A Great, Great, Great, Grade, Grade Day

Today students are reviewing some of the concepts, ideas, and terms we learned a while back: GDP, infrastructure, globalization/trade, industrialization, etc...

But we're also grading some of the stuff we haven't graded together yet.  Since we're not taking the social studies ISTEP, I'm giving the students a little time to review and grade their Shooting an Elephant summaries, which they wrote a while back.  They were very good.  The essay, if you recall dealt with the effects of British Imperialism.

Lately, we've been discussing Japanese Imperialism.  We'll probably jump back to British Imperialism in a little bit, and specifically look at India's independence movement.  #Gandhi  #HumanRights  #CivilDisobedience  #FirstTimeUsingHashtags

I'm sorry that I haven't been quite as consistent in posting the blogs.  As I've said, the past couple days we've been studying Japanese Imperialism, and World Wars I and II.

I'm keeping today's post short.  If you were here the past couple days, discuss some of the reasons for WWI.  Then discuss what happened to cause Japan to switch sides between WWI and WWII.  What were they doing?  What did they want?

Write some answers to the questions you answered in your discussion.  Then, have the adult you discussed the blog with sign the paper.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it, and turn it in tomorrow.

ALIENS!!! (and colonization, Japanese Imperialism, and possibly some elephants...)

Today students walked in and completed a couple maps on Japanese Imperialism.  For some reason, American culture is so hung up on Germany, and Hitler's invasion of Poland in World War II, that we skimp over the ambitions of the Japanese.  Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931.  Germany invaded Poland in 1939...  Wouldn't that make 1931 the true start of WWII?

So, Japan invaded Manchuria for it's land and natural resources.  (These are pretty much the same reasons all empires are built.  There are others as well, but lets roll with that for now.)

We graded the maps, and watched this video:

It got me thinking though, (and it's true I've thought of this before...) isn't this the theme of every alien invasion movie ever?  I mean, H.G. Wells was British.  In my mind, much like Orwell, he wasn't thrilled about British Imperialism.  His book, War of the Worlds, written in 1898 is often cited as being a story about British colonization.  

So, we watched this trailer:

Right around 1:05, we hear the speaker say, "When you invade a place for its resources, you wipe out its indigenous population.  Right now we are being colonized."

To get the extra credit today, you should read and discuss the blog with an adult.  Instead of writing me a note to prove that you were here, I'm asking you to post a link to a different alien movie where the aliens are invading to take over our land and our natural resources.  (Preferably one that includes aliens with superior technology...  ...Has Hollywood put out a movie where the aliens have inferior technology?)

Post the link in the comments section of the blog.  You only have to post once.  Also, write a sentence or two explaining how it ties in with what we're studying in class.  If it doesn't show up, it's because I moderate the comments on the blog, and I have to preview it first.  Make sure you identify yourself somehow.  Either put your first name and hour, or your initials... Something.

Parents/adults: you can help them think of movies if they can't think of any on their own.

Good luck.

Stay warm.

Hand of God and Shooting an Elephant

I nearly didn't post the extra credit today, because of lack of time... but here's a short post anyway...

If you weren't in class today, I asked students to write me a one-page summary of Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant."  After they did that, they were to tell me the main point of the story.  If you did not do this, do it now.

Turn it in whenever you get back.

Here are two hints:  "One day something happened which in a roundabout way was enlightening.  It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism - the real motives for which despotic governments act."

The second hint:  "I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom he destroys."

Several classes also got to watch the "Hand of God" goal, scored by Diego Maradona in 1986.  Keeping in mind that "Shooting an Elephant" was written in 1936, read the following lines, "When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter.  This happened more than once."

Now, if you haven't seen it before, watch the goal:

A couple things to consider:

• This game was played in 1986.
• It was played between Argentina and England
• The Falklands War was in 1982
• The British won the war against Argentina, maintaining control of the islands
• The 1986 World Cup was played in Mexico
• If you missed it, Maradona scored that goal with his hand, and didn't get called for it

My hat's off to those of you who can put the pieces of this puzzle together.  Spoiler alert: the feelings toward British Imperialism started well before Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant," and lasted well after its publication.

In order to get the extra credit for reading and discussing the blog with an adult today, write two sentences from your discussion.  Have the adult you read it with sign on the paper you wrote your sentences.

As always, thanks for reading.

Shooting an Elephant

Today in class we read on of my favorite essays of all time - perhaps my favorite.

Instead of writing a new blog post about it, I'm going to send you to one I wrote a couple of years ago.  I'll probably be asking some of the questions found there in class tomorrow, so you'll have a head-start.

If you want the extra credit, Go HERE to get it.


Adults, if you've never read Shooting an Elephant, I highly encourage it.  You can read it HERE.

Again, I think it's one of the best pieces of writing in the English language.

Homework

I don't have time for a full post today, but I want to let you know that some students have homework.

In class we worked on a map of the British Empire - which you can download HERE if you were absent.

We also worked on our writing skills to prepare for tomorrow's reading of Shooting an Elephant.  Students were to write sentences with some of the words that will show up in tomorrow's text.  Most finished it, but if they didn't, it was homework.  You can get that HERE.

Tomorrow we read one of my favorite stories of all time.

To prove you were here today, you just have to write a code phrase on a piece of paper, then have the adult you looked at the blog with sign the paper.

Here's the phrase:  "I listened to Cameron Bradley's album, and it was great."

Alright... if you haven't finished the homework, you should probably get working on that...