It was great seeing Eva from the Shakespeare Theatre again, and this time she brought her very funny friend with her! Together, they reenacted a scene we were all very familiar with from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and they engaged us in several activities analyzing the ways actors use their bodies to get what they want on stage.  We then used these different methods to act out a dialogue from Romeo and Juliet between Mercutio and Tybalt.  It will be interesting to see what we observe at the Gala Theatre on Friday and if we can pick up these different acting techniques!

Follow the directions on your "What is Love? Webquest" sheet.  Click on the links below to easily reach the articles, web pages, and videos.





"What is Love?" article
http://www.helenfisher.com/downloads/articles/08bbconair.pdf

"The Brain in Love" video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYfoGTIG7pY

"Ten things you might not know about love" article
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/24/health/love-psychology-book/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

"Love 2.0" video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxxIh8NtGfw&list=PL6D12CEC1B260D0B4&index=14

"Tales of Passion" by Isabel Allende
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/tales-of-passion-isabel-allende

Seeing Andres Wood’s film Machuca at the AFI was a great way to wrap up our Revolutions unit.

After studying the history of U.S./Latin American relations during the Cold War on a grand scale, it was very interesting to see the drama play out in the relationship of two very different boys, Gonzalo (wealthy) and Machuca (poor).  Their friendship was definitely tested as the tension between social classes grew and reached a boiling point with the U.S. backed takeover of the Allende government.

I was very impressed with the discussions we had in class debriefing the film, just as I am with the the 2-3 page essays on how U.S. society relates to our dystopian novels.  We are bringing in the new year with lots of creative, analytical thinking!

I am excited to discuss the connections we will observe in Machuca and The House of Spirits which we will see February 8th!

What a great way to say goodbye to 2012! There was sparkling cider, empanadas, sweets, presents, and lots of cheer for everyone! Happy holidays everyone and see you in the new year! =)

What a pleasure meeting with Ellen and her sister today! It was so neat seeing her after a year of working together on the American Mural Project and having the opportunity to reflect on our experiences.  We hope with all of our hearts that our interviews will help AMP achieve its goals.  Thanks so much, Ellen, for bringing this project and all of your energy and passion to Paul!

What an AMAZING show!!! Whether it was the acrobatic fairies, the lovers' mud fight, the shameless Bottom, or the mischievous Puck, we were thoroughly entertained the entire 2 hrs and 45 minutes of the play, and I often found myself wishing it would never end.  At the end of the play the actors came out, and we were able to ask them questions.  It was incredible to hear their thoughts about acting, performing Shakespeare, and their preparations for each show.  Two hundred people worked to make the show such a success.  We see the actors but there are just as many people working behind stage, not to mention the costume and set designers, publicists, and of course, the very talented director.  This was a truly delightful mind vacation into a purely magical world.

This is just the beginning of our Keeping it Green campaign, but we were able to add 2 trash cans and 3 composters to our school yard garden on Friday.  It definitely took some team work to assemble the composters, but when there is a will there is a way! After the assembly we cleaned up the lot and filled our composters with fallen leaves and debris from the garden.  Our next steps are assembling the greenhouse and planting for our new pollinator garden to be developed for this spring!

We really enjoyed having Eva from the Shakespeare Theatre in our class today.  She was very impressed by how much the students already knew about the characters and complicated plot.  She led us in a silent scene version of the play, and we added dialogue throughout.  It was very enjoyable seeing the students act out the roles of the mechanicals, lovers, royal court, and fairies.  I am amazed everyone could keep straight who loves who during all of the fairy's mischief in the forest. 
After the 9th grade workshop we had time to play around with Shakespeare's language having a compliment and insult face off.  Congratulations to Jimena for having the best compliments and Kiana for the best insults!
After the 7/8 grade workshop we divided into groups and created a logo, motto, and commercial to advertise a Midsummer's based on a specific character group.  The fairy and lovers commercials were rocking!
We are totally ready to see the performance next Thursday. 

Today's Art for Change Workshop provided by the Smithsonian Latino Center fit perfectly into our dystopian unit.  We have been looking at both negative types of propaganda that attempt to control people and revolutionary tactics aimed at reversing the mind control of negative propaganda (ad busters, Buy Nothing Day, mockingjay, etc.) At the workshop we saw posters from a social art campaign in Puerto Rico with the intention of strengthening their community's education, health, nutrition, and communication.  In groups students worked to create their own social art on topics of their choice which included bullying, racism, clean energy, immigration, security, and education.  Students' art is on display in the world languages hallway. 

Well, 43 people were fed, 2 turkeys were sacrificed, 5 pies and about 4 dozen cupcakes were consumed, mounds of rice, atole, coditos, salad, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, stuffing, arroz con leche, flan, casava bread, and empanadas were devoured.  Am I missing anything? Thank YOU everyone for generously bringing food, drinks, and desserts to share in this truly wonderful meal.  I hope everyone feels as blessed as I do to be surrounded by such caring and generous people each day.