Monday, November 5, 2012

How & Where to Find Images for Your Civil War Podcast Project


Public domain.

This is a term that is important for you, as big, bad 8th graders, to know.

The public domain refers to works (writing, images, music, etc.) that are not owned by anyone, are not protected by copyright, and can thus be used freely.  Examples include:
  • The Bible (created before copyright laws existed)
  • Shakespeare plays (copyright has expired)
  • The Constitution, Congress laws, Supreme Court documents, etc. (government document)
Photos from the Civil War are all in the public domain because their copyright (if they had them to begin with) has expired.  Photos from modern reenactments, paintings and other Civil War related works, however, might not be in the public domain.

Rather than using Google Image search to find images for your podcast, we'd like you to use the the web site collections listed below.

WHY?  Because you need to understand and abide by copyright rules and all the given sites have public domain images only.  Also, you will find really great images from these sites that you might not find through a Google image search.  Oh, and it's always good to try new things (even if we're making you do it).

Create a folder on your desktop clearly labeled with your full name and project description (ex. Kristen Sanchez Civil War Project).

Save your images inside the folder (rather than right on the desktop).  This will make it easy to import into iMovie when you're ready.  Make sure that you save the largest image size possible.  Thumbnails and low resolution images will become fuzzy in iMovie and you will lose points.  Remember, NO clip art is allowed.

Keep track of your image sources. You need to include a bibliography at the end of your iMovie that includes ALL sources (text and images).  EasyBib has a citation creator for photographs.

Search the following sites:


If you want to use an image NOT from one of these sites, show it to me to get my okay.

Once you have your images (you should have at least 8), you should work on a plan.  I recommend that you take a printout of your narrative (part 2) and highlight with different colors into logical chunks.  You will need the same number of photos as you have chunks.  Oh, and it is okay to revise your writing before you begin recording.  Sometimes when we reread a few days later we realize we can make something sound better.  You should definitely do this!

Most of the photos we have from the Civil War era were taken by a man named Mathew Brady.  You can read more about Mathew Brady at the links below.
You can also learn more about Mathew Brady at www.mathewbrady.com


Thursday, October 11, 2012

Election Project Sample Paragraphs


The states and stats are made up so that you don’t just copy! J

*

President Obama is likely to win the state of Berryfornia by a wide margin.  According to a SurveyUSA poll dated October 3rd, 56% plan to vote for Obama compared to 36% for Romney.  Even if the remaining 8% all vote for Romney, Obama will still win.  Moreover, the state of Berryfornia has gone Democratic in every Presidential election since 1988.

*

A slim majority of voters in Cenaland will likely choose Mitt Romney over Barack Obama.  An October 4th Rasmussen poll put Romney ahead of Obama 49 to 46, yet a Public Policy poll from the same date found Romney ahead by 6 points.   Though the popular vote is projected to be close, Republicans carried Cenaland in 2008, 2004, and 2000.

Friday, August 31, 2012

First Homework: Decorate your SS Journal!


WORTH 10 POINTS
Due by Friday 9/7/12

This year we will be studying the Civil War and Reconstruction, World War II and the Holocaust, and the Civil Rights Movement.  We will also be talking a lot about why we study history, how the past connects to issues today, and how we can use our knowledge and personal gifts to make our own history.  You need a composition book (NO SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS) to use as your Social Studies Journal.

Your first homework assignment is to decorate your Social Studies journal.  You should use images related to this year’s units.  Select at least 10.  You should also include at least 5 quotes and/or important words that relate to the units or Social Studies in general.

An easy place to go for quotes is Kristen’s Pinterest board, Social Studies Quotes.  You can view it at:   She is mildly obsessed and has over 50.  J



After you paste your images and quotes down, cover your notebook with Contact Paper or clear packing tape.  IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THESE SUPPLIES AT HOME, come to Lab 1 before homeroom anytime this week (7:45-8:20) and Kristen will provide some.  Do not show up at 8:18 on Friday morning and assume that you will get it covered before 8:20 homeroom.  Plan ahead!
We will be checking notebooks at the beginning of class on Friday.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Non-Fiction Titles


Guns, Germs, and Steel:  The Fate of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond

Chocolate:  Riches from the Rainforest by Robert Burleigh

Band of Brothers:  E. Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose

Undaunted Courage:  Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose

Mornings on Horseback:  The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David G. McCullough


Non-Fiction Title Craft Strategies

  • power of 3!
  • hint at topic OR be direct
  • COLON with a subtitle
  • alliteration
  • theme - bold language
  • scene - bold language




Thursday, May 10, 2012

Civil Rights Today: President Obama and Same Sex Marriage

Unless you're completely living under a rock, you probably heard something about gay marriage and President Obama yesterday.

