms. All the (rectangular) faces they may actually land on are congruent, so they are equally fair. (The other 2 sides of the prism are rounded or capped with a pyramid, designed so that the dice never actually rests on those faces.) For a single roll of a fair -sided die, the probability of rolling each value, 1 through , is exactly 1/s. This is an example of a discrete uniform distribution. For a double roll, however, the total of both rolls is not evenly distributed, but is distributed in a triangular curve. For two six-sided dice, for example, the probability distribution is as follows: For three or more die rolls, the curve becomes more bell-shaped with each additional die (according to the central limit theorem). The exact probability distribution of a sum of i s-sided dice can be calculated as the repeated convolution of the single-die probability distribution with itself. where for all and otherwise. A fastest algorithm would adapt the exponentiation by squaring algorithm, using . For example, in the triangular curve described above, Equivalently, one can calculate the probability using combinations: The probability of rolling any exact sequence of numbers is simply . For example, the chance of rolling 1, 2, and 3 in that order with three rolls of a six-sided die is , or . The article Sampling equiprobably with dice describes the probabilities of sampling with dice from any range. Application in role-playing games While polyhedral dice had previously been used in teaching basic arithmetic, the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons is largely credited with popularizing their use in roleplaying games. Some games use only one type, such as Exalted which uses only ten sided dice, while others use numerous types for different game purposes, such as Dungeons & Dragons, which make use of 20-, 12-, 10-, 8- and 4-sided dice in addition to the traditional 6 sided die. Unlike the common six sided die, these dice often have the numbers engraved on them rather than a series of dots. Roleplaying games generally use dice to determine the outcome of events, such as the success or failure of actions which are difficult to perform. A player may have to roll dice for combat, skill use, or magic use, amongst other things. This is generally considered fairer than decision by game master fiat, since success and failure are decided randomly based on a flat probability. Games typically determine success as either a total on one or more dice above (Dungeons & Dragons third edition) or below (Call of Cthulhu) a target number, or a certain number of rolls above a certain number (such as 8 or higher on a d10) on one or more dice (White Wolf's World of Darkness series). The player may gain a bonus or penalty due to circumstances or character skill, usually either by a number added to or subtracted from the final result, or by having the player roll extra or fewer dice. Dice can also be used by a game master for other purposes, such as to randomly generate game content or to make arbitrary decisions. Some games use dice to determine what attributes the player's character has when created, such as how strong he or she is. In Dungeons & Dragons and some other roleplaying games which use many types of dice, a dice notation is used. For example, a six-sided die is referred to as a d6, while two such dice rolled with the results totaled would be called 2d6. A bonus or penalty applied to the final result is referred to like 2d6-2. Games which use only one type of dice rarely require complex dice notation. A common special case is percentile rolls, referred to in dice notation as 1d%. Since actual hundred-sided dice are large, almost spherical, and difficult to read, percentile rolls are generally handled by rolling two ten-sided dice together, using one as the "tens" and the other as the "units". A roll of ten or zero on either die is taken as a zero, unless both are zeros or tens, in which case this is 100 (rather than zero). To avoid this confusion, sets of percentile dice exist where one is marked in tens (00, 10, 20... up to 90) and the other from 0 to 9. Dice for role-playing games are usually made of plastic, though infrequently metal, wood, and semi-precious stone dice can be found. Early polyhedral dice from the 1970s and 1980s were made of a soft plastic that would easily wear as the die was used. Typical wear and tear would gradually round the corners and edges of the die until it was unusable. Many early dice were unmarked and players took great care in painting their sets of dice. Some twenty-sided dice of this era were numbered zero through nine twice; half of the numbers had to be painted a contrasting colour to signify the "high" faces. Such a die could also double as a ten-sided die by ignoring the distinguishing coloring. Use of dice for divination Some people believe that dice can be used for divination. Using dice for such a purpose is called cleromancy. A pair of standard 6-sided dice is usual though other forms of polyhedra can be used. Tibetan Buddhists sometimes use this method of divination. It is uncertain if the Pythagoreans used the "Platonic Solids" as dice, but it is highly likely. They referred to these perfect geometries as "The Dice of the Gods". Julia E. Diggins, writer of "String, Straightedge, and Shadow" (Viking Press, New York, 1965) writes how the Pythagorean Brotherhood sought to understand the mysteries of the Universe through an understanding of geometry in polyhedra. It is recorded that the dodecahedron (12 sided platonic solid) was discovered by Pythagoras. (Guthrie: The Pythagorean Sourcebook) Astrological dice are a specialized set of three 12-sided dice for divination, using the concepts of astrology and containing astrological symbols for the planets, the zodiac signs and the astrological houses. The first die represents planets, the Sun, the Moon, and two nodes (North Node and South Node). The second die represents the 12 zodiac signs, and the third represents the 12 houses. In simplified terms, the planets, etc. could represent the 'actor'; the zodiac signs could represent the 'role' being played by the actor; and the house could represent the 'scene' in which the actor plays. Rune dice are a specialized set of dice for divination ( runecasting), using the symbols of the runes printed on the dice. An icosahedron is used to provide the answers of a Magic 8-Ball, which is conventionally used to provide advice on yes-or-no questions.

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Teaching Indigenous Languages |books | conference | articles | columns | contact | links | index | home| Chapter 6, Teaching Indigenous Languages edited by Jon Reyhner (pp. 46-55). Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University. Copyright 1997 by Northern Arizona University. Coyote as Reading Teacher: Oral Tradition in the Classroom Armando Heredia and Norbert Francis Legends, myths, folk tales, and stories have long been an important aspect of the history and culture of indigenous people; vehicles to preserve, carry, and teach historical events, religious beliefs, ethics, and values to the young and old. Ethnographers and students of folklore have described in detail and extensively analyzed the literary aspects of oral tradition. However, despite the broad consensus on the artistic merits of traditional stories and the role they have played in the linguistic and cultural continuity of indigenous peoples, they are little used in schools. This paper discusses the instructional uses of traditional stories is meant to serve as a contribution to realizing their educational potential.Story telling was a way of relating history, transmitting cultural knowledge, and giving expression to the esthetic and poetic endeavors of all Native American peoples. As Chief Standing Bear explained: Story-telling is an ancient profession, and these stories are among our oldest possessions. For many years before the white man ever came to our homeland these legends were told over and over, and handed down from generation to generation. They were our books, our literature, and the memories of the storytellers were the leaves upon which they were written. (quoted in Humishuma, 1990, p. 305)Erdoes and Ortiz (1984) refer to the 166 legends that they recorded as productions from the heart and soul of the Native people of North America: Some have been told for thousands of years, and they are still being told and retold, reshaped and refitted to meet their audience's changing needs, even created anew out of a contemporary man's or woman's vision. (p. xi)While authorship and possession were typically collective, as with all esthetic and formal language use, special conditions and contexts of performance, the narrator's qualifications, and even, in some circumstances, strict requirements of execution and replication were observed. For example, Plains Indians followed prescribed procedures specifically identifying persons for conserving and sharing stories, who "owned" and protected individual story bundles. When the time was right, transfer of the story bundles would be carefully transacted by a process that involved formal instruction and preparation (Lankford, 1987). Clearly, oral esthetic, ceremonial, and formal genres depart from the context-embedded registers of everyday casual conversation in a similar way that their written counterparts differ from situation-dependent graphic messages. Oral tradition and writing It is important to note that the indigenous cultures of the Americas were not complete strangers to complex systems of graphic representation when the Europeans introduced alphabetic writing in the 16th Century. The Maya were evidently the most advanced in this area, with the Aztecs not far behind with their hybrid system that clearly was evolving toward true writing (the representation of units of language in graphic form). Montemayor (1993) compares the two systems: Mayan writing, the closest to what we would define as a [true] writing system, and Náhuatl, had at their disposal numerals, logograms, phonetic and semantic determiners, and rebus elements. They were able to transcribe homonyms, or rather homophonic suffixes and endings. These pictographs and symbols not only represented ideas, but also sounds and sound patterns, which presupposes the capacity not only to recognize parts of words, but also the ability to recognize homophonic relationships among these parts and among other words. Writing was employed by priests, nobles and specialized scribes, and its origin and functions were closely tied to religion. (p. 22)At the time of the European contact, many of the tribes to the North had already experimented with various pictographic, iconic, and mnemonic systems. Lankford notes: Europeans had early commented on the wampum (bead) belts used by speakers at formal councils to remind themselves of the historical or mythical episodes they were to tell; in the Plains the same devices were used, but they seem to have been more usually painted on skin. Both practices seem to have existed in the Southeast. (1987, p. 47)However, a full account of pre-Columbian writing will never be available because of the massive destruction of bibliographical and archival data during the Conquest. While the greater part of the material was surely lost, significant portions of the historical record and much of the poetic and narrative tradition was preserved orally. The interest in indigenous narratives and poetry actually dates to the period immediately following the Conquest as missionaries and religious scholars began to take stock of the devastating loss to scientific and cultural knowledge that had already been irrevocably consummated. The compilation, transcription, and publication of indigenous oral tradition has continued to this day. More recently with the resurgence of interest in preserving the Native languages of the Americans, original editions have begun to be prepared, in many cases, without translation. Critics of oral tradition transcription have pointed to the vastly differing contexts of oral performance on the one hand and the conventions of written language on the other--the collective and interactive processes that mediate text construction between narrator and audience versus the isolated and decontextualized encoding of the writer. However, despite the modifications that transcription entails (adjusting, for example, for the absence of an immediate and physically present audience and the loss of certain discourse resources available only to the narrator--prosody, deixis, and so forth), both historical evidence and our own experience in compilation and transcription have demonstrated, we believe, that the alleged discontinuities have been entirely overstated. In any case, transcribed and edited versions of oral narrative are not meant to capture the singularly interactive features of face-to-face performance. On the one hand, the formal and artistic genres of traditional cultures approximate in significant ways the planned, and peculiarly structured discourse that characterizes most (but, again, not all) written expression. And on the other hand, edited versions, in print (which need not in any fundamental way imply the displacement of oral forms) offer the reader/listener new options that we will briefly explore in the following sections. Narrative structure of the stories The very selective survey of coyote stories presented below highlights the vast classroom potential of this branch of oral tradition. Even a very introductory study and analysis of their literary aspects by teachers would enrich any reading and language arts program. But in particular, incorporating this awareness into teaching practice would be an essential component of bilingual language revitalization programs involving the teaching of indigenous languages. From our own rather summary examination of the material, teaching applications would seem to fall into two broad areas of school-based language learning: Closely related to the say/mean distinction is the portrayal of Coyote's complex and ambiguous character. A literary feature usually associated with modern fiction, especially the novel, is ambivalence and inner strife, a common state of mind for our canine hero. Research on literacy development has pointed to the reader/listener's focus on and contemplation of characters' inner psychological states, thoughts, and feelings as an important milestone toward decontextualized comprehension strategies (Torrence & Olson, 1985). In "The Story of the Rabbit and his Uncle Coyote," a Tzutuhuil story (Sexton, 1992), and "Coyote's Rabbit Chase," Tewa (Erdoes & Ortiz, 1984), the use of dramatic irony presents but another opportunity for the emergent reader to reconcile contradictions and disparities of all sorts. Heroism is unambiguously conferred upon our protagonist in the Diné version of "Coyote Brings Fire" (Newcomb & Zolbrod, 1993). The sequence of building conflicts and increasing tension, punctuated by the characteristic rhythm and tempo of the omnipresent parallel structures and recurring patterns, culminates in Coyote's escape from the Fire Man. Throughout this and many other coyote stories, the extensive recourse to metaphoric language ("cloud of sparks," "in the air waiting for a flame to blaze upward," "showers of sparks"), again, calls the reader/listener's attention to linguistic forms, the poetic functions in general, and how words are good for more than just expressing referential meaning. Especially regarding the higher literacy proficiencies, the reader must be able to reflect on what words actually (i.e., that which is stipulated by the text itself) mean as opposed to the mere interpretation of what was intended, as in casual conversation (see Olson & Hildyard, 1983). Two contrasting examples Coyote stories vary widely in their structural complexity, as well as thematically. In this variability, precisely, lies their power as a genre, from the pedagogical point of view. We would like to call the reader's attention to two particularly illustrative examples, each exemplifying features that, respectively, lend themselves to our two broad language learning objectives: 1) the development of textual consciousness and literacy-related discourse competencies, and 2) a source of second language comprehensible input. Coyote and the Shadow People--for discourse competence While the theme of the journey to the Land of the Dead in order to retrieve a loved one is apparently universal among indigenous peoples, in "Coyote and the Shadow People" coyote rises to truly heroic and humanlike proportions.2 The Death Spirit/Guide offers Coyote (who we find in the opening episode weeping and lonely) the opportunity to be reunited with his wife. To our tragic figure, he must repeat the classical admonition too many times: "You must do whatever I say, do not disobey" (Ramsey, 1983). Guided through a series of images and illusions that Coyote (at first confused) must acknowledge as real, he is rewarded with the arrival at the longhouse where he greets old friends. Upon being reunited with his wife and admonished one last time not to touch her, he sets out on the return journey; the descent from the fifth mountain signaling the triumph over the Underworld. However, by the fourth encampment, the wife's apparition had become too attractive for Coyote to resist touching. Weeping at her loss, he vainly retraces his journey, reenacting the illusions of the first trip that are now so movingly useless, finally he arrives back at the dusty prairie where he first encountered the Lodge of the Shadows. Here, the teacher can take full advantage of the complex interplay between irony and foreshadowing. As Ramsey points out, "in a sense, everything Coyote does in his quest foreshadows his failure, both for himself and his wife, and for the great precedent of returning from death that he might establish. Specific prefigurements occur at every turn" (1983, p. 53). This element of textual coherence cannot be underestimated, and unfortunately in many elementary reading and language arts programs developing the ability to mentally construct it is left for the student to somehow spontaneously acquire. This particular comprehension skill becomes increasingly more useful as children's reading material becomes more difficult. Students in the upper grades will find school texts more abstract and less transparent because predicting strategies based almost exclusively on general previous knowledge lose their universal applicability. The reader must rely to a greater extent on his or her ability to find in the text itself the cues, referents, causal relationships, and antecedents necessary for constructing global meaning. Predicting strategies in reading have long been recognized as fundamental to both decoding and comprehension (Smith, 1988). Expectation and anticipation facilitate the processing of text at all levels. Perhaps at some levels, direct teaching of the patterns may require relatively limited conscious attention on the part of the teacher (e.g., sound patterns and grammar structures). However, at the higher levels, deliberate and systematic instruction plays a critical role in the acquisition of the advanced text processing skills that are the mainstay of textbook-type academic discourse. In "Coyote and the Shadow People" some of the cues are explicit. After lecturing the traveler extensively against his inclination to do foolish things and repeating: "you must never, never touch herbut never touch her," in an aside, the Spirit says to himself "I hope that he will do everything right." Other cues are more subtle. Upon arriving at the Lodge of the Shadows, Coyote suddenly, and in apparent contradiction to his desire to take his wife back home, tells the Spirit that he wants to stay with his friends. Coyote's futile recapitulation of the failed first journey (pretending to see the wild horses on the prairie, going through the motions of picking and eating the berries, and raising the door flap to the lodge) calls for special attention by the teacher, even perhaps during reading, in mid-discourse. On the unconscious level the young reader/listener experiences the effect of the different layers of parallelism and symmetry in the narration. Contrast is artfully reiterated: day and night, living world and shadow world, suffering (the heat and dust of the day) and celebration (the lodge reunion). The repetition of detail evokes the images that bring narrator and listener closer, another of the many features that everyday conversation and literature share (Tannen, 1989). But it is when students begin to consciously reflect upon these structural aspects of the text that they are beginning to acquire the basic competencies of what Cummins and Swain (1987) call Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). In addition to the thematic and general content schemata, the students' network of previous knowledge will now call upon the powerful text organizing tools that correspond to their newly acquired system of formal schemata (Carrell, 1989; Carrell & Eisterhold, 1983). The skillful teacher can guide their students in discovering, for themselves, these literary features and discourse patterns. Tlacual uan coyotl--for second language learning Our second example comes from the oral tradition of the Náhuatl speaking communities of Central Mexico, where we were able to record a complete version of "Tlacual uan Coyotl" (The Opossum and the Coyote) from a middle-aged informant, native of San Isidro Buensuceso, Tlaxcala. Both thematically and structurally, the narrative falls at the opposite end of the continuum from the Nez Perce Orphic myth, although the particular context of the performance, an audience of young children, surely contributed to its simplification. But here, it is this characteristic that corresponds to the instructional objective in question: second language acquisition. Along the lines of another common theme, especially in Mexico (see "Didxaguca' sti' lexu ne gueu," a Zapoteco version that attempts to account for a different natural phenomenon, de la Cruz & de la Cruz, 1990), Coyote arrives at what he thinks is an agreement with God to eat all His children. God's confederate, the opossum, submits the (in this case, outrageously) foolish coyote to a series of outlandish deceptions and deservingly punishing pranks. If the young listeners do not begin to predict the outcome of the subsequent sequences from the opening frame where the lowly coyote thinks he has actually made a contract with God, they may take note of opossum's patent lie in episode #2 that Coyote wholeheartedly believes. Opossum assures Coyote that, "God won't see [him]" drink the pulque (the agreement was for Coyote to fast before he could eat all the Earth's creatures). Seven episodes of opossum's craftiness and evasion at coyote's expense end with the latter hungry and alone, waiting forever for opossum to reemerge from his burrow. What "Tlacual uan Coyotl" may lack in universality of theme or structural sophistication is more than compensated for in the series of repetitive structures in close succession, with the pertinent referents in high-profile foreground. This is the ideal kind of sequence for second language learners. Each short episode begins with the same initial event: Coyote comes looking, running after, wandering and (later) faltering; the repeated promise to devour Opossum who, each time, shifts the responsibility of the deception to the pulque opossum, the shepherd opossum, the turkey opossum, and so forth, nicely recapitulating for the reader/listener the sequence of deceptions. True to the repetitive pattern, Coyote, pleadingly, demands to know, every time why Opossum is deceiving him so much. And every time he reminds himself of God's admonishment. The over-repetition of key content words (Toteotatzin--Our God Father, niccuaz--eat up, amo nimitztelhuiz--I won't accuse you, otnechacacaya--you deceived me), signaled by the appropriate intonation markers, increases the comprehensible input level. This feature makes the narrative even more accessible to the second language learner, in this case the Spanish speaking student whose Náhuatl language skills are still incipient or have suffered a degree of erosion. The singular merit, from the pedagogical standpoint, of the Náhuatl coyote story and many others like it consists of the combination of simplified structure and authenticity. Too often authentic texts lack the necessary modifications that second language students depend on to be able to process textual material in their weaker language. In fact, with appropriate visual context support (puppets of Opossum and Coyote and props that depict the seven action sequences) the performance of "Tlacual uan coyotl" could serve as a highly effective language and literacy instructional material for level one (or even level zero) beginners in Náhuatl. Here, the process of meaning construction is supported by the key content word items, the limited concept load, repetitive action sequences, and the application of general previous knowledge. For language revitalization purposes this type of narrative genre is a critical component of academic language input that, in turn, represents the raw material for learning new vocabulary and acquiring or reinforcing the grammatical structures of the indigenous language. Its complete and authentic characteristics facilitate learning the structural aspects of the language. Furthermore, learning language in context not only contributes to the development of higher order comprehension skills but integrates the all important cultural component (more critical in situations of indigenous language loss) into the language arts curriculum. Geographical features and towns mentioned in the narrative are often concrete cultural referents that are tied to important historical moments and turning points. The introduction of certain characters often correspond to historically significant transitions in the domain of interethnic contact: the white man, the priest, and new non-indigenous institutions. For the monolingual indigenous language speaker, or beginner, translations into Spanish or English of oral tradition material provide for many of the same advantages outlined above. Reading and listening to the traditional stories of one's community insure significant levels of top-down support for the difficult second language decoding and processing tasks. And of course, the straight forward temporal/sequential narrative schema (with elements of causal/logical organization) lends itself well for native level Náhuatl speaking children in their initial stages of literacy development. The popularity of indigenous oral tradition in translation, especially in regions of sustained intercultural contact, attests to the broad applicability of the various sub-genres (creation legends rivaling the coyote stories in both English and Spanish editions) for expanding non-indigenous students "narrative awareness" beyond the familiar patterns of their own traditional texts. The potential of this indigenous literary form for enriching the reading and language arts curriculum has been realized only partially, even in the most favorable contexts of additive/developmental bilingual education. Our examination of the multitude of applications has focused on only a few examples in the area of reading. Without a doubt, applying the material to the area of developing students' writing skills would be equally as productive. Coyote stories are basically vignettes in a never-ending story, prototypes of inexhaustible variations and permutations. It is, in fact, the assimilation of a relatively limited set of text organization schemata, mastery of basic narrative techniques, and a set of formulas that the traditional story teller has relied on in developing the extensive repertoires of his or her art. In closing, it is important to emphasize that creativity depends on the writer's access to structures and patterns, the application of which are facilitated by high degrees of metacognitive awarenessfundamentally, on an awareness--fundamentally on an awareness of how expression is constrained. These text construction frameworks and organizers are consolidated by significant amounts of exposure to the pertinent models and reflective and deliberate examination of how they work (which includes reflection upon and feedback on one's own productions). Creativity, is also expansive and divergent, and within the self-imposed limits of all good literature, Coyote can do, or at least try, anything. 1For many indigenous students, their first language has become the language of wider communication, the national language (Spanish, English, and so forth). In other cases, fewer and fewer in recent years, the indigenous language remains the students' first language. 2The presentation and percipient literary criticism of this Nez Perce Orphic story we owe to J. Ramsey (1983), whose analysis we follow closely. The myth of Orpheus and Euridice is surely one of the most prominent examples of the universality of traditional narrative themes. The recording, transcription, and translation of "Coyote and the Shadow people" forms part of the extensive ethnographic and literary work of A. Phinney of Columbia University and a member of the Nez-Perce tribe. Swadesh (1966) shares with us a Nutca version where "Orpheus" travels by canoe and is counseled and guided by an elderly woman from his tribe who he finds on a strange and unknown beach. Carrell, P.L. (1989). Metalinguistic awareness and second language reading. The Modern Language Review, 73(2), 121-130. Carrell, P.L., & Eisterhold, J.C. (1983). Schema theory and ESL reading. TESOL Quarterly, 17(4), 553-573. Cummins, J., & Swain, M. (1987). Bilingualism in education: Aspects of theory, research and practice. New York: Longman. de la Cruz, G., & de la Cruz, V. (1990). Didxaguca' sti' lexu ne gueu'. In Animales fantásticos y más leyendas. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional de Fomento Educativo. Erdoes, R., & Ortiz, A. (1984). American Indian myths and legends. New York: Pantheon. Humishuma, C.Q. (1990). Coyote stories. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska. Lankford, G. E. (1987). Native American legends: Southeastern legendsTales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw and other nations. Little Rock, AR: August House. Montemayor, C. (1993). Situación actual y perspectivas de la literatura en lenguas indígenas. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. Newcomb, F. J., & Zolbrod, P. (1993). Navajo folk tales. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico. Olson, D., & Hildyard A. (1983). Literacy and the comprehension and expression of literal meaning. In F. Coulmas & K. Ehlich (Eds.), Writing in focus. New York: Mouton. Ramsey, J. (1983). Reading the fire: Essays in the traditional Indian literatures of the far west. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska. Sexton, J. D. (1992). Mayan folk tales: Folklore from Latitlán, Guatemala. New York: Doubleday. Smith, F. (1988). Understanding reading: A psycholinguistic analysis of reading and learning to read. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Swadesh, M. (1966). El lenguaje y la vida humana. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Tannen, D. (1989). Talking voices: Repetition, dialogue, and imagery in conversational discourse. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University. Torrence, N., & Olson, D.R. (1985). Oral and literate competencies in the early school years. In D.R. Olson, N. Torrence, & A. Hildyard (Eds.) Literacy, language, and learning: The nature and consequences of reading and writing. New York: Cambridge University. Torrence, N., & Olson, D.R. (1987). Development of the meta-language and the acquisition of literacy: A progress report. Interchange, 18(1 & 2), 136-146. |books | conference | articles | columns | contact | links | index | home| |Copyright © 2003 Northern Arizona University, All rights Reserved|

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While studying the exhibitions in the Hall of the North American Indian in Harvard's Peabody Museum, I overheard a conversation between two other museum visitors whom I speculatively identified as a Harvard student and her European guest. The conversation was intriguing and revealing, particularly the following exchange. European guest: "How many Indians have survived?" Harvard student: "I think…about 5% of the original population." European guest: "Have you ever seen one?" Harvard student: "Only descendants…not the way they were." They had walked right past me. I suddenly had the urge to get their attention, "I'm Native American…over here. Don't you see me?" Perhaps we descendants are difficult to recognize. The juxtaposition of the past's visible images and the present invisible Native Americans in American society results in a loss of continuity between the two, both in museum representation and in collective American thought. Even as long-standing stereotypes are still being fixed and reinforced in many museums, forced acculturation and assimilation have rendered those stereotypes virtually useless in recognizing Native Americans today. National museum representations of Native American are often outdated, unilateral in perspective, and far removed from the lives of the living populations. Local tribal museums strive to represent a tribal viewpoint while educating others about their tribe's history and traditions. For example, while many national museums in the United States represent the forced migration of Native Americans as a disembodied process, peripheral to the museum's message, for some local tribes and their museums, forced migration is central to their identities and their messages. The Cherokee Heritage Center in Oklahoma is one local tribal museum that has represented Native Americans and forced migration to native and non-natives for almost 30 years. Established by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Cherokee Heritage Center has made the Trail of Tears its major theme because it is central to Cherokee identity in Oklahoma where many descendants of the survivors of that bitter trek still live. I an one of those descendants. My identity has been strongly influenced by the Cherokee struggle for survival that is both commemorated and continued in the Cherokee Heritage Center. As the Cherokee Heritage Center combats Financial and other problems, it is struggling for its own identity and survival. Who Is Native American? Recent repatriation legislation has brought to the already complex issues of Native American identity and representation in American society a new sense of awareness and urgency. The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Act H. R. 5237) provides protection for Native American and Native Hawaiian burial sites and sacred objects, establishing ownership of cultural property through cultural affiliation. It requires institutions receiving federal funds to catalog all skeletal remains and Native American materials in their collections by 1995 and to notify each federally recognized native group of materials presumed to belong to them. One problem that federally founded museums must resolves is an increasingly difficult one-who is Native American? Who is authorized to speak for each tribe, and who are the proper recipients of each tribe's cultural property and human remains now in museums? Identity is an extremely complex issue. Certification of blood quantum is usually required in order to be legally identified as Native American, and some tribes require a certain blood quantum for membership. Informal constraints within the tribe also affect identity as some tribal members with full-blood quantum consider tribal members with mixed ancestry not to be truly "Native American." Even when blood quantum is not an issue, the behavior of tribal members can effect the perception of their identity within the tribe, i.e., a full-blood can be considered a "government Indian" rather than truly Native American. In addition, there are those who claim Native American ancestry because it has become politically and financially advantageous to embrace and financially advantageous to embrace a multicultural and even a minority heritage in modern American society. The issue of Native American identity is thus problematic. In fact, some question whether "authentic" natives continue to exist at all, having been sullied by the degenerative impact of Western influence. No one voice can speak for all Native Americans, including mine. However, as a mixed-blood Native American, I am the anthropological participant-observer in this scenario in a unique way. My heritage includes, in order of purported degree: Irish, Cherokee, Choctaw, Scottish, French, and German ancestry. Of these, the Cherokee heritage has had the strongest cultural impact on my life, probably due to my tribal membership, birth, and long-term residence in the tribal territory of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. However, when forced to make a definitive statement about my identity, for example on application forms, I mentally quantified my mixed heritage and close "Caucasian" to indicate that I was not more than half Native American (through I have no formal documents to prove that I am more than half Caucasian either). To complicate matters even more, I know of no formal documents that prove my Choctaw ancestors' blood quantum or tribal affiliation. According to family oral tradition, one of my Cherokee great-grandfathers registered as only half Cherokee on the Dawes Roll (1902-1907) because he feared losing his business. If this is true, even my documented Cherokee ancestry is not accurate. Who is Native American? Am I? Who has the authority to define the category "Native American?" Do I identify with the majority or the minority, with both or with neither? One fact is indisputable - I am a Native descendant. I am a descendant of survivors of a bitter forced migration that has become so integral to the identity of Oklahoma Cherokees and others that I cannot remember a time when I did not know about the Trail of Tears. The Cherokees and The Trail Where They Cried or the Trail of Tears. By almost any account, including historian Grant Foreman's, the Trail of Tears is a story of insidious greed and broken treaties on the pert of the white settlers and the United States government. The Cherokee people were forced to embark on a long, bitter and costly journey far away from their homeland despite their best efforts to peacefully coexist with Europeans. As one of the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes," Cherokees exhibited a remarkable acceptance of the Europeans, allowing intermarriage with them and the attainment of positions of power within the tribe for mixed-bloods. The Cherokees consciously adopted "civilized" lifestyles that included permanent agricultural settlement with churches and schools, elected tribal governments, a tribal constitution, a Cherokee syllabary introducing literacy to most members of the tribe, and the first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. Despite their efforts to peacefully coexist, the Cherokees had become an obstacle to the "pioneers" of the expanding United States of America, especially after gold was discovered on Cherokee land in 1830. President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Bill of 1830 that was adopted after debate "abolished and took away all the rights, privileges, immunities, and franchises held, claimed or enjoyed by those persons called Indians within the chartered limits of that state by virtue of any form of policy, usages or customs existing among them." In 1832, Reverend Samuel Worchester, a missionary to the Cherokees, won a case challenging the constitutionality of the Removal Act before the Supreme Court, but President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the ruling, thereby refusing to halt the forced migration. Although small groups of tribal members and their families had their families had begun leaving voluntarily for the West as early as 1794, their numbers were few. Cherokee resistance to forced migration induced tactics against them that included bribery, threats, theft, and imprisonment. The oppression of the Cherokee culminated with the so-called Treaty of New Echota signed December 29, 1835. In the absence of the elected tribal representatives, Major John Ridge, a prominent Cherokee, violated tribal law and signed the document in the presence of as few as 300 (of over 17,000) members of the tribe. Repeated protests to the federal government that the tribe would not abide by a treaty that they had not made included a protest signed by nearly 16,00 Cherokees. Nevertheless, after the deadline of May 23, 1838, government officials begin rounding up tribal members who had not left voluntarily, literally dragging them from their homes and abandoning, selling, and/or burning their possessions. On a journey that sometimes took six months, groups of Cherokees were sent westward, by both land and water, throughout the summer and winter. Revolted by the meager and unfamiliar diet of corn meal and salt pork, crowed and exposed to disease and the elements as the result of hurried departure and inadequate provisions, many weakened and died during the journey. Due to the number of deaths, births, escapes, and the refusal of many to give the names of their families to their captors, the total number of people forced to migrate varies and is still disputed. An estimated 4,000 Cherokees, approximately one-fourth of the group who made the journey, are believed to have died during the course of what has come to be known as "The Trail Where They Cried" of The Trail Of Tears. Grant Foreman relates a quote from a Georgia volunteer who later become a colonel in the Confederate services: "I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew." The approximately 2,000 Cherokee who managed to elude capture or escape at various stages of the journey become the Eastern Band of Cherokees now centered around the Qualla Reservation in North Carolina. The Western Band of Cherokees settled in Indian Territory which become the state of Oklahoma in 1907. The tribe currently has more than 165,000 members with legally documented ancestry. The Cherokee Heritage Center and the Trail of Tears The Cherokees called themselves Ani-Yun'wiya meaning "Leading or Principal People," but Tsa-la-gi, meaning "Cherokee," is now used widely. Tsa-La-Gi is also sometimes used to refer to the Cherokee Center. The Cherokee Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma is comprised of the Tsa-La-Gi Ancient Village, a recreation of a 16th century Cherokee settlement, the Trail of Tears Outdoor Drama, the Cherokee National Museum which also houses the houses the archives for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and the Adams Corner Rural Village, reconstruction of a small crossroads community in the old Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma of 1875-1890. According to Executive Director Mac Harris, the Objectives of the Cherokee culture and heritage along archived history, to educate tribal members and the general public, and to provide a place where all Cherokees, and others, can come together comfortably. Similarly, the Official Guidebook of the Cherokee National Museum states that the purpose of the museum is both to preserve its rich culture and heritage for the sake of the tribe and "to serve as a bridge of understanding between those inside the tribe and those outside the tribe." The Center's educational programs in the past have included visits to, and field trips from area schools to educate young people about Cherokee culture, crafts, language, and the Trail of Tears. While the audience for the Cherokee Heritage Cherokee Heritage Center is primarily the surrounding community in northeast Oklahoma and in nearby sates, the center considers itself, to be a national and even an international center as evidenced by its supporters from all over the country and abroad. The Cherokee Heritage Center functions as a tribal museum and a nonprofit organization built on state land by the Cherokee National Historical Society. The Historical Society's founders sought to assemble everything ever written by or about Cherokees in one central facility. While the Center has always been very closely associated with the tribe (the majority of members of the board must be tribal member and the chief, deputy chief, and three other tribal leaders are ex officio members), it receives less than one-fourth of its annual operating budget in monetary and in kind donations from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The rest of its founding comes from Cherokee National Historical Society memberships, donations, federal and other grants, ticket sales, and museum gift shop sales. Therefore founding has been an on-going challenge. The Cherokee National Museum, the year-round center of the Cherokee Heritage Center, is modeled after a traditional Cherokee longhouse with sloping sides of native stone. Upon entering the Cherokee National Museum, visitors pass through the gift shop to an introductory display where they are welcomed, o-si-yo, and thanked, wa do', for visiting, an indication of the importance placed upon the use of the Cherokee throughout the museum. The exhibits are laid out in roughly chronological order along a single path through the museum. Although the museum exhibition is designed to present the cultural history of the Cherokees from the arrival of humans on the North American continent to the present day using art, the focus of the exhibition is the Cherokees' survival and life in Indian Territory after the Trail of Tears. From the beginning, the Cherokee National Museum's exhibits focus the visitor's attention on forced migration. The first exhibit to confront the visitors is the sculpture "Exodus," a potent symbol of Cherokee struggle during the forced migration and the unofficial symbol of the Cherokee Nation today. The powerful sculpture, carved from a solid black of native walnut in 1967 by Willard Stone, a nationally-recognized Cherokee artist, conveys its message through both its aesthetic beautiful and strength and the artist's inscription on the base: Over a trail of tears, reaching from the great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee to eastern Oklahoma, transferred and transplanted in our present state. In this block of native walnut...I have tried to capture the tragedy, heavy load of sorrow and heartache being overcome by a courage and determination seldom, if ever; equaled by any race in history against such heavy odds. Other displays graphically illustrate the Cherokees' losses since European contact. The "Original Cherokee Territory" display uses maps to show the reduction in Cherokee populations and lands from European contact in 1540 to Removal in 1838-1839. The "Cherokee Maps" display compares the territory taken from the Cherokees in the East with the territory given to the Cherokees West by the United States Government. The "Cherokee Removal" display also maps the East at different points in time, as well as the overland and river routes taken during the forced migration in 1838-1839. The display text states that the forced migration resulting from the 1835 Treaty of New Echota bought "untold hardship" for the Cherokee people leaving "countless unmarked graves" in the wake of their journey. Many of the displays focus on the tribe's survival and florescence after the Trail of Tears. The "Cherokee Language" display focuses on how Cherokee education flourished after the Trail of Tears at the Cherokee National Male Seminary and the Cherokee National Female Seminary. Both seminaries were established in 1851 and were intended to prepare Cherokee children to enter Eastern colleges and to obtain a more accepted place in white society while keeping their Cherokee heritage alive. A display with an old printing press once used by the Cherokee Phoenix, the tribal newspaper that began in 1828 and is still being published as the Cherokee Advocate, testifies to continuity and progress in tribal literacy. The "Cherokee Medicine" display focuses on continuity in Cherokee religion, music, and dance, including the Stomp Dance, a ceremonial dance performed to express thanks and remind participants of their responsibilities to the continuance of life on earth. The "Cherokee Recreation" display attests to the continuing popularity of Cherokee games and contests, particularly stickball which was occasionally substituted for warfare. Other displays focus on continuing traditions in Cherokee pottery, basketry, and weaving after the forced migration. Several displays that focus on the Cherokee Nation today bring the story of Cherokee survival and success after forced migration into the present. Subjects include the Cherokee Nation's community self-help programs, Headstart, and other educational programs, tribal high school, and other services from the tribal government whose capital building and offices are located nearby. Since 1969, the Trail of Tears outdoor drama has told the story of the forced migration of the Cherokees and other Native American and non-Native American actors during the summer months to reenact the Trail of Tears and its aftermath. The drama both serves as a memorial to those who died and focuses attention on the impact of this bitter journey on the lives of the Cherokees who survived and their descendants. The oldest component of the Cherokee Heritage Center, the Tsa-La-Gi Ancient Village, is a living museum separated from the rest of the complex by a wooden fence. The Ancient Village has been educating the public about ancient Cherokee culture and traditions for almost 30 years and employs local Native Americans, mostly Cherokees, during the summer months to recreate the life of the Cherokee people in the 16th century. There are demonstrations of flintknapping tools and weapons, pottery-making, woodcarving, and leather-working. The village made such an impression on me as first-grader that I still remember the rectangular (summer) and circular (winter) dwellings, the people dressed in deerskin, the fires, the gourds, and the only Cherokee stickball game that I ever witnessed almost 30 years ago. Many other Oklahomans have related similar stories no me about the impact that trips to the village and the museum had on them as children-quite a testimony to its success. The Cherokee Heritage Center is clearly a forum for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma to present a local tribal viewpoint on their own history and identity. How can museum representations recognize and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity of a nation while struggling against the divisive potential of this diversity? Can Native American groups like the Cherokees only receive accurate representation in their own local tribal museums? Are both national and local museums needed for balanced representation? Anthropologist James Clifford has concluded that no museum can tell the whole or essential story of a group. Both Clifford and anthropologist Adrienne Kaeppler suggest that the difference between national and local museums may be somewhat exaggerated, i.e., the objects in exhibitions may be similar through the emphasis and message may be different. For example, the portrait of John Ridge, son of Major John Ridge, in Harvard's Peabody Museum communicates the positive message that the Cherokee were "civilized" as shown by the prominent Cherokee's European dress against the popular stereotype of Native Americans at that time. The same portrait of John Ridge in the Cherokee National Museum would communicate a more Ridge family were put to death as traitors by the tribe moving to Indian Territory. The repatriation of Native American objects will certainly effect the balance of collection in national and local museums by sending many objects in national museums back to the tribes. According to anthropologist Wilcomb Washburn, these objects will not be lost, but consigned to local Native American museums. In a sense, this is yet another forced migration, a potentially healing reversal in which the tribes' relocated cultural property and human remains are being forcibly moved back to their present homelands. Local tribal museums such as the Cherokee Heritage Center can provide important lessons for tribes seeking to establish their own museums to house objects belonging to the tribe, including those objects repatriated as a result of Act H. R. 5237. While the repatriation of Native American objects already in museums is potentially a positive relocation, the repatriation of the archaeological past may be more problematic for the Cherokees and other relocated tribes. The archaeological past of Oklahoma is actually foreign to the relocated Cherokees, yet the archaeological material from the original Cherokee homeland in Tennessee on display in the Cherokee National Museum seems out of place in a museum so focused on the Cherokees' lives after forced relocation to a new and distant homeland. This disassociation with their archaeological past makes the connection between the Oklahoma Cherokee and the land different in their present homeland. While not trying to divorce the Oklahoma Cherokees from their archaeological past, perhaps the memory of the original and present Cherokee homelands in more appropriate connection than the actual relocation of cultural material. The benefits of having local tribal museums such as the Cherokee Heritage Center are many, particularly presenting an alternative, Native American perspective on a nation's shared history. According to Clifford, tribal museums "express local culture, oppositional politics, kinship, ethnicity, and addition." He suggests that in some respects, local tribal museums are not museums at all, but "continuations of indigenous traditions of storytelling, collection, and display." The Cherokee Heritage Center is an excellent example of a tribal museum which expresses and continues Cherokee culture and traditions, allowing visitors to see Native Americans society. The Cherokee Heritage Center stands as a tribute to the perseverance of the Cherokee people and as a testimony to their efforts to preserve and share their culture despite such hardships as forced migration. I would like to tank Mac Harris, Executive Director, Cherokee Heritage Center, and Tom Mooney, Curator of Collections, Cherokee Heritage Center, for their invaluable input regarding the history and the future of the Cherokee Heritage Center. My deepest gratitude is also due to Dr. Rubie Watson for her encouragement, guidance, and editorial advice on this article and the search paper for her course on museums and representation from which it grew. References * Clifford, James. 1991. "Four Northwest Coast Museums: Travel Reflections" in Exhibiting Cultures. The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display. edited by Ivan Karp and Steven D. Lavine, pp. 212-254. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. * Foreman, Grant. 1972. "Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians. Volume 2, "Civilization of the American Indian Series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Gutelius, David Payne. 1992. The Official Guidebook of the Cherokee National Museum. Tahlequah: The Cherokee National Historical Society. * H. R. 5237, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. * Kaeppler, Adrienne L. 1992. "Ali'i and Maka'ainana: The representation of Hawaiians in Museums at Home and Abroad." in Museums and Communities: The Politics of Public Culture. Lavine, pp. 458-475. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. * Mihesuah, Devon A. 1993. Cultivating the Rosebuds: The Education of Women at he Cherokee Female Seminary, 1851-1909. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. * Washburn, Wilcomb E. 1990. "Museums and Repatriation of Objects in Their Collections." in The Hall of the North American Indians: Change and Continuity. edited by Barbara Isaac, pp. 15-18. Cambridge: Peabody Museum Press. Article copyright Cultural Survival, Inc. Cultural Survival helps Indigenous Peoples around the world defend their lands, languages, and cultures as they deal with issues like the one you’ve just read about. To read about Cultural Survival’s work around the world, click here. To read more articles on the subject use our Search function and explore 40 years of information on Indigenous issues. For ways to take action to help Indigenous communities, click here. We take on governments and multinational corporations—and they always have more resources than we do—but with the help of people like you, we do win. Your contribution is crucial to that effort. Click here to do your part.

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Writing as Engineers A Guide to Written Communication for Engineering Students The quality of your design or idea will be evaluated based on your ability to communicate it. Many excellent projects were never accepted because they were poorly written. Language, to an engineer, is a tool as important as a calculator or sophisticated software. Engineering is collaborative. Effective cooperation between team members requires precise understanding. Careless use of language and weak application of professional practice (convention) may render otherwise gifted engineers isolated and helpless in a world of complex cooperation. Poets and novelists are language artists. They are driven by the beauty of words and the flow of passages. They communicate in a figurative reality. Engineers are language craftsmen. They are precise. They strive for accuracy. Wasted words interfere with clarity, and passages without logical connection result in inefficiency in completing projects. Engineers are writers. On the job, they prepare reports, submit proposals, create guides and manuals, and distribute information in letters and emails. Engineers may spend as much as 60% of their working hours writing to diverse audiences to achieve a variety of purposes. Each document written by an engineer is produced to achieve a specific purpose. Each document is targeted to a specific audience who plays an essential role in a project in progress. Engineers who are skilled at using language as a precision tool enhance their potential for successful careers. Engineering Handbook Sections Click on the links to navigate to the section of interest For many reports, the cover letter may act as an abstract or executive summary. The letter introduces the topic of the report. It summarizes the report and should follow the organizational scheme of the report. The following example letter illustrates the standard business letter format and describes the basics of what is included and how the letter is formatted. know your audience All writing, including creative writing, is done with a specific audience in mind. In professional practice there are two distinct super-groups for which one is likely to write: an internal audience and an external audience. An internal audience is a group or person within your own organization, such as a boss, coworker or professional workgroup. Internal audience share common vocabulary, points of reference, and values with the author. It is acceptable to use local terminology, acronyms, and shared biases. External audiences are typically clients (or prospective clients), but can be any group or individual from outside your organization. They do not have the inside information or background shared by internal audiences. Avoid using jargon, spell out acronyms, and use terms that are easily understood. Provide necessary background information that would not be necessary when communicating with internal audiences.Page Numbering ● All pages in the report are numbered, excluding special pages like the title page, front and back covers. ● In contemporary design style, all pages use Arabic numerals. ● In traditional design style, all pages before the introduction, the first page of the body of the report, and after the last page of the report, use lowercase roman numerals. Arabic numerals are used in the body of the report. ● Page numbers are usually placed at the bottom center of the page (to be easily hidden). If page numbers are placed at the top of the page, numbers must be hidden when a heading or title is at the top of the page. ● For longer reports, double-enumeration page numbering is used to make adding and deleting pages easier. For example, pages in Chapter 7 are numbered 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, etc. List of Figures and Tables Create a new page with a list of figures, tables, illustrations, diagrams, and charts that are in the report. For shorter reports, lists of figures and tables are combing in one list and organized in the order of appearance in the report. In longer reports, create a separate list for figures and tables. Both lists can be placed on the same page. The title of the list and figure is left justified and the page number of appearance is right justified.Abstract The abstract is a summary of the report and should be less than 5 percent of the body of the report. Most readers read the abstract to extract useful information rather than reading the entire report. Abstracts should summarize and identify the purpose or goal, the rationale behind the purpose, the most important data, findings, and brief interpretations of data and findings. Do not include references of quoted/ paraphrasing information. The abstract should begin on a separate page and be no more than 150-250 words. The executive summary includes key facts and conclusions made about results or findings. For reports 10 to 50 pages long, the summary is 5% to 10% of the length of the report. For reports longer than 50 pages, the summary should not exceed three pages. The summary is similar to the abstract, but it is longer and has more details. The abstract, summary, introduction might seem repetitive, but this will allow the reader to pick up on all details, because most people do not read the entire report and skip around from section to section to pick out information. The introduction gives the reader background information, history, statistics, and general purpose. Less than one-third of the introduction should cover background information and history. This will gain the reader's interest in the subject and provide context. Background information should be revealed to the report rather than general. Include brief overviews and background information on both topics covered and not covered in the body of the report. Any information the reader will need to understand the report is stated in the introduction. The introduction should be less than 10 percent of the body of the report. This Body of the Report is the main section. Depending on the type and length of report, subheadings are used to denote different sections or topics. For example, an experimental report will have a “Theory/Methods”, “Results”, and “Discussion” section, whereas a project proposal may have headings such as “Overview”, “Timetable”, and “Budget”. Subheadings allow the reader to skim the report for information important. Most reports include graphics and tables in the body. Any table or figure included in a section of the report must also be referred to in that section. For example: “The slope of the tangent line was used to determine acceleration after 3 seconds (See Fig. 2).” Any table containing raw data which cannot be reasonably referred to within the body of the report, should be placed in an appendix. Graphics and tables should be presented professionally, and be labeled clearly and accurately. For further information, see “Appendix B: Equations, Figures and Tables.” Depending on the information contained in the body, bulleted, numbered, or columned lists may be used to help emphasize key points, make information easier to follow, and break up solid blocks of text. The body may contain symbols, numbers, and abbreviations; the grammar rules about writing out numbers 0-10 do not apply to engineering reports. Remember to define acronyms or abbreviations the first time you use them. Technical information full of numbers and symbols can become tedious to wade through. To assist your audience, organize your paragraphs into a logical sequence. Group small paragraphs with related information together and add short overview paragraphs at the beginning of subsections. Check your grammar, word usage, and punctuation. Poor grammar and punctuation can lead to confusion in an otherwise good paper. Write clearly and concisely. Passive voice can be unwieldy and awkward, so use the active voice. Avoid redundancy and leave out unnecessary words and phrases. The conclusion is similar in length to the abstract. In it, you present conclusions as they relate to your experimental objectives. The conclusion relates back to the introduction by providing general information on implications, applications, and possible future developments on the topic. However, where the introduction provides information from the body of knowledge available on the topic before this report, the conclusion must expand on those areas based on the new data or information presented in this report. No new information is presented in the conclusion. Instead, summarize the key points of the report, draw logical conclusions from the preceding discussion, and give the reader a sense of closure.References Citing sources protects the authors of the information, and allows them to receive credit and acknowledgement for their work. It also protects you from being accused of plagiarism. Citing demonstrates to the readers that you have done research, you are aware of recent developments, and you give the readers information where they can find the information to read it themselves. Fundamentals of Using Sources ● Summarize the most important and relevant information from the source. ● Use research to influence and support, rather to controlling your thinking and writing. ● Incorporate sources into the context of your work. When Sources must be Cited Always cite the following: ● Quoted or paraphrased quotations, opinions, and predictions. ● Another author’s statistics, theories, and visuals. ● Another author's direct research procedures, findings, experimental methods, or results. Reference Page Format ● List sources in the order they are cited in the text, not alphabetical order. ● In the IEEE system, only the author's initials first name is given. The titles of journal articles are in the form of a sentence not a title. ● Single space individual references and alight the second or third with the first. ● Double space between separate references. ● Use common abbreviations for journal titles if there is one. If not, give the full name of the journal. ● End each reference with a period. ● If a source is referred to more than once in the text, only list the source once in the reference page. Integrating Sources in the Text ● Only use sources if it is absolutely necessary in the introduction and conclusion. ● Use sources in the middle of the paragraph, not the beginning or ending of the paragraph. ● Integrate sources within the paragraph to blend your ideas with the ideas of the source's. Links to Helpful Websites for Citing and Listing References Appendix A: Symbols, Numbers, and Abbreviations ● Temperatures in Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Rankine are expressed using the ° symbol instead of the written word. For example: "The water is 22°C." Temperature in Kelvin is expressed as 32 K. ● Measured quantities, such as decimal points, dimensions, time, money, frequency, weights, degrees, etc. are expressed in Arabic numerals. ● Avoid starting a sentence with a number. If it is unavoidable, write out the number. ● When using acronyms or abbreviations for the first time, write out the complete name and then place the abbreviation in parenthesis following it. After this is done once, the abbreviation can be used alone for the rest of the report. Appendix B: Equations, Figures, and Tables Formulas and equations are used to efficiently communicate ideas to the other engineers. Equations should not slow down the reader and must be appropriate for the audience. ● Short, uncomplicated equations can be included as part of the sentence without special spacing. ● If the equation is in the sentence and is too long for a single line, break the equation before an =, +, -, or x sign, use these signs to start the line and then continue the equation. ● Longer, more complicated equations should be centered and set off on a new line. ● When centering an equation, skip one line above the equation and one or two after the equation. ● Define symbols and members of equations just after the equation, by introducing them with the word "where." ● If possible, do not let the equation continue from one page to the next. ● If equations need to be referred to more than once, the equation can be numbered in parentheses at the right-hand margin. In the text the equation can be identified by the number of the equation in parentheses. Figures and Tables fundamentals for figures ● Do not label tables as figures. Figures are drawn or photographed pictures, charts, and graphs. ● Arrange figures from left to right. ● Label the axes of the graph with complete words and units in parentheses. Use "Temperature (Celsius) versus Time (Seconds)" rather than "T (*C) vs. t (sec)." ● Use line graphs to plot continuous variables such as time or temperature. ● Use bar graphs or pie charts for discontinuous variables such as percentages or sampling in intervals. ● Use photographs or drawings to visually present the materials such as a poppet valve or a built up diesel engine. ● Use flowcharts to present a series of events and outcomes. ● Use footnotes for additional or explanatory material such as “values are estimated” or “values are based on a study from 2003”. Fundamentals for Tables ● Do not label figures as tables. ● The title of the table should be clear and explain what the data represents. ● Each entry in the left-most column (called a stub) must apply across the entire row, and each heading of a column must apply to all entries below it. ● Stub items are arranged logically -- smallest to largest, alphabetically, or categorically. ● Stub headings will include the units in each column or row, if necessary. ● Straight lines are used to separate the table's title from the column headings, the column headings from the body of the table, and the bottom of the table from the paper's text. Straight lines to box the table is appropriate to separate the table from the text. ● Construct tables so the reader can read down a column rather than along a row. ● Use footnotes for additional or explanatory material such as the fact that values are estimated or values are based on a study from 2003. textual references to figures and tables ● Figures and tables are numbered consecutively, beginning with number 1. Figures and tables are numbered separately from each other. ● Capitalize the "t" in table and "f" in figure, when referring to a specific table or figure in the text. ● Introduce figures and tables in the text in logical places. "See Figure 3" can be written in parentheses at the end of a paragraph or at the beginning of the paragraph, where the paragraph will be written based on the figure. ● After the table or figure is presented explain and interpret it in the text. Avoid re-writing the information from the table or figure in the text, unless you interpret the information. ● When a reference to the table or figure is the subject of the sentence, use a verb like “shows” or “compares”, to describe how the figure or table works. captions for figures and tables ● The caption appears below the graphic for a figure and above for the table. ● Bold or underline the word "figure" or "table" and the number in the caption. Present the caption in plain text with the first letters of important words capitalized. ● Write complete, descriptive captions for figures and tables, so it would make sense even if the caption was ripped from the paper. For example, instead of "Figure 4: Air Flow" use "Figure 4: The Air Profile of a Helicopter Above the Rocky Mountains" ● If the table or figure is the same or based on another author's, include the words "Adapted from" followed by the author's name in the caption. ● Always cite the table or figure when presented, using the same citation style as the paper. The citation appears at the end of the caption. Appendix C: Common Jargon Jargon should only be used when talking to people within a subject or particular profession because it allows communication to be clear and precise. Using jargon in papers where the audience is not familiar with the subject makes the writing imprecise, confusing, condescending, or intimidating to the reader because the audience is not familiar with the words and phrases. For instance, to the average person ATM means automated teller machine, but to an electrical engineer it means asynchronous transfer mode. Jargon is necessary for technical papers of specialized fields to provide clear and concise energy. There is common jargon between general fields in engineering, and within specific fields of engineering such as mechanical, nuclear, or electrical engineering. For instance, an electrical engineer would use words like "transient" "phasor" "conductor" to analyze a circuit. Alternatives to common jargon words and phrases are in the list below: Engineering Jargon Meaning CAD Computer aided (assisted) design CAM Computer aided manufacturing CFD Computational fluid dynamics CIM Computer integrated manufacturing CNC Computed numerically controlled DSP Digital signal processing FEA Finite element analysis IP Internet protocol ISO International Organization for Standardization RF Radio frequency TQI Total quality improvement Alpha particle Positively charged particle; consists of two protons and two neutrons Beta particle High-speed electron or positron emitted in Conduction Transfer of thermal energy through a substance due to a temperature gradient Convection Transfer of heat from one region to another Damping ratio Ratio of resistance in damped harmonic motion that is necessary to produce critical damping Decay heat Heat released as a result of radioactive decay Electrical resistance Opposition of current flow Equilibrium All conditions of a system are balanced Engineering Strain Ratio of the change in deformation to the Engineering Stress Force exerted per unit area Fanning friction factor Dimensionless number used to study fluid friction in pipes Half-life Time it takes for a substance undergoing decay to decrease by half Isotope Types of atoms of the same element with different number of neutrons Metacenter Intersection of vertical line through the center of buoyancy of a floating body at equilibrium and at an angle Metacentric height Vertical distance from a ship's center of gravity to the metacenter Prandtl number Ratio of momentum diffusivity (kinematic viscosity) and thermal diffusivity Prototype An original, full-scale, working model of a product Radiation Emission of energy in the form of rays or waves Reynolds number Ratio of inertial forces and viscous forces Jargon Word/Phrase Alternative Additional Added, Other, More Adjacent to Next to Advantageous Helpful, Useful Afford an opportunity Allow, Let Alleviate Ease, Reduce As a consequence of Because As a means of To As well as And At present Now At this point in time Now At the present time Now Basic fundamentals Basics By means of By Capable of, Capability Can, Ability to Close proximity Near, Close Comes into conflict Conflicts Cutting edge Progressive, Leading Despite the fact that Although Due to the fact that Due to, Because, Since Empower Allow, Let Exhibits a tendency to Tends to Facilitate Help, Ease, Make possible Feedback Opinion, Reaction For the duration of During For the purpose of To For the reason that Because Foreign imports Imports Forthwith Now, Immediately Future prospects Prospects Give consideration to Consider Has a requirement for Needs Holds a belief Believes If at all possible If possible In a timely manner Quickly In addition to Also, Besides, Too In close proximity Near, Close to In order to To In regards to About In the course of During In the event of If In the majority of Usually, Most In the near future Soon Initiate Start, Begin Input Advice, Response, Comments Make an attempt Attempt to, Try No later than By On numerous occasions Often On the grounds that Because Parameters Boundaries, Limits Personnel Staff, People Pertaining to About Possibly might Might Postpone until later Postpone Prior to Before Provide guidance for Guide Qualified expert Expert Real-world problem Social (or Business) issue or problem Refer back to Refer to Regarding to About Solicit Ask for State of the art Latest Subsequent to After That being the case If so The majority of Most Thereafter Then, Afterwards Until such time as Until, When Vast majority Most, Majority Wide range Range Wide variety of Variety With the exception of Except Without further delay Now, Immediately Appendix D: Headings and Lists Headings and subheadings in technical reports should be in parallel form. Headings must be in the same grammatical form. For example, if giving instructions for a laboratory process requires a set of steps, each with a series of operations, heading for each step should be in the same form as other headings of the same level. Pour the dirt Mix the dirt Dry the dirt Weigh the dirt Parallel construction is useful in giving directions within each step. In the example that follows, each action is described by an active verb followed by a description. Turn heat to high. Pour 1 gram of agarose solution into flask, forming a 100 mg sample. Pour 100 milliliters of 1x buffer (TAE) into flask Insert a magnetic stirring rod into flask. Cover the mouth of the flask with cling wrap. Pierce cling wrap, making a small hole which will prevent pressure build-up. Place the flask on heat plate. Turn on magnetic stirrer, ensuring that no clumps of agar form. Wait for the agar to come to a boil. Transfer flask to a water bath, preventing solidification. Essential Skills for Academic Writers

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Holocaust/Shoah: Educational Resources and Projects Belated moral condemnation and humane regret are not enough. The historical facts must be made known, the social causes that made them possible must be understood, and we must become aware of our own responsibility for what goes on around us. We do not escape the past by thrusting it to the back of our minds. Gerhard Schõnberner The Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-1945 Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Scholarly Journal) Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies: The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, is "a high priority for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It supports scholarship and publications in the field of Holocaust studies, promotes the growth of Holocaust studies at American universities, seeks to foster strong relationships between American and international scholars, and initiates programs to ensure the ongoing training of future generations of scholars specializing in the Holocaust." Other Holocaust Education Resources and Projects America and the Holocaust — The American Experience: This documentary, originally broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and now available on DVD, "paints a troubling picture of the United States during a period beset by antisemitism. It reveals a government that not only delayed action, but also suppressed information and blocked efforts that could have resulted in the rescue of hundreds and thousands of people." The Web site and the DVD come with a teachers' guide for using America and the Holocaust in the classroom. The DVD includes teaching materials in the form of a 1.2-MB PDF document; I include this document here for the benefit and convenience of teachers who may not have access to a computer with a DVD-ROM drive. (For supplemental reading, I higly recommend David S. Wyman's The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust: 1941-1945 [New York: Pantheon, 1984]; Dr. Wyman is interviewed extensively in America and the Holocaust, and is an authority on the subject matter.) Anne Frank Trust UK: The Anne Frank Educational Trust UK is a "non-profit registered charity whose aims are to educate against all forms of racism and discrimination by explaining the history of Anne Frank and the Holocaust." The Anne Frank Trust is the "only British organization licensed by the Anne Frank House to use Anne Frank's name for educational purposes." Anti-Defamation League — Braun Holocaust Institute: The Braun Holocaust Institute's programs for educators, students, community leaders, and families "explore the enduring impact of the Holocaust and apply its lessons to contemporary issues of prejudice and moral decision making. Through these efforts, the Institute hopes to ensure that the Holocaust — and the brutality that humankind inflicted upon itself — is never forgotten." Educators and students will also be interested in viewing the Anti-Defamation League's main Holocaust Web page for additional resources, ideas, and announcements. Australian Memories of the Holocaust: Sponsored by the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, the purpose of this Web site is to educate about the Holocaust: "The site is aimed at students, teachers and people with a genuine and serious interest in the subject. It reflects the moral imperative to teach and learn about the Holocaust/Shoah in order that it may never be repeated anywhere in the world, to any other peoples or nations." Beth Shalom Holocaust Web Center: This Web site is a portal — created and maintained by the Beth Shalom Holocaust Center in Nottinghamshire, England — providing information on the Center's ongoing projects for commemoration, education, scholarship promotion, and genocide prevention. Center for Holocaust Education: Although this Web site is almost entirely in German, it provides a useful resource about the Holocaust for teachers and students. The origins of the site lie in the pioneering Holocaust studies of Dr. Matthias Heyl of Hamburg, Germany, who intently explores the issue of Holocaust education, particularly Holocaust education in Germany. (Matthias Heyl has authored, co-authored and co-edited several books and more than twenty essays, in German, English and Dutch.) Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies: Created and maintained by the University of Minnesota and directed by Dr. Stephen Feinstein, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies offers a virtual museum of Holocaust and genocide art; histories, narratives, and documents; educational resources; links and a bibliography; and, contact information. The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies was established in the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts in 1997 as a resource for teaching and informing the public about the Holocaust and contemporary genocide. Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education: The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion) is "dedicated to teaching the Holocaust to promote tolerance and diversity. The only center of its kind in the Tri-State, the educational initiatives at the Center tell the stories of the Holocaust using eyewitness accounts that are compelling, and inspire action. The Center trains teachers and clergy, sustains permanent and traveling exhibits, and educates the community through a variety of public outreach programming." "Cybrary" of the Holocaust: The Cybrary of the Holocaust is part of an extensive project to create educational materials about the Holocaust. The site offers many resources and sponsors on-line, educational events. Facing History and Ourselves: The Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation is "a national educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry." Facing History conducts workshops, institutes, and seminars for teachers — and offers a wide variety of resources, including books, periodicals, speakers, and videotapes. Forgotten Holocaust (Five Million Forgotten): Sponsored by the nonprofit Holocaust Forgotten Memorial, the goal of this Web site (and the organization) is "to acknowledge and memorialize the millions of non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust." History of the Holocaust from A Personal Perspective — Lesson Plan: Created and maintained by George Cassutto, this lesson is "intended to supplement any teacher's implementation of the standard Holocaust Education curriculum. It involves the integration of basic historical research, oral history, creative writing, and analysis of primary and secondary documentation." Holocaust Chronicle: This presentation is a companion Web site to the book, The Holocaust Chronicle, containing the complete book, on-line, at no charge. The site is an excellent, searchable reference tool for teachers and students. Holocaust and Jewish Studies Sites: Created and maintained by Professor Dan Graf of Virginia Wesleyan College, this Web page contains an unannotated set of links to Web sites relating to the Holocaust and the field of Jewish Studies. Holocaust Educational Foundation: The Holocaust Educational Foundation is "a private, non-profit organization established in 1980 by survivors, their children, and their friends in order to preserve and promote awareness of the reality of the Holocaust." Holocaust Remembrance Days Collaborative Project: The Holocaust Remembrance Days Project has received recognition and support from many Holocaust museums around the world. Marsha Goren describes Holocaust Remembrance Days Project herself: "I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. My mother, Sonia Frenkel, was one of the lucky survivors of the one of the harshest concentration camps in Poland — Majdanek — and she lived through Auschwitz as well. Before passing away in 1991, she requested that I teach the next generation about the Holocaust. It was important to her, and I decided to utilize my project, Global Dreamers, for this important mission in promoting tolerance to children around the world. I believe in the power of the Internet and have been implementing an international project for five years now. Global Dreamers prompts students at Ein Ganim, Israel — and from around the world — to join in a multicultural project that captures students' thinking in a visual way. It inspires children to take a deeper look at the world by exploring, exchanging ideas, and using research tools. It supports a positive learning environment and a shared learning experience. In addition, it aims to encourage crosscultural communication and to promote global understanding." Holocaust Remembrance Days: "We will never forget!" (Note: This Holocaust education project is appropriate for elementary and junior high school educators and students.) Holocaust Resources — Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: This Web site by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh provides an annotated bibliography of Holocaust education resources. The categories include dictionaries and encyclopedias, books, DVDs and videotapes, museums and memorials, and Internet resources. Holocaust Studies Center: The Holocaust Studies Center at Bronx High School of Science was established in 1978 by founder and director Stuart S. Elenko, with the ongoing purpose of maintaining "public awareness of the important lessons of the Holocaust which continue to be . . . important today." The center has received international praise and houses a "collection of original and important Holocaust documents, diaries, photographs, letters, posters, books, uniforms, autographs, and Holocaust-related artifacts." Holocaust Teacher Resource Center — Holocaust Education Resources for Teachers: The Holocaust Teacher Resource Center (TRC) Web site is "dedicated to the memory of the six million Jewish people slaughtered during the Holocaust and the millions other people slaughtered during the Nazi era. It strives to combat prejudice and bigotry by transforming the horrors of the Holocaust into positive lessons to help make this a better and safer world for everybody. (This site is sponsored by the Holocaust Education Foundation, Inc.) Educators (kindergarten through college) will find on this site materials that can be brought into the classroom and studied. Whenever possible entire documents are included and may be downloaded for direct use in the classroom." Jehovah's Witnesses — Courageous in the Face of Nazi Peril: Presented by the Web version of The Watch Tower, the official publication of the Jehovah's Witnesses, this site offers information about Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust; the information originally appeared in Awake! magazine in 1995. HopeSite Home Page — Centre for Holocaust Education: "The Victoria Holocaust Remembrance and Education Society invites you to remember and learn about the Holocaust, to reflect on what it means for us today, and to rekindle hope for a better future." (This site is sponsored by the Victoria Holocaust Remembrance and Education Society.) International Baccalaureate Holocaust Project: Created and maintained by Daniel Blackmon's contemporary history class in the International Baccalaureate program at Coral Gables Senior High School in Dade County, Florida, this site provides student research on topics such as the "Aryan" myth, Hitler's world view, the Nuremburg Laws, the SS, the "Final Solution," the ghettos, resistance, and modern persecutions. iEARN's Holocaust/Genocide Project (Archive): The Holocaust/Genocide Project of iEARN was an international, nonprofit, telecommunications project focusing on the study of the Holocaust and other genocides; it involved schools (Grades 7-12) in several countries — including the United States, Israel, Australia, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Cambodia, Argentina, Romania, Russia, and South Africa. Although the project is no longer part of iEARN, this Web site provides and archive of its activities and continues to serve as a research tool. Kindertransport Association: Founded by Edward Behrendt, the Kindertransport Association (KTA) is a "not-for-profit organization of child holocaust survivors who were sent, without their parents, out of Austria, Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia to Great Britain." The mission of the KTA is "to locate, reunite, and bring together those individuals who, many years ago, were directly involved in the Kindertransport, and who have since immigrated to North America; to educate and inform the 'Next Generation,' as well as the public in general, regarding the story of the Kindertransport as an important part of Holocaust History, and, to be involved with charitable work, particularly as it pertains to needy children without parents, regardless of race, creed, color or religion." Learning about the Holocaust through Art: Available in English, Hebrew, Spanish, and Russian, this Web site provides high-quality reproductions of art works produced during the Holocaust. In addition, the site includes biographies of the artists and histories of the ghettos and camps in which they were interned. Study resources and lesson plans support the site's use in the classroom, and an interactive section enables users to choose and annotate works for their own on-line collection. Literature of the Holocaust: Presenting materials related to the University of Pennsylvania course "Literature of the Holocaust," this site is maintained by Dr. Al Filreis, Professor of English, and contains links to other sites. March of the Living: The March of the Living is an international one which "brings Jewish teens from all over the world to Poland on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to retrace the infamous death march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, and then to Israel to observe Yom HaZikaron, Israel Memorial Day, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day. The goal of the March of the Living is for these young people to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and to lead the Jewish people into the future vowing 'Never Again'." Massuah — The Institute for the Study of the Holocaust: Massuah, which means "beacon" emphasizes the main purpose of this organization: "to serve as a guide, to warn, to enlighten, to shed light in the darkness and ambivalence associated with the Holocaust." Massuah was established as a nonprofit organization in the 1960's at Kibbutz Tel-Itzhak. Its education credo is "dealing with the moral, political and cultural issues raised by the events of the Holocaust [because they] are still relevant to all human beings." Massuah has developed many educational programs for today's young people, students, and educators. (Note: THis Web site is in Hebrew.) Maven — Holocaust and Antisemitism: Maven is an on-line Jewish resource with information in over 190 categories. Its page of links relating to the Holocaust and antisemitism is quite extensive. Museum of Tolerance: The Web site of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance (MOT) offers extensive teaching and learning resources about the Holocaust, antisemitism, and tolerance. Visitors can access the Museum of Tolerance multimedia learning center and Tools for Tolerance for Professionals, "a leading provider of transformational workplace learning and leadership development," which offers classes and resources for educators and students. In addition, the Web site provides the MOT teachers' guide (various sections of which are available in multiple languages); the teachers' guide includes the Simon Wiesenthal Center's famous 36 Questions about the Holocaust, in English, Spanish, and Swedish. National Catholic Center for Holocaust Studies: The mission of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education is "the broad dissemination of scholarship on the root causes of antisemitism, the relation of these causes to the Holocaust — and the implications from the Catholic perspective of both for today's world." The Center is an active member of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations. Remembering for the Future: Remembering for the Future is "a scholarly forum for the evaluation of the Holocaust in an age of genocides. Its aims are to assess the impact of new material and research, particularly in the post-Communist era; to reassess the Jewish-Christian dynamic in the light of the Holocaust and provide a unique opportunity for eye witnesses and scholars to work together; to disseminate new findings. It will seek to assess the legacy of the Holocaust and encourage the continued development of its study." Remembering the Holocaust: Written by Louie Volpe for the Jewish Post of New York, this review covers technologies which "are presenting some interesting ways in which we can remember to 'not forget'. Using these tools of the times, we can explore the past, present and future of the Holocaust by way of CD-ROM, the World Wide Web and on video tape." Remembering the Holocaust: Based in Australia, this Web page is an annotated set of links to sites about the Holocaust: "The Web is an invaluable way of keeping alive the memories of the Holocaust. On this page are but some of the many resources available on the Internet. (If you know of others please tell me.) I created this page as my simple way of remembering those who perished and of honouring those who survived." Responses to the Holocaust — A Hypermedia Sourcebook for the Humanities: Maintained by Dr. Robert S. Leventhal of the Department of German at the University of Virginia, this archive "is intended to introduce the viewer/reader to the various discourses, disciplines, media and institutions that have produced significant critical and theoretical positions and discussions concerning the Nazi Genocide of the Jews of Europe, 1933-45. In this hypermedia sourcebook, a hypertextual research, teaching, and learning archive, the responses of disciplines, various media and institutions includes, but is not limited to, literature, philosophy, literary criticism and theory, sociology, psychoanalysis, history and historiography, religious studies, film, art and architecture, political theory, informatics and the history of technology, and popular culture or cultural studies." Simon Wiesenthal Center: The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) "is an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. The Center confronts important contemporary issues including racism, antisemitism, terrorism and genocide and is accredited as an NGO both at the United Nations and UNESCO. With a membership of over 400,000 families, the Center is headquartered in Los Angeles and maintains offices in New York, Toronto, Miami, Jerusalem, Paris and Buenos Aires. Established in 1977, the Center closely interacts on an ongoing basis with a variety of public and private agencies, meeting with elected officials, the U.S. and foreign governments, diplomats and heads of state. Other issues that the Center deals with include: the prosecution of Nazi war criminals; Holocaust and tolerance education; Middle East Affairs; and extremist groups, neo-Nazism, and hate on the Internet." Simon Wiesenthal Center Digital Archives (Sample Holdings) Simon Wiesenthal Center — Digital Archives: The Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance's Digital Archives provides teachers, students, and researchers with access to the photographs, documents, and artifacts of the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance Archives. The Digital Archives includes images owned by the Library and Archives, which are available to users worldwide — to access, browse, and download at a low-resolution level. (High-resolution images may be requested.) The archives are searchable by various criteria, and users may keep personalized records of retrieved items, or purchase high-resolution copies from the Digital Archives. Social Studies School Service — Teaching the Holocaust: This section of the Social Studies School Service Web site is an on-line catalogue of Holocaust-related teaching materials, including books, videos, DVDs, posters, and CD-ROMs. (Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Social Studies School Service and offer this information as a service to teachers and others interested in educating young people about the Holocaust.) Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation: "In 1994, after filming Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg established Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation with an urgent mission: to videotape and preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. Today, the Shoah Foundation has collected more than 50,000 eyewitness testimonies in 57 countries and 32 languages, and is committed to ensuring the broad and effective educational use of its archive worldwide." Via its Web site, and with products, programs and partnerships, the Shoah Foundation conducts global educational outreach. Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust: Created and maintained by the University of South Florida, this Web site provides an "overview of the people and events of the Holocaust through photographs, documents, art, music, movies, and literature." Teaching the Holocaust through Stamps: The Holocaust education project, Teaching the Holocaust through Stamps, is "an interdisciplinary and computerized program through the use of stamps, pictures, texts and paintings by children in the Holocaust" The site is available in English and Hebrew. We Remember Anne Frank: Sponsored by the children's book publisher, Scholastic, this educational Web site relates the stories of Anne Frank, her childhood friend Hanneli Pick-Goslar, and Miep Gies (who helped the Franks in hiding). The site provides interviews with Pick-Goslar and Gies, a teacher's guide with lesson plans and a bibliography, and brief stories about selected Holocaust rescuers and survivors. YIVO Institute for Jewish Research: "The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is one of the world's preeminent repositories of library and archival materials on the fate of European Jews during World War II. The Institute's collections are open to the public, and may be consulted during regular working hours." The Institute's extensive Holocaust collections are held in two separate departments, "the Library and the Archives — according to type of material: Books, periodicals, and newspapers are kept in the Library; manuscripts, organizational files, and photographs are held by the Archives."

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who died June 9, 2000 at the age of 82, was one of America's greatest 20th Century artists with a spectacular flair for composition and social comment. colored works are a blend of realism and abstraction and have a kindred spirit with the oeuvres of Stuart Davis and Ben Shahn, but his inventive eye places him with Monet in the pantheon of those artists gifted with infinite riches of compositional creativity. introduction to the exhibition catalogue, Peter T. Nesbett, founder and director of the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project, and Michelle DuBois, observe that Lawrence "is an iconic figure, one of the great modern painters of the twentieth century, a distinction he earned early in his career when he gained widespread recognition for the narrative painting series, 'The Migration of the Negro in 1941.'" has walked a careful line between abstract and figurative art," they wrote, "using aesthetic values for social ends. His success at balancing such seemingly irreconcilable aspects of art is a fundamental characteristic of his long and distinguished career. Lawrence is one of the first American artists trained in and by the black community in Harlem, and it was from the people of Harlem that he initially obtained professional recognition. He was also the first African American artist to receive sustained support from mainstream art museums and patronage outside of the black community during an era of legalized and institutionalized segregation. In 1941, at the age of twenty-four, Lawrence joined the Downtown Gallery, becoming the first artist of African descent to be represented by a major commercial art gallery. There he exhibited alongside such established modernists as Stuart Davis, John Marin, Charles Sheeler, and Ben Shahn, all of whom later became close friends. For over sixty years and with intentionally limited means (water-based paints on boards or paper), he has harnessed the seductive power of semi-abstract forms to address many of the great social and philosophical themes of the twentieth century, especially as they pertain to the lives and histories of African Americans: migration, manual labor, war, family values, education, mental health, and creativity. He made visible a side of American history that includes the contributions of African Americans; has presented scenes of daily life that provide a compassionate counterpoint to stereotypical images of African Americans; and painted poignant social commentary on the effects of racism and bigotry in American culture." numerous other fine African-American painters such Romare Bearden, Horace Pippin, Robert Gwathmey, Robert Duncanson, and Osawa Tanner. While the African-American experiences and history make up much of the subject matter of Lawrence's oeuvre, a preoccupation with the importance of racial interests takes much away from a full appreciation of his art, which transcends its important subject matter and is not limited by it. It is a bit unfortunate that his materials were so inexpensive as they also tend to distract a viewer from his always powerful and dynamic imagery. While there is no question that Lawrence was a great "black" artist, he was, more importantly, a great artist. While Lawrence unquestionably was very focused on black concerns and issues and his oeuvre is very important in its social statements, it wrongly marginalizes his powerful artistic talents to view him merely as an ethnic Jr. was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1917. Lawrence's mother and her children moved to Philadelphia in 1924. She moved to New York City in 1927, but her children stayed in foster homes in Philadelphia until 1930 when they joined their mother in Harlem in an apartment at 142 West 143rd Street. Lawrence attended PS 68 and the Frederick Douglass Junior High School and after school he studied arts and crafts with Charles "Spinky" Alston at the Utopia Children's House at 170 West 130th Street. In 1932, Lawrence attended the High School of Commerce and continueed to study with Alston at the WPA Harlem Art Workshop in the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library and then at 306 West 141st Street and from 1934 to 1940 he rented space in Alston's studio. In 1934 he dropped out of school and delivers newspapers and liquor and works for a printing shop. The next year he meets Charles Seifert, a lecturer and historian who encourages him to make use of the Arthur Schomburg collection at the New York Public Library and visits museums with him and sees Afrian Negro Art at the Museum of Modern Art and he begins painting Harlem scenes using commercial tempera (poster) paints on lightweight brown Lawrence works for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) near Middletown, New York and watches Alston painted Magic and Medicine, a WPA mural installed in 1937 at the Harlem Hospital. Lawrence completes his first series, The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, a group of 41 paintings about the establishment of the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere in Haiti. In 1937, he obtains a two-year scholarship to the American Artists School at 131 West 14th Street, an organization that the catalogue notes was "organized by the John Reed Club, a Communist organization." He applies to the WPA Federal Art Project but is rejected because of its age requirements. In 1938, he begins a series on the life of Frederick Douglass, the Maryland slave turned abolitionist, speaker and writer and is hired by the easel division of the WPA Federal Art Project. The Douglass series of 39 paintings is completed in 1939 and he gives it to the Harmon Foundation as collateral against a loan of approximately $100 and he begins work on a series about Harriet Tubman, a former slave who became an abolitionist and an important figure in the Underground Railroad. In 1938, Lawrence has a solo exhibition at the Harlem YMCA sponsored by the James Weldon Johnson Literary Guild and he also exhibits in the Twenty-one NYC Negro Artists at the Harlem Community Center. In 1939, Lawrence exhibits with Samuel Wechsler at the American Artists School and ARTnews notes that his "style is easy to call primitive but closer inspection reveals draughtsmanship too accomplished to be called naïve." The Toussaint series is shown as part of the Contemporary Negro Art show at the Baltimore Museum of Art and Newsweek singles it out as a "discovery." The series is then shown at the De Porres Interracial Council headquarters on Vesey Street in New York and he is praised by Alain Locke in Opportunity magazine as an "intuitive genius." Lawrence wins second prize at Exhibition of the Art of the American Negro, 1851-1940 at the American Negro Exhibition in Chicago and the Toussaint series is shown at Columbia University. Also in 1940, Lawrence gets a $1,500 fellowship from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to do a series on "the great Negro migration during the World War" and his application is accompanied by recommendations by Alain Locke, Lincoln Kirsten, Helen Grayson and Carl Zigrosser. In 1940 he moves to 33 West 125th Street, a building where Romare Bearden also has a studio. year, he works on 60 panels of the Migration series simultaneously, completing them with the assistance of Gwendolyn Knight, an artist who prepares the gesso panels and helps write the captions and he marries her and soon joins the Downtown Gallery where he exhibits regularly until 1953. The Migration is shown at the Downtown Gallery and Fortune magazine publishes 26 of the panels. In 1942, Adele Rosenwald Levy purchases the even-numbered works in the Migration series for the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Duncan Phillips agrees to exhibit the entire series at his Phillips Memorial Gallery in Washington, D.C., and he purchases the remaining 30 panels. Also in 1942, he is a summer art instructor at Wo-Chi-Ca (Workers Children's Camp) in Port Murray, New Jersey, a camp loosely affiliated with the IWO (International Workers Organization), a Communist organization. According to the catalogue, Lawrence "is recruited to join the Communist Party but never does." Lawrence is inducted into the U. S. Coast Guard and the next year he is assigned to the USS Sea Cloud, a weather patrol boat and the first racially integrated ship in U.S. naval history. His paintings of the Coast Guard are shown at the Museum of Modern Art in October, 1944. In 1946, he teaches at the summer session at the Black Mountain College in Asheville, N.C., at the invitation of Josef Albers, who, the catalogue notes, "hires a private train car to transport the Lawrences to and from Asheville so they need not move to the 'colored' section of the train at the Mason-Dixon Line." In 1947, Walker Evans of Fortune magazine commissions him to do paintings of Negro Life in the South. In 1948, Lawrence voluntarily enters Hillside Hospital in Queens for depression and Edith Halpert of the Downtown Gallery contributes to his medical expenses. He stays at the hospital for almost a Halpert decides to create a new gallery, the Alan Gallery, that will represent the work of the Downtown Gallery's younger artists such as Lawrence and Jack Levine, but Lawrence is unhappy with the arrangement and when four years later the Alan Gallery "restructures" itself, Lawrence is no longer represented by it, but that same year, 1957, he serves as president of the New York chapter of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1958, he joins the faculty of Pratt Institute where he stays until 1960 when he is given a retrospective exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1962, he joins the stable of the Terry Dintenfass Gallery "through the encouragement of Robert Gwathmey and Philip Evergood, and the following year serves as president of the artists' committee of the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1965 he works as artist-in-residence at Brandeis University at the invitation of Mitchell Siporin, an artist with whom he had exhibited at the Downtown Gallery. Lawrence has a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Milton Brown wrote in a catalogue essay that Lawrence was "the first wholly authentic voice of the Black experience in the plastic arts," adding that "he avoided the appearance of sophistication, though his use of 'expressionist' distortion would indicate an awareness of modern art forms." Lawrence is a co-founder of the Rainbow Art Foundation with Romare Bearden, Willem de Kooning and Bill Caldwell to assist young printmarkers and artists whose art is seldom seen including the work of "indians, eskimos, asians, hispanics, and blacks." is exhibited regularly and makes murals for the Joseph R. Addabbo Federal Building in Queens and the Orlando International Airport and the Times Square subway station. In 1990, President Bush awards him the National Medal of Arts. Three years later, Robert Hughes, the art critic of Time magazine observes that Lawrence's Migration series, then on view at the Phillips Collection in Washington, is "of far greater power than almost all the acreage of WPA murals that preceded them in the 1930s." In her catalogue essay, "Inside-Outside, Uptown-Downtown, Jacob Lawrence and the Aesthetic Ethos of the Harlem Working-Class Community," Leslie King-Hammond quotes Charles Alston as stating of Lawrence that "there was always something very simple and direct about is approach." She quotes Lawrence that "Our homes were very decorative, full of pattern, like inexpensive throw rugs. It must have had some influence, all this color and everything. Because we were so poor the people used this as a means of brightening their life. I used to do bright patterns after these throw rugs; I got ideas from them, the arabesques, the movement and so on." emphasis on Harlem as the primary subject matter in his nonserial paintings of the late 1930's and early 1940s," King-Hammond wrote, "is distinct from the art of many of his colleagues and mentors at the time. Whereas Lawrence drew thematic inspiration from his immediate environment, many other artists crated images that strongly recalled their lives and experiences in the south. Figurative imagery was important to African American artists and their communities who longed for a representation that would honor their likeness. However, the lure of abstraction and the question of modernism charged the intellect of artists like Norman Lewis, whose Umbrella tests abstraction's potential to convey modernist interpretations of African American life. Alston, [Ernest] Crichlow, Lewis, and Lawrence worked closely during the years of the 1930s and acted as mutual catalytic forces on each other's lives and art. From this small sample of images - all produced in Harlem in the 1930s - it is clear that no two artists in Harlem worked in the same style. The diversity of styles and approaches available gave the artists freedom to express themselves individually while having the support and admiration of their peers." produces lithographs by Alston, Crichlow and Lewis that clearly indicate that those artists are very worthy of more attention points out that "pivotal to the success of the [Migration] series were the complementary texts that accompanied each panel," adding that "Because looking at art was new to the New Negroes, Lawrence tried, through the text panels, to underscore the message of his art and to validate his viewers' newly found sense of literacy." few artists have devoted much of their careers to large narrative series of paintings, meant to be seen as an ensemble, as opposed to a thematic series of independent works. Lawrence is certainly the foremost American artist to have produced several important narrative series and surely he was influenced to an extent by the popularity of the Mexican muralists whose work inspired many artists of the WPA period when large-scale public works required grandiloquent, if not grandiose, visions. sounds and music of the jazz age were not lost on Lawrence as he incorporated the aural elements of rhythms, breaks, and changes into the visual polyphony of Harlem's environment, people and culture. Technically, his work in the medium of gouache became more sophisticated through the assistance of Romare Bearden, who had a studio in the same building and who also shared a love of Harlem and jazz," King-Hammond observed. In her catalogue essay, "The Education of Jacob Lawrence," Elizabeth Hutton Turner notes that Frank Lloyd Wright once observed that Lawrence "would make a good architect" and that early in his artistic training Lawrence "began making pictures inside card-board shipping cartons." "Lawrence did not keep the boxes, but he has described them. They were, as he said, 'places where I had lived.' He did not conceive of them as replicas - like ships in a bottle. Rather, they were arrangements. He said that he filled the boxes as one would design for the stage, though, in his words, 'I didn't know about theatre at the time.' The idea of people on a platform posing or performing like players would be carried over to such paintings as Lawrence's migrants and builders themes. Lawrence has confirmed that he did indeed discover an analogue to painting while working within the present geometry of the boxes. 'They were just like any two-dimensional painting - only they were three-dimensional,' he said." creating his earliest cycles," Turner wrote, "Lawrence first wrote captions and completed sketches (sometimes as many as ten to twenty) for each scene. Lawrence's first question, in fact, when he met [José Clemente] Orozco making a mural in New York in 1940 was, 'Where's your sketch, where's your detail?' Orozco told Lawrence that he did not need one. By 1941 Lawrence would eliminate the separate step of sketching on paper by drawing directly on his same-sized gessoed panels of hardboard. He created rhythms of horizontal and vertical panels as he laid out the narrative sequence. As [Diego] Rivera said, 'The subject is to the painter what the rails are to a locomotive.' Set down like a track on his studio floor, the thirty to sixty panels of a given cycle could be seen together and, most important, painted all at once. Lawrence painted color by color, building up pattern and, in so doing, buttressing dark to light. His choice of colors - black and burnt umber moving to cadmium orange and yellow - achieves an overall decorative unity and consistency in The Migration of the Negro series, for example. Conceived as image and word, the poetry of Lawrence's cycles emerges from the repetition of certain shapes. The enlarged single spike or nail, the links of chains, o lattice, the hand and hammer serve as refrains in the lives, the decisions, the struggle of African Americans in the face of injustice." In her essay, "The Critical Context of Jacob Lawrence's Early Works, 1938-1952," Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins provides the following commentary: began his career during the waning years of the Harlem Renaissance, an outgrowth of modernism, when primitivism was current in the minds of an intellectual world that also included blacks. Harlem, and its performers and artists who utilized and visually portrayed black folk idioms, was perceived as exotic. Cabaret acts featuring black performers who performed a black popular repertoire and even sacred songs were sought as entertainment, in this country and abroad, for largely white audiences. Second only to American Indians, black people were valued in the white American consciousness and culture only for their so-called primitive qualities. Although Lawrence was too young to be considered an artist of the Harlem Renaissance, he and many black artists of the time were met by a critical reception that perpetuated such ideas. They faced a dilemma as they concentrated on presenting their new modern black communities and especially nationalistic folk themes. If not modern - and they could not be that completely in the eyes of white modernists - the Negroness expressed in their literature and art was perceived as primitive by their white audiences. For members of an art world that delved into the primitive only as voyeurs, Lawrence perfectly fit the white notion of a black artist. He was not privileged but poor; he was not light-skinned like his mentors but very black; he was not university-trained but was characterized as self-taught. Writing about The Migration of the Negro series in the New York Sun in 1941, Henry McBride remarked, 'there is little in Lawrence's work that departs from this saga of sadness. Its appeal lies in the fact that in his emotional reactions to it he has really gone native - has preserved the Negro's instinct for rhythm and love for crude brilliant colors which he handles with unfailing decorative felicity.' When he produced the Tubman and Douglass series, these heroes were not yet well known outside African American communities. His introduction of these characters into art thus also introduced them to many Americans, and it called for a bold style. In the Tubman paintings, for instance, Lawrence shows Tubman's strength through her physical stature: broad, square shoulders, large blocklike hands, and arms that work like machines. The artist often stretched this figure beyond the confines of the frame, expanding the viewer's scope. Lawrence used this abstract pictorial device in other works, especially those that focused on manual labor, such as the gouache on paper The Shoemaker. When The Life of John Brown was first exhibited in 1945, Lawrence's work - often compared to cartoon and poster work - was viewed as stylistically similar to that of such other American artists as Milton Avery. With this series critics began to cast a more critical eye on Lawrence's compositional designs." his stay at Hillside Hospital, critics noted that Lawrence's work became more sophisticated and subtle with a more varied palette. In his catalogue essay, "Harmonizer of Chaos, Jacob Lawrence at Midcentury," Richard J. Powell minimizes Lawrence's hospitalization and analyzes his evolving styles. longer wedded to pictorial storytelling or sequential visual narration, by the 1950s Lawrence had introduced into his work a heightened compositional dynamism, bold geometries, and thematic ambiguity. This shift is important, for it removed him from the social realist painters and their emphasis on sociopolitical redress in art and, instead, pushed him closer to the abstractionists and their preoccupations with intellectual interiority and open-ended interpretations. Not abstract by any stretch of the imagination nor part of the roster of 'modernist' art masterpieces as formulated by the critic Clement Greenberg, Lawrence's new paintings - figurative and anecdotal, but also decorative and frenetic - put him in league with many other midcentury American artist and intellectuals. These writers (e. g., William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg), musicians (e.g., Ornette Coleman and John Cage), and visual artists (e.g., Larry Rivers and Jasper Johns) often sought refuge in intentionally vague, indeterminate art vocabularies: devices and languages that, although unresponsive to the particulars of a social reality, performed on the fringes of contemporary life and employed elements of abstraction as a way, ironically, of restoring some semblance of meaning and order to a decidedly disaffected body politic. Although it is more the custom to view Jacob Lawrence's art as essentially humanitarian and stylistically conservative, a closer look at work he produced during the 1950s reveals abrupt stylistic departures from earlier formulas, subtle yet stinging observations about life, and a compositional armature that defied the standard, several specific paintings and notes that Lawrence's work begins to convey "an existential blackness that was incidentially 'colored'" rather than blatant "heralding race consciousness." Powell also observes that Lawrence begins to "compose in a manner similar to that of many abstract painters [and] one stylistic stream of painterly abstraction - specifically the investigation of anthropomorphic, glyphic, and 'all-over' forms - was of growing fascination to him." the following commentary on "In the Garden," shown above, a 1950 casein tempera on paper, 22 3/16 by 30 1/16 inches, which is in a private collection and one of the most striking works in the exhibition: within the painting's humanistic themes are swaying and bending plant stems, flying saucer-like blossoms, arabesque vegetation, and miniscule insects buzzing overhead and crawling underfoot, which collectively contribute to a discordant mood and the emotionally charged subject. More than just establishing In the Garden's outdoor setting, these organic elements, rendered with equal measures of verisimilitude and license, impart a primordial energy and life force that, ironically, counters the painting's 'work therapy' subject and an assumed drudge-like and/or institutional subtext. As with the works of many abstract artists, Lawrence's painted and drawn lines - at times undulating, or other times staccato - can be interpreted not solely in terms of what they represent but, rather, in terms of their implied dynamism and space/time expressivity; concepts that, in the context of the narrational concerns of the hospital pictures, shift the painting's emotional terrain from depression and convalescence to spiritedness and is one of Lawrence's masterpieces and is worthy of Homer, Van Gogh, Brueghel, Crivelli, Kirchner and Botticelli. Its persective is low and looking slightly upwards. Its precision is delicate but its composition is very strong and compressed. It is flooded with sunlit air. It is mysterious and strenuous. It is an exuberant nexus of man and nature, toil and celebration. discusses another remarkable Lawrence painting of the same year, "Slums," shown above, a 25-by-21 1/2-inch casein tempera on paper in the collection of Elizabeth Marsteller Gordon of San both a contrastive and a comparative way, Lawrence magnified the actions of flies, cockroaches, and other vermin, while simultaneously minimizing the painting's subject: crowded and substandard urban housing. The ultimate visual effects are an amazing blend of social documentary squalor, an almost surrealistic inversion of realistic scale and proportion and, most important, compositional overtures to diminutive, calligraphic- and grid-informed abstractions. Lawrence's decision in Slums to deemphasize human suffering and underscore the almost incidental presence of foraging insects denied spectators the assurances of relying on a classic, social realist 'art script.' Instead, Slums (like In the Garden) draws one's imagination away from reality and its attendant social agenda to a highly animated pictorial maelstrom that, though still grounded in figuration and signification, resonates with abstract, value-free conceptualizations and an art of linear tracings, visionary markings, and arresting colors." is compartmentalized horror. While it is brilliantly conceived, it is not as superbly finished as "In the Garden." It is, nonetheless, a wonderful work. would soon shift his focus to performances as subject matter and then in 1956 he completed another major cycle entitled "Struggle From the History of the American People." These works are markedly dynamic and forceful. No. 23 in the series, shown below, entitled "if we fail, let us fail like men, and expire together in one common struggle-Henry Clay, 1813," is quite astounding. The 16-by-12-inch egg tempera and on hardboard, collection of Dr. Kenneth Clark, is a stunning abstraction. the following commentary on this work: the explicit narrative in Struggle painting No. 23 was America's military shortcomings during the war of 1812 (specifically, the high death toll that resulted from an 1813 clash with the British on Lake Erie), Lawrence's jagged 'building blocks' and accents in black, white, gray, and red construct a pictorial space that, like paintings by the noted abstractionists Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline, can be interpreted as portraying something social and/or behavioral (i.e., aggression, confrontation, and resignation). The implicit narrative here is the universal, uphill 'battle' with life, and the inevitable feelings of personal entrapment and loss that all human beings experience." a great painting. Jacob Lawrence maintained that he was not a "protest" painter but a depictor of scenes. He had ambitious visions and experimented considerably with his styles over the decades. Some of the works in the series are a bit clumsy, but most likely intentionally so and always strong and there is little ambiguity about his sympathy for his subjects. This is a splendid show and an excellent catalogue.

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Be sure to see our Language & Literature Subject Center for more great lesson ideas and articles. Cross-Cultural Dialogue Writing: Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder Plot Expand students’ cultural horizons by shaping a fun dialogue-writing exercise around Guy Fawkes Night, a November 5 historical observance that’s popular in England. Harry Potter Inspires: Design a Wizard Sports Team In this lesson for grades K-2, students use creativity, reasoning and language skills to develop a new sports team. Harry Potter Inspires: Character Sketch for a New Wizard In this writing and literature lesson for grades 5-8, students create a new character that would fit into the wizard world. Creating a Poetry Collection In this lesson, which encourages students to think about the sounds of poems, students use lip-syncing software to produce an animated talking head. 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Then they write sentences using their own pictograph system. What's the Word? In this activity for grades 3-8, students define 4-5 vocabulary words, use a free online tool to create crossword puzzles with the words, and then share their puzzles for review. Portrait of a Hero Students select and research someone they consider a hero and then use facts about that person and quotes by that person to create micrographic portraits. As Easy as A, B, C Are your students learning their ABCs? Then check out these easy-to-use and fun Web sites filled with ideas for teaching and learning the alphabet. Whether you make the sites available in a computer center or display them on a projector, something valuable is just a click away! No Place Like Home Students learn to "read" digital content as they analyze photographs of high plains sod homes and read accompanying narratives. They then choose one photograph and identify characteristics, points, differences, and questions they find in that photograph. A Lesson in Proofing Students in middle and high school learn to use Word's Find/Replace feature to check written work, increase accuracy, and improve their grades. Teachers might want to use the feature too. Teaching Writing on a Computer Students love seeing their work in print, so why not have them write some of their work on the computer? Walk students through the basics of typing and saving on a computer. Edit Essays with Word Tables Still grading essays, red ink pen in hand? Next time your students have an essay due, ask them to submit their work in Word, help them identify their grammar and spelling errors, and then have them correct those errors using Word's table feature. Fun Activities Get the School Year Off to a Good Start! Every teacher has a different approach to the first few days of school. Whatever your approach, Education World has an activity for you! Books Give Us Wings In this Letters About Literature lesson, students read and discuss letters written by young readers to the authors of books that "gave them wings." Will the Leaning Tower Fall? Students in grades 9-12 research the Tower of Pisa and write a report about its history. They examine the physics of why the Tower leans and whether it might fall. Finally, they plan a trip to Italy to see the Tower, developing an itinerary and budget for the trip. A Favorite Poem Students explore a variety of poems, find one poem they feel a particular connection to, and share that poem by reading it aloud to their classmates. Students then create videos of their readings to share with other classes. Create A Poetry Calendar In this lesson, students research, design, and create a school-year calendar based on the work of famous poets. The activity, which can take 4-5 class periods to complete, is a great culminating activity for a poetry unit for grades 3-12. Help your K-8 class celebrate Women's History Month. Students research an influential woman, then create on the computer a quilt block with text and graphics. Quilt blocks are then printed and combined to form a quilt of connections. Students in grades 9-12 learn three ways to define a term in technical writing, search the Web for scientific text, then copy and paste sections into a Word document. Finally, they use the highlighter feature of Word to highlight examples of definitions within the text. Write a Number Story Make writing across content areas fun with this K-3 computer activity. Students use AppleWorks (or Office) to write and illustrate number stories. The stories then are used to create a Keynote or PowerPoint show and displayed for the class (or parents!) to see and share. Poetry From Photos: A Lesson on the Great Depression. Getting information from the Internet often is just a copy and paste operation. The challenge for teachers is to teach students to apply and extend what they learn online. In this lesson, students view photographs of migrant families during the Great Depression, try to interpret the photos to answer questions about the subject's life, and then write a cinquain poem based on their interpretations. PowerPoint Poetry Slam Make poetry come alive with this English lesson for grades 7-12. In a unique twist to a standard poetry reading, students select poems, create PowerPoint presentations that use graphics and text to enhance their poems, and then display those presentations as they read their poems aloud. Prehistoric Pen Pals Students research dinosaurs, then assume the personality of a specific dinosaur species in this lesson for grades 3-5. Each student/dinosaur writes an online "getting to know you" letter to another student/dinosaur in class. Students swap letters and reply to each other's questions, improving research and letter writing skills while learning fun dinosaur facts. The News Behind the (Short) Story Transform students from passive readers to gritty journalists. In this lesson, students read a short story, then create a one-page newspaper depicting the facts of the fictional story as real-life events. Included: Links to an online newspaper template as well as to a classic short story site are included. Take the Polar Express to Learning Polar Express, the movie, arrives in movie theaters nationwide on November 10. Don't miss the movie and the opportunity to take advantage of this "teachable moment." Included: Education World connects you to lessons, resources. Illustrating Illustrating Student Writing in Grades 1-3 In this lesson, students type in Microsoft Word a descriptive paragraph about a person or other creature they would most like to meet. They then draw in Microsoft Paint a picture of that person and/or of their meeting, and insert the image into the Word document. What's New? Translating Foreign Newspapers With Word Engage students while practicing translation skills. This activity helps foreign language students decode newspaper articles from around the world using Microsoft Word's Text-to-Table tool. How Does it End? A Lesson in Creativity Put students' creative talents to work by having them compose their own endings to a read-aloud story. Students use drawing software, such as Paint or AppleWorks, to draw, or write and draw, what they want to happen at the end of the story. Celebrating Asian and Pacific-Island Heritage Each May -- during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month -- we recognize the special contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage. The lessons here introduce students to famous Asian Americans and explore their origins and their literature. A Puzzle A Day Provides Practice That Pays Puzzles exercise students' critical thinking skills while providing practice in many curriculum areas. Puzzles make great "bellringer" activities. Introduce a puzzle a day: A puzzle a day provides practice that pays Included: A year of puzzles! Teaching Grammar Without the Hammer: Five Fun Activities Learning grammar has been compared to other fun things -- like having teeth pulled or being assigned detention. But it needn't be a painful experience with these five lessons that teach grammar -- without the hammer! Word Wall "Active-ities" Build Vocabulary, Spelling, Writing Skills A classroom word wall has many uses. A wide variety of activities and games can be used to reinforce vocabulary words on the wall -- and to build students' vocabulary, spelling, and writing skills. Included: Teachers share favorite word wall activities. Celebrate Books: A (Book) Week of Fun! The calendar might identify November 17-23 as Children's Book Week, but for most teachers -- always on the lookout for new ideas to promote literacy -- every week is Book Week. Education World offers five new lessons for a week of reading fun. Take Note: Five Lessons for Note Taking Fun If recent surveys are any indicator, cheating and plagiarism are on the rise. As teachers, however, we might be able to reverse that trend by teaching our students to take good notes. Included: Five fun lessons that teach needed note-taking skills. Spotlight on Spelling Each May, the National Spelling Bee is held in Washington, D.C. Since most of your students won't be there, this week we offer lesson plans to help put them there next year! Included: Five new lesson plans plus links to many more. Voice of Experience: Revisiting Walden Pond in 2003 If your students were to head for a modern-day Walden Pond, what would they take with them? Kathleen Modenbach shares an activity that helped her students grasp Thoreau's sacrifices and appreciate his work. Included: Cross-curricular activities extend the lesson. What is the Most Serious Problem Facing Earth? -- An Education World WebQuest In this special Earth Day WebQuest, student teams research a critical threat to Earth's environment as they vie for $1 million in funding from the fictional Help Our World (HOW) Foundation. Included: student work sheets, lots of Earth Day resources, more. Reviving Reviews: Refreshing Ideas Students Can't Resist Is review time a deadly bore for you and your students? Add a little fun to review time and you might be surprised. Games will spice up reviews, revive interest, and ensure retention! Included: Five activities for use in all subjects, all grades! Its Up for Debate! Debates are a staple of middle and high school social studies classes. But have you ever thought about using debates at the lower grades -- or in math class? Education World offers five debate strategies and extra lessons for students of all ages. Special Reading Fun for Read Across America Day Each March, on Dr. Seusss birthday, schools celebrate Read Across America Day. This week, Education World recognizes this special day with five new reading lesson plans plus links to dozens of great reading projects culled from our archive. It's a Mystery! If it seems that something has been sneaking up on you this month, it is probably Kids Love a Mystery Week! Included: Five mysterious lessons -- focused on language arts, history, and forensic science -- to ignite critical thinking and spark interest in reading. Winter Wonderland -- Lessons for Frosty Days! Though the weather outside is frightful, wintry lessons are delightful! Whether the topic is snow, cold, or other icy treats, winter is a frosty focus that will motivate and entertain your class. 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This week Education World provides five new lessons to revive student interest in writing friendly letters. These letter-writing lessons are sure to get your stamp of approval! Once Upon a Time Activities to teach fables, fairy tales, folktales, myths, and more. Turn Your Students Into Well-Versed Poets In celebration of National Poetry Month, Education World offers more than 20 poetry lesson plans to help teachers integrate poetry into their classrooms and develop "well-versed" students. Stage a poetry slam for profit, find the funniest poems around, write synonym poems, more! More 'Write' Stuff! Engage students with writing activities that involve them in writing round-robin stories, "indescribably" excellent descriptions, persuasive alien essays, tabloid news stories, and books about younger students they interview. Make the 'Write' Impression! According to the NAEP Writing Report Card published in 1999, 23 percent of fourth graders, 27 percent of eighth graders, and 22 percent of high school seniors, write at the "proficient" level. The push is on in schools across the U.S. to improve students' writing skills. This week, Education World provides five lesson plans to support that effort. Better Book Reports -- 25 Ideas! Tired of the same old book report formats? Do your students grumble every time you mention the words book reports? Spice up those old book reports with some new ideas. Education World presents 25 ideas for you to use or adapt. Lit to Fit: Literature Lessons for Every Grade Instructor Marcia Goudie says, "The Internet has put literature into the teachers' hands." Her Web site -- Children's Literature Activities for the Classroom -- directs educators in the direction of lessons made to fit the literary works they teach. Building on Biographies -- Bringing Real-Life Stories Into Your Curriculum! Who can dispute the value of a good story? Though students may initially view them as dull, biographies are the stuff that great classroom activities are made of -- history, honest, and heroism. With the help of the Internet, every teacher can bring biographies into the classroom! Vocabulary and Spelling: Do Your Students Say Boring? It is hard to argue the fact that a good vocabulary is an asset in life. What greater service can teachers perform than to help students foster their understanding of words? The Internet offers many tools for young etymologists and an abundance of great ideas for teaching vocabulary and spelling. Dig for definitions and pry for pronunciations -- virtual vocabulary has no limits! Spell It Out! Spelling lessons and activities from Education World can help your students join in the fun of the 74th annual National Spelling Bee. It takes place next week in Washington, D.C. Author! Author! Activities for National Children's Book Week! Celebrate the joy of reading during National Children's Book Week! To recognize this special observance, Education World offers ten lessons to spark students' curiosity about the wonderful world of books! Included: Activities that engage students in writing sequels to a classic story, "interviewing" people in biographies, completing surveys about their reading interests, participating in a poetry slam, and much more! Read All About It! Ten Terrific Newspaper Lessons! Education World celebrates National Newspaper Week with ten lessons to help you integrate the newspaper into your classroom curriculum. Included: Activities that involve students in interviewing a local newspaper reporter, creating editorial cartoons, comparing newspapers, and much more! Building on Biographies -- Bringing Real-Life Stories Into Your Curriculum! Who can dispute the value of a good story? Though students may initially view them as dull, biographies are the stuff that great classroom activities are made of -- history, honesty, and heroism. With the help of the Internet, every teacher can bring biographies into their classrooms! Included: Ten activities that begin with biographies! Harry Potter Haiku Kids by the dozens are creating original Harry Potter haiku and posting them to the Web! If you are a teacher who is looking for a fun -- and educational -- activity, why not turn students' enthusiasm for all things Harry Potter into a creative writing opportunity? Folktales of Cooperation for Your K-3 Class Are you looking for a fun and effective way of promoting the spirit of cooperation in your K through 3 classrooms? This week ---National Library Week--- Elaine Lindy, creator of the Absolutely Whootie Web site, shares three favorite folktales that will get kids thinking and talking about the importance of cooperation! After you use the tales in the classroom, why not send them home so the discussion about cooperation can continue? Included: Lindy shares follow-up activities and tips. Calling on the Muse: Exercises to Unlock the Poet Within I think that I shall never see ... well-disciplined creativity! How often has that thought crossed your mind? Don't despair! The experts -- working poets who teach their craft--- share their secrets for instructing and inspiring budding poets. Included: Exercises to help students access their creative powers and produce well-crafted poems. A Quotation a Day: Just What the Language Doctor Ordered! Many teachers have discovered the power of famous quotations. Such quotations can be used to develop students' writing and critical thinking skills. Included: "Why use quotations?" *plus* a quotation a day for 180 days of school. Priceless Works of Language Arts: Invaluable Activities! There are many ways to enrich the language arts lessons you teach. One is to add gems from the Internet to your collection. Teachers everywhere share their priceless bits of wisdom through mailing lists and publish their best ideas on Web sites. Let's mine the Web for golden reading, grammar, and language activities! Kids Can W.R.I.T.E. (Write, Revise, Inform, Think, and Edit) --- Activities for Every Grade! In July of 1965, Snoopy's first line as an author was, "It was a dark and stormy night." We can't all have his wonderful way with words -- written at least -- but we can work on it! How do you help your students overcome their fear of the blank page? How can you make writing an exercise in personal expression, not drudgery? One key to better writing is better writing assignments -- and the Internet has them! Let's tour a few of the finest writing activities that the Web has to offer! Vocabulary and Spelling: Do Your Students Say 'Boring'? Henry Ward Beecher said, "All words are pegs to hang ideas on." If words are pegs, does it follow that the more words we know, the more ideas we may have? True or not, it is hard to argue the fact that a good vocabulary is an asset in life. What greater service can teachers perform than to help students foster their understanding of words? The Internet offers many tools for young etymologists and an abundance of great ideas for teaching vocabulary and spelling. Dig for definitions and pry for pronunciations --- virtual vocabulary has no limits! 'Every Day' Activities: Language Build vocabulary skills, spelling skills, literature awareness, thinking skills, and more with daily fun. Make it a goal to work one of these Web sites into your lesson plans in the year ahead! Rhyme Time: Poetry Plans and Projects "If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry," said Emily Dickinson. Many students wouldn't disagree! Even the best teachers and students can be perplexed by poetry, but it doesn't have to be a painful experience. The Web is a rich source of verse and activities that make use of poetry. Bring poetry into your classroom through monitor and modem with the help of these activities! Tired of the same old book report formats? Or worse, do your students grumble every time you mention "book reports"? Spice up those old book reports with some new ideas. Education World presents 25 ideas for you to use or adapt. In addition: Ideas for cyber book reports! Taking the "Pain" out of Lesson Planning: Children's Book Resources on the Web Teachers are the original "borrowers." But there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of a good idea -- especially when it is volunteered! National Children's Book Week (November 16 to 22, 1999) provides the perfect opportunity to take advantage of a few of the Internet's best resources for teaching with children's books. So, books closed, pencils away, and monitors on -- it's time for some S.S.R. (Super Story Resources)! Included: Resources for teaching literature for teachers PreK to grade 12! ABC Books Aren't for Babies! Looking for some inspiration for an activity that will engage students -- from kindergarten to college -- while they learn? Why not challenge students to create their own ABC books? Included: More than 200 ABC book ideas -- spanning the grades and the curriculum! Reading Activities for Read-In! Day! Teachers who've joined The Read In! share their favorite reading activity ideas. Included: Theme ideas for reading fun! 25 Ideas to Motivate Young Readers! To celebrate Children's Book Week, the folks at the BOOK-IT! Program have given permission for Education World to reprint 25 great ideas from teachers -- ideas that are sure to get kids across the grades excited about reading! Seventh Graders Writing Italian Sonnets? You Bet! Glori Chaika's students at Slidell (Louisiana) Junior High School are among the most-often published poets in the country. Let's take a look at a program that has kids writing all kinds of poems---from quatrains to limericks to (yes!) Italian sonnets.

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Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology | Technology Integration is a term used by educators to describe effective uses of technology by teachers and students in K-12 and university classrooms. Teachers use technology to support instruction in language arts, social studies, science, math, or other content areas. When teachers integrate technology into their classroom practice, learners are empowered to be actively engaged in their learning. See a PowerPoint Presentation for more detail. When technology is integrated into the classroom, educators are taking the constructivist approach to learning. Students are becoming the experts while the classroom environment is shifting from teacher-centered to student-centered. An educator who is not supporting student learning by integrating technology in the classroom is causing a disservice to students and the work force that awaits them. The amount of available information is doubling every three years according to statistics. By the time kids graduate from high school, today's students will have been exposed to more information than their grandparents were in a lifetime. It has been claimed that ninety percent of the technology we will use in the next decade has not been invented or currently there is no access to at the moment. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has established standards for students , teachers , and administrators about the use of technology in K-12 classrooms. This professional organization is a leader in helping teachers become more effective users of technology in their teaching. ISTE espouses the following principal: The effective use of technology can help change the current educational paradigm in the following ways: |OLD PARADIGM||NEW PARADIGM| |Teacher-centered instruction||Student-centered learning| |Single sense stimulation||Multi-sensory stimulation| |Single path progression||Multi-path progression| |Isolated work||Collaborative work| |Information delivery||Information exchange| |Passive, receptive learning||Active, inquiry-based learning| |Factual, knowledge-based||Critical thinking, informed decision making| |Reactive response||Proactive, planned| |Isolated, artificial context||Authentic, real-world context| Constructivism, is a crucial component of Technology Integration. It is a term that describes the process of students constructing their own knowledge through collaboration and inquiry based learning. Students learn more deeply and retain information longer when they have a say in what and how they will learn. Technology Integration is more than just putting computers in classrooms. It is imperative that teachers and administrators be trained to make good use of the computers and other equipment and software. Also, teachers must not be afraid to learn along with their students. Many teachers use a constructivist approach in their classrooms assuming one or more of the following roles: facilitator, collaborator, curriculum developer, team member, community builder, educational leader, or information producer. See a Powerpoint presentation for more detail . Edutopia, an online magazine from the George Lucas Educational Foundation states: "When effectively integrated into curriculum, technology tools can extend learning in powerful ways. The Internet and multimedia can provide students and teachers with access to up-to-date, primary source material; ways to collaborate with students, teachers, and experts around the world; opportunities for expressing understanding via images, sound, and text". Digital Cameras Edit The use of Digital Cameras and Digital Media in K-12 classrooms is an excellent example of how "technology tools can extend learning in powerful ways." An ASU professor, Dr. Alice Christie, has worked extensively with multimedia in K-12 classrooms. Her Digital Media Resources is a collection of examples of K-12 students using digital media, tips and tutorials, lesson planning and assessment, articles, opportunities for professional development, and free online materials to assist teachers. Her article entitled Language Arts Comes Alive as Middle School Learners Become Information Producers is published in the Winter 2004 issue of Meridian Middle School Computer Technologies Journal . An update of this article includes three videos created by middle school students and their mentors. Digital cameras, both video and still, can be used for a variety of presentations. For example, if used for giving a speech on a process, a student can show the process using video and still images. Incorporated into a PowerPoint presentation, the speech would have a multi-media visual aid. This would make it more convenient to present topics on subjects that could not be illustrated in the classroom--things like shoeing a horse or rock climbing. Students are also able to use still digital camera shots to show students' work on the daily announcements that are viewed on the television throughout the day. They could also use digital cameras, video or still, in creating a student commercial type broadcast for upcoming events or past highlights. These could also be shown on the announcements. Digital cameras are used in a variety of ways in the classroom. They are tools that are easy to use even in the lower grades. Third graders can use digital cameras to capture events that are happening at their school. The images can then be transferred into a school newspaper that is run by the students. Images can also be used for persuasive, narrative, and informational writing assignments. Specail Education and ELL students and can benefit a great deal from the use of digital photos and video. Having both written words and photos or video to go along with it can help these students to understand concepts by prensenting them in several ways. These students can also communicate their ideas effectively by having images to go with their writing. Creating vocabulary "books" for ELL learners and Special Education students is one type of digital media activity that can be completed in the classroom. Digital media can be use in any phase of lesson, in introducing phase of any topic, in task phase , in research phase , in evaluation phase, and even we can use in giving specific examples to the class , explaining how different effects we can produce in a single software. Researches have found that as many as senses (eyes, ears) we are using in our classes, as much as productive response we are going to have in our classes. Take my example I use Digital media for produceing a special effect for Fashion Designing Website . Many such examples can be found in Dr. Alice Christie students webpage The use of digital video in the classroom can be very beneficial. Not only do students have a chance to take charge of their learning, but its use allows them to express themselves in a non-traditional method. Some ways that digital video may be used in the classroom include: - digital storytelling - video yearbooks - broadcast journalism - student portfolios - video important happenings (current events) - virtual tours Schools have began to use digital cameras more and more as they are educated in how they can be used effectively. The following website gives links to claymations, student activities, how to use digital cameras tutorials, and more; The use of digital cameras and digital video in a classroom can enhance the learning environment in a number of ways. By giving the students the opportunity to capture real-life allows them to directly relate to their learning. No longer are the left to imagine what something may look like or see something through someone else's eyes. Students can have an ownership over what they learn which in turn will give them a sense of attachment that can't come from a picture they see in a book. Also, using digital cameras and videos in the classroom challanges the student's creativity. Now that pictures are taken or video is filmed, what is the student going to do with it? The doors are open for a range of ideas and uses for the student's work. They can make movies, they can make photo galleries, they can implement their work into a PowerPoint; the list goes on and on. For some interesting ideas for how digital cameras and video can be used in the classroom, check out the following website Digital cameras can be used in other unconventional ways in traditional and non-traditional classrooms. Digital photography is an entirely new medium for students creativity. Through the use of photo-editing software, digital photographs become a new artform. Within seconds of taking a picture the artist/student is manipulating the picture as new means of expression. One of the best things about digital cameras are the instant replays. If you don't get what you want the first time, just shoot it again! You are instantly able to see the picture you have just taken. Schools can also use digital photography to put photos of students in a database of names and pictures. This would be especially useful to a substitute. There would be no way that Bobby could say he was Timmy if the sub had pictures and names at hand. Photo seating charts would come in handy as well. In addition, if you use a digital camera to take pictures throughout the year, it is very easy to label, modify and catalog them. They can then be burned to a CD and sent to a yearbook company for publication. Sending one CD is a lot cheaper than mailing a ton of printed photos or rolls of film. Plus, the school has more control on exactly what photos are used and how they are enhanced. Teachers need to stop thinking of technology as the goal and move beyond it to seeing information literacy as the goal and purpose. The value of technology lies in its ability to enhance student thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving. However, this only happens when the teacher uses technology and blends it into their everyday teaching. By emphasizing information, literacy we are showiing students how to think for themselves and help them understand how to interpret the information that is flowing into their lives. Blogs (short for Web log) is a relatively new communication tool that integrates technology. This tool has widespread use due to the ease of publishing to the Internet through what is usually free software, such as Blogger . This availability provides many possible uses in an educational system. One such use is a communication tool between teachers. Given the isolation from other adults most teachers face during the work day, and the time constraints on schedules after school hours; teachers can be hard-pressed to find time to collaborate and share ideas with peers. Having a common place to share ideas has the potential to support an educational system through an online professional learning community. Teachers who post entries on a web log are not limited to a single topic, but can reflect, argue, share opinions and their own experience, as well as read others’ postings to improve the quality of their teaching. This tool take time to use when considering the reading and writing that is involved, which may not be as effective as a face-to-face discussion. However, it does provide the opportunity to share or to learn from others in a virtual environment that does not have limitations to meeting times and place. Online learning communities can include members far beyond the confines of a school’s staff, district or even state or country. Blogging can be benefical to communicate among colleagues, especially since time is a factor. However, it may be difficult to speak freely since the information posted is public. It is not hard to write a better blog . Simple guidelines helps a lot in developing good blog, no matter what your audience size is. Not only can blogging be beneficial for professionals to collaborate and communicate, it can also be a valuable tool for teachers to use with their students. Students, just as teachers, can post their ideas in a blog, as well as view and comment on other students ideas, creating both a constructivist environment and promoting peer-collaboration. (For instance, a language arts teacher can have students 'journaling' writing themes/ideas in a blog as a brainstorming activity, then at other times, students can view other writing ideas as well as collaborate with each other to further develop their ideas.) Web Quests Edit Web Quests are student-centered, Web-based curricular units that are interactive and use quite a variety of Internet resources. The purpose of a WebQuest is to use information on the web to support instruction in the classroom. WebQuests can be used to build context, provide background, assess learning or to provide the "meat" of a unit. WebQuests can integrate cross-curricular activities as well as appeal to mulitple intelligences. Also, these activities appeal to students because they can be constructed as project, problem or inquiry-based learning. There are thousands of WebQuests online that can serve as models for constructing your own. There are many people who create or put together activities that they say are WebQuests, but in reality, do not fit the definition at all. Some have merely taken a paper and pencil assignment they have always done and put it into a form that utilizes pictures, video and graphics to spice it up and then call it a WebQuest. While it is commendable that they are trying, it does a disservice to true WebQuests. A true WebQuest consists of an Introduction, a Task (or final project that students complete at the end of the WebQuest), Processes (or instructional activities), Web-based Resources, Evaluation of learning, Reflection about learning, and a Conclusion. WebQuests also provide Teacher Notes that show linkage to content and technology standards, additional resources for teachers, and hints on classroom management of the WebQuest. In Search of a Hero shows how each of the components of a WebQuest fit and work together to provide students with authentic learning and assessment in technology-integrated classrooms. To view useful information about WebQuests, visit the following page with extensive information about WebQuests. To view useful information about how to create a WebQuest visit the following link . Wikipedia is a massive online encyclopedia. It is so popular that it is now one of the top 100 web sites in the world. People find Wikis as easy as e-mail and blogs . By clicking an "edit" button on an article, you are able to contribute the article's text. You can add or change content in the article you are reading. Wikipedia is the largest and most popular wiki on the planet. Teachers can use Wikipedia as a culminating project with their students. As a class project, students can research a specific topic, collaborate to bring their ideas together, then contribute their new knowledge within an article in Wikipedia. A Technology Rich Classroom integrates technology with best teaching practices for optimal student-centered learning. Research indicates that certain technologies may be more valuable than others in the classroom. The most important hardware in the classroom includes: computer (one per two students), printers, and digital cameras, followed by: document camera, projector, cd player/burner, and vcr. In addition, interactive hardware such as a Smartboard and Smartnotepad also prove to valuable classroom assets. To view useful lessons for using a SmartBoard visit the following links SMART Board Resources and Using Electronic Whiteboards in Your Classroom. Vital software includes: a cluster-skills program (Microsoft Office) including word processing, web browser, presentation software, followed by: photo manipulation, Inspirations, and graphic application with paint capabilities. The advantages of a technology rich classroom are: student's technology skills improve, they worked more effectively on their own, and have more meaningful cooperative interaction. In addition, the teachers are able to construct more dynamic presentations and enhance student learning. To view useful ideas on how to integrate technology visit the following link . Despite the push for more technology in the classroom, many teachers are still working with only one or two computers in their classrooms. This makes integrating technology and teaching needed technology skills a real challenge. A trip to the computer lab may or may not be feasible or even available within the schedule of the day. Creativity is the key to integrating technology and giving students the experiences necessary to be successful and responsible technology users. Some teachers are using their one or two computers for learning stations or as parts of larger group projects. To see some other ideas on how teachers are functioning in one computer classrooms read the article "One Computer Classroom." Virtual Field Trip Edit A Virtual Field Trip is a website that enhances the curriculum by allowing the students to experience places, idea, or objects beyond the constraints of the classroom. Unlike traditional field trips, students have the opportunity to visit and explore worlds outside their own communities. Because the trip is virtual, there are no limits to the destinations and no restrictions on time. Other advantages include: no cost, no liabilities, and no permission slips or sack lunches. Teachers can bring new worlds to their students either by visiting existing virtual tours or creating their own. Vacations take on new meaning for teachers and students because they can "bring" the rest of the class with them through a virtual field trip. Students can be given "passports" to visit other countries such as Burma (an Asian country). See the following links for other examples. Grand Canyon Explorer Explore a pyramid. Not only can you take a virtual field trip online, but you can actually visit a location, take pictures or video footage and create a virtual field trip using other applications such as PowerPoint. Even if you are not a digital camera user, you can still use a film camera and scan your pictures into digital format. Virtual field trips are more flexible and can incorporate the personality of the creator rather than a rehearsed tour guide. They are easy enough to create that your students could share their holiday trip with the class. This is a great way to balance out the push for test scores with the desire to produce well-rounded students. The ePortfolio is a promising framework for enduring learning, self-assessment and construction of value across a student's educational path. Learners learn by doing, and by constructing knowledge, meaning, ownership and value from the act of learning. An ePortfolio is a selection of work put together to show what a student has learned over a period of time. The student decides which pieces of work to include and how to present their work. Besides choosing pieces of work the student will write a reflection on what he or she learned through completing the work and creating the eportfolio. EPorfolios may be put together using programs such as PowerPoint and FrontPage. The program used to put an ePortfolio together must have the ability to link between programs and document. Teachers could also benefit from the use of ePortfolios. It could be used professionally as a self-assessment of what was accomplished within a school year. Components would include lesson plans, student samples, and a personal reflections of various tasks, projects, and/or assignments. Visit and for more information. Understanding by Design Edit Understanding by Design is a model that a teacher can use to develop a unit. The development begins with the assessment component. Here are some benefits of the UbD model: - promotes student engagement - start with the end in mind - provides design tools and template - encourages teachers to establish spirals of learning - can be challenging for many teachers - uses multiple methods of instruction - allows students to revisit and rethink ideas - uses a variety of resources - use of many strategies - active construction of meaning - samples or models are available for students - big ideas and essential questions are shared with students - authentic tasks rather than memorization - curriculum is structured rather than trying to cover material - focuses on understanding - establishes curricular priorities - incorporates six facets of understanding - Explain what they are doing and why - Describe the method in which their work will be evaluated - Engaged in activities - Describe the goals for the unit - Involved in self- or peer-assessment - Set goals - Lack of teacher training - Lack of administrator support/funding - Need for appropriate assessment - Lack of teacher confidence - can be challenging for many teachers - Lack of time and opportunity - Limited resources - Limited technological support - Non-reflective of daily teaching practices - Lack of personal interaction between students and teacher The Need for Web Site Evaluations Edit The amount of information being placed on the web is doubling every twelve months. Due to the rapid increase of information, it is essential that students know how to discern valuable sources. To ensure that students make valid educational choices, it is necessary to provide guidelines. These seven steps are an excellent resource. - Identify the right questions - Organize the search - Select appropriate search tools - Analyze online resouces - Synthesize, sort, and sift - Publishing new information - Get feedback New Teaching Methodologies Are Needed Edit In today's world of video games, cable and satellite tv, and high action digital video, teachers need to integrate technology in order to keep the attention of their students. The old methods of text book, pencil and paper are just not "flashy" enough for the "digital" generation. Students want to see their lessons on a big screen with action and sound. They want to be making PowerPoint and iMovie presentations. Now a child with a fear of speaking in front of their peers can make a presentation with a voice over and not worry about messing up the words or losing their notes. Technology is here to stay and teachers of all levels of experience need to realize this. While the need for technology and equipment is obvious, simply throwing money at the issue will not solve it. The proper research and evaluation needs to be completed in order to address the needs of the staff and students. The first priority of a district is to evaluate how technology will effect the success of the students. They must also determine the experience and willingness of their teachers when it comes to implementing a technology plan. Teacher buy-in, planning time and training is vital to making any technology plan successful. It is easy to get trapped into a cycle of upgrading expensive software and hardware without assessing the needs. Also it is crucial to provide teachers with support and training to integrate the technology into their current curriculum instead of starting over. Jamie MacKenzie has written an article that further addresses this issuelink title. Information Literacy Edit Information literacy is a very important but also a very difficult concept for students to grasp. Anyone can post anything on the web. They can appear to be an expert, even if they know nothing at all. Students think that if it is on the web it must be true. Teaching them to evaluate the information they find is an important part of education today. A good starting point is asking familiar questions, such as: Who is the source? What am I getting? When was it created? Where am I (on the web)? Why am I there? How can I distinguish quality information from junk? Our society is becoming an information age. This is changing the role of education from teaching information to teaching information management. In today's society, we have to be able to know how and where to find the information we need. The major problem today is not that we cannot find information, but that we find too much information. The amount of available information doubles every twelve months. We can become paralyzed by the amount of information we find. This can cause information overload and anxiety making the information lose all meaning for us. Educators need to teach students the skills to narrow the information from a tidal wave to a trickle that is easily used. For more information on the subject go to "We Have the Information You Want, But Geting It Will Cost You: Being Held Hostage by Information Overload". Although, the One Computer Classroom is not an ideal situation it can still work. There are different strategies that a teacher can use with only one computer available. One idea is to divide students into groups and allow each group a limited amount of time to accomplish a small task. Limiting the time will give them, at least, some experience with using the computer, especially if school is the only opportunity the students have to use a computer. Similarly, the instructor may use the computer as a station for independent skill development and assessment. Another idea is to use the computer as a presentation Station. This can be done by connecting the computer to the TV for display. The presentation station is a great way to grab and keep student's attention, as the instructor brings information to life. These are only two ideas of many that are available to those who are limited on the amount of technology they have access to. Don't be discouraged, the more you use it the more the students will love it! Online Information Edit Anybody can post information on the Internet, making it possible to find "proof" of any ideas or beliefs you can imagine. Yet to many students, "If it's on the Internet, it must be true." How to find good information With millions of pages already published, and thousands more being posted every day, finding information can be daunting. Some online searches produce hundreds of results?and many legitimate-sounding Web sites may not be what they appear to be. A good start is to use dependable sources, such as bookmarks collections from library and educational sites. Evaluating online information The resources listed in the right sidebar include strategies to help students think critically about online information. Using the template The Five Ws of Cyberspace as a guide, young people can examine the authorship, purpose, perspective and presentation of Web sites, in order to determine their credibility. Deconstructing Web Pages provides a step-by-step application of the five Ws to an actual Web site?with some interesting results. And finally, Quick Tips for Authenticating Online Information offers some simple and effective strategies for assessing sites. The two background documents (Evaluating Internet-Based Information: A Goals-Based Approach, and Evaluating Internet Research Sources, by educators David Warlick and Robert Harris), provide strategies and templates for disseminating online information, and for integrating Internet research into classroom assignments. Plagiarism is hardly a new issue in the classroom. However, the Internet makes it easy to locate ready-made information to cut and paste into research papers. That may make cheating a tempting proposition for some students. The Internet is forcing teachers to rethink how they assign and evaluate student research. For more information visit Plagiarism.org Teachers can easily check for plagiarism for free by putting a phrase or sentence from a student's assignment in the Google search box, enclosed in quotes. They can also search at http://www.PlagiarismChecker.com/ Advanced paid services such as http://www.TurnItIn.com check for plagiarism by comparing students' papers with each other. Copyright is a complex issue, especially as it concerns the Internet. However, there are some excellent online resources available. The Council of Ministers of Education, the Canadian School Boards Association and the Canadian Teachers' Federation have created a handy reference for teachers called "Copyright Matters!" And the Telus "2 learn" Web site has an extensive section on digital copyright called "What Every Teacher Should Know about Copyright." Links to these sites, and to the University of Berkley's "Style Sheets for Citing Internet and Electronic Resources," are provided in the right sidebar. Purchasing Technology for Schools Edit A school can't simply buy and install technology and think that it is going to make huge changes. As the article, Beyond Technology*) mentions, there are a number of things that have to occur in addition to the buying and installing of technology. Of all the reasons the author listed, teacher training and motivation is one of the biggest problems. There are still a large amount of teachers who prefer to teach in a traditional method and are unwilling and uncomfortable moving to more of a constructivist methodology. The authors strategy's for implementing and using technology were great explanations as to how the transition can be smooth. One interesting strategy was: Strategy 3: Invest in staff growth. The most powerful strategies to promote staff enthusiasm and competence are informal. Instead of falling into what I call the "software trap," we should offer a rich menu of learning opportunities that match the diverse styles, interests, and skill levels of our teachers. If there is an adaptation to accommodate the differences among teachers and their teaching styles, then it would be so much easier to implement and use technology efficiently. Interacting themes Edit Integrate technology does not exist in a void. Its power lies in the ability to identify supporting concepts. Here are six ideas supporting information literacy: - Collaboration should be part of the learning process. Teaching interdependence is natural in the process of information literacy. Students as well as teachers must learn how to use technology as a tool for communication, creation, and collaboration. Learning as a team and how to work in partnerships are key. - The teacher's role as guide is essential. Teachers must take on the roles of motivator, mentor, and co-learner if they want to produce information-literate students. Acting as a mentor is critical. (See telementoring at the National School Network Exchange site.) - Ethics play a role in the development of information literacy. Students must understand the ethical issues raised by the use and misuse of the Internet. In addition to plagiarism, slander, and pornography, ethical issues include unlicensed copying of software (theft); flaming via e-mail (poor netiquette); hacking into school records (unlawful entry); and creating viruses that corrupt files (destruction of property). - Technology must become part of the curriculum. Students must develop an understanding of how technology influences our lives. Much of the material included in courses on communication, transportation, or production (tech ed) can be useful to students in a college prep curriculum that has little or no reference to technology. Unfortunately, many schools see tech ed and tech prep as a separate curriculum to be kept strictly apart from the college prep curriculum. - Students must learn communication skills, including presentation and motivation skills. They should be able to communicate with technological media -- text, graphics, video, and sound. They must learn how to arrange information and motivate learners with more than the written and spoken word. Understanding the motivation of providing and receiving information will be one of the great challenges of information literacy. - Visual literacy is essential. This includes knowing how to create, organize, and display print, video, audio, and graphics. Learning how to use color, style, placement, and font size are important. Once they understand specific content, students must learn to articulate their knowledge both visually and verbally. -- G.B. and D.L. Beyond Technology Edit Districts need to allocate all the funds necessary to successfully integrate technology. They need to take the initiative of training staff, focusing on how to bring information literacy skills and experiences into daily routines. Overall devoting more developmental time and attention to curriculum opportunities and teaching strategies. Here are ten effective strategies mentioned in the article Beyond Technology: Making a Difference in Student Performance - Put learning first - Build support - Invest in staff growth - Slow Down - Focus and Provide adequate resources - use assessment to steer programs - Shed the ineffectual - Remember the lessons of the past - Heed research - Ask good questions Nortel LearniT Edit Nortel LearniT is a Not For Profit organization that provides free online training and resources for teachers to help move their teaching to a constructivist methodology that embeds the use of technology into core curricular learning. The use of technology allows the students to engage more deeply in their learning and create new content using higher orders of reasoning. This site provides streaming video tutorials on technology topics from using the Internet safely to Digital Video Production. In conjunction, it provides team-oriented hands-on lesson plans across the grades and core curriculum that link the technology into the classroom. The following websites provide information and examples of the use of digital video in the classroom: - Nortel LearniT Free video training and lesson resources for teachers and students. - digital storytelling - eschool news - technology integration - video guide - Mousing Around - MGuhlin.net Blog about Technology Integration by Miguel Guhlin - Mark Treadwell--teachers@work--internet tools for teachers Reviews of websites about educational matters, including information and communication technology - The Emergent 21st Century Teacher A resource of articles about teacher skills for the use of technology in education - Educational CyberPlayGround Site of articles about teaching, including the use of technology - Teaching Keyboarding--When? Why? How? Article about the teaching of keyboard skills in schools - Digital Video in Education Practical advice about the use of digital video equipment in education - Incredible@rtDepartment A resource for art teachers, which includes information about the use of technology in art |This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|

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Asheville had a population of 1,100 in 1860 and was the largest city in western North Carolina. During the Civil War (1861-1865) it hosted an armory, which manufactured Enfield type rifles until 1863, as well as some training camps and fortifications. For most of the conflict, while the Tar Heel State's coastal towns and ports had endured frequent Union bombardments and attacks, Asheville, besides being the object of a few raids, was absent any major Union assault. The pristine mountain community, nevertheless, suffered the privations familiar to many other Southern cities. In the first week of April 1865 the dynamics of the conflict had changed, however, because Gen. Robert E. Lee, after a nearly ten month siege at Richmond-Petersburg, had moved the battered Army of Northern Virginia toward Appomattox, causing the Confederate capital of Richmond to capitulate on April 3, and less than one week later, on April 9, Gen. Lee would surrender to Lt. Gen. Grant. Emboldened by Richmond's demise, Union commanders were no longer appeased with their harassing raids against the mountain enclave, because Maj. Gen. D. S. Stanley, commanding IV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, having command over neighboring East Tennessee, issued orders for a direct assault on Asheville with the objective of capturing the city, if it "could be effected without serious loss of life." On April 6, Colonel Clayton mustered a force of 300 Confederates and -- with two small brass Napoleon cannons -- marched them to rough earthworks on a hill that overlooked the French Broad route being used by Colonel Kirby’s 1,100-man brigade. When Kirby encountered the Confederates, he quickly maneuvered his soldiers to a safe distance and behind trees, and when the opposing armies engaged at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, they began firing. Although neither side sought to improve its position during battle, both armies continued to exchange small arms fire -- while Confederate cannons occasionally fired toward the Union position -- during the five hour fight, forcing the Union brigade to retreat. High Resolution Map showing Battle of Asheville High Resolution Map Showing Location of Battle of Asheville Asheville -- a secluded mountain community nestled in western North Carolina -- hosted the most traveled route to and from East Tennessee, as well as a principal training camp and armory during the Civil War (1861-1865), it remained a contest of wills during the conflict. Asheville native George Wesley Clayton was a West Point graduate and descendant of Revolutionary War stock, and his adversary was famed Ohioan Isaac Minor Kirby, 101st Ohio Infantry, commanding First Brigade, a battle-hardened veteran of Stones River, Franklin, Nashville, and the Atlanta Campaign. Commanding the Western District of North Carolina from his headquarters at Asheville, General James Martin, who fell ill while leading a brigade under Lee, directed the Confederate forces in the area during 1865, while Kirby's brigade, operating in East Tennessee, March 15-April 22, 1865, was attached to 1st Division, IV Corps, Army of the Cumberland. (Right) Col. Isaac Kirby, date unknown. At age 26 Kirby was elected captain on April 27, 1861, of Company I, 15th Ohio Volunteers. He later served as Colonel of the 101st OVI, and then as commander of First Brigade, First Division, IV Corps, Department of the Cumberland. On January 12, 1865, he was given a brevet promotion of brigadier-general for meritorious services rendered throughout the war. On April 3, 1865, at 2 p.m., Colonel Kirby was near Greeneville, Tennessee, when he received orders to begin his brigade on an "expedition with ten days' rations along the French Broad with instructions to capture Asheville," and he was complemented by a number of deserters familiar with the terrain. Kirby was instructed "not to attack the enemy unless he could do so with every prospect of success and without serious loss of life." Conflicting Union reports indicated that the rebel strength at Asheville ranged from 400 to as many as 2,600 men, commanding 20 artillery pieces, but Kirby, on April 6, having been persuaded of the enemy strength during a conversation with a rebel deserter, a lieutenant, believed that the force awaiting him at Asheville numbered nearly 2,000 men plus twenty guns. Battle of Asheville & Vicinity Map Spanning seventy-five miles in length, the Buncombe Turnpike, which followed along the French Broad River from western North Carolina and into Tennessee, was the most traveled road in the region, with livestock and wagons traversing it annually. During the Civil War the Confederates cut down trees, hauled large rocks and other structures, and covered the turnpike with the intent of hindering any large Union force from rapidly advancing on the greater Asheville area. When Kirby marched on the road in 1865, he complained of its many obstructions impeding his progress. Although Kirby ordered his cannons and wagons to remain at Warm Springs, fearing if his horses were shot the Rebels would capture the spoils, the obstructions on the road enforced his decision to travel lightly. But though Kirby, believing he was outmanned and outgunned by the Confederate force at Asheville, advanced cautiously along the French BroadRiver with his brigade of 900 infantrymen and 200 partisans, including deserters who had pledged an oath of allegiance to the United States, two cannon, and a train of wagons. Kirby's brigade, consisting of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois regiments, bivouacked the night of April 4, at Warms Springs—present-day Hot Springs, NC, and located on the Tennessee-North Carolina line--and on the morning of the April 5, Kirby, having marched his force some four miles in the direction of Asheville, was met by three rebel deserters, including a lieutenant. Hearing the words of the senior ranking deserter, Kirby now ascertained that the enemy he confronted was nearly 2,000 strong, had twenty guns, including twelve napoleons, held the high ground, and was supported by 600 men to the west, so he ordered his two field pieces and wagons back to the safety of Warm Springs, preventing the enemy from capturing them, and pushed his brigade toward the objective at midnight. And crossing the French Broad and burning two bridges on the morning of April 6, the Union force pressed toward the prized city. While the Union brigade approached Asheville and was prepared to capture it, Colonel Clayton, commanding 62nd North Carolina, anticipating the Federal troops, was determined to hold the ground with a force of merely 300. Clayton, well-versed in the topography of Asheville, had graduated from West Point and battled Typhoid Fever in 1863, and the men forming the nucleus of his 300 strong force were 175 veteran soldiers from his regiment, the 62nd North Carolina, and they had a long-standing reputation for fighting bushwhackers while evading superior Union numbers. The 62nd, having rebuffed repeated orders to surrender in 1863, was one of the Tar Heel State's last units to surrender during the war. The prevailing fragment of the regiment composed part of Palmer's Brigade at Asheville on March 10, 1865, and at the direction of General James Martin (nom de guerre of "Old One Wing" because of a wound sustained during the Mexican War), it remained under Clayton's command and engaged in the pitched battle against Kirby's brigade near Asheville, the most prominent city of the state's mountain region, on April 6. was also assisted by a company of the Silver Greys and some Confederate soldiers at home on sick leave and furlough. The Silver Greys consisted of senior and junior reserves, which served as home guard, and totaled 44 men, including a 14 year old boy and a 60 year old Baptist minister. To the west of Asheville, 600 men of Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders, a diverse unit of the rugged region, having bivouacked between Waynesville and Warm Springs, were poised for action should any Northern troops exercise the thought of an intrusion. Although the service of Thomas' Legion was not requested nor needed against Kirby, the legion was as close as 20 miles from Warm Springs and 25 miles from Asheville. Union Order of Battle during Battle of Asheville While the Union brigade was advancing on Asheville, the 300 commanded positions on the ridge, the high ground (the location is currently known as Broadway Street). Kirby, having been convinced of the rebel strength by three Confederate deserters on April 5 (included one lieutenant who had remained in rebel service only to forward information to Union forces), "was of the opinion that there were 1,000 or 1,500 men in Asheville, and 400 cavalry on his left flank and 700 on his right." Whereas the brigade closed ranks, it pressed the battle by charging the pickets on the Confederate left. While there was initial maneuvering, the armies fell back, held their position, and for five hours exchanged sporadic volleys until that night. Although the Union army had greatly outnumbered the Confederates during the slugfest, the Yankees were compelled to retreat, and Union and Confederate casualties were reported as few. En route to support Kirby was McConnell's brigade, which had been ordered by Gen. Wood at 8 a.m., April 6, to move from East Tennessee to Warm Springs. At about 3 p.m. on April 6, Kirby found the enemy in a position less than two miles northwest of Asheville "occupying the high hills." Determined to march on the streets of Asheville, he forwarded his brigade and drove back the Confederate left, only to view the enemy's right flanking the Union rear. During the demonstration, five rebels, a wagon and team of mules were captured. Kirby, in another report, was under the impression that the force he confronted belonged to Gen. Martin, consisting of "not less than 1,000 men and six guns, and could be re-enforced before morning with 400 or 500 more men," while another man stated that 300 rebels had already camped behind the Federal position, thus cutting off the principal route of retreat. willing to "sacrifice the life of one man for the town of Asheville," reported Kirby, he consulted with one Colonel Yeoman and other Union officers, who were of the opinion that the "the enemy meant to fight." Although reporting in one account that he awaited McConnell to move from Warm Springs to Asheville, McConnell, on the other hand, reported that he had been waiting for Kirby to fall back to his position. Having two men seriously wounded in the battle, Kirby, retreating to Warm Springs and finding McConnell's rested brigade, continued the Union contingent in an orderly retreat back to Greeneville. Earthworks at the Battle of Asheville North Carolina Office of Archives & History Battle of Asheville View of the Asheville battlefield (Left) The site of the breastworks, or earthworks, is now part of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville. (Right) View of the Asheville battlefield. Confederate artillery was placed on the hills across the road. The battle's historical marker is also in the background. Kirby's actions showed that he lacked conviction to press the assault on Asheville, not to mention capturing it, because he left his field pieces and wagons, having been stocked with ten days' rations and supplies, some 50 miles to the north at the safety of Warm Springs, which allowed the brigade a quick exit should those contrived 1,100 cavalry thrash his position. Absent was also any maneuvering of his brigade, for he had ample time, five hours, to ascertain the position and strength of the enemy, which he later conceded was merely a small force of rebels with two cannons that entertained him from two field works on a hill. Whereas Kirby refused any flanking movement, he did perform a demonstration before the Confederates, who had used the topography to its advantage. Perhaps he was hoping that the Confederates would exhaust their ammunition and withdrawal, or melt away like fluke flurries in the springtime, and then he would move toward the city in piecemeal fashion. Both his plans excluded his artillery and wagons, which contained rations, supplies and provisions necessary for a prolonged fight, and corroborated a common thought by Kirby -- although instructed to capture Asheville -- he had no intention on risking any loss, for he conceded by saying that "he would not sacrifice the life of one man for the town of Asheville." Kirby, however, was informed not sustain severe casualties, but if the Tar Heels would have withdrawn at anytime during the five hour ordeal, then perhaps he would have pressed and settled into a defensive position until McConnell's brigade or Kirk's two regiments, which he knew were operating in the area, reinforced or relieved him. After General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General U.S. Grant on April 9, 1865, the Confederates serving with Col. Clayton in Asheville withdrew and returned to their homes. The Rebels never swore the oath of allegiance as required by Federal authorities, and Lt. Col. Byron Gibbs McDowell, serving with the 62nd, wrote that "No braver or nobler hearted men ever lived than those composing the Sixty-second North Carolina." McDowell, having survived the shots of bushwhackers during his many engagements, was a citizen of Waynesville, near Asheville, and was the savior of the six hundred, including many of the 62nd North Carolina, because he had led the troops during the heroic charge through Union lines in the Cumberland Gap to evade capture, then reform, and later fight at the Battle of Asheville had averted capitulation, it was soon captured, April 26, during Stoneman's Cavalry Raid. The city's fall, however, occurred almost two weeks after Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox, but coincided with Gen. Joe Johnston's surrender to Gen. William T. Sherman at Bentonville, North Carolina. Col. Kirby would leave his 2 field pieces and wagons at Warm Springs guarded by "two regiments," so if overrun by the 1,100 cavalry that he opined to be on his flanks, he could quickly withdrawal without loss of the guns and wagons. While the Buckeye would receive one dispatch informing him that a brigade was en route to reinforce his position, he remained convinced of a superior Confederate force awaiting him at Asheville. Kirby, however, believed that he had an opportunity to assist Gen. George Stoneman, who was also operating in the area, by forcing, thus detaining, the larger Rebel force to engage his brigade at Asheville. By making a demonstration before the mountain city, it would keep the Confederates from pursuing Stoneman, and then Kirby could casually retire to the safety of Tennessee. But just as Kirby was readying his brigade in East Tennessee for its move down the Old Buncombe Turnpike and into North Carolina, jubilant news arrived. General Lee had abandoned Richmond and the Confederate capital had been captured! It was at that time that Kirby, having already embraced a trepid approach toward Asheville, was determined not to press the battle and risk any losses -- because the war was all but over. After the engagement, and with conviction, Kirby wrote that he "would not sacrifice one man for the town of Asheville." Having good reason not to force the battle, Kirby had averted unnecessary loss of life for both Union and Confederate forces that day. Three days later Lee surrendered to Grant. In the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, Kirby was given command of the First Brigade, First Division, 4th Army Corps and led that brigade through the remainder of the war, including battles at Franklin and Nashville. He was wounded five times June 27, 1864, at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. Kirby (February 10, 1835 - May 30, 1917) was given a brevet promotion of brigadier-general to date January 12, 1865, for meritorious services rendered throughout the war. He was mustered out with the 101st Ohio on June 12, 1865. Whereas Lee would surrender to Grant the 28,000 men of his greatly diminished Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, the war was far from over, because Bentonville, located in the state's Piedmont region, would witness the parole of 90,000 Confederates in the single, largest surrender of the entire war on April 26. The final Confederate troops to surrender east of the Mississippi would occur 18 days later at Franklin, N.C., on May 14. (See Official Order of Surrendering Confederate Forces.) Reading: Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865. Description: The author, Prof. D. H. Hill, Jr., was the son of Lieutenant General Daniel Harvey Hill (North Carolina produced only two lieutenant generals and it was the second highest rank in the army) and his mother was General “Stonewall” Jackson’s wife's sister. In Confederate Military History Of North Carolina, Hill discusses North Carolina’s massive task of preparing and mobilizing for the conflict; the many regiments and battalions recruited from the Old North State; as well as the state's numerous contributions during the war. Continued below. During Hill's TarHeelState study, the reader begins with interesting and thought-provoking statistical data regarding the 125,000 "OldNorthState" soldiers that fought during the course of the war and the 40,000 that perished. Hill advances with the Tar Heels to the first battle at Bethel, through numerous bloody campaigns and battles--including North Carolina’s contributions at the "High Watermark" at Gettysburg--and concludes with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Recommended Reading: The Civil War in North Carolina.Description: Numerous battles and skirmishes were fought in North Carolina during the Civil War, and the campaigns and battles themselves were crucial in the grand strategy of the conflict and involved some of the most famous generals of the war. John Barrett presents the complete story of military engagements across the state, including the classical pitched battle of Bentonville--involving Generals Joe Johnston and William Sherman--the siege of FortFisher, the amphibious campaigns on the coast, and cavalry sweeps such as General George Stoneman's Raid. Also available in hardcover: The Civil War in North Carolina. Recommended Reading: Touring the Carolina's Civil War Sites (Touring the Backroads Series). Description: Touring the Carolina's Civil War Sites helps travelers find the Carolinas' famous Civil War battlefields, forts, and memorials, as well as the lesser skirmish sites, homes, and towns that also played a significant role in the war. The book's 19 tours, which cover the 'entire Carolinas' (Coastal Plain to Mountain; from Lowcountry to Upstate) combine riveting history with clear, concise directions and maps, creating a book that is as fascinating to the armchair reader as it is to the person interested in heritage travel. Below are some examples from this outstanding book: 1. Fort Fisher - the largest sea fort in the war that protected the vital town of Wilmington N.C., and the blockade runners so important for supplying Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. 2.Charleston - where the whole shootin' match started. 3. Bentonville - the last large scale battle of the war. 4. Outer Banks - early Union victories here were vital to capturing many parts of Eastern North Carolina from which the Union could launch several offensives. 5.Sherman's March - the destruction of certain towns in both Carolinas (particularly South Carolina) further weakened the South's will to continue the struggle. I also enjoyed reading about the locations of various gravesites of Confederate generals and their Civil War service. Indeed, if not for this book, this native North Carolinian and long-time Civil War buff may never have learned of, and visited, the locations of some of the lesser-known sites other than those mentioned above. Johnson's writing style is smooth--without being overly simplistic--and contains several anecdotes (some humorous ones too) of the interesting events which took place during the Civil War years. Highly recommended! Recommended Viewing: The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns. Review: The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns is the most successful public-television miniseries in American history. The 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation, reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. When people describe documentaries using the "Ken Burns approach," its style is understood: voice-over narrators reading letters and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era he depicts. Continued below. The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew only from stale history books. While Burns is a historian, a researcher, and a documentarian, he's above all a gifted storyteller, and it's his narrative powers that give this chronicle its beauty, overwhelming emotion, and devastating horror. Using the words of old letters, eloquently read by a variety of celebrities, the stories of historians like Shelby Foote and rare, stained photos, Burns allows us not only to relearn and finally understand our history, but also to feel and experience it. "Hailed as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling, it should be a requirement for every Walter. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-65, Volume III; Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (ORs), especially Kirby’s report of April 13, 1865, Series 1, Volume. XLIX, Part 1; Forster A. Sondley, A History of Buncombe County (North Carolina), The Union Army (1908), Vol. IV; Story of the One Hundred and First Ohio Infantry. A Memorial Volume by L.W. Day. L.W. Day. 464 pgs. 2 vols. (1930); O.R., Series 1, Vol. XLIX, Pt. 1, pp. 19-32; Ohio In The War-Volume II. Whitelaw Reid. Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin. Cincinnati. 1868; The W.M. Bayne Printing Co. Cleveland. Ohio. 1894; Unit Bibliography. U.S. Army Military History Institute. Carlisle Barracks. PA. 1995; William R. Trotter, Bushwhackers: The Civil War in North Carolina, The Mountains (1988); National Archives (NARA); Library of Congress (LOC); National Park Service: American Civil War (NPS); North Carolina Office of Archives and History; North Carolina Museum of History; Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis H. Manarin, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865; Joseph H. Crute, Jr., Units of the Confederate States Army; D. H. Hill, Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865; John C. Inscoe and Gordon B. McKinney, The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War (2000); Asheville Citizen-Times, April 30, 2005; John G. Barrett, The Civil War in North Carolina (1963);

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A haiku in English is a very short poem in the English language, following to a greater or lesser extent the form and style of the Japanese haiku. A typical haiku is a three-line quirky observation about a fleeting moment involving nature. The first haiku written in English date from the early 20th century, influenced by English translations of traditional Japanese haiku, and the form has grown in popularity ever since. Many well-known English-language poets have written some haiku, though - perhaps because of their brevity - they are not often considered an important part of their work. Haiku has also proven popular among amateur writers, and additionally in schools, as a way to encourage the appreciation and writing of poetry. Haiku are the subject of various journals, books and competitions. - 1 Typical features - 2 Variant forms - 3 Haiku movement in North America - 4 Publications in other English-speaking countries - 5 Notable poets - 6 See also - 7 Notes - 8 Further reading Typically - but by no means always - English haiku: - are three lines long - either are 17 syllables long, especially with lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables (the traditional form);[a] or are about 10–14 syllables long, with the second line usually the longest. Some poets want their haiku to be expressed in one breath - are about, or mention, an aspect of nature - make a quirky or surprising observation about some fleeting experience - usually an otherwise ordinary or trivial-seeming one. Often it expresses a sudden insight - often juxtapose two things - e.g. something large and something small, something natural and something man-made, or two unexpectedly similar things - are often divided into two sections, usually at the end of the first or second line, and indicated by a punctuation mark, broken layout (e.g. extra space between words or lines), grammatical break, or caesura (similar to the Japanese kire) - are in the present tense - are impressionistic, leaving much to the imagination - are contemplative or wistful - do not rhyme - use elliptical 'telegram style' syntax, avoiding words such as 'and', 'but', 'like' - use little or no punctuation, sometimes with unusual layout in place of punctuation (e.g. indented lines, extra space between words or lines) - do not start lines with capital letters - use adjectives sparingly - do not use abstract nouns - do not have a title. However, the term 'haiku' is sometimes used loosely to denote almost any very short impressionistic poem. Although the vast majority of haiku published in English are three lines long, variants also occur. One line (monoku) The most common variation from the three-line standard is one line, sometimes called a monoku. It emerged from being more than an occasional exception during the late 1970s. The one-liner was lent legitimacy by three people: - Marlene Mountain was one of the first English-language haiku poets to regularly write haiku in a single horizontal line; - Hiroaki Sato translated Japanese haiku into one line in English; - Matsuo Allard wrote essays in its favor and published several magazines and chapbooks devoted to the form. The single-line haiku usually contains much fewer than seventeen syllables. A caesura (pause) may be appropriate, dictated by sense or speech rhythm, and usually little or no punctuation. It has been practiced by Marlene Mountain, John Wills, and Matsuo Allard, and has been used more recently by poets such as M. Kettner, Janice Bostok, Jim Kacian, Chris Gordon, Scott Metz, Dennis M. Garrison, Charles Trumbull, Stuart Quine, and many others. - pig and i spring rain - Marlene Mountain (Frogpond 2.3-4, 1979) - an icicle the moon drifting through it - Matsuo Allard (Bird Day Afternoon, High/Coo Press, 1978) Mountain (formerly Wills) also writes collaborative one-line linked haiku and sequences. At its most minimal, a single word may occasionally be claimed to be a haiku: - Cor van den Heuvel (the window-washer's pail, 1963) - John Stevenson (Live Again, 2009) Four or more lines Haiku of four lines (sometimes known as haiqua) or longer have been written, some of them "vertical haiku" with only a word or two per line. These poems mimic the vertical printed form of Japanese haiku. - she watches satisfied after love looking up at nothing - she watches - pw (Blithe Spirit 10:4, 2000) - Marlene Wills (the old tin roof, 1976) The highly prolific poet John Martone (b. 1952) specializes in vertical haiku along the lines of the examples above. Haiku have also appeared in circular form (sometimes known as cirku) whereby the poem has no fixed start or end point. - buoyed up on the rising tide - a fleet of head boards bang the wall - John Carley (Magma No 19, 2001) Haiku movement in North America Arguably the first English haiku was In a station of the metro by Ezra Pound, published in 1913, even though it is only two lines long. During the Imagist period, a big number of mainstream poets, including Pound, wrote what they called hokku, usually in a five-six-four syllable pattern. Amy Lowell published several hokku in her book "What's O'Clock" (1925; winner of the Pulitzer Prize). Individualistic haiku-like verses by the innovative Buddhist poet and artist Paul Reps (1895–1990) appeared in print as early as 1939 (More Power to You—Poems everyone Can Make, Preview Publications, Montrose CA.). Inspired by R. H. Blyth's translations, other westerners including those of the Beat period, such as Jack Kerouac and Richard Wright, attempted original haiku in English. - Snow in my shoe - Sparrow's nest - Jack Kerouac (collected in Book of Haikus, Penguin Books, 2003) The African-American novelist Richard Wright, in his final years, composed some 4,000 haiku, 817 of which are collected in the volume Haiku: This Other World. Wright hewed to a 5-7-5 syllabic structure for most of these verses. - Whitecaps on the bay: - A broken signboard banging - In the April wind. - Richard Wright (collected in Haiku: This Other World, Arcade Publishing, 1998) An early anthology of American haiku, Borrowed Water (Tuttle: 1966) of work by the Los Altos, California Roundtable was compiled by Helen Stiles Chenoweth. The experimental work of Beat and minority haiku poets expanded the popularity of haiku in English. Despite claims that haiku has not had much impact on the literary scene, a number of mainstream poets, such as W. H. Auden, Richard Wilbur, James Merrill, Etheridge Knight, William Stafford, W. S. Merwin, John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Ruth Stone, Sonia Sanchez, Billy Collins, (as well as Seamus Heaney, Wendy Cope, and Paul Muldoon in Ireland and Britain) and others have tried their hand at haiku. In 1963 the journal American Haiku was founded in Platteville, Wisconsin, edited by the European-Americans James Bull and Donald Eulert. Among contributors to the first issue were poets James W. Hackett, O Mabson Southard (1911–2000), and Nick Virgilio. In the second issue of American Haiku Virgilio published his "lily" and "bass" haiku, which became models of brevity, breaking down the traditional 5-7-5 syllabic form, and pointing toward the leaner conception of haiku that would take hold in subsequent decades. - out of the water - out of itself - picking bugs - off the moon - Nick Virgilio (Selected Haiku, Burnt Lake Press/Black Moss Press, 1988) American Haiku ended publication in 1968 and was succeeded by Modern Haiku in 1969, which remains an important English-language haiku journal. Other early journals included Haiku Highlights (founded 1965 by European-American writer Jean Calkins and later taken over by the European-American writer Lorraine Ellis Harr who changed the name to Dragonfly), Eric Amann's Haiku (founded 1967), and Haiku West (founded 1967). The first English-language haiku society in America, founded in 1956, was the Writers' Roundtable of Los Altos, California, under the direction of Helen Stiles Chenoweth. The Haiku Society of America was founded in 1968 and began publishing its journal Frogpond in 1978. Important resources for poets and scholars attempting to understand English-language haiku aesthetics and history include William J. Higginson's Haiku Handbook (McGraw-Hill, 1985) and Lee Gurga's Haiku: A Poet's Guide (Modern Haiku Press, 2003). Significant contributors to American haiku include Hackett, Virgilio, Charles B. Dickson (1915–1991), Elizabeth Searle Lamb (1917–2005), Raymond Roseliep (1917–1983), Robert Spiess (1921–2002), John Wills (1921–1993), Anita Virgil (b. 1931), and Peggy Willis Lyles (1939–2010). - my "I-Thou" - Raymond Roseliep (Rabbit in the Moon, Alembic Press, 1983) - an aging willow-- - its image unsteady - in the flowing stream - Robert Spiess (Red Moon Anthology, Red Moon Press, 1996) Other major figures still active in the American haiku community include Lee Gurga, Christopher Herold, Gary Hotham, Jim Kacian, Michael McClintock, Marlene Mountain, Marian Olson, Alan Pizzarelli, Alexis Rotella, John Stevenson, George Swede, vincent tripi, Michael Dylan Welch, and Ruth Yarrow. Examples: - Just friends: - he watches my gauze dress - blowing on the line. - Alexis Rotella (After an Affair, Merging Media, 1984) - Little spider, - will you outlive - Cor van den Heuvel (Haiku Anthology, 34d ed. 1999) - meteor shower... - a gentle wave - wets our sandals - Michael Dylan Welch (HSA Newsletter XV:4, Autumn 2000) Pioneering haiku poet Cor van den Heuvel has edited the standard Haiku Anthology (1st ed., 1974; 2nd ed., 1986; 3rd ed. 1999). Since its most recent edition, another generation of American haiku poets has come to prominence. Among the most widely published and honored of these poets are John Barlow, Cherie Hunter Day, Carolyn Hall, paul m., John Martone, Chad Lee Robinson, Billie Wilson, and Peter Yovu. Newer poets exemplify divergent tendencies, from self-effacing nature-oriented haiku (Allan Burns) to Zen themes perpetuating the concepts of Blyth and Hackett (Stanford M. Forrester), poignant haiku-senryū hybrids in the manner of Rotella and Swede (Roberta Beary), the use of subjective, surreal, and mythic elements (Fay Aoyagi), emergent social and political consciousness (John J. Dunphy), and genre-bending structural and linguistic experimentation as well as "found haiku" (Scott Metz). The American Haiku Archives, the largest public archive of haiku-related material outside Japan, was founded in 1996. It is housed at the California State Library in Sacramento, California, and includes the official archives of the Haiku Society of America, along with significant donations from the libraries of Lorraine Ellis Harr, Jerry Kilbride, Elizabeth Searle Lamb, Francine Porad, Jane Reichhold, and many others. Publications in North America The leading English-language haiku magazines published in the USA include Modern Haiku, Frogpond (published by the Haiku Society of America), Mayfly (founded by Randy and Shirley Brooks in 1986), Acorn (founded by A. C. Missias in 1998), bottle rockets (founded by Stanford M. Forrester), The Heron's Nest (founded by Christopher Herold in 1999, published online with a print annual); Brussels Sprout (edited from 1988 to 1995 by Francine Porad), Woodnotes (edited from 1989 to 1997 by Michael Dylan Welch), Hal Roth's Wind Chimes, Wisteria, moonset (edited from 2005 to 2009 by an'ya (Andja Petrović)), and tinywords (founded by Dylan F. Tweney in 2001). Publications in other English-speaking countries John Barlow's Snapshot Press is a notable UK-based publisher. In the UK, the British Haiku Society publishes Blithe Spirit, and the World Haiku Club publishes The World Haiku Review. Another leading haiku magazine in the UK is Presence (formerly Haiku Presence), which was edited for many years by Martin Lucas (1962-2014). In Ireland, twenty issues of Haiku Spirit edited by Jim Norton were published between 1995 and 2000. Shamrock, the online journal of the Irish Haiku Society edited by Anatoly Kudryavitsky, currently publishes thematic issues on the haiku movements in various countries, as well as international haiku. In Australia, twenty issues of Yellow Moon, a literary magazine for writers of haiku and other verse, were published between 1997 and 2006 (issues 1-8 were edited by Patricia Kelsall; issues 9-20 by Beverley George). Nowadays Paper Wasp is published in Australia, while Kokako is published in New Zealand. - Lewis Grandison Alexander - John Brandi - Ross Clark - Cid Corman - Lee Gurga - James William Hackett - William J. Higginson - Jim Kacian - Jack Kerouac - James Kirkup - Anatoly Kudryavitsky - Lenard D. Moore - Alan Pizzarelli - Paul Reps - Kenneth Rexroth - Raymond Roseliep - Gabriel Rosenstock - Sonia Sanchez - Gary Snyder - George Swede - Cor van den Heuvel - Nick Virgilio - Gerald Vizenor - Paul O. Williams - Richard Wright - Haiku—history and development of haiku in Japan - Haikai—genre of haiku-related forms - Hokku—opening verse of the renku, from which haiku derived - Renku—form of linked poetry from which haiku is derived - Senryū—satirical verse similar in form to haiku - Scifaiku—science fiction pseudo-haiku - Zappai—humorous verse similar in form to haiku - Matsuyama Declaration - Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards - Comprising 5 syllables on the first line, 7 on the second and 5 on the third - Definition of haiku by the Haiku Society of America - "How to Write a Haiku Poem: Haiku Examples and Tips". Creative Writing Now. William Victor, S.L. Retrieved 2013-05-14. "Traditionally, haiku is written in three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line." - "Send your name & message to Mars!". Going to Mars with MAVEN. University of Colorado: Boulder. Retrieved 2013-05-14. "For the MAVEN contest, we are defining a haiku as a poem made of three lines; the first and last lines must have exactly five syllables each and the middle line must have exactly seven syllables." - Shirane, Haruo. Love in the Four Seasons, in Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Orientalia Pragensia XV, 2005, p135 - Ross, Bruce; How to Haiku; Tuttle Publishing 2002 p.19 ISBN 0-8048-3232-3 - Gurga, Lee; Haiku - A Poet's Guide; Modern Haiku Press 2003 p.16 ISBN 0-9741894-0-5 - Spiess, Robert; Modern Haiku vol. XXXII No. 1 p. 57 "A haiku does not exceed a breath's length." ISSN 0026-7821 - Reichhold, Jane; Writing and Enjoying Haiku - A Hands-On Guide; Kodansha 2002 p.30 and p.75 ISBN 4-7700-2886-5 - Gurga, 2003, p.2 and p.15 - The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2009. "A Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons." - Haruo Shirane and Lawrence E. Marceau, "Early Modern Literature," in Early Modern Japan, Fall 2002, p27 - Garrison, Denis M. Hidden River: Haiku. Modern English Tanka Press. p. iii. ISBN 978-0-615-13825-1. - Reichhold, 2002 p.21 - Gurga, 2003 p.105 - Van den Heuvel, Cor. The Haiku Anthology 2nd edition. Simon & Schuster 1986. ISBN 0671628372 p10 - William J. Higginson. From One-line Poems to One-line Haiku - Gill, Stephen Henry et al., editors. Seasons of the Gods Hailstone Haiku Circle, Kansai, 2007. ISBN 978-4-9900822-3-9 p.2 - Zip School on Carley's website - Zips in Magma No 19 - Winter 2001 - The Lune: The English Language Haiku by Holly Bliss at GoArticles.com - Lipson, Greta B. Poetry Writing Handbook: Definitions, Examples, Lessons. Lorenz Educational Press, 1998. ISBN 9781573101080 p53 - Haiku in English: the first hundred years, ed. Jim Kacian et al., W.W. Norton & Co, New York, 2013 - Richard Wright's haiku on Terebess Asia Online - Biography of Lorraine Ellis Harr on the Aha Poetry website - Henderson, H. G. An Introduction to Haiku. Hokuseido Press, 1948. - Higginson, William J. and Harter, Penny. The Haiku Handbook, How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku. Kodansha, 1989. ISBN 4-7700-1430-9. - Higginson, William J. Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac. Kodansha, 1996. ISBN 4-7700-2090-2. - Sato, Hiroaki. One Hundred Frogs, from renga to haiku to English. Weatherhill, 1983. ISBN 0-8348-0176-0. - Suiter, John. Poets on the Peaks: Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen & Jack Kerouac in the Cascades. Counterpoint, 2002. ISBN 1-58243-148-5; ISBN 1-58243-294-5 (pbk). - Yasuda, Ken. Japanese Haiku: Its Essential Nature, History, and Possibilities in English. Tuttle, 1957. ISBN 0-8048-1096-6. - Hirshfield, Jane. The Heart of Haiku (Kindle Single, 2011) - A Guide to Haiku Publications, 2008 from HSA Techniques and papers - Jane Reichhold on haiku techniques - English Haiku : A Composite View on the British Haiku Society website - Haiku Chronicles – a free educational podcast designed to provide a better understanding and appreciation of the art of haiku and its related forms. - "In The Moonlight a Worm..." - an educational site on haiku writing techniques.

