On Our Way to Defying Indifference

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference." --Elie Weisel

Last week, we learned how art affects writing. Well, this week we are going to use art and writing to represent our math findings! Each of you have a survey about your experiences with bullying. Do not write your name on this survey. It is anonymous. I would like you to take the next 5-10 minutes to complete the survey. Do not forget to list many, varied, and unusual actions you think parents, teachers, and other adults could perform to stop bullying on the back of your survey. Once we tally the responses for each question, I would like you to decide which type of graph would best display our data. Once we have graphed our data, we will determine the fractions and percentages for each answer. Wear your thinking cap!

Before we jump into our art activity, I want you to think of the experiences that you reflected upon when you answered the questions to your survey. If you were bullied, is there something you wish someone could have done to prevent that experience from happening? If you witnessed bullying, is there something you or someone else could have done to stop it? If you were apart of bullying, is there something you wish you would have done differently so that you wouldn't have felt the need to bully? Our goal with this short answer writing assignment is to first list many, varied and unusual ways that we could be proactive about stifling maliciousness and spreading kindness throughout our communities. Then, each of you will choose one strategy that you can expand upon, and complete this sentence with your wish (strategy), "All I want for the holidays is..." We will paste your sentences to an ornament and display them so that others can be inspired by your great ideas!


In honor of Welcome Comfort, I would like you to imagine a Christmas scene that features a Christmas tree. Determine what belongs in the foreground, middleground, and background. Using the torn paper technique like Ms. Luckey's third grade class demonstrated with their Australian Creation Story comprehension visualizations, I would like you to first completely cover your paper with images that belong in your background, even if it is a solid color. Next, I would like you to layer the images that belong in your middle ground on top of your background layer. Finally, I would like you to add your foreground layer. Before you begin this process, you need to use your PLANNING TALENT to determine the colors you will need to create your image, the steps in the process of your gluing and layering, and any problems that might occur along the way.

Make a Free Flash Slideshow

ALCOS Standard, Grade 5:

14. Analyze data collected from a survey or experiment to distinguish between what the data show and what might account for the results. Evaluate different representations of the same data to determine how well each representation shows important aspects of the data. Using given measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) to analyze data.

Journal Entry: "Gratitude is what defines the humanity of the human being."-- Elie Weisel

Today, we are going to read our journal prompt together. Your ipads are at your desk, I would like you to go to the voice memos app (it has a picture of a microphone with a red background) and start recording. As soon as you press record, I would not like you to touch the ipad until our conversation is over, unless instructed to look something up. As I read the text to you, I would like you to raise your hand and share any connections or related ideas you have. You may also raise your hand and ask any questions if you don't know what a word means, or don't understand a particular concept.

I have printed a copy of the text for each of you. Please feel free to respond to the text in writing on the back of your handout. When we are finished discussing the passage, I would like you and your table partner to think about what indifference looks like. Once you have an idea of what it looks like, use your iPad to find an image that represents your description. Finally, I want you to email me the picture you found with your first names in the subject header, and in the message, I would like you to include, "Indifference looks like ________because________."

The passage below is a series of excerpts taken from Elie Weisel's speech, The Perils of Indifference, that he gave as part of President Bill Clinton's Millennium Lecture series held in the White House. The full text can be read by clicking here.

Elie Weisel has earned his wrinkles.

What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil.

What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a [warm cup of hot cocoa], as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals?

Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction.

In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, one does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.

The Beginning of Great

Friday, our Question of the Day was, "What is good art, and how is does it affect writing?" We examined the painting from Journal Entry: Art and Australia, and came up with a few explanation to define what good art is. The St. Elmo Explorer's came up with the following:

1.) Good art is inspired.
2.) Good art is inspiring.
3.) Good art expresses feelings.
4.) Good art makes you feel.
5.) Good art tells a story.
6.) Good art has a purpose.

