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Word + Quiz: pandemonium

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Word + Quiz: pandemonium

: a state of extreme confusion and disorder

_________

The word pandemonium has appeared in 52 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on June 9 in “New York City’s Kettlebell Shortage: ‘People Are Kind of Freaking Out’” by Aaron Randle:

When the coronavirus forced Americans indoors — out of offices, away from grocery stores and off public transit — gyms under went an economy-rattling shift.

Suddenly fitness enthusiasts were forced to reimagine not only where they could work out, but how. People snapped up benches, resistance bands, dumbbells and kettlebells. In New York, the demand led to a citywide shortage of workout equipment.

“People are kind of freaking out,” said Jahkeen Washington, co-owner of JTW Fit, a boutique gym in Central Harlem. “They feel like all of the hard work they’ve been putting in for so long is at risk of going to waste.”

….“It’s pandemonium,” said Ed Pryst, the chief sales officer of Gym Source, a New Jersey-based workout equipment retailer with several offices in New York. “I’ve been in the business for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

_________

How Much Do You Know About Malawi?

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How Much Do You Know About Malawi?

Can you find Malawi on a map? What else do you know about this African nation with about 19 million people?

Lessons From Animals

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Lessons From Animals

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 2021.

Blair Braverman is a musher — the human driver of a dog sled team. She writes that she is learning from her dogs how to navigate the “endurance challenge” that is the pandemic. Here is one thing her animals have shown her about encountering the unknown:

Working with dogs in the wilderness means negotiating countless shifting variables: snow and wind, wild animals, open water, broken equipment, each dog’s needs and changing mood. I learned that plans, when I made them, were nothing but a sketch; the only thing I needed to count on was that the dogs and I would make decisions along the way.

Have animals ever taught you anything, whether those animals were pets you owned or creatures you encountered in the wild? What? How?

Tell us about them in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

About Picture Prompts

• Find all our Picture Prompts in this column.
• Have an idea for a Picture Prompt? Tell us about it.
• Teachers, discover more ways to teach with our Picture Prompts and learn how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Word + Quiz: vociferous

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Word + Quiz: vociferous

: conspicuously and offensively loud; given to vehement outcry

_________

The word vociferous has appeared in 56 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on May 15 in “Examining the Meaning of ‘Mrs.’” by Amisha Padnani and Veronica Chambers:

To us, she has always been Amelia Earhart, but there was a time when The New York Times called her Mrs. Putnam in newspaper articles, linking her identity to that of her husband, George. She wasn’t the only one: Frida Kahlo was sometimes called Mrs. Diego Rivera; Coretta Scott King was Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr.; and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was Mrs. John F. Kennedy.

The practice of referring to a married woman — even a famous one — by her husband’s name wasn’t unique to The Times. Much of society often referred — and sometimes still refers — to women this way. It was not until 1986 — after a vociferous debate — that The Times began using the less polarizing title “Ms.”

_________

Lesson of the Day: ‘Kids Need Superheroes Now More Than Ever’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘Kids Need Superheroes Now More Than Ever’

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 2021.

Featured Article: “Kids Need Superheroes Now More Than Ever” by Megan Margulies

In the featured article, Megan Margulies, granddaughter of the creator of Captain America, writes about how comic books and “magical thinking” can help children get through hard times.

In this lesson, you will learn more about the origin of Captain America and the power of comic books to offer relief, escape and hope during difficult times. In a Going Further activity, you will create your own superhero to help kids get through the pandemic.

Are you a fan of superheroes? Do you have a favorite?

Take a few minutes to write about a superhero that has made a lasting impression on you: What are the qualities that draw you to them? Is it their costume? Their superpowers? Their personality? Their origin story? The villains they fight?

If you aren’t a big fan of comics and superheroes, tell us why. What kinds of characters and stories are you drawn to instead?

Afterward, share your writing with a partner or the whole class and discuss the similarities and differences in the characteristics of your superhero choices.