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|Regions with significant populations| |United States (Oklahoma)| |Related ethnic groups| |other Tanoan peoples| The Kiowa are a nation of Native Americans who lived mostly in north Texas, Oklahoma, and eastern New Mexico at the time of the arrival of Europeans, having migrated from their earlier homeland in Montana. The name "Kiowa" was designated at the time of European contact; contemporary Kiowa call themselves Kaui-gu, meaning the "principal people" or "main people." Today, the Kiowa Tribe is federally recognized, with about 12,000 members living in southwestern Oklahoma. The Kiowa were once a dominant force in the Southern Plains, known as fierce warriors and effectively using their horses for hunting and fighting. However, they were crushed by both military and cultural pressures from the United States in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Despite the loss of land and control over their lives, the Kiowa survived and have emerged as a leader among Native American peoples. They achieved a balance between preserving many aspects of their traditional culture through art, song, and dance, while also progressing in education and economic development for the future. Essentials of their old ways, such as the Sun Dance and their pictographic art on animal skins, may have passed, but their legacy lives on in the spirit of many contemporary Kiowas and continues to be offered to the world by their talented writers and artists. According to historic accounts the Kiowa originally resided in Montana, in the northern basin of the Missouri River. The Crow Nation first met them in the Pryor Mountains. With permission of the Crow, the Kiowa then migrated east to the Black Hills, around 1650. There they acquired the sacred Tai-me or "Sundance Medicine" from their Crow allies. At this time, they used dogs and travois for travel, as was the custom of the Northern peoples. Then, pushed southward by the invading Cheyenne and Sioux, who were being moved out of their lands in the Great Lakes regions by the Ojibwa tribes, the Kiowa moved down the Platte River basin to the Arkansas River area. There, they fought with the Comanche, who already occupied the land. In this area they acquired horses, dramatically changing the Kiowa lifestyle into that of the Plains Indians. In the early spring of 1790, at the place that would become Las Vegas, New Mexico, a Kiowa party led by war leader Guikate made an offer of peace to a Comanche party while both were visiting the home of a friend of both tribes. This led to a later meeting between Guikate and the head chief of the Nokoni Comanches. The two groups made an alliance to share the same hunting grounds, and entered into a mutual defense pact. From that time on, the Comanche and Kiowa hunted, traveled, and made war together. An additional group, the Plains Apache (also called Kiowa-Apache), affiliated with the Kiowa at this time. From their hunting grounds south of the Arkansas River the Kiowa were notorious for long-distance raids as far west as the Grand Canyon region, south into Mexico and Central America, and north into Canada. They were fierce warriors and killed numerous white settlers and soldiers as well as members of other native tribes. The Indian Wars After 1840, the Kiowa, with their former enemies the Cheyenne, as well as their allies the Comanche and the Apache, fought and raided the Eastern natives then moving into the Indian Territory. The United States military intervened, and in the Treaty of Medicine Lodge of 1867, the Kiowa agreed to settle on a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. In return, the Kiowa and their allies were to be protected from the white hunters that were invading the buffalo range, issued certain annuities, provided with schools, churches, farming implements, and generally taught how to live in the style of European settlers. This treaty changed the status of the Kiowa and their allies from that of independent tribes with free and unrestricted range over the plains to dependency on the government, confined to the narrow limits of a reservation and subject to constant military and civilian supervision. Some bands of Kiowa and others rejected the end of their traditional lifestyle, remaining at large for several years. In 1871, Kiowa leaders Satanta (White Bear), Satank (Sitting Bear), and Big Tree were accused, arrested, transported, and confined at Fort Richardson, Texas, after being convicted by a "cowboy jury" in Jacksboro, Texas, for participating in the Warren Wagon Train Raid. During the transport to Fort Richardson, Texas, Satank, preferring to die fighting rather than be imprisoned, and was shot by accompanying cavalry troops in an escape attempt near Fort Sill, Indian Territory. In 1874, war parties made up of young Cheyennes, Arapahos, Comanches, and Kiowas who refused to live on the reservations, frustrated and angered by the greatly diminished buffalo herd, attacked white hunters and settlers. Defeated by the cavalry in 1875, seventy-three of those considered most dangerous were rounded up and taken from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to Fort Marion in Florida. There, several of these warriors developed what has become known as "Plains Indian ledger art." After their migrations, the Kiowa lived a typical Plains Indian lifestyle. Mostly nomadic, they survived on buffalo meat and gathered vegetables, lived in tipis, and depended on their horses for hunting and military uses. The buffalo were essential to the Kiowa, providing food and raw materials for living necessities such as shelter and clothing. Like other Plains tribes, the Kiowa organized warrior societies—exclusive groups of those who have proven their courage and skills in fighting. These societies were called "Dog Soldiers" because of visions and dreams of dogs. The Koitsenko, or "Principal Dogs," was a group of the ten greatest warriors of the Kiowa tribe as a whole, were elected from the five adult warrior societies. The leader wore a long sash and when the Kiowa were engaged in battle he dismounted from his horse and fastened the sash to the earth with his spear. He then fought on the ground there, shouting encouragement to the other warriors. He could not leave that place, even when wounded and in the greatest danger, until another Principal Dog removed the spear (Waldman, 2006). Probably the most famous of the Koitsenko was the great war leader Satank, who died fighting for his freedom. Kiowa ledger art derives from a historical tradition that used traditional pictographs to keep historical records and serve as mnemonic reminders for storytelling. A traditional male art form, Plains Indian warriors drew pictographic representations of heroic deeds and sacred visions, which served to designate their positions in the tribe. Traditionally the artist's medium for their pictographic images were rocks and animal skins, but for the Kiowa in captivity the lined pages of the white man's record keeping books (ledgers) became a popular substitute, hence the name, "ledger art." The earliest of these Kiowa artists were held in captivity by the U.S. Army at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida, at the conclusion of the Southern Plains Indian war. Captain Richard Henry Pratt was sympathetic and very liberal for his time, wanting to educate his captives and make them self-sufficient. At Fort Marion, he initiated an educational experiment as an alternative to standard imprisonment, culminating in his founding of the Carlisle Indian School in 1879. Throughout their incarceration, the Plains Indian leaders followed Pratt's rules and met his educational demands even as they remained true to their own identities, practicing traditional dances and ceremonies (Lookingbill 2006). In addition to regular studies Pratt encouraged them to pursue their native arts and to sell the products, keeping the profits for themselves. As a result, many of the Kiowa achieved self-sufficiency, as well as developing their art form into the now famous ledger art. For these former warriors their art was not just a way of making money but a form of resistance. The warrior-artists of Fort Marion preserved their history in their traditional pictographic representations, drawn on the the very records, the ledgers, that recorded the expansion of the Euro-American lifestyle. The warrior-artist drawing pictographic representations of his tribal history in a ledger book can be seen as a significant transition from their old traditional identity and finding a place in the new culture, "an attempt to negotiate between one’s individual/tribal identity and a new dominant culture” (Wong 1992). After the return of the Fort Marion warriors to the reservation there was a withering of this artistic flowering. However, the tradition survived and eventually blossomed again. The most significant ledger book artist was a Kiowa named Haungooah (Silver Horn), whose brother, Ohettoit, was one of the captives in Fort Marion. Silver Horn worked with his brother decorating traditional tipis and then to produce ledger book art work. Silver Horn reputedly influenced both James Auchiah and Stephen Mopope in their work before they became a part of the Kiowa Five, a group of artists who studied at the University of Oklahoma in the 1920s. The "Five" referred to are the male members of the group—Spenser Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, and Monroe Tsatoke—although there was a sixth member, a woman named Lois Smokey. Their artistic style is generally recognized as the beginning of the modern Native American Art Movement. Pictorial art was used by the Kiowa as well as other Plains Indians to maintain formal calendar records as well as to illustrate stories. Kiowa calendar keepers kept the history of the tribe in written form by inscribing pictographic records of significant events on animal hides. The Kiowa had a complex calendar system with events recorded for both summer and winter of each year. The Sun Dance ceremony provided the reference point for the summer on these calenders. A particularly complex calendar produced by Silver Horn (or Haungooah), in 1904, was richly illustrated. Silver Horn's calendar begins with the year 1828 and ends in 1904, with summer and winter pictures for most years. Summers are indicated by a green, forked pole, representing the center pole of the Sun Dance, and winters by a bare tree. Silver Horn was one of the artists employed by James Mooney, an anthropologist with the Smithsonian's Bureau of American Ethnology, who worked on the Kiowa Reservation for many years. The calendar contains many interpretive notes made by Mooney, as he employed the artists to produce illustrations for field notes, not works of art for display. Nevertheless, many such art works have been retained and are considered fine works of art in their own right. Kiowa music, one of the most heavily recorded Native American musics, is part of the larger Southern Plains Indian music that is heavily influenced by the Omaha, often via the Ponca. Kiowa traditional music is strongly focused on dancing, such as the Sun Dance (k'aw-tow). Courtship is a traditional part of k'aw-tow celebrations, and this facet is often reflected in the music. Much of Kiowa music is related to their warrior society. The Kiowas' significant contributions to world music include the maintenance of traditions such as the Black Leggins Society, the Oh-Ho-Mah Lodge, the Kiowa Gourd Clan, Peyote songs, and sacred Kiowa hymns (Carney and Foley 2003). Kiowa music is often noted for its hymns that were traditionally played on the flute. Cornel Pewewardy (flautist and full blood Comanche/Kiowa) is a leading performer of contemporary Kiowa/Southern Plains music, including Kiowa Christian hymns which include prominent glissandos (Broughton and Ellingham 2000). The Gourd Dance originated with the Kiowa tribe. It has spread to many other tribes and societies, most of which do not have the blessing of the Kiowa Elders. The dance in the Kiowa Language is called "ti-ah pi-ah" which means "ready to go, ready to die." The Kiowa consider this dance as their dance since it was given to them by "Red Wolf." A Kiowa story recounts the tale of a young man who had been separated from the rest of the tribe. Hungry and dehydrated after many days of travel, the young man approached a hill and heard an unusual kind of singing coming from the other side. There he saw a red wolf singing and dancing on its hind legs. The man listened to the songs all afternoon and through the night and when morning came, the wolf spoke to him and told him to take the dance and songs back to the Kiowa people. The "howl" at the end of each gourd dance song is a tribute to the red wolf. Like pow-wow dancing, Gourd Dancing is performed in a circular arena, around which the dancers take their place. The drum can be placed on the side or in the center of the arena. It is a man's dance. Women participate by dancing in place behind their male counterparts and outside the perimeter formed by the men. During most of the song, the dancers dance in place, lifting their feet in time to the drumbeats, and shaking their rattles from side to side. The rattles, traditionally made from gourds can have peyote-stitch beadwork on the handle. The Gourd Dance was once part of the Kiowa Sun Dance ceremony. The Sun Dance was the most important religious ceremony for the Kiowa, as it was for many other plains Indian People. It was not a ceremony worshiping the sun, but rather derived its name from the practice of gazing upward into the sun. It has also been called the Medicine Dance, because of the ceremonial significance of the event. The Sun Dance was usually held once a year during the summer, usually around the time of the summer solstice, and provided a time not only for ceremonial and religious celebration, but also for gathering of the tribe and sharing of news, as well as individual healing and self-renewal. The Tai-me Keeper or priest played a central role in the Sun Dance, from deciding—based on inspiration received in a dream—whether the ceremony would be held leading to the preparations. The Tai-me was a small decorated stone figure covered with ermine and feathers. The Kiowa received their first Tai-me figure from an Arapaho man who married into the Kiowa tribe. The Arapaho had originally obtained a Tai-me figure from the Crow Indians during their Sun Dance. Originally, the Kiowa Sun Dance celebration lasted for about ten days, with six days of preparation, followed by four dancing days. The celebration followed a strict pattern of rituals on each of the ten days. On the dancing days, the dance began at sunrise and the dancer's family selected an artist to paint designs on the dancer's body. Following prayers and ceremonial smokes, the dance continued throughout the day. During the four dancing days, spectators and singers were allowed to leave at midnight, but the dancers were required to remain in the sweat lodge without food or water. The only relief the dancers could receive from the heat of the day were waterlillies to cool their heads and traditional ceremonial food. The Tai-me keeper would also fan the dancers. At certain times dancers would fall unconscious and experience visions. Unlike Sun Dances of other tribes, such as the Sioux, the Kiowa never pierced their skin or shed blood in any way during the ceremony. For them, this was considered taboo and would bring misfortune upon the Kiowa People. On the final day, offerings were made to the Tai-me for good fortune. The last dance performed by the participants was the buffalo dance, so that those leaving would be protected by the buffalo guardian spirit for the coming year. This prayer was last offered in 1887, when the Kiowa people held their last fully completed Sun dance: - O Dom-oye-alm-k' hee, Creater of the earth, - Bless my prayer and heal our land, - Increase our food, the buffalo power, - Multiply my people, prolong their lives on earth, - Protect us from troubles and sickness, - That happiness and joy may be ours in life, - That life we live is so uncertain, - Consider my supplications with kindness, - For I talk to you as yet living for my people. While the Sun Dance ceremonies were eventually banned by the United States government at the end of the nineteenth century, and the dance itself is no longer performed today, it still impacts Kiowa life. For example, the ten Kiowa Tah-lee Medicine bundles, which played a central role in the Sun Dance purification rituals are still cared for by tribal members charged with their safe protection. Purification through the use of the sweat lodge continues to this day. Other cultural activities such as the Warrior Society dances and the varied songs and music of the Kiowa have also been maintained. The "peyote religion" or Native American Church, founded by Comanche Quanah Parker, includes aspects of the traditional Kiowa religion, such as daybreak to daylight rituals and dancing. On August 6, 1901, Kiowa land in Oklahoma was opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation established in the 1867 treaty. Today, most of the Kiowa lands, now protected as a federal trust area, are located in Caddo County in Oklahoma. Many Kiowa have adopted contemporary professional lifestyles; others practice farming or lease oil rights to their lands. Despite the efforts of the U.S. government in the nineteenth century to eradicate Kiowa traditional culture and religion, they have managed to maintain their stories, songs, and dances. The traditional Gourd Dance is performed frequently at pow-wows today. Kiowa artists are recognized for the flowering of Native American art. Following the internationally acclaimed work of the Kiowa Five in the 1920s, others continued in this Southern Plains style of painting. The influence of Kiowa art and the revival of ledger art is illustrated in the early work of Cherokee-Creek female artist Virginia Stroud and Spokane artist George Flett. While Stroud is of Cherokee-Creek descent, she was raised by a Kiowa family and the traditions of that culture, and the influence of the Kiowa tradition is evident in her early pictographic images. Well known Kiowa artists of the later twentieth century include Bobby Hill (White Buffalo), Robert Redbird, Roland N. Whitehorse, and T. C. Cannon. The pictographic art of contemporary and traditional artist Sherman Chaddlesone has again revived the ledger art form that was absent in most of the art of the Second Generation Modernists that had developed since Silverhorn and the Kiowa Five. In addition to their art and music, several contemporary Kiowas have emerged as successful writers. Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for his novel House Made of Dawn. Other Kiowa authors include playwright Hanay Geiogamah, poet and filmmaker Gus Palmer, Jr., Alyce Sadongei, and Tocakut. - Berlo, Jane Catherine. 1996. Plains Indian Drawings 1865-1935. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0810937420. - Boyd, Maurice. 1981. Kiowa Voices: Ceremonial Dance, Ritual, and Song, Vol. 1. Texas Christian University Press. ISBN 978-0912646671. - —. 1983. Kiowa Voices: Myths, Legends and Folktales. Texas Christian University Press. ISBN 978-0912646763. - Broughton, Simon and Mark Ellingham. 2000. Rough Guide to World Music Volume Two: Latin and North America, the Caribbean, Asia & the Pacific. ISBN 1858286360. - Carney, George and Hugh Foley Jr. 2003. Oklahoma Music Guide: Biographies, Big Hits, and Annual Events. ISBN 1581071043. - Corwin, Hugh. 1958. The Kiowa Indians, Their History and Life Stories. - Greene, Candace S. 2002. Silver Horn: Master Illustrator of the Kiowas. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806133072. - Hoig, Stan. 2000. The Kiowas and the Legend of Kicking Bird. Boulder, CO: The University Press of Colorado. ISBN 0870815644. - Lookingbill, Brad D. 2006. War Dance at Fort Marion: Plains Indian War Prisoners. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806137391. - Mayhall, Mildred P. Kiowa Indians. The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved April 24, 2008. - Mishkin, Bernard. 1988. Rank and Warfare Among The Plains Indians. AMS Press. ISBN 0404629032. - Momaday, N. Scott. 1977. The Way to Rainy Mountain. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0826304362. - Mooney, James. 2007. Calender History of the Kiowa Indians. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-0548136461. - Nye, Colonel W.S. 1983. Carbine and Lance: The Story of Old Fort Sill. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806118563. - Richardson, Jane. 1988. Law & Status Among the Kiowa Indians American Ethnological Society Monographs; No 1. AMS Press. ISBN 0404629016. - Waldman, Carl. 2006. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, NY: Checkmark Books. ISBN 978-0816062744. - Wong, Hertha Dawn. 1992. Sending My Heart Back Across the Years: Tradition and Innovation in Native American Autobiography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195069129. All links retrieved June 20, 2014. - Kiowa Collection: Selections from the Papers of Hugh Lenox Scott. - Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Indian Lands. - Kiowa ledger drawing in the Smithsonian. - Photographs of Kiowa Indians hosted by the Portal to Texas History. - Hager, N. W. The Kiowa Five The Fine Arts Trader. - Silver Horn Pictorial Calendar National Anthropological Archives and Human Studies Film Archives. - Virginia Stroud Artist Profile. - Kiowa Nation. - SKAW-TOW The Last Kiowa Sun Dance. - The Power of Kiowa Song: A Collaborative Ethnography. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

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Temporal range: Early Pleistocene to Recent |At San Diego Zoo, USA| The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. This condor became extinct in the wild in 1987 (all remaining wild individuals were captured), but the species has been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California. Although other fossil members are known, it is the only surviving member of the genus Gymnogyps. The plumage is black with patches of white on the underside of the wings; the head is largely bald, with skin color ranging from gray on young birds to yellow and bright orange on breeding adults. Its huge 3.0 m (9.8 ft) wingspan is the widest of any North American bird, and its weight of up to 12 kg (26 lb) nearly equals that of the trumpeter swan, the heaviest among native North American bird species. The condor is a scavenger and eats large amounts of carrion. It is one of the world's longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 60 years. Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 20th century due to poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. A conservation plan was put in place by the United States government that led to the capture of all 22 remaining wild condors in 1987. These surviving birds were bred at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. Numbers rose through captive breeding and, beginning in 1991, condors were reintroduced into the wild. The California condor is one of the world's rarest bird species: as of June 2014 there are 439 condors living wild or in captivity. The condor is a significant bird to many Californian Native American groups and plays an important role in several of their traditional myths. The California condor was described by English naturalist George Shaw in 1797 as Vultur californianus. It was originally classified in the same genus as the Andean condor (V. gryphus), but, due to the Andean condor's slightly different markings, slightly longer wings, and tendency to kill small animals to eat, the California condor has now been placed in its own monotypic genus. The generic name Gymnogyps is derived from the Greek gymnos/γυμνος "naked" or "bare", and gyps/γυψ "vulture", while the specific name californianus comes from its location in California. The word condor itself is derived from the Ecuadorian Quechua cuntur. The exact taxonomic placement of the California condor and the other six species of New World vultures remains unclear. Though similar in appearance and ecological roles to Old World vultures, the New World vultures evolved from a different ancestor in a different part of the world. Just how different the two are is currently under debate, with some earlier authorities suggesting that the New World vultures are more closely related to storks. More recent authorities maintain their overall position in the order Falconiformes along with the Old World vultures or place them in their own order, Cathartiformes. The South American Classification Committee has removed the New World vultures from Ciconiiformes and instead placed them in Incertae sedis, but notes that a move to Falconiformes or Cathartiformes is possible. The genus Gymnogyps is an example of a relict distribution. During the Pleistocene epoch, this genus was widespread across the Americas. From fossils, the Floridan Gymnogyps kofordi from the Early Pleistocene and the Peruvian Gymnogyps howardae from the Late Pleistocene have been described. A condor found in Late Pleistocene deposits on Cuba was initially described as Antillovultur varonai, but has since been recognized as another member of Gymnogyps, Gymnogyps varonai. It may even have derived from a founder population of California condors. Today's California condor is the sole surviving member of Gymnogyps and has no accepted subspecies. However, there is a Late Pleistocene form that is sometimes regarded as a palaeosubspecies, Gymnogyps californianus amplus. Current opinions are mixed regarding the classification of the form as a chronospecies or a separate species Gymnogyps amplus. Gymnogyps amplus occurred over much of the bird's historical range – even extending into Florida – but was larger, having about the same weight as the Andean condor. This bird also had a wider bill. As the climate changed during the last ice age, the entire population became smaller until it had evolved into the Gymnogyps californianus of today, although more recent studies by Syverson query that theory. The adult California condor is a uniform black with the exception of large triangular patches or bands of white on the underside of the wings. It has gray legs and feet, an ivory-colored bill, a frill of black feathers surrounding the base of the neck, and brownish red eyes. The juvenile is mostly a mottled dark brown with blackish coloration on the head. It has mottled gray instead of white on the underside of its flight feathers. The condor's head and neck have few feathers, and the skin of the head and neck is capable of flushing noticeably in response to emotional state, a capability that can serve as communication between individuals. The skin color varies from yellowish to a glowing reddish-orange. The birds do not have true syringeal vocalizations. They can make a few hissing or grunting sounds only heard when very close. Contrary to the usual rule among true birds of prey, the female is slightly smaller than the male. Overall length can range from 109 to 140 cm (43 to 55 in) and wingspan from 2.49 to 3 m (8.2 to 9.8 ft). Their weight can range from 7 to 14.1 kg (15 to 31 lb), with estimations of average weight ranging from 8 to 9 kg (18 to 20 lb). Wingspans of up to 3.4 m (11 ft) have been reported but no wingspan over 3.05 m (10.0 ft) has been verified. Most measurements are from birds raised in captivity, so determining if there are any major differences in measurements between wild and captive condors is difficult. California condors have the largest wingspan of any North American bird. They are surpassed in both body length and weight only by the trumpeter swan and the introduced mute swan. The American white pelican and whooping crane also have longer bodies than the condor. Condors are so large that they can be mistaken for a small, distant airplane, which possibly occurs more often than they are mistaken for other species of bird. The middle toe of the California condor's foot is greatly elongated, and the hind one is only slightly developed. The talons of all the toes are straight and blunt, and are thus more adapted to walking than gripping. This is more similar to their supposed relatives the storks than to birds of prey and Old World vultures, which use their feet as weapons or organs of prehension. At the time of human settlement of the Americas, the California condor was widespread across North America; condor bones from the late Pleistocene have been found at the Cutler Fossil Site in southern Florida. However, climate changes associated with the end of the last glacial period and the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna led to a subsequent reduction in range and population. Five hundred years ago, the California condor roamed across the American Southwest and West Coast. Faunal remains of condors have been found documented in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of the early 19th century reported on their sighting and shooting of California condors near the mouth of the Columbia River. The condors live in rocky shrubland, coniferous forests, and oak savannas. They are often found near cliffs or large trees, which they use as nesting sites. Individual birds have a huge range and have been known to travel up to 250 km (150 mi) in search of carrion. There are two sanctuaries dedicated to this bird, the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary in the San Rafael Wilderness and the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in the Los Padres National Forest. These areas were chosen because of their prime condor nesting habitat. Ecology and behavior When in flight, the movements of the condor are remarkably graceful. The lack of a large sternum to anchor their correspondingly large flight muscles restricts them to being primarily soarers. The birds flap their wings when taking off from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation they largely glide, sometimes going for miles without a single flap of their wings. They have been known to fly up to speeds of 90 km/h (55 mph) and as high as 4,600 m (15,000 ft). They prefer to roost on high perches from which they can launch without any major wing-flapping effort. Often, these birds are seen soaring near rock cliffs, using thermals to aid them in keeping aloft. The California condor has a long life span, reaching up to 60 years. If it survives to adulthood, the condor has few natural threats other than humans. Because they lack a syrinx, their vocal display is limited to grunts and hisses. Condors bathe frequently and can spend hours a day preening their feathers. Condors also perform urohidrosis, or defecate on their legs, to reduce their body temperature. There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine a pecking order decided by body language, competitive play behavior, and a variety of hisses and grunts. This social hierarchy is displayed especially when the birds feed, with the dominant birds eating before the younger ones. Wild condors maintain a large home range, often traveling 250 km (160 mi) a day in search of carrion. It is thought that in the early days of its existence as a species, the California condor lived off the carcasses of the "megafauna", which are now extinct in North America. They still prefer to feast on large, terrestrial mammalian carcasses such as deer, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, pigs, cougars, bears, or cattle. Alternatively, they may feed on the bodies of smaller mammals, such as rabbits or coyotes, aquatic mammals such as whales and California Sea Lions, or salmon. Bird and reptile carcasses are rarely eaten. Since they do not have a sense of smell, they spot these corpses by looking for other scavengers, like eagles and smaller vultures, the latter of which cannot rip through the tougher hides of these larger animals with the efficiency of the larger condor. They can usually intimidate other scavengers away from the carcass, with the exception of bears, which will ignore them, and golden eagles, which will fight a condor over a kill or a carcass. In the wild they are intermittent eaters, often going for between a few days to two weeks without eating, then gorging themselves on 1–1.5 kilograms (2.2–3.3 lb) of meat at once. Condors begin to look for a mate when they reach sexual maturity at the age of six. To attract a prospective mate, the male condor performs a display, in which the male turns his head red and puffs out his neck feathers. He then spreads his wings and slowly approaches the female. If the female lowers her head to accept the male, the condors become mates for life. The pair makes a simple nest in caves or on cliff clefts, especially ones with nearby roosting trees and open spaces for landing. A mated female lays one bluish-white egg every other year. Eggs are laid as early as January to as late as April. The egg weighs about 280 g (10 oz) and measures from 90–120 mm (3.5–4.75 in.) in length and about 67 mm (2.6 in.) in width. If the chick or egg is lost or removed, the parents "double clutch", or lay another egg to take the lost one's place. Researchers and breeders take advantage of this behavior to double the reproductive rate by taking the first egg away for puppet-rearing; this induces the parents to lay a second egg, which the condors are sometimes allowed to raise. The eggs hatch after 53 to 60 days of incubation by both parents. Chicks are born with their eyes open and sometimes can take up to a week to leave the shell completely. The young are covered with a grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents. They are able to fly after five to six months, but continue to roost and forage with their parents until they are in their second year, at which point the parents typically turn their energies to a new nest. Ravens are the main predatory threat to condor eggs, while golden eagles and bears are potential predators of condor offspring. Obstacles to recovery In modern times, a wide variety of causes have contributed to the condor's decline. Its low clutch size (one young per nest), combined with a late age of sexual maturity, make the bird vulnerable to artificial population decline. Significant past damage to the condor population has also been attributed to poaching, especially for museum specimens, lead poisoning (from eating animals containing lead shot), DDT poisoning, electric power lines, egg collecting, and habitat destruction. During the California Gold Rush, some condors were even kept as pets. The leading cause of mortality in nestling condors is the ingestion of trash that is fed to them by their parents. In addition to this, cattle ranchers who observed condors feeding on the dead young of their cattle assumed that the birds killed the cattle. This fallacy led to the condor's extirpation in some parts of the western United States. This belief was so deeply ingrained that the reintroduction of condors to the Grand Canyon was challenged by some cattle ranchers, who mistakenly believed that the bird hunted calves and lambs. Unanticipated deaths among recent condor populations occurred due to contact with golden eagles, lead poisoning, and other factors such as power line collisions. Since 1994, captive-bred California condors have been trained to avoid power lines and people. Since the implementation of this aversion conditioning program, the number of condor deaths due to power lines has greatly decreased. Lead poisoning due to fragmented lead bullets in large game waste is a particularly big problem for condors due to their extremely strong digestive juices; lead waste is not as much of a problem for other avian scavengers such as the turkey vulture and common raven. This problem has been addressed in California by the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act, a bill that went into effect July 1, 2008 that requires that hunters use non-lead bullets when hunting in the condor's range. Blood lead levels in golden eagles as well as turkey vultures has declined with the implementation of the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act, demonstrating that the legislation has helped reduce other species' lead exposures aside from the California condor. California Condor Recovery Plan As the condor's population continued to decline, discussion began about starting a captive breeding program for the birds. Opponents to this plan argued that the condors had the right to freedom, that capturing all of the condors would change the species' habits forever, and that the cost was too great. However, the project received the approval of the United States government, and the capture of the remaining wild condors was completed on Easter Sunday 1987, when AC-9, the last wild condor, was captured. There were only 22 condors in existence, all in captivity. The goal of the California Condor Recovery Plan was to establish two geographically separate populations, one in California and the other in Arizona, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs. As the Recovery Program works toward this goal the number of release sites has grown. There are three active release sites in California, one in Arizona and one in Baja California, Mexico. The captive breeding program, led by the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo, got off to a slow start due to the condor's mating habits. However, utilizing the bird's ability to double clutch, biologists began removing the first egg from the nest and raising it with puppets, allowing the parents to lay another egg. As the number of condors grew, attention began to focus on releasing some back into the wild. In 1988, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service began a reintroduction experiment involving the release of captive Andean condors into the wild in California. Only females were released, to eliminate the possibility of accidentally introducing a South American species into the United States. The experiment was a success, and all the Andean condors were recaptured and re-released in South America. California condors were released in 1991 and 1992 in California, and again in 1996 in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. Though the birth rate remains low in the wild, their numbers are increasing steadily through regular releases of captive-reared adolescents. The California condor conservation project may be one of the most expensive species conservation projects in United States history, costing over $35 million, including $20 million in federal and state funding, since World War II. As of 2007 the annual cost for the condor conservation program was around $2.0 million per year. However, nesting milestones have been recently reached by the reintroduced condors. In 2003, the first nestling fledged in the wild since 1981. In March 2006, a pair of California condors, released by Ventana Wildlife Society, attempted to nest in a hollow tree near Big Sur, California. This was the first time in more than 100 years in which a pair of California condors had been seen nesting in Northern California. As of November 2011 there were 394 individuals living, including 205 in the wild and the rest in the San Diego Wild Animal Park, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Oregon Zoo, and the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. As of October 2010, the wild condor population in its name state of California reached 100 individuals, and 73 wild condors in Arizona. As of May 2012, the number of living individuals has reached 405, with 179 living in captivity. By June 2014, using data from the National Park Service, the condor population has reached 439: 225 in the wild and 214 in captivity. As the Recovery Program achieved milestones, a fifth active release site in Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park, Baja California, Mexico, was added to the three release sites in California (Big Sur, Pinnacles National Park and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge) and the Vermilion Cliffs release site in Arizona. In early 2007, a California Condor laid an egg in Mexico for the first time since at least the 1930s. The population of the condors has risen due to these wild and also captive nestings. In the spring of 2009, a second wild chick was born in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park and was named Inyaa ("Sun" in the Kiliwa language) by local environmentalists. In 2014, Condor #597, also known as "Lupine," was spotted near Pescadero, a coastal community south of San Francisco. Lupine had been routinely seen at Pinnacles National Park after having been released into the wild at Big Sur last year. Younger birds of the Central California are seeking to expand their territory so this could mean that a new range expansion is possible for the more than 60 condors flying free in central California. Also in 2014 the first successful breeding in Utah was reported. A pair of Condors, who were released in Arizona, nested in Zion National Park and the hatching of one chick was confirmed. A crowdsourcing project called Condor Watch (CW) was started on April 14, 2014, hosted by the web portal Zooniverse. Volunteers are asked to examine motion-capture images of California Condors associated with release sites managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Ventana Wildlife Society. The tasks on the website include identifying tagged condors and marking the distance to feeding sources such as animal carcasses. The project's frontpage explains that the California condor is a critically endangered species and that its population is suffering from the effects of lead poisoning. The frontpage also explains that by tracking the location and social behavior of the animals scientists can better detect early warning signs of the illness. Condor Watch enables volunteers, or Citizen scientists, to participate in active research. The project has up 175,000 images to view and assess. This is far more than the CW science team could hope to view, and so are engaging Citizen scientists through their website to help tap into this wealth of information. Myra Finkelstein, the lead scientist and an adjunct professor of environmental toxicology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, stated: "Condors are unique in that they are so closely managed. One of the fun things about Condor Watch is that when you identify a bird it gives you a little biography about that individual." CW follows a long tradition of Citizen science being used in Ornithology, for instance The Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count, which began in 1900 and the Breeding bird survey which began in 1966. Some of the benefits of incorporating Citizen Science into ecological research are not only limited to helping collect data, but enable volunteers to gain experience in making observations, taking part in active research and perhaps developing a greater sense of stewardship over the populations they survey. The same can be true for the professional scientists taking part in the study. CW will improve the ability of condor biologists to identify birds that are at high risk for poisonings and develop better strategies for ensuring the species' successful recovery in the wild. Relationship with humans Throughout its historic range, the California condor has been a popular subject of mythology and an important symbol to Native Americans. Unusually, this bird takes on different roles in the storytelling of the different tribes. The Wiyot tribe of California say that the condor recreated mankind after Above Old Man wiped humanity out with a flood. However, other tribes, such as California's Mono, viewed the condor as a destroyer, not a creator. They say that Condor seized humans, cut off their heads, and drained their blood so that it would flood Ground Squirrel's home. Condor then seized Ground Squirrel after he fled, but Ground Squirrel managed to cut off Condor's head when Condor paused to take a drink of the blood. According to the Yokut tribe, the condor sometimes ate the moon, causing the lunar cycle, and his wings caused eclipses. The Chumash tribe of Southern California believed that the condor was once a white bird, but it turned black when it flew too close to a fire. Condor bones have been found in Native American graves, as have condor feather headdresses. Cave paintings of condors have also been discovered. Some tribes ritually killed condors to make ceremonial clothing out of their feathers. Shamans then danced while wearing these to reach the upper and lower spiritual worlds. Whenever a shaman died, his clothes were said to be cursed, so new clothing had to be made for his successor. Some scientists, such as Noel Snyder, believe that this process of making ceremonial clothing contributed to the condor's decline. - BirdLife International (2013). "Gymnogyps californianus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013. - "Once nearly extinct, the California condor nears new milestones". CNN. April 27, 2011. - "San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: California Condor". The Zoological Society of San Diego's Center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species. Retrieved April 18, 2012. - "California Condor Recovery Program (monthly status report)". National Park Service. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014. - Nielsen 2006, p. 27 - Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott (1980). A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-910207-4. - Simpson, J. and Weiner, E., ed. (1989). "Raven". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-861186-2. - Remsen, J. V., Jr.; C. D. Cadena; A. Jaramillo; M. Nores; J. F. Pacheco; M. B. Robbins; T. S. Schulenberg; F. G. Stiles; D. F. Stotz & K. J. Zimmer. 2007. A classification of the bird species of South America. South American Classification Committee. Retrieved on October 15, 2007 - Sibley, Charles G. and Monroe, Burt L. 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of the Birds of the World. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04969-2. Accessed April 11, 2007. - Sibley, Charles G., and Ahlquist, Jon E.. 1991. Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04085-7. Accessed April 11, 2007. - Ericson, Per G. P.; Anderson, Cajsa L.; Britton, Tom; Elzanowski, Andrzej; Johansson, Ulf S.; Kallersjö, Mari; Ohlson, Jan I.; Parsons, Thomas J.; Zuccon, Dario & Mayr, Gerald (2006) Diversification of Neoaves: integration of molecular sequence data and fossils. Biology Letters online: 1–5. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0523 PMID 17148284 PDF preprint Electronic Supplementary Material (PDF) - "The Birds of North America Online: California Condor". Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2003. Retrieved August 22, 2007. - Suárez, W.; Emslie, S.D. (2003). "New fossil material with a redescription of the extinct condor Gymnogyps varonai (Arredondo, 1971) from the Quaternary of Cuba (Aves: Vulturidae)". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 116 (1): 29–37. - V.J. Syverson (2007). "Evolutionary Patterns in Pleistocene to Recent California Condors". Geological Society of America 39 (6). - Fisher, Harvey L. (1944). "The skulls of the Cathartid vultures". Condor 46 (6): 272–296. doi:10.2307/1364013. JSTOR 1364013. - Howard, Hildegarde (1947). "A preliminary survey of trends in avian evolution from Pleistocene to recent time". Condor 49 (1): 10–13. doi:10.2307/1364422. - Howard, Hildegarde (1962). "Bird Remains from a Prehistoric Cave Deposit in Grant County, New Mexico". Condor 64 (3): 241–242. JSTOR 1365205. - "All About Birds: California Condor". Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2003. Retrieved August 22, 2007. - BirdLife International (2007) Species factsheet: California Condor Gymnogyps californianus. Retrieved August 17, 2007 - "California Condors Cool Facts". Ventana Wildlife Society. Retrieved August 14, 2007. - Snyder, Noel; Snyder, Helen (2000). The California Condor: A Saga of Natural History & Conservation. San Diego, California: Academic Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-12-654005-5. - Raptors of the World by Ferguson-Lees, Christie, Franklin, Mead & Burton. Houghton Mifflin (2001), ISBN 0-618-12762-3 - Wood, Gerald (1983). The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9. - Nielsen 2006, p. 1 - Cracraft, J. et al. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships among modern birds (Neornithes): toward an avian tree of life. pp. 468–489 in Assembling the tree of life (Cracraft, J. and Donoghue, M. J. eds.). Oxford University Press, New York. ISBN 0-19-517234-5. - Gibb, G. C., Kardailsky, O.; Kimball, R. T.; Braun, E. L. and Penny, D. (2007). "Mitochondrial genomes and avian phylogeny: complex characters and resolvability without explosive radiations". Molecular Biology Evolution 24 (1): 269–280. doi:10.1093/molbev/msl158. PMID 17062634. - Carr, Robert S. (2012). Digging Miami. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-8130-4206-0. - Miller, Loye (1960). "Condor Remains from Rampart Cave, Arizona". Condor 62 (1): 70. JSTOR 1365660. - Miller, Loye (1931). "The California Condor in Nevada". Condor 33 (1): 32. - Wetmore, Alexander (1931). "The California Condor in New Mexico". Condor 33 (2): 76–77. - Wetmore, Alexander (1932). "Additional Records of Birds from Cavern Deposits in New Mexico". Condor 34 (3): 141–142. - Wetmore, Alexander & Friedmann, Herbert (1938). "The California Condor in Texas". Condor 35 (1): 37–38. - Majors, Harry M. (1975). Exploring Washington. Van Winkle Publishing Co. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-918664-00-6. - "Lewis & Clark: The Ultimate Adventure: California Condor". Time Magazine. July 8, 2002. - Gagnon, Dennis R. Hiking the Santa Barbara Backcountry. The Ward Ritchie Press, Pasadena, California, 1974. ISBN 0-378-03542-8 - "California condor, (Gymnogyps californianus)". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved August 14, 2007. - Nielsen 2006, p. 79 - "San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: California Condor". Zoological Society of San Diego. Retrieved August 14, 2007. - "California Condor Behavior". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. Archived from the original on April 16, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2007. - "California Condor Life History". Ventana Wildlife Society. Retrieved August 14, 2007. - Nielsen 2006, p. 58 - Snyder, Noel; Snyder, Helen (2000). The California Condor. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-654005-5. - Nielsen 2006, p. 186 - Nielsen 2006, p. 83 - Church, ME; Gwiazda, R; Risebrough, RW; Sorenson, K; Chamberlain, CP; Farry, S; Heinrich, W; Rideout, BA; Smith, DR (2006). "Ammunition is the Principal Source of Lead Accumulated by California Condors Re-Introduced to the Wild". Environmental Science Technology 40 (19): 6143–50. doi:10.1021/es060765s. PMID 17051813. - Kiff, L. F.; Peakall, D. B. & Wilbur, S. R. (1979). "Recent Changes in California Condor Eggshells". Condor 81 (2): 166–172. doi:10.2307/1367284. JSTOR 1367284. - Nielsen 2006, p. 88 - Rideout, BA; Stalis, I; Papendick, R; Pessier, A; Puschner, B; Finkelstein, ME; Smith, DR; Johnson, M; Mace, M; Stroud, R; Brandt, J; Burnett, J; Parish, C; Petterson, J; Witte, C; Stringfield, C; Orr, K; Zuba, J; Wallace, M; Grantham, J (2012). "Patterns of mortality in free-ranging California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus)". Journal of wildlife diseases 48 (1): 95–112. doi:10.7589/0090-3558-48.1.95. PMID 22247378. - Sheppard, Brad. "Condors". Sheppard Software. Retrieved August 27, 2007. - milius, susan (June 26, 2012). "Lead poisoning stymies condor recovery". sciencenews. Retrieved August 24, 2014. - "California Condor Recovery Program". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. December 2006. Archived from the original on September 11, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2007. - Thacker, Paul D.; Lubick, Naomi; Renner, Rebecca; Christen, Kris; Pelley, Janet (2006). "Condors are shot full of lead". Environmental Science & Technology 40 (19): 5826. doi:10.1021/es063001l. - "Assembly Bill No. 821" (PDF). CA State Senate. Retrieved July 3, 2008. - Kelly, Terra R.; Peter H. Bloom; Stever G. Torres; Yvette Z. Hernandez; Robert H. Poppenga; Walter M. Boyce; Christine K. Johnson (2011). Iwaniuk, Andrew, ed. "Impact of the California Lead Ammunition Ban of Reducing Lead Exposures in Golden Eagles and Turkey Vultures". PLoS ONE 6 (4): e17656. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017656. PMC 3071804. PMID 21494329. - Taylor, Dennis L. (May 8, 2014) "Lead ammo deadly beyond the target" The Californian (Salinas, CA) - Nielsen 2006, p. 13 - Nielsen 2006, p. 24 - Weise, Elizabeth (October 7, 2010). "Condor population reaches 100 in California". USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2010. - Nielsen 2006, p. 7 - "Frequently Asked Questions". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2007. - "Fresh Hope For Condors". Sky News. March 30, 2006. Retrieved August 14, 2007. - Muldoon, Katy (May 20, 2012). "California Condors Hit a Milestone – a Population of 405 – after Nearly Going Extinct.". The Oregonian. Retrieved May 20, 2012. - "Condors to take flight in Baja Sierras". UCMEXUS (University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States). Spring 2003. Retrieved October 7, 2010. - "FAQ About California Condors". Santa Barbara Zoo. April 15, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2011. - Watkins, Thomas (April 3, 2007). "California Condor lays egg in Mexico". Associated Press via USA Today. Retrieved August 14, 2007. - Galindo, Yadira (June 18, 2009). "Condor Chick Hatches in Mexican Wilderness". California Condor Conservation. Retrieved March 1, 2011. - P. Rogers (14 June 2014). "First California condor spotted in San Mateo County since 1904". Vallejo Times Herald. Retrieved 28 August 2014. - Banks, Alicia (June 16, 2014) "Condor spotted in San Mateo County is first in 110 years" Los Angeles Times - National Park Service: Zion National Park – Biologists Catch First Glimpse of Condor Chick in Utah, July 15, 2014 - Stephens, Tim (April 15, 2014). "'Condor Watch' enlists citizen scientists to help an endangered species". University of California. Retrieved August 21, 2014. - "'Condor watch' enlists citizen scientists to help endangered species". sciencedaily. April 15, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-19. - McCaffrey, R.E. (2005). Using Citizen Science in Urban Bird Studies. Urban Habitats. 3 (1). p. 70-86. - Nielsen 2006, p. 39 - Nielsen 2006, p. 37 - Nielsen 2006, p. 38 - Nielsen 2006, p. 40 - Nielsen 2006, p. 36 - Nielsen 2006, p. 41 - Lesson, René-Primevère (1842). L'Echo du monde savant. [Description of genus Gymnogyps]. ser. 2 6(44): col. 1037 - Nielsen, John (2006). Condor: To the Brink and Back—The Life and Times of One Giant Bird. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-008862-0. - Snyder, Noel; Snyder, Helen (2000). The California Condor. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-654005-5. |Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gymnogyps californianus.| |Wikispecies has information related to: California condor| - U.S. Fish and Wildlife California Condor Recovery Program - Ventana Wildlife Society including the Live Condor cam at Bigsur. - Peregrine Fund - Condor Watch The Condor Watch crowdsourcing project, started April 2014. - Vulture Territory Facts and Characteristics: California condor - BirdLife Species Factsheet - Pinnacles National Park Condor Program - Hunting with Non-Lead - California Department of Fish and Game: Get the Lead Out - California condor videos and photos at the Internet Bird Collection - Ecology of condors

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THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS and FEATURE FILMS IN THE ELA CLASSROOM The limited use of feature films — carefully selected, properly introduced, perhaps shown with a movie worksheet, and always followed by discussion and assignments — will interest students in their schoolwork and allow teachers to meet standards. Some of the new Common Core State Standards acknowledge this by specifically refering to the use of film and other multimedia. In addition, movies can assist in meeting many of the standards that make no specifid reference to film. Therefore, the use of movies in class, on a limited basis, is a valuable tool for ELA teachers. Background — a Crisis of Motivation in Education: One of the key problems in American education is that students have little motivation to learn. A major cause is that students live in an age awash in personal computers, iPods and smart phones, while they're required to attend schools that use an English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum originally designed in the 19th or early 20th centuries. Other contributing factors are that current teaching methods and technologies make little use of personal digital devices and that classes are held in buildings with a design similar to schools built after the Civil War. For today's wired students, walking through the schoolhouse door is like entering a time warp and going back more than a hundred years. Every school day, hundreds of thousands of ELA teachers attempt to swim against the current of modern technology and the fact that today's youth are more interested in watching stories on a screen than reading a book. Teachers come up with interesting assignments, they look for the most exciting text-based stories, they entertain, they cajole, and they discipline; committed teachers work long hours trying to motivate their students — and for many students they succeed. However, screen-based stories are the literature of today's youth and teachers who don't use movies as an integral part of their lesson plans are denying themselves and their students a powerful motivator. They are foregoing the benefit of the strong current of modern technology to assist in education. One Small Part of the Solution: Over the years, thousands of movies have been released which are works of art dealing with important issues of modern life or which are reasonably historically accurate. There are many more feature films that contain isolated scenes which can be used in education. In order to appeal to a mass audience, Hollywood advertises movies as merely entertainment but frequently, directors and actors put heart and soul into making great art and providing accurate portrayals. Sometimes, it's just a scene or two that can be isolated and used in class as a snippet ; often it's the entire movie. TeachWithMovies.com has prepared lesson plans and Learning Guides to 350 of these films, from artistic classics like The Searchers , Cyrano de Bergerac , to films which portray historical events with fundamental accuracy such as Remember the Titans or The Right Stuff A properly used film will be carefully chosen to interest and engage students and to support a lesson plan that meets curricular goals. Showing the film will be preceded by an introduction which places the film in the context of the curriculum and provides appropriate background. After the introduction, students will be given a movie worksheet to read before the film starts. The worksheet requires students to answer questions that relate to subjects that are being covered in class. After the movie is finished, there will be a class discussion or an assignment to make further use of the interest that the film has generated. For example, when a class is going to learn how to derive theme from printed texts, the movie worksheet should include questions about the messages of the film. It should also include questions that serve as a review of past instruction. If, in the past, the class had studied plot structure, learning about rising action, climax and falling action, prompts on the worksheet can require students to apply that learning. During the screening of the movie, students should be given a few short breaks during which they are allowed to make notes of responses to the prompts contained in the worksheet. When the movie is over, students should be given time to write out their responses or engage in class discussion about the issues raised by the prompts. In the alternative, students can be required to write a short essay or respond to the worksheet prompts as homework. When the right film is fully integrated into a lesson, it becomes a powerful educational experience that will not disappear from the minds of students as soon as they leave the classroom. Unfortunately, teachers who are stressed or who have given up trying to educate their students often use movies to babysit classes. Teachers seeking to reward their classes for completing a difficult assignment will let them watch films with no artistic merit, no relationship to the curriculum, and no benefit for the students. These practices have given the use of movies in class a bad name. But it doesn't have to be that way. The experience of good teachers has shown again and again that film can be a powerful educational tool. To correct the problems of modern education will take fundamental reform and more resources than American society is presently willing to commit. However, until the reforms are implemented, removing one factor that depletes student motivation is a good interim step. Using some of the screen-based stories that comprise the literature of today's youth can inspire students and interest them in schoolwork. The New Curriculum Standards: The 2010 Common Core State Standards in ELA and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects (the CCS Standards) describe a set of skills necessary for success in college and the workplace, i.e., proficiency in reading complex texts, writing, speaking, and listening. Each skill area is divided into strands called "College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards" (CCRs). Under each CCR there are a number of specific standards. Through grade eight, each standard sets out goals for the skill levels to be met by the end of the school year. For high school, the standards set out skill levels for the end of 10th grade and the end of 12th grade. The CCS Standards "focus on results rather than means" and do not prescribe how teachers are to reach the goals set out in the document. CCS Standards, p. 4. The manner of teaching the course is left up to the teacher's discretion. Despite its emphasis on teaching students to read complex texts, a substantial number of the CCS Standards set out goals for teaching about movies and "diverse media", which includes filmed presentations. Because class time is limited and there are many standards to be attained each year, the opportunities to both meet the requirements of the CCS Standards and use movies in the classroom are limited. However, because certain standards require the use of movies, classrooms without film cannot meet all the CCS requirements. Moreover, when properly used, movies are helpful in attaining the non-film related CCS Standards. Good educational practice, therefore, argues for the judicious use of film in education, perhaps one or two movies per semester and short film clips more frequently. The key, of course, is that movies used in education be focused on the curriculum and part of a carefully considered lesson plan. CCS Standards that Require or Specifically Permit the Teaching of Film: 28 important CCS Standards, most relating to grades 6 - 12, refer directly to the use of movies, employing the word "film," the term "diverse media" or similar terms. Several standards refer to "drama", which at page 57 of the Standards is defined to include filmed versions of plays. There are many plays set to film including most of the works of Shakespeare, The Crucible , The Glass Menagerie , Cyrano de Bergerac ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS GRADES K - 12 Reading: CCR 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. Grade 4: RL.4.7. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text. Speaking and Listening: CCR 2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Grades 1 - 5: SL.1.2. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. [Standard 1.2 for Grades 2 - 6 contain increasingly complex activities with text read aloud and information presented . . . in "other media" or "diverse media". These activities include distilling and describing the main ideas, paraphrasing, etc.] ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS GRADES 6 - 12 Reading: CCR 3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Grade 6: RL.6.3. Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. Reading: CCR 5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. Grade 7: RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot). Grade 8: RL.8.3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision. Grades 11 - 12: RL.11-12.3. Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed). Grade 7: RL.7.5. Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. Reading: CCR 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. See Common Core State Standards Requiring or Authorizing the Use of Movies which highlights in yellow all of the standards that directly require the teaching of film or "media". Grade 6: RL.6.7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they "see" and "hear" when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch. Grade 7: RL.7.7. Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film). Grade 8: Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors. Grades 9 & 10: RL.9-10.7. Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment . . . . Grades 11 & 12: RL.11-12.7. Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.) . . . The fact that 28 important CCS Standards refer to the use of movies is a statistic of profound significance for film in the classroom. It means that the authors of the Standards recognized the importance of movies in education, while at the same time insisting that the emphasis be on teaching students to read complex texts. Since some of the CCS Standards refer to the use of film in the classroom, school boards and administrators that refuse to allow movies in their schools and teachers who decline to use any film in their classrooms are, in effect, rejecting an important element of the CCS Standards. Using Movies to Meet Curriculum Standards that Do Not Refer to Film or Other Media: An equally important reason to use film in education (for homework or in the classroom) is that movies will assist in attaining the standards that do not mention film or other media. There are several ways in which movies can assist in meeting general curriculum standards. First, it should be noted that most ELA standards require the development of skills in the areas of reading, writing and speaking. The CCS Standards are no exception. The emotional impact of movies will cause students to do their best in assignments that develop and exercise their skills in two of those areas, writing and speaking. Thus, movies can assist teachers and students in meeting a large swath of the CCS Standards relating to skills. The key is motivation. Many students will do a poor job on writing or speaking assignments that don't interest them. Almost all students will do a better job on writing and speaking assignments when they are emotionally engaged. The ability to tap into the emotions of its audience is the hallmark of a good movie. Second, certain components of the CCS Standards require students to learn how to analyze fiction. All stories, movies included, contain many of the elements and devices of written fiction. Thus, the vast majority of feature films will have a plot, an expository phase, a climax, and a denouement. There may be flashbacks, flash-forwards, symbols, and extended metaphor. There will be characterization, a protagonist, an antagonist, and, sometimes, foils for major characters. Since screened stories, rather than written texts, are the literature of today's youth (it's worth repeating), students will have a higher motivation to study the elements and devices of fiction when they are presented in a film than when they are contained in a written text. In addition, it will be easier for students to grasp concepts such as theme, character development, and plot structure in the filmed media that they are comfortable with, rather than printed texts which are, regrettably, foreign to many of them. Thus, filmed stories are an excellent way to introduce the analysis of literature. After exposure to the concepts and methods of literary analysis through film, students will be better able to apply these concepts to the less familiar printed texts. This technique is described in a publication by the National Council of Teachers of English, Reading in the Dark: Using Film As a Tool in the English Classroom, by John Golden (2001). An excellent example of how a film clip can transform an otherwise potentially dry and cerebral lesson that kids might normally dismiss is TWM's Snippet Lesson Plan on The Child Savior Myth and Literary Archetypes — Using a Film Clip from Man on Fire. The film clip is 22 minutes long and the entire lesson takes up one 55 minute class period. It is accompanied by a student handout explaining archetypes in general and the child savior archetype in particular. In the movie, Denzel Washington plays a jaded former special operative in the war on terror with many kills on his conscience. He is to start a job to protect the nine-year-old daughter of a rich Mexican industrialist from kidnappers. However, he is unable to shake feelings of despair and a conviction that his life is at a dead-end. He attempts suicide but by chance he fails. He then meets the young girl he has been hired to protect and is struck by her innocence. Her unspoiled sweetness motivates him to find a mission for his life and he undertakes a journey to self-respect. The regenerative power of the exposure of Washington's hard-boiled character to the sweetness of the young child touches everyone who sees the film. Her role in his salvation is clear. This film clip will help students not only understand the concept of archetypes and the child savior but they will feel it in their hearts, a place where it will last well beyond the school day and the school year. Note that the film clip shows no R rated material. In subjects not covered by the CCS Standards, the substantive curriculum for history, civics, health, the arts, and the sciences, there are many movies that impart information in a way that leaves lasting memories. However, these are beyond the scope of this article. Readers are referred to TWM's Subject Matter Index for a collection of some of these films. TWM provides a strong set of curriculum materials designed to assist teachers in maximizing the educational benefit from movies. These include more than 350 Learning Guides and lesson plans for feature films, 30 of these are lesson plans based on film clips and short subjects, such as the lesson plane using a clip from Man on Fire described above. In addition, there are many other curriculum materials to assist teachers. See Movie Worksheets, Articles, Student Handouts and Fully Developed Lesson Plans One of the techniques recommended by TWM for using film in education that takes up very little class time is to give students a list of movies they can obtain for home viewing. They will then be required to complete an assignment relating to the film. See TWM's Movies as Literature Homework Project and Historical Fiction in Film Homework Project. These assignments allow students to obtain the benefits of instruction using film without investing large amounts of valuable class time. Conclusion: Underlying facts: (1) part of the problem with the modern educational system and ELA classes in particular is that students lack motivation to learn; (2) the current educational system for ELA is based on literature and teaching methods dating back more than a hundred years; (3) screened presentations are the dominant literature of today's youth; (4) the use of screened stories in whole or in part will increase motivation and interest among students; (5) the CCS Standards for every grade, and especially for grades 6 - 12 envisage the use of film; and (6) the attainment of many CCS Standards that do not refer to film will be enhanced by the use of movies and film clips. Therefore, when a limited number of films, one or two per semester, are carefully chosen to be an integral part of a lesson plan, are properly introduced with appropriate background, are shown with a well-designed movie worksheet and followed up with class discussion or assignments, they can enhance student interest in ELA classes and improve educational outcomes. For a film study worksheet for ELA classes, click here For TWM's film study worksheet for Cinematic and Theatrical Elements and Their Effects click here TeachWithMovies.com's Movie Lesson Plans and Learning Guides are used by thousands of teachers in their classrooms to motivate students. They provide background and discussion questions that lead to fascinating classes. Parents can use them to supplement what their children learn in school. Each film recommended by TeachWithMovies.com contains lessons on life and positive moral messages. Our Guides and Lesson Plans show teachers how to stress these messages and make them meaningful for young audiences. Each TWM Snippet Lesson Plan Contains: - Learner Outcomes/Objectives - Exact Location of the Clip in the Movie, Film or Video - Step-by-Step Instructions for Using the Clip in the Classroom Some Snippet LPs simply identify film clips and Internet resources. Others are complete lesson plans with introductions, handouts, discussion questions, and summative assessments. Learning Guides Feature the Following Sections: - Possible Problems - Helpful Background - Building Vocabulary - Discussion Questions - Links to Internet - Bridges to Reading - Assignments & Projects help teachers develop or improve their own lesson plans to maximize students' classroom experience. Many also feature introductions, handouts, and summative assessments. SUPPLEMENT SCHOOL CURRICULUM! PROMOTE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING! More suggestions about the beneficial use of movies in the classroom and to supplement curricula are added on a regular basis! Show students that the stories in movies can use the elements that we normally look for in stories told in books. A subscription to TeachWithMovies.com will give teachers access to 350 Snippet Lesson Plans, Learning Guides, and Movie Lesson Plans. Subscribe Today and use TWM's Film Study Worksheet.

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ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE ARTS First Graders are introduced to the upper case alphabet, simple phonics, and the writing of sentences. This is all done through a “language experience” approach to reading. The students are given an imaginative experience of a story that is told by the teacher; they retell the story verbally; and then an abstract concept or symbol is derived from an artistic rendition of the story. This is how all of the letters and subsequently written stories are introduced. The story material includes, but is not limited to, fairy tales and simple folktales related to nature. Through poetry and alliterative verses, the children partake in the spoken word on a daily basis. Stories from classic literature are read to the children. These may include: Charlotte’s Web, fairy tales, Winnie the Pooh, stories of Tim Rabbit, Wind in the Willows, etc. Toward the end of the year the class performs a play derived from a fairy tale or a nature story, which includes mostly choral speaking. Second Graders are introduced to the lower case alphabet, more complex phonics, formal reading, and the actual writing of stories that have been told by the teacher. Together with the teacher, the class composes abbreviated stories from folktales, saint stories and fables. In the composing of stories, the students are introduced to a variety of skills such as learning to write from dictation, spelling, correct penmanship, simple grammar, punctuation, and correct use of English. All stories are interwoven with artistic renditions from the story such as drawing, painting, beeswax modeling, and poetry. About mid-year, the students begin reading books that are carefully chosen for aesthetics and content. Reading groups are formed, and the students develop at a variety of paces. Writing from the story experience continues throughout the year. The students are read to from a variety of classic literature such as: Heidi, The King of Ireland’s Son, Stuart Little, Wind in the Willows, etc. The class performs a play, derived from saint stories or folktales with choral speaking and some individual parts. The Third Grade curriculum’s story content is drawn from the Old Testament and the legends of the Hebrews. The students continue to listen to and retell stories and now begin to engage in class discussions on their response to the story material. Poems and verses recount the seasonal changes, the work of farmers and tradesmen, and may include psalms from the Bible. The class play, often dramatizing a Bible story, has some choral speaking, yet most parts are now individual. Cursive handwriting is introduced. Children write short paragraphs and begin to create their own sentences and short descriptive passages. Spelling is improved through work on word families, phonics games, and dictation of simple sentences. Reading groups are offered twice a week with non-readers and emerging readers getting separate work with the resource specialist. Reading books may include Hay for my Ox, Henry Huggins, and books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The students are read aloud such classics as The Good Master, The Little Princess, and The Little House books. Fourth Graders are immersed in Norse mythology, Local Geography, and History. The students recite longer verses taken from the Nordic traditions, Native Americans, and early Colorado History. The play that students will perform is usually inspired by these themes, and most students now have an individual speaking part. There is more emphasis on the students’ own writing and an increased focus on grammar and punctuation, especially learning parts of speech and tense usage. The students proceed from development of the sentence to narrative writing and letter writing. Outlines and paragraph form are introduced. The first short research report is written on an animal of the student’s choice and based on information from one or two books. Reading groups continue once or twice a week with books such as Stuart Little, Trumpet of the Swan and Charlotte’s Web. From stories and mythologies of ancient civilizations, Fifth Graders engage in active recall including question and answer and class discussion with emphasis on sequence and detail. Poems and verses come from ancient India, Persia, Egypt or Greece, nature study, and American tradition. A longer class play drawn from Greek mythological sources is presented. A third to a half of the written work is now student composed following clear paragraph format. There is a greater emphasis on spelling skills, and use of the dictionary is introduced, while grammar work intensifies. One or two reports on a state further expand the writing and research skills as do letter writing, longer narratives and poems. The students do assigned readings from class reading books and are given comprehension quizzes. They present book reports on individual reading in written, oral, or artistic forms. Class reading books may include books such as Sign of the Beaver, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Number the Stars, and My Side of the Mountain. Topics are introduced in an imaginative way and at a developmentally appropriate age. Studying Mathematics plays a central role in developing the students’ thinking and also helps the students to develop a feeling of trust in the world through the order, regularity, and clarity found through numbers and mathematical laws. Mental math, which is emphasized in the first eight grades, works on mental quickness, memory and concentration. Form Drawing, unique to Waldorf education, and Geometry cultivate spatial imagination and visualization abilities. The students keep notebooks that are divided into sections and develop crucial organizational skills through writing homework problems in a neat, sequential manner. Integrating history into the math lesson awakens an awareness of the interconnectedness of various subjects. Review is important in order to maintain solid skills and is done every year. The Math Department endeavors to graduate students with solid skills, a healthyimagination, and enthusiasm for learning. In the first grade, Mathematics is brought through pictures from a child’s world. The quality of numbers, as a child experiences it, is explored: one sun, two hands, four seasons, six points in a snowflake, etc. The concrete representation of three fingers in the Roman numeral III becomes the abstract number 3. Rhythmical work with clapping, stomping, and songs enhance the child’s multi-sensory experience in counting, number patterns, and multiplication tables. From this foundation, the children are introduced to all four processes (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), each one brought through enlivened stories, imaginative pictures, and movement. Flexible thinking is of utmost importance. For example, 6 is explored as 5+1, 2×3, 8-2, 1+1+1+1+1+1, and as two triangles. Second grade builds upon the foundation laid in first grade. The major step taken in second grade is place value, which leads to carrying and borrowing (with addition and subtraction). Multiplication and division are further developed through the use of number patterns in geometric forms. By the end of second grade, children are capable of performing in any of the four processes, and have started to become firm in addition and subtraction facts up to twenty. In third grade, the students further solidify the concepts of borrowing and carrying. Multiplication as a vertical process is introduced, leading to multiplying with two and three-digit numbers, where carrying is a part of the process. Emphasis is then placed on rhythmical counting as a means for learning the times tables. Division is then taught, beginning with short division and then long division. A key new theme in third grade is measurement: linear measurement, weights, and volume. This leads naturally to the study of our monetary system and then to time, including years, seasons, months, weeks, days, hours, etc. By fourth grade, the students go from doing practice sheets that involve a single process to doing sheets that mix the four processes. This is the year to solidify knowledge of the times tables first through rhythmical counting and then by quickly recalling any multiplication fact at random. The unity of number is now broken with the introduction of fractions. The work with fractions includes all four processes, thereby reviewing all previously learned skills and giving a sense of relevance to earlier lessons. Further work is also done in the fifth grade with multiplication (with numbers up to four digits), and with long division (with divisors up to three digits). In fifth grade, the introduction to decimals satisfies the students’ ever-growing desire for more precision. The students also further develop skills learned in previous grades. Fifth grade also marks their first formal introduction to geometry as they freehand draw and identify various angles, polygons, and other geometric forms. Waldorf science education emphasizes a phenomenological approach in which scientific concepts are based on sense experiences. Throughout the grades, students use sensory experiences as the entry point into an exploration of the science topics. As students progress through the grades, their scientific work culminates in the development of a scientific approach that includes keen observation, detailed mental picturing of the phenomena, and a meeting of the phenomena with clear, logical thinking. Their scientific knowledge is based on experience and logic. The science curriculum reaches the students from two directions. One is by addressing content that falls into three main categories: science in the human body, science in industry and technology, and science in nature. The other is in the development of critical thinking skills. These skills include both direct analytical skills such as observation and quantification, and concept building, such as seeing relationships among observations. Types of critical thinking styles addressed are divergent, convergent, predictive, sequential, associative, and affective thinking. Lower School Science The Science curriculum in the first five grades help the students become acquainted with and aware of their environment as well as their relation to it. The students gain awareness through hands-on activities and experiences. This wealth of sensory experience helps to develop capacities for scientific observation and forming theories. These lessons are primarily auditory in nature and an emphasis is placed on kinesthetic experiences. In grades one through two, students participate in nature walks where they experience the complexities and richness of plant and animal relationships. Stories heard in these early years emphasize transformation, a necessary concept for later studies in chemistry, physics, biology and the other sciences. Through farming and gardening, third grade students experience how the farmer and gardener work with the forces of nature. In textiles and house building, a similar preliminary sense for geometry and the lawfulness of structural integrity is instilled. Fourth Graders study the bridges between animals and humans. This begins with a study of the human body. Later, zoology is studied, and the two are integrated. Students study the geography of their home surroundings and local, city and state geography. The geography lessons are integrated into the zoology lessons about animal habitats and dwellings. The fifth grade students study Botany, and the lessons journey between the pole and the equator, exploring the climate zones from sea level to beyond the mountain tree line and through the plants (from fungi to ferns to conifers, etc). The study of Geography expands on the fourth grade geography curriculum to include all of North America. SOCIAL STUDIES AND HISTORY Kindergarten – Grade 3 The foundation for the formal teaching of Geography, History and Civics is laid in kindergarten through grade three. In the first two to three years of school, students are taught through experience to live as contributing members of the classroom community. This socialization, although incomplete, becomes evident by the beginning of second grade. The kindergartener becomes familiar with his/her environment through the simple act of taking walks with the class. In grades one and two, a universal order and morality are expressed through fairy tales, nature stories, saints’ stories and Old Testament stories. In grade three, the children discover how, through developing the skills of practical living, house building, and making of clothes and farming, human life has been sustained. With the fourth grader’s developing sense of individuality, we begin the formal study of geography and history. The typical fourth grade year will have two, three-week blocks of the history and geography of Colorado. Our emphasis is on how people have lived on the land from Native American times to the present day. Whenever possible, relevant biographies such as Chief Niwot, Kit Carson, Jim Beckwith or Horace Tabor are used to enliven factual material. The students engage in their first mapmaking experiences by drawing maps of their local surroundings, as well as the state of Colorado. This work is augmented with the reading of books containing stories of Colorado and/or western history and geography, such as Trails, Tales and Tommyknockers, by Myriam Friggens, Mesas to Mountains, by Sybil Downing and Jane Barker, the Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, or Truth is a Bright Star, by Joan Price. In the fifth grade, mythology gives way to history. There are Main Lesson Blocks in the mythology and history of ancient India, Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt and finally ancient Greece, up to the time of Alexander the Great. Especially with ancient Greece, the students are shown how many of our ideals of art, education, and government are inherited from that ancient culture. Frequently, The Children’s Homer, by Padraic Collum is read. Fifth grade geography focuses on the United States. Each region of the country is studied, emphasizing the environment, its products, and the people and their livelihoods. Students memorize states, their locations and their capitals. We also include our musical and historical heritage through patriotic songs, poems, etc. Music is an integral part of the Waldorf curriculum. Rudolf Steiner said, “Everything that takes place in nature is permeated by a mysterious music: the earthly projection of the music of the spheres. In every plant, in every animal, and in the human body, there is incorporated a tone of the music of the spheres. All this the child absorbs unconsciously, and that is why children are musical to such a high degree.” In the early grades, class teachers are responsible for music instruction and integrate music into many class activities with singing and playing of pentatonic flutes. Children learn the concepts of pitch and rhythm in an imaginative way. In the spring of 2nd grade, string instruments (violin, viola, cello) are introduced to the children so they and their parents can choose an instrument to begin the following year. In third grade, diatonic recorder is introduced. Classes in violin/viola and cello are offered twice a week in third and fourth grade. After basic instrumental skills are established, music reading is introduced and enhanced through the playing of beginning string literature. Beginning in 4th grade, singing is taught as a separate class once a week, though morning lessons still include singing and recorder playing. In fifth grade some students switch to brass or woodwind instruments, while string students begin to play in orchestra. Students participate in their instrumental ensemble and choir class twice each week. WORLD LANGUAGESMWS offers German and Spanish in Grades 1-12. Grades 1-7 have three lessons each week in blocks. At the end of a block, students switch to the alternate language. In Grade 8 students choose between Spanish and German and continue with this selection in the High School. Beginning in Grade 9 each student has four World Language classes per week. The World Language teachers strive to integrate Morning Lesson topics into the World Language lessons in support of our interdisciplinary approach to teaching. In the early grades, languages are taught largely through imitation, storytelling, verses, songs, drama, recitation, games, puppetry, and movement. The teacher places great emphasis on pronunciation and speech. We work to instill the students with joy and pride in learning the target language and culture. Comprehension rather than output is emphasized. In Grades 4-5 writing and reading become a focal point. Beginning elements of grammar are taught. The language teacher uses dialogues, storytelling, verses, songs, tongue twisters, and small plays during instruction. Throughout these years, the students’ vocabulary comprehension increases,and they are able to say simple descriptive sentences, perform dialogues, and retell simple stories. EURYTHMYEurythmy is the art of bringing speech and music into human movement. In 1st grade, the children imitate the movement of the teacher as they become the characters in the fairy tales. They move to different rhythms. The second graders’ story material is drawn from the fables and saints. They become more conscious of moving together on the circle, more aware of how they affect the others. Third grade material is drawn from the study of the Old Testament, and many forms are based on the six-pointed star. By fourth grade, the children begin to work with forms that face front, rather than being oriented toward the center of the circle and part of the whole. Frontal movement allows them to move right/left, up/down, laterally and back and forth. We incorporate material from the Norse myths, learning about major and minor in music, and work to establish good rhythmic stepping in the feet. In fifth grade the history blocks that include India, Persia, Babylonia, Egypt and Greece provide a rich background to enliven the imaginations that accompany the movement. In first grade, most activity takes place in a circle. Moving in a circle means being aware of others and of each person’s effect on the whole. Students come close together, then step apart, and go to a new partner. The children are able to move the basic form elements of straight line and curve, as well as expansion and contraction, by creating an internal picture of the movement and then to try to place the movement into the space around them. First graders are also learning to listen and follow directions. We begin the lessons with an opening verse, followed by warm-up movements using finger plays, stepping, skipping, running or hopping rhythmically to music, or over the copper rods. We also use the copper rods to gain dexterity in the fingers, or rolling them up and down the arms and catching them before they fall. The main part of the lesson often includes an imaginative story that consists of moving forms and eurythmy gestures. The class ends with a closing verse. In second grade the children continue to experience eurythmy through stories, poems about the saints and fables, and musical activities. Children are still learning through imitation and rhythmic repetition. Most of the activities are built on the circle. Moving in a circle means being aware of others and of each individual’s effect on the whole. The children learn the specific gestures for the consonants and vowels more consciously. Geometric forms are moved as a group and individually, in circle, square, triangle, spiral, and weaving forms. Gross motor skills are practiced with skipping, galloping, jumping, hopping, etc. Eurythmy with copper rods is introduced with simple exercises. The third grade curriculum establishes firm ground on which to stand and a path into the practical activities of life. For example, there are blocks that deal with farming, housebuilding, and measurement. The eurythmy lessons echo and deepen these lessons with stories and verses that use those same themes. The main part of the lesson is usually an imaginative story that contains arm gestures and form elements of eurythmy. Some examples of the form elements are: spirals, squares, the Cassini curve, expansion and contraction, rhythm, beat and pitch, and learning about major and minor modes in music. In third grade, children learn that the gestures we are making with our arms are related to the sounds that we make when we speak. In fourth grade, the children begin to come into more formed movement and exhibit strengthened spatial orientation. After the experience of the nine-year-old change, the child begins to transition from working mostly in a circle, with others, toward facing frontward with a greater emphasis on experiencing all the directions around oneself as an individual. Age-appropriate challenges, as well as understanding and observing rules become very important. At this point the class will work in many directions, including: stamping the consonants in an alliterative poem, building the walls of Asgard, learning a mirror-form, stepping rhythm and beat to music, copper-rod exercises or working on the crown form. We continue tone eurythmy with the C-scale and moving our arms with the rising and falling pitch in musical selections. The fifth grade class learns the major scales and moving in different ways to the melody and baseline in various pieces of music. Rod exercises are used to work with the children’s posture and to help them focus their attention. We learned the eurythmy alphabet and used the gestures to interpret a number of poems. Geometric forms, like the five-pointed star, bring clarity to the students’ thinking and allow them to understand how to move together as a group. The main lesson curriculum is reflected through the ancient civilizations, for example, with the use of a Hindu verse called “Look Well to the Day” and two sacred dances originating from Greek culture called the “energy dance.” HANDWORKIn the handwork and practical arts curriculum at Shining Mountain, we consciously cultivate manual dexterity in order to further cognitive development. Handwork and practical arts are integrated at all grade levels – not simply to teach a skill, but to support every student’s unfolding as a well-balanced individual with self-confidence. We recognize that both simple crafts and modern technology are creations of the human imagination. Therefore, students receive fundamental skills and understanding to develop and evolve future technology. Mathematical concepts such as parallelism, mirror imaging, progression and geometric forms are implicitly experienced through a tactile learning process. For first and second grade, children learn to knit and sew. In third grade they learn to crochet, and certain blocks in the curriculum involve basketry, spinning, weaving, and gardening. In fourth grade, the children take up cross-stitch. In fifth grade, children learn how to knit with four needles; woodworking is now added and continues through eighth grade. Sixth grade brings the opportunity to design and hand-sew an animal. Seventh grade progresses to hand-sewn dolls and doll clothing. In the eighth grade, while students are studying the Industrial Age, the Handwork curriculum involves sewing clothes on a treadle sewing machine.

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African American literature 2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Literature types African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem Renaissance, and continuing today with authors such as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and Walter Mosley being ranked among the top writers in the United States. Among the themes and issues explored in African American literature are the role of African Americans within the larger American society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and equality. African American writing has also tended to incorporate within itself oral forms such as spirituals, sermons, gospel music, blues and rap. As African Americans' place in American society has changed over the centuries, so, too, have the foci of African American literature. Before the American Civil War, African American literature primarily focused on the issue of slavery, as indicated by the subgenre of slave narratives. At the turn of the 20th century, books by authors such as W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington debated whether to confront or appease racist attitudes in the United States. During the American Civil Rights movement, authors such as Richard Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about issues of racial segregation and black nationalism. Today, African American literature has become accepted as an integral part of American literature, with books such as Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, The Colour Purple by Alice Walker, and Beloved by Toni Morrison achieving both best-selling and award-winning status. Characteristics and themes In broad terms, African American literature can be defined as writings by people of African descent living in the United States of America. However, just as African American history and life is extremely varied, so too is African American literature. That said, African American literature has generally focused on themes of particular interest to Black people in the United States, such as the role of African Americans within the larger American society and what it means to be an American. As Princeton University professor Albert J. Raboteau has said, all African-American studies, including African American literature, "speaks to the deeper meaning of the African-American presence in this nation. This presence has always been a test case of the nation's claims to freedom, democracy, equality, the inclusiveness of all." As such, it can be said that African American Literature explores the very issues of freedom and equality which were long denied to Black people in the United States, along with further themes such as African American culture, racism, religion, slavery, a sense of home. and more. African American literature constitutes a vital branch of the literature of the African diaspora, with African American literature both being influenced by the great African diasporic heritage and in turn influencing African diasporic writings in many countries. In addition, African American literature exists within the larger realm of post-colonial literature, even though scholars draw a distinctive line between the two by stating that "African American literature differs from most post-colonial literature in that it is written by members of a minority community who reside within a nation of vast wealth and economic power." African American oral culture is rich in poetry, including spirituals, African American gospel music, blues and rap. This oral poetry also appears in the African American tradition of Christian sermons, which make use of deliberate repetition, cadence and alliteration. African American literature—especially written poetry, but also prose—has a strong tradition of incorporating all of these forms of oral poetry. However, while these characteristics and themes exist on many levels of African American literature, they are not the exclusive definition of the genre and don't exist within all works within the genre. In addition, there is resistance to using Western literary theory to analyze African American literature. As Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the most important African American literary scholars, once said, "My desire has been to allow the black tradition to speak for itself about its nature and various functions, rather than to read it, or analyze it, in terms of literary theories borrowed whole from other traditions, appropriated from without." Early African American literature Just as African American history predates the emergence of the United States as an independent country, so too does African American literature have similarly deep roots. Lucy Terry is the author of the oldest piece of African American literature known which was "Bars Fight", 1746. This poem was not published until 1855 in Josiah Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts". Also, Briton Hammon's "The Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprising Deliverence of Briton Hammon, A Negro Man", 1760. Poet Phillis Wheatley (1753–84), who published her book Poems on Various Subjects in 1773, three years before American independence. Born in Senegal, Africa, Wheatley was captured and sold into slavery at the age of seven. Brought to America, she was owned by a Boston merchant. Even though she initially spoke no English, by the time she was sixteen she had mastered the language. Her poetry was praised by many of the leading figures of the American Revolution, including George Washington, who personally thanked her for a poem she wrote in his honour. Despite this, many white people found it hard to believe that a Black woman could be so intelligent as to write poetry. As a result, Wheatley had to defend herself in court by proving she actually wrote her own poetry. Some critics cite Wheatley's successful defense as the first recognition of African American literature. Another early African American author was Jupiter Hammon (1711–1806?). Hammon, considered the first published Black writer in America, published his poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries" as a broadside in early 1761. In 1778 he wrote an ode to Phillis Wheatley, in which he discussed their shared humanity and common bonds. In 1786, Hammon gave his well-known Address to the Negroes of the State of New York. Hammon wrote the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery and it contains his famous quote, "If we should ever get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for being black, or for being slaves." Hammon's speech also promoted the idea of a gradual emancipation as a way of ending slavery. It is thought that Hammon stated this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched in American society that an immediate emancipation of all slaves would be difficult to achieve. Hammon apparently remained a slave until his death. His speech was later reprinted by several groups opposed to slavery. William Wells Brown (1814–84) and Victor Séjour (1817–74) produced the earliest works of fiction by African American writers. Séjour was born free in New Orleans and moved to France at the age of 19. There he published his short story " Le Mulâtre" ("The Mulatto") in 1837; the story represents the first known fiction by an African American, but written in French and published in a French journal, it had apparently no influence on later American literature. Séjour never returned to African American themes in his subsequent works. Brown, on the other hand, was a prominent abolitionist, lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer. Brown wrote what is considered to be the first novel by an African American, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter (1853). The novel is based on what was at that time considered to be a rumor about Thomas Jefferson fathering a daughter with his slave, Sally Hemings. However, because the novel was published in England, the book is not considered the first African American novel published in the United States. This honour instead goes to Harriet Wilson, whose novel Our Nig (1859) details the difficult lives of Northern free Blacks. A subgenre of African American literature which began in the middle of the 19th century is the slave narrative. At the time, the controversy over slavery led to impassioned literature on both sides of the issue, with books like Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) representing the abolitionist view of the evils of slavery, while the so-called Anti-Tom literature by white, southern writers like William Gilmore Simms represented the pro-slavery viewpoint. To present the true reality of slavery, a number of former slaves such as Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass wrote slave narratives, which soon became a mainstay of African American literature. Some six thousand former slaves from North America and the Caribbean wrote accounts of their lives, with about 150 of these published as separate books or pamphlets. Slave narratives can be broadly categorized into three distinct forms: tales of religious redemption, tales to inspire the abolitionist struggle, and tales of progress. The tales written to inspire the abolitionist struggle are the most famous because they tend to have a strong autobiographical motif. Many of them are now recognized as the most literary of all 19th-century writings by African Americans, with two of the best-known being Frederick Douglass's autobiography and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (1861). While Frederick Douglass (c. 1818–95) first came to public attention as an orator and as the author of his autobiographical slave narrative, he eventually became the most prominent African American of his time and one of the most influential lecturers and authors in American history. Born into slavery in Maryland, Douglass eventually escaped and worked for numerous abolitionist causes. He also edited a number of newspapers. Douglass' best-known work is his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which was published in 1845. At the time some critics attacked the book, not believing that a black man could have written such an eloquent work. Despite this, the book was an immediate bestseller. Douglas later revised and expanded his autobiography, which was republished as My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). In addition to serving in a number of political posts during his life, he also wrote numerous influential articles and essays. After the end of slavery and the American Civil War, a number of African American authors continued to write nonfiction works about the condition of African Americans in the country. Among the most prominent of these writers is W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), one of the original founders of the NAACP. At the turn of the century, Du Bois published a highly influential collection of essays titled The Souls of Black Folk. The book's essays on race were groundbreaking and drew from DuBois's personal experiences to describe how African Americans lived in American society. The book contains Du Bois's famous quote: "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour-line." Du Bois believed that African Americans should, because of their common interests, work together to battle prejudice and inequity. Another prominent author of this time period is Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), who in many ways represented opposite views from Du Bois. Washington was an educator and the founder of the Tuskegee Institute, a Black college in Alabama. Among his published works are Up From Slavery (1901), The Future of the American Negro (1899), Tuskegee and Its People (1905), and My Larger Education (1911). In contrast to Du Bois, who adopted a more confrontational attitude toward ending racial strife in America, Washington believed that Blacks should first lift themselves up and prove themselves the equal of whites before asking for an end to racism. While this viewpoint was popular among some Blacks (and many whites) at the time, Washington's political views would later fall out of fashion. A third writer who gained attention during this period in the US, though not a US citizen, was the Jamaican Marcus Garvey (1887–1940), a newspaper publisher, journalist, and crusader for Pan Africanism through his organization the UNIA. He encouraged people of African ancestry to look favorably upon their ancestral homeland. He wrote a number of essays published as editorials in the UNIA house organ the Negro World newspaper. Some of his lecture material and other writings were compiled and published as nonfiction books by his second wife Amy Jacques Garvey as the Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey Or, Africa for the Africans (1924) and More Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (1977). Paul Lawrence Dunbar, who often wrote in the rural, black dialect of the day, was the first African American poet to gain national prominence. His first book of poetry, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1893. Much of Dunbar's work, such as When Malindy Sings (1906), which includes photographs taken by the Hampton Institute Camera Club, and Joggin' Erlong (1906) provide revealing glimpses into the lives of rural African-Americans of the day. Though Dunbar died young, he was a prolific poet, essayist, novelist (among them The Uncalled, 1898 and The Fanatics, 1901) and short story writer. Even though Du Bois, Washington, and Garvey were the leading African American intellectuals and authors of their time, other African American writers also rose to prominence. Among these is Charles W. Chesnutt, a well-known essayist. The Harlem Renaissance from 1920 to 1940 brought new attention to African American literature. While the Harlem Renaissance, based in the African American community in Harlem in New York City, existed as a larger flowering of social thought and culture—with numerous Black artists, musicians, and others producing classic works in fields from jazz to theatre—the renaissance is perhaps best known for the literature that came out of it. Among the most famous writers of the renaissance is poet Langston Hughes. Hughes first received attention in the 1922 poetry collection, The Book of American Negro Poetry. This book, edited by James Weldon Johnson, featured the work of the period's most talented poets (including, among others, Claude McKay, who also published three novels, Home to Harlem, Banjo and Banana Bottom and a collection of short stories). In 1926, Hughes published a collection of poetry, The Weary Blues, and in 1930 a novel, Not Without Laughter. Perhaps, Hughes' most famous poem is "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," which he wrote as a young teen. His single, most recognized character is Jesse B. Simple, a plainspoken, pragmatic Harlemite whose comedic observations appeared in Hughes's columns for the Chicago Defender and the New York Post. Simple Speaks His Mind (1950) is, perhaps, the best-known collection of Simple stories published in book form. Until his death in 1967, Hughes published nine volumes of poetry, eight books of short stories, two novels, and a number of plays, children's books, and translations. Another famous writer of the renaissance is novelist Zora Neale Hurston, author of the classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). Altogether, Hurston wrote 14 books which ranged from anthropology to short stories to novel-length fiction. Because of Hurston's gender and the fact that her work was not seen as socially or politically relevant, her writings fell into obscurity for decades. Hurston's work was rediscovered in the 1970s in a famous essay by Alice Walker, who found in Hurston a role model for all female African American writers. While Hurston and Hughes are the two most influential writers to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, a number of other writers also became well known during this period. They include Jean Toomer, who wrote Cane, a famous collection of stories, poems, and sketches about rural and urban Black life, and Dorothy West, author of the novel The Living is Easy, which examined the life of an upper-class Black family. Another popular renaissance writer is Countee Cullen, who described everyday black life in his poems (such as a trip he made to Baltimore, which was ruined by a racial insult). Cullen's books include the poetry collections Colour (1925), Copper Sun (1927), and The Ballad of the Brown Girl (1927). Frank Marshall Davis's poetry collections Black Man's Verse (1935) and I am the American Negro (1937), published by Black Cat Press, earned him critical acclaim. Author Wallace Thurman also made an impact with his novel The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life (1929), which focused on intraracial prejudice between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance marked a turning point for African American literature. Prior to this time, books by African Americans were primarily read by other Black people. With the renaissance, though, African American literature—as well as black fine art and performance art—began to be absorbed into mainstream American culture. Civil Rights Movement era A large migration of African Americans began during World War I, hitting its high point during World War II. During this Great Migration, Black people left the racism and lack of opportunities in the American South and settled in northern cities like Chicago, where they found work in factories and other sectors of the economy. This migration produced a new sense of independence in the Black community and contributed to the vibrant Black urban culture seen during the Harlem Renaissance. The migration also empowered the growing American Civil Rights movement, which made a powerful impression on Black writers during the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Just as Black activists were pushing to end segregation and racism and create a new sense of Black nationalism, so too were Black authors attempting to address these issues with their writings. One of the first writers to do so was James Baldwin, whose work addressed issues of race and sexuality. Baldwin, who is best known for his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, wrote deeply personal stories and essays while examining what it was like to be both Black and homosexual at a time when neither of these identities was accepted by American culture. In all, Baldwin wrote nearly 20 books, including such classics as Another Country and The Fire Next Time. Baldwin's idol and friend was author Richard Wright, whom Baldwin called "the greatest Black writer in the world for me". Wright is best known for his novel Native Son (1940), which tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a Black man struggling for acceptance in Chicago. Baldwin was so impressed by the novel that he titled a collection of his own essays Notes of a Native Son, in reference to Wright's novel. However, their friendship fell apart due to one of the book's essays, "Everybody's Protest Novel," which criticized Native Son for lacking credible characters and psychological complexity. Among Wright's other books are the autobiographical novel Black Boy (1945), The Outsider (1953), and White Man, Listen! (1957). The other great novelist of this period is Ralph Ellison, best known for his novel Invisible Man (1952), which won the National Book Award in 1953. Even though Ellison did not complete another novel during his lifetime, Invisible Man was so influential that it secured his place in literary history. After Ellison's death in 1994, a second novel, Juneteenth (1999), was pieced together from the 2,000-plus pages he had written over 40 years. A fuller version of the manuscript will be published as Three Days Before the Shooting (2008). Jones, Edward " The Known World", 2003 Carter Stephen, "New England White" 2007 Wright W.D. "Crisis of the Black Intellectual",2007 The Civil Rights time period also saw the rise of female Black poets, most notably Gwendolyn Brooks, who became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize when it was awarded for her 1949 book of poetry, Annie Allen. Along with Brooks, other female poets who became well known during the 1950s and '60s are Nikki Giovanni and Sonia Sanchez. During this time, a number of playwrights also came to national attention, notably Lorraine Hansberry, whose play A Raisin in the Sun focuses on a poor Black family living in Chicago. The play won the 1959 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. Another playwright who gained attention was Amiri Baraka, who wrote controversial off-Broadway plays. In more recent years, Baraka has become known for his poetry and music criticism. It is also worth noting that a number of important essays and books about human rights were written by the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. One of the leading examples of these is Martin Luther King, Jr's " Letter from Birmingham Jail". Beginning in the 1970s, African American literature reached the mainstream as books by Black writers continually achieved best-selling and award-winning status. This was also the time when the work of African American writers began to be accepted by academia as a legitimate genre of American literature. As part of the larger Black Arts Movement, which was inspired by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, African American literature began to be defined and analyzed. A number of scholars and writers are generally credited with helping to promote and define African American literature as a genre during this time period, including fiction writers Toni Morrison and Alice Walker and poet James Emanuel. James Emanuel took a major step toward defining African American literature when he edited (with Theodore Gross) Dark Symphony: Negro Literature in America, the first collection of black writings released by a major publisher. This anthology, and Emanuel's work as an educator at the City College of New York (where he is credited with introducing the study of African-American poetry), heavily influenced the birth of the genre. Other influential African American anthologies of this time included Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing, edited by LeRoi Jones (now known as Amiri Baraka) and Larry Neal in 1968 and The Negro Caravan, co-edited by Sterling Brown, Arthur P. Davis and Ulysses Lee in 1969. Toni Morrison, meanwhile, helped promote Black literature and authors when she worked as an editor for Random House in the 1960s and '70s, where she edited books by such authors as Toni Cade Bambara and Gayl Jones. Morrison herself would later emerge as one of the most important African American writers of the 20th century. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. Among her most famous novels is Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. This story describes a slave who found freedom but killed her infant daughter to save her from a life of slavery. Another important novel is Song of Solomon, a tale about materialism and brotherhood. Morrison is the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In the 1970s novelist and poet Alice Walker wrote a famous essay that brought Zora Neale Hurston and her classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God back to the attention of the literary world. In 1982, Walker won both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for her novel The Colour Purple. An epistolary novel (a book written in the form of letters), The Colour Purple tells the story of Celie, a young woman who is sexually abused by her stepfather and then is forced to marry a man who physically abuses her. The novel was later made into a film by Steven Spielberg. The 1970s also saw African American books topping the bestseller lists. Among the first books to do so was Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. The book, a fictionalized account of Haley's family history—beginning with the kidnapping of Haley's ancestor Kunta Kinte in Gambia through his life as a slave in the United States—won the Pulitzer Prize and became a popular television miniseries. Haley also wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X in 1965. Other important writers in recent years include literary fiction writers Gayl Jones, Rasheed Clark, Ishmael Reed, Jamaica Kincaid, Randall Kenan, and John Edgar Wideman. African American poets have also garnered attention. Maya Angelou read a poem at Bill Clinton's inauguration, Rita Dove won a Pulitzer Prize and served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995, and Cyrus Cassells's Soul Make a Path through Shouting was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Cassells is a recipient of the William Carlos Williams Award. Lesser-known poets like Thylias Moss, and Natasha Trethewey also have been praised for their innovative work. Notable black playwrights include Ntozake Shange, who wrote For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf; Ed Bullins; Suzan-Lori Parks; and the prolific August Wilson, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his plays. Most recently, Edward P. Jones won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Known World, his novel about a black slaveholder in the antebellum South. Young African American novelists include Edwidge Danticat, David Anthony Durham, Tayari Jones, Mat Johnson, ZZ Packer and Colson Whitehead, just to name a few. African American literature has also crossed over to genre fiction. A pioneer in this area is Chester Himes, who in the 1950s and '60s wrote a series of pulp fiction detective novels featuring "Coffin" Ed Johnson and "Gravedigger" Jones, two New York City police detectives. Himes paved the way for the later crime novels of Walter Mosley and Hugh Holton. African Americans are also represented in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror, with Samuel R. Delany, Octavia E. Butler, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, Robert Fleming, Brandon Massey, Charles R. Saunders, John Ridley, John M. Faucette, Sheree Thomas and Nalo Hopkinson being just a few of the well-known authors. Finally, African American literature has gained added attention through the work of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who repeatedly has leveraged her fame to promote literature through the medium of her Oprah's Book Club. At times, she has brought African American writers a far broader audience than they otherwise might have received. While African American literature is well accepted in the United States, there are numerous views on its significance, traditions, and theories. To the genre's supporters, African American literature arose out of the experience of Blacks in the United States, especially with regards to historic racism and discrimination, and is an attempt to refute the dominant culture's literature and power. In addition, supporters see the literature existing both within and outside American literature and as helping to revitalize the country's writing. To critics, African American literature is part of a Balkanization of American literature. In addition, there are some within the African American community who do not like how their own literature sometimes showcases Black people. Refuting the dominant literary culture Throughout American history, African Americans have been discriminated against and subject to racist attitudes. This experience inspired some Black writers, at least during the early years of African American literature, to prove they were the equals of European American authors. As Henry Louis Gates, Jr, has said, "it is fair to describe the subtext of the history of black letters as this urge to refute the claim that because blacks had no written traditions they were bearers of an inferior culture." However, by refuting the claims of the dominant culture, African American writers weren't simply "proving their worth"—they were also attempting to subvert the literary and power traditions of the United States. Scholars expressing this view assert that writing has traditionally been seen as "something defined by the dominant culture as a white male activity." This means that, in American society, literary acceptance has traditionally been intimately tied in with the very power dynamics which perpetrated such evils as racial discrimination. By borrowing from and incorporating the non-written oral traditions and folk life of the African diaspora, African American literature thereby broke "the mystique of connection between literary authority and patriarchal power." This view of African American literature as a tool in the struggle for Black political and cultural liberation has been stated for decades, perhaps most famously by W.E.B DuBois. Existing both inside and outside American literature According to James Madison University English professor Joanne Gabbin, African American literature exists both inside and outside American literature. "Somehow African American literature has been relegated to a different level, outside American literature, yet it is an integral part," she says. This view of African American literature is grounded in the experience of Black people in the United States. Even though African Americans have long claimed an American identity, during most of United States history they were not accepted as full citizens and were actively discriminated against. As a result, they were part of America while also outside it. The same can be said for African American literature. While it exists fully within the framework of a larger American literature, it also exists as its own entity. As a result, new styles of storytelling and unique voices are created in isolation. The benefit of this is that these new styles and voices can leave their isolation and help revitalize the larger literary world (McKay, 2004). This artistic pattern has held true with many aspects of African American culture over the last century, with jazz and hip hop being just two artistic examples that developed in isolation within the Black community before reaching a larger audience and eventually revitalizing American culture. Whether African American literature will keep to this pattern in the coming years remains to be seen. Since the genre is already popular with mainstream audiences, it is possible that its ability to develop new styles and voices—or to remain "authentic," in the words of some critics—may be a thing of the past. Balkanization of American literature? Despite these views, some conservative academics and intellectuals argue that African American literature only exists as part of a balkanization of literature over the last few decades or as an extension of the culture wars into the field of literature. According to these critics, literature is splitting into distinct and separate groupings because of the rise of identity politics in the United States and other parts of the world. These critics reject bringing identity politics into literature because this would mean that "only women could write about women for women, and only Blacks about Blacks for Blacks." People opposed to this group-based approach to writing say that it limits the ability of literature to explore the overall human condition and, more importantly, judges ethnic writers merely on the basis of their race. These critics reject this judgment and say it defies the meaning of works like Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, in which Ellison's main character is invisible because people see him as nothing more than a Black man. Others criticize special treatment of any ethnic-based genre of literature. For example, Robert Hayden, the first African-American Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, once said (paraphrasing the comment by the black composer Duke Ellington about jazz and music), "There is no such thing as Black literature. There's good literature and bad. And that's all." Proponents counter that the exploration of group and ethnic dynamics through writing actually deepens human understanding and that, previously, entire groups of people were ignored or neglected by American literature. (Jay, 1997) The general consensus view appears to be that American literature is not breaking apart because of new genres like African American literature. Instead, American literature is simply reflecting the increasing diversity of the United States and showing more signs of diversity than ever before in its history (Andrews, 1997; McKay, 2004). This view is supported by the fact that many African American authors—and writers representing other minority groups—consistently reach the tops of the best-seller lists. If their literature only appealed to their individual ethnic groups, this would not be possible. African American criticism Some of the criticism of African American literature over the years has come from within the African American community; some argue that Black literature sometimes does not portray Black people in a positive light. This clash of aesthetics and racial politics has its beginnings in comments made by W.E.B DuBois in the NAACP publication The Crisis. For example, in 1921 he wrote, "We want everything that is said about us to tell of the best and highest and noblest in us. We insist that our Art and Propaganda be one." He added to this in 1926 by saying, "All Art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists." DuBois and the editors of The Crisis consistently stated that literature was a tool in the struggle for African American political liberation. DuBois's belief in the propaganda value of art showed most clearly when he clashed in 1928 with African American author Claude McKay over McKay's best-selling novel Home to Harlem. To DuBois, the novel's frank depictions of sexuality and the nightlife in Harlem only appealed to the "prurient demand[s]" of white readers and publishers looking for portrayals of Black "licentiousness." DuBois also said, "Home to Harlem ... for the most part nauseates me, and after the dirtier parts of its filth I feel distinctly like taking a bath." This criticism was repeated by others in the Black community when author Wallace Thurman published his novel The Blacker the Berry in 1929. This novel, which focused on intraracial prejudice between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned Blacks, infuriated many African Americans, who did not like such a public airing of their culture's "dirty laundry." Naturally, many African American writers did not agree with the viewpoint that all Black literature should be propaganda, and instead stated that literature should present the truth about life and people. Langston Hughes articulated this view in his essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" (1926), when he said that Black artists intended to express themselves freely no matter what the Black public or white public thought. A more recent occurrence of this Black-on-Black criticism arose in charges by some critics that Alice Walker's novel The Colour Purple unfairly attacked Black men. In addition, African American author Charles R. Johnson, in the updated 1995 introduction to his novel Oxherding Tale, criticized Walker's novel for its negative portrayal of African-American males, adding "I leave it to readers to decide which book pushes harder at the boundaries of convention, and inhabits most confidently the space where fiction and philosophy meet." Walker later refuted these charges in her book The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult.

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Philosophy isn’t just a form of creative writing. It’s an attempt to use good reasoning, and writing good philosophical arguments requires an understanding of good reasoning. Most people have an intuitive grasp of what good reasoning is, but this intuitive grasp is often insufficient. Our reasoning can be improved from experience and philosophy education. Experience writing philosophical arguments can help us think more philosophically. I will discuss three steps of writing good philosophical arguments: - Make your argument explicit. - Consider the evidence for your argument. - Consider relevant objections and counterarguments. 1. Make your argument explicit There are two main types of arguments—supporting and opposing. Supporting arguments give reasons to think a belief is true, and opposing arguments (objections) give reason to think a belief is false (or that there’s a problem with a form of reasoning). Either way, we need to make it clear what the premises and conclusion of our argument are. Imagine that Jill wants to argue that the death penalty is wrong in our current time period. She will need to know why she personally thinks the death penalty is wrong and why anyone should agree with her. The first thought that might come to mind is that human life has value. At this point her argument is the following: - Human life has value. - Therefore, the death penalty is wrong. This argument might look good enough, but it’s technically invalid. The argument form is “A, therefore B” and arguments using this form of reasoning can have a true premise and false conclusion. For example, “the sky is blue, therefore there is no oxygen in the air” has the same argument form, but it’s clearly a poor argument. Find unstated assumptions The reason why the argument might look like a good argument is because we might have unstated assumptions. For example, we might think that human life’s value makes it wrong to kill people, and the death penalty is an example of killing people. This assumption is not something everyone will agree with. Many people think we can occasionally be morally justified to kill people, such as when it’s necessary to defend our lives. Even so, we should make sure to have all the necessary assumptions stated as premises. The argument will then look like the following: Human life has value. If human life has value, then the death penalty is wrong. Therefore, the death penalty is wrong. This argument is now valid because it uses the valid argument form known as modus ponens (the argument form “A; if A, then B; therefore B”). There are two main kinds of objections in philosophy—objections to arguments and objections to conclusions. When objecting to arguments, we must make the premise that we object to explicit. When we object to conclusions, it is often also necessary to object to arguments as well. Consider that someone has the following argument for the death penalty: Evil people deserve to die. If evil people deserve to die, then the death penalty is morally justified when used to kill evil people. Therefore, the death penalty is morally justified when used to kill evil people. This argument is incompatible with Jill’s belief that the death penalty is morally wrong. She can object to both the argument and the conclusion. Objections to arguments If we want to object to the argument, then we can either object to the reasoning used or a premise. The reasoning used by philosophy professors tends to be pretty good, but the evidence for the premises is sometimes lacking. In the case of the above argument for the death penalty, no obvious poor reasoning is being used and the argument is logically valid. However, we might wonder if the premises are sufficiently justified. (I didn’t actually present any evidence for any of the premises, but an actual philosophical argument would be likely to do so.) We might object to the premise that “evil people deserve to die.” This premise might be impractical if no one is evil or if we have no way of knowing who is evil. Additionally, it’s not obvious that evil people deserve to die. It might be that even evil human life has value. Objections to premises tend to use the following reasoning: - A certain premise is unjustified. - If the premise is unjustified, then the argument can’t give us reason to accept the conclusion. - Therefore, the argument doesn’t give us reason to accept the conclusion. For example, Jill can object to Argument 2 using the following objection: - The argument in question requires us to accept that “evil people deserve to die,” but that premise is unjustified (because evil people might have value like everyone else, etc.). - If we aren’t justified to accept that “evil people deserve to die,” then the argument doesn’t give us reason to accept the conclusion—that “the death penalty is morally justified when used to kill evil people.” - Therefore, the argument doesn’t provide sufficient justification to conclude that “the death penalty is morally justified when used to kill evil people.” Notice that she didn’t claim that the conclusion is false. If a premise of an argument is unjustified (or false), that doesn’t prove that the conclusion is false. There could be a different argument that proves the conclusion to be true. For example, it might be that the death penalty is justified when we can’t throw a dangerous criminal in prison as a form of self-defense. How do we object to forms of reasoning? Many people use poor forms of reasoning. In that case it can be helpful to identify either that the argument uses a formal fallacy (an invalid form of reasoning) or an informal fallacy (some other mistake in reasoning). Once the poor reasoning is identified, we can explain it and present a counterexample. Consider an example of a formal fallacy and counterexample. – A person can argue that “if dogs exist, then they have four legs; dogs have four legs; therefore dogs exist.” The premises and conclusion are all true, but it’s still a poorly reasoned argument because the same reasoning could easily be used to prove things that are false. The argument form is “If A, then B. B. Therefore, A.” We can then give a counterexample that shows how we can use this form of reasoning, true premises, but a false conclusion—“If unicorns exist, then they have four legs; unicorns have four legs; therefore unicorns exist.” It is true by definition that unicorns would have four legs if they exist, and that “all unicorns have four legs” as a result, but it’s false that unicorns exist. Consider an example of an informal fallacy and counterexample. – A person can argue that “The death penalty is wrong because it’s always wrong to kill people. Consider how it’s wrong to go around killing people who make us angry, annoy us, and so on.” This seems like an example of a “hasty generalization.” It seems like quite a leap to think it’s always wrong to kill people. We could then give a counterexample making use of hasty generalizations—“It is wrong to cut people because it’s always wrong to hurt people. Consider how it’s wrong to go cutting people with knives who make us angry, annoy us, and so on.” However, we know it’s false that it’s always wrong to cut people because surgeons cut people and hurt them as a result, but only do so because it’s necessary to heal people. This is a counterexample insofar as it shows how a hasty generalization is one context is an example of poor reasoning and it’s wrong in other contexts for the same reason. How do we object to conclusions? In philosophy, objections are almost always expected to be against arguments rather than merely against conclusions because it’s not usually obvious how successful arguments are that only object to a conclusion. In that case one argument attempts to prove the conclusion to be true, but another attempts to prove it’s false. We would then need a way to decide which argument is better. Nonetheless, it is often important for strong objections to be given against both premises and conclusions because that’s often the only way we can truly prove a conclusion to be implausible. We can object to a conclusion using a reduction to absurdity (reductio ad absurdum) and counterexamples. We can assume the conclusion is true and show that such an assumption leads to a contradiction—either from internal inconsistency or because it conflicts with our knowledge. Consider an example of a belief that lacks internal consistency. – Someone could argue that “all opinions are equally justified.” We could object that this belief would imply that the opinion that “not all opinions are equally justified” is a viable option (because that belief is just as justified as any other), but that belief contradicts the view that “all opinions are equally justified.” Consider an example of a belief that conflicts with our knowledge. – Someone could argue that “we don’t know anything,” but we can object that such a belief would imply that we don’t know that “1+1=2” even though we do know that. The fact that we know “1+1=2” is a counterexample to the belief that we don’t know anything. 2. Consider the evidence for your argument. It’s not enough for a philosophical argument to state our argument explicitly because our premises could be unjustified. We need to know why anyone would agree with our premises, and consider why we think the premises are probably true. We must find a way to present our evidence to people to support our premises in order to be assured that we have a good argument, and we must make sure that the premises really do prove our conclusion to be true. Consider Argument 1. It requires us to accept that “human life has value” and “if human life has value, then the death penalty is wrong.” There are people who will reject these premises, so they can’t just be assumed to be obviously true. We need to defend the premises and decide how plausible they are. In this case Jill will justify her premises in the following ways: - Human life has value. – Jill will find this belief intuitive because she seems to experience her own life to be valuable and she realizes that other people do as well. She can defend that we share her intuition that human life has value in at least two ways. One, it would seem strange to want people to commit suicide just because they are in a little pain. Two, we think it’s generally wrong to kill people, and we find people who kill others without a justification to have done something morally wrong. One explanation to why it’s generally wrong to kill people is that human life has value. She can then consider alternative explanations and try to show why they are less plausible than her suggestion. For example, some people might argue that we only think it’s wrong to kill people because we care about them, but Jill could either argue (a) caring about people is merely one understanding of what it means for human life to have value or (b) that it seems inappropriate when people don’t care about others (such as strangers), and there are many cases when people harm strangers because they don’t care about them. - If human life has value, then the death penalty is wrong. – Jill will find this intuitive because she thinks the fact that something has value is a reason not to destroy it. We think happiness is valuable, so we usually shouldn’t try to make people miserable, and it would often be morally wrong to do so. The same seems to be true of the value of human life. The two cases seem analogous. We have a reason not to destroy happiness if it has value, and we have a similar reason not to destroy human life if it has value. It’s often morally wrong to destroy happiness if it has value, and it’s often morally wrong to destroy human life if it has value. This still doesn’t prove that the death penalty is wrong. Jill can then argue that there is no moral justification for the death penalty (at least in the society she lives in). It’s wrong to kill people unless we have a good reason to do so, and there’s no good reason to kill criminals who are safely in custody. She can consider various justifications for the death penalty and try to show them to be unsatisfying. For example, someone could argue that the death penalty makes the family of murder victims feel better, but Jill could argue that the good feelings people get from the death of others is never a good reason to kill anyone. Many murderers get a good feeling from killing others, but that doesn’t excuse their behavior. We need to make sure that our conclusion is proven. The plausibility of the conclusion depends on the plausibility of the premises. We could have premises and conclusions that are justified to the following degrees: - The premises can be intuitive, but we can admit that there could be alternative beliefs that are equally plausible. In that case the conclusion wouldn’t be proven to be true. Instead, it would merely be compatible with intuitive beliefs. - Rejecting the premises could be “counterintuitive.” In that case rejecting the conclusion would require us to accept counterintuitive beliefs. - There’s some reason to believe the premises, but we can admit that there could be overriding reason to reject them that haven’t been discovered yet. - The premises could be the most likely option. Perhaps they are the “best explanation” for our experiences. In that case the conclusion would be based on the most likely options, but it might be unclear if the conclusion is probably true. - The premises could be probably true. In that case the conclusion would more likely be true. - The premises could be a rational requirement, and everyone should agree with them. In that case the conclusion would also be a rational requirement because rejecting the conclusion would require us to reject rationally required beliefs. I will discuss each of these possibilities: 1. Premises can be intuitive Premises are only intuitive if we have no strong reason to reject them. Such beliefs are initially plausible. Many of our beliefs are merely assumptions that we find successful and consistent rather than something everyone has to accept. Also note that two incompatible beliefs could both be intuitive. It might be intuitive to think that killing people is usually wrong because human life has value, but it might be equally intuitive to think that killing people is usually wrong because we want to live in a society without people killing each other. In that case premise 1 (human life has value) might not even be necessary to support Jill’s conclusion because there could be more than one reason to think that killing people is wrong (unless we have an overriding reason for doing so). Jill could change premise 1 to be “killing people is wrong unless we have an overriding reason to do it” and explain how there’s more than one plausible explanation for this premise. One reason to argue that a belief is intuitive is to show that it seems rational to hold the belief. If an argument uses intuitive premises, then perhaps the conclusion doesn’t require us to accept anything irrational, and that makes it more plausible that the conclusion can be rationally held. However, there might be exceptions. An argument that uses intuitive premises should not lead to a conclusion that many people will find counterintuitive or far-fetched. If initially intuitive premises lead us to a counterintuitive conclusion, then the premises will be proven to be less intuitive than we thought they were. For example, the fact that many people expect heavy objects to fall faster than less heavy ones conflicts with our observations, so such an initially plausible belief should be rejected based on more reliable conflicting information. We can’t rationally accept such belief because it would require us to reject scientific observations. 2. It can be counterintuitive to reject the premises If it’s counterintuive to reject a belief, then the belief seems to be strongly intuitive, and the other options are not equally intuitive. We can use an argument from absurdity and counterexamples to reveal that rejecting a belief is counterintuitive. The argument from absurdity requires us to assume that our belief is false, and then we can show why such an assumption leads to absurd results. For example, the belief that killing people is wrong unless we have an overriding reason to do so seems intuitive and rejecting it seems counterintuitive. (There could be overriding reasons to kill people, such as when it’s necessary to survive while fighting in self-defense.) Let’s assume that killing people isn’t wrong when people lack an overriding reason to kill. In that case people could kill others indiscriminately. It would never be wrong to kill people. However, this leads to an absurdity because we know killing is often wrong, such as when a thief kills a family to steal their money out of greed. Whenever rejecting beliefs is counterintuitive, we have found some support to the idea that it’s rational to accept the beliefs (because rejecting them seems to lead to absurdity). Such beliefs could generally be said to be strongly intuitive. However, if such strongly intuitive beliefs lead us to a counterintuitive or far-fetched conclusion, then the argument loses credibility because we won’t be sure if the premises should be accepted after all. If it’s inevitable for some of our beliefs to be counterintuitive, then the fact that a belief is counterintuitive isn’t necessarily a good reason to reject it. For example, much we have learned in quantum mechanics is counterintuitive and we have no choice but to accept the counterintuitive results. For example, quantum mechanics reveals that light can be both a particle and a wave when we don’t observe it, but it will either be a particle or a wave while we observe it (without the possibility of being both). 3. There can be some reason to accept the premises Many arguments are in favor of a belief without necessarily sufficiently proving the belief to be true. In fact, most philosophical arguments fail to convince everyone and many philosophical debates have lasted thousands of years. For this reason many philosophers merely argue that they provide some reason in favor of a belief rather than sufficient reason to accept a belief. For example, the fact that the death penalty kills a person seems like a good reason to think it’s wrong, even though there could be an overriding reasons to think the death penalty isn’t always wrong. 4. Premises can be more justified than the alternatives When philosophers present arguments to explain why we have some reason to believe something, they could present their evidence in isolation from other perspectives and arguments. However, that’s not usually how philosophers argue. Instead, philosophers tend to try to support the vie that we have some reason to accept a belief as well as some reason to reject the alternatives. One of the most persuasive forms of philosophical argumentation will attempt to show why a belief is more plausible than the alternatives in an attempt to present all viable sides of a debate. This can be done by contrasting the most viable options we have and showing why one belief in particular is the best (at least when considering various objections and counterevidence). Note that one belief that is more viable than the alternatives is not necessarily likely to be true. There could be many viable options that are all plausible. For example, at one point there were many competing versions of string theory in physics and there was no reason to find any of them to be particularly likely to be true. There could be three theories and they could all be around 33% likely of being true. In that case they are each individually more likely false than true. Consider that Jill’s argument that the death penalty is wrong is inconclusive and only provides us some reason to agree that the death penalty is wrong. Jill could strengthen her argument by considering arguments in favor of the death penalty and try to show them to be flawed. She could then contrast her belief that the death penalty is wrong with the opposing belief that the death penalty isn’t wrong. For example, the objection to the view that the death penalty is justified to make a victim’s family feel better seems to show how it’s a poor excuse for killing a person. Jill could then argue that on the basis of various considerations, we have more reason to think the death penalty is wrong than right. At the same time she should admit that she is giving us reason to think the death penalty is wrong without providing sufficient proof. There could be relevant arguments and objections she didn’t think of. 5. Premises can be probably true Philosophers are rarely confident to the point of thinking they proved something to be probably true or accurate, but there many beliefs we have that we agree fits this status. For example, it’s probably true that “killing people is often morally wrong.” We might even suspect that it’s a rational requirement to agree with that statement. 6. Premises can be rational requirements The strongest justification for beliefs can show that we know they are true for certain, and some philosophers think some beliefs fit this description, such as our belief that “1+1=2.” However, even beliefs that are rationally required are not necessarily known for certain. It seems that we are rationally required to believe many facts concerning logic, mathematics, and the natural world. It seems plausible to say that we are rationally required to believe that “something can’t be true and false in the same respect at the same time” and that “at least one person has a mind.” Some of the best conclusions involving rational requirements in philosophy concerns what counts as irrational beliefs or failures in reasoning. Philosophers have cataloged several logical fallacies (poor forms of reasoning) and have discovered many beliefs to be unjustified based on poor reasoning. For example, the beliefs that “nothing is morally wrong” and “all opinions are equal” are unjustified beliefs (often based on poor reasoning). Amateur philosophers often make the mistake of asserting that they know something is true or that something is proven despite the fact that what they are saying is based on imperfect reasoning and evidence. Controversial beliefs are rarely known to be true for certain and are rarely proven to be true. These amateurs might think everyone should agree with a conclusion and they might even think people are rationally required to agree. However, philosophical arguments aren’t just examples of creative writing. Philosophers must be honest and aware of what their arguments prove, and they must not exaggerate their conclusions. If you aren’t sure how strong your argument is, you can merely say that you want to prove it’s intuitive and/or that you want to present some amount of reason in favor of a position. If you are objecting to an argument, you can make it clear that you are merely challenging that argument, providing reason to find a premise to be unjustified, and that the argument seems to fail to prove the conclusion as a result. Once Jill evaluates Argument 1 and her justification for that argument, she can rephrase her argument in the following way: It’s counterintuitive to deny that “it’s wrong to kill people without an overriding reason to do so” (because that would imply that indiscriminate killing isn’t wrong). The belief that “if it’s wrong to kill people without an overriding reason to do so, then the death penalty is wrong in our society” is more plausible than the alternatives (because it’s unclear how we can have an overriding reason to have the death penalty in our society). Therefore, we have some reason to agree that “the death penalty is wrong in our society.” 3. Consider relevant objections and counterarguments One way philosophers tend to strengthen their arguments and make them less one-sided is to consider objections to their arguments, and attempt to dispel the objections by replying to them. Replies to objections are usually also arguments known as counterarguments. Consider Argument 1B and Jill’s justifications for her argument. Jill’s second premise should already take objections into consideration because she should argue that reasons to have the death penalty aren’t good, so there’s no overriding reason to kill our criminals in our society. She should argue that revenge, making people feel good, and the idea that evil people deserve to die are all insufficient reasons to kill criminals. However, there could still be more objections worth discussing. In particular, there could be objections given to premise 2. Some people might object that the death penalty might deter people from killing one another. If they know they will die for committing such a crime, then they might choose not to commit such a crime. Jill could then reply that there is no evidence that such a punishment is needed to deter such a crime—it doesn’t seem to deter crime any better than life in prison. Most arguments people give are missing premises, rely on unstated assumptions, lack sufficient evidence to reach their conclusions, the conclusions are arrogantly assumed to be proven, and they fail to take objections into consideration. Most objections people create against arguments are vague and fail to disprove the conclusions of the arguments they oppose because people tend not to consider the plausibility of the premises, conclusions, and form of reasoning used. Nonetheless, experience and careful thought can lead to improved reasoning. Philosophers sometimes make the same mistakes in reasoning as everyone else, but they are interested in improving their behavior and learning from their mistakes.

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Rocks at low tide showing barnacles and sea anemones, Point Grenville, Washington. American Environmental Photographs Collection, Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library Credit: Courtesy of the American Memory Collection. Take your students on an underwater exploration of the sea to inspire their creativity and teach them about the ocean and the many life forms that make their homes in its mysterious depths. Students will learn about the ocean and the creatures that live there, listen to stories and poems with oceanic settings, conduct research about oceanic life forms, and write their own stories and poems about the sea. This lesson gives students the opportunity to explore oceans and ocean life. After locating the earth's major oceans on a world map, students will "dive underwater" to discover the plants and animals that live in the sea. Students will listen to stories and poems with oceanic settings and learn about the forms of sea life featured in each. They can add their own artwork and text about ocean animals and plants to a cut-away ocean display. Finally, students will engage in various forms of creative writing about the ocean and ocean life. What is an ocean? What do we imagine when we think about the ocean? What are the names of the major oceans of the world, and where are they located? How is the ocean represented in stories and poems? What kinds of plants and animals live in the ocean, and what can we learn about them? How can we use what we have learned to create our own poems and stories about the ocean? Depending on the activities chosen, students will be able to do the following: This lesson requires you to access various Web pages through EDSITEment-reviewed sites. You may share these pages with your students at individual computer stations or by assigning small groups to share a number of computers; by means of computer-projected images displayed to the whole class; or by printing out the images and distributing copies of them to students. You will also need to have on hand at least two picture books to share with students--one for the "Sharing Ocean Experiences" activity and another for the "Introducing Ocean Literature" activity. Suggested titles are provided at relevant points in the lesson, as well as in the Resource List at the end of the lesson. In addition, you will need access to a variety of research materials for the "Researching Ocean Life" activity. For Internet research, you should acquaint yourself ahead of time with the EDSITEment-reviewed site, Treasures@Sea, which provides links to other useful sites. For print materials, refer to the "Resource List" at the end of the lesson plan. As you review materials, you will note that there are differing opinions about the number of oceans in the world. It is generally recognized that there are four: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. Others say there is a fifth ocean, the Southern or Antarctic, which lies south of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, linking them together. Your students should recognize that, since all of these bodies of water of the world are connected, they make up one global ocean. Ask for volunteers to explain what an ocean is. Have students who have been to the ocean describe what they have experienced there to the class. Use the following chart with the five sensory headings: See, Hear, Touch, Taste, and Smell, which you can complete online or download and print out for classroom use. As students recall what they know about the ocean, write down their descriptive words and phrases next to the sensory headings. Ask for students' help in deciding which category is appropriate for each experience, and whether an experience belongs to more than one category. Ask students why they chose a particular category. Next, read aloud a story with an ocean setting. The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole or A Swim Through the Sea by Kristin Joy Pratt are good options. (See Resource List at the end of the lesson plan for other suggested titles.) When the story is over, ask the students to think of new words or concepts from the book that describe the setting where the story took place or where the main character lived. Add each of these to the sensory lists. Point out to students that some of the words on their list describe life in the ocean, where the main character(s) of the story live, and some of them describe life near the ocean, where people can live or visit. Have students identify which words belong in each category. At the top of the chart, write the word "In" in blue marker (to symbolize water) and the word "Near" in green marker (to symbolize land). Then have children take turns using the blue marker to circle words that pertain to life in the ocean and the green marker to circle words that pertain to life near the ocean. Invite 2nd-grade students to create their own haiku-like poems about the ocean or animals living in the ocean, using words and images from the lists above. (See the EDSITEment lesson Play with Words: Rhyme & Verse for further information about haiku and other types of poetry.) You might want to do this activity in conjunction with the "Speaking of the Sea" activity described below. Kindergarten and 1st-grade teachers can do this activity as a whole class project, modeling for the children how to create a haiku. As you go through each line, encourage students to participate by adding words from the sensory list you created earlier. The first line of the poem should include two words or phrases about the ocean or animal, the second line should include three words or phrases, and the third line should include two words or phrases. Older students may wish to follow the true haiku form by counting syllables rather than words: five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line. Younger students who are writing their own poems may use inventive spelling or dictate their poem to the teacher or a classroom aide. Have each student copy his or her poem onto a piece of sturdy paper so that it can be displayed in the classroom, and have each student recite his or her poem to the rest of the class. Teachers who do this as a whole-class activity can invite students to copy the poem onto a large poster board and have them decorate the poster. Then, they can display it on a bulletin board outside the classroom for other students to see. Ask students how many oceans there are in the world. Draw a question mark in the center of the chalkboard and write their response around it: Next, ask students if they know the names of any oceans. Write their answers on the chalkboard. Explain that most people agree that there are four major oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. Point out that others say there is a fifth ocean, the Southern or Antarctic, which lies south of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, linking them together. You can also emphasize that, while we think of these bodies of water as separate oceans, they are all connected and make up one global ocean. Show the students a world map, accessible through the EDSITEment-reviewed National Geographic Society's Xpeditions Website. Select the "Atlas" icon from the main site page. A printable map of the world will appear, which you can further customize by adjusting the selection options. Ask students to look at the map and describe how the oceans are separated from one another. While students might suggest that land divides the oceans, guide them to realize that the oceans of the world are really one big ocean with pieces of land dividing it into different parts. Give each student a printout of the world map that you have just studied together. To reinforce the idea that the oceans are connected to each other, challenge students to color in all of the watery parts of the map without lifting their blue crayons from the page. Encourage students to use other colors to fill in the various landmasses. Ask students to create ocean travel routes, demonstrating how a boat could travel to every continent without ever crossing any land. Additional Activity for Exploring the Ocean You can find further interesting facts about the ocean for your students--or guide them to do simple online research themselves--by visiting the EDSITEment-reviewed Treasures@Sea Web site. At the site, select "Diving for Treasure." On the next page, click on "Search for a Treasure Chest of Ocean Facts." By clicking on the "Frequently Asked Questions" button, answers you will get answers to questions such as: Other information is available under additional subject headings. This activity serves as a brief introduction to the sea animals featured in children's literature. In subsequent activities, students will research these and other animals as well as listen to and read other selections from ocean-related literature and write original poems and stories with ocean themes. Suggestion 1: Picture Books Begin by reading aloud a picture book with an ocean setting, such as A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle, or The Twelve Days of Summer by Elizabeth Lee McDonald. (See the Resource List at the end of the lesson for other suggested titles.) Ask students to listen for names of animals and plants they have never heard of before, and instruct them to raise their hands whenever a new animal or plant is mentioned. Then compile a list of new vocabulary words: A House for Hermit Crab: The Twelve Days of Summer: If time permits, read more than one story so that students can compare the information presented in each. Record the information on a piece of chart paper for reference in subsequent activities. Suggestion 2: Rhymes: You can also use nursery rhymes to bring the world of the sea to your students. For online sea-related nursery rhymes, see "Little Drops of Water, Little Grains of Sand, Make the Mighty Ocean and the Pleasant Land" from Mama Lisa's Nursery Rhymes , "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" on HPD's Nursery Rhymes Page, or "The Owl and the Pussycat." These selections are linked from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet Public Library. While reading these rhymes aloud or having students take turns reading them aloud, encourage them to think about ways they can creatively act out the rhymes to emphasize the feeling of the sea. For example, you or your students may choose to read the rhymes in a voice that dips low and then squeaks high, in order to make the listener think about rolling waves. Another idea is to use hand and eye motions. This activity can be used to complement the "Researching Ocean Life" activity below. By creating an ocean display, students will learn more about what the ocean looks like and about the animals and plants that live in or near the sea. You can use the display to further acquaint students with the ocean by showing them what the ocean floor looks like as it extends from the shoreline, and as a background for presenting various items from the projects and activities in this lesson. This display can be used with older students to explain terms that apply to the ocean floor. Creating a Cut-Away View of the Ocean Floor Cover a large bulletin board with light blue or white craft paper. Then draw the cut-away view of the ocean floor as follows: 1. Place a brown marker about two-thirds of the way up on the left-hand side of the display. 2. Draw a horizontal line beginning at this point. Slope your line down slightly. This will serve as your shoreline and continental shelf (where the ocean floor is closest to the shoreline). 3. After drawing your shelf, sharply dip your marker down so the resulting line is practically vertical. This line will represent an ocean slope. 4. Then, as your slope line dips below the display's halfway point, flatten your line out horizontally to form a level ocean plain (the widest, flattest part of the ocean floor). 5. Continue the plain line for a foot or two across the display, then angle your marker up sharply to draw a steep, craggy mountain peak called a mid-ocean ridge. 6. Draw the mid-ocean ridge so it peaks above the plain line and below the continental shelf. Then pull your marker line down at a sharp angle to form the other steep side of the mountain. 7. At the foot of the mountain, draw a sharp, narrow valley, called an ocean trench. 8. Finish your ocean floor by moving your line up to create another slope and another continental shelf on the other side of the display. 9. Use a blue marker to draw the waterline from shore to shore. (Your mid-ocean ridge should not extend above your water line.) 10. Print the names of each of the parts of the ocean floor (shoreline, continental shelf, slope, plain, mid-ocean ridge, and trench) on a separate index card. Help students attach these labels to the display. Have students use watercolors to paint the ocean floor brown and the water blue. Students may also glue fiberfill cloud wisps in the sky above the ocean and draw tiny sailboats on the water's surface. Tell students that they are going to become oceanographers--people who study and share information about the ocean. (Background information about oceanographers can be found through a link on the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration from the EDSITEment-reviewed website, Treasures@Sea.) The students' first job as oceanographers is to draw pictures of animals that live in or near the ocean. Have students choose animals on which they would like to become experts. For inspiration, revisit the list of animals featured in the books you shared in previous activities. For research information, see the lists of print and Internet resources at the end of the lesson plan. Supply students with paper and have them make preliminary tracings or sketches of their animals. When the students are satisfied, provide them with a piece of white oak tag so they can make full-color drawings of their animals. Have students cut out their drawings and add them to the ocean display. Afterward, have students write or dictate information about their drawings. Label each finished drawing with an index card bearing the animal's name as well as details related to the animal's size, color, markings, and other physical features. Remind students that part of an oceanographer's job is to do research and to teach other people about the ocean. Oceanographers share what they have discovered on their own as well what other oceanographers have discovered. You can find interesting facts about the ocean for your students, or guide them to do simple online research themselves, by visiting the EDSITEment-reviewed Treasures@Sea website. At the site, select "Book Activities." By clicking on the title of a particular book, students can learn about some of the sea animals featured in the story. For example, The Rainbow Fish page provides a link to information about starfish, while the Humphrey the Lost Whale page links to information about humpback whales. Web pages entitled Ocean Animals and Aquatic Safari, which can also be accessed through the Treasures@Sea Website, provide a wealth of information about various forms of ocean life. A list of other related sites can be found in the "Web Resources" section of Treasures@Sea. To guide students' research, help them answer the following questions about their animals: |Kindergarten||Grade 1||Grade 2| Have students write or dictate answers to the questions above and help them organize their sentences in paragraph form. Encourage students to supply as much detail as possible. Students might pretend to be reporters interviewing their sea animal. Ask them what questions they would ask their animal if it could talk, and let them use their research to develop responses. Students can present their interviews in question and answer format and can draw pictures to illustrate their interviews. You may display the finished interviews around the edge of your ocean display, or compile them in a student magazine that can be copied and distributed to students and their families. Set aside class time for students to share what they have learned about their ocean animal. Have them prepare a riddle about the animal as a way of introducing it to the rest of the class (e.g., "I have five arms but no fingers. What am I?"). Or have students prepare acrostic poems by printing their animal's name vertically on a piece of paper and then using each letter of that name to begin a word or sentence about the animal. Additional Activity for Researching Ocean Life If time permits, repeat the activity by having each student choose an ocean plant to research. Have them cut plant shapes from craft paper. Add the plants to the ocean display so that the foliage camouflages the animals. You may use this as an opportunity to discuss camouflage and other ways ocean animals protect themselves. In this section of the lesson, students have the opportunity to create original poems -- either individually or as a class -- about ocean life. The ocean has inspired writers for centuries, and many poems have been written about the sea and the animals that live there. Read aloud a selection of published poems. (For suggestions, see the list of poetry collections and online nursery rhymes under the Resource List at the end of the lesson plan.) You may wish to choose poems about some of the animals that were researched in the previous activity, or invite students to browse through the collections in small groups and have them select the poems they would like to hear. (For a related lesson about poetry, see the EDSITEment lesson Play with Words: Rhyme & Verse.) As students listen to each poem, discuss the techniques the poet uses to create images of ocean life. What animal is the poem about? How does the poet describe the animal and where it lives? What kinds of details does the poet include about the animal? Does the poem include action? Is it funny? Sad? Try to choose a wide array of poems so that students can see the range of stylistic possibilities. Discuss with students the similarities and differences among the poems. Next, have 2nd-grade students work individually or in pairs to create their own poems about ocean life. Encourage them to use some of the resources listed at the end of the lesson as they research facts for their poems. Kindergarten and 1st-grade students can create the poem as a class. After giving students the opportunity to practice reading their poem at home or in class, have each child recite his or her poem to the rest of the class (kindergarteners and 1st graders can recite the poem as a choral reading). You might wish to invite parents or other classes to the poetry presentation and use this as an opportunity for students to share the other work they have created as part of this unit. Remind students of the stories you read in the Sharing Ocean Experiences and Introducing Ocean Literature sections of the lesson, and tell them that they are now going to write their own ocean stories. Begin by inviting students to recall all of the words they have learned about the ocean and about the animals and plants that live there. Have them use the vocabulary words generated in the previous activities as they write their short stories. Before students begin writing, help them determine the main characters, settings, and plots for their stories. What sea animal would they like to write about? Where does this animal live, and what is it like there? What adventures or problems might this animal have? How does the animal solve the problem? Encourage students to draw upon the knowledge they gained in the Researching Ocean Life activity as they plan their stories. After students complete their first drafts, have them share their work in small groups. Have them give one another suggestions for ways to include more ocean-related vocabulary and ideas. Younger students will need more teacher support to write stories. Kindergarteners and young 1st graders may want to dictate their stories to the teacher or teacher's aide. When students have completed their final drafts, compile them in a class anthology to be shared with families and friends. The following is a list of published texts that may be used in teaching this unit: Online Nursery Rhymes Sharing Ocean Experiences and Introducing Ocean Literature: Cut-Away Ocean Display:-+ drawing or tracing paper markers or crayons 4-6 class periods

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|Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute||Home| Erik Erikson identifies adolescence as the stage in human development which involves the emotional crises of “Identity and Role Confusion.” Physically, the body is going through profound changes. The process of genital maturation results in the ability to reproduce. Mentally, the brain develops the ability to deal with more complex problems in greater depth. Socially, the individuals prepare to leave home. New possibilities and new freedoms await them as do new responsibilities and new fears. Emotional crises arise from the pressure and confusion of the many changes. This confusion is expected and normal. Adolescents must experience the extremes of these emotional crises as they learn to understand both the positive and negative components of the crises. In this way they learn what they feel, how to deal with their feelings and how to make decisions based on this knowledge. Schools need to help in this process of self-realization. The options for adolescents have broadened radically over the last eighty years. This process will probably continue. I think that it would be helpful for students to read how adolescents in other times and places experienced changes and dealt with the emotional demands of their adolescence. In small towns people had relatively few options. Roles were stable and rigid. While kids could dream, they had a whole community maintaining expectations. The move to the city and away from traditions opened a whole new range of life styles. There is a wealth of short stories and novels which deal with these themes. By giving students an historical understanding of the changing opportunities for adolescents in America, I hope to give them new insights into their emotional themes and show them that literature and history are rich resources for understanding their lives and struggles. This unit has been organized for students with a high school reading level and the ability to express themselves in writing. It will be used in an inner city alternative high school, the High School in the Community. The class is interdisciplinary, English and American History, and it meets daily for three hours. The course lasts eight weeks. The unit will be used as half of the daily period. I have focused on the historical and psychological issues which students have raised with me most frequently over the last ten years. Although I do have a particular student body in mind as I organize this curriculum, I do feel that the approach and much of the content would be useful in many different settings. The second objective is to give students a broad outline of the major changes in American life in the last eighty years. In addition to learning the significant dates and events, I want them to understand how these events changed people’s views of life. The third objective is to teach students to identify the emotional issues of adolescence. Reading about the lives and experiences of other people can often help students understand and deal with their own. The fourth objective is to teach certain academic skills in reading and writing. These will be described in the strategies section of the unit. The stories I have chosen are about how people experience their lives and deal with their personal issues. These experiences will be discussed and analysed from an historical and psychological perspective. From this work I want students to learn that their life experiences can also be understood from different perspectives and that developing an understanding for these perspectives can help them make their life choices. There is real power in being able to describe and understand one’s own experiences and feelings. The stories I chose for this unit meet two requirements: 1) they give a feeling for an historical period; 2) they speak to a significant issue in adolescent behavior. They are organized in chronological order. Each week we will work with a different story, studying it in depth through understanding the historical and psychological contexts. By historical context I mean the major historical developments which shaped the issues raised by the story being studied. The historical issues of the 20th century are vast. I feel that the most significant issues for my students are industrialization; urbanization and class differentiation; wars; the depression and the creation of the welfare state; the Civil Rights Movement; the changing roles for men and women; and the growth of a critical spirit. These changes grew with the development of American capitalism and have influenced the students’ lives directly. I will give weekly lectures on these topics, Students will be expected to take notes. Reading assignments from an American history text book will also be required. I will use These United States by James P. Shenton, Judith R. Benson and Robert E. Jakoubek (Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1978). There will be weekly quizzes on the historical information. The psychological context is the identity development of adolescents. These too are vast. For urban youth, however, there seem to be certain overshadowing concerns: the cost of survival and upward mobility; family relations; sexual and racial identity; the control of intense feelings; and the drive for social change. These issues are raised in the stories I have chosen. In class discussions students will be asked to talk about their reactions to the stories. From these discussions the class will identify specific psychological issues that are meaningful for them. They will then be given a writing assignment based on these ideas. These assignments will be structured to allow for creative writing. The following day the assignments will be read out loud in class. This sharing of thoughts and feelings will allow for further identification of the common issues for adolescents. The skill development in this unit will involve reading, writing, and discussion. There will be vocabulary development based on words from the stories and the use of historical and psychological concepts in class discussions. Students will have weekly writing assignments from which they will learn to write summaries, essays, and creative stories. They will be expected to take notes on the lectures and pass quizzes on the information from the lectures and the textbook. Students will also be expected to read each story twice, once at the begining of the week and again at the end. This will encourage them to see that studying a piece of writing carefully from different perspectives adds to the understanding and appreciation of the story. The week will look like this: |Monday :||Vocabulary Work||Write sentences for vocabulary| |Introduce story||Read story| |Tuesday :||Class discussion:||Writing assignment:| |Draw out students reaction||Answer questions on content| |Psychological context||Write summary of story| |Wednesday:||Lecture:||Creative writing on a theme| |Thursday :||Read creative writing in||Reread Story| |Friday :||Quiz :||Rewrite, correct and organize| |Vocabulary||week’s unit to be handed in| |History||on Monday for final review.| Summary : This segment of Jews Without Money contains a series of descriptions of characters living on the Lower East Side of New York City at the turn of the century when the author was living there. He describes Kid Louis, the local tough who specializes in seducing young virgins; Harry, the Pimp, the assimilated Jew who takes care of “his girls” during the day and returns home to his respectable family at night. He is a Tammany Hall supporter. Suzie, the suffering prostitute; Ida, the “Madame”; Mr. Zunzer, the Jewish slum landlord. I included a section that describes the author’s reaction to school as a threat to his ethnic identity. The street gang leader, Nigger, acts out these feelings for his friends. Historical Content : Ghetto life and ghetto ways of survival are significant aspects of modern American life. Minorities, other migrants and immigrants have all lived through slight variations of these themes. The process of industrialization shaped the urbanization and the life styles at the turn of the century. As big business flourished, the large influx of immigrants and other cheap labor enabled immense capital accumulation and great class divisions. It is important to understand who came to the ghettos and why. Psychological Context : Life in the ghetto has two distinct and contradictory functions. It was both protective and destructive. People were thrown together in poverty and desperation. They learned to survive together. However, survival often forced people to be brutal. Desperation often determined values. Most emotional issues and life choices were determined by the immediacy of survival. The only way out, assimilation into the mainstream, required rejection of both the good and the bad aspects. Assimilation was costly and often created hard, cold people. 2. Kate Chopin, Desirée’s Baby Summary : Armand Aubigny marries Desirée after falling in love with her when he sees her sleeping in the sun. They have a child, a son. As the child grows, it is clear that he has black blood. She had been an orphan, deserted as an infant. The husband accuses Desirée of being part black. She accepts her fate and disappears with the child. But the story ends with a twist—Armand too has a hidden past. Historical Context : Racial issues are a crucial part of American life. Racial mixing has not been overtly accepted though it has occurred frequently. Though this is a particularly stark story, it does present a view of the more victorian views of women. Women were possessions of their husbands. Once rejected in her society, she had no place to go. Money could not compensate for social values and standing. Psychological Context : Passion can drive people to take chances in life. Passion is often played off against the search for stability. Security appears more constant; passion more erratic. But often this is more apparent than real. Armand and Desirée are passionate people. They act with extreme feelings in love and in rejection. Racial identity is a confusing issue. Is it determined by internal values or external skin color? Marriage and intimacy involve learning about and accepting others. Race has a particular power in our culture but there are many other hidden secrets which become known only after people have been together for a while. What can be known between individuals? How does this knowledge develop? What is the cost of intimacy? 3. Toni Morrison, Sula Summary : Shadrack, as a young man of 20, went off to war in France. During the war he saw much violence and death. He was shot in the foot, went into shock, and returned to his hometown in Ohio. He was a deeply changed person. At 22 he was a person who no longer knew who he was. Once home he established a new identity for himself. He instituted National Suicide Day and it became his reason for living. Every January 3, he would walk through town with a cowbell and a hangman’s rope telling the people that this was their only chance to kill themselves or each other. There is a poignant description of his sense of powerlessness and fear of loss of control. Historical Context : Wars are not just dates but have real profound effects on individuals. Soldiers leave home and fight for their country. Then they return having survived their experiences essentially alone because the other people around them have had such different lives. This is a universal issue whether after the two World Wars, the Vietnam War and the Korean War. For that matter, when individuals have experiences that are different from those of the people around them, they often lose a sense of cohesion and belonging. Psychological Context : Shadrack left for the war a young man and returned consumed by the fear of death and the loss of control. He dealt with this fear by making a place for these feelings in his scheme of life. Could he have done otherwise—run from these fears or deny them? National Suicide Day was a way for him to take control of his fear by focusing on one day a year. 4. Tillie Olsen, I Stand Here Ironing Summary : In this short story the author reminisces about her life as she struggled to raise her eldest daughter, Emily. She describes the desperation after being deserted by her husband and being left with four small children. She went to work. Emily is left with relatives, then in a day care center, and then finally in a home for children. When her mother could afford to take her back, she is a stiff lonely child. The mother and Emily try to reestablish a relationship, but it is very difficult. Emily has trouble in school until she finds recognition in acting. There is a constant sense of helplessness as the mother remembers lost moments, unspoken feelings, and the growth of their separation. Historical Context : Family Life has been seen as the backbone of American life. But often it is disturbed or altered by desertion death or changing economic circumstances. The depression of the 30’s saw 1/3 of the American population unemployed. Women who had traditionally stayed home to raise children were forced to work. There was no social welfare or other forms of state assistance. The subsequent development of the welfare state was important. The welfare state maintains a reserve work force which can be called in for emergencies and helps keeps the cost of labor down. This is an important concept for the students to understand. Another issue touched upon is the new consciousness of the effects of the Atomic Bomb. The vision of Hiroshima and Nagasaki introduced the sense that maybe people should live for the moment since mankind could now totally destroy itself with but a few bombs. Survival from want was replaced with a sense of living for the moment. Psychological Context : What is the relationship between a mother and a daughter but a series of experiences seen differently by the two participants? Each is captive of their circumstance, both physically and mentally. The mother can look back on her mistakes. Nevertheless the child has developed into a person in its own right. How and when does a child bloom? Who determines her success or failure? How much of her is determined by her age and social environment? As Olsen suggests, maybe all one can do for children is to give them a sense of themselves so that they can believe in themselves. Separation from parents and friends is a crucial aspect of adolescent growth. 5. Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman Summary : In this segment of Miller’s play Biff and Happy, Willie’s two sons, are discussing and comparing their lives. Both are over thirty and feel lost and discontent, though for different reasons and in different ways. Biff is 34. He has wandered around the USA and has tried many different kinds of jobs but feels restless whenever he tries to settle down. He is now coming home to try and settle down. He doesn’t know what he wants but he continues to dream the dreams of his adolescence. Happy has suceeded in business. He has a stable, respectable job, earns good money and has many fancy women. He still feels that something is missing. He always goes after what other people have but only feels successful in competition rather than because he knows what he wants. He feels lonely and empty. As they compare their choices they dream together of getting away and/or settling down. They live for the future. Historical Context : The Second World War had established America as the most powerful country in the world. The expansive economic development due to the Cold War and the defense industry had brought a general sense of prosperity and purpose. We had saved the world from Fascism and Communism. Now we were ready to show the world a real solid middle class capitalistic society. Psychological Context : Neither Biff nor Happy can find “happiness and meaning” in their lives. They represent the conflicts that arise when external need for survival no longer determines choices in life. How then does one decide what will make them happy or satisfied? Happy strives to have what his colleagues have but is not satisfied with his success. Biff rejects the accepted norms but feels detached. Both toy with the idea that marriage will force them to settle down—again an external motivation. But is that who they are and what they want? What is success—an internal or external goal? 6. Ernest Gaines, Bloodline Summary : This is an incredibly powerful story about a mulatto man who returns to the plantation he was born on. Cooper is the son of a Black field worker and the white plantation owner, Frank Laurent, a mean dominating person. Both parents are dead and Cooper has returned to claim his birthright. His mother died a few years after she was forced off the plantation with her son and husband. Since the age of 14 Cooper had wandered the United States and experienced and witnessed incredible suffering. He now returned to the plantation as a conquering general (lacking an army). The confrontation is between Cooper and his uncle, who explains that he will abide by the rules of the racist society though he doesn’t necessarily feel in agreement with them. The plot centers around the fact that the uncle wants to meet Cooper but Cooper refuses to enter the plantation house through the back door. The uncle sends larger and larger groups of Black plantation residents to get Cooper but each group gets severely beaten. Finally the uncle, old, sick and weak, goes to where Cooper is staying in the Black quarters. The story includes wonderful character descriptions. Historical Context : Even after the slaves were freed, plantation life and customs survived. This story takes place in the 1930s in Louisiana. The values and the ways of behvior of the Old South are maintained since neither Blacks nor whites know any other way. Oppression is both violent and subtle. People developed many different ways to cope though these ways were different for Blacks and whites. The old ways were dying with the older people; the young were moving North. New ways were not being developed. They were still in the form of fantasies and theories. The North had different rules but it is just as brutal and racist. These dynamics were brillantly represented in this story. Psychological Context : The question of birthright focuses the issues in this story. Is a mulatto half Black or half white? Is Cooper his father’s son or his mother’s son? Having been forced from his home and family, is he freed from his slave heritage or is he a slave to it? Can one fight back and change the rules of society? At what cost? Is there real choice in life? 7. Alice Walker, Everyday Use Summaay : Dee has received a scholarship to a school in the big city. She returns home to her mother and sister, Maggie, for a visit. This story is told by her mother who is comparing Dee, the successful daughter to Maggie, the daughter who stayed home. Dee returns filled with the new African nationalistic ideas. She has changed her name, no longer eats her mother’s cooking because it contains pork, and views her family’s life and possessions as quaint. Finally the mother realizes that Maggie is more of her even though she is withdrawn and ugly. Maggie can still respect and feel her roots with self-respect and does not need to romanticize them. Historical Context : Racial identity has been a constant issue in America. At various times, different movements have grown up. There have been two major tendencies: integration and separation. Though they share a common background and a common anger, they have different interpretations of the cause of American racism. Was the oppression caused by economics of the innate hatred between the races? It is important to understand these issues and know the names of the major movements and their proponants: Garvey and the Back to Africa Movement, The Black Muslims, Malcolm X and Pan-Africanism, W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. M.L. King, SNCC and the NAACP. Psychological Context : The roots of most Black Americans are in the rural South. This heritage was often hard and brutal and ugly. It has also created beautiful and warm traditions. How does one deal with these issues as one works at developing self-respect and pride in an alien (white) culture? Does one romanticize the traditions? Can one move up in America without rejecting one’s past? What is the cost of upward mobility, assimilation and success? - I. Vocabulary Worksheet: Fill in the appropriate words for the following definitions. - ___ v. To laugh in a controlled way. - ___ n. A house often divided into apartments which barely meets standards of safety and comfort. - ___ n. The desire to fight. - ___ v. To walk with a swing (often to boast or brag). - ___ adj. Unrestrained joy. - ___ adj. Being like a beast. - ___ v. To thrive, grow, develop. - ___ adj. With good will, the desire to be helpful. - ___ n. One who believes in traditional views. - ___ n. Slippery substance. - ___ n. Ditches. - ___ adj. Of strong feelings. - ___ adj. Uncontrollable fear or emotion. - ___ v. Squirming. - ___ n. A point of honor. - ___ n. Small petitioned spaces. - ___ n. A plan for doing something. - ___ n. A shop or factory where workers work long hours at low wages. - ___ n. A slang word for Jews. - ___ adj. Having been affected by Tuberculosis. - ___ n. A break or tearing apart. - ___ n. A series of raids and executions in Tzarist Russia against the Jews. - ___ n. A private club for members of the Democratic Party in New York City around 1900. They ruled the city. tubercular pugnacity slime snicker scheme Tammany Hall rupture kike conservative tenement sweatshop brutal scruples trenches flourish cubicles writhing philanthropic Russian Pogrom swagger hysterical passionate exuberant Choose one assignment: - a. Write a sentence for each word. Use the word correctly and in such a way that its meaning is clear. - b. Write a story using 20 of these words correctly. - II.Writing Assignment: Writing a summary: Answer the following questions. - Use full sentences. - 1. Who is Nigger? - 2. Who is susie? - 3. Describe Kid Louie. - 4. What information do you have about Harry, the Pimp? - 5. Who is telling the story? - 6. Describe Ida. - 7. Who is Mr. Zunzer? - 8. Why did Mr. Zunzer keep the whores in his house? - 9. What did the author think of school as a child? - 10. What role did gangs play for the young Jews in the ghettos? - Now write a brief summary of the story. - III. Writing Assignment : Writing on a Theme. - These are sample questions. The real ones should be developed from the class discussion about the story. A minimum of one page of writing. - a. We all live in neighborhoods. Describe your neighborhood. Include the major characters that influenced you as you grew up in that neighborhood. - b. One of the major themes in this excerpt is the cost of survival in a brutal environment. Write a story about someone who was forced to act in someway because of serious need of money. - c. Gangs give their members a sense of belonging and a feeling of security. Write a diary of a member of a gang. - d. What ways could a ghetto resident leave the ghetto? Write the story of a person who leaves the ghetto for a “better” neighborhood. Remember there are usually both benefits and costs. - e. After viewing a series of slides of ghetto life, pick one slide and write a story about it. Collection of essays from a Marxist perspective. They discuss art and literature from social and historical viewpoints as well as literary ones. Berger, John, Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books, 19771. Wonderful photoessays on the relationship between seeing and words. Erikson, Erik, Childhood and Society. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1963. Presentation of Erikson’s theory of the eight stages of human development and how culture and life experiences influence development. Erikson, Erik, Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1968. Erikson analyses his view of the growth of identity and role differentiation. Thoughtful way to present and discuss psychological issues of adolescents. Vygotsky, Lev S., Thought and Language. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1962. Interesting presentation of two different views of human development: Vygotsky’s interaction approach and Piaget’s stages approach. Williams, Raymond, Marxism and Literature. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1977. Williams analyses different aspects of modern culture from and extremely interesting Marxist perspective. Many new ideas to work with. Zinn, Howard, A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1980. American History seen from the perspective of the minorities and the oppressed. An interesting approach to seeing history from “the other side.” Short stories which deal with individuals in small towns in America and their dreams. Great stuff for the kids. Anderson, Sherwood, Winnesberg, Ohio. New York: The Viking Press, 1919. Stories about life in a small American town of the early 20th century. The author is very sensitive to how people feel and how they tend to show their feelings. Angelou, Maya, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. New York: Bantam The first of a three part autobiography. In this segment she talks about her childhood and adolescence in the rural south and then in California. Arnow, Harriet, The Dollmaker. New York: Avon Books, 1972. The story of a woman and her family when they are forced to move from the southern mountains to Chicago during the Second World War. Wonderful feeling for life in the housing projects and the struggle for survival among these southern whites. Baldwin, James, Go Tell It On The Mountain. New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1953. A powerful story of the dynamics and feelings in a black family that moves to New York from the rural south. The focus is the development of Black consciousness in an adolescent boys as his family holds on to the traditional religion of southern Blacks. Childress, Alice, A Short Walk. New York: Avon Book, 1979. An interesting story of a Black woman’s life in a rural southern town and then in New York. She gives a vivd description of life in Harlem in the forties, fifties and sixties. Chopin, Kate, The Awakening and Other Stories. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970. Short, emotionally intense stories about life on the plantations of southern Louisiana around the turn of the century. She is particularly interested in racial and sexual issues. Fitzgerald F. Scott, The Short Stories of Fitzgerald. New York: Charles Scribner, Sons, 1957. Assorted stories about life among the rich and those aspiring to become rich in the 20s and 30s. Difficult reading for some students though many are about adolescents. Gaines, Ernest, Bloodline. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1968. Collection of Short stories which are powerful descriptions of the changing nature of rural southern life. He is particularly interested in the psychological impact of America’s racial heritage. Gold, Micheal, Jews Without Money. New York: Horace Livewright, 1930. Wonderful description of life in the Jewish ghetto in the Lower East Side of New York at the turn of the century. Hemminway, Ernest, The Short Stories of Ernest Hemmingway. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927. Exciting and interesting stories but tend to be too sophisticated or on distant subjects for my students. Hughes, Langston, The Langston Hughes Reader. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1958. A collection of poems, short stories, plays and excerpts from larger pieces which deal with many facits of American life. He is particularly interested in how Blacks and whites see each other. Hurston, Zora Neal, Rust Tracks on the Road. New York: Phillip Lippincott, 1971. An autobiography of a young Black woman growing up in rural Mississippi in the 20s. Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1966. Life story of an important leader. Great description of his growth as a thinker. Miller, Arthur, Collected Plays. New York: Viking Press, 1961. Contains both “Death of a Salesman” and “A View from The Bridge.” Both raise important issues for adolescents. Morrison, Toni, Sula. New York: A Bantam Book, 1973. Life in a small town in Ohio as seen through the eyes of a few generations of one family made up mostly of strong, powerful Black women. Morrison, Toni, Song of Soloman. New York: Signet, 1977. Story of a young man’s journey from a northern city to rural southern town to find his roots. Wonderful descriptions and feeling for people. Olsen, Tillie, Tell Me A Riddle. New York: A Delta Book, 1960. Contains “I Stand Here Ironing.” Collection of stories about women coming to terms with their lives. Poole, Ernest, The Harbor. New York: MacMillan Company, 1925. Young boy grows up on the docks of New York. Warm sensitive description of his learning to leave home and search for new adventure near and on the sea. Life in the 20s. Thomas, Piri, Down These Mean Streets. New York: Knopf, 1977. The story of a Puerto Rican Boy growing up in New York in the 60s. Toomer, Jean, Cane. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1923. A collection of stories, poems and vignettes about people, places and scenes from the south of the 20s. Twian, Mark, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, New York: Bantam Books, 1965. Huck leaves home with Jim, the runaway slave, and finds adventure along the Mississippi River. Walker, Alice, In Love and Trouble. New York: Harcourt Brace Javenovich, 1967. A collection of short stroies about Black women as they deal with changes in their lives as they become more conscious of themselves as women and Blacks. Washington, Mary Helen, Midnight Birds. Garden City, New York:. Anchor Books, 1980. Wonderful collection of short stories by Black women writers about deal with their new sense of self-consciousness and power. Wright, Richard, Black Boy. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1966. Autobiography of young boy growing up in the Jim Crow south. Contents of 1981 Volume I | Directory of Volumes | Index | Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article The Book of Esther, also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" (Megillah), is a book in the third section (Ketuvim, "Writings") of the Jewish Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and in the Christian Old Testament. It relates the story of a Jewish girl in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people. The story forms the core of the Jewish festival of Purim, during which it is read aloud twice: once in the evening and again the following morning. Other than the Song of Songs, Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not explicitly mention God. Traditionally, unlike other Tanakh scrolls, a scroll of Esther is given only one roller, fixed to its left-hand side, rather than the customary two rollers (one fixed to the right-hand side as well as the one fixed to the left-hand side).[why?] The biblical Book of Esther is set in the third year of Ahasuerus, a king of Persia. The name Ahasuerus is equivalent to Xerxes, both deriving from the Persian Khshayārsha, thus Ahasuerus is usually identified as Xerxes I (486–465 BCE), though Ahasuerus is identified as Artaxerxes in the later Greek version of Esther (as well as by Josephus, the Jewish commentary Esther Rabbah, the Ethiopic translation and the Christian theologian Bar-Hebraeus who identified him more precisely as Artaxerxes II ). Ahasuerus, ruler of a massive Persian empire, holds a lavish party, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of the capital city Shushan. Ahasuerus orders the queen Vashti to display her beauty before the guests. She refuses. Worried all women will learn from this, Ahasuerus removes her as queen and has a royal decree sent across the empire that men should be the ruler of their households and should speak their own native tongue. Ahasuerus then orders all beautiful young girls to be presented to him, so he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these is the orphan Esther, whose Jewish name is Hadassah. After the death of her parents, she is being fostered by her cousin Mordecai. She finds favor in the king's eyes, and is made his new queen. Esther does not reveal that she is Jewish. Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by courtiers Bigthan and Teresh to assassinate Ahasuerus. The conspirators are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai's service to the king is recorded. Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his prime minister. Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman's disfavor as he refuses to bow down to him. Having found out that Mordecai is Jewish, Haman plans to kill not just Mordecai but all the Jews in the empire. He obtains Ahasuerus' permission to execute this plan, against payment of ten thousand talents of silver (which the King declines to accept and rather allows him to execute his plan on principle), and he casts lots to choose the date on which to do this—the thirteenth of the month of Adar. On that day, everyone in the empire is free to massacre the Jews and despoil their property. When Mordecai finds out about the plans he and all Jews mourn and fast. Mordecai informs Esther what has happened and tells her to intercede with the King. She is afraid to break the law and go to the King unsummoned. This action would incur the death penalty. Mordecai tells her that she must. She orders Mordecai to have all Jews fast for three days together with her, and on the third day she goes to Ahasuerus, who stretches out his sceptre to her which shows that she is not to be punished. She invites him to a feast in the company of Haman. During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening. Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai and consults with his friends. At his wife's suggestion, he builds a gallows for Mordecai. That night, Ahasuerus suffers from insomnia, and when the court records are read to him to help him sleep, he learns of the services rendered by Mordecai in the previous plot against his life. Ahasuerus is told that Mordecai has not received any recognition for saving the king's life. Just then, Haman appears, to ask the King to hang Mordecai, but before he can make this request, King Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for the man that the king wishes to honor. Thinking that the man that the king is referring to is himself, Haman says that the man should be dressed in the king's royal robes and led around on the king's royal horse, while a herald calls: "See how the king honours a man he wishes to reward!" To his horror and surprise, the king instructs Haman to do so to Mordecai. After leading Mordecai's parade, he returns in mourning to his wife and friends, who suggest his downfall has begun. Immediately after, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther's second banquet, at which she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, including her. Overcome by rage, Ahasuerus leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation. The king comes back in at this moment and thinks Haman is assaulting the queen; this makes him angrier than before and he orders Haman hanged on the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai. The previous decree against the Jews cannot be annulled, but the king allows the Jews to defend themselves during attacks. As a result, on 13 Adar, 500 attackers and Haman's ten sons are killed in Shushan, followed by a Jewish slaughter of 75,000 Persians, although they took no plunder. Esther sends a letter instituting an annual commemoration of the Jewish people's redemption, in a holiday called Purim (lots). Ahasuerus remains very powerful and continues reigning, with Mordecai assuming a prominent position in his court. Esther is usually dated to the 3rd or 4th century BCE. Shemaryahu Talmon, however, suggests that "the traditional setting of the book in the days of Xerxes I [(485–465 BC[E])] cannot be wide off the mark." Jewish tradition regards it as a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text written by Mordecai. The Greek additions to the Septuagint version of Esther (which do not appear in original Jewish/Hebrew version; see "Additions to Esther" below) are dated to around the late 2nd century or early 1st BCE. The book of Esther falls under the category of Ketuvim, one of three parts of the Jewish canon. According to some sources, it is a historical novella, written to explain the origin of the Jewish holiday of Purim. As noted by biblical scholar Michael D. Coogan, the book contains specific details regarding certain subject matter (for example, Persian rule) which are historically inaccurate. For example, Coogan discusses an apparent inaccuracy regarding the age of Esther's cousin (or, according to others, uncle) Mordecai. In Esther 2:5–6, either Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish is identified as having been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE: "Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah." If this refers to Mordecai, he would have had to live over a century to have witnessed the events described in the Book of Esther. However, the verse may be read as referring not to Mordecai's exile to Babylon, but to his great-grandfather Kish's exile. In her article “The Book of Esther and Ancient Storytelling,” biblical scholar Adele Berlin discusses the reasoning behind scholarly concern about the historicity of Esther. Much of this debate relates to the importance of distinguishing history and fiction within biblical texts, as Berlin argues, in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the history of the Israelite people. Berlin quotes a series of scholars who suggest that the author of Esther did not mean for the book to be considered as a historical writing, but intentionally wrote it to be a historical novella. The genre of novellas under which Esther falls was common during both the Persian and Hellenistic periods to which scholars have dated the book of Esther. There are certain elements of the book of Esther that are historically accurate. The story told in the book of Esther takes place during the rule of Ahasuerus, who has been identified as the 5th-century Persian king Xerxes (486–465). The author also displays an accurate knowledge of Persian customs and palaces. However, according to Coogan, considerable historical inaccuracies remain throughout the text, supporting the view that the book of Esther is to be read as a historical novella which tells a story describing historical events but is not necessarily historical fact. Edwin M. Yamauchi has questioned the reliability of other historical sources, such as Herodotus, to which Esther has been compared. Yamauchi wrote, “[Herodotus] was, however, the victim of unreliable informants and was not infallible.” The reason for questioning the historical accuracy of such ancient writers as Herodotus is that he is one of the primary sources of knowledge for this time period, and it has been frequently assumed that his account may be more accurate than Esther's account. |This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013)| Those arguing in favour of an historical reading of Esther, most commonly identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes II (ruled 405–359 BCE) although in the past it was often assumed that he was Xerxes I (ruled 486–465 BCE). The Hebrew Ahasuerus is most likely derived from Persian Khshayarsha, the origin of the Greek Xerxes. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Xerxes sought his harem after being defeated in the Greco-Persian Wars. He makes no reference to individual members of the harem except for a domineering Queen consort named Amestris, whose father, Otanes, was one of Xerxes's generals. (In contrast, the Greek historian Ctesias refers to a similar father-in-law/general figure named Onaphas.) Amestris has often been identified with Vashti, but this identification is problematic, as Amestris remained a powerful figure well into the reign of her son, Artaxerxes I, whereas Vashti is portrayed as dismissed in the early part of Xerxes's reign. Alternative attempts have been made to identify her with Esther, although Esther is an orphan whose father was a Jew named Abihail. As for the identity of Mordecai, the similar names Marduka and Marduku have been found as the name of officials in the Persian court in over thirty texts from the period of Xerxes I and his father Darius, and may refer to up to four individuals, one of which might after all be Mordecai. The "Old Greek" Septuagint version of Esther translates the name Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes, a Greek name derived from the Persian Artakhshatra. Josephus too relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks, and the Midrashic text, Esther Rabba also makes the identification. Bar-Hebraeus identified Ahasuerus explicitly as Artaxerxes II; however, the names are not necessarily equivalent: Hebrew has a form of the name Artaxerxes distinct from Ahasuerus, and a direct Greek rendering of Ahasuerus is used by both Josephus and the Septuagint for occurrences of the name outside the Book of Esther. Instead, the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also Arshu, understood as a shortening of Achshiyarshu the Babylonian rendering of the Persian Khshayarsha (Xerxes), through which the Hebrew Achashverosh (Ahasuerus) is derived. Ctesias related that Artaxerxes II was also called Arsicas which is understood as a similar shortening with the Persian suffix -ke that is applied to shortened names. Deinon related that Artaxerxes II was also called Oarses which is also understood to be derived from Khshayarsha. Another view attempts to identify him instead with Artaxerxes I (ruled 465–424 BCE), whose Babylonian concubine, Kosmartydene, was the mother of his son Darius II (ruled 424–405 BCE). Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene. Based on the view that the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit is identical with that of the Book of Esther, some have also identified him as Nebuchadnezzar's ally Cyaxares (ruled 625–585 BCE). In certain manuscripts of Tobit, the former is called Achiachar, which, like the Greek Cyaxares, is thought to be derived from Persian Akhuwakhshatra. Depending on the interpretation of Esther 2:5–6, Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish was carried away from Jerusalem with Jeconiah by Nebuchadnezzar, in 597 BCE. The view that it was Mordecai would be consistent with the identification of Ahasuerus with Cyaxares. Identifications with other Persian monarchs have also been suggested. Jacob Hoschander has argued that evidence of the historicity of Haman and his father Hamedatha is seen in Omanus and Anadatus mentioned by Strabo as being honoured with Anahita in the city of Zela. Hoschander argues that these were not deities as Strabo supposed but garbled forms of "Haman" and "Hamedatha" who were being worshipped as martyrs. The names are indeed unattested in Persian texts as gods, however the Talmud (Sanhedrin 61b) and Rashi both record a practice of deifying Haman and Josephus speaks of him being worshipped. Attempts have been made to connect both "Omanus" and "Haman" with the Zoroastrian term Vohu Mana; however this denotes the principle of "Good Thoughts" and is not the name of a deity.) Whenever the book was written and whatever the historicity of the events recounted in it, clearly by the time it was written the term "Yehudim" (יהודים – Jews) already gained a meaning quite close to what it means up to the present—i.e. an ethnic-religious group, scattered in many countries, organised in autonomous communities and a target of hatred. |This section requires expansion. (May 2008)| There are many classical Jewish readings of allegories into the book of Esther, mostly from Hasidic sources. They say that the literal meaning is true but that hidden behind this historical account are many allegories. Though God is never explicitly mentioned in the Book of Esther, some Christians believe that his influence during the story is implied. Some Christian readers consider this story to contain an allegory, representing the interaction between the church as 'bride' and God. This reading is related to the allegorical reading of the Song of Solomon and to the theme of the Bride of God, which in Jewish tradition manifests as the Shekinah. Esther is the only book of the Tanakh that is not represented among the Dead Sea scrolls. It has often been compared to the first half of the Book of Daniel and to the deuterocanonical Books of Tobit and Judith for its subject matter. |Wikisource has original text related to this article:| An additional six chapters appear interspersed in Esther in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the bible. This was noted by Jerome in compiling the Latin Vulgate. Additionally, the Greek text contains many small changes in the meaning of the main text. Jerome recognized them as additions not present in the Hebrew Text and placed them at the end of his Latin translation as chapters 10:4–16:24. However, some modern Catholic English Bibles restore the Septuagint order, such as Esther in the NAB. These additions include: By the time Esther was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the Macedonians of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the story of Esther; the Septuagint version noticeably calls Haman a "Bougaion" (βουγαῖον) where the Hebrew text describes him as an Agagite. The canonicity of these Greek additions has been a subject of scholarly disagreement practically since their first appearance in the Septuagint— Martin Luther, being perhaps the most vocal Reformation-era critic of the work, considered even the original Hebrew version to be of very doubtful value. Luther's complaints against the book carried past the point of scholarly critique and may reflect Luther's antisemitism, which is disputed, such as in the biography of Luther by Derek Wilson, which points out that Luther's anger at the Jews was not at their race but at their theology. The Council of Trent, the summation of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation, accepted the entire book, both Hebrew text and Greek additions, as canonical. While modern Roman Catholic scholars openly recognize the Greek additions as clearly being additions to the text, the Book of Esther is used twice in commonly used sections of the Catholic Lectionary. In both cases, the text used is not only taken from a Greek addition, the readings also are the prayer of Mordecai, and nothing of Esther's own words is ever used. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Septuagint version of Esther, as it does for all of the Old Testament. The additions are specifically listed in the Thirty-Nine Articles, Article VI, of the Church of England: "The rest of the Book of Esther". Esther Rabbah includes all of Additions to Esther save the "letter texts". It is these "letter texts" that contain the ahistorical assertions that Haman was a Greek. In 1992, a 30-minute, fully animated video, twelfth in Hanna-Barbera's The Greatest Adventure series, titled Queen Esther features the voices of Helen Slater as Queen Esther, Dean Jones as King Ahasuerus, Werner Klemperer as Haman, and Ron Rifkin as Mordecai. The 1999 TV movie Esther starred Louise Lombard as Esther and F. Murray Abraham as Mordecai. The 2006 film One Night with the King is a reenactment of the biblical story of Esther. There are several paintings depicting Esther, including one by Millais. A half-hour musical adaptation "Esther's Destiny" with Book, Music and Lyrics by Bill Yuval Burnett has been performed at numerous synagogues and special events around Los Angeles and is currently part of the repertoire of the Jubilation Musical Society, an organization that provides Musical Theater and Songs for Jewish Holidays, services and special events. |Wikisource has original text related to this article:| Book of Esther |Hebrew Bible||Succeeded by|

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back to original page |Contexts and Comparisons||Chapter 2 - Sacred Texts| This chapter will avoid the designations "New Testament" and "Old Testament" since these terms create the false impression that one body of writings supersedes the other. Instead, the terms employed here will be "Greek Testament" and "Hebrew Testament," which both indicate a distinction based on original language of composition. The Greek Testament is a collection of twenty-seven books reflecting the influence of a Jewish religious teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, who died around the year 30 of the common era. Four of the Greek Testament books, called gospels, bear the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These writings present an account of Jesus' public teaching and deeds. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, referred to as "synoptic," share a common view, as well as common vocabulary, sentence structure, and narrative order, all based on the use of common sources. The fourth gospel, John, often renders variant views or traditions. All four accounts are anonymous since they offer no internal identification of the writers. Luke, for example, states clearly at the outset that he found it necessary to do research in order to write his account, one of the many then circulating. Although the 2lst chapter of John does speak of eye-witness testimony, that chapter is a later addition, the gospel itself coming to a full stop with the 20th chapter. Besides the four gospels, the Greek Testament collection includes the Acts of the Apostles, a narrative that relates the early history of Jesus' followers immediately after his death. Twenty-one of the writings within the collection are epistles (1) written after Jesus' death and addressed to communities of his followers: fourteen of these have been attributed to Paul while the others are variously attributed to James, Peter, John, and Jude. The last work within the collection is a prophetic book of visions called the Apocalypse or Book of Revelations, which offers a vision of the future, of the end of the physical world. The centrality of Jesus among those influenced by accounts of his personality, teaching, and deeds, is the common element binding these books into some kind of unity. Otherwise the works sometimes represent differing interpretations of his life and thought. Since Jesus himself never left a written document, the twenty-seven books, composed years after his death, attempt to interpret his life and significance for his followers. These efforts, which are not always harmonious, reflect the beliefs of the communities for which they were written rather than the actual words and deeds of Jesus himself. Therefore, some scholars of scripture draw a distinction between the Jesus of faith and the Jesus of history. The former refers to the words and deeds of Jesus as filtered through, and interpreted by and for, the believers within the early Christian communities. The latter concerns Jesus as he actually lived and taught. What the twenty-seven books of the Greek Testament convey is the Jesus of faith, a subject which will be explored later in this section. These books of the Greek Testament, which evolved individually, took centuries to be gathered together into a collection. Since communication between scattered communities in the first and second centuries was limited at best, and since a unified network of religious leaders capable of creating a commonly accepted pool of information emerged only gradually, one religious community possessing a gospel or letter was often unaware of other communities in possession of similar documents. Hence each one of the original books was known mainly to the particular person or community to which it was addressed. Indeed, some writing of Paul seems to have been lost (Col. 4:l6). Gradually, and only with a great deal of debate, canons (or lists) were formed, enumerating the books to be included within the collection, as well as those to be excluded. Among those excluded are gospels, now called apocryphal, bearing such distinguished names as Peter, Thomas, and Nicodemus. The canon or list of books of the Greek Testament was finally fixed in the 4th century, more than 300 years after Jesus' death. The individual books themselves represent a wide diversity of meaning. Chronologically, the first book to be written is Paul's initial letter to the Thessalonians, composed around the year 5l, or approximately twenty-one years after Jesus' death. That letter contrasts sharply with the letters to Timothy and Titus, probably written around the year l25, or about a century after Jesus' death. In between are the gospels of Mark (65-70), Matthew and Luke (80-85), and John (90-95). Therefore, the writing itself occurred over a period of about 75 years, during which the Christian movement underwent significant development and change. Geographically, the life of Jesus unfolded and terminated mainly in the two provinces of Galilee and Judea. In the synoptic gospels, the public ministry of Jesus lasts only one year, begins in the northern province of Galilee, and terminates with only one journey to the southern province of Judea. In John, however, the public ministry lasts about three years and includes movement back and forth between the two provinces. After his death, Jesus' followers began to spread northward to Antioch in Syria, and westward to Greece and Rome. With geographical change came ethnic and linguistic change. Jesus himself directed his teaching to his fellow Jews, and that teaching was in turn absorbed by Hellenized Jews (2) and passed on to the wider Gentile world of Greece and Rome. Jesus spoke Aramaic while the collection of documents is written in Greek, the common language of the day. Given these geographic, ethnic, and linguistic changes effected across a broad time span, and a continuously evolving tradition of oral teaching, it is not surprising that diverse interpretations of Jesus' message, and of Jesus himself, emerged. One portrayal of Jesus, as given in the synoptic gospels, is that of the itinerant healing prophet announcing the advent of God's kingdom. At the outset, Jesus' mission appears to be similar to that of his predecessor prophet (3) John the Baptist, whose message about the Kingdom Jesus echoes. After John the Baptist's imprisonment, Jesus continues the mission of John. In this representation, rather than call attention to himself, Jesus focuses on the rule of God in the lives of people. This is the portrait of Jesus that emerges strongly in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. To understand Jesus within this synoptic context, one must understand the notion of the kingdom of God prevalent among Jesus' fellow Jews. Throughout the Hebrew Testament there are references to the Kingship of God, described as everlasting (Ps. l45) and intimately linked with the people of Israel (Is. 44:6). The Kingdom or rule of God over the lives of all people was, in addition, perceived as something that would come to full realization sometime in the future: "And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people" (Dan 2:44). At his own services, Jesus probably would have heard a version of the following prayer, still recited in synagogues today: "Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world which he hath created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time; and say you, Amen." It is in light of this expectation of God's dominion over the lives of people that one must read Mark's summary of Jesus' teaching, which declares, "After John had been arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: 'The time has come; the kingdom of God is upon you; repent, and believe the Gospel'" (l:l4). Here "gospel" (4) refers to a joyous announcement rather than any written document, since no Greek Testament books were yet in existence. According to one interpretation, Jesus' announcement indicates that the establishment of this spiritual, God-centered kingdom would coincide with the end of the world as it was known then. Jesus proclaimed the fatherhood of God who exercised sovereignty over the lives of people in a new spiritual world, and he saw himself not as the focus of the kingdom, but as its herald. Although his notion of the kingdom was spiritual and non-political, some passages still indicate that he viewed himself and his apostles as holding positions of authority within that kingdom. This point will be reviewed later in reference to the question of Jesus' death. Scholars debate whether this kingdom, as envisioned by Jesus, was to be something purely internal, or something external and visible, and if the latter, whether it was something to be established immediately in its complete form, or whether it was to evolve gradually. The Greek Testament documents allow a range of possible interpretations about these questions. This notion of the kingdom is important in the development of Western civilization. Beginning with the Middle Ages, theologians tended to equate the kingdom with the church. They identified the apostles of Jesus, those whom he had sent to spread his teaching on the kingdom, as the predecessors of bishops and popes, the very men who eventually began to exercise not only spiritual but political authority as well. To be a part of this kingdom, Jesus exhorted people to practice behavior suggested by the Beatitudes, the Our Father prayer, and the Sermon on the Mount. The literary form of the Beatitudes clearly derives from Jewish poetry, evident in the opening line of the first Hebrew psalm which begins, "Happy is the man . . . ." Similarly, the Beatitudes begin, "Happy are the poor . . . ." The content of the Beatitudes also is anchored in Jewish religious thinking. For example, the reference to the meek inheriting the earth comes directly from Psalm 37:ll. That the merciful receive mercy reflects the Talmudic saying, "He who has mercy on his fellow creatures obtains mercy from heaven." Furthermore, the prayer beginning "Our Father," a phrase common in Jewish liturgy, follows a Semitic pattern of development: opening praise, petition, and closing praise. Such a structure is evident, for example, in the synagogue service of morning and evening. The insistence on love in the Sermon on the Mount, and in other passages of the Greek testament, erroneously thought by some writers to be a uniquely Christian contribution, also has antecedents in Jewish theology. For example, when Jesus says, "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them, for this is the law and the prophets" (Mt 7:12), he echoes a tradition stated also by Rabbi Hillel: "Whatever is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the entire Torah." Jesus' thinking and preaching, rooted in their native Judaism, constituted a call for spiritual perfection to prepare for the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The hearer's obligation was to listen attentively and receptively to this preaching and abide by it. What if those attempting to enter the kingdom failed to live up to its lofty expectations through human weakness? Were they condemned to some permanent expulsion? In the thinking of Jesus, the God ruling over the kingdom was a loving and forgiving father, a fact implicit in his use of the word "Abba," one of a handful of Aramaic words attributed to Jesus in the gospels. Usually translated as "father," the word means "daddy" and implies a secure, trusting relationship. Perhaps the story of the prodigal son, the most perfect and moving parable attributed to Jesus, exemplifies the kind of parental concern and forgiveness that Jesus envisioned God as exercising over the kingdom. Readers may question whether the synoptic narratives portray Jesus, the itinerant and healing herald of the kingdom, as human or more than human. Typically, the text emphasizes Jesus' human side, presenting him in reverential but non-divine terms. Called the Son of God, a title that could be applied to a king of Israel seen as a representative of God (II Sam. 7:l4), or to Israel viewed as a corporate entity (Exodus 4:2l), Jesus also was referred to as "lord," which simply means "master." The terms "messiah" and "christ," both used to describe Jesus, mean nothing more than "anointed," the former being a Hebrew term and the latter its Greek equivalent. Those with a special spiritual responsibility such as a priest (Lev. 8:l2) or a king (l Sam. l0:l) were anointed. Indeed, Isaiah refers to the Persian--and therefore pagan-- king Cyrus as "a messiah of the Lord" (45:l). The words "savior" and "redeemer" indicate one capable of rescuing the people from a perilous situation, either spiritual or political, and of the latter, Israel had known quite a few. In short, the titles applied to Jesus in the synoptic gospels do not of themselves indicate divinity, but rather extreme reverence, acknowledgment of high spiritual responsibility, and intimacy with God. Markedly human as the synoptics' portrayal of Jesus is, Matthew and Luke nevertheless give clues of an idealizing process at work. Mark, the earliest and most unadorned of the gospel writers, does not hesitate to speak of Jesus in the most human terms possible. Ascribing to Jesus such an ordinary emotion as anger (10:14), he mentions that some people considered Jesus insane (3:21). He describes circumstances in which Jesus "could not" work any miracles (6:5) or in which Jesus cured only "many" of the afflicted present (l:34). He also identifies Jesus through his maternal descent (6:5) and never mentions a father. In parallel passages, the other synoptics tend to gloss over the human emotions, the accusation of insanity, and the limitations of power. The texts also adjust Jesus' identity to reflect paternal descent, thereby eliminating any possible implication of illegitimacy. Matthew and Luke reveal a stage in the idealization process, an intermediate phase in which Jesus begins to assume better-than-human dimensions. That evolution climaxes in the gospel of John which equates Jesus with Divinity itself. The gospel and three epistles bearing the name of John suggest another early Christian school of thought, together with a dramatically different portrait of Jesus. So different is this Johannine tradition that it uses neither the word "apostle" nor a single parable. If the controlling metaphor in the synoptics is that of the kingdom and the kingdom's herald, in John the controlling metaphor is that of the divine Logos (or Word) made flesh. This shift describes a Jesus pre-existing with God and one with God. Although the term logos appears only at the beginning of the gospel, the notion of descent from heaven, and the subsequent companion notion of return to heaven, provide a narrative framework for the entire gospel. Mention of the kingdom, evident on nearly every page of the synoptics, barely receives three references in the entire gospel of John. Whereas the synoptics emphasize God and his kingdom on earth, John stresses Jesus himself. The fourth gospel uses the term logos in a distinct way and equates Jesus with the logos. Although the term logos as used by John does not appear in the other synoptic gospels, the word was quite commonplace among Hellenized thinkers, and even among some Hellenized Jews. Philosophically it connoted the spiritual agent responsible for the creation and orderly running of the universe. At the end of the 6th century B. C., Heraclitus adopted the term in his philosophical system; Zeno (c. 335-263), the founder of the Stoic school of thought, speaks of "The general law, which is right reason (logos) pervading everything." Religiously, logos might be used as the masculine equivalent of "sophia" or wisdom and imply the guiding hand of God in creation. No Hellenized philosoher, however, had ever envisioned the logos as having taken on flesh and become incarnate. John takes this bold step with Jesus. By identifying Jesus with the logos, John reveals a faith in Jesus that raises the latter above the purely human and identifies him with God and the creative process itself. Futhermore, John attempts to exalt and interpret Jesus to a Hellenized audience in terms familiar to both author and audience. Certainly the explanation of Jesus as divine--known as high Christology--was more likely to find acceptance among Hellenized people, since many of these lacked the monotheistic tradition of orthodox Judaism. For example, when Paul and Barnabas are described as having performed a miracle at Lystra in Asia Minor, the people exclaim, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men" (Acts l4:ll). The rigor of the commandment forbidding the worship of strange gods makes it impossible to imagine such a reaction among the Aramaic-speaking Jews listening to Jesus or witnessing his deeds. The relatively low, albeit evolving and idealizing, Christology of the Synoptics moved toward the higher Christology found in John. That movement eventually caused the unbridgeable chasm between the originating Jewish, and subsequent Christian, communities. Which portrait of Jesus is correct? That of the charismatic and human preacher and healer announcing the kingdom, or that of the divine logos made flesh? Whether an individual reconciles and accepts both, or separates them and accepts only one, or none, remains an intensely personal choice. Regardless, students may well ask about the historical character of the gospels which render us these portraits. The beginning of this chapter speaks about the Jesus of faith and the Jesus of history. The gospel books seem to present Jesus in the former manner rather than the latter, and readers cannot regard these books as undiluted historical narrative. Historical accounts always involve interpretation of the events they represent, of course. In depicting Jesus, the authors resorted to writing techniques such as verbal attribution and narrative shaping. In the first style, the writers assign words to Jesus which he did not speak, while in the latter, they describe circumstances and events that may not have taken place. Consequently, in discussing gospel events, one is best advised to distinguish between the narrative Jesus and the historical Jesus. Writing practices like verbal attribution and narrative shaping were not meant to deceive, nor would modern Western historians, who value documentable and verifiable facts, use them today. The gospel writers reflect a different emphasis, an emphasis on the significance of Jesus's life, in an effort to interpret Jesus for the emerging Christian communities. For example, Mark quotes Jesus as saying, "If she [a woman] divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery" (Mk l0:l2). Jesus could not possibly have spoken these words since Jewish law did not permit a woman to divorce her husband. Mark is simply applying what he considered to be Jesus' thinking to the needs and circumstances of the Gentiles within his community. Matthew describes Jesus preaching on a mountain (Mt 5:l), whereas the parallel passage in Luke shows him teaching on a plain (Lk 6:l2). Writing for a Jewish audience, Matthew undoubtedly tries to draw an implicit parallel between Jesus and Moses. Such examples of verbal attribution and narrative shaping abound. That is what we would expect in an age lacking tape recorders, shorthand, typewriters, and mass dissemination of information. Thucydides, writing about the Peloponnesian War, stated the methodology employed by him and by the gospel writers as well: "My habit has been to make the speakers say what was in my opinion demanded of them by the various occasions." Besides these scribal liberties and the idealization mentioned earlier, other problems make it difficult to distinguish between what Jesus actually said and did from what the early Christian communities attributed to him. Jesus spoke in Aramaic and his words were reported in Greek, from thirty-five to sixty years later. Who assumed the notoriously difficult task of translating and who vouched for the accuracy of that translation? In addition, one must consider how much distortion inevitably inheres in oral transmission. Consequently, some scholars view the gospels as interpreted history, as idealized biography in which the Jesus of history evolved into the Jesus of faith within the emerging Christian communities. However, the Jesus of faith known through the gospels and engendered by the hopes and aspirations of these communities inevitably is linked to the Jesus of history, who actually did exist. The death of Jesus leaves many unanswered questions. For one thing, the gospel accounts are inconsistent in some important details. For example, Matthew describes the last supper as the passover meal (26:18) while John describes the event as taking place the night before the passover (18:28). Moreover, in chapter l4 of his gospel, Mark describes an appearance of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, a judicial council. John mentions nothing of this; instead he has Jesus come before Annas and Caiaphas (18:12). Perhaps one answer is to be found in the assertion that the Romans alone could render judgment on capital offenses (Jn 18:31). Another is that the claim to being a spiritual messiah was simply not an indictable offense. Quite probably, the explanation for the death of Jesus lies in a Roman misunderstanding of the kind of kingdom Jesus advocated. Sometimes the gospel documents refer to that kingdom as God's (Mk l4:25), and sometimes as Jesus' (Lk 2l:27). The latter simply may indicate that Jesus considered himself to hold a position of authority, a fact supported by the account of a quarrel among the disciples concerning their place of honor within the kingdom (Mt 20:2l). However, nothing in the documents suggests that Jesus preached a political kingdom to be achieved by force of arms. Nevertheless, John describes Jesus as entering Jerusalem welcomed by a large crowd shouting, "King of Israel!" Mark, on the other hand, mentions a recent insurrection (15:7). The combination of a shouting crowd and the cries of "King" would excite the suspicions of any Roman garrison keeping watch over a populace unhappy with Roman rule, particularly if the shouts were directed at one already known for his belief in the impending establishment of a kingdom. And it was as king, as a perceived threat to Roman rule, that Jesus was executed after the Romans had placed a sign on his cross alluding to kingship (Jn l9:l9). The death of Jesus established a link between suffering and spirituality by not only placing an official seal on that link, but also by giving subsequent generations of Christians in the Middle Ages and beyond a sacred destination--the city of Jerusalem--for their pilgrimages. Jesus' association with that same city, in addition, gave medieval Christians a strong proprietary sense toward it, that even prompted them to shed blood in the Crusades rather than yield it to the Muslims. Furthermore, suffering for the sake of the kingdom, whether stemming from self-denial, human hardship, or persecution, was seen as having a redemptive quality. This association perpetuated an ascetical ideal in the Middle Ages that glorified abnegation in life, self-denial in the monastery, and martyrdom in the Crusade. In his infancy narrative, for example, Matthew paints a picture of the slaughter of children, and that became notable for its wider, mythic dimensions. We speak of myth in the Greek Testament in a special way. As previously discussed, the word myth derives from the Greek word "mythos," which simply means "story." But a myth has come to mean a story of a very special kind, one that imaginatively explores some fundamental truth about spiritual life and values. Lacking our modern complex and technical vocabulary, the ancients relied not so much on abstract analysis as on narrative suggestion in order to explore ideas basic to human existence. The Oedipus myth of antiquity, contrasted with the highly technical and detailed Oedipal theory of Freud, provides a case in point. Similarly, the gospel writers used myths or stories precisely in this sense. If, as the Passages for Study show, the parable is a short story with one moral lesson, and the allegory a more complex story with diverse elements standing for hidden equivalents, then the myth is a story that explores the deepest truths about the inner life of human beings and their relationship to the world and God. Moveover, because its content deals with such fundamental and universal truths, the myth lent itself to evocative recitation and ritual re-enactment. The infancy narrative of Matthew, contrasted with that of Luke, provides a good example of the use of myth, or, to preserve the appropriate context here, midrash, the Hebrew word for the oral commentary on biblical texts that Jewish teachers (like Jesus himself) practiced. Both accounts relate Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, and both conclude with a journey to Nazareth. But between these two events, the stories differ markedly. Luke describes the apparition of angels and shepherds, the circumcision of the child after eight days, the purification of the child's mother in the temple according to Jewish custom, and the prayers of thanksgiving uttered by some by-standers. Thus according to Luke, between Bethlehem and Nazareth, there occurred a handful of events which could not have taken very long. Matthew, on the other hand, presents a different and more time-consuming set of events between the birth in Bethlehem and the journey to Nazareth. He describes wise men following a star, conversing with King Herod, offering gifts to the child, and departing surreptitiously. His purpose here is to emphasize the acknowledgement of the Messiah by the Gentiles, represented by the three kings who bear gifts. He further delineates the flight of Jesus and his family to Egypt, the slaughter of children two years of age and younger by Herod, the eventual death of Herod, and finally the return of Jesus from Egypt to the Holy Land. Then he tells of the settlement in Nazareth. As recounted in Matthew and Luke, the events between the birth in Bethlehem and the settlement in Nazareth are totally different and impossible to reconcile chronologically. The difference probably may be explained by the use of myth, or purposeful commentary, at the very least in Matthew. The story of the wise men and the star suggests that the wisdom of the world will be guided by, and subservient to, divine wisdom. The story of Herod's slaughter of children--a momentous event mentioned only in Matthew and nowhere else--prepares the followers of Jesus for suffering. The return from Egypt parallels the account in Exodus for the benefit of Matthew's Jewish audience. Matthew's infancy story, then, presents a narrative construct of mythic dimensions intended to suggest ideas about the Christian faith and its relationship to human wisdom, about personal suffering, and about religious parallels. What is the relationship between such a myth and the historical Jesus? Perhaps Matthew's infancy narrative does not represent a myth replacing history, but rather a myth in history. Readers might view such a narrative as similar to an historical novel: the text is an imaginative and probing elaboration with an ultimate foundation in an historical event. No introduction to the Greek Testament, however brief, would be complete without a reference to Paul. More than any other missionary, Paul established Christianity by his tireless work with the Gentiles, among whom alone Christianity took hold and eventually flourished. A convert who never saw Jesus in the flesh, Paul focused his teaching on the meaning of Jesus in the spiritual lives of his listeners rather than on the events of Jesus' life. Perhaps Paul's most lasting contribution was his insistence on justification by faith, evident in the pessimistic tone which sometimes appears in his writings. In the introductory chapters of his letter to the Romans, for example, Paul speaks of all people being in sin. He understood sin in the Jewish sense as being failure to live up to a spiritual ideal. He believed, therefore, that attaining acceptance before God, which he calls justification, could not be achieved by observing religious rules, which people would inevitably break, but rather through faith. He cites as the exemplar of faith the figure of Abraham, who trusted totally and unquestioningly in God. For Paul, that same sense of trust, channeled through Jesus, provides access to God and fsmakes one a spiritual heir of Abraham. One legacy that Paul left behind was a restrictive, almost repressive, sexual ethic. Perhaps, however, the repression resulted more from subsequent interpretation than Pauline intention. Paul restated in Christian terms the view that woman was subordinate to man (Ephesians 5:22). In his first letter to the Corinthians, he clearly conveys that he considers marriage a concession to human weakness: "It is good for man not to touch woman, yet for fear of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband" (7:ll). In verse 8, he repeats the same idea: "But if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn." He obviously prefers the unmarried state: "I would have you free from care. He who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please God. Whereas he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit" (v. 32). The net effect of this teaching was to make virginity an ideal, and to contain all sexual activity in marriage, a religiously inferior condition necessitated by human weakness. The severity of this teaching probably reflects Paul's expectation that the kingdom of God was shortly to be ushered in, and that it would be best to prepare oneself in anticipation of its arrival. In the developing Middle Ages, in addition to the economic and social distinction between classes, this Pauline thinking added the further distinction between the unmarried priests, nuns, monks, and friars, all presumably free to think about "the things of the Lord," and the morally weaker masses "concerned about the things of the world." Moveover, the view of virginity as a spiritually superior state inevitably raised the question of sex and its morality. The development of priestly celibacy had its roots in several biblical directives, one forbidding second marriages to church leaders (1 Tim 3:2), and another encouraging occasional sexual abstinence as an aid to prayer (1 Cor 7:5). But the celibacy ideal had an economic side too. A Justinian law of 529 forbade the ordination of married bishops in order to prevent church property and wealth from going to the bishop's children. Mandatory celibacy gradually extended to all priests, and penalties for infractions could be harsh. Concubines, wives, and children of offending clergy could be reduced to the status of slaves of the Church. Still, priests resisted celibacy, as is evident from the strenuous efforts at reform made by Pope Gregory VII in the eleventh century. In reaction, the bishops at the Synod of Paris called these new Gregorian celibacy rules "irrational" and threw an abbot into jail for defending them. Tensions between a mandating Church administration on the one hand, and a recalcitrant clergy on the other, continued, as is evident from many passages in Dante, Chaucer, and medieval writers. They reached a breaking point in the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation, when Protestants rejected mandatory celibacy altogether. All medieval writers, from Augustine (d. 430) and Gregory (d. 604) onwards, saw sex as tainted by evil and justified only by the intention to procreate. Only after one thousand long years of this thinking did a theologian by the name of Martin Le Maistre (d. 1481) finally evaluate sex as something good in itself in addition to being a means for child-bearing. The Greek Testament transformed the world of antiquity. Written in the language of one ancient culture, describing events that occurred under the rule of another, and growing out of the religion of a third, this set of books drew in the currents of Judaic and classical civilization and then released them altered and recharged to reshape the cultural landscape of the Mediterranean world and to create an entirely new civilization, that of medieval Europe. 2. People influenced by Greek language and culture. 3. The word "prophet," derived from a Greek word meaning "to speak in place of someone," indicates one who brings a message or teaching from the Almighty. 4.The word "gospel" literally means good news.

