On January 17th in America people celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Thanks to Mrs Rekate who has gathered together a wealth of resources for us to explore the famous I have a Dream speech as part of out Poetry Unit; the students all have their own copy of this speech too. Scroll to the bottom of this post for a list of quotes from Martin Luter King; use them as inspiration for your own writing.

The speech is rich in the literary devices we have been studying in our unit such as metaphor, simile, personification and analogy; of course there is also much repetition and we compared and contrasted that with several of President Obama’s speeches such as his ‘Yes we can‘ speech and his Inaugural Speech.

In class today we went through the speech several times, watching the clips on You Tube of the actual speech taking place, here and here, (remember youtube may not work at home) and breaking the speech down as a group so that we could make greater sense of the powerful meaning behind all that King was saying.

In class on Wednesday and Thursday, you will have further opportunities to explore the life of Martin Luther King Jr, and in particular his famous speech. by responding to the prompts on worksheets such as this one.

Classroom Responsibilities:

Poetry Unit: We will finish out Intensive Poetry Unit this Friday with a presentation in our classroom. Students will be assessed on their presentation of one original poem as well as all of the original poems that they have published on their blog by Friday. We will continue our Poetry Friday sessions whenever possible throughout the year, as with only a couple of exceptions, the whole class love Poetry.

Lego Unit: Will be completed on Friday. This Friday, you will complete the work on your booklet and submit it for assessment. Your will be assessed on the content and quality of your answers, as well as the participation you have made in class over the course of the Lego Unit.

Math: Math Unit 6 Using Data; Addition and Subtraction of Fractions
For this unit students will need to know how to:
*Read and create stem-and-leaf plots    Explain how sample size affects results
*Find common denominators
*Add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators
*Convert between fractions, decimals, and percents
Math Test will be on Friday during Period 4

In other News…
Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as “Spring Festival,” the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節 (Pinyin: Chūn Jié), owing to the difference between Western and traditional Chinese methods for computing the seasons. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: Zhēng Yuè) in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends withLantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year’s Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chú Xī (除夕) or “Eve of the Passing Year.” Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the “Lunar New Year“.
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “good fortune” or “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”. On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.
Chinese New Year 2012 Welcomes the Year of the Dragon

Roots and Shoots
SAS Roots and Shoots invites all families to offset their carbon footprint from winter/CNY travels. Envelopes were distributed to the youngest child of every family. If you wish to make a contribution – it’s not too late! Please insert your donation into the envelope, seal it, and have your child return the envelope (with their name and grade) to their homeroom teacher or the /high/middle/elementary school office. Further information can be found printed on the envelope or tinyurl.com/0carbon. This opportunity is completely optional – the last thing we want is to cause any stress! Have a great Chinese New Year holiday!
If you have any questions, please contact Edwin at edwinzen@gmail.com

Famous Martin Luther King Jr. Quotations

Pick one and write a poem inspired by the quotation, then add it to your poetry anthology on your blog.

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.  Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

“I’ve seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear.  Somehow we must be able to stand up against our most bitter opponents.”

“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time.”

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

“At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

“I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”