Write Out Loud

The winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canada beginning February 12th until the 28th.

Please read the following information on the Olympics from TeacherVision:

Winter Olympic History

The move toward a winter version of the Olympics began in 1908 when figure skating made an appearance at the Summer Games in London. Ten-time world champion Ulrich Salchow of Sweden, who originated the backwards, one revolution jump that bears his name, and Madge Syers of Britain were the first singles champions. Germans Anna Hubler and Heinrich Berger won the pairs competition.

Organizers of the 1916 Summer Games in Berlin had planned to introduce a “Skiing Olympia,” featuring Nordic events in the Black Forest, but the Games were cancelled after the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

The Games resumed in 1920 at Antwerp, Belgium, where figure skating returned and ice hockey was added as a medal event. Sweden’s Gillis Grafstrom and Magda Julin took individual honors, while Ludovika and Walter Jakobsson were the top pair. In hockey, Canada won the gold medal with the United States second and Czechoslovakia third.

Despite the objections of the founder of the modern Olympics Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, and the resistance of the Scandinavian countries, which had staged their own Nordic championships every four or five years from 1901-26 in Sweden, the International Olympic Committee sanctioned an “International Winter Sports Week” at Chamonix, France, in 1924. The 11-day event, which included Nordic skiing, speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, and bobsledding, was a huge success and was retroactively called the first Olympic Winter Games.

Seventy years after those first cold – weather Games, the 17th edition of the Winter Olympics took place in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994. The event ended the four-year Olympic cycle of staging both Winter and Summer Games in the same year, and began a new schedule that calls for the two Games to alternate every two years.

Year No Location Dates Nations Most medals USA medals

1924 I Chamonix, FRA Jan. 25-Feb. 4 16 Norway (4-7-6–17) 1-2-1– 4 (3rd)

1928 II St. Moritz, SWI Feb. 11-19 25 Norway (6-4-5–15) 2-2-2– 6 (2nd)

1932 III Lake Placid, USA Feb. 4-15 17 USA (6-4-2–12) 6-4-2–12 (1st)

1936 IV Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GER Feb. 6-16 28 Norway (7-5-3–15) 1-0-3– 4 (T-5th)

1940-a – Sapporo, JPN Cancelled (WWII)

1944 – Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA Cancelled (WWII)

1948 V St. Moritz, SWI Jan. 30-Feb. 8 28 Norway (4-3-3–10), 3-4-2– 9 (4th)

Sweden (4-3-3–10)

& Switzerland (3-4-3–10)

1952-b VI Oslo, NOR Feb. 14-25 30 Norway (7-3-6–16) 4-6-1–11 (2nd)

1956-c VII Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA Jan. 26-Feb. 5 32 USSR (7-3-6–16) 2-3-2– 7 (T-4th)

1960 VIII Squaw Valley, USA Feb. 18-28 30 USSR (7-5-9–21) 3-4-3–10 (2nd)

1964 IX Innsbruck, AUT Jan. 29-Feb. 9 36 USSR (11-8-6–25) 1-2-3– 6 (7th)

1968-d X Grenoble, FRA Feb. 6-18 37 Norway (6-6-2–14) 1-5-1– 7 (T-7th)

1972 XI Sapporo, JPN Feb. 3-13 35 USSR (8-5-3–16) 3-2-3– 8 (6th)

1976-e XII Innsbruck, AUT Feb. 4-15 37 USSR (13-6-8–27) 3-3-4–10 (T-3rd)

1980 XIII Lake Placid, USA Feb. 14-23 37 E. Germany (9-7-7-23) 6-4-2-12 (3rd)

1984 XIV Sarajevo, YUG Feb. 7-19 49 USSR (6-10-9-25) 4-4-0- 8 (T-5th)

1988 XV Calgary, CAN Feb. 13-28 57 USSR (11-9-9-29) 2-1-3- 6 (T-8th)

1992-f XVI Albertville, FRA Feb. 8-23 63 Germany (10-10-6-26) 5-4-2-11 (6th)

1994-g XVII Lillehammer, NOR Feb. 12-27 67 Norway (10-11-5-26) 6-5-2-13 (T-5th)