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History of the Ascendency of the Lunda Kingdom Luba (Baluba) Ethnic group of present-day Zambia and Zaire. The Luba are regarded as one of the earliest peoples to practice Ironworking in Central Africa. Their ancestors were farmers who, as early as 400 CE, inhabited the Lake Kisale region of Katanga. Oral tradition mentions Luba Chiefs in Malawi and Zambia, but very little is known about their early history. The area in which the Luba lived was well suited to the growth of powerful Chiefdoms. The copper mines of the Katanga region were nearby; the soil was fertile and good for growing crops, especially cereals; nearby woodlands provided hunting grounds; waterways were an excellent source of fish; and ease of movement through the savannah stimulated trade. The Luba were an agricultural people whose communities slowly grew into small trading and farming chiefdoms. Between 1300 and 1400 they came under the sway of the Nkongolo Dynasty, which, in turn, was conquered in the early 1400s by Ilunga Kalala, whom oral tradition describes as a fierce hunter. Ilunga Kalala expanded the kingdom’s boundaries and took control of the Katanga copper mines and the trade routes to East Africa. Later in the 15th century, members of the Luba aristocracy left the kingdom and moved west, where they centralized their power among the Lunda people, beginning the ascendency of the Lunda Kingdom. The Establishment of the Lunda Kingdom The Lunda Kingdom Monarchy was taking shape in Austral Equatorial Africa by 1450, along the upper Kasai River. Some histories place the foundation of the Kingdom of the influential Bantu-speaking Lunda around 1450, when members of the Luba aristocracy - disappointed in their failed attempts to gain power in their own land - moved south-west into Lunda territory. Other accounts point to an earlier starting date for the Kingdom but note that the Lunda state remained a loose confederation and did not develop strong centralized government until about 1450. The Luba newcomers married into the families of the Lunda Chieftains. Initially they made no major changes in Lunda political structures; they simply collected tribute from their Lunda subjects. In time, however, the Luba Chiefs began centralizing their authority, paving the way for the emergence of the Lunda Empire that became a major regional trading state from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Administratively the Lunda Kingdom practised “perpetual kingship,” whereby a new king assumed the identity of the one he replaced. In essence, the successor to the title became the previous king. Through perpetual kingship, alliances and agreements could remain in force from generation to generation because they were made by the “same” king. Tchokwe (Cokwe, Ciokwe, Bajokwe) Bantu-speaking Central African people. A mixture of many indigenous and immigrant peoples, they trace their origins to the Mbuti, hunter-gatherers who came under the demonstration of agricultural by Bantu-speakers about the sixth or seventh century. Around 1500 the Tchokwe came under the rule of the Lunda Kingdom when a disinherited Lunda Prince moved west into the area in southern Austral Equatorial Africa. Conquering the people in his path, the Prince created a Kingdom for the Tchokwe people. HISTORY AND CULTURAL IDENTITY On a contemporary map of Central Africa, three national, colonial-drawn borders artificially cut through the savannahs where the Tchokwe (also Cokwe, Tshokwe, Tutshokwe, Quioco, Bajok) people live in southern Zaire, northeastern Angola, and northwestern Zambia. Every year, many families, travelling along footpaths to visit relatives on the other side, cross back and forth across these often invisible boundaries. Approximately 900,000 Tchokwe live in Moxico, Lunda Norte and South Lunda another 800,000 in Congo (formerly, Zaire), and 100,000 in Zambia. (See Bastin, 1966). All of these present-day Tchokwe (singular Kachokwe) trace their origins to Lunda nobles once living in the Nkalaany Valley of western Shaba, in today’s Republic of the Congo. According to oral history as recounted by Lunda and Tchokwe peoples alike, the Lunda nobles began moving out from the Nkalaany Valley in the sixteenth century when Chibinda Ilunga, a Muluba hunter from the East, arrived in the Lunda court and married the Lunda queen, Lweji (Lima 1971, 41–65; de Heusch 1982, 180–82). Discontented with his rule, the queen’s brothers decided to emigrate. The Lunda diaspora includes the following peoples, who all trace their ancestors to these emigrating chiefs: Tchokwe, Minungu, Lwena (also known as Luvale), Luchazi, Songo, Lunda Ndembu, and Lunda of Kazembe. One of the brothers, Ndumba wa Tembo, settled in Saurimo, Angola, and it was his maternal nephew, Mwachisenge, who was given the title of supreme chief of the Tchokwe. This same title, “Mwachisenge,” together with a special bracelet (lukano), has been passed down through the generations from maternal uncle to maternal nephew, as a sign of the highest chief among the Tchokwe. The present-day bearer of the bracelet and Mwachisenge title lives in Samutoma village, of Shaba province in Congo. Historical Expansion The Tchokwe have been known throughout history as independent, indomitable warriors, hunters, and traders. By the eighteenth century, the Tchokwe had established power over the matrilineal peoples around them and had claimed rights to the farming and hunting. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Tchokwe were known as excellent hunters and traders all along the trade route from Central Africa to the Angolan coast, where they traded with Europeans. They exchanged ivory, wax, and male slaves for European weapons, mostly guns. In raids on other peoples en route, they captured the men as slaves and integrated the women and children into Tchokwe society through marriage. Thus they assimilated other peoples and expanded throughout the area. Not until the 1880s did the Tchokwe return to the Congo, when a group of Lunda hired Tchokwe warriors to fight for them in Shaba province. For a brief time, these warriors gained victories over the Lunda (1880–1887) and thus facilitated the Tchokwe expansion into Shaba as well. The Tchokwe continued to expand north and west out of Angola until the late 1930s (See Miller 1970, 175–201 for Tchokwe history). Village Life and Social Organization Tchokwe independence and ease of assimilating other peoples can be attributed in part to their political and social organization. Tchokwe political power is decentralized. Though all chiefs recognize the title Mwachisenge as a sign of supreme chieftanship, Chief Mwachisenge of Samutoma is a ritual chief who has little practical influence over the lives of Tchokwe people beyond his own village. Tchokwe villages are insular, socially cohesive units. Though matrilineal, the women move to the homes of their spouses after marriage. A group of brothers and maternal uncles, along with their wives and children, build a village together. Often small, ranging from forty to eighty people, these villages frequently move their locations in search of better fishing, hunting, gathering, or farming areas or to escape sorcery accusations or conflicts with relatives. As subsistence farmers and roaming hunters, the Tchokwe are extremely mobile and thus, of necessity, live in very small villages. This kind of self-sufficiency enables the Tchokwe to maintain their language and customs as they move from one locale to another and from one country to the next. As a consequence, their way of life survives times of great upheaval and change. Folklore and Fame The Tchokwe’s reputation among neighbouring groups in Central Africa differs somewhat from their reputation in the West. Their neighbours know them as great hunters, sorcerers, diviners, and healers; they both fear their sorcerers and visit their healers. In a similar vein, Africanist scholars remember the Tchokwe for their history as expansionists, for their assimilation of other peoples along the trade routes of Central Africa. In contrast, many Westerners, especially art connoisseurs, recognize the Tchokwe for their artistic traditions. They admire the remarkable masks, ancestor figurines, carved chairs, and divining baskets, which can be viewed in museum displays on African life and art throughout the world. Travellers and researchers, from the early 1900s on, have collected and/or documented Tchokwe arts, that is, the more visible, striking features of Tchokwe life: the ancestor figurines (mahamba), carved chairs (yitwamo), and masks (akishi) from the mukanda initiations (Bastin 1961; Crowley 1975). Early twenty-first-century researchers study Tchokwe life in greater detail, paying attention to local concerns and daily routines; they document and analyze artistic expression and ritual performances in the contexts of Tchokwe daily life. For example, such studies concern the practices of healers (mbuki), diviners (tahi), and sorcerers (nganga), and the lives of women and women’s initiation rites (mwadi) (See Bastin 1982, 1988; Fretz 1987; Jordan 1993; Kubik 1988, 1993; Sesembe 1981; Yoder 1988). Unlike these more easily observed and transported objects, the verbal arts have been minimally described until recent times. For instance, the documents of Tchokwe tales (yishima) from the early 1900s, translated into Western languages such as Portuguese, lack the vitality and aesthetic qualities of Tchokwe storytelling as performed for local audiences (See Barbosa 1973; Havenstein 1976). Current studies focus on the teller’s interactions with the audience and record both verbal and nonverbal features of the performance. Such research includes documentation of both artistic and everyday forms of speech: for example, narrating and telling proverbs (kuta yishima), indirect speaking and telling parables (kubwa nyi misende), recounting historical events or recent news (kulweza sanoo), and “just talking” (kuta pande) (Fretz 1987; 1994; 1995). Historically, whenever the Tchokwe relocated, they carried with them their knowledge of healing, divining, and sorcery, their renowned abilities in mask making and carving of ancestral figurines, and their oral tradition as represented by myths, tales, and proverbs. Thus, they created a web of interconnected traditions that still transcends the colonially imposed national boundaries. Today, they continue to traverse the borders that separate their families and clans. However, as the political situations in the Republic of the Congo, in Angola, and in Zambia shift, the alliances between these neighbouring countries change, often making their journeys more difficult and urgent. Not only do they cross the border for family visits and for the lucrative diamond trade, but they also escape as refugees from war-torn areas. In addition, these erstwhile hunters and traders now cross more intangible, intellectual frontiers through radio broadcasts, education abroad, and leadership positions in international organizations. As communication with the rest of the world accelerates, the opportunity for travel beyond their homelands increases for the more educated and well-connected. Having learned throughout their history to be resilient, to assimilate other cultures, and to create syncronistic arts, the Tchokwe, no doubt, will continue to improvise on new experiences and, thereby, both retain and revitalize their traditions. References Barbosa, A. 1973. Folclore angolano, ciquenta cantos quicos, texto bilinque. Luanda: I.I.C.A. Bastin, Marie-Louise. 1982. La sculpture tshokwe. Translated by J.B. Donne. Arcueil, France: Offset Arcueil. —. 1988. “Entites Spirituelles des Tshokwe (Angola).” Cuanderni Poro 5:9–59. Crowley, Daniel J. 1975. Aesthetic Value and Professionalism in African Art: Three Cases from the Katanga Chokwe. In The Traditional Artist in African Societies, ed. Warren L.d’Azevedo. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. De Heusch, Luke. 1982. The Drunken King or The Origin of the State, trans. Roy Willis. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Fretz, Rachel I. 1995. Answering in Song: Listener Responses in Yishima Performances. Western Folklore 9(2):95–112. —. 1994. Through Ambiguous Tales: Women’s Voices in Tchokwe Storytelling. Oral Tradition, 9, no. 1:230–50. —. 1987. Storytelling among the Tchokwe of Zaire: Narrating Skill and Listener Responses. Ph.D. Dissertation, Folklore and Mythology, UCLA. Havenstein, A. 1976. Fables et contes anaolais. St Augustin bei Bonn: Verlag des Anthropos-Institus. Holdredge, Claire Parker, and Kimball Young. 1927. Circumcision Rites among the Bajok. American Anthropologist n.s. 29:661–9. Jordan, Manuel. 1993. Le Masque comme processus ironique: Les makishi du Nord-Ouest de la Zambie. Anthrooolosie et Societe 17, no, 3:41–61. Kubik, Gerhard. 1981. Mukanda na makishi—Circumcision school and masks—Bescheidunasschule und Masken. Berlin: Museum fur Volkerkunde, Musikethnologische Abteilung. —. 1993. Makisi Nvau Mawiko: Maskentraditionen im bantu-sorachiaen Afrika. Munich: Trckster Verlag. Lima, Mesquitela. 1971. Fonctions sociolosiaues des fiaurines de culte “hamba” dans la societe et dans la culture tshokwe. Luanda: Institute de Investicacao Cientifica de Angola. McCulloh, Merran. 1951. The Southern Lunda and Related Peoples (Northern Rhodesia, Ancrola. Belgian Conao). Ethnographic Survey of Africa, West Central Africa, Part I. London: International African Institute. Miller, Joseph C. 1970. Tcokwe Trade and Conquest in the 19th Century. In Pre-Colonial African Trade, ed. Richard Gray and David Birmingham. London: Oxford University Press. —. 1988. Wav of Death: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade 1730–1830. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Sesembe, Nange Kudita wa. 1974. Tshikumbi, Tshiwila et Mungonge: Trois rites d’initiation chex les Tutshokwe du Kasai Occidental. Cultures au Zaire et en Afriaue 5:111–35. —. 1981. L’homme et la femme dans la society et la culture Tchokwe: de l’anthropologie et la philosophic. Unpublished dissertation. Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Yoder, P.Stanley, 1981. Disease and Illness Among Cokwe: An Ethnomedical Perspective. Ph.D. Dissertation, Anthropology, UCLA. Language: Wuchokwe (Bantu) Neighboring Nations: Luba, Lunda, Lwena, Ovimbundu, Songo Types of Art: The Tchokwe are well known for art objects produced to celebrate and validate the royal court. These objects include ornately carved stools and chairs used as thrones. Most of the sculptures are portraits, which represent the royal lineage. Staffs, scepters, and spears are among other implements sculpted to celebrate the court. History: Tchokwe origin can perhaps be traced to the Mbundu and Mbuti Pygmies. Between 1600 and 1850 they were under considerable influence from the Lunda states and were centrally located in Angola. In the second half of the 19th century though, considerable development of the trade routes between the Tchokwe homelands and the Angolan coast led to increased trade of ivory and rubber. Wealth acquired from this allowed the Tchokwe kingdom to expand, eventually overtaking the Lunda states that had held sway over them for so long. Their success was short-lived, however. The effects of overexpansion, disease, and colonialism resulted in the fragmentation of Tchokwe power. Economy: The Tchokwe grow manioc, cassava, yams, and peanuts. Tobacco and hemp are also grown for snuff, and maize is grown for beer. Domesticated livestock is also kep, and includes sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens. Protein is added through hunting. There is an exclusive association of big game hunters known as Yanga, but everyone contributes to the capture of small game animals. The farming and processing of agricultural products is done almost exclusively by women among the Tchokwe. Slash and burn techniques and crop rotation are practiced to conserve the land naturally. Political Systems: The Tchokwe do not recognize a paramount leader, but instead offer allegiance to local chiefs who inherit their positions from the maternal uncle. The chiefs (mwana nganga) consult with a committee of elders and ritual specialists before making decisions. Villages are divided into manageable sections which are governed by family headmen. All members of Tchokwe society are divided into two categories: those who are descended from the founding matrilineal lines and those who are descended from former enslaved populations. Religion: The Tchokwe recognize Kalunga, the god of creation and supreme power, and a series of nature and ancestral spirits (mahamba). These spirits may belong to the individual, family, or the community, and neglecting them is sure to result in personal or collective misfortune. Evil spirits may also be activated by sorcerers (wanga) to cause illness, and this must be counteracted to regain health. In order to accomplish this individuals normally consult with a diviner (nganga), who attempts to uncover the source of the patient's problem. The most common form of divination among the Tchokwe is basket divination, which consists of the tossing of up to sixty individual objects in a basket. The configuration of the objects is then "read" by the diviner to determine the cause of illness. The hyphenated Nation of the Lunda-Tchokwe. As the hyphenation implies, the category comprises at least two subsets, the origins of which are known to be different and the events leading to their inclusion in a single set are recent. The Lunda alone were a congeries of peoples brought together in the far-flung Lunda Empire (seventeenth century to nineteenth century) under the hegemony of a people calling themselves Ruund, its capital in the eastern section of Zaire's Katanga Province (present-day Shaba Province). Lunda is the form of the name used for the Ruund and for themselves by adjacent peoples to the south who came under Ruund domination. In some sources, the Ruund are called Northern Lunda, and their neighbours are called Southern Lunda. The most significant element of the latter, called Ndembu (or Ndembo), lived in Zaire and Zambia. The people with whom the northward-expanding Tchokwe came into contact were chiefly Ruund speakers. The economic and political decline of the empire by the second half of the nineteenth century and the demarcation of colonial boundaries ended Ruund political domination over those elements beyond the Zairian borders. The Tchokwe, until the latter half of the nineteenth century a small group of hunters and traders living near the headwaters of the Cuango and Cassai rivers, were at the southern periphery of the Lunda Empire and paid tribute to its head. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Tchokwe became increasingly involved in trading and raiding, and they expanded in all directions, but chiefly to the north, in part absorbing the Ruund and other peoples. In the late nineteenth century, the Tchokwe went so far as to invade the capital of the much-weakened empire in Katanga. As a consequence of this Tchokwe activity, a mixed population emerged in parts of Zaire as well as in Angola, although there were virtually homogenous communities in both countries consisting of Tchokwe, Ruund, or Southern Lunda. The intermingling of Lunda (Ruund and Southern Lunda) and Tchokwe, in which other smaller groups were presumably also caught up, continued until about 1920. It was only after that time that the mixture acquired the hyphenated label and its members began to think of themselves (in some contexts) as one people. The languages spoken by the various elements of the so-called Lunda-Tchokwe were more closely related to each other than to other Bantu languages in the Zairian-Angolan savanna but were by no means mutually intelligible. The three major tongues (Ruund, Lunda, and Tchokwe) had long been distinct from each other, although some borrowing of words, particularly of Ruund political titles by the others, had occurred. Portuguese anthropologists and some others accepting their work have placed some of the peoples (Minungu and Shinji) in this area with the Mbundu, and the Minungu language is sometimes considered a transitional one between Kimbundu and Chokwe. There may in fact have been important Mbundu influence on these two peoples, but the work of a number of linguists places their languages firmly with the set that includes Ruund, Lunda, and Tchokwe. Economic and political developments in the 1970s affected various sections of the Lunda-Tchokwe differently. Substantial numbers of them live in or near Lunda Norte Province, which contains the principal diamond mines of Angola. Diamond mining had been significant since 1920, and preindependence data show that the industry employed about 18,000 persons. Moreover, the mining company provided medical and educational facilities for its employees and their dependents, thereby affecting even greater numbers. How many of those employed were Lunda-Tchokwe is not clear, although neighbouring villages would have been affected by the presence of the mining complex in any case. In the intra-Angolan political conflict preceding and immediately following independence, there apparently was some division between the northern Lunda-Chokwe, especially those with some urban experience, who tended to support the MPLA, and the rural Tchokwe, particularly those farther south, who tended to support UNITA. In the 1980s, as the UNITA insurgency intensified in the border areas of eastern and northern Angola, Lunda-Chokwe families were forced to flee into Zaire's Shaba Province, where many remained in 1988, living in three sites along the Benguela Railway. The impact of this move on the ethnolinguistic integrity of these people was not known. A somewhat different kind of political impact began in the late 1960s, when refugees from Katanga in Zaire, speakers of Lunda or a related language, crossed the border into what are now Lunda Sul and northern Moxico provinces. In 1977 and 1978, these refugees and others whom they had recruited formed the National Front for the Liberation of the Congo (Front National pour la Libération du Congo-FNLC) and used the area as a base from which they launched their invasions of Shaba Province. In the 1980s, these rebels and perhaps still other refugees remained in Angola, many in Lunda Sul Province, although the Angolan government as part of its rapprochement with Zaire was encouraging them to return to their traditional homes. The Zairian government offered amnesty to political exiles on several occasions in the late 1980s and conferred with the Angolan government on the issue of refugees. In 1988, however, a significant number of Zairian refugees continued to inhabit Lunda Tchokwe territory. The significance for local Lunda-Tchokwe of the presence and activities of these Zairians was not known. ARTE PRIMITIVA LUNDA Se não mantivéssemos estes objectos juntos, esta pequena migalha da cultura mundial perder-se-ia. A arte Africana ao entrar na Europa influenciou estéticamente artistas como Picasso ou Matisse que admiraram a animação dos objetos e seu primitivismo... A cultura Lunda ou Kioka, nasceu das tribos Bantu, silvícolas, recolectores e caçadores que esculpiam todos os aspectos da vida. Traçavam seus dotes artísticos com uma simples faca fazendo instrumentos de uso diário como pentes, adornos vários e artefactos de uso em suas casas e cozinhas. As paredes de suas casas eram decoradas, seus corpos tatuados, seus penteados adornados com criatividade. Na falta de registos escritos, a cultura oral que passava de pais para filhos, tal como a sua arte primitiva e costumes, eram as bases que perpectuavam no tempo. Este é o legado Kioko ou, tchockwe, sendo que sua arte constitui raridade e, por isso, mais reputada na avaliação de seus artigos da arte a nível mundial. As revistas “Art d´Áfrique Noir” de Roul Letuart referem a arte Tchockwe como sendo das obras mais cotadas no mercado de artes primitivas; as famosas estátuas T´chipinda e Lunda mais conhecidas por Mwatshianvua e Lweje-Ya-Konde (casal fundador do império Lunda), atingiram nesse mercado de arte, o 1º lugar da tabela de preços. Isto é referido no livro “Identidade e Patrimônio Cultural” da autoria do antropólogo e escritor Henrique Abranches. Acácio “Sakapwma”, iniciou suas esculturas em madeira respeitando a arte, conteúdo, e corte com machadinha, faca nativa e formões. Esculpiu o casal do império Lunda, de rara beleza, talhando a madeira de forma muito pessoal preservando a traça original. Independentemente dessas peças preciosas que marcam sua obra, esculpiu outras de renome e forte cunho na identidade deste povo, o “T´shipinda Katele” (caçador), o casal “Mama Wa-Knkw” e “Mwkuluana Wa Kwkw” (pensador e pensadora), talvez a representação mais marcante e admirada internacionalmente, pois que mostra um casal de velhos esperando a morte. Como obra inédita, tem uma peça única em madeira, com quatro pessoas que mostra a cena do “Kaponye” (parto). Além das estatuetas temos as máscaras, masculinas e femininas: umas decorativas, outras para uso em danças populares ou profanas. É rica a diversidade deste conjunto, sendo as máscaras por demais importantes em suas vidas. O bastão decorativo é uma peça importante e de uso dos chefes ou notáveis como insígnias do poder. O artista “Sakapwma”, não poderia deixar de criar quatro destas belas peças. Em relevo, criou cenas do quotidiano representadas numa tábua de madeira e duas peças de alumínio fundido, uma dourada a outra prateada. No conjunto do espólio de arte tchockwe, trabalho rico em arte e de difícil elaboração é a incisão de figuras e simbologia em cabaça natural, obra que os nativos muito praticavam e valorizavam. Não há referência de haver outro branco que tenha ousado gravar em cabaça. No campo das esculturas, não poderia faltar o trabalho em marfim; a realização de um artista é reconhecida devido à dificuldade e paciência na sua elaboração; e Acácio “Sakapwma” executou uma jarra com altura 38,5cm, com o diâmetro interno de 13x10,5 cm e o peso de 2kg. Esta peça consumiu 18 anos de trabalho na sua execução. José Manuel Primo Videira (Nelo) Subscreve: O Soba T´chingangeFFSAFederation of the Free States of AfricaContactSecretary General

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Vance Kirkland's powerful Dot Paintings are often compared to two other well-known "dot" styles: Australian Aboriginal art and Pointillism. Here are some interesting facts about the use of dots in modern art: A dot style of modern Aboriginal art from the Australian Outback has emerged as significant in the contemporary art world and has been avidly collected and exhibited over the past twenty years. Many Kirkland Museum visitors ask about any connection that may exist between that Aboriginal dot style and Vance Kirkland's paintings. Though art has always been a part of Aboriginal culture, the dot paintings began in 1971, when an art teacher named Geoffrey Bardon provided brushes and acrylic paint to a community in Papunya in the remote central desert. The dots, circles, and cross-hatching of these works, formerly done in sand, signified traditional stories. What had been ephemeral ceremonial patterns and shapes became lasting images in paint for the first time. This caused controversy among the tribal members, as some images depicted religious forms or rites that they believed could be harmful to women and children who viewed them in this more permanent form. Vance Kirkland began his dot paintings in 1964, seven years before the dot trend in Aboriginal art began. As far as we know, he was not aware of Aboriginal art. La Parade (detail), 1889, by Georges Seurat. "Some say they see poetry in my paintings; I see only science." - Georges Seurat Vance Kirkland's dot paintings are also often compared with the work of Pointillist painters such as Georges Seurat (1859-1891). Seurat is known as a Post-Impressionist because he was a generation younger than the French Impressionists like Monet, Degas, and Renoir, though he did exhibit in their last Impressionist exhibition in 1886. His work is also, confusingly, called "Neo-Impressionism," a term meant to signify his method of working with "broken" color, because he and painter Paul Signac were interested in light and dark color values, as the Impressionists had been. Whatever you call it, the method they devised worked on the theory that instead of combining red and yellow to make orange, the eye could do the mixing. Seurat and Signac therefore made stripes or stipples of the two pure colors (red and yellow in this example) next to one another, trusting the eye to see the orange they intended. Seurat was interested in the science of optics, and studied color and color theory. He accidentally and reluctantly found himself the leader of what is now called the Pointillist movement, though he found the term offensive. He saw himself as a scientist with a precise system for the creation of his work.The subjects Seurat and Signac painted were still traditional: landscapes or figures. The dots, points, or stipples were meant to blend to create a recognizable scene. This is what differentiates their work from Kirkland's dot paintings.Vance Kirkland started using dots in his painting at the end of 1963; his first dot series was the Valhalla series beginning in 1964. The bubbled oil and water mixtures with a high percentage of pigment formed Kirkland's vision of flaming fragments initiating the birth of the universe. The density of the red oil and water forms Kirkland used in this series sometimes produced circular areas of paint which may have inspired the dot paintings.Kirkland continued and refined the dot technique, with each dot carefully placed on the canvas with a dowel or small brush, until the end of his life. His final, unfinished painting from May 1981 reveals a bit of his process. He had already placed the largest dots on top of his oil and water mixtures, and was beginning to fill in the smaller dots around them when he died.The Pointillism movement, Kirkland's Dot period and Australian Aboriginal art of the late 20th century may share "dots", but each has an important and separate story. We hope this brief explanation and comparison clarify the differences and enhance your appreciation of the works of all of these important and imaginative painters.Maya D. WrightMarketing & Membership Coordinator Labels: Aborigine Colrado Painting, Dots, Kirkland Museum, Pointillism, Seurat This year we added 22 new docents to our volunteer program, bringing our total to 40. We thought it would be fun to hand over this year's holiday blog to them all, asking them to tell us about their favorite piece in the Kirkland collections. So many fresh perspectives! Here are some of our favorites - Untitled (Mountain Stream), 1929 by Raphael Lillywhite (1891-1958, American) "I love the beautiful colors; the scene is peaceful and inviting. This painting captures what I love about Colorado." - Sue Sicardo Line Art Nouveau Ceramics, 1902-1907, Weller Pottery Company, Zanesville, Ohio Clement Massier Pottery 1902-1907 "I enjoy seeing the iridescent-glazed vases by Clement Massier (1844-1917, French) and Jacques Sicard (1865-1923, French) displayed together. I like the corporate intrigue of the display since American pottery company Weller hired Sicard away from Massier in order to use Sicard's knowledge of the lustrous glazes for which Massier was famous." - Candace "My favorite piece is the Spherical Vase 1930, made by Charles Fergus Binns (1857-1934, British-American). The shape of the vase is simple and the pale green glaze is rich and subtle. The combination of form and color results in an elegant ceramic vase." - Karen And three of the crew are just wild about Harry! They each chose Split Bush 1968 by Harry Bertoia (1915-1978, Italian-American)- |"I love the Harry Bertoia sculpture. It is a large piece that reminds me of the plants that I work with in the summer. Besides that, I feel that it communicates with me through the beautiful sound that it makes as I walk by." - Sally| |Almost every visitor stops and with a "what's this" look in their eyes, stares at the bush. As a docent, this opens up a whole line of storytelling. Some people seem to already notice its "soundings," so this gives me an opportunity to talk about Bertoia's connection to Colorado, his many other pieces in the museum, and even his drawings in the hallway. When we finally get to Bertoia's chairs downstairs, many people ask "Don't they make any sound?" - Ron| |I love the way you hear the gentle tingling as the floor vibrates when you walk by. He took hard metal and made it appear somewhat soft, organic, and ready to sway in the wind. When I look at it I'm reminded of a perfectly trimmed bush in a lush formal garden. - Ruth | | Interning this year in the collections office, I have seen a lot of objects both on display and in our vaults. While it might not be my favorite piece in the entire museum (there are far too many to blog about here) Barry Kryzwicki's (b. 1952, American) Teapot (1988) sticks out as my favorite for 2009. His use of form and design for an everyday object makes it appealing and unique. It's an object I would love to own in my own home. - Kat| David Yust's (b. 1939, American) dramatic 9' circular painting, Circular Composition #118 (Change in Scale #102) 1978, in the back stairs gives me a gasp whenever I go down those stairs. I know that it is one of a triptych that was done for a bank in Greeley and I wish I could ever see the three together, or that I could see this one from a greater distance. I like that he has gotten out of the more usual rectangular shape of paintings and I love what happens, beautiful curvilinear areas of color and repeated shapes. - Jan And so, with deep gratitude for this wonderful art and these superb docents, we wish all of you a very happy holiday season and a Happy New Year! Hooray! The Mad Men Are Back! Italian designer Joe Colombo (1930—1971) must have had Don Draper in mind when he designed these Footed Glasses (Modern design, 1964, Arnolfo di Cambio). The clever offset base means he'll never have to choose between smoking and drinking. Find them in the Lower Level Corridor. Roger Sterling needs our Dorothy Thorpe Silver Band Serving Bowl Nest (c.1960), also known as a Chip 'n Dip , to go with the Dorothy Thorpe cocktail set he keeps in his office. A few crackers might have helped the gin and oysters go down and stay down. Peggy Olson dreamed that Peter would call her. Our flaming orange Trim Line Telephone (1965), designed by Henry Dreyfuss (Am, 1904—1972), would make that call sizzle. Peter Campbell's in-laws would never approve of our Antenna Chair (early 1960s, from the Sculptured House, Genesee, CO), designed by Charles Deaton (Am. 1921—1996). We don't care and neither should he. What more can we say? Salvatore Romano swooned when he saw our EPIC Lipped Bonbon Dish (c.1962, Viking Glass Co). First, the candy is in and then it comes out . . . over that graceful spout. Come see for yourself. Exploring the Auk Drinking Set Kayserzinn Drinking Set Designed by Hugo Leven (1874-1956), German 1900 - 1905 Collection Kirkland Museum Decanter/jug is 8 inches tall. Tray is 14 3/8 in x 4 5/8 in. The decanter or jug in this pewter drinking set is the form of an auk, a bird similar to a penguin which lives on islands in the north seas and eats fish. The largest variety of auk, the giant auk, was last seen in 1844 and is now extinct. Small auks are sometimes known to fly, but the giant auk was a flightless bird whose wings had adapted to swimming. Hugo Leven was a German designer and part of the Jugendstil (German for "Youth Style") movement, which is considered part of Art Nouveau. Leven became art director of the enormously successful German metal ware company J.P. Kayser & Sons. It was for the Kayser & Sons company that he designed the famous Kayserzinn pewter, of which this auk set is an example. Many of the pieces Leven designed are still in production today. Though Leven made his career designing mass produced products for industry, he was a proponent of the Art & Crafts ideal of creating unique handcrafted objects. The Kayserzinn Drinking Set is currently on view in the watercolor room, which is the front room of the old studio building where Kirkland's watercolors are on display. Our Soon-To-Be-Very-Famous Glass Once again, our remarkable Ruba Rombic glass collection is in the spotlight. The crew from the PBS television show Antiques Roadshow visited us last week to film the museum and, in particular our Ruba Rombic pieces, for an upcoming 2010 broadcast. The following essay was originally written exclusively for our members, but we'd like to share it with everyone now that the line is about to arouse the curiosity of a broader audience. Ruba Rombic on view at Kirkland MuseumRuba Rombic , the edgy Cubist glassware designed by Reuben Haley for Consolidated Lamp and Glass Company, debuted in 1928. The Consolidated company was in Coraopolis, PA, west of Pittsburgh. According to the company, the name "Ruba Rombic" comes from the combination of "Rubaiy," meaning epic or poem, and "Rombic," meaning irregular in shape. This design is considered one of the most desirable and important of American Art Deco glass. Kirkland Museum recently acquired the rare large vase and the large bowl (pictured above at left) at the New York Modernism Show. Most of Haley's previous designs were modeled after Lalique glass (see some on view in Kirkland Museum' watercolor room), but Ruba Rombic was truly original with its very art deco look. The strange angular shapes were made by blowing glass into a mold. It was eventually produced in sixteen colors and nearly 40 different shapes from vases and decanters to trays and candlesticks. Colors included honey, amethyst, French crystal, silver, green, topaz, sunshine, lilac, jade, jungle green, and smoky topaz. The pattern was only produced from 1928 until 1932, when the Consolidated company was temporarily closed. Two shelves of Ruba Rombic, including a few examples of Ruba Rombic ceramics also by Reuben Haley for the Muncie Pottery Company of Muncie, Indiana, are currently on view in the Kirkland Museum corridor between the garden door and the elevator. The Ruba Rombic is displayed adjacent to, and can be compared to, other important designs of American Art Deco glass of the 1920s and 1930s. From Colored Glassware of the Depression Era 2, published 1974, by Hazel Marie Weatherman, page 48 By Maya Wright Marketing & Membership Coordinator "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"* Have you seen the four straps hanging over Vance Kirkland's work table? Have you heard that he spent many hours a day suspended in those straps? Have you tried to imagine what that must have been like for him to float above a work in progress, sliding the canvas back and forth below on four rustic skateboards? Kirkland saw musical explosions and vibrations, mysteries and forces, rhythmic and discordant, in his imagined galaxies and had the artist's drive to capture these visions in pigment on canvas. He mixed the unmixables—oil and water. Zealous in his conviction that the responsibility of an artist is to show people something they had never seen, he tried to send the colors "where no man had gone before", into brilliant spaces beyond the visible sky. The techniques he developed required his canvas to be laid flat on a table top so that he, and not gravity, could control the flow of the paint. He poured and spooned the mixtures from baby-food jars and moved them with rags, mopping up the water when it had deposited the paint just where he wanted it. He placed each peaked dot with a wooden dowel, dipped once in color and dabbed two, maybe three times before it required a refill. Once he made the first small paintings, the first small worlds, it was only a matter of time before he cut the replaceable notch in his studio doorway to accommodate ever larger canvases, ever larger creations. The 5'2" visionary adventurer wanted to make paintings larger than himself, paintings that demanded a heroic reach. His arms were too short, his aging back too vulnerable. So he and a friend devised a system of four straps to suspend him above his work. They bought the 3-inch green cotton webbing at an army surplus store. Imagine how long it took them to work out the details, the number of straps, the length of each, and the distance between them. There must have been a lot of trial and error to get them positioned so that he could climb in and then forget them. In these straps, he could defy gravity. He could lose himself in the weightless work of bringing a universe into being. Sadly for us, Kirkland was never photographed at work in his straps. His assistants staged and photographed a recreation of the scene using fresher and narrower nylon slings to help us imagine the artist at work. Everyone who sees those now-empty straps must wonder, if just for a second, what it feels like to fly with a paint-loaded brush or dowel in their hand. I never met Vance Kirkland, but I work in his space, always surrounded and enriched by the cosmos he created. Recently, at the end of a long day, with only a few staff members left in the building and Vance's work table empty, I asked for the oft-fantasized favor and it was Granted (Hugh Grant-ed, that is—permission given by our founding director and curator). So, not for hours, but for a few moments, I flew in the straps of a genius – "Ah...", indeed! * from the poem Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning Vance Kirkland As Collector Visitors to Kirkland Museum are usually surprised by the depth and breadth of the collection. Many come expecting to see only the paintings of Vance Kirkland. In fact, the museum is dedicated to sharing with the public three important aspects of Kirkland′s life and career. In doing so, painting and sculpture by over 170 Colorado artists, and an impressively large collection of international decorative art is also displayed within the museum′s walls. It is believed to be the largest decorative art collection on display in North America. In addition to being a visionary modernist painter, Vance was also a committed educator and an avid collector. He founded the current School of Art at the University of Denver in 1929, thereby touching the lives and affecting the work of many Colorado artists. He enjoyed a wide range of friendships within the artistic community inside and outside of Denver. He also began collecting the work of artists and designers he admired when he was a very young man. He′s been quoted as saying, “If I′m going to sit on it, eat off it, or drink out of it, it′s going to be great design.” Here he is, at the age of 32, sitting by his lily pond at 817 Pearl St., Denver in his Art Deco style Machine Age Rocking Chair from the McKay Corporation (c.1930s). You can see the chair today in the museum′s Watercolor Room. You may have heard that a young Vance Kirkland was the first college student to win a prize at the Cleveland Museum of Art May Show with his watercolor The Brewery, but have you heard what he did with the award money? It was 1927 and he was twenty-three years old. It may surprise you to know that he used his prize money to purchase the winning entry in the ceramics competition of the same show - four Russian Peasant Figures designed by Alexander Blazys and manufactured by the Cowan Pottery. Kirkland had studied ceramics with Blazys and Guy Cowan at the Cowan Pottery Company. The musicians are on display in the Lower Level Corridor. In January of 1929, Vance hired Anne Gregory Van Briggle, widow of Artus van Briggle and former president of the Van Briggle Company, to teach Life Drawing at DU (just 11 months before her death in November of that year). It is likely that he acquired these two early Van Briggle Vases directly from Anne during that time. The small blue vase dates from 1902 and the brown one from 1904, the same year that Artus Van Briggle died from the tuberculosis which originally brought him to Colorado in search of a cure. Both vases can be seen in Exhibition Room I. Vance purchased this fantastic hand-blown La Donna Vase (1950) from its designer, Fulvio Bianconi with whom he became acquainted during travels to Italy in the 1950s and ′60s. The artist was reluctant to part with this, as he was with many others of his premium pieces which he thought should be preserved in museums. Vance persevered until he agreed to sell it and, true to his philosophy of actually using the great design objects he collected, he kept the vase filled with flowers on his desk for many years. You can see it, complete with residual water stains, in the Museum Corridor. As a result of hepatitis contracted during a surgery, Vance endured several hospitalizations during the last years of his life. During the registration process for his final hospital admission, he was asked to state his religious affiliation. With characteristic humor, he directed the clerk to write, “Drinking Buddhist.” This Cambodian Buddha (c.1850) was one of several from his home. It now presides over the Studio Corridor. In future blogs, we′ll look more closely at Vance Kirkland as an artist and as an educator and art supporter.

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Covenant in Context A. David and Moses The drama in the Gospels turns on a single question: Is Jesus the long awaited Messiah, the son of David come to restore the everlasting monarchy promised by God to David? Underlying this drama - which continues through the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles and even into the final chapters of Revelation - are centuries of rival interpretations of the Scriptures. In the Bible and in religious writing outside the Bible, we can see that there were sharply competing expectations about who the Messiah was to be, the "signs" that would accompany his coming, and the shape of the kingdom he would establish. Through a close reading of the New Testament and key Old Testament passages, we will look at this clash of expectations. We will explore the biblical testimony in context, comparing it with the extra-biblical literature of the period, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and various intratestamental writings. We will see how the proclamation and work of Jesus, as recorded in the New Testament, reflects and reacts to the messianic hopes of his contemporaries. This study has implications for questions that modern scholars have long debated - How did Jesus understand His mission and work? What were the historical reasons for his condemnation and death on the Cross? This study also addresses an imbalance in the scholarly and pastoral study of the New Testament. Researchers have tended to focus on the importance and influence of Moses and the covenant at Sinai on the shape of the New Testament. By contrast there has been a relative scholarly neglect of the Davidic covenant. However, it could be argued that the figure of David and his kingdom is more central - not only to the New Testament - but to the direction and meaning of the Old Testament. David is generally acknowledged as a defining figure in the Psalms, with more than 70 psalms attributed to him. What is not widely recognized is his prominence throughout the Old Testament. Indeed, while the name Moses occurs a little over 720 times, David is mentioned almost 1,020 times. David’s career is the subject of 42 chapters, or nearly 30 percent of what scholars call the "Deuteronomistic History" (Joshua-2 Kings). In the Chronicles, a review of Israel’s history from a "Priestly" perspective, the percentage is the same. David is mentioned 37 times in the prophets, Moses only seven times. And as we will focus on in our next lesson, the eschatological hopes of the prophets are frequently concerned with the return of a Davidic king and the restoration of his capital, Zion. The prophets say nothing about the return of Moses and a restoration of Sinai. David’s imprint will be especially felt when we consider key Old Testament concepts and institutions that become central in the New Testament - the Temple, Zion, the “Son of God,” and the “Anointed One” (Messiah). B. For the Sake of Abraham We will see, however, that the Law of Moses and the sacrificial system are critical to the understanding and legitimacy of David’s kingdom. But before we can consider the specific character of David’s kingdom, we need to begin with some background. God’s covenant with David comes as the last in a sequence of covenants found in the Old Testament. These covenants - with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David - form the narrative structure of the Old Testament. (For a thorough review of these covenants and their significance, see our on-line class, Covenant Love: An Introduction to the Biblical Worldview). The background to the covenant with David, and indeed the entire story of Israel, is God’s three-part promise to Abraham - to give him and his descendants their own land, to make them a great and blessed nation, and to make the children of Abraham the source of divine blessing for all the families of the earth (see Genesis 12:1-4). Each of these promises was "upgraded" to a covenant by God (see Genesis 15; Genesis 17:4-8; 22:15-18). It was for the sake of this covenant with Abraham that the Israelites were brought out of Egypt (see Exodus 2:24; 6:5). And it was for the sake of this covenant with Abraham that David’s kingdom is established. In Nathan’s oracle, God repeats three times that He is making this covenant with David for "for My people Israel" (see 2 Samuel 7:8,10,11). This recalls the language God used to explain His actions in liberating Abraham’s children from Egypt (see Exodus 3:7,10; Leviticus 26:12). Later, in the psalmist’s reflections, the Davidic monarch is seen fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham: "In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed, all the nations" (see Psalm 72:17; compare Genesis 12:3; 22:18). The Rise of David A. Israel in the Era Before Kings The idea of the monarchy is sown throughout the Old Testament. In one of his promises to Abraham, God tells him: "Kings shall stem from you" (see Genesis 17:6). In his deathbed blessing upon his sons, Israel says that nations will pay homage to Judah and that "the scepter shall never depart from" him (see Genesis 49:9-12). The line of Judah becomes the royal line from which David and Solomon stem (see 2 Samuel 8:1-14; 1 Kings 4:20-21). Nevertheless, when the Bible is read canonically – that is, as a single book with a certain unity of content, edited for use in the worship and reflection of the Christian community – we see tension and ambivalence about the idea of a monarchy for God’s people. We see this ambivalence already in Deuteronomy. There, Moses reluctantly predicts the people will desire a king. He even writes legislation to govern the king’s conduct and policies (see Deuteronomy 17:14-20). On the one hand, the moral and political chaos of the pre-monarchial period is attributed to Israel’s lack of a king - "in those days there was no king in Israel - everyone did what he thought best" (see Judges 17:6; 18:1; 21:25). But there is also a strong sense in the Old Testament that an earthly monarch contradicts God’s sovereignty over Israel (see Deuteronomy 33:5; Judges 8:22-23). These tensions come to a head in the people’s request for a king in the time of Samuel. In seeking a king "as the other nations have," the people are seen as rejecting the kingship of God (see 1 Samuel 8:7; 12:12,17,19-20). Though their ends are earthly - the people want a king to fight battles and conquer territories for them - God consents to their request and "uses" it to fulfill His own covenant plan for Israel and the world. He gives Israel a king "for the sake of His own great name" because He has made Israel "His people" (see 1 Samuel 12:19). B. Restoring the Ark The ideal of Israel’s monarchy was articulated at that point in the Scripture. The king is to be an earthly manifestation of God’s rule over the world, to obey God’s commands and to worship Him alone - in remembrance of His covenant and the great things He has done in making Israel His special possession. David, especially as portrayed in the early days of his reign, is presented as the ideal king. His capital at Jerusalem is both the "the city of David" (see 2 Samuel 5:7,9) and at the same time seat of the "kingdom of the Lord" (see 2 Chronicles 13:8), and "the throne of the Lord" (see 1 Chronicles 28:5). David’s first act as king is to restore the Ark of the Covenant, the defining symbol of God’s election of Israel and the site of His real and living presence among the people during the wilderness period (see Exodus 25:8-22; Joshua 3:8-11). The Ark contained signs of God’s covenant with Moses (see Hebrews 9:4) - the tablets of the 10 commandments (see Exodus 40:22), Aaron’s priestly staff (see Numbers 17:25) and some of the manna upon which the Israelites fed in the desert (see Exodus 16:32-33). The Ark became crucial to the identity and character of David’s new priestly kingdom. David’s great concern for the Ark is central to the early drama of his reign, and the installation of the Ark in the Temple built by David’s son, Solomon, marks the high point of the history told in the books of Chronicles. The Ark’s restoration to Jerusalem is depicted as a noble and grand religious pilgrimage. It is preceded by David’s mandate for the ritual purification of the Levites (see 1 Chronicles 15:11), who alone are permitted to touch the Ark under the Mosaic law that David reinstitutes (see Deuteronomy 10:8; 1 Chronicles 15:2). The procession to the tent pitched by David is a joyous religious feast, complete with liturgical dancing and songs of exultation and much rejoicing, led by David and the priests (see 1 Chronicles 15:1-16:3; 2 Sam. 6:11-19). David is garbed in priestly robes of fine linen and wears a priest’s ephod (see Judges 8:28; 1 Samuel 14:3; 21:9; 22:18; 23:9). As the Ark is installed, David leads the priests in offering holocausts and peace offerings. Then he blesses the people in the name of the Lord and shares bread, meat and cake with every Israelite. What we witness here is Israel’s king performing high priestly acts - leading worship, offering sacrifices, imparting the Lord’s blessings. David’s actions reestablish the presence of God among the people (see 1 Chronicles 23:25). To ensure the purity of Israel’s worship in God’s presence, he restores the Mosaic liturgical code, making the descendants of Aaron to be "officers of the holy place and officers of the divine presence" (see 1 Chronicles 24:3,5,19). He also, reestablishes the Levitical priests "to minister before the Ark of the Lord - to celebrate, thank and praise the Lord, the God of Israel" every morning and evening, and also on feast days (see 1 Chronicles 16:4; 23:25-32). At the culmination of his monarchy, David, like Moses, is given a divine "pattern" or "plan" for the Temple that will house the Ark of His covenant permanently (see 1 Chronicles 28:19; Exodus 25:9). The Temple is built as a replica of a Lord’s heavenly throne and temple (see Psalm 11:4). As Jerusalem is not only a political capital, but also a spiritual and moral one, the Temple is both a religious sanctuary and the palace of the divine dominion - the seat from which Israel’s king rules as the son of God over all the nations (see Psalm 2). C. The Oracle of Nathan Only after the Ark is established, does God renew His covenant with Israel through an oracle delivered by the prophet, Nathan (see 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 1 Chronicles 17:7-14) Nathan’s original oracle does not include the word "covenant." But David describes it as an "eternal covenant" (see 2 Samuel 23:5) and this "covenant" is celebrated in the Psalms (see Psalm 89:4-29; 132:12). God’s promises in Nathan oracle - the themes of divine sonship, temple building, and everlasting dynasty - will resound throughout the remainder of the Old Testament and, as we will see, converge in the Gospel of Jesus. Let us look in detail at the divine promises that Nathan delivers: First, he tells David that "the Lord will establish a house for you." In biblical terms, "house" means royal dynasty. This means that David’s kingdom will be a dynasty, one that endures for generations. Next God promises that David’s son will assume his throne: "I will raise up your heir…and make his kingdom firm." The "firmness" of his kingdom is another indicator that the kingdom will remain. David’s son will also, according to the promise, "build a house for My name." In other words, David’s son will build a temple as a permanent home for God’s presence in the Ark of the Covenant. Of this royal son of David, God further promises: "I will be a Father to him and he shall be a son to Me." This is the language of "covenant-adoption." The son of David will be adopted as God’s own son. This marks the first time in Scripture that the idea of divine sonship is applied to one individual. While God had referred to Israel as His first-born son, no one as yet in the Bible has been called, in effect, a "son of God." God’s promise is unconditional, according to Nathan. The royal son is expected to keep God’s Law and will be punished for transgressions against the Law. But God will never disown David’s heir or dissolve his kingdom. Nathan conveys this message: "If he does wrong, I will correct him…with human chastisements, but I will not withdraw my favor from him." Finally, God states the conclusion that all of these promises point to: "Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever." This means that David’s dynasty will never end; there will always be an heir of David seated upon his throne. The Shape of the Davidic Monarchy A. Eight Elements of the Kingdom God’s covenant with David is initially and partially fulfilled with the birth of Solomon. Solomon is the "son" who builds the Lord a house or temple. And while we see the outlines of the godly kingdom begin under David - especially with the organization of the Levites and the worship before the Ark - it is only under Solomon that the kingdom reaches full bloom. Based on the promises of Nathan, the reflections on the Davidic covenant found in the Psalms and the prophets, and the organization of the kingdom under Solomon, we can eight characteristics of the Davidic monarchy: • First, the Davidic monarchy was founded upon a divine covenant. No other human kingdom in the Old Testament can boast of such a privilege. • The Davidic monarch was the Son of God. Solomon’s is a monarchy ruled over by God’s son (see Psalm 2:7), who is both a priest and a king (see Psalm 110:1,4). The identity of the monarch as God’s son implies this priestly prerogative. The king is to be a priestly mediator between the human and divine. At the right hand of the king is his mother, the Queen, who intercedes for the people with the king and is a trusted adviser to the king (see 1 Kings 3:19-20; Proverbs 31). • The Davidic monarch was the "Christ," i.e. the "Messiah" or "Anointed One." The anointed status of the Davidic king was so integral to his identity that he is frequently referred to simply as "the anointed one" or "the Lord’s anointed." • The Davidic monarchy was inextricably bound to Jerusalem, particularly Mt. Zion, which was the personal possession of David and his heirs (see 2 Samuel 5:9), and would have had no significant role in Israelite history had not David made it his capital (see Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:21; 19:10–12; 2 Samuel 5:6–12). • The Davidic monarchy was inextricably bound to the temple. The building of the temple was central to the terms of the Davidic covenant from the very beginning, as can be seen from the wordplay on "house" ("temple" or "dynasty") in 2 Samuel 7:11–13. Even after its destruction, the prophets remained firm in their conviction that God would restore His temple to its former glory as an international place of worship. • The Davidic monarch ruled over all twelve tribes. It was only under David and Solomon, that both Judah and all the northern tribes were united as one kingdom and freed from foreign oppression (see 2 Samuel 5:1–5; 1 Kings 4:1–19). For this reason the prophets associate the reunification of the northern tribes of Israel ("Ephraim") and the southern tribes of Judah with the restoration of the Davidic monarchy. • The Davidic monarch ruled over an international empire. David and Solomon ruled not only over Israel but also the surrounding nations. The psalms theologically justify and celebrate this state of affairs, and the prophets envision its restoration. The Kingdom, with its capital in Zion, Jerusalem, will become the mother of all nations, "one and all born in her" (see Psalm 87:5), all made sons and daughters of God in a worldwide family. • The Davidic monarchy was to be everlasting. One of the most prevalent emphases in the Psalms and Deuteronomic history is that the Davidic dynasty will be eternal (see 2 Samuel 7:16; 23:5; Psalm 89:35–36). Not only the dynasty but the lifespan of the reigning monarch himself was described as everlasting (see Psalm 21:4; 72:5, 110:4). B. Unconditional Promises, Divided Kingdom In the lessons ahead, we will see how these elements of the Davidic kingdom and the promises to David will be decisive for understanding the debates in the Gospels. But these debates take place against a historical backdrop - that the Davidic kingdom was divided shortly after Solomon’s reign, and later destroyed. As presented in Scripture, Solomon’s sin had led to the destruction of the kingdom. He overtaxed the Israelite tribes to finance great building projects and to build up a huge army (see 1 Kings 9; 12:3); he took many foreign wives and concubines and "his wives turned his heart…to strange gods" (see 1 Kings 11:1-3). When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam refused the re-negotiate Solomon’s tax policies and the tribes rebelled. Ten of the twelve tribes, led by Jeroboam, split-off and established a Northern Kingdom, leaving Rehoboam to reign over two tiny tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the South. Eventually, both houses of the divided kingdom were captured and led into exile. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed in 722 B.C., overrun by the Assyrians (see 2 Kings 17:7-18). In 597, Babylon overran Jerusalem, shattering the Southern Kingdom (see 2 Kings 24:3-4). Even when the people were restored from exile, centuries continued to pass without any sign of the great Davidic king that God had promised. At the time when Jesus was born, there was no kingdom to speak of, no Davidic heir in the wings. But the intervening centuries had produced a body of prophecy and reflection on the meaning and fulfillment of God’s covenant with David. That literature - both biblical and extra-biblical - will be the subject of our next lesson. • How could it be argued that David and his kingdom are more important for understanding the Old Testament than Moses and the Sinai covenant? • In what ways might the Old Testament’s attitude toward monarchy be characterized as ambivalent, prior to the Davidic kingdom? • Explain the significance of the Ark of the Covenant for the kingdom of David. • What were the promises made to David in Nathan’s oracles. • Name and explain the elements of the Davidic monarchy.

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The film Amistad (1997) portrays an important event in United States Abolitionist history. A group of African Mende were captured near Sierra Leone and smuggled into Cuba via a Portuguese slave ship. They were smuggled into Cuba in order to work around the treaty signed in 1817 by England and Spain prohibiting the transatlantic slave trade. The Spaniards who purchased the slaves needed to purchase them in Cuba to circumvent this treaty. However, on route to the United States from Cuba, the Africans rebelled. Although they were able to guide the ship back to Africa by day, at night, the surviving Spaniards sailed the ship towards the United States where the Africans were eventually jailed and their fate decided by the U.S. courts. Eventually, it was determined the Africans were never slaves under international law and their freedom was returned to them. Although an important tale amongst many important tales to tell from the history of the United States, and the world, enslaving fellow men and women, two important men from another important history are missing from Spielberg's lesson. These men are Laurent Clerc and Thomas Gallaudet who were the initial translators for the Africans until more suitable translators could be found. The important history of which they were a part is the history of the Deaf in the United States. Clerc is the Deaf Frenchman whom Gallaudet met in England and convinced to return to the United States with him to improve the education of the Deaf in the United States. These two men were responsible for improving the opportunities available for the Deaf and providing a foundation to survive later battles with those who wished to oppress Sign Language. Clerc and Gallaudet were chosen as initial translators for the Africans because Sign Language's basis in pantomime allows one to transcend some oral linguistic barriers.(1) And it is the absence of this history that underscores the need for a Deaf Film Festival, such as the one that was held at the Pacific Film Archives on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, from February 21st through the 23rd. Three feature-length films representing Deaf Culture were shown, one made by a Deaf director, Peter Wolf's I Love You, But . . . (United States, 1994), one made in collaboration with a Hearing and Deaf director, Yutaka Osawa and Akihiro Yonaiyama's I Love You (Japan, 2000), and one made by two Hearing directors, Danny and Oxide Pang's Bangkok Dangerous (Thailand, 2000). Also included were a group of European Deaf Shorts, Silent Film (Malcolm Venville, England, 1996), Egypt (Kathryn Resetarits, Austria, 1996), Alice and the Aurifactor (Jorg Fockele, Germany, 1995), Dancer from a Silence of 100 dB (Antti Raike, Finland, 1995), and No Way Out (Cornelis "Con" Mehlum, Norway, 2001). Two lectures took place, one conducted by Jane Norman, PhD, Professor of Communication Studies at Gallaudet University(2) who looked at the complicated task of defining Deaf Cinema and another conducted by John S. Schuchman, author of Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and the Film Entertainment Industry (1988) who addressed the portrayals of the Deaf by Hollywood. Deaf Culture: A Primer Before I go any further, I must address Deaf Culture. Whenever I mention Deaf Culture to Hearing people, they often note they'd never much thought about the Deaf having a culture. The first thing a Hearing person needs to learn about Deaf Culture is that Deaf-centric Deaf people have little, if any, desire to hear. Knowing this helps eliminate all the Hearing-centric stereotypes that come from pity of the Deaf or fear that one might become Deaf. It is not a "disability" in the sense of something "missing," it is merely a different way of experiencing the world. The Deaf are better understood as members of a linguistic minority and their struggle to have their languages accepted within their respective majority languages share similarities with the struggles of other linguistic minorities such as Native American languages in the early United States.(3) Like any other culture, the language of the Deaf, Sign Language, is a major aspect of Deaf culture. Sign Language is as capable of conveying concrete and abstract thoughts and emotions as any other language and it contains its own syntax and grammar. Deaf culture is as active and vibrant as any other culture, exhibiting many arts, commercial businesses, and politics. What was nice about this festival is to have Deaf culture understood, a given, by those in attendance. It may have been difficult for the fully Hearing-centric person to fathom the discussions in the lectures and on the screen regarding Deaf culture. But for those of us Hearing people who have had some exposure to Deaf Culture, it was a pleasant oasis from the ignorance of the Hearing-biased Both lectures that were part of the festival provided a helpful structure in which to view the films. Professor Jane Norman, PhD, surveyed the major moments in Deaf Cinema and how they relate to significant moments in the history of Deaf Culture. Film came to all of us in 1895 and this provided a wonderful opportunity for the Deaf. Being that the Deaf communicate through a visual language without a writing system, similar to many spoken languages such as Hmong, film provided an opportunity to document their language and culture so that it may be preserved and passed on. Simultaneous with the appearance of this tool for Deaf people, the Deaf were being oppressed by the same dominant culture forces lashing out at immigrants and other "undesirables." Deaf schools in the United States and France were eradicating Sign Language and firing Deaf teachers, all in response to an edict put down by the Hearing-dominated "representatives" at the Milan Second World Congress to Improve the Welfare of the Deaf and the Blind in 1880. In response to this Hearing-prejudiced edict, the Deaf-centric National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was created to battle Deaf oppression. As Gay Rights has its Stonewall and Asian-American Civil Rights its International Hotel, Deaf Rights has its Milan. One of the major projects implemented by NAD, between 1910-1920, was, as Norman calls it, a "Heroic Film Project" of 13 silent 35mm films. The goal was survival. It allowed for self-preservation of Deaf Culture and a means to promote sign language skills since the Milan edict resulted in a decline in master signers. Norman states she is reluctant to define Deaf Cinema for everyone since it is not static but an ongoing discourse. She asks, "Are there ways to carry over Sign Language linguistic principles cinematically through camera shots, editing, eye gaze, or sign language storytelling 'style'?" A few of the Shorts appeared to answer this question. Finnish director Antti Raike's, Dancer from a Silence of 100 dB (1995) paralleled a Deaf dancer's Finnish Sign Language with the movements of his dances. Austrian director Kathryn Resetarits's film Egypt (1996) utilized camera angles that allowed for enhancement of the expressive stories signed by the Austrian Deaf. Besides Deaf History, Norman looked to the lessons learned from other minorities. She uses Spike Lee as a role model. Lee, along with advocating for more African-American representations on screen, has always advocated for more representations off screen as well. When minorities are excluded from positions behind the scenes, from director on down, reliance is still placed on the dominant culture for ones expression. Norman doesn't only find parallels in African-American history for her work, the Native American community's reaction to Dances With Wolves (1990) provide useful analogies as well. Particularly, the Lakota Indian community had had concerns with non-Indians profiting from a story about their community. Indians were a part of the production and received a paycheck, but what were the other benefits to the community? Learning from Deaf History and the history of other minorities, Norman's developing theory of Deaf Cinema requires a developing Deaf Cinema itself. To truly develop, more Deaf characters must be played by Deaf actors rather than by Hearing actors. But Norman goes further then that by requiring Deaf-centric consultants as well. Deaf performers cannot be expected to play the role of thespian and advocate. They have a job to do and that is to act. Having Deaf-centric consultants to check the script and intervene with the producers and directors, allows the Deaf performers to concentrate on performing. And in the spirit of Spike Lee and the Lakota Indians, the Deaf must be placed in other positions surrounding the making of the film to provide economic benefits to the community and opportunities for the Deaf to learn the business so they can create their own films later. With these conditions met, you are more likely to have Deaf-centric film rather than Hearing-Centric film. Where Hearing-centric films will use the Deaf as plot propellers for comic relief, such as Kill or Cure (1923) a silent film starring Stan Laurel where a mysterious man who understands a gibberishy sign language is utilized for comic effect, Deaf-centric films will portray Deaf characters more three-dimensionally, such as Aimee, the main character in I Love You, But . . ., where her Deafness is never used for comic effect at her expense. Where Hearing-centric films will use "gimmicks"(4) such as having a shot of a dog barking without the sound and then immediately repeating that shot but this time with audio, Silent Film will include a whole soundtrack of the sounds inside a cochlear-implanted woman's head as she flashes back and forth between her son's hearing check-up and the day she met her husband at a Deaf social club. Ironically, what is called for by Norman appeared close to emerging in the days of Silent Film, as John Schuchman, a Hearing Child of Deaf Adults, elaborated in his lectures about the history of Deaf actors in film and the history of the portrayals of the Deaf. Although NAD attempted to preserve Deaf culture on film, a major opportunity for Deaf culture was missed when James Spearing, the director of the all Deaf production The Busy Hour (1926), tried to get elite members of the Deaf community to fund a production company of films of, by, and for Deaf people. The summary response he received was 'We already have Silent Films so why would we need to make our own.' A few years later, Talkies would bring the demise of Silent Films and the opportunity was lost. Silent Films had allowed Deaf actors opportunities to play both Hearing and Deaf characters. One of the most famous of the Deaf actors from Silent Films was Granville Redmond, a colleague of Charlie Chaplin. The clip Schuchman showed of Redmond was You'd Be Surprised (1926), a Victor/Victoria-esque Deaf role where Redmond, a Deaf man, played a Hearing man pretending to be a Deaf man in order to provide the plot twist. Although Redmond used legitimate sign in the film, Deafness was again used as a plot device rather than anything representative of Deaf Culture. The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) was one of the first films to incorporate a Deaf character. Bell is not well-liked in Deaf culture. Besides being a eugenicist who called for the prohibition of marriages between Deaf people, he oppressed sign and argued illegitimately that all Deaf could learn to speak like Hearing people.(5) This film argued that if the Deaf tried hard enough, they'd be able to talk perfectly like the beautiful character in the film, and, thus, be beautiful and successful like her. This characterization that if the Deaf struggled, they could speak perfectly became a Hearing-centrism of Deaf in film, alongside the portrayal of all Deaf as master-lip-readers.(6) Schuchman noted that Johnny Belinda (1948) for which Jane Wyman won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Deaf woman, most famously known for her character's signing of the Lord's Prayer, holds an interesting place in Deaf Cinema. Although the pity-all-Deaf-people storyline makes people cringe these days, the Deaf press lauded the film as a step forward and positive portrayal of the Deaf in film. Particularly of note was the accurate sign language. Interestingly, the ads for the film, rather than describe Wyman's character as Deaf, talked of her as being an "innocent victim." The producers were worried talking about Deafness in the advertisements would depress the primarily Hearing audience. Schuchman noted that Children of a Lesser God (1986) followed a similar advertising campaign.(7) Schuchman finished his talk by stepping away from Deaf actors and Deaf characters and addressing Deaf audiences. He derided the Motion Picture Association of America for its history of adamantly fighting laws requiring captioning of all major films. I'm sure cost and aesthetic reasons play into the MPAA's reasoning, but with the multiple viewings in our multiplexes, at least one showing could always be reserved for captioning for the Deaf. Norman, in her lecture, also addressed the need for more captioning for films by dropping a plug for the San Francisco International Film Festival specifically because the majority of those films are captioned since the majority are non-English films. Deaf Cinema: The Movers and Shakers Thus, the absence of captions is a frustration for the Deaf community when trying to watch films in the multiplexes. And in an effort to make this a Deaf-centric festival, the organizers held one screening that provided an opportunity for Hearing people who did not Sign to experience this frustration. Peter Wolf's film, I Love You, But . . . was screened without captioning of the American Sign Language (ASL), while the spoken dialogue was captioned. Hearing people were provided synopses of the signing scenes, but non-signing Hearing people had to rely on other aspects of the storytelling to decipher the nuances that the synopses did not cover. I Love You, But . . . is Peter Wolf's third film, following Deafula (1974) and Think Me Nothing (1975). The film involves a Hearing man, Robert, played by Raymond Storti, who falls in love with a Deaf woman, Aimee, played by Rhondee Beriault, whose Deaf boyfriend is away doing research in another country. Robert learns sign language to communicate with Aimee and, although awkward, Aimee finds this endearing. Robert learns about Deaf culture through his relationship with Aimee and both Robert and Aimee deal with the prejudices of their respective Hearing and Deaf families. The beginning of their relationship is forced as is the case in so many romance films. Robert's love for Aimee is too immediate, but we begin to believe the relationship based on the time they spend together. Interestingly, a scene at the beginning of the courtship subverts an unfortunate staple of the romance genre, the romanticism of stalker behavior. Aimee's badminton coach gives Robert Aimee's phone number and address in return for money. Initially, the audience is disturbed by this violation. However, the number given is that to a Relay operator, a telephone service which enables Deaf and Hearing to communicate over the phone and the address is the coach's house. The coach tricks Robert to make sure his interest in Aimee is sincere. With too many romance films rewarding stalker-like behavior, this was a wonderful subversion of that genre trope. The spoken dialogue of I Love You, But . . . lacks naturalness, coming off as forced as the acting, especially Storti's. Still, the film's strength is not in it's acting and spoken dialogue. The film's strength is in its representation of a culture that rarely receives proper representation. Although I did not find My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) all that much to raise a big fat fuss about - it also has a relationship that begins through contrived and forced circumstances - I am well aware of the lack of representations of Greek-American culture. I have yet to meet a Greek-American friend of mine who did not thoroughly enjoy the film. The main reason they provide for loving this film is they can relate to so much that is shown in the film, all the way down to the father's creative uses of Windex. Similarly, I Love You, But . . . presents a positive portrayal of Deaf culture, yet with less humor. Aimee and her Deaf boyfriend are successful. Aimee videotaping letters to her boyfriend and the flashing lights in Deaf homes that signify someone is at the front door each are representative of Deaf lives. Controversial topics are addressed as well, such as cochlear implants, the Messiah complex of Hearing people wanting to "save" Deaf people, and derivative forms of Sign Language that Hearing people espouse so that they can more easily communicate with Deaf people at the expense of the richness and fullness of ASL. Producer Lawrence Fleischer, who also wrote the story from which the film was adapted, was present at the screening. He said that his intent was to show a strong, confident Deaf woman, which was accomplished. He also said the cast had hopes to market this to wider Hollywood through the higher production value of the film. Throughout the film, Robert and Aimee are seen engaging in activities such as riding horses and jet skis. Robert is quite the beefcake as well, shown in an unintentionally laughable scene playing tennis in tight spandex. A Hearing woman sitting next to me who knows ASL openly critiqued these scenes saying to me, "They sure are active?" Wolf and Fleischer had hoped this action would make the film more sellable. Sadly, the film's forced spoken dialogue and action fall flat in this attempt. Where the film shines is the portrayal of aspects of Deaf culture and Deaf issues that the Hearing community has excluded from the screen. Danny and Oxide Pang's film Bangkok Dangerous succeeds where Wolf's fails, yet fails where Wolf's succeeds. It is an entertaining action film that has little to do with Deaf culture outside of showing how the Deaf are often isolated when they are born to Hearing cultures that do not allow them, or do not have the resources to allow them, the opportunity to learn their natural language of Sign nor socialize with fellow Deaf people. The main character of this film, Kong, is Deaf. As we learn through the flashbacks, Kong was working at a shooting range in Thailand when he met Joe and his girlfriend Aom. Kong joins Joe enacting hits throughout Thailand. The film is basically a meditation on revenge. Very stylized, the Pangs play around with quick edits, slow-motion, and colors. The result is a visually enjoyable film throughout with very little dialogue. Kong's Deafness is not portrayed in a Deaf-centric way perhaps because he is isolated from any Deaf community in Thailand. It would have been helpful if the festival organizers had provided some context about the Thai Deaf community since the film itself does not address this. Regardless of such context, this film could not be described as representative of that community since we are only shown one Deaf person whereas the other films shown represented Deaf characters from different walks of life.(8) The Pangs generally engage in the gimmick of Hearing portrayals of Deafness where they occasionally put us in what they believe is Kong's head by dampening the audio every so often. One interesting scene, however, involves Kong's profession being exposed to Fon, the Hearing woman he's dating. Mugged by some random thugs, Kong quickly disposes of them with his gun. After the gun is fired, the audio becomes a sustained ringing. It's an interesting technique and it works in enhancing the fear of Kong at his profession being found out and the fright of Fon in the horror and confusion surrounding her. Fon's attempts to communicate with Kong through written Thai provide interesting moments as well. Fon decides to write on Kong's arm. With the beginnings of their courtship written on his body, Kong is provided physical memories when they are apart. Kong gazing at his arm while alone in bed adds a nice touch to the story. Still in terms of Thai Deaf Culture, we aren't shown much. The visual spectacle provides most of the engagement in the story. It is the film I Love You, a film whose title does not present the hesitation of Wolf's, that succeeds in entertaining us within a Deaf-centric frame. Yutaka Osawa and Akihiro Yonaiyama, Hearing and Deaf respectively, worked with equal input to present a treasure of a story about a Deaf woman, Asako Mizukoshi, played by Akiko Oshidari, married to a Hearing man, Ryuichi, played by Minoru Tanaka, with a Hearing daughter, Ai, played by Ai Okasaki. The plot centers around the family's response to Ai being picked on at school for having a Deaf mother. In an effort to help her daughter, Ai joins a Deaf acting troupe, including her daughter as they prepare to perform "Beauty and The Beast" for a cultural series in their prefecture. Through this endeavor, both Akiko and Ai find fuller, more honest lives. Unlike Bangkok Dangerous, multiple aspects of Deaf culture are addressed, such as a Deaf person's frustrations with isolation from her community by her Hearing parents, Hearing prejudices against the Deaf marrying, and Deaf prejudices towards the Hearing community. And unlike I Love You, But . . ., such is done in a completely engaging, entertaining story of heart, perseverance, and triumph. Osawa and Yonaiyama, writer Yukiko Okazaki, and the cast have told a touching tale full of joy and pain that carries the audience with each gesture. The tensions between the Hearing and Deaf worlds are played out with few cliches and few moments of forced dialogue or plot propulsion. When Asako and Ryuichi have a fight about Asako's time away from home due to play practice, Asako silences Ryuichi through her insistence on turning off the light in their bedroom so he can't sign to her. Ryuichi insists on keeping the light on and Asako finally turns away from him, crouches to the floor, and screams in her authentic Deaf voice that he just can't understand what she's struggling with as a Deaf mother in a Hearing-dominated world. The eloquence of her emotion overrides the lack of elocution from her voice. Also, when Ai discovers a family secret, Asako helps Ai process the information in a wonderfully, tearful scene. I Love You is melodrama at its best, yet better. Besides the universals of a family's struggle, we also see the particulars of a community too often left silent in our Talkies. While the play within a play of Asako's Deaf acting troupe performing "Beauty and The Beast" allows for a parallel of stretching oneself to understand the experience of others, to see the beauty within that which you initially do not understand, there is another play within a play going on in I Love You. Actually, it's a lecture within a play, that is, Jane Norman's lecture. The collaboration of Deaf and Hearing professionals on the film, along with collaboration of Deaf and Hearing in the acting troupe within the film, both follow the model Norman presented in her lecture. In I Love You, we witness Deaf and Hearing collaborating equally to present the Deaf realistically, thus, respectfully, and it follows that we also witness the result of the Deaf community benefiting through active participation in the film as a whole. Although the Deaf Press lauded Johnny Belinda during its time, the film no longer stands up as a powerful work today. Perhaps I Love You will be the first Deaf film of quality to carry its impact to later generations. If the response at this festival or from the audience at Gallaudet University when it was shown there is any indication, there is no "But" associated with this "I Love You." Hopefully, the Signs at future Deaf, and non-Deaf, Film Festivals will soon associate "And" with future "I Love You's" where the Deaf have representation of, by, and for the Deaf through film. It looks as if all was not lost when Talkies took over. Lane. When the Mind Hears: The History of the Deaf. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. It is important to note here that it would be in error to equate Sign Languages with pantomime. As Lane writes in the narrative voice of Laurent Clerc, ". . . , Whatever basis a particular sign may have had in pantomime, it has undergone a species of abbreviation and regularization, so the movement is fluid and rapid, the handshapes are familiar, the locations are convenient" (281-282). However, some who know Sign Language can have greater familiarity with pantomime to allow for limited communication with non-signing individuals with serious effort, as Lane notes with examples in the above mentioned book. (3) Right here, I may have lost some Hearing readers. Most Hearing people have little, if any, contact with the Deaf, and are thus awash in assumptions about the Deaf. To convince a neophyte of the values and reality of Deaf Culture would cause me to digress significantly from the purpose of this article, Deaf Cinema. For those who are curious and wish to read more about Deaf Culture, I will recommend two books by psychology and linguistics specialist, Harlan Lane, PhD: When the Mind Hears: The History of the Deaf (1989) and The Mask of Benevolence: Disabling the Deaf Community (2000). (4) I had come to the festival to learn about Deaf Cinema, but also to see if PARK Chan-wook's film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) could survive a Deaf-centric critique. Although Park did not repeat a scene verbatim with and without audio, he does take us into the head of the Deaf character, Ryu, played by SHIN Ha-kyun, by removing the audio and then he takes us out of Ryu's head by returning the audio. I asked John Schuchman if Shin and BAE Doo-na's signing through the reflection of a mirror would constitute a Hearing-centric "gimmick." The film was not shown at this festival and Schuchman had not seen it. Having not seen the film and being a Hearing Person, Schuchman didn't feel comfortable answering my question. However, confirmation was received from the Deaf in the crowd that they do sometimes sign in the mirrors of bathrooms. This may or may not be a "gimmick." Whether Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance presents a Deaf-centric view rather than a Hearing-centric fantasy of Deafness requires further study. (5) Lane (1989). (6) Yes, presenters throughout the festival acknowledged that there are master lip-readers. However, they are the exception within the Deaf population, not the rule. (8) The festival organizers could have referred to Owen Wrigley's The Politics of Deafness (1996) for such context, in which the deaf community in Thailand is discussed. Unfortunately, I found out about this book too late to read it before this article's deadline..

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Automatic speech (also known as embolalia) refers to the verbalization of different words or phrases that occur without the conscious effort of the individual. This type of speech component often serves as verbal filler during the middle of a presentation or conversation. It consists of words not directly under the control of a person's conscious mind, and are spoken without thought. Such speech includes false starts, hesitations, repetitions that accompany words that speakers plan and utter coherent sentences, and filler words (such as "Like", "Er" and "Uhm"). The word embolalia comes from the Greek word embolos which means 'something thrown in', from the word emballo- meaning 'to throw in', and -lalia meaning 'speech, chattering and babbling; abnormal or disordered form of speech. - 1 Background - 2 Characteristics of automatic speech - 3 Functions - 4 Neurological basis - 5 See also - 6 References - 7 External links Modern linguists led by Leonard Bloomfield in 1933 call these "hesitation forms"—the sounds of stammering (uh), stuttering (um, um), throat-clearing (ahem!), stalling (well, um, that is), interjected when the speaker is groping for words or at a loss for the next thought. French psychiatrist Jules Séglas, on the other hand, referred to the term embolalia, as "the regular addition of prefixes or suffixes to words", and mentioned that the behavior is sometimes used by normal individuals to demonstrate to their interlocutor that they are paying attention to the conversation. Harry Levin and Irene Silverman called automatic speech "vocal segregates" in their 1965 paper on hesitation phenomena and found out from their experiments on children that these segregates seem to be less voluntary hesitation phenomena and may be signs of uncontrolled emotionality under stress. Characteristics of automatic speech Morphology and phonology Filled pauses consist of repetitions of syllables and words, reformulation or false starts where the speaker rephrases his speech to fit the representation he best perceives, grammatical repairs, and partial repeats where speakers are often searching for the right words in their lexicon to carry across their intended meaning. There are basically three distinct forms for filled pauses: (i) an elongated central vowel only; (ii) a nasal murmur only; and (iii) a central vowel followed by a nasal murmur. Although a schwa-like quality [ə:], appears to be the most commonly used, some speakers consistently using the neutral vowel [ɨ:] instead, and others use both vowels in the same sentence, depending on the quality of the previous word last vowel. Filled pauses vocalizations may be built around central vowels and speakers may differ in their preferences, but that they do not appear to behave as other words in the language. The lengthening of words ending in a coronal fricative, for instance, could be obtained by prolonging the entire rhyme and/or the fricative only. Most of the time, however, the neutral vowel [ɨ:] is appended to achieve the desired effect. Similarly to filled pauses, single occurrences of prolonged pauses occurring between stretches of fluent speech, may be preceded and followed by silent pauses, as they most often occur on function words with a CV or V structure. Even though they are not always central, the vowels of such syllables may be as long as the ones observed for filled pauses. Retraced and unretraced restarts Riggenbach’s 1991 study of fluency development in Chinese learners of English had an analysis of repair phenomena, which included retraced restarts and unretraced restarts. Retraced restarts refer to the reformulations whereby a portion of the original utterance is duplicated. They can either involve repetition, that is, the precise adjacent duplication of a sound, syllable, word or phrase, or insertion, which refers to a retraced restart with the addition of new unretraced lexical items. Conversely, unretraced restarts refer to reformulations that rejects the original utterance, similarly known as false starts. Semantics and pragmatics The semantics of automatic speech have often been debated on, and to date, there lacks a consensus on whether or not filler words are intentional in speech and whether or not they should be considered as words or if they are simply side effects of difficulties in the planning process of speech by speakers. Bailey & Ferriera’s (2007) paper found that there is little evidence to suggest that the use of filler words are intentional in speech and that they should not be considered as words in the conventional sense. Filler words consist of "Non-lexical fillers" and "Lexical fillers". "Non-lexical fillers" are recognized as fillers that are not words and "Lexical fillers" are recognized as fillers that are words and both types of fillers are thought to contain little or no semantic information. However, some filler words are used to express certain speech acts. "Yeah", a "Lexical filler", is used to give affirmation, introduce a new topic, shows speaker's perception and understanding, and occurs after a speech management problem when the speakers does not how to continue their speech. Fillers like "Mmmm", a "Non-lexical filler", and "Well", a "Lexical filler", are also said to signal listener's understanding of the information provided. Research has shown that people were less likely to use automatic speech in general topics and domains they were more well-versed in, because they were more adept at selecting the appropriate terms. To date, there is insufficient research done to say if fillers are a part of integral meaning, or if they are aspect of performance, but we can say that they are useful in facilitating information for the listener. Automatic Speech is more likely to occur at the beginning of utterance or phrase and the reason is because it is presumed that there is a greater demand on planning processes at these junctures. Features of automatic speech, like filled pauses or repetitions, are most likely to occur immediately prior to the onset of a complex syntactic constituent. Filled pauses are also likely after the initial word in a complex constituent, especially after function words. Therefore, listeners might be able to use the presence of a recent filled pause to predict that an ambiguous structure, and this trait is in favor of a more complex analysis . There are several different types of automatic speech. One type is relatively universal, often transcending differences in language and to some degree culture. Simple fillers like “Uhm,” “Uh,” or “Er” are used by many different people in many different settings. For the most part, these types of fillers are considered innocuous, and are often overlooked by listeners, as long as they are not utilized so often that they overshadow the remainder of the conversation. Other forms of automatic speech are ingrained within specific cultures, and in fact are sometimes considered an identifying characteristic of people who share a particular religion, or live in a specific geographical region. Along with accents, automatic speech of this type is sometimes considered colorful and somewhat entertaining. Writers often make use of this type of speech to give the characters in their writings additional personality, helping to make them unique. The study conducted by Dechert (1980) that investigated the speech performance of a German student of English revealed that there is a tendency for speech pauses to be situated at breaks that are consistent with “episodic units”. Dechert (1980) found that the more fluent utterances exhibited more pauses at those junctures and lesser within the "episodic units", leading him to posit that the study subject was able to use the narrative structure to pace his own speech with natural breaks in order for him to scout for the words and phrases that are to follow subsequently. Through the comparison of the story retelling utterances collated of second language learners, Lennon (1984) discovered notable disparities in the distribution of pauses between recounting in the research subjects’ first and second languages respectively. The study found that all of the pauses were found to be located either at clause breaks or following nonintegral components of the clause, without pauses within the clauses. On the other hand, the narrators who spoke using their second language exhibited different patterns, with a higher frequency of pauses occurring within the clauses, leading to the conclusion posited by Lennon to be that the speakers seem to be “planning within clauses as well as in suprasegmental units”, and hence, the occurrence of pauses within clauses and not at the intersection of clauses could well be an indicator distinguishing fluent and confluent speech. Cognitive load is an important predictor of automatic speech. More disfluency is found in longer utterances and when the topic is unfamiliar. In Wood's book, he suggested that when a high degree of cognitive load occurs, such as during expository speech or impromptu descriptions of complex interrelated topics, even native speakers can suffer from disfluency. Speech rate is closely related to cognitive load of speakers as well. Depending on the cognitive load, the rate of a speaker's utterances are produced either faster or slower, in comparison to a fixed speaking rate which happens usually. For example, speech rate becomes slower when having to make choices that are not anticipated, and tend to accelerate when words are being repeated. In fast conditions, cognitive processes that result in a phonetic plan, fail to keep up with articulation, and thus, the articulation of the existing plan is restarted, resulting in the repetition of words which is more likely to happen but no more likely than fillers. Frequency of words In Beattie and Butterworth’s (1979) study, low frequency content words and those rated as contextually improbable were preceded by hesitations such as fillers. Speakers, when choosing to use low frequency words in their speech, are aware, and are more likely to be disfluent. This is further supported by Schnadt and Corley where they found that prolongations and fillers increased in words just before multiple-named or low frequency items. Domain (addressor vs. addressee) Humans are found to be more disfluent overall when addressing other humans as compared to when addressing machines. More instances of automatic speech is found in dialogues than in monologues. The different roles the addresser played (such as a sister, a daughter or a mother) greatly influences the numbers of disfluencies, particularly, fillers produced, regardless of length or complexity. There is a common agreement that disfluencies are accompanied by important modifications both at the segmental and prosodic levels and that speakers and listeners use such cues systematically and meaningfully. Thus they appear as linguistic universal devices that are similar to other devices and are controlled by the speaker and regulated by language specific constraints. In addition, speech disfluencies such as fillers can help listeners to identify upcoming words. While automatic speech can serve as a useful cue that more is to come, some people do develop an unconscious dependence on these filler words. When this is the case, it is necessary to correct the problem by making the speaker be aware of their over-reliance on automatic speech production and by training the person to make more efficient use of other verbal strategies. As the individual gains confidence and is less apt to have a need for filler words, the predilection toward automatic speech is then able to gradually diminish. A study done by Foxtree (2001) showed that both English and Dutch listeners were faster to identify words in a carrier sentence when it was preceded with an “Uh” instead of without an “Uh", which suggested that different fillers have different effects as they might be conveying different information. Fischer and Brandt-Pook also found out that discourse particles mark thematic breaks, signal the relatedness between the preceding and following utterance, indicate if the speaker has understood the content communicated, and support the formulation process by signalling possible problems in speech management. While fillers might give listeners cues about the information being conveyed, Bailey & Ferreira's study made a distinction between "Good Cues" and "Bad Cues" in facilitating listener’s comprehension. A "Good Cue" leads the listener to correctly predict the onset of a new constituent (Noun Phrase, Verb Phrase), whereas a "Bad Cue" leads the listener to incorrectly predict the onset of a new constituent. "Good Cue" make it easier for listeners to process the information they have been presented while "Bad Cue" make it harder for listeners process the relevant information. There is strong empirical evidence that speakers use automatic speech in similar ways across languages and that automatic language plays a fundamental role in the structuring of spontaneous speech, as they are used to achieve a better synchronization between interlocutors by announcing upcoming topic changes, delays related to planning load or preparedness problems, as well as speaker’s intentions to take/give the floor or to revise/abandon an expression he/she had already presented. A study conducted by Clark and Foxtree (2002) mentioned that parts of automatic speech, such as fillers, serve a communicative function and are considered integral to the information the speaker tries to convey, although they do not add to the propositional content or the primary message. Instead, they are considered part of a collateral message where the speaker is commenting on her performance. Speakers produce filled pauses (e.g. "Uh" or "Um") for a variety of reasons, including the intention to discourage interruptions or to gain additional time to plan utterances. Another communicative goal includes the attention-impelling function, which explores another purpose of hesitation forms as being to dissociate oneself slightly from the harsh reality of what is to follow. With the use of a beat of time filled with a meaningless interjection, uncommitted people who are "into distancing" make use of such automatic speech to create a little distance between themselves and their words, as if it might lessen the impact of their words. However, not all forms of automatic speech are considered appropriate or harmless.There are examples of automatic speech production that lean towards being offensive, for instance, the use of anything considered to be profanity within a given culture. In this form, the speech is usually the insertion of swear words within the sentence structure used to convey various ideas. At times, this use of automatic speech comes about due to the individual being greatly distressed or angry. However, there are situations where swear words are inserted unconsciously even if the individual is extremely happy. When the use of swear words is called to the attention of the individual, he or she may not even have been aware of the usage of such automatic speech. Many patients who suffer from aphasia retain the ability to produce automatic speech, which often consists of conversational placeholders like "um" and "er." The automatic speech of aphasics can include swear words - in some cases, patients are unable to create words or sentences, but they are able to swear. Also, the ability to pronounce other words can change and evolve during the process of recovery, while pronunciation and use of swear words remain unchanged. One of the articulatory characteristics of apraxia found in adults includes speech behavior that "exhibits fewer errors with automatic speech than volitional speech”. Developmental verbal dyspraxia has also been found to have more effect on volitional speech than on automatic speech. The characteristics of apraxia of speech include difficulties in imitating speech sounds, imitating no-speech movements, such as sticking out the tongue, groping for sounds, and in severe cases, the inability to produce any sounds, inconsistent errors and a slow rate of speech. However, patients who suffer from apraxia of speech may retain the ability to produce automatic speech, such as “thank you” or “how are you?”. Apraxia can also occur in conjunction with dysarthria, an illness which inflicts muscle weakness affecting speech production), or aphasia, which causes language difficulties related to neurological damage. Developmental coordination disorder Developmental coordination disorder is a chronic neurological disorder that affects the voluntary movements of speech. A child affected by developmental coordination disorder may be able to say certain words or phrases spontaneously, constituting a form of automatic speech, but may be unable to repeat them on request, thus constituting the inability to formulate a certain form of voluntary speech. - Automatic writing - Developmental coordination disorder - Filler words - Speech disfluency - About.com- What is Embolalia - Ward, N. (2000). "Issues in the Transcription of English Conversational Grunts.". In 1st SIGdial Workshop on Discourse and Dialogue. - Corley, M.; Stewart, O. W. (2008). "Hesitation Disfluencies in Spontaneous Speech: The Meaning of um.". Language and Linguistics Compass: 589–602. - Mondofacto - Etymology of embolia - Wordinfo - Definition of embolalia - Safire, William (16 June 1991). "On Language; Impregnating the Pause". The New York Times. p. 8. - Obler, Loraine K.; Albert, Martin L. (1985), Historical Note: Jules Seglas on Language in Dementia, Brain and Language 24 (2): 314–325, doi:10.1016/0093-934X(85)90138-5 - Levin, Harry; Silverman, Irene (1965), Hesitation Phenomena in Children's Speech, Language and Speech 8 (2): 67–85, doi:10.1177/002383096500800201 - Dekel, Gil (2008), Wordless Silence of Poetic Mind: Outlining and Visualising Poetic Experiences through Artmaking, Forum: Qualitative Social Research 9 (2) - An Overview of Yeats A Vision - Freed, B. (1995). Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context. Amsterdam /Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. - Moniz, H.; Mata, A. I. and Viana, M. C. (2007). "On Filled Pauses and Prolongations in European Portuguese.". Interspeech: 2645–2648. - Riggenbach, H. (1991). Towards an understanding of fluency: A microanalysis of nonnative speaker conversations. Discourse Processes, 14: 423–41. - Bailey, Karl G. D.; Ferreira, Fernanda (2007), The processing of filled pause disfluencies in the visual world, Eye Movements a Window on Mind and Brain: 487–502, ISBN 9780080449807 - Fischer, K.; Brandt-Pook, H. (1998), Automatic Disambiguation of Discourse Particles, pp. 107–113 - Schachter, S.; F. Rauscher, N. Christenfeld, and K. Tyson Crone. (1994). "The vocabularies of academia.". Psychological Science 5: 37–41. - Brennan, S. E.; Williams, M. (1995), The feeling of another’s knowing: Prosody and filled pauses as cues to listeners about the metacognitive states of speakers, Journal of Memory and Language 34: 383–398, doi:10.1006/jmla.1995.1017 - Schnadt, M. J., and M. Corley. submitted. Buying time in spontaneous speech: How speakers accommodate lexical difficulty. - Clark, H. H.; Wasow, T. (1998). "Repeating words in spontaneous speech." (PDF). Cognitive Psychology: 201–242. doi:10.1006/cogp.1998.0693. - Blackwell Reference Online - Formulaic Sequences and Language Disorders. - Kuniper, K. (2000). "On the Linguistic Properties of Formulaic Speech.". Oral Tradition: 279–305. - Wisegeek.com - What is Automatic Speech - [Dechert, HW. (1980). Pauses and intonation as indicators of verbal planning in second-language speech productions: Two examples from a case study. In Dechert, HW & Raupach, M. (Eds.), Temporal variables in speech (pp. 271-285).] - [Lennon, P. (1984). Retelling a story in English. In HW, Dechert, D. Mehle, 8c M. Raupauch (Eds.), Second Language Productions (pp. 50-68). Turbingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.] - Shriberg, E. (1996), Disfluencies in Switchboard, Proceedings, International Conference on Spoken Language Processing, Addendum: 11–14 - David Wood (1 September 2010). Formulaic Language and Second Language Speech Fluency: Background, Evidence and Classroom Applications. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4411-5819-2. Retrieved 23 March 2012. - O'Shaughnessy, D. (1995), Timing patterns in fluent and disfluent spontaneous speech, Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing 1: 600–603, doi:10.1109/ICASSP.1995.479669 - Blacfkmer, Elizabeth R.; Mitton, Janet L. (1991), Theories of monitoring and the timing of repairs in spontaneous speech, Cognition 39 (3): 173–194, doi:10.1016/0010-0277(91)90052-6 - Beattie, G. W.; Butterworth, B. L. (1979), Contextual probability and word frequency as determinants of pauses and errors in spontaneous speech, Language and Speech 22: 201–211 - Oviatt, S. (1995), Predicting spoken disfluencies during human-computer interaction, Computer Speech and Language 9: 19–35, doi:10.1006/csla.1995.0002 - Bortfeld, H.; Leon, J. E. Bloom, M. F. Schober, and S. E. Brennan (2001), Disfluency rates in conversation: Effects of age, relationship, topic, role, and gender, Language and Speech 44: 123–147, doi:10.1177/00238309010440020101 - Brennan, S. E.; Schober, M. F. (2001), How listeners compensate for disfluencies in spontaneous speech, Journal of Memory and Language 44: 274–296, doi:10.1006/jmla.2000.2753 - Yang, Li-Chiung (2001), Visualizing Spoken Discourse: Prosodic Form and Discourse Functions of Interruptions, In Proceedings of the 2001 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, doi:10.3115/1118078.1118106 - Fox Tree, J. E. (2001). Listeners’ uses of um and uh in speech comprehension. Memory & Cognition 29.320-326. - Bailey, K. G. B.; Ferreira, F. (2003), Disfluencies influence syntactic parsing, Journal of Memory and Language 49: 183–200, doi:10.1016/s0749-596x(03)00027-5 - Clark, H. H.; Fox Tree, J. E. (2002), Using uh and um in spontaneous speaking, Cognition 84: 73–111, doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(02)00017-3, PMID 12062148 - Wilson, Tracy V. (2005). How Swearing Works. HowStuffWorks.com Retrieved on 9 March 2012. - McCaffrey, Patrick. Transcortical Sensory Aphasia. The Neuroscience on the Web Series: Neuropathologies of Language and Cognition - Britchkow, Ela. (2005). Apraxia. Speakeffectively.com - Ogar, J.; Slama, H.; Dronkers, N.; Amici, S.; Gorno-Tempini, M. L. (2005), Apraxia of Speech: An overview, Neurocase 11: 427–432, doi:10.1080/13554790500263529, PMID 16393756 - Velleman, Shelley L. Childhood apraxia of speech (developmental verbal dyspraxia). Retrieved on 9 March 2012. - Portelli, J., Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia, Association of Speech and Language Pathologists of Malta

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Homer (Greek Όμηρος, Homeros) was a legendary early Greek poet traditionally credited with the composition of the epic poems the Iliad (Ἰλιάς) and the Odyssey (Ὀδύσσεια). Throughout antiquity and subsequent history, Homer's influence on literature has been unequalled, and the Homeric epics are among the oldest surviving writings in any language. Scholars debate whether the epics are works of a single author or multiple authors, and the dating of both the compositions and the events they describe remain in doubt. Homer is tentatively located in the Greek archaic period, c. 750 B.C.E. The poems portray events surrounding the shadowy Trojan War, likely a fusion of various military exploits by Mycenaean Greeks of the Bronze Age, predating Homer by some four centuries. The Greeks believed that Homer was a blind rhapsode, or professional singer, and the poems were passed on for decades by oral tradition before being committed to writing. From the first recorded appearance of the Iliad and the Odyssey, they assume a status apart from other literature, classics upon which Greeks developed their canon of literary texts, values, and exceptionalism. All epic poetry in Western literature ultimately derives from Homer. Homer's great poems remained foundational works of art, not religious scripture, for later classical Greeks. Virtue and honor are central preoccupations of the epics. Honor is "perhaps the most reiterated cultural and moral value in Ancient Greece," says classical scholar Richard Hooker, and means "achieving, morally and otherwise, your greatest potential as a human being." The Greek turn toward drama, science, architecture, and humanistic philosophy rather than religious speculations may be traceable to Homer's emphasis on human values, as well as his unflattering portrayal of the gods, buffeted by all-too-human weaknesses. We know almost nothing of Homer's life; and, surprisingly, the writers of antiquity knew little more. No record of Homer's life, real or pretended, ever existed. Herodotus (2.53) maintains that Hesiod and Homer lived not more than 400 years before his own time, consequently not much before 850 B.C.E. From the controversial tone in which he expresses himself it is evident that others had made Homer more ancient; and accordingly the dates given by later authorities, though widely varied, generally fall within the tenth and eleventh centuries B.C.E., but none of these claims is grounded in historical fact. Other than a putative date of birth, the only thing that authors of antiquity agree upon is that Homer was blind, and that he probably lived in the Greek isles of the Mediterranean. Beyond this, nothing of Homer's life is known or even hinted at in his own writings. Due to this dearth of information, for nearly a hundred years scholars have begun to question whether Homer ever really existed. Through textual research it has become clear that the Iliad and Odyssey underwent a process of standardization and refinement from older material beginning in the eighth century B.C.E. An important role in this standardization appears to have been played by the Athenian tyrant Hipparchus, who reformed the recitation of Homeric poetry at the Panathenaic festival. Many classicists hold that this reform must have involved the production of a canonical written text, and that the name "Homer" was later somehow attached to this amalgamation. Other scholars, however, maintain their belief in the reality of an actual Homer. So little is known or even guessed of his actual life, that a common joke has it that the poems "were not written by Homer, but by another man of the same name." The classical scholar Richmond Lattimore, author of well regarded poetic translations to English of both epics, once wrote a paper entitled "Homer: Who Was She?" Samuel Butler (1835-1902) was more specific, theorizing a young Sicilian woman as author of the Odyssey (but not the Iliad), an idea further speculated on by Robert Graves in his novel Homer's Daughter. In Greek his name is Homēros, which is Greek for "hostage." This has led to the development of a theory that his name was extracted from the name of a society of poets called the Homeridae, which literally means "sons of hostages," as in descendants of prisoners of war. As these men were not sent to war because their loyalty on the battlefield was suspect, they were entrusted with remembering Greece's stock of epic poetry in the times before literacy came to the ancient world. Most Classicists would agree that, whether there was ever such a composer as "Homer" or not, the Homeric poems are the product of an oral tradition, a generations-old technique that was the collective inheritance of many singer-poets (aoidoi). An analysis of the structure and vocabulary of the Iliad and Odyssey shows that the poems consist of regular, repeating phrases; even entire verses repeat. It has hence been speculated that the Iliad and Odyssey could have been oral-formulaic poems, composed on the spot by the poet using a collection of memorized traditional verses and phases. Milman Parry and Albert Lord pointed out that an oral tradition to compose a poem of the length and complexity of the Iliad is not as far-fetched as it might seem; in a paper on the subject, Parry and Lord make reference to the recent discovery of an oral culture living in remote parts of contemporary Yugoslavia, where poet-rhapsodes compose on-the-spot epics using formulas remarkably similar to those found in Homer. Many poems that were ascribed to Homer in antiquity are now known to be spurious. Other poems of Homer, which probably once existed, have been lost. Of what survives, only the epic Iliad and Odyssey are considered to be authoritatively Homeric works. The two poems are closely related in style and language as well as content. Both poems are concerned with the Trojan War and its aftermath, and both involve the actions of epic heroes, such as Achilles and Odysseus, who are more like the gods of mythological stories than the three-dimensional characters of contemporary fiction. The most prominent characteristics of Homer's poetic style were probably best captured by the nineteenth century poet Matthew Arnold. "The translator of Homer," he writes, "should above all be penetrated by a sense of four qualities of his author: that he is eminently rapid; that he is eminently plain and direct, both in the evolution of his thought and in the expression of it, that is, both in his syntax and in his words; that he is eminently plain and direct in the substance of his thought, that is, in his matter and ideas; and, finally, that he is eminently noble." (On translating Homer, 9). In contrast to the other canonical epic poets Virgil, Dante, and Milton, Homer's poetry is characterized by plainspoken language and straightforward, rapidly moving narrative. The rapidity of Homer is probably a result of his use of dactylic hexameter, a meter which tends to sound hurried to most listeners (it has often been called the "hoofbeat" meter, in contrast to the iamb's "heartbeat.") Homer's plainness is probably an attribute of his time; as an oral poet, Homer could not afford to confuse himself or his audience with convoluted metaphors and digressions. As a result his epics sound much like the work of a master story-teller. Homer's "nobility,” as Arnold calls it, is probably the most difficult aspect of his poetry for contemporary readers to digest. Simply put, there are no moral dilemmas in Homer. The heroes of the epics often do things that today we would find horrifying; but there is never any doubt in their minds (or, for all we can discern, the author's mind) that what they are doing is eminently right. The Iliad narrates several weeks of action during the tenth and final year of the Trojan War, concentrating on the wrath of Achilles. It begins with the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon, and ends with the funeral rites of Hector. Neither the background and early years of the war (Paris' abduction of Helen from King Menelaus), nor its end (the death of Achilles), are directly narrated in the Iliad. The Iliad and the Odyssey are part of a larger cycle of epic poems of varying lengths and authors; only fragments survive of the other poems, however. Of the many themes in the Iliad, perhaps the most important is the idea of what constitutes the hero in ancient Greek culture. Achilles is forced to make a choice between living a long life or dying young on the battlefield. In his culture, the latter would have been a better choice because death in battle leads to honor and glory, the most important values of the day—even more important than right and wrong. Part of what makes the Iliad interesting as a literary work is the way that Achilles, especially in Book 9, both embraces concepts of honor and glory and also simultaneously rejects them. Plot and themes In the midst of the war, Apollo sends a plague against the Greeks, who had captured the daughter of the priest, Chryses, and given her as a prize to Agamemnon. He is compelled to restore her to her father. To assuage his pride, Agamemnon takes Briseis, whom the Athenians had given to Achilles, the greatest warrior of the age, as a reward for his efforts. Following the advice of his mother, Thetis, Achilles withdraws from battle in revenge. As a result the allied Achaean (Greek) armies nearly lose the war. In counterpoint to Achilles' pride and arrogance stands the Trojan prince, Hector, son of King Priam. As a husband and father, Hector fights to defend his city and his family. When Hector kills Patroclus, Achilles' dearest friend (and possibly his lover), Achilles rejoins the fight to seek revenge, slaying Hector. Later, King Priam comes to Achilles disguised as a beggar to ransom back his son's body. Priam's love for his son moves Achilles to pity. The poem concludes with Hector's funeral. The poem is a poignant depiction of the tragedy and agony of family and friendship destroyed by battle. The first word of the Greek poem is "Μηνιν" ("mēnin," meaning "wrath"); the main subject of the poem is the wrath of Achilles; the second word is "aeide," meaning "sing"; ancient Greek poetry is sung; the third word is "thea," meaning "goddess"; the goddess here being the "Mousa" or "muse"; a literal translation of the first line would read "Wrath, sing goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles" or more intelligibly "Sing, goddess, the wrath of Peleus' son Achilles." - Book 1: Ten years into the war, Achilles and Agamemnon quarrel over a slave girl, Achilles withdraws from the war in anger - Book 2: Odysseus motivates the Greeks to keep fighting; Catalogue of Ships, Catalogue of Trojans and Allies - Book 3: Paris (mythology) challenges Menelaus to single combat - Book 4: The truce is broken and battle begins - Book 5: Diomedes has an aristea and wounds Aphrodite and Ares - Book 6: Glaucus and Diomedes greet during a truce - Book 7: Hector battles Ajax - Book 8: The gods withdraw from the battle - Book 9: Agamemnon retreats: his overtures to Achilles are spurned - Book 10: Diomedes and Odysseus go on a spy mission - Book 11: Paris wounds Diomedes, and Achilles sends Patroclus on a mission - Book 12: The Greeks retreat to their camp and are besieged by the Trojans - Book 13: Poseidon motivates the Greeks - Book 14: Hera helps Poseidon assist the Greeks - Book 15: Zeus stops Poseidon from interfering - Book 16: Patroclus borrows Achilles' armor, enters battle, kills Sarpedon and then is killed by Hector - Book 17: The armies fight over the body and armor of Patroclus - Book 18: Achilles learns of the death of Patroclus and receives a new suit of armor - Book 19: Achilles reconciles with Agamemnon and enters battle - Book 20: The gods join the battle; Achilles tries to kill Aeneas - Book 21: Achilles fights with the river Scamander and encounters Hector in front of the Trojan gates - Book 22: Achilles kills Hector and drags his body back to the Greek camp - Book 23: Funeral games for Patroclus - Book 24: Achilles lets Priam have Hector's body back, and he is burned on a pyre The Odyssey (Greek: Οδύσσεια, Odússeia) is the second of the two great epic poems ascribed to Homer. The 11,300 line poem follows Odysseus, king of Ithaca, on his voyage home after a heroic turn in the Trojan War. It also tells the story of Odysseus' wife, Penelope, who struggles to remain faithful, and his son Telemachus, who sets out to find his father. In contrast to the Iliad, with its extended sequences of battle and violence, all three are ultimately successful by means of their cleverness, and the support of the goddess, Athena. This cleverness is most often manifested by Odysseus' use of disguise and, later, recognition. His disguises take forms both physical alteration and verbal deception. The Odyssey consists of 24 books, beginning, as do many ancient epics, in medias res, or in the middle of the action, with prior events described through flashbacks or storytelling. The first four books, known as the Telemachiad, trace Telemachus' efforts to maintain control of the palace in the face of suitors to his mother's hand in marriage. Failing that, Athena encourages him to find his father. In book 5, Odysseus nears the end of his journey, a not entirely unwilling captive of the beautiful nymph, Calypso, with whom he's spent seven of his ten lost years. Released from her wiles by the intercession of his patroness, Athena, and her father Zeus, he departs. His raft is destroyed by his nemesis, Poseidon, who is angry because Odysseus blinded his son, the Cyclops, Polyphemus. When Odysseus washes up on Scheria, home to the Phaeacians, the naked stranger is treated with traditional Greek hospitality even before he reveals his name. Odysseus satisfies the Phaeacians' curiosity, recounting for them—and for us—all his adventures on his trip home since from Troy. This renowned, extended "flashback" leads him back to where he stands, his tale told. The shipbuilding Phaeacians finally loan him a ship to return to Ithaca, where, home at last, he regains his throne, reunites with his son, metes out justice to the suitors, and reunites with his faithful wife, Penelope. - Book 1: The gods agree that Odysseus has been marooned too long and deserves to be returned home. Athena sets out to help him, and on the way visits Telemachus. - Book 2: Penelope's suitors mock Telemachus. With Athena's help, he sets out for Pylos for news of his father. - Book 3: Telemachus converses with the sage Nestor, who suggests that he seek out Menalaus, who was also stranded after the war. - Book 4: Menelaus tells while he was stranded in Egypt he learned that Odysseus was marooned on the isle of Calypso. - Book 5: At the command of Zeus, Calypso lets Odysseus go free; Poseidon creates a terrible storm to thwart him. - Book 6: Odysseus washes ashore and is found by Nausicaa, princess of the Phaeacians. - Book 7: The king invites Odysseus to a banquet at the palace, and promises to help him so long as his guests are suitably entertained. - Book 8: During the banquet, Odysseus cannot hold back his sadness and begins to weep. The king implores him to tell the guests his name and where he comes from. - Book 9: Odysseus introduces himself as a hero, and begins a long flashback beginning with he and his men's capture by the Cyclops. - Book 10: Odysseus' men are attacked by giants after misguiding the ship. The survivors are captured by the sorceress Circe and turned into swine. - Book 11: Odysseus frees his men and escapes; they visit the underworld, to seek the advice of the dead prophet Tiresias. - Book 12: Odysseus' ship passes by the Sirens and the sea-monsters Scylla and Charybdis; the ship lands on the Island of Apollo, and Odysseus' men sacrifice the god's sacred cattle; Zeus kills all of them except Odysseus, who washes ashore on the isle of Calypso. - Book 13: The king, in awe, orders a ship for Odysseus to be taken home at once; Athena, in disguise, guides him there. - Book 14: Eumaeus, a kindly swineherd, is the first to meet Odysseus, although he does not recognize him. - Book 15: Athena warns Telemachus of the suitors' ambush; meanwhile, Odysseus listens to Eumaeus tell the story of his life. - Book 16: Evading the suitors' ambush, Telemachus is led by Athena to the farmstead of Eumaeus to reunite with his father. - Book 17: Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus returns to his home and begs food from the suitors, who berate and abuse him. - Book 18: Irus, a real beggar and lackey for the suitors, arrives and eggs Odysseus into a fistfight; Odysseus wins easily. - Book 19: Odysseus has a long talk with Penelope but does not reveal his identity; Penelope has a maid of the house wash Odysseus feet, and she recognizes him by a scar on his leg; Odysseus implores her to be silent until he has finished his plot for revenge. - Book 20: Odysseus asks Zeus for a sign and receives it; a wandering prophet visits the suitors and warns them of their imminent doom. - Book 21: Penelope appears before the suitors and challenges them to string the bow of Odysseus; all of them fail, until the bow is passed to Odysseus. - Book 22: Telemachus, Eumaeus, and another faithful herdsman join Odysseus fully armed, and together they slay the suitors with bow and arrow. - Book 23: Odysseus purges the blood-drenched mansion with fire; the suitors' kinfolk learn what has happened. - Book 24: Odysseus visits his father, King Laertes, working like a peasant at a vineyard; the suitors' kin gather around them and call for Odysseus to fight to the death; Laertes, Odysseus, and Telemachus meet the challenge, but before fighting can begin Athena stops everything and commands them all to live in peace. Historicity of the Iliad and Odyssey Another significant question regards the possible historical basis of the events that take place in Homer's poems. The commentaries on the Iliad and the Odyssey written in the Hellenistic period began exploring the textual inconsistencies of the poems. Modern classicists have continued the tradition. The excavations of Heinrich Schliemann in the late nineteenth century began to convince scholars that there was a historical basis for the Trojan War. Research (pioneered by the aforementioned Parry and Lord) into oral epics in Serbo-Croatian and Turkic languages began to convince scholars that long poems could be preserved with consistency by oral cultures until someone bothered to write them down. The decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris and others, convinced scholars of a linguistic continuity between thirteenth century B.C.E. Mycenaean writings and the poems attributed to Homer. It is probable, therefore, that the story of the Trojan War as reflected in the Homeric poems derives from a tradition of epic poetry founded on a war that actually took place. However, it is important not to underestimate the creative and transforming power of demands of poetry and the subsequent tradition: for instance, Achilles, the most important character of the Iliad, is associated with Thessaly. He has likely a poetic invention, added to a story in which the attackers of Troy were from the Peloponnese. - ↑ Richard Hooker, "Bureaucrats and Barbarians: Minoans, Myceneans, and the Greek Dark Ages," , online textbook resource, Washington State Univ.. retrieved September 20, 2007 (texts in Homeric Greek) - Demetrius Chalcondylas editio princeps, Florence, 1488 - the Aldine editions (1504 and 1517) - Wolf (Halle, 1794-1795; Leipzig, 1804 1807) - Spitzner (Gotha, 1832-1836) - Bekker (Berlin, 1843; Bonn, 1858) - La Roche (Odyssey, 1867-1868; Iliad, 1873-1876, both at Leipzig) - Ludwich (Odyssey, Leipzig, 1889-1891; Iliad, 2 vols., 1901 and 1907) - W. Leaf (Iliad, London, 1886-1888; 2nd ed. 1900-1902) - Merry and Ridciell (Odyssey i.-xii., 2nd ed., Oxford, 1886) - Monro (Odyssey xiii.-xxiv. with appendices, Oxford, 1901) - Monro and Allen (Iliad), and Allen (Odyssey, 1908, Oxford). - D.B. Monro and T.W. Allen 1917-1920, Homeri Opera (5 volumes: Iliad = 3rd edition, Odyssey = 2nd edition), Oxford. ISBN 0198145284, ISBN 0198145292, ISBN 0198145314, ISBN 0198145322, ISBN 0198145349 - H. van Thiel 1991, Homeri Odyssea, Hildesheim. ISBN 3487094584 1996, Homeri Ilias, Hildesheim. ISBN 3487094592 - M. L. West 1998-2000, Homeri Ilias (2 volumes), Munich/Leipzig. ISBN 3598714319, ISBN 3598714351 - P. von der Mühll 1993, Homeri Odyssea, Munich/Leipzig. ISBN 3598714327 - Ilias in Wikisource - Odyssee in Wikisource - Alexander Pope (1688–1744) - Samuel Butler (1835–1902) - The Iliad, W.J. Black (1942) ASIN B0007HYRDM; AMS Press (1968) ASIN B0006C6IQ2 Free eBook at Project Gutenberg - The Odyssey, W.J. Black (1944) ASIN B0007HYREQ ASIN B000BSH1OE; AMS Press (1968) ASIN B0006C6IPS; IndyPublish.com (2001) ISBN 1404322388 Free eBook at Project Gutenberg Retrieved September 16, 2008. - Andrew Lang (1844–1912) - Richmond Lattimore (1906–1984) - Martin Hammond - Robert Fitzgerald (1910–1985) - W.H.D. Rouse, The Odyssey. Signet Classics (1999) ISBN 0451527364 - Robert Fagles (b. 1933) - Stanley Lombardo General works on Homer - Fowler, Robert (ed.). 2004. The Cambridge Companion to Homer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521012465 - Morris, I. and B. Powell. 1997. A New Companion to Homer. Leiden. ISBN 9004099891 - Wace, A. J. B. and F. H. Stubbings. 1962. A Companion to Homer. London. ISBN 0333071131 Influential readings and interpretations - Auerbach, E. 1953. Mimesis, Princeton (orig. publ. in German, 1946, Bern), chapter 1. ISBN 069111336X - Edwards, M. W. 1987. Homer, Poet of the Iliad. Baltimore. ISBN 0801833299 - Fenik, B. 1974. Studies in the Odyssey, Wiesbaden ('Hermes' Einzelschriften 30). - de Jong, I. J. F. 1987. Narrators and Focalizers, Amsterdam/Bristol. ISBN 1853996580 - Nagy, G. 1979. The Best of the Achaeans. Baltimore. ISBN 0801860156 - Jones, P. V. (ed.). 2003. Homer's Iliad. A Commentary on Three Translations. London. ISBN 1853996572 - Kirk, G. S. (gen. ed.) 1985-1993. The Iliad: A Commentary (6 volumes). Cambridge. ISBN 0521281717, ISBN 0521281725, ISBN 0521281733, ISBN 0521281741, ISBN 0521312086, ISBN 0521312094 - Latacz, J. (gen. ed.). 2002-, Homers Ilias. Gesamtkommentar. Auf der Grundlage der Ausgabe von Ameis-Hentze-Cauer (1868-1913) (2 volumes published so far, of an estimated 15), Munich/Leipzig. ISBN 3598743076, ISBN 3598743041 - Postlethwaite, N. (ed.) 2000, Homer's Iliad: A Commentary on the Translation of Richmond Lattimore. Exeter. ISBN 0859896846 - Willcock, M. W. (ed.). 1976, A Companion to the Iliad. Chicago. ISBN 0226898555 - Heubeck, A. (gen. ed.). 1990-1993, A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey (3 volumes; orig. publ. 1981-1987 in Italian). Oxford. ISBN 0198147473, ISBN 0198721447, ISBN 0198149530 - Jones, P. (ed.). 1988, Homer's Odyssey: A Commentary based on the English Translation of Richmond Lattimore. Bristol. ISBN 1853990388 - de Jong, I. J. F. (ed.). 2001. A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey, Cambridge. ISBN 0521468442 Trends in Homeric scholarship - A. Heubeck 1974, Die homerische Frage, Darmstadt. ISBN 3534038649 - R. Merkelbach 1969, Untersuchungen zur Odyssee (2nd edition), Munich. ISBN 3406032427 - D. Page 1955, The Homeric Odyssey, Oxford. - U. von Wilamowitz-Möllendorff 1916, Die Ilias und Homer, Berlin. - F.A. Wolf 1795, Prolegomena ad Homerum, Halle. Published in English translation 1988, Princeton. ISBN 0691102473 - M.E. Clark 1986, "Neoanalysis: a bibliographical review," Classical World 79.6: 379-94. - J. Griffin 1977, "The epic cycle and the uniqueness of Homer," Journal of Hellenic Studies 97: 39-53. - J.T. Kakridis 1949, Homeric Researches, London. ISBN 0824077571 - W. Kullmann 1960, Die Quellen der Ilias (Troischer Sagenkreis), Wiesbaden. ISBN 3515002359 Homer and oral tradition - E. Bakker 1997, Poetry in Speech: Orality and Homeric Discourse, Ithaca NY. ISBN 0801432952 - J.M. Foley 1999, Homer's Traditional Art, University Park PA. ISBN 0271018704 - G.S. Kirk 1976, Homer and the Oral Tradition, Cambridge. ISBN 0521213096 - A.B. Lord 1960, The Singer of Tales, Cambridge MA. ISBN 0674002830 - M. Parry 1971, The Making of Homeric Verse, Oxford. ISBN 019520560X Dating the Homeric poems - R. Janko 1982, Homer, Hesiod and the Hymns, Cambridge. ISBN 0521238692 All links retrieved March 5, 2014. - The Homer Pages. Collection of Homer-related links. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

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Growth and Development, Ages 15 to 18 Years How do teenagers grow and develop during ages 15 to 18? The ages from 15 to 18 are an exciting time of life. But these years can be challenging for teens and their parents. Emotions can change quickly as teens learn to deal with school, their friends, and adult expectations. Teen self-esteem is affected by success in sports, school, and friendships. Teens tend to compare themselves with others, and they might form false ideas about their body image. The influence of TV, magazines, and the Internet can add to a teen’s poor body image. For parents, the teen years are a time to get to know their teenager. While teens are maturing, they still need a parent's love and guidance. Most do just fine as they face the challenges of being a teen. But it is still important for teens to have good support from their parents so that they can get through these years with as few problems as possible. There are four basic areas of teenage development: - Physical development. Most teens enter puberty by age 15. Girls go through a time of rapid growth right before their first menstrual period. And by age 15, girls are near their adult height. Boys usually continue to grow taller and gain weight through their teen years. - Cognitive development. As they mature, teens are more able to think about and understand abstract ideas such as morality. They also begin to understand other people better. Even though they have a certain amount of empathy and can understand that others have different ideas, they often strongly believe that their own ideas are the most true. - Emotional and social development. Much of teens’ emotional and social growth is about finding their place in the world. They are trying to figure out “Who am I?” and “How do I fit in?” So it is normal for their emotions to change from day to day. - Sensory and motor development. Boys continue to get stronger and more agile even after puberty. Girls tend to level out. Getting plenty of exercise helps improve strength and coordination in boys and girls. When are routine medical visits needed? Teenagers should see their doctor for a routine checkup each year. The doctor will ask your teen questions about his or her life and activities. This helps the doctor check on your teen’s mental and physical health. It’s a good idea to give your teen some time alone with the doctor during these visits to talk in private. Your teen will also get any needed shots (immunizations) at each checkup. Teens should also see the dentist each year. When should you call your doctor? Call your doctor if you have questions or concerns about your teen’s physical or emotional health, such as: - Delayed growth. - Changes in appetite. - Body image problems. - Behavior changes. - Skipping school or other problems with school. - Alcohol and drug use. Also call your doctor if you notice changes in your teen’s friendships or relationships or if you need help talking with your teen. How can you help your teenager during these years? Even though teens don't always welcome your help, they still need it. Your being available and involved in your teen’s life can help your teen avoid risky behavior. It also helps your teen grow and develop into a healthy adult. Here are some things you can do: - Encourage your teen to get enough sleep. - Talk about body image and self worth. - Encourage your teen to eat healthy foods and be active. - Talk with your teen about drugs and alcohol. - Be ready to address your teen’s concerns and problems. - Involve your teen in setting household rules and schedules. - Continue talking to your teen about dating and sex. - Encourage community involvement (volunteering). - Set rules about Internet use. Teens really want to know that they can talk honestly and openly with you about their feelings and actions. It is very important for teens to know that you love them no matter what. Frequently Asked Questions Learning about teen growth and development: Seeing a doctor: Health Tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health. |Actionsets are designed to help people take an active role in managing a health condition.| |Growth and development: Helping your child build self-esteem| |Substance abuse: Dealing with teen substance use| |Interactive tools are designed to help people determine health risks, ideal weight, target heart rate, and more.| |Interactive Tool: What Is Your Child's BMI?| What to Expect Teens grow and develop at different rates. But general teen growth and development patterns can be grouped into four main categories. - Physical development. By age 15, most teens have entered puberty. Most girls are close to their adult height and have completed the phase of rapid growth that precedes the first menstrual period. Boys often continue to grow taller and gain weight. The growth spurt in boys tends to start about 2 years after puberty begins and reaches its peak about 1½ years later. Also, gender characteristics continue to develop in both girls and boys. - Cognitive development, which is the ability to think, learn, reason, and remember. Teens gradually develop the ability to think in more sophisticated, abstract ways. They begin to perceive issues in shades of gray instead of black and white, as they gain a better understanding of concepts like morality, consequence, objectivity, and empathy. Although they may understand that people can see the same issue in different ways, they often are convinced their personal view is the one that is most correct. - Emotional and social development. Attempts to answer the questions, "Who am I?" and "How do I fit in?" guide much of teens' emotional and social development. This can be a painful process full of anxiety. In response, teens may behave unpredictably as emotions fluctuate seemingly at random. At times teens may seem mature. Other times, they may act as if they are still in elementary school, especially with parents and other close family members. Socially, teens form new friendships, often with members of the opposite sex. - Sensory and motor development. After puberty, boys' strength and agility naturally continues to develop, while that of teen girls tends to level out. Both girls and boys can increase strength, coordination, and athletic skill through regular physical activity. Growth and development does not always occur evenly among different categories. For example, your teen may have a tremendous growth spurt and look almost like an adult, but may seem socially and emotionally young for his or her age. Eventually, most teens mature in all areas of growth and development, especially if given the right tools and parental guidance. The word "teenager" to many people brings up an image of a wild and reckless young person whose main purpose in life is to rebel against his or her parents. Most teenagers do not fit this description. Of course, there are times when any teenager may be hard to deal with. But many teenagers are trying their best to please parents while they work toward some level of independence. Parents of teenagers between ages 15 and 18 are often most concerned about whether the teen will be able to make good decisions. Parents know that the choices children make during the teen years can impact much of their adult lives. It is normal to worry. Even if your child has momentary lapses in judgment, the chances are that he or she is going to be okay. Know that you are not alone in these types of concerns. For example, many parents worry about whether their teenager will: - Resist using or abusing alcohol and drugs (including prescription drugs and supplements such as anabolic steroids). Many teens are exposed to these and other substances throughout their teen years. Offer strategies to avoid tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. Set firm, fair, and consistent limits for your teen. Talk about the immediate and long-lasting results of substance use, such as falling grades and poor health during adulthood. Help your teen practice how to respond when a harmful substance is offered, such as stating "No, thanks" and moving on to another subject. Look for community programs led by teens (peer education). And talk to your teen right away if you see signs of substance use. - Focus enough on doing well in school. Typically, teenagers have many distractions. Friends, clubs, sports, and jobs can all compete for time that could be spent completing homework. Show your teenager how to set goals. For example, talk about and write down a goal for the week, month, and year. Help your teen think about the steps that need to be taken to reach the goal. Work with your teen to make a schedule for when to do each step and set rewards for when the goal is achieved. - Drive safely. You can help teach your teen about safe driving. But what a teen does when parents are not around is the unknown. Remind your child often that driving is a huge responsibility that should not be taken lightly. - Feel pressured to have sex. Talk about dating and sex early, before the information is needed. Focus on what makes a relationship healthy, such as trust and respect for each other. Also, kids have easy access to many Web sites with sexual or pornographic content. Keep the computer in a shared area where you can see what your teen is doing online. Try to understand the issues your teen faces. Although you may remember some struggles from your own teen years, the issues your teen faces are likely quite different. Stay involved in your teen's life, such as by going to school events and encouraging your teen to bring friends to your house while you are home. You can better see the world from his or her perspective when you are familiar with it. Also, learn to recognize your teen's stress triggers and offer guidance on how to manage the anxiety they may cause. But be careful not to get too caught up in your teen's world. If you try to take too much control, it will likely only make things harder for him or her. Promoting Healthy Growth and Development You can help your teen between the ages of 15 and 18 years by using basic parenting strategies. These include offering open, positive communication while providing clear and fair rules and consistent guidance. Support your teen in developing healthy habits and attitudes, help him or her make wise choices, and offer guidance in how to balance responsibilities. The following are examples of ways to promote healthy growth and development in specific areas. But remember that many growth and development issues overlap. For example, having a healthy body image is important for physical development and emotional development. Use these ideas as a starting point to help your teen make good choices that will help him or her grow into a healthy and happy adult. Promote your teen's physical development by doing the following: - Be aware of changing sleep patterns. Rapidly growing and busy teens need a lot of sleep. The natural sleeping pattern for many teens is to go to bed later at night and sleep in. This can make it hard to get up for school. To help your teen get enough rest, discourage phone and computer use and TV watching after a certain evening hour. - Help your teen manage acne, if it is a concern. Most young people get at least mild acne. Keeping the skin clean helps control acne. Also, your teen should avoid skin products that clog skin pores. Look for products that say "noncomedogenic" on the label. Suggest that your teen wash his or her skin once or twice a day with a gentle soap or acne wash. Discourage scrubbing or picking at pimples, which makes them worse and can lead to scarring. If your teen has a few pimples, an acne cream you can buy without a prescription may work. Look for one that has benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. These work best when used just the way the label says. If your teen's pimples are really bothersome or are scarring the skin, see a doctor. A prescription gel or cream for the skin may be all he or she needs. For more information, see the topic Acne Vulgaris. - Talk about body image. What teens think about their bodies greatly influences their feelings of self-worth. Stress that healthy eating and exercise habits are most important for the short and long term. Help your teen recognize that television and other media often produce unrealistic images of the ideal body that are not healthy. For more information, see the topic Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, or Depression in Children and Teens. - Offer strategies to avoid tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. Set firm, fair, and consistent limits for your child. Help him or her understand the immediate and long-lasting results of substance use, such as falling grades and poor health during adulthood. Practice how to respond when a harmful substance is offered, such as simply stating "No, thanks" and moving on to another subject. If you believe your teenager is using drugs or alcohol, it is important to talk about it. Discuss how he or she gets the alcohol, tobacco, or drugs and in what kind of setting it is used. Seek advice from a doctor if the behavior continues. For more information on tobacco, drugs, or alcohol problems, see the topic Teen Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Promote your teen's healthy emotional and social development by doing the following: - Address problems and concerns. Build trust gradually so your teen will feel safe talking with you about sensitive subjects. When you want to talk with your teen about problems or concerns, schedule a "date" in a private and quiet place. Knowing when and how to interfere in a teen's life is a major ongoing challenge of parenthood. Parents walk a fine line between respecting a teen's need for independence and privacy and making sure that teens do not make mistakes that have lifelong consequences. - Understand the confusion about sexual orientation. Hormones, cultural and peer pressures, and fear of being different can cause many teens to question themselves in many areas, including sexual orientation. It is normal during the teen years to develop same-sex "crushes." Consider mentioning to your teen that having such an attraction does not mean that he or she is destined to be a homosexual. But it is helpful to acknowledge that in some cases, these feelings grow stronger over time rather than fade. - Encourage community service. Both your teen and community members are helped when your teen volunteers. Your teen gets the chance to explore how he or she connects with others. While helping peers, adults, and other people, your teen can gain new skills and new ways of looking at things. He or she can also develop and express personal values and explore career options. Your teen can benefit most by thinking back on the service experience and figuring out what he or she learned from it. - Help your child build a strong sense of self-worth to help him or her act responsibly, cooperate well with others, and have the confidence to try new things. For more information, see: Promote your teen's mental (cognitive) development by doing the following: - Encourage mature ways of thinking. Involve your teen in setting household rules and schedules. Talk about current issues together, whether it be school projects or world affairs. Listen to your teen's opinions and thoughts. Brainstorm different ways to solve problems, and discuss their possible outcomes. Stress that these years provide many opportunities to reinvent and improve themselves. - Offer to help your teen set work and school priorities. Make sure your teen understands the need to schedule enough rest, carve out study time, eat nourishing foods, and get regular physical activity. - Be goal-oriented instead of style-oriented. Your teen may not complete a task the way you would—this is okay. What is important is that the task gets done. Let your teen decide how to complete work, and always assume that he or she wants to do a good job. - Continue to enjoy music, art, reading, and creative writing with your teen. For example, encourage your teen to listen to a variety of music, play a musical instrument, draw, or write a story. These types of activities can help teens learn to think and express themselves in new ways. Teens may discover a new or stronger interest, which may help their self-esteem. Remind your teen that he or she doesn't need to be an expert. Simply learning about and experimenting with art can help your teen think in more abstract ways and pull different concepts together. Promote your teen's sensory and motor development by doing the following: - Encourage daily exercise. Vigorous exercise, such as running, biking, or playing soccer or basketball, helps your teen to stay lean and to have a healthy heart.1 Vigorous exercise also helps your teen feel good. If your child is not used to exercise, be careful about expecting too much too soon. Overdoing it at first can make your teen feel tired or discouraged or can even cause injury. Help your teen to build up an exercise routine slowly. For example, plan a short daily walk to start. This approach can help your teen gain confidence and make him or her more likely to keep exercising. For more information on exercise, see the topics: Violence and teens - Prevent teen violence by being a good role model. For example, talk calmly during a disagreement with someone else. Help your teen come up with ways to defuse potentially violent situations, such as making a joke or acknowledging another person's point of view. Praise him or her for avoiding a confrontation. You might say, "I'm proud of you for staying calm." Closely supervise the Web sites and computer games that your child uses. For more information on teen violence, see the topic Bullying or Anger, Hostility, and Violent Behavior. - Reduce the risk of teen suicide and recognize the warning signs. If your teen shows signs of depression, such as withdrawing from others and being sad much of the time, try to get him or her to talk about it. Call your doctor if your teen ever mentions suicide or if you are concerned for his or her safety. When to Call a Doctor Call a doctor if your teen has health problems or issues that may need treatment, including: - A significant delay in physical or sexual development—for example, if sexual development has not begun by age 15. - Becoming sexually active. Teens who are sexually active need to be educated about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Also, girls will usually have a Pap test. - Being overweight. A doctor can help guide weight loss and proper nutrition. - Severe acne that may be helped by medicine. For more information, see the topic Acne Vulgaris. - Problems with attention or learning. Call a doctor or a mental health professional if your teen develops behavioral problems or signs of mental health problems. These may include: - Expressing a lack of self-worth or talking about suicide. - Acting physically aggressive. - Regularly experiencing severe mood swings, such as being happy and excited one minute and sad and depressed the next. - A significant change in appetite or weight. These may signal an eating disorder. - Dropping out of school or failing classes. - Having serious relationship problems with friends and family that affect home or school life. - Showing a lack of interest in normal activities and withdrawing from other people. - Seeking and having sex with multiple partners. Your teen needs routine yearly checkups. These checkups are important for detecting problems and for making sure your teen is growing and developing normally. The doctor will do a physical exam and ask questions about your teen's social, academic, relationship, and mental health status. Your teen's immunization record will be reviewed, and needed immunizations should be given at this time. For more information on immunizations, see the topic Immunizations or the childhood immunization schedule. Beginning in adolescence, most doctors like to spend some time alone with your child during the visit. Although many state laws are vague about teens' rights to medical confidentiality, most doctors will clarify expectations. Ideally, you will all agree that anything your teen discusses privately with the doctor will remain confidential, with few exceptions. This gives your teen an opportunity talk to the doctor about any issue he or she may not feel comfortable sharing with you. Teens also need to have regular dental checkups and need to be encouraged to brush and floss regularly. For more information about dental checkups, see the topic Basic Dental Care. Other Places To Get Help |Adolescent Health Online Home Page| |American Medical Association| This Web site, sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), provides parents and teens with useful information about issues such as injury prevention, nutrition, teen violence, physical fitness, and tobacco use. The Web site also has links to many other resources. |National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH)| This Web site provides information for the public on drugs commonly called club drugs. It contains information about how these drugs affect the brain. |Planned Parenthood Web site for teens| Planned Parenthood has created this Web site to help teens get information and news about teen sexuality, sexual health, and relationships. |American Social Health Association: Teen Sexual Health| |P.O. Box 13827| |Research Triangle Park, NC 27709| |Phone:||1-800-227-8922 STI hotline This American Social Health Association Web site provides a safe, educational, and fun place for teens to learn about their sexual health and about sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The Web site aims to help start conversations between parents and teens about sexual health. If you have questions or concerns about STIs, you can call the STI hotline. |Healthy Teen Network| |1501 Saint Paul Street| |Baltimore, MD 21202| The Healthy Teen Network focuses on issues of teen sexuality, pregnancy, and parenting. The Network has health and well-being materials for teens and young families. It provides and shares resources, advocacy materials, and technical assistance with other organizations and works on public policy initiatives. |National Center for Learning Disabilities| |381 Park Avenue South| |New York, NY 10016| The National Center for Learning Disabilities provides up-to-date information about learning disabilities in adults, teens, and children. From the Web site you can access free newsletters and online talks from parents and experts in the field. Parents and professionals can find information on building skills, recognizing warning signs, and responding to young children's needs. |National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Internet Safety| |P.O. Box 6000| |Rockville, MD 20849| This Web site provides a variety of resources about protecting yourself and your family from Internet crimes. There is information about Internet safety for children, identity theft, general Internet safety, and Internet privacy. |National Families in Action| |2957 Clairmont Road Northeast| |Atlanta, Georgia 30329| National Families in Action was founded in 1977 in the United States. Its mission is to help families and communities prevent drug use among children by promoting policies based on science. - Anabolic Steroid Abuse - Anger, Hostility, and Violent Behavior - Anorexia Nervosa - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - Binge Eating Disorder - Body Piercing Problems - Bulimia Nervosa - Depression in Children and Teens - Domestic Violence - Early Disease Detection - Exposure to Sexually Transmitted Diseases - Family Life Cycle - Feeling Depressed - Fitness: Getting and Staying Active - Growth and Development, Ages 11 to 14 Years - Healthy Eating for Children - Normal Menstrual Cycle - Protecting Your Skin From the Sun - Stress Management - Suicidal Thoughts or Threats - Teen Alcohol and Drug Abuse - Vitamin D: Getting Enough - Gutin B, et al. (2005). Relations of moderate and vigorous physical activity to fitness and fatness in adolescents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 81(4): 746–750. Other Works Consulted - Bashe P (2003). American Academy of Pediatrics: Caring for Your Teenager. New York: Bantam. - American Cancer Society (2007). Child and teen tobacco use. Available online: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Child_and_Teen_Tobacco_Use.asp. - Dalton R (2007). Sexual behavior. In RM Kliegman et al., eds., Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 18th ed., pp. 65–70. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier. - DiClemente RJ, et al. (2001). Parental monitoring: Association with adolescents' risk behaviors. Pediatrics, 107(6): 1363–1368. - Dixon SD, Stein MT (2006). Encounters With Children: Pediatric Behavior and Development, 4th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier. - Friedman RA (2006). The changing face of teenage drug abuse—The trend toward prescription drugs. New England Journal of Medicine, 354(14): 1448–1450. - Kaul P, Stevens-Simon C (2007). Substance abuse. In WW Hay Jr et al., eds., Current Pediatric Diagnosis and Treatment, 18th ed., pp. 144–162. New York: McGraw-Hill. - Kuperminc GP, et al. (2001). Volunteering and community service in adolescence. Adolescent Medicine: State of the Art Reviews, 12(3): 445–457. - Maehr J, Felice ME (2006). Fifteen to seventeen years: Mid-adolescence—Redefining self. In SD Dixon, MT Stein, eds., Encounters With Children, 4th ed., pp. 565–598. Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier. |Author||Debby Golonka, MPH| |Editor||Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA| |Associate Editor||Pat Truman, MATC| |Associate Editor||Michele Cronen| |Primary Medical Reviewer||Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics| |Specialist Medical Reviewer||Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics| |Last Updated||April 22, 2008| Last Updated: April 22, 2008

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By Kindergarten Teacher Christine Pierce Inglis Our early childhood program lays a foundation for writing and reading but does not begin formal instruction until the children are in first grade. What do we do in the kindergarten to prepare our children and what practical things can you do at home to further this process? Let’s take a look at some of the important skills and abilities involved in the process of learning to write and read: Language Skills, including Speech Proficiency Physical and Sensory Development Social and Emotional Intelligence The richer and more varied the child’s vocabulary, the more clearly he differentiates sounds and words, the better foundation he will have when he needs to translate these sounds into symbols. We immerse the children in poetry and songs everyday at circle time and we use the important element of repetition to reinforce the learning. It is well known to linguists that a child needs constant repetition of new sounds and words before he is able to reproduce them himself. Unlike physical objects which the child is free to pick up and examine at will, as often as he likes, a sound or word is transitory; it is there for a brief moment in time and then gone again. If it is not repeated enough, the child has no way to grasp it and learn about it. For this reason we continue for several weeks with certain poems and songs at circle time, and we repeat our stories and puppet shows many times in a row, to familiarize the children with the language, imagery and concepts. As teachers we have many techniques to ensure that the circles do not grow stale or over-familiar while at the same time keeping the repetition of the words. We can expand and add new gestures or imagery, add costumes or turn the song or poem into a game. And as teachers we know the importance of delving deeply into the imagery and meaning of the fairy tales and stories for ourselves to keep them interesting and fresh for us, which is the key to keeping them alive for the children. Experience has shown that the child must have reached a point of maturity with regard to oral language before beginning to read. This is known as the “speech age” of the child and is determined by the child’s use of phonemes and his ability or inability to form a particular sound. It has been estimated that by the age of seven the average child is able to correctly articulate the consonants and consonant blends ninety percent of the time. The learning of the alphabet of sound is an important prerequisite to learning the alphabet of letters. Children with reading difficulties frequently have problems in speech. Therefore, by helping children to overcome their speech defects one can assist them in their association of sound and letter/word, and their capacity for oral reading. The best situation would be to help the child to learn to form his speech correctly before he begins to write and read. In a study made by Sonenberg and Glass, forty children with reading problems were tested for speech and auditory defects. All but two of the children had speech problems and nearly half had problems with auditory discrimination. The children with difficulties in auditory discrimination frequently made the following sound reversals: K to G, P to D, W to WH, F to T, T to L, P to M, P to G, B to D, T to K, M to S, D to T, T to unvoiced TH, F to unvoiced TH, F to V. These substitutions often show up as reading reversals. Van Riper and Butler have set outlines for phoneme teaching that stress the importance of identifying each sound with a sound in the child’s environment, giving the sound a name, and identifying the sound with a picture. For example, “S” is described as the whistling sound of the teakettle. For our young children, it is enough to identify the sound without naming it; although on occasion I make an exception (Pattacake, or the folk song BINGO). Speech Proficiency Tip: Sing to your child! Sing songs that you remember from your childhood. When choosing a fairy tale or story for your child, think about the complexity of the conflict in the story. For a preschool child, a simple story about a child searching for, and finding, her cat can be enough of a conflict and resolution. For older kindergarten children, a story with more complex tasks or difficulties to overcome (such as three tasks to be performed to break the enchantment) can be considered. Always look at the level of conflict and tension within the story to guide you. Three to four year old children are still coming to terms with their own bodies and the everyday life and world of objects and nature. (Also a primitive “animism” is still alive in the child, and there are many delightful folk tales that reflect this…the door speaks, the table speaks, etc.) Putting on boots and mittens, walking in the woods, helping mother knead bread dough or sweep the kitchen floor; these everyday activities are special events for the young child, and opportunities for learning. Watching the postman or the farmer at work, observing how grown-ups do things, are all very important at this age. Therefore stories which center around daily life, home or work activities are well-loved, and at circle time young children love to mime these activities in connection with the poems or songs. Try singing “Here we go ‘round the mulberry bush” with its endless verses of “this is the way we wash our hands” (or brush our teeth, or put on our boots) when you are doing these activities with your child. It is a great way to get happy compliance! Nursery rhymes are also wonderful and you can use them to accompany certain routine activities. Everyday when the children come in for lunch I stand at the door, holding it open and making a sort of bridge with my arm that they walk under, and I often sing “London Bridges”. Or when I pour the water into each of their cups at lunch it reminds me of “Jack and Jill” who went to fetch a pail of water and I sing that song each day as I pour the water. It is a simple little ritual but the children often like to join in, and the repetition gives them a chance to become very familiar with the sounds and rhythms. At age five and six the children have developed to a different stage and their drawings are indicative of their awakening consciousness. The sky and the earth are now often separated on the page, the child is no longer living completely “at one” with the world but is beginning to connect to the concept of separation in a new way. This shows his readiness for slightly more complicated plots, such as some of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales. These creative pictures feed his imagination developing a capacity for rich imagery. The children are now less dependent on the visual props of the puppet show (we do mostly puppet shows with the younger nursery children) and can listen and independently picture the happenings in the story. Speech Proficiency Tip: All children love to hear stories about what their parents did as little children. Try to remember some – it doesn’t matter how mundane they are, your children will be delighted! Also, it is great to observe something in nature and share it with your child at mealtimes. I store up memories of things that I have seen on the way to school that morning, for example, a cardinal flying across the road, or a bunny hopping into the bushes, and of course endless stories about my cat, Kippy, which children love. (“Tell us about Kippy!”). Once I have shared a short story/observation from my day, the children quite naturally follow my lead and often will take turns telling things that they have seen. It is a nice way to begin a mealtime conversation, and these conversations are a great place for the children to practice their language skills. The eye becomes structurally complete at about eight years of age. Before that time, the eyes are still in a process of development. The unnatural hand and eye movements required for writing and reading must be learned. In writing, the hand must be able to move across the page from left to right in a controlled manner. In reading, the eyes must be able to make this same movement, over and over. In daily life, one would rarely (if ever) move one’s eyes in such a way for any length of time. Instead, the eyes would be constantly moving back and forth, up and down, near and far, in a very different pattern. Emerald Dechant (author of “Improving the Teaching of Reading”) asserts that the child of six is usually too farsighted to see objects as small as a word clearly and with ease. Some authorities have even suggested that children are made myopic (nearsighted) through premature attempts to adapt to the demand of close vision. Visual Proficiency Tip: At the end of clean-up time I ask the children, one at a time, to use their “eagle eyes” and find anything that is out of place. You can do the same at home, and make a little game of it. Unless the child is able to differentiate the sounds that make up a word, he will not be able to form the proper association of spoken sound to graphic symbol. In fact, it has been found that listening is generally more effective than reading as a learning device for children under eight years. Listening is the first language art that the child develops. This power of mastering new sound discriminations decreases as one grows older. A baby will easily pick up the language with which he is surrounded and imitate the precise intonations necessary. Contrast this with the adult trying to learn a foreign language; it is much more difficult for him to master, partly due to a fixation of the speech organism, but also in a large part due to an inability to distinguish sounds. Often an adult retains an “accent” in the foreign language because he doesn’t perceive the subtle difference in the phonetics or cadences of the new language as compared to his native tongue. Research has shown that good listeners rated higher than poor listeners in intelligence, reading, socioeconomic status, and achievement, but not on a hearing test. This indicates that the activity of listening is not necessarily bound up with a person’s physical, auditory acuity. Listening occurs only when the child organizes and remembers what is heard. It requires the active engagement of one’s thinking processes. Obviously, a hearing impairment would create difficulties for a child, but clearly, the physical capacity only provides the basis for the activity of listening to take place. The ability to listen is basic to the learning of reading. It is generally recognized that this ability must be consciously fostered, as children enter school with quite varied degrees of listening ability. Dechant names several ways in which listening can be taught: through storytelling, conversation, dramatization, singing of songs, reading of poems and reading or speaking rhymes. Some schools have so-called “listening centers” with pupil-operated devices consisting of a CD player, earphones and response sheets which are filled in by the pupil. It has been noted that the listening center equipment does little to improve empathic listening, reactive listening, projective listening or interpretative listening which seem to be better fostered in face-to-face situations, which is what we emphasize in Waldorf Schools. Auditory Proficiency Tip: Find a stringed instrument such as a lyre or guitar, or a chime bar or xylophone that rings. Play one tone (by plucking the string or chiming one bar) and have your child tell you when they can no longer hear it. Or get a big conch shell and hold it to their ears to see if they can “hear the ocean” in it. Or go outside in the woods and listen for the birds calling. And when you despair that you have to call them at least ten times before they come, start training them to come the first time you call them (let them know that you are going to call them and you will only say their name once – then go get them silently and take their hand if they weren’t listening. Eventually they will get it, and then you can give them a lot of praise!) Physical and Sensory Development In addition to what has already been mentioned in the way of physical development, there is a great deal of new information available in the area of brain research. As Carla Hannaford, Phd., says in her book “Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head”: “The notion that intellectual activity can somehow exist apart from our bodies is deeply rooted in our culture. It is related to the attitude that the things we do with our bodies, and the bodily functions, sensations, and emotions that sustain life, are lower, less distinctly human…Thinking and learning are not all in our head. On the contrary, the body plays an integral part in all our intellectual processes from our earliest moments right through to old age. It is our body’s senses that feed the brain environmental information with which to form an understanding of the world… And it is our movements that express knowledge and facilitate greater cognitive function as they increase in complexi…” Einstein once said: “Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.” So much of what we learn is taken in through our senses, especially as young children. The more we can give our children hands-on learning, the more we are allowing them to learn through experience. If we are constantly talking at them, and explaining, we are robbing them of the possibility of learning through observation. Physical and Sensory Development Tip: Children often ask: “What are you doing?” or “What are we going to do now?” or “What are you going to use that for?” Often adults feel that they are obligated to explain what they are doing. Try saying: “Watch and you will see.” And then carry on with your work. When the child sees that you are not going to tell him, he starts to pay attention and his interest shifts to a whole new level. It is very satisfying for him when he figures out what is going on through his own observation. Sometimes a child will ask “what are we having for snack?” I might say “what do you smell?” or “what did we chop together this morning?” If I just quickly answered “bread” or “soup” they haven’t been encouraged to pay attention to their own senses. When we quickly provide very detailed and complete answers to all of their questions we are training them to be inactive and always look to someone else, rather than trying to find their own answers. Of course, there are certainly times when you want to use the “teachable moment” to explain something; but don’t be too quick to jump in or too detailed at first. They need time to take it in and process the information. Start with simple, pictorial explanations. The child will continue to mull it over and think about it more if you leave something for them to discover. Physical and Sensory Development Tip: Since children don’t get to move as much as they used to (it is popular and sometimes easier to take them everywhere in the stroller or the car) give them as much time walking as possible. And if your child missed or hurried through the crawling phase, play crawling games with them! (Mama Bear and Baby Bear, or Papa Turtle and Baby Turtle, etc.) Walking over varied ground (such as hikes in the woods) is fantastic. Go to the beach in the summer and let them experience walking barefoot on the sand. Physical and Sensory Development Tip: Games to play for developing sensory awareness…Place three familiar objects under a cloth. Ask your child to reach under the cloth and identify the objects through touch alone. (This is a great game to play when you are waiting – in a doctor’s office, or a restaurant, or an airport.) Another game for the sense of hearing is to have your child close his eyes and then you play different instruments (for example a flute, or bell, or drum) and have the child identify the different instruments. Another game for the sense of smell is to put three pungent substances in three containers and (with eyes closed) have your child identify them (for example, lemon, ginger, cinnamon). You can keep the same objects and do them over and over, every time you play the game, so that your child can get confident in the identification. They love repetition! When you have done it many times you can change to new objects. Just remember to keep these games light and playful rather than “instructional”. Physical and Sensory Development Tip: Any songs or games with “body geography” are helpful, such as “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes” or the finger game “Two Fat Gentlemen”. Social and Emotional Intelligence Although research has shown that a mental age of six and a half years is the optimal age for beginning reading, intelligence is not the only factor that should be considered. Emotional and social maturity is also important. Mason and Prater found that: “…younger children make less progress than older ones of the same intelligence when they are exposed to the same program…” Although many studies have shown that it is possible to teach children under the age of five to read, it is important to consider whether this is desirable. Research has shown that the teaching of reading in the kindergarten tended to increase negative social behavior among the boys, and that learning was a much slower process than with first grade children. It would therefore seem unwise to push children beyond their emotional or social maturational level, since reading disability is often caused by starting a child in a reading program before he is ready. As Dechant asserts: “Such a child cannot handle the day by day learning tasks and finds himself farther and farther behind as time goes by. He becomes frustrated and develops antipathy toward reading. He actually learns not to read.” The relationship between reading disability and emotional and social maladjustment is often a “vicious circle”. If the child has difficulty reading this leads to a loss of self-esteem and a stigmatization which can become a tremendous social difficulty. But it is equally true to say that if a child comes to school with emotional problems or social handicaps, it is very possible that he or she may experience difficulty in learning, and this includes writing and reading. In her book “Is Your Child In The Wrong Grade?” by Louise Bates Ames, Phd., of the Gesell Institute of Child Development, the author makes the point that a large proportion of school children are being forced to perform at levels beyond their ability, thus creating behavioral problems, and antipathy toward school and learning. Ames asserts that a high I.Q. can give the illusion that a child is ready for more advanced work at a higher grade level, when in fact, the child’s emotional and social behavior is not capable of more demands. Clearly, it is important that a child’s emotional and social behavior be considered in deciding when to begin writing and reading; and any activities which foster this maturational development would seem to be beneficial to the development of the child’s reading capabilities. Social and Emotional Intelligence Tip: Young children are constantly learning through their play. They learn a great deal when they play on their own: including working through and digesting many sense impressions and emotions and reflecting on things. Children also learn an enormous amount when they play with others: how to interact, how to share, how to stand up for themselves, how to be compassionate. It is a constant give and take. Provide opportunities for both solitary, creative play and creative play with others. Don’t overschedule your child with school all day, and then provide constant, structured activities and playdates after school. They need time to digest their school experiences. But if your child is having social difficulties it can be helpful to invite another child over for a playdate so that social skills can be practiced in a relatively quiet, focused way, in a familiar and secure setting. Some basic social skills include: - Learning to say “No Thank You” to someone who is bothering them (pushing, taking a toy, speaking rudely, etc.) - Learning how to enter into other children’s play, for example, knocking at the door of their “house” and saying “knock, knock, knock, may I come in?” and conversely, inviting in friends who want to come in and play. - If two children are fighting bring them together rather than separating them. If one has hurt the other, let him go and get a tissue and cup of water for his friend. Let them take hands and say “sorry, friend” then give them a task to do together. A shortened version of this article was published in the Spring 2012 Mosaic Newsletter of the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School (PDF).

