Mrs. Kuhr's Language Arts Blog

The art of editorial cartooning is no laughing matter – meaning, it is no easy task to convey a message using few, if any words, with just the right balance of humor:satire that resonates with readers on both sides of often painfully controversial issues.  Editorials, letters to the editor, opinion pieces and political cartoons all have distinctive traits and common literary elements/devices, such as: tone, point of view, and figurative language.

 is proud to feature  April’s editorials.  Enjoy!

I chose this topic because I love technology. I can never put my phone down. I’ve heard that texting and driving is dangerous before, but after I researched more about this, I am never going to even glance at my phone when I drive. This topic is important because it affects all of America. Now that our phones are getting more advanced, and more types of phones are coming out, people are starting to get more addicted to texting and calling. If you text while you drive, you’re distracted and it increases your chance of getting into a severe car wreck. I believe that I showed very well what my point was. This cartoon doesn’t need anybody talking, or even a text box explaining it. It just shows exactly what I intended it to show.

Head Injuries In Sports – Max M.

Reflection:

This cartoon is about the harm of head injuries especially in sports.  This a major problem in sports and there should be an effort to stop it.  What my cartoon shows is that the player has had so many concussions that he can barely think.  While the coach may be sad, anyone smart wouldn’t allow someone to play in the conditions that this player is in.  Because of continuous head injuries, his brain has  deteriorated; he cannot back down, because he can’t use his brain to its full potential.

Gun Control by Josh F.

I think that this is important because gun control in the United States has gotten out of hand.

 

 

If you have heard that we are spending time in our language arts classes learning about copyright, that information is accurate.  However, you may NOT have heard the rest of the story…

We have established that Copyright is ” :a person’s exclusive right to reproduce, publish, or sell his or her original work of authorship (as a literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or architectural work).” Text, images, books, plays, music, movies, pictures, dances/choreography, photos, information, and videos can be subject to copyright.

• A student who submits, posts, or shares any works that are not his/her own, yet claims ownership, plagiarizes.
• A student who submits, posts, or shares any copyrighted “…published or unpublished works that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression…” that he/she has not either a) received permission to use from the original owner or b) paid for the right to use, steals.
• A student who submits, posts, or shares any works that are licensed for reuse, but fails to adhere to the conditions for such use – including properly attributing the original owner, has committed an unlawful act.
• Be it plagiarism or copyright infringement – it is cheating.

Thus, our lessons re: copyright are, contextually, lessons in ethics.  As the amount and availability of digital information continues to increase dramatically, so, too, should our emphasis on helping students learn how to make moral choices. The tools of technology will evolve and the world will become more transparent.  In response, our Middle School team (general studies and Jewish studies) will continue to teach and affirm ethical behavior.

photo © 2008 Mike Seyfang | more info (via: Wylio)
I am quite pleased with the projects that concluded our unit on author’s point-of-view/perspective.  Students used a variety of media: group podcast, i-movie, power point presentations, individual podcasts, and glogs (interactive, digital posters), to exhibit their understanding of the literary element.  The intention is to share the results on our classroom blog, and we will.  Conscientiously and lawfully, we will showcase our accomplishments AND our integrity.

All: Due Dates

• 1/24-26/11     Reader’s Choice-Fiction, project presentations (students present brief oral summaries of their selected short stories, and share their chosen writing assignments and/or correlating activities in  lifelong learning, collaborative learning, critical literacy, or media literacy)
• 1/27/11     CHAI Reading Reviews: be an editor; change a part of your story to improve it

A good friend forwarded this video to me, and I wanted to share it with you.  It is not only memorable, but so appropriate for this time of year. The experience of hearing the Shofar will never be the same for me again. Please share your thoughts after viewing this amazing video. G’mar Hatimah Tovah

"What's on YOUR mind?"

New to our classroom this year is an area designated for deep thoughts, what if’s… and essential questions – all conveniently recorded on sticky notes.   Examples:  Don’t  judge a book by its movie. (Love this!) Should a mosque be built on Ground Zero? (Sounds like a good topic for an op/ed piece.) This year is going to be AWESOME! (I agree!) Are we going to be doing more poetry this year? (ABSOLUTELY!  You were kidding, right?)

So, what’s on your mind?  Any deep thoughts, memorable sayings, nagging questions?  Leave a comment here or ask a 7th or 8th grader to leave a sticky on our wall.  I leave you with one student’s thought – There is no “I” in ego, but there should be. Hmmm…

Wake up early on the morning of testing

Eat a good breakfast, don’t be late

Your mind is blank-you wish you were resting

Will  you do well?  It’s all up to fate

You are sitting in the classroom

Your  pencils  must be #2

Time is limited, and  you must zoom

The test begins-the minutes are few

Have no fear

How will you do?