Let's watch the ABC News video clip from yesterday.

Read the Wall Street Journal article with your partner.  Highlight the five most important sentences and create two open-ended discussion questions to bring to your group.

After your group discussion, go to the New York Times reaction board and post a comment.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Transitions

Good writers of non-fiction use carefully chosen transition words and carefully crafted topic sentences.


Transition words and phrases:

  • tie a sentence to a paragraph
  • connect "the dots" for the reader
  • provide organization and flow

Here are some sites with lists of transition words:



Topic sentences:
  • tie a paragraph to the thesis
  • summarize for the reader
  • provide organization and flow
You should already have topic sentences from your outline, but you may need to revise and reconstruct some.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Parenthetical Citation in MLA Format

Wahoo it's drafting time!  We're in the home stretch my precious pop-tarts.

Parenthetical Citation QUICK Overview:

  • EVERY fact, quote, stat, story, etc. that is not your original idea (basically everything BUT your thesis and your crafty leads which we'll work on next week) needs to be cited
  • The author's last name goes in parentheses after the fact and before the ending punctuation.  Put the page number - if there is one - one space after the name and before the ending parentheses.  Do not write page, p., # or anything else like that.  If there is no author, use the title of the book (italics) or article/web site (quotes).
    •  Blah blah blah (Sanchez 36).
    • "Blah blah blah" (Sanchez 49).
    • Blah blah blah (Sanchez and Kelly 45). <-- 2 authors
    • Blah blah blah (Sanchez, Kelly and Smith 89). <-- 3 authors
    • Blah blah blah (Sanchez et al. 342) <-- more than 3 authors
    • Blah blah blah (The World According to Sanchez). <-- book without author (very unlikely)
    • Blah blah blah ("Top 10 Reasons I Love Kristen Sanchez"). <-- article or web site without author (more likely)

  • If you quote someone who was quoted by someone else, do it like this:
    • "Blah blah blah" (qtd. in Sanchez 47).
    • "Blah blah blah" (qtd. in "Top 10 Reasons I Love Kristen Sanchez").




    • If you SAY the author's name in your set up for the quote or for the fact, you don't need to put his or her name in parentheses.  You just need to put the page number.  If there is no page number, you don't put anything.
      • According to world famous historian Kristen Sanchez, "Blah blah blah" (47).
      • In her book The World According to Sanchez, Kristen Sanchez argues that blah blah blah (89).

    • When you have multiple facts, quotes, stats, etc. in a row from the same source, you do not repeat the citation in full.  If it's a book with page numbers, you just put the new page number like this:
      • Blah blah blah (Sanchez 36).
      • Blah blah blah (48).
    • If it's a book with page numbers and it's from the SAME page, you write Ibid like this:
      • Blah blah blah (Sanchez 36).
      • Blah blah blah (ibid).
    • If it's an article or web site without page numbers, you just write ibid like this:
      • Blah blah blah ("The World According to Sanchez").
      • Blah blah blah (ibid).

    Purdue OWL MLA Formatting and Style Guide

    Sunday, April 22, 2012

    Emmet Till

    Essential Question:  What made Emmett Till's murder in 1955 different than previous incidents of violence against African-Americans?  What was the significance then?  What is the significance now?


    Warmup:  What can we learn about the murder of Emmett Till from Bob Dylan's protest song Death of Emmett Till?  (Start video 40 seconds in)






    To read the lyrics, visit Bobdylan.com

    Who was Emmett Till and why was he killed?

    Start at 4:40






    Images from the case (PBS Eyes on the Prize)

    STOP & JOT:  What made Emmett Till's murder in 1955 different than previous incidents of violence against African-Americans?  

    The Trial:

    Video clip from PBS American Experience:  The Murder of Emmett Till



    Primary Source Analysis:

    White House Memo filed by E. Frederic Morrow, the first African-American White House staff member

    PICK TWO:


    • What do you read that you didn’t expect?
    • What powerful words and ideas are expressed?
    • What feelings and thoughts does the primary source trigger in you?
    • What questions does it raise?
    • What can you learn from analyzing this?
    • If someone created this, what would be different?

    How did this incident shape young African-Americans?

