28 November 2010

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.

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10 November 2010

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.
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.