Prison Studies for Middle School

This week we are finishing our unit on Mental Health and the natural transition was heading our reading into the prison system. Handouts: A Class/B Class, ppt

Introduction Learning Questions:
What is the role of prisons in society?

What are the main issues in Prison Studies?

How is the Taiwanese prison system in relation to other democratic countries?

• Women Behind Bars
• Reintegration
• School to Prison Pipeline

1. Where Mental Illness Meets The Prison System

JAILED: How should governments help people in prison with mental health issues?

	Pros	Cons
Expert counseling
Drugs
Separate prisons
Mentors
Skills training
Alternatives:?

Reading 1: Mental Health Nurses Staff UK Police Stations (A class/ B class)

Videos: Rosalynn Carter explains that jails and prisons are the largest mental health facilities in America.
Dr. Elizabeth Ford examines mental health in the prison system and the toll of incarceration.

II. Prison Escapes and Security

Reading 2: France Asks Google To Blur Internet Maps (A Class/B Class)

IV. Prison Strikes

• Attica Prison Uprising
• Jailhouse Lawyers Speak
• National Prisoners Strike

V. Prison Riots- Brazilian Massacre (Both A and B levels)

Vocabulary:

1. inmate (a prisoner)
2. dismember (cut into pieces)
3. smuggle (bring something without people knowing about it).

0:36

Brazilian Prison Massacre – level 3

VI. Torture and Capital Punishment

1. Secret CIA Torture Prisons (A/B)
2. Pregnant Woman in Laos (A/B)
3. Capital Punishment in Utah (A/B)

VII. Progress

1. Tablets in NY(A/B)
2. Indian Repatriates Prisoners (A/B)
3. Taiwan

Taiwan Prisoner’s Kitchen

Taiwan Prison and Solar Power

RESOURCES:

12 Facts About Incarceration and Reentry, Reentry in Taiwan, Global Prison Trends 2018

PBS Prison to School Pipeline, Lesson on Prison Pipeline

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1607551X12001295

7th Grade HS Week 16: The American Renaissance and Indian Removal

• Math: Solving Equations (Lessons 4-5+ Review)
• Writing: Great Writing Book 3 (Unit 4 pg 92-97)
• Science: Chapter 9, Lesson 2  The Musculoskeletal System and Levers (Quizlet)

Videos: CC AP #20, Ted-Ed,

• Geography: Oceania

Learning Question: How does Taiwan star in Oceanic migration?

(Videos: Evolution of Pacific Island Cultures, Polynesian Migration)

• History: A Young Person’s History Chapter 7,

“As Long as the Grass Grows and the Water Runs” (handout + Quizlet)   
The Trail of Tears: Crash Course #14,

• Spanish: Lesson 2, Articles and Nouns pg.10-14

• Reading

Literature of the American Renaissance

(1830s- American Civil War)

1. Who were the Brahmins? 
2. Who were the Transcendentalists and what did they believe?
3. Who were the other “imaginative writers”?

Reading 1: Tears by Walt Whitman

Reading 2: The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Vocabulary:Quizlet (before reading) /Quizlet (after reading)/

Extra: Vocabulary builder (pdf)

Hawthorne gained the reputation of being the contradiction to the new
Transcendentalist movement taking hold at the time, with his works
often examining the darker side of humanity. This actually kept him
from forming a deeper friendship with his pals, Henry David Thoreau and
Ralph Waldo Emerson. While Transcendentalism focused on the possibilities
of mankind’s potential, Hawthorne’s characters routinely examined the very
real limitations and potential destructiveness of the human spirit.
In particular, “The Minister’s Black Veil” explores the themes of sin, guilt,
secrecy, and isolation, aspects of the human condition that Transcendentalism
tends to ignore or forget.

Review: Puritan New World

Hawthorne held quite a bit of guilt over his family lineage, which included the
infamous Judge John Hathorne, who presided over the Salem Witch Trials.
Here are some of the tenets of Puritanism which Hawthorne’s ancestors believed
guided their lives:

1. God is the sovereign being of the universe, and controls all things.
2. Certain people had already been chosen by God to go to Heaven, known as "predestination", and there was nothing they could do to change His choice.
3. The only way for a Predestined to get into Heaven was to combine their good fortune with hard work.
4. Humanity is born naturally depraved because of Original Sin, and it is people’s duty to work hard to overcome their innate sin
5. Anything unnatural (famine, disease, deformities, etc.) are attributed to the Devil or witches, who are agents of the Devil.

