Thursday, December 3, 2009

General Announcements:

• Sat., Dec. 5 Winter Fair!
• Tues., Dec. 8: Black performance wear must return to school to be ready for Thurs. performance.
• Thurs., Dec. 10: God/Goddess Puppet show (1:30 PM) and Ancient Greece Museum Exhibits (AM)
• You must have an independent reading book every day. If you are getting close to the end of one, have the next one at school and ready to go.

Math: 7th Grade:

• Due Fri., 12/4: Complete 5.1 Follow-up on p. 62-63 of CMP book. Be sure to show how you got your answers and explain.

8th Grade:

• Due Fri., 12/4: Do #4-6 on p. 54 of CMP book. Use the symbolic method to solve and show all steps. Do not use a graphing calculator.

Social Studies:

• Fri., 12/4 will be a work period, so please bring in some part of your project that you can work on at school for about 45 minutes.
• Complete list of Museum Exhibit Project due dates leading up to Dec. 8

Science:

• Due :

Language Arts:

• Due Fri., 12/4:
  • Bring in any props, music, etc. needed for your Il Teatro act.
  • Finish script for puppet show if not already finished.

Moment of Zen: People Who Have Named Months After Themselves in the Past 10 YearsSaparmurat "Turkmenbashi" Niyazov headed up the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan from 1985 (as head of the Turkmen SSR) to 2006. However, after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 and Turkmenistan's independence, Niyazov's leadership approach became increasingly absurd. As if to fill the void left with the end of the cult of personality held in the images of former Soviet leaders like Lenin and Stalin, Niyazov was suddenly everywhere: towering gold statues, all of the money (which had to be recalled and reissued when he dyed his hair). He was "democratically elected with 100% of the vote" as president for life. He started going simply by "Turkmenbashi" which translates as "Head of the Turkmen." He wrote a book, called Ruhnama (Persian for The Guide) which he intended to be treated on par with the Bible and Qur'an, awarded himself a prize for poetry and started sponsoring Ruhnama-memorizing competitions. In 2002, he renamed the months of the year after himself, his family and other Central Asian historical figures. He renamed bread after his mother. He also was trying to build an ice palace in the Karakum Desert, which would include a penguin exhibit, but was unsuccessful in completing this before his death in 2006.

• List of Turkmenbashi's "acheivements" — with pictures
• Interview with a Turkmen journalist from the New Yorker, which describes the press under Turkmenbashi