Kokopelli's Flute: 4/18/10

Wraping it Up!

Scenario:

A forest ranger in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Southwestern Colorado is responsible for patrolling approximately 640,000 acres of a canyon strewn, river, desert wilderness area. This wilderness area is protected by the Bureau or Land Management and is home to thousands of Native American ruins and remnants. The ranger was speaking about the magnificence of this desert canyon region and he spoke about how some individuals just cannot help but to pick up artifacts. They know it is not legal, but are compelled to take artifacts from these sacred spaces anyways. He spoke about how these actions (taking pieces of the past from their place) completely ruins the evidence that archaeologists need to better understand the people and cultures who left these artifacts behind. He also explained how people, by picking up pottery shards and disturbing ruins, destroy important clues to the past. It is as though people continue to steal pieces of a jigsaw puzzle until there are so few pieces left, discovering the puzzle images is merely impossible. The ranger shared an example that happened just last week. He caught a woman who had approximately 80 pottery shards in her pocket! What was intriguing is that the ranger said she had completely defaced the site by scouring the entire site and taking pieces from all over it. The ranger went on to say that if this woman had gotten out a shovel and dug up a pot it would have done far less damage to the site and be far less offensive. She took all of the clues and displaced them and completely vandalized the whole site.

Think about it:
Why would it have been less offensive to actually dig up one intact pot, verses pick up handfuls of pottery shards that were broken and scattered throughout an entire site?

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Signal Words and Phrases: Reflecting on Student Responses and Critical Thinking Skills

This post was designed for professional development and as a way for educators to experience, view, and discuss the power of connective technologies through literature circles.
"Authors use words and phrases that signal to the reader certain kinds of information."
Take time to thoughtfully read through these student discussion boards.
While you are reading you may come across powerful words and phrases that seem to really indicate deep critical thinking. These are critical thinking signal words and phrases.
Please record a few of these statements as you discover them while reading.
When you have collected some fantastic critical thinking signal words and phrases, post a comment in this discussion board.
Present the words and phrases you discovered and explain why the phrases you highlighted seemed to really communicate critical thinking skills.