Original Sin

Puritans (and modern Christian) believe that no one is born perfect, and that
everyone sins. This concept is essential to understanding the allegory of the veil
in this Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, "The Minister’s Black Veil".

Essential Questions for “The Minister’s Black Veil”

1. What is sin?
2. What are secrets people hide from the world?
3. What are some reasons why people keep secrets?
4. Why do people gossip about others?
5. How can guilt separate a person from others?

Explain the Plot of The Minister’s Black Veil:
Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.

Explain the symbolism of: the black veil, moring funeral, afternoon wedding

Extra: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson,

RESOURCES:

https://www.storyboardthat.com/lesson-plans/the-ministers-black-veil-by-nathaniel-hawthorne

https://www.elacommoncorelessonplans.com/literature-reading-standards/exemplars-g-9-10/poetry-teacher-guides-lesson-plans/teaching-the-poems-of-walt-whitman.html

ESL Unit 5: Writing in the Present Progressive

After the Lunar New Year, week one was a little hard to get everyone back into the grind. Week one of the second semester, my A-Classes are wrapping up Great Writing Book 1's Unit 4's timed writing, while my B level class has just started Unit 4. Next week, my A classes will start Unit 5.

February-March 2019

WEEK 1 The Present Progressive Tense: Machu Picchu and Writing from Pictures
Class 1: pg. 130-133
Class 2 pg. 134-137

WEEK 2 Writing From Pictures + Complex Sentences Review
Class 1:pg. 138-141
Class 2: pg.142-145

WEEK 3 Editing and Vocabulary Building
Class 1: pg. 146-149
Class 2 pg. review and quiz

WEEK 4 Orignal Student Writing
Class 1 and 2: pg. 149-151

Wrapping Up Mental Health Unit: Self Care, Gaming or Hip-Hop?

Before the CNY break, some of the higher level (faster) classes were able to do a group role-play activity on bullying and class debate. Regardless, all the classes will end our theme on Mental Health with talking about Self-Care and readings on Gaming Disorder and Hip-Hop. Both readings are on the easier side for both A and B levels, as we all are coming back from holiday. (Handouts: A Class/ B Class)

I will introduce self-care and mental health by showing them the B level bilingual article, "The Importance of Mental Health Days" and then brainstorm ways they can cultivate self-care in their personal lives. I anticipate a third or more will say playing games on their phones or computers is one way they "take a break" which is an interesting transition into addiction and moderation.

I will introduce Gaming Disorder by showing them all this A level bilingual article from the Taipei Times as well as these videos:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNvQKxObRAo
   NTDV
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmAMNHWWx_s
3. Chinese News: Gaming disorder  1/10 teenagers 電玩成癮青少年人數多
4. Chinese News: 電玩成癮是一種病 WHO Shekhar Saxena strong accent
   
   
5. English with English subtitle:Demystifying Gaming Disorder Q&A

Therapy or Addiction? How serious are these habits? How can we treat them? Complete this table with your partner.

	How Dangerous?	How Can We Treat the Addiction?
Gaming
Internet
Smartphone
Chocolate/Sugar/Junk Food
Shopping
Gambling

Reading 1: Too Much Gaming is a Mental Health Issue (A class/ B Class)
All of these vocabulary words are a review from previous readings, an easy start to the new semester.

B Class Vocabulary:

1. disorder
2. WHO 
3. addiction 
4. list

A Class Vocabulary:

1. problem
2. condition
3. happen
4. insist
5. consequences
6. aware
7. circumstances
8. hooked
9. functioning
10. worth

Reading 2: Hip-Hop Can Help Mental Illness (A Class/ B Class)
The emphasis in the reading is about hip-hop as a means to vocalize hurts about social injustices and a message of hope, not misogyny and violence. In 2014, Cambridge University combined Psychiatry and Hip-Hop to form the initiative Hip-Hop Psyche, which was published in the Lancet. I know half of the students are interested in this genre of music and have told me they are pretty knowledgeable about this kind of music. This reading is a means to teach them the origins of Hip-Hop from socio-economic deprivation and racial injustice, something they probably can't relate to, but I hope they can relate to the message of breaking free using positive visual imagery.

Their reading refers to legends such as Grandmaster Flash(閃耀大師) and Notorious B.I.G(聲名狼藉先生). I will introduce them Kendrick Lamar(肯德里克·拉馬爾).


Then, to conclude this unit and lesson they will make a Self-Care Plan that targets Mental, Emotional, and Physical well being.

