Rams International
February 3, 2017
RAMS WEEKLY
Block 6| Week 1 | Quarter 3
Professional Development
Professional Development is in charge of creating
activities for the class to do based on the songs and
poems we have analyzed in class. This week they were
unable to perform their activity due to time restraints,
yet would have been on the song "Gimme Shelter" by
Simon and Garfunkel that we analyzed previously in
the year. The activity would have been interactive with
the students going to different sides of the room based
on the response to certain questions.
Research and Development
Research and Development is in charge of keeping
track of everything we do in class; including the songs,
poems, quick writes and novel.
They have been
updating their website with summaries of The Odyssey
and recently added the songs we did: That's just the
way it is by Bruce Hornsby and The Range and
Changes by Tupac. Also, they added a quick write of
"What is you greatest accomplishment" to their
website. They provided summaries of these and they
thoroughly explained the meaning behind each one.
Corporate Development
Corporate development held a discussion board about
our quick write on Tuesday. They had the discussion
Thursday night from 8-9 PM They asked questions
such as: What is you're biggest accomplishment, what
was you're motivation to achieve you're
accomplishment, and what is you're goal now? Not
only were people answering questions asked, but
people were asking more question others based on
others responses.
What we did in class
Tuesday 1/31 and Thursday 2/2
We started off the week by picking out our new
departments in class. We had the options of professional
development, research development, corporate
development (explanation on side). After we moved to
our new groups, we did a quick write: What is your
greatest accomplishment? Our class then participated in a
discussion about our accomplishments and what we had
to do to achieve them. Afterwards, we read The Odyssey
and discussed the beginning few pages. The next class, we
analyzed two songs: That's just the way it is by Bruce
Hornsby and The Range and Changes by Tupac. The
songs were fairly lucid and were followed with a
discussion. The structure of the rap music was further
analyzed to aid students in seeing that the lyrics do not
have to be overly intricate for an upcoming project of a
'rap battle' or a presentation. This project will be a
momentous grade for the students.
Sol Standards
.9.1 k) Summarize and evaluate information presented orally by
others.(circle)
9.4 a) Identify author’s main idea and purpose.(reading the
odyssey)
9.4 g) Analyze the cultural or social function of a literary text.
(songs)
9.4 l) Make predictions, inferences, draw conclusions, and
connect prior knowledge to support reading comprehension.
( odyssey)
9.6 b) Plan and organize writing to address a specific audience
and purpose.(presentations)
1
Rams International
The Odyssey: by
Homer
For the third quarter, the students are
reading The Odyssey by Homer. A
poet calls for Muse, the goddess of
poetry, to give inspiration in telling
the story about Odysseus. The
Odyssey is about the ten year journey
to home of Odysseus and his crew.
After leaving Troy from the Trojan
War, Odysseus and his crew land near
Ismarus, where the Cicones live. The
Cicones are the allies of the Trojans so
they chase them out into the sea.
Later, they end up on the coastline of
the Lotus Eaters. The Lotus Eaters
showed no harm, but the men who ate
the Lotus stayed on that island forever
and all thoughts of home were
supplanted. But Odysseus gathered
the rest of the men by telling them to
stop tasting the Lotus if they wanted
hope of going home. Then they landed
on the island of the Cyclops, where
they spent days feasting on the wild
goats and wine. Odysseus and some of
his men decided to explore and see
creatures lived on this island.
February 3, 2017
That's Just The Way it is- Bruce
Hornby and the Range and ChangesTupac
That's Just the way it is by Bruce Hornsby and The Range was written in 1986. In
1998 the chorus of the song was later released in Changes by Tupac. That’s just
the way it is, is American soft rock song featuring keyboard, drums and bass guitar.
It starts of slow and with a happy tone yet many students agreed that the lyrics
contradicted the upbeat melody. The basic idea of the song was how there are
many restrictions for black people in America, and although they can try to break
down barriers it doesn’t seem to be making a difference or getting any better. At
one point in the song the singer asks why there are these "rules" for certain people
and there doesn't seem to be a valid answer, only someone saying "that’s just the
way it is". Another lyric in the song stated how laws were passed to make things
more equal, yet it they haven’t changed minds so it doesn’t make much of a
difference. They would still be taunted. There is an instrumental break in the
middle of the song and one student had a credible idea about how it could
represent the passing of time and how not much has changed over many years.
Changes by Tupac has a very similar message yet the class agreed that it goes more
in depth in the issues. Changes is an American song written in 1992 but released
in 1998. It is subgenred as political rap as it mentions a lot of political
controversies. A few students mentioned how changes tells the story of a black
men and others in similar situations. It talks about how easy it may be to tell
impoverish people to get a job but, people don’t realize how hard it actually is.
The song also mentions how people in Tupac's situation can't find a job so they
must resort to doing ghastly things like drug dealing and they are looked down
upon or how they feel that it is perilous just to go outside, and must carry a gun
to protect themselves. Changes differs from the other song by displaying a
Contributions
Alison: Newsletter layout, department
summaries, photos
Hannah: SOL standards
Sarah: Song summary, citations
Jessica M: Quick write
Jessica H: Book summary
Angelica: Website-department of the
week, home page
Quick Write
On Tuesday, we did a quick write of "What is your greatest
accomplishment?" People's responses ranges from getting
straight A's to being eligible for a certain scholarship. Through
discussion, the class agreed that whatever your
accomplishment is, it took a lot of hard work and tenacious
motivation to reach your goal.
Citations
Tupak Shakur. N.d. CBS News. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.
Accomplishments. N.d. ANH USA. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.
The Odyssey. N.d. Emaze. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.
2
Rams International
February 3, 2017
3