1998 XVIII Nagano, JPN Feb. 7-22 72 Germany (12-9-8-29) 6-3-4-13 (5th)

2002 XIX Salt Lake City, USA Feb. 8-24 77 Germany (12-16-7-35) 10-13-11-34 (2nd)

2006 XX Turin, ITA Feb. 10-26 85 Germany (11-12-6-29) 9-9-7-25 (2nd)

2010 XXI Vancouver, CAN Feb. 12-28

a-The 1940 Winter Games are originally scheduled for Sapporo, but Japan resigns as host in 1937 when the Sino-Japanese war breaks out. St. Moritz is the next choice, but the Swiss feel that ski instructors should not be considered professionals and the IOC withdraws its offer. Finally, Garmisch-Partenkirchen is asked to serve again as host, but the Germans invade Poland in 1939 and the Games are eventually cancelled.

b-Germany and Japan are allowed to rejoin the Olympic community for the first time since World War II. Though a divided country, the Germans send a joint East-West team through 1964.

c-The Soviet Union (USSR) participates in its first Winter Olympics and takes home the most medals, including the gold medal in ice hockey.

d-East Germany and West Germany officially send separate teams for the first time and will continue to do so through 1988.

e-The IOC grants the 1976 Winter Games to Denver in May 1970, but in 1972 Colorado voters reject a $5 million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Denver immediately withdraws as host and the IOC selects Innsbruck, the site of the 1964 Games, to take over.

f-Germany sends a single team after East and West German reunification in 1990, and the USSR competes as the Unified Team after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

g-The IOC moves the Winter Games’ four-year cycle ahead two years in order to separate them from the Summer Games and alternate Olympics every two years.

Olympics: Fun Facts

by Mike Morrison

1. American Myer Prinstein finished runner-up in the 1900 long jump in Paris, despite not even showing up for the finals. Prinstein, a Syracuse University student, was instructed not to participate in the finals on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath. Qualifying jumps counted back then, so he took second on the basis of those. As legend has it, he was so angry at eventual gold-medal winning jumper Alvin Kraenzlein for competing in the finals that he punched him in the face.

2. The 1912 Greco-Roman wrestling match in Stockholm between Finn Alfred Asikainen and Russian Martin Klein lasted more than 11 hours. Klein eventually won, but was too exhausted to participate in the championship match, so he settled for the silver.

3. Did you ever wonder why the official distance of a marathon is exactly 26 miles, 385 yards? In 1908, the marathon standard was set at exactly 26 miles. However, at the Olympic marathon in London, it was decided that the royal family needed a better view of the finish line. Organizers added an extra 385 yards to the race so the finish line would be in front of the royal box. And it’s been that way ever since.

4. The five interlocking rings of the Olympic flag symbolize the five continents of the world (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas) “linked together in friendship.” Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin claimed that at least one of the rings’ colors (blue, yellow, black, green, and red, along with the white background) was present in each country’s national flag.

5. World record, but no gold medal: In 1924, American Robert LeGendre shattered the world long jump record with a leap of 25 feet, 4 inches. However, the jump was part of the pentathlon competition and LeGendre could muster only a third-place finish overall. The actual long jump competition was won with a jump of 24 feet, 5 inches.

6. Stella the Fella – Poland’s Stella Walsh (Stanislawa Walasiewiczowna) – won the women’s 100-meter race at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming the first woman to break the 12-second barrier. When she was killed in 1980 as an innocent victim in a robbery attempt, an autopsy declared her to be a male.

7. Danish rider Lis Hartel won the silver medal in the 1952 equestrian dressage event in Helsinki. Hartel suffered from an inflammation of the spinal cord known as poliomyelitis, which required her to be lifted on and off her horse each time.

8. Before there was Kerri Strug, there was Japan’s Shun Fujimoto. In the men’s team gymnastics competition in 1976, he actually broke his kneecap while performing in the floor exercise. The following day, however, he needed a top-notch performance in the rings for Japan to secure the gold. With no painkillers, he performed a near flawless routine and stuck to the landing, putting a tremendous amount of pressure on his injured knee. He grimaced in pain as he held his position for the judges, then finally collapsed in agony. Japan won the team gold by just four – tenths of a point over the Soviet Union.

