Students have been assigned the latest Newsela reading on teens running for Governor. Please read the directions carefully. The Write is due this Friday.
11/3 Schools of thought test on Monday 11/6
Students should bring their completed note cards, with the identifying characteristics of the four schools of thought. You may use these cards during the test, so recheck your notes against my blog notes. Make sure your notes are accurate and spelled correctly.
11/2 – More practice quotes
You can submit your answers in the comments and I will publish for others to see, and if we have time, we can discuss.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you have fallen, there are always ways to get back up, if you are willing to put in the effort”
“Life choices don’t only affect the present, they will affect your future”
“When the storm comes in, with lightning, thunder, rain and wind, the wise person will take cover and wait until it passes.”
“Straying off the path will result in falling into the thorns, but following the path, you will end up in roses.”
10/31 Schools of Thought test on Monday 11/6
Students have finished their study on the four schools of thought, and have practiced their understanding through the presentation and interpretation of tableaux today. Tomorrow, students will participate in Socratic discussions to deepen their understanding. Please remember that a complete and thorough answer will include much detail that connects what you see to as many characteristics of the school of thought as possible.
Students were given the second opportunity to improve on their government test results because many were not used to writing answers with appropriate details. This time, the only people who will have the opportunity to retake will be the students who have an overall grade of D or below.
No other work has been assigned, in order to prepare for the test on Monday. Students should reread the information on the blog, review the characteristics of each school of thought, identify the practice quotes with detailed supporting information, and practice writing their own quotations based upon characteristics of the various schools of thought.
Scoring has been explained on the previous blog entry. There will be 8 quotes to be identified on the test. Students will be rewriting their notes on Thursday and Friday, and they will be able to use these notes during the test on Monday.
10/31 Practice quotes
“Like a spider caught in its own web, is a person driven by fierce cravings. Break out of the web, and turn away from the world of sensory pleasure and sorrow.”
“If a ruler himself is upright, all will go well without orders. But if he himself is not upright, even though he gives orders they will not be obeyed.”
“Highest good is like water. Because water excels in benefiting the myriad creatures without contending with them and settles where none would like be, it comes close to the Way.”
“To govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong”
Be able to identify the school of thought behind each quote by as many characteristics as possible. The most correctly detailed answer will be 3 points. If the answer is correct but lacks supporting evidence, it will be 2 points. If the answer is incorrect, it will be 1 point.
10/27 Latest grades and deadlines
The Malala autobiography assignment and book were due on Monday, 10/23. This deadline was extended to today, due to printing problems, and the storm, and students needing more time.
Government test retakes were held this week. Students could come multiple times to retake different parts of the test. Because of the storm, the retakes have been extended to Monday, 10/30, after school. Once all the retakes have been completed, I will assess and update the grades.
Please check the social studies grades in KS connect.
10/27 Buddhism notes
Buddhism is a religion, based upon the life and teachings of an Indian prince, named Siddartha (563 BCE). He was brought up in luxury, and protected from all suffering. One day, the gates around his castle were open, and he saw suffering for the first time. He was so troubled by what he saw, that he renounced his royal birthright and left home to find the answers to suffering. He met different people in his travels, and along the way he thought he might be able to find the answers he was looking for by denying himself all pleasure. He was near death, when he finally accepted some food from a passing stranger. He came to a realization that there was a Middle Way, or Middle Path, between the extreme luxury he was born to, and the extreme suffering that he endured.
He sat beneath a bodhi tree and began to meditate. This meditation led to his enlightenment (which is perfect knowledge), and then he became the Buddha. His teachings are summed up in the 4 Noble Truths.
- All life is suffering and pain
- Suffering and pain are caused by desire for wealth, pleasure, fame, and power
- To end suffering, you must overcome your desires
- To overcome desires, you must follow the Middle Way.
