Thank you to all the other groups!

We have now entered our student writing section on the learning circle project.  We have received great information from some of our friends in Romania and Florida and Indonesia.  We will now be using that information to write articles, poems and songs, as well as create some of our own political cartoons.

We will be putting all of this work into our section of the international newspaper.  This newspaper will be complete in January and we will then be able to see all of the other sections of the newspaper that our friends have been working on.  We will post some previews as soon as possible.  Be sure to check back in a few weeks to check on our progress!

Woody Guthrie- American Folk Singer

This is American folk singer Woodie Guthrie. He is singing his song "This Land is your Land." He wrote this song in 1940. Guthrie's melody was very similar to a Baptist gospel hymn that had been recorded by the Carter Family.

Neil Young Interview

This is an interview with American musician Neil Young. He shares his thoughts on politics and how politics influence his music.

Political Cartoons from the USA

We have asked for some political cartoons from your country.  Thought we would share a few with you.  Enjoy.

This was the first political cartoon published in America.  It was published in the newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette.   It was published on May 9, 1754 and it was by Benjamin Franklin.  This cartoon appeared as part of an editorial article by Franklin in which he commented on the "present disunited state of the British Colonies."

This cartoon was created by Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Suess.  He created many political cartoons during World War II.  He was against the United States isolationist position in the early war years and he mocked that attitude frequently in his cartoons.

This comic was taken from the web-site www.xkcd.com.  The title of this comic is "The End is Not For A While."

This cartoon was created by August J. Pollak.  He shows a lighter side of the political cartoons in the United States.  You can visit his website at the address listed below.

Learning Circle Project

Hi everyone.  Thank you for checking up on us!  Here is some information on our learning circle project.  This is what we will be working on for the next two months.

For November we will be gathering information and collecting ideas.

For December we will be taking these ideas, and our other info, and writing newspaper articles, cartoons, songs and poems.  Photographs can also be part of our project.

If you would like to get involved, read on!  There is a link to a survey we would like you to complete.  As many responses as we can get would be great!  Please feel free to post comments for us here too.  If you want to give us a personal response for our topic but don't want to send an e-mail, please leave your comment on our blog.  We appreciate every and all responses and we will work hard to make sure your comments are used in our writing.

Thanks!

Sponsoring Teacher:  Ashley Rubolotta
Sponsor School:  The Craig High School
City:  Lincoln Park, NJ
Country: United States
Name of Project:  POLITICS AND ART

Goal Of The Project:  We would like to compile information on politics and political art.  We would like to write articles about the politics of all our countries and collect political cartoons from all our countries.  We would also like to see some examples of political songs so we can include some song lyrics in our articles.


Type Of Writing Requested:  Personal commentary from students regarding their views on a political topic.  Any personal comments about local or national leaders, or government and laws in general, would be acceptable.  These expressions should be about one paragraph in length.  These thoughts can be composed in an e-mail and sent directly to astrogrrl138@yahoo.com .

Description Of What You Are Looking For From Other Schools: 

For example, a response may look like this:

I think the government is too restrictive.  The leaders make too many rules that limit our personal choices.  In New Jersey there is a new rule about driving.  Any driver who has a probationary license and is under the age of 18 must put a red sticker on their license plate.  I don't think this rule is fair because this might make my car stick out from other cars.  I should be able to choose if I want other drivers to know I'm new behind the wheel.

OR

There are a lot of people who don't like our president, Barak Obama.  They say he is trying to socialize our country.  I don't see anything wrong with socialized heath care.  I think that would be good.  I think insurance companies waste too much money, so a government health care system would be better than what we have now.  I hope President Obama does something like this.

Questions:  Also, please complete the following survey.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGdJMWQyWnk2LWNZdFRpR09uUldya2c6MQ

If possible, have each student in the class, and the teachers, complete this.