9. And you thought they just used a match. Did you know that traditionally the Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece is rekindled every two years using the sun’s rays and a concave reflective mirror? Note: This year, cloudy skies prevented the “traditional” lighting.

10. In 1928, it was reported that six of the eight entrants in the women’s 800-meter race collapsed at the finish line in an “exhausted state.” Poor training methods and the brutal Amsterdam sun were the two major causes of distress. That event was subsequently cancelled until 1960.

Please tell me two facts from the above content that you found interesting and why.

Visit the official Vancouver Olympic website. This is an extensive website filled with photos, commentary, and video for you to explore. Please answer the following questions:

What events do you most like to watch and why?

If you could participate in the Olympics, which sport would you choose and why? Do you think you have what it takes to be an Olympic athlete? (Remember, it takes years of specialized training, self-discipline, and commitment to the sport to be a top athlete)

I have added two more music videos to the page at the top. These music videos are of Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and the song lyrics speak to the theme of forbidden love in The Outsiders. Be prepared to discuss how these lyrics apply to some of the characters and the storyline in the book.

Please watch the above video of Ponyboy reciting Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and then answer the following questions below. You may need to use the book to read the poem a few times. Be sure to use at least one comma and one semi-colon somewhere in your response, so that I can see that you understand their applications.

What is this poem really about? (It is filled with metaphors…..look up the definition of metaphor if you are unsure of its meaning)

To what do you think the poet is referring when he says “Nothing gold can stay”?

What kind of mood is this poem expressing: happiness, sadness, fear, anxiety, etc.?

Specifically, which words from the poem do you feel contribute to the creation of this mood?

Please check the new tab at the top of the page titled “Music Videos.” Watch the first video of The Beatles and be prepared to discuss the meaning behind the lyrics in regards to the theme of friendship in the novel.

Please visit the following site below dedicated to the sixties:

American Cultural History

What are two important/interesting facts that you haven’t already written about? Please tell me why you found them so fascinating.

Please read the following three quotes from chapter three of The Outsiders and reflect on their meaning: I am looking for answers that show effort and depth of thought. Be sure to answer in regards to who is speaking and what’s happening in the story. Meaning: I need to see a connection.

“We’re always going and going and going, and never asking where. Did you ever hear of having more that you wanted? So that you couldn’t want anything else and then started looking for something else to want? It seems like we’re always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it. Maybe if we could lose our cool we could.”

“I gotta do something. It seems like there’s gotta be someplace without greasers or Socs, with just people. Plain ordinary people.”

“It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”

I can’t think of a better way to begin our unit on The Outsiders and the sixties then with “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles. The song was released in 1964 when The Outsiders was written and each revolutionized the world.

The People History website is an amazing site of sixties information.

Television Shows From The Sixties

Please take some time to look around the above two sites. What surprised you the most? Is there anything in particular that stood out for you?

The Outsiders

This story is told from the viewpoint of fourteen year old Ponyboy Curtis. He lives on the east side of town with his two brothers, Sodapop and Darry. Dally, Johnny, Two-Bit, and Steve round out this gang of Greasers. This brotherhood of boys have a problem, though. And this problem is the rival gang from the town’s west side. The Socials, or Socs drive fancy cars, wear madras (plaid) shorts and like to party and get in trouble, which they always seem to be able to get out of. Their favorite pasttime……. ganging up on (jumping) the Greasers.

The conflict between the Greasers and the Socs is one that is repeated throughout the world, only with different names. In society, there are those who are rich who look down on the poor, and those who are poor who are envious of those who are rich and do things to try to “get back.” Perhaps the Socs wanted other teenagers to know who was in control. Maybe they just did this for the kind of “kicks” money can’t buy. Whatever the reason, the struggle the Greasers experienced was real.

What types of social groups exist at school? How do these different groups interact with each other?

Are there important reasons to be in a social group? If so, what are they?

Do members join groups willingly?

What does “don’t judge a book by its cover” mean? (In regards to this discussion)

Soup’s on! That means anything goes…….within reason of course. This week’s blog is a posting of random questions that I know:

Will make you think

Will make you laugh

And will be a learning experience too! Meaning, we will all learn something about each other.