We discovered that good art shares a lot of the same qualities of good writing. Kevin said that the best art and writing describe. I couldn't be more proud of the St. Elmo Explorer's dialogue about art and writing, the conclusions they drew from looking at the Australian painting, and the connections they made about it all. The morning's conversation showed me that the students of Room 110 know how to draw from their field experiences and research in order to add substance to meaningful conversations in the classroom.

The work did not stop there. The students applied their knowledge about art and writing to write the following text. This is just a start, but I am too proud of their accomplishments to wait for the final product to post. The prompt for this task is located in the post Featuring the Best of Mobile and Baldwin.

This activity started with a TALENTS Unlimited Communications 1 Activity and was followed up with a Communications 5 Activity. Click here to learn more about TALENTS Unlimited in the classroom.

Featuring the Best of Mobile and Baldwin

Today, we will be compiling an expository text about the Gulf Coast as a team. Together, we will write an inviting introduction and a closure that summarizes what makes our Gulf Coast so great! After all, we are nearing Thanksgiving and our coastal community provides us with many reasons to be thankful!

After we write our introductory paragraph, which will frame out paper, I will split you into pairs. Each pair will be assigned to one of the links below. Each link will take you to the destination of which you must research. During your first twenty minutes, you are to find three qualities that would attract visitors to our our home. These qualities may include recreational areas, science exhibits, historical landmarks, industrial giants, etc. Record your findings in your journals.

Gulf State Park

Bellingrath Gardens and Home

USS Alabama

Coastal History
Museum of Mobile- Fort Conde
Dauphin Island- Fort Gaines
Blakeley State Park

Exploreum

Fairhope- Jubilee

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Downtown Mobile- Revitalization

Once you have recorded your findings, you must list at least 3 adjectives to describe each quality.
Create a paragraph that includes illustrious descriptions of each quality that you chose to highlight your destination.
Your paragraph should have at least 4 sentences (a main idea sentence and three destination quality sentences).
When you have finished, email your paragraph to awc802@gmail.com.

While you are waiting for others to finish, choose a photo that best represents your destination and save it to your iPad.

Journal Entry: Art and Australia

Describe It

1.) Using the most vivid adjectives you can, explain how you would describe this painting to a person who could not see it.

2.) How would you describe the person in this painting? Is he like you or different?

Relate It

3.) What interests you most about this painting?

Analyze It

4.) Which objects seem closer to you? Further away?

5.) What can you tell me about the colors in this painting?

6.) What can you tell me about this person's life? How did you arrive at that idea?

Surf Safely

Yesterday, I was exploring a class website made by a teacher in Indonesia and discovered that he has his children browse the internet using the following school-safe search engines. They will help you find websites that are easy to navigate and safe to explore.

Use these links to create buttons on your iPads:

GoGooligans

Ask Kids

iPL2

Kids Click

Searchy Pants

Sweet Search

A Preview of St. Elmo's Exploreum Adventure by Sean

Sean couldn't wait to share his experience at the Exploreum any longer. He put together this presentation with some of the pictures that his classmates took with their ipads to share his favorite memories with you!

St. Elmo Explorers Reflect on Literature

Below, you can watch a project that we have finally tied the loose ends too. Inspired by our sister school, Elsanor Elementary, we have created our very own movie of book interviews that we recorded to show our comprehension of the books that we read, and practice our interview and technology skills. Stay tuned for more from our Explorers, and don't forget to watch the blooper reel that Sean compiled for us.

Field Trip and News to Report!

Great News Team! Yesterday, Sean helped me put the final touches on the Book Interviews Movie. Today, we need to think of a name for it, and I will publish it tonight! Be sure to thank Sean for all of his hard work after you watch it. Of course, he was largely involved in the making of the blooper reel.



Today, we will be attending a field experience to the Mobile Museum of Art. Like our prompt that prepared us for the Exploreum, I would like you to come up with three interview questions for employees of the museum, as well as three questions for other visitors. Your questions should be positive and also aimed to raise awareness about our promotional video focus, "What makes the Mobile area Gulf Coast such a desirable place to live and visit?"