Africa Impressions Results
Hello wonderful students,
Thank you for another good, productive day. I know that things may have been a little rushed near the end! I'm still working on figuring out the timing on everything. Overall, I think we had a great class and I am trusting that (although difficult and set up quickly) the persuasive papers will be great on Tuesday. I will talk about these much more further on down the post. Let's go with the recap!
Soundtrack for today: "Storms in Africa, Pt. 2" by Enya (lyrics here) I chose this song because we are continuing to talk about Africa (and as we found out, apparently everyone thinks that Africa is pretty much just a dark, scary, diseased, stormy place).
Essential Question: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? What are the lingering effects of colonialism? - The second essential question I forgot to write, but you should have gotten an idea about how to try and answer it through what we discussed today. Remember, essential questions are questions that usually do not have a right or wrong answer, and are supposed to help guide our learning about a subject to be deep, enduring, and transferable. They are also what we are working on at all times (in some way).
Agenda 12/5/08:
Hand Back Work
Debrief Europe vs. Africa Quiz
Colonialism/Kingdom of Rwanda
"Scream Bloody Murder" Video
Persuasive Speech
United Nations and Genocide
HW: Rough draft of persuasive speech (bring TWO COPIES!). Check blog. Extra Credit opportunity: watch "Scream Bloody Murder" documentary on CNN, either Saturday or Sunday, from 5:00-7:00 PM, write a page long response (see below posts for additional info).
Seeing as we really did not get to the last section on the United Nations (and I even had three other things planned if we still had time) there will be some review on Tuesday about everything. Please expect that I will ask you about the basics of the Rwandan genocide - because at this point, I know that you have watched a presentation, written some things down, and watched a clip of a documentary, but I have no idea if you actually know anything about it. Hopefully, your knowledge will shine through in your paper/speech! :-)
Hand Back Work: Everyone should have received just about everything Mrs. DeFrance and I have from you so far back. To those who turned in your letter to me: THANK YOU! I cannot wait to read them. They will be given back for you to review my comments on Tuesday (though I will need them back again).
Debrief Europe vs. Africa Quiz: As you might have been able to tell, I was pretty excited about this. I think the results are very revealing and almost impossible to argue - we think that Europe has great culture (food, accents, monuments, people), and we also think that Africa is a place full of animals, AIDS, hunger/starvation, genocide, diseases, war, and child soldiers. There was barely a single positive thing about Africa, yet we also know absolutely nothing about any cities, leaders, big conflicts, or the Congo Free State genocide.
You would think that if all we knew about Africa was that it is a dark, diseased place, concerned people around the world would also know everything possible about Africa, in order to change it around. Yet we completely ignore it, or talk about all the bad things. I loved what Aaron had to say today, which was something like "we think this way because it is all we have been taught so far in school." Exactly! Same with me! I had no idea! Now that I do know, I really feel like it is one of the most important things I could possibly talk about. Thus, this unit is geared around actually caring about Africa, instead of ignoring what is going on, dismissing it as tribal civil wars, or any other reason we can think of to justify not doing something about it.
Here is the PowerPoint with all the results (this is something you should absolutely show to anyone who wants to know why we are studying Africa and Rwanda):
The two Wikipedia articles I linked to (again with the disclaimer: do NOT use Wikipedia for any paper you write. Use it as a good start to find sources, which are usually at the bottom of the page) can be found here: The Holocaust and here: The Congo Free State Genocide. There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for why there is such a lack of interest in the Congo Free State Genocide. None. I am glad that the Holocaust has been so thoroughly researched, and continues to be. However, to completely ignore a genocide of even bigger proportions is another tragedy in itself.
Colonialism/Kingdom of Rwanda: After the debriefing (which, by the way, basically just means going over the results of something), we turned to look at some of the reasons how colonialism has affected genocide (and Rwanda). You should all have the Seven Pillars of Colonialism written down (if you do not, please come see me for a copy) on the back side of the colonization to genocide flow chart.
A few words about the flow chart: This is supposed to be helpful for you, not a burden. I know that a few students were not extremely happy about this being part of the homework. Yes, you will eventually have to turn it in (on Monday the 15th, along with your group speech), however, do not do it this weekend unless you think it will help you write your persuasive paper. I have found that the most persuasive speeches are the ones that lay out a case for why something is happening (give evidence) and then suggest things that need to happen as a result of that evidence.
So, use the seven pillars of colonialism writings and combine them with the notes you took on the German, Belgian, and French colonial impacts on Rwanda directly below, to help formulate your own "road map" to genocide. For example - one really important thing that colonialism does is create hierarchies (which, as Ben so nicely explained, is basically just a way of saying that some people are better than other people in a given society). This can definitely be seen in Rwanda with the Tutsis and the Hutus. How? You can research these and many other connections yourself.
Hopefully that clears up the flow chart.
"Scream Bloody Murder" Video: Thank you for being so attentive to this. If you have been following the blog, you will know that I watched the documentary on CNN last night and my mouth literally dropped. It was an absolutely perfect way to start your final assignment of the persuasive speech to the United Nations.
Persuasive Speech: The assignment, should you have somehow lost it or were not in class today, can be downloaded here:
This assignment is supposed to be challenging. However, I can say with confidence that every single one of you will be able to do it well, if you put your mind to it. This is your chance to actually DO SOMETHING about this all! You are not helpless to stop the violence! In fact, because Mr. Chamberlain, Mrs. DeFrance, and myself will be who you are trying to convince, you have three adults with resources and means that you may not have, available to convince right there in the room. Do not take this opportunity lightly! I asked Mr. Chamberlain to come in because I knew that you would impress him, and I know that I will not regret it.
