Connections

Are we more similar than different?

Read Matt Harding's Connecting to a Global Tribe after watching the video clip below. Read and be inspired by Matt's essay and at the same time note how he starts, the personal experiences he describes, his conclusion that connects to a deeper idea. Identify what he values.Respond in your blog to his writing and the video.

The painting is by Marc Chagall, The Juggler. 

Both Matt Harding and the Compliment Guys (see below) make me smile and restore a belief in the basic goodness of people. Read the article outlining the medical benefits of smiling.


And for a little more inspiration... read the poem below:

Stream of Life

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day

runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet and in fact won Asia's first Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He first started writing poetry at the age of eight! It is this poem that becomes the inspiration and lyrics for the music in Matt Harding's video. Talk about connections.

I BELIEVE IN COMPLIMENTS

Compliment: noun, a polite expression of praise or admiration.

com+pli+ment from L. complere "to complete," via notion of "complete the obligations of politeness from the Latin root: plere, to fill (Harper,D 2003).

When was the last time you received a compliment? 

How did it make you feel? 

When was the last time you complimented someone? 

How did it make that person feel?

The Compliment Guys are making a difference to people's days. I like the idea of small steps that we can all take to make the world a better place and I do believe this can have a ripple effect.We all have the power to connect and effect each other so it might as well be for the good! With so much in the news of disasters and wars it's refreshing to read of positive actions, of goodness and kindness. I believe that a smile towards a stranger, a compliment to someone can create connections and warm the world. I believe we can all connect positively to everyone and in doing so make the world a little better.

Read the article The Compliment Guys, and watch the you-tube clip below. 

What are your reactions? 

What connections can you make between these videos, poems and pieces of art?

The painting is by Teesha Moore, an inspiring collage artist. Visit her site, look at how she combines text and images together. She blends quirky paintings, images, colours and textures in her work. For those of you who may be interested in keeping graphics in your theme notebook, read about how she creates her pages and the materials she uses here in How I Journal.
References: Moore,T.My Journal Pages,retrieved from http://www.teeshamoore.com/teeshasjournalpgs.html

Harper,D. 2003, On Line Etymology Dictionary

What Do You Believe?

“Brie” by Henri Cartier-Bresson, June 1968, Brie, France


What do you believe in? This is as Allison ( 2006) notes, is a simple if difficult invitation: "Write a few hundred words expressing the core principles that guide your life- your personal credo." When you visit the NPRsite you can read hundreds of essays from people expressing what the believe in. Look at the links to the previous essays and note how many of the writers have made their essays personal. They have taken us into the experience that underlies the belief: they show us the moment and then tell us what they learned. Read:

• twelve year old Macklin Levine's : The Power of the Beatles
• Jake Hovenden's: Inner strength From Desperate Times
• Muhammed Ali's: I Am Still the Greatest
• Lisa Sandin: I Am Not My Body
• Terry Awal: Finding the Strength To Fight On
• Elvia Bautista: Remembering All the Boys
• Tarick McClain (kindergarten student): Thirty Things I Believe
  

You can use the This I Believe database to search by theme or by age of writer. Read as many as you can to become immersed in the style. How do they start their essay? How do they conclude? What example do they use to give life to their belief?

Look in your pack to find  Tips for Writing. Use this as guide. Also check the page Lesson 6: How Do I Support My Personal Essay? This gives some suggestions. Then read more essays noting these devices when they occur.

Your personal narrative essay will be uploaded to your electronic portfolio. We will revisit it again at the beginning of each trimester to revise, edit and add to it before we share the final, polished piece with your parents at Student-Led Conferences next May. Go back as many times as you want and adapt your writing in between these  'set' times. This will be a piece you are sure to be proud of.

Reference: http://kentbeatty.com/2008/10/12/great-photographers-henri-cartier-bresson/

2010 - 2011 Grade 7 Journey

Welcome!

Here you will find examples of our work together in class, interesting links for you to visit and many other resources. This year we will be working on a THEME notebook as we read and explore literature in humanities and reason critically to find the 'Big Ideas' found within our reading. There will also be a page on your blogs where you can free write in response to anything that I upload onto my blog, or about anything (linked to our work) that you find inspiring. I will look at your blogs at the end of every month and mark work that I have set, as well as looking at your free writing pages (where you can earn extra credit).

I made a commitment at the start of the school year to try to behave in an environmentally sustainable way in class, and this is an excellent way to do just that. Using blogs also has the extra advantage of allowing us to share our exemplary work and read each other's ideas and musings as we embark on the journey of seventh grade humanities together. Trust me, you won't want to upload shoddy work here, because everyone will see it! Here is a space where you can shine. You will be linking your blog to your electronic portfolio. You can even share you blog with family and friends far away.

Your first blog assignment was to find a quote and image that symbolized the essence of the meaning of a journey or the hero. You were asked to 'think big', and should be prepared to explain your choices and justify why they have a strong link with our units of study this year. 

In order to work to your best ability on this blog, I strongly encourage you to:

1. Write any postings in a Word document first, then paste into your blog after checking grammar, spelling and so forth.
2. Carefully review the blog rubric against which you will be graded. You will find this on the class Moodle site.
3. Employ all of the pre-writing, editing and revising strategies that we use in class to ensure that your word is of a publishable quality. Remember that this is a shared public space - a chance to shine in all your brilliance!

Enjoy the blog site - I am full of excitement to see where this path will take us.

Mrs. P.