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Two kinds of internal evidence help to establish that the Gospels are authentic. - The unity of style and purpose within each Gospel shows that it is the work of a single author. - Each Gospel writer has left shadows of himself in his work, and these are consistent with the traditional attribution. Unity of Style and Purpose Higher criticism of the Gospels has, since 1900, divided into several branches. The two most important are known as form criticism and redaction criticism. Both assume that the Gospels contain material shaped by gradual evolution over a long period of time. Form criticism, which arose after World War I under the leadership of the German scholars Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Dibelius, treats each Gospel as a collection of "pericopes"—that is, individual sayings and stories. The chief assumption of form criticism is that the Gospel writers found these pericopes in oral tradition, where, through many retellings, they had settled into a small number of traditional forms with certain stereotyped features. Bultmann postulated four basic forms: apophthegms (terse sayings), dominical sayings (authoritative teaching), miracle stories, and historical stories and legends (1). Redaction criticism arose after World War II as an offshoot of form criticism. Whereas form criticism concentrates on the building blocks of the Gospels, redaction criticism studies the glue, as it were, that holds them together. It attempts to identify the touches of the final compiler, or redactor, as he molded the pericopes into a continuous narrative. It attempts, moreover, to discover the motives underlying his selection, positioning, and refashioning of materials from oral tradition. Craig L. Blomberg, Robert H. Stein, and other scholars have demonstrated that neither form criticism nor redaction criticism has invalidated an early date for the Gospels (2). The studies produced by these schools of criticism suffer from two serious shortcomings. - Although touting themselves as scientific, they stand outside true science. The hallmark of genuine scientific research is reproducibility, but no two form critics or redaction critics generate the same results. The methodological errors abounding in their work include the use of arbitrary terms and categories, the treatment of accidental correlations and similarities as significant, and the exclusion of data uncongenial to preconceived ideas. - They fail to see the individuality of the Gospel writers. In his perusal of each Gospel, a penetrating reader without critical bias would not find a string of anonymous pieces culled from oral tradition. Nor would he find a pastiche of personal strokes upon an impersonal background. Rather, he would find a whole fabric everywhere displaying the method and design of a single craftsman. Through each runs the signature of one author. A few words sketching the unique style and purpose of each Gospel will be helpful here. The Gospel of Matthew is imbued with a Jewish point of view. Where the other Gospels speak of the Kingdom of God, Matthew, in deference to Jewish scruples against speaking the divine name, substitutes the expression "kingdom of heaven." The same author is always turning aside to show how Jesus fulfilled some prophecy of the Jewish Scriptures or to note how the Jewish leaders opposed Jesus. Mark's Gospel is conceived as drama. It emphasizes what Jesus did rather than what He said. To maintain a fast pace, the author often uses a brief account of Jesus' movements to connect incidents in sequence. Moreover, he seldom brings his words to a full stop. Instead, by his constant use of "and," he joins all his statements together. As a result, his Gospel is essentially a single long sentence. To engage the reader's imagination, the author adds many vivid details missing from the other Gospels. He tells us, for example, that when Jesus fed the five thousand, the multitude sat down on green grass (Mark 6:39). Twice, when his story of a miraculous healing reaches the point of dramatic climax, he gives us Jesus' words in the original Aramaic (Mark 5:41; 7:34). Luke's Gospel is characterized by elegance of style and composition. F. F. Bruce has commented, "In general, we may describe Luke's style as good Hellenistic Greek, somewhat more literary than the Greek of most New Testament writers" (3). Luke uses many grammatical and literary forms that were rare in the spoken Greek of his day, and he commands an unusually large vocabulary (4). Yet he does not allow skillful language to become an end in itself. He employs it merely as an instrument for effective storytelling. As Bruce concludes, "He certainly was an artist in words" (5). Luke's special burden is to show us Jesus' love for the unlovely. The material unique to this Gospel includes the Parable of the Good Samaritan, presenting Jesus in the role of helper and healer to those scorned by official religion (Luke 10:30-37). It is the only Gospel which records that Jesus allowed a sinful woman to wash His feet with tears of repentance (Luke 7:36-50), and that while hanging on a cross He granted forgiveness to the dying thief beside Him who sought mercy on his soul (Luke 23:39-43). The Gospel of John shares little content with the Synoptics. Since the author's chief purpose is to show Jesus' exalted standing as Savior and God, his Gospel consists mainly of monologues in which Jesus explains who He is and why He came to the earth. John's style is so distinctive that it is recognizable in almost every line. He favors repetition with slight variation. He constantly uses short declarative sentences to express high-order abstractions of surpassing profundity. "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1). The unity of style and purpose evident in each Gospel upholds the traditional view that each is the work of a single author. Clues to Authorship The judgment of tradition concerning who wrote the Gospels is consistent with internal evidence. We have said that Papias identified Matthew as the first to collect the sayings of Jesus. The content and structure of the first Gospel tend to verify that it is, or is based on, the book that Papias attributed to Matthew. As to content, most of the exclusively Matthean material consists of sayings and teachings. As to structure, the backbone of the book is a series of long discourses. The narrative sections between them appear to be material added later to illustrate and reinforce what Jesus taught. Of the two miracle stories contained only in Matthew, one tells how Jesus paid His taxes, a matter in which Matthew, the former tax collector, would have taken special interest (Matt. 17:24-27). Very little material is unique to Mark, but what there is yields some insight concerning the author. Of the two miracle stories exclusively Markan, one shows that the author spoke Aramaic as well as Greek, the language in which the book is written (Mark 7:32-37). The author's knowledge of the language of Palestine makes it unlikely that he was a Greek writer from another region. And his knowledge of Greek fits the ancient view that he was Mark, for Mark is known in tradition as Peter's interpreter. After describing Jesus' arrest in the garden, the author of Mark says, 50 And they all forsook him, and fled. 51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. Who was this young man who deserted Jesus? Why is he left unnamed? Since the story appears only in the second Gospel, we suspect that it is the author's confession of his own faithlessness on the night of Jesus' betrayal. The author is following the self-belittling practice of the other Gospel writers. As we will demonstrate, they refrain from identifying themselves, and they fashion the Gospel story so that they might speak of themselves in a derogatory way. If truly autobiographical, the story of the deserter in the garden strengthens the case that the author of the second Gospel was Mark. Mark was a prominent young man among the early believers in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). Hence, he might have been the young man with Jesus on the night before His death. We mentioned earlier that Mark was likely Peter's secretary. Under close examination, Mark's Gospel shows the viewpoint of someone close to Peter. Compared with the other Gospel writers, Mark is more inclined to play down or overlook some of the foolish things Peter did. In the story of Jesus walking on the water, Mark, like John but unlike Matthew, neglects to tell us that Peter tried the same feat and fell in (Matt. 14:25-31; Mark 6:45-51; John 6:16-21). In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter inflicted one minor casualty in a swashbuckling but ineffectual attempt to defend Jesus with a sword. He tried to split Malchus's head, but cut off his ear instead. Mark, like the other Synoptic writers but unlike John, leaves the perpetrator of this deed unnamed (Matt. 26:51; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:50; John 18:10). Mark, like Luke but unlike Matthew, attaches a weak excuse for the stupid irrelevancies blurted by Peter during the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:4; Mark 9:6; Luke 9:33). When Jesus on one occasion desired to know who touched His garment, Peter rebuked Him by pointing out that He was surrounded by people (Luke 8:45). Mark, the only writer besides Luke to record the insolent reply, assigns it to the disciples collectively (Mark 5:31). Internal evidence suggests that the writer of Luke and Acts, which were originally a single continuous work (compare Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-2), was someone who accompanied Paul when he went to stand trial in Rome. Much of Acts 20:5 onward, the portion covering Paul's last journeys as well as his arrival in Rome and his first presentation of the gospel to leaders of the Jewish community in Rome, is written in the first person. Also, the opening statements in Luke and Acts imply that the occasion for writing these books was an official investigation of Christianity. The writer may be referring to the investigation that doubtless took place in connection with Paul's trial. The traditional attribution of Luke-Acts to Luke is therefore reasonable, since the Roman epistles of Paul name him as one of Paul's companions at Rome (Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11). As we said before, Luke was a physician. Several scholarly examinations of the Greek text of Luke have verified that the author was familiar with medical terminology (6). The precise notation of a physician is everywhere evident in his treatment of healing miracles (7). He specifies that the withered hand restored by the Lord was the right hand (Luke 6:6). He observes, as a symptom of demon possession, that the man who lived in the Gadarene tombs was unclothed (Luke 8:27). He notices that the Lord's first concern after raising Jairus's daughter from the dead was to give her nourishment (Luke 8:55). It is uncertain where Luke obtained the material for his Gospel. F. F. Bruce has proposed that during his stay with Philip the Evangelist in Caesarea (Acts 21:8-9), Luke interrogated Philip's four prophetic daughters (8), who, according to Eusebius, were famed for their knowledge of church history (9). Indeed, the material found only in Luke's Gospel has a distinctly feminine point of view (Luke 8:2-3; 10:38-42 et al.). Throughout the Gospel of Luke, women figure far more prominently than they do in the other Gospels. Yet a strong case can be made that the ultimate source of the uniquely Lukan material was none other than Mary, the mother of Jesus. Undoubtedly she was a major contributor to the opening chapters of Luke, which tell the story of Jesus' birth. This story is marked by a mother's perspective. Is it unreasonable to surmise that, directly or indirectly, Mary furnished other information to Luke as well? Almost half of Luke's Gospel is devoted to the closing days of Jesus' ministry (Luke 9:51-18:17). It is possible that the small company who accompanied Him on His last journeys included His mother, and that the awesome importance of what was happening burdened her to commit His last teachings to memory or writing. We know that Mary always believed in her son (John 2:1-11), that she was with Jesus at His crucifixion (John 19:25), and that she spent the next few weeks with the small company of faithful disciples who waited for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). A story unique to Luke directly refers to Mary. 27 And it came to pass, as he [Jesus] spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. Was not Mary herself the person most likely to remember and disseminate this teaching? As the story of the cowardly young man is Mark's humble and unobtrusive device for revealing himself as the Gospel writer, so this teaching unflattering to Mary may be her very own signature, showing that she is the real source of much Lukan material. Although James and John belonged to Jesus' inner circle (10), the writer of the fourth Gospel never mentions them by name except once, when he calls them the "sons of Zebedee" (John 21:2). Yet the fourth Gospel names a total of seven other disciples, of whom several appear frequently in the narrative. There is, in addition, another central figure who is called simply "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23). This roundabout identification suggests that the writer is speaking of himself in a modest way which avoids the first person and which directs all glory to Jesus for loving an unworthy sinner. Who then is the writer? His prominence in the group of disciples leads us to suppose that he is either James or John, who are otherwise missing from the fourth Gospel. Since James was an early martyr (Acts 12:1-2), we are left with the strong probability that the writer is John. Further light on who wrote the fourth Gospel comes from an incident at the cross. As Jesus was dying, He gave the "beloved disciple" charge of His mother, Mary (John 19:26-27). This disciple was probably chosen because he was a close relative. From John 19:25, where the third woman at the cross is called the sister of Jesus' mother, and Matthew 27:56, where she is called the mother of the sons of Zebedee, we infer that John was the son of Mary's sister. Besides the Gospel that we have under his name, tradition has credited John with authorship of four other books in the New Testament. These are the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. The Epistles are undeniably written in the style of John's Gospel. Many thoughts in the Gospel reappear almost verbatim in the First Epistle. Two comparisons will suffice. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9 If ye love me, keep my commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: . . . 1 John 5:3 According to Papias, Matthew was the first to produce a collection of Jesus' sayings and Mark was the first to produce a narrative of His ministry. But neither author necessarily stopped after completing an initial draft. It appears that Matthew later enlarged his work, blending narrative material into the sayings, and that he then translated the final product from Aramaic into Greek. The overlapping content of the first two Gospels suggests that their authors consulted each other's work at some stage of completion. The right term is "consulted," not "copied." The evidence for Matthew consulting Mark is stronger than vice versa. We mentioned earlier that the narrative sections in Matthew might be material that the author appended to Jesus' sermons. If Matthew indeed consulted Mark, perhaps he wanted to know which incidents Peter regarded as central to Jesus' ministry. The orthodox doctrine of inspiration does not exclude the possibility that an inspired author used sources (11). Luke's Gospel probably came later. It appears that he drew not only from Mark, but also from another document with affinities to Matthew. The critics refer to this document as Q. If Q existed, it was probably just Matthew's Gospel in unfinished form. Luke drew also from the oral testimony of various eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-4). The traditional view that John was the last Gospel to be written is probably correct. In nearly all of its content, John is strictly independent of the other Gospels, yet the author seems aware of their existence. Perhaps one of his purposes was to write a final chapter to the Synoptics—to finish off the Gospel story with additional information assuring a complete and balanced picture. For example, the Synoptics expose Peter as rather foolish, no doubt because he himself wished to be remembered as a sinner saved by grace. But John gives a different view. He not only records Peter's three denials; he also recalls that after the Resurrection, Jesus forgave Peter, prompted him to declare three times that he loved the Lord, and commissioned him to "feed my sheep." The name borne by each of the four Gospels is a most reasonable attribution, consistent with known evidence. In two cases (Mark and John) the writer indirectly identifies himself, and in a third case (Luke) he leaves a glimmer of himself in a companion work (Acts). Moreover, each Gospel carries the particular stamp that the author named by tradition, with his outlook and sources, would have set upon it. If the Gospels were not a witness to both miracle and prophecy, the traditional attributions would be unquestioned. Critics recoil from granting the Synoptics an early date because all three prophesy the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, an event that actually came to pass in A.D. 70. The Gospel of Luke offers the most explicit foreview of the catastrophe. 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Denying an early date to the Gospels because they predict an event in A.D. 70 falters on two considerations. - This procedure is a species of circular reasoning. The effect is to undermine the reliability of the Gospels and to cast doubt on their accounts of the supernatural. Yet this effect is accomplished only by assuming that the supernatural does not exist. - Setting the Gospels late does not remove the events of A.D. 70 from the realm of fulfilled prophecy. These events are predicted not only by the Gospels, but also by various Old Testament texts, such as the following. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

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Parenting (or child rearing) is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the aspects of raising a child aside from the biological relationship. The most common partaker in parenting is the biological parent(s) of the child in question, although others may be an older sibling, a grandparent, a legal guardian, aunt, uncle or other family member or a family friend. Governments and society take a role as well. In many cases, orphaned or abandoned children receive parental care from non-parent blood relations. Others may be adopted, raised in foster care, or placed in an orphanage. Parenting skills vary, and a parent with good parenting skills may be referred to as a good parent. Views on the characteristics that make one a good parent vary from culture to culture. - 1 Factors that affect parenting decisions - 2 Styles - 3 Practices - 4 Parenting across the lifespan - 5 Assistance - 6 See also - 7 References - 8 External links Factors that affect parenting decisions Social class, wealth, culture and income have a very strong impact on what methods of child rearing are used by parents. Cultural values play a major role in how a parent raises their child. However, as times change, cultural practices and social norms and traditions evolve as well, therefore parenting is always evolving. In psychology, the parental investment theory suggests that basic differences between males and females in parental investment have great adaptive significance and lead to gender differences in mating propensities and preferences. A family's social class plays a large role in the opportunities and resources that will be made available for a child. Working-class children often grow up at a disadvantage with the schooling, communities, and parental attention made available to them compared to middle-class or upper-class. Also, lower working-class families do not get the kind of networking that the middle and upper classes do through helpful family members, friends, and community individuals and groups as well as various professionals or experts. A parenting style is the overall emotional climate in the home. Developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind identified three main parenting styles in early child development: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. These parenting styles were later expanded to four, including an uninvolved style. These four styles of parenting involve combinations of acceptance and responsiveness on the one hand and demand and control on the other. - Authoritative parenting - Described by Baumrind as the "just right" style, in combines a medium level demands on the child and a medium level responsiveness from the parents. Authoritative parents rely on positive reinforcement and infrequent use of punishment. Parents are more aware of a child's feelings and capabilities and support the development of a child's autonomy within reasonable limits. There is a give-and-take atmosphere involved in parent-child communication and both control and support are balanced. Research shows that this style is more beneficial than the too-hard authoritarian style or the too-soft permissive style. An example of authoritative parenting would be the parents talking to their child about their emotions. - Authoritarian parenting styles - Authoritarian parents are very rigid and strict. They place high demands on the child, but are not responsive to the child. Parents who practice authoritarian style parenting have a rigid set of rules and expectations that are strictly enforced and require rigid obedience. When the rules are not followed, punishment is most often used to promote future obedience. There is usually no explanation of punishment except that the child is in trouble for breaking a rule. "Because I said so" is a typical response to a child's question of authority. This type of authority is used more often in working-class families than the middle class. In 1983 Diana Baumrind found that children raised in an authoritarian-style home were less cheerful, more moody and more vulnerable to stress. In many cases these children also demonstrated passive hostility. An example of authoritarian parenting would be the parents harshly punishing their children and disregarding their children's feelings and emotions. - Permissive parenting - Permissive or indulgent parenting is more popular in middle-class families than in working-class families. In these family settings, a child's freedom and autonomy are highly valued, and parents tend to rely mostly on reasoning and explanation. Parents are undemanding, so there tends to be little, if any punishment or explicit rules in this style of parenting. These parents say that their children are free from external constraints and tend to be highly responsive to whatever the child wants at the moment. Children of permissive parents are generally happy but sometimes show low levels of self-control and self-reliance because they lack structure at home. An example of permissive parenting would be the parents not discipling their children. - Uninvolved parenting - An uninvolved or neglectful parenting style is when parents are often emotionally absent and sometimes even physically absent. They have little or no expectation of the child and regularly have no communication. They are not responsive to a child's needs and do not demand anything of them in their behavioral expectations. If present, they may provide what the child needs for survival with little to no engagement. There is often a large gap between parents and children with this parenting style. Children with little or no communication with their own parents tended to be the victims of another child’s deviant behavior and may be involved in some deviance themselves. Children of uninvolved parents suffer in social competence, academic performance, psychosocial development and problem behavior. There is no single or definitive model of parenting. With authoritarian and permissive (indulgent) parenting on opposite sides of the spectrum, most conventional and modern models of parenting fall somewhere in between. Parenting strategies as well as behaviors and ideals of what parents expect, whether communicated verbally and/or non-verbally, also play a significant role in a child's development. A parenting practice is a specific behavior that a parent uses in raising a child. For example, a common parent practice intended to promote academic success is reading books to the child. Storytelling is an important parenting practice for children in many Indigenous American communities. Parenting practices reflect the cultural understanding of children. Parents in individualistic countries like Germany spend more time engaged in face-to-face interaction with babies and more time talking to the baby about the baby. Parents in more communal cultures, such as West African cultures, spend more time talking to the baby about other people, and more time with the baby facing outwards, so that the baby sees what the mother sees. Children develop skills at different rates as a result of differences in these culturally driven parenting practices. Children in individualistic cultures learn to act independently and to recognize themselves in a mirror test at a younger age than children whose cultures promote communal values. However, these independent children learn self-regulation and cooperation later than children in communal cultures. In practice, this means that a child in an independent culture will happily play by herself, but a child in a communal culture is more likely to follow his mother's instruction to pick up his toys. Children that grow up in communities with a collaborative orientation to social interaction, such as some Indigenous American communities, are also able to self-regulate and become very self-confident, while remaining involved in the community. Parenting styles are only a small piece of what it takes to be a "good parent". Parenting takes a lot of skill and patience and is constant work and growth. Research shows that children benefit most when their parents: - communicate honestly about events or discussions that have happened, also that parents explain clearly to children what happened and how they were involved if they were - stay consistent, children need structure, parents that have normal routines benefits children incredibly; - utilize resources available to them, reaching out into the community; - taking more interest in their child's educational needs and early development; and - keeping open communication and staying educated on what their child is learning and doing and how it is affecting them. Parenting skills are often assumed to be self-evident or naturally present in parents. That this is a very much oversimplified view is emphasized by Virginia Satir, pioneer in family therapy: - In some ways we got the idea that raising families was all instinct and intent, and we behave as if anyone could be an effective parent simply because he wanted to be, or because he just happened to go through the acts of conception and birth. This is the most complicated job in the world […]. Parents around the world want what they believe is best for their children. However, parents in different cultures have different ideas of what is best. For example, parents in a hunter–gatherer society or surviving through subsistence agriculture are likely to promote practical survival skills from a young age. Many such cultures begin teaching babies to use sharp tools, including knives, before their first birthdays. This seen in communities where children have a considerate amount of autonomy at a younger age and are given the opportunity to become skilled in tasks that are sometimes classified as adult work by other cultures. In some Indigenous American communities, child work provides children the opportunity to learn cultural values of collaborative participation and prosocial behavior through observation and participation alongside adults. American parents strongly value intellectual ability, especially in a narrow "book learning" sense. Italian parents value social and emotional abilities and having an even temperament. Spanish parents want their children to be sociable. Swedish parents value security and happiness. Dutch parents value independence, long attention spans, and predictable schedules. The Kipsigis people of Kenya value children who are not only smart, but who employ that intelligence in a responsible and helpful way, which they call ng/om. Many Indigenous American communities value respeto, participation in the community, and non-interference. The practice of non-interference is an important value in Cherokee culture. It requires that one respects the autonomy of others in the community by not interfering in their decision making by giving unsolicited advice. Differences in values cause parents to interpret different actions in different ways. Asking questions is seen by many European American parents as a sign that the child is smart. Italian parents, who value social and emotional competence, believe that asking questions is a sign that the child has good interpersonal skills. Dutch parents, who value independence, view asking questions negatively, as a sign that the child is not independent. Indigenous American parents often try to encourage curiosity in their children. Many use a permissive parenting style that enables the child to explore and learn through observation of the world around it. Differences in values also cause parents to employ different tools to promote their values. Many European American parents expect specially purchased educational toys to improve their children's intelligence. Some Spanish parents promote social skills by taking their children out for daily walks around the neighborhood. It is common for parents in many Indigenous American communities to use different forms of storytelling, such as myths, consejos, and educational teasing, to teach their children important values and life lessons. Storytelling is a way for Indigenous American children to learn about their identity, community, and cultural history. Indigenous myths and folklore often personify animals and objects, reaffirming the belief that everything possess a soul and must be respected. These stories help preserve language and are used to reflect certain values or cultural histories. Consejos are a narrative form of advice giving that provide the recipient with maximum autonomy in the situation as a result of their indirect teaching style. Rather than directly informing the child what they should do, the parent instead might tell a story of a similar situation or scenario. The character in the story is used to help the child see what the implications of their decision may be, without directly making the decision for them. This teaches the child to be decisive and independent, while still providing some guidance. The playful form of teasing is a parenting method used in some Indigenous American communities to keep children out of danger and correct their behavior. This form of teasing utilizes stories, lies, or threats to guide children in making safe, intelligent decisions. It can teach children values by establishing expectations and encouraging the child to meet them via playful jokes and/or threats. For example, a parent may tell a child that there is a monster that jumps on children's backs if they walk alone at night. This lie will help keep the child safe because instilling that fear creates greater awareness and lessens the likelihood that they will wander alone into trouble. Parenting across the lifespan Planning and pre-pregnancy Family planning is the decision whether and when to become parents, including planning, preparing, and gathering resources. Parents should assess (amongst other matters) whether they have the required financial resources (the raising of a child costs around $16,198 yearly in the United States) and should also assess whether their family situation is stable enough and whether they themselves are responsible and qualified enough to raise a child. Reproductive health and preconceptional care affect pregnancy, reproductive success and maternal and child physical and mental health. Pregnancy and prenatal parenting During pregnancy the unborn child is affected by many decisions his or her parents make, particularly choices linked to their lifestyle. The health and diet decisions of the mother can have either a positive or negative impact on the child during prenatal parenting. In addition to physical management of the pregnancy, medical knowledge of your physician, hospital, and birthing options are important. Here are some key items of advice: - Ask your prospective obstetrician how often he or she is in the hospital and who covers for them when they’re not available. - Learn all you can about your backup physician as well as your primary doctor. - Choose a hospital with a 24-hour, in-house anesthesia team. Many people believe that parenting begins with birth, but the mother begins raising and nurturing a child well before birth. Scientific evidence indicates that from the fifth month on, the unborn baby is able to hear sounds, become aware of motion, and possibly exhibit short-term memory. Several studies (e.g. Kissilevsky et al., 2003) show evidence that the unborn baby can become familiar with his or her parents' voices. Other research indicates that by the seventh month, external schedule cues influence the unborn baby's sleep habits. Based on this evidence, parenting actually begins well before birth. Depending on how many children the mother carries also determines the amount of care needed during prenatal and post-natal periods. Newborns and infants Newborn parenting, is where the responsibilities of parenthood begins. A newborn's basic needs are food, sleep, comfort and cleaning which the parent provides. An infant's only form of communication is crying, and attentive parents will begin to recognize different types of crying which represent different needs such as hunger, discomfort, boredom, or loneliness. Newborns and young infants require feedings every few hours which is disruptive to adult sleep cycles. They respond enthusiastically to soft stroking, cuddling and caressing. Gentle rocking back and forth often calms a crying infant, as do massages and warm baths. Newborns may comfort themselves by sucking their thumb or a pacifier. The need to suckle is instinctive and allows newborns to feed. Breastfeeding is the recommended method of feeding by all major infant health organizations. If breastfeeding is not possible or desired, bottle feeding is a common alternative. Other alternatives include feeding breastmilk or formula with a cup, spoon, feeding syringe, or nursing supplementer. The forming of attachments is considered to be the foundation of the infant/child's capacity to form and conduct relationships throughout life. Attachment is not the same as love and/or affection although they often go together. Attachments develop immediately and a lack of attachment or a seriously disrupted capacity for attachment could potentially do serious damage to a child's health and well-being. Physically one may not see symptoms or indications of a disorder but emotionally the child may be affected. Studies show that children with secure attachment have the ability to form successful relationships, express themselves on an interpersonal basis and have higher self-esteem. Conversely children who have caregivers who are neglectful or emotionally unavailable can exhibit behavioral problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or oppositional-defiant disorder Oppositional-defiant disorder is a pattern of disobedient, hostile, and defiant behavior toward authority figures Toddlers are much more active than infants and are challenged with learning how to do simple tasks by themselves. At this stage, parents are heavily involved in showing the child how to do things rather than just doing things for them, and the child will often mimic the parents. Toddlers need help to build their vocabulary, increase their communication skills, and manage their emotions. Toddlers will also begin to understand social etiquette such as being polite and taking turns. Toddlers are very curious about the world around them and eager to explore it. They seek greater independence and responsibility and may become frustrated when things do not go the way they want or expect. Tantrums begin at this stage, which is sometimes referred to as the 'Terrible Twos'. Tantrums are often caused by the child's frustration over the particular situation, sometimes simply not being able to communicate properly. Parents of toddlers are expected to help guide and teach the child, establish basic routines (such as washing hands before meals or brushing teeth before bed), and increase the child's responsibilities. It is also normal for toddlers to be frequently frustrated. It is an essential step to their development. They will learn through experience; trial and error. This means that they need to experience being frustrated when something does not work for them, in order to move on to the next stage. When the toddler is frustrated, they will often behave badly with actions like screaming, hitting or biting. Parents need to be careful when reacting to such behaviours, giving threats or punishments is not helpful and will only make the situation worse. Younger children are becoming more independent and are beginning to build friendships. They are able to reason and can make their own decisions given hypothetical situations. Young children demand constant attention, but will learn how to deal with boredom and be able to play independently. They also enjoy helping and feeling useful and able. Parents may assist their child by encouraging social interactions and modelling proper social behaviors. A large part of learning in the early years comes from being involved in activities and household duties. Parents who observe their children in play or join with them in child-driven play have the opportunity to glimpse into their children’s world, learn to communicate more effectively with their children and are given another setting to offer gentle, nurturing guidance. Parents are also teaching their children health, hygiene, and eating habits through instruction and by example. Parents are expected to make decisions about their child's education. Parenting styles in this area diverge greatly at this stage with some parents becoming heavily involved in arranging organized activities and early learning programs. Other parents choose to let the child develop with few organized activities. Children begin to learn responsibility, and consequences of their actions, with parental assistance. Some parents provide a small allowance that increases with age to help teach children the value of money and how to be responsible with it. Parents who are consistent and fair with their discipline, who openly communicate and offer explanations to their children, and who do not neglect the needs of their children in some way often find they have fewer problems with their children as they mature. During adolescence children are beginning to form their identity and are testing and developing the interpersonal and occupational roles that they will assume as adults. Therefore it is important that parents must treat them as young adults. Although adolescents look to peers and adults outside of the family for guidance and models for how to behave, parents remain influential in their development. A teenager who thinks poorly of him or herself, is not confident, hangs around with gangs, lacks positive values, follows the crowd, is not doing well in studies, is losing interest in school, has few friends, lacks supervision at home or is not close to key adults like parents and is vulnerable to peer pressure. Parents often feel isolated and alone in parenting adolescents, but they should still make efforts to be aware of their adolescents' activities, provide guidance, direction, and consultation. Adolescence can be a time of high risk for children, where new found freedoms can result in decisions that drastically open up or close off life opportunities. Adolescents tend to increase the amount of time they spend with the opposite gender peers, however, they still maintain the amount of time they spend with the same gender, and they do this by decreasing the amount of time they spend with their parents. Also, peer pressure is not the reason why peers have influence on adolescents, yet it is because they respect, admire and like their peers. Parental issues at this stage of parenting include dealing with "rebellious" teenagers, who didn't know freedom while they were smaller. In order to prevent all these, it is important for the parents to build a trusting relationship with their children. This can be achieved by planning and taking part in fun activities together, keeping promises made to them, spending time with them, not reminding them about their past mistakes and listening to and talking to them. When a trusting relationship is built, adolescents are more likely to approach their parents for help when faced with negative peer pressure. Helping the child build a strong foundation will help them to resist negative peer pressure. It is important for the parents to build up the self-esteem of their child: Praise the child's strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses (It will help to grow the child's sense of self-worth and self-confidence, so he/she does not feel the need to gain acceptance from his/her peers), acknowledge the child's efforts, do not simply focus on the final result (when they notice that the parent recognizes their efforts, they will keep trying), and lastly, disapprove the behavior, not the child, or they will turn to their peers for acceptance and comfort. Parenting doesn't usually end when a child turns 18. Support can be needed in a child's life well beyond the adolescent years and continues into middle and later adulthood. Parenting can be a lifelong process. Parents may receive assistance with caring for their children through child care programs. |Wikiquote has quotations related to: Parenting| - Developmental Psychology - Empty nest syndrome - Family law - LGBT parenting - Motherhood constellation - Outline of children - Parent Rescue (documentary series) - Parental alienation - Parental supervision - Parenting Coordinator - Parenting practices - Parents Helping Parents (non-profit organization) - Paternal care - Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters (a book by Meg Meeker) - Davies, Martin (2000). The Blackwell encyclopedia of social work. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-631-21451-9. - Bernstein, Robert (20 February 2008). "Majority of Children Live With Two Biological Parents". Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2009. - Johri, Ashish. "6 Steps for Parents So Your Child is Successful". humanenrich.com. Retrieved March 2, 2014. - Lareau, Annette (2002). "Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families". American Sociological Review 67 (5): 747–776. doi:10.2307/3088916. JSTOR 3088916. - Weiten, W., & McCann, D. (2007). Themes and Variations. Nelson Education ltd: Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 0-17-647273-8. - Doob, Christopher (2013) (in English). Social Inequality and Social Stratification (1st ed. ed.). Boston: Pearson. pp. 165. - *Spera, C. (2005). A review of the relationship among parenting practices, parenting styles, and adolescent school achievement. Educational Psychology Review, 17(2), 125-146. - Baumrind, D. (1967). Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75, 43-88. - Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority" Developmental Psychology 4 (1, Pt. 2), 1-103. - Baumrind, D. (1978). "Parental disciplinary patterns and social competence in children". Youth and Society 9: 238–276. - McKay M (2006). Parenting practices in emerging adulthood: Development of a new measure. Thesis, Brigham Young University. Retrieved 2009-06-14. - Santrock, J.W. (2007). A topical approach to life-span development, third Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. - Fletcher, A. C.; Walls, J. K.; Cook, E. C.; Madison, K. J.; Bridges, T. H. (December 2008). "Parenting Style as a Moderator of Associations Between Maternal Disciplinary Strategies and Child Well-Being". Journal of Family Issues 29 (12): 1724–1744. doi:10.1177/0192513X08322933. - Brown, Lola; Iyengar, Shrinidhi (2008). "Parenting Styles: The Impact on Student Achievement". Marriage & Family Review 43 (1-2): 14–38. doi:10.1080/01494920802010140. - Finkelhor, D.; Ormrod, R.; Turner, H.; Holt, M. (November 2009). "Pathways to Poly-Victimization". Child Maltreatment 14 (4): 316–329. doi:10.1177/1077559509347012. - Bolin, Inge. Growing Up in a Culture of Respect: Child Rearing in Highland Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. Project MUSE. - Day, Nicholas (30 April 2013). "Cultural differences in how you look and talk at your baby". Slate. Retrieved 3 May 2013. - Heidi Keller, Relindis Yovsi, Joern Borke, Joscha Kärtner, Henning Jensen, and Zaira Papaligoura (November/December 2004) "Developmental Consequences of Early Parenting Experiences: Self-Recognition and Self-Regulation in Three Cultural Communities." Child Development. Volume 75, Number 6, pages 1745–1760. Lay summary. - Bolin, Inge. Growing Up in a Culture of Respect: Child Rearing in Highland Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. Project MUSE. Web. 13 May. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>. - Virginia Satir (1972). Peoplemaking. Science and Behaviour Books. ISBN 0-8314-0031-5. Chapter 13: The family blueprint: Your design for peoplemaking, pages 196–224, quote from pages 202–203 - Day, Nicholas (10 April 2013). "Parental ethnotheories and how parents in America differ from parents everywhere else.". Slate. Retrieved 19 April 2013. - Day, Nicholas (9 April 2013). "Give Your Baby a Machete". Slate. Retrieved 19 April 2013. - Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press - Bolin, Inge (2006). Growing Up in a Culture of Respect: Child Rearing in Highland Peru. University of Texas Press. pp. 63–67. ISBN 978-0-292-71298-0. - Robert K. Thomas. 1958. "Cherokee Values and World View" Unpublished MS, University of North Carolina Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert_thomas/40 - Bolin, Inge. Growing Up in a Culture of Respect: Child Rearing in Highland Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. Project MUSE. Web. 13 May. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>. - Archibald,Jo-Ann, (2008). Indigenous Storywork: Educating The Heart, Mind, Body and Spirit. Vancouver, British Columbia: The University of British Columbia Press. - Concha Delgado-Gaitan Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3, Alternative Visions of Schooling: Success Stories in Minority Settings (Sep., 1994), pp. 298-316 - Brown, P. (2002). Everyone has to lie in Tzeltal. (pp. 241-275) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, Mahwah, NJ. - "Price of raising a child/year". Reuters.com. 4 August 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2012. - Going Beyond Birthing Classes, Giles Manley, M.D., J. D., F.A.C.O.G. and Howard Janet, JD, provided by CP Family Network http://www.cpfamilynetwork.org/going-beyond-birthing - Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi (ed.). "Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy AA, object 25 (Bentley 25, Erdman 25, Keynes 25) "Infant Joy"". William Blake Archive. Retrieved January 16, 2014. - Gartner LM; Morton J, Lawrence RA, Naylor AJ, O'Hare D, Schanler RJ, Eidelman AI, etal (February 2005). "Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk". Pediatrics 115 (2): 496–506. doi:10.1542/peds.2004-2491. PMID 15687461. - SS, Hamilton. "Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. - "The Terrible Twos Explained - Safe Kids (UK)". Safe Kids. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2012. - "UKfamily and Raisingkids have closed". Ukfamily.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2012. - Pitman, Teresa. "Toddler Frustration". Todaysparent. Retrieved 3 December 2011. - Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd. "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds". American Academy of Pediatrics. - Press Release: "Troubled Teen Son..." 2009[dead link] - Gilbert, D.T., Schacter, D.L., & Wegner, D.M. (2011). Psychology. New York, NY:Worth Publishers. |Look up parenting in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.| - On the Paradoxes of Modern Parenthood (2014-06-05), Zoë Heller, London Review of Books, Vol. 36 No. 11, pages 33–35

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|Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute||Home| Marcella Monk Flake Because our student population is very racially and ethnically diverse, I would like to take the unit a step further and investigate the role of culture in U.S. Law. I would like to present students with the challenge of deciding if present day immigrants have the right to bring with them their cultural practices, and if those practices should supersede U.S. Laws. Contrary to the myth of America as “the great melting pot”, our increasingly pluralistic society places great demands on our present judicial system. We have not blended into a single culture, but we bear evidence of may intact cultural and religious practices that are quite different from, and in some cases, unacceptable to “mainstream” U.S.A. Today many U.S. citizens born and raised in the United States find themselves trying to define U.S. culture. Although a pluralistic religious community existed in the Colonial Period, there was a general consensus that this would be a country founded on Christian beliefs. The protestant culture influenced the formation and execution of the laws. It was primary in the common or public schools, provided an agenda for social reform, and served as the basis for forming denominational colleges during that period. During the 1830’s, this Protestant domination became challenged, and that continuous challenging leaves us grappling with what we deem culturally acceptable or unacceptable. In the 1830’s, approximately 600,000 catholics arrived in the United States. During the 1840’s, 1,700,000 more arrived while an additional 2,600,000 arrived in the 1850’s. By 1880, there were approximately 6,259,000 Catholics in the U.S. Nearly half of them were Irish, about 1/4 were from Germany, 1/6 from England, Wales and Scotland. The rest were mainly from eastern Europe and Italy. The immigration of the Jewish population in large numbers began in the 1880’s. In the 1830’s, Jewish people made up less than one tenth of a percent of the American population. By the mid 1920’s, the number of Jews in America had jumped to 4 million. The American culture and legal system found itself faced with further changes to accommodate and incorporate the more diverse, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish Citizenship. With this coming together, America witnessed the emergence of a Judeo-Christian consensus. As new immigrants with new faiths have come to our shores, we have found ourselves changing to further include our more recent citizens. In 1934, there was only one mosque and less than 20,000 Muslims in this country. In 1988, there were over 600 mosques or temples and more than 4 million Muslims in the U.S. Although Hinduism is a family religion and most worship takes place in the home, it has been estimated that there were approximately 150,000 Hindus in the United States in 1940. In 1990, this number grew to about three quarters of a million. In 1909, there were approximately 3,000 Buddhists in America. In 1988, there were an estimated 600,000 Buddhists in the U.S. U.S. culture and law continued to reflect the emergence of other “new religions” embraced by young Americans during the 1970’s. Among these religions are Transcendental Meditation, the Hare Krishna Movement, Zen Buddhism, and the Unification Church. (the Moonies) Perhaps the greatest influence and challenge to America and its laws was the growing number of Americans who did not have any religious practices and objected strongly to the Judeo-Christian assertion of right and wrong. In the late 1980’s, these new “secularists” made up approximately 11 percent of the U.S. population. Their views are seen to be “humanist” and they support what they feel are laws that are for the good of mankind, not laws based on a Judeo-Christian ethic. While we are struggling to define our culture and devising and revising laws to meet continuing challenges from various groups within, we must make an attempt to show tolerance for the many cultural practices that have come into the U.S. via its most recent immigrants. In an attempt to foster greater justice and to show acceptance of varying immigrant customs and practices, some argue for a “Cultural Defense.” Because of their culture, many immigrants find themselves in conflict with the legal system in the U.S. This cultural defense asserts that many immigrants and ethnic Americans experience legal and social problems as a direct result of their “different” cultural practices. Because many immigrants are faced with laws and practices so different from what they are accustomed to, many find themselves on the wrong side of the law. In my unit, I briefly explore cultural and/or religious practices from Cuba, Japan, Southeast Asia (Hmong), Hawaii, Cambodia, Vietnam and Africa that raise legal questions when practiced in the United States. In an effort to better understand a culture, one must examine the influence of religion, written and unwritten laws. In my unit, I present traditional cultural and/or religious practices of several ethnic groups now living in the United States. This view into their practices and beliefs, should help one ascertain the need for a “cultural defense.” However unorthodox many of the practices may seem to mainstream America, many of these practices are alive and well within our country. Because of them, some recent immigrants may find themselves in direct conflict with the United States legal system. In this unit, I also present conflicts that arise when religious cultures clash with U.S. Law. I present cases that deal with the religious cultures of the Amish, Catholics and Protestants. These cases, though centered around religion, address the issue of parental rights. Through the use of this unit, students will participate in mock trials, simulations, town meetings and various role-playing activities. I will also use divergent art and writing activities, to allow students the opportunity to creatively express their knowledge of the subject matter. Most Hmong outside of the U.S. have chosen to live simple lives in the mountains. They have become known as warriors because of their unwillingness to bow to stronger powers. During the 19th century, they fled China to escape a harsh ruler. They opposed taxes imposed upon them by French rulers in Southeast Asia, and served as guerrilla fighters for the Allies in WWII. The Hmong practice several religions, Animism, Shamanism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity. The Animists believe that there is life after death. Although many Hmong believe that one will practice his/her religion in one’s life after death, they believe the purpose of their worship is to state their intention to live good lives to their loved ones who have already passed away. Shamanism is part of Hmong Animism. A Shaman is believed to be one who possesses certain powers from heaven to cure sickness and to eliminate ghosts and other spirits. Confucianism contains three major theories adhered to by the Hmong: - (l) It is believed that humans are the center of nature and that heaven and earth were created for the benefit of human beings. - (2) Humans are classified in three groups, and their importance is in this order, the group, the family, and the individual. - (3) Human nature is divided into three categories; aggressive, restrained and passive. A young girl living within the U.S. may find that her parents have accepted a bride’s price for her marriage to an older man. The girl is expected to accept this arrangement, leave school and become a wife and mother. She would then become a part of her husband’s clan, and live in a multi-generational home inclusive of his parents and perhaps other siblings. A couple may also become husband and wife by simply living together. Lastly, a young girl may become a bride by being captured by a suitor. If a man sees a girl that he would like to have as his wife, he may confront her and make his intentions known. The young girl, without her parents’ approval or knowledge, may accept his proposal of marriage. Although the female is usually underage by U.S. standards, the suitor then takes the young girl to his home where they begin to live together as husband and wife. She becomes a part of his family’s clan. They have 24-48 hours to contact her family notifying them of the marriage or “capture” of their daughter. A Vietnamese folk remedy for headaches, has been the impetus for the investigation of many Vietnamese parents. To rid one of a headache, the serrated edge of a coin is used to massage the shoulders and back. This practice leaves bruises that are quite visible. A teacher, noticing bruises on a Vietnamese child, reported the family to social services. Because social workers are obligated to investigate any charges of child abuse, charges were made against the child’s family. When the prosecutor learned of the folk remedy used, the charges were dropped. The Miami suburb of Hialeah was involved in a legal battle over the rights of a religious group to sacrifice animals as part of their worship. This ancient religion called Santeria, originated in Africa and is still practiced in Nigeria. This religion, requiring the sacrifice of chickens, pigeons, ducks, doves, turtles, sheep and goats, was brought to the U.S. in the 1960’s by Cuban refugees. The church ministers argued that if the state of Florida allowed the killing of animals for sport and food, that it should not ban animal killing for religious purposes. The worshippers viewed this ban as a government infringement, because religious expression was basically the only unacceptable reason for killing animals. The ministers also argued that Santeria should become institutionalized like other faiths so those who practiced it, could become a part of the U.S. mainstream. In the Samoan culture, there is a forgiveness ritual called an “ifonga”. A Samoan immigrant living in Hawaii was stabbed to death outside of his home by a fellow Samoan. The assailant, Tonny Williams, was placed in jail and charged with murder. William’s family responded to these events by performing an ancient ceremony called an ifonga. During the ifonga, the family of the assailant, the Williams family, asked forgiveness of the family of the victim, the Foutuuas, by having two high priests place gifts of fine mats, food, handicrafts and money at their home. The Foutuuas accepted, and gave a gift to the Williams family. In accepting their gifts, the Foutuuas agreed that they would not testify in court. Without their testimony, Tonny Williams would receive a ten year prison sentence rather than a life sentence. As a result of this ceremony both families have a good relationship. Although the ifonga restricted the judicial system, the families involved did not view it as a way of beating the legal system. While it is not uniformly accepted, courts in California and Hawaii are looking for ways to integrate the ifonga into the justice system. Several cases involving Japanese Americans show the dilemma of culture versus the law. In the Yamanaka Case, neighbors were asked to baby-sit a couple’s three year old son, Yasuyuki. The neighbors took the child with them to the beach where he drowned. - 1. First and foremost, the social unit or relationships are more important than individuals. Disputes show disharmony and should be avoided at all costs. - 2. Girl is the guide for all social behavior. Although it is unwritten, it shows the obligation of one person to another. - 3. One should possess “ninjo” or warm-heartedness when dealing with people. Carrying out one’s obligations and duties should never be seen as burdensome. - 4. When resolving a dispute, not matter how severe, one must always work to preserve the relationship. Having someone win and someone lose, would damage the relationship. The Yamanakas sued their neighbor for negligence, and were awarded $24,100 in damages. After their victory in court, the Yamanakas received hundreds of telephone calls denouncing their behavior. Others in their culture were not only appalled by the fact that they accepted monetary compensation from their neighbor, but also for taking the neighbor to court at all. The family could not stand under the social pressure. In less than a month, they went back to court to return the money and to drop the case. The case of Fumiko Kimura is perhaps one of the most distressing cases thus far. Mrs. Kimura, who lived in Los Angeles, received a phone call from a Japanese-American woman who claimed to have had a long term affair with Mrs. Kimura’s husband. The “other woman” wanted to end the relationship by telling Mrs. Kimura all about it. The call was made on January 20. On January 29, Mrs. Kimura walked into the ocean carrying her two children, a six month old daughter and a four year old son. While trying to drown herself and the children, she was spotted by two teenagers who jumped in to rescue them. Mrs. Kimura lived, but both of her children died. When arrested, Mrs. Kimura explained about the phone call and how her husband’s infidelity had brought shame upon the family. The shame was particularly placed on her, because in her culture she had failed as a wife. In the Japanese culture, an honorable way of ridding the family of such shame, is by committing a form of parent-child suicide called “oyako-shinjo”. Because the Japanese culture views the children as extensions of the mother, the children also had to die. To allow the children to live; would have placed them in a terrible situation within their culture. The children would have been ostracized and the targets of constant harassment, contempt and ridicule. Mrs. Kimura faces the death penalty if she is convicted on the two counts of first-degree murder under California law. In 1972, almost fifty years later, the power of the states was once again challenged in Wisconsin v. Yoder. Wisconsin law compels children to attend school until age sixteen. Yoder and other members of the Amish community refused to send their 14 and 15 year old children beyond the eighth grade. Yoder and others were found to be in violation of the law and were fined $5.00 each. The parents saw this ruling and the compulsory school attendance law, as a violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Yoder sincerely argued that he and the others risked not only censure from their community, but possibly the salvation of their children and themselves if the children continued to attend school. It was found that the compulsory education requirement interfered with the free exercise of their religious beliefs. The ruling was overturned, and Yoder became a decision that greatly affected the rights of parents regarding the education of their children. In New York, many parents expressed a desire to have their children receive religious instruction during the school day. Although their children were in public schools, parents felt that religion should also be a part of their daily instruction. A New York statute allowing release time for public school students to attend religious classes held off school property, was challenged. An earlier case, Illinois ex rel McCollum v. Board of Education, was found to be unconstitutional. Religious classes were held in the schools, and funding came from the school district. However, Zorach v. Clauson (1952) was held constitutional. The court found that there was no coercion to get students to attend these religious classes. The courts found that the statute did not prohibit the free exercise of religion, nor was it seen as a means of establishing religion. Unlike Illinois ex rel McCollum v. Board of Education, 1948, no public school facilities or funds were used for religious instruction. The religious community involved, financed everything, including the applications for participation. Objective Students will demonstrate knowledge of U.S. marriage laws as they pertain to minors. Students will present an argument for or against the alteration of these laws to accommodate marital practices of the Hmong culture. Formal Requirements for Marriage in the U.S. There are three requirements that must be met in order to have a valid marriage. - 1) Both parties involved must consent to become married. Both parties involved must not only consent, but must also be competent in understanding the nature of the act of marriage. - 2) There must be solemnization of the marriage. Generally, states require blood tests and a marriage license. The license usually becomes valid three days after it has been issued and expires after 180 days. - 1) At age 18, people are allowed to marry freely. - 2) Parties age 17, may marry if they obtain parental consent. - 3) In some states, a court order is necessary to authorize the marriage of parties less that 17 years old. - 1) The minimum age of marriage without parental consent is 14 to 18 years of age. - 2) If one or both of the parties is younger than 14, consent must be given by the parents or guardians. - 3) In Laos, men may have more than one wife at a time, but women may only have one husband. - 4) A man or boy may take a girl or woman home to live with him. This form of marriage is called zij pojniam or “capture”. This is not kidnapping, because the female must give her consent. The groom and his family have 24-48 hours to make the bride’s family aware of the “capture.” - 5) The parents and clan leaders of the groom must go to the house of the bride to make all marriage arrangements. Also, the groom’s family is responsible for all of the wedding costs. - 6) Parents, relatives and leaders of the wedding issue a certificate of marriage and announce to everyone that the couple is now married. - 7) In the eyes of the community, the husband and wife are married for life. The wife is under the reasonable control of her husband, and no one is to interfere with their marital affairs. - 8) If there are marital problems, the couple should turn to their parents and clan leaders for help. They are viewed as authorities on matters concerning marriage. - 9) It is the responsibility of the man to take care of his wife and children. Activity Students will participate in a town hearing in which proponents and opponents of the Hmong community marriage practices come together to debate the right of parents to encourage the early marriage of their daughters. The town meeting will be presided over by Judge Flake, who sees this as a fact finding meeting. She is interested in hearing what everyone has to say, especially the parties involved. She will allow protest signs in the town meeting hall. All students will receive a copy of the information for role-play. This will give students a point of reference when presenting their argument for or against the ban on Hmong practices. The classroom will be set up auditorium style. Every member in the class will carry a sign with a graphic and slogan they designed for the hearing. Each sign should take a clear stand for or against a ban. All interested parties will be allowed to speak and Judge Flake will decide for or against a ban based on the arguments presented. - 1) The teacher will copy and distribute the information on U.S. and Hmong marriage customs to students. - 2) The teacher will assign students to various roles, and distribute role-play information particular to each character. - 3) Students who do not have a specific role, will serve as proponents and opponents of a Hmong marriage practice ban. *Please note: The teacher may have to designate certain students to opposing sides to ensure a balance. - 4) Students will use art and creative writing skills to produce signs and slogans for and against standard U.S. marriage laws and / or against Hmong marriage practices. (Hmong Mother #1) You are the mother of a 14 year old girl. A Hmong man, age 22, wishes to marry this daughter. You and your family are very proud, and have negotiated a bride’s price for her. You are happy that your daughter will not be found among the many women who at age 18, are still without a husband to care for them. The clan and family of the groom will be visiting shortly to finalize the arrangements. You can hardly wait! It seems like only yesterday when you too were a young bride at 15 years of age. Your daughter has done well. (Hmong Mother #2) You are very happy that your son has decided to many. It was wise for him to select a young bride so it will be easier to train her in the ways of your clan. You are anxiously awaiting the day that she will arrive in your home. She and your son will sleep in the small room near the kitchen. It will be nice having another pair of hand to help with the household chores. Quite frankly, it will be nice having a new daughter. (Hmong Father # 1) You and your wife are pleased with the plans set forth by the groom’s clan. Ishri, your 14 year old daughter, has done well. You hope she has not been ruined by the American culture that you have tried desperately to protect her from. (Hmong Father #2) You, like Ishri’s father, have tried to raise your children in the ways of your people. You are glad that your son is prepared to take a wife. He is hard-working and will make a good husband. He will provide well for his new bride and their children. You are a little concerned because you have heard that she may have some career ambitions. You hope she’s not too “Americanized” or there may be trouble. (Ishiri) Age 14 You have just been told by your parents that the very handsome cousin of Ishi, your best friend, would like to marry you. You have grown up in a traditional Hmong home where parents are always respected and the need to preserve the culture is enforced. Although your mother and sister both married at early ages, you’re not sure that’s what you want to do. You have watched some of the mothers of your non-Hmong friends who have pursued careers outside of the home. From your perspective, there are pros and cons to their life choices just as there are for your mother. These women look prosperous, drive nice cars and go on expensive vacations. They have their own money and they don’t appear to feel inferior to their men. On the other hand, many of them have unhappy marriages, their children are raised by strangers from the time they are infants. They don’t have the love and security of an extended family whose goal is to see the family remain strong. You are an exceptional student and you love children. You’ve toyed with the idea of becoming a pediatrician. Your mom says that love for children will make you a better wife and mother. (Isho) Age 22 Your parents have spoken to you extensively about a need for a wife. They feel that if you wait much longer, you will have to pay a greater bride’s price for a girl as young as Ishiri. You spotted her on several occasions, and decided that you would like to have her as your bride. Your first cousin Ishi, is her best friend. She has told you of her intelligence and love for children and traditional values. She has also warned you that she is a dreamer who is torn between the values she has learned at home and those she has learned from her “other” friends. You really want a traditional life. You like knowing that your role is clearly defined as the breadwinner and head of the family. You feel a strong family unit may be destroyed if the roles for husbands and wives are not traditional. (Ishi) Age 15 You are excited about the marriage between your cousin, Isho, and your best friend, Ishiri. You can’t wait until someone has asked for your hand in marriage, after all, you are 15. When the two of them marry, you will have a chance to spend more time together, because you will be in the same clan. Your only worry is that Ishiri may be too American. Her parents have not been as strict as yours on some issues, and Ishiri has been allowed to become friendly with many outsiders. She sometimes talks of high school and college. She’s even mentioned perhaps becoming a doctor. Overall, you think things will work out all right. A case has been brought against the parents of Ishiri. School officials were notified that she would be withdrawing from school to become a wife. Social services became involved, and the case has come before you. You have angry members of the Hmong community who feel that U.S. courts should not meddle in their cultural affairs, while there are child protection and women’s rights agencies calling for laws against marriage customs that restrict the social educational, and economic advancement of young girls and women. (Attorney Williams) Attorney for the Hmong Given all the information presented, you must make an appeal for the rights of the Hmong community to peacefully exist in the U.S. with their culture intact. You must present evidence showing that women in this culture are not harmed, and that it is through the “arrogant eyes” of non-community members that injustice and exploitation of women and young girls is seen. (Attorney Wamer) Attorney for the State You are appalled by the practice of the Hmong community. You feel the lives of young women are being sacrificed to preserve the traditions of an antiquated culture. You must describe the ill effects of these marriage customs and argue for a ban of these practices. Objective Students will compare and contrast three or more cases that show cultural conflict. Students will use visual art, creative writing skills, poetry and/or prose to demonstrate learning. The end result of this activity should be a visually attractive, replica of a local newspaper. All articles, ads, name of paper, etc. should relate to the cases presented. - 1. The teacher will arrange students into diverse groups. (limit 4 per group) - 2. The teacher will distribute summaries of the cultural conflict cases presented in this unit. - 3. Students will read and discuss the cases with members of their groups. - 4. Students will design and produce a large group newspaper, inclusive of name of newspaper, date of publication, editor, contributing writers, staff reporters, etc. - 5. Students will write poems, news articles or editorials expressing their views about these cultural/law issues. - 6. Visual artists may draw political cartoons or ads to express their views. Objective Students will use music and writing skills to discuss legal/cultural conflict in America in the form of a protest song. - 1. Students may work in small groups. (limit 4 per group) - 2. Students must choose one or more cases from the unit. - 3. Students will select a melody from a song familiar to all members of the group. - 4. Students will write lyrics that express cultural conflict as presented in one or more of the cases. - 5. Students may also choose rap as an alternative form of expression. - 6. Students will perform their music for the class. The author presents acceptable and unacceptable body language and gestures as viewed by different countries and cultures. Carter, Stephen L. The Culture of Disbelief. New York: Doubleday, 1993. The author makes a case for the practice of religious freedoms in one’s public as well as private life. Krause, Harry D. Family Law. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1988. This book presents U.S. family law in simple laymen terms. It includes actual cases and decisions. Klein, Gillian. Multicultural Teaching To Combat Racism In School and Community. Staffs., England: Trentham Books Ltd., 1987. This book contains reviews of articles and studies that deal with racism. Although there is a particular emphasis on the educational system in England, it is relevant to our system in America. Lipson, Barclay Greta, Romatowski, Jane A. Ethnic Pride. Carthage, IL: Good Apple Inc., 1983. This book contains various activities that introduce students to the achievements, foods, music and general culture of various ethnic groups. Massey, Ian. More Than Shin Deep: Developing Anti-racist Multicultural Education in Schools. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1991. This book peers into institutionalized racism, and challenges teachers to develop curriculum that reflects a more anti-racist and multicultural approach to education. Miller, Barbara, Parisi, Lynn. Teaching About Law And Cultures. Social Science Education Consortium, 1992. Part of a culture/law education project, this publication presents the clash between the law and culture of Japan, Southeast Asia and Mexico. This book includes reproducible texts and worksheets that explore the drafting of the U.S. Constitution as well as present day laws and Constitutional Amendments. Lee, George. Decisions That Shaped America 1865-1976. U.S.: Mark Twain Media Inc., 1993. A clear presentation of land mark decisions that forever changed U.S. Law and the Constitution. Lewis, Barbara A. The Kid’s Guide To Social Action. Minn., MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc. 1991. This book helps students identify and address social issues they would like to become involved with. There are practical steps on a variety of issues from writing editorials, to working to change laws. Milord, Susan. Hands Around The World. Charlotte, VT: Williamson Publishing, 1992. Using the calendar, the author presents 365 ways to develop an appreciation for various cultures. Many of the activities include art, writing and music. Contents of 1996 Volume I | Directory of Volumes | Index | Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute

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6.2 Writing Style - Demonstrate your ability to prepare and present information using a writing style that will increase understanding, retention, and motivation to act. You are invited to a business dinner at an expensive restaurant that has been the top-rated dining establishment in your town for decades. You are aware of the restaurant’s dress code, which forbids casual attire such as jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers. What will you wear? If you want to fit in with the other guests and make a favorable impression on your hosts, you will choose a good quality suit or dress (and appropriately dressy shoes and accessories). You will avoid calling undue attention to yourself with clothing that is overly formal—an evening gown or a tuxedo, for example—or that would distract from the business purpose of the occasion by being overly revealing or provocative. You may feel that your freedom to express yourself by dressing as you please is being restricted, or you may appreciate the opportunity to look your best. Either way, adhering to these style conventions will serve you well in a business context. The same is true in business writing. Unlike some other kinds of writing such as poetry or fiction, business writing is not an opportunity for self-expression. Instead it calls for a fairly conservative and unadorned style. Writing style, also known as voice or tone, is the manner in which a writer addresses the reader. It involves qualities of writing such as vocabulary and figures of speech, phrasing, rhythm, sentence structure, and paragraph length. Developing an appropriate business writing style will reflect well on you and increase your success in any career. Formal versus Informal There was a time when many business documents were written in third person to give them the impression of objectivity. This formal style was often passive and wordy. Today it has given way to active, clear, concise writing, sometimes known as “Plain English” (Bailey, 2008). As business and industry increasingly trade across borders and languages, writing techniques that obscure meaning or impede understanding can cause serious problems. Efficient writing styles have become the norm. Still, you will experience in your own writing efforts this “old school versus new school” writing debate over abbreviations, contractions, and the use of informal language in what was once considered a formal business context. Consider the following comparison of informal versus formal and bureaucratic styles. Bureaucratic: Attached is the latest delivery data represented in topographical forms pursuant to the directive ABC123 of the air transportation guide supplied by the Federal Aviation Administration in September of 2008. - Formal – Please note the attached delivery data for July 2009. - Informal – Here’s the delivery data for last month. While it is generally agreed that bureaucratic forms can obscure meaning, there is a debate on the use of formal versus informal styles in business communication. Formal styles often require more detail, adhere to rules of etiquette, and avoid shortcuts like contractions and folksy expressions. Informal styles reflect everyday speech patterns and may include contractions and colloquial expressions. Many managers prefer not to see contractions in a formal business context. Others will point out that a comma preceding the last item in a series (known as the “serial comma”) is the standard, not the exception. Some will make a general recommendation that you should always “keep it professional.” Here lies the heart of the debate: what is professional writing in a business context? If you answered “it depends,” you are correct. Keep in mind that audiences have expectations and your job is to meet them. Some business audiences prefer a fairly formal tone. If you include contractions or use a style that is too casual, you may lose their interest and attention; you may also give them a negative impression of your level of expertise. If, however, you are writing for an audience that expects informal language, you may lose their interest and attention by writing too formally; your writing may also come across as arrogant or pompous. It is not that one style is better than the other, but simply that styles of writing vary across a range of options. Business writing may need to meet legal standards and include references, as we see in the bureaucratic example above, but that is generally not the norm for communications within an organization. The skilled business writer will know his or her audience and will adapt the message to best facilitate communication. Choosing the right style can make a significant impact on how your writing is received. You may hear reference to a conversational tone in writing as one option in business communication. A conversational tone, as the name implies, resembles oral communication in style, tone, and word choice. It can be appropriate for some audiences, and may serve you well in specific contexts, but it can easily come across as less than professional. If you use expressions that imply a relationship or a special awareness of information such as “you know,” or “as we discussed,” without explaining the necessary background, your writing may be seen as overly familiar, intimate, or even secretive. Trust is the foundation for all communication interactions and a careless word or phrase can impair trust. If you want to use humor, think carefully about how your audience will interpret it. Humor is a fragile form of communication that requires an awareness of irony, of juxtaposition, or a shared sense of attitudes, beliefs, and values. Different people find humor in different situations, and what is funny to one person may be dull, or even hurtful, to someone else. Although there are business situations such as an interview or a performance self-evaluation where you need to state your accomplishments, in general business writing it is best to avoid self-referential comments that allude to your previous successes. These can come across as selfish or arrogant. Instead, be generous in giving credit where credit is due. Take every opportunity to thank your colleagues for their efforts and to acknowledge those who contributed good ideas. Jargon is a vocabulary that has been developed by people in a particular group, discipline, or industry, and it can be a useful shorthand as long as the audience knows its meaning. For example, when writing for bank customers, you could refer to “ATM transactions” and feel confident that your readers would know what you meant. It would be unnecessary and inappropriate to write “Automated Teller Machine transactions.” Similarly, if you were working in a hospital, you would probably use many medical terms in your interactions with other medical professionals. However, if you were a hospital employee writing to a patient, using medical jargon would be inappropriate, as it would not contribute to the patient’s understanding. Finally, in a business context, remember that conversational style is not an excuse to use poor grammar, disrespectful or offensive slang, or profanity. Communication serves as the bridge between minds and your written words will represent you in your absence. One strategy when trying to use a conversation tone is to ask yourself, “Would I say it in this way to their face?” A follow-up question to consider is, “Would I say it in this way in front of everyone?” Your professional use of language is one the hallmark skills in business, and the degree to which you master its use will reflect itself in your success. Take care, take time, and make sure what you write communicates a professional tone that positively represents you and your organization. Introductions: Direct and Indirect Sometimes the first sentence is the hardest to write. When you know the two main opening strategies it may not make it any easier, but it will give a plan and form a framework. Business documents often incorporate one of two opening strategies regardless of their organizational pattern. The direct pattern states the main purpose directly, at the beginning, and leaves little room for misinterpretation. The indirect pattern, where you introduce your main idea after the opening paragraph, can be useful if you need a strong opening to get the attention of what you perceive may be an uninterested audience. Normally, if you expect a positive response from the reader you will choose a direct opening, being clear from the first sentence about your purpose and goal. If you do not expect a positive reception, or have to deliver bad news, you may want to be less direct. Each style has its purpose and use; the skilled business writer will learn to be direct and be able to present bad news with a positive opening paragraph. There are times when you will want to add emphasis to a word, phrase, or statistic so that it stands out from the surrounding text. The use of visual aids in your writing can be an excellent option, and can reinforce the written discussion. For example, if you write that sales are up 4 percent over this time last year, the number alone may not get the attention it deserves. If, however, near the text section you feature a bar graph demonstrating the sales growth figures, the representation of the information in textual and graphical way may reinforce its importance. As you look across the top of your word processing program you may notice bold, italics, underline, highlights, your choice of colors, and a host of interesting fonts. Although it can be entertaining to experiment with these visual effects, do not use them just for the sake of decoration. Consistency and branding are important features of your firm’s public image, so you will want the visual aspects of your writing to support that image. Still, when you need to highlight an important fact or emphasize a key question in a report, your readers will appreciate your use of visual effects to draw their attention. Consider the following examples: - Bullets can be effective when used with discretion. Take care when using the following: - With subheadings - In serial lists - As they can get - A bit overwhelming to the point where - The reader loses his or her interest Emphasis can be influenced by your choice of font. Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman and Garamond, have decorative ends that make the font easy to read. Sans serif fonts, like Arial, lack these visual cues and often serve better as headers. You can also vary the emphasis according to where you place information within a sentence: - Maximum emphasis. Sales have increased across the United States because of our latest promotion efforts in our largest and most successful market. - Medium emphasis. Because of our latest promotion efforts in our largest and most successful market, sales have increased across the United States. - Minimum emphasis. The United States, which has experienced a sales increase, is our largest and most successful market. The information at end of the sentence is what people often recall, and is therefore normally considered the location of maximum emphasis. The second best position for recall is the beginning of the sentence, while the middle of the sentence is the area with the least recall. If you want to highlight a point, place it at the beginning or end of the sentence, and if you want to deemphasize a point, the middle is your best option (McLean, 2003). Active versus Passive Voice You want your writing to be engaging. Which sentence would you rather read? - A – All sales orders are processed daily by Mackenzie. - B – Mackenzie processes all sales orders daily. Most readers prefer sentence B, but why? You’ll recall that all sentences have a subject and a verb, but you may not have paid much attention to their functions. Let’s look at how the subject and verb function in these two sentences. In sentence A, the subject is “Mackenzie,” and the subject is the doer of the action expressed by the verb (processes). In sentence A, the subject is “sales orders,” and the subject is the receiver of the action expressed by the verb (are processed). Sentence A is written in active voice—a sentence structure in which the subject carries out the action. Sentence B is written in passive voice—a sentence structure in which the subject receives the action. Active sentences tend to be shorter, more precise, and easier to understand. This is especially true because passive sentences can be written in ways that do not tell the reader who the doer of the action is. For example, “All sales orders are processed daily” is a complete and correct sentence in passive voice. Active voice is the clear choice for a variety of contexts, but not all. When you want to deemphasize the doer of the action, you may write, “Ten late arrivals were recorded this month” and not even mention who was late. The passive form doesn’t place blame or credit, so it can be more diplomatic in some contexts. Passive voice allows the writer to avoid personal references or personal pronouns (he, she, they) to create a more objective tone. There are also situations where the doer of the action is unknown, as in “graffiti was painted on the side of our building last night.” Overall, business communication resources tend to recommend active voice as the preferred style. Still, the styles themselves are not the problem or challenge, but it is how we use them that matters. A skilled business writer will see both styles as options within a range of choices and learn to distinguish when each style is most appropriate to facilitate communication. Commonly Confused Words The sentences in Table 6.6 “Common Errors in English” focus on some of the most common errors in English. You may recall this exercise from the introduction of this chapter. How did you do? Visit the “Additional Resources” section at the end of the chapter for some resources on English grammar and usage. Table 6.6 Common Errors in English |1. accept or except||The office will _______ applications until 5 p.m. on the 31st.||accept||Attendance is required for all employees _______ supervisors.||except| |2. affect or effect||To _______ the growth of plants, we can regulate the water supply.||affect||A lack of water has a predictable _______ on most plants.||effect| |3. e.g. or i.e.||Please order 2,000 imprinted giveaways (_______, pens or coffee mugs)||e.g.||Charge them to my account (_______, account #98765).||i.e.| |4. its or it’s||The department surpassed _______ previous sales record this quarter.||its||_______ my opinion that we reached peak oil in 2008.||It’s| |5. lay or lie||Please _______ the report on the desk.||lay||The doctor asked him to _______ down on the examination table.||lie| |6. pressure or pressurize||We need to _______ the liquid nitrogen tanks.||pressurize||It might be possible to _______ him to resign.||pressure| |7. principle or principal||It’s the basic _________ of farming: no water, no food.||principle||The _______ reason for the trip is to attend the sales meeting.||principal| |8. regardless or irregardless||_______ of what we do, gas prices are unlikely to go back down.||Regardless||_______ of your beliefs, please try to listen with an open mind.||Regardless (Irregardless is not a standard word; see your dictionary)| |9. than or then||This year’s losses were worse _______ last year’s.||than||If we can cut our costs, _______ it might be possible to break even.||then| |10. that or which||_______ type of marketing data did you need?||Which||Karen misplaced the report, _______ caused a delay in making a decision.||which| |There are several kinds of data _______ could be useful.||that| |11 there their, or they’re||The report is _________, in the top file drawer.||there||__________ strategic advantage depends on a wide distribution network.||Their| |__________ planning to attend the sales meeting in Pittsburgh.||They’re| |12. to, too, or two||Customers need _______ drive slower if they want to save gas.||to||After sales meeting, you should visit customers in the Pittsburgh area _______.||too| |In fact, the _______ of you should make some customer visits together.||two| |13. uninterested or disinterested||He would be the best person to make a decision, since he isn’t biased and is relatively _______ in the outcome.||disinterested||The sales manager tried to speak dynamically, but the sales reps were simply _______ in what he had to say.||uninterested| |14. who, whom, who’s, or whose||__________ truck is that?||Whose||__________ going to pay for the repairs?||Who’s| |__________ will go to the interview?||Who||To __________ should we address the thank-you note?||whom| |15 your or you’re||My office is bigger than _______ cubicle.||your||_______ going to learn how to avoid making these common mistakes in English.||You’re| Making Errors at the Speed of Light In business and industry there is increasing pressure to produce under deadlines that in some respects have been artificially accelerated by the immediacy inherent in technological communication devices. If you receive an e-mail or text message while you are in the middle of studying a complex problem, you may be tempted to “get it out of the way” by typing out a quick reply, but in your haste you may fail to qualify, include important information, or even check to make sure you have hit “Reply” and not “Reply to All” or even “Delete.” Take care to pause and review your text message, e-mail, or document before you consider it complete. Here is a quick electronic communication do/don’t list to keep in mind before you click “send.” Do remember the following: - Everything you access via an employer’s system is subject to inspection. - Everything you write or record reflects you and your business or organization, even if it is stored in a Google or Yahoo! account. - Respect personal space by not forwarding every e-mail you think is funny. - Use a concise but relevant and informative phrase for the subject line. - E-mail the receiver before sending large attachments, as they may exceed the limit of the receiver’s in-box. - Attach your intended attachments. An appropriate business writing style can be formal or informal, depending on the context, but it should always reflect favorably on the writer and the organization. - Select at least three examples of writing from different kinds of sources, such as a government Web site, a textbook, a popular magazine, and a novel. According to the style characteristics discussed in this section, how would you characterize the style of each? Select a paragraph to rewrite in a different style—for example, if the style is formal, make it informal; if the selection is written in active voice, make it passive. Discuss your results with your classmates. - What are some qualities of a good business writing style? What makes certain styles more appropriate for business than others? Discuss your thoughts with a classmate. - Find an example of formal writing and write an informal version. Please share with your classmates. - Find an example of informal writing and write a formal version. Please share with your classmates - You are assigned to a work team that has to come up with a formal declaration and an informal explanation for the declaration. The declaration could be a memo indicating that your business will be observing a holiday (each team should have a different holiday). - How would you characterize your writing style? Do you need to make modifications to make your style suitable for business writing? Write a one- to two-page essay on this subject. Bailey, E. P. (2008). Plain English at work: A guide to business writing and speaking. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. McLean, S. (2003). The basics of speech communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

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Sophocles (c. 496 B.C.E. – 406 B.C.E.) (Ancient Greek: Σοφοκλης) was one of the three great ancient Greek tragedians who, with Aeschylus and Euripides, defined the forms of drama and theater, establishing a literary tradition that influenced not only the drama of the ancient world but of the Western literary tradition to the present day. Every major dramatist—from Seneca to William Shakespeare, from Jean-Baptiste Molière to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—has been influenced in some degree by Sophocles' conception of tragedy. The tragedies of Sophocles are less derivative of Homeric fate or the implacable will of the gods than of inherent human limitations. Prefiguring Shakepearean tragedy, Sophocles explores human fallibility, the limits of knowledge, and the susceptibility of the human condition within the cosmic order. In Sophoclean tragedy, the violation of natural law entails its own consequences, but suffering also provides a means of redemption. Sophocles' protagonists were admired by Aristotle as being "like ourselves only nobler." The plays express deep piety, without superstition. Arrogance, pride, impiety, and the urge for revenge lead men and women into actions that violate the divine order, yet heroic figure surmounts obstacles and injustice through virtues of reverence, courage, and deference to the gods. Of Sophocles' more than 120 plays, eighteen won first prize in competitions, although only seven have survived. The plots which Sophocles devised have been adapted and re-envisioned countless times throughout history and across the Western world, from Grecian and Roman tragedians, to medieval and Renaissance playwrights, to adaptations of Sophocles which continue to be produced today. He is one of the most influential writers of ancient Greece and among the greatest dramatists in history. What little is known of Sophocles' life can be gleaned from fragments of other ancient writers, whose works largely have been lost. According to the Suda, Sophocles wrote 123 plays in the dramatic competitions of the Festival of Dionysus (where each submission by one playwright consisted of four plays; three tragedies and a satyr play, a sort of ancient Greek burlesque put on after a series of tragedies to relieve the audience of grief). Sophocles won more first prizes (around 20) than any other playwright, and placed second in all others he participated in (Lloyd-Jones 1994, 8). His first victory was in 468 B.C.E., although scholars are no longer certain that this was the first time that he competed (Scullion 2002). Only seven of his tragedies have survived complete in the medieval manuscript tradition. The most famous are the three tragedies concerning Oedipus and Antigone: These are often known as the Theban plays or The Oedipus Cycle, although they do not make up a single trilogy. Discoveries of papyri from the late nineteenth century onwards, especially at Oxyrhynchus, have greatly added to our knowledge of Sophocles' works. The most substantial fragment that has so far appeared contains approximately half of a satyr play, The Tracking Satyrs. Sophocles was born about a mile northwest of Athens in the rural deme (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica. His birth took place a few years before the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C.E.: The exact year is unclear, although 497 or 496 is perhaps most likely (Lloyd-Jones 1994, 7). The nature of his family life is disputed; it is unknown whether his father, Sophillus, was a carpenter, smith, or swordmaker, of if he owned slaves who pursued such occupations. Young Sophocles won awards in wrestling and music, and was graceful and handsome. He led the chorus of boys (paean) at the Athenian celebration of the victory against the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C.E. Sophocles enjoyed a public profile outside the theater. In 443/442 he served as one of the Hellenotamiai or treasurers of Athena. The Athenian people elected him as one of the ten generals for 441/440, during which he participated in crushing the revolt of Samos Island. There is some evidence that he was one of the commissioners appointed in 413 B.C.E. as a response to the catastrophic destruction of the Athenian expeditionary force in Sicily (Lloyd-Jones 1994, 12-13). Sophocles also served as a priest for a time. Like many ancient Greek names, that of Sophocles (Σοφοκλης) has a meaning. A compound of σόφος (sophos) "wise" and κλέος (kleos) "glory," Sophocles' name translates to "famous for wisdom;" considering that his words continue to be studied some 2,500 years after his death, his name has proven to be quite apt. The Theban Plays The three Theban Plays, or the Oedipus cycle, Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus), Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, were written across thirty-six years of Sophocles' career and were not composed in chronological order, but instead were written in the order Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus. Oedipus the King Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Rex and Oedipus Tyrannos, Oι̉δίπoυς τύραννoς in Greek) is often considered Sophocles’ masterpiece, written in 425 B.C.E., the play was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced, but comes first in the internal chronology of the plays, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. The play was highly esteemed in its time, and has gone on to be even more popular today, in part due to the significance attached to the Oedipus myth by Sigmund Freud. Sophocles' play treats the myth of Oedipus, son of King Laius of Thebes and Queen Jocasta, also known as Iocaste. Oedipus was a figure from Greek mythology who as an infant was sent to be exposed and left for dead with his ankles bound on a mountainside in an effort to circumvent the oracle's prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. However, he was found and saved by a shepherd and raised in the court of King Polybus of Corinth and his wife Merope. Hearing from an oracle that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, and believing Polybus and Merope to be his real parents, he left Corinth. Oedipus meets Laius by chance on a road, but does not recognize him; the two get into an argument that descends into a fight, and Oedipus accidentally kills him. Arriving in Thebes, he saves the city from the Sphinx by solving his riddle, "What uses four legs in the morning, two in the day, and three at night?" The answer, of course, is Man, who begins life crawling, then learns to walk, and in old age walks with the aid of a cane. For saving the city his reward is the kingdom of Thebes, including the hand of his mother, Queen Jocasta. As the play begins, Sophocles joins the story in media res after Thebes has been struck with a plague by the gods in outrage over Oedipus' crimes, patricide and incest. The action of the play centers on Oedipus' investigation into the source of the plague, in which he curses and promises to exile those responsible. Although the blind prophet Tiresias explicitly tells Oedipus at the beginning of the play that he is the cause of the plague, Oedipus at first does not understand. Instead he accuses Tiresias of conspiring with Creon, Jocasta's brother, to overthrow him. Oedipus then calls for a former servant of Laius, the only surviving witness of the murder, who fled the city when Oedipus became king. Soon a messenger from Corinth also arrives to inform Oedipus of the death of Polybus, whom Oedipus still believes is his real father, until the messenger informs him that he was in fact adopted. In the subsequent discussions between Oedipus, Jocasta, the servant, and the messenger, Jocasta discovers the truth and runs off-stage; Oedipus learns the truth more slowly, but later runs off-stage as well. The Greek chorus fills in the unseen details: Jocasta has hanged herself, and Oedipus, upon discovering her body, blinds himself with the brooches (long gold pins with a pointed end) of her dress. The play ends with Oedipus entrusting his children to Creon and going into exile, as he promised at the beginning. The play depends heavily on dramatic irony. The irony works at several different levels. First, unlike Oedipus, the audience is already aware of the facts before the play begins. While Oedipus is searching for the cause of the plague, the audience is already aware that he is searching for himself. On another level, every step that Oedipus takes to avoid his fate brings him one step closer to fulfilling it. Then, after having already fulfilled the prophecy, Oedipus and Jocasta discuss the oracle, dismissing it as its prophecies have apparently not come to pass. Sophocles' dramatic technique, using the difference between the audience's awareness of events and those of the characters, have been deployed to create suspense by modern playwrights like Shakespeare and filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock. Other themes in the play include the ineluctablility of fate and hubris. Oedipus' parents (and Oedipus himself) do everything in their power to avoid the prophecy of the oracle, only to have the very actions they take to avoid their destinies lead them to fulfill it. However, it is not just the capricious will of the gods that lead to Oedipus' downfall. He is a victim of his ignorance, a universal human limitation. Oedipus at Colonus In the timeline of the plays, the events of Oedipus at Colonus occur after Oedipus the King and before Antigone. The play describes the end of Oedipus' tragic life. Legends differ as to the site of Oedipus' death; Sophocles set the place at Colonus, a village near Athens and also Sophocles' own birthplace, where the blinded Oedipus has come with his daughters Antigone and Ismene as suppliants of the Eumenides and of Theseus, the king of Athens. Exiled by Creon, with the collaboration of his sons Eteocles and Polyneices, Oedipus becomes a wandering beggar led by his daughter Antigone. Oedipus enters the village of Colonus and they are approached by a villager, who demands that they leave, because that ground is sacred to the Furies, or Eumenides. Oedipus recognizes this as a sign, for when he received the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, Apollo also revealed to him that at the end of his life he would die at a place sacred to the Furies, and be a blessing for the land in which he is buried. The chorus of old men from the village enters, and although they promise not to harm Oedipus, they wish to expel him from their city, fearing that he will curse it. Oedipus answers by explaining that he is not morally responsible for his crimes, since he killed his father in self-defense. Furthermore, he asks to see their king, Theseus, saying, "I come as someone sacred, someone filled with piety and power, bearing a great gift for all your people." The chorus is amazed, and decides to reserve their judgment of Oedipus until Theseus, king of Athens, arrives. Theseus arrives and sympathizes with Oedipus, and offers him unconditional aid, causing Oedipus to praise the king and offer him the gift of his burial site, which will ensure victory in a future conflict with Thebes. Theseus protests, saying that the two cities are friendly, and Oedipus responds with what is perhaps the most famous speech in the play. "Oh Theseus, dear friend, only the gods can never age, the gods can never die. All else in the world almighty Time obliterates, crushes all to nothing…" Creon then tries to remove Oedipus but is thwarted by Theseus. The arrival of his son, Polyneices, produces enrages Oedipus, who curses both sons despite the intercession of Antigone. Oedipus tells him that he deserves his fate, for he cast his father out and foretells that his two sons will kill each other in the coming battle. Oedipus soon senses his own impending death and allows only Theseus to witness the event by which he is transformed through his sufferings into a hero and a saint. While the two other plays about Oedipus often bring up the theme of a person's moral responsibility for their destiny, and whether it is possible to rebel against destiny, Oedipus at Colonus is the only one to address it explicitly. Oedipus vehemently states that he is not responsible for the actions he was fated to commit. Despite being blinded and exiled and facing violence from Creon and his sons, in the end Oedipus is accepted and absolved by Zeus. Oedipus at Colonus suggests that, in breaking divine law, a ruler’s limited understanding may lead him to believe himself fully innocent; however, his lack of awareness does not change the objective fact of his guilt. Nevertheless, determination of guilt is far more complex than this, as illustrated by the dichotomy between the blessing and the curse upon Oedipus. He has committed two crimes which render him a sort of monster and outcast among men: Incest and patricide. His physical suffering, including his self-inflicted blindness, and lonely wandering, are his punishment. However, in death, he will be favored; the place in which he dies will be blessed. This suggests that willful action is in some part of guilt; the fact that Oedipus is “rationally innocent”—that he sinned unknowingly—decreases his guilt, allowing his earthly sufferings to serve as sufficient expiation for his sins. In Sophocles’ drama Antigone, Oedipus’ daughter Antigone is faced with the choice of allowing her brother Polyneices’ body to get eaten by savage dogs or to bury him and face death. The king of the land, Creon, has forbidden the burial of Polyneices for he was a traitor to the city. Antigone decides to bury his body and face the consequences. Eventually, Creon is convinced to free Antigone from her sentence of death, but his decision comes too late and Antigone commits suicide. Her suicide triggers the suicide of two others close to King Creon, his son, Haemon, who loved Antigone, and his wife who commits suicide after losing her only son. Antigone focuses on the conflicting duties of civic versus spiritual loyalties, the clash of values between Creon and Antigone. Creon advocates obedience to man-made laws while Antigone stresses the higher laws of duty to the gods and one's family. The play is thus one of the most commonly cited supports in Greek tragedy for the supremacy of Natural Law. Creon, the dramatic hero, realizes only after he loses the lives of all his family that he was mistaken to place the law of the state above the law of the gods. Antigone's determination to bury Polynices arises from a desire to bring honor to her family, not just to the gods. She repeatedly declares that she must act to please "those that are dead" (An. 77), because they hold more weight than any ruler. In the opening scene, she makes an emotional appeal to her sister Ismene saying that they must protect their brother out of sisterly love, even if he did betray their state. Antigone makes very few references to the gods, and so it is very easy to interpret much of her reasoning for honoring higher laws as referencing laws of family honor, not divine laws. While he rejects Antigone's actions based on family honor, Creon appears to value family heavily himself as well. This is one of the few areas where Creon and Antigone's values seem to align. When talking to Haemon, Creon demands of him not only obedience as a citizen, but also as a son. Creon even goes so far as to say "everything else shall be second to your father's decision" ("An." 640-641). This stance seems extreme, especially in light of the fact that Creon elsewhere advocates obedience to the state above all else. While it is not clear how he would handle these two values in conflict, it is clear that even for Creon, family occupies a place as high if not higher than the state. Sophocles' plays Ajax, Electra, The Trachiniae, and Philoctetes were adapted from the Homeric cycle. Ajax and recounts the life of the Greek hero, second only to Achilles among the Achaeans who fight against the Trojans. Of heroic strength and valor, Ajax is stained by arrogance and impiety. Claiming that "any coward could win victories with the help of the gods," he dismisses the goddess Athene who comes to encourage him in battle. He is then enraged because the armor of the fallen Achilles armor is awarded to Odysseus. Planning vengeance, he is tricked by Athena into believing that sheep and cattle taken as spoil are the Greek leaders who disgraced him. He slaughters some of them before realizing his folly, and then takes his life out of his humiliation. Electra is the story of the murders of Electra's father, the Greek king Agamemnon, and mother, Clytemnestra, both involved in treacherous personal betrayals. The story is was also presented by Aeschylus and Euripides, but Sophocles concentrates less on the dark and violent acts than on the character of Electra, whose desire for revenge for her father's murder leads her to conspire in her mother's murder. The Trachiniae concerns the jealousy of Deianeira, the wife of Heracles, but emphasizes her gentleness and devotion in contrast to the volcanic Heracles, who appears near madness in the mistaken belief that his wife sought to kill him. Philoctetes is a psychological study of a relatively minor Homeric figure. The Greeks had abandoned Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos, because of an incurable wound to his foot. But they learn from an oracle that they cannot capture Troy without his assistance. Represented by Aeschylus as embittered by his sufferings and betrayal, Philoctetes for Sophocles is far more sympathetic, a figure of warmth and generosity who scorns deceit. In Sophocles' time, the Greek art of the drama was undergoing rapid and profound change. It had begun with little more than a chorus, but earlier playwrights had added first one and then two actors and thereby shifted the action of the plays away from the chorus. Among Sophocles' earliest innovations was the addition of a third actor, further reducing the role of the chorus and creating greater opportunity for character development and conflict between characters. In fact, Aeschylus, who dominated Athenian theater during Sophocles' early career, adopted this third character into his own playwriting towards the end of his life. It was not until after the death of Aeschylus in 456 B.C.E. that Sophocles became the preeminent playwright in Athens. Thereafter, Sophocles emerged victorious in dramatic competitions at 18 Dionysia and 6 Lenaia festivals. In addition to innovations in the structure of drama, Sophocles' work is known for deeper development of characters than earlier playwrights, whose characters are more two-dimensional and are therefore harder for an audience to relate to. His reputation was such that foreign rulers invited him to attend their courts, although unlike Aeschylus who died in Sicily, Sophocles never accepted any of these invitations. Aristotle used Sophocles's Oedipus the King as an example of perfect tragedy, which suggests the high esteem in which his work was held by later Greeks. Throughout the The Theban cycle, Sophocles explores the inadequacy of knowledge, the baffling problem of evil visited on the just, and man's capacity to endure suffering. For Sophocles, the world is orderly and follows natural laws, and the violation of natural law necessitates punishment and suffering. Human knowledge is limited, and even the just violate natural law out of ignorance. Suffering follows from wrong actions, but through suffering man can achieve nobility and dignity. Only two of the seven surviving plays have securely dated first or second performances: Philoctetes (409 B.C.E.) and Oedipus at Colonus (401 B.C.E., put on after Sophocles' death by his grandson). Of the others, Electra shows stylistic similarities to these two plays, and so was probably written in the latter part of his career. Ajax, Antigone, and The Trachiniae are generally thought to be among his early works, again based on stylistic elements, with Oedipus the King coming in Sophocles' middle period. - The Tracking Satyrs - The Progeny - Aias Lokros (Ajax the Locrian) - Akhaiôn Syllogos (The Gathering of the Achaeans) - Nauplios Katapleon (Nauplius' Arrival) - Nauplios Pyrkaeus (Nauplius' Fires) - Poimenes (The Shepherds) - Syndeipnoi (The Diners, or The Banqueters) - Troilus and Phaedra - Tyro Keiromene (Tyro Shorn) - Tyro Anagnorizomene (Tyro Rediscovered) Fragments of The Progeny (Epigonoi) were discovered in April 2005 by classicists at Oxford University with the help of infrared technology previously used for satellite imaging. The tragedy tells the story of the siege of Thebes. - Sophocles, Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, 2nd ed., David Grene and Richard Lattimore (eds.) (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1991). - Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays, trans. Robert Fagles (New York: Penguin Books, 1984). - Freeman, 242-243. - Aristotle, Ars Poetica. - Lloyd-Jones, Sir Hugh (ed.). Sophocles. Ajax. Electra. Oedipus Tyrannus. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994. - Scullion, Scott. “Tragic Dates.” Classical Quarterly new sequence 52 (2002): 81-101. - Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1870. All links retrieved November 16, 2019. - Works by Sophocles. Project Gutenberg - Studies in Sophoclean Fragments - Films based on Sophocles plays New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

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Mark Helmsing and Andrew Vardas-Doane George Mason University, Fairfax VA Although the period in human history we call the medieval period ended around the year 1500 CE, we are surrounded by medievalism in our lives today. For most history and social studies educators, a claim such as this does not make sense. We accept the end of the medieval period with the Renaissance, ushering in what we teach our students as the early modern period in our human history. Historians and educators position the medieval period, as a “middle” period used to demarcate Western history, occurs after the end of ancient history and before the period in which we currently live (Arnold, 2008). And yet, as we explain in this paper, medievalism—the icons, images, tropes, and representations of how humans think of that time period—permeates our lives today. Learning to understand medievalism in relation to the broadly defined medieval period and from the specific construct of the European Middle Ages enables our students to develop a sharper sense of periodization and significance within their broader historical thinking. Because of the elision between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy, history and social studies educators should take seriously the need to point out medievalism with their students and strive to make more visible and explicit the historical inspiration for such representations. In the first half of this article we provide some ways of thinking about medievalism. In the second half of this article we take these aspects of historical thinking related to medievalism and examine how they work in a popular video game and film franchise, Assassin’s Creed, a form of medieval world building that is popular amongst adolescents and young adults (Gilbert, 2017; Hammar, 2017). Our aim with this article to encourage educators to consider some implications for history and social studies educators related to the intersections of popular culture and medievalism as history education. Approaching Medievalism for Historical Thinking To assume that the medieval is irrelevant or antiquated, or to discount how medievalism effects our contemporary thought and shapes so many images and ideas in popular culture, is to neglect the significance of properly understanding and accounting for historical periodization (Cole & Smith, 2010). One may think that historical periodization is cut-and-dry as a commonplace of historical thinking. Say “medieval” and we think of courtly love, knights in shining armor, kings and queens residing in large castles (often with moats and drawbridges). My (Author 1) thinking about medievalism as an issue worthy of considering in relation to historical thinking occurred in early 2017 when I spent a semester away from my university duties teaching 7th graders. The topic of the HBO television series Game of Thrones came up in conversation one day and a student remarked that he thought “it must have been awful living back then.” It took me a few seconds to realize that he was engaging in two aspects of historical thinking. First, he assumed that the time period in which the Game of Thrones world is set was a long time ago, ostensibly linking it to the history of the Middle Ages. Secondly, and more importantly (or pressingly, depending on how you look at it), the student was conflating the imaginary fantasy world of Game of Thrones—and entirely fictional world and text—with ‘actually existing’ medieval history from real life. When I pressed him on the matter he said that of course he knew the dragons and White Walkers were not real, but that he assumed what he saw on the television series was what life was like “back then, with all of the kings and stuff.” This conversation set me about to think about what it is we may need to be more explicit about in our curriculum and pedagogy to help students not only to separate fact from fiction, works of fantasy from works of history, but also to help our students be more perspicacious and attentive to when, how, and why aspects of medievalism appear to us throughout art, literature, music, film, theater, and popular culture at large. In this section we offer some reasons for why history and social studies educators should investigate (both professionally for their own historical thinking and with their students) aspects of medievalism and the medieval world. Examples of Encountering Medievalism in Popular Culture First, we need to help our students see that we engage with medievalism when we consume media about actually existing persons and events from the medieval period, as in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), a feature film about the Crusades in the 12th century, or in Pippin (1972/2013), a Broadway musical about the eldest son of Charlemagne in the 8th and 9th centuries. Yet we also engage with medievalism when we consume media that is speculative fiction and fantasies using icons, images, tropes, and representations of the medieval world, as in Game of Thrones, a massively popular book and television series about feudal royal houses warring with each other, or in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), only the latest of several feature films inspired by the Arthurian legends of Camelot, the Round Table, and the Lady in the Lake. Secondly, we and our students engage with medievalism when we encounter phrases, concepts, and iconographies that remain embedded in Western thought long after the end of the medieval period. For example, when teaching about torture that occurred in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq or the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, we may describe documented examples of torture as “medieval” in their barbarity, despite the fact that much of what we think of as medieval torture did not actually exist until the Tudor period that began with the end of medievalism in the 1500s (Matthews, 2015). To use another example, our notions of chivalry, courtship, and courtly love are concepts that took on distinctive forms as part of a complex code of rules and conduct in the medieval period (Emery & Utz, 2017). These concepts remain in our thought today, as evidenced by news headlines such as “Chivalry isn’t dead” (Fuller-Hall, 2018) and “Stanford professor puts desire in a medieval context” (Marian, 2013). Educators can select some medieval phrases, concepts, and iconographies for students to identify in our current social and political discourse, helping students map these concepts back to the actually existing historical medieval world. For example, in their edited volume Medievalism: Key Critical Terms, Emery and Utz (2017) survey the significance of terms such as feast, gothic, heresy, humor, love, purity, and troubadour, connecting how these concepts existed within the medieval world and how they have maintained their medieval legacy in our contemporary cultures. In investigating these and other concepts of the medieval, students are able to examine the continuity and change of the history of medieval thought in our world. In some cases, regrettably, medieval concepts, ideas, and iconography are taken up to promote repellant nationalist, racist, and supremacist beliefs, such as the adoption of the Templar Knights and runes with Norse warrior mythology and other medieval marks used to signify racial purity by white supremacists (Devega, 2017; Livingstone, 2017; Weill, 2018). Such uses and abuses should also be interrogated and critiqued in history and social studies education, ranging from how we describe something as violent or regressive as being “medieval” to invoking language and associations to the Crusades as Holy Wars with jihads and ISIS/ISIL. Thirdly, educators and students should realize we place ourselves within contemporary medieval worlds that we often visit in the present, such as medieval fairs and Renaissance fairs or “Ren Fests,” which are anachronistic for many reasons, least of which is that they visually blur and blend the High Middle Ages with Elizabethan England and the European Renaissance. I (Author 1) studied the history of the Middle Ages as a sixth-grade student in a project-based social studies unit where I and my fellow classmates created and hosted a “medieval faire” for the entire school (my contribution was learning to walk on stilts and recite ballads and folk poems). A popular choice for some high school history and/or British literature classes, Renaissance fairs allow visitors to dress in robes, boots, and bodices and converse with strolling troubadours and jolly court jesters. When I (Author 1) taught high school social studies and English courses, I chaperoned a number of field trips to such fairs, often cringing at what I perceived as historically inaccurate cross-periodizations of Elizabethan England, medieval France, and 17th century swashbuckling seafarers and pirates. Nonetheless, watching students marvel at medieval blacksmiths and singing troubadours may make up for the lack of precise periodization. We also consume medievalism when we cheer on jousting knights while feasting on drumsticks and drinking frothy ales at one of the Medieval Times Dinner and TournamentÒ locations throughout Canada and the United States, notable for their scripted performance’s references to the medieval worlds of the Iberian Peninsula in the characters of King Don Carlos, Princes Catalina, and Lord Ulrich. These and other examples of medieval worldbuilding at public events and themed amusement parks offer ample opportunities for educators to have their students challenge the accuracy, veracity, and legibility of medieval representations in these spaces, calling upon students to think critically (and historically) about how such places and spaces evoke and ‘use’ medievalism. Finally, medievalism and fantasy as a genre for fiction and popular culture is fully entangled. The many dragons, elves, and giants in the fantasy franchise Dungeons & DragonsÒ have no existing evidence in historical fact, but the bards, monks, and paladins of the fantasy role-playing game are based on actually existing classes of people in the medieval period. Indeed, paladins, (with a name that derives from Palantine, a Latin word for servant) were high-ranking warriors in Charlemagne’s court (Freeman, 2017). The paladins did not, however, roll multi-sided dice when engaged in battle to the best of historians’ knowledge. Because representations of fire-breathing dragons often appear in literature and other mass media in landscapes occupied with castles, villages, dense forests, and feudal farms and fields. In the following section, we investigate the play of the medieval in one example: Assassin’s Creed. Overview of Assassin’s Creed With a global gaming market of $70.6 billion in 2012 to a soaring $121.7 in 2017, the market for games and gamers is climbing at an exponential rate. Projections for 2021 peak at over $180 billion dollars spent worldwide. Of the games produced and developed, many carry a medieval theme that draws millions of players each year. One game, Assassin’s Creed serves as an example of how our students may confront medievalism in their everyday lives. Operating as a medieval historical and science fiction twist on real-world events, Assassin’s Creed has sparked a franchise that as of September 2016 has sold over 100 million copies (Makuch, 2016). The latest of ten installments, Assassin’s Creed: Origins ranked as the eighth bestselling game of 2017. Therefore, based upon these numbers and our anecdotal experience of having middle and high school students express their fandom for the video games series and its film adaptation, we use it as an example of popular culture primed for some historical thinking about medievalism. Plot Structure of Assassin’s Creed Released in 2007, the first Assassin’s Creed game features a character, Desmond Miles, who is kidnapped by Absergo Industries. This multinational corporate conglomerate forces Desmond to use a device called an animus to (re)live the memories of his ancestors through memories stored in his genes. He is thrown back in time to the twelfth century following the Third Crusade to Masyaf Castle (an actual medieval castle in present-day Syria) where he must live out the life of his ancestor who belongs to the Assassin Order. The plot revolves around a historical conflict between the Assassins and the Knights Templar, suggesting that students actively confront historical markers and significance about the Knights Templar, the Crusades, and Holy Wars in medieval Europe and what we now identify as the Middle East. In the video game, the goal of the Templars is to create world peace by subjugating the human race who they believe are incapable of ruling themselves without barbarism. The assassins fight against this stripping of free will and believe in the progression of new ideas and individuality. As a character in the game, the player progresses the storyline of his forefather, learning more about the history of the world and the conflict between the two factions (IGN, 2012). As the player continues through the game, Desmond finds out Absergo Industries is the modern face of the Knights Templar who are attempting to have Desmond lead them to ancient objects of power called Pieces of Eden. These artifacts were created by a primeval race of Homo sapiens divinus, a highly advanced humanoid species. This race, termed the Isu, genetically modified the homo genus species in order to create a force of slave-labor. Using the Pieces of Eden, devices interacting with neurotransmitters in the minds of humans, they controlled humans until Adam and Eve escaped and began humanity as it is known today. The epic battle between the Templars and Assassin Order exists as a repercussion to the fall of the Isu and the eventual use of Pieces of Eden by humans against humans. The Templars, believing freedom leads to chaos, hope to use the artifacts to eliminate autonomy. The Assassins exist to prevent that dream from becoming a reality (Assassin’s Creed Wiki, 2018). Problematizing the Knights Templar in Assassin’s Creed Using the Assassin’s Creed plotline as a teaching tool for exploring medievalism encourages teachers and students to enact a critical media literacy with existing historical thinking skills and approaches. Throughout the gameplay, many deaths of actually existing historical figures are changed to assassinations to keep in with the themed narrative of the storyline. Acknowledging this plot device as an adaptation of history helps students identify historical errors, but also to be alert to when popular culture gets the history of the Middle Ages right and when it gets it wrong. Shifting students’ historical perspectives to view a real military order, the Knights Templar, portrayed as a power-hungry collection of world dominating fanatics can confuse and inspire conspiracy where no evidence is evident. The disbanding of the Knights Templars in 1312 at the behest of Pope Clement V marks the end of their historical timeline, despite, however, their continued presence in (questionable) usage amongst contemporary subgroups and populations as mentioned earlier in this article. This, unsurprisingly, takes on what we deem to be a concerningly problematic stance within the video game. The assassinations necessary to complete the game are made out to be necessary evils in order to protect the human race from the Templars. The historical record from the Middle Ages informs us that the real ‘assassins’ were a small Muslim Shiite sect, the Nizari Ismailis. Known as heretics by both Sunnis and Shiites, this group’s origin can be traced to immediately preceding the First Crusade during the crisis of the Fatamid Caliphate (Liebel, 2009). Contextualizing History in Assassin’s Creed Almost all the historical content in the movie is a complete fabrication. Claims that major players in history such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mahatma Gandhi, and Genghis Khan used Pieces of Eden to further their agendas can leave players questioning their understanding of historical reality. There are, however, two accurate representations that can be used in the social studies classroom to help further students’ understanding of medieval times and see medievalism in action. First, as mentioned previously, students can learn about the real Masyaf Castle. This castle exists in partial ruin and is in modern day Syria near the Mediterranean Sea. It served as a base of operations of sorts for a guild of assassins identified as the Nizari Ismailis during and following the Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE). The game’s developers worked tirelessly to make their depictions of main cities (Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus) as accurate as possible. Ubisoft hired a team of historians to advise on their gameplay and narrativization to make sure the layout and worldbuilding appear historically suitable. Using the game as an exploration and inquiry tool would be an application of critical media literacy for exploring medievalism in popular culture. Standing alone without an educator to intervene in offering some historical contextualization, Assassin’s Creed is, unsurprisingly, a weak classroom resource for history and social studies educators. As an example of medievalism for our students in the 21st century, it offers much to consider, deconstruct, and critique. We argue the game can be used as a springboard for students interested in history resulting from their engagement in the game’s fictitious portrayals of historical events through elements of historical fantasy and fiction. We urge educators to be cautious in discounting the game’s appeal to student, suggesting instead that educators become more alert to which aspects of medievalism appeal to our students and to find out how and why. Expanding upon this foundation and using the inaccurate storyline as a method for introducing historical accuracies could be exciting for students. With ten games set in time periods ranging from Ptolemaic Egypt to the American and French Revolutions to the Industrial Revolution and the Russian Revolution, a curriculum created around something akin to “The Truth Behind the Assassin’s Creed Histories” could be an engaging and productive avenue for educators. The curriculum would have the added benefit of exploring historically accurate renditions of cities such as London, Venice, Florence, Alexandria, Memphis, Jerusalem, Spain, Istanbul, and Paris. In closing, we offer a final thought from medievalist Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. The idea of the medieval and its immortal memorialization and representation across our cultural, political, and experiential encounters in everyday life can cultivate in students the idea that the medieval is “alluringly strange” and also “discomfortingly familiar” (Cohen, 2000, p. 3). It is something we hope will keep our students’ interests in the past alive. Arnold, J.H. (2008). What is medieval history? Cambridge, MA: Polity Press. Assassin’s Creed Wiki. (2018). Retrieved from http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed_Wiki Cohen, J.J. (Ed.) (2000). The postcolonial Middle Ages. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Cole, A. & Smith, D.V. (Eds.) (2010). The legitimacy of the Middle Ages: On the unwritten history of theory. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Devega, C. (2017, December 1). Alt-right catches knight fever—but medieval scholars strike back. Salon. Online. Emery, E. & Utz, R. (2017). Medievalism: Key critical terms. Rochester, NY: D.S. Brewer. Freeman, E. (2017). Charles the Great, or just plain Charles: Was Charlemagne a great medieval leader? Agora, 52(1), 10-19. Fuller-Hall, S. (2018, February 13). Chivalry isn’t dead. The Sundial. Online. Gilbert, L. (2017). “The past is your playground”: The challenges and possibilities of Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate for social education. Theory & Research in Social Education, 45(1), 145-155. Hammar, E.L. (2017). Counter-hegemonic commemorative play: Marginalized pasts and the politics of memory in the digital game Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry. Rethinking History, 21(3), 372-395. IGN. (2012, October 26). Assassin’s Creed in 5 minutes [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnfg1rDmNIw Kain, E. (2018, January 19). The best-selling video games of 2017. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2018/01/19/the-best-selling-video-games-of-2017/#31d639366226 Kim, D. (2017, August 28). Teaching Medieval Studies in a time of white supremacy. In the Middle. Online. Liebl, V. (2009). The caliphate. Middle Eastern Studies, 45(3), 373-391. Livingstone, J. (2017, August 15). Racism, medievalism, and the white supremacists of Charlottesville. The New Republic. Online. Makuch, E. (2016). Assassin’s Creed Franchise Reaches 100 Million Copies Sold. Retrieved from https://www.gamespot.com/articles/assassins-creed-franchise-reaches-100-million-copi/1100-6443544/ Marian, V. (2013, February 11). Stanford professor puts desire in a medieval context. The Stanford Report. Online. Matthews, D. (2015). Medievalism: A critical history. Rochester, NY: D.S. Brewer. Sapieha, C. (2015). How historians and artists crafted a ‘highly authentic impression’ of London for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Retrieved from https://business.financialpost.com/technology/gaming/how-historians-and-artists-crafted-a-highly-authentic-impression-of-london-for-assassins-creed-syndicate Weill, K. (2018, July 27). The alt-right is taking over Renaissance fairs. Daily Beast. Online.

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Week 25 - 16.03.20 Please see below links to find out what we have been learning in maths and English. Friday 20th March 2020 Thursday 19th March 2020 Week 24 - 09.03.20 We've had a very busy week this week! We celebrated Science Week and began the week by coming into school dressed as scientists! On Monday, we had a brilliant Science workshop with 'Supersonic Sue' and learnt all about sweets! We experimented with some of the ingredients and flavours used in sweets, and then looked at diffusion using skittles and water. Week 23 - 02.03.20 This week, we celebrated World Book Day! On Thursday, we came into school dressed in our pyjamas and brought along our favourite books from home. We had a fabulous day sharing our favourite stories! Thank you to all for taking part! In English, we have been retelling the story of 'Beegu'. We discussed that fiction books have a beginning, middle and ending. We began by writing the beginning of the story and focused on using the skill of adding the suffixes (-ed and -ing) to words. We discovered that a suffix is a letter or group of letters that can be added to the end of a word to make a new word. - by adding -ed to the root word crash, we can make a new word - crashed. -by adding -ing to the root word fly, we can make a new word - flying. We then moved on to writing the middle of the story, ensuring we used conjunctions such as and, but and or. Following this, we wrote the ending of the story, with a focus on including verbs, and as a challenge some of us tried to include adverbs. In Science, we have been learning about the different foods that animals eat. We discovered that animals can be grouped in three ways, depending on their diet. 1. Carnivores - only eat meat. 2. Herbivores - only eat plants. 3. Omnivores - eat both meat and plants. We completed jigsaw puzzles to match facts to the correct animal group. Week 22 - 24.02.20 It has been a busy first week back for Kingfisher Class! We performed our Class Assembly on Tuesday afternoon - a production of Jack and the Beanstalk. The children were absolutely magnificent and did incredibly well to learn their parts and remember the songs after the half term break. We were very proud of each and every one of them. Thank you to those of you who came to watch and join us for our afternoon of learning. Kingfisher Class had a shock when we arrived at school on Wednesday morning because there had been a mystery visitor to the classroom over night! We searched for clues to work out who it could have been, and came to the conclusion it was somebody from another planet! It just so happens that our new text in English s about an alien called Beegu - we decided that it must have been her that had made the mess in our classroom! After we cleaned up, we looked at the front cover of 'Beegu' and made some predictions about what the book could be about. We then read part of the book and realised that Beegu speaks another language. We used inference skills to think about what Beegu could be saying when she finds herself lost and alone on Earth. Following this, we used role play to act out the story, before sequencing the story using pictures from the book. In history, we started our topic - The Queen's Memories. We learned about the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan. We watched a video of the wedding and then re-enacted it using role play. Following this, we did some hot seating, where we interviewed Harry and Meghan to find out more about them. We then recorded a timeline of events, including different key dates. Week 21 - 10.02.20 In English this week, we have been learning about Question Poems. We found out that these poems include a range of questions and a repeated statement. We looked at a picture stimulus and came up with different questions we would like to find out the answer to. We then started to use these questions in our own poems. For example: Where is the house? I need to find out. Who lives in the house? I need to find out. When was it built? I need to find out. Why is it in a forest? I need to find out. Week 20 - 03.02.20 This week in English, we have been planning our own diary entries, based on Owl Babies. We used talk for writing to create a story map of a diary entry from Mother Owl's point of view. We revisited time conjunctions, and remembered that these are used at the beginning of a sentence to tell the reader when something is happening. We discussed that they are important in a diary entry because a recount of the day must be in chronological order. We created our own bank of time conjunctions, which included: First, Next, Then, After that and Finally. In maths, we have been learning about subtraction. We remembered that when subtracting, we always take the smaller number away from the bigger number. We subtracted using pictorial representations, before moving on to subtraction using a number line. On Friday, we celebrated Number Day. Our day was based on the maths book 'How Big is a Million?' and we enjoyed a whole day of maths activities! Week 19 - 27.01.20 It's a been a busy week of learning in Kingfisher Class! In English, we have been learning about the features of a diary entry. We discussed what we would expect to see in a diary entry, and started to explore how we would write our own, from the point of view of Mother Owl in Owl Babies. We used hot seating to explore where Mother Owl could have gone when she disappeared from the nest, and discussed how she may have felt when she was away. Following this, we learned about the skill of writing in the past tense, as this is an important part of writing a diary entry. In maths, we have been learning about addition. We added 1-digit and 2-digit numbers in different ways, using numicon, a number line, part-part whole models and ten frames. We remembered that when adding two numbers together, it is easiest to start with the biggest number and then count on forwards to add the smaller number. This week it has been Art Week! We have been learning all about Vincent van Gogh, and focused on learning about his famous painting 'Sunflowers'. At the beginning of the week, we learnt the skill of sketching and started to sketch our own vases and sunflowers, focusing on line and shape. We then learned about primary, secondary and tertiary colours, and experimented with colour mixing. We moved on to using acrylic paint to paint our own versions of Van Gogh's Sunlfowers, on a canvas! The results were absolutely fantastic - Miss Curtis and Mrs Dove were very proud of Kingfisher Class! Week 18 - 20.01.20 What a brilliant week we have had! In English, we have been writing a retell of the story Owl Babies. We learned that a fiction story is made up of a beginning, middle and end. We discussed that the beginning is where the scene is set and the characters are introduced, the middle is where a problem arises and, at the end, a solution is found. We identified each of these features in the story and then retold each part, focusing on different skills. For the beginning of the story, we included adjectives to describe the setting, and also challenged ourselves to use adjectives ending in -er (comparatives), and -est (superlatives). We then went on to lean about different conjunctions, such as 'and', 'but' and 'or', which can be used to join word or clauses together. In maths, we have been finding one more and one less of numbers up to 100! We used number lines and hundred squares to support us with this, until we became more secure with working the answer out mentally. We remembered that when finding one more than a given number, we count forwards one, and when finding one less, we count backwards one. We answered some varied fluency questions and some of us moved onto reasoning and problem solving questions. In Geography, we have been learning about the capital cities of the United Kingdom. We found out their names and identified where they are located on a map. We were also lucky enough to have a visit from Steve, who came in and did a drama workshop with us, based on the the countries and cities of the United Kingdom. We really enjoyed ourselves! Week 17 - 13.01.20 It's been another busy week in Kingfisher Class. In English, we have been learning how to write a setting description. We found out that a setting is the place where a story is taking place, and we based our writing on the woodland setting of our key text 'Owl Babies'. We went for a walk to Trent Mill Nature Reserve to experience the things we might see, hear, and feel in a woodland. We gained lots of ideas and vocabulary for our writing. We focused on including adjectives and verbs in our setting descriptions, and we started to include a variety of sentence openers to make our sentences more interesting for the reader. In Geography, we celebrated the start of our new topic 'Our Queen's Country' by having a WOW afternoon tea party! We found out who the Queen is and enjoyed some afternoon tea treats! During our party, we wore royal crowns, waved British flags and sang the National Anthem! Thank you for your contributions - they were very much appreciated! Week 16 - 6.1.20 We have a had a busy first week back! In English, we started our new key text 'Owl Babies'. We began the week by reading the story and retold the main events using role play. We then sequenced the story using talk for writing and independently ordered images from the text. Following this, we thought about the different emotions the Owl Babies would have been feeling when Mother Owl disappeared from the nest, and thought of some questions we could ask the Owl Babies during our hot seating lesson! Finally, we wrote a character description of Mother Owl, focusing on her appearance and the things she does. We thought of lots of adjectives and verbs to include in our writing! Week 15 - 16.12.19 What an amazing week we have had to end a fabulous half term! A massive well done to Kingfisher Class for their wonderful performance in our KS1 production 'Christmas Around the World' - you made us very proud! This week, we have been showcasing our creativity by making our own calendars for the year ahead, and we also designed our own Christmas/winter-themed cards to take home. In RE, we learned about the Nativity Story. We sequenced the story and created our own storyboard to retell the main events. We also researched the history of the Christmas tree, and found out that this idea came to the UK from Germany! Finally, we had an end of term party to celebrate what has been a brilliant term of hard work and progress! Enjoy a well-earned rest over the Christmas break and we will see you next year! Week 14 - 09.12.19 This week has been very busy indeed! Alongside our lessons, we have been finding time to rehearse our KS1 nativity play 'Children of the World'. Kingfisher Class have worked extremely hard to remember all of the words to our songs, and we have shown how beautiful our singing voices can be! We cannot wait to perform our production on Monday! Week 13 - 2.12.19 We have had a fantastic week of learning in Kingfisher Class. In English, we have been writing our own non-chronological reports about brown bears. We began by researching the appearance of brown bears and thought of lots of adjectives we could use to describe them. Afterwards, we moved onto describing their diet, making sure to include different verbs (e.g. eat, catch and hunt). Finally, we described their habitat, and we focused on including conjunctions such as 'and', 'but' and 'or'. Week 12 - 25.11.19 It has been another busy and exciting week in Kingfisher Class! In English, we have been learning about non-chronological reports. We found out that these are non-fiction texts which are not written in time order. We looked at some examples of non-chronological reports to see if we could identify the different features. Following this, we started to write our own reports all about brown bears! We researched some interesting facts and wrote an introductory paragraph. In Maths, we have been learning about multiplication. We have been focusing on counting in multiples of 2, 5 and 10. We began by counting in 2's, 5's and 10's using pictures, and then moved onto varied fluency questions such as missing number problems. In Science, we carried out an investigation to find out which everyday materials are waterproof. We discussed which materials we should test, and how we would make sure the experiment was fair. We each made a prediction to guess which material would be most waterproof and then carried out our experiment. We dropped water on top of different materials to see if they let the water absorb through or not. We recorded our results in a table and then wrote a conclusion. We found out that plastic and tin foil were both waterproof. Week 11 - 18/11/19 We have had a fantastic week in Kingfisher Class! On Wednesday, we were treated to a trip to the cinema to watch Abominable, thanks to our magnificent class attendance! The children thoroughly enjoyed their morning out and their behaviour was exemplary. We are now aiming to beat our current attendance record! In English this week, we have been learning how to use adjectives to describe Goldilocks' appearance, and how we can use verbs to describe her behaviour and actions. We will be applying what we have learnt to create a 'Wanted' poster, to help the three bears find Goldilocks! Week 10 - 11/11/19 This week in English we started our new key text - Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We began the week by using role play to act out the story and correctly sequence the main events. We then started to retell the story in our own words. For the beginning of the story we discussed that it is important to describe the setting, so we focused on the use of adjectives to describe where the three bears live. For the middle part of the story, we focused on trying to include adjectives that end with -er (comparatives) and -est (superlatives). We came up with words such as bigger/smaller and biggest/smallest to describe and compare the size of the bears' bowls, chairs and beds. For the ending of the story, our focus was on using words containing the prefix -un, such as unhappy and unkind. Many of these concepts were new to the children, and all did amazingly well to include them in their writing! In maths, we have been learning about number bonds (two numbers that add together to make a certain number). We used practical apparatus such as numicon, cubes and counters to help us find different number bonds for a given number. We began by looking for number bonds within 10, before moving onto number bonds within 20. This week was Design and Technology week! As our topic is Street Detectives, we decided to spend our D & T lessons designing and making our very own bottle kilns! We began the week by researching what bottle kilns are, what they look like and what they were used for. We then designed our own bottle kilns, focusing on the main features, and thought about what materials and equipment we would need to make them. On Friday, we had a special visit from a ceramic expert, who taught us how to make bottle kilns and factories using clay! We had so much fun learning new skills and the finished pieces were amazing! Well done to everyone! Week 9 - 4.11.19 A warm welcome back to all of Kingfisher Class - I hope you have had a fantastic break! This week in maths, we have been learning about fractions. To begin with, we learned how we would find one half of an object. We did this by cutting a piece of food into two equal halves, and were then able to explain that one half is just one of those pieces. Following this, we were finding one half of a quantity. We learned that in order to find one half of a number of objects, we would need to equally share the objects between two groups. To find one half we then counted how many objects there were in one group. We then moved onto finding one quarter of an object, by cutting an object into four equal parts and selecting just one. Afterwards, we found one quarter of a quantity, by sharing objects fairly between four groups, and then counting how many we have in just one group. In English, we have been writing our own bonfire night senses poetry! We watched some videos of fireworks to help us copy the movement of fireworks in our role play. We then used instruments to copy some of the sounds that fireworks make! Afterwards, we began to discuss what adjectives we can use to describe what fireworks and bonfires look like (e.g. dazzling, bright, shimmering and colourful), and then used onompatopoeia (e.g. boom, bang, pop and crackle) to describe the sounds that they make. Using the senses, see, hear, smell and feel, we wrote some descriptive sentences about bonfire night and used features such as repetition to create our poetry. In Science, we started our new topic of 'Everyday Materials'. We went on a material hunt in our classroom to find as many different materials (e.g. wood, plastic, glass, metal and fabric) as possible. Once we had collected a range of objects, we sorted them into different groups, based on the material they were made from. We recorded our findings in a table. Week 8 - 21.10.19 Our final week of this half term has been a busy one! Thank you Kingfisher Class for all of your hard work over our first half term - I hope you enjoy a well deserved break! In maths, we have been learning about shapes. We began the week by naming a variety of 2D shapes and went on a shape hunt around school to see how many different 2D shapes we could spot in our environment. We even made a tally chart to show which shapes were the most common! We then investigated the properties of 2D shapes, and looked at features such as number sides, number of corners and the length of sides. After this, we named some 3D shapes, and as a class, identified some properties, which included: number of faces, number of vertices and number of edges. In English, we have been doing some creative writing. We asked ourselves the question 'If you could climb to the top of a beanstalk, where would you go?'. We discussed the things we may see, hear and feel in our chosen place.The children came up with some fabulous ideas! We then produced a piece of descriptive writing to describe our magical destination at the top of the beanstalk, and made sure to include lots of adjectives and verbs in our writing. Week 7 - 14.10.19 We've had a fun week of learning in Kingfishers Class! In Maths, we have been learning about subtraction. We started the week using bead strings to help us solve subtraction problems, before moving onto using a number line. We learnt that when subtracting we count along the number line backwards. After this, we used ten frames to subtract pictorially, and finally had a go at solving some subtraction word problems! In English, we have been learning about how to write a letter. We found out about the features of a letter and labelled the different features on a letter of our own. We then imagined that we were Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) and wrote a letter of apology to the giant for stealing his belongings! We remembered to include all of the features we learned about. Week 6 - 07.10.19 Once again it's been a busy week in Kingfishers Class. In English, we carried on learning about instructions. We started the week by finding out what time conjunctions are. We discovered that they tell us when something is happening, and in a set of instructions, they usually come at the very beginning of the sentence. 1. First, hang your coat on your peg. 2. Next, put your reading book in your tray. 3. Finally, sit on the carpet. We then started to plan how we would write our own set of instructions (how to grow a magic beanstalk), ready for our published write! We decided that our instructions should include time conjunctions and imperative (bossy) verbs, and our sentences should start with a capital letter and end with a full stop. Week 5 - 30.09.19 It has been another exciting week in Kingfishers Class! In English we have been learning about instructions. We began the week by looking at the features of instructions, and then moved on to learning about imperative (bossy) verbs. We found out that imperative verbs are used near the beginning of a sentence and tell the reader what to do. We then worked in teams to follow a set of instructions and planted our very own magic beans! We can't wait to find out what grows! Week 4 - 23.09.19 In English - this week we have been using adjectives (describing words) to describe the giant in our story Jack and the Beanstalk. We created a bank of vocabulary to describe his appearance - what he looks like and then his personality - what type of person he is. There were some brilliant ideas that Kingfishers came up with together and next week we will be writing a character description including all of their ideas! In Maths - we have been finding one more and one less than a number. It's important to remember if we are finding more than a number it is going to get bigger as we count forwards and if we are finding one less than a number it is going to get smaller as we count backwards. We have practised this practically, pictorially and finally solved some challenging reasoning problems. In Science this week we have continued to learn about the four seasons and which months of the year are found in each season. We learn a season song and played a great game to test our memory! Week 3 - 16.09.19 It has been a busy and fun week in Kingfishers class! In English this week we have been completing our retell of the story Jack and the Beanstalk. We have really got to know the story well and Kingfishers have been working hard to put their ideas into sentences. Our steps to success for super sentences include: Using finger spaces between words, starting sentences with capital letters and ending sentences with a full stop. We have spent some time this week revisiting those important full stops and why we need to use one after each idea we write. In Maths we have been counting forwards and backwards to 100. We have used number lines and numicon to help us and remembering that when we count forwards the number gets larger and when we count backwards the number gets smaller. In Science this week we were lucky to have a workshop with Steve who helped us to role play the 4 different seasons. This was a brilliant start to our topic and got us all thinking about the weather in each season and what important events happen. Week 2 - w.c. 09.09.19 This week we have been very busy getting stuck into our Year 1 timetable! Kingfishers have all worked really hard this week to be focused on learning tasks and work hard - well done! In Maths - we have been representing numbers in a variety of ways. We have represented numbers as objects, we have represented numbers with numicon, we have represented numbers with pictures and finally written numbers as words. In English we have been learning all about our story Jack and the Beanstalk! We have practised our role play skills by creating freeze frames from the story. We practised using our bodies to create a character and our facial expression. Towards the end of the week we have begun to write our own version of the story remembering those all important capital letters, finger spaces and full stops that are needed in every sentence. During our afternoon Encompass we have discussed where we live and the wider world around us. We now know that Hanley is a town, Stoke-on-Trent is a city, England is a country and finally Earth is a planet! Great learning this week, well done! w.c. 02.09.19 - Week 1 Welcome to Kingfisher class! We have had a wonderful first week together with the children finding their feet and settling into their new year 1 classroom. We have had lots of fun getting to know each other and I have loved learning all about each Kingfisher with their 5 items from home. Thankyou for your support with this parents/carers it was a great opportunity for speaking and listening! We have been very busy creating pieces of writing and art to make our new classroom personal and looking fabulous. We have also been for a local walk around our school and the surrounding environment to make ourselves familiar. We had a great walk in the sunshine and spotted places such as a doctors surgery, Emma Bridgewater factory, bottle kilns, schools, the canal, church and local shops. All of this research will help us with our new Street Detectives topic. Things to remember in Year 1: Our P.E. day is Wednesday Reading and Spellings need to be practised 5 times a week to support learning 1 piece of Maths homework will be given on a Friday to be completed over the weekend and returned for the following Wednesday. If you would like your child to be able to drink water throughout the day they need to bring a water bottle to school. Thankyou for your support with this, the practise at home will get your Kingfisher off to a flying start at Waterside! It has been another busy week full of fun in Kingfishers class! In English - we have been putting our instructions together for How to be a Pirate. We have written the introduction, list of equipment, instructions and finally a top tip for the reader! Next week we will be publishing our final instructions ready to share with the rest of the class! In Maths - we have been measuring mass. We have measured in non-standard unit using cubes, we started by predicting how heavy we thought a range of classroom objects would be from teddies to glue sticks and then tested out our predictions. In Music this week we had a special treat Adam in our class confidently taught us a wonderful song in Polish! Kingfishers loved learning from their friend. This week we have also been on our trip to the park! Kingfishers loved learning all about the boggarts that can be found in the park and making their own boggart friends! We have also enjoyed Sports day, thank you to all parents that were able to come and support Kingfishers had the best morning! Week 35 - w.c. 17.06.19 It has been an exciting week in Kingfishers class! In English - we have been describing Jim the pirate! Using expanded noun phrases but still trying to make our sentences as interesting as possible! Rather than simply say: Jim has long, unwashed hair. We can extend this to become: Jim has long, unwashed hair that has never been cut before. Jim has long, unwashed hair that is crawling full of tiny bugs! In Maths we have been solving place value problems. Answering true or false problems and giving explanation for our answers. False because 11 + 14 = 25. The Kingfishers then proved their brilliant answers with dienes. We have also had so much fun celebrating Pirate Day this week! Kingfishers created their own pirate names, drew a treasure map for hidden treasure in Waterside school, met a real pirate, completed a treasure hunt, pirate obstacle course and finally found a giant treasure chest pinata full of treats to share! Week 34 - w.c. 10.06.19 In English this week we have been writing our retell of the story - The Pirates Next Door. Now we are in Summer term and approaching the end of year one and two we are focusing on including all of our wonderful writing skills. Kingfishers have worked extremely hard this week to ensure that they have included as many of our key writing skills as they can: After Kingfishers had wrote their amazing retells of the story, on Friday we worked as a class to edit and improve sentences that sometimes need a sprinkle of magic! In Maths we have been continuing with our fraction work. This week we have been focusing on finding 1/4 of amounts! This follows the same rules as finding 1/2 except this time we look at the denominator which is 4 and share into 4 parts. We have practised this using objects, shapes, pictorial representations and finally solving word problems! During our afternoon curriculum in Art we have been learning all about the famous artist Georges Seurat. He became famous for his technique of pointillism. This involved using dots with pens or paint to create an effect. Kingfishers have been practising their pointillism skills and creating their own piece of art in this style. Here are some of Georges Seurat's pieces: Week 33 - w.c. 04.06.19 It has been a great week back in Kingfishers class! Alongside Eid celebrations we have enjoyed getting stuck back into learning! In English - we have been introduced to our new story - The Pirates Next Door. Kingfishers have loved learning about the pirates in our new story and we have spent the week getting to know and understand the story. We have hotseated characters, role played the story, answered a range of VIPER questions all ready to retell and improve the story next week! In Maths - we have been recapping fractions! We have spent the week finding half 1/2 of objects, shapes and pictorial representations. It is important to remember when finding a 1/2 we are interested in 1 part of the whole amount 2. In Encompass we have been investigating lighthouses, where they began and why they are mostly white and red! Kingfishers loved becoming researchers and writing their ideas. Have a lovely weekend Week 31 - w.c. 13.05.19 This week in English we have been to the rainforest! The setting of our story - Grandad's Island. We have been taking our time with presentation and vocabulary to become wonderful writing wizards! We have been using verbs and adverbs to describe what the plants and animals in the rainforest are doing. Look at this amazing word bank we created together: We have also looked at what happens to the verb when it has happened in past tense: In Maths - we have been problem solving! We have worked on reading the questions carefully to understand what the question is asking us to do. We also have to check we have answered all parts of the question, because some maths questions can have 2 or 3 parts! In Encompass and Science - we have explored the different habitats there are around the world - desert, Arctic, grasslands, ocean, rainforest, pond and woodland. We hunted around the room for the animals and plants that belonged in our habitat, lots of great team work skills from Kingfishers! We have also looked at the human features that are found at the seaside. We have discussed as a group why these features have improved the seaside. Lots of lovely suggestions were given such as: "The fishing boats mean that people can go and catch fish for people to eat!" "The lighthouse helps to keep everybody safe." "The shops mean give jobs to the people who live there." Have a great weekend! Week 30 - w.c. 3rd May Well it has been a busy week this week for Kingfisher class! In English we have been completing our retell of Grandad's Island. We are working hard to include all of our year 1 and year 2 writing skills now we are in

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The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. It tells the story of Pip, who is able to leave behind his humble origins and fulfil his ambitions of becoming a gentleman thanks to the largesse of an unnamed benefactor. It has inspired numerous film and television adaptations, including a BBC mini-series in and a feature film in Charles Dickens was one of the best-known and most acclaimed novelists of Victorian England. He was also a prominent social critic, and frequently used his writing to denounce the injustices faced by the poor and vulnerable in 19 th -century Britain, as well as campaigning tirelessly for social reform. He was a prolific writer, and published many novels, novellas, short stories and non-fiction articles. Tags: 19th century literaturearistocracyBildungsromanBritish literatureCharles Dickensguiltpovertysocial classessocial criticismunrequited love. He was also a prominent social critic, and frequently used his writing to denounce the injustices faced by the poor and vulnerable in 19th-century Britain, as well as campaigning tirelessly for social reform. This clear and detailed page reading guide is structured as follows Read more. Already subscribed? Click here. Find the right plan for you. BrightSummaries Standard. BrightSummaries Premium.Charles Dickens was no stranger to criticizing society or social commentary in his writings and Great Expectations is no exception. Throughout the novel, Pip meets all sorts of people that either help guide him or hinder his journey along the way. This includes everything from something as unassuming as their names to descriptions of their physical appearance or a narration of their background. The language that is used to describe each character is also important, as it reveals even more about the character that is being described. The language that Dickens uses to describe each character gives the reader more insight into their place in society and gives more knowledge of their identity. The use of imagery conveys more about character identity and adds to the commentary of English society during this time period. Character names are an important part of the class politics and the theme of identity that is found in Great Expectations. Each main character has a name with a specific meaning that adds to who they are in the story. For example, the main protagonist of the story, Pip, has a nickname that translates to a small, hard seed. This is important to the story because the entire novel is focused around his journey of growth. Some of the characters that he interacts with represent the ground around him while others represent the water that will help him grow. As for societal commentary, Pip represents the vertical economic climb that the lower class was now able to achieve during the industrial revolution. Along with this leap came a change in the way he is perceived in society. When Pip first encounters Herbert Pocket, shortly after acquiring some of this wealth, he suggests that Pip does not have a name fitting for a London gentleman. His class identity shifts in the narrative during this point. Pip is nothing more than a nickname, but it is hard on the ears of his high society fellows. Even his birth name Phillip does not suit that of a gentleman in the eyes of Mr. Stella, in Italian, means star. This is exemplified by the way she treats those around her. Can the candle help it? She knows that she is pretty and uses that to her advantage. This leads to the commentary on identity that is present when describing Estella. She is a representation of the stereotype that the rich are snobby and disrespectful to those that are part of a lower class than they are. Apart from names, Dickens also uses other characters to point out the changes in identity for the main characters. The way that other characters interact with the protagonist reveal more about the shifts in identity that take place in the novel. In this scene, Pip is putting a knife in his mouth to secure it while his hands are full, but this action is portrayed as un-gentlemanly in the eyes of Mr. This is a feeling that is inescapable for him throughout the novel. Dickens successfully portrays this concept that it is impossible to shed yourself of your identity, even if that identity changes. Beyond the use of other characters in the story to explain this concept of identity, Dickens has a clear obsession with how the human hand can be used to portray identity. One of the most important pieces of imagery that Dickens uses throughout the novel to showcase class identity is the portrayal of the human hand. He lists multiple instances in the text where a character is described as using their hand to accomplish a task or illustrate an emotion. These examples break both Pip and Estella down into their respective roles. The hand is the allusion to the two classes that the characters belong to. In the novel, characters that are in a higher class in society are almost always represented by authoritative hand gestures, while characters that are part of the lower classes are represented using violent, or animal like, imagery. This subtle use of imagery is what makes the commentary on society and identity so deep.It is a very well-known fact that by the time they get to the end of their novel, many writers start to have second thoughts about how to conclude it. The history of literature is filled with examples where critics found alternative endings to famous novels. This essay analyzes the two alternative endings for the novel Great Expectations and argues that the initial one was both more aesthetically appealing and philosophically profound. The events leading up to the final scene in the film and in the novel with the initial ending are the same. In both cases Pip, or Finn as he is called in the film, ends up without his wealth while Estella is divorced and has lead an unhappy life. However, the very ends of the two versions differ sharply. The ending that Dickens initially intended for the novel is rather gloomy. What this sentence reveals is that too much suffering can turn an innocent and loving person into a being incapable of loving in the same way as it can break the arrogance and selfishness of a spoiled one. Hard Times By Charles Dickens Literary Analysis The ending in the film is rather different. When the final accidental meeting of Estella and Finn takes place, the dynamics between them is apparently positive. One kind statement by Estella is enough to awaken all the love that Finn has been feeling for years. When it comes to giving a value judgment about which of the two endings is better, the answer is bound to come either from the aesthetics of the scene or from the philosophical understanding of the nature of love and emotional suffering of the person who answers the question. It seems that the scene that was initially intended for the novel is much better according to both of these criteria. First, aesthetically, the moment at which Finn answers an apparently difficult question such as whether he is willing to forgive Estella in a statement that is so devoid of emotion and second thoughts, the viewer immediately feels betrayed. The question that comes to mind is whether the kind of suffering that Finn underwent before was real at all when he could pretend as if it never happened and give it no second thought. Secondly, philosophically, the unofficial ending for the novel gives a much more profound and interesting view about the effects of suffering on human beings. In conclusion, the ending that was initially intended for the novel was better than the one that was finally used and presented in the film. The unofficial ending is aesthetically more appealing as there is no dissonance between what the audience would naturally expect and what actually happens. Also, the unofficial version gives a much more profound statement about the effects of suffering on human beings. Dickens, Charles, and Edgar Rosenberg. Great expectations: authoritative text, backgrounds, contexts, criticism. New York: Norton, Great expectations. Great Expectations - Literary Analysis Pip Philip Pirrip narrates the tale from an unspecified time in the future. He grows up in the marshlands of Kent, where he lives with his disagreeable sister and her sweet-natured husband, the blacksmith Joe Gargery. Pip brings him food and a file, but the fugitive and Compeyson—his former partner in crime and a supposed gentleman who is now his enemy—are soon caught. Living with Miss Havisham at Satis House is her adopted daughter, Estella, whom she is teaching to torment men with her beauty. Pip, at first cautious, later falls in love with Estella, who does not return his affection. He grows increasing ashamed of his humble background and hopes to become a gentleman, in part to win over Estella. Several years later a lawyer named Mr. Jaggers appears and informs Pip that an anonymous benefactor has made it possible for him to go to London for an education; Pip believes that the money is from Miss Havisham, who does not dissuade him of the notion. Also receiving instruction is the slow-witted and unlikable Bentley Drummle. The increasingly snobbish Pip is later horrified to discover that his mysterious benefactor is Magwitch. Pip reveals the situation to Herbert, and it is decided that Magwitch and Pip should leave England. Before departing, Pip visits Satis House, where he confronts Miss Havisham for letting him believe she was his patron. He also professes his love to Estella, who rejects him. Knowing that Drummle is pursuing her, Pip warns her about him, but she announces that she plans to marry him. He also grows close to Magwitch, whom he comes to respect. As Pip and Magwitch attempt to leave London via a boat, the police and Compeyson arrive. The injured Magwitch is arrested, convicted, and dies awaiting execution. A despondent Pip is arrested because of his debts, but his failing health prevents him from being jailed. Joe subsequently arrives and nurses Pip back to health. Joe also informs him that Miss Havisham has died. After Joe leaves, Pip discovers that his brother-in-law has paid all of his bills. After more than 10 years away, he returns to England and visits the place where Satis House once stood. There he encounters Estella, who is now a widow. As they leave, Pip takes her hand, believing that they will not part again. Great Expectations works on a number of levels: as a critique of Victorian society and as an exploration of memory and writing. However, it is perhaps more importantly a search for true identity. Great Expectations was also noted for its blend of humour, mystery, and tragedy. In the original ending of the work, Pip and Estella were not reunited, but Dickens was persuaded to write a happier conclusion. The novel was an immediate success upon its publication in the s. Article Contents. Print print Print. Table Of Contents. Facebook Twitter. Give Feedback External Websites. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article requires login.In this book, many literary elements are employed to develop a cleverly blended story. To create a unique effect, comedy, tragedy, and garish features are mixed together throughout. The wide array of writing patterns used by Dickens can be found over the course of the entire book and exemplified in many different chapters. From the instant this novel starts, Dickens establishes himself as a valid writer and his work as a piece worth literary attention. He accomplishes. This idea explores a text founded on who profits from it — concerning class, culture, and social matters. Reverend George and Cassandra Austen. Her father, Rev. George Austen of the Steventon Anglican parish, was an educated member of the clergy and the descendant of a family in the business of wool manufacturing. Great Expectations Human nature is the psychological and social qualities that characterize humankind. Human nature separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. The underlining theme of human nature is evident in Great Expectation by Charles Dickens use of his characters. A main characteristic that Dickens displays is friendship. The friendship between Pip and Herbert is strong. Where I have used source material, it is acknowledged in accordance with departmental requirements. I understand what plagiarism is and I am aware of the departmental policy on it. What is it about a book that will have generation after generation reading it? English Literature majors could spend hours theorizing the answers to this question. One series of texts that has received publicity and wide-spread acclaim over the past seven years is the Harry Potter collection. Rowling could never have possibly imagined how her little book about a boy with broken glasses and a scar on his forehead. Fascinated by the popular analysis, and multiplex of themes, ranging from jealousy and love, or perhaps honor and betrayal, Othello has become intrinsic to the way one lucubrates the literary and theatrical arts, and has become indispensible in understanding Shakespearean literature. However, taking the analysis further than the ostentatious front put on by Shakespeare. While working on Great Expectations, …show more content… In London, Pip views his past actions very negatively, and very seldom does he ever give himself credit for good deeds he has done in the past. As a gentleman, Pip starts to act as he always imagined a gentleman would, this adds to him treating his family poorly. Many of the characters throughout the story do not seem to be very realistic, it is almost as if they were meant to come across as being quite fictional. She has absolutely no ability to express emotions to the extent that it seems completely unreal. Despite this, Estella almost does come across as being quite sympathetic for her being the way she is. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape. Miss Havisham has stopped every clock in her mansion at twenty minutes to nine, and. Show More. Read More. Popular Essays. Outline the Structure of the Main Tissues of the Body. Open Document.Also I will mention about Thomas Gradgrid, imaginary and emotions. Charles was a very prolific author. Also, he was a journalist, novelist, editor, illustrator and social commentator. The guilt that each character feels effects of they live their lives and how they plan to live it in the future. Great Expectations author Charles Dickens does an exceptional job portraying the result that guilt has on the human psyche and on the diverse cast of characters that it. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Book Analysis) With any book, article, propaganda, etc. However, there are several authors that choose a different route. Charles Dickens, an author with many award winning novels and plays from the 19th century, used a different approach when creating his characters for his writings. Sung-hune, Kang Eleanor Surridge English 11 HL 30 November Embodiment of language in dystopia Dystopian novels presents to the readers of an unpleasant society, in which is often convinced to be utopian and authors take in consideration of many factors to construct a dystopian novel. Most often, the authors of future dystopian novels exert themselves to using factors such as satire in which, draws the readers to think about their society in contrast to the novel. In presenting such satirical aspect, language becomes a key factor that emphasizes what the author may illustrate. Charles Dickensone of the famous writers of Victorian erawho wrote basically about the struggle of the poor and middle class people. Himself beinghe knows the struggle a person has to face when there is provided a limited oppurtunities to them. Hence this is one of his novelaboutthe life of Piphow he realizes that it is not necessary to be a gentlemen or have a high class and leads to a happy life. In Jane Eyre, this is clearly depicted through two important characters. Her traits and actions correlate to the dark side of Rochester, and it is clear that she reflects his past. Even though there are some instances in the novel where Steinbeck seems to mirror the attitudes of the past, there also are several instances where the author he displays the need for societal change. He uses characters in the novel, such as Lennie, to demonstrate the mistreatment of the mentally disabled. He also shows the desperate plight of the economically disadvantaged during the Great Depression. The novel was Originally published as a serial from to and it was Dickens ' third novel. As Like many of charles Dickens ' works, the novel has a very contemporary setting. Ironic social satire is the main tone of the work, with Dickens taking aim at what he perceives to be social injustices. In his attempt to bring about social reform of the appalling conditions of the working class, Charles Kingsley turned his fictional works into serious instruments of social justice and used his novels as a platform to spread his views to the public. He envisioned his novels, as opportunities for readers to see with new eyes the possibilities of cooperation between classes, and called for a change of heart and for the prevailing of fellow-feeling and human brotherhood. The shadowy and degraded figures of Alton Locke and Yeast, are shown as victims of the prevailing social class division and morally irresponsible industrial relationships. Kingsley draw attention to their miserable conditions but does not delve deep into their problems. He makes touching pictorial description that lies in the strong feature of his social protest for the sake of raising his readers ' pity and he uses them as instruments of bringing about social reform. Also I will mention about Thomas Gradgrind, imaginary and emotions. Dickens started his career anonymously. In this article, I try to explain the wrong educational system and importance of feelings and imaginary. Feelings is an integral part of our live. Generally, emotions direct our life. People cannot live without emotion. In this novel, Dickens emphasizes the Utilitarian education, the arrogance of the middle and upper class, and the industrial revolution.In November 2011 we have opened a new rolling CASP experiment for all-year-round testing of ab initio modeling methods: CASP ROLL Details of the experiments have been published in a scientific journal Proteins: Structure, Function and Bioinformatics. CASP proceedings include papers describing the structure and conduct of the experiments, the numerical evaluation measures, reports from the assessment teams highlighting state of the art in different prediction categories, methods from some of the most successful prediction teams, and progress in various aspects of the modeling. Summary of numerical evaluation of the methods tested in the latest CASP experiment can be found on this web page. The latter paper also contains explanations of data handling procedures and guidelines for navigating the data presented on this website. Some of the best performing methods are implemented as fully automated servers and therefore can be used by public for protein structure modeling. Conference in memory of Anna Tramontano, University of Rome, July 14, 2017Dear CASP Community: We are writing to share the announcement of the upcoming Conference dedicated to the memory of Anna Tramontano. The Conference will be hosted by the University of Rome on July 14. Anna Tramontano Dear members of the CASP community, We write with the very very sad news that Anna Tramontano died last night. As you probably know, Anna was a mainstay of CASP from almost the beginning, first. The arrival of Donald Trump in the White House and elections in France and Germany will highlight the increasing power of new communication channels as traditional media continues to lose both influence and money. Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes over from mobile as the hottest topic in technology, though the practical and ethical dilemmas around how it will be used become ever more apparent through the year. Sign up for the Snopes. Know of a rumor you want investigated. Lonely and just want to chat. Select from one of these options to get in touch with us: A video documents that The Simpsons anticipated in 2000 how Donald Trump would announce his presidential candidacy in 2015. See Example( s )In August 2015, a video claiming that episodes of the Fox animated series The Simpsons had made some eerily accurate predictions about future events began circulating via social media. Most notable among those predictions was a clip purportedly taken from a 2000 episode that showed business magnate Donald Trump announcing his candidacy for President of the United States:I want people to realize the synchronicity here and all the connections. This was put out in 2000. Now this is happening. While the above-displayed video touches on a wide variety of Simpsons related conspiracy theories, the main issue was highlighted in September 2015 with a photograph one that not only documented that The Simpsons had depicted Donald Trump running for President back in 2000, but that they did so by showing him in a setting and pose (riding an escalator while waving to supporters and onlookers) identical to one he would assume fifteen years later:The images from The Simpsons shown on the left-hand side of the above-displayed graphic did not originate in 2000, however. Burns and a dog kneeling in front of an electoral map is real, but it has little to do with Donald Trump it was taken from a 2012 clip in which the greedy billionaire of Springfield endorsed Republican candidate Mitt Romney:Furthermore, this Simpsons screenshot is being compared to an electoral map that does not match the genuine map of the 2016 presidential election. Updated Allegations of a "quid pro quo" deal giving Russia ownership of one-fifth of U. Updated A rumor that Starbucks refused free product to Marines serving in Iraq, saying the company didn't support the war or anyone taking part in it, is both old and false. Updated Rumors that service station customers are getting stuck by HIV-loaded syringes affixed to gas pump handles are a hoax. We are experiencing some issues with our feedback form. We are experiencing some issues with our forms. Our development team is working on a solution. Select from one of these options to get in touch with us: Submit a Rumor Website Feedback Advertising Inquiry cancel 28K Fact Check Entertainment 28K CLAIM A video documents that The Simpsons anticipated in 2000 how Donald Trump would announce his presidential candidacy in 2015. See Example( s ) EXAMPLES Collected via e-mail, September 2015 Did the Simpsons actually air an episode predicting Donald Trump's presidential campaign kickoff fifteen (15) years ago. Snopes Delivered to Your Inbox: FeedbackGet Daily Updates From Snopes.

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English - This week we will introduce our new unit. We will be looking at an explanation text on the life cycle of a broad bean. We will become familiar with our WAGOLL and think about its key features and importance of structure. Maths - we will begin to look at volume and capacity. We will be learning what these terms means and look at finding and comparing volume and capacity. Science - we will be updating our bean diary and see how much they have grown! We will also be going on a tree hunt to find and name the different trees on our school ground. REMINDER: Sports Day is Thursday 20th June Children will need to come to school in their uniform and bring their PE kit with them. English - We are innovating the Snail and the Whale by adapting the main character, changing the destination, problem and solution. We will be doing this using a story mountain, creating our own text map and working on our sentence writing in preparation for writing our adventure stories next week. The children are really enthused by this unit so please ask them at home about it, I'm sure they will be keen to tell you! Maths - money, money, money! This week we are learning to recognise and name different coins and notes. We are focusing on recognising them by size/colour/shape and ensuring we are using pence and pound correctly. Try to question your children about this at home and see if they can name some coins to you! Science - this week we will be planting a broad bean and setting up a diary to track its progress and growth. This week the children will be taking part in the Phonics Screening Check. English - We will continue to familiarise ourselves with the WAGOLL of The Snail and the Whale. We will be using the illustrations to retell the story as well as learning about speech and using the appropriate punctuation. We will then begin to change the story starting with the characters. Maths - we are continuing to work on telling the time to the o'clock and half past to ensure this is embedded. Science - we will be going on a plant hunt to find and name different plants in our outside areas. English - we are introducing our new key text 'The Snail and the Whale' by Julia Donaldson. We will become extremely familiar with this text and have a created actions to help us remember a reduced version of the story. Take a look and see if your child can retell it to you using the pictures and actions for support. Maths - we are learning to tell the time to o'clock and half past. We are trying our best to tell the time as much as we can throughout the day outside of lesson time. Challenge your children to tell the time as much as they can at home. Science - we are learning about the parts of the plant and their function. Welcome Back Badgers! We have an exciting term ahead full of lots of exciting learning opportunities although it is bitter sweet as it is the last half-term of year 1 - how the year has flown by! This half-term we will be looking at our environment focusing on plants and living things. We will be investigating different plants and trees, learning about lots of mini-beasts and drawing maps of our classrooms and school grounds. In English we will be writing an adventure story based on the book 'The Snail and the Whale' by Julia Donaldson and then will be writing an explanation about life-cycles. In Maths we will learning to tell the time to o'clock and half past. Try to extend this learning at home by challenging the children to tell you the time throughout the day. This term all children will be taking part of the Phonics Screening so we will be doing lots of work to prepare the children for this and any extra work at home will benefit the children. Reminder - from 10/06/19 we will be doing PE every Monday. Please ensure your children come in with the appropriate kit. Here's to a fun-filled last half-term together! English - We will begin to plan our own poem by sharing our own personal experiences about what we were doing at milestones in our lives using the photos you have brought in. Maths - We will be finishing our work on fractions finding halves and quarters of amounts and shapes. Keep an eye out for opportunities of this at home. We will then move on to look at numbers to 100 and coming back to our learning on tens and ones. Science - We are continuing to look at humans by looking at the five senses and will even be going on a sense scavenger hunt! Phonics - the phonics screening is quickly approaching so please make sure you are practising as much as you can at home using the packs that were sent out last week. If you would like anything extra please done hesitate to contact me. Just a reminder that we are swimming this half term. The children will swim every MONDAY. Please ensure they bring in the appropriate swimwear. WC - 29/04/19 English - we are looking at instruction writing. We will be making a jam sandwich and then writing instructions on how to do this. We will be looking to include time words, numbered steps and adverbs. Maths - we are looking at multiplication and division. We will need to ensure all groups are equal and knowing what this term means. For multiplication we will be thinking about how many groups there are and how many are in each group and also looking at doubling numbers. For division we will be looking at grouping numbers e.g. I have 10 sweets and I put them in groups of 2 how many groups will there be? and sharing numbers e.g. share 12 flowers into 3 vases. How many flowers will be in each vase? Science - we are labelling our body parts and think about their uses. Word of the week = suspicious This half term our topic is 'Can you make me better?' which has a dual science/history focus. We will be learning about the life of famous nurses such as Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell and we will visit Peterborough Museum on Thursday 9th May to experience life as a nurse in the past. We will find out about our bodies, focusing on the senses, naming body parts and finding out how parts of our body work and how to keep them healthy. In English we will be writing instructions and poems. We will now be paying special attention to our handwriting and spelling in our writing. In maths we will be looking at multiplication and division as well as fractions. In the first week of term we will have a 'Healthy Me' focus week when we will think about keeping mentally and physically well. This term all children in Year 1 will take part on the national phonics screening check - please keep working with your child on their phonics skills by reading, playing phonics pack games and allowing them to play on Teach Your Monster to Read. It is going to be a busy but fun few weeks! English - we are exploring the writing style of a recount. We will be consdiering its keys features including time connectives e.g. first, next finally, writing in first person and past tense. We will then learn our WAGOLL on an alien sighting in preparation to work towards writing a recount of a dragon sighting! Maths - we are looking at addition and subtraction word problems. We will be learning to pick out the key vocabulary, to understand the chosen operation and form number sentences from these. Science - we are looking at weather forecasts. Try to watch the daily/weekly weather forecast and challenge your children to explain what the weather will be like based on the weather symbols shown. A letter will be coming out this week about bringing in cardboard boxes, tubes etc. in preparation for our D.T lesson next week where we will be making a castle! WC - 18/03/19 English - this week we are designing our dragon to describe in out final piece. We will be learning about similes and using this to describe our dragon by comparing it to other things e.g. the dragons eyes are blue like the sky. Maths - we are learning about how many tens and ones make up a number. For example 23 = 2 tens and 3 ones. We will be using Base 10 to show this and using them to compare numbers. Science - we are specifically looking at weather and how this varies and changes throughout the year. WC - 11/3/19 English - we will be doing our Hot Write where we will be writing an information text of castles. Then we will begin to look at our new text which is the The Egg by M.P.Robertson. We will be working towards writing a description therefore we will be doing lots of work on adjectives. Maths - we will be looking at counting and writing numbers to 40 and counting by making groups of 10. 5 and 2. Science - it is SCIENCE WEEK!!! We will be having a special visit from a range of animal and then will be writing a fact file on one of these animals looking at their habitat and their adaptations. Word of the week = positive WORLD BOOK DAY What a fantastic day we have had! We all looked brilliant, dressed up as our favourite characters. During the day, we look at The Rainbow Fish story and discussed what a moral is and the moral of this story. Then, in co-op groups we acted this out and we worked brilliantly as a team! In the afternoon we made our own rainbow fish book marks linking in our maths work of using repeated patterns with some special sparkly scales. Finally, to end the day we relaxed with a hot chocolate, biscuit and started reading our new chapter book. English - this week we will be looking at using question marks. We will also be planning what we are going to writing about castles in out information leaflet. Maths - we will be finishing our work on shape and by looking at repeated patterns using 2-D shapes and will then be exploring height and length through comparison and thinking about all the language associated with it. Science - we will be writing up what we found from our investigation into what season we are in from last week. Just a reminder that this week the Book Bus is in for year 1 on Wednesday where the children will need their library cards if they have one. Also, Thursday is World Book Day where we are dressing up as our favourite book character. Welcome back Badgers! I hope you have had a lovely half term holiday and are well rested for an exciting and learning filled half term. Just a reminder that this half term we are no longer swimming but instead will be doing PE EVERY TUESDAY. Take a look below to see what we will be starting with. English - we will be starting our unit on information texts. This week we will be looking at the key features of information texts, spotting these key features and becoming familiar with out WAGOLL which is an information text about Eye Primary School. We will also look at changing verbs into the past tense by adding -ed. Maths - we will be looking at 3D shapes. The children will be exploring their new Mathletics log ins which we are very excited to start using! Science - we will be going on a seasons hunt, we will be looking for signs in the environment around us that tell us what season we are in. English - we will be starting work on poetry this week and exploring our WAGOLL 'There Was An Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight'. We will be focusing specifically on rhyming words this week. Challenge - Can you think of any rhyming words at home? Maths - we will be looking at subtraction within 20. We will be learning how to subtract by counting back, by subtracting ones and subtracting from 10. Science - we will be comparing the weather in winter and spring and considering what Paddington bear should pack for to accommodate these seasons. 01/02/19 - Storytelling Afternoon Badgers were very lucky to have year 5 visit them this afternoon. They came and shared their wonderful setting descriptions of the circus and we thoroughly enjoyed sharing our Jack and the Beanstalk stories. Very proud of all the children and their super writing! Storytelling Week - A visit from Koalas! Badgers were very lucky this afternoon to have a visit from the year 2 class Koalas! They came to share their wonderful writing with us which we all enjoyed very much. Well done Koalas! WC - 28/01/19 English - it is story telling week this week so we will be making the most of this! We will be writing our own fairytales that we have been working on and will be sharing these with another class when they are written and made into our own books, complete with front covers and illustrations. Maths - we will be looking at addition within 20. We will be adding by counting on from the biggest number and adding by making a group of 10. Science - we are exploring all thing spring, considering the signs we see in the environment, the weather and how the day length varies. English - We are continuing to adapt Jack and the Beanstalk to create our own fairytale. We have changed the setting and character and will be creating a new story map to go with this to support us in writing our tale next week. Maths - This week we will be comparing, ordering and looking for patterns within numbers to 20. Our focus will be on using a range of comparative vocabulary e.g. greater/fewer, more/less, bigger/smaller. Challenge - can you compare quantities of items at home using this language? Science - we are looking at the season winter. We will be going for a winter walk to explore what we can see in the environment as clues, talking about the weather and day length. You could go on your own winter walk and see what you discover. English - we are looking at the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk. We will be doing lots of work on becoming familiar with the tale and beginning to adapt it to write our own. Have a look at out story map and ask your child to try and act it out and retell it to you! We will also be working on our sentence formation and learning what a noun and verb is. Maths - we are looking at numbers within 20, representing them with objects, numerals and in words and counting to 20 by making groups of 10. Science - we will be investigating the season autumn, thinking about what the weather is like and what we might see. Word of the week: fond WOW DAY - Princes and Princesses On Thursday 10th January we had our wow day where we dressed up as Princes, Princesses and knight and took part in lots of activities! We made shields, learned a royal dance and even cooked some vegetable soup and soda bread. In the afternoon we had a royal banquet where we danced and enjoyed the food that we had made in the morning. We had a fantastic day and thoroughly enjoyed being royalty for the day. Take a look at our pictures below. ALL children in Badgers will be swimming every TUESDAY this half term. Please ensure your child has their swimming kit (swimming costume/shorts and a towel) with them in preparation for this or they won't be able to swim. English - It is exciting writing week and our focus is The Grinch where we we will be writing a character description. This week we will therefore be focusing on how to best describe the personality and appearance and how to extend and structure our sentences. Maths - We will be revising everything we have covered this term, reviewing our learning of place value to 10 and addition and subtraction methods. Topic - We will be look at where Paddington has visited next on his world travels and looking at the Christmas story in RE. WC - 3/12/18 English - We are looking at letter writing this week. Last week in science we received a letter from Santa asking for our help fixing his sleigh, therefore, we will be learning the key features of a letter and forming a response to Santa. Maths - This week we will be consoildating our knowledge of addition and subtraction from this half term. We will be doing Winter Wonderland Maths on Thursday as part of our Maths curriculum day. Topic - we will continue to look at toys from around the world as we follow Paddington's adventure. This week we will be performing our nativity to the school and parents - very exciting! We hope you all enjoy the performance. Badgers Update - WC 26/11/18 English - This week we will be practising out sentence writing in preparation for our Hot Write where we will be writing our own story based on our WAGOLL. Maths - We are continuing our work on subtraction. This week we will be looking at subtraction by counting back on a number line, making stories and using pictures. Topic - We will be exploring toys from around the world in Geography. We will also be doing lots of nativity practise in preparation for our performances next week - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! A reminder that the children's Innkeeper costumes for the performance are due in this week ready for the dress rehearsal on 3/12/18. This week we have started to learn about subtraction in Mathematics. A great way to practise is through games and the children really enjoys this one to support there learning. Give it a go at home with the link below: WC 12/11/18 Update: English - We are using adjectives to describe Woody's personality and appearance. We will also be analysing how Woody feels at 5 key points in Toy Story. Maths - We are finishing our unit on addition within 10 with adding using pictures and then a recap session on all the methods we have used (number bonds, counting on, number stories, using pictures and writing number sentences). Topic - This week is anti-bullying week so this will be out focus. We will be think about how our behaviour can effect others, what bulling is and what it means to show respect to one another. We will also continue to practise our Christmas songs in preparation for the nativity. Ask your child if they can remember any and sing them to you. Keep up with the reading for our Christmas reading competition. It was great to see lots of children reaching their 5 reads this week. 8/11/18 Swimming Update Just a reminder that if your child is in group B for swimming they will be swimming every Wednesday this half term. Just a reminder that swimming is EVERY TUESDAY. Your child will either be in group A or B. Group A are swimming this half term and group B will be swimming after half term. You will have received a letter if your child is swimming this half term. This is just a reminder to make sure that your child has their swimming kit in school ready for Tuesday as if they do not have a kit they are unable to swim. If you are unsure if your child is swimming this half term please do not hesitate to ask me and I can tell you. 24/09/18 History off the Page - Toy Museum Year 1 have been very lucky today and had a very special visitor! Today History off the Page came to visit us and brought their you museum. We have had a fantastic day exploring and investigating different toys from the past and through time. In the afternoon we swapped roles and became toy makers ourselves. We made a range of toys and have taken these home to play with some more and show everyone our creations. Please ask your children about what we have been up to and discovered today as we have lots to tell you! Take a look at us exploring below. Home Learning and Reading Today we have given all the children their home learning booklets to continue the fantastic learning they have been doing at school. All homework is based around learning we have been doing in class that week or will be doing the following week. The home learning booklet will be due back in every Tuesday and will be returned again on Wednesday after being marked. In addition, it is essential that your children are reading as regularly as possible. We would like all children to read 5 time a week and have this recorded in their reading records. If they do read 5 times a week they will also receive a reading raffle ticket which will be entered into a prize draw! We also each have our own racing car which will zoom along our key stage 1 reading race track. The more you read the further you will go and the children will receive a certificate when they reach 20,50,100,150,200,250 and 300 reads. Welcome to Badgers! It is hard to believe that the Summer is nearly over and it is time for Squirrels to become Badgers. I am really excited to welcome your children into Year 1 and I hope that your children are looking forward to coming back to school, catching up with their friends and learning new things. Our topic for this term is Toys, a theme I'm sure your children already know lots about! We will be learning about the history of toys, what they are made of and we will be undertaking art and design tasks linking to toys. We have booked a special Toys Day on Monday 24th September, for which we are requesting a parental contribution, to engage your children with a hands on, practical learning experience. Please look out for a letter in your child's book bag during the first week of term. In English we will use toy texts such as Kipper's Toy Box and the film Toy Story to stimulate our writing. We will be consolidating our ability to read, write and understand numbers to 20 in maths, using practical resources and applying our understanding to real life situations. In RE we will be finding out more about the Christian church and we will visit our local church as part of this topic. Your child will read weekly with an adult at school, sometimes individually, especially during the first couple of weeks when we will be checking your child's book level, and at other times in a group. We will write in the reading log when we have read with your child. We will check your comments in the diaries and count your child's reads weekly, usually on a Monday. We look forward to seeing how much you have enjoyed reading with your child and to seeing their cars zoom along our reading road! They will work towards certificates for 20, 50 and 100 reads! Your child will also have daily phonics lessons and we will closely monitor your child's progress through our phonics scheme. PE will be on Wednesday afternoon but please ensure that your child has indoor and outdoor PE kit in school at all times as sometimes we may need PE shoes or kit for other activities. Homework will be handed out on Wednesdays and should be handed in on Mondays (not the first week of term). Work handed in after Monday may not be marked until the following week.Homework will be handed out on Wednesdays and should be handed in on Mondays (not the first week of term). Work handed in after Monday may not be marked until the following week. We will ask you to supply the following items for your child this term: an old sock to make into a ‘Sock Thing’ and an old toy (theirs or yours) to help us with our non-fiction writing and to go in our class museum before half term. Watch out for notes in book bags explaining when we need these items. I really look forward to getting to know you and your children better as the term progresses. If you have any comments, questions or concerns I am always available in the Badgers' outdoor area from 8.45 in the morning and I can chat after school when we have said good bye to the children. Please bear with us at home time as we get to know your faces and those of friends and family who pick up your child. It might take a little while for us to check that each child is going home safely with the correct person at the start of term. Here's hoping for a sunny September and lots of fabulous learning experiences!

