f on his epic journey, the road trip has been a classic setup for storytelling. Longtime English teacher and technology-integration coordinator Jerome Burg always looks for ways to bring students close to the action when teaching literature's great travel tales. By combining literary road trips with the interactive technology and satellite imagery of Google Earth, Burg says he has found a way to put students "right in the back seat" of an unfolding journey.
Burg created the site Google Lit Trips to share his innovative approach for teaching literature at Granada High School, in Livermore, California. His award-winning site enables users to download ready-made "lit trips." Each trip is an interactive multimedia experience created using Google Earth and stored as a KMZ file. (Although they may sound complex, KMZ files that run Google Earth are relatively easy to create and navigate.) Following Burg's lead, teachers and students are creating their own virtual literary trips and sharing them with the online community.
Get Ready to Travel
To follow a Google lit trip, start by downloading the free Google Earth program. If you have not used the program before, spend a few minutes getting familiar with how the various tools work to navigate around the globe. (Hint: Search for your own home address in the search window at the top left of the screen, then watch as the three-dimensional viewer of the globe zooms in on your rooftop. After that, "fly" to your school address. Zoom out for a view from space, or focus in close enough to see the soccer field.) For more help with the program, check out this Google Earth tutorial.
To see the learning potential of a lit trip, Burg suggests taking a look at the trip he recently created to help high school readers explore a contemporary novel, The Kite Runner. (From Google Lit Trips, click the link at the top of the page for grades 9-12, then choose the link for The Kite Runner.) Using the interactive file, readers can virtually follow along with the character Amir on his journey back to his native Afghanistan to, as he puts it, "make things good again" with a family he knew as a boy.
When students open the KMZ file, they will see satellite imagery of the globe in the 3-D viewer, and the image will spin before it stops on Afghanistan. Burg has marked key locations with "placemarks" color coded to relate to specific chapters in the novel. The sidebar on the left of the screen organizes all the geographic information by chapter as well. Using easy-to-navigate Google Earth tools, students can zoom in for a closer look or tilt the view to see the terrain or buildings in 3-D. They can virtually fly from place to place, following Amir as he travels from California to Afghanistan and back again on his quest.
By clicking on a placemark, students open a pop-up window embedded with supplementary information. One window shows a photo of a bazaar, accompanied by a passage from the novel describing a musty marketplace. Another explains the cultural history of the Pashtun people and has links to additional information about Shia and Sunni Muslims. Most pop-ups include photos, maps, drawings, or text but also have questions to encourage students to think about the story.
Exploring the placemarks involves active engagement that Burg compares with using manipulatives for hands-on learning in math. "It puts the kids right in the middle of the story," Burg explains, "rather than at a desk as the teacher teaches the story at them." Students can also add their own placemarks, highlighting locations or links that add to their understanding.
With a few quick steps, you can be on your way to using a ready-made Google lit trip or to creating your own Google Earth files for place-based literature studies.
If you have never tried doing such a study, you may want to begin with a ready-made lit trip. Search the Google Lit Trips collection by grade level and find a title that's right for your students' reading level. Explore the trip yourself so you are familiar with the placemarks and other resources before showing your students how to follow the journey online.
If you want to create your own lit trip, choose a book or story that has a strong sense of place. A good story for a lit trip doesn't have to involve a long journey. Even a place-based poem, such as "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," can work, Burg says.
Tutorials on the Google Lit Trips site take you step-by-step through the process of adding placemarks and embedding multimedia information. At the top of the home page, click on Getting Started, and watch the demonstration videos that show you how to use this resource. As you plan a lit trip, think about information that will help your students envision places they have never seen.
Consider linking to references that will give them a better understanding of the story's real-world historical, cultural, and geographical context. You can embed just about anything you find online, from song lyrics to broadcast-news clips. Burg has created a page called Lit Trip Tips to provide more detailed instruction about everything, from formatting placemark descriptions to adding route paths. (From the home page, click on Downloads etc., and then click on Lit Trip Tips.)