No pressure here

It’s all up to you

Wednesday, April 28, was Kaleidoscope Day. Our school celebrated by going to the Cummer Museum of Art. The day was filled with fun activities like sketching, painting, and sculpting. The beautiful museum contains a hands-on gallery and a magnificent garden with blossoming flowers throughout. The museum also has  a painting room where we painted abstract drawings. In the clay room, we sculpted  birds of our choice. We also sat with a very interesting man who played exotic instruments such as the thumb piano, the bongos, and a Cora.  After we ate lunch, we left. Then back at school, the PTA arranged an assembly with a magician. This entertainment capped off a great Kaleidoscope Day. Thanks to the PTA and Ms. Susan Dubow for arranging this wonderful day that all students very much enjoyed!

The mitzvah program at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School (MJGDS) has been an important aspect of our Jewish education. For the past three years, the entire middle school has spent every Friday morning, participating in the school’s mitzvah program. A mitzvah is the performance of a good deed, for someone generally less fortunate than one’s self, for no reward. The recipients of our mitzvoth are not the only ones that have benefited from this program. In addition to helping the less fortunate, the mitzvah program has enhanced our understanding of the world and taught us the value of giving back to society. These lessons could not have been learned in the classroom, but only through real world experiences. I will never forget, for the rest of my life, the feelings of joy we have brought to others in the community.
To perform mitzvot, we carried out various acts of kindness such as delivering food to the hungry, volunteering at a local animal shelter, visiting and entertaining the sick and elderly, assisting children in low-income neighborhoods learn to read and write, and cleaning up the environment. Every Friday morning at approximately nine o’clock, the school had a community project planned for that morning. The middle school students would divide into groups to travel in separate cars to the location of the project for that morning. The cars were driven by various parents who would volunteer their time to enable us to carry out mitzvot. Once we arrived at our location, we assisted the students, elderly, those in need, or other less fortunate with whatever they needed help with that day. Afterwards, we returned to school and later on, would discuss what we had accomplished.
The mitzvah program will have a long lasting impact upon our lives for many years to come. It taught us that not everyone is as fortunate as ourselves. We have many positive elements to our lives, for which we should be thankful. These include good health, the basic necessities in life such as food, clothing, and shelter, plus many of life’s luxuries. Also, the program has taught us the joy that one can receive from giving to others. For example, whenever we went to Beauclerc Elementary School to help the students with their  reading and writing,  I felt terrific upon seeing the faces of the children smile from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. This project and the others we performed proved to us that we can have an impact on changing and improving the world around us. Hopefully, the mitzvah program will help us to avoid becoming self-absorbed with our own lives and keep us focused on the larger problems of the world.
In addition, the mitzvah program helped complete our Jewish education at MJGDS. Our Jewish education has taught us many things including aspects of our religion, how to follow our religion, and how to make the world a better place through Judaism. As stated in the Torah, “ the world stands on three things; the Torah, prayer, and good deeds.” While the first two of these principles could be learned in the classroom, the third could not and required real world experience. Our experiences gained in the mitzvah program showed us that one can continue to practice Judaism outside the synagogue. Without the mitzvah program, our Jewish education would not have been complete.
As we prepare to graduate and leave MJGDS, I have begun to reflect upon the nine years I spent at the school. When I do so, the mitzvah program is the first thing I think about. When I first began the mitzvah program in sixth grade, I did not see the significance of what we were doing. It was merely a field trip outside of school and a stop at the Gate Station for a snack on the way back to school. It is only now, that I recognize the lessons that I have learned from the mitzvah program. I believe these important lessons will enable me to make further contributions to the world throughout my lifetime.

Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. Speaks to MJGDS Middle School Students

On Thursday, April 22, 2010,  I had the honor of meeting and listening to one Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. – the author of the award winning book, It Was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke. A civil rights activist since joining the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP at age 11, Mr. Hurst participated in the 1960 sit-in demonstrations in Jacksonville, Florida. I was invited by Mrs. Judy Reppert (social studies teacher extraordinaire who, daily, makes history come alive in her classroom) to join the entire MJGDS Middle School student body to hear Mr. Hurst’s personal account of the times and events leading up to and including Ax Handle Saturday, a bloody August 27, 1960. What follows are my impressions of his visit.

Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. is a dynamic man. He exudes passion and conviction when he speaks. There is a kindness about him, a sensitivity to the needs of others, and a twinkle of humor; yet, one is aware of a layer of steely strength and courage that has allowed him to survive the senseless hatred of segregation and tell its story.

Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. is a ‘teacher’. He shares his knowledge and experience with others and we, in turn, learn lessons of humanity. Mr. Hurst, like many Holocaust survivors, also is compelled to correct the history books and teach the truth about the horrors, the indifference and, subsequently, the heroes spawned from bigotry and injustice. To quote his website, “Most Black and White citizens of Selma, Birmingham, Memphis, and Atlanta are acutely familiar with the violent civil rights struggles that occurred in their cities. Though the struggles in those cities may be more familiar, Jacksonville was not immune to the same type of cruelties. Ax Handle Saturday…a facet of Jacksonville’s history very few are willing to discuss, let alone embrace…the eye-opening details, when synthesized, provide a remarkable history worth telling. The peaceful protests of teenagers who dared to challenge segregated white lunch counters is not a myth or an urban legend. Nor is the attack by more than 200 whites with baseball bats and ax handles on 34 Black NAACP Youth Council members on August 27, 1960.”

Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. is a ‘preacher’. He has a message that the world needs to hear and he is prepared to shout it from the rooftops, the classrooms, the meeting rooms, the libraries, the book shelves. “The civil rights movement in the late fifties and early sixties is a history of brave and unselfish Black leaders fighting against racism and segregation, and for the equality of all people in the United States. Today’s generation must understand the circumstances and the times that led to this racially explosive and violent day in Jacksonville’s history. Regardless of what you have heard or seen about sit-in demonstrations, it was never about eating a hot dog and drinking a Coke! It was always about human dignity and respect.”

Rodney L. Hurst, Sr. is the personification of human dignity; he has gained both my respect and my admiration. Kol hakavod.

To learn more about the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the 1960 Sit-in Demonstrations and Ax Handle Saturday, in Jacksonville this August, see Mr. Hurst’s blogspot.

Special thanks to Ms. Kim Glasgal for arranging Mr. Hurst’s appearance.

It is with much pride that I post Rachel W.’s award-winning tribute to Major Stuart A. Wolfer, in response to the many comments and requests from classmates, peers, and those whose lives have been irrevocably touched by her essay .  Kol hakavod.

A Military Portrait: Stuart A. Wolfer
by Rachel W.

Stuart A. Wolfer was a Jewish soldier who served as a Major in the U.S. Army in Iraq from 2007-2008. He was born on April 23, 1971, and died April 6, 2008. Stuart was born in Miami, Florida and then moved to Dix Hills, N.Y. where he and his family helped establish the Dix Hills Jewish Center. After Stuart’s Bar Mitzvah, his family and he moved to Coral Springs, Florida.

Stuart went to Taravella High School where he was in the National Honor Society and the Debate Club. He was a member in Leadership Broward, played Junior Varsity Football and Lacrosse, and was involved in the B’nai Brith Youth Organization. During his summers, he enrolled in Volunteers for Israel and was active in American Jewish Social Services, which caused him to lose his spot in football his senior year of high school.

Stuart went to Washington University in St. Louis and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He was then employed as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. Stuart moved from St. Louis to Des Moines, Iowa, and started his own vending machine business called Lilly Vending. Later, he moved to Los Angeles, California, for another sales job. While there, he went at night to Loyola University Law School and graduated in 2002.

Stuart married Lee Anne in 2001 and they had three daughters. They moved to Emmett, Idaho and lived on a farm. Stuart got a job at Thomas-Reuters Legal Division in Idaho and Montana, which offers legal reference information. Stuart was still serving in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps when he was called to serve in Kuwait in 2004-2005; there he became a Major. In 2007, he was called to serve in Iraq. He was sent to the Green Zone in Iraq in 2008. While in Iraq, he participated in a Jewish minyan on a daily basis. He prayed with Tefillin every morning. He asked for prayer books (siddurim) and other Jewish items he needed to practice Judaism.

On April 6, 2008, Stuart A. Wolfer and one other military officer were killed in a rocket attack while working out in a fitness center in the Green Zone of Baghdad. Stuart was buried in Iowa, where his wife’s family lives.

I admire Stuart A. Wolfer for many reasons. He worked very hard to achieve all his high school honors, while playing football and lacrosse, and serving in so many clubs. (I could never do all of that at the same time!) He was a great person because he chose to be in the Army Reserves, when he could have been home with his family. He served in the army and lived his life as a Jew while in Iraq. I find that to be amazing – to have so much courage, commitment, and kindness; to leave home, not knowing if you will ever come back.

After learning about all the things Stuart accomplished in his life, I now want to try and work as hard as I can to be just as successful. He was a smart and kind man. He got a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, started his own vending machine business, and went to law school. If I get even close to achieving any of his accomplishments, I would be so proud. He is a good influence on everyone because he is an example of true hard work and making the right choices.

During my Bat Mitzvah celebration, my mother said I could only invite three friends to our Friday night dinner. The problem was that I have four best friends. My mother had already invited two of my friends, which left me with a tough decision. I had to choose only one of my two remaining best friends. It took me a very long time to decide whom to invite. I ended up not inviting either of them, so they would not feel that I liked one of them more than the other. I explained to them why they were not invited, and they understood. I think I made the best choice I could.

Recently, my parents informed me that we are moving away from the house I have lived in since second grade to another area of town. This news was very stressful for me, and things got worse – especially when I started to see boxes of my stuff being moved away. I dislike the house I will be living in and the high school I am now zoned for, but I keep my feelings to myself because I know my parents are more stressed about this move than I am, and I do not want to add to their stress.

My tough decisions are nothing compared to the decisions Stuart A. Wolfer had to make for himself and for his family. His choice to serve in the army meant being away from his wife and three daughters. I praise him for that. He gave his life for our country. May his memory be for a blessing.