Assignment #6

February is Black History Month! It's a month for remembering the great contributions the Africans made to change World History. Mrs. Pollock, my History teacher, decided to give us an assignment where we get to choose a African-Canadian, Female or Male, that influenced Canada, and many others around the world.
I decided to choose, Oscar Peterson.


Oscar Peterson, was a Canadian Jazz pianist for over 40 years, and considered as one of the worlds greatest pianist! Oscar Peterson was born in a limestone house, on Montreal's Delisle Street, on August 15, 1925. Oscar was the fourth of five children to his parents, Daniel and Kathleen Peterson. It was his black neighborhood where he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture. By the age of seven, Oscar's father Daniel and his sister Daisy, taught young Oscar to play the piano. By the age of nine, Oscar played the piano with control that impressed professional musicians. In 1940, at age 14, Oscar won a national music competition, organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Competition. After that victory , Peterson wanted to drop out of school to become a professional pianist, but his father objected. Although Peterson did have a good time at school, playing the piano for many students, especially girls. Here is a quote from Oscar stating that, "the best way to have a bunch of girls come down. I became the guy."
When Peterson finished high school, he became a professional pianist, working at radio shows, hotels, and music halls.


Oscar Peterson has contributed so much to Canada and everyone else around the world. Oscar was named the worlds greatest jazz pianist. He was a successful musician, that was able to get the crowd on its feet. Peterson has released over 200 recordings, and was the first black, Canadian pianist to win seven Grammy Awards. Oscar, also helped out in many schools, to influence young children to follow their dreams, and advance schools on contemporary music. Oscar has accomplished so much that, people still look up to him and listen to his music, even after he died. Oscar died on December 23, 2007, because of health problems and a stroke. He left seven children, his fourth wife Kelly, and their daughter Celine (born 1991).

Interesting Facts
-he was called, "Maharajah(the great king) of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington(professional, American pianist)
-he was also called, "o.p" by his friends
-member of jazz royalty
-Oscar was influenced by, Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson, and Art Tatum

"I liked it when...next time...

Hello, my fellow bloggers. I had already commented on my top three favorite entry's of assignment #3. I would just like to say Zaryab, AmitJ, and Helena you guys are doing a really good job with your blogs and entry's.


Zaryab...
I like the way you express your opinion in assignment #3. You used positive and logical words to make the readers believe in what you were saying. I like the fact that you specified your entry. The only advice I would give you would be, try not to make your paragraphs too big, because sometimes it makes it boring for the readers. Everything else was perfect!
Check out Zaryab's website on http://historyzaryab.blogspot.com/


AmitJ...
I believe you used your entry very well to voice your opinion in assignment #3. I like how you organized your thoughts in your entry. That was very well done. The only advice I would give you would be, try to be more specific on some of the subjects you mentioned. The rest of your entry was put out really well!
Check out AmitJ's website on http://historyamitj.blogspot.com/


Helena...
Your blog is excellent! You used so much of your own opinion in your assignment #3 entry, that I couldn't stop reading it. You definetly know what it takes to catch the readers eyes. I like how the entry had many subjects, from racism to technology. The only advice I would give you would be, when you are writing your paragraphs, sometimes the sentences are long, make sure you use commas so that the readers are able to take a breath. Keep up the great work!
Check out Helena's blog on http://historyhelenac.blogspot.com/

Assignment #5

Canada is a country with harsh winter! Winter can be difficult in many regions of the country, with snow covering the ground for half the year.To avoid the low temperature, we wear mittens or gloves, jackets, boots, hats, scarves, snow pants, and under all that , we dress up into layers of warm clothing(sweaters, shirts, socks, pants, leggings, leg warmers, etc). With all the clothing for us to keep warm, their are heaters in our homes to keep us from the cold. But, have you ever wondered how the Early Canadian settlers survived the harsh Canadian winter?
Well, they had a lot of problems preparing for the extremely cold weather, but most of them were able to do it.


Preparing for food?
The Early Canadian settlers had to produce their own food to last them the whole winter. They planted their vegetables and fruits like cucumbers, carrots, onions, lettuce, apples, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries,etc. They also planted their corn, beets, and potatoes. They used herbs for medication and flavoring when cooked.
Other foods such as flour, sugar coffee, tea, and molasses were bought from the stores.
Meat was roasted, boiled, fried, salted, smoked, and dried. That included chicken, fish, pork, sausage, and beef. Food was cooked by using kettles or iron cooking pots, placed on a fire place or hot coals. If the settlers were wanting to save their food, they used a cellar, which can be located under the kitchen. A trap door with a ladder led to the cellar, or a entrance from the outside door.


Preparing for transportation?
The Early Canadian settlers used horses as their transportation. In the winter a settler traveled in a horse-drawn sleigh to get to their jobs.


Warm Clothing?
The need of warm clothing for the women who stayed inside their,"single-room structures, with no clear definition of private and public space," and the men who went to work was very imported. The clothes were made by a wool (weaving the yarn of a wool) or linen cloth (from the flax plant). People were not able to afford the clothes from the stores.


Light?
The settlers did not have electricity like we do know. They had to use candles or the fire place when it became dark. After a while, oil lamps that included a wick and lanterns with handles were used outdoors and sold in stores.