Carol LaRow designed a Google lit trip for middle school readers that focuses on the historical novel My Brother Sam Is Dead. (To get there, go to the Google Lit Trips page, click the link for grades 6-8, then choose My Brother Sam Is Dead). The educational-technology consultant has embedded a wealth of visual material: maps showing the routes taken by patriots and British soldiers, photos of colonial-era buildings that are still standing, and paintings depicting famous battles. There are also discussion questions that students helped write.
To navigate through LaRow's lit trip, use the sidebar to the left of the 3-D Google Earth viewer. Click on the folder for chapters 1-5, for example, and you will open all the placemarks relating to those chapters, organized to follow the sequence of the plot. Click on the marker labeled "Boston-British March," and the 3-D viewer shows a map of the soldiers' route. Click on the next marker for "Paul Revere's Ride," and an image of the famous patriot on horseback pops up while the 3-D viewer zooms in to the city of Boston.
For younger readers, Georgia teacher Michelle Wilkes and technology specialist Diane Barfield teamed up to create a Google lit trip for The Yellow Balloon. (From the home page, click on the tab for grades K-5. Scroll down to find the link to The Yellow Balloon.) This is a picture book with few words, just right for Wilkes's first graders. The lit trip helped her students find examples of geographic features described in the book, from volcanoes to jungles to big cities. As a class activity, students suggested locations and definitions to include on the map. Wilkes says the activity expanded her students' global awareness along with their vocabulary.
An Expanding Conversation
Combining Google Earth with literature study allows teachers to come up with activities that are highly creative for their students. Instead of having students use this powerful tool just to make a plot summary, Burg suggests nudging them toward activities that will generate higher-order questions and more analytical thinking. Using the lit trip for The Grapes of Wrath, for example, a teacher could set the stage for a classroom discussion about current immigration issues. That would encourage students to connect the book to issues affecting their own lives.
One of the best ways to deepen understanding is to have students design their own lit trips. (Some student examples are already in the collection, such as two seventh graders' lit trip for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Find it by clicking on grades 6-8 at the top of the home page.)
As they read a text, students can look for significant locations or information to add to their map. For instance, for a story in which an act of nature plays a prominent role, students may want to investigate extreme weather patterns or use Google Earth to peer into the crater of a volcano. They can add annotated links to sources they have researched, building their information-literacy skills. Students can also add placemarks to pose questions, setting the stage for robust classroom conversations.
As teachers from around the world start to share ideas for making the most of this resource, a new conversation is brewing about best practices for technology-rich literature studies. The Google Lit Trips site houses a growing collection of podcasts, screencasts, conference links, and video interviews that capture the insights of lit-trippin' teachers from around the world.
From: http://www.edutopia.org/google-lit-trips-virtual-literature
New York Children Take a Google Lit Trip
An online tool lets kids travel virtually on a historical train ride.
by Suzie Boss
As a first-year library-media specialist completing a master's degree in educational technology, Anne Brusca is eager to share tech tools and resources with her colleagues. She's most successful at introducing new approaches when she can find a way to build on what busy teachers are doing already.
At Center Street Elementary School, in Williston Park, New York, Brusca teaches a library-research class for fourth and fifth graders. From talking with a fifth-grade teacher, she learned that students would be reading The Family Apart. It tells the story of the Orphan Train, which relocated homeless and abandoned children during the mid-19th century.
Brusca first thought about developing a traditional WebQuest around the narrative. Then an instructor in her master's program told her about Google Lit Trips, an online project that combines the satellite imagery of Google Earth with the instructional goals of literature study. "I was intrigued," Brusca admits.
Following the directions at the Google Lit Trips Web site, Brusca created a new lit trip for The Family Apart. She marked the path of the Orphan Train with a series of Google Earth "placemarks." Each one provides additional information, such as historical photographs, and poses a question for further student research.