    • "Emmett Till and I were about the same age. A week after he was murdered... I stood on the corner with a gang of boys, looking at pictures of him in the black newspapers and magazines. In one, he was laughing and happy. In the other, his head was swollen and bashed in, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and his mouth twisted and broken. His mother had done a bold thing. She refused to let him be buried until hundreds of thousands marched past his open casket in Chicago and looked down at his mutilated body. [I] felt a deep kinship to him when I learned he was born the same year and day I was. My father talked about it at night and dramatized the crime. I couldn't get Emmett out of my mind..."      ~ Muhammed Ali, boxer
    • "My memories are exact -- and parallel those of many others my age -- I felt vulnerable for the first time in my life -- Till was a year younger -- and recall believing that this could easily happen to me -- for no reason at all. I lived in Pennsylvania at the time."       ~ Julian Bond, civil rights leader and chairman, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and George School alum

    STOP & JOT:  What was the significance then?  What is the significance now?

    Additional resources:

    PBS Timeline of Emmett Till case 

    Friday, March 30, 2012

    Lynching Mini Project- Chris Beverly

    Wooyoung's Lynching Graphs

    Separate but Equal: My Man Langston, Plessy vs. Ferguson, & Executive Order 9981

    “I, Too” by Langston Hughes (1925)

    I, too, sing America.


    I am the darker brother.

    They send me to eat in the kitchen

    When company comes,

    But I laugh,

    And eat well,

    And grow strong.


    Tomorrow,

    I'll be at the table

    When company comes.

    Nobody'll dare

    Say to me,

    "Eat in the kitchen,"

    Then.


    Besides,

    They'll see how beautiful I am

    And be ashamed--


    I, too, am America.


    SOURCE: Langston Hughes, "I, Too," Collected Poems by Langston Hughes (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994).

     

     

    Plessy vs. Ferguson



    U.S. Supreme Court
    PLESSY v. FERGUSON, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)

    Justice Henry Brown delivered the majority opinion of the Court:

    … The object of the [Fourteenth] amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but, in the nature of things, it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political, equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either. Laws permitting, and even requiring, their separation, in places where they are liable to be brought into contact, do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other, and have been generally, if not universally, recognized as within the competency of the state legislatures in the exercise of their police power. The most common instance of this is connected with the establishment of separate schools for white and colored children, which have been held to be a valid exercise of the legislative power even by courts of states where the political rights of the colored race have been longest and most earnestly enforced.…

    We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it. …

    If the two races are to meet upon terms of social equality, it must be the result of natural affinities, a mutual appreciation of each other's merits, and a voluntary consent of individuals. …If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.


    Dark Laughter comic strip by Oliver W. Harrington, 1960

    Executive Order 9981


    Source:  Truman Library

    More resources:

    Activity:


     

    Wednesday, March 28, 2012

    Lynching :: Strange Fruit, Without Sanctuary, & a Mini-Project

    Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday

    Southern trees bear strange fruit
    Blood on the leaves
    Blood at the root
    Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
    Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
    Pastoral scene of the gallant south
    The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
    The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
    Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
    Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
    for the rain to gather
    for the wind to suck
    for the sun to rot
    for the tree to drop
    Here is a strange and bitter crop
    Composed by Abel Meeropol (aka Lewis Allan)
    Originally sung by: Billie Holiday


    "Between 1882 and 1903, 2,060 blacks were lynched in the United States. Some of the black victims were children and pregnant women; many were burned alive at the stake; others were castrated with axes or knives, blinded with hot pokers, or decapitated."                                                 


    Lynching Resources:

    Statistics & Timelines:
    Photographs:
    Ida B. Wells: 


    "One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap." ~ Ida B. Wells 



      

    Examples of projects from previous classes:

    Sara's ecphrasis Bad Romance


    How to post your glog correctly on the blog:

    • Grab the embed code (not the URL) from your glog.  
    • Go to NEW POST here on the blog (you'll need to be logged in to Blogger).
    • Choose HTML instead of Compose
    • Paste the embed code
    • Change the percentage in the code:  CHANGE SCALE =100 to SCALE=75, CHANGE WIDTH=960 to  720, CHANGE HEIGHT=1300 to 975

    Sunday, March 25, 2012

    The Jim Crow Era: How did early movies shape ideas about race & gender?

    The Birth of a Nation
    1915
    190 minutes long
    *fast fact* - first movie to be shown in the White House
    *fast fact* - original title was The Clansman


    Clip #1:


    Clip #2:



    Wondering how African-Americans and their allies responded?

    Encyclopedia of American Race Riots by Walter C. Rucker and James N. Upton