Amanda Gorman

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/20/amanda-gorman-poem-biden-inauguration-transcript

Amanda Gorman is 22 years old and has just become the youngest ever Poet Laureate in the USA. During Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony this week she performed a poem that she wrote for the occasion.

Amanda was born in Los Angeles and started writing as a young girl. As a child she struggled with her speech and she talked recently in an interview about the pressure she felt to be reading the poem at the inauguration, but she did it!

In the poem Amanda says,

“And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.”

“We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.”

“We seek harm to none and harmony for all.”

“The new dawn blooms as we free it .

For there is always light.

If only we’re brave enough to see it

If only we’re brave enough to be it”

-          What was the inauguration for?

-          What is a poet laureate?

-          Do you think when Amanda was a little girl who struggled with her speech, that she thought she would deliver an address at the inauguration of the President of the US when she was 22?

-          What does that show about the future?

-          Take each line highlighted above and discuss what it means; why did Amanda choose those words?

-          What can we learn from Amanda?

        Why is this about No Outsiders?

         No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

        www.no-outsiders.com

skyscraper

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-55696246

La Chi Wai is a rock climbing champion in Asia and one of the best in the world. Ten years ago he had an accident and was paralysed. La Chi didn’t want to give up climbing and he found a way to continue while using his chair. Last week he climbed a skyscraper in Hong Kong in his chair.

There is a clip in the link above. La Chi says he was scared because there was nothing to hold on to, only the ropes. He climbed the 250m tower in 10 hours to raise money for spinal chord patients.

He says even in a wheelchair he knew he could be a climber again. “In a way I forgot that I was a disabled person, I could still dream and I could still do what I liked doing.”

-          What do you see in the picture, what is happening?

-          How is La Chi Wai climbing the skyscraper?

-          How was this different to the way he used to climb?

-          He says he was scared, so why did he not stop?

-          What do you think people said to La Ci Wai when he told them his idea?

-          How might he have persuaded people he could do this?

-          “In a way I forgot that I was a disabled person, I could still dream and I could still do what I liked doing.” What do you think is La Chi’s message about disability?

-          What can we learn from La Chi Wai?

-          Why is this about No Outsiders?

       

        No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat 

        www.no-outsiders.com

see saw

 

This seesaw has won an award for design of the year. The 2020 Bleazley Design of the Year award is run by London’s Design museum.

 

The pink seesaws were designed by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello in Mexico. The seesaws allowed people to play on either side of the wall that divides America from Mexico.

 

The seesaws were only up for 20 minutes before they were removed. But that was enough time for children to play and photographs to be taken, and the photos quicky went viral.

 

-          Why is there a wall here?

-          Why do some people say a wall is needed?

-          Does everyone agree a wall is needed? What are the arguments against the wall?[i]

-          How does a seesaw work?

-          Why do you think Ronald and Virginia decided to use a seesaw? Why not use a slide or a swing?

-          What do you think Ronald and Virginia were trying to show about children from Mexico and children from America?

-          Why do you think the seesaws were only up for 20 minutes?

-          Why did the pictures go viral?

-          What can we learn from Ronald and Virginia?

Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

---

 

sign language

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-55847420

Andrea Hall is a Fire Captain, and the first African American woman to serve as a Fire Captain. She was invited to deliver the Pledge of Allegiance at the Inauguration of Joe Biden as President of America. This photo of Andrea went viral as people asked what she was doing and why.

What do you think she was doing with her hands?

Andrea signed the pledge as she spoke. She later explained; “Here I am sandwiched between J-Lo and Lady Gaga. And I’m thinking, ‘How do you make the pledge exciting on the heels of Lady Gaga?”

Andrea decided to use sign language to honour her late father who was deaf. Andrea says because she can communicate using sign language she is bilingual, and she wanted other people who used sign language, “to be able to receive that information in our native language.” 

Andrea says she felt intense nervousness and was worried that she might forget what she had been saying. But she wanted her delivery to be “as inclusive as the pledge itself.”

“It was written for little children who were immigrants. And in some ways we are all immigrants. We’re a mishmash of people from all over and it’s a way to unify us, by speaking those 31 words.”