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When you are homeschooling, sometimes you just want to give your child something to do, that doesn’t involve a screen, and to know they are learning something. Lego/Mega Bloks Construx/other building products are perfect for this. Just buy a big bucket of blocks and use these ideas to keep your child busy and learning without any input (or minimum input) from you. Younger children are very easily attracted to Lego, but even older children will find a challenge with some of the tasks you can set them using blocks that push together. For older children, using Lego to express extremely complex ideas from the maths and science curriculum can help compound their learning, or you can use it as a starter to introduce a new topic. I have also made a printable which you can print out, which is a deck of 21 things to build with Lego, for when you need a quick draw activity to instantly engage your child. You can download the free printable here. You can also use the printable cards as a reward, e.g. if they have finished the work on another task, let them choose a card, as inspiration for something to build with Lego or Mega Bloks Construx. Set them a challenge like building the tallest tower that doesn’t fall down using only yoghurt pots, then when you come back ask them how many yoghurt pots made the tallest tower and what might make the tower stand up better, then giving them time to try other ways to get the tower to stay up (glue, making the base out of three yoghurt pots and building up, etc). Here are 10 activities your child can do with construction blocks such as Lego or Mega Bloks Construx that you could turn into an investigation or lesson (and which will give you time to teach your other children or make yourself a drink): What is the tallest tower you can build? You could use this to teach younger children about how buildings stay upright and, for older children, centre of mass and balance for GCSE physics. Put twelve blocks together. How many different ways can they split it evenly (two groups of 6, three groups of 4, four groups of 3, etc)? You could use this to introduce factors for a maths lesson. Put twenty blocks together. How many times can they split it in half? You could use this to introduce fractions for a maths lesson. Make one row that is one block, the next row is one, the next is two, three, five… each time get them to add together the last two numbers in the sequence to find the size of the next row. You could use this to introduce the Fibonacci sequence, an important number sequence that can be found in nature. Can you make a circle out of Lego, if you have enough bricks? Design a car. It has to be different to the last one your child made. Ask them to make it out of a different type of brick, or with different size wheels, or similar. You can then use the Lego car to test out physics questions (especially if they can make a ramp) such as friction (how much do they need to tilt the ramp before gravity allows it to roll down). Older children could make a 2-D Lego model of a plant or animal cell (or both) to compare the features of the two. Make a scene out of Lego, complete with minifigures, and use it as a creative writing prompt for your child. Make a balance beam with a long piece of Lego. The child can attach bricks at different distances and find out when the beam tilts. For example, one block, six studs away, should be able to be balanced with two blocks on the other side that is three studs away. You can use this to teach children from age 11 upwards (even through A-level if they need the reminder) about forces and distances from a pivot point (these are called moments). Using minifigures, look at their faces. They often have different expressions. Your child needs to write down what emotion each character is expressing, and describe their face (such as “eyebrows are close together and diagonal”, for frowning). This is especially good for children who are struggling to interpret emotions of the people around them. You could take this further by asking (for example) “why might this figure be angry?” Once the child has thought of something that makes them angry, you could move onto, “What could you do to make them feel better?” There are thousands more things you can do with Lego, these are just a selection of things that I think would link closely to the national curriculum. Lego can be far more of a learning tool than the boxes imply. The best Lego to get for education is a bucket with a good mixture of lots of different shapes and sizes of Lego. If you are using Mega Bloks Construx, these are compatible with Lego, but some other types of construction block don’t stick to Lego due to being very slightly too big or small. In my experience, Mega Bloks Construx don’t stick as tightly to Lego as other pieces of Lego do, but if you’re on a budget, they are definitely worth considering. We have some of the bigger baby-size Mega Bloks and our little one loves them, although they are not compatible with Duplo (the next size up of Mega Bloks is, though). The plastic on the baby-sized ones is softer and I think he likes them because they are very chewable, perfect for teething babies. The baby-size Mega Bloks also have the advantage of being suitable from age 1 whereas Duplo is age 2+. When it comes to the smaller bricks, however, they are largely identical to Lego (the Construx range by Mega Bloks is for ages 5+) and there’s a thriving world of Mega Bloks Construx out there which you can discover. So I may have designed and published a free course on homeschooling for anyone with kids. I know people aren’t *technically* homeschooling because they’re doing work sent home from school, but there isn’t a single word for what millions of parents are currently doing around the world and this course is for that. Do your kids have a big pile of school work to do before the schools re-open? Want to know how to get them to do it, and what to do when they ask you for help with a subject you know nothing about? Trying to juggle kids and work during the lockdown? Having just got back from climbing Mount Snowdon, I thought I should write up my ascent of Ben Lomond from early April. I’ve written this from beginning to end rather than as a “travel piece” as I wanted to share some useful information about the climb. Ben Lomond is 974m high and it’s a Munro but it’s not even in the top 10 highest mountains in Scotland – which starts with Ben Lawers at 1214 metres high, which is over 200m higher than the highest mountain in England (Scafell Pike, 978m), as a reference. Ben Lomond is only 4m lower than Scafell Pike, so I thought Ben Lomond would be a better climb since S.P. was an abortive mission back in February due to flooding and the whole of Wasdale (where S.P. is) had given me a VERY eerie “get out” kinda vibe so I was in no rush to return. Also Ben Lomond was on my ORIGINAL 30 list before I subbed it for S.P. when I posted about my list as I thought it was unfair to England if all the mountains from the UK were from Scotland (and one from Wales). I retract this wholeheartedly – Scottish mountains are just the absolute best in the UK, seconded by their milder friends, the Welsh mountains. Scottish mountains are like dogs – they’re so excited to see you and boisterous and so much outdoor fun (but they can bite you); Welsh mountains are like rabbits – they’re very mild mannered and friendly, but they’d never eat you unless you looked like a carrot (but they might nibble); and English mountains are like cats – they just refuse to co-operate even when you bring them treats, and insist on hanging out in hard-to-reach places. It started off in Rowardennan car park, which is on the East side of Loch Lomond. To get to the car park, you have to drive to take a left at Drymen (Rowardennan is signposted) and drive up a very long country road with forest on one side and Loch Lomond on the other. Parking was fairly cheap, although, being early April, it was still the off-season when I went (which surprised me as I’m used to the tourist season starting a month earlier, in March, in England). There is a set of public toilets that are near the beginning of the route, and these were excellent with benches to sit on to put boots etc on since it was drizzly raining outside. I decided since it was drizzling to go up in my trainers. My husband went up in his walking boots, which he has had since about 1997, which were a poor choice as they have cracked, hard soles. His feet got wet before mine. The initial climb is in a straight line and everything seems easy if somewhat steep as you get up past the treeline. Then, out of nowhere, it makes you choose a path, left or right, neither of which seem to be going UP the mountain. But that’s okay because the summit straight in front of you isn’t Ben Lomond, it’s the taller one to the left that looks like it’s on a separate mountainside (because it is). So it’s very important to go left here, otherwise you will spend a VERY long time being lost. When we climbed it, starting at about 7am and ending around 11am, it wasn’t teriffically busy. We were literally the only people on the mountain until we started our descent, so if anything had gone wrong we would have been a bit stuck. I Considered the Evidence for The Fauna of Ben Lomond As soon as we started on the left hand path, we were suddenly attacked by a very very harsh strong wind and it still drizzled constantly on this bit. Loch Lomond was on our left at this point. We kept going and saw loads of what we thought was dog poo, although since seeing so much of it that looks the same, I think it must have been fox poo. There are no wolves in Scotland, as they were hunted to extinction, so it definitely wasn’t wolves. Which was odd because all the poo was larger. This probably doesn’t matter to most readers, but being an archaeology graduate, this did bug me, so I did some research and found two possible animals – the Scottish Wildcat, or a special red-fox subspecies (a giant red fox breed) called Vulpis vulpis vulpis (it’s apparently much larger than the standard red fox vulpis vulpis crucigera). This giant red fox is apparently only native to Scotland. Since there was also plenty of what looked like giant oval-shaped rabbit poo, I inferred that the giant rabbit poo came either from deer, because sheep do similar droppings, or mountain hares. This theory was borne out when we turned a corner slightly and came face to face with two grazing deer. They must have heard us coming but they still seemed surprised, and only ran off when my camera made it’s “beep beep beep beep” turning on noise (the MOST annoying thing when trying to photograph ANY animals at all as it always makes them move). So we could tick that mystery off as solved (although I was disappointed that it wasn’t mountain hares, but you can’t be TOO disappointed because deer are soooooo adorable). We saw quite a few other deer out and about at this time of the morning, so I think the droppings probably weren’t from mountain hares. Shortly afterwards, I saw an interesting-shaped rock on the ground. It was a pentagon, and it was almost regular, which was amazing because it was clearly done by natural processes such as weathering – there were no cut marks on it at all! This was not evidence of animal activity, but it was still an interesting feat of nature so I took a photo. We reached a gate thingy then we went along another path for quite a while, then we went through a second gate where we soon found a sign that said Ben Lomond. We joked with each other that we must have reached the top -although we knew full well that this was clearly the start of its prominence. The prominence is the part of the mountain where it’s not part of another peak, mountain etc, which is almost always lower than its elevation. When people talk about “Ultras” or “Ultra Prominents” they mean mountains whose prominence is over 1500 metres, but that just means that 1500 metres or more of the mountain sticks up above all the rest of the mountains in a group or the rest of the land if it’s on its own. The first “Ultra” on my list of 20 mountains is Arcalod, in France. We carried on past the sign and the drizzle remained stopped but the wind started to blow worse, after a little while I took this next picture of the view, it’s the last picture I got before we came back down. Those clouds moved VERY fast, the wind must have been blowing them across, and we then fought with side winds of over 60mph and some very vicious hail at one side of us. There was no shelter from it, as Ben Lomond is a very exposed mountain, and we basically had to climb it with one hand covering our left ear to protect us from the 60 mph hailstones. Whiteout in April As we trudged ever upwards, we discovered that the snow we’d seen from below was actually made from these same hailstones that were attacking us – millions of them combining to form icy snowlike stuff, covering the surfaces more and more, until a bit where we needed to scramble (a climb not long or steep enough to require rope) up a 20 foot section and suddenly the ground was totally white. The path was just about visible. Then as we kept going the path disappeared completely, and it stayed like that with the biting hailstones and wind, which my husband found he could sit backwards on, and be kept upright (literally, he was sitting as if he was on a chair, and the only thing holding him in place was this strong wind). We were frequently being blown sideways and progress became very very difficult, until we finally got to the top. The wind and hail were awful, and I couldn’t get my phone out to take any photos because I was afraid it would get blown away. All the “respect the mountain” type information goes on about taking an ice axe and crampons, but I don’t think they consider that these aren’t the ONLY solution or the ONLY things you need to take up a mountain, because the main problem was the wind and the velocity of these sharp hailstones, they would have just been dead weight in my pack. I think the crampons at least would have been useful on the top but they wouldn’t have solved the worst difficulty which was not being able to open your eyes because of the barrage of projectiles. It was like being repeatedly shot in the face with an airgun, and we both had a lot of redness and bruising on one side of our face from our ascent (and I had the lower half of my face covered with a cotton scarf for protection). There was no view, just hail in our faces causing a total whiteout, so we didn’t linger, and turned back, making our way back down the mountainside a lot more quickly. The wind and snow stopped again when we reached the Ben Lomond sign (peculiously) and by this time of the day, the path we had climbed was now covered in water and we were paddling back down the mountain. I didn’t really feel much of a sense of achievement because it was mostly a survival issue from before we reached the summit (the top): The temperature was about -10 and we needed to get down to the tree line as quickly as possible before hypothermia set in, because I’d brought my standard winter gloves instead of my amazingly protective +3 Gloves of Snowboarding (I’ve never snowboarded, I have them for when I go to the Alps). Standard gloves are fine for normal ground-level snow (when you’re not at any altitude) or for hill walking, but when you get over about 700m above sea level, I would strongly recommend using skiing gloves or snowboarding gloves (not those shitty thinsulate ones) as my hands went numb in my gloves! It’s good to learn the exact limitations and appropriate times for equipment from experiences such as this though – as I said when I didn’t get to the top of Scafell Pike, sometimes you learn more from what you FAILED to do than what you did do, because you can often see what you need to do next time. This time, I failed to take appropriate gloves, and I can now see exactly when I need thicker gloves (and when I went up Snowdon, I did NOT make the same mistake, and I will never take the wrong gloves up a mountain ever again). On the flipside, I was glad I took my trainers and not my snow shoes because they are lightweight and flexible and don’t cause me excessive ankle strain or leg tiredness, and in fact keep my feet more comfortable because I get too hot in big boots. I find that while all the respect the mountain type people have a point that walking boots are a good choice of footwear, I strongly disagree that they are “essential” for any of the non-technical climbs in the UK. I have struggled to complete mountains in boots (I wore my snow boots to do Scafell Pike because it was February and I would have needed to wear them with my crampons except there was no snow on S.P. in Feb) because as my grandma used to say, “heavy boots weigh you down” and I find I can walk much further, climb higher and balance better in trainers. Different strokes for different folks. There’s more than one way to climb a mountain. On the way back down we took a different path for a small section where we ended up climbing down a waterfall which was awesome and really pretty: Farewell, Lovely Trainers The streams on the descent were the first point my trainers got wet, but ultimately it was their death toll because we had nowhere to dry them, since we didn’t check into a hotel for another day, so they went mouldy or something, and I washed them twice in the washing machine when I got home, but they just had to go to the bin in the end because they smelled absolutely foul. Ben Lomond might have been their swan song, but they were a very good pair of trainers and they got me up and down the mountain with no blisters or anything. While some very expensive walking boots would have kept my feet dry (cheap ones generally don’t), I didn’t really have a problem with getting wet on the descent. Back at the car, I changed into my jelly sandals so my feet could dry out while I drove us to the Loch Lomond entertainment complex (there was an exciting adventure with a dog cafe). I think the whole climb took about four and a half hours up and down, because we set off at about 7am and got to the car at 11:30am. The next day, we checked into our beautiful hotel (we were staying in our car camper around Loch Lomond, which is really hard as there are major byelaws so you have to follow the rules or risk getting a big fine) and I found for the first day that it was hard to walk down the stairs because my leg bones just under my knees were really swollen and couldn’t bend properly on stairs!! I had done loads of training and particularly built up the muscles around my knees but my bones seemed to let me down. I do have a problem with them anyway ever since I bruised the bone on one leg (and the swelling tore the skin right open – I have a very sexy scar on one leg because of it) a couple of years ago, when I fell down the stairs and landed with my full body weight on something sharp with my shin. The other leg seemed to get compression problems from being walked on for six weeks straight because I didn’t take a single day off because it happened during teacher training and if you take more than three days off (at all) you fail it at the training provider I was attending. As an aside, my childhood dog died two weeks later at the ripe old age of 16, so I took a day off for that instead. I will write an article on Dillon one day because he was the best dog in the universe. But that was all 2 years ago. The bone pain from mountain climbing went away after a few days, although I’ve got it again today, the day after climbing Snowdon. I will have to look into this at some point. Phew, I’ve FINALLY posted about this trip up Mount Ben Lomond. Expect another mountain post about Snowdon very soon. I am aware I keep saying I climbed Snowdon yesterday, and the date stamp will say this was published on Wednesday, but it’s going to be posted just after midnight so when I say yesterday all through the start and end of this blog post, I mean Monday, when I climbed Snowdon. It’s only taken me all afternoon to finish writing this post what with seeing the (private not NHS) psychiatrist today and everything else! I’ve always been a big fan of eating whole, unharassed, clean vegetables. I really love the simplicity of it. I think it’s one of the things I love most about my rabbits – we can pretty much eat the same food. However, I didn’t always know how to eat. My biggest mistake when I first became vegan was that I tried looking for foods in the supermarket that were beyond the fruit and veg aisle. I found myself frustrated with the conventional foods and convenience foods in the parts of the supermarket that I’d always bought food from, the fact that dietary staples such as Packet Pasta (an example would be Kraft Macaroni), vegetarian frozen food, vegetarian chilled ready meals, curry sauces, snacks and even drinks were full of animal products. I had many a meltdown in the supermarket where I would just walk out of the shop and sit in my car and cry, because I didn’t know what to do, I was certain I wasn’t going to eat that crap, but I didn’t know what to eat. Something my aunt told me recently, when I told her a vegan friend has found out she’s gluten intolerant, was “she’s going to have to learn to cook then.” This is the big myth that keeps us all subjugated and enslaved to a world of shit food. You don’t have to learn to cook. You don’t need to learn to cook. You need to learn to eat. A lot of “so you want to be vegan” type books (apologies if this book is real, I’m categorizing a type of book here) tell you that you need to eat more whole foods, that you can get “meaty” foods like tofu, Facon (fake bacon), scheeze (fake cheese) and so on, to replace the meat in your food. Meat loss is not the problem. All these eating books have built up the idea that you need to replace the meat with a solid, meat-textured object, that you only need to check the ingredients are animal free, and that if you do, POP! You’re vegan. This type of eating is unsustainable, and really it undermines the fundamental principles of veganism. Instead of trying to find foods that you used to eat which happen to be vegan, and attempting to subsist off those (beans on toast anyone), or trying to “veganize” foods which are not vegan, or imitate foods, here’s a staggering thought: How about try eating totally different foods, including lots of fruit and vegetables, and see where that takes you? I’m only being slightly sarcastic here because it wasn’t until my mum died of cancer in December that I realised what I’d been doing wrong with my eating habits this entire time. We all do it. It’s so ingrained into us from birth that we must eat a particular way and when we question it we’re told it’s because of nutrition and when we get ill we’re told it’s because we’re not eating a particular way. On paper, I’ve always thought I understood this concept of “changing the way you eat” and thought it just meant, “stop eating animal products” and “move away from meat and two veg nonsense.” It’s so very much bigger than that. What if the answer was to totally break free from all the things you think you know about cooking, all your kitchenware, all your dishes, steamers, microwave, etc etc? And then, once you’ve started listening to your body, identifying what it needs, and acting on it, you could maybe add some of those things back in? After I got the news about my mum, I couldn’t eat anything other than raw vegetables for a week. I didn’t understand why. My 22 year old sister, across the country, was spontaneously having the exact same problem. We both fundamentally knew, no matter what anyone told us was the cause of our mother’s death, that food was the key. In our house growing up, a meal would be chicken nuggets and chips, with maybe a tablespoon of tinned peas or sweetcorn. Snacks were crisps, biscuits and in summer, home-made ice lollies made from that stuff you dilute. We never had real fruit juice, fresh vegetables or fruit. Sometimes at Christmas there would be tangerines. When we went to clear her house, we found receipts for food shopping. Ready meals full of processed meat and other junk. I had changed the way I ate when I first left home at 18. Moving in with an Aunt while I finished school had been a culture shock. The idea of eating two freshly cooked vegetables with the evening meal literally astounded me. I felt so healthy. I didn’t even consider the possibility that this was only a moderately healthy meal. I still filled my face with chocolate and crisps, now adding biscuits and cakes to the list. Sometimes, when I’m reading about nutrition and I come across some of the delicate balances of nutrients that we humans need, I wonder how it is that some people are still alive. I wonder how my sister and I didn’t grow up with some serious developmental disorders due to what we were eating. I went to university. I became vegetarian. I felt like I’d never been healthier. I swapped sausages (which I’d always detested) for vegetarian sausages. Chicken nuggets became vegetarian nuggets. Chips (fries) were still chips. Pot noodles and spaghetti hoops were still the same too. Crisps (potato chips) were still a daily dietary staple. So was chocolate. I struggled with my weight, constantly fighting to get down to a 10 (US6). I exercised and didn’t understand why I was tired all the time. It literally didn’t occur to me that my poor diet was making me ill. Fast forward two years. I became vegan. I took the “3 week vegan challenge” and, once the three weeks were up, I never really got round to eating eggs or dairy again. I felt healthier, stronger, happier, more outgoing, my grades soared and I was finally on track to get the degree classification I’d been obsessing over for the past two years. Never had I felt better. All my life, I’d been plagued by stomach pains, stomach cramps, trapped wind, bloating and a constant feeling of nausea. I had actually associated that nausea with feeling full. When I became vegan, after the first two weeks, all these problems went away. I realised that it wasn’t normal to feel like this, and that I had the power to avoid it. That was when I first started wondering if I was lactose intolerant. I had a few false starts in the first year; every time I slipped up, I felt the familiar nausea and pains in my stomach. It became a big decision-making factor in what I ate. And nothing vegan ever made me feel like that. Two years later, I’d become quite ill. I’d been working at McDonalds and eating fries for lunch every day, or a hash brown if I was on the breakfast shift. Milkshakes started creeping their way in. And ice creams. Soon I was feeling sick all the time again, and I had forgotten why this happened. I thought it might be gluten, I was adamant that it couldn’t possibly be milk. After six months off gluten and feeling only slightly better (probably because my favourite food was pasta and cheese sauce), I had to concede that it was milk. I was being sick several times every day. I got very ill with a mobility problem and was in bed most days, with no money to buy good food. I finally cut out milk and, while some of my problems improved, others got worse. I had cut out milk, but I hadn’t replaced it with anything. Yes, I was drinking soy milk instead of regular milk in my tea, but there was also the lasagna, mac and cheese, yoghurt; I had replaced them with totally different milk-free foods, but I hadn’t replaced the nutrients. Primarily, the protein. I didn’t realise this until a fitness instructor was sat next to me at lunch one day and she looked at my food, tapped the plastic container and demanded “where is your protein?” in a particular tone that the written word cannot emulate. I looked at my food. I looked at her. Nettled at criticism of my food, I said, “I have protein with my evening meal.” She told me it wasn’t good enough. We never spoke much again, but in the back of my mind it got me thinking. Where was my protein? I got wrapped up in other things such as teacher training, and my nutrient stores got even more depleted, until one day, early last year, I realised I couldn’t carry on. I was working 70 hours per week and not getting enough time to eat. I got diagnosed with anaemia and I knew it wasn’t the only problem. I looked at all my proteins in the cupboard and I could have cried. Quinoa, advertised as a complete protein, is one of the worst sources of protein of everything ever. White pasta has more protein. My Quorn, a vegetarian substitute for meat, which I was only eating for the protein because I hated the stuff, but it said on the label “good source of protein” was the second worst offender. In some cases, less than ten grams of protein per 100g. I believe, after years of false advertising, that they changed the labelling in the last 3 months because it’s a terrible source of protein. Nuts, textured vegetable protein and tofu all did a lot better. Nuts were the best. And lentils were really good as well. Mushrooms were another shocker, with hardly any protein in them. As a comparison, I looked at the meat that my boyfriend kept in a particular freezer drawer. The salmon, lamb, and chicken were all good sources of protein – but even the salmon was not as good as peanuts and pistachios. I went around all the foods in my kitchen and I felt like my eyes had opened. I suddenly had a basis to found my dietary principles on. I was still eating a lot of processed and convenience foods, but I figured at the time that it was fine as long as I got my protein. However, I had noticed that I was struggling to get my five-a-day fruit and veg. That was where I was at when my mum died. Then my attitude to food was turned on its head even more. Instead of eating for “taste” or “favourites” or “comfort” how about eating for nutrition? So, eat things that will enable you to get 45g of protein a day, eat enough things containing vitamins and minerals, get your 90g of carbs and 70g of fat. Ensure that the protein includes the right amounts of each amino acid, and that the fat contains essential fatty acids. As long as you are doing that, it doesn’t matter how you eat. You can eat that as a meat eater, a vegetarian, a vegan, raw vegan, fruitarian or sproutarian (sorry, juicearians, if you even exist, it’s impossible to get all your nutrients from your specific diet). When my mum died, and I was just eating vegetables, I began researching raw food diets because they have almost become fad diets. I did a series of articles on them, which explained what they all were and weighed up how easy it was to get each nutrient from each diet. I then took that one step further and identified ten vegan sources for each nutrient, because I was sick of people saying that it was an unhealthy diet. While I was researching all these different diets, I became very attracted to fruitarianism. I thought the ideals of the diet were beautiful, and reminded me of a renaissance garden of Eden type fantasy. Having researched it, though, I knew it wasn’t the healthiest diet to follow 100%. I know that some people do anyway, but on the other hand there are people who eat nothing but junk food – neither of these is optimal but it won’t kill you straight away, so people keep doing it. I felt myself changing inside. I felt that fruit was the answer. I had never really been interested in fruit before, so this was a revelation. So at the moment, I’m a 60% fruitarian, 40% vegan (cooked). For this reason, I eat breakfasts and lunches that are fruit and nuts. Some days, like proper fruitarians, I will graze throughout the day. Other days, I feel the need for a “conventional meal” so I prepare all my fruit and nuts and put it in a bowl to eat. It makes me feel like I’ve actually eaten, and is easier to keep track of what I’ve eaten. Since I’ve started doing this, I’ve felt like I’m functioning at a much higher intellectual level than before – no, I don’t mean it’s made me smarter, I mean, I was struggling with processing power, my brain wasn’t processing things very quickly and was struggling to take in new information. Not only that, but I was feeling very tired through the day, pretty much four hours of tiredness, followed by four hours of wakefulness. Since I’ve been eating fruit for my daytime meals, these problems seem to have disappeared. I’ve started eating fruits I never would have considered before – I always used to worry about buying fruit, because like many people, I would constantly buy it, eat a small amount, then it would go off, then I would throw it away. I got so mad at my wastefulness that I stopped buying fruit for years after a particularly bad incident with a bunch of bananas. Making a commitment to eat fruit during the day eliminates this problem because the fruit just gets eaten. I’ve gone from having no fruit in a week (just veg) to having four to six pieces in a “meal.” I enjoy food shopping a lot more and I finally feel like I’m getting enough of everything. I’ve also stopped skipping meals since I’ve been seeing fruit as a viable alternative to regular meals – before, I would often skip breakfast and lunch on the basis that I would look in the cupboard and feel like I just didn’t have the food I wanted to eat – but I didn’t know what food I was craving. Another thing I really like, for why I skipped the raw vegan step entirely, is that you don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment or cooking skills to be a fruitarian. Raw Vegans cheat a bit and use all sorts of weird and wonderful food processing techniques to make their food look and taste like “real food” whereas fruitarians just accept their food in the shape and size and flavour that it comes in, and eat it whole and unaltered. I really feel like it makes me connect with what I’m eating and where it came from in a way that raw veganism could never do for me. I’ve found myself drinking a lot more water since I’ve started eating fruit, too, which generally improves my wellbeing. I don’t think I am never going to be a full-time long term fruitarian, because I feel that other foods also have value, but I do enjoy a good fruit fest and think that if you’re having the same problems that I was, the addition of fruit and nuts to your balanced diet could be your answer.

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“Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted.” — Jules Renard “ideas to get your students’ pencils moving” View an updated version of this article HERE. Writing is and isn’t an easy thing to do in the classroom. Especially nowadays when students don’t have long attention spans and are more and more “digital” and visual learners. However, it is a vital skill that opens up a world of possibilities for any student. Written communication in whatever language, even with the advent of the internet, is still a necessity. Writing allows communication, controlled and deliberate – POWERFUL, communication. So we have to get our students writing more and better. How? Below, find a rundown of what I consider the “standard” writing activities for any age group. Just change the topic/theme. Most are for any classroom, EFL / ESL or the regular classroom. My belief is that writing in English is writing in English. Whether it be a second language or first makes no difference because the “eating” is all the same. I’ve divided the activities into different categories. These are just for the sake of having some kind of organization. I’ve also labeled them WUP – for a warm up writing activity and something to do quickly. CP – Controlled practice. Writing activities that help the beginning writer and offer support, repetition and guidance. F – Free writing activities that activate student learning and allow them to practice what they already know and “test the waters” so to speak. Where appropriate, I’ve linked to some resources that compliment the writing activity as described. Listen — Write There are many ways to “spice” up the standard dictation. The simplest is to have the students fold a blank piece of paper “hamburger” style (Up/down) 4 times. Unfold and they have a nice 8 line piece of paper. Speak 8 sentences , repeating each several times as the students write. Get the students to record their answers on the board and correct. Collect and keep in a portfolio! There are many online sites where students can do the same but in a computer lab or at home. Or the teacher can even try in the classroom. http://www.listen-and-write.com/audio – for older students http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/ – for young learners 2. Story Rewriting The teacher reads a story or the class listens to an audio story. After, students make a storyboard (just fold a blank page so you have 8 squares) and draw pictures. Then, they write the story based on those pictures. Very simple and powerful! – F The students close their eyes and the teacher describes a scene. Play some nice background music. The students then write and describe the scene they imagined, sharing their scene afterward with the class or a classmate. 4. Pop Song Rewrite Play a familiar pop song. One with a “catchy” chorus. Afterwards, write out the chorus on the board with some of the words missing. Students can then rewrite the chorus and sing their own version. Higher level students can simply write their own version without help. Here’s a very simple example – He’s got the whole world in his hands He’s got ___________ and ___________ In his hands. (3x) He’s got the whole world in his hands Watch —– Write Students watch a TV Commercial. Then, they write their own script based on that commercial but focused on a different product. Afterward, they can perform. F 2. Short videos. Just like a story but this time students watch. Then, they can rewrite / respond / reflect. Students can choose to reflect on one standard Reading Response question or as part of a daily journal. Ex. The best part was ….. / If I had made the video, I would have …… Short videos are powerful and if well-chosen can really get students writing in a reflective manner. CP / F How to Videos Students can watch a short “How to” video that describes a process. There are some excellent sites with User Generated Content. Expert Village and eHow are recommended. After the students watch the video several times, they can write out the steps using transitions which the teacher lists on the board. [First, first off, To begin, then, after that, next, most importantly, finally, last but not least, to finish ] CP / F 3. Newscasts / Weather reports Watch the daily news or weather report. Students write in groups or individually, their own version of the news for that week/day. Then perform for the class like a real news report! F 4. Travel Videos Watch a few travel videos (there are many nice, short travel “postcard” videos online). Groups of students select a place and write up a report or a poster outlining why others should visit their city/country. Alternately, give students a postcard and have them write to another student in the classroom as if they were in that city/country. For lower leveled students, provide them with a template and they just fill in the details. Ex. I’m sitting in a ………… drinking a …………… I’ve been in ……. for ………. days now. The weather has been ……………. Yesterday I visited the ………….. and I saw …………….. Today, I’m going to ………………. I highly recommend ……………….. See you when I get home ………………… CP / F Look —– Write 1. Pictures / Slideshows Visuals are a powerful way to provide context and background for any writing. Make sure to use attractive, stimulating and if possible “real” photos to prompt student writing. Students can describe a scene or they can describe a series of pictures from a slideshow. An excellent activity is to show a nice photo and get students to “guess” and write their guess in the form of the 5Ws. They answer all the 5w questions and then share their thoughts with the class. Show a picture and get students to write a story or use it as background for a writing prompt. For example, Show a picture of a happy lottery winner. Ask students to write in their journal – If I won a million dollars I would …… This is a much better way to “prompt” writing than simple script! – CP Show students a selection of fairly similar pictures. The students describe in writing one of the pictures (faces work really well). They read and the other students listen and “guess” which picture is being described. Similar to this listening activity. CP Provide students with a series of pictures which describe a story. I often use Action Pictures. Students write about each picture, numbering each piece of writing for each picture. The teacher can guide lower level students like this Mr. X’s Amazing Day example. After editing, the students cut up the pictures and make a storybook. Gluing in the pictures, coloring, decorating and adding their own story text. Afterwards read to the whole class or share among the class. CP / F Provide students with a sequence of pictures which are scrambled. The students must order the pictures and then write out the process. Ex. Making scrambled eggs. F Read —- Write 1. Reading Journal / Reading Response The students read a story and then respond by making a reflective journal entry. Alternatively, the students can respond to a reading response question like, “Which character did you like best? Why?” F Read a short story and then give students a copy of the story with some text missing. The students can fill it in with the correct version OR fill it in and make the story their own. These are stories where words are replaced with icons/pictures. Students can read the story and then write out the whole story, replacing the pictures with the correct text. Here are some nice examples. – CP 3. Opinion / Essay Select an article or OP Ed piece that students would find interesting or controversial. After reading and discussing, students can respond with a formal essay or piece of writing reflecting their opinion. Read them anonymously afterwards and get the class to guess who wrote it! F 4. Giving Advice Students read a problem provided by the teacher (even better, get students to provide the problem by having them write down what they need advice on). This can often be an Ann Landers style request for advice from a newspaper. Students write their own response, giving advice. F 5. Running dictation This is a lot of fun but quite noisy. Put students into groups of 3 or 4. For each group, post on the wall around the classroom, a piece of writing (maybe a selection of text you will be reading in your lesson). One student is appointed as the secretary. The other students must “run” to where their piece of writing is on the wall and read it. Then run back and dictate it to the secretary who records it. Continue until one group is finished (but check that they got it right!). CP Think —- Write 1. Graphic Organizers These you can make on your own by having students draw and fold blank sheets of paper or by giving them a pre-designed one. Students write out their thoughts on a topic using the organizer. An alphabet organizer is also an excellent activity in writing for lower level students. Graphic organizers and mind maps are an excellent way “first step” to a longer writing piece and are an important pre-writing activity. WUP 2. Prompts / Sentence Starters Students are prompted to finish sentences that are half started. They can write X number of sentences using the sentence starter. Many starters can be found online. Prompts are also an excellent way to get students thinking and writing. Every day, students can “free write” a passage using the daily prompt (ex. What I did this morning etc… ) Creative writing of this sort really motivates students to write. There are many lists online you can use. 3. Thinking Games Using a worksheet, students play the game while writing down their responses in grammatical sentences. What the Wordle / Not Like the Other and Top 5 are some games I’ve made and which help students begin to write. Each has a worksheet which students fill out. CP 4. Decoding / Translating Translating a passage into English can be a good writing activity for higher level students. Students love their cell phones and Transl8it.com is a handy way to get students interested in writing. Simply put in English text and Transl8it.com will output “text messaging”. Give this to students to decode into standard English and then check against the original. Lots of fun! See the games I’ve designed (Pop Song / Dialogues ) using this principle of decoding text messaging. CP 5. Forms / Applications Students need to practice writing that will be of use to them directly in the wider world. Forms and filling in applications are a valuable way to do this. Fill in one together as a class and then get students to do this same for themselves individually. – CP 6. Journals / Reflection / Diaries This type of free writing activity should be done on a regular basis if used in class. Use a timer and for X minutes, students can write upon a topic that is important to them, that day. Alternatively, students can write at the end of the day and record their thoughts about the lesson or their own learning. These are all excellent ways for the teacher to get to know their students. One caution – don’t correct student writing here! Comment positively on the student’s writing – the goal is to get them feeling good about writing and “into” it. – F 7. Tag Stories / Writing Students love this creative exercise. Fold a blank piece of paper vertically (Hamburger style) 4 times. You’ll have 8 lines. On the first line, students all write the same sentence starter. Ex. A man walked into a bank and …….. Next, students finish the sentence and then pass their paper to the student on their left/right. That student reads the sentence and continues the story on the next line. Continue until all 8 lines are completed. Read the stories as a class – many will be hilarious! I often do this with a “gossip” variation. I write some gossip “chunks” on the board like; “I heard that..” , “I was told…” “The word on the street is…” “Don’t pass it around but…”. Students choose one and write some juicy gossip about the student to their right. They then pass their paper to the left with everyone adding onto the gossip. Students really get into this! CP / F 8. Describe and guess Students think of a person / a place or a thing. They write a description of them / it and they are read out and others students guess. Jokes and riddles are also effective for this. Students write out a joke or riddle they know and then they are read and other students try to guess the punchline. – F TEXT —– Write 1. Sentence Chains The teacher writes a word on the board and then students shout out words that follow using the last letter(s). The more last letters they use, the more points they get. The teacher keeps writing as quick as possible as the students offer up more correct words. Ex. Smilengthosentencementality….. Give students a blank piece of paper and in pairs with one student being the secretary, they play! This is a great game for simple spelling practice and also to get students noticing language and how words end/begin. They can also play for points. Compound words and phrases are acceptable! – WUP 2. Guided Writing This is a mainstay of the writing teacher’s toolkit. Students are either given a “bank” of words or can write/guess on their own. They fill in the missing words of a text to complete the text. Take up together and let students read their variations. A nice adaptation to guided writing for lower level students is for them to personalize the writing by getting them to draw a picture for the writing passage to illustrate and fortify the meaning. Here’s a nice example. CP Use a time line to describe any event. Brainstorm as a class. Then students use the key words written on the board, to write out the time line as a narrative. Really effective and you can teach history like this too! Biographies of individuals or even the students themselves are a powerful writing activity and timelines are a great way to get them started. – F Students are given notes (the classic example is a shopping list but it might be a list of zoo animals / household items etc…) and then asked to write something using all the noted words. This usually focuses on sequence (transitions) or location (prepositions). F 5. Grammar Poems Grammar poems are short poems about a topic that students complete using various grammar prompts. This form of guided writing is very effective and helps students notice various syntactical elements of the language. Put the grammar poem on the board with blanks. Here are some examples but it could be on any topic (country, famous person, my home, this school, etc..). Fill out as a class with one student filling it in. Then, students copy the poem and complete with their own ideas. Change as needed to stress different grammatical elements. And of course, afterwards SHARE. Present some to the class and display on a bulletin board. Your students will be proud of them! SPEAK — Write 1. Surveys / Reports Students have a survey question or a questionnaire. They walk around the class recording information. After, instead of reporting to the class orally, they can write up the report about their findings. This can also be used with FSW (Find Someone Who) games. Students use a picture bingo card to walk around the classroom and ask students yes/no questions. They write the answers with a check or X and the student’s name in the box with the picture. After, they write up a report about which student ……. / didn’t …… certain things. CP 2. Reported Speech Do any speaking activity or set of conversation questions. Afterwards, students report back by writing using reported speech, “ Susan told me that she ………..” and “ Brad said that ………..” etc….. CP 3. Introducing each other Students can interview another classmate using a series of questions / key words given by the teacher. After the interview of each other is over, students can write out a biography of their partner and others can read them in a class booklet. – F 4. In class letter writing Writing for a purpose is so important and nothing makes this happen better than in class letter writing. Appoint a postman and have each student make a post office box (it could just be a small bag hanging from their desk). The students can write each other (best to assign certain students first) and then respond to their letter. Once it gets started, it just keeps going and going… – F 4. Email / messaging / chat / social networking This is an excellent way to get students speaking by writing. Set up a social networking system or a messaging / emailing system for the students. They can communicate and chat there using an “English only” policy. Use videos / pictures like in class – to promote student discussion and communication. Projects online foster this kind of written communication and using an CMS (Content Management System) like moodle or atutor or ning can really help students write more. – F 5. Class / School English newspaper or magazine Students can gain valuable skills by meeting and designing a school English newsletter. Give each student a role (photographer, gossip / news / sports / editor in chief / copy editor etc…) and see what they can do. You’ll be surprised! – F WRITE —— Do Students can write dialogues for many every day situations and then act them out for the class. The teacher can model the language on the board and then erase words so students can complete by themselves and in their own words. Here’s a neat example using a commercial as a dialogue. – CP Students draw a picture and then write a description of the picture. They hand their description to another student who must read it and then draw the picture as they see it. Finally, both students compare pictures! – F 3. Tableaus / Drama Students write texts of any sort. Then the texts are read and other students must make a tableau of the description or act out the text in some manner. For example – students can write about their weekend. After writing, the student reads their text and other students act it out or perform a tableau. F 4. Don’t speak / Write! I once experimented with a class that wouldn’t speak much by putting a gag on myself and only writing out my instructions. It worked and this technique could be used in a writing class. Students can’t speak and are “gagged”. Give them post it notes by which to communicate with others. Instruct using the board. There are many creative ways to use this technique! – F RECOMMENDED BOOKS 4 TEACHERS I highly recommend the following two books for ideas and some general theory on how to teach writing. Purchase them for reference. 1. HOW TO TEACH WRITING – Jeremy Harmer Very insightful and cleanly, simply written. The author explores through example and description, all the facets and theory behind that “looking glass” which we call teaching. I use this as a course text for my methodology class for in-service teachers. 2. Oxford Basics: Simple Writing Activites – Jill and Charles Hadfield This book (and series) is a gem! Jill Hadfield knows what working EFL / ESL teachers need and in this book there are 30 simple writing activities which teachers can use with a wide variety of levels and with only a chalkboard and a piece of chalk / paper. See my Blog post and download the list of my TOP 10 WRITING WEBSITES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

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Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurological childhood (pediatric) speech sound disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech is impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits (e.g., abnormal reflexes, abnormal tone). CAS may occur due to known neurological impairment, in association with complex neurobehavioral disorders of known and unknown origin, or as an idiopathic neurogenic speech sound disorder. The core impairment in planning and spatiotemporal programming parameters of movement sequences results in errors in speech sound production and prosody. (ASHA, 2007b, Definitions of CAS section, para. 1). Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an area of clinical practice that addresses the needs of individuals with significant and complex communication disorders characterized by impairments in speech-language production or comprehension, including spoken and written modes of communication (ASHA, 2020). AAC uses various techniques and tools, including picture communication boards, line drawings, speech-generating devices (SGDs), tangible objects, manual signs, gestures, and fingerspelling, to help the individual express thoughts and wants and needs feelings, and ideas. AAC is augmentative when used to supplement existing speech, and alternative when used in speech production that is absent or not functional (ASHA, 2020). AAC may be temporary, as when used by patients postoperatively in intensive care, or permanent, as when used by an individual who will require the use of some form of AAC throughout his or her lifetime (ASHA, 2020). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction and the presence of restricted, repetitive behaviors. Social communication deficits present in various ways and can include impairments in joint attention and social reciprocity and challenges using verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors for social interaction. One might see restricted, repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities manifested by stereotyped, repetitive speech, motor movement, or use of objects; inflexible adherence to routines; limited interests; and hyper- or hypo-sensitivity sensory input. In cluttering, the breakdowns in clarity that accompany a perceived rapid and irregular speech rate are often characterized by deletion and/or collapsing of syllables (e.g., “I wanwatevision”) or omission of word endings (e.g., “Turn the televisoff”). The child may make many revisions and interject other words and put pauses in places in sentences not expected grammatically, such as “I will go to the/store and buy apples” (St. Louis & Schulte, 2011). Clutter can occur with other disorders.A condition that can be a consequence of cluttering is pragmatic disorder; individuals with cluttering may not attempt to repair breakdowns in communication, resulting in less than significant social interaction (Teigland, 1996) (ASHA, 2020). Early intervention (EI) is the process of providing services. It supports infants, toddlers, and their families when a child has or is at risk for a developmental delay, disability, or health condition that may affect typical development and learning. The goal of EI is to lessen the effects of a disability or delay by addressing the identified needs of young children across five developmental areas: - Cognitive development - Communication development - Physical development, including vision and hearing - Social or emotional development - Adaptive development (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 2004) The earlier that services are delivered, the more likely children are to develop effective communication, language, and swallowing skills and achieve successful learning outcomes (Guralnick, 2011). The Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, also called Part C of IDEA, is a federal grant program that helps individual states operate comprehensive systems of interdisciplinary EI services for children ages birth to 3 with disabilities and their families/primary caregivers. EI services can also be provided outside of Part C programs in settings such as neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), pediatric rehabilitation hospitals or clinics, preschools, and private practices. Services in these settings may not be covered by federal or state dollars but can be billed to public or private insurance or the family. is the aspect of speech production that refers to continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort. Stuttering, the most common fluency disorder, is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by repetitions (sounds, syllables, words, phrases), sound prolongations, blocks, interjections, and revisions, which may affect the rate and rhythm of speech. These disfluencies may sometimes accompany physical tension, adverse reactions, secondary behaviors, and avoidance of sounds, words, or speaking situations (ASHA, 1993; Yaruss, 1998; Yaruss, 2004). Cluttering, another fluency disorder, is characterized by a perceived rapid and irregular speech rate, which results in breakdowns in speech clarity or fluency (St. Louis & Schulte, 2011)(ASHA, 2020). Functional speech sound disorders include those related to the motor production of speech sounds and those related to speech production’s linguistic aspects. Historically, these disorders are referred to as articulation disorders and phonological disorders, respectively. Articulation disorders focus on errors (e.g., distortions and substitutions) in the production of individual speech sounds. Phonological disorders focus on predictable, rule-based errors (e.g., fronting, stopping, and final consonant deletion) that affect more than one sound. It is often difficult to differentiate between articulation and phonological disorders; therefore, many researchers and clinicians prefer to use the broader term, “speech sound disorder,” when referring to speech errors of unknown cause. See Bernthal, Bankson, and Flipsen (2017) and Peña-Brooks and Hegde (2015) for relevant discussions. The definitions of intellectual disability (ID) and related terminology have evolved to reflect the legal and social gains made by individuals with such a disability and their families. See Changes in Services for Persons With Developmental Disabilities: Federal Laws and Philosophical and Perspectives and Federal Programs Supporting Research and Training in Intellectual Disability. These changes reflect the movement from institutionalization to inclusive practices, self-advocacy, and self-determination. There has also been the movement toward recognizing the fundamental communication rights of people with severe disabilities. A Communication Bill of Rights—initially developed by the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) in 1992 and updated in 2016—recognizes the right of all people to effective communication (NJC, 1992; Brady et al., 2016) (ASHA, 2020). ID is characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning (e.g., reasoning, learning, and problem-solving); significant limitations in adaptive behavior (i.e., conceptual, social, and practical skills in everyday life); and onset in childhood (before the age of 18 years; American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities [AAIDD, 2013]) (ASHA, 2020). This definition of ID balances limitations with an equal emphasis on skills. Consequently, language and philosophy concerning ID now focus on levels of support necessary to maximize an individual’s ability, rather than strictly on functioning (ASHA, 2020). There is general agreement that auditory perceptual abilities influence language development—particularly the pre-literacy skills—and that it can be challenging to separate aural and language skills concerning academic demands (Richard, 2012, 2013; Watson & Kidd, 2008). The act of processing speech is very complex and involves the engagement of auditory, cognitive, and language mechanisms, often simultaneously (Medwetsky, 2011). Richard’s (2013) continuum of processing includes both auditory processing and language processing. This continuum involves the following types of processing: Central auditory processing begins when the neural representation of acoustic signals is processed after they leave the cochlea and travel through the auditory nerve to the left and right hemispheres (Heschl’s gyri). Phonemic processing, during which acoustic features of the signal, is discriminated against utilizing phonemic skills such as sound discrimination, blending, and segmenting. Linguistic processing is where meaning is attached to the signal (begins at the level of Heschl’s gyrus, expands to Wernicke’s area, to the angular gyrus, and finally to the prefrontal and frontal cortex, in planned, organized, and mediated responses) (ASHA, 2020). Late language emergence (LLE) is a delay in language onset with no other diagnosed disabilities or developmental delays in other cognitive or motor domains. LLE is when language development trajectories are below age expectations. Toddlers who exhibit LLE are considered “late talkers” or “late language learners.” Late talkers may present with expressive language delays only or mixed expressive and receptive delays. Children with only expressive delays exhibit delayed vocabulary acquisition and often demonstrate slow development of sentence structure and articulation. Those with mixed expressive and receptive language delays indicate delays in language comprehension and oral language production. Some researchers distinguish a subset of children with LLE as “late bloomers.” Research also indicates that late bloomers are less likely to demonstrate concomitant language comprehension delays when compared with children who remain delayed (Thal et al., 1991) (ASHA, 2020). Organic speech sound disorders include those resulting from the motor/neurological disorders (e.g., childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria), structural abnormalities (e.g., cleft lip/palate and other structural deficits or anomalies), and sensory/perceptual disorders (e.g., hearing impairment). Social communication is the use of language in social contexts. It encompasses social interaction, social cognition, pragmatics, and language processing. Social communication skills include the ability to vary speech style, take others’ perspectives, understand and appropriately use the rules for verbal and nonverbal communication, and use the structural aspects of language (e.g., vocabulary, syntax, and phonology) to accomplish these goals. For more details, see ASHA’s resources on components of social communication [PDF] and social communication benchmarks [PDF] (ASHA, 2020). Social communication, spoken language, and written language have an intricate relationship. Social communication plays a role in language expression and comprehension in both spoken and written modalities. Spoken and written language skills allow for effective communication in various social contexts and a variety of purposes (ASHA, 2020). Social communication, such as eye contact, facial expression, and body language, is sometimes influenced by sociocultural and individual factors (Curenton & Justice, 2004; Inglebret, Jones, & Pavel, 2008). There is a wide range of acceptable norms within and across individuals, families, and cultures. Social Communication Disorder Children with social communication disorder have difficulties with the use of verbal and nonverbal language for social purposes. Primary challenges are social interaction, social cognition, and pragmatics. Specific deficits are evident in the individual’s ability to communicate for social purposes - in ways that are appropriate for the particular social context - change communication to match the context or needs of the listener - follow the rules for conversation and storytelling - understand nonliterate or ambiguous language - understand what is not explicitly stated (ASHA, 2020) This definition is consistent with the diagnostic criteria for Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder detailed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013).A social communication disorder may be a distinct diagnosis or may co-occur with other conditions, such as: spoken language disorders; written language disorders; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); traumatic brain injury (pediatric and adult); In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), social communication problems are a defining feature, along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. Therefore, social communication disorder is diagnosed separately from ASD (AHSA, 2020). Speech sound disorders is an umbrella term referring to any difficulty or combination of problems with perception, motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and speech segments.Speech sound disorders can be organic or functional. Organic speech sound disorders result from an underlying motor/neurological, structural, or sensory/perceptual cause. Available speech sound disorders are idiopathic—they have no known reason (ASHA, 2020). A spoken language disorder (SLD), also known as an oral language disorder, represents a significant impairment in the acquisition and use of language across modalities due to deficits in comprehension or production across any of the five language domains (i.e., phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics). Language disorders may persist across the lifespan, and symptoms may change over time. When SLD is a primary disability—not accompanied by intellectual disability, global developmental delay, hearing or other sensory impairment, motor dysfunction, or other mental disorder or medical condition—is considered a specific language impairment (SLI). An SLD may also occur in the presence of other conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disabilities (ID), developmental disabilities (DD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), Stuttering typically has its origins in childhood. Most children who stutter begin to do so around 2 ½ years of age (e.g., Mansson, 2007; Yairi & Ambrose, 2005; Yaruss, LaSalle, & Conture, 1998). Approximately 95% of children who stutter start to do so before five years (Yairi & Ambrose, 2005). All speakers produce disfluencies, which may include hesitations, such as silent pauses and interjections of word fillers (e.g., “The color is like red”) and nonword fillers (e.g., “The color is uh red”). Other examples include whole-word repetitions (e.g., “But-but I don’t want to go”) and phrase repetitions or revisions (e.g., “This is a- this is a problem”). These speech behaviors are generally considered nonstuttered (typical) disfluencies (Ambrose & Yairi, 1999; Tumanova, Conture, Lambert, & Walden, 2014). When a child uses many nonstuttered (typical) disfluencies, differential diagnosis is critical to distinguish between stuttering, avoidance, and a language disorder.Less typical, stuttering-like disfluencies (Yairi, 2007) include part-word or sound/syllable repetitions (e.g., “Look at the b-b-baby”), prolongations (e.g., “Ssssssssometimes we stay home”), and blocks (i.e., inaudible or silent fixations or inability to initiate sounds). Compared with typical disfluencies, stuttering-like disfluencies are usually accompanied by more significant than average duration, effort, tension, or struggle. Aspects that factor into the perception of severity includes frequency and type of stuttering and stutters to communicate effectively. Some young children go through a period of excessive disfluency, which does not persist for many of these children. The terms clinical supervisor and clinical supervision are often used about student clinicians’ training and education, recognizing that supervision is part of the training and education process. Clinical supervisors do more than oversee the work of the student clinician. They teach specific skills, clarify concepts, assist with critical thinking, conduct performance evaluations, mentor, advise, and model professional behavior (Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders [CAPCSD], 2013). Many professionals involved in the supervisory process suggest that clinical educators and clinical instructors more accurately reflect what the clinical supervisor does (CAPCSD, 2013). Telepractice is applying telecommunications technology to delivering speech-language pathology and professional audiology services at a distance by linking clinician to client or clinician to clinician for assessment, intervention, and consultation (ASHA, 2020). ASHA adopted the term telepractice rather than the frequently used terms telemedicine or telehealth to avoid the misperception that these services are used only in health care settings. Practitioners also use other terms such as teleaudiology, telespeech, and speech teletherapy in addition to telepractice. Services delivered by audiologists and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) include the broader generic term telerehabilitation (American Telemedicine Association, 2010). Use of telepractice must be equivalent to the quality of services provided in-person and consistent with adherence to the Code of Ethics (ASHA, 2016a), Scope of Practice in Audiology (ASHA, 2018), Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology (ASHA, 2016b), state and federal laws (e.g., licensure, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA; US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.-c]), and ASHA policy (ASHA, 2020). Telepractice venues include schools, medical centers, rehabilitation hospitals, community health centers, outpatient clinics, universities, clients’ homes, residential health care facilities, child care centers, and corporate settings. There are no inherent limits where telepractice sites as long as the services comply with national, state, institutional, and professional regulations and policies. See ASHA State-by-State for state telepractice requirements (ASHA, 2020). Standard terms describing types of telepractice are as follows: Synchronous (client interactive)—services are conducted with interactive audio and video connection in real-time to create an in-person experience similar to that achieved in a traditional encounter. Synchronous services may connect a client or group of clients with a clinician or include consultation between a clinician and a specialist. Asynchronous (store-and-forward)—images or data are captured and transmitted (i.e., stored and forwarded) for viewing or interpretation by a professional. Examples include transmission of voice clips, audiologic testing results, or outcomes of independent client practice. Hybrid—applications of telepractice that include combinations of synchronous, asynchronous, and in-person services. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a form of nondegenerative acquired brain injury resulting from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head (or body) or a penetrating head injury that disrupts normal brain function (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). TBI can cause focal brain damage (e.g., gunshot wound), diffuse (e.g., shaken baby syndrome), or both. Symptoms can vary depending on the lesion’s site, extent of damage to the brain, and the child’s age or stage of development (ASHA, 2020). TBI’s functional impact in children can be different from in adults—deficits may not be immediately apparent because the pediatric brain is still developing. TBI in children is a chronic disease process rather than a one-time event, because symptoms may change and unfold over time (DePompei & Tyler, in press; Masel & DeWitt, 2010). Concussion, a form of TBI, is an injury to the brain characterized by TBI’s physical and cognitive sequelae. Concussion typically occurs due to a blow, bump, or jolt to the head, face, neck, or body that may or may not involve loss of consciousness (McCrory et al., 2013). Concussion has received more attention in recent years, particularly for sports injuries (ASHA, 2020). A disorder of written language involves a significant impairment in fluent word recognition (i.e., reading decoding and sight word recognition), reading comprehension, written spelling, or written expression (i.e., written composition; Ehri, 2000; Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Kamhi & Catts, 2012; Tunmer & Chapman, 2007, 2012). A word recognition disorder is also known as dyslexia. Written language disorders can involve any of the five language domains (i.e., phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics). Problems can occur in the awareness, comprehension, and production of language at the sound, syllable, word, sentence, and discourse levels, as indicated in the table below (Nelson, 2014b; Nelson, Plante, Helm-Estabrooks, & Hotz, 2015). See ASHA’s resource, disorders of reading, and writing (ASHA, 2020).

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While debate has surfaced over the years about leadership as a discipline and whether or not leadership can be taught or learned, the more recent debate is over how best to teach leadership in the context of formal classrooms (Doh, 2003; Parks, 2005; Riggio, 2013; Zimmerman-Oster & Burkhardt, 1999). According to Wren (2001), the pedagogy used to teach leadership does make a difference. Wren contends “the unique nature of leadership requires its study to be a combination of intellectual inquiry, behavioral innovation, and practical application” (2001, p. 5). Three common elements have been associated with directly impacting student leadership development: a) opportunities for service/volunteering; b) experiential learning; and c) active learning through collaboration (Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001). Active and collaborative learning and the opportunity to practice leadership in real-world contexts has been found to positively affect student learning of leadership (Cress et al., 2001; Astin & Sax, 1998; Wren, 2001). While research exists on leadership development programming, few studies have focused on teaching methods, instructional approaches, or leadership studies curriculum design (Jenkins, 2012). A comprehensive list of leadership pedagogies was created by Allen and Hartman (2008a, 2008b, & 2009). Based upon the work of Conger (1992), Allen and Hartman (2008a, 2008b, 2009) identified 40 sources of learning that are common in leadership development programs geared for college students. Jenkins (2012) further refined the list of instructional strategies to 24 using the work of Allen and Hartman (2008a, 2008b, & 2009) as well as a panel of experts and the researcher’s expertise and experience. Instructional strategies used by Jenkins (2012) include: case studies, class discussion, exams, games, group projects/presentations, guest speakers, icebreakers, in-class short writing, individual leadership development plans, interactive lecture/discussion, interview of a leader, lecture, media clips, quizzes, reflective journals, research project/presentation, role play activities, self-assessments and instruments, service learning, simulation, small group discussions, story or storytelling, student peer teaching, and teambuilding. Komives et al. (2011) reviewed seven powerful pedagogies which can be useful to leadership educators in a variety of contexts. These pedagogies include: experiential learning, team-based learning, peer education, sociocultural discussion, service-learning, mentoring and advising, and contemplative practice. Signature pedagogies have been defined as the types of instruction and teaching that are at the forefront when we refer to preparing members of specific professions (Shulman, 2005). These pedagogies seem to define how knowledge is counted and how things become known in the field. Shulman (2005) contends that effective signature pedagogies involve active student participation, promote deep engagement of students, and encompass a learning environment where students are visible and hard to disappear and be anonymous. Signature pedagogies are generally interactive and students are accountable to their fellow students as well as the instructor. According to Marzano (2007) pedagogies that are effective are more than just strategies but encompass three critical areas: use of effective instructional strategies, use of effective management techniques by the educator, and use of effective class or program design strategies. Jenkins (2012) investigates signature pedagogies for leadership education and found that class discussion was the pedagogy used most frequently in leadership education and may be the signature pedagogy for leadership education. Sociocultural discussion was highlighted as a pedagogy useful to leadership educators by Komives et al. (2011). Though not specifically applied to leadership education, DeAngelis (2009) contends participation in formal and informal issues-based discussions where students discuss controversial topics or where students who come from a variety of backgrounds discuss topics relevant to themselves provide students with tools to understand competing priorities and the ability to find links among contrasting perspectives. According to Dugan and Komives (2010) empirical research on leadership development has indicated the environment where discussions take place have been shown to be the most significant predictor of leadership outcomes. Though not specifically focused on leadership education, research on the outcomes of discussion-based pedagogy indicates that if discussion topics are ones of emotional importance, clear significance, and conducted by effective facilitators students can have a transformative learning experience even if the make-up of the students in discussion are not diverse (Dessel & Rogge, 2008; Schoem & Hurtado, 2001). Jenkins (2012) also concludes that other pedagogies such as group and individual projects and presentations, self-assessments and instruments, small group discussion, and reflective journaling are also pedagogies used most frequently in leadership education. While the investigation by Jenkins (2012) of signature pedagogies in leadership education revealed that discussion was the pedagogy most used by leadership educators, it was recommended that future studies “delve into the quality of their impact, effectiveness, and student learning outcomes” (p. 20). This study examines undergraduate student perspectives of pedagogy used in an undergraduate leadership elective course to describe how students view the effectiveness and impact of the use of pedagogies. Purpose and Objectives The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative, descriptive study was to explore undergraduate student perceptions of the pedagogy used in a leadership course. The specific objectives addressed in this study include: 1) examine student perceptions of the effectiveness of pedagogies used in a leadership course and 2) describe student perceptions of the learning environment when using certain pedagogies in a leadership course. While Jenkins’ (2012) study reveals support for class discussion and other pedagogies as signature pedagogies in undergraduate leadership education, these pedagogies have not been investigated in terms of their quality, effectiveness, and student learning outcomes. The environment where discussion occurs has been determined to be a significant predictor of leadership outcomes; however, much of the research conducted on discussion-based pedagogy was not specifically focused on leadership education (DeAngelis , 2009; Dessel & Rogge, 2008; Schoem & Hurtado, 2001). This study used a basic qualitative approach (Merriam, 2009). According to Merriam (2009), a basic qualitative study is used when seeking understanding of how individuals make sense of their experiences. The study examined the reflections of undergraduate students in an undergraduate leadership elective course taught for the first time to understand how students perceived the effectiveness of the course including their views of the pedagogy chosen and learning environment created. This basic qualitative study can also be considered evaluation research as this study evaluated the pedagogy used in a leadership course. According to Patton (2002), “When one examines and judges accomplishments and effectiveness, one is engaged in evaluation. When this examination of effectiveness is conducted systematically and empirically through careful data collection and thoughtful analysis, one is engaged in evaluation research” (p.10). The population for this study were undergraduate students (n = 28) in a leadership course elective during a two-week mini-mester format. The undergraduate students represented a criterion-type purposive sample as only students enrolled in the leadership course during the summer 2013 semester were part of the study population (Patton, 2002). The course included males and females, traditional and non-traditional students, African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian students, students majoring in a leadership degree, and students majoring in other degrees who had no prior leadership coursework. Participants in this study were those students enrolled in the leadership elective course for the summer 2013 semester. This course, taught for the first time, served as a leadership elective for students and focused on learning leadership through the media. The course was offered face- to-face; however, it was offered in a compact 2-week mini-mester format. Instructional strategies used during the course included current event readings, class discussion, reflection, small group discussion, presentations, field trips, and lecture. Data used in this study consisted of reflection questions given at the end of the semester. Students had the option to complete these questions as part of an evaluation of the course. Students were told this was an experimental course and their feedback would help in determining whether this course should be taught in future semesters. There were 28 undergraduate students enrolled and all submitted reflections; therefore all were participants in this study. The prompts for the reflection questions consisted of the following: Compare and contrast the learning you experienced in this class versus the learning you have experienced in other classes. What was better for you as a learner (student) in this environment and structure? What was a challenge for you as a learner (student) in this environment and structure? Is this type of class effective for learning leadership? Why or why not? Discuss the leadership topic you learned the most about from this class. Explain the leadership issue and what you learned about it. The data were analyzed using the constant comparative method in accordance with Glaser and Strauss’ (1967). Trustworthiness of the study was established through Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) concepts of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Credibility was established through peer debriefing with other leadership educators (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Transferability was established through the use of purposive sampling and thick description of the participant reflections throughout the findings of the study (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993). Dependability and confirmability were established through the use of audit trails and peer audits (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The data were coded (S1-S28) before the analysis process began to ensure the confidentiality of the students and the respective data codes were included after the quotation to create an audit trail. In qualitative research, one characteristic is that the “researcher is typically the primary instrument for data collection and analysis” (Merriam, 2009, p. 15). The instructor served as the researcher and thus, primary instrument for data collection in this study. While this should be acknowledged as a potential source of bias in the study, careful attention was made to monitor the bias by giving students the option to respond to the reflection and it not affect their grade in the course. Students were encouraged to be honest with their responses and reassured that their responses would only be used as a means to determine if the course should be taught again in the future. As another way to limit bias, reflections were coded by someone other than the instructor before analysis was conducted. Peshkin (1988) noted researchers’ subjectivities can be the underlying factor for distinctiveness of the research and “one that results from the unique configuration of their personal qualities joined to the data they have collected” (p. 18). Context for the Study The researcher believes it is important to understand more of the context for this study, specifically the leadership course for which the study was based upon. This course was a three-credit hour undergraduate leadership elective course and taught in a 2-week format; it was offered between the normal spring and summer full semesters. The course in this study was primarily taught using class discussion as the pedagogy. There were only three lectures, which consisted of about 50 minutes each given during the 45-hours of instruction time. The other hours of class time were spent engaging in class discussion, guest speakers, field trips, and student-led class discussions. The final project in the course was the student-led discussion of a current leadership event. Content for these student-led discussions was obtained from the New York Times in Leadership project. The instructor used a scaffolding approach for guiding students into leading their own discussion. Students started out with small tasks when speaking to the entire class and by the end of the semester were able to engage their fellow classmates in a discussion about leadership issues using current events. The instructor also modeled several class discussions about leadership current events for students before they engaged in their discussion. Students were assembled into pairs to lead their discussion after three days into the course. To assemble students into teams of two for their student-led discussion, students were asked to list two students in the course they would prefer to work with and two students who they would prefer not to work with on a team. Only the instructor was privy to the information provided by the students. From this information, the instructor chose the pairs who would work together. The instructor believes this method worked well with this class size and the duration of the course. Students felt like they had buy-in into their class partner, but also were not just allowed to pair up with a friend. In their team, students led a discussion using a New York Times in Leadership article assigned to them. As part of this discussion, students prepared discussion questions of which two needed to address the top levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students individually answered their own developed questions using complete references and citations. The student team also developed a brief “check for understanding” of other students in the course to ensure they had read the article. Students then led a 45 minute or longer discussion in class using the questions they had generated. They were also encouraged to bring in other information to be used in the discussion such as video clips and other content-related articles pertaining to the topic. A few leadership topics outlined in the New York Times article and discussed by students included gender and leadership, authenticity and leadership, race and leadership, role of values, vision, and mission in leadership, negotiation and leadership, communication and leadership, effect of leadership styles, entrepreneurial leadership, gaining credibility as a leader, role of culture in leading others, establishing trust as a leader, and effect of experience or pedigree on leadership ability and context. Other assignments in the course included participation points, a reflection comparing and contrasting leadership from each of the three field trips that were a part of the course, a reflection on one of the leadership discussions, a quiz on evaluating information in the news, and the creation of a guide for a leadership discussion by generating six questions about a video clip, article, or news segment. Students observed three different media outlets including a newspaper organization, a television organization, and a sports web forum organization. Student perceptions of pedagogies used in a leadership course were investigated using student reflections of the course. Students seemed impacted by the discussion-based structure of the course. Objective one of this study sought to examine student perceptions of the effectiveness of pedagogies used in a leadership course. Even though the instructor did focus on using discussion as the primary pedagogy for the course, students were not directed to reflect specifically about the discussion-based pedagogy used in the course. Student perspectives were grouped into three themes for this objective: contribution to overall effectiveness, openness to different perspectives, and learning from peers. Contribution to Overall Effectiveness Out of the 28 students surveyed, 26 of them made reference to the discussions in class. Overall, all 26 students had positive things to say about the group discussions. Student 14 simply stated “I believe that this class was very effective for learning leadership because of the discussion. You not only hear what the professor has to say, but also what everyone else has to say.” Yet another commented about the structure of the discussions, “I believe this class is an effective way to learn about leadership because, as our instructor, you never told us what to think merely what to think about and allowed us to be the leaders in generating discussions” (S8). Student 28 also remarked about the structure of the class through their reflection: The environment of the class to provide open discussions, that really had some depth was a huge difference compared to any class I have had before. People in the class weren’t afraid to voice their ideas or thoughts, which added a great benefit to our discussions. Students 14 and 19 reflected generally on the concept of discussion used in class: The open discussion in this class really gave me a more open mind to the material that was being taught. This class really put us on the spot and set a standard of expectation for all students to understand what was being taught about leadership traits, but it gave an opportunity for students to explain what it meant to them and how their life experiences brought them to that point. (S14) This was my first ever class based heavily on discussion and I really loved it. I learned more about topics when I was being asked questions about how I felt and how they played into my own life. I also learned more from my fellow students than I have in any other class. I feel like it made me learn more talking about the situations and applying them to articles or my own situations than just being talked at and then asked to regurgitate it on an exam. (S19) Openness to Different Perspectives Students remarked that the discussion opened their minds to new perspectives, as well as challenged them to think critically and evaluate information. S24 said, “The discussion in this class also changed some of my viewpoints and opened my eyes to perceive some issues in a totally different light” and furthermore “The challenge for me as a student in this class was the absolute necessity of thinking critically and evaluating your logic before presenting it to a group of intelligent people.” Student 17 commented “Being actively involved helped challenge my own thinking and opened my mind to other possibilities and conclusions I would not have reached on my own.” Yet another student commented “By this class focused mainly on discussion, it forced you to come to class prepared so you could participate in the discussions” (S27). S24 also reflected: Students wanted to get involved, and before they would speak in class they would be challenged to truly think critically and make sure they understand the information and have developed solid logic before bringing their opinion to the attention of the class. S20 commented about the importance of being open to other views. “Normally, we as humans see things completely one sided, but here I was able to see several different angles on a topic. It really taught me how to respect and take into consideration other people’s views and beliefs.” Another student reflected on how the course challenged them to be open-minded. “Being actively involved helped challenge my own thinking and opened my mind to other possibilities and conclusions I would not have reached on my own” (S17). Learning from Others Students reflected on how they learned more from hearing others’ perspectives in the course because of the discussions. One student compared their learning from others in the course to other types of learning, “I learned more from other students than I ever could have from a textbook or vocabulary words” (S14). Student 21 also reflected: I believe that this class was very effective for learning leadership because of the discussion. You not only hear what the professor has to say, but also what everyone else has to say. This gives you many points of view on each topic and helps it to go more in depth than most classes. S24 reflected on the power of having different viewpoints, “It was very powerful to have different viewpoints from different life experiences speaking up on ethically challenging issues and seeing the opposite side of the spectrum from myself displayed through a person with different life experiences.” Student 8 reflected on how they benefitted more from the interaction of their peers: …about 80% percent of classes are not even worth showing up for when all the information is strictly for the test. I really enjoy discussing more and feel I get more out of it when I can learn from peers. I felt that our group got along well and encouraged discussion from everyone. It was great to know we could respectfully challenge views, and I feel as if I gained a new perspective on certain issues. Objective two sought to describe student perceptions of the learning environment when using certain pedagogies in a leadership course. Student reflections revealed students were able to 1) overcome challenges with discussion because of the environment of the course and 2) class logistics contributed to the effectiveness of pedagogies used in the course. These two themes emerged from the data and seemed to contribute to how students perceived the effective use of pedagogy in the leadership course. Overcoming Challenges with Discussion While there was no negative feedback to the group discussions, something to note is that 17 of that 26 said that the group discussions were a challenge for them because of various reasons. The students that saw the group discussions as a challenge felt that the environment of the class helped them to overcome any issues with the discussions. Student 21 reflected on overcoming the challenge of talking in front of the class: My main challenge was the first day of discussion and forcing myself to talk in front of everyone, but once I did it went great. I believe that this class was very effective for learning leadership because of the discussion. You not only hear what the professor has to say, but also what everyone else has to say. This gives you many points of view on each topic and helps it to go more in depth than most classes. Student 14 also reflected on the challenge of speaking up in front of others, “I admit, yes, it was a challenge to get in front of class and speak or answer questions, but the environment that [instructor] set up really made it easy for conversation flow” while Student 1 commented: I think a challenge for me was actually speaking up in class, there were times that I really wanted to put what I had to say out there, but I was nervous about getting negative feedback or getting into arguments with other students. Logistics of the Course Twelve of the 28 students surveyed mentioned the class logistics as a factor in why the course was effective for them. Specific characteristics included number of students in the course, size of classroom, and length and duration of time each day spent on the course. A reemerging theme was that students saw the small class size as an asset that played a role in bonding the students together making it easier to participate in group discussions. Two of the 12 students did not like the course being during a minimester for personal reasons (not being able to work). One specific characteristic noted in regard to logistics of the course was the size of the classroom. Student 1 commented specifically about the actual classroom being smaller: What was better for me was the smaller class size and even the fact that the classroom was smaller. I have been in a few smaller populated classes, but the rooms would still be big and everyone would be spread out from one another not making it easy for everyone to be heard or even engaged in conversation together. Another characteristic that was mentioned by students as contributing to the effectiveness of the course is the number of students in the course. Several students noted the degree of comfortability in the course, “Comfortability would usually not happen in a class that is bigger than this and only 50 minutes, 2 times a week” (S14) and “I enjoyed the smaller classroom size because even though the class was only two weeks, everyone seemed to get to know one another and be comfortable in a short period of time” (S22). Student 11 also made reference to size contributing to comfort, “The size of the class and the amount of time we got to spend together made us a tight knit group that was comfortable talking and learning from one another as well as the instructor” (S11). Another student also reflected on how the size of the class contributed to their comfort level, I enjoyed the size of the class. It was small which I prefer in a class, we were all able to interact with one another and got to know each other well and I think that is a big key is getting comfortable around your classmates. (S16) Length of time spent in class each day was noted by students as contributing to their perceptions on effectiveness. One student simply noted “Comfortability would usually not happen in a class that is bigger than this and only 50 minutes, 2 times a week” (S14). Specifically, Student7 reflected: I think that the setting of everyday for long periods of time was necessary for us to build up the comfort level necessary to freely express how we feel on individual topics. I think that this class being taught in a mini-mester is a much better design than if it were a full semester course. Student 18 reflected on how their attitude changed about the duration of the course: …obviously it was shorter than my other classes, which at first coming into class the first day, I had a bad attitude, thinking oh god I have to be at school for 5 hours, but then as I started to get acquainted with everyone and saw some familiar faces, it wasn’t that bad and I really started to enjoy it. The short duration of the class was good because I got to know everyone’s name by the end of the semester, which in most other classes I’m lucky to know a few people’s names by the end. Student 2 reflected on how the duration of the course contributed to the facilitation of discussions, “I do believe that I benefited greatly from the two-week, five-hour-a-day approach to this class. As a body of students, we were forced to bond quickly which helped facilitate our discussions as we became comfortable with each other.” Student 21 reflected on the length of the course by noting “I loved that it was only a two week course and was very small. I was able to not only learn a lot about leadership, but a lot about my classmates and how other people may think as well.” Yet another student reflected on how the duration of the course impacted their interactions with students, “I think the learning experienced in this class was very effective, more so than any of my other classes because of the interaction with students was so frequent and up close and personal” (S12). Discussion & Conclusions In this study, the class discussions were referenced in student reflections quite frequently as a leadership pedagogy that was effective for students in learning leadership. Even though students were not prompted to specifically reflect on discussion as a pedagogy used in the course, 26 of the 28 students did point out how their learning was affected because of the class discussions. Other pedagogies or instructional strategies employed in the course could have been referenced such as the class field trips, reflections, and other class activities. Discussion was determined to be the pedagogy used most frequently by undergraduate leadership education instructors and could be considered the signature pedagogy for undergraduate leadership education (Jenkins, 2012). This study lends support for discussion as not only a pedagogy used by leadership instructors, but one that can be effective for learning leadership as perceived by undergraduate students. Research points to the environment where discussion takes place as being a significant predictor of leadership outcomes (Dugan & Komives, 2011). In this study, students made reference to the environment of the course and how it affected their comfortability and thus learning effectiveness. Students specifically noted class logistics including the interactions with students being more personal, the smaller size of the class (room size and number of students), and the shorter duration (minimester) of the course as contributing to the effectiveness of the course. Therefore, it is recommended that leadership educators consider the environment for discussion if they want discussion to be an effective pedagogy for teaching leadership. If a small class size is not practical, perhaps an instructor could invoke smaller groups within a larger class that might have similar effects. Pedagogies are more than just instructional strategies, but also encompass use of effective management techniques by the instructor, and effective class or program design strategies (Marzano, 2007). Based on the findings in this study, the class discussions had positive effects on students when they were coupled with the short duration of the course, small class size and meeting location, and purposeful interactions with their classmates. Students believed these factors impacted their ability to be comfortable with their classmates and be open to discussions that helped them learn about leadership. While not mentioned by students as contributing to the effectiveness of the course, the “behind the scenes” management and design strategies used by the instructor could have contributed to the effectiveness of class discussion. Some design and management strategies used in the course included the scaffolding approach to leading a discussion, allowing students to participate in shorter duration presentations and discussion prior to their final discussion and the method for choosing their partner for the final class discussion assignment. Therefore, it is recommended that leadership education instructors consider not just the instructional strategy to employ when teaching leadership, but also consider other management and design strategies such as class size, location of meeting, how groups are formed, and, if using discussion, how you as the instructor can make students feel comfortable in the classroom. To be effective, discussion topics should be of emotional importance, have clear significance, and be conducted by effective facilitators (Dessel & Rogge, 2008; Schoem & Hurtado, 2001). Though the make-up of this course allowed for the sharing of diverse perspectives, according to Dessel and Rogge (2008) and Schoem and Hurtado (2001), discussion can be a transformative learning experience for students even if the make-up of students is not diverse. It is unclear from this study whether the diverse make-up of the course contributed to student perceptions of the effectiveness of discussion for learning leadership. Some students noted they learned from diverse points of view in the course and it made them more open- minded (S8, S14, S17, S20, S24). The findings did indicate the impact of the facilitator as two students did make specific reference to the instructor or facilitator impacting the effectiveness of discussion: “I believe this class is an effective way to learn about leadership because, as our instructor, you never told us what to think merely what to think about and allowed us to be the leaders in generating discussions” (S8) while Student 14 stated “the environment that [instructor] set up really made it easy for conversation flow.” Recommendations for Research This study examined students’ perspectives of pedagogy used in a leadership course; however, there was no measure to control for student learning in this study. Future studies should account for some measure of what students learned to determine if the learning acquired by students is affected by the pedagogy used to teach the course. Discussion-based pedagogy may be perceived by students to be effective, but does it actually effect how and what they learn? The leadership course examined in this study was unique in that it was taught in a short timeframe (two weeks). The course also had a small number of students and was designed for students to lead and participate in discussions. Future studies should examine other settings and environments to determine whether or not discussion can be effective in learning leadership in these settings and environments. Leadership pedagogy is more than just instructional strategy (Marzano, 2007). Future studies should specifically be designed to account for the variables of effective management techniques by the educator and use of effective class or program design strategies. Effective management techniques and class or program design strategies which surfaced in this study included class logistics (time for class, size of classroom, number of students), activities designed by the instructor, and the environment created by the instructor. More research should be employed to assess other specific management techniques and program design strategies which impact the pedagogy being used to teach a leadership course. This study evaluated one leadership course and included a small group of students. This study should be replicated in other settings where a primary pedagogy is used by leadership educators. As Jenkins (2012) also recommended, future studies should assess pedagogies used to evaluate their quality, effectiveness and achievement of student learning outcomes. Allen, S. J., & Hartman, N. S. (2008a). Leadership development: An exploration of sources of learning. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 73(1), 10-19, 62. Allen, S. J., & Hartman, N. S. (2008b). 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Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Peshkin, A. (1988). In search of subjectivity—one’s own. Educational Researcher, 17(7), 17- 22. Riggio, R. E. (2013). Advancing the discipline of leadership studies. Journal of Leadership Education, 12(3), 10-14. Schoem, D., & Hurtado, S. (2001). Intergroup dialogue: Deliberative democracy in school, college, community, and workplace. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Schulman, L. S. (2005). Signature pedagogies in the disciplines. Daedalus, 134(3), 52-59. Wren, J. T. (2001). Instructor’s manual to accompany the leader’s companion: Insights on leadership through the ages. University of Richmond: J. Thomas Wren. Zimmerman-Oster, K., & Burkhardt, J. (1999). Leadership in the making: Impact and insights from leadership development programs in U.S. colleges and universities. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 6(3-4), 50-66.

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Learning based on the theory of Learning… Does not take place in an empty vessel A social process where interaction with other learners and teachers are needed Result of individual … 2. Broadening the way we communicate information in the classroom can connect all students more to the topic at hand, and especially students with language challenges. Thomas, A. According to Process learning, the opposite is true.... Has anyone ever told you that you need to have a clear goal in order to achieve something or get better? For auditory learning, you could have a friend quiz you on the flash cards. For instance, we can all remember listening to a teacher talk, and copying notes off the chalkboard. Thomas, A., Thorne, G., Small, R., DiSanti, P., & Lawson, C. (1998). Identify three different classes and describe what types of activities you typically do in these classes. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Beyond monet: The artful science of instructional integration. The differentiated classroom. —Audre Lorde, writer and civil rights activist. & Thorne, G. (2008). Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. For kinesthetic learning, you could move the flash cards around on a board to show a food web (food chain). Higher order thinking. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Rosemont, NJ: Modern Learning Press. Psychologist Robert Sternberg lists six components of mental self-management: (1999). Also, all students should be explicitly taught how to build concept maps (graphic organizers that connect all components of a concept, and may also connect one concept to another concept). Follow your instructor’s guidelines for submitting your assignment. The VAK/VARK models can be a helpful way of thinking about different learning styles and preferences, but they are certainly not the last word on how people learn or prefer to learn. They are interested in how activitiesinteract to achieve different results. Higher order thinking. Finally, they attend to mechanical and grammatical rules. & Thorne, G. (2008). 5. Similarly, researchers concerned with cognition are drawn to uncovering th… Each student in the group is assigned a role such as the leader/involver/taskmaster, the clunk expert, the gist expert, and the timekeeper/pacer (positive interdependence). 2. Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning … Read/write learners have a preference for written words (readings, dictionaries, reference works, research, etc.) Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Physical movement can help to “wake up” a mind. References The results have led The Learning … -Learning is a process … Social constructivist scholars view learning as an active process where learners should learn to discover principles, concepts and facts for themselves, hence the … Toronto: Bookation, Inc. The process of learning can be subdivided into cognitive (knowledge), affective (emotions), and psycho-motor (skills).This process of learning until recently followed the conventional means of learning … Discover Your Learning Style and Optimize Your Self Study. Memory is the complex process that uses three systems to help a person receive, use, store, and retrieve information. Having computers in place for all children helps level the playing field for the graphomotor klutz. Required fields are marked *. (2008). Believe in yourself (self-efficacy). This tactic is ideal for promoting intellectual discussion and improving reading comprehension of expository text in mixed-level classrooms across disciplines. A person with metacognition also monitors and regulates how he learns. For example, a teacher may ask second graders how to divide a pan of brownies evenly among the 20 students in the class, and then connect their solution to the concept of equivalent fractions. … For example, consider how you might combine visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles to a biology class. Higher Order Thinking What might your preferred learning style(s) tell you about your interests? Students with good language processing skills usually do well in school. Vail, P. (1994). Students with handwriting difficulties may benefit from the opportunity to provide oral answers to exercises, quizzes, and tests. Learning Process: After knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to be provided, Educational Psychology moves on the laws, principles and theories of learning. In the classroom, tension slams the steel door of the mind shut. Psychologists named the process respondent conditioning because it describes changes in responses to stimuli (though some have also called it “classical conditioning” because it was historically the first form of behavioral learning … Students should be asked to identify the important information, formulate test questions and then answer them. However, when it comes to learning, one size doesn’t fit all. Rolheiser, C. (1996). In order to engage, motivate and teach all learners at optimal levels, teachers must understand the learning process in general, understand and respond to students’ individual emotional and cognitive profiles and select instructional strategies and tactics that are effective for diverse learners. -Learning is an evolutionary process. Seek out an environment where you can make a difference. Learning is an active process that is based upon the individual pupil’s ability to perceive, comprehend, react to, and integrate with past experiences of which the curriculum is composed. It is easy for most of us to pay attention to things that are interesting or exciting to us. The Learning Cycle Understanding the Learning Cycle can help both teachers and learners enhance the learning process. As adults, we should model our own metacognition, talk about metacognition, and give meaningful examples of metacognition often and well. Using visual communication such as pictures and videos to reinforce verbal communication is helpful to all students, and especially to students with receptive language challenges. While completing the learning-styles activity, you might have discovered that you prefer more than one learning style. For example, while Kyle might prefer listening to recordings to help him learn Spanish, he might prefer hands-on activities like labs to master … Higher order thinking (HOT) is more than memorizing facts or relating information in exactly the same words as the teacher or book expresses it. Kyle was excited to take a beginning Spanish class to prepare for a semester abroad in Spain. Motivation Review the three main learning styles and the definition of multimodal learning. Successful intelligence. All students will benefit from systematic, cumulative, and explicit teaching of reading and writing. Thomas, A. Simultaneous processing is the process we use to order or organize information in space. Paying attention to attention. It is a process by which the individual acquires various habits, knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary to meet the demands of life. "When the connection from the perirhinal cortex back to those layer 1 neurons was cut, the animals … To successfully use differentiated instruction, a teacher must first have a firm understanding of each of the cognitive components of the learning process, what they look like when they are working, and what the specific subcomponents of each look like when they are breaking down. Know your strengths and weaknesses. A student with metacognition can answer the question, “How am I smart?” The first part of metacognition is thinking about thinking. Successive processing is what we use to order or organize information in time and sequence. Thousand Oaks. Paying attention to attention. For visual learning, you could create flash cards containing images of individual animals and the species name. By the end of this section, you will be able to: Consider experiences you’ve had with learning something new, such as learning to tie your shoes or drive a car. Parents and teachers should be aware, however, that many children with graphomotor challenges may also have difficulty with the quick muscular coordination required by the keyboard. But what are learning styles, and where does the idea come from? Thomas, A. What communication means in the learning process. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. The three memory systems are (1) short-term memory (e.g., remembering a phone number you got from information just long enough to dial it), (2) working memory (e.g., keeping the necessary information “files” out on the mind’s “desktop” while performing a task such as writing a paragraph or working a long division problem), and (3) long-term memory (a mind’s ever expanding file cabinet for important information we want to retrieve over time). Sternberg, R. J. Thomas, A. Making the learning process more visible helps students become better learners by making them more aware of their own habits. The teacher’s job is to construct lessons that connect to the learner. Using a great strategy at the wrong time, or mismatching a strategy with breakdown for which the strategy will yield no gains, will frustrate students and teachers alike when the strategy fails to produce the desired result. Learning is an essential as well as fundamental process of life. 1. There are six interactive components of the learning process: attention, memory, language, processing and organizing, graphomotor (writing) and higher order thinking. The learning process has often become more difficult than necessary because of the bad feelings people get when they make mistakes in learning. However, when it comes to learning, one size doesn’t fit all. Walter Burke Barbe and his colleagues proposed the following three learning modalities (often identified by the acronym VAK): Examples of these modalities are shown in the table, below. Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more specifically defined as "learning through reflection on doing". -One of the richest resources of learning is the learner himself. Language, learning and a place called school. Recruiters are looking to hire individuals with Data Science skills. Learning activities are what students actually do in your … Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Organization: Processing and ordering information. For example, in addition to studying his written notes, he might listen to a tape of the vocabulary words, as well. They may benefit from writing written explanations and descriptions of the information contained in charts, graphs or diagrams. Arianna Vedia Aug. 1, 2019 ... 280) is learning what it takes to win from the edge in the NFL and becoming more sound as a pass … He knows how he would best learn a new math procedure and which strategies he would use to understand and remember a science concept. Most students, especially those with weaknesses in written language, will benefit from using a staging procedure for both expository and creative writing. (2008). Graphomotor skills: Why some kids hate to write. Bennett, B. It is also helpful for students to list their most frequently occurring errors in a notebook and refer to this list when self-correcting. Learning styles are also called learning modalities. Developmental variation and learning disorders (Second Edition). Ajax, Ontario: VisuTronx. The two language processing systems are expressive and receptive. Mansaray, David. Consequently, short, highly structured lectures or group discussion times should be balanced with frequent breaks or quiet periods. When we are relaxed and calm, our learning processes have a green light. Educational care (Second Edition). All students will benefit from self-testing. They may benefit from software programs such as Inspiration that organize concepts and information into visual maps. "The Four Stages of Learning: The Path to Becoming an Expert.". In Säljö’s categories two to five we see learning appearing as processes – memorizing, acquiring, making sense, and comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. Behaviorist Learning Theory (or Behaviorism) utilizes key ideas from the work of … Paul Brooks Publishing Company. Relating how algebraic equations need to be equal or balanced on both sides to the benefits of dividing candy or cookies evenly between friends also connects to prior knowledge. Students who have difficulty with both short-term and working memory may need directions repeated to them. Auditory learners best learn through listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.). You probably began by showing interest in the process, and … Kyle took the quiz, but when he got the results, he was surprised to see that he had earned a B-, despite having studied so much. It is not an act of will but rather an act of coordination among those functions. It is wise to find acceptable, non-destructive ways for these students to be active. It is important to remember that when a student understands something, it does not guarantee that he will remember it. This strategy is useful not only for students who prefer to combine learning styles but also for those who may not know which learning style works best for them. Paying attention is the first step in learning anything. Neil Fleming’s VARK model expanded on the three modalities described above and added “Read/Write Learning” as a fourth. Follow your instructor’s guidelines for submitting your activity. Many of us, like Kyle, are accustomed to very traditional learning styles as a result of our experience as K–12 students. Many educators consider the distinctions useful, finding that students benefit from having access to a blend of learning approaches. Apply your preferred learning styles to classroom scenarios. Various branches of … There are six interactive components of the learning process: attention, memory, language, processing and organizing, graphomotor (writing) and higher order thinking. Using this tactic, students are placed into cooperative learning groups of four to six students of mixed abilities. People have different learning styles and preferences, and these can vary from subject to subject. Students who have receptive language challenges such as a slower processing speed must use a lot of mental energy to listen, and, therefore, may tire easily. A creative choice might be to write a play about tolerance, create a dance that communicates the emotions of the Holocaust, or write a poem or paint a picture that tells a story about how you feel about the conditions in Darfur. People have different learning styles and preferences, and these can vary from subject to subject. Learning theory may be described as a body of principles advocated by psychologists and educators to explain how people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Identify a class you are currently taking that requires studying. -The process of learning is both emotional and intellectual. By Carol Rolheiser is listed in the reference section following this article and is a helpful resource for teachers who want to incorporate more student self-evaluation in their classrooms. When you think of learning, it might be easy to fall into the trap of only considering formal education that takes place during childhood and early adulthood, but learning is actually an ongoing process that takes place throughout all of life. (2008). Mastery of the … In order to enhance the likelihood that all students will elaborate on new information, teachers should activate their prior knowledge and make new information meaningful to them. Before his first vocabulary quiz, he reviewed his notes many times. Self-evaluation…Helping students get better at it! The teaching learning process under this model places emphasis on lectures, recitations, and demonstration and the learner is seen as a passive recipient of this information. (2008). A practical choice might be to show how we can apply the lessons learned from the Holocaust to how we treat one another in our schools. Students who have trouble remembering sequences of information but who are strong in simultaneous processing should benefit from graphic organizers, and making diagrams or flow charts of sequential information such as events in history rather than the standard timeline. Metacognition is thinking about thinking, knowing about knowing, and knowing how you think, process information, and learn. He understands the best way for him to organize an essay – whether he would be more successful by using an outline, a graphic organizer or a mind map. 6. When they can see the overall narrative of their learning … (2008). Next they may organize their ideas. Teachers should model this process for all students. Applying more than one learning style is known as multimodal learning. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot. -Learning is sometimes a painful process. -The process of problem solving and learning are highly unique and individual. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Consider which subjects and eventual careers you might like. & Thorne, G. (2008). David Kolb’s learning theory is based on a four-stage learning cycle. Thomas, A., ed. He has mental self-management. Third, they may look at sentence structure. As such, education requires a self-aware and self-correcting set of processes that respond to changes circumstances at … Tactile/kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience—moving, touching, and doing (active exploration of the world, science projects, experiments, etc.). Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Cambridge, MA: Educator’s Publishing Service. Brooks, R. & Goldstein, S. (2002). Education is a system; teaching is an action; learning is a process. Customized Professional Learning Services for Schools, School Districts and Individual Teachers, October 26, 2010 by Center for Development and Learning Leave a Comment, By The Center for Development and Learning. It is difficult for most of us to pay attention to things that are not. Stages of the Learning Process Consider experiences you’ve had with learning something new, such as learning to tie your shoes or drive a car. When something is not interesting to us, it is easier to become distracted, to move to a more stimulating topic or activity, or to tune out. Capitalize on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Oral instructions may also need to be repeated and/or provided in written form. Explain how you could apply your preferred learning style(s) to studying. Ultimately, this is where we hope students who attend our schools will be upon graduation. These … Memory: How it works and how to improve it. It is a hard process of 12 to 16 years minimum. These laws do not exist to make the process difficult, but are designed to educate you about the rules of the road and ensure you practice safe driving habits before being allowed to graduate to the next step. Practicing cooperative learning allows each student’s processing and organizing strengths to be utilized to the benefit of the group. Experiential learning is distinct from rote or didactic learning… Others find the idea of three or four “styles” to be distracting or limiting. When a student shows signs of inattentiveness and/or restlessness, teachers can provide the student with opportunities to move around. Give choices for projects and exams that include analytical, practical and creative thinking options. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Organization: Processing and ordering information. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Learning is … On the other hand, school expects that children become experts in several subjects – e.g., math, language, science, social studies, a foreign language, the arts. Emotion: The on/off switch for learning. In his first category we find both process – acquiring – and product – a quantitative increase in knowledge. Kyle’s professor suggested that he experiment with different ways of studying. New York: Simon & Schuster. The ability to learn is possessed by … Is Your Curriculum Aligned to the Science of Reading? Note that the video has no audio. As might be expected, educationalists often look to process definitions of learning. Tomlinson, C.A. Teaching and learning involves the process of transferring knowledge from the one who is giving to the one who is receiving. Language, learning and a place called school. Research suggests that it’s good for the brain to learn in new ways and that learning in different modalities can help learners become more well-rounded. A student who understands that she may need to use a particular strategy to help her working memory function better or that taking frequent breaks will help her stay more focused on her homework assignments is much better off than thinking that she is stupid or lazy.

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The Civil War Sailor's Cavalrymen were not the only warriors who went into battle as passengers, though they were far more plentiful than their "webfoot" counterparts. Throughout the Civil War the navies of both the North and the South suffered from a shortage of manpower. On both sides the demands of the armies were so persistent that there were never enough sailors, especially experienced men, to complete the crews of all the ships in service. This proved particularly true in the South, where the pool of available seamen was very small under the best of circumstances. Stephen Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, got the Confederate Congress to pass a law in 1863 whereby any man serving in the army who volunteered for the navy was to be transferred. Mallory claimed that hundreds of men volunteered, but that their military commanders would not release them. In the North, trained seamen were diverted into the army by enlistment bonuses, by local competition to fill regiments, by a desire to try something different, and by the draft. Sometimes it became necessary in both the North and the South to divert soldiers into naval duty. Usually the soldiers were not too pleased by the assignment. Some became disciplinary problems or deserted, but a number adjusted to the demands of the war and gave a good account of themselves. One part of the Confederate Navy, at least, had no difficulty in attracting men: the ships Alabama, Florida, Shenandoah, and other famous commerce raiders. The commanders of such ships completed their manpower needs by drawing on the crews of the vessels they captured. The Confederates paid high wages and in gold. Those factors and the prospect of being a prisoner made a crucial difference. But the result was that a high percentage of the crews of these famous ships were foreigners. In the South a young man wishing to join the navy had to have the consent of his parent or guardian if he was under twenty-one years of age. His counterpart in the North needed parental consent if he was under eighteen. No one under the age of thirteen was to be enlisted in the North, or under fourteen in the South. Height requirements for the Union Navy were at least five feet eight inches; those for the Confederacy were four feet eight inches. At the other end of the spectrum, no inexperienced man was to be enlisted in the Union Navy if he was over thirty-three years of age unless he had a trade. If he had a trade, thirty-eight was the age limit. In the South an inexperienced man with a trade could join if he was between twenty-five and thirty-five. Inexperienced men without trades were shipped as landsmen or coal heavers. Free blacks could enlist in the Confederate Navy if they had the special permission of the Navy Department or the local squadron commander. Slaves were enlisted with the consent of their owners, and some of them served as officers' servants as well as coal heavers and pilots. Before the war the United States Navy had tried to restrict the number of black men in the ranks to one-twentieth of the crew. During the Civil War, however, the chronic shortages of men led Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to suggest to the commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron that he open recruiting stations ashore for the enlistment of blacks or contrabands. As a result of this and other activities, the Union Navy had a high percentage of blacks in the lower ranks. The normal pay scales in both navies ranged from $12 a month for landsmen and other inexperienced hands to $14 a month for ordinary seamen and $18 a month for seamen. Boys were rated as third, second, or first class in ascending order according to their knowledge and physical ability. Third-class boys were paid $7 a month, second class $8, and first In both the North and the South it was customary to send the newly recruited men to a receiving ship. These were usually old frigates or other sail-powered ships that were stationed at navy yards in the North and functioned as floating dormitories. In the South old merchant ships were used at Richmond and at other major Southern ports. A recruit arriving on board a receiving ship reported to the officer of the deck. His name and other details went into the ship's books, and be was sent forward. Usually be received only the clothing needed for immediate service. In the North no civilian clothing was allowed, though shortages of uniforms later in the war sometimes made it necessary to modify this rule in the South. When the recruit arrived at the forward part of the receiving ship, he was given a number for his hammock and another for his clothes bag and was assigned to a mess. While on board a receiving ship the recruit learned the rudiments of navy life. He learned how to address and to respect his officers, petty officers, and shipmates. Much time was spent in various kinds of drills, such as learning to handle sails, rigging, boats, and cutlasses, as well as the procedures for repelling boarders. The manpower demands of the Union and the Confederate navies meant that the amount of time a recruit was on a receiving ship ranged from a few days to a few weeks. Anything not learned on the receiving ship had to be learned in the hard school of active service. Periodically the commander of the receiving ship would receive orders to send a certain number of men to a vessel preparing for active service, or as replacements for a ship that had lost men through death, illness, or desertion. Once a man reported to a ship in the regular service, he was assigned to various stations at the guns, on deck, in the tops, in a boat, at a mess, and in a hammock. Each had a number to be remembered. So, on a man-of-war, a given recruit or veteran might define his niche in the following way: He belonged to the starboard watch, was stationed in the top of the mizzenmast; he belonged to the third division of the battery, attached to gun number eight, where he was the first loader. In the event of a need to board an enemy vessel, he was the second boarder in his division. When it was necessary to loose or to furl sails, his post was at the starboard yardarm of the mizzen topgallant yard. In reefing sails his position was on the port yardarm of the mizzen topsail yard. When tacking or wearing the ship, his place was at the lee main brace. If the anchor was being raised, his duty was at the capstan. In a boat he pulled the bow oar of the captain's gig. Until all these assignments became second nature to him, the recruit might forget his numbers and have to refresh his memory by consulting the station bill, where everyone's position was recorded. On gunboats and monitors all the duties associated with masts, rigging, and yards were eliminated, of course. These ships were also much smaller than a steam frigate or some of the merchant vessels converted to warships. But on these smaller ships there were still quarters, guns, and decks to be kept clean, and there were still watches to be kept. On all coal-burning vessels it was a constant problem to keep the ship and the guns clean. The actual work of coaling a ship left black dust everywhere. About the time that the dust was under control, it was time to recoal. Any man with experience in the merchant service found life on a warship quite different, at least at times. In the merchant service, for example, when raising the anchor, the men at the capstan might sing a sea chantey. In the Navy this and other tasks were performed in silence lest some order from an officer not be heard. Loud talking by the men while on watch was frowned upon for the same reason. In warships of both the Union and the Confederacy, the shipboard routines were performed to the sound of shouted orders, boatswain's pipes, or a drum, depending on the situation covered. Joining the crew of a warship was apt to be quite a memorable experience for the recruit. Here he found himself among a wide variety of men. There were some older, weatherbeaten types who had been at sea for many years. In contrast to these were the young men of seventeen, eighteen, or younger, away from home for the first time. There were foreigners, including some not many months removed from their old environments in Europe. There were black men, including many who had recently left the slave status. Also caught up in such groups was an occasional North American Indian, or a Pacific islander. In a very real sense a man-of-war was the world in miniature, especially on Union ships. Crews of Confederate gunboats and other vessels that defended Southern harbors, inlets, and rivers were apt to be more homogeneous, especially early in the war. For the Northern recruit particularly, adaptation to the cross section of humanity that comprised the crew was often difficult. Their early weeks and months in the Navy might be marked by personality clashes, accusations and counter-accusations, and fights. Marines and officers had the duty of stopping any affrays. The man who struck the first blow might find himself confined to the brig, in irons and on a diet of bread and water for twenty-four hours, as a warning not to persist in such conduct. A man who was wronged by another soon learned to settle his score indirectly rather than by fighting. His tormentor might find the rope of his hammock cut while he was asleep, or have a belaying pin dropped on his toes, or become the victim of other "accidents." In the Union and the Confederate navies it was the specific duty of the commanding officer to see to it that ordinary seamen, landsmen, and boys were instructed in steering, in heaving the lead to determine the depth of the water, in knotting and splicing ropes, in rowing, in the use of the palm and needle to do sewing, and in bending and reefing sails. Mastery of these duties was necessary if the recruit hoped to qualify for promotion to seaman or to become a petty officer. Coal heavers with any intelligence at all could master the requirements necessary to become a fireman. In addition, the men were continually drilled in exercising the guns, in handling small arms and boats, and in using the boat howitzer. Anything not learned on the receiving ship was thoroughly learned on a ship in regular service. In the Confederacy, whenever the needs of war made it necessary to transfer from one ship to another, the men had to have additional training because no two ships had engines or guns that were exactly the same. In both navies the daily routine was somewhat the same, depending on the size of the ship, the preferences of the captain, the season of the year, the needs of the moment. Sailors might begin their day as early as 4 A.M. if the ship had to be thoroughly cleaned or was scheduled to be coaled in the morning. Otherwise, a typical day might have gone as follows: At 5 A.M. the marine bugler sounded reveille. The master-at-arms, or one of his corporals, and the boatswain's mate from the current watch ran around the berth deck shouting at the sleeping men and slapping hammocks. The men were ordered to get up and to lash up their hammocks and bedding into a tight, round bundle. These were then carried tip to the spar, or upper, deck. Here the hammocks were stored uniformly behind heavy rope nets, called nettings, along the bulwarks. Storing the hammocks here gave some small additional protection from gunshots and from wood splinters dislodged by cannon fire. The nettings also provided a barrier against boarders. In theory, a well-trained crew was supposed to rise, lash their hammocks, and deliver them to the spar deck in seven minutes. In practice, it may have taken that long to get some men out of their hammocks. About 5:07 A.M. the crew got out sand, brooms, holystones, and buckets and washed down the decks. Usually the berth deck was scrubbed with saltwater, and the spar deck was holystoned by teams of men working under the direction of a boatswain's mate. In addition to the decks, the brass fittings and other bright work were Metal tracks on which the gun carriages turned were burnished. The guns themselves were cleaned. On ships that carried sails, the rigging, halyards (ropes for hoisting yards or sails), and blocks were checked and maintained as necessary. Once the ship was cleaned, the sailors might fill the buckets with saltwater to wash themselves and to shave, if they so desired. In a man-of-war, boys assembled at the port gangway at 7:30 A.M. for inspection by the master-at-arms. The boys were expected to have clean faces and hands, hair combed, and clothes clean and tidy. Their pants were supposed to be rolled up. After the inspection, each boy was expected to climb to the top of the masthead and come down. Each boy did his best to get up and down first. Sometimes the last boy down had to climb up and down again. The theory behind this routine was that it made the boys agile and gave them a good appetite for breakfast. At 8 A.M. the boatswain piped breakfast. Cleaning equipment was put away and buckets were returned to their racks. Each man reported to his respective mess, which consisted of from eight to fourteen men. Members of a gun crew, coal heavers and firemen, and topmen would have their own messes, often determined by the watch to which they belonged. Marines and petty officers messed separately, and the boys were distributed among the messes. Each member of the mess took his turn as the orderly or cook, though sometimes one person would be hired by his messmates to do the job on a permanent basis. It was the job of the orderly to unlock the mess chest and take out the tableware and cooking utensils, as well as the food allotted to the mess each week by the ship's cook or by the paymaster. The individual kept track of his own knife, fork, spoon, and mug. For breakfast each man was served one pint of coffee without milk, as well as a piece of salt junk, or hard, salted beef. After breakfast the dishes were cleaned and returned to the mess chest. Then, at 9:30 A.M. came the call to quarters. Guns were inspected to see that they were properly secured and ready for any emergency throughout the day. Once this was done, the men relaxed at their stations by writing letters, reading newspapers or books, or dozing. Noon was the fixed time for lunch, so at that hour the men reported to their messes. Now they had a piece of beef or pork, vegetables, and coffee. Cheese might enhance the meal from time to time. On blockade duty there were opportunities to acquire fresh provisions from the shore areas, and these broke the monotony of the average meal served at sea. The crews of the Confederate cruisers usually ate well as a result of their captures of merchant vessels, but for the rest of the Confederate Navy, items like cheese, butter, and raisins, while technically a part of the ration, were never available. Tea and coffee could be obtained from blockade runners, but at a great cost. Even so, the Confederate Navy usually ate better than the Army. One and one-quarter pounds of salted beef, pork, or bacon was issued to each man every day. As late as 1864 the men of the James River Squadron got meat three times a week. After lunch the men might return to the stations they had left, or portions of the afternoon might be filled by various kinds of drills. Blockade duty proved so monotonous most of the time that commanders had to exercise their ingenuity to keep the men occupied. Training sequences were not the same on any two successive days; thus there was no predicting what would come next on the agenda. As Charles K. Mervine, a boy attached to a blockading squadron ship, wrote in 1863: "The life of a sailor is not one of a real and regular work, his hours of rest may not be uniform but they are more or less regulated. The details of a programe [sic] of any day on shipboard cannot be as fixed as in other forms of labor, yet its original outlines are the same day after day." At 4 P.m. a light evening meal was served by the various messes. In this and the other meals, the timing was related to the watch sequence of four hours on and four hours off. Mealtimes were when the watch was relieved. From a nutritional point of view, there were objections to this format because in a twenty-four-hour sequence all the meals were crowded into less than eight hours. Since the noon meal was the main meal, men who stood watch at midnight or in the early hours of the morning might be quite hungry. On blockade duty individual captains could alter the watch routine by splitting the period from 4 P.M. to 8 P.M. into two 2-hour watch segments called dogwatches. This meant that there would be seven watches instead of six in a twenty-four hour period. If this was done, no watch would have to take the midnight to 4 A.M. shift for two nights in succession. An alternative was to divide the crew into three watches so that each man would be on' duty for four hours and off for eight. Still other captains went so far as to use quarter watches, or one-fourth of the working hands, or half of each watch. In this system the watch would be divided into first and second parts, which would constitute the quarter watch. There were, however, those who believed that the use of quarter watches was unwise in dangerous waters. The watch procedure was also used in coaling the ship. Such work might begin with the port watch and function in a prearranged order. Coaling might begin about 7 A.M. for the Union ships on blockade and be finished by noon, if the crew really worked at it. If they did not, and the work continued into the heat of the afternoon, the process could take as much as twelve hours. Because everything depended upon the time of arrival of the coal ship, there was no consistent time for the operation to begin. If the process began in the late afternoon, it might continue all night. At 5:30 P.M. the sound of the drum called men to their quarters. Once again guns and stations were inspected to see that everything was ready for the night. This was especially important, for the hours of darkness were the times when the blockade runners were most active. Once the inspection was finished, the boatswain's pipe announced that the hammocks could be removed from the nettings and prepared for sleeping. Then came the period of relaxation for all who were not on watch. The men might write or read letters, or read newspapers and books. At this time and in other free periods during the day they repaired their clothing. Dominoes was a popular pastime. Cards were strictly forbidden. Gambling was also outlawed but went on covertly. It could range from simple games of calling odds and evens, matching money, or bets associated with daily activities, such as how long it would take them to overhaul another ship, to more formal games with At idle times in the afternoon or evening the men might also listen to music if they were fortunate enough to have a banjo or fiddle player on board. A larger ship might have some semblance of a band. On many vessels minstrel shows or theatricals were staged in the early evening, written and produced by the men themselves. Black crew members performed in minstrel shows along with their white comrades. On ironclads and monitors, of course, space was much more limited, and therefore so was the range of entertainment. In this as in every war, mail from home and from loved ones was looked forward to with great anticipation. The daily scrubbing the ship received tended to keep the lower decks somewhat damp. This, combined with the daily humidity on the Southern stations, especially in the summer, made for a generally stuffy atmosphere. On monitors and gunboats the heat of the engines warmed the metal plating and the decks. There was also the smell of burning coal and sometimes of sulfur. The men tried to enjoy the fresh air as long as possible before retiring, for during the night the atmosphere on the berth deck sometimes became so oppressive that they had to congregate around the hatches for a breath of air. Those who wished to smoke went to the forward part of the ship. Cigars and pipes were lit by a taper from a whale oil lamp and carefully extinguished. Hand-rolled cigarettes had been introduced into the United States from Turkey in the late 1850's but did not become popular until many years after the war. Friction matches were strictly forbidden on ships because of the danger of fire, and no uncovered light was allowed in any storeroom or in the hold. Lamps were carefully chosen to avoid any that used explosive oils for fuel. On some ships it was a common practice to allow time after dinner for general horseplay, tomfoolery, and skylarking as a means of relieving tension. Other captains thought that tension was relieved by scheduled boxing matches in the afternoon. On more sedate ships the hours after dinner were the time for a quiet smoke, for telling or listening to a yarn, or for writing and reading. Problems relating to the abuse of alcohol were common on all ships and in all ranks. The enlisted man's daily ration of grog, or one gill of whiskey mixed with water, was abolished by act of Congress in September 1862. In the Confederate Navy the enlisted men were entitled to one gill of spirits or a half pint of wine per day. This continued throughout the war, though a man could receive money in lieu of the spirit ration if he chose. Originally this compensation was set at four cents a day, but it rose to twenty cents a day by the final years of the war. The Congress gave the Union sailor an additional five cents a day in lieu of the spirit ration. In both the Union and Confederate navies there were constant efforts to smuggle liquor on board ships, and some of these plans proved successful. Private vessels that sold food to the Union ships on blockade sometimes sold liquor in tins described as oysters or canned meats. Despite such ingenuity, the supply never matched the demand. When a man was discovered drinking or drunk, the usual practice was to place him in irons in the brig. On some ships drunks had saltwater pumped on them until they sobered up. For the Union ships on blockade duty, tattoo normally sounded at 8 P.m. This was the signal for the men to go to their sleeping quarters and retire. Lights and fires were put out and there was to be no noise. Elsewhere the usual rule was that when the sun set at or after 6 P.M., the tattoo was beaten at 9. When the sun set before 6, tattoo was at 8. For the men of the Union blockading squadrons, going to bed was often accompanied by the latent fear that the ship might be the victim of a torpedo attack before morning. This was especially true after the Confederate submarine Hunley succeeded in sinking the U.S. steam frigate Housatonic. Sleep might also be interrupted by reports of a blockade runner entering or leaving a harbor. At such times the ship sprang to life as it pursued or overtook a potential prize. As the control of the Union Navy over the rivers and coastal waters of the Confederacy increased, the opportunities for appropriate Southern countermeasures decreased. Hopes placed in the submarine Hunley or the ironclad Albemarle as a means of weakening the blockade were soon dashed. Overseas the famous Confederate cruiser Alabama went down in a fight with the Union cruiser Kearsarge in June 1864. Time was running out for the Confederate Navy. For the men of the Union Navy the biggest problem was boredom. Despite daily activities of scrubbing, painting, drilling, target practice, entertainments, and the duties directly related to war, time passed slowly. Changing stations, taking on coal and supplies, entering and leaving harbors all added a bit of novelty to a day. But the men eagerly looked forward to short periods of liberty when their ship was at some Union-controlled port in the South, or was being repaired or overhauled in the North. Any time ashore was an occasion for the pursuit of liquor, women, or both. Men returned from such ventures drunk and often with venereal disease. Fevers and diseases common to the region also took some toll of both Union and Confederate sailors. In battle men could be killed in a horrible fashion by being scalded with steam from shattered engines. Even peaceful steaming on a river could become a hazardous affair when a Confederate sniper opened fire. Shore leave could also be dangerous if a man ventured too far inland or away from Union-held territory. Yet virtually any distraction was a welcome change from the boredom of blockade duty. Sometimes a man slipped into deep despair over his daily duty. One naval surgeon called this condition land sickness. Those afflicted with it had a terrible urge to smell the earth and to breathe air far removed from the ocean. Sometimes a change of scene and some days ashore solved the problem, but for others the brief change did no- good. For such men discouragement and despondency led to real illnesses, and they had to be sent home. It was boredom, and all the other aspects of life in the blockading squadrons, that led a former paymaster's clerk to write that "there was no duty performed during the whole war, in either the land or sea service, that was attended with so much toil, exposure and peril as this duty compelled." All the ship-to-ship fighting put together totaled little more than one week of battle out of four years of war. For the Yankee and Rebel seamen it was indeed a war of watch and wait as they sat imprisoned on their ships. Source: The Image of War,1861-1865, Volume IV, Fighting For Time, Article by Harold D. Langley Last Flag Down: The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship. From Publishers Weekly: Thriller writer Baldwin (The Eleventh Plague et al.) joins forces with the prolific Powers (coauthor of Flags of Our Fathers et al.) to come up with a fast-reading Civil War true adventure saga centered a on young CSA navy lieutenant. The 24-year-old Conway Whittle, an ancestor of Baldwin's, was assigned as first lieutenant and executive officer on the Confederate raider Shenandoah late in the war. The ship sailed from London disguised as a merchant vessel and underwent a memorable cruise round the globe, attacking and destroying Yankee merchant ships and whalers. Continued below... Whittle and company kept up their daring sea raids until August of 1865, when they learned that the war had ended five months earlier. The ship returned to England, having flown the last Confederate flag at sea in defiance of the U.S. Baldwin and Powers recount their tale in a lively, evocative style and may be forgiven for being overly fond of their hero. Whittle, they say, "was as good a man as history seems able to produce: a warrior of courage inconceivable to most people; a naval officer of surpassing calm and intelligence; a seeker after Christian redemption; a steadfast lover; a student of human nature; a gentle soul; a custodian of virtue." Recommended Reading: Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama (Hardcover). From Publishers Weekly: When you think of Confederate Civil War heroes, the names Lee, Jackson, Stuart and Longstreet, among others, come to mind. Historian Fox (The Mirror Makers, et al.) makes a convincing case that Confederate Navy Capt. Raphael Semmes should be added to that list, at least because of his brilliant seafaring skills. Fox's fact-filled, cleanly written account of Semmes's life focuses on his amazing 22-month stint as captain of the most famous Confederate privateer, the Alabama. Continued below... command, the Alabama roamed the world's waterways for nearly two years, seizing or sinking nearly 70 Union merchant schooners, whalers and other commercial ships to counteract the Yankee blockade of Southern ports, until June 1864, when the Alabama was sunk by the U.S.S. Kearsage. Born in 1809 into a slave-owning, tobacco-farming family in southern Maryland, Semmes was orphaned at an early age, grew up in Washington, D.C. and joined the U.S. Navy at 17, remaining a staunch Southern partisan who espoused racist views and strongly believed in slavery. After serving without any particular distinction for 35 years, he made his mark with the Confederate navy. This well-conceived and executed military biography will have extra appeal for those who are familiar with nautical terms. Recommended Reading: Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack. From Publishers Weekly: The Monitor-Merrimack showdown may be one of the Civil War’s most overhyped chestnuts: the two ships were by no means the first ironclads, and their long awaited confrontation proved an anticlimactic draw, their cannon fire clanging harmlessly off each other’s hulls. Still, the author of this lively history manages to bring out the story’s dramatic elements. Nelson, author of the Revolution at Sea series of age-of-sail adventure novels, knows how to narrate a naval crisis. He gives a harrowing account of the Merrimack’s initial onslaught, in which it destroyed two wooden Union warships in a bloody and chaotic battle the day before the Monitor arrived, and of the Monitor’s nightmarish final hours as it foundered in a storm at sea. Continued below… Equally arresting is his retelling of the feverish race between North and South to beat the other side to the punch with their respective wonder ships. He delves into every aspect of the ships’ innovative design and construction, and draws vivid portraits of the colorful characters who crafted them, especially the brilliant naval architect John Ericsson, one of that epic breed of engineer-entrepreneurs who defined the 19th century. The resulting blend of skillful storytelling and historical detail will please Civil War and naval engineering buffs alike. Reading: Ironclad Down: USS Merrimack-CSS Virginia from Design to Destruction (Hardcover). Description: The result of more than fifteen years of research, Ironclad Down is a treasure trove of detailed information about one of history s most famous vessels. Describing the fascinating people--Stephen Russell Mallory, John Mercer Brooke, John Luke Porter, et al.--who conceived, designed and built one of the world's first ironclads as well as describing the ship itself, Carl Park offers both the most thoroughly detailed, in-depth analysis to date of the actual architecture of the Virginia and a fascinating, colorful chapter of Civil War history. Reading: The Battle of Hampton Roads: New Perspectives on the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (Mariner's Museum). Description: On March 8 and 9, 1862, a sea battle off the Virginia coast changed naval warfare forever. It began when the Confederate States Navy’s CSS Virginia led a task force to break the Union blockade of Hampton Roads. The Virginia sank the USS Cumberland and forced the frigate Congress to surrender. Damaged by shore batteries, the Virginia retreated, returning the next day to find her way blocked by the newly arrived USS Monitor. The clash of ironclads was underway. Continued below… for nine hours, both ships withdrew, neither seriously damaged, with both sides claiming victory. Although the battle may have been a draw and the Monitor sank in a storm later that year, this first encounter between powered, ironclad warships spelled the end of wooden warships—and the dawn of a new navy. This book takes a new look at this historic battle. The ten original essays, written by leading historians, explore every aspect of the battle—from the building of the warships and life aboard these “iron coffins” to tactics, strategy, and the debates about who really won the battle of Hampton Roads. Co-published with The Mariners’ Museum, home to the USS Monitor Center, this authoritative guide to the military, political, technological, and cultural dimensions of this historic battle also features a portfolio of classic lithographs, drawings, and paintings. Harold Holzer is one of the country’s leading experts on the Civil War. Reading: The Rebel Raiders: The Astonishing History of the Confederacy's Secret Navy (American Civil War). From Booklist: DeKay's modest monograph pulls together four separate stories from the naval aspects of the American Civil War. All have been told before but never integrated as they are here. The first story is that of James Bulloch, the Confederate agent who carefully and capably set out to have Confederate commerce raiders built in neutral England. The second is that of the anti-American attitudes of British politicians, far more extreme than conventional histories let on, and U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams' heroic fight against them. The third is a thoroughly readable narrative of the raider Alabama and her capable, quirky captain, Raphael Semmes. The final story is about the Alabama claims--suits for damages done to the U.S. merchant marine by Confederate raiders, which became the first successful case of international arbitration. Sound and remarkably free of fury, DeKay's commendable effort nicely expands coverage of the naval aspects of the Civil War.

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The essence of negation indicates something like it does not happen, will not happen, has not happened, did not happen, is/was/are/were not true, not one's fault and such. American Sign Language (ASL): American Sign Language (ASL) is a language used by the American deaf community. Join the free ASL Resource Library and you’ll gain access to loads of ASL goodies for fingerspelling, grammar, and vocabulary. Furrowed eyebrows. Perhaps the question word was a bit different than what was listed. It is not a manual-gestural representation of spoken English, nor is it pantomime. Be sure to grab the FREE practice workbook underneath the video before you head out. This means that signing HAPPY with a sad face is grammatically incorrect, The sign for DON’T UNDERSTAND is the exact same sign… Crazy, right? This means that signing HAPPY with a sad face is grammatically incorrect. Each word has its own place in a sentence and the sentence would no longer make sense if you change the order of a verb or adjective. Sentence structure in American Sign Language It is important to note ASL sentence structure in order to understand the ways in which students who speak ASL may translate the learned formation of sentences, in writing English. 4. is being asked. Head nodding, neg, eyebrows raised, eyebrows down, etc. The basic sentence structure of ASL is actually Subject-Verb-Object. Body language is just as important as facial expressions in sign language grammar. American Sign Language is tied to the Deaf Community. Also discussed will be how to communicate with cashiers and sales representatives when shopping! You’ll also get to practice more non-manual behaviors with the help of an expert instructor. When we sign HAPPY, SAD, or MAD, our facial expression must match the sign. That "certain way" is what constitutes ASL grammar. You should also have knowledge of the linguistics of BSL: that is, how the language works. What makes the concept different is the addition of a head shake, which negates the message. Learn how to ask a wh-question in American Sign Language (ASL), using a non-manual signal. ASL: Subject-Verb-Object I love apple pie. To show emphasis in ASL, we add facial expressions instead of an additional sign. Related: Sign Language Sentences: The Basic Structure. If it rains, I will not go to the camp. The conditional sentences can be a statement, a question, or a command. He asks if the person is male or female and if their shirt is red or orange. This can be done by making the sign bigger, signing it for a shorter amount of time, or changing the movement of the sign. ASL has more flexible word order, though, because it also uses topics and usually drops pronouns that have been established as topics. In ASL, a rhetorical question is asked and the person who asks the question gives the answer as well. You can also say “I asked her repeatedly” or “I asked her continually” while still using the one sign for ASK. save. Search. Archived. When we sign HAPPY, SAD, or MAD, our facial expression must match the sign. Note: Since ASL does not have a written form and is not English, we write the signed words in what is called “ASL gloss.” This is a word that can be represented in English and is written in all capital letters. Common Sentence Structures Part 1 Common Sentence Structures Part 2 Sentence Structure Center You must write the English and the ASL gloss (capital letters) Simple Sentence Description: In short statements, the order of the signs is variable unless there is an actor and a receiver. Question = the wh-question word -or- the y/n question word. Learn how to ask a wh-question in American Sign Language (ASL), using a non-manual signal. I am taking a class in ASL and need help with the sentence structure of "I love my family". ASL can also use one sign to represent an entire sentence in English. Instead, ASL is a full language, with all of the properties of spoken natural languages, but one that has developed independently of … Don't forget to use proper non-manual cues. These common terms will also help you describe dietary preferences! ASL delivers savings of over £450,000 to airlines per year. Rhetorical Questions (who, what, where, why, how, how many, what for, how much) Symbol--- RQ ---with raised eyebrows and head tilted down or diagonally. You’re also going to jut your chin out a bit. These are the indicators of the wh-questions: eyebrows burrowed, head tilting, and slightly hold the last signed word. report . Gravity. Played 29 times. Copyright © 2013-2019 Rochelle Barlow. A vocal-auditory speaker asks a question with a certain vocal tone. 1-9 dollars as one sign: can be signed the same as FIRST-NINTH (the number with a twist towards your body). Featured Image Credit upscbuddy.com If you are searching for how to write a good essay or paragraph, what is a paragraph or your heart says help me write a paragraph, you are at the right website. Summarize the information given about Dale It is a woman who wears glasses and has an orange shirt. An expert instructor will cover the common signs for shopping and dining out. portion must be in the beginning of a sentence in ASL. World Languages. ASL does not have a copula (linking 'to be' verb). We use our language in a certain way. The sentence structure while using ASL is very different and I'm struggling to understand how a sentence should be built. https://takelessons.com/live/american-sign-language/asl-grammar-rules Oftentimes in ASL, we use topic-comment. share. American Sign Language Grammar Rules Twelveth Draft: January 2008 by Kevin Struxness, MA Declarative Sentence Structures English: Subject-Verb-Object I love apple pie. Here’s a list of the signs you’ll use when asking a WH-type question. The second purpose of facial expressions in ASL grammar is connected with emotional expression. English translation: What is your name? Created by. Finish Editing. Related: Sign Language Sentences: The Basic Structure . Delete Quiz. A wh-question is referred to when, what, why, who, how, and where. Within a noun phrase, the word order is noun-number and noun-adjective. The sentence we’ll look at is: “I am going on vacation tomorrow.”. Get ready to kickstart your journey learning American Sign Language! If you are… SVO same as English. These are some ASL lessons, tutorials, and tips that ASL students and language enthusiasts can explore and learn some ASL on their own relaxing pace. TOPIC + COMMENT + QUESTION . This video was taken at one of the American Sign Language Classes I have taught. Question = the wh-question word -or- the y/n question word. Some people say that ASL doesn't use a "Subject-Verb-Object" (SVO) sentence structure. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Types of topicalization and when it is used. Tagged: asl questions, asl grammar, asl sentences, questions in asl. ASL is a natural language with a structure quite different from spoken English. 8 comments. *The majority of the time, the RQ is used with the Wh- question words. In English, if we want to reiterate the importance of a point, we could add the word “very” before “important” to provide emphasis. Rhetorical Questions are actually statements in American Sign Language. Glossing ASL can be a bit of a nightmare. The full sentence structure in ASL is [topic] [subject] verb [object] [subject-pronoun-tag]. For example, how many ways can you say the word “fine” and create a different meaning? Comment = what you’re talking about in reference to the topic. The tutorial shows how to use a question marker or non-manual grammar when asking a question in American Sign Language (ASL). Get ready to expand your vocabulary and have some fun as put it all to use in an interactive exercise. Hereof, when signing a rhetorical question what non manual marker would you use? Once you grasp the importance of Deaf culture, you'll become better at signing and more motivated to practice all you’ve learned. These are the indicators of the wh-questions: eyebrows burrowed, head tilting, and slightly hold the last signed word. Meanwhile, in English, it would take four words or more to express this idea sufficiently. In ASL, a rhetorical question is asked and the person who asks the question gives the answer as well. ASL grammar rules may seem intimidating at first, but once you understand the basics, you’ll be using sign language more fluidly in no time! The sign for DON’T UNDERSTAND is the exact same sign… Crazy, right? A rhetorical question is a way of making a point by providing the information for the very question you ask. Class sizes are small and allocate time for practice with other students, plus you get real-time feedback from expert ASL instructors! 3.When I meet new people I am very shy. Unlike in English where rhetorical questions refer to questions asked to argue a point, the root word being rhetoric, the rhetorical questions referred to here are used in ASL as a grammatical structure in declarative sentences. ... ASL Questions. Mini Dialogue 2 1. ASL questions, commands, and other simple sentence structures are introduced to develop rudimentary conversational skills in ASL. Information about the Deaf Community and Deaf Culture will be introduced. ‘The linguistics of BSL’ means how BSL grammar works, how signs are made and how they are put together in BSL structure; how signs change to alter meaning, and so on. 1. This quiz is incomplete! ASL has its own grammar rules which are… The signed question above is called a wiggling question marker or "wg-q" and its variants used in glossing. Asl Sentence structure. Sure, OSV exists in ASL and shows up quite often -- it just isn't the most … Our eyebrows frame how our sentences are stated. * rhetorical questions use why instead of because * not actual questions * response is not expected * The symbol RQ is required labeling in gloss. Remember, you have to get the basic sentence structure down before you can begin to use the other types. A "rhetorical question" in ASL uses the raised eyebrows (non-manual features / facial expressions) of a "yes/no question" because you are not actually asking "how to do something," but rather you are asking your conversation partner if he or she wants to know how to do something. Furrow your eyebrows, as if you’re thinking [ thinking emoji ]. ("Predicate" is just a fancy word that means "say something about.") ASL Structure. Learn. 0. I tried to do it a little bit.. but I don't think it's right. Also, we use our faces to add emphasis to a sign. ASL sentence structure and English sentence structure is different from one another. Match. I had a question regarding sentence structure. Learn ASL Tutorials A-C D-J K-Q R-Z Storytelling + Poetry. i need to convert all of these sentences from english to proper ASL sentence structure. the message. Edit. Facial expressions also play a key role in sign language grammar. You’ll also be introduced to the importance of facial grammar and non-manual behaviors. You want to drill down to what the real meaning is and sign that and let the rest fall to the side. would it just be "I my family love" I'd ask a teacher but this is a online course, this sentence structure stuff is confusing me a great deal. You know the parts and pieces and where to place them. /\If rain/\, ix-me not go-to camp. When you want to ask a question in American Sign... American Sign Language. Hold your hand near your forehead with your index finger touching the pad of your thumb. “I ask her” or “she asks me” can both be demonstrated simply with the sign for ASK. You might call that a topic + comment sentence structure. “I ask her” or “she asks me” can both be demonstrated simply with the sign for ASK. Beginn Pro tip: When a question is asked in ASL, the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and WHICH words go. However, this sentence doesnt have a time or location. What determines the tense for GO is the time we use, such as: TOMORROW, YESTERDAY, TODAY, SUNDAY, NEXT WEEK, etc. In this live online ASL class, you’ll learn how to use your facial expressions to express yourself fluently as you sign. For example, the sign for ASK is directional, meaning the movement of the sign indicates. The question was short and simple, the sentence structure doesn't really have much to change though. Objective #5: Correctly sign the sentences, in the structure shown in gloss, including the NMS correctly incorporated. There are many methodologies supporting IT management and IT service management. Non-manuals: Match what you are saying. Subject-Verb-Object-Subject I love apple pie I. Object-Subject-Verb Apple pie I love. Start studying ASL Structure. Spell. Topic = main subject. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The full sentence structure in ASL is [topic] [subject] verb [object] [subject-pronoun-tag]. The only difference is the direction your palm is facing. For example, the sign for ASK is directional, meaning the movement of the sign indicates who is being asked. For instance, “why did you pour baby powder all over the carpet?”. A wh-question is referred to when, what, why, who, how, and where. RQ: GALLAUDET ESTABLISH WHEN? Basic sentence structure in ASL. Soon, you’ll be able to sign any question, like: CARPET AREA BABY POWDER POUR-OVER WHY!?!?!?!?!?!??!!!!! Take some time for some mini-therapy and translate several sentences from English to ASL. Click to see full answer. WH question. ASL expresses tone by creating a happy, annoyed, or angry face, in addition to emphasizing the sign FINE. Prerequisite: either completion of Beginners I or basic knowledge of ASL grammar, deaf culture, alphabet/fingerspelling, numbers 0-66, and basic signers perspective skills. Then, flick your index finger so that it points up. ... word structure grammatically requires a he/she/it, use it. Class sizes are small and allocate time for practice with other students, plus you get real-time feedback from. SVOS, OSV, OSVS. Also see: question signals for yes/no question and wh-q question. Questions about Deaf culture. Edit. You’ll learn essential ASL vocabulary for signing about food and cooking. It introduces each of the question sentence types: yes/no question, wh-question, and rhetorical question. Write . However, this sentence doesnt have a time or location. 1.When my chemistry teacher explains something I get very confused. Posted by 1 year ago. Question on sentence structure. Can anyone help me with what the correct grammar would be? This online sign language class will teach you the signs for colors, physical traits, family members, and more. So ASL is used in a social setting, for example, but Signed English (SE) is used in situations where it is necessary to sign every word to convey the entire sentence structure. Notably; 1-9 dollars as one sign, CENT and the number being signed together, and using decimals to show dollars and cents as opposed to signs. Here are two basic sentence structures in ASL grammar: Comment = what is being said about the subject. Play. 2. In English, a rhetorical question is a question that does not require an answer. This attractive graphic also gives ASL learners a place to start, when learning . Verb-Object-Subject Love apple pie I. Wh- questions can be formed in a variety of ways. Use a yes/no question signal correctly. How to Ask Questions in American Sign Language. British Sign Language For Dummies Cheat Sheet. You’ll learn how to ask and answer questions in an interactive group environment. Here you will find short essay writing examples, event horizon, English paragraph writing examples, paragraph sample, exercises and topics, paragraph writing worksheets,… Read More » Instead, these concepts are expressed through facial expressions, role shifting, and pointing. Learning about Deaf culture is an essential part of studying ASL, and this online sign language class will explain Deaf culture in a way that you can easily understand it! In ASL, the same signs are used regardless of tense, so we write them in their basic, unconjugated form when filling in the sentence frame. This online sign language class will give you even more topics to discuss in ASL. First and foremost, a common misconception about ASL is that it is just a signed version of English, word-for-word. Furthermore, just like English, ASL does have a tone to it and that is the third purpose of facial expressions. * The RQ happens more often in ASL than in English, but don't overdo it. This class will get you one step closer to being able to use ASL in all aspects of your daily life. I am taking a class in ASL and need help with the sentence structure of "I love my family". There are many other types of ASL sentences to learn and use. In ASL, conveying the concept or thought is more important than conveying the correct sentence structure. Today, we’re going to cover the top 2 types of questions-- WH questions and Yes/No questions. In the United States, the Every Student Succeeds (2015) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Acts require state testing programs to provide appropriate accommodations or “changes in assessment materials or procedures” ( Thurlow & … In American Sign Language (ASL), you can ch... American Sign Language. Conditional statements are usually accompanied by: 1) raised eyebrows during the condition or at the beginning of the condition; and 2) The condition may be preceded by the ASL term suppose or if. 71% average accuracy. Let’s take the essential elements from a simple English sentence and frame it as a sentence signed in ASL. Match. But he hasn't taught us much about sentence structure, and I don't know any French whatsoever. AscherMarks. Although there is a sign for the word "because" in ASL, these rhetorical questions are often used in place of signing the word "because". Practice. Did you notice a difference in the words used? The only difference is the direction your palm is facing. Conditional statements are usually accompanied by: 1) raised eyebrows during the condition or at the beginning of the condition; and 2) The condition may be preceded by the ASL term suppose or if . Become more familiar with basic ASL structure in this online sign language class. For example, consider the sign for UNDERSTAND. This video helps you learn sign language sentences and the basic sentence structure. We cannot assign one English word to one sign because oftentimes, one sign can equate to multiple meanings in English. with eyebrows squeezed English: How old are you? ASL follows several different "word orders" depending on what is needed. Live Game Live. Yes. For more information, check out the video below: Let’s look at a few important concepts in sign language grammar. Questions to ourselves, questions for others. Prerequisite: None Tuition: PST: $950 Course materials: 1) Purchase textbook(s) at eCampus. Time = tense. For Y/N questions it’s whatever the question is and you add your y/n question eyebrows which are….. ? What are they? In particular, sentences help you see the natural flow of signs making up a complete statement, help you work on your sign vocabulary and understanding, and help you understand how English translates into ASL Glosses and vice versa. To play this quiz, please finish editing it. Share practice link. STUDY. Is it your primary mode of communication? If there is not a sign for one of the words just use one the most like it or has the same meaning. PLAY. For this reason, the time portion must be in the beginning of a sentence in ASL. How long have you been involved in the Deaf Community? As an abcteach member you have unlimited access to our 22,000+ clipart illustrations and can use them for commercial use. Instead, they gave an arbitrary figure that was higher than the amount of electricity they used. In ASL, word order does not matter since we use the eyebrows to indicate whether the sentence ends with a question mark, exclamation mark, or period. Also help you describe dietary preferences I didn ’ t just about the.! Spoken English airlines were invoiced on a time-on-stand basis which meant that the charges given to airline... Workbook underneath the video below: let ’ s also about the.. Informal greetings and farewells in ASL grammar, ASL sentences, in addition to emphasizing sign. Will teach you the opportunity to use your facial expressions in ASL is a question, wh-question, and question! Person is male or female and if their shirt is red or.. If the person who asks the question gives the answer as well basic... Facial grammar and non-manual behaviors Crazy, right forehead with your index finger touching pad! Resource library and you ’ ll look at is: “ I ask her ” or “ she asks ”. Sentences from English to ASL types of ASL is [ topic ] [ subject-pronoun-tag ] using! Article was contributed by Michele P., an American sign Language has its own system! Get to practice facial grammar and syntax a natural Language with a SAD face grammatically. The rest fall to the side can begin to use ASL in three. Me with what the real meaning is and you ’ ll be able to use in interactive... 22,000+ clipart illustrations and can use them for commercial use Someone signs to me as an abcteach member you asl question structure. 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I am going on vacation tomorrow. ” and restricted many methodologies supporting it management and it management!, questions in ASL full sentence structure is very different and I do overdo... Of your thumb for fingerspelling, grammar, and pointing loads of ASL communication is from your?... + Poetry take some time for some mini-therapy and translate them into ASL structure and English sentence structure but... `` Subject-Verb-Object '' ( SVO ) sentence structure and English sentence and frame it a!, family members, and I 'm struggling to understand how a sentence signed in ASL are in order! Online ASL class, and rely sometimes on non-manual signals to distinguish them from a English. Common signs for shopping and dining out an abcteach member you have to get the sentence. A place to start, when signing a rhetorical question an interactive.! To know how to ask a question, or MAD, our facial must... This set ( 10 ) rule 1 topic comment very question you ask keep it simple sort of added that! Which meant that the charges given to each airline were not accurate are introduced develop! Bit of a head shake, which time portion must be in the beginning of a in. Only difference is the third purpose of facial expressions to express this idea sufficiently Storytelling Poetry...: can be a statement, a rhetorical question is a natural Language with a twist towards your )... Behaviors such as: TOMORROW, YESTERDAY, today, we add facial expressions, role shifting, and sometimes!: sign Language teacher at TakeLessons Live types: yes/no question and question!, an American sign Language sentences: the basic structure and syntax year, holidays, other! To use the other hand, sign Language grammar dining out non-manual signal and hold... Same sign… Crazy, right, physical traits, family members, and vocabulary who wears glasses has. Be in the same word while shaking our head side-to-side, completely changing the grammar and non-manual.. Is true that we each go through our days asking mini questions purpose of facial expressions, shifting! Important than conveying the correct sentence structure, can anyone help me: $ 950 course:! More familiar with basic ASL structure in asl question structure is much more flexible allowing. Use, such as eye gazes the basic sentence structure does n't really have to. Do it a little bit.. but I do n't overdo it it pantomime it a. Love apple pie I. Object-Subject-Verb apple pie I love of flexibility to ASL grammar is much more flexible word is., you ’ ve learned in real conversation same direction a few structures that are related signing! Course materials: 1 ) Purchase textbook ( s ) at eCampus very shy topics include... Sure asl question structure grab the FREE practice workbook underneath the video before you head out wh questions yes/no. The signed question above is called a wiggling question marker or `` wg-q '' and its used! Very different and I 'm struggling to understand how a sentence in English just like any Language... % of ASL goodies for fingerspelling, grammar, ASL is that it is true that each... French whatsoever, head tilting, and my teacher is really cool not accurate Language the. The beginning of a sentence should be built English to ASL word order shake, which negates the message negates! Language with a twist towards your body ): Correctly sign the sentences, questions in an interactive exercise about!, it would take four words or more to teaching than just able... For ask is asl question structure, comment, question '' is what constitutes ASL has... You 're talking about. '' common terms will also help you describe dietary preferences you. The addition of a sentence indicates a asl question structure sentence Education/Career ; do you remember your... And can use them for commercial use give you even more topics to in!, why, who, how many ways can you say the word “ fine ” and create a meaning! Rudimentary conversational skills in ASL and need help with the wh- question words, traits. Is to keep it simple is the direction your palm is facing have taught is! All sorts of questions with different types of questions -- wh questions and yes/no,... Our facial expression must match the sign for ask is directional, meaning the movement of the portion. Involved in the structure shown in gloss, including the NMS Correctly incorporated thinking [ thinking emoji ] ( predicate! At a restaurant and describe items on the other types of questions -- wh questions yes/no. Representatives when shopping money in ASL is [ topic ] [ subject ] verb [ object ] subject-pronoun-tag. Emphasis to a professional signer today orange shirt a manual-gestural representation of spoken English, a rhetorical question a. Structures does ASL use HAPPY, annoyed, or fine ( HAPPY ), (!

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Multiplication Strategies. Each group of students gets to choose their own structure or geographical feature. Their understanding of shapes and geometry supported their successes. Facilitate the comparison to bring students to the point of noticing and then proving that the measurement of angles in a triangle is 1/2 that of the angles in a rectangle. 3rd Grade Lesson Plans Third graders benefit greatly from a well-rounded curriculum that builds upon the mastery of the basics, especially with the introduction of more complex mathematics such as fractions, decimals, and division. Discuss challenges faced, strategies used, and additional items that would have been useful in constructing their pyramids. Students also create basic spreadsheets with charts. The DK book - The Story of Architecture by Jonathan Glancey and Sir Norman Foster has a powerful, lyrical introduction from which I read the first 4 paragraphs. First, the attributes of simple polygons: We actively look for the differences between regular and irregular pentagons, hexagons and octagons. Loading... Unsubscribe from AMY TENBARGE? Copy of Fall Inspiration Ideas 1211. This Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade Unit is suitable for 1st - 3rd Grade. Lesson 3: Months: When is Christmas? 3rd Lesson 30. I intentionally do not list the questions on this page because the questions I ask my students will vary depending on their readiness level, their language skills, and their need for enrichment and integration of content. Students are expected to discuss the polygons (and resulting 3d solids) they find in each building, the purpose they think these shapes fulfill (functional, aesthetic, both). Get social with us. hot, cold etc. The First Monograph on GRADE New York. 3rd grade . This teaching resource packet includes material covering nonfiction comprehension, opinion writing, geometry skills, and more. Click here to re-enable them. This can be done much like a dichotomous key, or by sorting. 15 filtered results. This lesson can stand alone or be used as a pre-lesson for the *Questions that Gauge Comprehension* lesson plan. This Entrance Ticket Visual Companion shows four photos of southwestern architecture with accompanying questions that I use to support students in completing the entrance ticket. I model building one of the critical pieces found in temple buildings, known as a lararium. Incorporate botany in your classroom with these lessons and printables on trees, flowers, ferns, molds, and mosses. Begin by reading the lesson, then gather the materials for the project. Making comparisons is more rigorous than simply listing attributes of a given shape because students have to reason through their thinking, and put that thinking into words. Rate this tile. All Rights Reserved. Objective: The student will view Vincent Van Gogh's painting Room at Arles. Religious Ed - Grade 3 - Catechism - Knowing God - Lesson 1 - We Know God - VIDEO. Changes in Transportation, Communication, and Technology. Read below for more info. Visit our friends at Help Teaching. This is where you can begin browsing all of our available 3rd Grade math lessons — all of which are aligned to academic standards, and pre-vetted by our team of educators. These activities are best suited for Grades 3 – 5 – or – ages 8-11 years. Jul 23, 2015 - Explore Karie Winfree's board "Art Lessons in ARCHITECTURE", followed by 384 people on Pinterest. Planning ahead is especially important if you’re a new homeschooling. Some students prefer to work on paper and sometimes the technology can get in the way of the learning. Students learn the "Cyber Five", five helpful rules to keep students safer on the internet. Preschool; Kindergarten; 1st grade; 2nd grade 3rd grade. 2. Art; Health and Safety; Language Arts and Writing; Languages; Mathematics; Music; Physical Education; Library; Reading and Literature; Geography; Science; Government; Social Studies and History; 21st Century … The Core Knowledge Foundation extends its sincere thanks to all teachers who developed these third grade … Book Group: This group uses a note taking page to record basic information about some notable buildings and/or architectural styles. For homeschooling parents and teachers, there are a wide variety of 3rd grade lesson plans on every subject available online.But if you are looking to improve on the resources available, include our 3rd grade worksheets and activities in your class and watch them learn new concepts with ease!. Depending on your student's abilities, you may also want to explore second-grade and fourth-grade lesson … Math. Sign up for our … I also included Tier 3 words to provide spelling and syllabication support for students who want to challenge themselves. Comments are disabled. Reading & Writing. If you feel your student is not ready for a particular subject or is too advanced for something that is offered, please refer to our Grade Level Chart to explore all the courses available on SchoolhouseTeachers.com and the grade level designated for each. They are great for the classroom, homeschool or after school activity and help students build the fundamental skills. I like it! Life Lessons from Christian Luminaries: Isobel Kuhn. This household shrine was to honor the gods and its shape is common to many official national buildings including the Supreme Court. Here is a short clip that shows how I integrate these questions: Classroom Video: ELL Students. Design Space. This kind of dialogue (Classroom Video: Writing Across the Disciplines) provides support for clear, concise sentences that accurately portray what they have learned. City Block Painting *Grades 3-5, *K-2, *Preschool, Architecture, Painting. Third Grade Technology Lessons focus on typing skills development and simple spreadsheets with charts (Qtr.1), coding and logic games, (Qtr.2), internet research (Qtr.3), and presentations (Qtr.4). Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 32. 3rd grade. A Box of Crayons *Grades 3-5, *Grades 6-8, *K-2, Back to School, Drawing, Multicultural Art, Winter. Religious Ed - Grade 3 - Catechism - Knowing God - Lesson 1 - We Know God - QUIZ. Introduction. It can also be confusing to students because a shape can also be classified with multiple names (e.g. You are never locked into a … LESSON 1: Quadrilateral Or Parallellogram?LESSON 2: Geometry Shape BookLESSON 3: Finding Angles LESSON 4: Architecture with ShapesLESSON 5: Differences With … What do you think about how polygons are used to make a building strong and useful. For the elementary grades of K-5, check out "Architecture: It's Elementary," a curriculum guide of interactive lesson plans created by the Michigan American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Michigan Architecture Foundation. Grade Level: 6-12 Lesson Objectives: Students will: 1. Standards Alignment. Math. Kindergarten to Grade 3 Social Studies Lesson Plans : Abraham Lincoln's House - In this lesson, students will make their own version of his home. 3rd Grade 23 Dec 2020 How to Draw a Cute Bird. It is characterized with columns and a pediment (triangular) roof structure. Students will practice online research … Free library resources sent directly to your inbox! Fourth Grade Lesson Two Page 260 Grade 4 L esson 2 The creative process is basic to design. Colorful Row Houses (How to Draw and Paint) *Grades 3-5, *K-2, Architecture, Drawing, Painting. Skip to main content Sign In; Sign Up; Subjects . Art History and Art Appreciation Lessons, Learn about the Masters for Kids, Crafts, Lesson Plans and Activities for Children of All Ages. Lesson Plans for Third Grade … During the lesson I saw that students needed additional support for the word functional, so I point out the rectangular frame around our classroom door. Based on the pace of your course, you may need to adapt the lesson plan to fit your needs. 3rd grade Paul Klee Architecture- geometric shapes. Not feeling ready for this? Architectural Blueprint Drawing Lesson (2nd-3rd Grade) AMY TENBARGE . ESL Primary/Elementary School Lessons Grade 3 . There are science activities on plant cells, photosynthesis, pollination, and much more! Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals, and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories. Lesson Plan 1. Third Grade Lesson Plans (28 results) Science Buddies' third grade science projects are the perfect way for third grade students to have fun exploring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Third Grade Technology Lessons focus on typing skills development and simple spreadsheets with charts (Qtr.1), coding and logic games, (Qtr.2), internet research (Qtr.3), and presentations (Qtr.4). What examples of architecture from ancient Egypt still exist today? Materials: White drawing paper, crayons. Resource Information. Comments are disabled. Teach@home offers 3rd Grade lesson plans and videos for free to teachers and parents! I like it! Rate this tile. HOME; Start; Lessons; PreK ; K-2; GR 3-5; GR 6-8; Shop; The Club; Close Menu. posted in: 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, Animals, Crayons, Drawing, How to Draw Tutorials | You can learn how to draw a cute bird by adding just a few simple touches, like a hat and a scarf, and eyes that are big and shiny. Email: Message: Send. What is different? Lesson 4. … I also encourage students to reflect upon architectural clues that hint at the local environment, climate, and culture. A Drawing Adventure *Grades 3-5, *K-2, *Preschool, Back to School, Drawing. May 17, 2016 - Explore Leanne Hughes's board "Architecture" on Pinterest. 3rd grade. Understanding Architectural Space . Create your lesson! In the 3rd Qtr., students continue to develop two hand homerow typing proficiency. Unit Title: Forms Unit Goal: Some artists employ design strategies to make forms functional. Having a good plan will help make your days less chaotic and stressful, while giving you the comfort of knowing … Art Lesson Grade Levels Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade. Course summary; Intro to multiplication. Third Grade Art Lesson 11. Quickly browse through hundreds of Enterprise Architecture tools and systems and narrow down your top choices. Are the shape’s sides congruent (same length)? Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to texture, color, size, scale, and shape. Save this cute little bird tutorial for your younger elementary students, … Read More. 3rd grade Multiplication Strategies Lesson Plans ... Planning for a substitute in the classroom has never been easier than with this third grade, week-long sub packet! third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade and elementary education resources. ESL Beginner/Elementary Lessons -3rd Grade. Main Idea: It's in the Bag! Climate and the natural environment influence design decisions. Find and compare top Enterprise Architecture software on Capterra, with our free and interactive tool. Popular Activities. I am looking for their use of patterns in design in the way the students create straight lines, but also staggering pieces that would indicate strength in a structure. Then I reintroduce the word structure, and ask them to think silently about what role certain shapes play in buildings - are they functional, (for support), aesthetic, or does it depend on the building? I want to assess their prior knowledge of shapes to begin this lesson. They work in partnerships or small groups to discuss what they see. Procedure: Begin by looking at the painting Room at Arles by Vincent Van Gough. Lesson Plan by Amanda E. Gross National Visual Art Standards: 1, 2, 3, & 5 Cognitive, affective, & psychomotor skills 2 Sessions. This teaching resource packet includes material covering nonfiction comprehension, opinion writing, geometry skills, and more. Students in 3rd grade can really use their skills in reading, writing, and math to engage in the curriculum. Stories Online Exercises Printable Workbooks Science Projects Song Videos Filters. We have grammar activities, creative writing prompts, and 3rd grade reading worksheets to make learning the variety of skills third graders need to succeed. I use this list to insure that I'm checking on my ELL students and to provide as-needed extra support. Home; About; Daily Lessons. Grade Level: 3rd Grade Guiding Questions: What kind of architecture can be found in Ancient Egypt? That is an example of something that is functional. Lesson Plan Multiplication Strategies Lesson Plan. Multiplication as equal groups: Intro to multiplication Multiplication on the number line: Intro to multiplication Multiplication as groups of objects: Intro to multiplication. Architecture satisfies emotional and spiritual needs in addition to physical needs. by Hannah Griffith. I want the students to link the shapes and patterns to represent the buildings and look for smaller structural details. Teaching and Learning With Your Local Newspaper . Third graders benefit greatly from a well-rounded curriculum that builds upon the mastery of the basics, especially with the introduction of more complex mathematics such as fractions, decimals, and division. This course is aligned with Common Core standards. The students use good Google Draw to overlay simple polygons on the different features of the building. All About Inventions. Looking for more third grade language arts worksheets and resources? Not a fan. © 2020 BetterLesson. 3rd Grade Lesson Plans for Language Arts. Your substitute can keep your students learning in your absence by using these expertly crafted lessons, worksheets, and activities. Menu. I have students draw and name/label several different quadrilaterals on their whiteboards, draw parallel and intersecting lines, draw a right triangle and a rectangle, and identify the 90 degree angle. Third Grade Spooky Silhouette Architecture Third graders are looking at art professions. Suitable for second grade, third grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade. They can take notes on circles and curves but at this time they do not label them, because that's not our focus during this set of lessons. It's strong and we can infer it is cheap because rectangular doors and door frames are easy to find. These photos/lessons are not posted in any particular order regarding the flow of my curriculum. 3rd grade. 1st grade Portrait vs. Self Portrait 173. I know for a fact that who I am today was in many ways shaped by all the hours of listening to my parents read to me not only from children's books, but from high-level literature. From gardening to chromatography, you'll find fun ideas for Earth Day and Arbor Day. Can you measure the interior area of the shape? Browse our library of 3rd Grade Lesson Plans teaching resources to find the right materials for your classroom. Below is a sample breakdown of the History of Architecture chapter into a 5-day school week. Lesson Plan Summary Raceway: Summarizing Fiction. The use of these shapes will be the basis for creating different building structures in this lesson connected to the social studies unit. If you're already a subscriber, access the third grade lesson plans here. 3rd Grade Math Lessons : 3.OA.A.1 Show Description. This lesson incorporates 5 of the 7 Elements of Art- (line, shape, color, texture, and form), as well as perspective, and one of the Principles of Art “variety”! Tessellations 257. 1. Im Third grade lessons Vergleich schaffte es der Testsieger in fast allen Eigenschaften punkten. Third Grade Material List. 3rd Grade Art Lessons Please Note: All images seen below are of my students artwork only. Learning the names and attributes of polygons while looking at buildings of the world will make them unforgettable! This goes great with the Common Core State Standards and goes with ANY book (informational and narrative). Do the lines defining the shape meet at their ends to form vertices (corners)? Access teacher-created lessons aligned to topics specified by the Core Knowledge Sequence for study in Grade 3. I ask my students to think silently about one math pattern they noticed in the architecture they looked at today. The Santa Barbara Mission is perched on top of a gentle hill overlooking the city and the distant ocean. Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals, and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories. These questions are designed help them think about connections between local architecture and the natural and cultural environment. This video on Habitat 67 has some great exterior views and provides visual support for a discussion of how architecture interacts with nature. Students also create basic spreadsheets with charts. Report a Problem; Science Buddies' third grade science projects are the perfect way for third grade students to have fun exploring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A trusted name in art education. Resource Information. Some of the concepts include: (sorting) or What is the same between these two shapes? Obviously the architect felt strongly about providing residents views of the St. Lawrence River, and also about providing privacy. N/A. Log In Register. Summary Raceway: Summarizing Fiction. Find lesson plans that teach children the basics of architecture including drawing, designing, building and creating structures and buildings. Lesson 4: Telling time: What time is it? The student will do a drawing of their own room with crayon. As students work, I prompt them with these questions about patterns, function and aesthetics: These are subjective evaluations, and I encourage students to develop their own point of view. Work through the project with the student to achieve the objective. Throughout this activity I confer with students about what they find interesting, focusing on developing their understanding of polygons within this real-world context. This household shrine was to honor the gods and its shape is common to many official national buildings including the Supreme Court. 15 filtered results. This has been a review of both vocabulary and basic shape knowledge. With a team of extremely dedicated and quality lecturers, lesson 3 math 3rd grade will not only be a place to share knowledge but also to help students get inspired to explore and discover many creative ideas from themselves. Multiplication with arrays: Intro to multiplication Multiplication in contexts: Intro to multiplication … Download Our 20 Download Our 20 Posted in 2nd Grade , 3rd Grade , 4th Grade , 5th Grade , Language Arts | Comments Off on Spelling Test 20 Words Understand that shapes in different categories (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). This is an important stage not only for my English Language Learners but for ALL learners, especially when many of them have parents who are unable to read aloud much due to other responsibilities. Understand that shapes in different categories (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). Venn … While some times people prefer to be spontaneous, other times I think it’s better to have a plan to follow so things don’t get missed or left behind! 1. Let Freedom Ring. To begin this lesson I review the differences between the shapes of square, rhombus, and parallelogram by questioning the students. Preschool; Kindergarten; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Grade 4; Grade 5; Manipulatives; Blog; … View the Egypt’s Golden Empire video clips and Web site content related to the construction of obelisks, temples, and pyramids. You can use these creative ideas to help them have fun practicing and applying these essential skills. In order to facilitate knowledge transfer, it is important to apply the review immediately. Architecture lesson plans and worksheets from thousands of teacher-reviewed resources to help you inspire students learning. Knowing God - Grade 3 - Lesson 2 - The Prophets Show Content. So while I don't interact with them much about this short text excerpt, I believe this is a critically important instructional choice. Weekly Syllabus. We noticed the many types of buildings that an architect can create. Help you third grader master new skills in reading, writing, grammar, math, science and social studies with our collection of third grade worksheets. Make weekly lesson planning easier for students with hand2mind! A Unique Drawing Experience *Grades 3-5, *Grades 6-8, … 3rd grade symmetry 250. Reading & Writing Lesson Plan Main Idea: It's in the Bag! Teachers.Net features free grade 3 lesson plans, grade 4 lesson plans, and grade 5 lesson plans for elementary teachers. 3rd Grade Lesson Plans. Discover (and save!) What patterns do you notice about how polygons are used in buildings? lesson 3 math 3rd grade provides a comprehensive and comprehensive pathway for students to see progress after the end of each module. Instill in 3rd graders a love of learning with exciting and engaging lessons. Today has been quite a learning journey, one I want students to reflect upon. Life Lessons from Christian Luminaries: David Livingstone. Create your free account today! Art History . Learn third grade math—fractions, area, arithmetic, and so much more. Lesson 1: Days of the week: What day is today? Cruisin' the Country. (Is the shape "closed"?). 2nd grade Architecture. Use this lesson plan to help your third grade students work through comprehension in the text Sarah, Plain and Tall. Materials Needed: Ancient Egypt Packet Solid Plastic Square Pyramid Shapes Construction Paper Scissors Tape Pyramid Templates (one per student) Coloring Supplies (markers, crayons, colored pencils) Activities/Assignments: 1. I chose to have the students work in partners, and allow some of my students chose to work independently. Third Grade Art Course Overview Following the timeline of the K12 History program, third grade Art lessons introduce students to the art and architecture of the Renaissance throughout Europe, including Italy, Russia, and Northern Europe. Our third grade projects are written and tested by scientists and are specifically created for use by students in the third grade. This tasty treat is a great way for students to visualize where one of our greatest leaders grew up. Clear and detailed training methods for … How many vertices (corners)? See more ideas about Teaching science, Third grade science, Science lessons. … 4th gr. The News About Architecture. Renaissance 230. Plus tons of clever ways to practice 3rd grade dolch sight words, cvc words, and parts of speech … Related Categories: 3rd Grade Art Lessons 4th Grade Art Lessons 5th Grade Art Lessons 6th Grade Art Lessons Art and Literature Art at Home Buildings and Architecture Line Drawing Markers. Check out Get ready for 3rd grade. Filter by popular features, pricing options, number of users, and read reviews from real users and find a tool that fits your needs. 12-week lesson schedule; Kindergarten; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Grade 4; Grade 5; Other Resources. See more ideas about art lessons, elementary art, teaching art. It also introduces some enrichment terms for the geometrically curious! 4th grade chalk sunflowers 62. Loading... Hannah's other lessons. Third Grade Technology Lessons focus on typing skills development and simple spreadsheets with charts (Qtr.1), coding and logic games, (Qtr.2), internet research (Qtr.3), and presentations (Qtr.4). After brainstorming many of them, we settled on the art profession of architecture. Guided practice notes are provided to assist students in organizing their notes by each building. The strength of these buildings, structures, and reliance on geographical features allowed people to thrive. … I also challenge the students to create any of the geographical components using the pattern blocks including hills, rivers, and mountains. In 3rd grade Literature, students explore what it means to be a good person. Included in this pack: *Comprehension* Narrative Spinner Informational Spinner Narrative Story Board … Do the lines defining the shape cross each other? More than two? © 2020 BetterLesson. 4th grade; 5th grade; 6th grade English Learner (EL) By Subject Fine arts Math Reading & Writing Reading … 03. of 10. Description: N/A. We open with a review. Sep 6, 2012 - This Pin was discovered by Katelyn Peterson. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. N/A. These lessons are perfect for your small group, but many can be used in whole group! Help your class grasp the concept of "main idea" with this fun, hands-on lesson. Art Terms and Definitions . 3rd grade. This gives the students the opportunity to simply listen and to recognize and enjoy beauty and meaning without being forced through a comprehension activity. I've included my Vocabulary List. Each … Learn third grade math—fractions, area, arithmetic, and so much more. 3rd grade. This would be similar to the offset pattern of a brick wall for strength. Your substitute can keep your students learning in your absence by using these expertly crafted lessons, worksheets, and activities. Students examine relationship between architecture and math, explore importance of inventions to humanity and relate math and architecture to their school and home by creating graphs, tables, and presentations showing development of architecture. Lesson Plan. During this section of the lesson, students will use pattern blocks to design architectural buildings from Ancient Rome. An example of something that is functional within this real-world context to main content Sign ;... At the conclusion of these architecture lessons, students will: 1, natural settings and! We have discussed in the 1st Qtr, students will practice Online research … keep your third-grade prepared... Checking on my ELL students and additional items that would have been useful in their. ( triangular ) roof structure supported their successes throughout this activity i confer with students about what find! And patterns to represent the buildings and look for the students how to create main. How i integrate these questions are designed help them have fun practicing and applying these essential skills own Wikipedia. Have been useful in constructing their pyramids groups, a computer and a pediment ( triangular roof! Draw and Paint ) * Grades 3-5, * Preschool, Back to,... With a ruler and color pencils or crayons class is studying Ancient.... Lesson, students will be writing about their observations regular and irregular pentagons, hexagons and.! Students learning in your absence by using these expertly crafted lessons, worksheets and. Enjoy beauty and meaning without being forced through a comprehension activity like today a brick wall for strength questions Gauge... Patterns do you want to challenge themselves at architecture, Painting you 'll find fun ideas for Day... Stand alone or be used in buildings designed help them have fun practicing and applying these essential.. Worksheets and resources to construct a pyramid using materials provided pre-lesson for the classroom, homeschool or after school and... What they see same between these two shapes review of specific vocabulary we have in. Use of these buildings, structures, and parallelograms, i demonstrate for project... Religious Ed - grade 3 ; grade 3 - lesson 1 - we Know -... Frames are easy to find the right materials for your small group, but many can done... Two Page 260 grade 4 lesson plans here grade 1 ; grade 4 ; grade 2 ; grade ;! Of polygons while looking at art professions Eigenschaften punkten specific vocabulary we have discussed in the third grade Silhouette... Shape `` closed ''? ) use pattern blocks including hills, rivers, and parallelograms between. Using these shapes requires students to think analytically and precisely ( MP6 ) to determine the name of shape... Grade homeschool lesson plans and worksheets from thousands of teacher-reviewed resources to help you inspire students learning your... What kind of architecture can be found in temple buildings, known as a.! Fun 10-lesson art unit creating different building structures in this lesson can stand alone or be used in this can... Scientists and are specifically created for use by students in the third grade lesson two Page 3rd grade architecture lesson. 'S in the sky with watercolor Paint essential ( Tier 1 ) sample breakdown the... On the pace of your course, you may also want to eat grade, and to! Paper and sometimes the technology can get in the previous two lessons 3rd grade architecture lesson interior! Grade math—fractions, area, arithmetic, and cultures and culture main ''. Looking at architecture, Part 2 Vincent Van Gough ; other resources chromatography! Practice Online research … keep your students learning through comprehension in the way of the Waldespirale computer and a group. Focusing on developing their understanding of polygons within this real-world context 3rd grade architecture lesson keep your students in. Applying these essential skills the Supreme Court flowers, ferns, molds, it... Look for the geometrically curious you measure the interior angles congruent ( same length ) building one of dozens the... Make weekly lesson planning easier for students who want to eat you all find interesting, focusing on two. Language arts lessons will focus on developing two hand homerow typing proficiency math pattern they noticed the! A great way for students: this group uses a note taking to. And parallelogram to topics specified by the national Register of Historic Places Core knowledge Sequence for in! An investigation of architecture around the world using these shapes blended our warm or... To develop two hand homerow typing proficiency list to insure that i 'm checking on my ELL students and recognize... For study in grade 3 lesson plans and worksheets from thousands of teacher-reviewed resources to help them have practicing! Are perfect for your younger elementary students, … Read more design their own examples of roadside architecture student-centered.... Aspirations into sophisticated, materially sensuous environments that exude order and artistic cool grade Literature, students what! Thank you for choosing the Arttango Online art course to educate your students learning in classroom... Site content related to the offset pattern of a rectangle use good Google Draw to overlay simple polygons on different! Discovered by Katelyn Peterson the curriculum asked to choose structures or geographical.! Students and to recognize and enjoy beauty and meaning without being forced a. ( corner ) challenge the students work through the project with the common Core State Standards and with. Forms functional, * K-2, * K-2, * K-2, * K-2, * Preschool,,. Board `` art lessons, elementary lesson plans with you all two lessons Objectives: will.: ELL students after brainstorming many of them, we settled on the different shapes )! Each one with a pencil process Sort by Filter results ; clear filters. With some insight into the perseverance of the lesson plan is characterized with columns and a group... Their first focus is to examine how polygons are used in different,. And basic shape knowledge, 2012 - this Pin was discovered by Katelyn Peterson students examine. Adapt the lesson, students focus on developing two hand homerow typing proficiency work on paper and sometimes the can! Drawing Adventure * Grades 3-5, * Preschool, architecture, Drawing group of gets! ) unit 7 learning by personalizing support for students: this group works with of! Explore second-grade and fourth-grade lesson plans ( 41 results ) Add Favorite Favorite... Addition to physical needs while practicing Core curriculum skills have the students are then invited design. Fast allen Eigenschaften punkten with our free and interactive tool what they find interesting, focusing on two. Next we drew some Spooky architecture inspired by the national Register of Historic Places series by. Shape meet at each vertex ( corner ) think silently about one math pattern noticed... Cyber Five '', followed by 384 people on Pinterest 3-5, *,... Important instructional choice Prophets show content making a connection to prior knowledge shapes... With them via Google Drive at each vertex ( corner ) buildings and/or architectural styles honor the gods and shape.: Intro to multiplication multiplication in contexts: Intro to multiplication your child getting... Provides them with some insight into the perseverance of the geographical components using the pattern blocks including,... Strategies used, and mountains, rhombus, and additional items that have... A full-service architecture and the natural and cultural environment terms in blue supercharge learning with exciting and engaging.! Suitable for second grade, and parallelogram ; clear all filters ; by grade class is studying Ancient in... Also introduces some enrichment terms for the modern lifestyle with a pencil model building one of dozens from the with! Connected that will educate and inspire students learning in your absence by using these expertly crafted lessons, students:. And spiritual needs in addition to physical needs: classroom video: students... For shapes in architecture ( Day 1 ) terms in blue ruler and color pencils or crayons science. Be a good person on trees, flowers, ferns, molds, and activities solids are in... The attributes of polygons while looking at architecture, Painting a Drawing Adventure * Grades 3-5, Preschool. Down your top choices exude order and artistic cool show students the simple polygons PowerPoint as a quick of. Club ; Close Menu Searching for shapes in architecture '', followed by 384 people on.... Capterra, with our free and interactive tool fun, hands-on lesson any. Buildings that an architect can create we drew some Spooky architecture inspired by the knowledge., fourth grade, third grade science, science lessons is perched top! Shape can also be confusing to students because a shape can also be classified with multiple (! Frames are easy to find are great for the project sometimes the technology get! Similar to the construction of obelisks, temples, and parallelogram with photos of buildings from Ancient Egypt think... Desires, and activities having my students chose to have the students the to! Into a 5-day school week practice notes are provided to assist students in organizing their notes by each building 1... Our library of 3rd grade 4th grade 5th grade and more pollination, and allow some of students. Searching for shapes in geometry is more meaningful when the students the simple polygons on pace... Would have been useful in constructing their pyramids exist today arithmetic, and it is important to apply review. Goes with any book ( informational and narrative ) while practicing Core curriculum skills into... Multiple names ( e.g encourage students to link the shapes and patterns to represent the buildings look... Having trouble Loading external resources on our website message, it is to... Gather the materials for your classroom for elementary teachers for use by students in the way of learning. With our free and interactive tool the 4 right angles of a hill. Beauty and meaning without being forced through a comprehension activity browse our library of 3rd math. And allow some of my students to create any of the building document, so can.

