Sadly, this is our last week of CuLtUrE sHoCk: Authors, Inventions and Music that Changed the World. We have had so much fun exploring the art of inventing, learning from amazing authors, and moving our bodies to music from different eras in time.
Take a look at what we will be doing in each of our classrooms this week:
Blue Room: The last week of the month will be focused on yet another of the world’s most famous authors, the comic book master, Stan Lee. Stan Lee was born Stanley Martin Lieber in New York on December 28, 1922. As a boy he always enjoyed writing and at the age of 16, after graduating from high school, started working for Timely Comics. At first, he just filled ink wells and brought lunch to the writers, until 1941 when he wrote his first comic book filler, “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge.” He soon moved from writing filler to writing comics in their entirety and went on to create Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Avengers, Iron Man, the Hulk and many more superheroes that the world has come to love (wiki/Stan-Lee). Stan Lee is now known as a comic genius and has forever changed the limits of our imaginations and our culture with his magnificent superhero creations.
Students will learn about this amazing comic creator as well as read a few of his comics before creating their very own comic strip toward the end of the week!
Week 4 Sub-Theme Objectives:
- Become familiar with the life of the comic book author, Stan Lee and understand why his works have made him so well-known.
- Be familiar with the definition of a comic book.
- Have read at least one comic strip from the book, “The Amazing Spider-man” including an exploration of the illustrations by Steve Ditko.
- Have participated in the creation of a comic strip using characters from Stan Lee’s “The Amazing Spider-man.”
Green Room: During week 4 students will be introduced to inventions that changed the way in which the world viewed hygiene. These inventions are also quite familiar to our students in that they personally use them on a daily basis. What are these marvelous inventions? The toothbrush and the band aid!
A little introduction to the toothbrush: William Addis first dreamed up the idea of the toothbrush while spending some time in jail for starting a riot. While in jail he had no effective way to clean his teeth, so he took a bone from one of his meals, bore holes into it and placed some bristles, courtesy of a guard, into the holes. When he was released he founded the Addis Toothbrush Company and began to mass produce the toothbrush. By 1840, toothbrushes were being mass produced in several countries all over the world (The Toothbrush).
A little introduction to the band-aid: Earle Dickson is yet another man who contributed to society by inventing the band aid. Earle Dickson worked for Johnson and Johnson in 1921 as a cotton buyer, the same year he would invent the band aid. Inspiration for the invention came from Dickson’s wife who was always cutting her fingers in the kitchen. In 1921, cuts were bandaged with gauze and adhesive tape. Dickson wondered if he could create something that would better fit a small cut as well as move with the contours of the hand. Thus, the band aid was born (The Band Aid).
Students will not only learn about and experience the inventions of the toothbrush and band-aid this week but will continue to "invent" in the inventor workshop that has been in the Green Room all month long.
Week 4 Sub-Theme Objectives:
- Be familiar with the inventor of the toothbrush, William Addis, as well as the history behind the invention of the toothbrush.
- Be familiar with the inventor of the band aid, Earle Dickson, as well as the history behind the invention of the band aid.
- Have discussed how the inventions of the toothbrush and the band aid have changed society and the manner in which people live.
Red Room: During week 4 students will be ending their musical tour with the hip hop generation. Children will dance and sing their hearts out throughout the week learning moves inspired by some of our hip-hop favorites!
Some background information on the hip-hop era: Hip hop music developed as a “hip hop” culture began to emerge during the 1970’s. Hip hop is defined by four distinct elements: rapping, scratching, sampling and beat boxing (Hip Hop Music). Hip hop has evolved over the decades from Old School hip hop to New School hip hop to the Golden Age of hip hop. Each transition brought with it a new way of approaching this genre of music, however it is the hip hop of the 1990’s that caused hip hop to finally become an integral part of popular music. From this point on many American songs would contain components of hip hop for generations to come.
Week 4 Sub-Theme Objectives:
- Know the history behind the hip hop generation including societal changes that were occurring at this time that may have contributed to the development of the music.
- Be familiar with at least 2 musicians from the hip hop generation.
- Have created a piece of artwork inspired by the music of the hip hop generation.
We have a fantastic week ahead for your young learners as we say good-bye to authors, inventions and music that changed the world!
Keep in mind that ALL learning goals and concepts are taught through individualized and developmentally appropriate lessons plans lovingly created by our teachers for YOUR amazing kiddos. Our curriculum has been developed over the last 9 years in our schools and is unlike any other you will find in our industry. We hope you AND your children are LOVING being a Fusion Kid! Should you ever have any questions, please let us know!
