5 Things we Learned from the Convention

Party Convention: Ann Romney

Here is a video clip that shows excerpts from Ann Romney's address at the GOP Party Convention.

 

Good questions to ask for current event:

Does a presidential candidate's wife matter?

Ann Romney is considered Mitt Romney's "secret weapon."  What do you think that is?

Should we only look at a candidate's political career or should we evaluate a candidate's family life as well?

Inferences Activity

A great activity to get students and able to make inferences is the "Ordeal by Cheque activity."  Students have to look at a series of checks and determine the story behind the checks.

Here are the checks:
http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/research/eslclassroom/ch2/ordealcheques.pdf

And here is a woman's interpretation of the checks.
http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57818

The students could analyze the checks and write a story in a paragraph about what they think is going on in the checks.  Then they can read others interpretations in the classroom and then read one of the one I've found online.

365 Thought Provoking Questions

Use this website to get students thinking!  Good for Journal Articles.

http://www.marcandangel.com/2011/03/14/365-thought-provoking-questions-to-ask-yourself-this-year/

Olympics: Cameroon's Missing Athletes

This CNN article discusses how many Cameroon athletes are defecting during the London 2012 Olympic games.

The article states that Cameroon is one of the poorest countries and that athletes are defecting because they want to have better training facilities/coaches/ etc (and thus a better environment altogether) than they experience back at home.

The article is good to show:

Movement between countries
Poor conditions in Africa
Still effects of colonialism
Etc. etc.

Egypt Case Studies: Make-Up

I want students to look into different aspects of life in Ancient Egypt.  They could choose the case study that they want (cosmetics, war, funeral practices, ship building, food, etc.), have a handout with questions and then have a couple of different documents to analyze about their topic.  They can complete as a pair.  Then they can draw a picture of that their case study in ancient Egypt with some basic facts.  It would be cool to have them share with each other in some way.  

Here are some questions I brainstormed for them:

1. How is beauty different in other cultures?  How is beauty different in Egypt than from today? How similar?

2. How does Egyptian's use of cosmetics a sign of "civilization" (hint: choose one of the 5 characteristics of a civilization and discuss it in relation to cosmetics)

3. Describe the make-up that ancient Egyptians used.   List 5 different things.

4. What ingredients did they use to make their make-up?

5. Draw a picture of what a typical woman's make-up in Egypt would look like. 

6. Apply to yourself:  Do you like using make-up?  Why or why not?  Do you think make-up enhances beauty or masks it?  Why do you think that woman throughout time have sought out ways to improve their appearance with make-up?  Do you think that Egyptian make-up is beautiful or excessive? 

Potential Articles:

• The Past, Present, and Future of Looking Good by Sarah Fewster (found through SIRS Discoverer.  Looks at make-up in general and has some fun facts but doesn't go into Egypt a ton)
• Fun Facts:
• Egyptians and Romans had their cosmetics buried with them so they could shine in the afterworld.
• Lettuce Head (330-30 B.C.): Ancient Egyptians put shredded lettuce on their bald spots to encourage hair growth. And they dyed gray hairs with a mixture of henna, cow's blood, warm oil, and crushed tadpoles.
• Grease Queen (69-30 B.C.):
  
   Egyptian queen Cleopatra bathed in goat's milk to moisture her skin and used bear grease to style her hair.
• Cosmetics weren't made specifically for teens until the 1940s, and those teens were encouraged to use natural colors. Then in the 1960s, teens developed their own makeup styles and trends. By the 1980s, teen cosmetics became a $20 billion industry.
•  For a great history of beauty trends, check out For Appearance' Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty, and Grooming, Oryx Press, 2001
•   For more on ancient cosmetics, read "Style of the Nile: Recreating the chemistry and cosmetics of Queen Nefertiti," Discover Magazine, September 1999.
• Egyptian Make-Up (provides very simple, straightforward info on Ancient Egyptian Cosmetics)
• Cosmetics, Perfumes, and Incense in Ancient Egypt by A. Lucas (The Journal of Egyptian Archeology) 
• This seems very informational.  More of a journal article.  We don't have full access so unless we want to spend 10 dollars one day then we can't see more than one page.
• Wikipedia: Beauty and Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt
• Great simple information as always.  Emphasizes that wearing make-up in Ancient Egypt served a spiritual purpose
• Ancient Egypt’s Toxic Makeup Fought Infection, Researchers Say by Sindya N. Bhanoo
• Good NY Times article although it might be good to use another article in addition to this one.
• Looks into ingredients used in make-up and also raises the question: is Make-up good or bad?  Do we sometimes hurt ourselves to try and achieve "beauty"?  Is that okay?
• 5 Ancient Egyptian Cosmetics
• Seems like a good, simple overview.

Promises--Isreali/Palestinian Conflict Documentary

Promises is a documentary that shows the perspectives of Israeli and Palestinian children.  They follow seven Israeli and Palestinian children who all live around Jerusalem.

Brad said that he viewed the movie in high school and in a Middle East college class.  He loved it.  I think if Brad could still remember the movie and the issues it looks at AND that it was shown to him in two different class that it is worth looking at.

This link takes you to a website that posts documentaries for free.  It says that the documentary is available to watch on that website but I couldn't get it to work.  Try back later.