The voters of New Hampshire went to the polls Tuesday to express their preferences among Republican candidates for President. The final vote had Romney with 39%, Paul with 23%, Huntsman with 17% and Gingrich and Santorum with 9% each. The next primary state is South Carolina, which votes next Saturday. Stay tuned while the Republican party looks for the candidate they feel can unseat President Obama.
On the international front, tensions continue to build with Iran. This week Iran sentenced an American citizen to death on charges of spying, and they have threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz, delaying oil shipments, if the US and our allies continue to pressure them to drop their nuclear program.
CWI
Your current event was due this week. Many of you did a great job summarizing and commenting on a wide variety of events from East Asia. The good news is that many of you are exceeding the standard on this assignment. The discouraging news is that only about 55 percent are handing in the work. You have one week to do the assignment so time should not be a factor. Computer problems seem to be a major problem…that is why you have a week to do the assignment…learn to get over these obstacles…find a different computer…print at the MHS library or the public library…maybe cut the article out of the paper…don’t be late, don’t ask to print…be ready on time!
In addition, we had our map and note quiz this week. You are allowed to use the map and notes on the quiz so high grades should be earned by all. We also collected the Geography of the Mall activity…hope you found this fun, looking at what you have at home and where it was made.
This week we continued to look at the economy of China. You had several handouts that gave you information about challenges, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses of China. We also looked at other countries in the region and tried to decide which countries were developed and which countries were still in the process of developing. You could quickly see that even though China has a fast growing economy, they still face challenges as they try to spread the wealth to all regions of the country.
VoiceThread
On Tuesday you worked with Mr. Fontaine on posting political cartoons from East Asia on a program called VoiceThread. You were able to select your cartoon, analyze it using the cartoon analysis sheet and rubric and then post your analysis for your fellow students to read. Once you posted, you made a comment on another cartoon. Most of you did a great job…imaginative cartoons were selected and your analysis, as long as you followed the rubric, earned you lots of points. You had one class period to do the assignment so you had to stay focused on the task at hand. Your portfolio task for second semester will use VoiceThread, so this was good practice for that assignment.
The Most Influential Thinker
To better understand the people of China, you must know about Confucius. In an introduction to “The Analects,” Dr. Rosmond described Confucius as the most influential thinker in the world as more people follow his teachings than any other belief system. Our reading on this belief system stressed the importance of relationships, education, hierarchy, and order. So much of what we value as Americans, particularly individual liberties, does not factor into the Confucian way of thinking and acting. Your fill in the blank activity and free writing activity will be a useful review sheet for you as you prepare for the midterm.
We watched two video clips…one focused on how China is trying to use Confucian thinking to help counter western materialism, which has been gaining ground in China, and the other focused on how students in Florida are studying Confucian thinking and Mandarin as they prepare for jobs in China.
You also had a worksheet on “The Rise of China” based on a reading from our UpFront Magazine. You have lots to think about…would you rather live in a country with many economic opportunities or a country that cherishes individual liberty? As the economy of China continues to grow, China is expected to overtake the US within the next few years…how will our life change once China is number one economically?
Martin Luther King
This weekend we enjoy an extra day as we pause to celebrate the contributions Martin Luther King made to this country. His peaceful campaign for civil rights is a reminder that when many people act together, they can bring revolutionary change without using violent methods, even when their opponents are more than ready to use violence against them. Next semester we will spend more time looking at the Civil Rights Movement and King’s contributions.
Thank you to the Band
As many of you know, MHS experienced a shortage of copy paper this week but our band came to the rescue and purchased one ream of paper for every teacher. So thank you band members…you were the ones with the white hats this week…
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