September 11th lesson plan

September 11 is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 111 days remaining until the end of the year.

As President Obama told Kids Press Corps reporters in an exclusive interview, "I think it's important for us to realize that, as terrible as that day was, it brought America together and it reminded us that we're all one people."

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/september-11-2001/


On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked, or took control of, four airplanes in the United States. They flew two of the planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing the towers to catch fire and collapse. Another plane destroyed part of the Pentagon building (U.S. military headquarters) in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All told, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. The events of September 11 (often called "9/11") have been described as the worst-ever terrorist attacks against the U.S.

At 9pm on September 11th, President George W. Bush delivered an address from the Oval Office:
"Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."

When asked about a U.S. military response, the president declared:
"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

Investigations revealed that the hijackings were carried out by 19 men — five on each of the first three planes and four on the last. All 19 were reportedly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda (ahl KAY-dah). The group's leader, Osama bin Laden, operated out of Afghanistan. The U.S. government identified bin Laden as the main planner of the attacks.

It was not the first time that bin Laden was held responsible for attacks on the U.S. The U.S. government implicated him in the earlier World Trade Center bombing of 1993 and in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

In response to the September 11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed a war on terrorism. Bush demanded that the Taliban, the Islamic group that ran Afghanistan's government, hand over bin Laden. The Taliban refused. On October 7, 2001, the United States began air strikes on targets in Afghanistan connected to bin Laden and Al Qaeda. That launched the Afghanistan War. U.S.-led forces soon toppled the Taliban and helped build a more democratic government in Afghanistan.

About 100,000 U.S. troops are now serving in Afghanistan. More than 2,100 U.S. soldiers have been killed there since 2001. Since the war began, many top Al Qaeda leaders have been captured or killed. But until recently, bin Laden could not be found. He was suspected of hiding out in the mountains near the border of Pakistan.

On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. military forces located and killed Osama bin laden in Pakistan.

Moana (2016) Resources and Activities

Moana (2016): This Disney film blends elements of myth and culture from different parts of Polynesia. These K-12 classroom resources can help you craft lessons and learning opportunities around the movie's theme.


To restore the health of her island’s ecosystem, Moana sails from her island against her father’s wishes to return the heart of the goddess who created all life. But first she must find the trickster Maui who stole the heart and then lost it along with his magic fishhook. Disney blends elements of myth and culture from different parts of Polynesia, though much is Maori.


Moana Educators Guide
http://cdnvideo.dolimg.com/cdn_assets/a7b26e6f718f14ac7d37f86bf47770804a4b2daa.pdf

The official Disney Moana Website provides an Educator’s Guide and an Activity Packet. The Educator’s Guide ( PDF, 12.8 MB, 40 pgs.) (2-6) with background information, 4 lessons aligned to standards, and glossary. The lessons examine the hero’s journey, music and rhythm of the ocean, Wayfinding, and caring for sea turtles.

Moana Activity Pack
http://cdnvideo.dolimg.com/cdn_assets/fcc5b86eec81c5d934e5ca5e96055cea87cae402.pdf

The Activity Packet  ( PDF, 9.8 MB, 18 pgs.) has six activities as well as information on storytelling/mythology, waves, Wayfinding, and sea turtles.


Voyaging Society 

http://archive.hokulea.com/index.html

Hawaiian Voyaging Traditions houses materials related to the revival of voyaging and non-instrument navigation led by the Polynesian Voyaging Society and its voyaging canoe Hōkūle‘a.

http://www.hokulea.com/voyages/our-story/



Wayfinders: The Game

http://www.pbs.org/wayfinders/game.html

Want to know what it's like to be a wayfinder, making your way across the Pacific? Feed that curiosity, adventurer, and see if you can take an ancient Polynesian vessel across the sea.

5 positive benefits of individual sports

Oftentimes, when sports parents, coaches and league administrators talk about “youth sports” they are referring to team sports like baseball, football, soccer, basketball, lacrosse and so forth. Obviously one of the biggest benefits of being involved in a team sport is that a youth athlete learns how to be part of a team. They learn when to lead and when to follow, how to work well with others and function as a group. Some sports parents and coaches might argue that those benefits are lost if a child gets involved in individual sports (karate, tennis, golf, swimming, etc). But if your child is more interested in an individual sport than a team sport, don’t despair!