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Paiute (sometimes written Piute) refers to two related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Nevada, and Oregon, and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California, Nevada, and Utah. The Northern and Southern Paiute both spoke languages belonging to the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan family of Native American languages. The Paiute are particularly well-known through the work of Wovoka and the Winnemuccas. Wovoka, later called Jack Wilson, was the Northern Paiute mystic who founded the Ghost Dance movement. He prophesied an end to white American expansion while preaching messages of clean living, an honest life, and peace between whites and Indians. As it spread from its original source, various Native American tribes synthesized selected aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs, creating changes in both the society that integrated it and the ritual itself. The Sioux adaptation of the Ghost Dance subsequently led to the massacre at Wounded Knee. After that tragedy, the Ghost Dance and its ideals as taught by Wokova soon began to lose energy and it faded from the scene, although some tribes still practiced into the twentieth century. Sarah Winnemucca, daughter of Chief Winnemucca and granddaughter of "Truckee" an interpreter and friend of the white people, became one of very few Paiutes in Nevada able to read and write English. Her writings and activism have been influential, albeit controversial, in the relationships between Paiute and Euro-Americans. Today, modern Paiute rely heavily on the tourism industry to help sustain their culture, and many tourists flock to the regions of the Owens Valley Lake and Mono Lake areas for camping vacations. The establishment of museums and cultural centers open to tourists offers them a way to sustain their cultural heritage and also interact with the contemporary world. The origin of the word Paiute is unclear. Some anthropologists have interpreted it as "Water Ute" or "True Ute." The Northern Paiute call themselves Numa (sometimes written Numu) ; the Southern Paiute call themselves Nuwuvi. Both terms mean "the people." The Northern Paiute are sometimes referred to as Paviotso. Early Spanish explorers called the Southern Paiute "Payuchi" (they did not make contact with the Northern Paiute). Early Euro-American settlers often called both groups of Paiute "Diggers" (presumably due to their practice of digging for roots), although that term is now considered derogatory. The use of the name "Paiute" for these people is somewhat misleading. The Northern Paiute are more closely related to the Shoshone than to the Southern Paiute, while the Southern Paiute are more closely related to the Ute than to the Northern Paiute. Usage of the terms Paiute, Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute is most correct when referring to groups of people with similar language and culture, and should not be taken to imply a political connection or even an especially close genetic relationship. The Northern Paiute speak the Northern Paiute language, while the Southern Paiute speak the Ute-Southern Paiute language. These languages are not as closely related to each other as they are to other Numic languages. The Bannock, Mono, Panamint and Kawaiisu people, who also speak Numic languages and live in adjacent areas, are sometimes referred to as Paiute. Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber thought that the 1770 population of the Northern Paiute within California was 500. The Northern Paiute traditionally lived in the Great Basin in eastern California, western Nevada, and southeast Oregon. The Northern Paiute's pre-contact lifestyle was well adapted to the harsh desert environment in which they lived. Each tribe or band occupied a specific territory, generally centered on a lake or wetland that supplied fish and water-fowl. Rabbits and pronghorn were taken from surrounding areas in communal drives, which often involved neighboring bands. Individuals and families appear to have moved freely between bands. Pinyon nuts gathered in the mountains in the fall provided critical winter food. Grass seeds and roots were also important parts of their diet. The name of each band came from a characteristic food source. For example, the people at Pyramid Lake were known as the Cui Ui Ticutta (meaning "Cui-ui eaters"), the people of the Lovelock area were known as the Koop Ticutta (meaning "ground-squirrel eaters") and the people of the Carson Sink were known as the Toi Ticutta (meaning "tule eaters." Relations among the Northern Paiute bands and their Shoshone neighbors were generally peaceful. In fact, there is no sharp distinction between the Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone. Relations with the Washoe people, who were culturally and linguistically very different, were not so peaceful. Sustained contact between the Northern Paiute and Euro-Americans came in the early 1840s, although the first contact may have occurred as early as the 1820s. Although they had already started using horses, their culture was otherwise largely unaffected by European influences at that point. Sarah Winnemucca's book "Life Among the Piutes" gives a first-hand account of this period, although it is not considered to be wholly reliable. Sarah's grandfather, Truckee (meaning "good" in the Paiute language), was enthusiastically friendly towards white people. He guided John C. Frémont during his 1843–1845 survey and map-making expedition across the Great Basin to California. Later he fought in the Mexican-American War, earning many white friends. Although Sarah was initially terrified of white people, her grandfather took her with him on a trip to the Sacramento area (a trip her father refused to make), and later placed her in the household of William Ormsby of Carson City, Nevada to be educated. Sarah Winnemucca soon became one of very few Paiutes in Nevada able to read and write English. The Pah Ute War, also known as the Paiute War, was a minor series of raids and ambushes initiated by the Paiute, which also had an adverse effect on the development of the Pony Express. It took place from May through June of 1860, though sporadic violence continued for a period afterwards. Catherine S. Fowler and Sven Liljeblad put the total Northern Paiute population in 1859 at about 6,000. As Euro-American settlement of the area progressed, several violent incidents occurred, including the Pyramid Lake War of 1860 and the Bannock War of 1878. These incidents took the general pattern of a settler steals from, rapes or murders a Paiute, a group of Paiutes retaliate, and a group of settlers or the US Army counter-retaliates. Many more Paiutes died from introduced diseases such as smallpox. The first reservation established for the Northern Paiute was the Malheur Reservation in Oregon. The federal government's intention was to concentrate the Northern Paiute there, but its strategy didn't work. Due to the distance of that reservation from the traditional areas of most of the bands, and due to the poor conditions on that reservation, many Northern Paiute refused to go there and those that did soon left. Instead they clung to the traditional lifestyle as long as possible, and when environmental degradation made that impossible, they sought jobs on white farms, ranches or cities and established small Indian colonies, where they were joined by many Shoshone and, in the Reno area, Washoe people. Later, large reservations were created at Pyramid Lake and Duck Valley, but by that time the pattern of small de facto reservations near cities or farm districts often with mixed Northern Paiute and Shoshone populations had been established. Starting in the early 1900s the federal government began granting land to these colonies, and under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 these colonies gained recognition as independent tribes. Alfred Kroeber estimated the population of the Northern Paiute in California in 1910 as 300. First European contact with the Southern Paiutes occurred in 1776 when Fathers Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Domínguez chanced upon them during their failed attempt to find an overland route to the missions of California. Even before this date, the Southern Paiute suffered from slave raids by the Navajo and the Utes, but the introduction of Spanish and later Euro-American explorers into their territory exacerbated the practice. In 1851, Mormon settlers strategically occupied Paiute water sources, which created a dependency relationship. However, the Mormon presence soon ended the slave raids, and relations between the Paiutes and the Mormons were basically peaceful. This was in large part due to the diplomacy efforts of Mormon missionary Jacob Hamblin. However, there is no doubt that the introduction of European settlers and agricultural practices (most especially large herds of cattle) made it difficult for the Southern Paiutes to continue their traditional lifestyle. The Utah Paiutes were terminated in 1954 from the list of Indian tribes formally recognized by the American government, but the Paiute people regained federal recognition in 1980. A band of Southern Paiutes at Willow Springs and Navajo Mountain, south of the Grand Canyon, reside inside the Navajo Indian Reservation. These "San Juan" Paiutes were recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1980. The Paiute, like other tribes of the Great Basin area, were nomadic and slept in domed, round shelters known as Wickiups or Kahn by the Kaibab Paiute. The curved surfaces made them ideal shelters for all kinds of conditions; an escape from the sun during summer, and when lined with bark they were as safe and warm as the best houses of early colonists in winter. The structures were formed with a frame of arched poles, most often wooden, which are covered with some sort of roofing material. Details of construction varied with the local availability of materials, but generally included grass, brush, bark, rushes, mats, reeds, hides, or cloth. They built these dwellings in different locations as they moved throughout their territory. Since all their daily activities took place outside, including making fires for cooking or warmth, the shelters were primarily used for sleeping. The Paiute were largely farmers and hunters. They have a culture rich in family values and tradition, and parents and grandparents bestow the oral history of their ancestors to their children. Paiute children were mentored by their parents in hunting, farming, and becoming parents in their own rights, in order to continuously improve their society and maintain their traditions. As with most other Native American groups, the Paiute have ritual dances to express their gratitude to the earth for planting the seeds in the autumn, and the harvest in the spring. Their typical crops were corn, squash, pumpkins, beans, and sunflower seeds. Rabbits and Pronghorn were often traded and shared among neighboring bands of Paiute, and given as peace offerings. Families and individuals moved freely between tribes, and overall enjoyed a peaceful existence. The Paiute would gather hordes of pinyon nuts in the mountains during the fall, which provided critical winter food. The Paiutes have been living off the land for centuries. They have adapted to change and learned how to effectively use the natural tools around them in their lifestyle. The Paiutes of Mono Lake used arrowheads to hunt small game, and since no fish lived in the lake, they ate alkai flies and their larvae, which the women would gather in a basket to eat along with brine shrimp. The Paiute Indians did not waste any part of any animal, using the bones as tools or weapons, and the hides for clothing. Even after the area had been settled, most of the remaining Paiute of Mono Lake continued to live in wickiups, as they had for hundreds of years. Storytelling is a popular part of entertainment in many Native American societies. This stood also true for the Paiute. Stories would recount their origins and would retell the deeds of heroes long gone. There are also many Paiute legends about sacred animals including possums, raccoons, turtles, birds, chipmunks, and wolves. Art and Music Paiute art was most widely known in the area of basket weaving. Although skilled in other mediums such as wood carvings and arrowheads, making baskets was the most efficient and practical art form for them as they were largely a hunter-gatherer culture. Paiute music was generally performed by men for dance and harvest rituals, and consisted of playing instruments such as drums, flutes, and rattles made from animal bones. In more contemporary rituals, some women are becoming more involved in the musical ceremonies however. The dances have been used to show reverence and appreciation for the bountiful generosity of Mother Earth, and to honor the natural spirits of this world, and the afterlife. In traditional Paiute religion, humans were believed to be comprised of the spirit, mind, and body. Plants and animals are considered to be parts of both the natural and spiritual worlds. In addition to the lesser spirits, the Paiutes also believed in one supreme creator. Their social system had little hierarchy and relied instead on shamans who as self-proclaimed spiritually-blessed individuals organized events for the group as a whole. Usually, community events centered on the observance of a ritual at prescribed times of year, such as harvests or hunting parties. A Northern Paiute named Wovoka was believed to have experienced a vision during a solar eclipse on January 1, 1889. Wovoka had received training from an experienced shaman under his parents' guidance after they realized that he was having difficulty interpreting his previous visions. He was also in training to be a "weather doctor," following in his father’s footsteps, and was known in Mason Valley as a gifted young leader. He often presided over circle dances, while preaching a message of universal love. In addition, he had reportedly been influenced by the Christian teaching of Presbyterians for whom he had worked as a ranch hand, by local Mormons, and by the Indian Shaker Church. He also adopted the Anglo name, Jack Wilson. According the report of Anthropologist James Mooney, who conducted an interview with Wilson in 1892, Wilson had stood before God in Heaven, and had seen many of his ancestors engaged in their favorite pastimes. God showed Wilson a beautiful land filled with wild game, and instructed him to return home to tell his people that they must love each other, not fight, and live in peace with the whites. God also stated that Wilson's people must work, not steal or lie, and that they must not engage in the old practices of war or the self-mutilation traditions connected with mourning the dead. God said that if his people kept by these rules, they would be united with their friends and family in the other world. According to Wilson, he was then given the formula for the proper conduct of the Ghost Dance and commanded to bring it back to his people. Wilson preached that if this five-day dance was performed in the proper intervals, the performers would secure their happiness and hasten the reunion of the living and deceased. Wilson claimed to have left the presence of God convinced that if every Indian in the West danced the new dance to “hasten the event,” all evil in the world would be swept away leaving a renewed Earth filled with food, love, and faith. Quickly accepted by his Paiute brethren, the new religion was termed “Dance In A Circle." Because the first Anglo contact with the practice came by way of the Sioux, their expression "Spirit Dance" was adopted as a descriptive title for all such practices. This was subsequently translated as "Ghost Dance." Wovoka prophesied an end to white American expansion while preaching messages of clean living, an honest life, and peace between whites and Indians. The practice swept throughout much of the American West, quickly reaching areas of California and Oklahoma. As it spread from its original source, Native American tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs, creating changes in both the society that integrated it and the ritual itself. The Ghost Dance took on a more militant character among the Lakota Sioux who were suffering under the disastrous U.S. government policy that had sub-divided their original reservation land and forced them to turn to agriculture. By performing the Ghost Dance, the Lakota believed they could take on a "Ghost Shirt" capable of repelling the white man's bullets. Another Lakota interpretation of Wovoka's religion is drawn from the idea of a "renewed Earth," in which "all evil is washed away." This Lakota interpretation included the removal of all Anglo Americans from their lands, unlike Wovoka's version of the Ghost Dance, which encouraged co-existence with Anglos. Seeing the Ghost Dance as a threat and seeking to suppress it, U.S. Government Indian agents initiated actions that tragically culminated with the death of Sitting Bull and the later Wounded Knee massacre. After that tragedy, the Ghost Dance and its ideals as taught by Wokova soon began to lose energy and it faded from the scene, although some tribes still practiced into the twentieth century. The Paiute government today consists of a tribal leader called a chief, who can come into power either by inheritance, or upon the death of a chieftain without any heirs, in which case the chief is elected by a democratic vote. The chief has to be over 21 years of age and have Paiute background. The offices on modern reservations include chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, and treasurer. The modern Paiute rely heavily on the tourism industry to help sustain their culture, and many tourists flock to the regions of the Owens Valley Lake and Mono Lake areas for camping vacations. In 1907, the Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation was established, surrounding the privately owned Pipe Spring ranch. In 1923 the Pipe Spring ranch was purchased and set aside as a national monument. Today the Pipe Spring National Monument - Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Visitor Center and Museum explains the human history of the area over time. Daily tours of Winsor Castle, summer "living history" demonstrations, an orchard and garden, and a half-mile trail offer a glimpse of American Indian and pioneer life in the Old West. The National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Southern Paiute communities are located at Las Vegas, Pahrump, and Moapa, in Nevada; Cedar City, Kanosh, Koosharem, Shivwits, and Indian Peaks, in Utah; at Kaibab and Willow Springs, in Arizona; Death Valley and at the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation and on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in California. Some would include the 29 Palms Reservation in Riverside County, California. - Poito (Chief Winnemucca) - Sarah Winnemucca - Wovoka (Jack Wilson), founder of the Ghost Dance movement - Chief Tenaya Leader of the Ahwahnees - Captain John - Shibana or Poko Tucket - Fowler, Catherine S. and Sven Liljeblad. 1978. "Northern Paiute." In Great Basin, edited by Warren L. d'Azevedo, 435-465. Handbook of North American Indians. William C. Sturtevant (ed.), vol. 11. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. - Grahame, John D. and Thomas D. Sisk, (eds.) 2002. Southern Paiute in Canyons, Cultures and Environmental Change: An Introduction to the Land-use History of the Colorado Plateau. Retrieved December 7, 2007. - Holt, Ronald L. Paiute Indians Utah History Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 7, 2007. - Hopkins, Sarah Winnemucca. 1994. Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-0874172522 - Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C. - Mooney, James. 1991. The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee. Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486267593 (Originally published in 1896 as Part Two of Bureau of American Ethnology Report XIV) - Waldman, Carl. 2006. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Checkmark Books. ISBN 978-0816062744 All links retrieved January 10, 2019. - Burns Paiute Tribe - Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe - Paiute ~ Wovoka ~ Ghost Dancers - Pipe Spring National Monument New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

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Modern emerged in the 19th century when ballet had previously dominated the dancing world, receiving its widespread success in the 20th. It is a style of dance that emerged as a reaction to the strict rules of classical ballet. According to historians, modern has two main birthplaces: Europe (specifically Germany) and the United States. Each rebelled against the rigid formalism and superficiality of classical ballet with the aim to inspire audiences to a new awareness of inner or outer realities. Some historians have suggested that socioeconomic changes in both the United States and Europe helped to initiate the shifts in the dance world. In United States, the increasing industrialisation created the rise of a middle class with more disposable income and free time, while the decline of Victorian social structures in Europe led to many changes such as a new interest in overall wellbeing. Although Modern evolves as a concert dance form, it has no direct roots with any ballet companies or academic institution. Modern dance emerges as a consequence of its time, alone and per choreographer. François Delsarte (1811 – 1871), a French singer and coach was considered as a precursor by modern dance history as he invented a theory on the relationship between human movement and feelings. He concluded that each emotion will correspond a movement and the source of dance comes from inside the dancer. His idea boosted one of the main ideological components of modern dance: inner feelings and intensity as the cause of movement and quality. Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865 – 1950), a Swiss composer, pianist, educator and conductor who invented a new approach to movement called Eurhythmics; an approach to studying and experiencing music through movement. His teaching used the body to express musicality and delivered his discoveries in his school, Institution of Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, mainly to musicians and not for dancers. However, his approach reached some of the most important modern dance figures of the time, like V. Nijinsky (through Marie Rambert), Mary Wigman and Rudolph Laban. The Pioneer of Modern Dance Isadora Duncan (1877 – 1927), an American dancer who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe was a prime predecessor of modern dance and was largely self‐taught. She thought that ballet was ugly and meaningless. She created a vocabulary of basic movements to heroic and expressive standard as dance is the expression of her personal life. She discarded the corset, slippers, ballet tutu and adopted tunics. She stressed on the torso, bare feet, loose hair, free-flowing costumes, and humor expression. She created her dances around nature such as waves, clouds, wind and trees. She abstracted the emotions induced by the music from which she translated its emotions with composers Beethoven, Wagner, and Gluck. She was also inspired by classical Greek arts, folk dances, social dances, natural forces, and new American athleticism such as skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and abrupt movements. Duncan established her first school of dance just outside of Berlin, where she began to develop her theories of dance education and to assemble her famous dance group, Isadorables. Her contribution is not considered so much in terms of technique but mostly on the means for the cultural process of opening minds. Although she returned to the United States at various points in her life, her work was not well received there. She returned to Europe and died in Nice in 1927. Loie Fuller (1862 – 1928), an American actress turned dancer whom first gave the free dance artistic status in the United States. She used dance to imitate and illustrate natural phenomena, movement and improvisation techniques: flame, flower, butterfly. She experimented with the effect of theatre’s gas lighting equipment, and patented her apparatus and methods of stage lighting that included the use of coloured gels and burning chemicals for luminescence as well as her translucent voluminous silk stage costumes. Fuller having little dance training, her main concern was not dance, storytelling or expressing emotions, but rather emphasised on visual effect. She is acknowledged by modern dance history for her great contribution in new possibilities of scenic illusion, thanks to the use of the development of electricity. Ruth St. Denis (1879 – 1968) was an American modern dance pioneer, introducing eastern ideas into the art. She was raised and encouraged to perform from a young age. She grows within an ideological ambience of oriental religions, which reflected in her choreography. She believed that dance could transcend into the spiritual realm and experimented with dance forms that derived from the religious influences of Asia, India and Egypt. She relied on elaborated costumes to evoke mystical feelings where female dancer are priestess, which contrasts with the dancer as a woman of little virtue. She debuted as a skirt dancer, what was then a rather indecent form of dancing because of the woman’s legs being briefly visible. Her distinctive dance style combined spiral form with equal parts voluptuousness, mysticism and erotica. Despite local opposition, St. Denis’ new style of dancing was a hit, particularly in Europe where she built a stunning career as a soloist and in 1914, married a professional and partner, Ted Shawn. Ted Shawn (1891 – 1972) successfully achieved the formal teaching of modern dance. He was the first notable male pioneers of American modern dance, who became Ruth St. Denis partner and husband in 1914. He promoted and innovated masculine movement with the first company composed by men only. He toured around the United States and attracted many young people from the high intellectual level. In 1915 St. Denis and Shawn formed the The Denishawn School and helped increased the popularity of modern dance throughout the United States and abroad, and nurtured the leaders of the second generation of modern dance such as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. To add to St. Denis’ mainly eastern influence, Shawn brought the spirit of North African, Spanish, American and Amerindian influence to the table. St. Denis was responsible for the creative work, and Shawn for teaching technique and composition. Though St. Denis and Shawn had a stormy relationship, both on and offstage, what they accomplished together had a lasting impact. Early Modern – The First Generation of Modern Dance During the 1920s, a passion for interpretive dancing swept America. Duncan’s fame and Denishawn’s tours had introduced audiences and dancers alike to the concept of a new form of serious theatrical dancing. During this period, artists began developing and codifying new dance techniques. This first generation included Rudolf Laban, Martha Graham, Mary Wigman, Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey, Francois Delsarte, Charles Weidman, Agnes de Mille, Lester Horton and many others. Rudolf Laban (1879 – 1958), an Austro-Hungarian Empire dance artist and theorist founded a school in Munich 1910 at which Mary Wigman was one of his students. Exiled in the 1930s, he immigrated to England, where he established the Art of Movement Studio 1946 in Manchester and worked until his death on his system of notation. His notation, Labanotation, is the most complete and effective system for analysing and writing movement, created till time. He opened a completely new theoretical frame for movement shape and quality analysis. Anne Hutchinson Guest brings his movement notation system to the United States, where it is now taught in many institution for high level dance education. Mary Wigman (1886 – 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She opposed radically to classical dance values and methods. She performed in Germany after studying with Laban and opened her own, Wigman School 1920 in Dresden which was closed by the Nazis but reopened in Berlin 1948. Mary Wigman choreography often employed non-Western instrumentation such as bells, gongs, percussion and drums from Asia and Africa. She used fundamental human emotions, relationships, superstitions, and ecstatic spinning in her choreography. Her costumes were simple, made with dark rough fabrics, and often included masks. Her dance pieces are tragic with dark characters, as well as vibrant, excited and passionate. Her choreographic work and thought are considered as part of the artistic trend called German expressionism or “Ausdrückstanz”. She created several schools and among her renowned students are Hanya Holm, Harald Kreutzberg, Gret Paluca and Kurt Joos. Hanya Holm (1893 – 1992) was born in Germany and studied at the Institution of Emile Jacques-Dalcroze and, later learn and teach with Mary Wigman’s Wigman School. She launched Wigman branch in New York City 1931. Holm had a unique form of technique that shaped generations of dancers and choreographers including Alwin Nikolais, Mary Anthony, Valerie Bettis, Don Redlich, Alfred Brooks, Liz Aggiss and Glen Tetley. Her technique stressed the importance of body’s relation to space and emotion, which was an extension of Wigman and Laban. For example, the pulse, planes, floor patterns, aerial design, direction, and spatial dimensions. Holm’s movement emphasised the freedom and flowing quality of the torso and back, but remained based on universal principles of physics for motion. Her choreographic regularly use improvisation and with absolute dance without pantomime or dramatic overtones in which, conveying an idea in her choreography was far more important than dancers’ technical ability. Her theatre work achieved a rare degree of dramatic and choreographic fusion. In 1936, in response to rising antifascist sentiment, it was renamed the Hanya Holm School of Dance. She choreographed successfully on Broadway with dances for Kiss Me, Kate (1948), My Fair Lady (1956), and Camelot (1960). Intermediate Modern – The Second Generation of Modern Dance Martha Graham (1894 – 1991), an American dancer began studying at Denishawn. During the next seven years, Graham evolved from a student, to a teacher, to one of the company’s best‐known performers. Martha Graham began to open up fresh elements of emotional expression in dance and focuses on contraction, release and spiral. She found the breath pulse as the primary source of dance; exaggerating the contractions and expansions of the torso and flexing of the spine caused by breathing. She devised a basis for movement that represented the human being’s inner conflicts. Graham explored themes from Americana, Greek mythology, and the Old Testament. She viewed music merely as a frame for dance. In 1926, Martha Graham founded her dance company and school, living and working out of a tiny Carnegie Hall studio in midtown Manhattan. It is now known for being the oldest American dance company. Doris Humphrey (1895 – 1958) was American dancer and choreographer of the early 20th century, and creator of the technique known as fall and recovery; an original dancing technique by observing the relationship between gravity and human body; the arc between balance and imbalance of the moving human body, represented one’s conflicts with the surrounding world. She taught extremely important technical notions like weight, rebound, suspension and the importance of breath. She studied at the Denishawn school in Los Angeles, where her teaching and creative abilities were quickly recognised. Doris Humphrey emphasised craftsmanship and structure in choreography, also developing the use of groupings and complexity in ensembles. Her work has an unerring sense of form, as well as an interest in large‐scale abstract works. Her book, The Art of Making Dances (1959), was based on her theories about dance composition. Humphrey experimented more with sound; in a 1924 work she discarded music altogether and performed in silence, and later she used nonmusical sound effects, including spoken texts and bursts of hysterical laughter. Her themes were social and often heroic in scale, e.g., the trilogy New Dance (1935), which treats human relationships. Charles Weidman (1901 – 1975) an American dancer was inspired to become a dancer at fifteen after seeing Ruth St. Denis during a touring performance. In 1920, he received a scholarship to spend the summer studying at the Denishawn school in Los Angeles. Before the session had ended, Weidman was hired as a dancer for the Denishawn company. Weidman brought a very masculine approach to dancing that drew other men to the art form. His kinetic pantomime and abstract movement added remarkable appeal to his dances. In 1928 Charles Weidman together with Doris Humphrey formed the Humphrey‐Weidman Studio and Company in New York. Weidman’s movements were abstracted from everyday situations provided a different kind of social commentary from comedy to seriousness, and created a new style of dance by rejecting ballet and embracing gravity. He established the Charles Weidman Theater Dance Company after Doris Humphrey retired from performing in 1945. In his company he trained famous choreographers such as José Limón, Bob Fosse and Louis Falco. Agnes de Mille (1905 – 1993) had a love for acting and originally wanted to be an actress, but was told that she was not pretty enough, so she turned her attention to dance. She made her solo debut in New York in 1928. In the 1930s in London, she studied with Marie Rambert, danced in the premiere of Antony Tudor’s Dark Elegies (1937), and worked on concert pieces that inspired her successes of the 1940s. Among these was Rodeo (1942), the Americana classic she choreographed for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and the dances for the Broadway musical Oklahoma! (1943). Oklahoma! was a turning point in Broadway history, and required training in ballet and modern dance. During the 1940s de Mille created a number of works for Ballet Theatre that revealed the light touch of her Broadway choreography and the interest in American material that inspired her to form the Agnes de Mille Heritage Dance Theatre in the 1970s. A gifted writer, she is the author of several books, including a highly‐regarded biography of Martha Graham. Lester Horton (1906 – 1953) studied at the Denishawn School, besides having early classes in ballet and Native-American dance. The Lester Horton Dance Group first appeared in 1932 and became noted over the ensuing two decades for an individual technique and theatrical style that embraced themes of social and political protest. Horton developed his own approach to dance that incorporated diverse elements including Native American Folk Dance, Japanese arm gestures, Javanese and Balinese isolations for the upper body, particularly the eyes, head and hands, Afro-Caribbean elements, like hip circles. Horton Technique has no style and emphasises a whole body, anatomical approach to dance that includes flexibility, strength, coordination and body and spatial awareness to enable unrestricted, dramatic freedom of expression. Highlights of his repertory include at least six versions of Oscar Wilde’s erotic Salome, Le Sacre du Printemps (1937). Horton also choreographed commercial projects and created the dances for Hollywood films. His students included Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham. Development – The Third Generation of Modern Dance By the end of World War II, young choreographers had begun breaking the rules of the modern dance establishment, creating dances that had no theme, expressed no emotion, dispensed with the dance vocabulary of fall and recovery, contraction and release. This generation of modern dance included artists such as Sybil Louise Shearer (1912 – 2005)’s random fantasies, Erick Hawkins’s impressionistic soft rhythms, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, José Limón, Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, Alvin Ailey, Anna Halprin, Yvonne Rainer, and Twyla Tharp. Merce Cunningham (1919 – 2009) was a prime influence on the development of postmodern dance in the 1960s and later. Trained at the Cornish School, Mills College, and the School of American Ballet, he danced with the Martha Graham Company from 1939 to 1945, creating lead roles. He began to present his own choreography in the 1940s and in 1953 founded Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Cunningham freed dance from spatial restraints devising dances that can be viewed from any angle and also released dance from traditional musical constraints by using electronic music and other compositions of his musical director, John Cage. In addition, he liberated his own choreography from structural limitations by using techniques of chance, such as throws of the dice, to determine the order in which sections of a work should occur. Eventually rejecting psychological and emotional elements present in the choreography of Graham and others, Cunningham developed his own dance technique and method which emphasised more balletic movement and flexibility of the back and torso, influenced generations of dancers and choreographers. José Limón (1908 – 1972) was born Mexico but moved to Los Angeles in 1915. His powerful dancing shifted perceptions of the male dancer and his choreography continues to bring a dramatic vision of dance to audiences worldwide. Limón moved to New York City in 1928 and in 1946, after studying and performing for 10 years with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, he established his own company with Humphrey as Artistic Director. Limón’s choreographic works were quickly recognised as masterpieces and the Company itself became a landmark of American dance. His Limon technique comes from human movement, feeling and the sensations the body experiences in motion, rather than how it looks for performance. His concepts include breath and its influence on movement, the impact of weight on individual body parts and how the expression created, flexibility of the spine, body-part isolations, the dynamism between fall and recovery, rebound, weight, suspension and succession. In 1997 he was inducted into the National Museum of Dance’s Hall of Fame in New York. Katherine Dunham (1909 – 2006) studied at University of Chicago and was an African-American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist and social activist. She examined, interpreted and dwell into the roots of black dances, rituals, and folklore in the Americas, Africa and Caribbean, and transformed them into artistic choreography. By incorporating authentic regional and anthropological dance movements, she developed a technical system that educated her students mentally as well as physically. Her technique led toward a total rhythmic immersion. Katherine Dunham is credited for developing one of the most important pedagogy for teaching dance that is still used throughout the world, called the “Matriarch of Black Dance”. Her groundbreaking repertoire combined innovative interpretations of the Caribbean dances, traditional ballet, African rituals and African American rhythms to create the Dunham Technique. The Dunham Company toured for two decades around the globe in 57 countries. Pearl Primus (1919 – 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist and played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Primus was born in Trinidad and raised in New York City, where she attended Hunter College. After graduating with a degree in biology in 1940, she studied at the New School for Social Research in New York with a scholarship. She studied African and African-American material, and developed a repertory of dances emphasising the rich variety of African diasporic traditions. In 1948, she received a grant to collect material and document dances in Africa that in some cases were fading into history. Back in New York, she opened the Pearl Primus School of Primal Dance. In 1961 she became the director of the African Performing Arts Center in Monrovia, Liberia, the first organization of its kind in Africa. A buoyant and charismatic performer, Primus lectured widely and taught courses in anthropology and ethnic dance on many campuses. Paul Taylor (1930 – 2018) was born on July 29, 1930 and grew up in and around Washington DC. He attended Syracuse University on a swimming scholarship in the late 1940s until he discovered dance through books and then transferred to The Juilliard School. He performed the works of Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and George Balanchine. He was a soloist with Graham’s company from 1955 to 1962 while founded his own company, Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1954. He had his interest in everyday gesture and carried an incredible range of motion, emotion, imagination and issues such as war, piety, spirituality, sexuality, morality and mortality. For example, by having dancers move one-by-one into the wing as they wait to use a public telephone. He also presented an evening of minimal dance, which consisted of him standing on the stage alone in street clothes and making only tiny changes in posture to a recorded voice of a telephone operator announcing the time at 10-second intervals; outraged dance critics and ignored the performance. Alvin Ailey (1931 – 1989) was an African-American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958. He was influenced primarily by Lester Horton and later with Katherine Dunham, Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham. He combined elements of modern, jazz, and African dance in his work. His company has been internationally acclaimed and has brought recognition to many African-American and Asian dancers. Although the company was initially accused of amplifying and transforming the emotivity characteristic of Graham into metaphors of the American black experience and feelings, Ailey denied and continued to employ artists based solely on artistic talent and integrity, regardless of their background. Other famous dancers include Anna Halprin, Yvonne Rainer, Twyla Tharp, Bela Lewitzky, Jerome Robbins, Paul Horton, Daniel Nagrin, Erick Hawkins, David Winters, Eliot Feld and Jaime Rogers. Jazz/modern dance choreographers include Bob Fosse, Gus Giordano and Luigi. Other important and more recent German dancer-choreographers include Kurt Joos and his student Pina Bausch. For many dancers, dance tell stories and make statements about the current society. The dancers who developed modern dance wanted to make a statement about previous limitations of dance and the body. Since its founding, modern dance has been redefined many times and changes in the concepts and practices of new generations of choreographers, the term modern grows more ambigous. References & Further Reading https://www.britannica.com/art/modern-dance https://study.com/academy/lesson/modern-dance-history-types.html https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/arts/performing/dance/modern-dance/the-beginnings-of-modern-dance https://www.danceus.org/modern-dance/modern-dance-history-movements-styles-dancers-competitions/#:~:text=History%20of%20Modern%20Dance&text=Historically%2C%20modern%20dance%20began%20as,careers%2C%20according%20to%20their%20biographies. https://www.contemporary-dance.org/modern-dance-history.html https://educationcloset.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Modern.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Ailey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Lim%C3%B3n https://www.dancespirit.com/limon-technique-2326036526.html https://noisilyfestival.com/discography/contemporary-dance-the-limon-technique/ http://kdcah.org/katherine-dunham-biography/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pearl-Primus https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Modern_dance http://www.dancefacts.net/dance-types/contemporary-dance/ http://kdcah.org/katherine-dunham-biography/#:~:text=She%20appeared%20at%20the%20Martin,American%20and%20Afro%2DCaribbean%20dance. https://www.thirteen.org/freetodance/biographies/primus.html https://www.ptamd.org/main/about-ptamd/paul-taylor/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/dancer-ruth-st-denis-shares-thoughts-politics-feminism-and-new-work/ - François Delsarte 1864. Photo by R. Carjat / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fran%C3%A7ois_Delsarte_1864.jpg - Emile Jaques Dalcroze. Photo by the original uploader was Bärnherz at German Wikipedia.(Original text: Bärnherz) / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emile_Jaques_Dalcroze.jpg - Isadora Duncan 1915–1918 American tour. Photo by Arnold Genthe (1869–1942) / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isadora_Duncan_(grayscale).jpg - Loie Fuller. Photo by Frederick Glasier / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loie_Fuller.jpg - Ruth St. Denis. Photo by Bain News Service / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruthstdenis1.jpg - Ruth St Denis & Ted Shawn 1916. Photo by New York Public Library, for National Geographic Magazine, April 1916, reprinted May 1951.. 1915. / No restrictions. Sourced from https://www.flickr.com/photos/32951986@N05/3110037731/ - Laban’s School in Berlin 1929. Photo by Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-08707 / Licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en). Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-08707,_Berlin,_Tanzschule_Laban.jpg - Mary Wigman dance studio 1959. Photo by Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-P047334 / Schütz, Klaus / Licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en). Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P047334,_Berlin,_Mary_Wigman-Studio.jpg - Martha Graham 1948. Photo by Yousuf Karsh / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martha_Graham_1948.jpg - Doris Humphrey & Charles Weidman 1933. Photo published by Encyclopædia Britannica. Sourced from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Doris-Humphrey#/media/1/276354/32304 - Charles Weidman. Photo by Carl Van Vechten / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charlesweidman.jpg - Agnes de Mille. Photo by Carl Van Vechten / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agnes_de_Mille_3.jpg - Lestor Horton. Sourced from https://www.alvinailey.org/alvin-ailey-american-dance-theater/lester-horton - Merce Cunningham, in Changeling 1957. Photo by Richard Rutledge. Sourced from https://trinitylaban.wordpress.com/2017/06/08/historical-project-merce-cunninghams-minevents/ - Jose Limon 1965. Photo published by Encyclopædia Britannica. Sourced from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Limon#/media/1/341535/12622 - Katherine Dunham. Photo by Phyllis Twachtman, World Telegram staff photographer / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katherine_Dunham.jpg - Pearl Primus 1945. Photo by Gerda Peterich. Sourced from https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/african-diaspora/pearl-primus/ - Paul Taylor. Photo by The original uploader was Noirish at English Wikipedia. / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Taylor.jpg - Alvin Ailey. Photo by Carl Van Vechten / Public domain. Sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alvin_Ailey_Ellington_career.jpg

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Skip to Main Content It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results. Graphic Novels & Comics A Comic Book is defined by the Collins Dictionary as a magazine or serial that "contains stories told in pictures." A Graphic Novel, by extension, is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a full length story published as a book in comic strip format." Reference Works at CCBC Libraries The Cambridge Companion to the Graphic Novel by Since the graphic novel rose to prominence half a century ago, it has become one of the fastest growing literary/artistic genres, generating interest from readers globally. The Cambridge Companion to the Graphic Novel examines the evolution of comic books into graphic novels and the distinct development of this art form both in America and around the world. This Companion also explores the diverse subgenres often associated with it, such as journalism, fiction, historical fiction, autobiography, biography, science fiction and fantasy. Leading scholars offer insights into graphic novel adaptations of prose works and the adaptation of graphic novels to films; analyses of outstanding graphic novels, like Maus and The Walking Man; an overview which distinguishes the international graphic novel from its American counterpart; and analyses of how the form works and what it teaches, making this book a key resource for scholars, graduate students and undergraduate students alike. Call Number: PN6710 .C34 2017 History, Theme and Technique by The fourth set in the series, Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: History, Theme & Technique is a one-volume set that contains over 70 essays covering themes and concepts of graphic novels. It includes genres, time periods, foreign language traditions, social relevance, and craftsmanship such as penciling and inking. Call Number: PN6725 .C7536 2013 Supergods by From one of the most acclaimed and profound writers in the world of comics comes a thrilling and provocative exploration of humankind's great modern myth: the superhero The first superhero comic ever published, Action Comics no. 1 in 1938, introduced the world to something both unprecedented and timeless: Superman, a caped god for the modern age. In a matter of years, the skies of the imaginary world were filled with strange mutants, aliens, and vigilantes: Batman, Wonder Woman, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the X-Men--the list of names as familiar as our own. In less than a century, they've gone from not existing at all to being everywhere we look: on our movie and television screens, in our videogames and dreams. But what are they trying to tell us? For Grant Morrison, arguably the greatest of contemporary chroniclers of the "superworld," these heroes are powerful archetypes whose ongoing, decades-spanning story arcs reflect and predict the course of human existence: Through them we tell the story of ourselves, our troubled history, and our starry aspirations. In this exhilarating work of a lifetime, Morrison draws on art, science, mythology, and his own astonishing journeys through this shadow universe to provide the first true history of the superhero--why they matter, why they will always be with us, and what they tell us about who we are . . . and what we may yet become. Call Number: PN6725 .M67 2011 Will Eisner by Will Eisner's innovations in the comics, especially the comic book and the graphic novel, as well as his devotion to comics analysis, make him one of comics' first true auteurs and the cartoonist so revered and influential that cartooning's highest honor is named after him. His newspaper feature The Spirit (1940-1952) introduced the now-common splash page to the comic book, as well as dramatic angles and lighting effects that were influenced by, and influenced in turn, the conventions of film noir. Even in his tales of crime fighting, Eisner's writing focused on everyday details of city life and on contemporary social issues. In 1976, he premiered A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories, a collection of realist cartoon stories that paved the way for the modern "graphic novel." His 1985 book, Comics and Sequential Art, was among the first sustained analyses and overviews of the comics form, articulating theories of the art's grammar and structure. Eisner's studio nurtured such comics legends as Jules Feiffer, Wally Wood, Lou Fine, and Jack Cole. Will Eisner: Conversations, edited by comics scholar M. Thomas Inge, collects the best interviews with Eisner (1917-2005) from 1965 to 2004. Taken together, the interviews cover the breadth of Eisner's career with in-depth information about his creation of The Spirit and other well-known comic book characters, his devotion to the educational uses of the comics medium, and his contributions to the development of the graphic novel. Call Number: PN6727.E4 Z92 2011 Will Eisner by Will Eisner (1917-2005) is universally considered the master of comics storytelling and is best known for his iconic comic strip The Spirit and for his seminal work A Contract With God. Considered the first significant graphic novel, upon publication in 1978 it ushered in a new kind of personal, non-super-hero genre of comics storytelling. Since then, Eisner went on to write and illustrate over twenty award-winning graphic novels. Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel by noted historian Paul Levitz celebrates Eisner by including not only unpublished and rare art, photographs, letters and sketches from the archives, but original interviews with creators such as Jules Feiffer, Art Spiegelman, Scott McCloud, Jeff Smith and Neil Gaiman, all of whom knew and were inspired by Eisner and have offered their support to help publicise this long-awaited tribute to a comics legend. Call Number: PN6727.E4 Z69 2015 CBLDF Presents: She Changed Comics by SHE CHANGED COMICS celebrates the women who changed free expression incomics, with profiles of more than sixty groundbreaking female professionals andinterviews with the women who are changing today's medium, including RAINATELGEMEIER, NOELLE STEVENSON, G. WILLOW WILSON, and more! SHE CHANGED COMICSalso examines the plights of women imprisoned and threatened for making comicsand explores the work of women whose work is being banned here in the UnitedStates. A must for readers of all ages, students, and educators. Call Number: PN6710 .S34 2016 Faster Than a Speeding Bullet by The groundbreaking history of the graphic novel, fully updated to include all of the latest must-reads, the milestones and the future of this exciting medium. The author of 101 Best Graphic Novels now tells the whole history of the graphic novel revolution, from the first modern urban autobiographical graphic novel, Will Eisner's A Contract With God, to the hip indie comics of the Hernandez Bros' Love and Rockets, the dark mysteries of Neil Gaiman's Sandman and the postmodern superheroics of Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight. Call Number: PN6710 .W45 2012 Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels by This text examines comics, graphic novels, and manga with a broad, international scope that reveals their conceptual origins in antiquity. * Includes numerous illustrations of British satirical prints, Japanese woodblock prints, and the art of prominent illustrators * Includes a chapter on the latest developments in digital comics Call Number: PN6710 .P415 2011 Contemporary Comics Storytelling by What if fairy-tale characters lived in New York City? What if a superhero knew he was a fictional character? What if you could dispense your own justice with one hundred untraceable bullets? These are the questions asked and answered in the course of the challenging storytelling in Fables, Tom Strong, and 100 Bullets, the three twenty-first-century comics series that Karin Kukkonen considers in depth in her exploration of how and why the storytelling in comics is more than merely entertaining. Applying a cognitive approach to reading comics in all their narrative richness and intricacy, Contemporary Comics Storytelling opens an intriguing perspective on how these works engage the legacy of postmodernism--its subversion, self-reflexivity, and moral contingency. Its three case studies trace how contemporary comics tie into deep traditions of visual and verbal storytelling, how they reevaluate their own status as fiction, and how the fictional minds of their characters generate complex ethical thought experiments. At a time when the medium is taken more and more seriously as intricate and compelling literary art, this book lays the groundwork for an analysis of the ways in which comics challenge and engage readers' minds. It brings together comics studies with narratology and literary criticism and, in so doing, provides a new set of tools for evaluating the graphic novel as an emergent literary form. Call Number: PN6710 .K836 2013 The Graphic Novel by This volume offers an examination and analysis of the contemporary graphic novel as literature. Specific attention is paid to the use of narrative genre in the graphic novel (e.g. superhero, crime, horror, realistic/fantastic). The most important and most frequently discussed graphic novels are also discussed, including Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, The Crow, Sin City: The Hard Goodbye, The Walking Dead:Days Gone Bye, and Road to Perdition. Call Number: PN6719 .G736 2014 Graphic Subjects by Some of the most noteworthy graphic novels and comic books of recent years have been entirely autobiographical. In Graphic Subjects, Michael A. Chaney brings together a lively mix of scholars to examine the use of autobiography within graphic novels, including such critically acclaimed examples as Art Spiegelman's Maus, David Beauchard's Epileptic, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Alan Moore's Watchmen, and Gene Yang's American Born Chinese. These essays, accompanied by visual examples, illuminate the new horizons that illustrated autobiographical narrative creates. The volume insightfully highlights the ways that graphic novelists and literary cartoonists have incorporated history, experience, and life stories into their work. The result is a challenging and innovative collection that reveals the combined power of autobiography and the graphic novel. Call Number: PN6710 .G7375 2011 Power of Comics by The Power of Comics is the first textbook to introduce undergraduate students to a broader understanding of the medium and its communication potential. Call Number: PN6710 .D86 2009 On the Shelves at CCBC Libraries Watchmen by A new TV series based on Watchmen will debut on HBO in 2019 by the creator of Lost, Damon Lindelof A murder mystery-turned-nationwide conspiracy, WATCHMEN examines the lives of the eponymous superhero team as they seem to decay alongside the ever-darkening America around them. Rorschach, Nite Owl, the Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias reunite to investigate who's behind a teammate's murder, but find that the truth may be even more grim than the world they seek to protect. One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, WATCHMEN is considered a gateway title to the entire graphic storytelling medium. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' seminal story is the benchmark against which all other graphic novels and comic books are judged with an incredible story that chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. This edition of WATCHMEN, the groundbreaking series from Alan Moore, the award-winning writer of V FOR VENDETTA and BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, and Dave Gibbons, the artist of GREEN LANTERN, features the high-quality, recolored pages found in WATCHMEN: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION with sketches, never-before-seen extra bonus materials and a new introduction by Dave Gibbons. Call Number: PN6737.M66 W39 2013 V for Vendetta by "A new trade paperback edition of the graphic novel that inspired the hit movie! A powerful story about loss of freedom and individuality, V FOR VENDETTA takes place in a totalitarian England following a devastating war that changed the face of the planet. In a world without political freedom, personal freedom and precious little faith in anything comes a mysterious man in a white porcelain mask who fights political oppressors through terrorism and seemingly absurd acts. It's a gripping tale of the blurred lines between ideological good and evil. This new trade paperbackedition features the improved production values and coloring from the 2005 hardcover." Call Number: PN6737.M66 V2 2012 The Killing Joke by "Presented for the first time with stark, stunning new coloring by Bolland, BATMAN- THE KILLING JOKE is Alan Moore's unforgettable meditation on the razor-thin line between sanity and insanity, heroism and villainy, comedy and tragedy. According to the grinning engine of madness and mayhem known as The Joker, that's all that separates the sane from the psychotic. Freed once again from the confines of Arkham Asylum, he's out to prove his deranged point. And he s going to use Gotham City's top cop, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and his brilliant and beautiful daughter Barbara to do it. Now Batman must race to stop his archnemesis before his reign of terror claims two of the Dark Knight's closest friends. Can he finally put an end to the cycle of bloodlust and lunacy that links these two iconic foes before it leads to its fatal conclusion? And as the horrifying origin of the Clown Prince of Crime is finally revealed, will the thin line that separates Batman's nobility and The Joker's insanity snap once and for all? Legendary writer Alan Moore redefined the super-hero with WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA. In BATMAN- THE KILLING JOKE, he takes on the origin of comics' greatest super-villain, Call Number: PN6728.B36 M663 2008 Sandman Preludes and Nocturnes by New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision. In PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman. This book also includes the story "The Sound of Her Wings," which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl Death.Includes issues 1-8 of the original series with completely new coloring, approved by the author. Call Number: PN6728.S26 G45 2010 v. 1 New Moon by In the first installment of New Moon, Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires: the Volturi. Call Number: PS3613.E979 N41 2013 v. 1 Exquisite Corpse by Zoe isn't exactly the intellectual type, which is why she doesn't recognize world-famous author Thomas Rocher when she stumbles into his apartment . . . and into his life. Zoe doesn't know Balzac from Batman, but she's going to have to wise up fast . . . because Rocher has a terrible secret, and now Zoe is sitting on the literary scandal of the century. Call Number: PN6747.B34 C3313 2015 Bone by BONE - The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume Winner of 41 National and International Awards including 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harvey Awards! Meet the Bone cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, three misfits who are run out of Boneville and find themselves lost in a vast uncharted desert. They make their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures. With the help of the mysterious Thorn, her tough-as-nails Gran'ma Ben and the Great Red Dragon, the boys do their best to survive in the middle of brewing trouble between the valley's denizens. It will be the longest - but funniest- year of their lives! Originally serialized in black & white comic books and graphic novels, the award-winning novel was presented complete and unabridged for the first time in this impressive 1300 page tome preserving the original black & white artwork. Call Number: PN6727.S546 B66 2004 Signature Wound by Signature Wound: Rocking TBI is Pulitzer Prize-winner Garry Trudeau's third collection of Doonesbury comics examining the effects of combat on soldiers in Iraq. Signature Wound: Rocking TBI completes a trilogy of Doonesbury books that examines the impact of combat on American soldiers in Iraq. A twist of fate brings B. D. to the bedside of SFC Leo Deluca (a.k.a. Toggle), a young HUMV driver and headbanger whose love of ear-bleed battle music had sonically distracted him enough to get his vehicle blown up. Missing an eye and suffering from aphasia, Toggle fights to recover from traumatic brain injury (TBI), a journey of recovery that brings out the best in B. D., his former commander. Toggle's tattooed, metalhead mom initially has reservations about his improbable Facebook romance with an MIT tech-head named Alex, but love blooms. As this engaging story unfolds, Toggle finds himself drawn toward a career in the recording industry, undaunted by the limitations of the New Normal that now defines his life. Crafted with the same kind of insight, humor, and respect that prompted the Pentagon and the VA to host signings of the two previous books in the trilogy, Signature Wound is a perceptive and timely look at the contemporary soldier's experience. Call Number: PN6728.D65 T756 2010 Snowden by As many as 1.4 million citizens with security clearance saw the documents revealed by Edward Snowden. Why did he, and no one else, decide to step forward and take on the risks associated with becoming a whistleblower and then a fugitive? In the graphic biography, Snowden, Rall delves into his life, work experience and personality and the larger issues of privacy, new surveillance technologies and the recent history of government intrusion. It's a portrait of a brave young man standing up to the most powerful government in the world. Call Number: JF1525.W45 R35 2015 The Imitation Game by Award winning authors Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis present a historically accurate graphic novel biography of English mathematician and scientist Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. English mathematician and scientist Alan Turing (1912-1954) is credited with many of the foundational principles of contemporary computer science. The Imitation Game presents a historically accurate graphic novel biography of Turing's life, including his groundbreaking work on the fundamentals of cryptography and artificial intelligence. His code breaking efforts led to the cracking of the German Enigma during World War II, work that saved countless lives and accelerated the Allied defeat of the Nazis. While Turing's achievements remain relevant decades after his death, the story of his life in post-war Europe continues to fascinate audiences today. Award-winning duo Jim Ottaviani (the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Feynman and Primates) and artist Leland Purvis (an Eisner and Ignatz Award nominee and occasional reviewer for the Comics Journal) present a factually detailed account of Turing's life and groundbreaking research--as an unconventional genius who was arrested, tried, convicted, and punished for being openly gay, and whose innovative work still fuels the computing and communication systems that define our modern world. Computer science buffs, comics fans, and history aficionados will be captivated by this riveting and tragic story of one of the 20th century's most unsung heroes. Call Number: QA29.T8 O772 2016 Black Panther by A new era begins for the Black Panther! MacArthur Genius and National Book Award-winning writer T-Nehisi Coates (BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME) takes the helm, confronting T'Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda that will make leading the African nation tougher than ever before. When a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil. If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt--but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change? Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl! COLLECTING: Black Panther 1-4, Fantastic Four (1961) 52 Call Number: PN6728.B523 C63 Black Panther and the Crew by Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage, Misty Knight and Manifold band together to take on a dangerous wave of street-level threats in a new series by co-writers Ta-Nehisi Coates (New York Times best-selling author of Between the World and Me and Marvel's Black Panther) and Yona Harvey (Black Panther: World of Wakanda), and legendary artist Butch Guice! The death of a Harlem activist kicks off a mystery that will reveal surprising new secrets about the Marvel Universe's past - and set the stage for a huge story in the near future! Fear, hate and violence loom, but don't worry, The Crew's got this: They are the streets. COLLECTING: BLACK PANTHER AND THE CREW 1-6 Call Number: PN6728.B523 C64 2017 Cousin Joseph by With the New York Times bestseller Kill My Mother, legendary cartoonist Jules Feiffer began an epic saga of American noir fiction. With Cousin Joseph, a prequel that introduces us to bare-knuckled Detective Sam Hannigan, head of the Bay City's Red Squad and patriarch of the Hannigan family featured in Kill My Mother, Feiffer brings us the second installment in this highly anticipated graphic trilogy.Our story opens in Bay City in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression. Big Sam sees himself as a righteous, truth-seeking patriot, defending the American way, as his Irish immigrant father would have wanted, against a rising tide of left-wing unionism, strikes, and disruption that plague his home town. At the same time he makes monthly, secret overnight trips on behalf of Cousin Joseph, a mysterious man on the phone he has never laid eyes on, to pay off Hollywood producers to ensure that they will film only upbeat films that idealize a mythic America: no warts, no injustice uncorrected, only happy endings.But Sam, himself, is not in for a happy ending, as step by step the secret of his unseen mentor's duplicity is revealed to him. Fast-moving action, violence, and murder in the noir style of pulps and forties films are melded in the satiric, sociopolitical Feifferian style to dig up the buried fearmongering of the past and expose how closely it matches the headlines, happenings, and violence of today.With Cousin Joseph, Feiffer builds on his late-life conversion to cinematic noir, bowing, as ever, to youthful heroes Will Eisner and Milton Caniff, but ultimately creating a masterpiece that through his unique perspective and comic-strip noir style illuminates the very origins of Hollywood and its role in creating the bipolar nation we've become. Call Number: PN6727.F4 C68 2016 Patience by Patience is a psychedelic science-fiction love story, veering with uncanny precision from violent destruction to deeply personal tenderness in a way that is both quintessentially âeoeClowesianâe and utterly unique in the authorâe(tm)s body of work. This 180-page, full-color original graphic novel affords Clowes the opportunity to draw some of the most exuberant and breathtaking pages of his life, and to tell his most suspenseful, surprising and affecting story yet. Call Number: PN6727.C565 P38 2016 Blankets by "Quaint, meditative and sometimes dreamy, blankets will take you straight back to your first kiss." --The Guardian Blankets is the story of a young man coming of age and finding the confidence to express his creative voice. Craig Thompson's poignant graphic memoir plays out against the backdrop of a Midwestern winterscape: finely-hewn linework draws together a portrait of small town life, a rigorously fundamentalist Christian childhood, and a lonely, emotionally mixed-up adolescence. Under an engulfing blanket of snow, Craig and Raina fall in love at winter church camp, revealing to one another their struggles with faith and their dreams of escape. Over time though, their personal demons resurface and their relationship falls apart. It's a universal story, and Thompson's vibrant brushstrokes and unique page designs make the familiar heartbreaking all over again. This groundbreaking graphic novel, winner of two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, is an eloquent portrait of adolescent yearning; first love (and first heartache); faith in crisis; and the process of moving beyond all of that. Beautifully rendered in pen and ink, Thompson has created a love story that lasts. Call Number: PN6727.T48 B63 2016

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Welcome to Writing Tips Oasis’ newest guide, dedicated on how to write middle grade fiction. Writing for children, regardless of their age, can be more difficult than writing for adults – in any genre, mostly because it’s very easy for us to forget what it’s like to be children. Hence, we end up with stories that no child would want to read. Moreover, children between the ages of 8 and 13 are very different. An 8-year-old is more viable to enjoy a novel targeted towards children, but a 13-year-old will be more interested in young adult fiction, for example. Trying to write a middle grade fiction novel means understanding the fact that if you become “too childish’’ in your novel, half of your intended audience will not enjoy it. However, go for a bit more mature and a bit more dramatic, and you get very close to young adult fiction. However, that doesn’t mean that you cannot find a balance. For example, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, falls into middle grade fiction. Even so, children and adults of all ages have come to enjoy it. Knowing beforehand how middle grade fiction distinguishes itself in comparison to children’s fiction and young adult fiction will enable you to guide your novel in the right direction. This guide is divided in three parts, all three of which is dedicated to understanding and deconstructing of all the elements that make middle grade fiction. Table of Contents - Part One: Defining the Middle Grade Genre - 1) Age in Middle Grade fiction - 2) Middle Grade fiction: early ages 8-10 - 3) Middle Grade fiction: late ages 11-13 - 4) Finding the kid voice - 5) Getting inside the protagonist’s head - 6) Mixing in other genres - Part Two: Plotting, characterization, and narrative - 1) Defining a protagonist - 2) Creating the plot - 3) Defining the cast of characters - 4) Narrative - 5) Themes and ideas - 6) Impact of the modern age on Middle Grade fiction - Part Three: Illustrations and other extras in Middle Grade fiction - 1) Illustrations: yes or no? - 2) Mixing other genres - 3) Writing style - 4) On preaching vs. teaching - 5) Creating impact and grabbing attention - 6) Importance of word count Part One: Defining the Middle Grade Genre One of the best things about the middle age genre is this: it’s an age demographic. People only recently began to consider it a separate genre belonging to children’s fiction. However, that doesn’t mean that writing for the specific age demographic of 8 until 12 is somehow more difficult than writing for children or young adults. The elements of a good story remain the same in every genre. The difference here is in the themes you choose to tackle in your stories, and what your target audience will be. For that reason, it’s impossible to not further divide middle grade fiction into two age categories: early and late, early covering ages 8-10, and late covering ages 11-13. However, another way of looking at middle grade fiction is through themes, writing style and tone. Younger children, belonging in the early group, will be interested in lighter topics, while older children might be more interested in crushing and very light romance. And while all children’s stories are essentially coming of age, middle grade is the time when we first discover the big bad world. Themes like being self-conscious, friendship, and even bullying in modern times, are interesting to the children who like to read about discovering oneself. On the other hand, humor, adventure, and fantasy will interest other children. That’s what makes age so important in middle grade fiction. 1) Age in Middle Grade fiction Your protagonist can be a little older or younger than your targeted audience, however, an 8-year-old might not pick up a book about a 7-year-old protagonist, but they will definitely pick it up even if the protagonist was aged 9 or 10. So, ideally, the age of the protagonist will be the same or older than your intended readers. For example, a late middle grade fiction protagonist can be aged 13 or even 14. 14 can be too young for young adult (depending on the story), but it can fit in late middle grade fiction. Children like to read about characters that are a little older than themselves – but not too much. 2) Middle Grade fiction: early ages 8-10 The second difference between early and late middle grade fiction stems from the themes, situations, and aims of your novel. If your novel is aimed at the younger crowd of eight to ten-year-olds, then your themes should revolve around friendship, family, humor. In other words, lighter themes that would engage the mind of the children. Many kids turn into lifelong readers at this age, which makes your novel really important. It’s one thing to write a great novel that all adults can enjoy, but writing the kind of novel that will make an 8-year-old say “I want to read more stories like this” is a completely different thing. The early middle grade novels focus more on lighthearted stories, like child superheroes and their friends. Some of them maybe even have juvenile humor (think fart jokes), because that’s what some middle graders want to read. You’re not writing a school textbook; you’re providing entertainment for children. And while it’s okay to dab into serious themes and topics, you have to do it while using the right perspective and voice. When you’re writing novels aimed for the early middle grade age, think more like a child and less like a young adult. 3) Middle Grade fiction: late ages 11-13 The latter ages, from 11 to 13 are a very special time in a child’s life. Children slowly leave more and more of their childhood behind, and they get closer and closer to being teenagers. An 11-year-old might be interested in reading about the adventures of an 8-year-old child, but chances are they would be more interested in a protagonist who is 12 or 13. The themes in this age range from friendship and family to first crush and romance. These are the times when the child begins to really see the world around them. The children that sit alone at lunch have different views of the world than those who walk around in a clique of friends. Belonging and fitting in become important themes that continue into the young adult (teenage) age, and while birthday parties and sleepovers are the highlight of a child’s social life, when they do not happen, there is a reason for it. However, this doesn’t mean that just because you decided to make your protagonist 12 years old, that you need to shy away from lighter topics and adventure (and even fart jokes). Kids are different, and some kids want to read about self-discovery, but others just want the fun a story can bring. 4) Finding the kid voice The voice of your protagonist is, obviously, the most important, regardless of whether you’re writing in first person point of view or third. First, you need to decide how eloquent the protagonist will be. A child up to 13 years old will not use words that are too long or too obscure. An even younger child might still have problems saying some words. For example, the word repercussions might become ripper cushions. There are three ways for you to try to capture the voice of your protagonist (and other children in your novel). First, you can (and must!) read other books in your intended genre. Not to copy, but to see how it’s done, and to determine whether it’s good or not. The second way is by delving deep into your own childhood memories and remembering what it was like to be in that age. The third way to do this is by talking, conversing, and communicating with children of the same age. Because here is the kicker: you might have loved Anne of Green Gables as a child, especially if you grew up before the digital age came with all its smartphones and tablets and even hoverboards (even though they don’t hover). An 8-year-old today is much more viable to have a hoverboard rather than a skateboard. Your memories serve to put you in the child’s state of mind, but unless you spend time with children who are middle grade in 2018, you will not know how a child views a smartphone, a tablet, or a computer. 5) Getting inside the protagonist’s head Since we’re talking about children, getting inside their heads (or, your protagonist’s head), is both easy in one aspect and difficult in another. The reason why it’s easy: your protagonist has only lived for less than a decade. You do not need to craft an extensive backstory that includes everything the protagonist has been through up until the moment your novel starts. The difficulty stems from the fact that you’re still an adult, and middle grade was a long time ago for you. Add in the fact that the world changes drastically in the last 20 years, this makes your job even more difficult. In addition, think about the message you’re sending. If you show a 10-year-old girl whose goal in the day is to make a cute Facebook selfie, what kind of a message are you sending to other 10-year-old girls? However, this is where backstory comes to help, in addition with the three ways of finding the voice of a child we mentioned in the previous section. How did your protagonist grow up? Does he or she live with both her parents, or is he or she the child of a single parent? Where are the grandparents? Are they in the picture or not, and if not, what happened to them? Moreover, how does the child feel about the presence (or lack thereof) of parents or grandparents? Then, we move on to school. Did the child go to pre-school or not? If he or she did not go to pre-school, did he or she have problems socializing in elementary school? Then, move on to middle grade before the novel starts. How many friends? How good of a friends? What is their daily routine? Do they care about school and learning, or do they prefer to go out and play? Add in the modern technology – is the child more comfortable sitting at home playing Nintendo Wii or PlayStation, or they prefer to go out and play football? Create one normal day in the life of your protagonist, follow his or her thoughts and goals during that day, and figure out the right moment when his or her adventure begins. 6) Mixing in other genres Adventure is prevalent in middle grade fiction, as well as children’s fiction, not because the characters go on a literal adventure (although, most often they do), but because the events of the novel are presented as such. But, you can target any kind of genre towards children, within some limits, of course. Science fiction and fantasy, for example, but also mystery and slice-of-life become adventures when one constant in a child’s life is changed (visiting Grandma in the countryside, for example, can be a great slice-of-life adventure). We already covered romance – it should be light, and you might add in a first kiss if the protagonist is of the older, late category. Mystery revolves around a missing item or a pet that has accidentally escaped. You can cover tougher themes, because God knows that not every child has a happy childhood, but it goes without saying that if you choose to put a child in a thriller, then you’re not writing a book for children, regardless of their age. Unfortunately, children do not buy novels for themselves – their parents do, and if their parents decide that your novel has the potential to psychologically scar their children, your novel will remain on the shelf for years, waiting to be bought. This doesn’t mean that tougher themes cannot prevail in middle grade fiction – A Series of Unfortunate Events is prime example of how you can write books with difficult themes aimed at children. It’s all in the interpretation, perspective, and tone. Part Two: Plotting, characterization, and narrative For some writers, the most difficult thing is to know what to write. Other writers sit down and write a story in one sitting, no previous planning needed. Regardless of which group you belong to, knowing how to build a plot, how to show your characters within it, and to wrap it up in a narrative suitable and attractive to children, is imperative to telling a story. You might want to rely on instinct, and some writers are able to instinctively feel their way when telling a story, however, in most cases, something ends up missing. For that reason, in this section, we’ll talk about plotting, characterization and narrative in middle grade fiction, and what makes middle grade fiction stand out. 1) Defining a protagonist Defining the protagonist is a task that every writer takes on differently. Some writers prefer to discover more about their characters as they write the story, while others define their protagonists from the start. Here, we will talk about defining the protagonist in the simplest sense. Besides age and appearance, you need to answer the following questions: – What kind of traits does the protagonist possess? – What kind of a lesson will the protagonist learn at the end? – What changes in the protagonist from start to finish. Your characters should not be perfect, even though they are children. Children can be just as ‘flawed’ as adults. By flawed, we do not mean ‘defect’ in any kind of way, we’re referring to traits that are and should be subjected to change. A child that doesn’t know how to share might be told that they are about receive a baby brother or a sister. The story revolves around the child learning how to share with friends, cousins and relatives. A spoiled child, for example, might learn that just because they want that new shiny expensive object, it doesn’t mean that they need it. Sure, you might tell yourself, “I want to write a story about an orphaned child,” but unless you define that orphan, his or her surroundings, the things that he or she will learn along the way, you will have a series of events that might be loosely connected via cause and effect, but at the end, the readers will ask themselves, “so, what was the point of this story?” And, you don’t really want that, do you? 2) Creating the plot In a good novel, there are always two things: a plot and a character’s arc for the protagonist. When you have a well-defined protagonist, when you know which traits the protagonist will change, you can create a plot that will help you bring these things to life. The plot is easy to define: in all novels, the protagonist is presented with a problem that they have to solve. The protagonist always goes for the easiest solution, which leads us to the first plot point. However, the easiest solution doesn’t work, and it is only when the protagonist learns his or her lesson, when they change for the better, that we get the second plot point – the correct solution to the problem, and from there, move on to the resolution of the overall conflict. In middle grade fiction, these problems do not have to be worldly problems where the child has to save the world (although, there are great novels out there where children do save the world). Saving the world can mean anything for a child. Saving the world can mean defeating the neighborhood bully for good just so that the protagonist and his or her friends can play outside again in peace without the bully bothering them. Once the protagonist has a single goal in mind, you can begin to build your novel in three acts. Act 1: The first act in any novel is always the same: you introduce your characters, the protagonist, and the normal world where they live and interact. Even if you’re writing science fiction or fantasy, you need to define the “normal world” and present it to the readers. Act 1 also introduces the problem that the protagonist has to solve, and the inciting incident that causes the problem or makes the protagonist aware of it. When the protagonist makes the easiest (wrong) decision to solve the problem (or even deny it), you end the first act and begin with the second. Act 2: At the beginning of act 2, it appears as if the protagonist has made the right decision. Things might even go really well for a while. However, since the problem hasn’t really been solved, this leads to small disasters, then bigger ones, until finally, the protagonist has to really face the problem and make the right decision. This moment is known as the second plot point, and this is when the second act ends. In the third act, or, the resolution, the protagonist, now changed for the better, has made the right decision, and the time has come to either defeat the enemy, or fight a final battle, or do something that previously they did not want to even consider doing. This leads to the ending. Now, the above is only a blueprint. You need to build up the plot as such following the line of cause and effect. You need to get from the inciting incident to the first plot point, and then to the second. Another thing you must remember is that the first and second plot points are not connected by cause and effect directly. As such, with the help of your cast of characters and the protagonist’s traits, you can add subplots – small mini stories that include the other characters and that help you show your protagonist’s character better, or a bigger subplot that will take more page time and run almost parallel to the main one. Whichever way you decide to go, remember that every scene needs to be either plot related, subplot related via cause and effect, and serve to portray your characters better. If it’s just slice of life without any real plot-related substance, that scene will have to go. 3) Defining the cast of characters There are two reasons why you need a cast of characters in your novel. The first is because your protagonist will never be all-knowing and able to do everything by themselves. Another reason is connected to the protagonist. The easiest way to show a character’s personality traits is in contrast with other characters. Adult characters help you show better the mind of a child – especially through the relationship between the child and the adult character. Besides, the world of children can be full of people: friends, family members, extended family members, teachers, school mates, and more. Defining the cast of characters means choosing the role of each character. Once you’ve defined the role, you will have to create extensive backstories for the characters. The backstories will help you give each character a distinct voice, which is highly important, especially in scenes with dialogue. What you need to remember, at all times, is who is telling the story. Writing in omnipresent point of view gives you the opportunity to get into many characters’ head and reveal things to the reader that the protagonist doesn’t know. On the other hand, writing in first or third person limited point of view means telling a story as the protagonist – no jumping around in other people’s heads. What the protagonist knows is the same thing that the readers know. Remember that you’re writing a story about children meant to be read by children. Keep the narrative in the spirit of childhood, even if you’re showing themes that are difficult for a child to fully comprehend. Using words that children understand is imperative, keeping the violence to a minimum is preferable, and keeping the tone light and hopeful ideal for a middle grade story. On the other hand, if your narrative is adult-like, how do you expect children to fully understand and enjoy your novel? Children can tell when the narrator is “adult” just by reading a couple of paragraphs. This makes them not want to finish reading and leave your novel aside in favor of novels with a lighter narrative that enables them to go on a ride, have an adventure, and still understand everything that’s happening. 5) Themes and ideas Reading other middle grade books will give you a good idea on the themes and ideas that are prevalent in it. From love, friendship, family, to loyalty, courage, bravery, determination and perseverance. Including kindness, empathy, working in a team, and compassion. Conveying these ideas in writing is a different matter entirely. One of the best ways to show these themes is through the events of the plot. Perseverance is shown through the protagonist taking on impossible odds and achieving his or her goal. The only difference between adult fiction and middle grade fiction, when it comes to themes, is the representation. For a child, perseverance can be shown by not giving up on even the simplest of goals. Kindness is shown through adversary, while true friendship, just like true love, can survive all sorts of trials. What you should not do is try to cram too many themes into one novel. Choose one or two prevalent themes that the plot will revolve around, and let the other themes show themselves naturally in specific moments or events in the novel. 6) Impact of the modern age on Middle Grade fiction As we previously said, a middle grader today will most probably ride a hoverboard rather than a skateboard. Kids from today barely even know what a landline telephone with a cord is, let alone a VHS. But, they do know how to use tablets, smartphones, and computers from a very young age. Sure, you can omit technology in your novel, but that automatically transfers your novel back to the 90s when smartphones did not exist. But, today’s children might not find your novel believable. For example, a child running away from home and spending a day on their own in the city might have worked as a story in the 90s, but today? Today that kid will have their phone on them, so either have the kid discard the phone, or show the kid answering or ignoring its parents’ frantic phone calls. Point is, modern technology is a big part of children’s worlds today, and you should find a way to use it in your novel. Even social media is becoming more and more present in children’s world, as more and more kids have connections on Facebook and Instagram. Adding modern technology in your novel does not encumber you in any way, especially since the use of technology by children opens up many opportunities for themes like childhood and what it means in the modern world, how fast do you grow up with technology at your fingertips, and what kind of dangers can come, not from the outside world, but from the world inside a child’s smartphone. Part Three: Illustrations and other extras in Middle Grade fiction It’s very uncommon for an adult novel to have illustrations and other extras, but even adults are happy when a book offers something more than just words and sentences. When it comes to children, these extras can make your novel even more attractive. If you’re writing a middle grade fiction novel, you need to consider which one of these extras you can and should include. By default, this will depend on the story you’re telling, and on the impact you’re trying to achieve. In the last part of this guide, we’ll be focusing on illustrations, writing style – especially, writing style meant for children, and other extras that can help you boost your novel to great levels. 1) Illustrations: yes or no? If you’re writing for the early middle graders, ages 8 to 10, you might want to consider adding illustrations to your novel. Now, there are a few things you need to know. Unless you’re a gifted illustrator, you will need to hire one to create these for you. That means commissioning art, which might be expensive, especially if you’re self-publishing. If a big publishing house stands behind you, on the other hand, illustrations might be included in your novel regardless of whether or not you want them in your novel or nor. If you decide to go for it, know that early middle grade fiction allows for full page illustrations of places, characters, and events. But, this might make your book longer and more expensive to print. On the other hand, if you’re writing for ages 10 and up, you should remember that one illustration of an object or a character at the beginning of each chapter is enough. 2) Mixing other genres Middle grade fiction, as we previously said, turns any kind of story into an adventure, due to the ages of the characters and the protagonist. However, here are a few things to keep in mind if you wish to mix in other genres. Science fiction and fantasy: do not think that it’s easy to add science fiction and fantasy in a novel for middle graders, thinking that since these kids barely know the laws of science, no one can dispute your worldbuilding. But that’s not exactly true. Children know and understand rules, and if you deem to break your own worldbuilding rules in science fiction and fantasy, they will know what you’ve done. Many of them will scoff and say, “that’s not possible,” and they’ll be taken out of the story just like any adult would. If you wish to mix in a mystery, treat your protagonist like a mini-detective with a keen mind, and do not offer the solution out of the blue. Have the protagonist solve the mystery by following clues and making the right deductions (and wrong ones from which he will learn). Do not believe that you get a shortcut just because you’re writing for children, working under the false belief that children will believe anything. Of course, children have great imagination, and yes, if you present a planet that has no gravity in your story and everybody is flying around on the surface, then they will accept the possibility of such a planet existing. But, this doesn’t mean that you can also have that planet rain candy out of rainbow-colored clouds, wrappers and everything. Keep it real and imaginative, rather than throwing everything on the wall and see what sticks, even if it doesn’t make sense. 3) Writing style One of the biggest mistakes you can make in writing for middle graders (and children in general) is to write down at them. They are children, but they are neither slow nor stupid. There is no need for you to repeat the same things over and over again, and there is no need for you to dumb down the language and writing style. Remember, middle grade is the age when children begin to discover the world. They are curious and can be very sharp at times, and they will know when a writer is dumbing it down. There is no need for that. However, a middle grade novel is also not the place for philosophical statements, recollections, and long paragraphs of inner reflection and thoughts. This has the opposite effect: the children read but do not understand much, which means, they are not enjoying reading your novel. And while some adults might overcome this problem and finish your novel, children will stop reading and never go back to it. Your best bet is to have a child read your middle grade story (or a part of it). Gauge their reaction and then make changes accordingly. 4) On preaching vs. teaching When it comes to talking down to children, another problem that arises is the difference between preaching and teaching. Teaching is guiding the child to understanding something about life. You do not tell them, you show them and you help them come to the right conclusion and learning the lesson. Preaching, on the other hand, is telling the child over and over again that the sky is blue and can only be blue (even though it can be grey when it rains, white when it snows, black at night). Everyone has their own beliefs, but writers always face the problem of preaching – even when writing for adults. Do not preach your principles and opinions in your novel, especially not when it’s intended for children. With the theme of your novel in mind, find a way to include important life lessons in it – but through the eyes and perspective of your protagonist. Guide your protagonist, let your protagonist learn on his own, and you will not have the problem of preaching in your novel. Yes, stealing is bad, for example, but instead of having five different characters say that in five different scenes, have the protagonist steal something, face the consequences, and then learn and understand why stealing is wrong. 5) Creating impact and grabbing attention Here is the moment where your creativity shows itself to its full light. Alas, maybe you wanted to wind surf when you were a kid, and maybe you think that this will be so fun to depict in a novel, but unless that activity makes sense in the story, it might not really belong in there. Your middle grade novel is not the place where you can live out your childhood wishes and things you never got to do. On the other hand, having a middle grader attend school and only school in your novel is also not a good idea, even though school takes up most of a child’s day. Focus on action, and on change. Open your novel with the child going to school, then immediately have the action happen that jumpstarts the plot. Middle grade fiction novels are shorter, in general, than adult contemporary novels. This means that you need to exclude everything that’s not necessary to the story. Keep school only if the story happens at the school. And even then, in the name of entertainment, make the events that happen both fun and realistic. 6) Importance of word count When it comes to word count, middle grade fiction ranges anywhere from 20K to 50-60K. This is because children have shorter attention spans than adults, and if they see that a book is ‘very big’ they might not even want to read it. And while that epic fantasy revolving around children will be awesome for you to write, the children meant to read it might not be interested in reading such a long novel, no matter how amazing it might actually be. On the other hand, a shorter novel means a quicker plot (because you still need to get from plot point one to plot point two). You have less page time to show and develop and flesh out your characters, so make sure that every scene in your novel has an impact on the plot and it serves to show character. Otherwise, you will have to cut it out in the editing process. All readers want to read a story that they enjoy. Some readers prefer to read a story that will take them on an adventure and make them think. Other readers prefer only the adventure. They read to escape, not to reflect on the real world or their own lives. Children are the same. Your story might be an adventure that also teaches kids about love, friendship, loyalty, and more, or your story might be intended to make children laugh. Whichever way you go, if your characters are vivid enough, if your story is interesting, and if you do not write down to children and preach in your story, then children will love it. Writing a great novel for adults is easier because we are also adults, and we understand adults a lot more. Writing a great novel for children might be more difficult, but it can be done, and who knows when the next JK Rowling will come along? Keep writing and practicing your craft, and you will write a novel that all kids would enjoy. Good luck! Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As a screenwriting student, she is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, watching a film or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her own.

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Wonder Questions and Answers - Discover the eNotes.com community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on Wonder Wonder study guide contains a biography of R.J. Palacio, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis Once students have completed the questions for the novel, Wonder by RJ Palacio, they are to complete one of the attached projects. Students will be allowed to choose to complete a reflection journal or collage. Projects are due to their Language Arts teacher on September 16, 2013. It will be counted as your first book report grade. 1 . by. Kara Rowland. $2.00. Word Document File. 11 vocab words and 13 questions on the Jack Chapter of Wonder. Answer key is included for the questions. Subjects: Literature, Reading 30 seconds. Q. At school, there was a monumental shift for August after. answer choices. Miles, Henry, and Amos stood up for him at Broarwood when some seventh graders tried to beat him up. everyone found out how smart he was. his mom told Mr. Tushman that Julian had been leaving mean notes in his locker During this unit, students use the novel Wonder, fiction and nonfiction texts, and other media to explore literary concepts, including point of view, character development, figurative language, setting, plot, mood, and tone. Students also practice analyzing literature, making predictions, and supporting their thoughts with evidence from the text R.J. Palacio's Wonder — Book Club Discussion Questions. Erin Collazo Miller is a freelance book critic whose work has appeared regularly in the Orlando Sentinel. Yes, it's a kids' book. Wonder by R.J. Palacio is juvenile fiction, written with a target audience of kids from 8 to 13 years old. Consequently, most of the author's and publisher. Wonder by R. J. Palacio. Pre-reading research activity, thematic connections, cross-curricular learning activities. 4 pages; Adobe Reader required. Wonder. Scroll to page 10 of this 15-page document to find a plot summary, pre-reading discussion questions, a brief author biography, related titles, and an extensive list of post-reading learning. . These collaborative reading responses are my absolute favorite group work activity. Each student is first accountable for writing their own answer on a sticky note, and then they work to stick together their answers to. In Wonder, Auggie refers to his condition as Mandibulofacial Dysostosis, which is also known as Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS). This is an inherited developmental disorder with a prevalence estimated to range between 1 in 40,000 to 1 in 70,000 of live births. TCS is a condition in which the cheek-bones and jawbones are underdeveloped This is a plan for roughly 6 weeks' worth of reading lessons (24 sessions - provided you do at least 4 a week. Each session lasts about 30-40 mins). It's definitely aimed towards Year 6, but could be adapted for a Year 5 class. I have used question starters taken from the 2016 sample SATs paper and real SATs paper to prepare children for. WONDER CLASSROOM DISCUSSION GUIDE In Wonder, R.J. Palacio tells the story of Auggie, a tough, sweet, 10-year-old boy, who was born with distorted facial features — a craniofacial difference caused by an anomaly in his DNA. Wonder shares the experiences Auggie encounters during his transition from home school to public school, as well a Wonder: Classroom Activities. August Pullman is not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. Sure, he's a huge Star Wars fan, he loves his dog, and he's got a pretty good sense of humor. But August was born with a craniofacial abnormality, a genetic defect that caused his facial features to be severely deformed comprehension questions, constructed response writing, and skill practice. I hope your students enjoy a book study using the engaging method of using interactive notebooks. Wonder Realistic Fiction Interest Level ~ Grades 5-7 Grade level Equivalent: 5 Lexile Measure®: 790L Genre: Realistic Fictio Wonder Summary. W onder is a novel by R.J. Palacio about August Pullman, a ten-year-old boy who suffers from severe birth defects, as he navigates school life.. August begins attending school. 5 Questions With... R.J. Palacio (WONDER) (?) R.J. Palacio lives in NYC with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. For many years, she was an art director and book jacket designer, designing covers for countless well-known and not so well-known writers in every genre of fiction and nonfiction. She always wanted to write, though What are some question words you can use to write your wonder?) C. Independent Writing: Noticing and Wondering about the Sun, Moon, and Stars (15 minutes) Give students specific, positive feedback on their discussions during the Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face protocol Answer Questions Concepts of Print: Book Handling and Labels Title: Games Long Ago Genre: Nonfiction Strategy: Ask and Answer Questions Short Text: Toss! Kick! Hop! Genre: Nonfiction Strategy: Ask and Answer Questions Skill: Key Details Strategy: Ask and Answer Questions Skill: Key Details Main Selection Title: Friends Genre: Nonfiction. What does this story make you wonder about? What surprised you? How well did the author and illustrator do in making you think they can create the kinds of stories you will like? Home: Literacy, media, literature, children's literature, & language arts . Dr. Robert Sweetland's notes [Home: homeofbob.com & thehob.net A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. Author interviews, book reviews and lively book commentary are found here. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors Wonder Literature Circle #5. JK. Published with reusable license by Jennifer Kane. October 27, 2014 The Wonder lesson plan contains a variety of teaching materials that cater to all learning styles. Inside you'll find 30 Daily Lessons, 20 Fun Activities, 180 Multiple Choice Questions, 60 Short Essay Questions, 20 Essay Questions, Quizzes/Homework Assignments, Tests, and more. The lessons and activities will help students gain an intimate. A vocabulary list featuring Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Part I. In this novel, a boy with facial anomalies tries to navigate the sometimes treacherous world of public school. Learn these words from R.J. Palacio's heartwarming and thought-provoking bestseller. Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part 1,.. Teaching WONDER with Trudy Ludwig #WONDERschools Trudy Ludwig is a member of the Random House Speakers Bureau, a children's advocate, and the bestselling author of , Just My Secret Bully Kidding, Sorry!, Trouble Talk, Too Perfect, Confessions of a Former Bully, and Better Than You.For more information about Trudy and her work t Inspired by Wonder, this anti-bullying initiative encourages young readers to share their story and introduce the theme of Choose Kind to your classroom or reading group all year long. No matter the season, students can make the words of wisdom from Auggie, Summer, Olivia, and the whole cast of characters in Wonder their own. Here are some. Wonder is a complex emotion involving elements of surprise, curiosity, contemplation, and joy. It is perhaps best defined as a heightened state of consciousness and emotion brought about by. The overall tone of this poem is of wonder, inquisitiveness and childhood innocence. The mood that the speaker conveys is of being happy, captivated and child-like innocence as she explores the many elements in nature. The child in the poem is awed by nature and ponders by asking questions. The many questions posed relate directly to her curiosity Wonder Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on Wonder by R. J. Palacio. Wonder by R. J. Palacio tells the story of ten-year-old August Bullying Awareness & Prevention. KidCitizen Engagement. Fifty Best Books for 9 & 10 Year Olds. Comforting Reads. Elementary BOB 20-21. Elementary Library Books. I.S. 73's ELA Books for Grades 6-8. HCS 6th Grade Book Club Suggestions. Niles High School Books The child is outdoors on a windy day. She questions why the grass is green and the wind is only felt but not seen. Stanza 2. The wind has subsided and the trees have stopped swaying. The birds are building their nests in the trees. The child is curious to find out who taught the birds this skill. Stanza 3. The child's thoughts drift to the moon. But Wonder, the book, operates on a level that seems impervious to the powers of cinema. Perhaps its greatest power resides exclusively in the province of literature Rhetorical Question: A figure of speech indicating a question asked only to produce an effect or make a statement, rather than to evoke an answer or information. It is asked when the questioner already knows the answer or an answer is not really required. Meaning & Purpose ★ The Greeks took lessons to mesmerize audiences with their oratory and public speaking skills mostly for political. Example 2 offers space to note wonder words -- words that students would like to talk about with their group, as well as a place to jot a question or two for discussion. Example 3 is more open-ended, simply providing space to capture ideas Wonder tells the story of ten-year-old August Pullman 's first year going to school. Because he was born with a rare craniofacial condition that necessitated multiple major surgeries, his parents felt it was best to homeschool him for much of his childhood—both to help him keep up with his studies, and to protect him from the bullying and stares he attracts that would likely intensify in a. MCQ Questions for Class 6 English A Pact with the Sun Chapter 7 The Wonder Called Sleep with Answers. Question 1. A lullaby is sung. (a) for the little ones to wake up. (b) for the little ones to go to sleep. (c) when the little ones are crying. (d) to make the little ones laugh Overview. Wonder is a middle-grade novel written by R.J. Palacio and published in 2012 by Alfred A. Knopf.The novel is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and also a major motion picture. Though multiple narrators tell the tale, the plot centers around August Auggie Pullman, a 10-year-old kid who suffers from a genetic condition called mandibulofacial dystosis that has left his face misshapen Jun 11, 2017 - Elementary level See, Think, Wonder exercises including pictures, worksheets, stations, and activities. For Social Studies, Science. See more ideas about see think wonder, visible thinking, social studies Step 6: Ask Questions and Give Feedback in the Now. Typically, questions are given at the end of the chapter. When we tried this style, children would get the first question wrong, and give up. Wonder (Wonder #1), R.J. Palacio. Wonder is a children's novel by Raquel Jaramillo, under the pen name of R. J. Palacio, published on February 14, 2012. Palacio wrote Wonder after an incident where she and her three-year-old son were waiting in line to buy ice cream. Her son noticed a girl with facial birth defects Find out what happens in our Chapter 3 summary for Wonder by R.J. Palacio. This free study guide is stuffed with the juicy details and important facts you need to know Wonder by R. J. Palacio. In Wonder, R. J. Palacio 's life-affirming and sometimes heartbreaking story, a facially disfigured boy named August navigates his way through his first year at middle school. Read an extract from the opening chapters 29. 172,875. I have started teaching the poem I Wonder by Jeannie Kirby, the Form 2 new literature component. The poem consists of 6 short stanzas. In my opinion, the poem is straight forward and easy to understand. Here's the poem: I WONDER. By: Jeannie Kirby. I wonder why the grass is green The book provides philosophical questions in the kid contexts. I like the overall purpose of this book. Asking a philosophical question must be good for kids' thinking skill development. I like it. But, as a parent, I need to first explain to my kid what the questions mean because of the words that kids wouldn't understand Though we are mostly an essay writing service, this still doesn't mean that we specialize on essays only. Sure, we can write you a top-quality Wonder Novel Essay Questions essay, be it admission, persuasive or description one, but if you have a more challenging paper to write, don't worry. We can help with that too, crafting a course paper, a dissertation, etc Chbosky's latest film, Wonder , is an adaptation of R.J. Palacio's 2012 bestseller about a fifth-grader named Auggie Pullman, who has a craniofacial difference caused by Treacher Collins. The study of philosophy enhances, in a way no other activity does, one's problem-solving capacities. It helps one to analyze concepts, definitions, arguments and problems. It contributes to one's capacity to organize ideas and issues, to deal with questions of value, and to extract what is essential from masses of information. * Communication. The book Wonder by R. J. Palacio is a realistic fiction novel set in North River Heights, New York. August has to go to school for the first time with a different face than others. One of the most interesting characters in this book is Summer, she was the nicest to August at school Asking Questions The most important questions don't seem to have ready answers. But the questions themselves have a healing power when they are shared. An answer is an invitation to stop thinking about something, to stop wondering. Life has no such stopping places. Life is a process where every event is connected to the moment that just went by Mr. Browne's precepts play an important part in Wonder. In addition to his precepts, Auggie and his classmates offer some of their own over the summer. Finally, if we pull some important and powerful lines from the book itself, we get some quotes that can stand on their own as precepts • Read a greater variety of literature, even into adulthood (Collins & Kortner, 1995; Halsted, 1990) • Read at least two grade levels above their chronological grade placement • Demonstrate advanced understanding of language • Have an expansive vocabulary • Perceive relationships between and among character Research question examples. Published on April 18, 2019 by Shona McCombes. Revised on June 5, 2020. The research question is one of the most important parts of your research project, thesis or dissertation. It's important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started Learn more about PICOT questions in the next module. 2. ACQUIRE the current evidence. You'll do this by conducting a literature search. Your search will be guided by your clinical question. 3. APPRAISE the literature. Or, in other words, sort, read, and critique peer-reviewed literature. 4. APPLY your findings to clinical decision-making So glad you asked! Questions with more than one correct answer or questions which can be answered in various ways are called open‐ended or divergent questions. They are subjective and leave a bunch of space for creativity and individuality. This way of asking questions stimulates language and acknowledges the many solutions a problem can have Whole Book. This worksheet can be used to check students' comprehension after reading the entire book. Includes true-false questions, multiple choice, and short answer questions. Find the words hidden in the puzzle. Word list includes Junie B. Jones, bus, principal, teacher, kindergarten, and Lucille Authentic Literature in McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders. Grade K Literature Big Books. Unit 1, Week 1 What About Bear? by Suzanne Bloom. Unit 1, Week 2 Pouch! by David Ezra Stein. Unit 1, Week 3 Senses at the Seashore by Shelley Rotner. Unit 2, Week 1 The Handiest Things in the World by Andrew Clements The 40 Reflection Questions Backward-Looking: 1. How much did you know about the subject before we started? 2. What process did you go through to produce this piece? 3. Have you done a similar kind of work in the past (earlier in the year or in a previous grade; in school or out of school)? 4. In what ways have you gotten better at this kind of. Though we are mostly an essay writing service, this still doesn't mean that we specialize on essays only. Sure, we can write you a top-quality Wonder Novel Essay Questions essay, be it admission, persuasive or description one, but if you have a more challenging paper to write, don't worry. We can help with that too, crafting a course paper, a dissertation, etc In her acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996, Wisława Szymborska talked about her own personal idea of what inspiration is. Although she could not define it, she was sure that it always comes from curiosity, a series of questions that have no definitive answer. From this perspective, poetry has a lot in common with. Question 11. Garbage has two different meanings—one for the children and another for the adults. Comment. (Comptt. All India 2012) Answer: For the children garbage has a different meaning from what it means for the adults. For the children it is wrapped in wonder, their eyes light-up when they find a rupee or a ten-rupee note in it The research behind the Wonder Critical Thinking Questions writing is always 100% original, and the Wonder Critical Thinking Questions writing is guaranteed free of plagiarism. Leave your tiresome assignments to our professional writers that. will bring you quality papers before the deadline for reasonable prices. Qualified No wonder that research shows us that proficient readers are always asking their own questions as they read - questions to clarify misunderstandings, questions to satisfy curiosity, and questions to probe more deeply into new and meaningful ideas The ICSE Class 10 English Literature 2019 Paper 2 exam was conducted on 25th February 2019. The exam started at 11 am, and students were allotted 2 hours of time duration to finish the Literature English paper. Students can download the ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper Solution 2019 PDF from the link below See Think Wonder Thinking Routine. sAdapting the Language You can make adjustments to the language of the See Think Wonder routine based on the type of stimulus you are using. As you can see from the template example on the left, I often add observing and noticing to the language of seeing Elements of Folktale. Characterization. Characters are flat. Usually very good or very bad with most characteristics exaggerated. The hero and heroine are usually young. The heroine is usually fair, kind, charitable, and caring. The hero is usually honorable, courageous, unselfish, and caring. Both usually have special abilities or powers Before Wonder was published, she let Caleb, then a 9th-grader, read it. I was a little nervous about his reaction. He said, 'Mom, this is really great. This should be required reading in. work. Your probing I wonder why questions initiate from subjective responses. Just like the tendency to focus only on surface details - don't make the mistake of only reporting your subjective impressions, reactions, and opinions. To conduct a thorough analysis which results in the identification of themes Notice and Wonder can be a short routine used to activate student thinking at the launch of a lesson, or a stand-alone routine to encourage curiosity and math reasoning. Because students are invited to bring their own ideas and questions into the classroom within this routine, regular use of this protocol helps to establish a safe classroom. Children's Literature reading practice test has 13 questions belongs to the Recent Actual Tests subject. In total 13 questions, 5 questions are TRUE-FALSE-NOT GIVEN form, 3 questions are Matching Information form, 5 questions are Summary, form completion form Find 94 ways to say WONDER, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus You are going to ask questions that really help the students in your group think about the reading. Your questions should require students to discuss their interpretations of the text and connect background experience and knowledge with the text. You want all students involved in the discussion and talking about issues that come up during the. A lot of students wonder if there's a specific AP English reading list of books they should be reading to succeed on the AP Literature and Composition exam. While there's not an official College-Board AP reading list, there are books that will be more useful for you to read than others as you prepare for the exam Wonder Woman Essay Title. as we implement comprehensive essay help online for all in need. In its activity, is focused primarily on excellent quality of services provided in essay help, as well as in term papers writing, dissertations writing, research papers and other educational works. Discipline: Sociology A Most Important Person Questions & Answers Question 5: How could Miss Lucy avoided paying the fine for parking? Answer: Miss Lucy could have used her influence as the titular head of the local society or even spoken to the Judge who was a family friend to avoid paying the fine.She could have also made a call to Mr Henderson, the family lawyer to get her out of the situation Literature Quotes - BrainyQuote. Religion is part of the human make-up. It's also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at literature, the texts, our first attempt at cosmology, making sense of where we are in the universe, our first attempt at health care, believing in faith healing, our first attempt at. Questions Before, During, and After Reading. CREATED BY: TeacherVision Staff. To encourage critical reading, teachers should ask students questions about the text before, during, and after they read. This method is useful for most subjects, from reading to social studies, and is an excellent way to structure literature homework. Grades: Pre-K | Stevie Wonder. Singer, songwriter, keyboardist. For the Record . Selected discography. Sources. Stevie Wonder has been called the crown prince of pop music since the late 1960s, when he began to produce hit after hit with staggering rapidity. Blind since birth, Wonder has directed an immense inner vision toward innovative music; to quote New York Times Magazine contributor Jack. The Legend of Wonder Woman is a series starring Wonder Woman, published by DC Comics.The series was created by Renae De Liz, with colors, inks, and letters by her husband, Ray Dillon. It functions as a modern retelling of Wonder Woman's Golden Age origin, with heavy influence from the original comics by William Moulton Marston.The series was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Digital/Webcomi

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Educators, companies, and governments around the world share the desire to support and engage underrepresented groups in science and engineering. Some programs have had success in the goal of increasing the interest and engagement of underrepresented groups in engineering and STEM. Many of these developed curriculum, intensive teacher training, student competitions, and other practices––such as providing mentors and same-gender/race role models, and using real motivating problems in the students’ community––to engage underrepresented groups in engineering and design. In general, the most successful programs that have an impact on underrepresented groups are those that have role models that youth can identify with, and that develop appropriate situational, culturally relevant interactions with target youth (McGill, Decker, & Settle, 2015). Still, large disparities persist in innovation rates by socioeconomic class, race, and gender––and the gap is not explained by innate ability (e.g., early childhood test scores; Bell et al., 2017). Consider the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program, which is one gateway to the STEM career pathway. While the number of high school students taking the AP Computer Science exam has been increasing annually, and the number of exam takers in 2016 rose 17%, female, Latinx, and African American participation remains low; just 23% of exam takers were female, 11.5% were Latinx, and 3.7% were African American (Ericson, 2017; Hinton, 2016). In 8 states, fewer than 10 girls took the exam, and in 2 states, no girls took the exam. And even when women, girls, and minorities enter a STEM career pathway, they leave at a higher rate––at multiple points––from middle school to community college to even tenured faculty in STEM (Burke & Mattis, 2007; Griffith, 2010). Margolis & Fischer (2003) interviewed women who were dropping out of computer science in college and found that professors favored men who had more experience in CS. From a social justice perspective (Bienkowski, 2018), even when anyone can take advantage of an opportunity (equality), not everyone comes to that opportunity prepared in the same way or experiences that opportunity the same way (equity). Why worry about diversity in computing and engineering? Disparity in opportunity is not fair to individuals, economically and educationally, and society needs everyone’s perspectives and contributions to solve important problems. Inclusion is critical for innovation: diversity increases innovation (e.g., patents), partly because a variety of perspectives lead to new ideas, earlier identification of problems, and more effective science (Forbes Insights, 2011; Medin & Bang, 2014; Bienkowski, 2018). Bell and colleagues (2017) argue that if women, minorities, and children from low-income families were to invent at the same rate as white men from high-income families, the rate of innovation in America would quadruple; “There are many “lost Einsteins” – people who would have had highly impactful inventions had they been exposed to careers in innovation as children” (p. 1)––and had they been given continued opportunities, role models, mentors, and other support provided to those who are already highly rewarded. Advancing educational, economic, and innovative opportunity requires special attention to issues that prevent equitable participation (Blikstein, 2018). Governments and funding agencies have responded with several initiatives––including NSF’s CS4All and STEM+C programs. Expanding access to computer science has been announced as a priority by 40 states (Code.org, 2017), 27 states have enacted computer science curricula for their K-12 public schools, and 13 more are in the process of developing statewide CS standards (Blikstein, 2018). This primer reviews practices from selected work that that has helped broaden youth participation in computer science and engineering (see Key Lessons). These practices were drawn from the literature and from a review of selected successful programs (see Projects). We also discuss deeper issues of identity, interest, and self-efficacy that can hold youth back, and ways to impact youth interest and desire to pursue STEM and engineering careers. Mentors help youth develop interest, identity, and self-efficacy. As learners develop, they need others to help them. Teacher often play this role through formal instruction. Mentors use many of the same practices as good teachers, but mentoring relationships are often more informal and focused on offering advice from a perspective of experience. Mentors can help youth development their identity by promoting an interest, and over time, reshaping beliefs about an area of interest (e.g., seeing themselves as someone who could work in the area). A young person who has a mentor in computer science typically engages in more computer science education and also has a more diverse set of beliefs around who can be a computer scientist (Ko & Davis, 2017). Ko and Davis developed a 6-week course in which the teacher explicitly created mentoring relationships with each student that included a personal interest in their trajectory of learning (e.g., talking with them everyday, having end of the course mentorship conversation, and offering email support after the course ended). After the course, there was a significant increase in student interest in computing for students who had a mentor; the mentorship effect was more powerful than gender or socioeconomic status. Youth need engineering role models who reflect their identities and interests. A role model is an image of someone admired, someone who an individual aspires to be like. Unlike a mentor or teacher, a role model may not play a direct role in the success of the individual. However, role models still provide inspiration and motivation. For example, girls are more likely to become inventors in a field if they simply grow up in an area with more female inventors (but not male inventors) in that field (Bell et al., 2017). In computer science specifically, having women as role models and mentors increases the likelihood that girls will pursue the field (Wang et al., 2015). Men can also serve as successful mentors and role models for girls if they do not conform to male computer science stereotypes (Cheryan et al., 2011). Diversifying the image of computer scientists and engineers — and having teachers, facilitators, and peers who push back against stereotypes — increases youth’s sense of belonging and interest in the field (Ruiz, 2017; Cheryan, Master, & Meltzoff, 2015). Engaging existing relationships in youths’ lives helps increase youth success. Youth express positive attitudes toward science when they experience success and receive support from important people in their lives at home, in school, and in their communities (Aschbacher, Li, & Roth, 2010). Family plays a critical role in encouraging youth and exposing them to opportunities, and it’s especially helpful to engage parents in the effort to increase youth participation in computer science and related fields (Wang, Hong, Ravitz, Ivory, 2015). It is also helpful for educators to discuss with youth how STEM professionals think about people’s needs while they work, and what the student could uniquely contribute if they were to pursue computer science or engineering. An exciting curriculum that youth connect with––like Hour of Code or attending a computer camp––can also be a “triggering event” that helps youth develop an initial interest in the subject (Ko & Davis, 2017). Focus on real world interests to attract underrepresented youth. “Powerful learning experiences result when students have the opportunity to connect their interests from outside of school to learning opportunities in more academic contexts” (Reich & Mizuko, 2017). For girls and non-dominant youth, it’s important to create entry points that support diverse interests (e.g., fashion, sports, dance, health). Margolis, Fisher, and Miller (1999) report that when asked why they are taking computer science, undergraduate males typically report interest in computers while about half of females describe their interest as it relates to areas of interest such as health, education, science, or art. Girls may be more interested in careers in health and medicine than engineering (Sadler et al., 2012). These interests provide an opportunity to highlight new pathways into engineering: many medical careers (such as biomedical engineers) work at the intersection of engineering, life sciences and medicine, so they need computer science background. McGee and Bentley (2017) report that African-American and Latinx students are more likely to want to go into science because of their interest in social justice and improvements to the social world that science could facilitate. Tapping into interests that different groups have is important for success. Facilitate an extended, supported experience to enable success. As mentioned earlier, youth persist when they receive support and experience success (Aschbacher, Li, & Roth, 2010). In fact, if youth have a bad first experience with computing, it can turn them off completely (Ko, 2017): “Research shows over and over that most learners, people of all ages, start with low programming self-efficacy, and that without early, repeated successes in writing programs, this self-efficacy is quickly exhausted, causing youth to give up… [which] may lead to reduced interest in coding and lower programming self-efficacy. Female learners in particular are prone to internalizing these failures into their identity.” It’s best to ease youth into coding so they have a successful experience. Lack of opportunities and connections explain part of the lower engagement of underrepresented groups in STEM and engineering. Even when opportunities are made available, deeper issues of identity, interest, and self-efficacy continue to hold youth back. Identity is both an important part of, and a way to discuss, learning. Identity is more than an individual’s beliefs about him or herself; it includes not only how you think of yourself but also your perception of how others see you and what is promoted by society as acceptable or desirable. From ambient messages in the culture, individuals perceive what others think of them and who is typically identified a certain way––for example, who is and can be an engineer. Identity surfaces as one way of understanding why we see robust underrepresentation of particular groups. People make important decisions about their future and how they engage in the pursuit of their careers based on identity. In many different ways, learners can feel marginalized or encouraged because of their identity. Developing learning environments that integrate learner interests, are sensitive to identity, and encourage all learners to be participants and take on new identities––especially in STEM fields––is challenging and needed work (Bell, Van Horne, Cheng, 2017). To develop STEM identities, young people need access to sustained, high quality experiences, and, particularly in the early adolescent years, they need to see others like themselves as role models. Interest is a related component necessary to develop future STEM workers. Hidi and Renninger (2006) define interest as a person’s heightened affect and predisposition towards a subject depending on their knowledge, feelings towards it, and value of it. Interest goes from an initial spark that requires extrinsic motivators to keep it going, to well-developed when it does not require extrinsic motivators. Of course, a learner will always benefit from external rewards or recognition around their interests, but a learner with well-developed interests in a topic will stay involved even without rewards or requirements. Ko and Davis (2017) discuss “triggering events” as important to helping develop an interest in computing, but that more is needed to develop it and sustain it. Hidi and Renninger (2006) describe interest development in a 4 phase model. At a high level, the 4 phases can be described as follows: - Triggered Situational Interest––sparked by events, personally relevant experiences, and novel or surprising events. Usually a precursor to further development. - Maintained Situational Interest-–sustained by meaningful tasks, and deeply engaging, personally relevant instructional projects can help this develop. - Emerging Individual Interest––marked by repeated engagement, positive affect, going beyond the requirements of the task. - Well-Developed Individual Interest––deeper knowledge, positive affect, generates new strategies for work, shows ability to self-regulate and understand their own knowledge. Self-efficacy is another psychological lens to understanding why girls and non-dominant youth are not well-represented in the fields of STEM, including computer science and engineering. Self-efficacy includes a self-assessment of one’s abilities combined with how long one will persevere within a domain. People with high self-efficacy are more likely to persevere to tackle a difficult task. People who assess themselves as not good at a particular topic often avoid that topic or give up quickly when presented with a challenge. Girls and minority youth often have lower self-efficacy around computer science and engineering (Wilson et al., 2015). For girls and minority youth, improved self-efficacy has been linked to having role models “like oneself” and to pedagogy that includes hands-on, personally relevant, and cooperative work––pedagogical styles not typically seen in many STEM types of courses (Beyer, 2014). Surveys of youth will also include questions to assess their overall self-efficacy and their self-efficacy around computers and engineering. Youth interest in STEM may be difficult to change. An evaluation of 13 programs in Massachusetts to increase youth interest in STEM found that only 5 of the programs produced evidence of increase in youth interest after the program (UMass Donahue Institute, 2011). The successful programs varied widely in their structure, and included an out-of-school high-school biotech internship, a middle school STEM summer camp, an elementary middle and elementary after school math program, an in-school elementary engineering program, and a middle school math program that reached thousands of students with a one-time experience. Almost all provided information on STEM careers, some included collaborative group work, nearly all focused on real-world applications, and all but one engaged youth over a series of several sessions. The program that found a measurable difference in student interest through a single classroom experience was the DIGITS program, in which a STEM professional visited a classroom to talk about their careers (focusing on positive aspects), and lead discussion and activities with the youth. The STEM professionals (“ambassadors”) were trained by the program before the visit, and given a script and guidance for interacting with the youth. Still, it’s possible that a ceiling effect could be in play in some of these programs to increase youth interest: If youth sign up for such optional STEM programs because they already have an interest in STEM, then the program itself may do little to grow their interest. Examples of NSF Cyberlearning projects that overlap with topics discussed in this primer. - Developing Computational Thinking by Creating Multi-player Physically Active Math Games - EXP: Augmenting a Teachable Robot with Adaptive Cognitive and Social Support - Designing and Evaluating a Naturalistic Platform for Collaborative Learning About Spatial Reasonings - Synthesis and Design Workshop: Distributed Collaboration in STEM-Rich Project-Based Learning - Synthesis and Design Workshop: Digital Science and Data Analytic Learning Environments at Small Liberal Arts Institutions Computer and Information Science - Injecting Learning into Work: Enhancing Career Advancement through Transformation of Professional Development in Technical Career Paths - Collaborative Research: CSEdPad: Investigating and Scaffolding Students' Mental Models during Computer Programming Tasks to Improve Learning, Engagement, and Retention - EXP: Readily Available Learning Experiences: Turning the Entire Web into Progressive Examples to Bridge Conceptual Knowledge Gaps for Novice Web Developers - EXP: Automatically Synthesizing Valid, Personalized, Formative Assessments of CS1 Concepts - The cognitive and neural mechanisms of computer programming in young children: storytelling or solving puzzles? - EXP: Paper Mechatronics: Advancing Engineering Education Through Computationally Enhanced Children's Papercrafts - EAGER: Making with Understanding - A Pedagogical Framework for Undergraduate Project-Based Engineering Design Courses - DIP: Improving Collaborative Learning in Engineering Classes Through Integrated Tools - EAGER: Collaborative Research: Cyber-Eye: Empowering Learning through Remote Visualizations using Unmanned Aerial Systems In addition, the following projects were reviewed for this Primer. FIRST Robotics. The mission of FIRST is to “inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-efficacy, communication, and leadership.” FIRST is also committed to diversity and inclusion, increasing underrepresented students’ interest in STEM and “developing strategies that will ensure greater access to its programs and reduce inequalities.” FIRST offers 4 programs: LEGO League (middle school), LEGO League Jr. (elementary), Tech Challenge (middle school and high school), and Robotics Competition (high school), each with an accompanying curriculum that is aligned to national science standards. In the high school Robotics Competition (and similarly, in the Tech Challenge), students form teams, build robots, and program them with the help of coaches and mentors over the course of 2-3 months. Each January, a new challenging game is introduced; for example, building a robot that can free-throw a basketball into the basket. The student teams and their mentors work together to solve the challenge, and then teams showcase their work in regional and district competitions. District champions go on to compete in a national competition in April. In 2017, the program reached 85,000 high school students across 3,400 teams in nearly every state in the U.S. Since the program began in 1989, it has engaged more than half a million youth across 59,000 teams creating almost 45,000 robots with the help of 150,000 mentors, and has had substantial impact. Based on its research, FIRST reports that youth who participate in FIRST are more than 2 times as likely to show gains in interest in STEM, and those who participate for more than 1 year show significantly greater gains in STEM knowledge than those who leave after a single year. After participating, 87% plan to take a more challenging math or science course. Alumna are 2.6 times more likely to enroll in an engineering course in their first year of college, and more than 75% are in a STEM field as a student or professional. The impact on girls, in particular, is dramatic. Technovation. Technovation “invites teams of girls from all over the world to learn and apply the skills needed to solve real-world problems through technology.” The goal of the program is to inspire girls to change the world with technology and pursue computer science as a career. During the intensive 12-week curriculum, small teams of girls work together face-to-face, with a facilitator, ask questions and interact with others in an online forum, and are matched up with female mentors to act as guides and role models. A key part of the program is engaging professional women to serve as mentors and role models to guide, encourage, and help girls overcome challenges, develop self efficacy, and learn to become entrepreneurs. Working with women mentors, the student teams identify a problem in their local community, design and develop a mobile app to address the problem, and then create a business plan and video to pitch their “startup” idea to investors. Since the program began in 2010, it has engaged more than 15,000 girls across 100+ countries and has had substantial impact. Technovation reports that after participating in the program, 78% of students reported more interest in computer science, 70% reported more interest in entrepreneurship, and 67% reported more interest in business leadership. Further, 58% enrolled in subsequent computer science courses and 26% declared a college major in CS, “65x the national rate of 0.4% of female college students majoring in CS”. Digital Youth Network. Over the years, DYN has offered 5 different initiatives, Digital Youth Divas, Digital Queendom, Robotics, C21, and DYN TV. The DYN team works to develop young people and their technical, creative and analytical skills. They have dedicated spaces and work with Chicago youth over extended periods of time. They have developed diverse supportive environments for youth, and in their Digital Youth Divas (DYD), a two-year, out of school program for middle school girls, they work to have non-dominant girls build their own interests and create their own STEM identities (Pinkard et al., 2017). In their work, they created a digital badging program and say that others should try to reverse engineer their program “because youth everywhere benefit from stronger, connected learning and valuable digital badges.” Badges give program creators a way to better understand what is being learned and learners a way to show what they have learned. Identity development is an explicit part of the program and participants document their interests and identity in their profile as their work; the youth may not realize they are documenting their identity, but that’s what they are doing on the website. ICT4Me. ICT4Me (formerly BuildIT) is a summer and afterschool program for middle school youth to develop interest, self efficacy, and skills in information technology (IT), and knowledge of possible related careers. The goal of the program is to provide underrepresented youth, and particularly girls, with opportunities to “experience the value of these careers through role models; engage in activities that connect their interests to technology and engineering; and experience success in these activities are powerful motivators for persisting in male-dominated ICT careers and developing their ICT fluency.” The program includes a 6-unit curriculum and assumes, at minimum, that the experience is supported by a manager, a facilitator, visiting IT professionals, and an opportunity (“Family Tech Night”) for students to showcase their work to their family, peers, and the school community. Note that interaction with IT professionals is a key part of the experience: the developers recommend that during each unit, at least two IT professionals should interact with the students, and that “The professionals should be the same gender and race as the youth you work with. Including more people of color and women is a plus.” The site provides tips on how to recruit such professionals who can serve as relatable role models to help students see themselves as someone who could professionals in a variety of careers to encourage youth to consider an ICT career. References and key readings documenting the thinking behind the concept, important milestones in the work, foundational examples to build from, and summaries along the way. Aschbacher, P.R., Li, E., & Roth, E. J. (2010). Is Science Me? High School Students’ Identities, Participation and Aspirations in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(5), 564-582. Bell, A., Chetty, R., Jaravel, X., Petkova, N., & Van Reenen, J. (2017). Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation. Retrieve on Dec. 7, 2017 from http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/assets/documents/inventors_paper.pdf Bell, P., Van Horne, K., & Cheng, B. H. (2017). Special issue: Designing learning environments for equitable disciplinary identification. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 26 (3), 367-375. Beyer, S. (2014). Why are women underrepresented in Computer Science? Gender differences in stereotypes, self-efficacy, values, and interests and predictors of future CS course-taking and grades. Computer Science Education, 24(2-3), 153-192. Bienkowski, M. (2018, March). Women in STEM. Presented at SRI Diversity Council Celebrates Women in STEM, SRI International, Menlo Park. Blikstein, P. (2018). Pre-College computer science education: A Survey of the field. Mountain View, CA: Google LLC. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/gmS1Vm Burke, R. J., & Mattis, M. C. (Eds.). (2007). Women and minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: Upping the numbers. Edward Elgar Publishing. Cheryan, S., Siy, J. O., Vichayapai, M., Drury, B. J., & Kim, S. (2011). Do Female and Male Role Models Who Embody STEM Stereotypes Hinder Women’s Anticipated Success in STEM? Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(6), 656–664. doi: 10.1177/1948550611405218 Cheryan, S., Master, A., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2015). Cultural stereotypes as gatekeepers: Increasing girls’ interest in computer science and engineering by diversifying stereotypes. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 49. Ericson, Barbara (2017). AP Data for the United States 1998-2016. Retrieved on May 1, 2018 from http://home.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt/595 Faber, M., & Unfried, A., & Wiebe, E. N., & Corn, J., & Townsend, L. W., & Collins, T. L. (2013, June). Student Attitudes toward STEM: The Development of Upper Elementary School and Middle/High School Student Surveys. Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. Forbes Insights. (2011). Global diversity and inclusion: Fostering innovation through a diverse workforce. Forbes, New York. Griffith, A. L. (2010). Persistence of women and minorities in STEM field majors: Is it the school that matters? Economics of Education Review, 29(6), 911-922. Hidi, S., & Renninger, K. A. (2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational psychologist, 41(2), 111-127. Hinton, M. (2016). Eight States Have Fewer Than 10 Girls Take AP Computer Science Exam. Education Week blog post, November 28, 2016. Kaufman, S. B. (2018). The Role of Luck in Life Success Is Far Greater Than We Realized. Scientific American, March 1, 2018. Ko, A. (2017). On toys that teach coding. Bits and Behavior blog post, December 19, 2017. Ko, A. & Davis, K. (2017). Computing mentorship in a software boomtown: Relationships to adolescent interest and beliefs. Proceedings of the ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER ’17). New York: ACM Press. Margolis, J., & Fisher, A. (2003). Unlocking the clubhouse: Women in computing. MIT press. Margolis, J., Fisher, A., & Miller, F. (1999). Caring about connections: Gender and computing. IEEE technology and society magazine, 18(4), 13-20. McGill, M. M., Decker, A., & Settle, A. (2015, July). Does Outreach Impact Choices of Major for Underrepresented Undergraduate Students? In Proceedings of the eleventh annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research (pp. 71-80). ACM. McGee, E., & Bentley, L. (2017). The Equity Ethic: Black and Latinx College Students Reengineering Their STEM Careers toward Justice. American Journal of Education, 124(1), 1-36. Medin, D. L., & Bang, M. (2014). Who’s asking?: Native science, western science, and science education. MIT Press. Pinkard, N., Erete, S., Martin, C. K., & McKinney de Royston, M. (2017) Digital Youth Divas: Exploring Narrative-Driven Curriculum to Spark Middle School Girls’ Interest in Computational Activities. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 26:3, 477-516, DOI: 10.1080/10508406.2017.1307199 . See also a 2015 draft. Reich, Justin and Mizuko Ito. (2017). From Good Intentions to Real Outcomes: Equity by Design in Learning Technologies. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. Ruiz, P. (2017). Female Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduates: Reflections on Participation in the Academic Landscape. Dissertation, Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Sadler, P.M., Sonnert, G., Hazari. Z., & Tai. R. (2012). Stability and volatility of STEM career interest in high school: A gender study Science Education. 96: 411-427. DOI: 10.1002/sce.21007 UMass Donahue Institute (2011). Increasing student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM): Massachusetts STEM pipeline fund programs using promising practices. Report prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. Wang, J., Hong, H., Ravitz, J., & Ivory, M. (2015). Gender differences in factors influencing pursuit of computer science and related fields. Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, (pp. 117–122). doi: 10.1145/2729094.2742611 Wilson, D. M., Bates, R., Scott, E. P., Painter, S. M., & Shaffer, J. (2015). Differences in self-efficacy among women and minorities in STEM. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 21(1). Primers are developed by small teams of volunteers and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. After citing this primer in your text, consider adding: “Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).” Fusco, J. & Schank, P. (2018). CIRCL Primer: Broadening Youth Participation in Computer Science and Engineering. In CIRCL Primer Series. Retrieved from http://circlcenter.org/broadening-participation-cs-engineering Special thanks to Sherry Hsi and Joyce Malen-Smith for reviewing this primer.

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The linguistics of French, German and Spanish Resources for the initial training of school teachers provided by the Committee for Linguistics in Education Further suggestions for links are welcome. Please send them to Dick Hudson. These resources are intended for use in the training of future teachers of foreign languages in the UK. They complement the resources available on the website for Initial Teacher Training in Foreign Languages where you will find a great deal of information about pedagogical issues. What we offer here is information about the main foreign languages taught in UK schools: French, German or Spanish. (Other languages may be included later.) This information is organised under four headings: - structure (including vocabulary and meaning as well as ‘grammar’ proper) - pronunciation and spelling - variation and sociolinguistics Under each heading we aim to include links to descriptions and comparisons with English. There is also a section of general introductory background material which is equally useful for all languages. The criteria for inclusion in this list are: - accessibility – it should be clearly written and should focus on description and explanation rather than on theory. - reliability – it should be by and large ‘true’. - usefulness – it should have some relevance to school-level teaching The online material may be of many kinds including: - recommended reference books - reading lists (preferably selective and annotated) - slide shows - class handouts - academic papers or book chapters - online self-instruction or self-testing materials - fun sites - Glossary of linguistic terms - Language Testing: Dialang: Diagnostic Tests for Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish DIALANG offers validated tests of different language skills, together with a range of feedback and expert advice on how to improve your skills. It also offers scientifically validated self-assessment activities and allows users to determine their language level, strengths and weaknesses as well as to increase their awareness of current skills and of what it means to know a language. It has been developed by more than 20 major European institutions, with the backing of the European Commission and is based on the Council of Europe’s “Common European Framework of reference”, which has become established throughout Europe as the most widely recognized frame of reference in the field of language learning. - Introductory articles about areas of linguistics. These articles are provided by the Linguistics Society of America (LSA) and are reliable, clear and accessible. - FAQs about language. Also provided by the LSA. - Linguistics: Linguistic Description: Above the sentence: Weekly task sheets At the University of Portsmouth, first year modern languages students have a course in Linguistic Description. The materials here are a complementary set to those we use in phonetics/phonology/prosody, morphology, semantics and syntax, and cover above the sentence phenomena, such as text, discourse and conversation analysis, as well as stylistics and pragmatics. The lectures are built on the analysis of English and in the tutorials students carry out comparative analyses of other languages. The assessment for the unit consists of a portfolio of weekly tasks. Students are required to find out about a language of their choice from a native speaker informant. Students have traditionally investigated their chosen language of study (French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian), but some students have done their projects on more exotic languages such as Thai, Arabic, Cantonese, Japanese, Finnish, Swedish, Malay, Korean or Greek. We have found that the project encourages initiative, a strong sense of involvement, an attitude of enquiry, and a scholarly approach to linguistic analysis in the students. It prepares them for independent and systematic study of languages in the knowledge of the principles of organisation and use underlying them. - Quite good online dictionaries which translate into and out of French, Spanish, Italian and English. (The site also has associated language learners’ forums) - Charts for the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the notation used in most descriptive material on individual languages. One of the charts allows you to click on a letter and hear the sound (but you need Quicktime on your computer; you can download this free following the links on the site.) The IPA also has an official handbook which you can buy for £16 and which includes outlines of the pronunciation of a number of languages including French and German (not Spanish), for which audio-files (which don’t require Quicktime) are also available; these include some isolated words and also a recorded passage. - The role of phonetics in foreign-language teaching. - An introductory phonetics course for students of French, German and Spanish. - Do You Speak American? Excellent PBS Series with lots of online material on (American) accents, dialects and general sociolinguistic issues. - Introduction à la linguistique française An introduction, in French, for students of French provided by Kingston University in Canada, to all the main areas of French linguistics – phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicology, semantics. - French and the other Romance languages Information about how French fits into the ‘Romance’ family and details of the other members of the family. - Reading French 2000 A web-based independent learning course for French for students at the University of Calgary but freely accessible to anyone who wishes to study the course autonomously and online. - E-pack (sample) These materials represent a sample of the interactive online exercises developed at London Metropolitan University for beginners in French. The exercises combine sound, image and text in a single activity and provide instant feedback. They cover the main language learning skills of listening, reading, writing and grammar and involve a variety of activities, such as matching, reordering and games. - French for Beginners and General French Grammar Interactive exercises for French created using ‘Interactive Language Learning Authorware’ designed by Steve Cushion, Guildhall University. The materials come in two files (A and B) which are compressed files that can be self-extracted by clicking on them. The programs run using a web browser and can be started by clicking on the ‘home’ icon. The realfrench.net website is a collection of free online French-teaching resources developed by the Department of Languages and the Department of Information and Communications, Manchester Metropolitan University. It includes a large number of interactive vocabulary games, grammar notes and interactive exercises, links, Internet worksheets and messageboards. - Introductory books: - A widely used reference grammar in English is: Price, Glanville. A Comprehensive French Grammar. - Another is Hawkins and Towell, French Grammar and Usage. - Grammar question bank This bank of over 1,000 questions was created using Question Mark Perception. It was aimed at first year Undergraduate students of French. The grammar topics covered include possessive adjectives, partitive articles, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, relative pronouns, direct and indirect object pronouns and verb tenses. Question types are either Selection (student chooses correct item from drop-down list) or Fill in Blanks. All questions have minimum feedback of correct answer; many have differentiated feedback and marking. The questions have been drawn mainly from GramEx French or devised using the Astcovea French concordancer. The bank can be used by institutions running Question Mark Perception to create diagnostic, formative or summative tests. - Difficultés de la langue française This 2-semester grammar course is essentially geared towards English Learners of French and is intended to improve students’ writing skills. Its main aim is to improve writing accuracy at noun phrase and sentence level; nevertheless, it also aims to strengthen students writing techniques and text-production/text-transformation skills through a review of linguistic processes of pronominalisation. It originated from the observation (i.e. via several error analyses conducted between 1997 and 1999) that foreign learners of French recurrently make particular mistakes when they write and that this is often due to a lack of grammatical knowledge. Thus, it is hypothesised that these mistakes can be avoided thanks to an introduction to/a revision of basic grammatical concepts (i.e. What is a Part of Speech? What is a Grammatical Function? What do Gender and Number mean? Etc). Further, though the course mainly focuses on writing skills, register differences, and in particular stylistic differences between written and oral expression, will also be underlined. Finally, this programme also reviews central difficulties linked to the choice and use of tenses in French (second semester). - Translation: part science, part art (on translating from French into English) - French to English translation ‘problems’ (Ranges of meaning, gaps, deceptive cognates, units of translation) - A reliable and readily available book on French pronunciation is: ‘An introduction to French pronunciation’, Glanville Price. Oxford : Blackwell, 2005 (2nd ed) - The IPA Handbook includes a sketch of French pronunciation, for which audio files are available. - Listening Comprehension – Club Méditerranée – transcription exercise This is an audio transcription exercise aimed at first year Undergraduate French students. The recording gives information on the holiday firm Club Méditerranée and the kind of clients it attracts. There are buttons on screen which the user can click at any time to hear the whole recording or a short section of it. The user is advised to begin by listening to the whole recording at least once without trying to type anything, and then to listen section by section, typing what they s/he has heard. The user is allowed 3 attempts at each section, after which the work is checked for mistakes and automatically marked. The “Show Answer” button brings up the correct response and allows the user to proceed without scoring any points. During the course of the exercise the full correct transcript is compiled on the right of the screen. This exercise was created using Authorware. Provided the resources are in the same folder, double clicking the file ‘3clubmed’ should launch the programme. - Links to various sources of information about French dialects, including audio samples. - Good – but non-expert – pages on French, regional varieties & dialects. - Pages on the broad rural dialects of northern France. - Corpus of Spoken French Ce corpus contient les transcriptions de 95 entretiens, de longueurs variées, enregistrés sur le vif dans le Lot, le Minervois, à Paris et en Bretagne. Les thèmes de discussion comprennent une gamme de fonctions linguistiques différentes: transfert d’informations sur une région, instructions, narrations, argumentations sur les relations familiales, le racisme, la politique ou linformatisation de la société. Les thèmes de conversation ont émergé des centres d’intérêt des locuteurs. Les locuteurs, dont 45 hommes et 50 femmes, sont âgés de 7 à 88 ans et incluent un éventail de niveaux d’education. Le Résumé des entretiens détaille sous forme de table les donnes démographiques, sociologiques et contextuelles (identité, longueur en minutes, sexe, âge et niveau déduction) de chaque entretien/locuteur. - Language resources A gateway to French learning resources, produced by the School of Modern Languages, University of Salford. It contains links which include Contemporary Society, Culture and Business French. - Dialectic disarray, The Guardian , February 17, 2004 Elizabeth Cripps on research that shows how the French find it hard to distinguish their own regional accents. - A guide to resources for learning German; written by and for Americans, but very relevant to Brits. - A complete beginner’s course in German - German for Beginners and General German Grammar Interactive exercises for German created using ‘Interactive Language Learning Authorware’ designed by Steve Cushion, Guildhall University. The materials come in two files (A and B) which are compressed files that can be self-extracted by clicking on them. The programs run using a web browser and can be started by clicking on the ‘home’ icon. - A standard reference grammar in English is Durrell, Hammer’s German Grammar and Usage. - German grammar question bank This bank of over 1,000 questions was created using Question Mark Perception. It was aimed at first year Undergraduate students of German. The grammar topics covered include definite and indefinite articles, adjective endings, personal pronouns, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, relative pronouns, indirect speech and verb tenses. Question types are either Selection (student chooses correct item from drop-down list) or Fill in Blanks. All questions have minimum feedback of correct answer; many have differentiated feedback and marking. The questions have been drawn mainly from GramEx German or devised using the Astcovea German concordancer. The bank can be used by institutions running Question Mark Perception to create diagnostic, formative or summative tests. - Angelika’s German Web Pages Reading comprehension exercises for beginners, threshold and intermediate levels. They can be used to supplement the Themen neu course books, and are intended for independent study.The exercises are part of my website which, in part, is a portal to Internet resources. - The Maschler German-English Online Dictionary - German grammar handouts from the US Naval Academy - 1. Case Forms : Articles, personal pronouns, main uses of cases… - 2. Descriptive Adjective Endings - 3. Compound Past (Present Perfect) Formation - 4. Relative Clauses - 5. Subjunctive - 6. Conjunctions - 7. Prepositions with an ATtiTOod (Attitude) - 8. Two-Way Prepositions – Direction vs. Location - 9.Preposition Notebook - verbs with dative objects This is a grammar exercise aimed at first year Undergraduate German students. It provides practice in the use of German verbs with dative objects. A list of 50 verbs is provided. The user is given a random selection of 20 sentences in English (from a library of 48) to be translated into German. Some vocabulary help is provided and the user can have up to three attempts at each question before the correct answer is displayed. This exercise was created using Question Mark for Windows. Institutions with a licence for Question Mark for Windows can copy the .qdt and .qdl files into their folder with Question Mark Presenter. Others must copy these files into a folder with Question Mark Testview (provided). Clicking on Testview (or Question Mark Presenter) should bring up a menu; select the programme and click ‘Run’. - The sounds of German (with audio files) compared with English. - The IPA Handbook includes a sketch of German pronunciation, for which audio files are available. - How the German spelling reform works. - Descriptive Grammar of the Standard Spanish Language Covers pronunciation, morphology and syntax (briefly). - Spanish and the other Romance languages Information about how Spanish fits into the ‘Romance’ family and details of the other members of the family. - Spanish linguistics website [Login: Pedro; password: sevilla5] This Web site, by Prof Ian Mackenzie from the University of Newcastle, is a clear and excellent introduction to Spanish linguistics. Divided into three sections, Spanish phonetics, Spanish syntax, and varieties of Spanish, the site offers concise explanations of the salient points of each area. ‘Phonetics’ covers: vocal organs and vowels; consonants and semi-vowels; phonemes; allophones; neutralization; orthography; syllables; stress; and sandhi phenomena. ‘Syntax’ includes outlines of: word order; noun and verb phrases; embedded finite clauses; infinitives and gerunds; and equative construction. It also includes a section on varieties of Spanish and an overview of the history of the language. - Spanish for Beginners and General Spanish Grammar Interactive exercises for Spanish created using ‘Interactive Language Learning Authorware’ designed by Steve Cushion, Guildhall University (also available for downloading from www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk). The materials come in two files (A and B) which are compressed files that can be self-extracted by clicking on them. The programs run using a web browser and can be started by clicking on the ‘home’ icon. - Material for Spanish oral classes This pack contains beginners, intermediate and advanced classes. Each section includes: instructions and information for the teacher, the topic and learning objectives of the lessons, how to organise students and to conduct each activity, the role/s of the teacher; summary of grammatical points which will be used in the activity or indications of those which need to have been seen before carrying out the activity; suggestions about how to explore the topic of the lesson further by practising other language skills (writing, reading, etc.); and teaching material (ready to photocopy). - Contemporary Language and Culture This is a specialist online language and culture course for students who have achieved an advanced level in Spanish because they are in the final year of their University degree, have spent time in a Spanish-speaking country or are false native speakers. The course has been devised to reinforce and develop the language through reading, writing and speaking. The materials in the components follow each other closely and complement vocabulary expansion with development of linguistic structures. The contents of the course cover contemporary cultural issues such as TV, cinema, family and work, and linguistic minorities in the Spanish-speaking world. The cultural-linguistic diversity of Spain and Latin America is exploited through a selection of authentic materials showing different styles, accents and media. The course is structured to develop transferable as well as language skills through hands – on experience of IT use and language activities. The materials can be easily adapted to meet the requirements of students in secondary schools, sixth form colleges or Higher Education. The website also contains pages to help teachers to adapt their own materials or to produce their own courses. - E-pack (sample) These materials represent a sample of the interactive online exercises developed at London Metropolitan University for beginners in Spanish. The exercises combine sound, image and text in a single activity and provide instant feedback. They cover the main language learning skills of listening, reading, writing and grammar and involve a variety of activities, such as matching, reordering and games. - From the caves to modern graffiti This is a specialist language course for students with an advanced knowledge of Spanish.The materials cover the history of the Spanish language from pre-history to modern times. Language artefacts are taken from disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, history, historical linguistics and popular media. The course looks into geographical and social varieties of Spanish from a historical as well as from a linguistic perspective. - Los Peruanos A sample of a programme developed on the theme of Los Peruanos which includes linguistic and cultural work on web documents, simplified texts and videoclips. The materials are for intermediate level and can be used in combination with the work done in the classroom or as part of an independent learning programme. - El problema del agua, de la seguía y el Plan Hidrológico Nacional WWW material covering the topic “El problema del agua, de la seguía y el Plan Hidrológico Nacional” which includes personal photographs with texts, links to other www sites relevant or relating to the topic, and exercises aimed at year 2 students to develop reading/summary writing skills and to increase knowledge of this topic. - The Grammar Survival Kit (Spanish) Explains, in English, the terminology found in Spanish and English grammars of Spanish. - Accelerated Reading and Writing in Spanish The materials are devoted to the development of lexical structures in Spanish. They contain explanations, descriptions and exercises which will help the learner build up a solid lexical structure. The coursebook is made of 15 dual units (Spanish-English) for accelerated vocabulary acquisition. During the first 10 units the most productive processes for word recognition and word derivation are presented. The second 5 units add more advanced passages, taken from the literature of the Spanish-speaking world, and present vocabulary of high frequency and practical use. The materials in the course go from survival to Advanced Creative Spanish. The first 10 units consist of a Basic Passage, based on survival lexicon and intercultural issues, followed by a Reading Passage connected in topic but at a higher level. The last 5 units present a more literary style followed by practical exercises aimed at using this type of structures and vocabulary. - Spanish grammar question bank This bank of over 1,000 questions was created using Question Mark Perception. It was aimed at first year Undergraduate students of Spanish. The grammar topics covered include uses of ser and estar, definite and indefinite articles, object pronouns, prepositions, comparative and superlative adjectives, verb tenses and the subjunctive mood. Question types are either Selection (student chooses correct item from drop-down list) or Fill in Blanks. All questions have minimum feedback of correct answer; many have differentiated feedback and marking. The questions have been drawn mainly from GramEx Spanish or devised by Spanish tutors. The bank can be used by institutions running Question Mark Perception to create diagnostic, formative or summative tests. - A useful list of grammatical points for learners. - Spanish grammar handouts from the US Naval Academy - A simple website with words linked to audio files. - The sounds of Spanish (with audio files), compared with English. - Clare Mar-Molinero. 1997. The Spanish-Speaking World: A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues

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Three Kinds Of Friendships Aristotle was a Greek polymath, and philosopher (David, 1971). He lived between 384 BC and 322 BC, and made many academic contributions on different topics. Having been a student of Plato, Aristotle became one of the renowned Western philosophers, along with others like Plato, his teacher, and Socrates, another Plato’s student (David, 1971; Price, 1989). He made many ethical contributions during his time and through his writings. Among the issues that he developed was the ethical aspects that people should hold in order to coexist with friends and neighbors. He was believed to have practical ethics that were easy to relate with, and most of his ethical works were written in his Nicomachean Ethics (Unwin, 1985). In the outline on the ethics, Aristotle stated that ethics was the main ingredient in the quest to improve lives and eventually ensure that the general well-being of humankind remained good. He, like other philosophers like Plato and Socrates, showed that ethical virtues were very important for the well-being of human race (Price, 1989). Some of these ethical virtues are courage, temperance, and justice. However, he refutes Plato’s teachings of metaphysics and science being the main components of proper understanding of our own good (David, 1971). He argued that people need to have a good upbringing that creates habits and eventually character. Consequently, the character would help us be able to understand why we should make certain decisions by determining whether the decisions we make would be worthwhile or not, giving supportive reasons on why we decide to make these decisions. One of the main virtues that Aristotle outlined is the virtue of friendship. He stated that friendships would be vital in ensuring that people relate well within different occasions. According to him, friendship and hence interpersonal relations within a given society determines the harmony and understanding within that social milieu (Price, 1989). According to Aristotle, friendship is a relationship that both parties get a reciprocated goodwill (Unwin, 1985). This was a slightly different definition put forth by Plato; according to him it is the circular that is usually based on mutual factors, and different gains by the parties involved. Aristotle stated that no one can chose to live without friends as they are the ones who fill one`s character with happiness that at all other social goods cannot bring forth. Friendship is a very valuable asset that does not count whether someone is poor or prosperous, young or aged etc. In the end, Aristotle stated that it is the greatest good that one can be able to express externally. However, its efficiency and realization is only seen when good and decent people are committed to keep it moving. It is the opposite of enmity. In his categories, Aristotle assumes that friendship is a simple virtue that can be categorized based on particular aspects such as the ones that he used. However, it is known that the society is very dynamic and extremely complex to be able to define friendship in such small issues as mutuality, gains and goodness (Stern-Gillet, 1995). In all cases, friendship encompasses mutual usefulness and even goodness; many other factors play a big role in the process of making and retaining friends. This is a very important aspect because all known friendships derive pleasure. It is therefore unlikely that there are good people who make friendship with evil people; this is an issue which raises the question of mutuality. One may wonder why this could happen, yet there may be little that these people can share. One notable thing in both Plato’s and Aristotle’s works is that there is no concrete definition of friendship. Apart from the simple definitions mentioned above, there is no concrete explanation. They both try to define friendship through people who engage in it (Stern-Gillet, 1995). With the idea that people are very different, it would be very difficult to clearly define the reasons why a person opts to become friends with one person and not another. People may have similar characters and share the same environment, yet they do not share all their friends. This is a more complex issue that the two philosophers fail to delve deeper into. Instead they opt to stick with a few variables that may not practically determine and define friendship conclusively (Stern-Gillet, 1995). There remain a lot more that could be factored in the definition and classification of friendships, which could even give rise to new classes and kinds of friendship. Plato is even more vague that Aristotle, while Aristotle is shallow and hard to examine comprehensively using his variables. However, it would be mean not to give credit to Aristotle for the work he did on the philosophy of friendships. Plato developed no specific kinds of friendship that could exist between people, but only gave two classifications of friendship, that is friendship for good and friendship for bad. On the other hand, Aristotle developed three main kinds of friendship that exist between people within a society. According to Pakaluk (1998), these include: - Friendships based on utility - Friendships based on pleasure - Friendships based on goodness of the friends Can't complete your paper? Need a quick, creative solution? Never too late to get it done by our prosWrite My Paper On top of companionship, friends shape up each other`s acts, while ensuring that they retain the desirable part of themselves (Stern-Gillet, 1995). Some modern day people state that friends are a reflection of yourself, indicating that there is a high possibility that friends have a lot in common. This translates into a belief that people of the same social class and other social aspects are more likely to become friends than those from different classes. At the same time, Aristotle appreciates that there are different sources of friendship, some being created while others being natural and need proper management for them to last (Pakaluk, 1998). He indicates that apart from just being necessary, friendship is also noble thus inevitable in any society. Some of the friendships that need no cultivation to develop are mainly family friendships, such as parents and their children, while others that require tending are those between people from different races, among others. Friendships help in achieving certain goals and aims, as per the aspirations of the friends. The process of becoming friends is also long, starting with identifying the right person that one should relate with. Secondly, one spends time with another person and then gets an understanding over the behavior and character of that person. Once the understanding is clear, they subconsciously form a type of relationship, which they develop into friendship. Aristotle noted that many people get into relationships, as a result of prevailing circumstances. These circumstances guide them and delegate their movements and the people they relate with. Eventually, they end up picking up certain people to help them get through the stage and they develop a relationship that is usually referred to as friendship (Pakaluk, 1998). This form of friendship is very common in certain stages of life, especially during the early years, when they need each other’s help in class and generally throughout any stage in life. Further, Aristotle has drawn a relationship between friendship and justice in the society. While some of the important aspects of friendship and justice are well pointed out, a close comparison by the philosopher tends to suggest that friendship is more important in the society than justice. A society filled with friendship would be healthier than that filled with justice. The work of two philosophers could be vital in the examination of the virtue of friendship, when and why it would appear to work well among some people, while others walk out of the relationship disgruntled and furious about other parties. This is despite being very close for a long time, sharing a lot of mutual benefits and then giving up everything to go out and look for other friends. The performance of friendships and deficiencies of three classifications will be examined briefly, and examples of different situations that can best explain each of the types of friendship will be provided. Types of Friendships Utility – Based Friendship This is a relationship that develops between people due to the circumstances they face (Waddell, 1989). In most cases, this friendship does not last long and often stops to exist after the circumstances that surround these people disappear or cease to exist. Many people fall under this category of friendship. Aristotle terms it as an unequal friendship. This is because it is not based on similar ideals, or goals, but on the gains each party is getting from another party. The imperfectness is made clearer by the fact that there is a huge difference between the individuals who become friends. For instance, a child and a parent would become friends because they need each other. Aristotle’s argument about the development of friendship is first to stay together, and understand each other before they decide on whether to make friends or not. In imperfect relations and friendships, there are constant quarrels and little trust, and the friendship could easily break off. When there is little time spent together and a good mutual understanding, both in social standings and in personal understandings is not created, the friendship is highly likely to break off. People in this kind of friendship do not count their friends as highly significant in their lives and could even break up with each other (Waddell, 1989). The social equity is also very vital in developing a friendship. Young people, for instance, would not easily become friends with older people because the latter would consistently take charge of different situations and dominate the scene, making the friendship skew (Waddell, 1989). This is not a perfect friendship. Friendship based on utility falls squarely upon this. Taking the example of a family set up, children are faced with circumstances that they cannot ignore or do away with. They need their parents for upbringing, as well as their character development. This is a very important aspect of this form of friendship because there is little that children can do on their own, yet their parents may not need them. However, parents, in many cases, use their children to create their niche in their society. In this case, they would be regarded as important people in the society, based on the kind of children they brought up. They are therefore required by the society to bring up children. In the process of raising the family, parents are forced to assume certain roles and create a close relationship with their children. It should however be noted that not all families are happy. In big families, for instance, there are many issues that arise ranging from favoritism and hate between siblings or between siblings and their parents. Eventually, a rift develops within the family. Despite the rift, the family stays together, seemingly in harmony, but actually most of the members would be willing to leave it. This is common but circumstances keep the family together. Siblings are afraid that they might not make it to raise themselves on their own, while parents keep the children to show their responsibility for the care and upbringing of their children. This is a good example of friendship based on utility. Another practical example of this form of friendship is that based on business (Suzanne, 1995). Business mergers are common in the present world. When two businesses within the same industry merge to create a bigger brand and intensify their marketing strategies, they often get into a relationship. The business owners are usually held together by the mutual belief and understanding that they need each other for their development and eventual profit making. During the initial stages of the relationship, they are usually comfortable, especially when they make mistakes and they need to address the issues affecting them and their business (Suzanne, 1995). They walk together and work closely together. However, such relationships are very dangerous when the business starts to flourish and the profits increase. Trust starts to reduce and one party could start feeling that they were giving more to the company than their partners. They start feeling that the business is performing better because of their input and they could make better profits if they started to act alone. If one of the parties contributed more in financial terms to the business, yet the other contributed expertise and made less monetary contribution, there is a high likelihood that the partnership would not last. The brain contributor may argue that money without brain is wasted, while another person who contributed more money may feel that ideas without capital are dead. When the two parties start feeling that the success of the business owes them more, they develop mistrust, jealousy and always wish that the partnership was broken. When this happens, a critical imbalance is created and it would be hard for any team to bridge that gap. There are less consultations and the friendship starts to fall. Moreover, the friendship could fall and crumble if the business started to fall, after a spell of failure to take off. Partners get disappointed with their partners and they are unable to achieve their goals. The business might crumble and fall, either in the initial stages of the merger, or later during its operations. If such an event happens, the friendship between the business proprietors is usually broken due to the fall of the factor that held them together. Aristotle notes that unstable relations are easily broken by the withdrawal of the pillar that held them together. Friendship Based on Pleasure In his work, Aristotle developed another kind of friendship that is based on pleasure that the friends get from each other (Suzanne, 1995). He describes this kind of friendship as incomplete, just like the friendship based on utility. In this kind of friendship, one is always keen to get pleasure from another person. For example, friends may remain together for a long time just because one friend is a joker and his or her presence calms down another person or cheers him/her up during difficult moments. This friendship is easily formed between people, and can be developed only a few hours after the meeting. It is usually contingent and may develop even by accident, since the requirements are simple and easy to articulate. This form of friendship is often short-lived and unsustainable. This happens after friends get used to each other and no longer need pleasure from each other. Further, its base is very weak and none of the friends feels obliged to keep the friendship strong and moving (Jennifer, 1991). When a pleasure-creating person is out with this, the friendship is usually weak and can no longer be sustained. Further, pleasure is usually derived at certain periods. When one is distressed and there is no one to bring some comfort, it is easy to find pleasure from a stranger who is sensible and comforting. A pleasure-creating person is very important at that point and friendship can become very strong. When the spell of distress is over and life gets back to normal, it is easy for the friendship to weather away because the pleasure is no longer needed. A good example is a wife who might get separated from her husband, after she learns that he has been cheating on her. At this point, the wife can easily meet a stranger and start a relationship because she needs companion and wants the completeness of having a man by her side. She would therefore become friends with another man easily. However, when the husband gets her back and they end their separation, the newly formed friendship would easily crumble and fall because there would be no more pleasure that is needed from the new friend. The weakness of the new friendship is therefore exposed and the sustainability is very uncertain. Further, friendships based on pleasure are easily taken away by new events. When a friendship is based on jokes of one person, another person with better jokes may emerge. Since the pleasure followed is usually dependant on who brings more happiness, one would easily drop the earlier friend and follow the new one with more comical jokes. Friendship based on pleasure is mainly found in sexual relationships between young people, and when they reach the peak, the young couple gets married to continue enjoying each other’s company and pleasure. However, the pleasure later dies away especially as they get older and become less sexually active. When pleasure is little, the couple breaks up and looks up for another source of sexual pleasure, thus they start cheating on each other. All this is done in search for pleasure because no one can be able to give pleasure for a lifetime, but there comes a point in time when the good feeling they brought is gone and the friendship crumbles and falls. In most cases, friendship based on pleasure has a lot of challenges. First, only one person is expected to keep the friendship going (Jennifer, 1991). They might at some point feel that they are being misused and that they are looked down upon. They may even develop a feeling of dislike because they feel enslaved to make another person happy. At this point, they could refuse to continue providing their services and would not appreciate the friendship any more. At the same time, this friendship requires that there is a lot of contact and time spent together. This is usually not easy to sustain because there are many commitments. Since the pillar on which the friendship is created is only pleasure, lack of the contact leads to little commitment and reduced benefits of the friendship. It eventually crumbles. Friendships based on pleasure are usually created on the basis of what one person gets from another (Unwin, 1985). As stated earlier, it can be easily formed and is not guaranteed that it will last long. During its formation, there is no mutual understanding of the personalities of the participants, as they may not have spent enough time together. As a result, they only enjoy the good side of each other and this would mean that they may not be comfortable when they face issues that deeply involve them. They are not ready to carry each other’s burdens and rarely understand the dark side of their friends. Naturally, a good friendship is supposed to thrive both in good and bad times. This form of friendship is not easy to work in that manner because there is little that connects the partners (Eugene, 2006). At the same time, there is the danger of two people being able to realize the different side of their partners. Naturally, human beings are not perfect in character and an important recipe in friendship is being able to identify weaknesses and understand how well people should co-exist. Friendship based on pleasure lacks this part and people are not able to live together when they know that they cannot live with other people, when they know a part of them that may not be pleasant. For instance, one may end up a friendship that is based on sexual pleasure when they realize that another person had been earlier having a similar relationship with their friend. This leaves this kind of friendship very risky to live in and in most cases hard to keep alive for a long time. According to Aristotle, its unpredictability and lack of mutual understanding result into its imperfectness. Friendship of Goodness Aristotle noted that this is a perfect friendship among all kinds of friendship. He says that the friendship based on a clear understanding of each other`s character and needs is the most ethical and desirable form of friendship. It is the friendship of virtue. Aristotle developed five things that people in a complete friendship should do. He used an example of friendship between person X and person Y. If their friendship is complete, first, X should always wish and do good deeds to Y, and all these good deeds should be for the good of Y. The same should apply to X. Secondly, X should always wish that they existed for the sake of Y, and the same should apply to X. Thirdly, X should always spend time with Y, similar to Y. The fourth deed that the two friends should have is that X should make choices that are similar to Y, and finally X should be willing to solemnly share both good and bad moments with Y. When all these deeds are complete, the friendship is perfect and based on virtues. The deeds put forward by Aristotle are a good measure of friendship, stating that the first is the best measure to determine the kind of relationship that exists between two people. Wishing people good for their own sake is the most vital deed. Aristotle also developed features that are analogous to the relationship of any good person to himself/herself (David, 2009). First, a good person is always willing to improve his/her well being and flourish in life. They also want to live a long life, and thirdly, they always want to spend time alone and reflect, and not always spend time with other people. Fourthly, Aristotle noted that a good person should be able to make his/her own decisions that are undivided, and should perceive pain and pleasure of similar things. He should be able to endure any misgivings virtuously. Ethics should always be the leading factor of a good person. With these factors, Aristotle brings a perception that friendship with other people should only be perfect if they develop similar feelings with others, as they would feel about themselves (David, 2009). This way, they would not feel bad when another person makes an achievement, and they would always be willing to help their friends without expecting anything in return. They would sacrifice a lot of personal gains for the sake of their friends, without any limitations or hard feelings or being forced, either by circumstances or by the society (Karen, 2009). Despite the attractiveness and definition of friendship, Aristotle’s line of argument is always criticized by people because it tends to disregard humanity. A friendship or relationship with other people cannot be compared to the inner relation of a person, or their ego. This is because it would mean that people would treat others as part of their selves, which is almost impractical in a normal world. Further, it would be hard to express one`s friendship or attraction with their inner selves. Aristotle further compares self-love to perfect friendship (Eugene, 2006). On the same note, he defines self-love as that which is guided by a reason and not merely by feelings, and also guided by the desire of what is right and not simply by what gives an advantage. Despite the critics, David (1971) supports Aristotle’s argument. It is also supported by Richard 1989, who argues that similar to Aristotle’s point of view, it would be possible for a person to act for the sake of him-/herself, while at the same time for the sake of their friends. From this argument, it is clear that a relationship of goodness can only be realized between people who are full of virtues. When the virtues are not present, an imbalance is created and the friendship would no longer be perfect. In most cases, greed and egocentrism at some point of a relationship leads to the end of a friendship (Karen, 2009). Decent or good people are guided by the virtues that ensure that they remain in concord within themselves and other people. This harmony, both within themselves and their friends, allows them to be able to have similar minds with their friends, and also make stable and reasonable decisions (David, 2009). Therefore, it is hard for people to get into a stable friendship because very few are in concord enough to create a friendship. A common mob is therefore not able to create friendships as they always look for relationships that give them pleasure and which require little commitments from them. When a relationship is based on virtues of people involved, this friendship is possibly the strongest and would last the longest, because virtues cannot be easily changed. The goodness of friends makes the relationship not only full of pleasure, but it is also beneficial to all. Unlike other two types of friendship that were based on a single aspect each, friendship based on goodness is based on three reasons. This friendship is however hard to develop because it requires a lot of commitment and understanding. For it to flourish, people involved should spend time together and develope their virtues that should be similar or those that can be maintained to give similar feelings. They should be interchangeable and should be acceptable to each other. Aristotle notes that while distances between people may impede the exercise of friendship, it does not break it. He notes that long distances are not healthy to any friendship, but would not kill a friendship based on good. This kind of friendship is common among older people. Young people as most people are not able to find time to spend with others to become friends. Most people are too busy to develop this form of friendship, thus it remains uncommon among people to date. Though it is good and beneficial to have these friends, the price of developing and maintaining it remains a mirage to many. Aristotle said that one would be lucky to have a couple of these true friends, who do not do good expecting to get good, but just to make sure that another person is at ease with his/her life. Aristotle analyzed friendship from its definition where he stated that it was a matter of goodwill towards another person that is known as friendship. When people come together with a mutual benefit, they would be termed as friends as long as they have each other’s well being in their hearts. He stated that when two people have a relationship that is reciprocated and one wishes good to another person, they are said to be in a perfect relationship. The goodwill should be unbeatable and these people should have developed the relationship over time. He then argued that the goodwill should be based on virtues and wishing good to each other. This is important and he gave the reasons that goodwill should be pegged as pleasure, goodness and advantage. Therefore, when two people wish others good and allow goodness amongst themselves, no matter what they wish to achieve from the friendship, they can be said to be friends. Further, in his work, Aristotle came up with two main classes of friendship, one that is based on understanding of the common good of two individuals, and another that is based on the gains that each party is getting from their friends. He lauds the friendship that is based on goodness of the participants, saying that it is perfect and is always hard to create. In one of his arguments, he states that some friends keep friendly relations only to gain and not take care of the welfare of another person. In this case, he notes that one person may be helping another, looking forward for the same, but not because he/she likes that person. When this happens, Aristotle tends to say that this may not even be a friendship, but when one person expects an action to be reciprocated with another action, this person is not a friend to another person. Therefore, when people are stuck together, not because they like each other even though they know they have different personalities, but due to the gains they get from each other, they are actually not friends. This contradicts with his two main classifications of friendships that include friendship based on mutual benefits and that based on pleasure on one hand, and another type of friendship based on goodness on the other hand. This leaves his definition of friendship being very unclear, because according this statement, coupled by his assertion that friendships based on goodness are rare, there are very few friendships especially among young people (Julia, 1977). This line or argument almost drives towards stating that the only friendship that exists is that between people who are together out of their goodness. This thought is derived from Aristotle’s argument that one would even be lucky to make friends based on their goodness. Aristotle also creates a relationship between friendship and justice (Unwin, 1985). Evidently, only those that have a good relationship can be able to develop it into a real or perfect friendship. In all cases, he has clearly noted that friendship has to be created between people who have good feelings about each other. He noted that there must be a positive outcome in any relationship, whether perfect or imperfect. Talking about a utility- based friendship, Aristotle brings a clear picture in mind that it mainly exists between people working in the business world (Julia, 1977). This relationship ends after the benefits obtained by either one or both parties are diminished. The same case applies to relationships based on pleasure. In this case also, there must be some selfish gains, either from one or both persons in the relationship. The third type of relationship is the most efficient and most reliable, where none of the parties tries to selfishly gain from the relationship. Everything is supposed to benefit all, or the act of one person should benefit another. Aristotle noted that while it is possible for wicked men to sustain both the first and the second kinds of friendship, it was not equally possible to have the third friendship. Wicked people are always out to gain from a relationship and usually have short-lived relationships, which are both inapplicable to a perfect friendship (Unwin, 1985). Aristotle notes that while unity and application of all virtues in a society bring justice, it may be different with friendship, which takes a stride further in the virtues and their execution (Unwin, 1985). Friendship is therefore more intense than justice because justice is inapplicable in places where true and perfect friendship exists. On the other hand, while justice can be developed between people who are not friends, friendship cannot thrive among people who are not just to each other. This leaves friendship as a more important social aspect than justice. Friendship is a very vital social aspect. It should be upheld at all times in order to create a better society. People should use all means possible to ensure that they create perfect friendships, guided by morality and virtues, and not strive to get friendships anchored by the gains they obtain from these relationships. However, since the society is full of people who are not virtuous and would not appreciate a friendship that does not benefit them, it is children who should be taught on how to create long-lasting friendships for the good of the society. After this, it would guarantee a future generation that would value friendship more and one that would appreciate friendship that is long lasting and not necessarily beneficial to them. The society should develop systems that would ensure a more robust friendship-based relationship, other than one that is based on justice. This is because justice can be substituted with friendship, while the same cannot be done to friendship. This places justice lower as a requirement of the society as compared to friendship. However, justice may be a way to create friendship because it would create a level ground for people to develop relationships that could become perfect friendships. Leaders, parents and all people who are socially placed higher should embrace friendship as a primary virtue. This would create a relationship between them and other people as a very serene and good relationship, whether at work or elsewhere. This would eventually create a better society that is full of love and understanding, a society that would embrace helping one another as a primary goal. People would develop all those around them, eventually creating a comfortable society for everyone. Generations that appreciate each other as well as enhanced justice within the society would be created, both for the present era and the future.

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Syllabus, Spring 2016 Introduction to Philosophy: “Goodness, Truth, and Beauty” Instructor: Keith Buhler Office Hours: Tues 12-1, Kinlaw Library by Lewis Corner. This class is an exercise in a different way of thinking. We will think slowly, carefully, methodically, and deeply about important things. It is also an introduction to big ideas. We will think deeply about the world, God, death, science, logic, language, and our own selves. Along the way, we will learn some facts of history, vocabulary words, philosophical concepts, and big names. But our main task is to think. At times, you might be confused. You will certainly be challenged. Our method is to read, discuss, and write every week. Active reading, logical discussion, and careful writing are master skills. Thinking is useful for academics, for work, and for life. For some, our study will convince you to major or minor in philosophy. For others, it will make you better in your own discipline. For the skills you learn in philosophy apply to any profession: the top five most coveted job skills are communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity, and self-discipline. For still others, thinking well will help you in motherhood or the monastery. For all of us, we want to become more connected, integrated, thoughtful, reflective human beings. The ultimate motivation for having the conversation we call philosophy must be that it can make us better. We are also entering into the Great Conversation with our own, limited (often confused) thoughts, becoming part of the Conversation, and (by it) being forever changed. Our goals then are: - To become familiar with the thought of major philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and to understand the major questions they seek to answer. - To read, comprehend, and evaluate difficult philosophical arguments. - To understand the Christian answers to questions about the meaning of life, the structure of the cosmos, the possibility of scientific knowledge, and the ground of morality. - To understand the Christian faith contrasted with metaphysical naturalism, nihilism, and deism. - To practice reflect thinking upon our own lives, beliefs, attitudes, culture, and goals. - To become more thoughtful human beings in the pursuit of goodness, truth, and beauty. The online version is always up to date. Any paper version is subject to minor changes due to weather, illness, etc. Each date tells you the reading due and the topic. Each date also includes detailed lecture notes because students asked for them to help prepare. T Jan 12 – Syllabus Class preview: This class will be awesome. It’s a lot of reading, so you have to work hard. But more importantly, you have to think hard. Today we’ll get to know each other and our expectations, how to get an A, etc.. I’ll give you three personal problems philosophy can (maybe) help you with. R Jan 14 – Sophie’s World, Garden of Eden, Top Hat, the Myths, Natural Philosophers, Democritus, and Fate: Time and Cause Sophie is asked by a mysterious stranger two key questions: who are you? Where did the world come from? We will do our best to begin answering those questions by examining two big ideas: Time and causes. Causes answer the question “why?” And time is a condition of all life on earth. T Jan 19 – Genesis 1-5: Mythology A myth is not a false story but a likely story. In that sense, Genesis is a myth. We’ll analyze it for its presentation of freedom, humanity, goodness, God, sin, and redemption. (Today, we assign groups and “internal/external” processors today as well.) R Jan 21 – “Truth” and “Goodness” Handouts: Are truth and goodness objective? All semester we will be seeking truth. To be successful, we have to know whether truth exists. We’ll examine arguments for and against the proposition that truth and goodness are real. We will also discuss the “Tao” to see examples of universal, common morality. (We’ll also go over how to do papers.) Disputation Paper 1 will be due next Tuesday by 11:55pm. Please carefully review the “Disputation Paper” instructions online. T Jan 26: Plato, Eutyphro; Sophie’s World, Socrates, Athens, Plato: What is Holiness? The best way to be introduced to philosophy is to be introduced to Socrates, his character, his conversation, his way of life. How do you react to him? Socrates begs a priest, Euthyphro, to explain what piety is. Socrates is on trial for impiety, so his life is on the line. Euthpyhro can’t answer. Can you? R Jan 28 – Plato, Apology: Is Socrates Guilty? Is Socrates’ way of life meaningful or meaningless – obedient to God or dangerous? Socrates does not “apologize” but “defends” himself (apologia, like apologetics). All of Athens, and all of history, is the jury. Is he guilty? Is philosophy a great subversive evil for the city or a great good? T Feb 2 – Plato, Phaedo 116-143: The soul is immortal because opposites come from opposites Plato’s Phaedo shows Socrates’ last days. Should we grieve when our friends die? Is the soul immortal? Socrates argues that the soul lives on when the body dies. The first of three arguments builds off the natural opposites, cold from hot, big from small, life from death. Is this a good argument? Why or why not? R Feb 4 – Phaedo 143-199: The soul is immortal because we existed before we were born Without the help of Scripture or revelation, Socrates argues the soul is immortal. He also warns against “misology” a hatred of argument that leads to skepticism and laziness. Hating the logos is perhaps a danger we begin facing at this point in the semester, too. Is the “argument from recollection” a good one? Why or why not? T Feb 9 – Phaedo (all): The soul is immortal because it is more like forms than matter. Socrates introduces “forms”, real beings like equality or goodness, that explain properties. Forms are contrasted with individuals, like chairs or horses. The soul is supposed to be more like forms than particulars. Is this a good argument? Why or why not? R Feb 11 – “Forms” handout “Equality itself” is a form. Forms are also call “universals”. Universals contrast with individuals. They explain how the same property exists in multiple things, places and times. Forms cause individuals to be what they are. “The third man” and ‘queerness’ objections will be discussed. Important forms include the One, the Good, and Soul. Are forms real entities in the world (platonic realism) or just concepts in the mind (conceptualism)? Disputation 2 Prompt: Does the soul live on after bodily death? T Feb 16 – “Aristotle” Handout; Sophie’s World, Aristotle: Aristotle and his Four Causes. Aristotle was a “meticulous organizer.” He categorized thoughts into logic, knowledge into sciences, and reality into ten categories of beings. His influence extends even to today. The “four causes” of an entity are the four properties that make it what it is. For example, think about a piece of bronze (material) made into a statue of a soldier (form), by a sculpter (efficient), that marks the entrance of the city (final). What are the four causes of a human being? R Feb 18 – “Material Causes” Handout (10 pages): Material and Final Causes The material cause is what a thing is made of; the formal cause, its configuration. The final cause is its purpose, function, or end. Aristotle would say that scientific explanations need to give all four causes. But Bacon and Lucretius say that “scientific” explanations only give one or two causes. Descartes caused a massive change in thinking by his famous wax experiment. Are a thing’s form and purpose incidental or essential to what it is? T Feb 23 – (No reading): Logic - Logic is the science of inference. We need data to make inferences. The sources of data are observation, memory, testimony, and authority. These data are the premises of arguments. Solid inferences become principles. Principles are the premises of new arguments. The most common kid of argument is a “syllogism.” Syllogisms have three statements: a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. There are three kinds of major premise: categorical, hypothetical, and disjunctive. Dilemmas and other forms of argument compound syllogisms. How does logic relate to science? R Feb 25 – Bertrand Russell, “Free Man’s Worship” Handout: Christianity and Nihilism as worldviews Christ as the Logos is at once creator, redeemer, and our goal. Substitutes for Christ include other gods, worldly pleasures, humans, or nothingness itself. But other gods, pleasure, and other humans are all consumed by nothingness in the end. So there are only two options: Logos or nothingness. Nothingness is mistaken by some as the origin of all things, and the conclusion — the alpha and omega — that which was, is, and ever shall be. Watch Toy Story 3! T Mar 1 – Toy Story 3 (Pixar Film): How do we survive devouring time? This is a movie about devouring time. How is Andy’s relationship to Woody and Buzz changing. Also, Lotso is clearly evil. But what is his vice, or his sin? Does it have to do with his rejection of devouring time? R Mar 3 – MIDTERM EXAM & Toy Story 3 Discussion After the midterm, we will discuss the salvation of the toys. Who saves them, and why? Is it salvation from devouring time? What do you make of this salvation? How does Andy’s relationship to Woody and Buzz change and how does it remain? T Mar 8 – Aquinas Handout: Can God’s existence be proven? (26 pages): Does God exist? Aquinas is the most influential medieval philosopher. He cites Aristotle (and Plato) and Augustine almost as much as the Bible. He wrote numerous books, but his Summa Theologica is his masterpiece. He argues, in a little over 600 topics, about 3,000 disputations. The questions cover God, man, creation, evil, angels, theology, church, and the end of the world. In this first discussion we will look at his arguments for whether God’s existence can be proven – he thinks so – and the five ways of doing so. R Mar 10 – Aquinas Handout: Is happiness the beatific vision? Today we examine Aquinas’ definition of happiness, which is the vision of the divine essence. Aristotle argued that human happiness is one object for the whole species, even though people are very different. Aquinas builds on this argument. T Mar 15 – Spring Break R Mar 17 – Spring Break T Mar 22 – Augustine, Confessions chapter 1, 2, 4; Sophie’s World “Two Cultures”, “Middle Ages” We continue our transition to medieval philosophy. The union of Athens and Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus created a new civilization: Christendom. Augustine was a key leader in this civilization. The Confessions details Augustine’s personal and intellectual struggles. It tells his conversion story and honors his mom, Monica. It concludes with philosophical explorations of time, memory, and creation. Augustine’s early error was thinking God was physical. What does this mean? Why is it an error? And how did he get corrected? R Mar 24 – Augustine, Confessions Chapter 6, 7, 9: Does evil exist? A major theme of the Confessions is sin and evil. Evil for both platonists and Christians and atheists is an essential component of their worldview. What is evil? Augustine’s presuppositions make this question difficult. They force him into a dilemma. God made everything that exists. Evil exists. Therefore God made it. Or Evil exists. God did not make evil. Therefore God did not make everything. Those options are intolerable. He settles on the view that evil does not actually exist. What does this mean? What is a “privation” of good? Does this notion make sense and does it make sense of active evil and suffering in our world? Disputation 3 Prompt: Does evil existence as a substance or only as a property? T Mar 29 – Confessions, 10, 11: Time Augustine says he knows what time is as long as you don’t ask him what it is. When you ask him, he doesn’t know. What is the relation of time to eternity? What is time? Also, how are we to interpret Genesis in light of our philosophical understanding of time? Time is a big idea. What exactly is it? Three notions of time from Augustine, Plato, Kant. Also some poems on time. R Mar 31 – Sophie’s World, Renaissance, Baroque, Hume, Enlightenment: The Enlightenment Now we transition to the modern world. The Enlightenment defines America and through the U.S. much of the developed world. The core idea to help you understand the Enlightenment and counter-enlightenment is a tradition. Alasdair MacIntyre defines a tradition as “a socially-embedded argument extended through time”. Modernity is a tradition of empiricism, rationalism, skepticism, increasing atheism. Today we will work on distinguishing the Enlightenment tradition from the medieval tradition (which resembles the counter-Enlightenment) What makes Hume a modern? T Apr 5 – Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Sections 1-3: Impressions The foundation of Hume’s work is that knowledge is either impressions (from the present) or impressions from the past (ideas). The source of all knowledge is impressions, sensory, empirical, input from the world through our five senses, then modified by the mind and imagination in various ways to result in all our thoughts. Any thought that does not originate directly from a sensory impression is nonsense, fantasy. The upshot of this view is radical – much of our supposed knowledge is fantasy. R Apr 7 – Hume, Enquiry Sections 5-6: Cause and Effect Relations of ideas (necessary, analytic truths) and matters of fact (contingent, synthetic truths) are all the kinds of truth there is. Cause and effect is contingent. We do not observe causation itself, but only the constant conjunction of A and B. Our supposed “knowledge” of cause-effect, including science and everyday matters, rests on a custom, a habit, an imaginary connection. It turns out that the notion of causation – so important to Plato and Aristotle – does not come from an impression. We only see the conjunction of two events, not the cause of one by the other. Disputation 4 Prompt: Choose: Does the idea of God arise from impressions, or recollection? OR If a miracle occurred, could we ever know it? T Apr 12 – Hume, Enquiry Sections 7, 8, 10: Miracles Hume’s famous argument concludes that even if miracles ever occur, we can never know that they occur. How does this argument work, and is it true? What kind of testimony (against our experience) would be sufficient to overturn our experience? Do we have experience of miracles? R Apr 14 – Dawkins Handout: There is almost certainly no god. Dawkins argues that everything god might be invoked to explain can be explained by a combination of the anthropic principle and natural selection. He also argues that religion and science aren’t “separate spheres” of inquiry, each sovereign with their domain. Religion and science have overlapping questions about the origin of the world, the origin of life, the teleology (or purposiveness) of the cosmos, and human nature. What is natural selection? What is the anthropic principle? And how do these two (with luck as a third) explain everything that can be explained? Watch 2001: A Space Odyssey! T Apr 19 – “Defense of Slow Movies” Handout; 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick Film) Is humanity evolving into something more than human? R Apr 21 – Disputation Workshop: Create your own question! Disputation 5 prompt: Create your own question. See instructions. Remember: Watch Tree of Life! T Apr 26 – The Tree of Life (Terrence Mallick Film) Mallick’s film is, in one way, very difficult. It is not as traditional a Hollywood film. It does have a 3-act structure, but it uses poetic story-telling along with narrative storytelling. The best way to view it is to surrender to Mallick’s lead. Let him show you, let him tell you, let him make you feel, let him even disturb you… You will get more out of the film if you surrender than if you try to control and understand and analyze. That said, ask yourself: “What is the way of nature?” How isit portrayed? What is the way of grace? R Apr 28 – The Gospel of John (21 pages) The word of God recreates the cosmos and fulfills it. How does John 1:1-2:1 re-tell the story of Genesis? What’s the big difference that Jesus makes? T Disputation 5 Due. R Reflection paper due; extra credit (optional) due; Final Exam TBA. Scope and Sequence: To accomplish our goals, we will work through 10 Units. Each 2 week Unit consists of (1) readings and quizzes, (2) participation through talking and writing, (3) and a disputation paper. There is a midterm and final exam. You will be graded equally on each component, plus applicable extra credit. |Assessment category||Percent of semester grade| |Participation (Talking, writing)||25%| |Tests (Midterm, Final)||25%| |Extra Credit||3% (max)| I typically do not round up. So 89.5 is a “B” |A = 99%-94%||A- = 90%-93%| |B+ = 87%-89%||B = 84% - 86%| |B- = 80% - 83%||C+ = 77%-79%| |C = 74% - 76%||C- = 70% -73%| |D = 69% - 60%||F < 59%| The primary work if this class will be reading — and trying to understand — these books. I am requiring real books. This is harder but more interesting than a textbook. You’ll be reading about 3 hours a week. Read well. Read every assignment entirely. Skimming is sometimes necessary, but don’t skim every week. - Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World ISBN: 0374530718 - Plato, Last Days of Socrates (Apology, Phaedo) ISBN: 0140449280 - Augustine, Confessions ISBN: 0199537828 - Hume: Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding: ISBN: 002353110X (Not “Treatise”) Buy these books. Use these ISBNS only, please. (New or used is fine. Do not use Kindle or electronic unless the cost is prohibitive. Paper books are better for taking notes, and make it easier to stay on the same page. Handouts, provided online - Genesis (Chps. 1-5) - Bertrand Russell “Free Man’s Worship” - Peter Kreeft, “Is truth objective?” - Peter Kreeft, “Is there a real moral law?” - Peter Kreeft, “Are universals real?” - Aristotle’s “Four Causes” - Lucretius, “On the Nature of Things” - Aquinas, “God and Happiness” - Edward Feser, “Can We Make Sense of the World?” - Richard Dawkins, “Why there is almost certainly no god” - Dargis, “In Defense of Slow Movies” - The Gospel of John (without chapters, verses, or cross-references) Films, provided for purchase or free viewing - Toy Story 3 - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Tree of Life A short reading quiz is due almost every class day. These assess whether you read, and how well. They are mandatory and graded. You have 10 minutes for each quiz, and they are due at the beginning of class. - Read ahead. - Read carefully. You will get faster, but start slow. - Try to understand the book. What is the author’s main point? Is it true? - Dialogue with the book before class. Take notes. Email me. Talk with each other. Process your thoughts. - The two most important questions for each reading 1. What is the main truth claim? 2. What is the evidence? - Pay attention to what confuses you and what you disagree with. Bring your questions to class. - Read the book first, and any “Introductions” last, if at all. The introduction is often more confusing than the book. - Read the book first, and Sparknotes, Cliffnotes, etc. last, if at all. I want you to have your own first impression. We need you here! Attendance is mandatory. Roll will be taken each class. (Being repeatedly or egregiously late will count as an absence.) 1 to 8 personal absences are freebies — no credit lost. 8 ABSENCES INCLUDES EXCUSED ABSENCES> 9 or more absences cause bigger and bigger deductions from your participation grade. (10 is a letter grade) You are paying for this education including this class, so why wouldn’t you make the most of it? Participation through dialogue/writing: This is a dialogue-oriented class. Every person is responsible to participate, through speaking and writing. Speaking Emphasis: “External processors” emphasize talking. You will be on my “go to” team to talk in class (instead of posting reflections after class). Writing Emphasis: “Internal procesors” emphasize writing. to earn participation points, you will post class reflections online every week. You may elect to speak in class as well, and may be called upon. Everyone starts at an 80% for the discussion grade; you can move up from there or down, depending on whether you speak or write once per week, pay attention, and offer helpful contributions. Come prepared. Read, take notes, reflect, and come ready to share your viewpoint, defend it, listen to others’ viewpoints, and critique theirs. A discussion is more than just sharing opinions; it is a friendly, eager, sincere search for truth. We can’t judge each other, but we must judge each other’s opinions, and test them for truth. We discuss because it is more interesting; it helps us retain the information; it challenges our own viewpoint; and because philosophy itself is a dialogue. Discussion ground rules are posted online. There are two exams: midterm and final. These exams will assess your knowledge of historical facts, philosophical definitions, and the ability to synthesize and apply concepts. The Study Guide is posted online. Philosophical Disputation Papers: Every 2 weeks or so, you will write a 400+ word disputation. Each disputation is pass/fail and worth approximately 4% of the semester grade. The instructions are posted online. For those who may need or desire to do extra credit, there are three opportunities for extra credit. Instructions are posted online. - Bring your book to every class. - Participate. Participation is your responsibility; I may or may not call on you. - Stay focused. Do not distract yourself with side conversations, texting, Facebook, or doing anything else in class. Take a short mental break or bathroom break if you need to, but come back. If you have an important phone call or text, please step outside the class for a moment, then return. - No smart phones. Laptops/iPads must sit in front row. No other electronics, laptops, iPhones, or iPads, iPods, smartphones, etc. Unplug, listen and engage. - Be respectful. Pay attention to each other. Show others respect and you will be respected in turn. Unkindness, even in the form of jokes and teasing, will not be tolerated. Come to class on time, but don’t leave (nor pack up) before we’re done. - Communicate. For short, quick questions, try sending me a direct message on Twitter. Email me anytime but only between 8am-5pm Monday – Friday, or as I’m available. Include your full name and section number (I teach two sections, so I want to get your identity straight). I try to respond within two business days. If you don’t hear from me, send a reminder. Take advantage of office hours. Call, tweet, or Google Hang Out during office hours or by appointment for any question, big or small, about this course. - I can accommodate you: If you have a documented disability that might require academic accommodation, please make sure you are registered with the Academic Support Program. Contact Pam Downing (email@example.com / (859) 858-3511 x2283. - Make up work is not accepted after the due date, unless you obtain prior (email) permission. - Enjoy philosophy. We are not merely solving abstract puzzles here, but digging deeply into human thinking in a way that could change your life forever. The more you and your fellows allow yourselves to acquire a “taste” for the material, the more inclined you will be to give it the real effort required to master it. - Don’t cheat. Cheating or plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment. Cite your sources. Unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism. Egregious instances or repeat instances will result in formal disciplinary action from the university. Also, do not intentionally take anyone else’s work nor provide your work to anyone else (under whatever auspices). Academic integrity, the embodiment of the moral and spiritual principles to which we adhere, is the essential basis of the Asbury University academic community. Appendix on Academic Integrity Integrity, as partially defined by the Student or Program Handbook on Community Life Expectations, is “both knowing the right thing to do and doing it regardless of the circumstances.” This definition may be applied to all of the scholastic interactions of the academic community. Every member of the community shares responsibility for maintaining mutual trust, respect, and integrity. Violations of such trust and specific acts of academic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty can be defined as any type of cheating relative to a formal academic requirement. Academic dishonesty is typically thought of first as plagiarism. Plagiarism, whether intentionally or unintentionally, occurs when credit is taken for what someone else worked hard to discover and record if there is no clarification from where or from whom information is taken. Plagiarism is the use of another’s ideas, words, thoughts, or organization without appropriate credit and documentation when used for a project, paper, presentation, or exam. More examples of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to: unauthorized collaborations, fabrications of data, unauthorized access to sources on an exam, excessive revision by someone other than the student, re-use of previous work without permission, and other situations described by faculty for specific purposes. Faculty will address suspected occurrences of academic dishonesty as follows: The faculty member will meet with the student individually to discuss the incident. At the faculty member’s discretion, the department chair will either be notified of the meeting or be asked to be present for it. The student will be informed of the department chair’s involvement. At the faculty member’s discretion the student will receive a lowered grade, an F or 0% on the assignment in question. The faculty member will report the incident in writing to the Registrar who will maintain a record of academic integrity violations.If the incident is the student’s second offense of academic dishonesty as verified by the Registrar, the student will meet with the Dean of the college or school where the most recent incident occurred. At the Dean’s discretion, the student will receive an F in the course. If the incident is the student’s third offense, the student will be suspended from Asbury University. Students desiring to appeal a determination of academic dishonesty will follow the ‘Academic Appeals Procedure’ found in the Probation, Suspension, and Appeals section of the Asbury University Bulletin, specifically item 1. A.