In the school library, Brusca watched students virtually navigate the same journey the characters took aboard the Orphan Train. "I've never seen them so intent," she says. "This got them to deeper learning." The fifth-grade teacher had students create a newspaper to document the journey, which gave them another way to apply what they were learning.
Brusca's principal, impressed with the results, asked her to present Google Lit Trips at a bring-your-own-breakfast session for staff. But the best response to the project came from the fifth graders themselves: The last placemark in Brusca's lit trip is a photo of a local soup kitchen on Long Island. Brusca asked students to compare what is being done today for homeless children with what was done in the Orphan Train era. One class was so moved that students suggested doing a schoolwide service project to help the soup kitchen.
"I have to say that I was surprised by their enthusiasm -- and that of their teacher -- to get involved," Brusca adds. "I had thought of the questions I posed as rhetorical in nature. I didn't expect they would go the extra mile."
Suzie Boss is coauthor of Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age. She also blogs for Edutopia.org.
From: http://www.edutopia.org/economic-stimulus-education-technology-new-york…
climate change to space travel and the theory of relativity inspired by the film. More than 20 lesson plans created by Google Certified Teachers that adhere to US educational standards are now available on the Interstellar website for middle school and high school classrooms to explore the mathematical, scientific and literary concepts discussed in the film, including but not limited to the Interstellar lesson plans. Among the lesson plans are Biosphere Bottle Experiment with a Twist, in which students build their own biospheres and observe the effect of nitrogen and oxygen on plant life ; Design a Planet, which involves students in conducting research on planetary features and creating a proposal for a new home for humankind; Plan A or Plan B? which engages students in discussing how people make tough choices based on the values that matter to them;Can Frozen Clouds Exist? in which students consider the air density and temperature required for a frozen cloud to exist; Homeric “Kleos” and the Greek Hero, which invites students to map out comparisons between Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) and the classical Greek hero; and How Far Away? in which students determine how far it is to the nearest black hole and visualize the distance.
Click Here to Visit Website…
climate change to space travel and the theory of relativity inspired by the film. More than 20 lesson plans created by Google Certified Teachers that adhere to US educational standards are now available on the Interstellar website for middle school and high school classrooms to explore the mathematical, scientific and literary concepts discussed in the film, including but not limited to the Interstellar lesson plans. Among the lesson plans are Biosphere Bottle Experiment with a Twist, in which students build their own biospheres and observe the effect of nitrogen and oxygen on plant life; Design a Planet, which involves students in conducting research on planetary features and creating a proposal for a new home for humankind; Plan A or Plan B? which engages students in discussing how people make tough choices based on the values that matter to them; Can Frozen Clouds Exist? in which students consider the air density and temperature required for a frozen cloud to exist; Homeric “Kleos” and the Greek Hero, which invites students to map out comparisons between Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) and the classical Greek hero; and How Far Away? in which students determine how far it is to the nearest black hole and visualize the distance.
Click Here to Visit Website
Plus: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has been tweeting about the science behind Interstellar. In an interview with NPR, Tyson goes beyond those tweets, deep into wormholes, relativity and even some spoilers. Listen to the non-spoiler version of what he had to say.
Click Here to Access NPR/Tyson Interview…
September the site expanded to include more content on the American Revolution. In November it expanded again to provide content on the period between George Washington’s and Andrew Jackson’s presidencies. Just like the other sections of ContextU, the “New Nation” section features a contents listing from which students can select an event, person or theme to see in the context of other events and themes. Through timelines, Google maps, diagrams, flow charts and text, ContextU provides context for each chosen event, piece of legislation or theme. Students can navigate from event to event or from theme to theme by following the hyperlinks within each diagram.