Story Prompts:  NONE

Detailed Instructions For Collecting Information: Please complete the online survey.  The results will be automatically calculated.  Please, in a Word Document or in the body of an e-mail, have your students complete a personal comment on their political views or opinions.  This can be e-mailed directly to astrogrrl138@yahoo.com .


Ideal Number Of Submissions From Each School:  ONLINE SURVEY:  As many as possible, but at least 10   PERSONAL COMMENTS:  At least 5

Preferred Length Of Articles:  One paragraph personal expression, also completion of the online survey


Deadline For Receiving Information (Circle deadline is December 5, 2010):   Please complete both the online survey and the personal comments by November 30.  Thank you.

View of New York City

This image comes straight from Jordan C.  He took this picture while at Garret Mountain, in Paterson, NJ. You can clearly see the New York City skyline on the horizon.

Great picture Jordan!

Autumn in New Jersey

The Classroom Survey

PART I  INTRODUCING THE CLASS

NAME OF TEACHER:  Ashley Rubolotta

GRADE LEVEL:  9-12 (ages 14-18)

FAVORITES:

MUSIC:  The Who, The Beatles, Dropkick Murphy’s, The Misfits, Lady Gaga

AUTHOR:  S.E. Hinton, Stephen King, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, J.K. Rowling

TV PROGRAMS:  MASH, The Sopranos, Cheers, Scrubs, Friends

FOODS:  Pizza, cheeseburgers, ice cream, chicken parm, oatmeal

SCHOOL SUBJECTS:  Writing, Math, History, Gym, Film and Society

SPORTS:  Bowling, baseball, soccer, snowboarding, American football

VIDEO GAMES:  Grand Theft Auto, Wii Rock Band, Halo 3, Metroid, Halo Reach

PART II  INTRODUCING THE SCHOOL

NAME AND ADDRESS OF CLASS AND SCHOOL:  The Craig High School, 200 Comly Road, Lincoln Park, NJ 07035 United States

NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN CLASS AND SCHOOL:  There are 15 students working on this project and 48 students in the whole school.

SIZE OF SCHOOL:  Our school is very small.  In fact, our whole building is only one floor and only one hallway.  All of the classrooms are on both sides of the hallway.

SCHOOL EMBLEM, COLORS OR MASCOT:  Our school emblem is on our school’s web site.  Here is the address so you can see it.  www.craigschool.org  Our school colors are black and red.  Our mascot is a badger.

TYPE AND NUMBER OF COMPUTERS:  Mrs. Rubolotta has 7 computers in her room.  (All the other teachers have seven computers also.)  Mrs. Rubolotta has HP 6730s laptops.

SCHOOL HISTORY:  Founded in 1980, The Craig School is an independent, non-profit school responding to the needs of students in 3rd through 12th grades who have diagnosed learning disabilities or difficulty succeeding in a traditional classroom setting. Over the years the school has promoted a solid educational program based on the most recent and effective multisensory classroom techniques, assistive technology, social skills curricula, and organizational methods. The school continues to provide a safe, nurturing learning environment with small structured classrooms, positive student-teacher interaction and strong ties to parents. (Taken from Craig’s web site.)

LIST THREE THINGS ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL PROGRAM THAT MAKE IT UNIQUE: 

1.  We have very small classes here at Craig.  Our largest class has 8 students in it.  Also, our students are not all from the same town.  They travel from different towns to attend our school.  And they all get along!

2.  We have unique social opportunities for our students.  We have a Stepping Out program, which is an after-school once a month social field trip to places like the drive-in movie theater or ice hockey games.  We also have a downtown lunch program, where twice a month, (every other Friday), half the school can go to the local restaurants and eat lunch together.

3.  We individualize our teaching methods as much as possible.  Each student receives personalized attention from the teachers and our students are taught according to their strengths.  We find out what our students are good at, and then use those skills to help them in the areas of weakness.

LIST SCHOOL CALENDAR FROM THE SESSION DATES THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR PARTICIPATION:  We have off from school on the followng dates:  October 25, November 25-26, December 22-January 3.  We will be taking exams and have half days on November 12, 19, 22, 23, 24.