Here are 5 positive benefits of individual sports:

1. Youth athletes in individual sports learn to be self reliant. Their success is entirely dependent on their own efforts. If they want to win, they can’t count on someone else carrying them through the competition. If they lose a match, individual sport athletes can’t blame anyone else for their failure. This teaches them to be responsible for their own action and decisions.

2. Individual sports can teach players how to be comfortable in the spotlight. All eyes are on them during play and they can’t hide out in a crowded field. Being comfortable performing solo in front of a crowd can come in hand for school and work presentations later in life.

3. Even individual sports have “teams.” For instance, each member of a gymnastics squad competes as an individual, but their individual scores feed into the overall score for the whole team. Their efforts still affect the success of their team, even if they are competing on their own.

4. Individual sports teach players how to motivate themselves. There is no team pressuring them to improve, the drive has to come from within. This kind of intrinsic motivation is oftentimes much more powerful than external motivation.

5. Individual sports allow athletes to compete at their own pace. For instance, if your 12 year old decides they want to start playing football, they’ll be competing against other 12-14 year olds, some who have been playing football since they were 6. However, if your 12 year old decides they want to start karate, they’ll be practicing/competing with people of a similar skill level. There isn’t as much pressure to “catch up” with the other players.

Using Positive Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement...
a proactive intervention


Reinforcement is a stimulus which follows and is contingent upon a behavior and increases the probability of a behavior being repeated. Positive reinforcement can increase the probability of not only desirable behavior but also undesirable behavior. For example, if a child whines in order to get attention and is successful in getting it, the attention serves as positive reinforcement which increases the likelihood that the student will continue to whine.
Here are some of the different kinds of reinforcers which have been found to be effective in changing a child's behavior and a discussion of how to select and deliver appropriate and effective reinforcers. There is much literature on this topic and you are strongly encouraged to consult additional resources for a more in-depth discussion of positive reinforcement. Additionally, negative reinforcement and satiation (when a reinforcer loses its effectiveness) are also discussed.

What are different types of reinforcers?

Natural and Direct Reinforcement: This type of reinforcement results directly from the appropriate behavior. For example, interacting appropriately with peers in group activities will lead to more invitations to join such activities.
The natural reinforcement for appropriate bids for attention, help, participation, etc. is providing the attention, help and opportunity to participate. The goal should always be to move the child to natural and intrinsic reinforcement.
Social Reinforcers: These are reinforcers which are socially mediated by parents, other adults, and peers which express approval and praise for appropriate behavior. Comments ("Good job," "I can tell you are working really hard," "You're nice"), written approval ("Super"), and expressions of approval (nodding your head, smiling, clapping, a pat on the back) are all very effective reinforcers.
Activity Reinforcers: Activity reinforcers are very effective and positive for children. Allowing children to participate in preferred activities (such as games, computer time, etc.) is very powerful, especially if part of the reinforcement is being allowed to choose a friend with whom to participate in the activity. This also provides social reinforcement from the partner.
Tangible Reinforcers: This category includes edibles, toys, balloons, stickers, and awards. Edibles and toys should be used with caution. Parents may have reason to object to edibles as reinforcement (for example, if a child has a weight problem) and toys can make other siblings envious. Awards can be in the form of certificates,and  displaying work. These are powerfully motivating reinforcers.
Token Reinforcement: Token reinforcement involves awarding points or tokens for appropriate behavior. These rewards have little value in themselves but can be exchanged for something of value.

Isn't giving reinforcement like bribing your child?

Planned positive reinforcement is very effective in promoting desirable change in a child's behavior. Some caregivers question whether reinforcing or rewarding a child for improving their behavior is really just bribing them to do what is desired. This is not the case. A bribe is something which is unacceptable or inappropriate (and illegal). Reinforcement is given to bring about desirable change and to teach your child to take responsibility for behavior. Your paycheck is reinforcement for doing your job and commendations and bonuses are reinforcements for going above and beyond expectations. 

How should I choose a reinforcer?

Reinforcers must be valued, preferred, and individualized. What may be extremely motivating for one child may be entirely useless for another. Use the following guidelines in choosing a reinforcer:

Observe the child: What kinds of activities does he or she seek out? What objects or events are presently serving to reinforce his or her behavior?

Ask the child: When designing a plan to modify behavior give the child a list of choices and ask what he or she would like to try to earn. For example, if setting up a token economy for work completed, let the child choose from a list of activities to find out which he or she is interested in earning.