The Middle Path stresses virtuous conduct and compassion for all living things. Buddhists believe in reincarnation – the idea that when a person dies, his soul is reborn into another body. The body a person is reborn into, depends upon the karma of the previous life. Karma is the cause and effect of your actions and thoughts in the previous life. To break this cycle of constant rebirth, you want to reach nirvana, which is the condition of desiring nothing. Once nirvana is reached, you will become a Buddha.
https://www.brainyquote.com/lists/authors/top_10_buddha_quotes
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-enlightenment-of-the-buddha-449789
Star Spangled Banner Lyrics, Francis Scott Key, 1814
Anthem – Song of praise, or devotion
Written as a poem after witnessing the victory of American forces during the War of 1812, and later musically set to a popular British song. Historically, this anthem has been controversial. Originally, people objected because it is difficult to sing. In the 1968 Olympics, American athletes raised their fists when the anthem was played in a human rights salute. Also in 1968, Jose Feliciano strummed a slow, blues style rendition at a World Series baseball game, and some objected.. In 1990, Roseanne Barr screeched her rendition, and spit and grabbed her crotch, acting like a baseball player at a San Diego Padres game. Steven Tyler from Aerosmith has sung the anthem at several events, and has forgotten the lyrics, or made up his own.
Do you know the all words to the anthem? Do you sing when it is played? Do you stand, take off your hat, stop talking and looking at your phone when you hear it? Should you be criticized or punished if you do not do these respectful actions?
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave![27]
Cover of sheet music for “The Star-Spangled Banner”, transcribed for piano by Ch. Voss, Philadelphia: G. Andre & Co., 1862
Additional Civil War period lyrics
In indignation over the start of the American Civil War, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.[28] added a fifth stanza to the song in 1861, which appeared in songbooks of the era.[29]
When our land is illumined with Liberty’s smile,
If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile
The flag of her stars and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained who our birthright have gained,
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
10/19 Daoism Notes
Daoism is both a philosophy, and a religion, based upon the teachings of Laozi, who lived from 606 to 503 BCE. The goal of life is to become one with the Dao, or The Way, or The Path. The Dao is an unseen force found in everything, and it is connected to nature. Humans should see themselves as part of nature, and realize that change is a part of everything. Humans should live simply, in peace with nature. Nothing in nature strives for wealth or fame or knowledge or power. The river, the plants, the wind, the clouds, all move without effort, because they follow the Dao, which is the way of nature, that guides all things. In a strong wind a tree will topple over, because it tries to stand up against the wind. However, the grasses will bend with the wind, and after the storm is over, will be able to stand tall again. Daoists are against strong government with many rules, but believe you should live a balanced life with nature. The best government is the one that governs the least. The balancing forces are yin and yang. Yin is female, earth, dark, and cold. Yang is male, sky, light, heat.
http://blogs.ksbe.edu/pekono/files/2017/10/YinYang.jpg
https://theunboundedspirit.com/10-inspirational-quotes-from-lao-tzus-tao-te-ching/
For more helpful information, follow this link:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Laozi
10/18 Confucianism notes
Confucianism is a system of beliefs from a teacher named Kong Fu Zi, who lived in China from 551 to 479 BCE. His ideas were based on respect for elders, education, and working hard. His code of behavior revolved around the five key relationships in life. 1 – ruler and subject, 2- parent and child, 3 – husband and wife, 4 – sibling and sibling, 5 – friend and friend. All the people involved must be loyal, courteous, honest, faithful and obedient. Also, the leader must live his life by all of these virtues and be a shining example to all others. He believed that all people are inherently good. If a person did something unacceptable, it wasn’t because that person was bad, it was because he wasn’t taught the proper behavior, and that person needed to accept respectful teaching from an elder, who was wiser and superior.
During legalism, Emperor Qin tortured and killed Confucius scholars, often burying them alive. Also the books on Confucius teachings were burned.
http://blogs.ksbe.edu/pekono/files/2017/10/Book-burning.jpg
For teachings from Confucius, follow this link:
https://www.brainyquote.com/lists/authors/top_10_confucius_quotes
For further helpful information, follow this link: