#principle 1

[blackchildrensbooksandauthors]

Happy Kwanzaa

Principle 1 - December 26th

Umoja (Unity)

To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

(Source: officialkwanzaawebsite.org)

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[blackchildrensbooksandauthors]

Happy Kwanzaa

Principle 1 - December 26th

Umoja (Unity)

To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

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[blackchildrensbooksandauthors]

🤲🏿Happy Kwanzaa🤲🏿 

Principle 1 - December 26th 

Umoja (Unity)

To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

[ivkio]

There was a lonely hermit, residing on a mountain near a small village of dusty earth. They have never made direct contact, but the villagers often awoke to cut meat packaged in large leaves at the foot of their door, and the occassional gifting if fur or leather clothing.

The villagers ploughed their stiff dirt that crumbled like broken pottery, each year closer and closer to the quiet hermit. In the high of the afternoon heat, the exhausted villagers noticed the hermit awaken, and harvest but a few potatoes and a small head of cabbage from their garden. The villagers scoffed. "What a waste of energy," they thought. "Why, you could grow a field of grains, collect it at once, and store it for years." But the hermit continued with their day, cleaning and chopping the vegetables before cooking them in a stew.

After finishing their meal, the hermit gathered the scraps and peels, and dropped them on the soil where they harvested from earlier. Their garden was full of fallen leaves, scraps of food, pottery, animal bones, and even the ashes from their fireplace. "What a mess!" the villagers thought. "You'll bring raccoons and birds and bugs into your garden!" Despit their outburst, the hermit remained quiet, and continued with their day.

The hermit's garden contained several large trees, which they admired before laying in the shade provided by an orange tree. They dozed off into a sleep, as the villagers sowed their seeds in rows. When the hermit awoke, they grabbed several oranges, and snacked on it under the tree, which rustled from the evening breeze. "How lazy!" the villagers thought, while stretching out their sore backs. "You could pick the fruit during the day, and sleep at night," one villager said aloud. The other tired villagers moaned in agreement.

The villagers started their way back to their homes for dinner, followed closely behing the villager who held the peels and seeds of the oranges, along with a handful of fallen leaves. Their feet quickly gathered the same dust the villagers were covered with. Still, the small hermit strode along as they whistled a soft tune, and planted the seeds where the ground was barren and dry. "That's useless!" the villagers said. "Nothing grows there anymore."

"What used to grow here?" the hermit asked with a quiet voice.

"Well, we used to grow wheat there every year till the soil died."

"Did you feed it?"

The villagers roared with laughter. "Soil can't eat!"

"It does," the hermit stated. "Food scraps decompose, the droppings of animals nourish, and flora protects it. Did you leave the Earth bare?"

"Well," the villagers all looked to each other. "After the harvest, winter comes. Then we sow seeds throughout the spring."

"So, did you let the soil rest?"

"Why, no. Soil can't sleep."

"It does. When we allow the earth to produce and feed itself without taking it's resources, the soil can replenish and grow." The hermit covered the orange seeds with it's peels and fallen leaves. "When we continually take and trample, the soil grows tired and weak. The earth is like us, when we continually work, and do not sleep nor eat properly." At that moment, the sound if coughing in the village could be heard.

"Then what should we do?"

"Grow many things; a field and garden are not just for us, it's a part of the ecosystem. Keeping one type of plant will strain the soil, welcome diseases, and entice pests." The hermit grabbed a fistful of the dead dirt. "Protect the soil from the sun and rain; cover it with compost and hold it with deep roots. The act of tilling not only exposes the soil to harsh elements, but it destroys the life within it. No part of the universe is without life, and we need to protect and nourish it. In turn, nature will protect and nourish us."

[literallyuptodate-blog]

Surlunefairytales provides teachers with multiple versions of the Cinderella story from different authors from around the world. Here students can compare and explore how different countries structure narratives, settings and characters.

[nextgenauthenticliteracy-blog]

Mrs. Blow’s Website provides teachers with multiple versions of the Cinderella story from different authors from around the world. Here students can compare and explore how different countries structure narratives, settings and characters.

[literallyuptodate-blog]

This article provides teachers with texts that depict families and children that are LGBT. These books are just the beginning to allow classrooms and schools to accept the diversity of books.

[literallyuptodate-blog]

Pixton is an online comic making tool used by millions that empowers anyone to create unique, expressive comics without having to draw.

Pixton is a website where students can create their own comics through templates to portray a story or information. Students can also select to ‘remix’ comics, where they can add onto other comics and teachers are able to moderate it before it is approved. Once approved it is open to the class  for other students to comment . Rubrics are also added to the bottom of the rubric so students can align their work with the expectations and peer review is possible.