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. How did Captain America help the author’s 4-year-old daughter join her preschool class on Zoom? What is her family’s connection to the famed red, white and blue costumed fictional character?

2. What is the story behind the creation of Captain America over 80 years ago? What was happening in the world at that time — and how was the shield-wielding character a response to those circumstances?

3. What is a talisman? How has one helped Ms. Margulies throughout her life? Have you ever had your own talisman?

4. Why does the author believe that superheroes can help provide children with comfort and strength through the pandemic? What evidence does she give? Does her argument resonate with your own life or current experiences?

5. What criticisms have comic books and superheroes faced over the years? How persuasive do you find these critiques? How does Ms. Margulies counter these arguments?

6. What is your reaction to the article? Which lines or ideas were most surprising, memorable or provocative? Does the article change your views on comic books and their positive role for readers — especially young children? Tell us why or why not.

Option 1: Share your thoughts.

  • The pandemic has upended our lives in ways that would have been unimaginable one year ago. How are you coping? What things are helping you to get through these tough times? Are you exercising? Baking? Meditating? Journaling? Tell us what you are doing to cope.

  • What role have comics or superheroes played in your life? What life lessons, if any, have you ever learned from a comic book or superhero?

  • After reading the article, do you think you might use a talisman, superhero or some form of magical thinking to help you now? If so, tell us how.

  • What advice or activities would you recommend to others who are struggling through these tough times? What lessons or resources, if any, have you discovered during the pandemic that might provide other students hope, strength or a beacon of light?

If you are interested in exploring your thoughts about life during the pandemic further, you can read and comment on our related Civil Conversation Challenge forum on the coronavirus.

Option 2: Create an original superhero.

Create an original superhero to help readers through the pandemic — including with a name, costume and of course, a superpower!

Your superhero can be a fairly literal take on the pandemic: Vaccine Man fights the Germ-Meister, or the masked Social Distance Woman tackles the dreaded Zoom Robot … (OK, we know you can do much better!). Or, you can create a metaphorical or allegorical story of fear or hope or resilience or quarantine, the way that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Captain America to make “little Jewish kids around the world feel safer in light of the rise of Nazism.”

Before you brainstorm ideas, consider the specific struggles children and teenagers might be dealing with. What kinds of talismans or special powers do you wish you had? Keep in mind some of the concepts you learned in the article, like “magical thinking” and “The Batman Effect.”

You can find some helpful general tips for creating a superhero here, or for coming up with specific aspects like: name, costume, superpower and origin story.

After your brainstorm, sketch and color your comic with paper and pen, or use an online tool like MakeBeliefsComix.com.

When you are done, share and celebrate your superhero and comic book with your class.

About Lesson of the Day

• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column.
• Teachers, watch our on-demand webinar to learn how to use this feature in your classroom.

What’s Going On in This Picture? | Sept. 28, 2020

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What’s Going On in This Picture? | Sept. 28, 2020

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 2021.

1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:

2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.

4. On Thursday afternoons, we will reveal at the bottom of this post more information about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?

Word + Quiz: arcane

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Word + Quiz: arcane

: requiring secret or mysterious knowledge

_________

The word arcane has appeared in 122 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Aug. 11 in the book review “When Railroads Controlled the Country” by Joshua B. Freeman:

“Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America,” by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Hiltzik, plunges into the battles and escapades of the entrepreneurs and investors who created the national rail system. Many of the early railroad financiers, like Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, Hiltzik argues, were “pirates,” with little interest in building or operating efficient transportation systems …

… The maneuvers and countermaneuvers of the railroad titans can be dizzying. It takes Hiltzik four chapters to cover the 1901 effort by Harriman to take control of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which ended only when Morgan set up a trust that assumed control over both that line and the competing Great Northern Railway (an arrangement the Supreme Court soon declared illegal). An able narrator, with an eye for telling detail, Hiltzik makes what otherwise might seem arcane financial details engrossing.

_________

Film Club: ‘Does It Matter What I Look Like When No One’s Watching?’

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Film Club: ‘Does It Matter What I Look Like When No One’s Watching?’

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 2021.

What is beauty now? How much do you care about your looks during the pandemic?

Does It Matter What I Look Like When No One’s Watching? is a four-minute film that touches on themes of beauty, sexism and self-understanding. It profiles the beauty guru and YouTube creator Ingrid Nilsen as she reflects on how life in quarantine has changed the way she thinks about makeup, appearance and the expectations placed on women in our society. In her exploration of her own relationship to appearance, she challenges women and herself to start asking whom the makeup is for — and to stop apologizing for how they look when their face is bare.

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected your dress, hair, makeup and beauty routines and rituals? Do you dress up for remote learning classes, get out of your pajamas for Zoom calls or wear makeup when going outside in your mask?

Like Ms. Nilsen, have you learned anything about how you see yourself, or how others see you? What other things have you learned about yourself during the pandemic?

Students

1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.

2. After watching, think about these questions:

  • What questions do you still have?

  • What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: What is beauty now? How much do you care about your looks during the pandemic?

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

More?

• See all the films in this series.

• Read our list of practical teaching ideas, along with responses from students and teachers, for how you can use these documentaries in the classroom.

What Students Are Saying About Justice Ginsburg, Parental Praise and Fall Fun

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What Students Are Saying About Justice Ginsburg, Parental Praise and Fall Fun

Growing up my parents definitely praised me for doing certain things. I feel this is an important thing to do when raising kids, because it does in fact give them confidence. I believe there is a happy medium in giving these positive affirmations. Not every little thing deserves a “great job!” However, praising leads to wanting more praise and striving to be better in order to get that. I believe in my heart that my parents praising me growing up motivated me in many ways to obtain that validating feeling. It empowered my self esteem, and was one of the key things that has helped me have the confidence that I obtain today.

— Kilgore, Lubbock Cooper High School

…[T]o me it is better for the kids to learn the hard way. By telling them they do a good job after every little thing they do they won’t be prepared for the cruel real world when they are older. You can’t let them get used to everything they do is amazing and perfect, because even just in middle school teachers will tell you that you did great on something that you know you did terribly on. Letting them believe that they do great at everything is not good for them. It will not be like that in high school, and certainly not in college or at whatever job you have.

— Kaden French, Hoggard High School, Wilmington, NC

Do my parents overpraise me? No ma’am/sir. It’s quite the opposite. I do sometimes wish they could praise me a little, but my mom said “in real life you don’t get praise” and she is setting me up for it. I feel very uncomfortable when people praise me because I am not really used to it. When they do, my self esteem does not change. Pet compliments? What is that? I do believe that too much praise cannot help a child grow and have sufficient self esteem.

— Evonne Evaro, Lubbock Cooper High School, Tx, USA

I can relate to being overpraised, in my family it can be a bit much. I know when something I’ve done isn’t good or that it isn’t what I wanted it to be, it doesn’t make me feel any better when my Mom insists that I ‘gave it my best effort’ and I ‘tried really hard’ because I know that I could’ve done better, and I should’ve worked harder. Beyond that, it makes me feel that every time I’ve been praised, I didn’t deserve it. If my parents praised me when I know I’ve done something not worthy of praise, then do they really mean the praise when I’ve actually done well? It throws me for a loop even thinking about it, asking myself if they are only saying this to make me happy and that they’re trying to shelter my feelings.

— Norah Seidler, Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn, IL

When Mr. Underwood says that too much praise can undermine a child’s independence and self-confidence, I can relate all too well. When my parents, teachers, or anyone in particular praises my work in any field of knowledge, I feel as though the bar goes up and I have to live up to it and beyond. In my opinion, children can feel like there is a load on their back full of work they have to do, and at the end of the path, there’s a light, a light of compliments. That shouldn’t be how a child should think, they need to know that their work means something and isn’t just for a compliment. You could say that their praises help boost my confidence and let me know that I’m doing well, and they do, but the bar praises and compliments set can make a child feel insecure and as if they have to live up to it to be acknowledged.

— Jasper, Julia R. Masterman, Philadelphia, PA

I was told everything I did was wonderful as a child. However, I developed a lot of pressure to always live up to my parents, and then my own, standards of near perfection. My excitement of actually being recognized for my hard work can be dulled by my fear of not doing well enough to deserve it. While I have always been quite the tryhard, the more my mom would tell me I did a good job made me want to hear it more. And more. I wanted to be impressive, to the point where it became unhealthy. I would stress over every chore, every grade, and every project to the point of tears. I’d spend hours upon hours on making things absolutely perfect. Even if I did get to hear the treasured words of praise, if I wasn’t satisfied with my work, I didn’t believe I deserved it. The need for perfection in order for anything I did to actually deserve praise was crushing.

— Alexia Swart, Lubbock, TX

I do think that Mr. Underwood was correct when he was saying that too much praise can undermine a kid’s independence and self-confidence. When I was younger, I used to be told that I was “exceptional” in school or something along that line. I used to be so confident in my abilities in school and other things in general, but then as I got older, I realized that I didn’t stand out…Since so many people used to tell me that I was really good at things, I definitely felt and still feel pressure to live up to everyone’s standards for me, which is stressful and scary. I’m constantly thinking more about what other people will think of me and my work rather than focusing on the work I’m doing in general. I definitely believe that it is due to overpraise. I thought too highly of myself, and now I realized that the praise wasn’t true, so I have little to no self confidence at all.

— Ella Shank, Lubbock, TX

Free Ultimate Blog Planner 2021 – Make this your year!

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Free Ultimate Blog Planner 2021 – Make this your year!

Free Blog Planner for 2021

We all know that running a successful blog takes careful planning and ample promoting. Throw in sponsors, affiliates, mailing lists, guest posts, tracking stats, giveaways, and taking pictures and blogging quickly becomes a full-time job! With so many balls in the air, it can often be hard to keep track of everything and stay organized. It is why we present you our Free Blog Planner updated for 2021 and it’s full version.

What’s included in the Free Blog Planner 2021 pack?

The following 9 pages can be downloaded in US Letter size (8.5 x 11) ABSOLUTELY FREE:

Calendars

  • 2021 Calendar
  • Undated Monthly Calendar
  • Undated Monthly Editorial Calendar

Post Planning

  • Post Brainstorming Guide
  • Weekly Post Planner

Other

  • Cover Page
  • Contacts
  • Blank Planner Page

There’s no better way to grow your blog than by strategic goal setting and regularly tracking your progress towards reaching your blogging goals. Using The Free Blog Planner 2021 and its extension is key to blog organization and blogging success!

2021 Free Blog Planner - 9 included pages to increase your blog income & traffic.

Looking for other sizes or colors?

We got you! Make sure to check the full version of 2021 Blog Planner. You will find there 41 pages (including 9 from the free planner) in four different size options.

It is the most comprehensive blog planner kit out there with everything you need to plan your post, social media, and goals.

Full Blog Planner with 40+ pages

Limited Edition – Blush

Not only we got all the planner pages refreshed for 2021, we are also introducing a new limited edition version of the planner called Blush.

It features subtle pink shades and stunning magnolia flower embellishments.

Limited Edition Pink Version

Make this your year!

Our blog planner has been downloaded by over 115,000 bloggers and is the most popular, well-utilized blog planner out there. It has also been designed for driven, full-time bloggers who are determined to increase blog income and traffic. With our Ultimate Life Planner, it is everything you may need to plan your year.

Are you ready to absolutely slaughter your blogging goals?

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