You also were given the definition of genocide, which we did not have time to go over. I was going to have the class read it together, so that you would know what it is, exactly, that you need to convince the United Nations to do. Please read the definition before you start writing your paper. If you somehow lost the paper, you can find the genocide convention definition online here: Definition of Genocide
The first eight or so articles are what you should really pay attention to - especially the eighth, because that is what you will be doing.
We will talk a little more about what, exactly, the United Nations is, and what it does next class, because we ran out of time. However, if you want to know who you will be speaking before, here's what the UN Security Council is supposed to do: Functions of UN Security Council.
That should just about do it for the recap. A whole heck of a lot, again. Thank you for checking up on the blog - please continue to ask me any questions or relay any concerns by either commenting here or e-mailing me.
One final note: I will not be able to respond to comments or e-mails from about 3 until 9 tonight (meaning that if you post anything, it will not show up until later tonight). Please enjoy your Friday afternoon responsibly in the meantime. Go Blazers (5 PM, ESPN, no extra credit)! Go Westview freshman basketball against South Eugene! Have a great weekend; come prepared and excited for class on Tuesday!
geez youre such a great speaker. hey is thre a chance that the show will be on you tube cause i dont have bbc or cnn.
ReplyDeleteAbe,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you made it on here! I can give you the tape I made of the documentary to watch at home, if you want it. Just let me know. Priority #1 should be writing your speech. Have a great night!
Oh thanks. by the way how long should the speech be? i dont want it to be too short or too long.
ReplyDeleteThe speech you are writing this weekend you will not actually be giving, though I want it long enough so that you can take any part of it (the introduction, one of the three sections, or the conclusion) and talk for one minute when your group actually comes together and decides who is going to do what section next week.
ReplyDeleteSo, the final group speech, with 5 or 6 people, will be 5 minutes long. For this weekend, you need to have a speech that you can bring and use any section to contribute to the group (so most of your work will already be done). Does that make sense? Let me know if it does not. Good luck with it!
oh so thats how you do it. thanks for responding so quicly. i like this form of communication. so are you saying that we will all be up in front giving our part and that collectivly in five min?
ReplyDeleteThe answer to your question is yes, if I understand you correctly. When you are in your group next Monday (the 15th), the five (or six) of you will be standing up in front of a podium (if I can get one somewhere from the school), and when it is your turn to speak, you will step forward and address the United Nations for one minute.
ReplyDeleteThat's the ultimate goal. Don't worry too much about it this weekend, because we will talk a lot about it and have lots of class time (hopefully) to develop it next week. This weekend, just write your speech as you would give it yourself. :-)
So how formal do we need to be dressed up for the presentation?
ReplyDeleteBrandon,
ReplyDeleteWe'll talk about it this week (because the presentation isn't until next Monday), but I'd suggest a collared shirt of some sort. If you don't have any, just wear a plain T-Shirt and I'll give you a tie to wear over it. The goal is to help get you guys in the mindset that this is a really big deal and that to be taken seriously in most political arenas, you need to dress the part. Again, I'll supply ties and such. Don't worry about it too much. :-)
Hey mr. friz. I typed up this page of stuff to say and i know i probably wont say it all in one minute but is it okay if my group kinda uses it as part of what they say as well?
ReplyDeleteAbe,
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty much the point of why you are doing this individual speech - so that you can bring all sorts of good ideas to the group. Definitely make sure that you have written out an introduction, three main points, and conclusion - because you will be doing peer review on them tomorrow! The more you have, the more work you will have done for the group speech. Does that help?
yhea that does. so even though the group might not use my Idea for thier part, I still need to come up with what im going say?
ReplyDeleteWell, as part of your group, you will pick one section of the speech that you want to do and write. If it happens that you've already done that part, great!
ReplyDeleteYou should do all the parts, because then the group will be able to think about what you have to say and get those ideas that are essential to building a good speech.
So if you write out a really good speech, you should be good to go for next week, because you will be able to do any part when your group is up talking.
ok thanks and good night
ReplyDeleteI am still a little confused on the content part of the speech. Is it supposed to be like we go back in time and adress the United Nations with our own ideas for what we would do?
ReplyDeleteYes, that is pretty much exactly what the idea behind the speech is. This way you actually get to potentially stop the genocide by convincing the United Nations to do something.
ReplyDeleteYou will probably best be able to do this by looking at the global definition of genocide, which was handed out along with the assignment, as well as thinking about how ideas such as colonialism and what we have learned about the perceptions of Africa here in the US (and around the world).
Mr. Fritz,
ReplyDeleteI would just like to apologize for not making your class this morning, I had alarm clock issues. The speech is due next class, yes?
Hey Mr. Fritz whats up?
ReplyDeleteI got a question what if your not much of a writer or one of those people who can speek?
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI was really worried about you! I'm glad it was something simple. Yes, the GROUP speech is on Monday. However, to participate in the group speech (and get the massive amounts of credit for it), I need to have an individual speech from you first. So if you could type up whatever you have and send it to: luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us - that would be great. I will also be at school tomorrow during periods 2,4, and during first lunch to answer questions or take HW. I would strongly suggest that you try to contact your group members to find out what you are going to be asked to do for them. Let me know if you have any other questions!
John,
ReplyDeleteIf you don't feel comfortable speaking, I would suggest that you really just READ from your speech - but read it loud. You don't even have to look at anything else. If you are worried about writing it or filling the one minute requirement, talk to your group! I'm sure that some, if not all of the members would be happy to try and help you out. Good luck! Let me know if you need anything! Thanks for commenting! :-)
Thanks a lot, I've already emailed Miranda and I'm typing it up as we speak.
ReplyDelete