PART III  INTRODUCING THE COMMUNITY

NAME OF YOUR COMMUNITY:  Lincoln Park, New Jersey

NAME AND SIZE OF NEARIST CITY:  Lincoln Park is located 6.8 miles from Paterson, NJ.  Patterson used to be a very bustling textile city.   Lincoln Park is also 23 miles from New York City.  New York City is very famous for its theater district and housing the American Stock Market.

LOCATION OF YOUR COMMUNITY:  Lincoln Park is in Morris County, which is in Northern New Jersey.

THE AREA OF YOUR COMMUNITY:  Lincoln Park is 7 square miles.

THE POPULATION OF YOUR COMMUNITY:  Lincoln Park has a population of 10,635, according to the 2000 Census count.  We had another census count this year, but the results have not yet been published.

LIST THREE REASONS WHY PEOPLE COME TO VISIT YOUR AREA:

1.  People come to this area because we are close to New York City.  It is cheaper to stay in New Jersey than to stay in New York City.

2.  People come to this area because it is a historic area.  This area was well traveled during the American Revolutionary War.  Our country’s first President, George Washington, stayed in Northern New Jersey when he was planning his attacks against the British Army.

3.  People come to this area because there are a lot of parks and hiking trails in this area.  People also enjoy the changing colors of the leaves during our autumn season.

DESCRIBE ANY UNUSUAL LAND FORMATION IN OR NEAR YOUR COMMUNITY:  The Appalachian Trail runs through part of northern New Jersey.  This is a continuous 2,179 mile trail that goes from Maine to Georgia.  We also live close to the Delaware River, which many people use to fish, canoe, kayak and raft.  There is also a park system of hiking and biking trails, called Patriot’s Path, near by and there are many reservoirs of water near Lincoln Park.

LIST MAJOR INSTUDRIES OR OCCUPATIONS IN YOUR COMMUNITY:  There are many pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey, such as Johnson and Johnson and Merc.  There are also oil refineries located in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  The North Jersey District Water Supply Commission is located in Haskell, New Jersey, which is 6 miles from Lincoln Park.  This Commission is responsible for developing, acquiring and operating the water supply for the 12 northern counties in New Jersey. 

Welcome to our school!

Famous People From New Jersey

New Jersey is the home of many famous inventors, writers, musicians and actors.

Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison both lived and worked in New Jersey for many years. These men made invaluable contributions to math and science.

Walt Whitman finished The Leaves of Grass while living in New Jersey. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born and raised in New Jersey and he is most know for writing The Great Gatsby.

Frank Sinatra, or Ol' Blue Eyes, was born in Hoboken, NJ and he is a very famous singer. My Chemical Romance, the very popular rock group, also call New Jersey their home. So does the late 70's punk rock group The Misfits.

Actor Jack Nicholson and actress Meryl Streep are also from New Jersey.

Check out the New Jersey Hall of Fame's web site to learn about more famous people from New Jersey.

http://www.njhalloffame.org/

Enjoy this video from My Chemical Romance.

Welcome to Craig!

Hello Learning Circle Members!

Sam Darko-Accra, Ghana
Ozgu Ozcan Ozturk-Istanbul, Turkey
Abdullah Suarta-Bogor, Indonesia
Nadejda Salikhova-Almetyevsk, Russia
Lorena Ortiz- West Chapel, Florida-United States
Anitoae Liliana-Husi, Vaslui, Romania
Anisoara Iordache-Constanta, Romania
and me, Ashley Rubolotta- Lincoln Park, New Jersey-United States

Our group hails from the Craig HIgh School and we invite you to check out our school's web site.

http://www.craigschool.org/

A video made by one of my students

Skylands Manor in New Jersey-State Botanical Garden

This beautiful historic home, and surrounding garden, is located 16 miles from our school.  Enjoy the scenery!