Middle Schools in China

The pictures below show scenes from middle schools in present day China.  Observe each picture and answer the questions that follow.  Some pictures do not have questions, just text to read.  Write your answers in complete sentences on binder paper.  Each student must write their own answers.  You may work with the people sitting near you.

1. These are three different schools in China. As you can see, they are very different from each other. Which one looks most like the school you attend?

2. This is a student arriving at school. Classes at this school meet from Monday through Friday. What are the students wearing? What are they using to bring their books and papers to school? How are these students different from students in your school?

 3.  This is a list posted outside of a middle school with the names of students who have performed well academically. Is there a similar system to honor certain students at the school you attend?

4. Students are allowed 10 minutes between classes. These breaks are often noisy and halls are often crowded with students. How does this compare with your school?

5.  Every Monday, schools have a "flag raising ceremony" during which the whole school participates in a morning assembly.  Here, a group of students marches and raises the flag of the People's Republic of China.  Is there anything similar to this ceremony in your school?

6.  Every morning at around 10 a.m., all students gather to do their morning exercises.  Exercises consist of stretching and some calisthenics. Students line up in rows and three or four students lead the whole school in this morning ritual. What do you think of this activity?  Is there anything similar to this in your school?



7.  In many Chinese schools, students are responsible for keeping the school clean. The badge on this student's arm indicates that she is on cleaning duty. Who cleans your school?  What do you think about the idea of having students in charge of cleaning?

8.  Students also engage in "eye exercises." Students rub specific parts of their face around their eyes and also their necks.  These exercises are designed to protect the eyes and are based on the practice of acupressure.  Acupressure is a Chinese medical technique in which specific points in the body are pushed or pressed to help relieve pain or treat illnesses.  How do you think American students would react if their teachers asked them to do this?

9.  Like many places in the world, this Chinese school is concerned with technology and wants students to have access to computers. Students in this middle school can take computer classes and have access to the Internet.  There is a huge "digital divide" in China with many schools not having computers.  How does this compare with your school?

10.  Occasionally, students host a talent show or student assembly. Many students choose to sing, like this student. Some of the songs are in Chinese, but some students choose to sing in English.  Are there any events like this in your school?

Martin Luther King of the Metaphor

This project is due on Thursday, January 9.  This project is for English classes only.

Students are to take one of the metaphors in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and turn it into a visual metaphor.  We began this assignment in class today.

Artwork should follow these rules:

1. cover the entire paper with other paper.
2. use the "I Have a Dream" speech page.
3. include the metaphor in writing.

Here are two samples from other classes.

Here is the video of the speech we watched in class today, just in case you'd like to watch it again.

Warli Art from India

Here are links to the articles and videos you'll need to use to complete the worksheet.

Read this article and answer the questions.  Read only the section on Warli Folk Painting

https://knowindia.gov.in/culture-and-heritage/folk-and-tribal-art/warli-folk-painting.php


Watch this video. The artist is drawing the story while he is telling it using modern technology and traditional Warli art.  Answer the questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbFzmxLQcxk&t=321s


Watch the Trapa instrument being played while the people dance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnYDjQ-FF70


Coca-Cola videos with Warli art from 2010

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIlg9qnw664


Documentary on the Warli Tribe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Mvr7rUWRo


When you are finished, see Mr. Chester for materials to make your own Warli artwork.

Create a scene from your own life.  Fill the page with artwork.

NHD Website and Documentary Information

WEBSITES

To create a website for National History Day go to nhd.org/nhdwebcentral.

There you will be able to register, see videos about how to  make a website and log-in to the web site program.

To register you will need your parents email  and phone number.  To register, go  here.  You can register and then sign in to the program.

Before you make your website, watch the how-to videos here.  Select the Step-by-Step Videos button to view them.  They are short and very helpful.

DOCUMENTARIES

You  may use any video design software you have to make your video, including iMovie.  You can make your doumentary on your phone.

If you don't have video design software,  you can use Adobe Spark for free on your Chrome book.

Go to your  Clever.com page and click on the icon for Adobe Spark.  Set up your account.  If you can do this at home you can go ahead and start work on your documentary.  There are some video tutorials at Adobe that you can watch before you begin.

To capture/convert Youtube and other videos follow these steps:

• Find your video and then copy the url link
• Go to www.onlinevideoconverter.com or another video converter program.
• Select convert video link
• Paste the url link of your video in the box
• Convert the video to an mp4 file.
• After the conversion, press download. This will put the file in your  drive probably in a file labelled downloads.
• Go to your documentary in Spark
• Select the + button and choose video
• You should be able to find your video in the drive folder that pops up.
• Edit video to include just the portion you want to include.  Be care here because you cannot undo this action.  You can delete the slide and redo it.
• Save your work

This looks like a lot of steps, but once I figured it out, it was fairly easy to do.

However, if you can put video in your documentary on a laptop or other computer, it's much easier than doing it on a Chromebook.  You can just download the files to your desktop after they are converted and then upload them to Spark.

The National Parks in Walk Two Moons: A Travelling One-Pager Poster

In the book Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Salamanca and her grandparents take a trip across America from Euclid, Ohio to Lewiston, Idaho to see Sal's mother.  Along the way they stop at four national parks:  Yellowstone, Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and Pipestone National Monument.

For this assignment,  you  will select one of these four parks to research and create a one-pager poster encouraging tourists to visit.

Use the links below to find the national park website for your project.  You should be able to get all of the information you need from that website.  However, you may do additional research. 

Your one-pager poster should include:

• a slogan featuring the name of your park. For example: "Visit Yosemite: You're Half-Crazy if You Don't See Half-Dome" or "See Death Valley; It's To Die For."
• a border that relates to your assigned park.
• a list of basic information including:
• visitor center hours
• entry costs
• campsites and other facilities like restaurants and/or stores
• a description of two things visitors can do or see at the park. This should be written as a paragraph in a way that will attract visitors.
• one or two large illustrations of  major park attractions.  You must create your own artwork.  No printouts or photos. Ask your teacher about tracing, but probably not.
• other creative touches and information to make your one-paper visually appealing and interesting reading.

Your one-pager poster should be written to encourage people to come and see your park.  Think of it as an advertisement.

Choose one of the parks below for your project:

Yellowstone National Park

Badlands National Park

Mt. Rushmore National Memorial

Pipestone National Monument

Read over the website for your park then create your one-pager on large paper.

This assignment is due on  Thursday , Nov. 7.

Hugo Cabret: Automaton One-Pager

Create a one-pager on Maillardet's automaton using text and images to creatively highlight the most important information. Be sure to include the following:

• The definition of automaton (the plural is automata)
• A description of how Maillardet's automaton works and its capabilities
• A description of the following items:
• the automaton's history, including its creation and creator
• how it was damaged
• the roles Charles Penninman, Bryan Selznick, and Andy Baron played in restoring the device
• its influence on the novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

You can use these links to complete the one-pager assignment about Maillardet's automaton.

Read Andrew Baron’s essay

http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/andrew_hugo_auto.htm

CBS Sunday Morning video The Lost Art of Automata Lives Again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7oSFNKIlaM

The Maillardet automaton in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfeNC28vpYo


You may type up the written part of your project, cut it out and glue it onto your one-pager, however, you must draw your own artwork by hand.

Thomas Aquinas Video

This video was made by a group of teachers several years ago.

The music is the song 'Venus' by Bananarama.