Click Here to Visit Website…
September the site expanded to include more content on the American Revolution. In November it expanded again to provide content on the period between George Washington’s and Andrew Jackson’s presidencies. Just like the other sections of ContextU, the “New Nation” section features a contents listing from which students can select an event, person or theme to see in the context of other events and themes. Through timelines, Google maps, diagrams, flow charts and text, ContextU provides context for each chosen event, piece of legislation or theme. Students can navigate from event to event or from theme to theme by following the hyperlinks within each diagram.
Click Here to Visit Website…
September the site expanded to include more content on the American Revolution. In November it expanded again to provide content on the period between George Washington’s and Andrew Jackson’s presidencies. Just like the other sections of ContextU, the “New Nation” section features a contents listing from which students can select an event, person or theme to see in the context of other events and themes. Through timelines, Google maps, diagrams, flow charts and text, ContextU provides context for each chosen event, piece of legislation or theme. Students can navigate from event to event or from theme to theme by following the hyperlinks within each diagram.
Click Here to Visit Website…
SON PLAN:
I DREAMED A DREAM IN TIME GONE BY: Mind Mapping the Path of the American Dream through History
BASED ON THE ARTICLE:
What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession?, By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE,May 11, 2009
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090511monday.html
AUTHOR(S):
Sarah Kavanagh, The New York Times Learning Network
GRADES:
6-8
9-12
SUBJECTS:
American History
Civics
OVERVIEW OF LESSON PLAN:
In this lesson, students will research how the American dream has been experienced throughout history and then create a comprehensive mind map illustrating their findings.
SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:
1-2 class periods
ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:
1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW:
Have students write responses to the following prompt: "What is your definition of the 'American dream?' Describe some examples of people you know, have heard about, or have read about that have dreamed an 'American dream.'" Once all have responded, ask students to share their answers.
-What do the people they described have in common?
-Do students think that the American dream is specific to the United States in some way? If so, how and why?
-Why does the American dream have such a prominent place in our nation's self identity?
-Do people often see the American dream realized? Why or why not?
During this discussion, ask two student volunteers to write words and phrases from students' comments that say something significant about the American dream on the classroom board. Keep these words and phrases on the board for the entire period for students to use later in the lesson.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS:
As a class, read and discuss the article "What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession?" focusing on the following questions:
a. According to this article, what is the "classic definition" of the American dream? Do you think that this dream (as it is classically defined) often comes true? Why or why not?
b. Why do you think more people believe in the American dream today than they did four years ago when our economic outlook was much brighter?
c. Describe the shift in the definition of the American dream over the past four years? What do you think accounts for this change?
d. Which definitions of the American dream resonate most with you? Why?
e. Why do you think Barry Glassner believes that it would be difficult to find a different country where so many people believe in possibilities even in dire circumstances? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
3. ACTIVITY:
Depending on the size of your class and how many groups you wish to have for this activity, split the class accordingly. Provide each pair or group a different archival New York Times article. Each article is from a different era in American history and embeds the idea of the American dream as it relates to the time period in which the article was written.
Group 1: Times article from January 1, 1933: "America Faces 1933's Realities"
Group 2: Times article from May 13, 1951: "The Most Powerful Idea in the World"
Group 3: Times article from August 9, 1959: "Essence of America"
Group 4: Times article from March 7, 1965: "The American Dream"
Group 5: Times article from January 26, 1969: "Youth in Revolt"
Group 6: Times article from October 17, 1974: "Pre-Election Mood: 'There's No Time for Dreams'"
Group 7: Times article from December 2, 1979: "The Looming 80's"
Group 8: Times article from June 23, 1996: "Testing the Resonance of the American Dream"
Group 9: Times article from June 24, 2001: "Our Towns; A Chance to Live, and Then Describe, Her Own American Dream"
Group 10: Times article from May 21, 2005: "You Really Can't Be Too Rich"
Instruct all groups to read their assigned article while completing the handout "American Dreaming" in which students are asked to examine how the American dream is presented and discussed in their assigned article and then directed to compare and relate this historic conception to contemporary interpretations of it.