Some reasons why Immigrants decided to leave their homeland and move to Canada was because of...
-Political violence
-War
-No freedom
-Men were forced to serve the army
-There were no jobs, or jobs with low wages
-Farmers wanted their own land
-Cities were overcrowded, dirty, and polluted
-Bad condition(earthquake, floods, drought)

Why my family Immigrated to Canada?
My family lived in Syria, a country in the Middle East of Asia, before they came to Canada. They moved to Canada because my father was not able to get a job that pays a well salary.
My family did not know anyone when they moved to Canada, and the only language they practiced was Arabic. So, you can probably imagine how difficult it was for them to communicate with others, and read signs they had never seen before. My family did have a difficult time adapting in the cold and snowy weather. They had never seen so much snow and felt so cold before. Although, Canada is a country with harsh weather, my family were able to benefit with my fathers new job. I am glad they came to Canada, because if they didn't, I wouldn't be living in a free country.

These are the websites I benefited from:

http://www.saskschools.ca/#

http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_pioneer_homestead

Assignment #4

I really enjoyed reading other peoples blogs. I believe all of them had stated their opinions really well on whats going to happen to Canada in 100 years.

One of the sites that I visited was Zaryab's. He had a lot of great and insightful detail of what Canada is going to look like in 100 years. Zaryab included a very well said piece from his entry that said,"We have to think of pro's and advantages because that is the only plan we can afford right now to even come close to surviving to the year of 2109." I believe that is a true statement because it summarizes exactly what we need to do to get to 2109.

Check out his blog on http://historyzaryab.blogspot.com/

Another blog that I enjoyed reading was AmitJ's. He had a lot of specific information on what's going to happen to Canada in 100 years. I liked the way he wrote his information down without writing big paragraphs. Large paragraphs usually make the entry's boring. Something he said that I liked was,"There will be new devices and technologies making our life even more appealing."That is a really good statement because, in our everyday life their are people who discover new things. I wonder what new technology will be discovered in 2019?
Check out AmitJ's blog on http://historyamitj.blogspot.com/

The last blog that I enjoyed reading was Helena's. I thought she put a lot of her own ideas that made her entry fascinating. She talked about many things that will change Canada in 2109. My favorite part of the entry was when she said, "First of all, I think that there would be less racism, even though there is not too much now, and all the governments, or at least most, would be successful and would know how to take care of their country."
I also believe what she said was true, because in 100 years Canadians will mange to do other things then judge people because of their skin color. Also, in 100 years people will need to get along with others who have different religions and different skin color in order to work along with others to create better and stronger things for Canada . Check out Helena's blog on http://historyhelenac.blogspot.com/

Addition to Assignment #3

I had already listed my opinion on whats going to happen to Canada in 100 years. I would like to add some more to what I had previously said...

In 100 years, Canada is going to improve on helping it's population to stop suffering with illnesses. Our country will have stronger technology that will help Canadian doctors cure the unhealthy. Canada will have a low death rate and lead a healthy life style. I also believe that Canada will have a lower birth rate because, Canadians get the opportunity to go to school without having to pay money. Canadians will be able to get a job before starting a family. The last thing I would like to talk about is violence. I believe Canada will put a stop to violence that is started over drugs, politics, and money. In 100 years, the Canadian population will have better things to do then fight over things that can be stopped immediately.

Christopher Moore

Mrs Pollock (my history teacher) found a great blog by a historian named Christopher Moore. She gave her students an assingment to read the entry on his blog titled "To the Nines -- reviewing the centuries" and right about what will happen to Canada in 100 years.

My History Teachers Blog!

If you like my blog, I think you will like my teachers blog, Mrs Pollock's even more.
Go To www.historypollock.blogspot.com

Assignment #3

My respond to Mrs.Pollock's assignment #3 is...

In 100 years, I believe Canada will change to the better, but with some difficult changes. I believe their will be better and stronger technology. We are only in 2009 and we have developed a device called iphone, which contains a both MP3 player and a cellphone. In 100 years,our cellphones might have more then one screen or a computer.
In 100 years,I predict Canada will have larger buildings with more space heaters, factories and companies that will make more money by developing new products,shops larger then Wal-mart with bigger designer names then Dolce&Gabbana, and houses no less then 6 rooms. Some difficult changes would be higher gas prices, more pollution since not alot of our population is helping to lower it, weak soil conditions which will cause earthquakes and hurricanes,schools that cost money, and global warming will impact us.
In 100 years our population might grow and our prime minister might be a female or a black male.
In 100 years,students might have more or less weekends.
Their are many good and bad things Canada will experience in 100 years.
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!
-Fatema

Hello

One again this is Fatema, I will be posting things about Canadian History, which I will be discovering with my History teacher Mrs. Pollock.
I hope that you enjoy my posts and feel free to respond to them.

I feel really good about posting my History homework on my blog because not only will I be using the computer, :) I will also be able to receive your reactions before I hand it in. I am excited for having an opportunity to do this, but at the same time I'm kinda nervous. I don't know if all my posts will interest you, but I'm hoping they will. I know Canadian history is not a subject that all of you will be smiling at, but I will try to turn it around. It is also my first time creating my own blog. I hope you will enjoy my posts.

Sincerely, Fatema

Welcome to www.HistoryFatema.blogspot.com

Hey!

This is Fatema, a grade eight student from Ottawa,Canada.