Shortly before he passed away, Sir Ken Robinson called Andrew Park – Founder of We Are Cognitive – to arrange a gift for his beloved community…A new animation, based on what proved to be his last public talk, ‘My Thoughts for The Call to Unite’. Watch this fantastic video from this great teacher, writer, researcher, adviser, speaker, and thinker.
Photo by Rob Martin (March 3, 2022) Photo by Rob Martin (March 3, 2022)Photo by Rob Martin (March 1, 2022)
I paused my lessons on trade in my 9th grade/Year 4 MYP Individuals and Societies (Social Studies) class this week to focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. My colleague, Matt, and I felt it was important to talk about this crisis which has not become a war. Students have been very engaged in the lessons and discussions. We first started with a discussion about why this should matter to us. Being so far from this region often makes students (and adults) think, “Why does this matter to me?” My colleague, Matt, shared some excellent resources from The Choices Program at Brown University that focused on building a historical understanding of the relationship between Russia and Ukraine (text and videos), along with an excellent lesson on analyzing political cartoons, something my students enjoyed doing last year. Students are curating their own resources and creating their own political cartoons. There is no shortage of news stories and video footage on the current events which change every day. There are a lot of real-world events that provide teachable moments and this is one of them.
Two articles/Op-Ed pieces I have read this week that are worth sharing and that resonated with me:
How Western media would cover Minneapolis if it happened in another country by Karen Attiah (Washington Post) – LINK – As a long term expat, I found this very well-written.
How We Broke the World by Thomas L. Friedman (New York Times) – LINK
The New Yorker – Cartoon by William HaefeliThe New Yorker – Cartoon by Pat Achilles
Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus (National Public Radio/NPR). Students, this comic is for you. “It’s based on a radio story that NPR education reporter Cory Turner did. He asked some experts what kids might want to know about the new coronavirus discovered in China.” Here is a link in English and a version is Chinese.
This video was re-shared by The Atlantic with this article. I have a lot of friends teaching in China and I am closely following the news about this virus and how communication and treatment are being managed. Wishing everyone there the best as they try to control the spread of this deadly virus. Here are some articles that I have enjoyed reading (I will add more as I see them):
The Deceptively Simple Number Sparking Coronavirus Fears – The Atlantic – LINK
China’s latest virus outbreak exposes perils of exotic wildlife trade – Reuters – LINK
Leaving Shanghai as the Coronavirus Extended Its Reach – New York Times – LINK
I only recently saw this ad and it’s nearly two years old. I remember seeing the original ad on CNN about eight years ago when I lived in Kuwait. What a magical place, and I am grateful that my family got to spend six years there. We certainly need to return some day to explore places we did not see.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the author of books like Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. In this animated interview, the Nigerian-born author describes coming to America for college and being floored by how little her classmates knew about Africa. “I don’t think stereotypes are problematic because they’re false. That’s too simple,” she says. “Stereotypes are problematic because they’re incomplete.”
Greta Thunberg, the teen activist from Sweden who has urged immediate action to address a global climate crisis, was named Time magazine’s person of the year for 2019 this week. She is the youngest to receive this award. Thunberg, 16, was lauded by Time for starting an environmental campaign in August 2018 which became a global movement, initially skipping school and camping out in front of the Swedish parliament to demand action.
“In the 16 months since, she has addressed heads of state at the UN, met with the pope, sparred with the president of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike on September 20, 2019, in what was the largest climate demonstration in human history,” the magazine said. Click HERE to read the article in Time magazine.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg photographed on the shore in Lisbon, Portugal December 4, 2019Photograph by Evgenia Arbugaeva for TIME
Iraq gets almost all of its water from two rivers: The Tigris and the Euphrates. Both begin in Turkey and make their way down the entire length of the country, before emptying into the Persian Gulf. The problem is – they are drying up. Watch this excellent video from Vox Atlas to learn more about why the history of the great rivers in this region and the problems that their citizens are currently facing as their rivers dry up.
“Governments draw borders. Governments manage borders. But humans live inside them. From the North Pole to the northern shore of Africa to the Himalayas of Nepal, the lines we’ve used to apportion the planet play a decisive role in the past, present, and future of billions.” – Vox Borders series.
A friend and former colleagued shared a video by Johnny Harris, who is the creator for Vox Borders. I was not familiar with his work or this video series on the human impact of lines on a map. It’s terrific!!! Migration, maps, and borders are topics I am very passionate about, and I think that you will like these videos and photos. I have selected a few to show you here. I will share more on my website.