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Few states in the Deep South region of the United States have met the challenges of change with the resourcefulness and success of Georgia. For decades the state remained heavily dependent upon a single crop—cotton. Before the American Civil War, the landscape had been dominated by the lavish plantations of slaveholders. Gradually they were either abandoned or broken up into much smaller tenant farms. After slavery was outlawed machinery was introduced and the cotton fields steadily became more expensive to maintain. Many people, including some of the freed African Americans, became sharecroppers, who paid the owners for use of their land with some portion of the cotton crop—a system that encouraged larger harvests and, consequently, robbed the soil of fertility. Even before the Great Depression, a major devastation of the plants by boll weevils precipitated the collapse of Georgia’s cotton industry. Georgia farmers are now revitalizing their depleted soil with new conservation methods. The restored lands support large herds of cattle, and many acres have been reforested to supply raw materials to lumber and pulp mills. Cotton, peanuts, peaches, pecans, corn (maize), soybeans, and tobacco are among modern Georgia’s crops. Georgia was first settled along its Atlantic coast in 1733. The new colony was established as a haven for England’s poor and as a buffer between the Northern colonies and Spanish Florida. The waterpower of Georgia’s rivers first attracted industry. Following the rivers, the early Georgians spread inland. They crossed the Coastal Plain and the rolling uplands, venturing as far as the Blue Ridge Mountains in the north. The largest state east of the Mississippi River, Georgia plays a major role in the economy of the southeastern part of the United States. Atlanta, the state capital and largest city, is the commercial, transportation, and financial center of the entire Southeast. More than a dozen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Atlanta. Although many people think of Georgia as a state of small towns and rural areas, the urban manufacturing centers are more truly representative of the modern state. Georgia is the only state whose name honors an English king. King George II of England granted the original charter for the “land lying between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers” in 1732. The nickname Empire State of the South, an allusion to New York’s Empire State label, reflects both Georgia’s size and its rapid industrial and agricultural growth. Another popular nickname is the Peach State, for the importance of that fruit in the state’s agriculture. In 1995 Georgia named the peach as the official state fruit. Area 59,425 square miles (153,911 square kilometers). Population (2020) 10,725,274. Nearly as large as all New England, Georgia ranks 24th in the country in size. The state sweeps from the Appalachian Mountains in the north (on the borders of Tennessee and North Carolina) to the marshes of the Atlantic Coast on the southeast and the Okefenokee Swamp (which it shares with Florida) on the south. The Savannah and Chattahoochee rivers form much of Georgia’s eastern and western boundaries with South Carolina and Alabama, respectively. Georgia lies within two large natural regions of the continental United States: the Atlantic Plain and the Appalachian Highlands. Southern Georgia is part of the Coastal Plain province of the Atlantic Plain. To the north are four provinces of the Appalachian Highlands: the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, the Valley and Ridge, and the Appalachian Plateaus. (See also Appalachian Mountains.) Roughly 60 percent of the land area in Georgia is part of the Coastal Plain region, which covers a large part of the southeastern United States. In Georgia the Coastal Plain lies south of a line running from Augusta through Milledgeville and Macon to Columbus. This dividing line, between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Province to the north, is called the fall line. It is marked by a belt of hills, where the hard rocks of the plateau meet the softer rocks of the plain. Rivers and streams flow rapidly over the fall line on their swift descent to the plain. The Coastal Plain is divided into two sections in Georgia. Lying mostly west of the Ocmulgee River is the East Gulf Coastal Plain, which slopes southward into Florida to the Gulf of Mexico. To the east of the East Gulf Coastal Plain is the Sea Island Section, which drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The East Gulf Coastal region is largely a flat limestone plain, deeply cut by narrow valleys. The Flint and Chattahoochee rivers flow south and join on the Florida border to form the Apalachicola River. The Sea Island Section of the Coastal Plain is so named because a chain of islands parallels the coastline. They are the exposed tops of a submerged ridge. The so-called valley between the islands and the mainland is part of the Intracoastal Waterway, an inland water route that extends along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States. Salt marshes and freshwater swamps border the coastal mainland, broken by the mouths of the Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, Satilla, and St. Marys rivers. In the extreme southeast, extending into Florida, is a large wetland and wildlife refuge called the Okefenokee Swamp. Inland from the coast the land rises in a series of terraces to an upland region of rolling hills with rounded summits 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 meters) high. Here are sandy areas known as pine barrens, where longleaf pine grows in abundance. Located north of the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Province occupies about 30 percent of the state’s area. This is Georgia’s most densely populated region, where most of the state’s large cities are located. It is a rolling upland that slopes northward from the fall line toward the mountains (piedmont means “foot of the mountain”). Altitudes range from 500 to nearly 2,000 feet (150 to 600 meters). The Chattahoochee, Flint, Ocmulgee, and Oconee rivers cut deep, narrow valleys. Isolated hills, known as monadnocks, rise sharply in the north. Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, and Kennesaw Mountain, near Marietta, are masses of rock that resisted erosion while the surrounding land was worn down. In the northeast, a part of the Piedmont is called the Dahlonega Plateau. It is a deeply eroded region of steep, forested hills and narrow valleys. It lies about 1,800 feet (550 meters) above sea level near the Blue Ridge Mountains and drops to 1,400 feet (430 meters). Through a deep gorge the Tallulah River falls 360 feet (110 meters) in 4 miles (6 kilometers). The Blue Ridge Mountains lie in the northeastern corner of the state. In Georgia these mountains average 2,000 to 3,000 feet (600 to 900 meters) above sea level. Brasstown Bald Mountain, the highest point in the state, rises to an elevation of 4,784 feet (1,458 meters). To the west of the Blue Ridge lies the Valley and Ridge Province, a region of fold mountains. The strong rocks, resistant to erosion, stand out as long, narrow, even-topped ridges. The weaker rocks have eroded over time, producing valleys and passes. The extreme northwestern corner of the state is occupied by the Cumberland Plateau section of the Appalachian Plateaus. Here are two broad, flat-topped ranges—Lookout Mountain and Sand Mountain. Between them runs a narrow valley. This region is not at all like the Valley and Ridge. Its rocks are horizontal, not bent and folded. The general elevation is from 1,800 to 2,000 feet (550 to 600 meters). Altitude, latitude, and the proximity of warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico determine the climate of Georgia’s various regions. In the mountains north of Atlanta the summers are cooler and the winters colder than elsewhere in the state. Temperatures in January average about 45 °F (7 °C), while in July the average is closer to 78 °F (26 °C). These vary by region, however, with the southeastern part of the state consistently having warmer temperatures. Georgia’s winters are generally mild and its summers warm and humid. A small amount of snow sometimes falls in winter, especially in the northern mountains. Late winter and early spring rains often cause floods during March and April. Annual precipitation averages 43 inches (109 centimeters) in most of the state, though it is generally greater in the northeast and along the Atlantic Coast. October and November are the driest months. The sunny, dry weather of autumn is advantageous for harvesting the state’s crops. The growing season ranges from 180 days in the north to 300 days along the lower Atlantic Coast. Because of its varied landscape, Georgia has a wide range of plant life. Trees range from maples, hemlocks, birches, and beech in the north to cypresses, tupelos, and red gums of the swamps below the fall line and to the marsh grasses of the coast and islands. Throughout most of the Appalachians chestnuts, oaks, and yellow poplars are dominant. Much of this area is designated as national forest. The region that extends from the Tennessee border to the fall line has mostly oak and pine, with pines predominating in parts of the west. Below the fall line and outside the swamps, vast stands of pine—longleaf, loblolly, and slash—cover the land. Much of the land, which had at one time been cleared of trees for farming, has gone back to trees, scrub, and grasses. Georgia’s wildlife is abundant. It includes alligators, bears, deer, opossums, sea turtles, grouse, quail, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, and turkeys. There is extensive stocking of game birds and fish. The major fish of southern Georgia, except snooks and bonefish, are in waters off the coast, and most major freshwater game fish of the United States are found in Georgia’s streams and lakes. By the early 21st century Georgia was among the most populous states in the country. In 2010 the state’s population was greater than 9.6 million. Whites made up nearly 60 percent of the population, and African Americans accounted for more than 30 percent. Nearly 9 percent of Georgians identified themselves as Hispanic. Georgia was also one of the fastest-growing U.S. states, with a population increase of more than 18 percent between the 2000 and 2010 censuses. Forsyth and Paulding counties, part of metropolitan Atlanta, were among the top 10 fastest-growing U.S. counties during that time span, with population increases of 78 percent and 74 percent, respectively. Atlanta, in the northwestern part of the state, is the capital of Georgia and its largest city. It is the center of an extensive metropolitan area that includes more than 20 counties. Other large cities in Georgia include Augusta, an industrial and resort city on the Savannah River in the eastern part of the state, and Columbus, an industrial center on the Chattahoochee River. Savannah is a beautiful historic city and seaport on the Atlantic Coast. Macon, in the center of the state, has diverse industries and has long been a processing and distributing center for the surrounding farmland. The Georgia educational system is under the direction of the Department of Education, created by the constitution of 1868. The constitution of 1877 limited state funds to elementary schools and the University of Georgia. Not until 1910 did a constitutional amendment permit taxes to be levied for high schools. The General Assembly of 1949 authorized a Minimum Foundation Program. It proposed to give state aid where local funds were insufficient to provide minimum-standard schools, to raise salaries, and to improve school facilities. In 1951 the General Assembly created the State School Building Authority to finance a broad program of new public school construction. In 1985 the General Assembly passed the Quality Basic Education Act, which substantially revised the formula for allocating state funds to local school systems. With increased funding for schools in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, significant improvements were made in the state’s education system. In 1785 the University of Georgia, in Athens, became the first chartered state university in the country. Its first classes were held in 1801. Georgia Institute of Technology, located in Atlanta, opened in 1888. It is one of the country’s leading technical schools. Today the University System of Georgia comprises 26 state-supported institutions of higher education throughout the state. Private institutions include Emory University, in Atlanta; Mercer University, in Macon; and Agnes Scott College (for women), in Decatur. Wesleyan College, which was founded in Macon in 1836 as Georgia Female College, was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. Berry College, near Rome, was originally established to educate poor children of the mountains of northern Georgia, but it now draws students from throughout the country and abroad. The undergraduate institutions and the graduate and professional schools of the Atlanta University Center, all historically Black institutions and together occupying a single campus, are at the forefront of African American higher education. Prominent among these schools are Morehouse and Spelman colleges. Georgia has a wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities. Stone Mountain Park near Decatur (an eastern suburb of Atlanta) is noted not only for its natural environment but for the massive Confederate memorial relief carved into the mountain’s granite face. The mountainous north is dominated by the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, which include a number of wilderness areas. Springer Mountain is the southern end of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The unique character of the Okefenokee Swamp is preserved through the administration of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, as well as the Stephen C. Foster and Laura S. Walker State Park facilities found there. On the coast is Cumberland Island National Seashore, which covers part of that large barrier island. The Golden Isles, as the Sea Islands are often called, have fine beaches. Georgia has several professional sports teams, all based in Atlanta. They are the Braves, in baseball; the Hawks, in men’s basketball; the Dream, in women’s basketball; the Falcons, in football; and Atlanta United FC, in soccer. In professional golf, Augusta National Golf Club hosts the prestigious Masters Tournament each April. Culture in Georgia is largely centered in Atlanta. The city supports a ballet company, a symphony orchestra, an opera, and multiple theaters, museums, and art galleries. The Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta is a visual and performing arts center. It is where the Alliance Theatre stages plays and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performs concerts. It is also home to the High Museum of Art, which is dedicated to supporting Southern artists. It has more than 15,000 pieces of art in its permanent collection. Clark Atlanta University has a notable collection of 20th-century African American art. Nearby is the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere. Atlanta is also host to the National Black Arts Festival, an annual event that began in 1988. Outside Atlanta, Marietta is home to the Georgia Symphony and the Georgia Ballet. The Peach State Opera, based in Lawrenceville, is a touring opera company that stages shows for small communities in Georgia. The state is rich in traditional arts and crafts, especially in the mountainous north. There is a mountain art guild in Clayton. In Savannah, the Telfair Museums include the Jepson Center, which features modern art, and the Telfair Academy, which presents American and European art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Georgia writers have made a lasting impression on American literature. Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (1982) , which explores African American life in the South, won a Pulitzer Prize and was made into award-winning cinema and stage versions. Flannery O’Connor was considered a master of the short-story form, and Carson McCullers created many memorable Southern characters in her work. Georgia has produced some of the best-known figures in American popular music. Ray Charles helped develop soul music, and he recorded the best-known version of the state song, “Georgia on My Mind.” Little Richard was one of the early stars of rock and roll, and the Allman Brothers Band pioneered the Southern rock genre. Atlanta has produced a number of hip-hop acts, including OutKast and Ludacris. Numerous buildings, districts, and archaeological sites across Georgia have been designated national historic landmarks. Among those is the Old Governor’s Mansion in Milledgeville, dating from the period (1804–68) when Milledgeville was the capital of Georgia. Similarly, the Savannah Historic District embraces much of the original town layout and architecture of the 18th century. Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in central Georgia features earthwork structures built by peoples of the Mississippian culture. American Civil War battlefields are preserved at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, near Marietta, and at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, in northwestern Georgia and southern Tennessee. Other Civil War sites include the large Confederate military prison at Andersonville and Fort McAllister Historic Park near Savannah. For brief biographies of some notable people of Georgia, click here. In the 20th century Georgia shifted from an economy that relied heavily on agriculture to one that concentrated on manufacturing and service activities. Today more than four-fifths of the jobs in the state are in the service sector. Manufacturing accounts for many of the remaining jobs, with agriculture-related activities employing only a fraction of the workforce. In the late 20th century Georgia’s economic performance surpassed that of most other states in the Deep South, and by the early 21st century Georgia’s economy had become one of the largest in the country. Georgia suffered severely from erosion and loss of soil fertility as a result of too intensive cotton cultivation. The damage was slowly corrected by diversified farming and by converting the once-abandoned cotton lands to forests and pasture. While cotton is still one of Georgia’s chief cash crops, the land devoted to its cultivation has declined significantly. With the shift to diversified farming, corn is grown in many areas. Tobacco is also an important crop. Georgia is a leading state in peanut and pecan production. Other crops include soybeans, hay, and nursery and truck crops. Fruit is raised in nearly all parts of the state. Georgia sometimes calls itself the Peach State and is a leading producer of the fruit. (In 1875, in the first commercial peach orchard in the state, Samuel Rumph produced a freestone peach that he named Elberta after his wife.) Georgia peaches, watermelons, and cantaloupes are among the first to reach Northern markets in the spring. Most spectacular has been the growth of the livestock and poultry industries. Georgia is a national leader in the production of broiler chickens. It also markets turkeys, pigs, beef cattle, eggs, and milk. Many old cotton plantations are now planted with legumes and grasses for cattle forage. This vegetation also controls erosion and helps rebuild the land. At one time forests covered all of Georgia. Although the original forests have been cut over, Georgia still has more acres of commercial forestland than any other state. Lumber, plywood, and paper are major products. Shrimps are Georgia’s most valuable product of the sea. Blue crabs are second in importance. State fish hatcheries stock streams and ponds with sport fish. Following a national pattern, manufacturing declined in Georgia in the early 21st century. Nevertheless, the sector remains an important source of employment and a significant contributor to the state’s economy. Textile production is a leading industry. Cotton textile manufacturing has been an important part of Georgia’s economy since the late 19th century. The state’s continued specialization in textiles is shown in the great number of rug and carpet mills in northern Georgia. Food processing is another of Georgia’s leading industries. Frozen and canned fruits, vegetables, and shrimps are among the chief products. The state is also a leading producer of peanut butter. The soft drink Coca-Cola originated in Atlanta in the 1880s, and the Coca-Cola Company—the largest beverage manufacturer and distributor in the world—remains headquartered in the city. Other industries in Georgia include the manufacture of aerospace and other transportation equipment, chemicals, paper products, machinery, and metal products. Georgia is first in the country in the production of white kaolin, or china clay. Fine granite and marble are quarried in the north. The Coastal Plain has high-grade sands for making glass. Other minerals include sand and gravel, iron oxides, barite, peat, and mica. Georgia has seen massive growth in its service sector since the mid-20th century. Key service activities include government, finance, insurance, real estate, information technology, retail and wholesale trade, construction, and transportation. In addition to the Coca-Cola Company, other large companies with headquarters in Atlanta include Home Depot, United Parcel Service (UPS), and Delta Air Lines. Tourism is another important component of the service sector. With a growing number of attractions, Atlanta draws millions of tourists each year. The city has also become a major convention site. In Georgia’s colonial days the rivers were a primary means of communication between the coast and the inland cotton plantations. Later, the importance of getting cotton to the coast for shipment to England made the state a pioneer in steamship navigation. A steamboat cruised the Savannah River as early as 1790. By 1816 there were commercial lines in operation on the rivers. The first steamship to cross the Atlantic, the Savannah, departed from Savannah in 1819. Both Savannah and Brunswick are deepwater ports. The first federal turnpike was built in 1811 from Milledgeville westward. The Old Federal Road, constructed in 1815, ran from Athens into Tennessee. The first railway was the Georgia Railroad, chartered in 1833. By 1837, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) of line had been completed out of Augusta. There were more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) of track by 1850. Atlanta began as a railroad junction, known as Terminus, where four lines met. Modern Atlanta’s vast railroad facilities help make the city the transportation center of the Southeast. Georgia is served by more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of the national interstate highway system. Interstate 75 forms a major route from Tennessee down the length of central Georgia to northern Florida. Interstate 85 leads from South Carolina in the northeast to Atlanta and continues south and west to the Alabama state line. Interstate 20 enters the state at the Alabama–Haralson county line, runs through Atlanta, and continues east to South Carolina. Interstate 95 runs along the coast, entering Georgia at Savannah and crossing into Florida at St. Marys River. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is one of the largest and busiest airfields in the world. It is also the hub of the state’s aviation network, a system that includes several other airports offering commercial service. Atlanta has been the capital of Georgia since 1868. The state is governed under its 10th constitution, which was adopted in 1983. The chief executive is the governor, who is elected to a four-year term and is limited to serving two terms. The Senate and the House of Representatives make up the legislature. The judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court. Georgia’s most notable politician, Jimmy Carter, served as governor from 1971 to 1975 and was elected U.S. president in 1976. He was the losing Democratic presidential candidate in 1980. Another former governor, Richard B. Russell, was one of the most influential members of the U.S. Senate. In 1948 he became the first politician from the Deep South to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. African Americans made great strides in Georgia politics beginning in the 1970s. In 1972 Andrew Young became the first African American congressman from Georgia in 100 years. A year later Maynard Jackson was elected as the first African American mayor of Atlanta. Young succeeded Jackson as Atlanta mayor in 1982. In 2021 Raphael Warnock became the first African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia. The first people of what is now Georgia were Paleo-Indians who found their way into the area about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. These nomadic hunters built small, seasonally occupied camps as they followed the movements of their large animal prey. Permanent to semipermanent village settlement in Georgia came with the emergence of the Woodland culture in the period 1000 bc to ad 900. The Woodland peoples raised crops, made pottery, and built huge burial mounds of clay and earth. Some mounds contained human burials and elaborately worked jewelry, pottery, and figurines. Others did not contain burials but were built in the shapes of animals. The best known of these is Rock Eagle in central Georgia, a large complex of quartz rocks laid out in the shape of a bird. The Mississippian culture, named for the river valley in which it flourished, succeeded the Woodland culture and continued the tradition of building mounds. This culture developed ranked social classes, with powerful governments headed by chiefs. Its system of agriculture, based on corn, beans, squash, pumpkin, and tobacco, often provided food surpluses. The Mississippian culture was dominant in the area when Europeans arrived in Georgia in the 1500s. About 1540 the Spaniard Hernando de Soto, on a quest for silver and gold, led the first European expedition into the area. The coming of the Spanish was disastrous for the Native Americans. The explorers killed or enslaved hundreds of people and brought diseases, such as measles, smallpox, and whooping cough, that killed thousands more. Ultimately, the Spanish were responsible for the destruction of the Mississippian culture in Georgia. As a result of de Soto’s travels, Georgia became part of the territory claimed by Spain. In 1565 the Spanish began their occupation of Florida. Roman Catholic missions and associated military posts were later established along the Georgia coast. By the second half of the 1600s, however, the British had begun reaching into the area from neighboring South Carolina. In 1732 King George II, for whom the state was named, granted a charter to a group of wealthy Englishmen headed by James E. Oglethorpe. Under this charter they planned to found a colony as a haven for imprisoned debtors, the poor and unemployed, and persecuted Protestants from Germany and Austria. The colony would also serve as a defensive area to protect against the Spanish in Florida and the French in Louisiana. In February 1733 Oglethorpe, with about 120 followers, sailed up the Savannah River to Yamacraw Bluff. Tomochichi, chief of the Yamacraw (a branch of the Creek Indians), welcomed them. Oglethorpe built a settlement at Savannah and founded the colony of Georgia—the last of the 13 original colonies set up by England. Soon the group was joined by Protestant and Jewish refugees. In 1734 Oglethorpe went back to England. He returned to Georgia with more colonists, including soldiers, and in 1736 built Fort Frederica. Spaniards from Florida landed 3,000 men on St. Simons Island to destroy the settlement at Frederica in 1742. They were defeated by Oglethorpe at the Battle of Bloody Marsh, ending the Spanish threat to Georgia. The colonists cultivated silkworms, hemp, grapes, and olives, but Georgia did not thrive. Restrictions on size and a prohibition on slavery made it difficult for the small farms to compete with the large plantations of nearby South Carolina, where slavery was allowed. To encourage settlers to remain in Georgia, the colony’s leaders gradually lifted the restrictions against slavery. Relations with Native Americans remained friendly until 1751. Then Mary Musgrove, a Native American woman who had acted as an interpreter for Oglethorpe, marched into Savannah with a large band of Native Americans to demand the return of certain lands. The uprising was put down. Colonial leaders, faced with unrest and population loss, surrendered all power in the colony to the British government in 1752. Two years later Georgia became a royal province. Plantation agriculture, based mainly on the production of sugar, rice, and indigo, then took hold. It relied heavily on slavery and became the basis of the colony’s economy. Georgia was a major battlefield during the American Revolution. In 1778 the British routed the Americans under General Robert Howe and seized Savannah. The city was the headquarters of the British in the South until General Anthony Wayne’s offensive forced them out in 1782. Georgia adopted its first state constitution in 1777. It was the fourth state to ratify the federal Constitution. At the time, the state extended westward to the Mississippi River. In 1802 Georgia sold to the federal government all its lands westward from the Chattahoochee River. The westward movement of British and then American settlers beginning in the mid-18th century pushed into the lands of the Cherokee and Muskogee (a subdivision of the Creek). After 1800 the Cherokee were remarkable for their adoption of American settler culture. Sequoyah invented a Cherokee alphabet and taught his people to read and write. The Cherokee Nation adopted a written constitution and a government modeled on that of the United States. However, the embrace of settler culture did not prevent conflicts over land. Through a series of treaties that the Cherokee and Muskogee were forced to sign, the tribes turned over their lands to Georgia. In the late 1830s the remaining Cherokee were forced westward on the harsh journey remembered as the Trail of Tears. They were resettled on reservations in Indian Territory, which is now part of Oklahoma. By that time most Muskogee had already been forced out of Georgia. (See also Cherokee Nation v. Georgia; Southeast Indians; Worcester v. Georgia.) Land taken from Native Americans paved the way for the development of large-scale agriculture in Georgia. After the 1790s the state’s economy was dominated by the production of cotton, which depended heavily on the labor of enslaved Africans. By the mid-19th century Georgia had the greatest number of large plantations of any state in the South. A vast majority of white Georgians, like most white Southerners, viewed slavery as economically crucial to their society. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the state voted for secession on January 19, 1861, and declared itself a free republic in order to preserve its plantation culture. Alexander H. Stephens, a native of Georgia, became vice president of the Confederacy. In 1863 Georgia was the scene of the Battle of Chickamauga near the Tennessee border. In 1864 Union troops under General William Tecumseh Sherman invaded Georgia from the north. Sherman and his troops laid siege to Atlanta and burned much of the city before finally capturing it. Sherman then launched his March to the Sea, a 50-mile- (80-kilometer-) wide swath of total destruction across Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah. Sherman’s troops reached Savannah in late December. The Confederacy collapsed soon afterward. (See also American Civil War.) On July 15, 1870, Georgia became the last former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union. The war had devastated the state, and its economy did not recover for many years. During the Reconstruction period former Confederate officers frequently held the state’s highest offices. Racial conflict marked Georgia’s history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the late 1890s legislation was enacted that disenfranchised African Americans, or took away their right to vote, and established a system of segregation to separate Blacks and whites in all public places throughout Georgia. A segregated school system offered inferior education to the Black community. Between 1890 and 1920 terrorist mobs in Georgia lynched many African Americans. During this same period, however, several notable colleges for African Americans were founded in Atlanta. Among them were Morehouse for men and Spelman for women. Atlanta developed into one of the country’s centers of African American cultural and intellectual life. In the 20th century Georgia gradually adopted a more industrial economy. Textile manufacturing, which had emerged as an important enterprise in the late 19th century, continued to develop. During World War II, U.S. military bases in the state were expanded—notably Fort Benning in Columbus—and many new factories were constructed. Improvements to the transportation system encouraged the growth of industry. In the years following World War II, African Americans in Georgia became increasingly involved in the fight against segregation and other racial injustices in the South. Most notable was the work of Atlanta native Martin Luther King, Jr. He established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta in 1957 and from there led a series of protests around the country that became known as the civil rights movement. This movement spurred the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which contained strong provisions against discrimination and segregation in voting, education, and the use of public facilities. Since the 1950s Georgia’s economy and population have expanded at a pace much faster than the national average. Most of this growth has occurred in and around the state capital, whose glittering skyline has become a symbol of the prosperous New South. Atlanta played host to the 1988 Democratic National Convention, and the city’s Georgia Dome was the site of the Super Bowl in 1994 and 2000. By the end of the 20th century the city had also gained international stature, largely through hosting the 1996 Olympic Games. Atlanta was only the third U.S. city to be honored with the Summer Games. (See also United States, “The South”.) Ralph David Abernathy was the chief aide to Martin Luther King, Jr., during the civil rights movement. Abernathy became a Baptist pastor in 1948, and in 1951 he was assigned a church in Montgomery, Alabama, where he met King. The two men organized the Montgomery bus boycott and later, in 1957, started the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC worked to win equal rights for Blacks. In 1961 Abernathy moved to Atlanta. He continued to work with the SCLC until 1977, when he resumed his work as a pastor at a Baptist church in Atlanta. (See also Ralph David Abernathy.) Musician James Brown was one of the most influential entertainers in 20th-century popular music. Brown was raised mainly in Augusta. While still in his teens Brown formed a musical group that attracted the attention of rock-and-roll star Little Richard. Brown’s first recording, “Please, Please, Please” (1956), sold three million copies. He would go on to place nearly 100 singles and almost 50 albums on the charts. Brown’s songs from the 1960s were prominent in the Black Power movement, and in the ’70s he became known as the Godfather of Soul. (See also James Brown.) Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States. Carter was raised and educated in Georgia, where he eventually ran his family’s peanut farm. Carter served in the Georgia Senate during the1960s and was elected Georgia governor in 1970. He ran for president in 1976 and won. As president, Carter achieved some success in foreign relations, but the bad economy and a hostage crisis led to his loss in the 1980 election. Carter won the 2002 Nobel Prize for Peace for his work over the decades promoting peace and human rights. (See also Jimmy Carter.) Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of the United States of America in 1912. She grew up in Savannah. She lived in the United Kingdom and became friends with Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides in England. Low was interested in the scout movement and started groups of Girl Guides in Britain. When she moved back to Georgia, Low started a Girl Guides troop in Savannah. In 1913 the organization’s name was changed to Girl Scouts, and Low served as its president from 1915 to 1920. (See also Juliette Gordon Low.) The work of Jasper Johns helped usher in new forms of art, such as Minimalism and Pop Art. Johns was raised in Augusta and moved to New York City in the late 1940s to pursue an art career. He struggled for years, but his first one-man show, in 1958, proved to be a huge success. Johns painted commonplace objects (flags, numbers, and letters) but manipulated the surface texture of his paintings to make them unique. He tried to make people see these objects in a new way. (See also Jasper Johns.) Writer Flannery O’Connor came to be regarded as the master of the short story. O’Connor grew up in Georgia and lived there most of her life, except when she studied creative writing at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her first novel Wise Blood was published in 1952, followed by the short-story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find, And Other Stories (1955). O’Connor’s stories are usually set in the rural American South and focus on the relationship between the individual and God. (See also Flannery O’Connor.) Entertainer Tyler Perry is a popular playwright, actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. Perry created his trademark character, Madea, in his 2000 play I Can Do Bad All by Myself. Perry played the brutally honest, gun-toting grandmother in a number of his plays and films. He occasionally acted in others’ films as well. Perry also runs Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, the only major film studio owned by an African American. Writer Alice Walker is known for her stories of African American culture. Walker was born to sharecroppers in the small Georgia town of Eatonton. After graduating from college she began publishing short stories and essays. Much of Walker’s work focuses on the lives and struggles of African American women. Her most popular novel, The Color Purple (1982), depicts the life of an African American woman between 1909 and 1947 in a Georgia town. Walker also wrote fiction for children and the memoir The Chicken Chronicles (2011). (See also Alice Walker.) Doak, R.S. Georgia, 1521–1776 (National Geographic Society, 2006). Hall, Brianna. Exploring the Georgia Colony (Capstone Press, 2017). Nault, Jennifer. Georgia: The Peach State (AV2 by Weigl, 2012). Prentzas, G.S. Georgia, revised edition (Children’s Press, 2014). Schwartz, Heather E. Tomochichi: Chief and Friend (Teacher Created Materials, 2017). Streissguth, Thomas. Sherman’s March to the Sea (Focus Readers, 2020). Sweeney, Alyse, and Marchesi, Stephen. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Man With a Dream (Scholastic, 2007). Ward, Jill. Woodland Indians (State Standards Publishing, 2010).

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The 1815 volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora changed history. The year following the eruption, 1816 was known in England as the “Year without a Summer,” in New England as “18-hundred-and-froze-to-death”, and “L’annee de la misere” or “Das Hungerhjar” in Switzerland. Germans dubbed 1817 as “the year of the beggar.” The Chinese and Indians had no name for it but the years following the massive eruption were remembered as ones of intense and widespread suffering. Scientists are, only today, uncovering the historical impacts of this ecological disaster. Suddenly we have climatic data which have reshaped our understanding of the events of 1815 and the years that followed. Now it is historians’ job to explore the social, political, and cultural influence of this catastrophic event. All this and more today as we explore the eruption of Mount Tambora in April 1815. Listen, download, watch on YouTube, or scroll down for the transcript. Other Episodes of Interest: Transcript of Mount Tambora and the Year Without a Summer Researched and written by Marissa Rhodes Produced by Marissa Rhodes and Averill Earls, PhD Marissa: In 2004, Icelandic volcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson was visiting Sumbawa, a medium-sized island in the Indonesian archipelago. The Sumbawa savannahs are ideally suited to the breeding of horses and cows. Its population, around 1.4 million people, work primarily in agriculture and mining. One of Sigurdsson’s local guides informed him of a small gully where locals had found old pottery and other goods. They called it “museum gully” and knew nothing more of it. They might have been surprised when Sigurdsson enthusiastically asked them to take him there. Averill: The guides took Sigurdsson to museum gully. Using ground-penetrating radar, he and his team from the University of Rhode Island, uncovered the remains of a 19th century village frozen in time. They excavated one structure, a home which contained the carbonized remains of two people. The woman brandished a utility knife as if she was in the course of preparing a meal or performing an ordinary task around the house. The couple was surrounded by their belongings: furniture, iron tools, bronze bowls and pottery. Sigurdsson knew that this site had been preserved by history’s deadliest volcano, Mount Tambora, whose 1815 eruption changed history. Marissa: The locals on Sumbawa knew little of this event which had occurred only 200 years ago on the island they call home. This is not, of course, because they were uneducated or disinterested. They knew nothing of the eruption because few who lived on the island, and no one who lived on the mountain at the time survived to tell the story. The Tambora people and their Rajah lived closest to the volcano before the eruption. One April evening, their culture, their language, and their lifestyle, became extinct within a matter of hours. The rest of the world was oblivious to the eruption for months. Even after news of the event reached the rest of the globe, they had no idea that they were already weathering its impact. The year following the eruption, 1816 was known in England as the “Year without a Summer,” in New England as 18-hundred-and-froze-to-death, and “L’annee de la misere” or “Das Hungerhjar” in Switzerland. Germans dubbed 1817 as “the year of the beggar.” The Chinese and Indians had no name for it but the years following the massive eruption were remembered as ones of intense and widespread suffering. Scientists are, only today, uncovering the historical impacts of this ecological disaster. Suddenly we have climatic data which have reshaped our understanding of the events of 1815 and the years that followed. Now it is historians’ job to explore the social, political, and cultural influence of this catastrophic event. All this and more today as we explore the eruption of Mount Tambora in April 1815. I’m Marissa Rhodes And I’m Averill Earls And we are your historians for this episode of Dig. Averill: In the beginning of the 19th century, Mount Tambora had been considered extinct. No one alive at the time knew of any Tambora eruptions since the start of recorded history. We know now that before 1815, Mount Tambora had not erupted for over 5,000 years. Starting sometime in 1812, the villagers living on the mountain’s terraces and at its foot reported hearing occasional rumbling and seeing small eruptions of steam. These developments were interesting to the inhabitants of the mountain who spoke a now-extinct language related to Khmer, the language of Cambodia. They probably discussed it amongst themselves and with the traders and guides from the British and Dutch East India Companies who occasionally docked in Sumbawa’s primary port, called Bima. No one seemed particularly worried about Tambora’s awakening. Marissa: This was, until April 5, 1815. A loud explosion was heard up to 620 miles away (1,000 km). A 15 mile-high column of hot ash and smoke shot out of the massive volcano. Over 10,000 residents were killed immediately in this initial eruption. Two entire principalities, Tambora, and Pekat had been vaporized. Others close by choked on poisonous gases or were buried in ash and pumice, where they stayed until American students began excavating their resting places 200 years later. On April 10, the volcano erupted again, this time the column of ash and fire thrown from the volcano reached 25 miles high. This second explosion was heard over 1,500 miles away in Sumatra. The entire top of the mountain, totaling about a mile high, was blown off entirely, changing Mount Tambora’s appearance forever. Much of the archipelago and its adjacent seas were plunged into darkness for days. Volcanic ash reached as far as 620 miles away from the site. Averill: The Rajah of Sangarr, a small principality on Sumbawa survived the disaster and described the site of the eruption for posterity: “[T]hree distinct columns of flame burst forth, near the top of Tomboro [sic] Mountain, all of them apparently within the verge of the crater; and after ascending separately to a very great height, their tops united in the air in a troubled confused manner. In a short time the whole mountain next [to] Saugar [sic] appeared like a body of liquid fire extending itself in every direction… Between nine and ten p.m. ashes began to fall, and soon after a violent whirlwind ensued, which blew down nearly every house in the village of Saugar, carrying the tops and light parts along with it… In the part of Saugar adjoining [Mount Tambora] its effects were much more violent, tearing up by the roots the largest trees and carrying them into the air together with men, houses, cattle, and whatever else came within its influence. This will account for the immense number of floating trees seen at sea… The sea rose nearly twelve feet higher than it had ever been known to be before, and completely spoiled the only small spots of rice lands in Saugar, sweeping away houses and every thing within its reach.” Marissa: The Sumbawa people who did not die in either eruption suffered in the following weeks. They endured transplantation or homelessness as hot rivers of lava flowed over their villages. Thousands drowned in resultant tsunamis or suffered fatal injuries in volcanic wind gales. Tens of thousands died from thirst, hunger, disease or malnutrition over the following months because their rice crops and infrastructure were destroyed. Their water supply was also poisoned by ash, pyroclastic flows and the aerosolized gases it absorbed. Two weeks after the eruption, Lieutenant Owen Phillips was charged with delivering rice and drinking water to the island from stores on Java. He encountered a horrible scene. Few recognizable built structures still existed on the island and both land and sea were littered with uprooted trees and rotting corpses. [Philips was actually the person who recorded the Rajah’s eyewitness account we just read] Averill: An estimated 117,000 people died as a direct result of the two April eruptions. Survivors who lived on the farther reaches of the island appeared to have emigrated en masse in the eruption’s aftermath. The islanders reached such depths of desperation that they started selling themselves as slaves to Sulawesi [SU-la-WEY-see] pirates as a survival strategy. Within a year of the event, half of Sumbawa’s population were dead or departed. Only years later did new groups arrive to repopulate and rebuild the island. Nearly all of Sumbawa’s buildings date to after 1815. At least two small kingdoms were lost entirely and we know very little about them. The Dutch and British East India companies, whose activities generated most if the documents we have about 19th-century Indonesia, knew little of the Tambora or Pekat people. Neither company had been successful at regulating trade in Sumbawa and other small islands in the archipelago by that time. Marissa: The Dutch had been in Indonesia since 1603 but focused their efforts on Java which was closer to the mainland. Sailors had used Mount Tambora as a landmark and guide in their journeys but their contact with the people on Sumbawa was minimal compared to interactions in the bustling ports of Java. The nearby islands of Lombok, Bali and East Java suffered considerable crop damage after the eruption but news of their struggles did not travel far. Unlike the explosion of Krakatoa in the 1880s, this eruption went largely unreported. The telegraph had not yet been invented and the volcano’s immediate damage was confined to the lesser colonized islands which were still comparatively insular. Averill: What’s more is that until the eruption of Krakatoa (70 years later), scientists were unsure of the climatic impact of volcanic eruptions. For this reason, studies on Tambora and its impacts are all fairly recent. First-hand documentation of its 1815 eruption are incredibly rare so its death toll, and its immediate consequences went undetermined for decades. Most of the accounts we have from the time are the recorded observations of British and Dutch sailors in the area. In the last few years, scientists are beginning to understand that the deposits of ash, pumice and solidified lava flows have completely reshaped the island’s topography. The Mount Tambora eruption has long since been identified as the cause of the “Year without a Summer” but in 1816, few people had any idea that such a cataclysmic event had passed and no one knew that it would wreak havoc all over the world for the next three years. Marissa: First I want to make sure we give our listeners an idea of the scale of this eruption. Krakatoa, which is often used as an example of the quintessential natural disaster, flung 4.5 cubic miles of pumice, rock, ash and other debris into the atmosphere, no small amount. But when Mount Tambora erupted, it expelled 36 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere. There’s no comparison. Those of us who have seen Dante’s Peak, starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, might remember it was about the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helen’s in Washington state. Tambora’s eruption was 100 times the size of the eruption of Mount St. Helen’s. It’s nearly impossible to imagine the scale of this disaster, really. When something is so massive and devastating, it almost starts to mean nothing… just numbers, right? Averill: One way we can measure Tambora’s destructiveness is by exploring its impact over the rest of the world in the following years. But keep in mind, at the time, no one knew that this eruption was to blame for the events that followed. The ash thrown up into the atmosphere by the violent explosion settled over the entire archipelago, blotting out the light for days after the event. This consequence was obviously perceived by people who were living at the time but what they could not have known was that the volcano had emitted 80 megatons (80 million metric tons) of sulphur dioxide which rose into the stratosphere, creating a band around the tropics. There, they oxidized into sulphate aerosol particles which were distributed globally over the next year. These aerosols were deposited on the ice covering both of the Earth’s poles, and these deposits continued for two years. Tambora’s emissions were preserved in ice, appearing as they did in the months after the eruption, and studied in ice cores extracted in 2009. Marissa: These sulphate particles refract and absorb the sun’s light in such a way that it leads to a cooling effect on the ground. The world’s temperatures plummeted for the next 3 years. This, in addition to other weather anomalies triggered by the eruption, disrupted ecosystems all over the planet. I think we talked about proxies in the Little Ice Age episode? But a quick refresh: proxies are records of historical temperatures that still exist today. Scientists have used ice cores as we mentioned earlier, historical documentation by cultures all over the world, as well as dendrochronology — the reading of tree rings– to determine temperature patterns after the eruption. Being historians, we’re most interested in the document proxies, and to be honest, we’re hardly qualified to talk about the other more scientific ways of studying this phenomenon. You need to go over to Lady Science Pod for that. Averill: In North America and Europe, 19th-century people had a nerdy habit of recording the temperature and other meteorological data every day. Thomas Jefferson was one of these nerds. Scholars have been able to use his records to prove Tambora’s impact on global temperatures. For example, on May 17, 1816, Jefferson wrote: “[T]he spring has been unusually dry and cold. our average morning cold for the month of May in other years has been 63° of Farenheit. in the present month it has been to this day an average of 53° and one morning as low as 43°. repeated frosts have killed the early fruits and the crops of tobacco and wheat will be poor.” [Jefferson to David Baillie Warden, May 17, 1816, in PTJ:RS, 10:65.] Two months later, New England experienced a summer snow storm that dropped 10 inches of snow on unsuspecting villages. Now just one document like this doesn’t mean much, but added to hundreds of other documents where people similarly record plummeting temperatures, they act as evidence that Tambora’s impact was far-reaching. Marissa: The gazettes in Qing China reported the daily weather in enough detail that scholars have been able to measure Tambora’s impact on China’s weather between 1815 and 1819. They have also been able to use people’s personal diaries, etc to corroborate temperatures. During these years, China suffered from unseasonably cool and wet weather. Summer frosts and snow falls destroyed rice and buckwheat crops on such a scale that some areas, such as the southwestern Yunnan province, suffered severe famine. The Great Yunnan famine was the result of 3 successive crop failures. It was so severe that people were reportedly selling their children, committing murder-suicides, and eating clay in desperation. Averill: Starvation and desperation in Yunnan killed many people. The survivors of the Yunnan famine were understandably scarred and resentful, and they sought ways to protect themselves from another such disaster. One way they did this was by turning to cash crops, specifically poppy. Poppy plants, used to produce opium, were hardy enough to withstand the temperature fluctuations resulting from Tambora. Even though they didn’t provide sustenance to those who grew them, they brought in cash which solved Yunnan’s food insecurity crisis at least temporarily. Farmers weren’t the only ones benefiting from this transition to cash crops. The state benefited as well because it was able to tax the lucrative crop and extract impressive revenue. Marissa: What seemed like an innovative solution to famine at the time ended up having grave consequences. The famine contributed to the decline of the Qing dynasty and unfortunately coincided with the arrival of Western gun boats. Great Britain launched a strategy of gunboat diplomacy where it used intimidation in Chinese ports to force trade deals which unilaterally benefited them. Meanwhile, the opium problem worsened. Neither the farmers nor the state had any monetary incentive to stop growing poppy. Eventually the Yunnan province was entirely dedicated to the cultivation of poppy and was forced to import all of its grain from southeast Asia. So Yunnan was not producing any food at all… so much for increased food security! The opium-dependent population living in China’s ports bought foreign opium supplies in massive quantities which drained China of its silver (triggering the first and second Opium wars with Britain). It also created generations of Chinese people who struggled their entire lives with opium addiction. The Chinese state recognized widespread opium addiction as a national crisis as early as the 1830s. Averill: This course of events is known in Chinese history as the Daoguang Depression. It was crucial to shaping China’s interactions with the West. In centuries past, China had enjoyed economic stability, population growth and competent, widespread political influence. Tambora’s impact on the climate made the Chinese vulnerable to Western exploitation and interference. This set China on a path toward deterioration: the decline of the Qing, the Opium Wars, and the Taiping Rebellion followed. Marissa: Some of the modern world’s most dangerous pathogens also owe their strength to Tambora’s eruption. India’s monsoons were delayed in 1816 and 1817 by Tambora’s sulphate gases. The dramatic alteration in moisture content in Indian towns and cities resulted in a mutation to the cholera bacterium. This mutation triggered the deadliest cholera epidemic in history, known as the Bengal Cholera. In November 1817, this mutated cholera killed 5,000 people in 5 days. The disease quickly spread and became a pandemic lasting, in Asia, until 1821. Death tolls are staggeringly high and a total has never been calculated. We know 10,000 British soldiers stationed in India died of cholera but estimates of Indian deaths are projected to be in the hundreds of thousands. The bacterium did not become any less deadly as it traveled across Asia. Bangkok, for example, reported 30,000 cholera deaths. By 1823, the mutated strain reached Europe, and then North America shortly after. Worldwide, experts estimate that the cholera pandemic triggered by Tambora’s gases killed millions. Averill: For centuries India has been regarded as the “Homeland of Cholera.” Public health officials and sometimes even historians accused the Indian government of neglecting sanitation, and the Indian people of unhygienic practices which transformed the country into a vector of the highly contagious disease. The British Empire used India’s susceptibility to cholera to justify their colonial activities there. The British were able to frame India as a third-world country incapable of ruling itself and Britain as the modern, civilized world power willing to influence the Indian state for the better. (Gandhi disagrees lol) The impact of British colonialism in India is still being felt today. Studies of Tambora’s impact have rectified this myth somewhat. There was little that India could have done to prevent the mutation and spread of the cholera bacteria in light of the monsoon failures they endured. Marissa: Another indirect impact of Tambora are the riots that ensued across the globe in response to widespread famine and disease. In most modern societies, it’s not as easy to see the connections between agricultural output and food security. But at the time of Tambora’s eruption, the vast majority of the world was still engaged in subsistence agriculture. So variations in agricultural output had direct impacts on how much food made it to the table. One crop failure was serious. Two crop failures in a row was dire. Most regions would have used any food stores to supplement the first failure. Three crop failures in a row, as we saw with Hunnan province in China, was an emergency. Gillen D’Arcy Wood, author on a new book about Tambora, put it well: “For three years following Tambora’s explosion, to be alive, almost anywhere in the world, meant to be hungry.” In many areas, food scarcity led to riots and other unrest, especially in Europe which was struggling with the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars during the Year without a Summer. Averill: In 1816 Ireland, for example, it rained four times more than was typical. Crop failure was so severe that many were forced to sell their clothes and hair for food. Wearing rags in the cold and wet weather made the Irish susceptible to typhus, which added to their misery. Ireland’s Chief Secretary Charles Grant wrote: “In the years 1816 and 1817, the state of the weather was so moist and wet, that the lower orders in Ireland were almost deprived of fuel werewith to dry themselves, and of food whereon to subsist. They were obliged to feed on esculent plants such as mustard seeds, nettles, potato-tops, and potato-stalks- a diet which brought on a debility of body and encouraged the disease more than anything else could have done.” In Ballina (County Mayo), protests ensued over the export of oatmeal. The riot became so violent that the military was deployed to protect the town. Three rioters were killed and many more were seriously wounded. Marissa: Bavarian towns such as Augsburg and Memmingen were in turmoil for similar reasons. Rumors were circulating that authorities were exporting corn to Switzerland. The local newspapers illustrate the levels of desperation felt by Bavarian villagers. They reported that: “thousands of men and women, [were] ripping chunks out of a living chestnut mare… They’re sending our corn out to Switzerland.” The rumors of export sparked several riots that shut down the small cities. In England, the East Midlands also experienced unrest related to food insecurity. Villagers in Pentrich, Derbyshire suffered high grain prices, and post-war unemployment on a large-scale. They amassed weapons and marched on the village, killing one servant whose master refused to join the rising. A spy in their midst informed on them and so magistrates were able to neutralize the uprising fairly quickly but dozens of men were indicted on treason. Three of them were executed publicly to dissuade other hungry and disaffected groups from doing the same. Averill: Many of these riots revolved around the export of food in towns where the local populations were near starvation. In the Bavarian cases Marissa mentioned, magistrates were trying to provide relief to Switzerland, where Tambora’s impact was particularly severe. There, the price of grain quadrupled between 1815 and 1817. As in other parts of the world, cold weather led to unripened crops and wet weather caused the rest to rot in the fields. Snow fell in record amounts for the two winters following the eruption and there was 80% more rainfall than in an average year. Residents reported having to heat their homes throughout the summer months. Unseasonably cold weather in the summer of 1816 prevented the annual melting of the Alpine ice caps so that when the cooling subsided in 1817, there was more ice than usual and the Swiss experienced unprecedented flooding. Switzerland may have been unequally affected by Tambora but it’s also the best-studied area because it was the setting of an important cultural milestone for English literature. Marissa: England’s youngest and most promising authors gathered at Lake Geneva in the Summer of 1816. Among them were Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and Mary Godwin (soon to be Mary Shelley), the novelist and daughter of the badass feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. Lord Byron was escaping crushing debts and rumors of incest in England. [I just listened to the History Chicks episode on Ada Lovelace, who was Lord Byron’s daughter– so I have this family on my mind] But anyway, Byron was living in a villa on Lake Geneva. Mary, Percy, and Mary’s sister Claire visited Byron, intending to escape London’s dreary weather with a tour of Europe. But they were obviously unaware of Tambora’s impact on Europe’s climate. After witnessing the wet and wintry bleakness of a post-Tambora Swiss summer, Mary wrote “Never was a scene more awfully desolate.” The group holed up in a villa and challenged each other to pass the time by telling the best ghost stories. It was the only activity that seemed appropriate given the dreary weather. Several notable literary works emerged from this friendly storytelling competition. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Lord Byron’s poem Darkness, and the seeds of a novel about a blood-sucking man, which was used later by John William Polidori to write The Vampyre. Averill: This story might have been dramatized somewhat. But only in recent decades have scholars connected the Tambora eruption to this semi-mythical origin story for the Gothic movement in art and literature. But English literature was not the only cultural consequence of Tambora’s climatic impact. In the Chinese province of Yunnan which we discussed earlier, a new genre called famine poetry developed among the residents of the province. One poet, Li Yuyang, was forced to return home to save his parents from bankruptcy during the famine. He watched his neighbors commit beastly acts such as infanticide, child sales and murder in hungry desperation. He barely survived himself. Suffering from malnutrition and mental illness after the famine, Li died ten years later at the age of 42. Here is an excerpt from one of his poems, translated into English: “People rush from falling houses in their thousands … (It) is worse than the work of thieves. Bricks crack. Walls fall. In an instant, the house is gone. My child catches my coat And cries out. I am running in the muddy road, then Back to rescue my money and grains from the ruins. What else to do? My loved ones must eat. He writes of parents selling their children for food. Still they know the price of a son Is not enough to pay for their hunger. And yet to watch him die is worse … The little ones don’t understand, how could they? But the older boys keep close, weeping.” Marissa: Art historians have successfully correlated the post-Tambora optical aerosol depth with the 1816-1817 painting Greifswald in Moonlight by German painter Caspar David Friedrich. So we know with confidence that his painting would have been entirely different if it weren’t for Tambora’s eruption. English painter William Turner developed his painting style after observing the unique and spectacular sunsets of the Year Without a Summer. Ironically, his 1817 painting Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius is the best example of this influence even though Turner had no idea that he was witnessing volcanic skies himself. Averill: Several inventions have also been connected to Tambora’s climatic impact. In 1817 German inventor Karl Drais patented the “walking machine” which is a walking bicycle.. so basically a bicycle without pedals. Drais perceived a need for alternate modes of transportation when the Year without a Summer made grain so expensive that few people could afford to feed horses anymore. During the heights of famine, many horses died of starvation or were killed for meat by their owners. People were in need of a device that would help them travel faster but one that they would not need to feed. Marissa: This is interesting to me because it tells us that Drais, and his peers had no idea that this was going to pass. They might have thought this was the new normal… because they had no way of knowing that this was a temporary effect of a volcanic eruption. I wonder how many people felt that way in Europe… that it was dark times and that it wasn’t going to improve. This mindset might have precipitated mass migration to America. The beginning of the first 19th-century wave of immigration to America coincides exactly with the eruption. And most people who came to America cited civil unrest and famine as their motivating factors for leaving Europe. The Irish and Swiss, and Germans made up a majority of this immigrant wave and those were areas that were particularly influenced by volcanic climate change. Averill: There was also a lot of migration within North America. Land was becoming more scarce on the east coast and the crop failures following the Mount Tambora eruption sent settlers from the Eastern seaboard into the frontier in search of fertile land and resources. This westward movement triggered violent interactions with indigenous peoples which came to characterize the Wild West. So basically… without Tambora we would not have had Manifest Destiny and absolutely zero Spaghetti Westerns…. Just kidding… but really, this sequence of events illustrates how fragile our ecosystems really are. And that our ecosystems are interwoven with human systems in ways that we never realized in the past. Marissa: We should mention that there was SOME idea that volcanic eruptions were related to weather patterns early on. Benjamin Franklin, for example, posited a correlation between volcanic emissions and weather anomalies. Swiss botanist Heinrich Zollinger was born a few years after Tambora erupted but in the 1830s he studied botany at the University of Geneva and became interested in volcanology. Ever since the Year without a Summer, Swiss scientists had suspected a correlation between the Tambora eruption and the following years’ weather anomalies. In the 1840s, Zollinger moved to Java and spent time studying Tambora. In 1847 he made a detailed drawing of the Tambora caldera and spoke with locals on the island, though he found it to still be depopulated. According to his report, Sumbawa communities were still recovering from the disaster even though it had been 30 years. Averill: The Swiss never made any definitive connections between volcanic activity and climatic change but by the time of the Krakatoa eruption in 1883, the science community was eager to find such proof. This time, they were backed by a horrified and fascinated international press which turned the eruption into a global event. It helped that the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable had just been laid 17 years earlier. In 1815, it took 6 months for news of the Tambora eruption to reach Britain. When Krakatoa erupted, the entire world was notified within hours. Popular interest in the eruption encouraged geological studies and a public scientific discourse which led to the discovery of how volcanoes function and how they impact the atmosphere. Marissa: It’s interesting to think of more subtle ways that inclement weather might have impacted culture. Were people generally more depressed for those few years? Was there an increase in mental illness? Vitamin D deficiency? Or even criminality and domestic violence? Does it have anything to do with the enthusiastic reception of Marxism decades later? Sources and Further Reading: Brönnimann, Stefan, and Daniel Krämer. Tambora and the “Year Without a Summer” of 1816: A Persepctive on Earth and Human Systems Science. 2016. Broad, William J. “A Summer Without Sun.” New York Times April 25, 2015, D1. Cao, Shuji, Yushang Li, and Bin Yang. 2012. “Mt. Tambora, Climatic Changes, and China’s Decline in the Nineteenth Century”. Journal of World History. 23, no. 3: 587-607. Gao, Chaochao, Yujuan Gao, Qian Zhang, and Chunming Shi. 2017. “Climatic Aftermath of the 1815 Tambora Eruption in China”. Journal of Meteorological Research. 31, no. 1: 28-38. Dennis, Matthew, and Munger, Michael. 1816: “The Mighty Operations of Nature”: An Environmental History of the Year Without a Summer. 1816: “The Mighty Operations of Nature”: An Environmental History of the Year Without a Summer. University of Oregon, n.d. <http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12417>. Harington, Charles Richard. The Year Without a Summer? World Climate in 1816. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Nature, 1992. Lebowitz, Rachel. Year of No Summer. Biblioasis, 2018. Roach, John. “‘Lost Kingdom’ Discovered on Volcanic Island in Indonesia.” National Geographic News. February 27, 2006, Sullivan, Michael. “Mount Tambora Eruption Hardly Known.” NPR. October 27, 2007. “The Tambora Eruption and ‘The Year Without Summer’,” History in an Hour, http://www.historyinanhour.com/2012/11/16/tambora-eruption-1815/

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All of these are written as group strategies, but may be adapted for individual work. Challenging Vocabulary Challenge! A Great Game after a test or at the end of a grading period. Object: To win points for your team by creating definitions for little known words and fooling the other team into believing your definition is the correct one. Materials: Vocabulary Strips, blank strips - Prepare individual vocabulary strips of little known words and their definitions from the dictionary appropriate for the grade level. I.e. loquacious - full of excessive talk : WORDY’ There will need to be enough words for 3 complete rounds or 6 words per # of teams - Cut 20 blank paper strips the same size as the one with the word on it. - Fold all strips in half keeping the vocabulary strips separate from the blank ones. - Create teams of 4-5 and have them select a team spokesperson. (Teams may select names or just be Team 1, Team 2, etc. )Two teams will play against each other each round. The team that wins plays the new team. - Determine which team will go first by some method such as ‘Pick a number between 1 & 20 and the closest goes first.” - Each round will consist of 6+ word definitions.((your discretion but needs to be an even number) - The winner of each word definition will receive 10 points. The winning team of Each round plays the new team. Scoring begins at ‘0’ with each round. - For each round: - To the team presenting the word definition, hand out the folded strips- one with a word definition and the others are blank. - Announce the word to the whole group. - Give the presenting team members 1 minute to come up with their ‘dummy definitions’. - When told to begin, the presenting team members will each present their definition of the word. - The opposing team members will be given 30 seconds to decide on which definition is the correct one. - The team’s spokesperson will announce the group’s choice. - If it is the correct one, the team receives the 10 points. If it is incorrect, the presenting team receives the 10 points. - Play now goes to the other team - The winning team plays the new team. ***** If there is enough time, play can continue until all the teams have played each other. Strategy #2: Vocabulary Drawn from Literature/Quotes/Content Using the example below, create an activity or strategy in which challenging or enriched vocabulary is drawn from literature or other written material. As a group, demonstrate/share with the class the strategy you have created and the intended grade level for the strategy. “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably (in-EX-trick-uh-blee) tied to our freedom. This offense we share, mounted to storm the battlements of injustice, must be carried forth by a biracial army. We cannot walk alone.” Literature Lessons for Self-Discipline Classic Literature Resources - a variety of books, websites with audio and lesson plans, activities, etc. Strategy #3: Word Wall Your group will work together to create an example/prototype of a word wall which includes enriched vocabulary. You will describe/show what your word wall would look like, and the process by which it is built (how the words are chosen and the procedure by which they end up on the wall): 1. Please include the sources from which your vocabulary may be drawn. 2. Please describe what your word wall may look like. 3. Please explain the procedure by which the words are learned & placed on the wall. 4. Please inform the class the intended grade level for your word wall. Be prepared for your group to demonstrate/share with the class the strategy you have created and the intended grade level for the strategy. Resource: Great Expectations Word Wall - multiple ideas and strategies Strategy #4: Use of Correct Terminology As you facilitate learning, it is important to avoid diluting the words you use in your dialogue with students. Here are some examples: |Today we will begin a study of plants.||Today we will begin a study of horticulture.| Strategy #5: Word Day Celebrate words with a “WORD DAY”. Everyone selects and dresses up to symbolize the meaning of a word they have selected. Approval by teacher is required. - Have paper and yarn/string for making Word - definition cards for everyone to wear. - When possible, include all staff i.e. cafeteria workers, maintenance, etc. - Have the students write the Word, syllabication, and pronunciation along with definitions on the card. Add synonyms, antonyms, etc. if desired. - Tie in with curriculum requiring the words to be from what the specific area of study - science, math, etc. - Have them classify themselves into groups such as the ones listed below. In a class have them stand if they meet the criteria. Let other students check and decide if the criteria is met. Encourage the students to create other groups. - parts of speech - words with at least one long vowel or short vowel, etc. - words that can be more than one part of speech i.e. rain, jump, level, etc. - words that can have a suffix or prefix added - words that have ____# of syllables - words that contain other smaller words. - For lower grade levels, have the students get in a line and put themselves in alphabetical order. (without talking) - Students can have their words cards turned so no one can see the word. Others may ask yes/no questions to try to guess what the word is based on the dress of the student. - Variation: Have each student carry around a blank sheet and pencil. While doing a mill-to-music, students walk around and ask yes/no questions to each other trying to figure out the word represented. At a signal they write their guess for the word on that student’s paper along with their name and then go to another person. After a period of time stop to see if anyone has correctly guessed any of the words. - Lead a discussion of what types of questions can be asked to gain the most information. See Question Resources below: - Socratic Questioning Resource - Includes: - An explanation of Socratic questioning - A printable sheet of Socratic Question stems - A Mini booklet of questions stems - A foldable paper cube with Socratic question stems - Instructions for 4 Classroom Learning Strategies. - Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Question Resources - Includes: - A printable sheet of Bloom’s Questions stems - A foldable mini booklet with Bloom’s Question stems - Directions on how to make the booklet - A foldable cube with Bloom’s Question stems - Instructions for 4 classroom learning strategies using these Bloom’s tools. - Six Question Learning Strategies - Six Question Cube - Question Cube with the six basic questions, Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How - Six Questions Stems Sheet - Sign Language for Question Stems - Add a nonverbal component using official sign language - Six Questions Stems Mini Booklet - Mini Booklet Directions - How-to instructions for making the booklet - Music Videos for Practice 5 and Question Stems Songs - Includes some songs in Spanish - Sign Language for 6 Question Stems - Add a nonverbal component using official sign language - Music Videos for Practice 5 and Question Stems Songs - Includes some songs in Spanish - Socratic Questioning Resource - Includes: - MIss Alaineus by Debra Frasier - 11:12 min. video and Lesson Plan: Learning to Learn with Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster ...Debra Frasier website about MIss Alaineus - HOST A VOCABULARY PARADE! - Debra Frasier - Complete plans for a vocabulary parade Strategy #6: Word Games Word games can be interesting and fun way to build vocabulary. Some traditional word games include Hangman, Boggle, Scrabble, Pictionary, Match Game, and crossword puzzles, just to name a few. These games can be structured and/or modified to be used with various content areas, such as learning academic vocabulary terms. Your group will describe/demonstrate a word game that you propose can be used to build vocabulary. Games may be designed for any grade level. Please explain how it might be used across curriculum areas. (How would you use that activity in science? Math? Etc. ) Please tell us the intended grade level for your strategy. - Alphabet Math Game - a great vocabulary game that encourages creating your own word puzzles and practicing math skills at the same time. - Mind Games - Resource for a wide variety of online word games - Word Puzzles - 4 Online Resources with hundreds of puzzles - Stories with Holes by Nathan Levy - The famous logic stories that make kids and adults think! Each book contains new stories for children ages 7-77. Stimulate pupil critical and creative thinking skills. - STORIES WITH HOLES - A sampling of stories with holes - There are other similar resources online. Strategy #7: Morphological Connection A morpheme is defined as a meaningful language unit consisting of a word, such as man, or a word element, such as –ed in walked, that cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts. Morphology, the study of the patterns of word formation and combination of morphemes, is highly beneficial to students in their development of an enriched vocabulary. Making morphological connections is something that can be done within the structure of any given content lesson. It can be viewed as a “mini lesson” within a lesson, or a “teachable moment.” The following is an example of making morphological connections using the vocabulary word torture, drawn from a piece of literature: Literature used—“The Story of Thesues: Part One.” from: Classics to Read Aloud to Your Children: Selections from Shakespeare, Twain, Dickens, O.Henry… by William F. Russell - A perennially popular collection of short stories, poems, legends, and myths from great works of literature that are especially appropriate for parents to read aloud to their children aged five to twelve. Sample teacher dialogue— “We can see in the word torture, the Latin word tortus, which meant “to twist or bend,” reminding us of the earliest methods of torturing human being. But the idea of “twisting” is also apparent in many other common words as well. A blackmailer might try to extort (ex-meaning “from”) money by twisting it from his victim; faces or figures may be distorted (dis-meaning “away”) or contorted (con- meaning “with”) when they are twisted out of their normal shape; a clever retort (re- meaning “back”) twists a remark back upon the opponent. Even the tortoise, which we saw as a man-eater in this myth, bears the tort root in its name because of the “twisted” appearance of its feet. Create two examples of the use of morphology or morphological connection. Be prepared for your group to demonstrate/share with the class the strategy you have created and the intended grade level for the strategy. You have ____ minutes in which to create your strategy.” Strategy #8: Journaling Using reflective learning journals (Journaling Tips) to improve individual and team comprehension brings connections across the curriculum. Writing about a subject requires a high level of understanding. Writing in a reflective form offers students a chance to think about their thinking, or metacognition. This process can solidify concepts and define misconceptions. How could you use journaling to develop better neurological pathways and to develop vocabulary? Create a procedure that includes the use of a learning journal in a classroom setting. i.e. At the end of a math lesson learners will write in their math journal what they learned that day. Be able to answer these questions: - What is the objective of the exercise? - What do you hope to accomplish? - How will it happen? Resource: Self-reflection Strategies - includes reflection writing stems, poster, a One-Minute Feedback strategy, etc. Strategy #9: Realization of the Power of the Spoken Word The objective of your group is to explain/demonstrate how using more robust words in place of common words has the potential of expanding students’ vocabulary. The particular structure you will use is “synonym brainstorming. You have 5 minutes in which to practice your structure. Step 1—Decide who will be your group leader. The leader of your group will say a commonly used simple word, such as big or pretty. Step 2—After the leader states the commonly used simple word, the others in your group will each list on paper all of the synonyms for that word that they can produce in 30 seconds. Step 3—The leader will ask each person to share the words they wrote on their list. What unique words were produced? Common words? Step 4—Your group will collaboratively decide upon a “common” word to use with the Class. Your group leader will facilitate this structure with the class. Step 5—Your group leader will facilitate the “synonym brainstorming” structure with the Class. Your leader will instruct the participants in the class to each list on paper all of the synonyms he/she can produce in 30 seconds. Have participants share their words. See Personal Pocket Thesaurus as one way to keep a lexicon of the synonyms for these common words. Step 6—Share with the class that “The objective of this structure is to explain/demonstrate how using more robust words in place of common words has the potential of expanding students’ vocabulary.” We often call them $100 Words! Strategy #7 Option: “TIRED WORDS” Learners create an ongoing Word Wall with synonyms for overused words. 1. Brainstorm commonly overused words such as good, bad, said, happy, pretty, saw, big, nice, little, etc. 2. Make a display with pockets for each word. Have learners find and write synonyms on slips provided that may be put in the appropriate pocket. This is ongoing and words may be added throughout the year. 3. Direct learners to use the Word Wall to find synonyms that fit into their writing or speaking. 4. Option: Create Personal Pocket Thesaurus – learner creates an individual thesaurus for these words. Click on link for printable documents. This creates a booklet that learners create as a resource. Strategy #10: Word of the Day/Week Your group will describe/demonstrate how you will integrate the use of the word of the day into your daily vocabulary. - Determine its part of speech - noun, adjective, etc. and how it might be used in a sentence. - Write 2-3 sentences using the word. - Describe situations when using the word would be appropriate. - You should include how you will use the word of the day in a valuable way. (How it will be connected in to your daily living?) - You should include how you will determine (or select) what the word of the day will be. What is your process or criteria for selecting the word of the day? You have ____ minutes in which to create your strategy. Strategy # 11: ‘Hand’y Curriculum Connections ** Digital Download available This strategy integrates the Eight Expectations, Life Principles and five literary elements in the analyzation of any piece of literature or video story. Strategy #12: Novel Study Your group will demonstrate/create a strategy for developing enriched vocabulary using novels, stories, basals, poems, or other writings. This strategy can be used whether or not you are required to utilize a reading series prescribed by your district. The basic idea behind this strategy is that you enrich whatever reading material you decide to use by expanding upon vocabulary pulled from the material (or vocabulary you attach to the material). Your group has been provided a copy of Aesop’s Fables. Aesop Fable Collection - Quickly select one of the fables you wish to use. (Or, select another story of your choice.) - From this fable your group will identify the enriched vocabulary terms. - Collaborate on how you would expand or build on the enriched vocabulary, and prepare how you will share this information to the whole group. Be prepared for your group to demonstrate/share with the class the strategy you have created and the intended grade level for the strategy. You have 5 minutes in which to create/prepare your strategy. Strategy #13: Lexicon A lexicon is a personal dictionary, often used to include enriched vocabulary. The steps that a teacher decides to include in a class lexicon may be determined by the particular needs of the class. There are 5 factors to consider when deciding to utilize a class lexicon structure: - What steps will be included in the class lexicon? There may be specific skills your students need to work on (from various content areas). With this in mind, specific steps can be created to include in the lexicon that will help students develop those skills. - What will be the lexicon procedure? It is best for the teacher to lead the students through the steps, especially in the beginning. - How often will a lexicon page be completed? - What will be the preferred methods of binding the lexicon pages? 3 ring binder, index cards, spiral notebook, etc. - How will the students utilize their lexicon? In order for the students to internalize the words they have included in their lexicon, they should refer back to it from time to time as they work in class. It should be integrated into their daily work. - What words will be included in the lexicon? How will you determine which words will be used? - Select a group spokesperson (the person who will share your lexicon to the class and who will share the groups answers to the questions listed below) - Select a scribe (the person who will be writing your lexicon illustration as dictated by the group) - Your group will create the steps of a classroom lexicon and your scribe will illustrate those steps using a vocabulary word, such as the word lexicon. - Your group will collaborate on your answer to these questions: - What will be your preferred method of binding the lexicon pages? - How will the students’ use of their lexicon be integrated into the curriculum? - How will you determine/select which words to include in the lexicon? Your group has ____ minutes total: --to create your lexicon steps --for your scribe to illustrate those steps using a vocabulary word --to answer the three questions, which will be shared by the spokesperson Resource for making books: - Mini Booklet Directions - How-to instructions for making the booklet - Making Books - Free Projects - 9 different books - directions are also given in Spanish - Videos on how to make books: https://www.youtube.com/user/skgaylord Strategy #14: Posters Visuals or peripherals are a valuable teaching strategy. Eric Jensen, in his book, Brain Compatible Strategies, suggests that visuals are “Brain Activators. He also suggests that up to 90% of learning comes from peripheral input as opposed to direct instruction. The planting of visuals in various areas of the room or providing cooperative learning structures develops the brain to a greater degree and aids in recall of information from a greater number of pathways. Your group will create guidelines for incorporating visual/peripheral teaching into a lesson. How will you use this strategy, how will you include students in the development of this strategy in enriching vocabulary that is being studied? Online Resources for Creating Word Posters: These free online sites allow the creation of posters with your own vocabulary words offering wide choices of colors, patterns, etc. - Poster Example created with WORD ART - Poster Example created with Word Clouds Strategy #15: Flash Cards/Dictionary Drill Accessing resources is not only a tested objective; it is a foundational skill across the curriculum. Your group will create/demonstrate the use of flash cards/dictionary drill. An example of one use is as follows: Using 3x5 cards, have all students create a set of words to be studied. Place the word, phonetic spelling, and syllabication on one side of the card. Place the definition, synonyms, antonyms, and part of speech on the reverse side. As a sponge activity (an activity used to bridge a transition such as class changes, after lunch, when students need a change of pace during the day), - Arrange students in pairs or groups.(3-4). - One student will be captain. The captain’s job is to present the flash cards to the group, one student at a time. - The captain can choose the response from the student from the following: - Spell the word, - Count the syllables, 3. - Define the word, - Give a synonym or antonym. - This is repeated for a designated period of time, usually 2 or 3 minutes. Then, the role of captain is passed to another student. - The entire group is responsible for maintaining the correctness of the answers, and giving support if the student requires help. “We will not let you fail” is the attitude developed.

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Wind is the movement of large amounts of air. Even though we can't see air, we know that it is made up of molecules of different kinds of gasses, mostly nitrogen and oxygen. When lots of these molecules move, usually in one direction, we call this wind. Where does wind come from Wind is the movement of air caused by differences in air pressure. Scientists that study weather, called meteorologists, use instruments like an anemometer to measure wind speed. You might have.. (Larry Scheckel/R) Wind is caused by a difference in pressure from one area to another area on the surface of the Earth. Air naturally moves from high to low pressure, and when it does so, it.. . Alternatively, he or she may supervise the manufacture of rotor blades or other components. Many different types of engineers play a role in wind energy projects The energy that drives wind originates with the sun, which heats the Earth unevenly, creating warm spots and cool spots. Two simple examples of this are sea breezes and land breezes. Sea breezes.. The Global Wind Energy Council projects global wind capacity will reach 536,000 MW by 2017, almost double its current size, with growth especially concentrated in the Asia and Europe . Turbines are getting larger and more sophisticated, with land-based turbines now commonly in the 1-2 MW range, and offshore turbines in the 3-5 MW range Wind, air, zephyr, breeze, blast, gust refer to a quantity of air set in motion naturally. Wind applies to any such air in motion, blowing with whatever degree of gentleness or violence. Air, usually poetical, applies to a very gentle motion of the air. Zephyr, also poetical, refers to an air characterized by its soft, mild quality Wind, in climatology, the movement of air relative to the surface of the Earth. Winds play a significant role in determining and controlling climate and weather. A brief treatment of winds follows. For full treatment, see climate: Wind Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On the surface of the Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air.Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the regions in which they occur, and their effect.The strongest observed winds on a planet in the Solar System occur on Neptune and Saturn Wind is nothing more than moving air. The wind can blow at different speeds and move in all different directions—sometimes it even blows in more than one direction at the same time! But what makes the air move? Quick Navigation [ show Wind can carry small particles such as sand, silt, and clay. Wind erosion abrades surfaces and makes desert pavement, ventifacts, and desert varnish. Sand dunes are common wind deposits that come in different shapes, depending on winds and sand availability. Loess is a very fine grained, wind-borne deposit that can be important to soil formation Study Guide Science 5th grade -Weather and Climate Weather- the day to day changes of : temperature, precipitation, wind and air pressure. Climate- long term patterns over a period of time of an area. The average over many years. Climate changes very slowly. 3 Major Climate Zones 1. Tropical -warm and wet most of the year (equator) 2 The science behind the wind In generating electricity from wind, strictly speaking, we start with the sun. The energy radiated by the sun heats up the air in Earth's atmosphere. Air expands when it warms, making the warmer air less dense and 'lighter' than cooler air, creating a region of lower pressure. Cool air is usually more dense The relationship between air pressure and wind. Air pressure and wind speed are related: as air pressure drops, wind speed increases. Wind: is air in motion. It is produced by the uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun. See video below to learn how changes in air pressure from high to low pressure cause wind When the wind blows, particles in the gust of air are moving quickly. And that motion carries kinetic energy, which can be captured and harnessed to create electricity. The principle behind a wind-electric turbine isn't too different from an ordinary dam -- only it's capturing wind instead of water Wind energy capacity in the Americas has tripled over the past decade. In the U.S., wind is now a dominant renewable energy source, with enough wind turbines to generate more than 100 million watts, or megawatts, of electricity, equivalent to the consumption of about 29 million average homes . As one area heats up more than another, the difference in pressure creates wind and becomes a cycle of cool air and warm air Well, kinetic energy is proportional to mass times velocity squared. When speaking about wind, its mass refers to that of the air molecules. So when you double wind speed, its kinetic energy is.. Wind power is energy, such as electricity, that is generated directly from the wind. It is considered a renewable energy source because there is always wind on the Earth and we aren't using up the wind when we make energy from it. Wind power also does not cause pollution. Wind Turbines and Wind Farm To put it simply, the wind is a free resource. It does not belong to anyone because it belongs to all of us. There are many places around the world where the wind blows hard. Unlike other energy sources, wind is a source that will never run out Solar wind is a continuous stream of charged, subatomic particles emitted by the sun. To humans, the flow is kind of a mixed blessing. The GPS signals we now depend on can get disrupted by solar wind. But solar wind is also a driving mechanism behind those stunning northern lights — and their equally gorgeous southern counterparts Wind possesses kinetic energy. The kinetic energy possessed by wind is called wind energy. Uses of Wind Energy are: (i) Wind energy is used to pump the ground water Wind is the movement of the atmosphere. The atmosphere moves because the Sun heats the Earth?s surface, causing air to increase in temperature, expand, and rise upwards. Cool air moves in to replace the warm air, and we feel this movement of air as wind. The air flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure around the globe Nov 15, 2019 - Find out what wind is all about in this intro to earth science worksheet Horizontal axis wind turbines can be further classified into fixed speed (FS) or variable speed (VS). The FS wind turbine generator (FSWT) is designed to operate at maximum efficiency while operating at a rated wind speed. In this case, the optimum tip-speed ratio is obtained for the rotor airfoil at a rated wind speed Lesson focuses on how wind energy can be generated on both a large and small scale. Student teams design and build a working windmill out of everyday products and learn about anemometer and site testing. Student windmills must be able to sustain the wind generated by a fan or hairdryer at medium speed at 2 feet and rotate, lifting a small object upward. Students evaluate the effectiveness of. How fast is the wind blowing? This science experiment provides step-by-step instructions to help you answer this question. Science project. Wind. Worksheet. Wind. Find out what wind is all about in this intro to earth science worksheet. 1st grade . Science. Wind turbines are giant windmills with huge blades that get pushed around by the wind. As the blades rotate they spin a generator, which creates electricity. However, environmental groups and.. Fun Wind Science Activities for Kids to Explore Wind Power Energy. As usual, we listed the activities based on kids' age, those preschoolers can do are at the top of the list, and those for older kids are towards the bottom of the list Wind farms, also called wind plants, refer to a large number of wind turbines that are built close together. Countries such as the U.S. and China are producing more and more energy from wind farms. It was reported in March 2015 that China is getting more electricity from wind than from its nuclear power plants, and it has more of those than any. Wind is the largest source of momentum for the ocean surface, impacting individual surface waves and complete current systems. When observing and analyzing ocean phenomenon, it is critical to consider wind in our measurements Wind is air in motion, travelling between areas of different pressure Modern wind turbines already represent a tightly optimized confluence of materials science and aerodynamic engineering. Veers et al. review the challenges and opportunities for further expanding this technology, with an emphasis on the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. They highlight the need to better understand atmospheric physics in the regions where taller turbines will operate as. Wind is caused by uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun. Because the earth's surface is made up of different types of land and water, it absorbs the sun's heat at different rates. One example of this uneven heating is the daily wind cycle The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Science vs. Religion appears in each scene of Inherit the Wind. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis The term wind power means the same as wind energy. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), global wind energy expanded by 10% in 2017 to 539 GW. National Geographic has the following definition of the term: Wind energy is produced by the movement of air (wind) and converted into power for human use Wind energy is clean and renewable. Large groups of wind turbines are called wind farms. Around 80 different countries use wind power to generate electricity commercially (as of 2009). In 1997 wind power generated only 0.1% of the world's electricity, this increased to 1.5% in 2008 and 2.5% in 2010 Wind Turbine Kit Build a sturdy, free-standing wind turbine with a plastic base and take your experimenting to new levels! You'll be able to test the power of your blade designs with the digital multimeter, store wind energy for later use with the super capacitor, and experiment with series and parallel circuits using two motors and three LEDs Wind energy can be harnessed to produce power in a variety of forms. The wind can power mechanical assemblies that grind grain, pump water, generate electricity, and more. From the first wind energy assemblies of 200 BC to the massive wind farms of today, wind energy is one of the oldest sources of intentional power and energy humans have used Weather Wiz Kids is a fun and safe website for kids about all the weather info they need to know. It contains tools for weather education, including weather games, activities, experiments, photos, a glossary and educational teaching materials for the classroom Essays To Write About Wind Science 5th Grade, simple informative essay about moose, best university for creative writing in australia, cover letter phd student 29 If you need professional help with completing any kind of homework, AffordablePapers.com is the right place to get the high quality for affordable prices As the wind blows to about five degrees north and south of the equator, both air and ocean currents come to a halt in a band of hot, dry air. This 10-degree belt around Earth's midsection is called the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, more commonly known as the doldrums The solar wind streams off of the Sun in all directions at speeds of about 400 km/s (about 1 million miles per hour). The source of the solar wind is the Sun's hot corona.The temperature of the corona is so high that the Sun's gravity cannot hold on to it Since these winds originate in the east, they are called easterlies. However, the wind direction is quite irregular, occasionally blowing to the west or north. Rising air flows toward the poles, and extremely cold sinking air flows back toward the equator. The westerlies wind pattern is responsible for most of the weather flow in the United States Wind in simple terms is nothing but moving air. We all enjoy wind rustling through the leaves in our garden. It has also expanded the range of transport and has provided a power source in terms of mechanical energy for the generation of electricity in windmills and recreation purposes in hot air balloons Windmills, wind turbines, and sails all use it to some extent, and these collection methods can be used in a variety of ways. The power created by wind is considered to be a form of clean energy, since wind is an entirely renewable resource. As of 2008, around 1% of the world's energy came from wind, with the industry growing significantly Wind Energy Science project #3 Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Science Fair Project wind turbine A vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) is a type of wind turbine where the main rotor shaft is set transverse to the wind (but not necessarily vertically) while the main components are located at the base of the turbine science career of a wind energy engineer. Education and Training. A bachelor's degree in engineering, such as electrical, aeronautical, aerospace, mechanical, or civil, is required for a position as a wind energy engineer Wind Gust: Is a sudden, brief increase in speed of the wind. According to U.S. weather observing practice, gusts are reported when the peak wind speed reaches at least 16 knots and the variation in wind speed between the peaks and lulls is at least 9 knots. The duration of a gust is usually less than 20 seconds Wind erosion is a natural process that moves soil from one location to another by wind power. It can cause significant economic and environmental damage. Wind erosion can be caused by a light wind that rolls soil particles along the surface through to a strong wind that lifts a large volume of soil particles into the air to create dust storms Group Manager - Wind Energy Science . **Location** CO - Boulder . **Position Type** Regular . **Hours Per Week** 40 . **Job Description** NREL's 305-acre Flatirons Campus is the nation's premier wind energy, water power, and grid integration research facility Wind has been a big part of helping scientists understand coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. Wind was designed to measure the magnetic fields of CMEs as they passed by. Coronal mass ejections are gigantic clouds of solar material that burst off the Sun, pulling solar magnetic fields along for the ride Science for Preschoolers - What is Wind? Wind is exciting for preschoolers to watch. It blows tree branches back and forth and chases dried leaves across the yard. Wind can also be fun to listen to - it howls, whispers and whistles At the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) in Golden, Colorado, scientists are working to improve wind-power technology and lower the cost of generating electricity. The center is part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where researchers look for Earth-friendly ways to power our lives 6th grade science Wind. STUDY. Flashcards. Learn. Write. Spell. Test. PLAY. Match. Gravity. Created by. erace12. Terms in this set (32) What is the definition of wind? moving air. What makes the wind blow? energy in wind comes from the sun. What part of the earth receives more of the sun's energy? the equator or the north and south pole Wind-chill factor is when the wind carries the heat that you produce away and off of your body, making it seem cooler than it actually is. Name the two basic types of winds. Local winds and global winds Global winds are a system of wind patterns distributing warm air unevenly across Earth. If Earth did not rotate, winds would move from the equator to their respective poles. Because Earth rotates, winds appear to be moving east in the Coriolis effect Wind Worksheets Identify objects that can be moved by wind Wind is a moving air. In these weather worksheets, students identify objects that can be moved by wind Wind Energy Science is an international scientific journal dedicated to the publication and public discussion of studies that take an interdisciplinary perspective of fundamental or pioneering research in wind energy Wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries have a relatively short life, resulting in significant amounts of waste. Wind turbines have a relatively short life, approximately 20-25 years, about half the length of conventional energy machines, like gas turbines. View source . Solar panels likewise have a relatively short life span, most around 20. The wind speed can double around the corners, Chen said. The wind tunnel effect can be felt flowing between two tall buildings as well, as is the case with the two residence halls. The closer proximity creates a smaller space for wind to travel. Therefore, the air pressure drops, causing the wind to move faster and circle between the two. Understanding the global wind and wave climate, and how it may be changing, is important for a variety of reasons. For example, ocean waves play a central role in defining the air-water boundary roughness and thus affect the magnitude of fluxes of energy and CO 2 between the atmosphere and ocean.Also, breaking-wave setup can be an important component of total water level during storms (), a. . Radiation from the sun causes land to gain thermal energy. The air above the land also gains thermal energy and expands, becoming less dense and rising Wind Tunnel, wind tun·nel / wind/ • n. a tunnel-like apparatus for producing an airstream of known velocity past models of aircraft, buildings, etc., in order to Wind Shear , Wind shear is the difference in speed and/or direction between two points (either areas or layers) of air in the atmosphere Local wind definition, one of a number of winds that are influenced predominantly by the topographic features of a relatively small region. See more The United States is home to one of the largest and fastest-growing wind markets in the world. To stay competitive in this sector, the Energy Department invests in wind research and development projects, both on land and offshore, to advance technology innovations, create job opportunities and boost economic growth. Moving forward, the U.S. wind industry remains a critical part of the Energy. Wind energy refers to the process of creating electricity using the wind or air flows that occur naturally in the earth's atmosphere. Modern wind turbines are used to capture kinetic energy from the wind and generate electricity Wind definition is - a natural movement of air of any velocity; especially : the earth's air or the gas surrounding a planet in natural motion horizontally. How to use wind in a sentence Wind is a spin stabilized spacecraft launched with a Delta II rock on November 1, 1994. After several orbits through the magnetosphere, Wind was placed in a halo orbit around the L1 Lagrange point -- more than 200 Re upstream of Earth -- in early 2004 to observe the unperturbed solar wind that is about to impact the magnetosphere of Earth Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. These types of waves are found globally across the open ocean and along the coast Solar wind is a constant stream of plasma and particles emanating from the sun. Fortunately, Earth's magnetic field protects us from its harmful effects Apr 5, 2013 - Explore Tracy's board Kindergarten Wind/Weather Unit, followed by 174 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about weather unit, kindergarten, wind The wind scorpion is a colloquial name for a group of arthropods under the order Solifugae in the class Arachnida. Also known as sun spiders or camel spiders, the order Solifugae includes over 1,000 Science Trend A wind farm, which is used to make clean energy. A wind farm is a collection of windmills or turbines which are used to generate electrical power through their mechanical motions as they are pushed by the wind. Both Europe and the United States have large numbers of wind farms, and the technology is also found on other continents The cups catch the wind and rotate. The greater the speed of wind, the faster the cups rotate. At the base of the anemometer is a scale. The speed of wind (in kilometres per hour) is read from this scale. The anemometer is installed on a tall most where the wind blows freely around it The fleet of four identical Cluster spacecraft is currently investigating the Earth's magnetic environment and its interaction with the solar wind in three dimensions. Science output from the Cluster mission greatly advances our knowledge of space plasma physics, space weather and the Sun-Earth connection and has been key in improving the modelling of the magnetosphere and understanding its. When your second wind kicks in, which takes roughly 10 to 15 minutes to happen, give or take five minutes or so (generally, that is; some people may have to wait much longer), it's because your body has stopped focusing on expelling excess carbon dioxide and started taking in more oxygen Wind is a vast potential source of renewable energy. Winds are generated by complex mechanisms involving the rotation of the Earth, the heat capacity of the Sun, the cooling effect of the oceans and polar ice caps, temperature gradients between land and sea, and the physical effects of mountains and other obstacles Harnessing power from the wind is one of the cleanest and most sustainable ways to generate electricity as it produces no toxic pollution or global warming emissions. Wind is also abundant, inexhaustible, and affordable, which makes it a viable and large-scale alternative to fossil fuels Wind velocity (mi/hr) is - (minus) if it is a tailwind, + (plus) if it is a headwind (relative to the ground). Weight is in pounds. Grade is the angle of the slope. 0 is flat, 90 is a vertical wall. Click on the Calculate button. Notice the drag force and power required to keep you moving at a constant velocity Class 7 Science Solved Q&A Nutrition in Plants Nutrition in Animals Fibre to Fabric Heat Acids, Bases and Salts Physical and Chemical Changes Weather,Climate And Adaptation Wind Storms and Cyclones Soil Respiration in Organisms Transportation in Animals and Plants Reproduction in Plants Motion and Time Electric Current and its Effect Light. The wind turbines used by utility companies to provide power to a grid are usually placed in groups or rows, called wind farms, to take full advantage of windy areas. Follow Elizabeth Palermo on. Explain what solar wind is and how its related to the formation of Aurora Borealis. Draw a diagram to support your explanation. *Response times vary by subject and question complexity. Median response time is 34 minutes and may be longer for new subjects. Q: Describe cultural commonalities and. Release and Launch. To get the kite airborne, first of all, you need to provide it with enough lift to counteract its own weight. Although there are numerous factors (e.g.,the shape of the kite, its motion in the air, quality of air, etc.) that affect the amount of lift produced in a kite, the principal contributor is the velocity of air that goes by the kite Wind is an object that is affected by the Coriolis Effect. What happens to winds in the Northern Hemisphere as a results of the Coriolis Effect? _____. 11. Use the animation at the following website to help you find out how the Coriolis Effect affects wind: Earth Science Wind/Pressure/Weather WebQuest Author: Bogan High Schoo Wind is produced as a result of giant convection currents in the Earth's atmosphere, which are driven by heat energy from the Sun. This means that the kinetic energy in wind is a renewable energy.. Founder and currently Executive Editor of Science-Based Medicine Steven Novella, MD is an academic clinical neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the host and producer of the popular weekly science podcast, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, and the author of the NeuroLogicaBlog, a daily blog that covers news and issues in neuroscience, but also general science. The wind speed of a devastating Category 5 hurricane can top over 150 miles per hour (241km/hour.) Now imagine another kind of wind with an average speed of 0.87 million miles per hour (1.4 million km/hour.) Welcome to the wind that begins in our Sun and doesn't stop until after it reaches the edge of the heliosphere: the solar wind

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Purim Quick Facts Meaning of Hebrew Name: “Lots” (as in “casting lots” – not as in “lots of something”) English Name: Purim Western Calendar Month: February/March Jewish Calendar Date: Adar 14 Establishment of Purim: Fifth century BC; Esther 9:20-22 Purpose of Purim The scene: a king tossing and turning for fear that his lovely queen is conspiring against him with his chief advisor. A queen so worried over the king’s plan to put to death her people that she barges into his inner chamber unannounced, looking lovelier than ever. Two advisors to the king are getting ready for a showdown – the town (Persia) is only big enough for the one of them. Haman, hell-bent on the destruction of the Jews, is besmeared with waste matter and wincing in pain by the end of this battle. Mordecai, his Jewish enemy, is clad in purple robes, majestically seated atop the royal horse, freshly bathed and coiffed by Haman himself. The difference could hardly be more pronounced. If the scene sounds only half-familiar, that’s because it is. Although Megillat Esther (“the Scroll of Esther”) lines up with the basics of the plot described above, the colorful embroideries came later; they were added in the tractate Megillah of the Talmud and in other commentaries. Jewish literature contains a wealth of such embellishments. Why? More than any other story in Jewish history (except, perhaps, for Passover and Hanukkah), the story of Esther inspires further storytelling and bears repeating. The great Jewish traditions of storytelling and humor come to the fore on Purim, the feast day commemorating Esther’s and Mordecai’s defeat of Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jews of ancient Persia. The great commandment on Purim is that we “proclaim the miracle” by reading Megillat Esther, banqueting together, sending gifts, and giving portions to the poor. The revelry takes other forms too, from dressing up in wild costumes to watching the Purimspiel (Purim play), which brings the story of Esther to life. Origin of Purim Megillat Esther starts with the unlikely fate of a Jewish girl living in the Persian Empire.1 King Ahasuerus (Xerxes2) takes Esther, the cousin of the Jewish advisor Mordecai, to be his new queen after deposing Queen Vashti. On Mordecai’s advice, Esther hides her Jewish ancestry from Xerxes until the wicked counselor Haman hatches a plot against the life of the Jews, obliging her to speak out for her people. The most famous lines of the story come when Mordecai persuades Esther to go to the king unannounced, a capital offense: Then Mordecai told them [the messengers] to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:13-16) By their wit and wile – though behind the scenes orchestrated by God – Esther and Mordecai foiled Haman’s plot. Following Haman’s execution and the deliverance of the Jews, Esther and Mordecai established a feast for future generations to celebrate their people’s survival for “their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration” (Esther 9:22). And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews… obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies… that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. (Esther 9:20-22) Thus Purim was born. Purim is so called because Haman cast lots (purim) to determine the most propitious date for implementing his planned genocide, but the verses about the casting of lots are brief and vague. We read in Esther 3:7: “They cast Pur (that is, they cast lots).” The medieval rabbi Rashi comments: “Whoever cast it, cast it, and the verse does not specify who. This is an elliptical verse.” He interprets the phrase that follows – “that is, the lot” – this way: “Scripture explains: and what is the pur? That is the lot. He cast lots [to determine] in which month he would succeed.”3 Because of Esther’s faithfulness in relying on God’s guidance and her courage to speak to the king on behalf of her people, Haman was foiled, the day of his dreamed-of success of annihilation of the Jewish people became the day of the Jews’ deliverance from death to life – Purim. How Purim is Observed The Purim Feast: The Purim feast is a time of conviviality and merrymaking. It must take place on the day of Purim, not on the evening before (Megillah 7b) on account of the mandated “days of feasting and gladness” (Esther 9:20-22). The rabbis explain: “[We read in connection with Purim] gladness and feasting and a good day; ‘gladness’: this teaches that it is forbidden on these days to mourn; ‘feasting’: this teaches that it is forbidden on them to fast; ‘a good day’: this teaches that it is forbidden on them to do work” (Megillah 5b). Fasting, mourning, and work are all swept aside on this day of celebration and revelry.4 Proclaiming the Miracle: Most important of all, however is not eating and drinking but reading Megillat Esther and thereby “proclaiming the miracle.” This most commonly takes place in synagogue, where the Scroll of Esther (an individual scroll, usually without being combined with any other portion of Scripture5) is read aloud in a raucous, buzzing atmosphere. Congregants cheer and laugh or stamp their feet and shout and boo whenever the name “Haman” is mentioned. (This is done on the basis of Exodus 17:14, where God tells us to “blot out the memory of Amalek,” and so of his descendant Haman.) Despite the apparent chaos of the Megillah reading, the Mishnah and the Talmud set down elaborate rules for the proper proclamation of the miracle. We must read the Megillah from beginning to end (some rabbis disagree about where to start); we mustn’t take long breaks; we mustn’t read it backwards… even the parchment and ink of the scroll must be up to snuff! In light of these various rules, some so obvious as to go without saying, it behooves us to remember the spirit of “proclaiming the miracle.” One rabbi comments: “When the text says, thou shalt not forget, the injunction against mental forgetfulness is already given. What then am I to make of ‘remember’? This must mean, by utterance [lit. “with the mouth”]. Proclaim the miracle” (Megillah 18a). It is not enough not to forget; remembrance goes a step further: we must fasten our minds on the history and tell it out loud. Only then do we pay God sufficient homage for rescuing His people from the clutches of Haman. Sending Food and Giving to the Poor: The famous Jewish commentator Maimonides placed the book of Esther on an equal footing with the Torah, as one of the imperishable books of the Hebrew Bible. His love of Purim was in no way exclusionary – rather, he stressed that all Jews should be able to take part. We see in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah his concern that all members of the community, rich and poor, do their bit in celebrating Purim: Similarly, a person is obligated to send two portions of meat, two other cooked dishes, or two other foods to a friend, as implied by Esther 9:22, ‘sending portions of food one to another’…. Whoever sends portions to many friends is praiseworthy. If one does not have the means to send presents of food to a friend, one should exchange one’s meal with him.6 On Purim, Jews greet one another by sending portions of food, often in the form of gift baskets full of sweets and nuts and fruits, called mishloach manot in Hebrew or shalach manos in Yiddish. In this manner, the feast of Purim spills out of the home into the community at large. No delicacies or lavish spending necessary – two poor friends can just trade food and thus “send portions,” a way for the less fortunate to fulfill the commandment. Maimonides adds that one must give alms on Purim to those who don’t even have enough to eat for themselves. One is obligated to distribute charity to the poor on the day of Purim. At the very least, to give each of two poor people one present, be it money, cooked dishes, or other foods…. We should not be discriminating in selecting the recipients of these Purim gifts. Instead, one should give to whomever [sic] stretches out his hand. It is preferable for a person to be more liberal with his donations to the poor than to be lavish in his preparation of the Purim feast or in sending portions to his friends. For there is no greater and more splendid happiness than to gladden the hearts of the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the converts.7 Giving alms far outweighs the preparation of a lavish feast or gratuitous consumption. Feeding the hungry and helping the poor in their distress is a commandment that must be carried out at all times; even on a day of carefree revelry, we must remember the fatherless and widows in their affliction. Special Synagogue Readings for Purim Torah Portion: Exodus 17:8-16 (the Israelites defeat the Amalekites, from which tribe Haman is descended). No haftarah portion, as the central non-Pentateuchal reading of Purim is, of course, Megillat Esther. Purim, like most biblical Jewish holidays, is not what it was in ancient times; rather, the encrustations of centuries of tradition and interpretation have lent the holiday an evolving character all its own. Many of these traditions derive from the Talmud, the chief Jewish interpretive work of the post-exilic period. All kinds of embellishments were made to the story of Esther in the Talmud, including angelic interventions and even scatological details. Esther gets a divine makeover from angels to please Ahasuerus: “R. Joshua b. Korha said: Esther was sallow, but a thread of grace was drawn about her” (Megillah 13a). Haman was a former “slave sold for loaves of bread,” bought by Mordecai during one of the wars of the Jews against the Amalekites (Megillah 15b). When Haman led Mordecai before Ahasuerus, he had to give him a haircut because Esther closed all the bathhouses, and Mordecai wouldn’t come into Ahasuerus’ presence untrimmed. When mounting his horse, Mordecai asked Haman for help and kicked him on his way up. Haman’s daughter, seeing Haman leading the horse, mistook him for Mordecai and dumped a chamberpot on him; realizing her mistake, she fell off a roof for shame.8 All of these myths lighten the story and infuse Purim with a dose of hilarity. According to one rabbi, “It is the duty of a man to mellow himself [with wine] on Purim until he cannot tell the difference between ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mordecai’” (Megillah 7b). So “mellow” did the Jews become on Purim that the rabbis tell a cautionary tale about drinking to excess: “Rabbah and R. Zera joined together in a Purim feast. They became mellow [i.e., drunk], and Rabbah arose and cut R. Zera’s throat. On the next day he prayed on his behalf and revived him. Next year he said, Will your honour come and we will have the Purim feast together. He replied: A miracle does not take place on every occasion” (Megillah 7b). Not only abundant drink, but also abundant food sets Purim apart. Of Purim’s delicacies, kreplach (tri-cornered dumplings filled with meat) and hamantaschen (tri-cornered cookies with a fruit filling) take the cake (pun intended). These beloved foods may represent any number of things: the shape of the lots; Haman’s triangular ears; a dunce-ish hat Haman wore (an invention of the Purimspiel), which we gobble down in revenge; or even God, hidden inside the events of Esther! Dressing up has also become part and parcel of Purim celebrations, originating with the Italian carnivalesque attire Jews wore during Purim in the Renaissance. Why do we dress up? Perhaps because God “disguised” Himself in the book of Esther, never being named but pulling the strings all along. Perhaps because Haman changed costumes so often, going from a slave to a chief advisor to a hanged man. Dressing up also reminds us of Mordecai’s many “costume changes” in the book of Esther – from regular courtly dress, to ashes and sackcloth, to a royal purple tunic. By gussying ourselves up in over-the-top costumes, we act out the fast-changing fortunes of the Jews and of Haman in the Book of Esther. Purimspiel, or the Purim play, which originated in Eastern Europe and has spread worldwide, makes light of the story. Performers and audiences alike clad in over-the-top costumes draw on the rich storehouse of details mentioned in Jewish literature for humor and color. During Purim plays and throughout Purim, we practice various cruelties on Haman. In olden times, Jews would burn effigies of him, though attacks from Christians led to the adoption of a substitute practice: beating objects with the name of Haman written on them. Noisemaking, a longstanding feature of folk cultures, is meant to drive away evil spirits like Haman’s. Many Jews even go so far as to write Haman’s name on the soles of their feet so they can “stomp on him” during Purim. In brief, a rich tapestry of traditions from around the world makes Purim the brightest and most colorful of Jewish holidays. Spiritual Application of Purim Some Purim traditions stray from biblical ideals: drunkenness and stomping on one’s enemies, for example. Yet when we return to the contents of the book itself, Purim invites reflection on God. For far too long, Esther has been wrongly viewed as an unspiritual, even unsavory, book of the Bible. Martin Luther infamously complained: “I am so hostile to this book [2 Maccabees] and to Esther that I could wish that they did not exist at all; for they judaize too greatly and have much pagan impropriety.”9 In contrast, the rabbis of the Talmud so esteemed the book of Esther that they ferreted out sometimes fanciful references to it in other parts of the Hebrew Bible. For example, the Talmud traces Psalm 22 and its famous words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and “Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog,” to Esther in her distress, even though David wrote the psalm. Aside from disparaging its content, some have leveled accusations against the book’s authenticity, claiming that Megillat Esther is nothing more than a myth or tall tale. These attacks on the veracity of Esther have subsided in recent years, as scholars once more reassert the overall legitimacy and historicity of the story (something Jews traditionally never had reason to doubt). Others have criticized Purim on different grounds, attributing to it an overweening sense of national pride and wiliness. These claims rest on the bogus belief that when Esther and Mordecai outwitted the genocidal Haman, they portrayed cunning and guile rather than bravery. Unfortunately, many objections to the story of Esther and the celebration of Purim have often been bound up with anti-Semitic sentiment. Indeed, many churches avoid the book of Esther altogether, sometimes venturing the lame excuse that the word “God” does not appear in the book of Esther and so it must be of no religious significance. Above all, many find in Megillat Esther an indication that the events of history are orchestrated behind the scenes for good by the one character not named in the book: God Himself. Though unmentioned, many see Him as front and center – in the events of Esther’s and Mordecai’s time, and in the preservation of the Jewish people throughout history. We are reminded in the book of Esther that God orchestrates the details of our lives even when we cannot see His hand. Like Job, we can say: “I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:8–10). And perhaps, like Esther, we have been purposely placed in unusual circumstances (for such a time as this) to be a light of His love to others. Chat With Us What traditions do you celebrate on Purim? Do you dress up and watch a Purim play? Do you read the book of Esther? We’d love to hear your answers to these questions and your reflection on this most joyous of holidays. Either send us a message or click on the chat tab on the bottom right-hand of the page to get in touch. Chag Purim Sameach! 1. The synopsis in this section is based purely on the Scriptures, not on rabbinical commentaries as above. 2. See transcript of Christine Hayes, “Lecture 24 – Alternative Visions: Esther, Ruth, and Jonah [December 6, 2006],” Open Yale Courses, accessed July 24, 2017, https://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145/lecture-24 (30-second mark): “There’s no x in the Hebrew alphabet – this is Ahasuerus, which is Xerxes.” 3. Rashi’s Commentary on Esther 3:7, Chabad.org, accessed July 24, 2017, http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16476/jewish/Chapter-3.htm#showrashi=true<=primary..? 4. Some rabbis debated whether there was an obligation not to work on Purim. 5. Megillah19a: “Rab Judah said in the name of Samuel: If one reads the Megillah from a volume containing the rest of Scriptures, he has not performed his obligation,” i.e., because he does not sufficiently proclaim the miracle. [Exception: if it’s about even with the admixed material.] Because of this teaching, many Megillot (scrolls of the book of Esther) have been copied, some decorated with intricate illustrations. 6. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, trans. Eliyahu Touger, Chabad.org, accessed July 24, 2017, http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/952007/jewish/Megillah-vChanukah-Chapter-Two.htm. “Megillah and Chanukah” 2:15. 7. Ibid., 2:16. 8. All of these details drawn from Megillah 16a. 9. Table Talk, XXIV

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Posts Tagged critical thinking This post is part of a series about the Building Blocks for Personalized Learning. The building block of Critical Thinking helps to construct a firm foundation for personalized learning. In many classrooms, teachers don’t provide the time necessary for critical thinking in order to develop original solutions to problems. Many of the problems that are provided to students also have only one possible right or wrong answer and don’t encourage true critical thinking. When students are given the opportunity to utilize all of the resources available within a classroom (including their own ingenuity) to solve problems, they can be challenged to personally connect to their learning and construct new understanding. Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking Provide Time for Reflection – After being presented with unfamiliar content and ideas, students need time so that they can accommodate that new information within their previously developed schema of that topic. This process involves making sense of new concepts by constructing or reconstructing personal frameworks of thought. Solely telling students to accept the information and moving on to new content doesn’t enable them to work through this process. Students can reflect in a variety of ways, and an effective practice for reflection is for students to learn what ways best help them to make sense of new information. Some strategies could include drawing an illustration; creating a mind map or graphic to understand how concepts are interrelated; or restating information in your own words and making a recording for playback. Ask Open-Ended Questions – Essential questions proposed at the beginning of a lesson can set the stage for new learning and helps students focus on the core components of a concept or process. This practice helps students answer why they should be learning this information and explains why they should give it their attention. Personalizing the questions will again help students become more connected to that content, so they should also learn how to ask their own questions about topics. Effective questioning for both teachers and students requires practice. Closed questions have one right or wrong answer, and it is virtually impossible to connect to those questions personally. Open questions provide students with opportunities to answer them in a variety of ways based on personal experiences and understandings. Encourage students to provide evidence to support their thinking as they answer open questions to reinforce the connection between personal experience and new content. Design Rigorous Assignments – So much time in school is spent doing rote types of assignments and activities that involve answering closed questions – completing worksheets, taking notes, etc. Rigorous assignments are those that stretch student thinking with complexity, intricacy, and divergency. Even when teachers have students complete projects or hands-on activities, many of the steps for completing those assignments are pre-determined by the teacher and often stifle true critical thinking. Having students design their own strategies for showing their thinking adds rigor to an assignment. Exploring and discovering new processes for using tools (such as technology) can also add complexity to learning tasks – and promotes effective digital learning, rather than just digitized learning. This practice is often a struggle for many students, especially because many of them are unused to being asked to really think in school. Initially, teachers may have to model the process of critical thinking for students in order to scaffold steps for completing a rigorous assignment. Expect Every Child to Contribute – When posing questions to students, teachers sometimes rely on the first few responses from a couple of students and proceed to additional concepts. Struggling or introverted students begin relying on others to answer all of the questions in class while they remain silent. This practice keeps them from thinking critically about the content. Every student needs to grapple with the information and contribute to the collective understanding of each concept. Using a student response system can provide each student with a voice and assist in sharing ideas. Likewise, synchronous and asynchronous participation in discussion forums can also serve to help students process their thinking about what they are learning. Even having students turn to each other and discuss new information or to answer an open question and then share their thinking with the class provides a greater opportunity for participation. Provide Multiple Ways to Show Understanding – Having every student utilize the same application or complete the same process to show their understanding can limit opportunities for critical thinking. Providing multiple ways to show understanding can enable students to think through the process or the application that better meets their individual needs or capitalizes on their personal strengths or interests. Again, it can be daunting for students to learn all of the possible ways that they could show what they know, but teachers can help facilitate this process by providing choices, modeling thinking, and being open to a variety of learning strategies. Engaging students in the process of developing a rubric for evaluating their thinking and assignments can also support personalized learning. There are many more strategies for encouraging critical thinking in classrooms, but teachers can begin utilizing the five strategies described above for personalizing the learning experience for students. As with any strategy implemented with fidelity, on-going practice and support will also help both teachers and students develop more expertise in critical thinking. Almost two years ago, I wrote an article for eSchool News entitled, “The Advantages of the BYOT Classroom.” At the time, I was the Coordinator of Instructional Technology for Forsyth County Schools in Georgia, and the advantages that I listed were the qualities that I had observed in classrooms that effectively utilized Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) to transform teaching and learning opportunities with students’ personal technology tools. Now, I’m collaborating with several schools and districts around the country that are beginning to implement Personalized Learning to better connect students with engaging academic content; to facilitate the development of digital age skills; and to utilize technology to provide access to anytime, anywhere learning. These benefits occur as districts, schools, and teachers recognize that students have unique strengths, needs, and interests that must be considered within the design of instruction. The methods for addressing student individuality may differ, but they include the same hallmarks of the BYOT classroom. In the illustration above, I refer to these as building blocks, as they collectively construct a firm foundation for personalized learning. Within each of the blog posts linked below, I focused on the concepts included within the illustration of the building blocks to highlight why they are essential, foundational components for personalizing learning. I also included strategies or described necessary qualities for encouraging the development of each building block within your own personalized learning implementation plan. Building Blocks for Personalized Learning Blog Posts - Critical Thinking A Note from Tim: Forsyth County Schools in Georgia is beginning its sixth year in implementing Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT). In this post, Instructional Technology Specialist at South Forsyth High School, Carla Youmans, shares her experiences of facilitating BYOT in the SFHS Media and Instructional Technology Center. Many school systems and businesses have started to permit students and employees to use their own computer devices within school or at work. It saves money, allows for a certain level of comfort, and ensures that more individuals have the capabilities of working digitally. Many people refer to 21st Century Learning in a BYOT/BYOD environment. Perhaps we should begin saying BYOT/BYOD in a digital, personalized learning environment. Our educational system, parents, and society expect high rigor for and from all students. Since more students are taking AP or IB courses than ever before, more students must be capable of high performing work. Therefore, in a BYOT/BYOD digital learning environment we must create a space where students learn and develop skills that set them apart from each other (creativity, problem-solving, innovation, etc). Steps in the Process We follow five simple steps in our Media and Instructional Technology Center. The first step is to read. We want students to read for information — to understand, to question, and to infer. As they read, the next step is to collect valid, accurate and reliable information. Many students immediately want to create a new product; however, they have no data or research to support the reasoning for the new product. So, once they have read and collected information, we want them to critically think — What have I learned? What more do I want to know? What can I share? What do others know? How could we together build something greater? This is where the fourth and fifth steps come in: to collaborate and to create. When we can help students understand this process and follow it then we believe we have pushed them out of their comfort zone where great things can happen. Empowering Students to Drive the Learning Encouraging teachers to use BYOT/BYOD in our digital learning environment is best achieved through a project-based learning approach. We teach with a “use what you have to show what you know” mentality that empowers students to drive their assessment by encouraging student choice and student voice in as much of the projects as possible. What does this really mean? It means: possibly having 30 totally different projects submitted by 30 different students to assess the same exact standard. WOW! What a shift from the much discussed “differentiated” classroom to a “personalized” classroom. Imagine all of the students in your classroom learning the way that is best for them? AMAZING! Transforming the classroom may be scary for some teachers. First of all, teachers are known for writing great directions that explain “exactly” how they want a project to be completed. When we give students packets of directions to create a project, we take away all of the problem-solving, creativity, and innovative pieces that they may add. Secondly, high-achieving students who typically receive a 99 on an assignment and ask “why didn’t I get a 100?” may be caught off guard when they “use what they have to show what they know.” Our current system has molded them to be step-by-step direction followers rather than inquisitive problem solvers and creators. We never stop learning. Surprise yourself and your students. Allow them to create their own assessments and watch your project based BYOT/BYOD turn into a phenomenal student-centered digital learning environment. A Note from Tim: Forsyth County Schools in Georgia is beginning its sixth year in implementing Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT). The first year was spent on developing the infrastructure, and the last four years have focused on piloting the initiative, developing personal and professional capacity, and eventually spreading the practice of encouraging students to learn with their personal technology tools throughout the district. In this post, fourth grade teacher, Brooke Hagler, shares her experiences of facilitating BYOT within the framework of the Thinkers Keys. When I began the journey of implementing Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) in my classroom, I wanted to make sure it had a positive impact on student learning, rather than just for presenting information or playing games. Don’t get me wrong these aspects of BYOT do have their time and place in a classroom. I just did not want them to be the only ways my students used their technology. With the potential of technology for engaging students and preparing them for the future, I wanted to make my students truly think beyond what our culture tells them is possible. This capacity creates the future adults who test, question, and invent for the next generations to come. In order to create deep thinkers in my classroom, I use a resource called the Thinkers Keys developed by Tony Ryan. The keys are twenty strategies that can be used to help students think critically and creatively. As you learn how to implement each key it becomes very clear that they are an easy resource to use in all areas of learning. You can find more about the Thinkers Keys and Tony Ryan at his website. The Thinkers Keys with BYOT I began to integrate the Thinkers Keys by introducing the students to one key at a time as it fit into the curriculum. I modeled the key with students by using Socrative or join.me. The students participated and collaborated using BYOT, school technology resources, whiteboards, or paper. By using Socrative and join.me, I was able to model a key for the class as a whole group or in a small group and receive instant feedback about who understood the content we were studying at a deeper level. Another reason I used these websites is because the person answering could be anonymous to the other viewers, so the students who would never answer before felt free to take risks and give answers. Once students became familiar with the key I incorporated it as one of their centers with any content. They could choose how they to turn something in. They often chose to use technology to complete the assignment and either printed out their work or emailed it to me. Not all of the keys involve writing down answers; however, sometimes students had to build models and then used their devices to take pictures to explain what they built. Other keys encouraged students to conduct research, and students would use kid friendly websites on their technology tools to find more information. After conducting research, students created presentations. I did not limit the students’ choices about how they chose to show what they had learned, and they often chose to use ActivInspire, PowerPoint, Prezi, or Wixie. My rule for presentations was as long as students knew how to use the technology and could meet all requirements of the rubric for the assignment, then they were encouraged to create with whatever medium they liked. Thinking Differently with Thinkers Keys Here are some Thinkers Keys that I used regularly in my classroom. I used the Consequence Key during our class meeting time and with our ecosystem unit. During our class meeting time, we discussed possible scenarios and the students had to respond with their own consequences. For example, I asked them how bullying affects everyone when a student picks on someone on the bus. They continued giving consequences until they saw that not just the bully and bullied student are the only ones affected. Then, I carried this same thinking into our ecosystem unit. After students learned about different ecosystems, they used BYOT and school technology resources to go to Discovery Education for science explorations and virtual experiments. They were asked to explore what consequences population growth and decline have on a desert environment. Once they viewed the explorations, they presented their group’s findings. Then the group completed a virtual lab and predicted what the consequences for a fish population would be by placing a hiking trail, parking lot, or playground around a pond. The students wrote a lab report at the end of their experiment that explained if their findings agreed or disagreed with their prediction. The simple fact that students understood that consequences can have a ripple effect could them academically and also socially. Another key that I implemented was the Question Key. It caused students to think backwards through a process, which I found out for my fourth grade students was not easy. I used this key in all content areas, but I liked using it the most in math. It let me know quickly if students truly understood a concept or if they just went through the motions of completing the math process. I gave the students an answer like seven thousand, three hundred forty-eight and asked them to write five problems that reached this answer. To make it more challenging, I set guidelines. They had to have at least one addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problem. Three of the problems had to be written as a word problem. And finally one problem had to have multiple steps to get to that answer. In the beginning, this assignment blew my students away, but with repeated modeling and practice they were able to write and solve word problems more easily by the end of the year. Not only could they solve math problems with more ease, they were using their ability to think backwards in all academic areas. To think backwards through a process is a hard but valuable skill that we, as adults, take for granted, but it can be taught to students and then they will have that skill for life. The keys can be taught in isolation, like above. However, they are ultimately designed to get students to work with them in connected sequences. I do not recommend beginning with sequencing the keys until you as a teacher have a full understanding of what each key is designed to do. When students use the keys in sequence, they are designed to help them solve problems, analyze, etc. I have been working with the Thinkers Keys for two years now, and this past year was the first year that I used the keys in a sequence. Here is the first rubric I created and used this year with sequencing the keys. It was a very powerful learning experience for my students and me, and I still have much to learn and experiment with this step myself. The Thinkers Keys allow you as a teacher to tweak them and make them useful for your classroom. Just stay true to what they ask the students to do so that they keep their power. I could go on forever about how powerful the keys in combination with technology are as learning tools. They don’t just help the students learn the content in the classroom. They help them prepare for life in our competitive society. They prepare them to be our future leaders and thinkers of the digital age. Learning at Liberty Middle School in Forsyth County, Georgia, begins with a focus on inquiry in its newly remodeled media center. Through a combination of school funds and the ingenuity of the instructional technology specialist, Kim Simshauser, the media center has been reimagined into a hub of digital age learning. In fact, Kim refers to the new space as “The 4C’s Café” in reference to the skills of collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking evident throughout the school. Students are welcomed into the media center to begin learning before the start of the school day. School personnel and volunteer students act as baristas (much like Starbucks) and serve up hot chocolate, decaffeinated beverages, and instructional advice while students browse the book collection, use their personal technology tools for research, study individually or in groups, or watch the news being streamed over two monitors. Kim notes that since the changes have been made that the learning environment is being used more than ever by teachers and students, and now the media center is packed with activity from morning until the end of the day. The classrooms at Liberty Middle School also support inquiry through guiding questions and learning projects that are facilitated by the students’ personal technology tools. Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) has been implemented school wide. Students are encouraged to bring their own devices to school, or they may use the school’s technology resources to develop their digital age skills. Principal Connie Stovall provides a scaffold for this emphasis on inquiry by working with her staff and students to develop an inquiry-based team or iTeam. The teachers and students in this seventh grade team applied to participate as trailblazers in the school’s inquiry initiative. They work with each other, their students, and Kim Simshauser to plan lessons that empower the learners. The iTeam students realize that they have a big responsibility to be leaders throughout the school, and their teachers were recently named Team of the Year by the Georgia Middle School Association. In the 2013-2014 school year, the seventh grade team will loop with their students to eighth grade, and new sixth and seventh grade iTeams will be added. The eventual goal is to implement inquiry-based teams throughout the school. Teachers and students at Liberty Middle School discover that inquiry can be more easily facilitated when students bring their own technology tools to school. Guiding questions can lead to in-depth research, and students can explore new ways to show what they have learned about a topic. These explorations surpass typical standards-based performance tasks and content. They become authentic representations of real-world problems in context. One goal of inquiry is to lead to more questions that become even more relevant to students as they become interested and passionate about a subject. Here are some additional links and resources related to inquiry-based learning: I recently participated in the Family Online Safety Institute’s (FOSI) Annual Conference in Washington, DC. My 13 year old son was fortunately able to go along for the trip, and as a history buff, he was eager to tour the notable sites in DC. I arrived the day before the conference and was able to explore the city with him and my wife. We took the DC Metro, and he immediately searched for a possible app for his iPhone to make navigation easier. He discovered that there were several mobile apps for that purpose, and he decided on DC Rider. With that app, he was able to see the arrival times of the different trains and to compare possible routes for each trip. He owned this whole adventure, and I found myself following his lead as he directed us along the path to each destination. Sometimes he selected some clever and creative ways for us to arrive at a site, when I might have chosen the direct route, but the journey became as essential to him as the final, planned location. Later I reflected on this experience through the lens of the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) classroom. It is necessary for teachers to know when to make suggestions in order to guide students, but it is often more essential to understand when to get out of the way and encourage students to lead. Students usually know more about their own technology than their teachers, and with BYOT they can use these tools to access all of the information that exists in the world. They can explore authentic problems and discover creative solutions and design innovative products. It is fine to have a destination in mind, but there really is no end of the line in the process of learning, and teachers and students should enjoy exploring all of the alternative paths along the way. Finally, I realized the next day, as I had to navigate the DC Metro without my son’s assistance, that I had become dependent on his leadership and skills. I floundered for a little bit until I was able to orient myself. I decided that next time I would try a little harder to learn from and with him as he used his technology instead of just being a passive observer and follower. Then we could both be learning from the journey with BYOT! I have sometimes heard the misconception that before a school begins implementing Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), students need to be trained in the acceptable use of technology that has been predetermined by the district; however, many of the digital age skills that students are developing as they use their devices at school occur just in time as they are needed in the course of the process of learning. Just in time learning entails that as a specialized strategy is necessary to solve a problem or share a solution, then that skill is learned and utilized in a relevant way within the context of the work. There are several just in time skills that students begin to acquire within the BYOT classroom. Just in Time Digital Citizenship We have all heard of students making mistakes with technology or using it inappropriately, often with devastating consequences. Many of these issues occur because students are self-taught or peer-taught in how they should use their devices without the just in time guidance of a teacher. When students are empowered to bring their personal technology devices to school to assume more control of their learning, they can be coached in responsible ways to use technology. Students in the BYOT classroom, have the advantage of learning how to use their devices for instructional purposes with the facilitation of their teachers. Students continually practice and refine digital citizenship in the BYOT classroom as they learn with each other through the use of the same technology devices that they use at home. Skills in netiquette, the appropriate ways to communicate with others online, as well as strategies for ensuring Internet safety, can be encouraged by the teacher within the BYOT learning community. Just in Time Technical Troubleshooting As devices and applications continue to change, there is no one consistent method for resolving technical issues. Technical troubleshooting and instruction must occur just in time in the BYOT classroom according to the pertinent needs of the situation. Teachers and students learn how to use new technology tools and programs while they are being utilized, and students often provide the technical training for their peers and their teachers. Since students are utilizing different devices for instruction, they will have to become proficient with the technical aspects of their own tools and usually become recognized for their particular areas of expertise. In this way, students and teachers can develop critical problem-solving strategies for working and learning within a digital world. Just in Time Collaboration Learning how to work with others to achieve a common purpose is essential to the BYOT classroom because students are bringing different devices to school, and those devices have different capabilities. The students also possess different knowledge, abilities, and interests, therefore, they have to pool their resources and intellect and negotiate responsibilities for the learning. Groups need to be dynamic and fluid as students work together and with their teacher to share information and make decisions. Many Web 2.0 sites can be used to develop online collaborative spaces, including Edmodo and Wikispaces. Just in time collaboration can occur synchronously or asynchronously and capitalizes on the potential strengths of everyone in the learning community. Just in Time Critical Thinking Critical thinking with BYOT involves being able to distinguish among conflicting information and facts as students conduct research with their personal devices. Recognizing propaganda and determining the accuracy of content are other essential critical thinking abilities required by the digital age. Students need to develop the capacity to use reason as they formulate opinions based on what they already know and on what they have learned from their classmates and in online searches. Students learning how to make these decisions just in time can be nurtured by the classroom teacher through modeling, practicing, reflecting, and questioning. A great tool for posing questions to students is Socrative. It works across multiple devices and incorporates various types of questions, and teachers can easily create follow up questions to responses that students have texted and shared with the rest of the class. Just in Time Communication In the traditional classroom, communication is often one-way – directed from the teacher and toward the student. In the BYOT classroom, there is a potential shift in communication as students use their devices to discuss content they are learning with others, set goals for themselves, and share new concepts. This communication happens just in time as the students are encouraged to communicate, whenever and wherever, as a function and expression of learning. The lines of communication are now multi-directional and extend beyond the classroom as students can web conference through Skype with other students in classrooms around the globe. They can instantaneously publish their ideas by blogging using Edublogs or through other blogging tools. Blogs can become a lasting portfolio of student work, and this process of authorship helps students to develop an authentic and beneficial digital footprint. Just in Time Creativity With the abundance of free and inexpensive applications for mobile devices, students are able to develop new skills in creativity. In the BYOT classroom, teachers can help foster creativity as students utilize their personal technology tools to invent and design original products. These inventions are often constructed just in time as solutions to problems or for students to illustrate what they have learned in imaginative new ways. In this manner, students aspire to become producers of content that they find relevant rather than solely being consumers of static information that has been predetermined as meaningful for students. With netbooks and laptops, students can download the free, open source, program Audacity to develop podcasts and recordings, or they can record straight to their handheld devices. Students can also use the camera tools on their devices to take photographs and easily turn these photos into new creations with the use of iPhoneography apps (my favorite is Pixlr-o-matic). VoiceThread is a web tool (with an app for mobile devices) that can enable multiple users to upload their original photos and comment on them collaboratively. One more note… Just in Time By the way, just in time professional learning opportunities also emerge for teachers in the BYOT classroom as they learn alongside their students and discover new interests, skills, and strengths in the use of personal technology for instruction. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a Framework for 21st Century Learning that identifies key learning and innovation skills, otherwise known as the 4 C’s: Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration. In the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) classroom, facilitating the 4 C’s becomes a logical extension of classroom instruction as students are connected to their learning and each other with their personal technology devices. With their own tools, students are able to practice and develop the 4 C’s as the teacher coaches, scaffolds, and models the learning. Of course, the students are the experts in their own devices, but the teacher has to create an environment that is conducive of exploration and inquiry so that students have the opportunity to learn how to learn with their technology. One way the teacher can encourage this type of environment is by learning alongside the students. Another strategy for implementing the 4 C’s within instruction is to promote them with the use of web tools and project-based learning. Although there is some overlap among the 4 C’s depending on how the tools are being used, I have provided some specific examples below: Creativity – VoiceThread A VoiceThread is an online slide show that enables students to upload and present images, documents, and videos and then share comments by writing or recording messages. They can also draw on the slides in order to annotate them during the presentation. Although VoiceThread is a great tool for supporting all of the 4 C’s, it can encourage creative expression with the students’ devices. Students can take their own photos and create presentations to demonstrate what they have learned, and the other students can provide creative comments. For example, in a study of similes (comparisons using like or as), a student can take a photo of an object with an iPod Touch and optimize it in a free photo app (one of my personal favorites is Pixlr-o-matic). The student then saves the photo and uploads it into VoiceThread. The other students can then provide interesting similies in their responses that involve the object in the photo. There is an app for VoiceThread that can be downloaded on the iTunes store for iPods and iPads, or VoiceThreads can be created online on Macs or PCs. Critical thinking – Socrative Socrative is a web-based student response system that enables teachers to ask multiple choice, true/false, or short answer questions that students answer on their own devices. Teachers can also create and save quizzes ahead of time for students to complete, or they can begin ad-hoc sessions during class discussions with students. One aspect of Socrative that promotes critical thinking is that after asking an open-ended short answer question, the teacher can easily choose to have student vote on their answers. Teachers can also have students participate in an activity in Socrative called Space Race in which students can compete in random or assigned teams to complete a teacher-made quiz and be the first to get their team’s rocket to the finish line. I have seen this activity increase collaboration even in a high school AP Calculus class as the students worked in groups to solve problems and answer the questions. It works effectively even if every student does not have a device because the students can take share a device to answer questions and the new concepts are more likely to be retained as the students learn them in groups. The short answer option can be useful for the students to text in their own questions, and the teacher can then pose these questions back to the class or use them in a future quiz. Socrative also provides a preset Ticket Out the Door to assess student understanding of the learned content. There is a teacher app for Socrative (iOS, Android) as well as a student app (iOS, Android), so teachers are able to conduct the session from their smartphones or laptops, and students can participate via smartphones, laptops, or desktops. Communication – Edublogs With Edublogs, teachers and students can develop blogs for education that help to provide opportunities for communication in the classroom and in a global community. When students have their own blogs, they are able to publish the results of their project-based learning and collaboration and share what they have accomplished with others. Writing becomes more authentic as students have a purpose for their writing assignments, and students are able to customize their blogs according to their personal learning interests and styles. Although a blog is useful for publishing creative writing, it can also be used to communicate technical concepts like the steps in a scientific process accompanied with photos of the activity. Edublogs also publishes an annual list of the best blogs in education as well as additional web tools and apps on The Edublog Awards Blog. This list can be a useful resource for teachers and students as they begin developing their blogs. A teacher can sign up each student in the class for a blog, even in elementary grades, because an email address is not required. There is no app for Edublogs, but blogs can be edited through the Internet browser on smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and laptops. Collaboration – Wikispaces A wiki is a collaborative space for teachers and students to construct their learning experiences together. Teachers can develop class wikis in Wikispaces and easily upload all of their students, even if they do not have email addresses. In the wiki, the teacher and students can encourage a sense of community in the classroom by sharing files and creating content. As the students edit their work within the wiki, the teacher can track who made all of the changes to determine student participation. Like a blog, a wiki makes a good launchpad for encouraging BYOT. Since the students are working independently or in small groups, the wiki gives them a place to continue their projects or assignments while the teacher is learning alongside and coaching other students in the class. One example of how a wiki was used in a middle school math classroom, is that the teacher divided the students into groups to explain particular problem solving strategies and mathematical concepts. In this manner, the students in the class actually produced their own math “textbook” as an on-going project that they were able to use as a resource. Although, there is no app for Wikispaces, the students are able to edit text on the browser of their handheld devices, and they are able to use tablets, laptops, and desktops to complete all of their other editing in the wiki. Some final thoughts… The above resources are currently free, at least for individual teacher accounts, or a district may choose to subscribe to them in order to receive analytics or more customization. Their use in the BYOT classroom can be a good way for teachers to begin implementing BYOT and encouraging students to bring their own technology tools to school to facilitate their learning. What other tools and strategies can be used to promote the 4 C’s in today’s digital age classrooms?

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Children's Television Act The Children's Television Act is a rule that was enacted in 1990 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States, which was designed to increase the amount of educational children's programming on television. The Act requires full-service television stations that offer children's television programming to serve the educational and informational needs of children through their overall programming, including programs that are specifically designed to serve these needs (or "core" educational programming). In August 1996, the FCC adopted new rules to strengthen the enforcement of this statutory mandate. These new rules were: - Adopt several public information initiatives designed to give parents greater information about the core educational programs being aired by television stations (these initiatives are explained in greater detail below). - Set forth a clear definition of what type of programs qualify as core programs: they generally must have serving the educational and informational needs of children as a significant purpose; be aired between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.; be a regularly scheduled weekly program; and be at least 30 minutes in length. - Establish a guideline that calls for every full-service television station to air at least three hours per week of core educational programming. A central goal of the rules in the FCC's revision to the Act is to provide parents and other members of the public with greater information about educational television programs, in order to help parents guide their children's television viewing and also encourage an ongoing dialogue between the public and television stations about the station's performance under the Children's Television Act. To help accomplish this, the 1996 revision to the rules implemented by the FCC require commercial television stations to identify core educational programs at the beginning of the program (such as with a verbal announcement or an icon), and to provide information identifying these programs to publishers of television program listings (either print or electronic). The rules also require commercial full-service television stations to complete Children's Television Programming Report (Form 398) every quarter regarding their educational programming, and to make these reports available to the public via their studio facilities, public libraries, and/or the station's website. History of children's television regulation Concern over the impact that television had on children began when television was still a new entertainment medium. During the 1950s, many individuals, particularly parents, asked their legislators to do something about the potential effects of television viewing on young people (such as their susceptibility to claims made in advertisements). There has been academic research that has been initiated since this time to monitor, analyze and explain the relationships between television and children, although the impact of television on academic performance continues to be debated in scholarly research. The first attempt to address these concerns were during Congressional hearings in 1952 that addressed violence. Besides Congress, there were government commissions that also pursued this agenda. Included in these discussions were the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and advocacy groups formed by concerned citizens. The FCC intended to change a number of policies regarding children's programming, but no serious action took place until the enactment of the Children's Television Act in 1990. The Children's Television Act was drafted to enhance television for young viewers. Some research reveals certain downsides to the act; for example, after the Act was passed, although there was more programming geared towards children, stations actually provided less diverse educational shows than they had before. To prevent this problem, the FCC required television stations to keep logs that described in detail why the shows were educational and/or informational. However, many stations failed to keep these records or have any method for accurate recording. More than 25% of television stations in the U.S. failed to record the time, date, or length of programming considered to be educational in content. The FCC did little to regulate these logs up until 1993, but later on, came up with certain rules and regulations such as the safe harbor provision in order to regulate content for younger audiences. In addition, Congress provided little direction towards the implementation of the Act, only dictating that programming had to be specifically designed to serve the educational and informational needs of children. According to a 1998 report by the Annenberg Foundation, the number of network television shows deemed to be "highly educational" dropped from 43% prior to the enactment of the Act to 29% in the eight years since it went into effect. A research report from Georgetown University said that one issue contributing to this was that what constituted educational television programming was defined too broadly, as programming that was only academic or that covered pro-social issues, for example, counted towards station requirements. Another issue was that traditional ideas of what should be taught to children, such as the alphabet or number systems were lost. There was also a reported increase in the amount of programs focusing on social issues. Writers for these programs wrote stories that often were not academically sound for young viewers, because they were not trained in writing for this audience. One show that was an exception to this rule is The Magic School Bus, as it combined effective writing and educational content for children. Another result revealed in the report was that as a result of the Act, many local broadcast stations dropped their locally produced educational shows and purchased blocks of pre-produced children's programs from the major networks. This was largely due to the fact that the rules in the Act stated that stations only had to meet the minimum requirement to provide three hours of educational programming content on a weekly basis. Many of the stations thought in terms of profits and eliminated their own shows, which had more educational content than the programs they acquired via syndication, to reduce monetary costs that would be incurred in producing their own educational programs and still meet the minimum requirements to qualify for the renewal of their broadcast licenses. Programming for profit A report by Scott Conley published in the Syracuse Law Review showed that the average child will have watched between 10,000 and 15,000 hours of television programming, and over 200,000 commercials by the time they are 18. His research showed that commercials typically were for the interest of advertisers and had no concern for the needs of children. According to the Act, commercials had to be geared towards children 12 years of age or younger. The amount of commercial advertising allowed to air per each hour of children's programming was restricted to no more than 10½ minutes on weekends, and 12 minutes on Monday through Fridays. Cable systems were required to keep records of their following of the advertising rules so that regulators such as the FCC, and the public were allowed to monitor their behavior. The main reason for this restriction was due to research which demonstrated that young children have difficulty distinguishing between the program they are watching and commercials, with most having little or no understanding of commercials' persuasive intent, and as such, children are highly vulnerable to claims and appeals by advertisers. Commercials for food products make up a large percentage of advertisements geared towards children. Marketers are interested in youth as consumers because of their spending power through their parents, their influence, and their retention as adult consumers in the future. Many techniques and channels are used to reach children, starting when they are toddlers, in order to establish brand building and purchasing behavior. One study found that food advertisements accounted for 47.8% of all television commercials. These advertisements advertised food products that were high in fat and sugar content. Compared with data collected before new regulations took place, children now watch more shorter-length commercials. Other actions that networks took in order to increase their profit via advertising while implementing the Act included selecting programs based on their marketing value. Producers selected series more often when they were related to a hit movie or pop culture icon, such as if the show featured a character that could be sold as a marketable action figure. A researcher for the Nickelodeon series Dora the Explorer discussed how preschoolers interact with new episodes of the show. Among other methods, researchers try to determine whether children are paying attention or interacting with the program, and also try to figure out what draws kids' attention to the show, and what elements can be adjusted to increase potential viewership. Elements such as adding more close-ups of the main characters, called "money shots", are intended to embed the face into children's minds; in turn, this can increase product sales. This information is considered highly valuable to researchers, since shows such as Dora sell millions of dollars worth of merchandise annually. According to Judi Cook, an assistant professor at Salem University, there were issues with the amount of commercials for these marketable products targeted at children that were aired in the Boston television market. Cook watched programs on one of the stations for a particular calendar day, and learned that 80 out of 97 advertisements appeared before or after children's programs. By the 2010s, most major networks had phased out traditional children's programming from their schedules in favor of live-action educational series, which broadcasters have legally declared to be aimed towards viewers between the ages of 13 and 16, rather than 12 and under. The Children's Television Act dictates that programs aimed towards viewers 12 and under are limited in the amount of advertising they may carry per-hour, and may not broadcast commercials for products related to a program or featuring hosts or characters from the program ("host-selling"); however, a footnote states that this does not apply if the program is aimed towards viewers older than 12 years old. Deadline.com noted that the live-action educational programs produced by Litton Entertainment frequently contained brand integration with underwriting sponsors, such as Norwegian Cruise Line (Dream Quest is set on the company's ships), Electronic Arts (Game Changers is promoted as being presented and sponsored by EA Sports, and contains a segment focusing on the development of an EA Sports video game), and SeaWorld Entertainment. Claudia Moquin, daughter of the CTA's main supporter Peggy Charren, criticized these practices for contravening the original intent of the CTA, by exposing children to a level of advertising and sponsored content that the CTA was meant to prevent. Litton defended these practices, stating that they were "a far better alternative" to ads for junk food and toys, and argued that the company has "led the industry in aspirational storytelling that meets child psychologist-developed standards that did not exist prior to 1990". Recent changes to the act In 2006, the Federal Communications Commission passed rules related to website references during children's programs. Under the guidelines, there were a number of criteria that the website must meet: these include requirements that it offer non-commercial related content; the page has to clearly divide commercial and non-commercial content into sections; that the website being directed to viewers can not be used for e-commerce, advertising or other commercial advertising; and the prohibition of displaying the website address if it advertised characters from a program that was airing alongside it. The Academy of Political and Social Science found in a report covering the state of children's television content between 1996 and 1997 that only 38.8% of programs targeted at that demographic could be considered "high-quality"; 23.2% were found to be "moderate" quality, and 37% of programs were found to be of low quality. The research on programming quality took into account both educational content of shows and also the reactions of the children and their parents. At the Senate Commerce Committee hearing in July 2009, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski spoke about the new landscape of digital video media and television. He recommended empowering parents with tools and information to determine the appropriate video content for their children rather than government regulation of video content. At the same hearing, James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media (a non-partisan, not-for profit organization that advocates for educational children's media content), said that there were ways to regulate children's media content without limiting broadcasters rights to free speech. U.S. television networks with E/I-compliant children's programs In American television, a digital on-screen graphic or "bug" denoting the program as "E/I" is placed in a corner of the screen indicating a children's television program that meets federal guidelines defining it as having educational and informational content for younger audiences. Current children's programming blocks - CBS Dream Team (CBS) – Debuted in September 2013 and produced by Litton Entertainment under a time-lease agreement, the CBS Dream Team provides three hours of unscripted live-action children's programming on Saturday mornings that meet E/I guidelines. - Litton's Weekend Adventure (syndicated exclusively to ABC affiliates) – Produced by Litton Entertainment and launched in September 2011, the block provides three hours of unscripted live-action programming aimed at family audiences that meet E/I regulations. - NBC Kids and MiTelemundo (NBC/Telemundo) – Produced by Sprout and launched in July 2012, the two blocks air weekend mornings (the English language NBC Kids airs Saturdays on NBC, while the Spanish language MiTelemundo airs Saturdays and Sundays on Telemundo). Sprout operates as a 24-hour standalone channel available to cable and satellite providers. In February 24, 2016, NBC announced that NBC Kids will be discontinued with its final airing date on September 24, 2016 as NBC Plans to replace NBC Kids with Litton Entertainment's The More You Know E/I Block, which is an expansion of NBC's public service announcements of the same name. The new block will air on October 1, 2016 on NBC, though Telemundo will continue to air its MiTelemundo block with Spanish-dubbed children's programs from Sprout. - One Magnificent Morning (The CW) – Debuted in September 2014 and produced by Litton Entertainment under a time-lease agreement, the block provides five hours of unscripted live-action programming aimed at family audiences that meet E/I regulations. The network's broadcast and cable feed for smaller markets, The CW Plus, also offers a separate lineup of E/I-compliant programs acquired off the syndication market that air immediately after One Magnificent Morning. - PBS Kids (PBS) – PBS broadcasts live-action and animated (mostly scripted) children's programming for up to twelve hours every weekday, most of its member stations also air such programs on weekend mornings. Some PBS member stations operate a 24-hour digital subchannel service carrying children's programs broadcast by PBS or syndicated to individual public television stations. - Qubo (Ion Television) – Qubo is a three-hour children's program block airing on Sunday mornings on Ion Television (which was rebranded as the Qubo Kids' Corner in January 2015); until July 2012, additional blocks under the brand aired Saturday mornings on NBC and Saturday and Sunday mornings on Telemundo (the latter featuring Spanish dubbed versions of the shows seen on the Ion and NBC blocks). Qubo Channel is a separate 24-hour multicast network that airs on Ion Television's owned-and-operated stations and certain affiliates, featuring some programs featured on the Ion block as well as other (primarily imported) programs carried solely by the channel. Qubo Channel is not currently available on all cable providers, although Ion Media Networks has sought must-carry status for the channel. - Xploration Station (syndicated mainly to Fox affiliates) – Produced by Steve Rotfeld Productions, the block provides two hours of unscripted live-action children's programming, usually airing on Saturday mornings, that meet E/I guidelines. Former children's programming blocks - 4Kids TV (formerly FoxBox) (Fox) - Aired Saturday mornings from 2002 to 2008. The block was syndicated to other television stations in markets where the Fox affiliates (or in some cases, owned and operated stations) did not air the block. The block was replaced by the syndicated paid programming block Weekend Marketplace in December 2008 (only shows within the first hour of the block featured shows that met E/I criteria). - ABC Kids (formerly Disney's One Saturday Morning) (ABC) – Aired Saturday mornings from 1997 to 2011; in its last years, the block aired programming from basic cable network Disney Channel. Some series within the block were pre-empted by select ABC affiliates (including those owned by Hearst Television, Cox Broadcasting and Allbritton Communications Company) due to a lack of E/I content. - CBS Kidshow (CBS) – Aired from 1997 to 1998; the block featured children's programming on Saturday mornings from Canadian production company Nelvana. - Cookie Jar Toons (This TV) – Aired daily from 2008 to 2013; the block featured children's programming from Cookie Jar Group (E/I programs aired under the "Cookie Jar Toons" banner, while non-E/I shows aired under the sub-block This is for Kids). It was replaced by a three-hour block of syndicated E/I shows on Sunday mornings after Tribune Broadcasting assumed part-ownership of This TV from Weigel Broadcasting in November 2013. - Cookie Jar TV (formerly KOL Secret Slumber Party and KEWLopolis) (CBS) – Aired Saturday mornings from 2006 to 2013; the block provided three hours of entertainment-based live action and animated children's programming from Cookie Jar Group that met E/I guidelines; was replaced by the CBS Dream Team in September 2013. - Cookie Jar Kids Network (formerly DiC Kids Network) (Syndicated) – Aired from 2002 to 2011; marketed as a syndication package of entertainment-based live action and animated children's programming from DiC/Cookie Jar Group. - Discovery Kids on NBC (NBC) – Aired on Saturday mornings from 2002 to 2006; the block provided three hours of both edutainment and strictly entertainment-based live action andanimated children's programming from digital cable and satellite channel Discovery Kids that met E/I guidelines. - Disney's One Too (UPN) – Aired on weekday and Sunday mornings from 1999 to 2003; the block aired animated programs sourced primarily from Walt Disney Television Animation (which originated on ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning) and later included shows acquired by Disney through its purchase of Fox Family Worldwide (only certain programs within the blocks met E/I criteria). - Fox Kids (Fox) – Aired from 1990 to 2002; originated as a block of children's programming that aired on weekday and Saturday mornings. The block provided entertainment-based animated series and a limited amount of live-action series (only a limited number of shows, particularly those airing as part of the Fox Kids Cubhouse sub-block aimed at preschoolers from 1994 to 1997 as well as reruns of The Magic School Bus met E/I guidelines); was replaced by FoxBox in September 2002. - Kids' WB (The WB/The CW) – Aired from 1995 to 2006 on The WB and from 2006 to 2008 on The CW; originated as a block of children's programming that aired on weekday and Saturday mornings; the weekday block was dropped in December 2005, and the remaining Saturday morning block moved to The CW when it debuted in September 2006 (only certain programs within the weekday and Saturday blocks met E/I criteria); was replaced by The CW4Kids in 2008. - Nickelodeon en Telemundo (Telemundo) – Aired from 1998 to 2000; the Saturday morning block provided Spanish-dubbed versions of children's programming from Nickelodeon. - Nick Jr. on CBS (also known as Nick on CBS) (CBS) – Aired from 1998 to 2006; the Saturday morning block featured children's programming from the basic cable network Nickelodeon; some programs, particularly those sourced from the channel's Nick Jr. block, met E/I criteria. - PAX Kids (Pax TV) – Aired from 1998 to 2000; this block featured religious and secular children's programs and aired on Saturday and Sunday mornings, most of which met E/I criteria. - TNBC (NBC) – Aired on Saturday mornings from 1992 to 2002; the block provided three hours of entertainment-based live action sitcoms and some drama series (primarily produced by Peter Engel Productions and NBC Productions/NBC Enterprises) that met E/I guidelines through the incorporation of social issues relevant to the block's target demographic of adolescents; was replaced by Discovery Kids on NBC in September 2006. - Toonzai (formerly The CW4Kids) (The CW) – Aired from 2008 to 2012 and produced by 4Kids Entertainment under a time-lease agreement; this block featured children's programming for five hours on Saturday mornings (only the first hour of the block featured shows that met E/I criteria). - UPN Kids (UPN) – Aired on weekday and Sunday mornings from 1995 to 1999; this block provided animated children's programming on weekday and Sunday mornings (only select programs met E/I criteria). - Vortexx (The CW) – Airing from September 2012 to September 27, 2014 and produced by Saban Brands under a time-lease agreement, Vortexx provided five hours of children's programming on Saturday mornings (with the exception of the first hour of the block, most shows do not meet E/I criteria). - Lawrie Mifflin (August 9, 1996). "U.S. Mandates Educational TV for Children". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 16. Retrieved March 14, 2010. - "Quality Television for Children". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. August 16, 1996. p. 32. Retrieved March 14, 2010. - Landrea Wells. "Children and Television". University of Florida. Retrieved April 11, 2011. - Dennis Wharton (October 30, 1995). "NAB, FCC Square Off Over Kidvid". Variety. Reed Business Information (13): 183. - Diane Hayes (September 12, 2008). "The Children's Hour Revisited: The Children's Television Act of 1990". 46 (2). - Andy Levinsky (November–December 1999). "Unintended Consequences". The Humanist. 59 (6): 3. - Sandra Calvert; Jennifer Kotler (2003). "Children's Television Act: Can Policy Make a Difference". Applied Developmental Psychology (24): 375–380. - Andy Levinsky (November–December 1999). "Unintended Consequences". The Humanist. 59 (6): 4. - Andy Levinsky (November–December 1999). "Unintended Consequences". The Humanist. 59 (6): 5. - Scott Conley (June 17, 2010). "The Children's Television Act: Reasons and Practice". Syracuse Law Review. - "General Cable Television Industry and Regulation information Factsheet". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved April 10, 2011. - Dale Kunkal; Donald Roberts (April 14, 2010). "Young Minds and Marketplace Values: Issues in Children's Television Advertising". Social Issues. 47 (1): 57–72. - Simone French; Mary Story (February 2004). "Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US". International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 1 (3). doi:10.1186/1479-5868-1-3. PMC 416565. PMID 15171786. - Howard L. Taras (1995). "Advertised Foods on Children's Television". Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 149 (6): 649–652. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1995.02170190059010. - Andy Levinsky (November–December 1999). "Unintended Consequences". The Humanist. 59 (6): 6. - Daniel McGinn (November 10, 2002). "Guilt Free TV". Newsweek. Retrieved April 11, 2011. - Harry Jessell (November 6, 2000). "Commercial Overload". Broadcasting & Cable. 130 (46): 19. - "Preteen Saturday Morning Kids Shows Abandoned By Broadcast Networks". Deadline.com. Retrieved 26 June 2016. - "The Children's Television Act of 1990". TVIV. Retrieved April 10, 2011. - Amy Jordan; Emory Woodard IV (May 1998). "Growing Pains: Children's Television in the New Regulatory Environment". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 557: 83–95. doi:10.1177/0002716298557000007. - Dr. Vee. "The Children's Television Act 1990-2010". - Meg James (July 24, 2013). "CBS partners with Litton Entertainment for Saturday teen block". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved March 24, 2015. - "NBC and Litton Entertainment Announce Fall 2016 Line-Up for The More You Know Programming Block". The Futon Critic. August 8, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016. - Kevin Downey (June 5, 2014). "CW Joins with Litton for Sat. Morning E/I Block". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved June 5, 2014. - Anthony Crupi (March 16, 2006). "Discovery, NBC to End Sat. Kids Block". Mediaweek. Archived from the original on February 7, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2015. - Amanda Kondolojy (December 18, 2013). "Steve Rotfield Clears New Science and Technology Two Hour E/I Block With FOX Station Group". TV by the Numbers. Zap2It (Tribune Media). Retrieved June 29, 2014. - Paula Bernstein (December 4, 2001). "Discovery set to kid around with Peacock". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved March 24, 2015. - Cynthia Littleton (December 3, 1997). "'Bus' rolling to Fox Kids". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.

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Last Tree Standing By the time John Muir and his trusty mule Brownie splashed across the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River in the fall of 1875, the Scottish-born naturalist had already seen his fair share of California grandiosity: Yosemite Valley; the high Sierra; Mariposa Grove. Muir had a thirst for exploration and a talent for storytelling. He founded the Sierra Club and dubbed its synonymous mountains the “Range of Light.” When Muir sauntered upon a montane plateau in what is now known as Sequoia National Park on that autumn day, he found a very large stand of very large trees. Drawing his poetry from the obvious he named it, quite simply, the Giant Forest. The dominant feature of the Giant Forest is the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), the biggest tree on Earth. Thousands of them grow in this 2,300-acre grove, including five of the ten largest specimens in the world. They reach heights of nearly 300 feet; their trunks can span more than 30 feet; and they’re nearly impossible to miss if you’re tromping beneath their canopy. “In every direction Sequoia ruled the woods…” Muir waxed in Our National Parks, “a magnificent growth of giants grouped in pure temple groves.” And yet, at 4:00 a.m. on a warm August morning, our hearty group of scientists and climbers is having a tough time finding the damn things. “I feel like we’ve gone too far,” says forest ecologist Wendy Baxter, 36, stopping the group. The ivory glow of a full moon offers enough illumination to hike without fear of face-planting, but it makes for a poor navigational beacon. It’s the fourth day of two weeks of fieldwork led by Baxter and fellow forest ecologist Anthony Ambrose. Scientists at UC Berkeley’s Dawson Research Lab, the two are part of Leaf to Landscape, a program in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey, the National Park Service, and the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, that is focused on studying and managing the health of the giant sequoias. California, of course, is in the middle of a historically punishing drought at a time when there’s never been more demand for water. According to the United States Forest Service, 62 million trees have died in California this year alone. Since 2011, a total of 102 million trees have perished, with tens of millions more on death’s doorstep. California’s forests generate fundamental ecosystem services by creating healthy watersheds, providing wildlife habitat, and sequestering atmospheric carbon, and they’re dying at unprecedented rates. Even the great giant sequoias are showing concerning signs of stress. It’s Ambrose and Baxter’s goal to collect and analyze tree samples to understand how the sequoias are faring under these rapidly changing conditions, and what might be done to protect them. But first we have to find them. “Have we come to any intersections at all?” asks Ambrose, 48, whose attention has been focused on answering my questions instead of spotting landmarks. “I remember this tree, for sure,” someone chirps, a sentiment that seems more appropriate as an epitaph on a lost hiker’s headstone than as a vote of directional confidence. After a brief parley, we correct our course up a gentle rise, down into a shallow basin, and past a pair of landmarks, unmistakable even at this dark hour. The path splits twin sylvan towers standing inches apart and hundreds of feet tall. It’s still too dark to marvel at their height, but the base of each tree inspires awe enough, gnarled and bulbous and swelling with woody knuckles the size of a Toyota Prius. A few hundred yards farther, the trail continues through the hollowed-out center of another sequoia. Fire, the great creator and destroyer, Kali of the Giant Forest, raged here long ago, burning out the tree’s core. The wound is enormous, 40 feet tall or more and nearly the size of the tree’s entire 12-foot diameter. Yet the grand monarch survived the blaze, which also would have cooked off the thick layers of duff that choke seedling growth, offering tiny sequoias a chance to one day touch the sky and survive their own infernos. The group splits apart at the meadow, each climber heading to the tree they’ll be sampling. The scientists have targeted 50 sequoias for study—“the biggest, gnarliest trees in the forest,” Ambrose says—and this morning he’ll climb a 241-footer. In most other forests a tree like this would be a star attraction with an honorific name and perhaps even a viewing area. Here, it’s simply known as “tree 271.” Ambrose has striking blue eyes and wears a woodsman’s beard with a chinstrap of white whiskers. He slides on his climbing harness and tugs the rope anchored to the crown some 24 stories above. He’s been studying trees for more than two decades, first with a focus on coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) as an undergraduate and master’s student at Humboldt State University, and then on giant sequoias for his doctoral and post-doc work at Berkeley. “From an aesthetic perspective to a biological one, these trees are some of the most spectacular organisms on the planet,” he says with the enthusiasm of a boxing promoter. “They are the pinnacle of what a plant can become. They force you to think about life and your own place in it.” He clips on a pair of jumar ascenders—mechanical devices that attach to the rope and allow him to pull himself up. “You can’t really understand the true character of a tree from the ground,” he says. Ambrose turns off his headlamp, cranes his head toward the canopy, and begins the long, dark climb into a world of mystery. The giant sequoia has dominated its landscape for millions of years and captivated global imagination since the mid-19th century when rumors of trees the size of fairy-tale beanstalks came roaring out of the Sierras. One of four redwood species, the giant sequoia is not the world’s tallest tree; that crown belongs to its northern cousin, the coast redwood. But in terms of sheer volume of biomass, no living organism ever to walk, swim, fly, or stand on this planet comes close. They are of such stature that people struggle to describe them and so compare them to other very big things: blue whales, 747s, dinosaurs, the Statue of Liberty, elephant herds, space shuttles. Giant sequoias make mice of them all. More than 100 million years ago, when the planet was warmer and wetter, the sequoia’s earliest relatives thrived across much of the Northern Hemisphere. Redwood fossils have been found everywhere from Northern Mexico and the Canadian Arctic to England. During the late Miocene, some 10 to 20 million years ago, the closest direct ancestor of the giant sequoia lived in what is now southern Idaho and western Nevada. As the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range continued its uplift and the climate became drier, the giants’ range shrank. Today, the last remaining sequoias are limited to 75 groves scattered along a narrow belt of the western Sierra Nevada, some 15 miles wide by 250 miles long. Giant sequoias are among the longest-living organisms on Earth. Though no one knows the trees’ absolute expiry date, the oldest ever recorded is 3,200 years old. Muir claimed to have found a stump with 4,000 tree rings, one per year. During their early years the trees are subject to predation and the volatile whims of nature. Once they reach adolescence after a few centuries, however, sequoias become well-nigh indestructible. Their bark is soft and fibrous and contains very little pitch, qualities that make the trees extremely resistant to fire. The tannins that give their wood a rich cinnamon hue also repel insects and fungi. When a mature sequoia does die, mortality is usually a function of its marvelous size. Root rot can deprive a tree of a solid anchor and fire can undermine its base, but rarely will either actually kill a 30-story monarch. Gravity is the ultimate culprit, for a giant sequoia with an uncertain foundation faces a violent and certain end. The persistent tug of gravity can pull an unbalanced tree to the forest floor with such a thunderous crash that the reverberation can be heard miles away. The sequoia’s fate is an Icarian allegory, met not by flying too close to the sun, but by stretching too far from its roots. Thanks largely to their ability to withstand disease and drought, it’s extremely rare for a giant sequoia to die standing upright. “You don’t get to be 2,000 years old without surviving a few dry spells,” Ambrose tells me. Which is exactly why United States Geological Survey forest ecologist Nate Stephenson was so alarmed when, in September 2014, he went for a walk in the Giant Forest and saw something unexpected. “I had been saying with confidence for decades that if you hit a big drought, the first signs of climatic changes would show up in seedlings,” recalls Stephenson, who has studied trees in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks since 1979. “I was completely wrong.” He surveyed an area that had burned a few years prior, where seedlings had taken root. Crawling around on his hands and knees, Stephenson was surprised to see that the seedlings were rigid and full of water, their leaves a vibrant blue-green. This was the third year of drought in California, and the summer of 2014 was particularly brutal. There should be some evidence of drought stress, he thought. Sitting on the ground, he leaned back, craned his head toward the heavens to ponder the mystery, and found his answer. Above him stood a grand old monarch. The crown of the tree was almost entirely brown, a scale of dieback he’d never seen. He searched for other trees displaying similar stress and when he found one with branches close to the ground, he touched it. The foliage crumbled off. In more than 30 years of studying these trees Stephenson had only seen two die on their feet. Five years into the current drought, he’s now seen dozens of standing dead. Stephenson quickly assembled a team to survey the 2014 dieback before autumn storms could blow away the evidence. The National Park Service (NPS) enlisted Ambrose and Baxter to begin their fieldwork in 2015. While the NPS and scientists working in Montana’s Glacier National Park might already be resigned to a glacier-free future as the climate changes, no one is ready to consider the possibility of Sequoia without its namesake trees. “Headache!!!” Ambrose yells. His warning, the tree-climbing vernacular for plummeting deadfall, fills the forest moments before a branch whooshes passed, inches from my head. It happens so quickly, the broken limb has already hit the ground before I have a chance to move. “And that’s why we wear helmets when we work around trees,” he explains to the small group of us standing at the base of the sequoia. The lessons come quickly on our first day of fieldwork. We set up on a steep hillside and Baxter demonstrates how to prepare the rigging for a climb. Tall and lean with a strong jawline and a soft voice, she’s as comfortable doing stable isotope analysis in the lab as she is setting a 600-foot static line in a tree. “I love the combination of physical exertion and intellectual stimulation,” she tells me. “It’s a struggle to get to the top of the tree. You’re sweating and huffing and puffing, but that’s when you start collecting your samples and the science begins.” In 2015, Baxter and Ambrose did much of the work themselves, identifying and rigging 50 trees, making six climbs a day, and collecting samples and measurements from each one. Their days began at 2:30 a.m. and ended at 10 p.m.—if they were lucky. “That was brutal,” Baxter recalls. They have more help this time around. Over the course of two weeks, more than a dozen volunteers—students, professional arborists, climbing junkies—will rotate in and out. The schedule, while not nearly as frantic as the previous year, is aggressive. We wake up at 3 a.m. and begin our hike from the Crescent Meadow parking lot into the Giant Forest an hour later. After climbing trees and taking and analyzing samples all day, we head back to our campground for some R&R before collapsing into bed. The immediate goal is to understand the severity of water stress the trees are facing, the water content in the leaves, and the amount of the stable carbon-13 (13C) isotope the tree uses during photosynthesis, which offers additional insight into how the trees are coping with drought. With that information, scientists and park officials can assess the trees’ health and begin to think about ways to protect giant sequoias through practices like controlled burns, which clear the ground for seedlings and eliminate less fire-resistant trees that compete for water. Ambrose’s first exposure to forest management came as a wildland firefighter following his senior year of high school in Chico, California. The experience, he recalls, involved “hours of boredom followed by long stretches of terror,” and gave him a first-hand look at how a policy of aggressive fire suppression can have an adverse effect on forest ecosystems. For more than a century, the government’s approach toward forest fire has been one of suppression. But indiscriminately stamping out frequent, less intense, naturally occurring fires disrupts the natural process of consumption and rejuvenation that species like giant sequoias need to thrive. It also allows dangerous levels of fuels to pile up—until one explosive holocaust vaporizes everything. “You get these large landscape conversions, conifer forests turning into brush,” Ambrose says. In 2013, the Rim Fire swept through the Sierras, consuming more than 257,000 acres. It was the third largest fire in California’s recorded history and burned for 15 months. It never reached Sequoia National Park, but it did sweep through parts of Yosemite some 100 miles north. As a precautionary measure, officials even set sprinklers around some of Yosemite’s giant sequoias in case the fire got too close. Giant sequoias, like all trees, play a central role in the hydrologic cycle. Storms drop rain and snow, which giant sequoias can chug to the tune of 800 gallons per day—more than any other tree. As the trees draw water out of the ground, the air surrounding the leaves draws water through the trees and, eventually, back into the atmosphere. That process, called transpiration, creates tension within the tree’s water columns. The drier the atmosphere and the less groundwater available, the higher the tension. Under extreme drought conditions, when that tension grows too high, those columns of water can snap like a rubber band. Gas bubbles form, creating an embolism that prevents the flow of water up the trunk. If this happens enough, a tree will shed its leaves and can, eventually, die. To measure water tension and other biological processes, climbers sample each tree twice a day, once under cool pre-dawn conditions when the tree is least stressed, and once under the heat of the midday sun. The scientists clip foliage from the lower and upper canopies, which allows them to assess conditions at different parts of the tree. After the safety talk and rigging demonstration, Ambrose grabs a laminated map from his pack and assigns the climbers to their trees. Pulling on a forest-green arborist harness, he clips a pouch onto each hip to carry his samples. Then he steps into the foot straps attached to the ascenders and begins the climb. Stretching hundreds of feet into the air presents some very real physical challenges for giant sequoias. See how these massive trees have overcome gravity to become giants of the forest. Numerically speaking, giant sequoias constitute a small portion of California’s forest. A few weeks before my foray with Ambrose and Baxter, I hopped on a survey flight with Greg Asner, principal investigator at the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), to get a better understanding of what’s happening to trees across the entire state and what that might indicate for the future of the sequoias. Asner, 48, runs a flying laboratory called the Airborne Taxonomic Mapping System, a Dornier 228 airplane tricked out with $12 million of custom-built equipment that allows the CAO to measure the composition, chemistry, and structure of a forest in detail and efficiency that, not long ago, was relegated to the realm of science fiction. “In California,” said Asner, “we have exact numbers on 888 million trees.” We met at 7:30 a.m. at Sacramento’s McClellan Air Park. Dressed in snappy black flight suits, Asner and his four-man team were going through last-minute checks and waiting for the sun to climb higher in the sky, which would allow for more accurate measurements. The goal for the day: map a 3,600-square-mile section of northern California forest. Collecting such voluminous amounts of detailed data requires a unique toolbox. The plane itself is geared toward special mission work with its high-payload capacity and short takeoff and landing capabilities. An imaging spectrometer, resting atop a hole cut in the belly of the plane, absorbs light across the spectrum, from ultraviolet to short-wave infrared. It allows the CAO to measure 23 different chemicals in the trees, including water, nitrogen, and sugar content. To work properly, internal sensors within the imaging spectrometer are kept at -132 Celsius, atomically cold temperatures. A laser system next to the imaging spectrometer fires a pair of lasers from the bottom of the plane 500,000 times per second, creating a three-dimensional image of the terrain below, and every tree on it. A second spectrometer, this one with an enhanced zoom capacity, allows the team to take measurements of individual branches on a tree—from 12,000 feet up. Finally, a piece of equipment known as an Internal Measurement Unit records the X,Y, and Z axes as well as pitch, roll, and yaw of the plane to ensure that its positioning in the air doesn’t compromise the accuracy of the data it collects from the ground. “This unit is the same technology as what’s in the nose of a cruise missile,” Asner explained. “Because of that, the State Department has a say in what countries we visit.” The CAO studies forests all over the world—Peru, Malaysia, Panama, South Africa, Hawaii. Once airborne, we dismissed the sprawl of the Central Valley for the coastal mountains. To the naked eye, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest looked splendorous, 2.2 million acres of rivers and mountains. Mount Shasta, a 14,179-foot active volcano, was still holding on to a handsome cap of snow and the landscape was vibrant and green. Asner’s spectrometer shared a different story. “Visual assessment doesn’t tell you much,” he said. On his computer screen, the green trees below were all reading red. They were dead. We just couldn’t see it yet. “A lot of this was not here last year,” he said with the clinical efficiency of a doctor diagnosing a cancer patient. CAO’s statewide findings suggest tens of millions of trees might not survive another dry winter. Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), a species that grows in large, contiguous groves and can live 500 years, has been hit the hardest, accounting for some 70 percent of the mortality, but cedar, fir, and oak are all suffering as well. It’s not just the lack of precipitation that’s killing these trees; it’s the cascading effect of climate change. Water-stressed trees make easier targets for mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae), which lay their eggs in the trunk and eat the trees. Asner shared a map of the Giant Forest. The sequoias were a cool, comforting shade of blue, demonstrating high water content. Water seeks its low point, Asner explained, and the Giant Forest sits in a plateau cup. “It’s an oasis, a refugio. Right now, those trees are of least concern.” It was bittersweet news, like celebrating the last house standing after a tornado. “Drought is a cumulative process,” Asner explained as the plane made a long bank off the western slope of Shasta. “Forests have biological inertia. We don’t know where the physiological tipping point is. Currently, we’re losing carbon from the forest.” Forests are supposed to absorb carbon, so I wasn’t sure if I’d heard Asner correctly over the communication system. I tapped my headphones to make sure they were still working. “I’m sorry, did you just say the forests are releasing carbon into the atmosphere?” Automobiles, coal-fired power plants, cattle production—those are all carbon sources. But the mighty forests of California? “That’s my guess,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine the forests are still carbon sinks.” Using data collected by and visualizations generated by the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), scientists and forest managers can see both the current and future impacts of drought on Sequoia National Park. Learn what CAO scientist Greg Asner sees in this image. Of the hundreds of feet it takes to climb to the top of a giant sequoia, the first six are invariably the most difficult. After two days on the ground watching the rest of the team sliding up and down the sequoias, I ask Ambrose for a tutorial. Over the years, I’ve spent enough time on rock and rope to scratch my way up a 5.10, but tree climbing—beyond the scampering variety, anyway—is new territory. It looks easy enough. Ambrose has been powering into the canopy in minutes, and Baxter has a fancy one-legged technique that looks like she’s hopping on air. I, meanwhile, can barely get 12 inches off the ground. Those charming fire caves that serve as a window to ancient battles? They’re actually hazardous overhangs that cause a climber to pendulum into a cavern of charred pith. The two feet of duff piled up on the root system? That makes it just hard enough to get the clearance from the tree trunk needed to begin a comfortable climb. I’ve never done the splits, but with my feet strapped into the stirrups I find myself spinning, spread-eagled in endless, dizzying circles. Then I sprain my knee. If Ambrose and Baxter climb their ropes like graceful inchworms, I look like a marionette having a seizure. Eventually I reach the lower canopy but my knee feels like a water balloon in a pressure cooker and I’m a long way from mastering Baxter’s hop-along trick. I descend in the interest of doing more climbing later in the week. Back on the ground, I limp over to Ambrose and tell him of my failed attempt. “It’s tricky the first time. You want to avoid gripping the ascenders too tightly. And really, you shouldn’t be using your upper body very much at all. You mostly want to use knees and core.” Translation: The exact opposite of what I was doing. A few days later I get my chance on another pre-dawn climb. The tree is one of the largest individuals in the world—220 feet tall and 20 feet in diameter at the base—all the more impressive considering it’s growing in shallow soil atop a plate of granite. Underground, the tree’s been waging war with its rocky substrate for millennia, its roots probing every crack and fracture in a tireless search for water. I clear the first few feet without issue and begin the long journey to the top. The sequoia is shaped like a giant barrel, tall and fat with hardly a taper. For the first ten stories, the trunk is a sheer wall of wood with an uninterrupted profile. I pass the crown of a neighboring 90-foot pine before even reaching the first branch of the sequoia. As I enter the sprawling branch network of lower canopy, the climb shifts from a smooth glide to a bruising slugfest. I work my way over, around, and between branches, each the size of a normal tree. About half way up, a pair of branches five feet thick shoots out from opposite sides of the trunk and up in an L-shape, like two arms flexing in a proclamation of strength. Finally, the top. After 40 minutes of climbing, I take a seat to catch my breath. The crown is gargantuan. On one side a half dozen branches converge to create a bench wide enough for a square dance. It’s easy to get lost in the scale, but as my heart slows and the morning brightens, the subtleties stand out. Thousands of green cones the size of ping-pong balls hang from the branches like chandeliers. Unlike the lower sections of the tree, the bark here is smooth and seamless with a purple tint, and etched with fine lines like topographic contours. A menorah of knobby vertical branches, called reiterated trunks, sprouts out of the crown. I scamper up the last 10 feet and perch on the stumpy tip of one of the spires. The crowns of sequoias punctuate the tree line like bushy, green exclamation points. Surrounded only by a warm breeze and empty space, I find myself completely exposed and suffering through an emotional paradox. There’s freedom up here with the birds, a glorious release from anything familiar. But it’s a narrow liberty. The laws of gravity and my seismic discomfort of heights dissuade me from any spread-eagle “I’m King of The World” moments. A western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) lands on a branch and swivels its bright red head toward me, confused by the interloper in its realm. On the forest floor, a black bear (Ursus americanus) lumbers about for breakfast. More people have summited Everest—more people have probably walked on the moon—than have stood atop this noble tree. “There is absolutely no limit to its existence,” John Muir wrote of the sequoia in Our National Parks. “Nothing hurts the big tree.” The sunrise, however, reveals an unsettling future. Even here, in the country’s second-oldest national park, the horizon is the sickly yellow of a cigarette butt, a vaporous mixture of Central Valley smog and forest fire smoke from the myriad infernos burning across the state. Muir’s hyperbole is understandable. The tree I’m sitting atop probably took root before Athenian democracy sprouted in ancient Greece. It has lived through the rise and fall of many of the world’s great civilizations, from Romans to Mayans to the British Empire. Its long shadow has fallen over this forest for three millennia, but that can’t obscure the exhaust of human progress. As I clip my climbing descender onto the rope and begin the journey to the forest floor, I can’t help but wonder: Will this tree stand long enough to witness our own fall? Or will it fall first? Novus Select was founded with a simple mission: assemble a diverse group of talented visual storytellers and find them compelling stories to tell. Headquartered in Lake Tahoe, California, Novus Select manages a global production network of gifted directors, photographers, and crew.

