Saturday, December 25, 2010

Charlie Chaplin, one of the most important figures in motion-picture history, died on this day in 1977.

Charlie Chaplin (1889 – 1977) was an English comic actor and film director of the silent film era. He became one of the best-known film stars in the world before the end of the First World War. Chaplin used mime, slapstick and other visual comedy routines, and continued well into the era of the talkies, though his films decreased in frequency from the end of the 1920s. His most famous role was that of The Tramp, Charlie Chaplin's most memorable on-screen character, a recognized icon of world cinema.

- Wikipedia

Lesson Plan Information
Title: The Kid (Produced and Directed by Charlie Chaplin)
Subject: Language Arts / English films
Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students will:
Acquire cultural awareness and linguistic skills (possible English-Spanish coordinated activity).
Concepts / Vocabulary: Abandoned child, orphane, limousine, a tramp, silent movie, comedy, drama, poverty.
Grade Level: 4-8
Time Needed: One 50-minute class period
Provided by: Teaching English Net
Link: http://www.ten.edu.uy/IMG/pdf/Chaplin-The_Kid.pdf

 

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Slavery was abolished in the United States, on this day, in 1865

Slavery in the United States was a form of unfree labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 18 1865.

- Wikipedia

Lesson Plan Information
Title: Abolishing Slavery in America
Subject: US History
Objectives: Students will:
- Learn what happened aboard the slave vessels Zong and Amistad.
- Consider what each incident reveals about views of slavery in Great Britain and the United States.
Concepts / Vocabulary: John Quincy Adams, Amistad, Cinque, Luke Collingwood, slavery
Grade Level: 9-12
Materials: Abolishing Slavery in America program, computers with access to the Internet.
Time Needed: Three 50-minute class periods
Provided by: Discovery Education
Link: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/abolishingSlavery/

 

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The United States Bill of Rights came into effect, on this day, 219 years ago

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of legislative articles, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of ratification by three-fourths of the States.

- Wikipedia

Lesson Plan Information
Title: Bill of Rights
Subject: Government / US History
Objectives: Students will:
- identify freedoms afforded by the Bill of Rights.
- explain how the government protects individual rights.
- analyze the importance of freedom of the press.
Concepts / Vocabulary: Bill of Rights, amendments, freedom, civics, government
Grade Level: 9-12
Materials: computers with access to the Internet.
Handouts: Worksheet
Time Needed: Two 50-minute class periods
Provided by: Education World (Author: Adam Burkett, a student at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.)
Year: 2004
Link: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/04-1/lesson012.shtml

 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

John Lennon, best known as one of the founding members of The Beatles, was fatally shot 30 years ago

John Lennon (1940 – 1980) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Along with fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved as a teenager in the skiffle craze; his first band, The Quarrymen, evolved into The Beatles in 1960. As the group disintegrated towards the end of the decade, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically acclaimed albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as Give Peace a Chance and Imagine. He moved to New York City in 1971, where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon's administration to deport him, while his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement.

Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to devote time to his family, but re-emerged in 1980 with a new album, Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release, on 8 December 1980.

- Wikipedia

Lesson Plan Information
Title: John Lennon’s Imagine and the Vietnam War
Objectives: By the end of this lesson, students will:
- understand to what extent the song Imagine is about the Vietnam War and how strongly John Lennon was opposed to it.
- communicate about Imagine in English.
- enrich English language vocabulary.
Concepts / Vocabulary: Vietnam War
Grade Level: 10-12
Subject: ESL / English / Language Arts
Materials: John Lennon's - Imagine, computers with access to the Internet.
Time Needed: Two 50-minute class periods
Provided by: Nelly Thomas
Link: http://nellythomas.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/an-example-of-a-lesson-plan.pdf