From: "Classroom Connect -- Quest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 15:55:44 -0700 Subject: April 24, 2002
The Quest NewsletterApril 24, 2002 Contents: 1) Designing Philosophy: Textiles in Ghana 2) Hot Quest Web Sites 3) AuthorChats with Karen Scourby D'Arc ___________________________________________________ Save the dates for ColumbusQuest! Week 0 starts 9/30, Week 1 starts 10/7, and live reporting concludes 11/1. Learn all about it: http://quest.classroom.com/marketing/ColumbusQuest/ColumbusQuest.asp ___________________________________________________ 1) Designing Philosophy: Textiles in Ghana The African sun shines down hard on the red ginger flowers lining the courtyard. Richard Raksun, a tall and lanky 22-year-old, lays a screen on a piece of white cloth and spreads on pink dye with a squeegee. He lifts up the screen to reveal a neat row of symbols. While he wipes the sweat from his forehead on this sweltering afternoon, he explains his textile design. "In West Africa, a great deal of philosophy is conveyed on people's clothing. Here in Ghana, we print fabric with Adinkra symbols, which come from the Asante people. A long time ago, Adinkra cloth was worn only by royalty and chiefs for mourning during funerals. Now, Adinkra cloth can be worn by anyone for any occasion." I look down on the cloth and see a symbol that looks like a chicken claw turned sideways. "And what does that symbol represent?" I ask Richard. A baby goat bleats in the yard. A real live hen flaps out of the open sewer lining the dirt road. "That is called akoko nan, or the leg of a hen. Akoko nan is my favorite Adinkra symbol. It symbolizes a chicken stepping on the head of a chick but not hurting it. It also represents the ideal nature of parents, both protective and corrective. Another meaning is that you can rise up again no matter what happens to you, you can conquer any failure. Things happen to you in life, but you can get up again. If we have challenges, we can learn from them." --To read more of Shara Karasic's report on the textile designs of Ghana, go to the Quest Updates page on The Quest Channel. Shara is the Director of Community for The Quest Channel and Classroom Connect and recently spent five months in Ghana volunteering with Geekcorps, a group that works to bridge the digital divide in third world countries. Quest Updates http://quest.classroom.com/quests/questupdates.asp?qargs=150&status=e0 Geekcorps http://www.geekcorps.org/ Shara's Geekcorps Profile http://www.geekhalla.org/g3/ ___________________________________________________ 2) Hot Quest Web Sites Get ready for next fall's ColumbusQuest by exploring these great sites: Social Studies for Kids: Christopher Columbus http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/columbus.htm This site has a good introductory article about the life and voyages of Christopher Columbus. It also has links to other Columbus resources. The Columbus Navigation Homepage http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/ This is ColumbusQuest expert Keith Pickering's Web site. It is heavily focused on issues of navigation and theories about the location of Columbus' first landfall. ___________________________________________________ 3) AuthorChats with Karen Scourby D'Arc Greece Questers and other classrooms interested in Greece can chat about Greek customs with Karen Scourby D'Arc, author of My Grandmother is a Singing YaYa. Register now to join us on Tuesday, May 7th at 10a.m. PT (1pmET). Upcoming AuthorChats: http://www.authorchats.com/stories/upcomingChats.jsp?m=05 ________________________________________________________________________ You can access ALL of our past Quests at http://quest.classroom.com! Share ideas and get advice from other Quest teachers at http://quest.classroom.com/teachers/teacherDiscussion.asp Your students can interact with other Quest classrooms at http://quest.classroom.com/community/student.asp To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Quest-Announce list, visit http://www.classroom.com/community/email You can read the archives of the list at http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A0=QUEST-ANNOUNCE All materials contained on this list are protected by the United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published, or broadcast without the prior written permission of Classroom Connect, Inc. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright, or other notice from this list. However, you may print the list for your personal, noncommercial use only, and teachers may print the list for classroom use only. 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