Once groups have finished this activity inform them that the class will be creating a mind map. Instructions for creating a mind map can be found at Litemind.com what is mind mapping. Many examples of mind maps can be found by conducting a Google image search for "mind map." Using the images you find, show your students examples of mind maps before beginning the project. When creating their section of the class mind map on the American dream, encourage students to use color coding and illustrations using, perhaps, different types of media: text, magazine and newspaper cut-outs, original drawings, designs, 3-D objects, etc.
Create the center of the mind map before class on a piece of poster board. Then offer each group a piece of poster board. Show students how their piece of poster board will connect to the central piece that you created before class. Draw a mark on their poster board at the exact spot their mind map drawing will touch the central piece's drawing. Let students know that their section of the mind map should meet the following criteria: it should inform viewers of the time period they read about and how the American dream was interpreted during that period; it should be visually interesting and the visuals should support the content (if the content is depressing and/or tragic, the visuals should match); it should make connections between the contemporary conceptions of the American dream and historic ones.
4. FOR HOMEWORK OR FUTURE CLASSES:
Have students work in their pairs or groups to complete their section of the mind map for homework. In a future class, put all pieces of the mind map together and have students present their section to the rest of the class. Follow these presentations with a class discussion about what students notice when they look at that mind map as a whole. Does examining the American dream in this way make them think differently about it? In what ways?
Related Times Resources:
ADDITIONAL TIMES ARTICLES AND MULTIMEDIA: Video: Defining the American Dream Image: The American Dream's Rising Cost
Special Section: Class Matters
LEARNING NETWORK RESOURCES: Lesson Plan: American Dreaming Telling Our Own Versions of the Story of the United States of America
Teaching with The Times: Class Matters
Lesson Plan: That's the Spirit
Examining Historical Perspective on Commercial Ambition in the U.S.
ARCHIVAL TIMES MATERIALS: See the body of this lesson for links to related articles from the 1933-2005.
TIMES TOPICS: United States Immigration and Emigration
United States Economy
OTHER RESOURCES: Novel Reflections: The American Dream PBS's American Masters' American Novel Web site examines the American dream in American literature
Deepening the American Dream
Bill Moyers collects video responses of Americans' discussing their conception of the American Dream
What is the American Dream?
The Library of Congress's "The Learning Page" defines the American dream and links to lesson plans on the topic.
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Language Arts Respond to an American novel that you are reading in class by addressing the tensions between the realities presented in the story and the dreams held by the characters. How do the characters manage to strive for possibilities that seem out of their reach in the midst of harsh realities? This response can take the form of a paper, a journal, a mural, a monologue, a book review, a drawing, a collage, a poster, poetry, a scrapbook, or a form of your own creation.
Journalism poll your school's community to find out their take on the questions presented in the Times article you read in class. Write an article comparing your school's position on the American dream to the nation as a whole. If the polling results at your school are significantly different than the national results, be sure to address possible reasons for this discrepancy.
NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS:
Grades 6-12
Civics Standard 9- Understands the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional democracy
Civics Standard 11- Understands the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared values, political beliefs, and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse American society
Historical Understanding Standard 1- Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective
History Standard 31- Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in the contemporary United States
Language Arts Standard 1- Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process
…
SON PLAN:
I DREAMED A DREAM IN TIME GONE BY: Mind Mapping the Path of the American Dream through History
BASED ON THE ARTICLE:
What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession?, By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE,May 11, 2009
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090511monday.html
AUTHOR(S):
Sarah Kavanagh, The New York Times Learning Network
GRADES:
6-8
9-12
SUBJECTS:
American History
Civics
OVERVIEW OF LESSON PLAN:
In this lesson, students will research how the American dream has been experienced throughout history and then create a comprehensive mind map illustrating their findings.
SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:
1-2 class periods
ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:
1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW:
Have students write responses to the following prompt: "What is your definition of the 'American dream?' Describe some examples of people you know, have heard about, or have read about that have dreamed an 'American dream.'" Once all have responded, ask students to share their answers.
-What do the people they described have in common?
-Do students think that the American dream is specific to the United States in some way? If so, how and why?
-Why does the American dream have such a prominent place in our nation's self identity?
-Do people often see the American dream realized? Why or why not?
During this discussion, ask two student volunteers to write words and phrases from students' comments that say something significant about the American dream on the classroom board. Keep these words and phrases on the board for the entire period for students to use later in the lesson.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS:
As a class, read and discuss the article "What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession?" focusing on the following questions:
a. According to this article, what is the "classic definition" of the American dream? Do you think that this dream (as it is classically defined) often comes true? Why or why not?
b. Why do you think more people believe in the American dream today than they did four years ago when our economic outlook was much brighter?
c. Describe the shift in the definition of the American dream over the past four years? What do you think accounts for this change?
d. Which definitions of the American dream resonate most with you? Why?
e. Why do you think Barry Glassner believes that it would be difficult to find a different country where so many people believe in possibilities even in dire circumstances? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
3. ACTIVITY:
Depending on the size of your class and how many groups you wish to have for this activity, split the class accordingly. Provide each pair or group a different archival New York Times article. Each article is from a different era in American history and embeds the idea of the American dream as it relates to the time period in which the article was written.
Group 1: Times article from January 1, 1933: "America Faces 1933's Realities"
Group 2: Times article from May 13, 1951: "The Most Powerful Idea in the World"
Group 3: Times article from August 9, 1959: "Essence of America"
Group 4: Times article from March 7, 1965: "The American Dream"
Group 5: Times article from January 26, 1969: "Youth in Revolt"
Group 6: Times article from October 17, 1974: "Pre-Election Mood: 'There's No Time for Dreams'"
Group 7: Times article from December 2, 1979: "The Looming 80's"
Group 8: Times article from June 23, 1996: "Testing the Resonance of the American Dream"
Group 9: Times article from June 24, 2001: "Our Towns; A Chance to Live, and Then Describe, Her Own American Dream"
Group 10: Times article from May 21, 2005: "You Really Can't Be Too Rich"
Instruct all groups to read their assigned article while completing the handout "American Dreaming" in which students are asked to examine how the American dream is presented and discussed in their assigned article and then directed to compare and relate this historic conception to contemporary interpretations of it.
Once groups have finished this activity inform them that the class will be creating a mind map. Instructions for creating a mind map can be found at Litemind.com what is mind mapping. Many examples of mind maps can be found by conducting a Google image search for "mind map." Using the images you find, show your students examples of mind maps before beginning the project. When creating their section of the class mind map on the American dream, encourage students to use color coding and illustrations using, perhaps, different types of media: text, magazine and newspaper cut-outs, original drawings, designs, 3-D objects, etc.
Create the center of the mind map before class on a piece of poster board. Then offer each group a piece of poster board. Show students how their piece of poster board will connect to the central piece that you created before class. Draw a mark on their poster board at the exact spot their mind map drawing will touch the central piece's drawing. Let students know that their section of the mind map should meet the following criteria: it should inform viewers of the time period they read about and how the American dream was interpreted during that period; it should be visually interesting and the visuals should support the content (if the content is depressing and/or tragic, the visuals should match); it should make connections between the contemporary conceptions of the American dream and historic ones.
4. FOR HOMEWORK OR FUTURE CLASSES:
Have students work in their pairs or groups to complete their section of the mind map for homework. In a future class, put all pieces of the mind map together and have students present their section to the rest of the class. Follow these presentations with a class discussion about what students notice when they look at that mind map as a whole. Does examining the American dream in this way make them think differently about it? In what ways?