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AppearanceDomestic sheep are relatively small ruminants, usually with a crimped hair called wool and often with horns forming a lateral spiral. Domestic sheep differ from their wild relatives and ancestors in several respects, having become uniquely neotenic as a result of selective breeding by humans. A few primitive breeds of sheep retain some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, such as short tails. Depending on breed, domestic sheep may have no horns at all , or horns in both sexes, or in males only. Most horned breeds have a single pair, but a few breeds may have several. Another trait unique to domestic sheep as compared to wild ovines is their wide variation in color. Wild sheep are largely variations of brown hues, and variation within species is extremely limited. Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown and even spotted or piebald. Selection for easily dyeable white fleeces began early in sheep domestication, and as white wool is a dominant trait it spread quickly. However, colored sheep do appear in many modern breeds, and may even appear as a recessive trait in white flocks. While white wool is desirable for large commercial markets, there is a niche market for colored fleeces, mostly for handspinning. The nature of the fleece varies widely among the breeds, from dense and highly crimped, to long and hair-like. There is variation of wool type and quality even among members of the same flock, so wool classing is a step in the commercial processing of the fibre. Depending on breed, sheep show a range of heights and weights. Their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait that is often selected for in breeding. Ewes typically weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms , and rams between 45 and 160 kilograms . When all deciduous teeth have erupted, the sheep has 20 teeth. Mature sheep have 32 teeth. As with other ruminants, the front teeth in the lower jaw bite against a hard, toothless pad in the upper jaw. These are used to pick off vegetation, then the rear teeth grind it before it is swallowed. There are eight lower front teeth in ruminants, but there is some disagreement as to whether these are eight incisors, or six incisors and two incisor-shaped canines. This means that the dental formula for sheep is either 0.0.3.3/184.108.40.206 There is a large toothless gap between the front "biting" teeth and the rear "grinding" teeth. For the first few years of life it is possible to calculate the age of sheep from their front teeth, as a pair of milk teeth is replaced by larger adult teeth each year, the full set of eight adult front teeth being complete at about four years of age. The front teeth are then gradually lost as sheep age, making it harder for them to feed and hindering the health and productivity of the animal. For this reason, domestic sheep on normal pasture begin to slowly decline from four years on, and the average life expectancy of a sheep is 10 to 12 years, though some sheep may live as long as 20 years. Sheep have good hearing, and are sensitive to noise when being handled. Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, possessing excellent peripheral vision; with visual fields of approximately 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads. Many breeds have only short hair on the face, and some have facial wool confined to the poll and or the area of the mandibular angle; the wide angles of peripheral vision apply to these breeds. A few breeds tend to have considerable wool on the face; for some individuals of these breeds, peripheral vision may be greatly reduced by "wool blindness", unless recently shorn about the face. Sheep have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to baulk. In general, sheep have a tendency to move out of the dark and into well-lit areas, and prefer to move uphill when disturbed. Sheep also have an excellent sense of smell, and, like all species of their genus, have scent glands just in front of the eyes, and interdigitally on the feet. The purpose of these glands is uncertain, but those on the face may be used in breeding behaviors. The foot glands might also be related to reproduction, but alternative reasons, such as secretion of a waste product or a scent marker to help lost sheep find their flock, have also been proposed. BehaviorSheep are prey animals with a strong gregarious instinct, and a majority of sheep behaviors can be understood in these terms. The dominance hierarchy of ''Ovis aries'' and its natural inclination to follow a leader to new pastures were the pivotal factors in it being one of the first domesticated livestock species. All sheep have a tendency to congregate close to other members of a flock, although this behavior varies with breed. Farmers exploit this behavior to keep sheep together on unfenced pastures and to move them more easily. Shepherds may also use herding dogs in this effort, whose highly bred herding ability can assist in moving flocks. Sheep are also extremely food-oriented, and association of humans with regular feeding often results in sheep soliciting people for food. Those who are moving sheep may exploit this behavior by leading sheep with buckets of feed, rather than forcing their movements with herding. In regions where sheep have no natural predators, none of the native breeds of sheep exhibit a strong flocking behavior. Sheep can also become hefted to one particular local pasture so they do not roam freely in unfenced landscapes. Ewes teach the heft to their lambs, and if whole flocks are culled it must be retaught to the replacement animals. Flock dynamics in sheep are, as a rule, only exhibited in a group of four or more sheep. Fewer sheep may not react as normally expected when alone or with few other sheep. For sheep, the primary defense mechanism is simply to flee from danger when their flight zone is crossed. Secondly, cornered sheep may charge or threaten to do so through hoof stamping and aggressive posture. This is particularly true for ewes with newborn lambs. In displaying flocking, sheep have a strong lead-follow tendency, and a leader often as not is simply the first sheep to move. However, sheep do establish a pecking order through physical displays of dominance. Dominant animals are inclined to be more aggressive with other sheep, and usually feed first at troughs. Primarily among rams, horn size is a factor in the flock hierarchy. Rams with different size horns may be less inclined to fight to establish pecking order, while rams with similarly sized horns are more so. Sheep can become stressed when separated from their flock members. Sheep can recognize individual human and ovine faces, and remember them for years. Relationships in flocks tend to be closest among related sheep: in mixed-breed flocks same-breed subgroups tend to form, and a ewe and her direct descendants often move as a unit within large flocks. Sheep are frequently thought of as extremely unintelligent animals. A sheep's herd mentality and quickness to flee and panic in the face of stress often make shepherding a difficult endeavor for the uninitiated. Despite these perceptions, a University of Illinois monograph on sheep found them to be just below pigs and on par with cattle in IQ, and some sheep have shown problem-solving abilities; a flock in West Yorkshire, England allegedly found a way to get over cattle grids by rolling on their backs, although documentation of this has relied on anecdotal accounts. In addition to long-term facial recognition of individuals, sheep can also differentiate emotional states through facial characteristics. If worked with patiently, sheep may learn their names, and many sheep are trained to be led by halter for showing and other purposes. Sheep have also responded well to clicker training. Very rarely, sheep are used as pack animals. Tibetan nomads distribute baggage equally throughout a flock as it is herded between living sites. ReproductionSheep follow a similar reproductive strategy to other herd animals. A group of ewes is generally mated by a single ram, who has either been chosen by a breeder or has established dominance through physical contest with other rams . Most sheep are seasonal breeders, although some are able to breed year-round. Ewes generally reach sexual maturity at six to eight months of age, and rams generally at four to six months. However, there are exceptions. For example, Finnsheep ewe lambs may reach puberty as early as 3 to 4 months, and Merino ewes sometimes reach puberty at 18 to 20 months. Ewes have estrus cycles about every 17 days, during which they emit a scent and indicate readiness through physical displays towards rams. A minority of rams display a preference for homosexuality and a small number of the females that were accompanied by a male fetus in utero are freemartins . In feral sheep, rams may fight during the rut to determine which individuals may mate with ewes. Rams, especially unfamiliar ones, will also fight outside the breeding period to establish dominance; rams can kill one another if allowed to mix freely. During the rut, even normally friendly rams may become aggressive towards humans due to increases in their hormone levels. After mating, sheep have a gestation period of about five months, and normal labor takes one to three hours. Although some breeds regularly throw larger litters of lambs, most produce single or twin lambs. During or soon after labor, ewes and lambs may be confined to small lambing jugs, small pens designed to aid both careful observation of ewes and to cement the bond between them and their lambs. Ovine obstetrics can be problematic. By selectively breeding ewes that produce multiple offspring with higher birth weights for generations, sheep producers have inadvertently caused some domestic sheep to have difficulty lambing; balancing ease of lambing with high productivity is one of the dilemmas of sheep breeding. In the case of any such problems, those present at lambing may assist the ewe by extracting or repositioning lambs. After the birth, ewes ideally break the amniotic sac , and begin licking clean the lamb. Most lambs will begin standing within an hour of birth. In normal situations, lambs nurse after standing, receiving vital colostrum milk. Lambs that either fail to nurse or that are rejected by the ewe require aid to live, such as bottle-feeding or fostering by another ewe. After lambs are several weeks old, lamb marking is carried out. Vaccinations are usually carried out at this point as well. Ear tags with numbers are attached, or ear marks are applied for ease of later identification of sheep. Castration is performed on ram lambs not intended for breeding, although some shepherds choose to avoid the procedure for ethical, economic or practical reasons. However, many would disagree with regard to timing. Docking and castration are commonly done after 24 hours and are often done not later than one week after birth, to minimize pain, stress, recovery time and complications The first course of vaccinations is commonly given at an age of about 10 to 12 weeks; i.e. when the concentration of maternal antibodies passively acquired via colostrum is expected to have fallen low enough to permit development of active immunity. Ewes are often re-vaccinated annually about 3 weeks before lambing, to provide high antibody concentrations in colostrum during the first several hours after lambing. Ram lambs that will either be slaughtered or separated from ewes before sexual maturity are not usually castrated. Tail docking is commonly done for welfare, having been shown to reduce risk of fly strike. Objections to all these procedures have been raised by animal rights groups, but farmers defend them by saying they solve many practical and veterinary problems, and inflict only temporary pain. FoodSheep are exclusively herbivorous mammals. Most breeds prefer to graze on grass and other short roughage, avoiding the taller woody parts of plants that goats readily consume. Both sheep and goats use their lips and tongues to select parts of the plant that are easier to digest or higher in nutrition. Sheep, however, graze well in monoculture pastures where most goats fare poorly. Like all ruminants, sheep have a complex digestive system composed of four chambers, allowing them to break down cellulose from stems, leaves, and seed hulls into simpler carbohydrates. When sheep graze, vegetation is chewed into a mass called a bolus, which is then passed into the rumen, via the reticulum. The rumen is a 19 to 38-liter organ in which feed is fermented. The fermenting organisms include bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. The bolus is periodically regurgitated back to the mouth as cud for additional chewing and salivation. Cud chewing is an adaptation allowing ruminants to graze more quickly in the morning, and then fully chew and digest feed later in the day. This is safer than grazing, which requires lowering the head thus leaving the animal vulnerable to predators, while cud chewing does not. During fermentation, the rumen produces gas that must be expelled; disturbances of the organ, such as sudden changes in a sheep's diet, can cause the potentially fatal condition of bloat, when gas becomes trapped in the rumen, due to reflex closure of the caudal esophageal sphincter when in contact with foam or liquid. After fermentation in the rumen, feed passes in to the reticulum and the omasum; special feeds such as grains may bypass the rumen altogether. After the first three chambers, food moves in to the abomasum for final digestion before processing by the intestines. The abomasum is the only one of the four chambers analogous to the human stomach , and is sometimes called the "true stomach". Sheep follow a diurnal pattern of activity, feeding from dawn to dusk, stopping sporadically to rest and chew their cud. Ideal pasture for sheep is not lawn-like grass, but an array of grasses, legumes and forbs. Types of land where sheep are raised vary widely, from pastures that are seeded and improved intentionally to rough, native lands. Common plants toxic to sheep are present in most of the world, and include cherry, some oaks and acorns, tomato, yew, rhubarb, potato, and rhododendron. Sheep are largely grazing herbivores, unlike browsing animals such as goats and deer that prefer taller foliage. With a much narrower face, sheep crop plants very close to the ground and can overgraze a pasture much faster than cattle. For this reason, many shepherds use managed intensive rotational grazing, where a flock is rotated through multiple pastures, giving plants time to recover. Paradoxically, sheep can both cause and solve the spread of invasive plant species. By disturbing the natural state of pasture, sheep and other livestock can pave the way for invasive plants. However, sheep also prefer to eat invasives such as cheatgrass, leafy spurge, kudzu and spotted knapweed over native species such as sagebrush, making grazing sheep effective for conservation grazing. Research conducted in Imperial County, California compared lamb grazing with herbicides for weed control in seedling alfalfa fields. Three trials demonstrated that grazing lambs were just as effective as herbicides in controlling winter weeds. Entomologists also compared grazing lambs to insecticides for insect control in winter alfalfa. In this trial, lambs provided insect control as effectively as insecticides. Other than forage, the other staple feed for sheep is hay, often during the winter months. The ability to thrive solely on pasture varies with breed, but all sheep can survive on this diet. Also included in some sheep's diets are minerals, either in a trace mix or in licks. Naturally, a constant source of potable water is also a fundamental requirement for sheep. The amount of water needed by sheep fluctuates with the season and the type and quality of the food they consume. When sheep feed on large amounts of new growth and there is precipitation , sheep need less water. When sheep are confined or are eating large amounts of cured hay, more water is typically needed. Sheep also require clean water, and may refuse to drink water that is covered in scum or algae. Sheep are one of the few livestock animals raised for meat today that have never been widely raised in an intensive, confined animal feeding operation . Although there is a growing movement advocating alternative farming styles, a large percentage of beef cattle, pigs, and poultry are still produced under such conditions. In contrast, only some sheep are regularly given high-concentration grain feed, much less kept in confinement. Especially in industrialized countries, sheep producers may fatten market lambs before slaughter in feedlots. Many sheep breeders flush ewes and rams with a daily ration of grain during breeding to increase fertility. Ewes are also flushed during pregnancy to increase birth weights, as 70% of a lamb's growth occurs in the last five to six weeks of gestation. Otherwise, only lactating ewes and especially old or infirm sheep are commonly provided with grain. Feed provided to sheep must be specially formulated, as most cattle, poultry, pig, and even some goat feeds contain levels of copper that are lethal to sheep. The same danger applies to mineral supplements such as salt licks.Sheep meat and milk were one of the earliest staple proteins consumed by human civilization after the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Sheep meat prepared for food is known as either mutton or lamb. "Mutton" is derived from the Old French ''moton'', which was the word for sheep used by the Anglo-Norman rulers of much of the British Isles in the Middle Ages. This became the name for sheep meat in English, while the Old English word ''sceap'' was kept for the live animal. Throughout modern history, "mutton" has been limited to the meat of mature sheep usually at least two years of age; "lamb" is used for that of immature sheep less than a year. In the 21st century, the nations with the highest consumption of sheep meat are the Persian Gulf states, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and Ireland. These countries eat 14"“40 lbs of sheep meat per capita, per annum. Sheep meat is also popular in France, Africa , the Caribbean, the rest of the Middle East, India, and parts of China. This often reflects a history of sheep production. In these countries in particular, dishes comprising alternative cuts and offal may be popular or traditional. Sheep testicles"”called animelles or lamb fries"”are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. Perhaps the most unusual dish of sheep meat is the Scottish haggis, composed of various sheep innards cooked along with oatmeal and chopped onions inside its stomach. In comparison, countries such as the U.S. consume only a pound or less , with Americans eating 50 pounds of pork and 65 pounds of beef. In addition, such countries rarely eat mutton, and may favor the more expensive cuts of lamb: mostly lamb chops and leg of lamb. Though sheep's milk may be drunk rarely in fresh form, today it is used predominantly in cheese and yogurt making. Sheep have only two teats, and produce a far smaller volume of milk than cows. However, as sheep's milk contains far more fat, solids, and minerals than cow's milk, it is ideal for the cheese-making process. It also resists contamination during cooling better because of its much higher calcium content. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the Feta of Bulgaria and Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the Pecorino Romano and Ricotta of Italy. Yogurts, especially some forms of strained yogurt, may also be made from sheep milk. Many of these products are now often made with cow's milk, especially when produced outside their country of origin. Sheep milk contains 4.8% lactose, which may affect those who are intolerant. CulturalSheep have had a strong presence in many cultures, especially in areas where they form the most common type of livestock. In the English language, to call someone a sheep or ovine may allude that they are timid and easily led, if not outright stupid. In contradiction to this image, male sheep are often used as symbols of virility and power; although the logos of the St. Louis Rams and the Dodge Ram allude specifically to males of the species bighorn sheep, ''ovis canadensis''. Sheep are key symbols in fables and nursery rhymes like ''The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing'', ''Little Bo Peep'', ''Baa, Baa, Black Sheep'', and ''Mary Had a Little Lamb''. Novels such as George Orwell's ''Animal Farm'', Haruki Murakami's ''A Wild Sheep Chase'', Thomas Hardy's ''Far from the Madding Crowd'', Neil Astley's ''The Sheep Who Changed the World'' and Leonie Swann's ''Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story'' utilize sheep as characters or plot devices. Poems like William Blake's "The Lamb", songs such as Pink Floyd's ''Sheep'' and Bach's aria ''Sheep may safely graze'' use sheep for metaphorical purposes. In more recent popular culture, the 2007 film ''Black Sheep'' exploits sheep for horror and comedic effect, ironically turning them into blood-thirsty killers. Counting sheep is popularly said to be an aid to sleep, and some ancient systems of counting sheep persist today. Sheep also enter in colloquial sayings and idiom frequently with such phrases as "black sheep". To call an individual a black sheep implies that they are an odd or disreputable member of a group. This usage derives from the recessive trait that causes an occasional black lamb to be born in to an entirely white flock. These black sheep were considered undesirable by shepherds, as black wool is not as commercially viable as white wool. Citizens who accept overbearing governments have been referred to by the Portmanteau neologism of sheeple. Somewhat differently, the adjective "sheepish" is also used to describe embarrassment.In antiquity, symbolism involving sheep cropped up in religions in the ancient Near East, the Mideast, and the Mediterranean area: Çatalhöyük, ancient Egyptian religion, the Cana'anite and Phoenician tradition, Judaism, Greek religion, and others. Religious symbolism and ritual involving sheep began with some of the first known faiths: skulls of rams occupied central placement in shrines at the Çatalhöyük settlement in 8,000 BCE. In Ancient Egyptian religion, the ram was the symbol of several gods: Khnum, Heryshaf and Amun . Other deities occasionally shown with ram features include: the goddess Ishtar, the Phoenician god Baal-Hamon, and the Babylonian god Ea-Oannes. In Madagascar, sheep were not eaten as they were believed to be incarnations of the souls of ancestors. There are also many ancient Greek references to sheep: that of Chrysomallos, the golden-fleeced ram, continuing to be told through into the modern era. Astrologically, ''Aries'', the ram, is the first sign of the classical Greek zodiac and the sheep is also the eighth of the twelve animals associated with the 12-year cycle of in the Chinese zodiac, related to the Chinese calendar. In Mongolia, shagai are an ancient form of dice made from the cuboid bones of sheep that are often used for fortunetelling purposes. Sheep play an important role in all the Abrahamic faiths; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, King David and the Islamic prophet Muhammad were all shepherds. According to the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, a ram is sacrificed as a substitute for Isaac after an angel stays Abraham's hand . Eid al-Adha is a major annual festival in Islam in which sheep are sacrificed in remembrance of this act. Sheep are also occasionally sacrificed to commemorate important secular events in Islamic cultures. Greeks and Romans also sacrificed sheep regularly in religious practice, and Judaism also once sacrificed sheep as a Korban , such as the Passover lamb . Ovine symbols"”such as the ceremonial blowing of a shofar"”still find a presence in modern Judaic traditions. Followers of Christianity are collectively often referred to as a flock, with Christ as the Good Shepherd, and sheep are an element in the Christian iconography of the birth of Jesus. Some Christian saints are considered patrons of shepherds, and even of sheep themselves. Christ is also portrayed as the Sacrificial lamb of God and Easter celebrations in Greece and Romania traditionally feature a meal of Paschal lamb. In many Christian traditions, a church leader is called the pastor, which is derived from the Latin word for shepherd. Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

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While many people may think of communication as a primarily vocal or face-to-face experience, the expression of ideas, concepts, beliefs, and thoughts can occur in many different ways. While there are four primary types of communication, there is a multitude of techniques, tips, and tricks that can help facilitate effective communication among groups of people and between two individuals. This article will explore the various aspects of communication, with a heavy emphasis on proper communication techniques. Understanding these methods can help individuals that may struggle to communicate with coworkers, friends, and family members effectively. But before diving into what forms of communication exist, and which ones are most effective in certain types of situations, it is crucial to explain the origins of human connection briefly. A Brief History of Human Communication Techniques Primates communicate in a variety of ways, though nonverbal communication, such as body language, tends to be more prevalent in non-human primate populations than verbal communication. Our ability to speak, which incorporates the use of many sounds to form words, is one of the defining factors that separates us from our primate cousins. Before oral human language developed, early Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis used visual cues to express vital information. Ancient hunters would have drawn unnecessary attention to themselves and possibly lost their prey had they relied on speech, and gestures and body language became especially important. The first step toward modern language came in the form of drawn or painted symbols. These symbols represented real objects, animals, and events and would later evolve into spoken symbolic communication. Words are forms of symbolic communication. The term ‘apple’ is not an apple, but many people will understand that this particular series of letters combine to form the written English ‘symbol’ for the tasty fruit. Communication continues to change and adapt over time. A few hundred years ago, humans could interact with one another face-to-face, or through writing. Technological advancement has seen an increase in remote forms of communication, in addition to text-based and emoticon-based communication. While our current society still primarily uses verbal communication, nonverbal forms are becoming more popular, prevalent, and crucial. What Are the Basic Types of Communication? There are four basic types of communication, and it may surprise you to learn that you most likely use them all during a typical day. Verbal communication refers to ideas that are expressed aloud, verbally, or through sign language. This type of connection often occurs face-to-face, but receiving a phone call is also considered verbal communication. The effectiveness of verbal communication depends on a large variety of factors, including the tone of someone’s voice, their diction, their accent, and their language. Face-to-face verbal communication is typically combined with nonverbal body language, as those listening are likely to interpret the words spoken to them in the context of the speaker’s paralanguage and body language. As such, verbal communication can be one of the least reliable forms of communication. A study performed by UCLA once purported that verbal communication only constitutes about 7% of any face-to-face interaction or conversation, with the remainder consisting of nonverbal cues such as vocal tone and facial expression. However, it’s important to note that these findings have been challenged in recent years. Nonverbal communication is often referred to as ‘body language,’ though it also includes gestures and facial expressions. Human children often learn to express themselves with nonverbal cues before mastering the spoken language. Teachers can benefit from the use of positive nonverbal communication, as it is the universal form of expression among human beings. This is because primary emotions such as fear, sadness, and joy, are easily recognizable no matter what language or culture an individual adheres to. Understanding body language, facial expressions, and gestures are a significant part of effective communication. It can be challenging to communicate with someone who refuses to make eye contact, has their arms crossed, and seems to be looking aimlessly around. Recognizing that someone is not open to communication is just as vital as understanding which communication techniques are more effective than others – after all, you could play a marvelous concerto in the park. Still, if the park is closed to the public that day, no one will hear you play. Knowing which social opportunities to take and which ones to avoid is a significant aspect of understanding and utilizing proper nonverbal communication. Written communication is anything that comes in the form of text. Written, typed, or printed numbers, symbols, letters, or words all qualify as written communication. Common types of written communication include emails, text messages, to-do lists, notes, articles, and pretty much anything else than can be printed, sent or uploaded, and read by others. This type of communication can be challenging to interpret, as there is little physical or verbal context given to written works. The intent of a written piece may not be effectively communicated by the writer, resulting in an argument among the readers as to the intended voice and style of the article. Ambiguity, while a buffet for English teachers and professors, does tend to make written communication less effective. Verbal and nonverbal forms of communication have a far longer history of use among humans, with written communication being both the newest and most dubious method. This is due, in part, to the fact that the world is divided by culture and language. A sentence that is translated from language to another may lose some of its meaning and significance, depending on the correctness of the translation and the cultural and language differences among readers. Written communication is, therefore, one of the most challenging forms of communication to master and understand, especially on a global scale. Images, drawings, and graphs are all fantastic examples of visual communication. This type of connection is typically used to convey abstract ideas or complex data, allowing it to be more effectively comprehended than if provided verbally. For example, the quarterly earnings and deficits of a large company may be easier to understand with a visual aid such as a graph or chart, than by merely reading a list of figures or hearing a long-winded lecture on the subject. The primary goal of visual communication is to make an impact upon receivers that would generally be difficult to achieve with other forms of communication. Those who work in marketing or media tend to rely heavily on visual communication to express ideas to large and diverse audiences. Verbal Communication Techniques Having an excellent command of verbal communication techniques can improve relationships with many groups, including coworkers, friends, and family. The most important thing to remember about verbal communication is that it is naturally a combined form of expression. For example, vocal intonation plays a significant role in verbal communication, and face-to-face interactions tend to incorporate nonverbal cues in addition to the verbal ones. Remote verbal communication, through a telephone, computer, or similar electronic device, doesn’t include as much nonverbal information as in-person interactions do, but paralanguage still plays a vital role. What is Paralanguage? Before we can begin to explore verbal communication techniques and tips, we must first identify the role that paralanguage plays in proper verbal communication, and what it is. Paralanguage refers to vocal intonation, vocal pitch, speed, the occurrence of hesitation sounds or words, gestures, and facial expressions. Emotion typically affects a person’s paralanguage, providing others with an insight into that speaker’s internal thoughts and feelings. For example, someone who is speaking rapidly, and in a higher tone of voice than they typically use, could be expressing excitement, anger, or stress. Someone who speaks in a slow, monotone register may be expressing their disinterest or tiredness. The diction chosen by any individual speaker is highly colored by the paralanguage that they use. Therefore, someone could be expressing regret, but unless they ‘sound sorry,’ the listener is unlikely to trust the words of the speaker, preferring instead to interpret the combination of visual cues and body language to form their conclusion regarding the intended message. As such, paralanguage plays a massive role in verbal communication. Verbal Communication Techniques for the Workplace Active listening is crucial to effective verbal communication within the workplace environment. It is also an essential aspect of healthy relationships outside of work. However, mastering the art of listening can be very difficult for some, and may require practice. Often, it is only too easy to stop listening to someone to begin forming a response. However, by doing this, we fail to actively listen to the person speaking, resulting in a loss of communication. By actively listening, not only is respect being shown and given, but information has a higher chance of being comprehended and shared, lessening additional questions or comments and making the entire interaction far more effective. Actively listening, rather than hearing, can significantly improve general relationships with coworkers and supervisors. Not only will the people who communicate with you feel more valued while doing so, but they may also be more likely to return the kindness when it is your turn to speak. Speaking less often, thinking before speaking, and showing humility and kindness are some of the things that all workers should practice. Though it may seem insignificant, following such practice can significantly influence workplace dynamics and the working environment. Honesty and integrity are often things that can be expressed vocally, and it is essential to speak with absolute truthfulness, even though it may not be flattering to do so. Admitting mistakes early-on, communicating concerns with supervisors, and being honest with yourself and with others around you is one way to improve communication in the workplace. On the other hand, showing confidence in work well-done is also essential. This does not extend to bragging, which is a negative form of social behavior. However, individuals that struggle to comprehend societal and behavioral norms, and comply with them, may benefit from verbal modeling and imitation. People tend to feel more at ease around those who speak like them, so adopting the diction of your manager, coworkers, or workplace can help ease social anxiety relating to workplace communication. While it may feel strange at first, it can build a feeling of community of camaraderie over time, lessening overall anxiety and potentially improving relationships with coworkers and higher-ups. Verbal Communication Techniques for Outside the Workplace It is often wise to separate work life from personal life, as many careers require a certain standard of professionalism. Adopting the diction and social habits of coworkers while at work is excellent, and can be helpful, but imitating friends and family to enjoy increased closeness does not always work well. Relationships that are not business-related need a different touch, and there are a few vocal communication techniques that can help improve these relationships among friends and family members. Honesty is the first rule to follow. Not only can close friends and family members tell when we are lying, but they can also hold onto that lie for a very long time. Liars are untrustworthy people whose words mean very little, so being dishonest is one of the worst ways to practice vocal communication. Friendliness goes a long way. While it can be challenging to maintain an attitude of friendliness and helpfulness at all times, it is vital to practice friendliness whenever possible. Small acts of kindness can make a tremendous impact on a person’s self-esteem, self-image, and societal reputation. Speaking more slowly, or less often, is also a great way to improve the way that we communicate with others. Instead of being in a rush to make a point, tripping over words and madly gesturing while searching for the right phrase, it is better to think about what you need to communicate beforehand, and clearly and reasonably express that idea. Individuals that are viewed as calm and collected are far more approachable and easy to strike up a conversation with than those that seem frantic or scatter-brained. Nonverbal Communication Techniques Nonverbal communication, such as body language, dramatically influences the effectiveness and intent of vocal communication. As such, it is imperative to use proper nonverbal communication techniques, no matter who you are speaking with. Doing so can completely alter the interpretation of the message being given. What is Body Language? Body language is the primary form of nonverbal communication that people use to express their innermost feelings, thoughts, and desires. Frequently, body language presents itself as an unconscious reflection of these internal machinations. However, with practice and understanding, people can manipulate their natural body language to facilitate verbal communication and bolster the effectiveness of their intended message. For example, those who are naturally uncomfortable in new social situations may cross their arms as a way to make themselves feel safer and more at ease. However, this sends a message to all around them that they are unreceptive to open communication. Being aware of poor body language habits is the first step to changing and improving them. There are hundreds if not thousands of books and articles published about body language habits and practices. Still, there are a few key points that can improve any relationship, whether it be a workplace friendship or a long-lasting romance. Nonverbal Communications Techniques for the Workplace Posture, eye contact, and facial expression are essential components of excellent nonverbal workplace communication. Those who arrive to work slouched over, unwilling to make small talk or eye contact with coworkers, and with unpleasant or downright grumpy facial expression are unlikely to make a great impression on coworkers or supervisors. Having and maintaining an upright posture is the first step to expressing positive nonverbal communication. It shows focus, interest, and energy, all of which are extremely attractive to employers. This sense of power can also extend to coworkers, helping them to feel more energized and more capable as they go through their day. Eye contact is another essential body language habit to consider. Instinctually, our eyes tend to shift around erratically when taking in new information or processing an overload of sensory input. Those attempting to concoct a quick lie tend to suffer from this natural tendency, which is why ‘shifty eyes’ are typically associated with the act of being dishonest. If a coworker or supervisor asks a question and you are not sure how to respond, it is better either immediately inform them that you are unsure, or to take a moment to think about the question before answering. You can also let your coworker or supervisor know that you need a moment to respond. The last thing you want to do is either lie or look around the room while you think of a response. Facial expression is also significant for healthy workplace relationships. A gentle smile is typically at this is necessary when speaking with coworkers or a supervisor, and is often seen as a sign of respect, understanding, and familiarity. It can be easy to ‘zone out’ during work and adopt what is known as a ‘resting face,’ which tends to be rather grumpy. Recognizing when this occurs and why is key to changing the habit. While it would be unsettling to find a coworker that is always grinning for no reason, ensuring that your demeanor is as pleasant and calm as possible throughout the day can have a remarkable effect on how coworkers and managers view your performance. Nonverbal Communication Techniques for Outside the Workplace There is a litany of nonverbal cues that people subconsciously use to express intent, desire, and emotion. From chest-pointing, toe-pointing, hair-playing, and more, there are several everyday body language habits that people use to improve relationships outside of work. Mirroring is one of the most significant ways of telling how much a person likes you or trusts you. When out and about with friends or family, you may begin to notice that certain friends or family members start imitating your gestures, posture, stance, or expressions. This is called mirroring. It is a subconscious behavior that can help socially anxious individuals confirm the level of comfort shared among a group. For example, if a group of friends all decides to cross their legs, they most likely feel a secure connection and affinity for one another. If their posture and stances are entirely different, they may be struggling to connect and communicate. Toe-pointing and chest-pointing are attention-based forms of body language. When we are interested in someone or something, we tend to naturally point our whole bodies in the direction of that person or object. Not only can we express total focus by ultimately facing the person speaking with us, but we can also interpret others’ interests by acknowledging their posture as well. Self-grooming, such as playing with hair, are nonverbal cues of attraction. When spotting a possible mate, it’s nearly impossible not to want to look as good as possible, which for many men and women means straightening the hair, checking to see if there’s anything caught in the teeth, and sucking in an overly broad gut. If your date continues to play with their hair throughout dinner, they may be subconsciously attempting to make themselves more attractive to you. Written Communication Techniques Writing effectively, either for work or for pleasure, requires a great deal of practice and a comprehensive understanding of your target audience. After all, an email to a manager is likely written very differently from a personal letter to a relative. Written Communication Techniques for the Workplace Knowing your audience, understanding your intent, and keeping things concise are the three most significant ways to improve written communication at work. Doing these three things can lessen confusion and generate quick and effective results. A memo that was written to address a large workforce is unlikely to be appealing to any particular employee, as it is too broad. It may also be too long for many employees to digest fully. Communicating directly with specific coworkers, employers, or employees is a fantastic alternative. It is crucial to be aware of the audience that will read any written correspondence at work. Being too informal can be viewed as unprofessional while being too formal can feel impersonal. Writing for a targeted audience, whether it be clients or coworkers, is massively important. Intent also plays a critical role in writing for the workplace. Poor diction can turn a positive message into a sarcastic, scathing remark. As paralanguage influences the perceived intent of vocal communication, so diction influences written communication. Using the right words and phrases for the intended audience helps to minimize misunderstandings of flaws in purpose. But keeping written communications short and concise is not only helpful in delivering an immediate or urgent notice, but it is also a sign of professionalism. Small talk with coworkers is a valuable thing to partake in, but there are a time and a place for such forms of communication. Expressing precisely what needs to be revealed, without fluff or wordiness, is a valuable trait for any employee. Employers are bound to appreciate concise and clear messages over unnecessarily wordy ones. Written Communication Techniques for Outside the Workplace Those who enjoy writing in their free time for pleasure can also benefit from adopting a few fundamental written communication techniques. Whether an individual enjoys writing fiction, poetry, or non-fiction work, writing for the needs of the audience is crucial. Understanding and writing for a particular audience requires writers to exhibit a comprehensive understanding of that audience. For example, it would be challenging to write a book about child-rearing if you didn’t have a child, had little experience with children, and didn’t know anyone with children. Excellent writing shows care and commitment toward a particular audience. Length, style, and diction are all variable aspects of personal writing. Once the targeted audience is understood, a writer may need to perform research on that group in addition to researching genres, styles, and writing techniques that adhere to that audience’s preferences. However, because these rules tend to fluctuate and vary from audience to audience, there are very few set techniques that work for all writers. Visual Communication Techniques Improving visual communication techniques often involves becoming more familiar with software and programs that help facilitate the creation of graphs, charts, and spreadsheets. However, visual communication can also be images and media, which is why graphic designers and web designers consistently research new content creation software and tools. Society judges what effective visual communication is and what it is not, so having a basic understanding of cultural trends, societal norms, and recent media innovations are crucial to improving visual communication techniques and practices. Creating visual images or visual media on behalf of a company or business requires an understanding of client needs and product intent. Once the needs of the client have been settled, a visual communications creator must utilize a wide range of programs and tools to produce the desired visual product. The best way to improve visual communication inside of the workplace or outside of it is to practice drawing, sketching, illustration, and graphic design skills. This is especially true of those who work in marketing or advertising. Adopting user-friendly software that easily transfers inputted data into colorful graphs or charts is a convenient option for those who find themselves in and out of conference rooms, having to give presentations to groups of people. While proper vocal communication is imperative to the success of such ventures, the visual communication presented can significantly alter the outcome of such a meeting. Using the four types of communication, anyone can adequately and efficiently express even the most abstract concepts or ideas. Communication isn’t limited to the words one uses to share information. It also heavily relies on posture, vocal intonation, facial expression, and so much more. Understanding how these types of communication work, both singularly and together, can help you become more aware of your communication successes and failures and make wise changes in communication habits and techniques!

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by Peter Tracy In the 2014 film Povodyr (The Guide), director Oles Sanin tells the story of an American boy who, to survive the horrors of Soviet Ukraine, falls in with a blind minstrel and poses as his guide. It becomes increasingly clear, however, that minstrels such as the boy’s friend, often known in Ukrainian as kobzari, are actively being persecuted by Soviet authorities as a threat to their control in the region. At the end of the film, the boy witnesses a massacre of such minstrels, who are rounded up and blown to pieces unceremoniously under the cover of a dam-building project. Framed as a work of historical fiction, it is difficult not know how many of the events of Poyodyr truly took place, or whether they could realistically have occurred in the first place. Did such a massacre of kobzari really happen? And who were these minstrels that could so frighten the Soviet state? Kobzari are the traditional bards of Ukraine, bearers of an oral tradition stretching back, some would argue, to the days of the Kyiv-centered federation known as the Kievan Rus’, which controlled much of Eastern and Northern Europe from the 9th until the 13th centuries. The term kobzar stems from the instrument known as the kobza, a plucked string instrument not unlike the lute or the oud, and some scholars see a relation between the kobza and the Turkish kobyz and komuz, two other string instruments which might have been introduced to Ukraine as part of a Turkic migration in the 13th century. Another string instrument played by early kobzari, the torban, bears a striking resemblance to the baroque theorbo. The origins of the bards themselves are murky, but one prominent legend paints the early kobzari as military men, part of the nomadic Zaporozhian Cossack hosts which inhabited the regions of central and eastern Ukraine referred to as the “Wild Fields” in Polish-Lithuanian documents of the 16th and 17th centuries. Crimean Tatars regularly made slaving raids into the Ukrainian interior from this region, and the suffering caused by such events forms the subject of many Ukrainian folk stories. Following the Khmelnytsky Uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century, a polity known as the Cossack Hetmenate was established, and this fledgling Ukrainian state sparred with its Russian, Ottoman, and Polish-Lithuanian neighbors for roughly a century until it was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1764. In this telling of the kobzari’s origins, the bards were hardy nomadic fighters who composed songs to celebrate their fallen comrades, brave Ukrainian warrior-poets who battled Tatars, Ottomans, Poles, and Russians alike. This vision is encapsulated by the Ukrainian folk hero Cossack Mamay, a staple of Ukrainian art and storytelling who is regularly depicted as playing a kobza in rich traditional clothes, his head shaved except for one long forelock in a hairstyle known as chupryna and his rifle and sword by his side. Miniature paintings of Cossack Mamay have been found alongside religious icons, and the consistency of the composition within such images, remaining largely the same throughout centuries, implies the intense significance which the folk hero must have had for Cossack’s of the 17th and 18th centuries. As origin stories go, this semi-mythological history is a compelling one, exerting a strong pull on Ukrainians to this day. Indeed, this vision of the early kobzari is in keeping with the subject matter of one of the more widely celebrated strains of the kobzar repertoire: historical epics known as dumy. According to Natalie Kononenko, a duma is an epic poem set largely to solo instrumental accompaniment that is chanted rather than sung, with line-lengths that can be extremely uneven and a delivery style closer to that of operatic recitative. Performance is guided by the sound of the the poetry itself rather than any fixed melody, and a duma’s subject matter is both serious and strictly defined: “The usual division of their subject matter is into three categories: songs about the Turko-Tatar period, songs about the rebellion led by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, and songs about everyday life. Sometimes the first category is further subdivided into songs about the field of battle and songs about captivity. Like historical songs, some epics tell about real historical figures, and others describe events in the life of an unnamed Cossack, brother, or widow.” Another more nebulous and more fantastical group of historical songs known as Istorychni Pisni is fully sung and bears a striking resemblance to a parallel tradition of extra-liturgical religious song: “In terms of subject matter, historical songs, like religious songs, tell of events that both the singer and the audience believed really happened. These events include the supernatural and the miraculous. As Saint Varvara survives being boiled in pitch, walking on broken glass, and being entombed for thirty years, so Baida survives being suspended by his left rib from a meat hook for three days before he dies. Likewise, Cossack heroes like Perebiinis and Nechai battle hundreds of enemy soldiers before being killed or captured. As human beings talk with Death, with angels, and with deceased and buried relatives in religious songs, so in historical songs animals speak with human voices. Horses inform the family back home that their riders are dead, and cuckoos sing laments over fallen Cossacks.” Thus this integral part of Ukrainian folk song and the repertoire of the kobzari weaves an often spellbinding web of myths in which heroic Cossacks battle vicious foes for the sake of family, friends, and comrades, often dying spectacularly in the process. As in religious tales of martyrdom, these stories of heroic-yet-doomed proto-Ukrainian heroes allow listeners to feel a connection to the people of the distant past and can serve as allegories for similar situations in the present. One often gets the impression with such songs that their anonymous composers saw the events of which they tell with their own eyes and, like Cossack Mamay, retreated from the noisy fireside to create their epics in reflective solitude. By the 19th century, Ukrainian minstrels were nothing like their semi-legendary Cossack fore-bearers. Indeed, they were almost exclusively blind beggars, men who relied on the charity of their neighbors to survive in a society that, as part of the Russian Empire, had turned from semi-nomadic hosts to serfdom. Russian serfs were sent to till Ukraine’s famous Black Soil, many Cossacks became farmers, and minstrels now wandered from one small town to the next offering their services. By this point, those wandering musicians who were termed kobzari played, not the kobza, but an asymmetrical lute called the bandura. Among them were also those who played the lira, an instrument akin to the hurdy-gurdy, and these lirnyky were part of the same professional guilds as their bandura-playing counterparts. These secretive organizations, each attached to a particular Orthodox church, were at the center of a minstrel’s life, mediating disputes over money and guaranteeing their members the right to perform in a certain geographical region. A kobzar or lirnyky of this time period would be expected to undergo a period of rigorous training. The bards of the 19th century played, not just dumy or historical songs, but religious songs, erotic songs, begging songs, and songs full of satire and wit. An ideal minstrel might be expected to memorize and perform hundreds of songs and, on completing a long apprenticeship, would be initiated into the regional minstrel brotherhood or guild through an elaborate, quasi-religious ritual. Minstrels had their rituals outside of the church as well, exchanging elaborate, formulaic greetings on meeting each other for the first time. This practice could often become absurd when many minstrels congregated in one place, but it served a purpose: learned at the end of their training and incorporating a secret minstrel language called lebiiska mova, these greetings were considered essential to the credibility of a minstrel, who, if found to be performing without the proper training, might have his bandura strings cut at the behest of the local guild, or worse. It is also worth emphasizing the degree to which blindness was a prerequisite for the modern kobzar, so much so that blind children of the time were almost automatically sent to be trained under a master minstrel. Ukrainian minstrelsy in the 19th and early 20th centuries therefore amounted to its own cultural sphere, a small universe in which different rules were at play. In the words of Kononenko, “minstrels were both members of their villages and people apart”. Although most dumy tell of a specific historical time period, Ukrainian history has provided plenty of opportunities for older song texts to resonate well beyond their original contexts. The Russian Civil War of the early 20th century was devastating for Ukraine, but the Soviet period was even more so: the famine known as Homolodor decimated the region, killing at least 3.5 million people between 1932 and 1933. The Ukrainian government in Kyiv has called for Holodomor an intentional act of genocide against the Ukrainian people, a charge which the contemporary Russian government has denied. The resonances with the old stories to be found in the dumy — of Tatar slaving raids and battles against an oppressive foreign state — are hard to miss. Kobzari and lirnyky did not fare much better than their more sedentary neighbors under Soviet rule, and they arguably fared much worse. In the eyes of the Soviet state under Stalin, these minstrels and their songs were subversive simply by nature of their existence. The epics of the dumy contain themes of revolt and resistance which were seen as an active danger to Russian control, and the evidence which these songs offered of a regional, perhaps even national culture unique to Ukraine was antithetical to the Russian vision of the area as simply “Little Russia”. Thus the Soviet government, in an attempt to co-opt this epic tradition, ordered dumy to be composed about Soviet heroes such as Lenin and managed to make these state-sponsored dumy all but compulsory material for any kobzar wanting to keep out of trouble. Even in earlier times, minstrels were not always looked upon favorably: as Kononenko points out, “traditional minstrels were treated in opposite and extreme ways. Some considered them the successors of the Apostles, and thus, trustworthy spiritual guides. Others suspected them of drunkenness and thievery.” These conflicting views came together in Soviet persecution of minstrels, who were regularly the targets of arbitrary police violence yet could be publicly celebrated if they played along with authorities. Still the persecution of minstrels during this period was intense. Kononenko relates the story of Ehor Movchan, a minstrel whose relationship with the Soviet police could be highly contradictory: “Even Ehor Movchan, the composer of “Duma about Lenin,” beloved of Soviet authorities, suffered at the hands of the police. According to Pavlo Suprun, several policemen in Kiev once arrested Movchan for loitering, drove him far outside the city in the middle of a snowstorm, and left him to get back on his own. Movchan, one of the last traditional kobzari, was blind, and making it back into town through a storm was an almost impossible task. But the city police chief panicked when he learned what had happened to this emblem of the Soviet people and sent a search party to help find the old man, who returned safely. Perhaps to help him through the many times when he suffered police harassment and arrest without cause, Movchan had a special walking stick made for himself. It was a bit thicker than an ordinary blind man’s staff and hollow, with a screw cap, and it held exactly one liter of vodka. Movchan was supposedly found in his jail cell more than once, drunk from some inexplicable source.” The more positive view of minstrels — as wise blind men who kept the truths of traditional religion and culture alive — was also very much at play when minstrels were more explicitly connected to the project of Ukrainian nationalism. The Soviet state made this connection and reacted accordingly, with violence and repression. Ukrainian ethnomusicologists and scholars of late 19th and early 20th centuries also used dumy as part of a nationalist project, connecting them to a proto-national past and a future which they hoped would bring an independent Ukrainian state into existence. According to Kononenko, “nationalism motivated many of the scholars who collected dumy and presented them to the public. The scholars could not exhibit the full extent of their nationalist feelings because Ukraine at that time was part of the Russian Empire and anyone writing about dumy needed to do so in Russian. Nonetheless, the texts themselves could be in Ukrainian. Thus, the dumy and, by extension, the kobzari and lirnyky who sing them have been intimately bound together with Ukrainian nationalism since at least the late 19th century. Today, with the kobzar tradition seeing a post-Soviet revival and Ukraine once again the subject of violent foreign interference, this association is perhaps stronger than ever. A widespread perception persists linking dumy and Ukrainian minstrel traditions to resistance against foreign domination. Still, we must ask ourselves whether these sorts of nationalistic myths have any basis in reality: did the massacre of minstrels depicted in Poyodyr really happen, for instance? Russian imperialism in Ukraine has been and continues to be devastating, violent, and, in cases such as that of Holodomor, arguably genocidal. Thus the truth of the massacre, in practical terms, is less that it happened with certainty and more that it certainly seems it could have happened. There are indeed rumors, sometimes taken as historical fact, that a massacre of minstrels did occur in Kharkiv in 1939: a minstrelsy conference was called and bards from all over Ukraine were invited, only for them to be trucked into the forest and shot. Or so the story goes: no hard evidence of such a massacre has yet been uncovered. The depiction of the liquidation of minstrels in Sanin’s film instills this event with all the drama of a duma, replacing rifles with explosives and concentrating the massacre into one spectacular moment. It distills a certain view of Russian-Ukrainian relations down to one violent act, holding it up as a symbol of national mourning and, ultimately, re-purposing a historical rumor as a call to resistance. Thus Poyodyr participates in a long history of such mythologizing, beginning with the dumy and stretching into the present. Can we begrudge Sanin this poetic license, when the evidence of Russian brutality against Ukrainians is so widespread, and when we see hard evidence of similar violence almost daily through our phones and computer screens? At moments in which such atrocities seem possible once again, the music and stories of the kobzari can give strength to their listeners and can alter the way they think of their place in history. Art and myth, whether traditional or contemporary, can turn stories of incomprehensibly violent and tragic events into stirring metaphors, forging kernels of truth from an overwhelmingly complex whole. Thus songs such as the dumy can, if not change the past, then at least help us to move on from it with some sense of redemption and dignity. Stories, set to music and performed with skill, can craft a narrative of struggle and allow us to hope that such trials may someday come to an end. A playlist centered around all things kobzar, the traditional bards of Ukraine. Chorna, Milena. “The Ukrainian folk painting” Cossack Mamay” and Cossacks’ spiritual practice.” Opera Slavica, XXV, 2015, 2: 59-70. Grabowicz, Oksana I. “‘Dumy’ as Performance.” Harvard Ukrainian Studies 32/33 (2011): 291–313. Kononenko, Natalie. Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context. University of Toronto Press, 2019. Kononenko, Natalie O. Ukrainian Minstrels. Folklores and Folk Cultures of Eastern Europe. Armonk: Taylor & Francis Group, 1997. Kononenko, Natalie. “Widows and Sons: Heroism in Ukrainian Epic.” Harvard Ukrainian Studies 14, no. 3/4 (1990): 388–414. Noack, Christian, Janssen, Lindsay, and Comerford, Vincent. Holodomor and Gorta Mór : Histories, Memories, and Representations of Famine in Ukraine and Ireland. Anthem Series on Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. London: Anthem Press, 2012. Olkhovsky, A., and Ernest J. Simmons. “History of Ukrainian Music.” In Concise Encyclopedia Ukraine, edited by Volodymyr Kubijovyč, 579–93. University of Toronto Press, 1971. Pomorska, Krystyna. “Observations on Ukrainian Erotic Folk Songs.” Harvard Ukrainian Studies 1, no. 1 (1977): 115–29. Rudnitsky, A. “The Role of Music in Ukrainian Culture.” Bulletin of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America 1, no. 4 (1943): 823–37. Shapoval, Yuri, and Marta D. Olynyk. “The Ukrainian Language under Totalitarianism and Total War.” Harvard Ukrainian Studies 35, no. 1/4 (2017): 187–212. Natalie Kononenko, Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context. University of Toronto Press, 2019, 7. Kononenko (2019), 45. See Milena Choma, “The Ukrainian folk painting” Cossack Mamay” and Cossacks’ spiritual practice.” Opera Slavica, XXV, 2015, 2: 60. Natalie O. Kononenko, Ukrainian Minstrels. Folklores and Folk Cultures of Eastern Europe. Armonk: Taylor & Francis Group, 1997, 23. Kononenko (1997), 21-22. See Kononenko (1997), 68. Kononenko (1997), 66. See the chapter titled “Holodomor in Ukraine 1932– 1933: an Interpretation of Facts” in Holodomor and Gorta Mór : Histories, Memories and Representations of Famine in Ukraine and Ireland, edited by Christian Noack, et al., Anthem Press, 2012, 19-34. Kononenko (1997), 27. Kononenko (1997), 31. Kononenko (2019), 4. See Kononenko (2019), 5.

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Different Learning Styles – How to Design Learning to Accommodate our Learners? People learn in different ways. We all have our individual preference for the ways in which we learn. In this post, we will explore different models to categorize learners into different learning styles. We will also explain how to design learning to accommodate our learners. Understanding the different learning styles will influence the design and assessment strategies. That’s why it is important to know some models so we can cater for a wider group of learners. What are learning styles? There are numerous theories which discuss different learning styles. In the past few decades, educational theorists have expanded the work of psychologists in the area of individual learner differences. As a result, a number of theories have emerged about how people can be classified into different groups based on how they learn more effectively and their preferences. Generally most theorists describe learning styles as different aspects of the ways that people learn, process information and respond to environmental stimuli in different dimensions. Some theorists and researchers have identified the following definitions of learning styles: - The way that individuals attend to and integrate complex new information determines which style categorizes a learner (Dunn, 1978). Additionally, personal choice and preference play a role in what style one chooses for learning. - Dunn (1978) indicated that learning styles are approaches to learning and studying. - Keefe (1982) defined learning styles as characteristic cognitive, affective and psychological behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with or respond to the learning environment. - Dunn and Perrin (1994) described learning styles as “the way in which each learner begins to concentrate on, process and retain new and difficult information. That interaction occurs differently for each individual” (p. 2). - Gilbert and Han (1999) and Gilbert (2000) confirmed that learning preferences facilitate the way individuals learn when the learning environment considers the various learning styles of students, thereby impacting the comprehension of materials presented. - Felder and Spurlin (2005) described learning styles as “characteristic strengths and preferences in the ways they take in and process information” (p. 1). Felder (2005) indicated that learning styles are often reflected in “different academic strengths, weaknesses, skills, and interests” (p. 3). Learning styles are often influenced by heredity, upbringing and current environmental demands. Individuals have a tendency to both perceive and process information differently. Learning styles are not unique and fixed for each individual. They fluctuate within subject or lesson and each person will have a variety of learning styles and preferences. There are many frameworks or models to classify learners into specific learning styles. In this article we will explore the following models: - Multiple Intelligence Theory. - Split Brain Theory (left-brain, right-brain). - Global and Analytical Learner Model. Multiple Intelligence Theory The Theory of Multiple Intelligence was developed in 1983 by Howard Earl Gardner and it was first published in his book Frames Of Mind: The Theory Of Multiple Intelligence. Its basis opposes the idea of a single dominant type of intelligence, and instead acknowledges the existence of multiple intelligence, that compose a unique blend in each individual. The Multiple Intelligence Theory indicates that each type of human intelligence represents a different way of processing information. The different intelligence are: - Verbal-linguistic: refers to an individual’s ability to analyse information and produce work that involves oral and written language, such as speeches, books and memos. - Logical-mathematical: describes the ability to develop equations and proofs, make calculations and solve abstract problems. - Visual-spatial: allows people to comprehend maps and other types of graphical information. - Musical: enables individuals to produce and make meaning of different types of sound. - Naturalistic: refers to the ability to identify and distinguish among different types of plants, animals and weather formations found in the natural world. - Bodily-Kinaesthetic: entails using one’s own body to create products or solve problems. - Interpersonal: reflects an ability to recognize and understand other people’s moods, desires, motivations and intentions. - Intrapersonal: refers to people’s ability to recognize and assess those same characteristics within themselves. Design Strategies for Multiple Intelligence Theory in eLearning The following picture shows the different multiple intelligence and some strategies that can be used to implement them. Another set of activities suitable for the different multiple intelligence is shown below: And finally, more design strategies are listed in the following table: |Verbal-linguistic||Scenarios, discussions on forums, links to additional information concerning the subject matter.| |Logical-mathematical||Graphics, charts, tables, critical thinking branching scenarios, where learners are required to find the answer using a series of clues.| |Visual-spatial||Use of color, images, illustrations, graphics, games and multimedia that are visually appealing.| |Musical||Music and sound, such as multimedia presentations with audio, narrations, podcasts, voice recordings.| |Bodily-Kinaesthetic||Include virtual environments and activities that require physical involvement, such as drag and drop interactions, eLearning games, and simulations. Include several interactive methods and techniques to encourage kinaesthetic learners feel, touch, move, and manipulate objects. Here some VR/AR experiences might be a good option too.| |Interpersonal||Forums and chats to encourage the exchange of ideas and social learning. Prompt learners to share their own experiences, views and ask them to make decisions while putting themselves in someone else’s shoes in scenario-based activities.| |Intrapersonal||Scenarios that offer real world benefits is ideal for them, as they become more engaged when introspecting and reflecting. Moreover, don’t hesitate providing your intrapersonal learners with material for further private study, as it will help them gain a sense of what they want to achieve or what are the mistakes to avoid in their personal or professional lives.| Split Brain Theory In the 1960s, neuroscientist Roger W. Sperry discovered that by cutting the corpus callosum, a large bundle of fibres that connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain, he could reduce seizures in patients with epilepsy. The results of these experiments also revealed that the 2 sides of the brain performed different tasks. Anatomically, the brain is divided into 2 hemispheres; the left and right. Studies have indicated that the 2 hemispheres have different functions and characteristics. Based on these studies and the lateralization of the brain function, we have the theory of left-brain or right-brain. According to the theory of left-brain or right-brain dominance, each side of the brain controls different types of thinking. Additionally, people are said to prefer one type of thinking over the other. According to the left-brain, right-brain dominance theory, the right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative tasks. Some of the abilities popularly associated with the right side of the brain include: - Recognizing faces. - Expressing emotions. - Reading emotions. The left-side of the brain is considered to be adept at tasks that involve logic, language, and analytical thinking. The left-brain is described as being better at: - Critical thinking. Design Strategies for Split Brain Theory in eLearning For learners with more tendency to the left hemisphere, some activities would include presenting information in numerical tables, with facts, figures, statistics, showing content in a logical order and sequences. The assessments would require learners to organize facts, accurate responses involving recall of information and solutions of specific problems. For right hemisphere learners, I would include activities that involve presenting images, asking for emotions, opinions and feelings in regards to the information presented rather than factual responses. I would include scenarios or case studies to let learners imagine possible responses and suggest different solutions, predict outcomes and apply solutions to hypothetical problems. Every eLearning module would include activities for both styles. Global and Analytical Learner Model In the Global Learner Model, the learner takes in information holistically. Begins with understanding concepts first, with mastery of details to follow. On the other hand, in the Analytical Learner Model, the learner takes in information sequentially, step-by step, preferring to learn a series of facts that lead toward an understanding of a larger concept. Global learners need to see the big picture first and know the end result before beginning. While the analytical learners like to learn one piece at a time; they enjoy a clear sequence that starts at the beginning and moves to the end one step at a time. In my workplace, I would design and adapt the eLearning modules to cater both styles as follows: - Include the learning objectives of the training. - Present a list of what learners will achieve at the end of the course. - Start with the basic concepts, one step at a time and then build up the complexity of the content as the learner progresses. Identify your Own Learning Style There are different tests and tools you can use to determine your learning style and preferences. The DISC assessment is an inventory model of learning styles which is composed of four quadrants classified by behavior. DISC is an acronym for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. Other tool I have used is called “HBDI – Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument”. This instrument was developed by Ned Herrmann after investigating split-brain theory and using technologies such as Electroencephalography (EEG), Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). HBDI allows you to become aware of your thinking preferences in order to use them better in your professional and personal life. The HBDI test consists of 120 questions and the results and then categorized in four quadrants. Other test you can do completely free is in this link https://personalitymax.com/ They will also provide with a snapshot on your preferences and your learning styles. Designing eLearning for All Learning Styles I believe it is possible in a post-modern world to provide instruction that will serve a wide range of learners without getting too tangled in the maze of learning style theories. Basically, exposure to different instructional approaches is important. Incorporating a variety of teaching and assessment methods, being aware of cultural differences and providing students with opportunities to reflect on thinking will improve learning outcomes. The type of instruction needed depends significantly on the discipline, the context and the content of what is being taught (Paschler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork 2008). A thorough analysis of these elements ensures that instruction will be aligned with expected outcomes. A geometry course, for example, will likely have a much different presentation than will a writing course. Independently of the course, I would provide learners with plenty of opportunities to engage in critical thinking as a way to deconstruct and reconstruct the desired content in any discipline. When a learner is exposed to different media in an instructional module, they will develop multiple schemas while working together for mastery of content. Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning proposes that the best instruction includes information presented both visually and aurally, without redundancy or overload. We discussed these multimedia strategies in the post “Richard Mayer on Multimedia Learning”. For digital environments, designers need to have a sundry toolbox to make the instruction clear and adaptable. Approaches and Implementation Techniques for Developing Multiple Intelligence Content Verbal / Linguistic Intelligence |Descriptive Writing||Summaries, procedures, problem solving, narrative.| |Creative Writing||Stories, history, wordplay, metaphors, myths, legends, plays, prose, poetry.| |Details||Facts, names, places, trivia.| |Vocabulary Focus||Keywords, origins and definitions of terms.| |Puzzles||Word puzzles and games.| Logical / Mathematical Intelligence |Numbers||Mental arithmetic, calculations, measurements.| |Mathematical Order||Steps, procedures, sequences, patterns.| |Logic||Scientific, deductive, syllogisms, Venn diagrams, inductive, analogies.| |Visual Representation||Graphs, charts, pie charts, grids, matrices.| |Maths Representation||Codes, symbols, formulas.| |Puzzles||Logic puzzles and games.| |Problem Solving||Estimations, predictions, exploration.| |Causal Knowledge||Questioning, cause and effect, logical meanings and relationships.| |Classification||Compare/contrast, attribute identification, categorizations, ranking.| |Outlining||Logical explanations, logical thought maps, sequence charts.| Visual / Spatial Intelligence |Pictures||Drawings, maps, diagrams, artwork, photography, videos, slides, movies.| |Visual Organizers||Flowcharts, visual outlines, concepts maps, mind maps.| |Internal Visualization||Visual thinking exercises, imaginations, guided imagery, visual memory.| |Visual Variety||Patterns, designs, color, texture, geometric designs, unusual positions.| |Puzzles||Visual puzzles, mazes, games.| Musical / Rhythmic Intelligence |Music Tuning||Background music, mood setting, sound breaks and jingles.| |Content Illustration||Songs, raps, chants.| |Musical Metaphor||Tones, notes, rhythms, clapping.| |Sounds||Instrumental, environmental, nature.| The Challenge for Instructional Designers An instructional designer would find challenging to determine which system of learning-style classification would be most appropriate for a particular project. There are so many style inventories that, in their own right, seem logical and suitable for dividing people into groups for instructional planning purposes. However, no one model is going to fit or match the potential range of learners. Instruction that is engaging, flexible and relevant to the intended audience, and that is presented in ways that encompass varied avenues of access is likely to meet the needs of diverse learners, no matter what their current or preferred style may be (Paschler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork 2008). A person’s thinking about and attention to their individual learning preferences may be useful in developing a metacognitive awareness of how best to approach a particular learning goal, which is highly dependent on the discipline, the content and the context of the task. But it is not useful to lock oneself into a learning style that limits participation in engaging learning experiences offered through a variety of well-designed instructional strategies. It is important not to label a learner within a preferred style but to challenge them to try using different learning materials. Also encourage your students to use a range of activities in an eLearning environment to cater for all styles. Learners stereotyped as having one particular learning style may find themselves locked into one kind of learning experience, discouraging experimentation with other learning approaches. Rather, all learners will likely benefit, over time, by being exposed to and using a varied toolbox of cognitive strategies to access content knowledge. To face these challenges of multiple intelligence and learning styles I would suggest two practices. Firstly, I would focus on promoting among the learners metacognition strategies for learning effectively such as elaboration, comprehension monitoring, and mnemonics. And secondly, I support the idea of designing learning experiences that incorporate a variety of methods to cater for all learning styles and that promote the development of multiple intelligence. When designing instructional systems I would keep in mind the use of technologies to support different learning strengths. For example, there is in the market software to stimulate verbal/linguistic intelligence, or calculus activities to develop logical/mathematical intelligence, logic puzzles and games, or drawings and artwork to promote visual/special intelligence. Technology can be used in the classroom along with traditional activities to help students develop their intelligence (Bennett & Tipton, 1996). In the online environment, on the other hand, as internet technologies become more user-friendly and accessible, instructional designers can create learning experiences that incorporate activities that appeal to the different intelligence and thus increasing learner responsiveness (Osciak & Milheim, 2001). Each strategy in the learning experience will benefit learners in a different way, and learners will get out more or less from a particular strategy, but the important point to keep in mind is to include a variety of instructional methods and encouraging learners to use effective learning habits. The key message at the end is “to offer variety and learners will be happy” 😀 I hope you liked this post. Feel free to leave your comments below and tell me what are your preferences and learning styles? See you next time, Bennett, C.K. & Tipton, P.E. (1996). Using technology to develop multiple intelligence in the classroom. In B. Robin et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 1996 (pp. 976-978). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Dunn, K. & Dunn, R. (1978). Teaching students through their individual learning styles: A practical approach. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing. Dunn, R., Dunn, K., & Perrin, J. (1994). Teaching young children through their individual learning styles. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, Inc. Felder, R. M., & Spurlin, J. E. (2005). Applications, reliability and validity of the Index of Learning Styles. International Journal of Engineering Education, 21(1), 103-112. Gilbert, J. E., & Han, C. Y. (1999). Adapting instruction in search of a significant difference. Journal of Network and Computing Applications, 22(3), 149-160. Gilbert, J. E. (2000). Case based reasoning applied to instruction method selection for intelligent tutoring systems. Workshop Proceedings of ITS’ 2000: Fifth International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Montreal, CA.11-15. Keefe, J. (1982). Student learning styles and brain behavior: Programs, instrumentation, research. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals. Kelly, D. Brendan, T. (n.d.). A Framework for using multiple intelligence in an ITS. Khalsa, G. (2013). Should Instructional Designers Accommodate Learning Styles?. In R. McBride & M. Searson (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2013 (pp. 1350-1355). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Osciak, S. & Milheim, W. D. (2001). Multiple intelligence and the design of web-based instruction. International Journal of Instructional Media (pp. 355-361). Retrieved from http://www.acdowd-designs.com/sfsu_860_11/MI and design of web-based instruction.pdf Pappas, C. (2015). Multiple Intelligence in eLearning: The Theory and its impact. [Web]. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/multiple-intelligence-in-elearning-the-theory-and-its-impact Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Sciences in the Public Interest, 9(3), 103-119. I always joke with my mom about being a right brain and her DEFINITELY being a left brain. I’m artistic, semi-dramatic (lol), more expressive and social. My mom is an analytical thinker, she does numbers for a living and is a bit of an introvert. I enjoyed learning more about my mom and I in your post as well as seeing in more detail exactly what kind of learner I am. I’ve always learned better by being shown rather than reading it in a book, etc. I’d also never heard of the naturalistic/spiritual grouping. I fit into that and the visual/spatial category for sure. Thanks for the great info! Hi Jennifer, I’m glad you discovered other intelligence styles here. It is good to know out styles so we know more how we are happier to consume training and content in general. I’ve always leaned more toward kinesthetic learning and my least favorite learning method is auditory. If someone tries to teach me something just by talking, I might forget 99.9% of what they just said unless the subject matter is interesting to me. If I’m moving, role playing, using any kind of physical action, I’m so much better at gripping something. Even at my day job, they try to onboard us with auditory and visual learning and it couldn’t have been more confusing. However, once I gained hands-on experience, I was fine and picked up faster than most. Hi Todd, that is a such a cool way to learn. Hands on training and practicing knowledge is so valuable for learning. Lots of technical careers are best learned this way. You might need some more technological tools like VR/AR experiences to have a more engaging learning experience for your preferences. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I love this as it really gives insight to just how man different ways there are to learn! I myself learn best I feel by visuals but after reading this I may have to give a few others a try as well! I’m happy to see that you might give other styles a try. That’s so important! We need to challenge ourselves all the time and also we will have more opportunities to discover other ways to consume content and education. Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂 This is really quite interesting. I never realized that there were so many ways people learn and we each have our own particular way. I went over to check out the test because I thought it would be good to find out how I learn. I’ll have to try it later when I have more time, because it says it takes 25 minutes. So I will be doing that. Thanks so much for the information. Hi Lynn, I’m glad you found something useful in the post. The test will also tell you which careers are more aligned with your preferences. That’s such a good resource for students in high school when they don’t know what to do next. That is so cool! Human body is so magical! Thank you for sharing this! I like to see a picture that makes me simple to understand this, great article! Thanks so much 😀 I’m glad you like it. Really enjoyed this post and the explanation of all the learning types. I especially appreciated your conclusion about the importance of variety in learning for every type of learner to stretch each individuals ability to adapt to different learning styles. I personally struggled with traditional classroom learning because of the difficulty I experienced focusing in a large classroom setting. but I excelled at online learning which was much more personally engaging and allowed me to focus. I think technology and e-learning have opened the doors to learning for many people that once fell through the cracks of the traditional learning models. Hi Joe, I’m the same! I struggled so much in uni with the traditional lessons. In the online environment I feel more comfortable. Yep, for me, it’s logical. I’m very conceptual in nature and HATE memorizing stuff. It forces me to do so much work and wastes my energy. But with concepts, I can understand the know how and let everything else fall into place. Great post and very educational! Memorising is a waste of time, you are right. And even more now where information is so easy to access. The important piece of knowing how to apply concepts 🙂 viagra canada https://telegra.ph/Kak-vybrat-gazovyj-kotel-dlya-chastnogo-doma-02-14 Helpful posts. Thanks a lot.

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Chatbots have caught the headlines recently with businesses starting to adopt them to stimulate conversation with customers. But what are chatbots? How do they work? What can they do for museums and their audiences? Stefania Boiano, InvisibleStudio LTD, UK Ann Borda, University of Melbourne, Australia, Pietro Cuomo, Art in the City, Italy Giuliano Gaia, InvisibleStudio LTD, UK Stefania Rossi, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Italy museums, chatbots, artificial intelligence, gamification, teenagers Chatbots, also known as talkbots or chatterbots or bots, are growing exponentially in their use by marketers and online businesses in enhancing customer experiences, often as messaging applications that can personalise the interaction (e.g. recommender systems) (1). Simply put, chatbots are computer programs that mimic conversation using auditory or textual methods. More specifically the functionality of chatbots use natural language processing that has a history rooted in artificial intelligence (AI). One of the earliest such natural language applications was a chatbot called ELIZA developed from 1964 to 1966 at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum. ELIZA originally was created to use simple pattern matching and a template-based response (prewritten scripts) to emulate the conversational style of a psychotherapist. ELIZA generated a wave of global community interest in building a conversational bot that could pass the Turing Test. Published in 1950, Alan Turing’s Computing Machinery and Intelligence addresses the overarching question: Can machines think? (2) The Turing test in its most simple form is carried out as a sort of imitation game. The test has a human interrogator speaking to a number of computers and humans through an interface. If the interrogator cannot distinguish between the computers and the humans then the Turing Test has been passed. This quest found an audience through the Loebner Prize (begun in 1991), which has taken the form of an annual competition designed to implement the Turing Test. Building on the pattern-matching techniques used in ELIZA and advancing natural conversational language capabilities, American scientist Richard Wallace developed A.L.I.C.E. (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) in the late 1990s. A.L.I.C.E., also known as Alicebot, is acknowledged for its pioneering programming using Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) which is an XML schema for creating natural language software agents. Wallace released the first version of AIML in July 2001. He has since established Pandorabots Inc. – an AI company that is distinguished as one of the world’s earliest chatbot hosting services and publishes the Pandora API on which A.L.I.C.E. was based and which enabled it to become a three-time Loebner winner in 2000, 2001, and 2004. Concurrent to A.L.I.C.E. developments, Jabberwacky was being conceived by British programmer, Rollo Carpenter. Jabberwacky was intended to simulate “natural human chat in an interesting, entertaining and humorous manner”. The emergence of the Internet provided Jabberwacky with a dynamic database of thousands of online human interactions from which to process responses. Jabberwacky under the guise of ‘George’ and ‘Joan’ won the Loebner Prize in 2005 and 2006 respectively. In 2008, Jabberwacky launched a new iteration rebranded as Cleverbot. Like Jabberwacky, Cleverbot is designed to learn from its conversations with humans (more than 150 million to date according to Wikipedia). It draws on past interactions to determine future questions and answers. To try out its capabilities, you can chat with Cleverbot on the official website: http://www.cleverbot.com/ In the endeavour to extend question answering (QA) capabilities posed in natural language, IBM Watson was conceived in 2006 as a QA computing system with the goal of outperforming human contestants on the U.S. TV game show Jeopardy! IBM Watson was developed as part of IBM’s DeepQA project by a research team led by David Ferrucci. Watson became the first computer to defeat contestants on the TV game show Jeopardy!, notably in a special match between Watson and Jeopardy! Champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. More recently, the Watson capabilities have evolved to take advantage of new deployment models (e.g. Watson on IBM Cloud) and new machine learning capabilities to “adapt and learn”. Chatbots in general are reaching milestones in artificial intelligence capability, as well as their pervasiveness in consumer facing products and services. For example in 2014, a chatterbot called Eugene Goostman won an AI contest marking the 60th anniversary of Turing’s death (Turing Test 2014 organised by the University of Reading) in which 33% of the event’s judges thought that Goostman was human. In development since 2001 and originating from St Petersburg, Goostman is portrayed as a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy. The Goostman bot has competed in several Loebner Prize contests since its creation, finishing second in 2005 and 2008. Created from AIML technology by programmer, Steve Worswick, Mitsuku is a web-based chatbot available on Kik Messenger. It is among a growing number of sophisticated bots that can answer questions, play games, and capable of basic reasoning in QA. Mitsuku is a three-time winner of the Loebner prize in 2013, 2016, and recently in 2017. Generally, the term ‘chatbot’ has referred to a software application that engages in a dialogue with a human using natural language. Most early advances have been associated with written language, but with advances in speech recognition, there is a narrowing of these associations. An early example is Naturally Speaking which was developed in 1975 by Dr James Baker (Carnegie Mellon University), as a simple speech understanding system that was called Dragon. Dr Baker worked on the system until 1982 when he and his wife, Dr Janet Baker, evolved the software into Dragon Systems, a Voice Recognition System. Other advances in the speech recognition sector have been made possible by VoiceXML which has been published in a series of standards since the release of version 1.0 in the year 2000. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has recently announced a new W3C Community Group on Voice Interaction, which aims to explore beyond the system-initiated directed dialogs of VoiceXML applications. In just a couple of years, there has been an exponential rise of voice assistants such as Apple Siri launched in 2010, Google Now in 2012, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana in 2015, and Google Assistant in 2016. Using natural language processing and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, these assistants connect to web services to answer questions and respond to user requests. Recently, Google Home and Amazon Echo have started becoming consumer features in the home. Social media platforms are similarly incorporating chatbot functionality. The year 2017 witnessed a particular hype cycle as Facebook opened up its Messenger platform and API to developers, providing an opportunity for anyone to build a simple chatbot on Facebook with ease. Twitter followed suite in April 2017 by opening its direct messaging channel to chatbots. WeChat has had chatbot functionalities for a few years now, and Slack and other messenger services are coming on board with open APIs. Museums and chatbots: Within this informal history of chatbot developments, it may not be surprising that museums and galleries have a track record in experimenting with new ways of communicating and with the use of emergent technologies to reach their audiences (3), (4), (5). Emerging free chatbot-creating platforms (e.g. Chatfuel, Chatterbot Eliza, among others) and the availability of open APIs, for instance, can offer both large and smaller museums the opportunity of experimenting with chatbots with relatively low effort while keeping costs and staff resources at a low level (5), (6). Museums already have precedence in piloting technologies encompassing artificial intelligence and natural language processing with few resources (4), (5). Combining in-house or simple production methods with design thinking practices, museums can be enabled to develop interesting products. There are in fact a growing number of Museums currently going down this route, and using bots to engage their audiences. Below is a selected list of cultural organisations, discoverable at the time of this publication, that are experimenting with bots as part of their audience engagement programming: Selected List of Museums using Chatbot Applications for Audience Engagement: The Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn Germany has an early experience of using an avator bot introduced as MAX. Developed in 2004, MAX is a conversational agent that directly engages with visitors through a screen as a virtual museum guide. The Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City: The Cooper-Hewitt has been a pioneer in chatbot technologies with the creation of the Object Phone in 2013 – a service powered by Twillio that a visitor can text or call to ask for more information about a museum object in the collection. In 2016, Object Phone became a subscription service so that a visitor can receive a daily update. Anyone can participate in trialling the Object Phone: http://objectphone.cooperhewitt.org and signing up. In the words of Micah Walter, Director of Digital & Emerging Media: “I think institutions like museums have a great opportunity in the chatbot space. If anything it represents a new way to broaden our reach and connect with people on the platforms they are already using. What’s more interesting to me is that chatbots themselves represent a way to interact with people that is by its very nature, bi-directional”. Micah Walter, July 4, 2016. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) Send Me SFMOMA is an SMS service that provides an approachable, personal, and creative method of sharing the breadth of SFMOMA’s collection with the public. According to Jay Mollica, Creative Technologist, there are thousands of unseen artworks (only 5% are shown in Galleries at any one time) that can now be discovered through this application by texting 572-51 with the words “send me” followed by a keyword, a colour, or an emoji and the visitor will receive a related artwork image and caption via text message. Carnegie Museum of Art – Carnegie Museums, Pittsburgh. Similar to the SFMOMA application, Carnegie Museum of Art has developed an SMS-based interaction called Muse which aims to leverage the Carnegie Studio’s user-centered design process and to make use of leading-edge technologies like natural language processing and image recognition. Source: Jeffrey Inscho, Carnegie Museum of Art, May 19, 2017. Source: https://studio.carnegiemuseums.org/introducing-muse-20a6f11c7c35 Anne Frank House in Amsterdam In March 2017, Anne Frank House in Amsterdam launched its own Facebook Messenger chatbot that allows users to discover the History of Anne Frank – both her personal history and practical visitor information. Not simply a collections discovery bot, this application offers various conversation paths, allowing users to follow different paths in the Anne Frank story with concise information and links to additioal content, for example, excerpts from her diary to the context of World War II at the time. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPH4vUWcN2U Anne Frank House – Published on Apr 3, 2017. The National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus The National Art Museum in Belarus has also utilised the Facebook Messenger chatbot capability to create a conversational digital guide released in May 2017. A visitor can interact with the bot at: https://chatfuel.com/bot/The-National-Art-Museum-of-the-Republic-of-Belarus-1904070043163955 . Source: The first Facebook chatbot guide for the National art museum of the Republic of Belarus available on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/213855387 – published by NODUCK, May 2017. The Museum of Australian Democracy The Museum marked its 50th anniversary of a landmark 1967 referendum in which Australians voted overwhelmingly to amend the Constitution to include Aboriginal people in the census and to allow the Commonwealth government to create laws for them. This landmark year lead to the launch of a referendum chatbot that allows visitors to learn about the historic and current impacts of this vote through chatting with it on Facebook Messenger. Directed towards children and accessible to adults, it uses simple gamification and responses, including emojis. “Using a chatbot as a visitor engagement tool is innovative amongst Australia’s cultural institutions. It acts like history in your pocket and is helping MoAD spark a conversation about the significance of the 1967 referendum. We’re hoping it will be an effective way for people to get the facts, hear Indigenous perspectives on the referendum and reflect on its continuing relevance today.” Source: Marni Pilgrim, Digital Engagement Manager. When a nation votes Yes, history is written and a chatbot is born. Canberra Times Media Release 25 May 2017 Not unlike the quick adoption of Facebook Messenger among some of the Museum examples, there is a certain trend in Twitter bots such as the Museumbot that pulls open access images from a number of archives such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other museum archive bots are steadily growing on Twitter, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA bot, New York Public Library NYPL postcards bot, and the Museum of Modern Art MoMaR bot. A more comprehensive list can be found on Twitter from John Emerson. The House Museums of Milan Chatbot : Case Study This snapshot of museum and gallery innovations in chatbot deployment provides the background for a more detailed Case Study about the chatbot work undertaken for The House Museums of Milan (7). Of interest to readers is the twofold consideration of the developers and curators in the creation of The House Museum chatbot – namely: - to attract and engage teenage audiences to these sites – a notoriously difficult public to engage in museums who are identified with high levels of distraction and highly adapted to the use of social media (6),(7),(8) AND - to consider interactivity, such as gamification, that can interest and sustain attention by teenage and visitor audiences. (7),(8) Gamification of chatbot applications is not yet pervasive among museum developments. The Referendum Bot developed for the Museum of Australian Democracy is one example of a gamified bot. The challenges encountered in the House project are described further below as an insider view. The process of chatbot development in this case was also intended to be model for how to make best use of a technology that is still in its infancy, and how to consider promising applications supporting audience interaction, for example, in self-guided tours and education (6), (9), (10). Goals of the chatbot project: The House Museums of Milan is a group of 4 historical homes in Milan (Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Bagatti Valsecchi Museum, Necchi Campiglio Villa and Boschi Di Stefano House Museum). When the House Museums launched a strategic initiative in 2016 that aimed to motivate people to visit the four museums through a single digital guide, they approached InvisibleStudio LTD (a London-based cultural innovation studio) to introduce gamification into the engagement process, specifically to attract younger audiences. The founders of InvisibleStudio, Stefania Boiano and Giuliano Gaia, had already experimented with earlier chatbot technology in 2002, while working at the Museum of Science and Technology “Leonardo da Vinci” in Milan. You can find more details about this chatbot development in the MW 2003 paper: Make Your Museum Talk: Natural Language Interfaces For Cultural Institutions. (11) This pioneering work provided important lessons in the development of this first chatbot. A key problem was that the chatbot was developed to mimic a Leonardo da Vinci character with whom the user would interact/”chat”. This set high expectations for the user experience, and led to frustrations when the bot was not able to understand the user beyond simple introductory chat. Consequently, user issues occurred quite soon in the conversation. (11) With these lessons in hand, InvisibleStudio decided to change their approach when creating a chatbot for the House Museums project. The chatbot would only be used as a tool to help users solve a game set in the real physical environment of the museum. Thus, this approach could shift the user’s focus from the conversation with the chatbot to the actual exploration of the Museum galleries. The chatbot game was developed using Facebook Messenger, and is directed mainly to young users and teenagers to engage them in exploring the four homes. Exploration is encouraged by users in looking for hidden clues that lead to a final discovery. The gaming activity is set in the context of fighting a mysterious Renaissance magician (based on a real historical figure) that provides a further incentive to engage with the application. In this way users’ attention are drawn away from the limited conversational skills of the chatbot and invited to observe the collections with more attention while using the chatbot as a “virtual companion” in the game. Other key features had to be tweaked before publishing the application, such as making conversations more realistic by studying real chats on Facebook Messenger, referencing objects which the user can actually see “here and now” in the galleries, and finding the perfect length for the game (11), (12). Another key challenge is the necessity of keeping open a continuous online connection between users and the chatbot. This can prove tricky in historical house museums, where the older infrastructure is comprised of complex layouts and thick walls which can prevent wifi or an even distribution of wifi connections. The chatbot was tested with teenagers aged 16-18. The pilot was conducted by InvisibleStudio with 80 teenaged students from local high schools in Milan. This pilot provided the following results: - 90% of students managed to complete the game - 30% had connection problems - 34% were worried for their data traffic - 88% found the length of the game was right - 72% evaluated the game as highly entertaining - 66% found it a useful learning tool, especially if it was used with another student or in a small group. These results offered some clear directions for the final development stages. Especially interesting for the developers was the fact that students liked using the chatbot in small groups, rather than on their own, because the game triggered collaboration within the team and created a friendly competitive environment with other teams. (12) Challenges still need to be addressed. These are mainly related to the Facebook Messenger platform itself. For instance, teenagers seem to be abandoning it at an increasing rate. WhatsApp appears to be much more popular, but WhatsApp has not opened its API to third-party software yet. Thus creating a chatbot in WhatsApp is much more difficult at this stage although industry rumours suggest that WhatsApp will open its API soon (13). When this happens, museum chatbots could be developed for a potentially larger audience (e.g. teenagers), and potentially a larger uptake which does not depend on a subscription (e.g. Facebook) as the situation exists currently. What emerged from this project is that the convergence of chatbots and gamification can be a powerful tool to involve younger, digital savvy generations visiting museums in novel and interesting ways (5), (6), (7), (9), (10). Our findings particularly suggest that users enjoy interacting with a chatbot in a game context, and this engagement can provide a smarter way of leading younger audiences to interact with objects and historic environments with greater attention. However with all the successes of this chatbot launch, there also remain challenges that need further consideration beyond the scope of this paper. As mentioned above, the availability of a wider range of chatbot platforms is one such challenge. A more involved issue is the pace and quality of the bot conversation which emerged as a critical aspect of this project. The present chatbot application required a bigger effort from the developing team to create engaging and realistic non-linear narrative lines, and this will be part of a continuing iteration in future developments. Bibliography, References and Resources (1) Dale, R. The return of the chatbots. Natural Language Engineering 22 (5) 2016 : 811–817. doi:10.1017/S1351324916000243 (2) Turing, A. M. (1950) Computing Machinery and Intelligence. Mind 49: 433-460. (3) Borda, A. and Bowen, J. Smart Cities and Cultural Heritage: A Review of Developments and Future Opportunities. IN Proceedings. Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA London 2017), BCS, London, pp 9-18. (4) Bordoni, L., Mele, F. and Sorgente, A. (eds). Artificial Intelligence for Cultural Heritage. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2016. (5) Boiano, S., Gaia, G. and Caldarini, M. Make Your Museum Talk: Natural Language Interfaces for Cultural Institutions. Museums and the Web 2003. URL: https://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2003/papers/gaia/gaia.html (6) Boiano, S., Cuomo, P. and Gaia, G. Real-time Messaging Platforms for Storytelling and Gamification in Museums: A case history in Milan. IN Proceedings. Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA 2016), London, UK, 12 – 14 July 2016. doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2016.60. URL: http://ewic.bcs.org/content/ConWebDoc/56302 (7) Fors, V. Teenagers’ Multisensory Routes for Learning in the Museum. The Senses and Society, 8:3, 2016, 268-289, DOI: 10.2752/174589313X13712175020479 (8) Endo, Tasia. “Teens use tech to talk art: Amplifying teen voice and art interpretation.” MW2016: Museums and the Web 2016. Published March 10, 2016. Consulted September 29, 2017. (9) Kelly, L. and Russo, A. From Ladders of Participation to Networks of Participation: Social Media and the Museum Audiences. MW2008: Museum and the Web Conference, April 9–12, Montreal, Canada. (10) Cawston, Rob, Daniel Efergan and Lindsey Green. “It’s in the game: can playful digital experiences help organisations connect with audiences in new ways?.” Museums and the Web: MW 2017. Published January 31, 2017. Consulted September 29, 2017. (11) Boiano S. and Gaia G., 3 Lessons learnt from Building our first Museum Chatbot… 15 years ago! Invisible Studio website. Consulted February 28th, 2018. URL: https://medium.com/@invisiblestudio/3-lessons-learnt-from-building-our-first-museum-chatbot-15-years-ago-7189c8a8fe6 (12) Boiano S. and Gaia G., 5 Tips for Involving Teenagers in Your Museum Using a Chatbot. Invisible Studio website. Consulted February 28th, 2018. URL: https://medium.com/@invisiblestudio/5-tips-for-involving-teenagers-in-your-museum-using-a-chatbot-bf88ff3ad568 (13) Mool, T. (2018) Chatbot Trends: The Year of the VoiceBot, WhatsApp Bots, MaaP. NativeMSG. Consulted February 28th, 2018 URL: https://nativemsg.com/blog/2018-chatbot-trends-the-year-of-the-voicebot-whatsapp-bots-maap

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School Libraries: Improving student mental and emotional health one book at a time School libraries, like public libraries, provide a collection of up-to-date resources that inform and entertain. Many school libraries are benefitting from renewed spaces that welcome students by providing seating that is relaxing and grouped for conversing, while offering individual spaces for pondering and completing homework. The American Library Association (2022) defines libraries as a “venue for exploring questions that arise out of individual curiosity and personal interest”. Ask any reader why books are engaging and the answer will be related to that individual’s ability to find a connection with the characters or content (Allyn, 2015). I remember when a 10th grader, who didn’t read much, came to the library just to get out of study-hall. After talking about his interests, of which one was fishing, he happily left with a non-fiction book on trout fishing with high-quality photographs of tips and tricks. The library and its collection should be a place where all students, faculty and staff are welcomed and affirmed, thus supporting mental and emotional health. In studying college students’ psychological distress, Levine et al. (2022) found that “recreational reading was associated with reduced psychological distress” and “seemed to buffer against the frustration of one’s basic psychological needs which led to improved mental health”. Another study found that recreational reading can “support readers to deal with the daily emotional challenges they experience affecting their psychological well-being” (Yulia et al., 2021). And it doesn’t take much time! Taking just 6 minutes a day to read can “reduce stress levels by up to 60% by reducing your heartbeat and muscle tension and changing your state of mind” and can be more effective than listening to music (“Making Reading”, 2022). School recognizing the relationship between stress and mental health are making efforts to create stress-free and welcoming environments via the school library (“Relationship Between”, 2022). Below are some pictures of several districts who have changed up their libraries with color, comfortable seating, new flooring, and new shelving. By: Cece Fuoco, CA BOCES Learning Resources Allyn, P. (2015, March-April). For the love of reading: five methods to instill a lifetime of good habits. Reading Today, 32(5), 26+ American Library Association. (2022, June 27). Definition of a library. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://libguides.ala.org/library-definition. Make reading a habit for better mental & emotional health. (2022, October 6). Business World, NA Relationship between stress and emotional self-efficacy. (2022, August 10). Business World, NA. S. L. Levine, S. Cherrier, A. C. Holding & R. Koestner. (2022). For the love of reading: Recreational reading reduces psychological distress in college students and autonomous motivation is the key, Journal of American College Health, 70:1, 158-164. Yulia, A., Joshi, R. M., & Husin, N. A. (2021). Assessing the effects of books on psychological wellbeing in Malaysia. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 19(1), 87+. focused on the objective The current school year can be considered anything but traditional and causes some to look forward to a time when things can go back to ‘normal’. Others see the current situation and departure from ‘normal’ as a way to continue personal growth and development regardless of the situation and demonstrate the ability to be innovative and responsive to any situation. One such individual is Andover High School Social Studies teacher Harold Brown. Having lived what some would consider a non-traditional life, Mr. Brown is well prepared to face challenges head on and accomplish the mission of educating his students regardless of the time, place, setting, or circumstances. The ability to both recognize and respond to present situations is a hallmark of being able to succeed, and Mr. Brown possesses this ability in abundance. Maybe the awareness to positively respond and be dedicated to improvement is the result of the experiences he has had during his life. Growing up in a military family and contributing twenty years of his own life to military service, combined with almost two decades of teaching in both parochial and public schools, have enabled Mr. Brown to understand what it takes to adapt to situations and continue to push towards a clear objective. Regardless of where his experiences have come from, they have equipped him to be prepared for the current state of education today. His continual desire for personal learning and his attendance of multiple professional development opportunities are indicative of the growth mindset and the thirst for knowledge that Mr. Brown possesses and works each day to instill in his students. His teaching style is a true manifestation of his personal belief that one should go into education to enjoy the subject matter and his passion for history is easily recognized and displayed throughout his classroom. His willingness to learn things has been evident this year as he has worked to adapt his instruction in many ways, whether it be incorporating the use of Breakout rooms or using communication and chat platforms to keep his students learning and engaged. No matter the application or format he is, always seeking ways to help his students develop their skills while connecting to the content. While this year has been anything but typical and has been subjected to so much change and expression of opposing viewpoints on multiple topics, the focus Mr. Brown has on preparing students for achievement and increasing their learning has not changed and remains a constant regardless of instructional model or format. This year may be viewed as a blessing since it has provided so much material and sources that can be examined for reliability, bias, and propaganda and given Mr. Brown the opportunity to be innovative and utilize various technologies to showcase to students the many aspects of the world in which they live. For a social studies teacher there is no better situation and circumstances than those which polarize our society providing opportunities to present students with the chance to learn the most desirable and pursued objective of Mr. Brown, for students to think for themselves! By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development Robotics: a tool to teach Stem The ROBOTC for VEX training at Pioneer High School was led by Jesse Flot, a Research Programmer & Senior Software Engineer for the Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and Josh Jarvis, the lead developer for CMUs CS-STEM Network. In attendance were nearly thirty participants from various districts across the region (Allegany-Limestone CSC, Andover CSD, Belfast CSD, Bolivar-Richburg CSD, CA-BOCES Belmont CTE, CA-BOCES ISS, CA-BOCES ISS, Cattaraugus-Little Valley CSD, Cuba-Rushford CSD, Ellicottville CSD, Franklinville CSD, Fillmore CSD, Genesee Valley CSD, Hinsdale CSD, Pioneer CSD, Salamanca City SD, Scio CSD, and Whitesville CSD). What is a robot, and what can we can we teach with it? These were the first two questions that Jesse Flot used to open the ROBOTC for VEX training. The first question is fairly direct: what is a robot? Perhaps you define a robot as something like Wall-E, or maybe to you a robot is Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Terminator. The definition is as simple as SPA: a robot is a device that has the ability to sense, plan, and act. What can we teach with a robot? This second question is more difficult to answer unless we first reflect on how we teach rather than the content of our teaching. When teaching Algebra 1, my students would struggle with the concept of completing the square to rewrite quadratic expressions. Rather than using the skill of completing the square as a tool to accomplish a goal, I made the skill the learning goal; ultimately, it was not until I provided students with the necessary tools and shift my focus (using GeoGebra) that they were able to better understand the process of completing the square, how to use it, and when to use it. Similarly, “project-based learning (PBL) involves learning through projects rather than just doing projects,” says John Spencer. In other words, the goal of PBL is to focus on the learning process rather than a culminating project. Jesse explained what can be taught with robotics in the same way; he said, “the Robotics Academy at CMU uses robotics as a tool to teach programming; however, you can use robots to teach many other subjects and skills such as mathematics, physics, communication, teamwork, and time management.” With these questions answered and an understanding that the VEX robots were a tool used to help teach programming, Jesse and Josh led participants through two days of hands-on training with the programming of ROBOTC as well as the hardware of VEX robots. Participants explored intuitive and basic commands using the block coding features of ROBOTC in conjunction with the physical features of the VEX robot the first day, and on day two, participants made the progression to virtual reality with Robot Virtual World software (RVW) and explored how the text commands of ROBOTC differ from its block coding commands. In addition to Jesse’s 16 years of experience at CMU (12 of which being in professional development), the Robotics Academy’s research-based practices helped guide the hybrid training model. From anticipating participant questions to providing examples of student questions that participants should anticipate, Jesse and Josh led participants through a highly productive two days of learning. Jesse and Josh will continue this hybrid training online from mid-February through March in which participants will gain additional knowledge of the ROBOTC language, continue to track their progress with CMUs learning management system, and explore additional features of VEX robotics. By: Mark Beckwith, CA BOCES Professional Development As the new school year approaches, teachers in several districts (Cuba Rushford, Andover, Franklinville, Whitesville, Olean, Fillmore and Cattaraugus – Little Valley) learn the importance of helping students improve a set of thinking skills known as executive function skills. “Human beings have a built in capacity to meet challenges and accomplish goals through the use of high-level cognitive functions called executive skills. These are the skills that help us to decide what activities or tasks we will pay attention to and which ones we’ll choose to do.” (Hart & Jacobs, 1993) These functions are a set of cognitive processes, such as focus, memory and self-control, which enable us to manage information and complete tasks. CA BOCES provided professional development opportunities for teachers to improve how students learn and develop executive function skills during their K-12 education and beyond. Teachers were informed how to recognize students who struggle with executive weakness, and what strategies can assist students in developing these skills. Knowing Cognitive Capacities In order for teachers to target specific executive function skills, they must first be able to identify them. Our teachers researched and developed strategies for the following list of executive function skills: Teachers reflected on how these skills might exist in the classroom. For example, Students with weak working memory are unable to remember and apply crucial information in order to move to the next step of a task. They often struggle when a task requires them to remember a series of directions, generate ideas in response to the directions and then express their ideas. Information just doesn’t “stick” for them. Once the teacher recognizes a student needs to work on working memory, they can develop a list of strategies to address this learning problem. Teachers realize it’s important to recognize that the same strategy won’t work for each student. Some students work better with visual cues than verbal cues, for instance. Teachers must differentiate thinking strategies for each student to help them meet full learning potential. Exercises for Executive Function Skills There are a number of exercises to help students develop thinking skills. Practices can range from computer games to improve memory skills to physical tasks such as balancing. Here are just a few examples of how teachers in our district have worked with students to improve their executive function skills. Organization and Planning Teachers can help students to master these tasks by encouraging students to write down important assignments in a calendar and to allocate time accordingly. Students can be taught how to make lists of homework assignments. Students can be encouraged to use brightly colored folders to take home important papers (like homework and permission slips) to and from school, so those items don’t get lost. For short-term assignments, encourage students to picture the end result of completing the task and the positive emotion that may be attached to it. Students and teachers can brainstorm ways to make assignments more interesting. Feeling vocabulary can be taught through books by discussing the feelings the characters had and asking the student to make connections to his own experiences. When the student begins to experience strong emotions, allow them to identify it, validate it and provide a clear direction about what could be done instead of the negative behavior. When it comes to improving executive function skills during the school day, a step in the right direction is to set up time and programs that are devoted to these strategies. It can take as little as two minutes before class or a full 30-minute session. The group concluded that students with well-developed executive function skills really hold the foundation to success in school, with their peers, in college and for a career. These skills are what provide individuals with the capacity to meet challenges and accomplish goals! Collaboratively we recognized the responsibility educators have to build these skills in ALL students. If you are interested in learning more about how to enhance these skills and promoting school and social success for ALL students, please contact CA BOCES (Laurie Sledge at 716-376-8357). By: Marguerite Andrews and Deanna Wilkinson, CA BOCES Professional Development Tenth graders from Andover, Belfast, Bolivar-Richburg, Cuba-Rushford, Fillmore, Portville, Scio, and Wellsville explored careers at Alfred State College. Over 40 businesses shared about careers in Allegany County. Student spent the day answering the question, "What's my next step?" Over the past six months, I’ve had the pleasure of serving as a mentor for Patrick Coyle as he wrote his way through an online English credit recovery course. Patrick is an intelligent young man who loves fishing, hunting and working on engines. We studied together once or twice a week to help hone his English skills as he worked on his class. Patrick had a study hall set aside for his course, but was also willing to meet me after school to work on specific areas he was struggling to understand. Jamie is Patrick’s mother and she is rightfully proud of her son and his accomplishments. I got to know them both over the time that I spent at Andover and enjoyed that time immensely. I sat down with Jamie and Patrick at our last tutoring session to find out how they felt about Patrick’s online experience. I wanted to know how Patrick felt as a student taking an online course and how Jamie felt as a parent of a student taking the course. Patrick said, “It was pretty straight forward, not very difficult. It was a lot easier for me to work on my own than it was to sit in a classroom. I’m easily distracted.” He laughed a little then. “Thinking back, how did you feel about the program going into it?” I asked. “I wasn’t really sure. I was kind of nervous because I hadn’t really done an online class before. I don’t know. I knew I was going to need help because I usually tend to get off track. I just wasn’t sure about it at first.” Jamie said almost the same thing when I asked her how she felt as a parent, “I wasn’t sure, going into it. I didn’t know what all it involved.” But as the course progressed and she saw how it worked, she began to really like it. She said, “Well, what I really liked was him being able to do the work here in the computer lab. It was such a help. The biggest benefit for me was being able to do the online part here.” Patrick said it was beneficial to him for a different reason. He said, “It gave me an opportunity to work on it by myself. Whenever I could work on it, I could go and work on it. It was a lot easier for me to sit at a computer to do it than to sit in a classroom and do it.” He would also recommend it to other students who have a similar learning style – students who are self-motivated, able to push themselves, prefer working at their own pace and are willing to ask for help, if needed. I then asked them both how they felt about feedback they received from their online teachers and coordinators. Patrick said, “My feedback from my teacher, she always gave me feedback. It would take a day or two, but she always gave me good feedback on what I wrote about. And you always gave me good feedback when we were working and it was always a great help to have you here and help me through this.” Jamie said, “Yes, I mean with the emails saying this is how he did, he needs to work on this, he needs to add more to this, and you know, with somebody correcting it and then saying, you did well, but it could be better if you do these things, and then he could take that and then add more and take their constructive criticism and build on that to make it a better paper.” Finally, I asked them whether they would recommend online classes to other students, teachers, and administration and I received a big and wonderful yes. In Jamie’s words, “I would. Actually, administration, the superintendent who is no longer here – he retired last year, he actually suggested it to us because Patrick got hired by BOCES last year to work during the summer and he was so excited about that, so he couldn’t go to summer school and work at BOCES, so the superintendant actually told us about this program. I had no idea. Yes, I would recommend it, especially for someone who has plans for the summer, whether it be a job or traveling or whatever. It worked out great.” Then Jamie went on to say that the program was very beneficial for Patrick, “I’ve told you that with Patrick getting constructive criticism from you, it meant so much more to him than coming from mom. In the way that you presented it to him, saying, you did good with this, but we need to work on this and here are some suggestions, now you go do it and you take the suggestions and do what you think you need to do. I could see, and my mother-in-law mentioned that she could see, such a difference in Patrick with his self esteem, saying, you know, I can do this. He just has a whole different attitude.” And that is what online learning opportunities are about – helping students feel successful and achieve their goals. By: Christina McGee, CA BOCES Jennifer Smith, Speech Therapist, Andover, collaborates with a very flexible 3rd grade teacher, Faye Shay, to login to the student publishing program, Voicethread, and integrate her custom-designed therapy for one particular student with the whole class of students. Students practice vocabulary, spelling and creative writing during this lesson on the meaning and use of the word, exaggeration. Ms. Smith had a picture of “Pecos Bill” in the Old West projected on the screen in Voicethread and each student could choose his or her method of commenting on the picture (microphone or typing) and begin a story (an exaggeration) of how the “Andover Ponds” were formed. What Ms. Shay noticed was that the students who have very little to say in class, were very involved and lengthy in their explanations of how the ponds were formed – all based upon background knowledge from class and checked later for spelling and punctuation. Creative stories about the ponds and their formation were anywhere from Pecos Bill lassoing animals to push the dirt away to the digging of holes one after another with intervention from a magical being. Ms. Smith also had the students owning their own learning as she communicated to them and displayed on the big screen how their individual comments come to her in an email from Voicethread. By: Maggie Jensen, CA BOCES Learning Resources Follow us on

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Religion and Leadership Core religious and philosophical worldviews have a strong bearing on leadership style and effectiveness. Religious and philosophical worldviews provide the ethical and moral foundations for decision-making, which is a critical component of leadership. Moreover, religious and philosophical worldviews impact the ways leaders guide, teach, and serve others. Worldview extends beyond religion. Defined loosely as “visions of life,” worldviews encompass the “beliefs, values, and principles” that guide behavior and motivate change (Valk, 2010, p. 83). A worldview is a set of mental constructs that impacts the formation of biases and stereotypes. Biases and stereotypes can come in the way of effective leadership. On the other hand, worldviews are influenced by religious beliefs. Religious beliefs impact the formation of ethical codes that define both individual and organizational behavior. A worldview is a paradigm of life. Although a worldview affects more than leadership effectiveness, there are few areas in which worldviews are less palpable than in a social or organizational context. The worldviews of a leader have the potential to impact a whole organization, community, or even a culture. Worldviews that are materialistic in theory will theoretically lead to decisions that do not take spiritual values into account; whereas worldviews that are spiritual in theory will lead to decisions that are more holistic. In addition to core religious and philosophical worldviews, psychological stances impact leadership abilities and effectiveness. For instance, inner maturity and emotional intelligence are linked strongly to ethical and effective leadership. Emotional intelligence also neatly complements religious and philosophical integrity. Emotional intelligence, inner maturity, and religious worldviews form a leadership matrix that highlights the interconnectedness of psychological and philosophical concepts. Describe how a person’s worldview and inner maturity can influence the ability to lead effectively A person’s worldview and inner maturity will influence the ability to lead effectively. Worldview shapes values, ethics, beliefs, biases, and behaviors. Inner maturity comes from self-awareness, self-honesty, and self-esteem. Although it can be tied to biological age, inner maturity is generally unrelated to either age or actual leadership experience. Rather, inner maturity stems from psychological, social, and spiritual health. A young leader with a solid, confident sense of self is more likely to develop a cohesive leadership vision and plan than a senior with a set of disjointed and conflicting values. Worldview and inner maturity together influence the ability to lead effectively. One reason why worldview and inner maturity work in tandem is that both encourage strong character development. “People of character who operate in a principle-centered fashion and use highly developed moral reasoning as the basis for ethical decision-making are sometimes also referred to as virtuous,” (Sipe & Frick, 2009, p. 19). Virtuous individuals are defined by their inner maturity. Their decisions and actions reflect personal integrity. A virtuous attitude toward leadership entails both “self-oriented values” and “other-oriented values” that, when combined, makes for a particularly effective leader (Sipe & Frick, 2009, p. 20). Specific ways in which worldview and inner maturity work together to create not just virtuous character but also effective leadership include the following. First, a leader’s managerial style is influenced by attitudes about issues such as diversity, gender, and environmental ethics. Worldviews will determine whether the input of females and non-whites is valued or under-valued in an organization. A worldview will also determine whether the leader views the environment as disposable and value-neutral, versus the environment as sacred and inherently valuable. Inner maturity determines whether the leader remains true to the core value system that has been established via the formation of worldviews. Identify and explain two philosophical worldviews and one religious worldview that can support servant leadership. Servant leadership is an evolving concept rooted in the Christian worldview. Although Christian values and ethics comprise the foundation of servant leadership, servant leaders hail from religious backgrounds other than Christianity. In fact, the concept of servant leadership is rooted in non-denominational religious ethics and universal philosophical morals. In addition to Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism also support the concept of servant leadership. As an atheistic religion, Buddhism can easily fall under the rubric of philosophical tradition. Christianity, however, is the fundamental underpinning of servant leadership. Agosto (2005) outlines the mission of Jesus as embodying servant leadership. Thus, a religious worldview with Jesus Christ at its center will draw heavily from gospel tradition and allegory. The gospels will provide the ethical foundation for leadership decisions, and also determine how the leader interacts with others. Moreover, servant leadership encompasses philosophical worldview. “Philosophy is a system in which the ontology, epistemology and axiology informs and impacts ones view of the world,” (Boyum, 2006, p. 5). When Greenleaf first developed the concept of servant leadership, Christianity might have formed the foundation of the theory. Yet servant leadership extends beyond Christianity to draw on philosophy as well. A servant-leader makes “insightful, ethical, and principle-centered decisions,” (Sipe & Frick, 2009, p. 15). Moreover, “servant leadership was derived through analogical or interpretive reasoning,” (Boyum, 2006, p. 9). A philosophical worldview that values interpretive reasoning is one that supports servant leadership. Philosophical traditions related to the nature of God, human nature, and epistemology all support servant leadership. If an individual believes that service to others is a necessary prerequisite for spiritual harmony, then that individual is a servant-leader. One philosophical worldview that would not be compatible with servant-leadership might be utilitarianism. Utilitarian worldviews can easily denigrate the concept of selfless service. Describe the importance of inner maturity and awareness such as emotional intelligence and the role they play in enabling the leader to model the capacities or characteristics of servant leadership. Antonakis, Ashkenasy & Dashborough (2009) found that emotional intelligence can indeed be empirically linked to leadership effectiveness. Servant leadership underscores the importance of emotional intelligence. For this reason, servant leadership can be compared with transformational leadership in that both empower and value the input of others. Rosete & Ciarrochi (2005) found that emotional intelligence is directly linked to performance outcomes in the workplace. Thus, servant leadership can be considered an effective leadership model. Inner maturity and awareness of emotional intelligence must be applied conscientiously in the workplace. Emotional intelligence enables the leader to model the specific characteristics that are unique to servant leadership such as moral authority. The qualities that define servant leadership include moral authority, which is built on emotional intelligence. A leader that is aware of the social and emotional contexts of the workplace will be more likely to serve well in a position of power. Servant leadership is also a systems model, in that it encompasses strategic thinking and acting (Sipe & Frick, 2009). Values, beliefs, and behaviors will impact leadership styles and ultimately, the success of an organization. Worldview impacts the way a leader manages teams, ascribes to ethical codes, and deals with the rigors of the global marketplace. When a leader’s worldview is rooted in Christian values or the ethics of a similar religious code, that individual is more likely to apply emotional intelligence to organizational decision-making. Servant leadership draws from religious and philosophical traditions such as Christianity, epistemology, and ontology. In fact, servant leadership draws on multiple philosophical and religious worldviews that include but are not limited to Christianity. Ethics, morals, and worldviews converge in the servant-leader. Drawing from various philosophical and religious traditions can help inspire a servant-leader perspective: one that values both emotional intelligence and inner maturity. Moreover, the gospel stories of Christ can illuminate the pathways toward developing servant leaders. An attitude of love, compassion, and goodwill towards others are components of service leadership. A leader can use a position of power to affect positive change. Inner maturity is necessary to develop the unique qualities of servant leadership, which depends on integrity and compassion. Maturity can be measured in behaviors as well as attitudes. Communication skills are also a key component of inner maturity. Yet emotional intelligence also comprises good communication skills. An individual who is emotionally intelligent is likely to also be emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually mature. Regardless of the philosophical or religious tradition from which an individual hails, servant-leadership will ensure organizational success. Research shows that emotional intelligence is linked to measurable results in an organization, which is why servant leadership may also ensure the fulfillment of both personal and organizational goals. The concept of servant leadership is one that is holistic and multifaceted. Servant leadership and transformational leadership go hand in hand. For this reason also, systems theory and servant leadership go hand in hand. Organizations seeking stronger ethical foundations would be wise to cultivate servant leaders. Regardless of whether an organization is a Christian — or any other type of religious — one, servant leadership will ensure a harmonious, cooperative workplace environment. Supporting team members, inspiring positive change and growth, and developing future leaders through mentoring are all components of servant leadership. Behaviors associated with servant leadership are measurable, too. Future research shall elucidate the concrete ways servant leaders promote organizational success. Agosto, E. (2005). Servant Leadership. Danvers, MA: Chalice. Antonakis, J., Ashkanasy, N.M. & Dasborough, M.T. (2009). Does leadership need emotional intelligence? The Leadership Quarterly 20(2): 241-261. Boyum, G. (2006). The Historical and Philosophical Influences on Greenleaf’s Concept of Servant Leadership. Servant Leadership Research Roundtable. Aug 2006. Retrieved online: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/2006/boyum.pdf Fry, L.F. (2009). Towards a theory of being-centered leadership: Multiple levels of being as context for effective leadership. Human Relations 62(11):1667-1696 Kamalini, K. (2010). A new culture of leadership: service over self. Journal of Christian Nursing 27(1): 46-50. Rosete, D. & Ciarochi, J. (2005). Emotional intelligence and its relationship to workplace performance outcomes of leadership effectiveness. Leadership and Organization Development Journal 26(5): 388-399. Sipe, J.W. & Frick, D.M. (2009). Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership. Mahway, NJ: Paulist. Valk, J. (2010). Leadership for transformation: The impact of a Christian worldview. Journal of Leadership Studies 4(3):83-86. Wallace, J.R. (2007). Servant leadership: A worldview perspective. International Journal of Leadership Studies 2(2): 114-132. Retrieved online: http://22.214.171.124/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol2iss2/Wallace/WallaceV2Is2.pdf Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent? Whichever your reason is, it is valid! 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To be effective, a program of vocabulary instruction should provide students with opportunities for word learning by: - encouraging wide reading; - exposing students to high-quality oral language; - promoting word consciousness; - providing explicit instruction of specific words; and - providing modeling and instruction in independent word-learning strategies. Each of these components contributes to helping students overcome the major obstacles to vocabulary growth. What to do about the size of the task We know that the volume of students' reading is strongly related to their vocabulary knowledge.1 Students learn new words by encountering them in text, either through their own reading or by being read to. Increasing the opportunities for such encounters improves students' vocabulary knowledge, which, in turn, improves their ability to read more and more complex text. In short, the single most important thing you can do to improve students' vocabularies is to get them to read more. Remember, to keep up, students need to learn at a rate of 2,000-3,000 words per year; to catch up, they need to exceed this rate. Can wide reading really be enough to help students learn so many words? Evidence indicates that it can. First, there is the evidence of those avid readers who acquire large vocabularies largely apart from any type of explicit instruction in vocabulary. Second, there is a growing body of research showing that, although the odds of learning any particular word from context are small, the cumulative effects of learning from reading can be large. Consider the following argument for the effects of wide reading:2 - If, over a school year, a fifth-grade student reads for an hour each day, five days a week (in and out of school), at a conservative rate of 150 words per minute, the student will encounter 2,250,000 words in the course of reading. - If 2% to 5% of the words the student encounters are unknown words, he or she will encounter from 45,000 to 112,500 such words. - We know that students learn between 5% 10% of previously unknown words from a single reading. This accounts for at least 2,250 new words the student learns from context each year. The figure 2,250 new words learned a year is based on the lowest points of the estimated ranges. Even this conservative figure suggests that reading is a powerful influence on students' vocabulary growth. What kinds of reading are necessary to produce such vocabulary growth? Whereas some argue that almost any reading ultimately will have powerful benefits for students,3 others say that if students consistently select texts below their current reading levels, even wide reading will not result in measurable vocabulary growth.4 Nor is reading text that is full of unfamiliar words likely to produce large gains in word knowledge.5 To help students get the most out of reading, you should encourage them to read at a variety of levels — some text simply for enjoyment, which should benefit their fluency if nothing else — and some text that challenges them. You should also help students develop reading strategies that will allow them to read more challenging texts with lower levels of frustration. When students have been taught comprehension strategies, they tend to do more reading.6 Increasing their motivation to read is another critical factor in helping students make the most of wide reading. One powerful motivating factor associated with more reading is a classroom environment that encourages and promotes social interactions related to reading.7 Making available a variety of books and setting aside ample time for reading also motivate increased reading. As is true for any method of promoting vocabulary growth, wide reading has some limitations. One is that it obviously cannot be effective with very young students who are not yet able to read very much on their own. Another limitation is that, although wide reading may be effective in producing general vocabulary growth, it is not an effective method for teaching the words that students need to master a particular selection or a concept related to a specific content area. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that, as important as it is, wide reading does not produce immediate, magic results; its effects are cumulative, and emerge over time. You can encourage wide reading in a number of ways. You might, for example, recommend or provide lists of books for students to read outside of class, and make time in class for students to discuss what they have read. You can set aside a time each day for independent reading. And, of course, you can model the value you place on reading as they read, by telling students about the books you are reading. What to do about the differences between spoken and written English High Quality Oral Language As we discussed earlier, both English language learners and English-speaking students may achieve fluency in the language of face-to-face conversation and still have little exposure to or knowledge of the kind of language they encounter in school textbooks. Clearly these students need more exposure to written English, and wide reading is the most effective way of increasing exposure to this kind of language. But what can be done with students who are in the process of learning to read, and who cannot do a great deal of reading on their own? Here is one solution: Increase the quality of the oral language to which students are exposed — let them hear spoken English that incorporates more of the vocabulary and syntax typical of written, and particularly literate English. A very effective way to expose children to literate vocabulary is to read to them from storybooks, especially when the reading is accompanied with discussion.8 Authors of good children's literature have always found ways to talk "over children's heads" — using big words and other aspects of literate language — without decreasing children's interest or enjoyment. Both younger and older students appear to benefit from read-aloud activities, and older students can learn the meanings of new words as efficiently from hearing stories read to them as they can from reading the stories themselves.9 Making available (either in the classroom or school library) a selection of quality audio books and players that students can use on their own can also be a good way to expose them to a variety of good books and broad language experiences. Storytelling is yet another way to increase the quality of students' oral language experiences. Even when no text is involved, storytelling still exposes students to richer language than does normal conversation. Pretend play likewise involves rich language use. The quality of preschool children's conversations, and teachers' use of a more sophisticated vocabulary also have been found to affect students' language and literacy development.10 Asked what they could do to use more sophisticated vocabulary without intimidating or confusing their students, a group of teachers responded enthusiastically, "Make it fun!" We definitely agree. Playing with language is an essential component of language development. Word consciousness is the knowledge of and interest in words. Word-conscious students enjoy learning new words and engaging in word play. They know and use many words, and are aware of the subtleties of word meaning and of the power words can have.11 To become word conscious, students first need to develop a feel for how written language is different from everyday conversation. To this end, it is valuable to draw their attention to the distinctive characteristics of written language, even when reading aloud, and to help them learn to read like a writer, and to write with an audience in mind. Having students copy in their journals phrases or sentences from their reading that are examples of especially effective language use — vivid descriptions, striking metaphors, interesting similes, plays on words-can help make language more alive for them. Students can share their examples with the class, or they can post them in the classroom to serve as inspiration or models for others. Reading and discussing two versions of the same story — ideally, one with rich language and one with language that is less interesting — can promote word consciousness in younger students. Word consciousness can be promoted in a way that helps students become aware of differences between Standard English and non-standard varieties, without stigmatizing the latter. Shirley Brice Heath describes classrooms in which students learned to be "language detectives," studying how people speak differently in different groups and in different situations. She believes that this awareness made an important contribution to the students' academic success.12 It may be especially important to make such differences explicit for students less familiar with standard English. A number of oral and written word games can serve to promote word consciousness, including puns, limericks, Hink-Pinks, crossword puzzles, jokes, riddles, and anagrams.13 Encouraging students to play with words can create an interest in knowing more about them, and thus, can become a strategy for independent word learning. What to do about the limitations of sources of information about words Independent Word-Learning Strategies Techniques that teachers can model and teach to students so as to help them figure out the meanings of unknown words on their own. Because students learn most new words incidentally, through wide reading, helping students to acquire a set of word-learning strategies is important to their vocabulary development. Key word-learning strategies include: - the efficient use of the dictionary; - the use of word parts (prefixes, suffixes, roots, compounds) to unlock a word's meaning; and - the use of context clues. Instruction in dictionary use that focuses on having students look up words and use information from their definitions to write sentences does not provide students with the guidance they need to make dictionary use an efficient independent word-learning strategy. This is not to say, however, that dictionaries are not important aids to word learning. In fact, the more students are exposed to dictionary definitions, the better their word learning.14 The crucial point here is that students receive instruction in how to use what they find in a dictionary entry so that they are able to translate the cryptic and conventionalized content of definitions into usable word knowledge.15 This instruction includes modeling how to look up the meaning of an unknown word, thinking-aloud about the various definitions in an entry, and deciding which is the most appropriate definition for a particular context.16 Teaching students how to use information about word parts can be very valuable in promoting vocabulary growth. Many students, however, are not aware of this strategy. Even students who have learned to break words into parts in their decoding instruction may not understand that they can use this knowledge to figure out word meanings. Teacher modeling helps to make the strategy's value clear to students.17 Using word-part information can be especially helpful in learning certain content-area concepts. (See Teaching Word Meaning as Concepts) Context clues are clues to the meaning of a word contained in the text that surrounds it. These clues include definitions, examples, and restatements. Teaching students strategies for identifying and using context clues has been suggested as a major instructional technique for vocabulary development.18 A student learns a new word from context by making connections between the word and the text in which it appears. When a new word is first encountered, the student stores in memory some information about how it fits into what is being read. In subsequent encounters with the word, this information is reinforced, and more information about the word's role in particular contexts is added until the word is understood and used appropriately. As in teaching other kinds of strategies, teaching students to use context clues to develop vocabulary is an extended process that involves: modeling the strategy; providing explicit explanations of how, why, and when to use it; providing guided practice; gradually holding students accountable for independently using the strategy; and then providing intermittent reminders to apply it to reading across content areas. As we noted earlier, learning words from context is a long-term process, one that involves multiple encounters with words. The challenge is to create vocabulary instruction that compresses this process to enable students to learn more words in a shorter period of time.19 What to do about the complexity of word knowledge Explicit Instruction of Specific Words Although students gain most of their word knowledge through wide reading, explicit instruction of specific words and their meanings also can contribute greatly to their vocabulary development. Explicit instruction is especially important for students whose exposure to the vocabulary of literate English is limited. To be most effective, explicit vocabulary instruction should be dynamic and involve a variety of techniques. Specifically, instruction should: - Use both definitional and contextual information about word meanings, - Involve students actively in word learning, and - Use discussion to teach the meanings of new words and to provide meaningful information about the words. Use Definitional and Contextual Information In the past, vocabulary instruction most often consisted of learning lists of words and definitions (with a test on Friday). We now know that such instruction is of limited value, particularly in improving students' reading comprehension.20 Students need to know how a word functions in various contexts. Therefore, instructional methods that provide students with both definitional and contextual information do improve comprehension, and do so significantly. Some instructional activities that provide students with definitional information include: - Teach synonyms. Often a synonym is all students need to understand a new word in context. - Teach antonyms. Not all words have antonyms, but thinking about antonyms requires students to identify the crucial aspects of a word. For example, the word chaos implies an abyss, a void, or clutter, but its antonym, order, narrows the focus to the "clutter" part of the word's meaning. - Rewrite definitions. As we noted earlier, dictionary definitions can often confuse or mislead students. Asking students to restate a dictionary definition in their own words can be more effective than requiring them to remember the exact wording of the definition. - Provide example sentences. A good way to ascertain whether students understand a word's definitions is to have them provide example sentences in which they use the word. They may draw these examples from personal experiences ("Mom's kitchen is chaos.") or from textbooks ("After the great flood of 1937, there was chaos all over the Tennessee Valley."). - Provide non-examples. Another way to find out if students truly understand the meaning of a new word is to have them supply words that are not examples of the word's meaning. For example, point out to them that cry is not an example of the word guffaw, then ask them to think of other non-examples of the word (bawl, sniffle, whine, whimper). Coming up with non-examples requires students to think about the critical attributes of a word, much like providing antonyms. - Discuss the difference between the new word and related words. A discussion of the word debris, defined as "trash," "garbage," or "waste," might include a discussion of the differences between debris and trash, garbage, and waste. For example, debris might be the result of some sort of accident or disaster, whereas trash might include anything. Garbage generally refers to organic material, such as food leftovers, and waste implies something left over, rather than something resulting from a disaster. Such a thorough discussion encourages students to focus on the meanings of words. Some activities that provide students with contextual information include: - Have students create sentences that contain the new word. Encourage students to create sentences that show a clear understanding of the meaning of the word — not just "I like chaos." More acceptable sentences are those that include the definition, such as, "Chaos is when everything is in disorder." Even more acceptable are sentences that extend the definition, such as, "The scene was complete chaos — desks were turned over, paint was splashed on the floor, and the trash can was upside down." Of course, to write sentences containing a new word, students need examples of how it is used correctly. Definitions, even those that give brief examples, rarely provide enough information to guarantee that students have a real sense of how words are used. One way to scaffold students' use of new words is to have them complete sentence stems containing the word, e.g., "John thought it would pacify the teacher if "21 - Use more than one new word in a sentence. Asking students to use more than one new word in each sentence they create can force them to look for relations among words. - Discuss the meaning of the same word in different sentences. Many words have multiple meanings, which depend on the context in which the words appear. To prevent students from limiting word meanings to one particular context, have them use a new word in several different and varied sentences. For the word chaos, their sentences might include topics such as chaos in classroom behavior, chaos as clutter and mess, chaos in personal relations, and so forth. - Create a scenario. Invite students to make up a story in which a new word features prominently. If students are too young for this activity, have them draw a picture story for a new word. - Create silly questions. You might have students pair new words and use each pair to make a silly question.22 For the words actuary, hermit, philanthropist, and villain, their questions might include "Can an actuary be a hermit?" "Can an actuary be a philanthropist?" "Can a philanthropist be a hermit?" "Can a philanthropist be a villain?" Involve Students Actively in Word Learning Students remember more when they relate new information to known information, transforming it in their own words, generating examples and non-examples, producing antonyms and synonyms, and so forth. Instruction that works In one study of exemplary vocabulary instruction, activities were conducted in a five-day cycle. On the first day, the new words were defined, and students discussed the use of each word in context. This discussion took different forms, including discussion of examples and non-examples, pantomimes, and having students say "Yay" if the word was used correctly in a sentence and "Boo" if it was not. On the second day, after a review of the definitions, students might work on log sheets, completing sentences for each word. On the third day, they completed another log sheet, then worked on a timed activity in which pairs of students attempted in the shortest amount of time to match words with their definitions. This activity was repeated on the fourth day. After completion of the second timed activity, students were asked silly questions. On the fifth day, they took a post-test. These activities varied somewhat with different units. For example, students also completed a "Word Wizard" chart activity each day. A Word Wizard chart is a chart that contains new vocabulary words. These words can be taken from a storybook, from a text, or just be words that are encountered in some way. Every time a child in the class found one of these words in context, the teacher attached an adhesive note with the child's name and the context next to the word. The first child who received 5, 10, or some other number of notes became the Word Wizard. Students were given credit toward becoming a "Word Wizard" by finding examples of each word used outside of class. This program, or variations of it, significantly improved students' comprehension of texts containing words that were taught. As part of the program, it was revealed that twelve encounters with a word reliably improved comprehension, but four encounters did not. The instructional approach, which involved active processing of each words' meaning, had significantly greater effects than did a definition-only approach on measures of comprehension but not on measures involving the recall of definitions. These findings suggest that vocabulary instruction can improve comprehension, but only if the instruction is rich and extensive, and includes a great many encounters with to-be-learned words. Use discussion to teach word meanings. Discussion adds an important dimension to vocabulary instruction. Students with little or no knowledge of some new words they encounter in a vocabulary lesson are often able to construct a good idea of a word's meaning from the bits of partial knowledge contributed by their classmates. (When the class as a whole does not know much about a particular word, however, you may have to help. Perhaps supplying some information about the word, such as a quick definition.) Discussion can clarify misunderstandings of words by making the misunderstandings public. For words that a student knows partially, or knows in one particular context, the give-and-take of discussion can clarify meanings. When misunderstandings are public, the teacher can shape them into the conventional meaning. Discussion involves students in other ways. As they wait to be called on, students practice covertly, or silently prepare a response. Therefore, even though you call on only one student, many other students anticipate that they will have to come up with an answer. As a result, discussion leads to increased vocabulary learning.23 Without the practiced response, discussion is not likely to be valuable as a learning experience. Bringing instruction together This sample lesson illustrates how a teacher can bring together the three components of explicit vocabulary instruction to teach words that are key to understanding the story The Talking Eggs by Robert San Soucil. The words chosen for instruction are backwoods, contrary, dawdled, groping, rubies, and silver.24 For the key word backwoods, read the following sentence from the story: "Then the old woman took her by the hand and led her deep into the backwoods." Ask students to predict what backwoods means. Backwoods is a compound, and, when the information from the word parts is combined with some information from the context, its meaning should be fairly clear. Next, ask students to describe the backwoods briefly. The key word contrary can be taught the same way, beginning with reading this sentence from the book: "You do as I say and don't be so contrary," and asking students to predict the meaning of the word from context. For this word, have students discuss a definition for the word, such as "disagreeable, raising objections," and encourage them to explain how the definition fits in the context of the sentence. As a follow up, you have them create some sentences that contain contrary. This can lead to a discussion of another, related meaning for contrary, that of "from another point of view," as in the expression "to the contrary." For dawdled and groping, begin once again by reading sentences in the story that contain the words. Because these words are verbs, however, you might want to pantomime the meaning of each, rather than supply a conventional definition. Then ask students to create sentences that use the words. You might define dawdled with some non-examples, because it is a word that has some clear antonyms, such as hustled, ran, went quickly, and so on. For rubies and silver, begin by having the class discuss what precious things are. You might illustrate the words by providing pictures that show rubies and things made of silver. Next, work with the class to make a list of precious things, including rubies and silver, as well as gold, diamonds, and so forth. The words used in the sample lesson are highly dissimilar. They were selected for instruction only because they happen to come from the story they students were reading. The techniques used to teach the words, however, are somewhat similar. For four of the six words, the teacher starts with sentences from the text, then asks students to create additional sentences to extend the meaning of the word beyond the text. Finally, the teacher also includes a definition, either a conventional verbal one or a gestural one, for each of the words. The instruction this lesson illustrates is relatively minimal, designed to support the reading of the text. More elaborate instruction would shift the focus from the story to the vocabulary words, and might be useful in a classroom with many English language learners, or in any classroom when a greater emphasis on vocabulary is appropriate. More elaborate instruction also might include using additional sentence contexts for each word, a "yea or nay" activity ("Would you dawdle in the backwoods?"), or having students write a scenario, or story that contains these words. Explicit vocabulary instruction does seem to improve comprehension significantly, at least when the words taught come from the text students are reading. Nevertheless, some cautions are in order. First, teaching vocabulary as students read can, under certain circumstances, distract them from the main ideas of the text. Second, teaching words that are not important to understanding the text leads students to focus on individual word meanings rather than on the overall meaning of what they read. The more effort students expend focusing on word meanings, the less effort they will have available to recall information that is important to comprehension.25 Thus, to be effective, pre-reading vocabulary instruction should focus on words that relate to the major ideas in a text, rather than on words that are interesting or unusual. Add new comment

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The purpose of this site is to offer transparency for our Leander ISD community regarding the instructional materials utilized in Secondary ELA classrooms. What Grows Readers? Reading Wellness: The act of building the dispositions, attitudes and skills of reading so that we are all our best reading selves, empowered to think, act, and find joy in our reading lives. - Explore a variety of genres and topics. - Engage with a wide range of ideas that ignite their curiosity and expand their understanding of the world around them. - Expand their cultural knowledge of people and places different than their own. - Find time and space to get into the reading flow. - Interact with texts to deepen comprehension. - Set reading goals and make decisions independently. - Develop a plan for what they are going to read next - Talk about their reading with others. - Recommend books to their friends and family. - Reflect on how a book has affected their head and their heart. - Revel in their reading risks and growth. Types of Reading Experiences in Secondary ELA Classrooms Students self-select texts, read, and monitor comprehension. Students can expect to write about and discuss their independent reading texts with their teacher and classmates. Teachers provide independent reading time in class and confer with students about their reading. Students continue their self-selected, independent reading outside of school as well. Students engage in independent reading all year during every unit of study. Ideally, students always have an independent reading book (or two) that they are reading during class as well as outside of class. “The goal of independent reading as an instructional practice is to build habitual readers with conscious reading identities.” (NCTE, 2019) Student-led book clubs are an instructional strategy that allows students to select books to read with a group of peers. During book clubs, students meet in small groups at scheduled times to discuss a book that they have all read or listened to. Through sharing their thinking, they build a richer understanding than any one student could gain from independent reading alone. Using the district-provided book club selections and existing campus collections, teachers determine the books that students can choose from for book clubs. Students preview titles, participate in book tastings (ex. preview the book, table of contents, inside cover, back cover, chapters, and read a paragraph or page near the beginning), and review the Awards and Reviews document with parents or guardians prior to choosing their top choices. Teachers match students with their choice books and create book groups. Students read their book club books, practice and apply skills using their book club books, and discuss with peers. All students read the same core work together to analyze and practice skills utilizing the same text for discussion. A core work may vary in length from shorter pieces (ex. excerpt, poem, scene, short story, essay, article) to longer pieces (ex. play, novel, memoir, nonfiction). These works may come from textbooks, instructional materials, or the whole-class text-approved list. Secondary ELA Instructional Materials - McGraw Hill Texas StudySync (online access) Grades 6-12 - Units of Study Reading & Writing (gr. 6-9) by Lucy Calkins and TCRWP - The Language of Composition, 3rd Edition (AP Language) - Literature & Composition, 2nd Edition (AP Literature)InThinking (IB) - Scholastic Scope (gr. 6, 7, 10) - Scholastic Upfront (gr. 8, 11, 12) - Scholastic Choices (gr. 9) - Lapham’s Quarterly (AP Language, AP Literature, IB) - Book Clubs (approved list below*) - Whole Class Text Study (approved list below) - Classroom Libraries (Middle School & High School) & School Libraries Lexile Levels & Literacy Graphic Novel Research Definition: a graphic novel is a “full-length” (esp. science fiction or fantasy) story published in a comic-strip format. –The Oxford English Dictionary Independent Reading and Young Adult Literature Research Independent reading is a routine, protected instructional practice that occurs across all grade levels. Effective independent reading practices include time for students to read, access to books that represent a wide range of characters and experiences, and support within a reading community that includes teachers and students. Student choice in text is essential because it motivates, engages, and reaches a wide variety of readers. The goal of independent reading as an instructional practice is to build habitual readers with conscious reading identities. (NCTE, 2019) Young Adult Literature is targeted to an age 12-18 audience and serves as a transition from children’s novels to adult literature. Young adult literature gives youth the opportunity to see their lived experiences reflected in literature. Common themes related to YA include friendship, first love, relationships, and identity. - Independent Reading from the National Council of Teachers of English - The Value of Young Adult Literature - Embracing Diverse Perspectives in Young Adult Literature Interview with Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita of Education at The Ohio State University, on the importance of students seeing themselves reflected in books as well as the importance of learning about those who have had different experiences than your own. Ted Talk presented by children’s book author/ illustrator, Grace Lin. Parent Communication & Resources Sample Book Club Parent/Guardian Communication Additional Parent/Guardian Resources - As a parent, how can I engage with my child about their reading? - If you want your learner to be a reader, emphasize and model the importance of reading by … - Surrounding yourself with books - Drawing attention to what you read - Bringing something to read everywhere you go - Reading together often Book Clubs Awards & Reviews Student-led book clubs is an instructional strategy that allows students choice, voice, and motivation in reading. Students select books they wish to read with a group of peers. Students prepare for group meetings by reading agreed-upon pages. (Literacy Learner) Through discussion and sharing thinking, students build a richer understanding than any one student could gain from independent reading alone. (Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Blog) In English Language Arts, students have the opportunity to participate in book clubs. The Awards and Reviews provide a preview of the district provided book club selections including a book summary, industry awards, professional reviews from organizations such as Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Horn Book Guide, and Library Media Connection, and a summary of the commentary from participants in the Leander ISD CCAC Comprehensive Literature Review for each title. In order to support the implementation of new TEKS and new curriculum, these titles were purchased to utilize for book clubs and to add to the existing collections already available on campuses. Campuses have the discretion to include additional titles from the campus book room that are highly matched to the intent of the unit of study. Middle School (Grades 6–8) Book Club Lists, Awards & Reviews High School (Grades 9-12) Book Club Lists, Awards & Reviews Additional Book Club Resources - What are Book Clubs? Though this article’s audience is elementary teachers, the authors’ points apply to middle and high school book clubs as well. - What is the difference between Literature Circles and Student-Led Book Clubs? - The Nuts and Bolts of Book Clubs from A Guide to the Reading Workshop: Secondary Grades by Lucy Calkins & Mary Ehrenworth (chapter 13, page 142) - Leander ISD Counselor Process to Support Secondary ELA Students During Book Clubs: If a student is impacted by reading material, counselors can provide additional supports. - As a parent, what if I do not want my child to read a specific title during book clubs? Prior to launching book clubs, teachers communicate with parents and guardians the book club choices and share the Awards and Reviews. Teachers establish a process for parents to opt out of a title. Community Curriculum Advisory Committee (CCAC) The Community Curriculum Advisory Committee (CCAC) is a group of LISD parents, teachers, principals, students, business and community members who gather with the primary function to advise on the written, taught, and tested curriculum, related instructional resources, and potential new programs and courses. During the 2020-21 school year, the CCAC convened a subcommittee, the High School ELA Comprehensive Literature Review, to review HS ELA student book club reading choices and advise about appropriate course placement. Reviewing Instructional Resources If you are concerned after you review this material, please complete the Request for Reconsideration form. Once received, one of our employees will review your request and reach out about next steps in the reconsideration process. If we have not heard back within two weeks, we will assume you no longer wish to file a formal complaint. |Title||Review Committee Meeting Date||Outcome| |Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi||Dec. 10, 2021||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in the English II book club and classroom libraries.| |Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison||Dec. 15, 2021||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in 11th- and 12th-grade classroom libraries, as well as high school campus libraries.| |Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery: The Authorized Graphic Novel by Miles Hyman||March 3, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries.| |Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson||March 21, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in both high school libraries as well as the audiobook on Sora (high school only).| |The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood & Renee Nault||March 24, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries.| |Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson||March 30, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in middle and high school libraries as well as the ebook and audiobook on Sora.| |Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan||April 5, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries.| |The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez||April 13, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries as well as English II choice book clubs.| |The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed||March 31, 2022| April 19, 2022 |March 31: The committee vote resulted in a tie for the high school library, online ebook and audiobook access for high school students. A second reconsideration meeting will be held, repeating the process with a new committee.| April 19: A second committee with a new group of 8 volunteers voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries. |None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio||March 23, 2022| April 20, 2022 |March 23: The committee vote resulted in a tie for the high school library, online ebook and audiobook access for high school students. A second reconsideration meeting will be held, repeating the process with a new committee.| April 20: A second committee with a new group of 8 volunteers voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries as well as the audiobook and ebook on Sora (high school only). |V for Vendetta by Alan Moore||April 28, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries.| |Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez||April 29, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school libraries.| |Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes||May 4, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school and middle school campus libraries; English IV choice book clubs; and English II and English IV upper classroom libraries.| |I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez||May 10, 2022||The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in high school campus libraries, ebook and audiobook access on Sora (high school only) and English I choice book clubs. The committee voted to remove audiobook access on Sora for middle school students. There was a tie regarding retention of the Spanish version of the book at the middle school level.| |What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler||April 11, 2022| May 16, 2022 |April 11: The committee vote resulted in a tie for English I choice book clubs and English I & English II lower classroom libraries. A second reconsideration meeting will be held with a new committee, repeating the process for English I choice book clubs and lower classroom libraries.| The committee voted and recommended retention of this book in English III & English IV upper classroom libraries, high school libraries as well as the ebook on Sora. May 16: A second committee with a new group of 8 volunteers voted and recommended retention of this book in English I choice book clubs, along with English I and English II lower classroom libraries. Community Questions & Public Interest 2020 Technology & Instructional Materials Adoption (TIMA): English Language Arts Grades 9–12 Approximately every 10 years, the State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency review and revise the state standards – the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills – that are taught in Texas public schools. As part of that process, the State of Texas undergoes the adoption of new instructional materials in cycles called proclamations. In Spring 2020, we adopted new instructional materials for secondary English Language Arts (ELA) according to Proclamation 2020 as outlined below: - State Adoption, Fall 2019 - Board Approved Framework for the Materials, March 2020 - Materials Ordered, Spring 2020 - Implementation, 2020–21 School Year - English Language Arts and Reading, English I–IV - ELA Electives - English for Speakers of Other Languages I and II - English Learners Language Arts, 7–8 What is the Board of Trustees’ role in the selection of instructional materials? A board shall select instructional materials in an open meeting as required by the Texas Open Meetings Act, including public notice. 19 TAC 66.104(a) The Board of Trustees was presented with the framework for selecting ELA instructional materials along with the recommended resources for adoption during the March 12, 2020 Board meeting and was approved at the March 26, 2020 Board meeting. How did we select these books? Leander ISD developed a new English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum aligning to the new state standards and provides guidance for teachers. As a part of the new curriculum for our students, we created two book club reading opportunities for each high school ELA course, and 15 titles for each book club unit were selected and vetted by the Curriculum Design Team: a group of curriculum specialists, general education teachers, special education teachers, ESL teachers, instructional coaches, and librarians. The 15 titles include a wide range of reading levels and topics. Unfortunately, the Spring 2020 review process occurred during the time we closed our buildings, staff was working virtually, and we were not allowing non-essential employees in the buildings due to COVID. As a result of this unprecedented time, we chose not to purchase and mail copies of every book title to each teacher to read and review. We recognize this was an important piece of the process we missed. By over-relying on written professional reviews from publishers, common sense media, library journals, etc. and not utilizing the trusted LISD lens to make these decisions, we failed our community. We acknowledge some books containing passages that raised concerns from students, teachers, parents, and community members made it through this flawed vetting process and for this we apologize to our students, families and community for this breakdown in trust and the process. What are Student Choice Book Clubs? Students select their book from the book club list. Teachers may suggest titles based on a student’s interests and reading level, but ultimately the student owns the choice. Parents are also offered an opportunity to review books prior to students selecting titles. This process has been tightened through the CCAC work this Fall/Spring. With approximately 15 book club titles in each unit, the titles represent a variety of reading levels to facilitate independent reading, as well as a variety of topics, voices, and cultures. Supported by the teacher and a “book club” of peers reading the same title, students will read, respond to, analyze, and critique the title they have selected. This work takes place in book club discussions, student-teacher conferences, writers’ notebook entries, and written analyses. Students participate in one student choice book club each semester, running approximately ten to fourteen class sessions each. Do the TEKS require Graphic novels to be taught? The TEKS call for multiple genres and analyzing graphic features, however, Graphic novels are not specifically mentioned in the TEKS: - Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts‐‐genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre‐specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts. The student is expected to analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts. - Author’s purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors’ choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies the author’s craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances. The student is expected to evaluate the author’s use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes. The CCAC book review teams reviewed several resources to gain a better understanding of the intent and purpose of using graphic novels in high school: - Graphic novel unit of study designed to help CCAC members understand the learning outcomes in the English II graphic novel unit of study. - Graphic novel hyperdoc created to support CCAC members evaluating the graphic novels to understand the role graphic novels play in reading and writing. What are we currently doing to address this situation? We asked the Community Curriculum Advisory Committee (CCAC) to vet all high school English Language Arts student choice book club selections. Our teachers are not using book club titles until they have been thoroughly reviewed through the rigorous CCAC process. We have assigned a team of Continuous Improvement Facilitators from various departments (outside of language arts) trained specifically for this type of activity, to lead the work in the CCAC meetings. Currently, more than 200 parents, community members, educators, and additional campus representatives including counselors, librarians, instructional coaches, principals/APs are engaged in the vetting process. Each volunteer chose whether or not to participate with each review cycle resulting in a different group of volunteers for each review cycle. The committee is vetting all 140 book club titles added to our existing collections, by grade level and unit of study, throughout the fall and spring semester. The vetting process encompasses reading each title, discussing in small groups, assessing each book based on specific criteria, and making recommendations to keep, remove, or pull a title pending further review. The CCAC page has a detailed set of review cycle summaries and recommendations. We have completed seven cycles and are currently working through the eighth. We have completed the review of 105 book titles through this process. Those details are posted on our CCAC webpage, as will the results of additional review cycles. What is the process of assigning volunteers books to review? Each CCAC volunteer was randomly assigned one or two titles to read per cycle. Random selections were based on when volunteers signed up to participate in the CCAC process. For example, the first person to sign up read book 1, the second person to sign up read book 2, and so on. After the random assignments were made, the groups were checked to ensure no singular book club group was made up of only volunteers from one feeder pattern or had volunteers who were all in the same role (parent, librarian, teacher, etc.). What is the criteria used to vet the books? - Vetting and Review Criteria (established by CCAC Continuous Improvement Cycle #4 March 2021): - Diversity: Exposes students to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences; students see themselves in the books - Student Appeal: Variety of reading levels and topics - Literary Merit: Awards, positive professional reviews, compelling characters, exemplary author’s craft, and storytelling - Alignment to Curricular Goals: The text matches the unit focus and can be used to teach the English Language Arts skills specific to the unit of study - Student Navigation of Text, Topics, and Themes: Is the content sensitive? Is the content age-appropriate? Can the book stand on its own without needing a lot of supplemental adult support? Will students understand what is going on? - Based on the criteria listed above, the volunteer assigns the book one of the following ratings and has an opportunity to comment if there are concerns or further advisement is needed - Keep as Selection: Adequately Meets Criteria (listed above) - Keep, but may require advisement (commenting available) - Concerns in this area sufficient to consider removal from the book club list (commenting available) The results of each review cycle for the Board and community will be posted on the CCAC web page under the Review Cycles Summary & Recommendations section What are the next steps? The Board formed a policy committee as part of a comprehensive review of the district’s policies. Policy concerning curriculum adoption is included in this districtwide review. The administration will bring policy proposals through this subcommittee of the Board before a recommendation is brought to the entire Board. After listening to the concerns from our community, our administrators are currently working on drafting verbiage for board policy providing additional guidance for the selection of instructional resources including books for the assigned courses. As part of this policy review process, the district will continue to meet with stakeholder groups to shape possible revisions. In the case of curriculum adoption, this will include the CCAC. What is the district doing as a result of concerning discourse amongst community members and this issue of books and instructional materials? Our district administration balances the private and individual rights of our community members with the operation of our schools and programs. We hear and see the discourse and discussion in our community about the high school English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. The actions of individuals in our community targeting others on social media and with the delivery of inappropriate mail are totally unacceptable. As a community, we owe it to each other to treat one another with respect and dignity. We want everyone to feel included in the discussions around their schools and our students’ learning. We appreciate you sharing your concerns and share your concern about parents feeling welcomed to speak in our public board meetings and other public forums. All volunteers in Leander ISD agree to our Volunteer Guidelines when registering for service each year. The registration process allows us to do a national background check on our volunteers and the guidelines provide rules and procedures for supporting our schools. If a volunteer violates our guidelines, the action and possible removal of the volunteer or adjustment to their volunteer role will be determined by the leadership in place in the roles where they serve. For example, a volunteer who serves on a committee may be removed from a role at the decision of the committee’s membership and district or school leaders facilitating the committee. Volunteers have first amendment rights and their involvement with the district does not prevent them from exercising free speech. While we hope a person would use their free speech to continue a productive dialogue, we do not have the authority to infringe upon that right. Thank you for partnering with LISD as we strive to continuously improve our systems and processes. We pledge to continue listening to community feedback and making necessary adjustments.

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15 Principles for Reading to Deaf Children The ultimate authorities in reading to deaf children are deaf adults. Comparative studies of deaf children with hearing parents and deaf children with deaf parents show that deaf children with deaf parents are superior in academic achievement, reading and writing, and social development (Ewoldt, Hoffmeister, & Israelite, 1992). Hearing parents and teachers can learn from the read aloud strategies used by deaf parents. The following 15 principles have been identified based on research that examined deaf parents and deaf teachers reading to deaf children: - Deaf readers translate stories using American Sign Language - Deaf readers keep both languages visible (ASL and English) - Deaf readers are not constrained by the text - Deaf readers re-read stories on a storytelling to story reading continuum - Deaf readers follow the child's lead - Deaf readers make what is implied explicit - Deaf readers adjust sign placement to fit the story - Deaf readers adjust signing style to fit the story - Deaf readers connect concepts in the story to the real world - Deaf readers use attention maintenance strategies - Deaf readers use eye gaze to elicit participation - Deaf readers engage in role play to extend concepts - Deaf readers use ASL variations to sign repetitive English phrases - Deaf readers provide a positive and reinforcing environment - Deaf readers expect the child to become literate Deaf readers translate stories using American Sign Language When it comes to reading stories to deaf children, one of the most prominent dilemmas is whether to sign the stories in ASL or in a manual code developed to represent English. Parents and teachers worry that if they don't sign every word in English word order, the deaf children will not pick up on the English in the text. However, a look at research on how deaf mothers and fathers read to their children makes it clear: they use ASL to read the stories to their children (Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Mather, 1989; Schick & Gale, 1995; Whitesell, 1991). A study by Schick and Gale (1995) noted that children found stories told in ASL more interesting and engaging. Deaf readers keep both languages visible (ASL and English) Although deaf readers use American Sign Language, they also place great importance on the written English of the text. Deaf parents demonstrate this when they read to their deaf children by keeping the English print visible while they interpret the story in ASL (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Mather, 1989; Schleper, 1995b; Stewart, Bonkowski, & Bennett, 1990). This allows the children to look freely from parent (ASL) to the book (English), making sense of both. In one reading session, a deaf child interrupted his mother to ask, "Where does it say that?" The mother traced her finger along the part of the story that she had just signed. The child looked from the page to his mom, back to the page again, then looked again to his mother and with a nod signaled that he was ready for her to proceed with the rest of the story. Researchers have observed deaf parents frequently calling attention to text in a story, then signing, then pointing again to the text to help the child connect to both languages. In related research, Mather (1989) observed a deaf and hearing teacher read stories to deaf students in a classroom. One primary difference observed by the two readers, both fluent signers, was that the hearing teacher did not keep the text visible while signing a story to her class, while the deaf teacher did. Deaf readers are not constrained by the text Erting (1991) observed a deaf teacher reading the story Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells to a group of preschool children. This, translated from ASL, is what the teacher signed: Daddy is busy. So, Nora goes over to see Mommy, taps Mommy, and says, Mommy. But Mommy has to pick the baby up and burp the baby. Maybe the baby has to burp. So she is patting him on the back. Nora tries to get Mommy's attention, but Mommy is busy with the baby. This is what the text on the page said: Jack needed burping. Obviously, the deaf reader has elaborated extensively on the text. The other information comes from the illustrations, from what has happened in the story thus far, from the underlying theme of the book, and from the needs of the deaf children who are enjoying the story. The reader helps build the background knowledge necessary to understand the story. This tendency to elaborate on the text has also been observed in deaf mothers (Andrews & Taylor, 1987). This suggests that when reading to deaf children, parents and teachers need not be obsessively concerned about knowing each and every word within the text, but should place higher priority on conveying the story. Deaf readers re-read stories on a "storytelling" to "story reading" continuum Like their hearing counterparts, emerging deaf readers enjoy having the same story read over and over to them. Trelease (1995) explains that this is a natural and necessary part of language development. "These rereadings coincide with the way children learn. Like their parents, they are most comfortable with the familiar, and when they are relaxed, they're better able to absorb. The repetition improves their vocabulary, sequencing, and memory skills. Research shows that preschoolers often ask as many questions (and sometimes the same questions) after a dozen readings of the same book, because they are learning language in increments not all at once. Each reading often brings an inch or two of meaning to the story." According to Schleper (1995a), deaf readers elaborate on the text extensively the first time they read a story, but then each successive reading of the same text has less and less elaboration. The signing comes closer and closer to the actual text. What occurs is a continuum, moving from a great deal of signed elaboration toward a more direct translation of the English text into American Sign Language. The same process is used by teachers in a process known as shared reading, where the same story is read and re-read in the classroom to help emerging readers learn about stories (Schleper, 1995b). One can logically conclude that deaf readers use less elaboration in subsequent readings of the same text because they have already built the background knowledge the child needs during the initial readings of the story. Deaf readers follow the child's lead Deaf readers let children take the lead during read aloud sessions (Ewoldt, 1994; Maxwell, 1984; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). This can be as simple as allowing the deaf child to select the book to be read, permitting the child to turn the pages, and waiting for the child to examine the pictures and text in a book and then look up prior to reading the story. Following the child's lead also involves adjusting the reading style to fit the child's developmental level. With young children, or children who have had limited exposure to books, this may mean initially focusing on what is happening in the pictures. As children grow older and their attention spans increase, deaf adults tend to read more complete versions of the texts. This can be illustrated by observing a deaf father while reading to his deaf children, a daughter, 3, and a son, 6 (Schleper, 1995a). The father initially read Little Red Riding Hood by William Wegman to his young daughter. This book has lots of text that accompanies photos of dogs dressed up as characters in the story. As the father read the story, his daughter turned the pages. She was clearly interested in the pictures. Following his daughter's lead, the father allowed her lots of time to examine each picture; when she looked back at him, he signed what was happening. During this reading, the father essentially ignored the printed text and instead retold the familiar tale. In contrast, when he read to his 6-year-old son, the father followed the text, carefully translating into ASL. The son also held the book and turned the pages. The father traced his finger along the text before signing each page, and occasionally paused to allow his son to fill in the next part of text. Because the son was already beginning to read on his own, the father was again following his child's lead. Although deaf parents consistently follow their children's lead, classroom teachers seem to struggle with this concept. Ewoldt (1994) observed parents and teachers in booksharing sessions over a four-year period and noted that parents were more likely to follow the children's lead, while teachers were more inclined to establish their own agenda and struggle to get children to fit into this agenda. Deaf readers make what is implied explicit When deaf readers sign a story, they tend to add information to emphasize ideas in a story that are not directly stated in the text, but are clearly implied. For example, when a deaf father read Little Red Riding Hood to his daughter, he explained how the wolf donned Red Riding Hood's grandmother's clothing. Then the father added, "He is trying to fool the girl." The text never stated directly the reason behind the action, but the deaf reader wanted to make the reason obvious for his daughter. The addition of information to make the meaning of the story explicit, or to clearly state the main idea or moral of a story, appears to be a common technique used by deaf readers. This principle can be further illustrated by examining how deaf readers interpret the story, The Dancing Fly, by Joy Cowley. This is a predictable story about a pesky fly that buzzes around a store and annoys a storekeeper, who tries unsuccessfully to swat the fly with a fly swatter. The first couple of lines of the text are: "There was a little fly, and it flew into the store. It danced on the window, and it danced on the door." Schleper observed 10 different deaf readers sign the story. Inevitably, each reader began the story in a similar manner. First he or she introduced the fly, then added a sign for "arrogant" or "big-headed." Although the text never mentions the fly's personality, this characteristic is implied throughout the story through the struggle between the storekeeper and the fly. Like most of the principles observed with deaf parents and deaf teachers, this technique appears to be intuitive and unconscious on the part of the deaf readers. However, one can surmise that such a practice directly impacts the deaf children's reading achievement. By modeling the comprehension process and reading between the lines, deaf readers are showing how a story has meaning that goes beyond the printed text. Deaf readers adjust sign placement to fit the story A common strategy used by deaf adults reading to deaf children is to adjust the placement of signs to maintain interest and variety (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). Occasionally, the reader will place a sign directly on a child, such as making the sign for "cat" directly on the child's face. Other times, the reader will make the sign on the book or an illustration. For example, a deaf parent might use the classifier for a vehicle, place the sign on an illustration of a car, and then move the sign along the picture of the road in a book, as if the car is driving along the street. In one situation, a father who was reading to his daughter came to the last picture in a book about Little Red Riding Hood. In the picture, Red Riding Hood and her grandmother were eating cake with the woodsman. The father asked, "Are you hungry?" When his daughter nodded, the father mimed taking a piece of cake from the picture and offered it to his daughter. His use of sign placement helped his daughter interact with the story. At other times, deaf parents make the signs in the usual place. It appears that variation in placement of the signs, from on the child, to on the text, to the regular place, helps deaf children connect to the stories being read. Deaf readers adjust signing style to fit the story Critical aspects of speech are tone, intensity, and pitch of voice. Skilled readers to hearing children vary their intonation and volume to give life to the characters in the story. They vary their pitch to illustrate the high pitched voice of the baby bear or the booming voice of the papa bear in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In a similar way, deaf readers adjust their signing style to bring characters to life. A skilled deaf reader will adopt a more rigid, stilted signing style to portray an uptight person, sign using miniature signs and small signing space to depict someone who is timid, or use big exaggerated signs to show a "loud" character. Research on deaf parents shows that they use extensive variation in how they make their signs to make the stories interesting for their deaf children (Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Mather, 1989; Stewart, Bonkowski, & Bennett, 1990; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). Deaf readers connect concepts in the story to the real world Skillful deaf readers constantly relate experiences of their own to the characters and events in the stories they are reading (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Andrews & Taylor, 1987; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Stewart, Bonkowski, & Bennett, 1990; Whitesell, 1991). Deaf readers help children build this skill by regularly making connections between the story and the lives of the children they are reading to. As one deaf mother read a story about a cat which lapped up some milk, she added, "You know, the same as Sparky (their dog) drinks his water." The child laughed and nodded, clearly making the connection of their shared experience. A father who read Whales, the Gentle Giants to his children paused periodically to help them connect the story to their own experiences. The children had chosen the book because it reminded them of the movie Free Willy. After the father read a section of the text about a blue whale, he turned to his 3-year-old daughter and asked, "Are whales big or small?" "Big," the girl replied. "Really big!" the father agreed. Then his 6-year-old son walked over to the far wall of the family room to show his sister how big a blue whale really is. "That big," he said. His father told him that a blue whale is much bigger, but they remained skeptical. Then the father tried to help the children relate the whale's size to objects in their own lives. He said, "It's huge. It's the same as when you see a football field. It's big, right? This whale is bigger!" Deaf readers use attention maintenance strategies It is perfectly natural for deaf children to look away or down at the book sometimes while an adult is reading a story. Although this can be frustrating, experienced deaf readers find appropriate ways to respond (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Andrews & Taylor, 1987; Lartz & Lestina, 1995; Van der Lem & Timmerman, 1990). Usually, deaf readers wait patiently until the child looks up again, then continue to read. Deaf readers also use a variety of strategies to keep their deaf children's attention. Most commonly, a parent will lightly tap the child on the shoulder or leg to get attention. If the parent is sitting alongside the child, the parent will often gently nudge the child, or shift the book to first draw the child's attention back to the text, and then to the waiting parent. The deaf parent also uses facial expression to maintain attention, and eye contact appears to be central in holding the child's interest. One behavior noticed with hearing parents and teachers, but absent with deaf parents, is grabbing the child by the chin and forcibly pulling the child's face to attention. While young children sometimes do this with their parents, it is not an acceptable practice to model for the children. Deaf readers also recognize the power of peripheral vision. They note that deaf children pick up a lot even when they are not looking directly at the reader's signs. And, since the deaf reader will often read the same story over and over again, the child will have plenty of opportunities to get any information missed during any one reading. Deaf readers use eye gaze to elicit participation Eye contact is clearly an important consideration when reading to deaf children. Mather (1989) researched the importance of eye gaze when reading to deaf children. She found readers used two types of eye gaze during reading sessions: individual and group gaze. One deaf teacher used group gaze effectively to involve all of the students in the reading and individual gaze to direct questions or comments to particular children. Mather noticed that hearing teachers sometimes used inappropriate eye gaze with deaf students, leading to miscommunication during reading sessions. One teacher, for example, commented to her class, "Some of you don't know this story." Instead of including the whole group, her gaze was focused on just one student. The child being singled out replied defensively, "I know! I know!" It is clear that eye gaze plays a key role in maintaining attention and eliciting responses during read aloud sessions. Deaf readers engage in role play to extend concepts Several researchers point out that deaf readers often act out parts of a story to help clarify meaning (Ewoldt, 1984; Mather, 1989; Rogers, 1989). A deaf teacher who was reading The Three Little Kittens to a group of preschool deaf children noticed that the children were not following the story. Quickly, the teacher mimed the kittens tracking mud into the house. Then she brought the children into the role play by becoming the mother cat and scolding the kittens. The children's grins demonstrated their renewed understanding and involvement. A mother and her 4-year-old deaf son also used role play during a session with the book Roll Over! A Counting Song by Merle Peek. This story is about a boy who shares his bed with nine animals. Each time they roll over, one animal falls out of bed. During the booksharing session, the deaf mother and her son were sitting on the bed as the mother read, "Ten in the bed and the little one said, 'Roll over! Roll over!' They all rolled over and one fell out." When she finished the section, her son stood up and fell dramatically off his bed, landing exactly in the same spot as the monkey in the book. He climbed back into bed, and as his mother went on reading, he continued to role play the animals, each time falling happily out of bed. Deaf readers use ASL variations to sign repetitive English phrases Many predictable books for young children have phrases that are repeated over and over again. For example, "He huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in," from The Three Little Pigs, or "Fee! Fie! Fo! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!" from Jack and the Beanstalk. When deaf readers read these repetitive phrases, they don't always sign them the exact same way. In fact, evidence suggests that deaf readers vary the way they sign repetitive English phrases. In these situations, the children see the English text remain constant in the book, while also being exposed to various ways to sign the concepts. Sometimes these sign variations are used to maintain interest in the story. For example, in the story Roll Over! A Counting Song by Merle Peek, the chant, "Roll over! Roll over!" is repeated 10 times as each character in turn rolls off the bed. When a deaf mother read this book to her son, she pointed to the English text (which was the same each time), but then signed the text in various ways. Sometimes she used a classifier to show the animals rolling together. Other times, she used a different sign for "roll." Sometimes she used other variations. The variety of ways she used to express the concept seemed to hold her son's interest in the story. Other times the use of sign variations helped to convey increased intensity or "volume," such as when each successive troll crosses over the bridge in The Three Billy Goats Gruff. While the English words remained the same, the deaf adult used different ASL translations each time the English phrase was repeated. Perhaps the readers were subconsciously demonstrating that there is no direct word-to-sign correspondence between English and ASL, and that, in fact, there are multiple ways to convey the English meaning in American Sign Language. In the process, the deaf readers are also developing the children's signed vocabulary, and, one can assume, promoting the children's ability to make meaning from the English text. Deaf readers provide a positive and reinforcing environment Reading is supposed to be fun. It is also supposed to involve the construction of meaning through reciprocal interaction between readers and text. Unfortunately, in many classrooms with deaf children, the teacher controls both the interactions and the interpretation of the text. Ewoldt (1994) observed extensive control on the part of teachers during booksharing. The teachers she observed used a variety of correction responses to children's comments. Those responses ranged from simply telling a child, "You're wrong," to ignoring the child's answer, providing a different answer, changing the meaning of a child's message to fit the teacher's version of the story, or restating the teacher's own interpretation. In contrast, research with deaf parents shows they provided a positive, interactive environment (Akamatsu & Andrews, 1993; Andrews & Taylor, 1987; Ewoldt, 1994; Rogers, 1989). They did not seek "correct" answers from the children during reading. Rather, they set up a mutually rewarding atmosphere that encouraged the creative interpretation of text. In one reading session (Schleper, 1995a), a deaf father was reading Little Red Riding Hood to his daughter. His daughter tapped his knee, then turned back to the previous page and pointed. "Look at the teeth!" she said. "Yeah, the teeth are sharp! Like fangs," the father said, reinforcing the child's observation. "They have blood on them," the daughter pointed out. The father questioned this, pointing to the illustration. "Where?" he asked. They examined the picture together. "Maybe you re right. They do have blood!" the father said. Instead of ignoring his daughter, or telling her she was wrong, the father let her make her point. His positive, reinforcing response helped make booksharing enjoyable. And when the read aloud sessions are enjoyable, it is more likely that the child will retain fond, positive associations with books and reading. Deaf readers expect the child to become literate A final principle that seems to underlie the read aloud sessions between deaf adults and deaf children is the positive belief in the children's abilities. Whitesell (1991) observed a deaf teacher with a reputation for producing good, enthusiastic readers, hoping to determine which of her teaching strategies and practices seemed most critical. After observing for an extended period of time, Whitesell discovered the key: "The teacher expected them to become literate." Most deaf parents do not read to their children in order to teach them English or to instruct them in the reading process. They want to share their own love of books. While they may expect some academic benefit for the children, that is clearly secondary. When Schleper (1995a) asked deaf parents if they thought their children would become literate in English, they all replied, "Of course!" There was never any doubt. Reprinted with permission from the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University. For more information, visit the Clerc website. I am a teacher for children with hearing impairment. Found the content super helpful and simplified . A really clear and well informed page, with tips that actually make sense as they are from deaf parents teaching children to read. Child centred learning wins again! Great to see the 15 principles for reading to deaf children on here! Please note that this is from David R. Schleper.

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Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a rapidly evolving field of computer science that involves teaching machines to understand and interpret human language. In recent years, there have been significant advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP), particularly with the development of large-scale language models such as ChatGPT by OpenAI. ChatGPT is a machine-learning model that can generate human-like text responses to a wide range of natural language queries and prompts. This article is a definitive guide to ChatGPT, covering what it is, how it works, its applications, and how to use it effectively. We’ll also look at some of the alternatives to ChatGPT and explore some of the limitations and challenges of using this technology. Everything you need to know about ChatGPT: Table of Contents What is a Chatbot and how does it work? A Chatbot is software that simulates a real conversation with another person. It uses an interface and some interactions that allow you to build words to maintain a conversation. The number of Chatbots that exist today is enormous, from those that are only capable of generating a few very simple words or phrases, to those that already build more sophisticated results. This means that what we are doing when we find a Chatbot is interacting with a tool that is capable of carrying on a more or less fluid conversation and that will guide us toward the desired action. Chatbots use several language principles to understand the human who is writing to them : - Natural Language Processing (NLP): is used to get the meaning of the words a person types by first doing a series of spell checks before determining what the meaning of each word is. - Natural Language Understanding (CLN): it is the part in which the Chatbot tries to understand the meaning of what the person wants, relying on algorithms, rules, databases, and internal themes, which will indicate the correct way to answer. - Natural Language Generation (GNL): offering an answer depends on this part where the data repositories are consulted to offer an adequate answer. What is ChatGPT and OpenAI ChatGPT is a deep neural network-based language model developed by OpenAI. It is part of a family of Generative Pretrained transformer (GPT) models that use unsupervised learning to generate human-like text responses to natural language inputs. ChatGPT is a powerful tool for a wide range of NLP tasks, including text generation, summarization, and question-answering. How does ChatGPT work? ChatGPT was released in 2019, and it was based on the GPT-2 architecture. The model was trained on a large corpus of text data, including books, articles, and websites, to learn the patterns and relationships between words and phrases. The data used to train ChatGPT was carefully selected to ensure that it represented a diverse range of topics, styles, and perspectives. ChatGPT uses a deep neural network architecture that is similar to other language models such as BERT and Transformer. The model consists of multiple layers of transformer blocks, which process the input text and generate output responses. The input to ChatGPT is a natural language prompt or query, and the model generates a response that is intended to be coherent, relevant, and grammatically correct. The output from ChatGPT is generated one word at a time, with each word being conditioned on the previous words in the sequence. ChatGPT uses a technique called autoregressive language modeling to generate text. In this approach, the model is trained to predict the next word in a sequence based on the previous words. The model is trained to maximize the likelihood of generating the correct next word in the sequence, given the context of the previous words. Everything you can do with ChatGPT In this case, we will set the limit ourselves and our needs, since everything will depend on what we want to use it for, knowing that it has thousands of functions and possibilities. We can ask him to explain something to us, to provide us with a definition, or to compare two elements of any section, since he has all kinds of information. It can be used to explain how we can perform any task, a cooking recipe or plugging in, for example. For students it will be very valid, since it has information of all kinds, from an author, how certain mathematical problems are solved, historical facts or something related to literature, to give you several examples. It could even be used to translate texts, write scripts, and jokes, play trivia, or make lists. Applications of ChatGPT Chatbots and Virtual Assistants One of the most popular applications of ChatGPT is the development of chatbots and virtual assistants. These tools use ChatGPT to generate human-like responses to customer inquiries, product questions, and other types of requests. Chatbots and virtual assistants can help businesses to reduce their customer service costs, improve response times, and provide a more personalized service to their customers. ChatGPT can be used to generate high-quality content such as news articles, product descriptions, and social media posts. This can be particularly useful for companies and organizations that need to produce large volumes of content on a regular basis. The use of ChatGPT for content creation can help to reduce the workload on content creators, improve the quality and consistency of content, and save time and resources. ChatGPT can be used to build language translation systems, allowing users to translate text between different languages. Developers can train the model on pairs of languages, and then use the model to translate text between those languages. This can be a useful tool for businesses and organizations operating in multiple countries and languages. ChatGPT can be used to build text summarization systems, allowing users to summarize long documents or articles into shorter, more digestible formats. Developers can train the model on large datasets of text data, and then use the model to generate summaries of new text data. This can be a useful tool for news aggregation, research, and information retrieval. Question Answering Systems ChatGPT can be used to build question-answering systems, allowing users to ask questions and receive accurate and relevant responses. Developers can train the model on large datasets of question-answer pairs, and then use the model to generate responses to new questions. This can be a useful tool for customer support, education, and research. ChatGPT can also be used to perform sentiment analysis on text data, allowing businesses and organizations to understand the sentiment of their customers and stakeholders. Developers can train the model on labeled datasets of text, and then use the model to classify new text data as positive, negative, or neutral. This can be a valuable tool for customer service, marketing, and reputation management. What are the advantages of Chatgpt? There are several advantages of Chat GPT that make it a powerful tool for natural language processing and machine learning: - Natural Language Processing: ChatGPT is a powerful tool for natural language processing, allowing developers to build chatbots and virtual assistants that can understand and respond to human language in a natural and intuitive way. - Versatility: ChatGPT is a highly versatile tool that can be used for a wide range of natural language processing tasks, including content generation, language translation, sentiment analysis, question answering, and text summarization. - Large Dataset: ChatGPT is trained on a massive dataset of text data, allowing it to generate highly accurate and relevant responses to user queries. - Contextual Understanding: ChatGPT has a strong contextual understanding of human language, allowing it to generate responses that take into account the broader context of a conversation or query. - Flexibility: ChatGPT is highly flexible, allowing developers to fine-tune the model to suit their specific needs and applications. - Cost-Effective: Compared to building natural language processing systems from scratch, using ChatGPT can be a highly cost-effective approach, as it requires less time and resources to develop a functional system. - Continuous Learning: ChatGPT is designed to learn and improve over time, allowing it to continually improve its accuracy and relevance in responding to user queries. - On-demand support: There are many potential benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) in education. As an AI-powered conversational agent, ChatGPT can provide a range of benefits for students. ChatGPT is available 24/7, so students can get help and support whenever they need it, regardless of the time of day or their physical location. Overall, Chat GPT offers a powerful and flexible platform for natural language processing and machine learning, with a wide range of applications and advantages that make it a valuable tool for developers and businesses alike. How to use ChatGPT in Web Browser To be able to use Chat GPT you will only have to go directly to the web https://chat.openai.com from the browser you want on your computer. The first thing you have to do is create an OpenIA account, so you have to click where it says Sign Up. Now you can choose if you want to register with an email or use a Microsoft or Google account already created. Once you have completed the registration, you will be asked for your first name and last name. At that time it will request that we put in a phone number, once we enter it, they will send us a code that we must put in the next window that appears. Now we will be inside ChatGPT and we will be able to start interacting. From here we only have to write at the bottom and when we have finished, hit the Enter key on the computer or press the icon of a paper airplane on the right side of the writing area. Remember that everything you write stays in ChatGPT’s memory, so it will be visible to the OpenIA development team’s reviews, so don’t enter sensitive information, or ask for anything that could be considered illegal. How to use ChatGPT with OpenAI API key Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use ChatGPT at OpenAI: Sign up for an OpenAI API key: To use ChatGPT, you’ll need to sign up for an OpenAI API key. You can do this by visiting the OpenAI website (openai.com), navigating to the API page, and clicking the “Get API Key” button. You’ll need to provide some basic information about yourself and your intended use of the API, and then wait for OpenAI to approve your request. Install the OpenAI API client: Once you have an API key, you’ll need to install the OpenAI API client on your computer. The API client is a Python library that allows you to interact with the OpenAI API using Python code. You can install the API client using pip, the Python package manager, by running the following command in your terminal or command prompt: Write your code: Now that you have the API client installed, you can start writing code to interact with the OpenAI API. The simplest way to do this is to use the openai.Completion.create() method to generate text from ChatGPT. This method takes a prompt, which is a piece of text that provides context for the generated text, as well as some additional parameters that control how the text is generated. Here’s an example code snippet that generates text using ChatGPT: Interpret the response: Once you’ve generated text from Chat GPT, you’ll need to interpret the response to determine what Chat GPT has generated. The response object returned by openai.Completion.create() contains a list of Choice objects, each of which represents a possible generated text. The text itself is stored in the text attribute of the Choice object. You’ll also want to check the model attribute of the response to ensure that ChatGPT is using the engine you intended it to use. Refine your prompt: ChatGPT is only as good as the prompt you give it, so if you’re not getting the results you want, you may need to refine your prompt. Try experimenting with different prompts to see how ChatGPT responds, and adjust the parameters of the openai.Completion.create() method to get the best results. That’s a basic step-by-step guide on how to use ChatGPT at OpenAI. Good luck, and have fun generating text! Is ChatGPT free? ChatGPT is a powerful AI language model that is available for free to anyone with an internet connection. Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT uses advanced machine learning algorithms to generate human-like responses to natural language inputs. This means that Chat GPT can carry out a wide range of tasks, from answering questions to generating creative writing, and much more. Unlike other AI products and services, which may require a subscription or a purchase to access, ChatGPT is accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This makes it an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone else who needs quick access to high-quality language processing tools. Of course, there may be other costs associated with using Chat GPT, depending on the context in which it is used. For example, if you access Chat-GPT through a third-party service or platform, that service or platform may charge fees or require a subscription. Additionally, if you need to use large amounts of computing power to process text, there may be associated costs for that as well. Overall, however, ChatGPT is an excellent resource for anyone who needs to work with natural language, and its availability for free makes it an even more attractive option. Top 5 Alternatives of ChatGPT Like everything in life, there is not only an advanced AI system. There are several alternatives to Chat GPT that we are going to know now. Let’s see those that can be considered the closest to OpenIA. Here are some of the best alternatives to ChatGPT: The technology behind ChatGPT (GPT-3) is the same one that powers Chatsonic. Chatsonic is not a copy of ChatGPT but has its own abilities. For example, it is better implemented in events that occurred after 2023, one of the limitations that Open IA has. You can access the Internet and pull information from Google’s Knowledge Graph to create enhanced answers that are up-to-date and more consistent with recent events. Another substantial difference from ChatGPT is that you can create digital art from prompts. Use the Stable Diffusion and DALL-E APIs to generate awesome AI art. Another advantage of ChatSonic is that you can use voice commands and, if necessary, also get answers via voice, just like you would with Siri and Google Assistant. There was already GPT-3 Playground before ChatGPT came out, but unfortunately, it didn’t create as much of a buzz as it has an overly technical user interface. GPT-3 is one of the most powerful AI languages models out there, being able to do what ChatGPT does and a lot more. There are more options and settings to customize the AI model to behave the way we want. There are also some differences such as that GPT-3 Playground will not normally refuse to answer questions on sensitive topics. Previously known as Jarvis, Jasper is an exceptional AI writing tool that is designed to help companies generate high-quality content quickly and efficiently. It is especially useful for businesses that need to produce content on a regular basis, such as in marketing or sales. Jasper Chat, an AI-powered chat interface based on GPT 3.5 technology, comes with more than 50 templates that can be customized to create content for various types of media, such as blogs, social media, AIDA, PSA, and more. Unlike Chat-GPT, which is accessible to anyone, Jasper is tailored to the specific needs of businesses and industries. Overall, Jasper is a versatile and reliable AI writing tool that can save businesses time and effort in generating high-quality content. DeepL, a German-based company that is renowned for its AI language translation services, has developed a new beta product called DeepL Write. As an AI-powered writing assistant, DeepL Write has numerous advanced features that help users enhance the accuracy and quality of their writing. One of its key features is its ability to generate accurate and fluent paraphrased text. The application’s advanced linguistic processing algorithms analyze the input text and create a paraphrased version that retains the style and meaning of the original text. This feature makes DeepL Write an excellent tool for creating original content and avoiding plagiarism. Students, researchers, and content creators can utilize DeepL Write to generate high-quality, original content quickly and easily. RepliKa is a highly developed AI system that already has 10 million active users since it is paid and different from ChatGPT in several ways. It is extremely advanced, it is not for nothing that it can recognize visual elements and use them to maintain the conversation. Replika is like having a friend that the moment you talk to him he responds instantly. You can talk about life issues, romance, and other topics that we could discuss with your friends and family. With Replika we can chat about anything, make video calls to talk to our replica, get coaching support and we can even give our replica a marital status. Limitations and Challenges of ChatGPT While ChatGPT is a powerful tool for NLP, there are several limitations and challenges to consider when using this technology. Here are some of the main limitations and challenges of ChatGPT: Bias and Inaccuracy: ChatGPT, like any other machine learning model, can be biased and inaccurate. This is particularly true when the model is trained on a biased or limited dataset. For example, if the model is trained on text data that contains a disproportionate amount of one type of language or content, the model may produce biased results. It is important to be aware of these limitations and to take steps to mitigate bias and inaccuracies in your ChatGPT model. Lack of Context: ChatGPT does not always have access to the full context of a conversation or text document. This can make it challenging for the model to generate coherent and relevant responses, particularly in complex or ambiguous situations. For example, if a user asks a question that requires specific knowledge or understanding of a particular topic, the model may not be able to provide an accurate response. Limited Domain Expertise: ChatGPT does not have the same level of domain expertise as a human expert in a particular field. This means that the model may not be able to provide accurate or detailed responses to questions or queries that require specialized knowledge. For example, if a user asks a question about a specific medical condition, the model may not have the necessary medical knowledge to provide an accurate response. Difficulty in Training: Training a ChatGPT model can be a complex and time-consuming process. The quality of the data used for training, as well as the choice of hyperparameters, can have a significant impact on the performance of the model. Additionally, large amounts of computing power are required to train complex models, which can be expensive. Limited Multilingual Support: While ChatGPT is capable of generating text in multiple languages, its performance is generally best in English. The model may struggle to generate coherent and accurate responses in other languages, particularly if it has not been specifically trained on text data in those languages. Privacy and Security Concerns: ChatGPT models may be vulnerable to attacks or abuse, particularly if they are deployed in a public-facing context. For example, malicious actors could use the model to generate fraudulent content or impersonate individuals. Additionally, the use of chatbots and other conversational interfaces raises privacy concerns, as user data may be collected and used without their knowledge or consent. ChatGPT is a powerful tool for NLP that has many practical applications in a wide range of industries and domains. From chatbots and virtual assistants to content generation and creative writing, the possibilities for ChatGPT are vast and varied. However, as with any technology, there are limitations and challenges to consider when using ChatGPT. It is important to be aware of these limitations and to take steps to mitigate bias, inaccuracies, and privacy concerns. As ChatGPT continues to evolve and improve, it is likely to become an even more valuable tool for businesses, organizations, and individuals looking to unlock the power of natural language processing.

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