In honor of Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013)

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

      Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

      I am the captain of my soul. 

 

 

Inspired?

Want more poetry?

@ http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

 

Cool Video: Animated Tower

11 story building uses windows as pixels for animation

The video proper is about 2.5 minutes, and there's another 2 minutes showing the making of afterward.

It appears to be in Laussane, Switerzland.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
by Peter Brown

The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit
by Drew Daywalt
illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers Author Film 2013 from Oliver Jeffers on Vimeo.

2nd Grade Lesson on Fables: Comparing two versions of The Fox and The Grapes

First we read a traditional version of the fable and talked about how old the story is (3000 years) and what happens to old stories as they are retold.


Then we read a newer version of the same fable and talked about what was the same in both stories and what was different:

Activity:

Students drew something they wanted as much as fox wanted those grapes.  I then photographed their drawing and added it to a VoiceThread where students could record their thoughts about what it was they wanted and how they worked to get it.