Related Times Resources:
ADDITIONAL TIMES ARTICLES AND MULTIMEDIA: Video: Defining the American Dream Image: The American Dream's Rising Cost
Special Section: Class Matters
LEARNING NETWORK RESOURCES: Lesson Plan: American Dreaming Telling Our Own Versions of the Story of the United States of America
Teaching with The Times: Class Matters
Lesson Plan: That's the Spirit
Examining Historical Perspective on Commercial Ambition in the U.S.
ARCHIVAL TIMES MATERIALS: See the body of this lesson for links to related articles from the 1933-2005.
TIMES TOPICS: United States Immigration and Emigration
United States Economy
OTHER RESOURCES: Novel Reflections: The American Dream PBS's American Masters' American Novel Web site examines the American dream in American literature
Deepening the American Dream
Bill Moyers collects video responses of Americans' discussing their conception of the American Dream
What is the American Dream?
The Library of Congress's "The Learning Page" defines the American dream and links to lesson plans on the topic.
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Language Arts Respond to an American novel that you are reading in class by addressing the tensions between the realities presented in the story and the dreams held by the characters. How do the characters manage to strive for possibilities that seem out of their reach in the midst of harsh realities? This response can take the form of a paper, a journal, a mural, a monologue, a book review, a drawing, a collage, a poster, poetry, a scrapbook, or a form of your own creation.
Journalism poll your school's community to find out their take on the questions presented in the Times article you read in class. Write an article comparing your school's position on the American dream to the nation as a whole. If the polling results at your school are significantly different than the national results, be sure to address possible reasons for this discrepancy.
NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS:
Grades 6-12
Civics Standard 9- Understands the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional democracy
Civics Standard 11- Understands the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared values, political beliefs, and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse American society
Historical Understanding Standard 1- Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective
History Standard 31- Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in the contemporary United States
Language Arts Standard 1- Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process
…
of his recent YouTube video Mathematics: Measuring times laziness squared. As well as being humorous, the picture also illustrates the relationships between the major areas of mathematics, such as algebra, geometry, topology, and analysis. The picture is very detailed and is worth viewing at high resolution.
Then he talks about the video...would love to hear people's thoughts on this odd video.
The video, which you can see at http://goo.gl/3Rg8jd, is well worth twenty minutes of your time. It gives an overview of mathematics in a way that should be comprehensible to an intelligent general audience. The sense of humour in the videos reminded me of the writing of Douglas Adams. Something I found especially remarkable is that the video manages to explain the gist of what algebraic topology is in a few minutes, without getting technical. (Algebraic topology aims to understand topological structures by associating algebraic objects to them.)
…
he newspaper has had to accept a few new brothers into the family.
I once was managing editor of a newspaper in the smallest city in the U.S. with two daily newspapers. It was a very competitive and viscous fight to see which could beat the other out. Our publisher kept reminding us, that we were going to win, simply because we were the morning newspaper. As it turned out we did win out. Things change, sometimes we can see the change coming, sometimes we can't.
The world view that things of the past lived in a different era, is probably less useful than one that sees history and change as layers (as in a GIS map) the past lives on, as does the technology of the past, until the layers of the present get more an more opaque.
But POT (the plain old telephones) are still in use. I still listen to CD's in my car. I have a stack of VHS's from my kids childhood. I use a a cell phone that is not a smartphone. I have a stack of vinyl albums that I sometimes convert a song or two to digital. I have a old TV in the bedroom I still watch.
Sometimes we switch to the latest and and greatest technologies just to be at the head of the pack. Sometimes we only convert when the old technology is no longer relevent.
But even the latest and greatest technologies don't bring the promised benefits or don't get to critical mass ( a la Apple's Newton Message Pad, MacIntosh TV, Google Wave, Sony BetaMax, Polaroid Instant Home Movies, the Zune)
Thus, it is always useful to examine each new product or technology for its real value and usefulness before jumping into it head first. However, with the pace of change, many new products do not give us that luxury. They are on us, reach critical mass, and start to fade, before we even take notice.
It's a time strange to us, when the future is coming at us faster and faster.…