"Eyes on the Prize" is an award-winning TV series which first premiered in 1987. It is a 14-hour documentary series on the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and is considered one of the best documentaries ever made on the period from 1954 (Brown vs. Board of Ed.) to 1985 (two years before the documentary was made). It is not usually on TV, so I just wanted to make you aware of the fact that it will be on PBS again soon, starting April 1. I can't force you to watch 14 hours of TV (I could try, but that would be really mean :), but I know that you all must have PBS (channel 13) so if you can, you really should watch. If you want to check out the series, have a look at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/about/fd.html. If you do end up watching, I'd be curious for your thoughts about the show -- you can comment on this posting.
The individual stories of the Civil Rights movement are the stories of all Americans who ever fought for what they believed in. Personally, I think that all students should have to take at least a semester-long class solely on the Civil Rights Movement, so that they can appreciate the unbelievable risks that some people took so that Jefferson's words about all men being created equal finally rang true in our country. The Civil Rights movement is too often seen as the movement of equal rights for only African-Americans -- it was not. It's the story of equal rights for all minorities, whether African-American, Latino-American, or Female-American (even though over 50% of the population, women had always been treated as a "minority"). Without the leaders of the Movement, there would not only be no Barack Obama in the White House but there would be no Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State and no Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court.
"Eyes on the Prize" is an award-winning TV series which first premiered in 1987. It is a 14-hour documentary series on the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and is considered one of the best documentaries ever made on the period from 1954 (Brown vs. Board of Ed.) to 1985 (two years before the documentary was made). It is not usually on TV, so I just wanted to make you aware of the fact that it will be on PBS again soon, starting April 1. I can't force you to watch 14 hours of TV (I could try, but that would be really mean :), but I know that you all must have PBS (channel 13) so if you can, you really should watch. If you want to check out the series, have a look at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/about/fd.html. If you do end up watching, I'd be curious for your thoughts about the show -- you can comment on this posting.
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Different things inspire different people, but I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't be inspired by the story of Nick Vujicic... He is a man who has taken what could have been a disasterous situation and made the most of it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uG2kSdd-4 In case you don't have them, here are this week's vocabulary sentences. A few of them might be tough to figure out a sentence for, so remember that if you don't understand one of them, you can look them up online as well. Sentences are due, as always, by Thursday night. 1. Ubiquitous -- widespread 2. Sate -- satisfied appetite 3. Static -- being at rest 4. Voluptuary -- someone devoted to luxury and sensory pleasure 5. Seer -- a fortune teller 6. Spectral -- ghostly 7. Salutation -- a greeting 8. Render -- to say, or to make 9. Quid Pro Quo -- something given or taken in return for something else 10. Polygamy -- to have more than one spouse 11. Placate -- to soothe, appease 12. Neonate -- a newborn baby 13. Mimic -- to imitate 14. Latent -- present but hidden 15. Hail -- to come from For those of you who had questions, here's what you should be doing over this break... 1. You will still be doing your weekly assignments ("60 Minutes," "The Amazing Race," "The Pacific"). You can post your answers to tonight's shows here. 2. Read up to page 57 in "To America" -- in other words, the first 4 chapters. 3. Vocabulary Sentences -- I will post the words for those of you not here on Friday (Randy, Katherine) in a separate posting. You will need to post sentences, by Thursday night, as usual, along with the parts of speech -- just like last week. 4. Keep in mind the events that are going to occur right after you return from break. The Thursday you return is the Honor Role trip. I encourage everyone to come. You should never pass up a chance to visit a college (or play laser tag!) Permission slips were given out on Friday but if you didn't get one, you need to get it immediately on Wednesday because we are leaving at 7am on Thursday and you cannot go without a permission slip. There is a limit to how many kids can go, so if you want to go, remember to bring in your permission slip (or if you weren't in school/didn't get one, let me know that you want to go). It's going to be on a first-come, first-serve basis. On the Friday we get back, we have our trip to the Global Kids Annual Youth Conference (yes, the same as zoo day). If you have a deep desire to go to the zoo, go during break. I don't want to hear complaining. The zoo is nice but the the seminar we are attending is more important. It is required that you go to the seminar. If you have a reason that you can't go, please let me know. I think that's about all. Have a nice break! It was a bit shorter than our normal seminars, but here's the transcript... · Katherine – Not talking about Jefferson because he was a slave owner – do you think he was a bad man because he didn’t do anything about it, even though he knew it was wrong? · Angie – not a bad man, but not a huge president? o All presidents owned slaves? o How can you say people aren’t poets if they are not allowed to read o A man of limited character · Regina – he was good – when he was Prez,, everyone had slaves around him o Even if he tried to change it, it wouldn’t have done any good o Depends how you looks at it · Justin – not a bad man but made a bad choice o He should have · Katherine – example – now our time was considered using phone and texting – if it was considered bad, then if you said not to do it, people would think you were crazy o It is what’s in your time period · Justin – not supposed to text in class, but people still do · Angie – what if he added it to Declaration of Independence (“All Men Are Created Equal”!) o Would slaves have gotten freedom earlier? Would it all have stopped? · Regina – already said all men are created equal – people would have hated him if he said slaves were equal · Justin – disagree – if you’re the President and you believe in something, you should go for it, even if it doesn’t end up well o If you reflect afterwards, things look different · Katherine – if he tried to make it part of it, they would have denied it · Angie – African-Americans were oppressed then o During Civil Rights, there were educated African-Americans · Andrew – would have led to an earlier segregation – would have happened in a different time period · Regina – people owned slaves – wouldn’t have worked · Justin – shouldn’t TJ have tried since he had a black mistress · Angie – want liberty but are doing nothing for Native Americans or African Americans · Katherine – TJ expected the next generation to make justice for all – happened the way he wanted it to? o It took them a few generations to get what they wanted, get educated, etc. – “ready for freedom” · Regina – expecting too much from a single man o When he wrote “all men were created equal,” he wasn’t talking about slaves · Andrew – slaves were considered property, so they weren’t included · Angie –no freedom for women, even though there were many educated women o Compared to women of France o Says “all MEN” are created equal · Randy – QUESTION – Why didn’t the Presidents before Lincoln do anything about slavery? · Andrew – was considered natural to own slaves · Katherine – he would make any choice that would help him save the Union Just in case you didn't get it, below are next week's words. I'd like you to do something a bit different this week. A few of you are using the words in the wrong way -- i.e. you are thinking something is a noun when it is a verb, etc. To try to solve this problem, I'd like you to look up whether the word is a noun, verb, adjective, etc. and say what it is. If a word can be used as more than one, I'd like you to write what you used it as. In other words, if the word was "vocation" you would write: The woman was very happy with her chosen VOCATION. (noun) I would like you, before you post your sentences, to keep in mind what Ms. Cybulski talked about when she came to class. Make sure that you have a noun and a verb and that your sentences make grammatical sense. We will have our quiz on the last list on Wednesday (along with the Socratic Seminar on the first chapter of our book), with sentences for these new words due on Thursday, and the quiz on Friday. You are, as always, required to do the "60 Minutes" assignment and the "Amazing Race" assignment. Everyone except Randy (no HBO) is responsible for watching "The Pacific" and commenting. The due dates for everything, as always, can also be found on SnapGrades. The new words are: 1. Baleful – threatening, harmful 2. Cajole – to urge, coax 3. Cavity – a hole 4. Compliment – an expression of approval 5. Delude – to mislead 6. Envious – jealous 7. Familial – relating to family 8. Fetter – to chain, shackle, restrain 9. Henchman – trusted follower 10. Hierarchy – system to rank groups or individuals 11. Exigent – urgent, critical 12. Vicissitudes – unexpected changes and shifts 13. Recalibrate – re-adjust 14. Tranquil – peaceful, calm 15. Portly – chubby, fat I wanted to share something with you... It was sent to me last night and I thought it was an interesting mix of a few topics we'd been talking about -- a little Big Brother, a little bit about questioning what you see and hear, a little of many things... http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268790262342RA81 On Thursday at 1:45pm, a woman named Elly Gross is coming in to our school to speak with the 11th grade. They are in the middle of their unit on genocide (which is the topic of their research paper as well) and she is coming to speak to them from first-hand experience. Let me give you the short story on Ms. Gross... She was a teenager in Romania (a European country conquered by the Nazis) when she was shipped off Auschwitz (one of the largest death camps) where her mother and brother were murdered (her father had been taken and murdered earlier). She was spared at Auschwitz, only to be shipped to a slave labor camp, where she worked, as a slave in a VW factory, until liberated by the American army. We are going to hear Elly speak on Thursday because I believe that there is no substitute for hearing from people who have directly experienced a part of history. Imagine if you could speak to George Washington instead of just reading about him -- it would be a lot more powerful, right? Today, there are still people in the world who deny that certain genocides have taken place, including the Holocaust (remember the Turkish government and their denial of the Armenian genocide on "60 Minutes?") How can you deny something if there is someone standing right in front of you telling you what they went through? As time passes, there are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors to tell their stories, so while you have the opportunity, I'd like you all to hear her speak. I've heard her speak for the past 2 years, and her story is quite compelling. I'll arrange with your teachers to leave class (I'll actually come get you) but remember, you are still responsible for whatever work you have to do on that day. I would suggest going to that teacher during lunch and getting the work in advance. We will discuss this more on Wednesday, but if you'd like to read more background on her beforehand, you can check out her website at http://www.ellygross.com/aboutelly.html |
Assignments:1. Answer any and all blog posts to the left by their due dates (which can be found on SnapGrades) * Ms. Cohen's Contact Information *
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