CNN10is a great website that offers 10-minute news updates. It is very student-friendly. According to their website, the “show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society. Viewers will learn from every story on CNN 10.” It replaces CNN Student News.
“What’s Going On In This Picture?” is a great site on The New York Times Learning Network. It shares an intriguing or interesting photo with no caption. Viewers are invited to create a caption after doing a See, Think, and Wonder and responding to some questions. The photo is posted on Monday and students have three days to respond to the photos in a reply box, before the newspaper shares the caption on Thursday.
This reminds me of my former Korean students at AISC who loved BTS (Well, not all of them!). We had lots of fun last year talking about K-Pop, and I learned more about this band. BTS performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night.
The Onion also featured a funny picture about a new member joining the band. Haha! :>) :>) :>)
Korean Pop Group BTS Shakes Up Lineup By Adding Really Old Guy
Jimmy Kimmel Asks People If Homo Sapiens Should Be Saved, And The Answers Show The Level Of Stupidity. Click HERE to see read this article and some of the excerpts from these people. Funny…well, not so funny.
I was very sad to read the news and watch the videos of the fire at Notre Dame. I feel very fortunate to have visited Notre Dame in January 2018. It is not just a French treasure. It is an international treasure. These short videos feature some interesting facts about its history.
Off the north coast of Canada’s Baffin Island, a June sun transforms snow and ice into limpid pools of turquoise. The Arctic’s perennial sea ice cover—the ice that survives the summer melt season—has shrunk dramatically. From “Here’s Where the Arctic’s Wildlife Will Make Its Last Stand,” January 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN SKERRY
SARAH LEEN HAS a job most people in the world would envy. She looks at photographs for a living. And not just any photographs — National Geographic photographs. As our Director of Photography, Leen estimates she has looked at as many images “as there are stars in the sky,” so it’s hard to narrow down her favorites. But she does that every year — here are her favorite 100of the over two million submitted to us this year, in no particular order.
The English-speaking world’s growing concern for the environment and the ubiquity of disposable items that are used only once has pushed the word “single-use” to the top of Collins Dictionary’s list of “Word of the Year.”
Collins says there’s been a four-fold increase in the usage of the word since 2013, in part thanks to news coverage of environmental issues. Click on thisLINKto see (and learn) other notable words of the year, including floss, VAR, Gammon, backstop, etc. The 2017 Word of the Year was actually two words: “fake news.”
The pollution problems in New Delhi have been featured in the news a lot in the recent weeks. Thick smog blanketed areas of northern India, exceeding 10 times the recommended safe limit. Low visibility from the pollution has been blamed for an 18-car-pileup about 30 miles from New Delhi. Breathing the air has been likened to smoking 50 cigarettes in one day. Cold temperatures and slow winds have been blamed for the dangerous rise in pollution. – National Geographic
This Thursday we will have our second Inspiration Conversation of this year on Fake News vs. Real News. We will be meeting on the 2nd Floor of the ES/MS CIC at 3:45 for snacks and refreshments, and we will start the session at 4:15. I hope that you can join us as we explore what makes news fake, what tools do we have to help us determine if something is fake, and what role do we have in stopping the spread of fake news. This is a pressing and important issue in the world today, which plays a role in everyone’s life. This is open to MS and HS students. See you there!
Many Indian villages are returning to bartering amid a nationwide cash crisis. Hard currency is in short supply following the government’s surprise decision to scrap 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in an effort to curb corruption. The BBC visited a village in the state of West Bengal to meet farmers and laborers who are trying desperately to survive without cash in hand. This article makes me think about ancient history and how people traded.
Congratulations to Jinwon and Hyweon, who wrote submissions for the New York Times. Click HERE to read what they wrote. Great job! We are proud of you.
I saw this nice infographic on social media that was shared by The Tree Foundation in Chennai. Do you live with less plastic by doing any of these things?
I love Ted-Ed videos! This is a new one I watched today. While this is not about ancient history, I think it’s important and an interesting video to watch, especially as temperatures heat up in Chennai. Make sure you drink enough water. The fact that we spend a lot of time talking about why civilizations started near water resources is a good enough connection. Drink.More.Water. :>)
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."
- Maya Angelou
Image source: Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters – What’s going on in this picture?
Out of Eden Walk
Linking to Thinking 
Recent Comments