Review/Quiz

RESOURCES

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/hip-hop-psych-initiative-aims-to-tackle-mental-health-issues-through-hip-hop

Interview on Mental Health and self care by Hip-Hop Artist, Charlamagne tha God

The breakdown of the vocabulary and readings are at the end of the Mental Health ppt.

7th Grade Homeschooling Week 15: Europe, Colonial Women,and The Lottery

Time to get back into the groove post CNY break! She has a new Mandarin book which she does independently. She will be finishing her American 6th-grade Geography book which does a very good job of giving an overview of global geography and world cultures. I need to find a 7th-grade geography book or something that goes into more depth of the same subjects.

Geography: Europe (pgs 152-162): Ancient Greece and Rome, Europe and Russia’s Governments: Bronze Age: Persians and Greeks, Alexander the Great, Totalitarianism,

The Cold War, Fall of Communism, EU, Brexit

Writing: Research and write an essay about:
1.)Minoan Art
2.) Your favorite important woman in early America

Science: Chapter 9, Lesson 1 (pdf pg. 113) The Musculoskeletal System

Practice Test/ Video/ Quizlet/ Project

History: A Young Person’s History Chapter 6, “The Women of Early America”
(handout + Quizlet) Videos: Anne Hutchinson and Anne Bradstreet,

Sojourner Truth, Crash Course #16, #31

Spanish: Learning Spanish, Lesson 1 pg. 4-8

Review Games:  LOS NÚMEROS (1-50)

Reading: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson "The Lottery" worksheets Day 1 and 2,

Lottery Day 3 final[1].docx/Vocabulary/Intro to Irony /The Lottery with Irony Questions /

Quizlet/Test/Writing Prompts

"The Lottery" Vocabulary List (words are in the order that they appear in the story): 

1. assembled – gathered
2. boisterous – rowdy, loud
3. reprimands – punishment, repercussions
4. surveying – viewing
5. reluctantly – unwillingly
6. jovial – jolly, joyful
7. scold – a person who is constantly scolding or reprimanding with loud and abusive speech
8. paraphernalia – personal belongings, items associated with a specific activity
9. shabbier – fallen into disrepair
10. perfunctory – performed merely as a routine duty
11. interminably – unending
12. disengaged – to free from attachment
13. petulantly – with unreasonable irritation
14. stoutly – bulky in figure
15. daintily – delicately, in a lady-like fashion

Resources:
https://betterlesson.com/lesson/630036/musculoskeletal-system
https://study.com/academy/exam/topic/the-musculoskeletal-system-study-guide.html
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/skeletal-system-activities/
https://www.brighthubeducation.com/middle-school-english-lessons/34014-the-lottery-by-shirley-jackson/
https://www.elacommoncorelessonplans.com/category/the-lottery
https://betterlesson.com/community/lesson/303552/the-lottery-by-shirley-jackson
https://www.elacommoncorelessonplans.com/how-to-win-the-lottery-in-the-classroom-with-the-lottery-movie.html

Leaving Taiwan, but still Teaching (Online)

I will be leaving Taiwan in Summer, but can still teach online via Skype. I would love to be able to remain in contact and teach my former students and help parents with developing a curriculum for their homeschooling or extracurricular English lessons. 我將在夏天離開台灣，但仍然可以通過Skype在線教學。我希望能夠保持聯繫並教導我的前學生，並幫助父母為他們的家庭學校或課外英語課程開發課程。

I can structure the class according to student's needs, for example, conversation, writing for university essay papers,  business presentation, Social Studies, etc. 我可以根據學生的需要構建課程，例如，談話，寫大學論文，商業演講，社會研究等。

I anticipate most online students will be focused on conversational English, so please look at what an online conversational class would look like here. 我預計大多數在線學生將專注於會話英語，所以請看一下在線會話課程在這裡會是什麼樣子。

Here is my brochure. 這是我的宣傳冊。

Class 1:

1. Greeting and General Things
2. Identify what the student wants to focus on. Discuss their survey. The student can decide which grammar weaknesses they may want to improve.
3. Speaking Basics
4. Current Events
5. The student can choose topics of interest for Class  2

(Topics + Conversational Questions + Discussion Topics).

Class 2: (Might be a little different based on the student’s individual survey)

1. Greetings (Greeting and General Things II)
2. Current Events
3. Warm up/ grammar dialogue/pronunciation
4. Student Topic conversation
5. Teacher’s suggested reading/video and discussion (introducing new vocabulary)

Payment can be made through Paypal or bank transfer (in Taiwan only).