Monitor: Periodically review by observation and discussion whether the reinforcer remains preferred or whether a new reinforcer is necessary.

Evaluate: Do a formal preference assessment.

How should reinforcement be delivered?

In order to make positive reinforcement, an effective intervention use the following guidelines:

1.       Reinforcement must be consistently delivered, according to a planned reinforcement schedule. If it is not, no connection will develop between appropriate behavior and the reinforcement and the behavior will not change.

2.       Reinforcement must be delivered immediately. Children should know when they can expect reinforcement. If you wait until the end of the homeschooling day to reinforce a child for remaining in her seat during guided learning, the effect of reinforcement is reduced if not lost. If it is impossible to deliver reinforcement immediately, verbal reinforcement should be given and the child should be told when he or she can expect to receive other reinforcement. In this way, a contingency between behavior and reinforcement will be strengthened or maintained.

3.       Improvement should be reinforced. Do not wait until the child's behavior is perfect to deliver reinforcement. You should recognize improvement and let the child know that you recognize the effort.

4.       Do not give reinforcement because you feel sorry for a your child. If a child does not achieve the required criterion, delivering reinforcement will only teach him/her that rewards are readily available regardless of behavior and may even lead to an escalation of the behavior. Rather, recognize that you know your child is disappointed but that they will have the opportunity to try again tomorrow. Reinforcement must be contingent on behavior.

5.       Whenever possible, pair any reinforcement with social reinforcement. If your reinforcement plan is letting your child participate in preferred activities, make sure to give some sort of social reinforcement, such as telling your child, "You really did an excellent job today. You should be really proud of yourself" or let the child choose another sibling, or friend, for the activity.

6.       Make sure that social reinforcers are not ambiguous. They should be sincere, clear, and identify the specific behavior for which they are being delivered.

7.       Reinforcement should be age-appropriate. Expecting a high school aged child to change his behavior by rewarding him with stickers is likely to be ineffective and insulting to him/her.

What is negative reinforcement?

Negative reinforcement is often, mistakenly, equated with punishment. Punishment is the application of aversive stimuli in order to reduce the chance of a behavior being repeated. Negative reinforcement is the removal of aversive stimuli in order to increase the probability of a behavior being repeated.

For example, reinforcing your child for using learning time to do math work appropriately by removing five story problems from the math activity negatively reinforces appropriate behavior by removing the undesirable stimuli of a longer home school assignment.

Negative reinforcement can be very effective, especially to create an environment which feels safe to a child. It is often more naturally occurring than, for example, tangible reinforcers. As with the other reinforcement categories, it is important to pair negative with social reinforcement.

What is satiation and how should it be handled?

Satiation is the term used to describe the situation of a reinforcer losing its effectiveness. For example, if a child is receiving jellybeans as reinforcement, it is likely that after a period of time he or she will tire of them and no longer find them desirable. Satiation can also occur if too much reinforcement is being delivered. Earning up to ten minutes of computer time a day may serve as reinforcement for a long period of time, while being given the opportunity to earn an hour of computer time, for example, may quickly lead to satiation.

When satiation begins, the rate at which the desired behavior is displayed tapers off until it halts. This is very common with edible reinforcers. Reinforcement in the form of activities, social opportunities, and learning activities tend to be more immune to satiation.

Common recommendations to prevent satiation:

•          Varying the reinforcer or using a different reinforcer for each target behavior.

•          Monitoring the amount of reinforcement delivered and using only enough to maintain the target behavior.

•          Avoiding edible reinforcers (if you must use edibles, vary and apply minimally).

•          Moving from a constant to an intermittent schedule of reinforcement as soon as possible.

•          Moving from primary to secondary reinforcers as soon as possible.

Furthermore, any type of reinforcement schedule or system should include ongoing, systematic assessment of the reinforcement effectiveness through observation. Another option is incorporating a menu of potential reinforcers and allowing your child to choose his or her reinforcement.

It is likely that satiation will eventually occur with any type of reinforcement. If systematic assessment is diligently carried out, however, one can maintain the behavior modification plan by changing reinforcers before satiation occurs and by delivering reinforcement on varying schedules.

Finally, in designing a positive reinforcement plan, it is very important to move from less natural reinforcement (tokens, tangibles) to more natural reinforcement (social reinforcement, direct, and natural reinforcement).

The Battleship Mikasa Homeschool Virtual Field Trip

This 15,000-ton beast was the flagship of Admiral Togo. To best illustrate you the rich history of this sleeping battleship we had teamed up with our Tokyo colleague: Tadamasa Miyanaga, our Military Advisor for Japan.

Japan won the Japanese-Sino War (1895-1895), but had to accept humiliation in returning the Liaodong Peninsula ceded from the Qing Dynasty due to the Tripartite (Russia, France and Germany) Intervention and was thus later exposed to blatant Russian military threat. Therefore, Japan endeavored to strengthen its national defense under dire fiscal constraints and decided to promote 6-6 Fleet Build-Up Plan of building 6 Battle Ships and 6 Armoured cruisers.HIJMS MIKASA was the 6th Battle Ship ordered to built in England and in March 1902 MIKASA was commissioned at Vickers Shipbuilding, Immediately after her transfer to Yokosuka, Japan, In December 1903 when the relationship between Japan and Russia exacerbated, the Combined Fleet was organized and HIJMS MIKASA was designated the Flagship.This photo shows the launching of HIJMS MIKASA at Vickers Ship yard.

For more information check out: http://www.kinenkan-mikasa.or.jp/en/build_of_mikasa.html

2016-2017 Homeschool Middle School Music 101 (Free course) 8 week course online

Introduction to ART Music Course for Middle School
Free course provided by East Tennessee State University




Course Structure

The course is laid out in seven modules, each of which includes several video lectures, a self-grading quiz, and suggested activities for
further study. Most modules also include links to biographies of composers discussed in the videos and to relevant material that
supports the music you will be listening to. The videos often have links to YouTube videos, but are also accessible through the instructor's playlist.

Module 1: Course Introduction; Beat; Rhythm; Melody; Harmony; Tonality; Tempo; Dynamics; Articulations

Module 2: Texture; Form; Instruments and Ensembles; Overview of style periods

Module 3: Genres; Music before the Baroque

Module 4: The Baroque Period

Module 5: The Classical Period

Module 6: The Romantic Period I

Module 7: The Romantic Period II

Module 8: The Modern Period

YouTube Channel for the course



How do ETSU's free online courses work?

OpenBUCS courses are open to anyone, anywhere. There is no cost for the course work and no textbook to buy. To take an OpenBUCS course, you will need to:

*register for the course online using the links above
*complete the eight-week online course -- all material and assignments are provided through video lectures, discussion forums, quizzes and other activities
*pursue the optional path to college credit if you would like to earn transferable college credit that will count toward your degree. The total cost for obtaining credit is $335 (1/3 the cost of regular, in-state tuition!)

The Shrinker (with coffee) recipe inspired from Trim Healthy Mama Facebook page

I finally bit the bullet and ordered mct oil, collagen, nutritional yeast, and glucomannan from Amazon last night.
I found whey protein at Big Lots for $14.00 yesterday. They also had almond flour, still $12.00 like at the supermarket, but it's got to be had and I grabbed it along with golden flax seed.

Today is day two of sipping on the shrinker.

A quart jar
Two trays of ice cubes
Almond milk
Oolong tea
Cayenne pepper
Sea salt
Cinnamon
Stevia
Pure Vanilla extract

I added a little black coffee today





 

Homeschooling made possible by The Baltimore Book Thing

WOW 2011!!!!

Its been a long while!!

Please, check out the kids over at their youtube page  www.youtube.com/user/lorrainepinkard

As of March 2014, we are now a homeschooling family. Its a struggle most days, but I've been told it will get better one day.

We were lucky to have stumbled upon The Baltimore Book Thing www.bookthink.org
-The Book Thing is a wonderful building, so wonderful you can look past the fact there is no air condition during the hot summer weekends. I say weekends because the hours are Saturday and Sunday 9-5.. even if its Christmas or New Years.  Every book in the building is free. You can donate as many books as you'd like and you can take home as many books as you can carry - or make a few trips to the car as I did on my first visit. I went at the end of the public school year and found text books and teacher manuals donated to The Book Thing from area schools.

Tragically, there was a fire at The Book Thing this past winter.  http://fw.to/iJ0Desk


They are rebuilding and moving forward. Check out their webpage for fundraising events and online donations.


http://www.bookthing.org