-          What was the inauguration?

-          What is the American pledge and where is it used?

-          “Sandwiched between J-Lo and Lady Gaga” what does she mean?

-          Why do you think Andrea decided to sign the pledge?

-          Andrea calls sign language a “native language”; what does she mean by that?

-          “We’re all immigrants” how can this be?

-          How can saying 31 words unite people?

-          Why is it significant that Andrea is the first African American woman to serve as Fire captain? What does this show us about history, ideas, and equality?

-          What can we learn from Andrea?

w    Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com  

Astronaut

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56072219

The European Space Agency is calling for new recruits to their astronaut training programme and for the first time they are asking for people with disabilities to apply. Previously people with disabilities were not allowed to apply.

Dr David Parker, director of human spaceflight programme says, “This is not about tokenism. We have to be able to justify to all the people who fund us – which is everybody including people who happen to be disabled – that what we’re doing is somehow meaningful to everybody.”

EAS recognises it needs to be better at diversity and inclusion. Currently only one of its astronauts is female (Samantha Cristoforetti pictured above) and they have only one female senior director. The last call for astronauts was in 2008 and then only 16% of applicants were female.

These are the things you need to apply to be an astronaut:

-          A Masters Degree in Natural Sciences, Medicine, Engineering, Mathematics or Computer Sciences, or to be qualified as an experimental test pilot

-          Fluent in English and a second language. You will also be taught Russian as part of the training because Russian is the other language used on the space station

Samantha says, “We did not evolve to go in to space so when it comes to space travel, we are all disabled. What brings us from being disabled to go to space to being able to go to space is just technology.”

-          What is an astronaut?

-          Why do you think in the past, so few women have been astronauts?

-          Why is this changing today – what does this show us about ideas changing?

-          What does inclusion mean?

-          “This is not about tokenism” what is tokenism, what does Dr Parker mean by this statement?

-          “What we are doing is meaningful to everyone” why?

-          “We did not evolve to go in to space so when it comes to space travel, we are all disabled.” What does this mean?

-          “What brings us from being disabled to go to space to being able to go to space is just technology.” What is Samantha saying about differences in people?

-          What can we learn from the ESA?

-          Why is this about No Outsiders?

"No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat 

www.no-outsiders.com

Little Amal

 

https://www.walkwithamal.org/

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54447475

 

A huge puppet is being walked across the length of Europe to raise awareness of refugees. The puppet will walk 5000 miles from Syria to the UK.

 

The puppet is named Little Amal and is 3.5m high and the project is being called the most ambitious art project ever attempted.

 

Little Amal will set off from Turkey/ Syria border and travel through Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and France. All along the journey Amal will be met with street parades, like a “traveling festival of art and hope.” They will not be alone on their travels. The organisers hope to “rewrite the narrative about refugees.”

 

The puppet will be operated by three people; one inside the body on stilts and another two each side.

 

-          What is a refugee?

-          What is travelling like for a refugee?

-          Why is the puppet walking, why don’t they drive between each country or get a plane?

-          Why do you think the organisers want to have street parades and festivals for Little Amal?

-          Why call the puppet little Amal when it is so huge? Why do you think the organisers chose to use a big puppet rather than a small hand held puppet?

-          Why do they want to “rewrite the narrative about refugees”? what do you think the narrative is about refugees currently?

-          Why do you think those countries were chosen? Why not go through Russia or Spain?

-          “A festival of art and hope” what does that mean? What will it look like?

-          What can we learn from this art project?

Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat   

www.no-outsiders.com

Agents of hope - assembly newsletters

 

  

During lockdown I am producing a newsletter each week with five assemblies for schools. I am also recording these assemblies and uploading them to youtube for home learners.

The purpose is to inspire children with hope at this difficult time; each assembly focuses on a positive story of hope and community cohesion, Hope is everywhere; we just have to look for it.

Assembly videos can be accessed here https://www.excelsiormat.org/pd-at-excelsior/agents-of-hope-assemblies

and the newsletters can be accessed by emailing me on a.moffat@excelsiormat.org. 

Past newsletters can be accessed here https://www.excelsiormat.org/pd-at-excelsior