Please answer the following questions. When you have answered all of my questions, you get to post a discussion question of your own for your classmates to answer. You must also comment on at least two other classmates’ responses. So, you have three things to do. Be reminded that the question you ask must be appropriate for this forum. Remember, I want to know the “why” behind your answers.

Please answer in paragraph form to separate out your answers, they are all different thoughts. Now let the fun begin!

1. Are you a Mac or a PC?

2. Which piece of technology would you rather go without for a month?

3. Which could you spend a whole week in : a treehouse, a tent, or an underground bunker?

4. Water, electricity, gas – old-fashioned and boring. What’s the next thing that should be piped into your home?

5. Which movie’s characters would you befriend in real life?

6. Which two cities should be moved closer together?

7. What’s the most useless thing in your house right now?

8. If you had to wear one color for the entire next year, which would you pick?

Prompt 1

Please watch parts 1 and 2 of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” This is a great version starring the wonderful actor, Vincent Price. Total time is less than ten minutes.

What are your initial thoughts before we begin discussions?

Prompt 2

Happy New Year! Many people make new year’s resolutions. Resolutions are decisions to do or achieve certain things. They usually involve making personal changes.

Using a recent IR book, pick a character you know well and make up three resolutions for that character. Explain in detail why you made these resolutions for your character in regards to what is happening in the story.

Your footprints have been discovered at a crime scene, which has stirred the nation: the theft of Frosty the Snowman’s nose! You claim you didn’t do it. Give your alibi and explanations as to why your footprints were found at the crime scene.

This is a creative, persuasive write. You need to convince me that you of all people did not steal Frosty’s nose. Make sure your alibi is a good one!

Since you are learning about the Jamestown Settlement in history and playing a Jamestown simulation game, I thought I would offer a cross curricular blog prompt this week and post some fun interactive sites for you to visit on Jamestown which will hopefully add to your Jamestown learning experience.

Jamestown, Time Magazine This link takes you to a Time Magazine article and interactive tour of the James Fort. Follow the directions.

The Jamestown Online Adventure This is a fun interactive online simulation game. You will need Flash 7 or higher to play. Free download is there for you if you need to install it.

On The Trail Of Captain John Smith, A Jamestown Adventure Fun interactive game

Jamestown This interactive is from the History Channel and also requires Flash 8 Plugin to play. This is a great extensive site.

Please answer the following questions: Prompt 1

What do you find interesting about Jamestown?

Did you learn any new information from visiting these websites? Which site did you enjoy the most?

How are you doing playing the simulation game in history? Based on your game playing experience so far, what was life like at the Jamestown settlement?

______________________________________________________________________________________

Prompt 2

From Ellis Island To Orchard Street This is a great interactive website that explores immigration in 1916. Be sure the volume is turned up on your computer. You will become an immigrant and explore and learn what is what like to travel to America and start a new life in an unknown city. Follow the directions. You also will have help along the way to guide you on this journey.

What did you learn from this site?

What did you like best about this site?

Did any of your ancestors immigrate to the United States?

We all love to wear t-shirts and we have favorite ones we tend to wear over and over again. Do you ever wonder how a t-shirt is actually made? Do you even know the journey a cotton seed takes to eventually become a much loved and worn tee? Please visit this fun and interactive site Track My T and follow along as you track a random tee from beginning to end.

Be sure that you click on the second option, track a random tee. Move your cursor over all the highlighted areas. Images, text, and video will pop up allowing you to learn and explore the process of making a t-shirt.

When you have thoroughly gone through the site please answer the following prompt:

What did you learn? What did you like best about the site?

I know you all have at least one favorite t-shirt at home that you always reach for time and time again. Describe your shirt. What is it about this shirt that makes you reach for it over and over again? Is there a story behind this shirt?

I have a few favorite t-shirts, and some I even wear to school under sweaters. There is one gray one that I love because it has become so soft over time due to the many washings, and probably because I wear it the most. However, it now has a rip underneath the sleeve, and so I wear it to exercise in. The other day I actually put my arm through the rip instead of the sleeve, which made the tear even larger. I still wear it, though I think its days are numbered!

Happy Thanksgiving students! Even though there is no required blog response due Thanksgiving week, I thought you might like to see this great interactive site on the Plymouth Plantation.

Enjoy! This is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians movie trailer. The movie open February 12, 2010