I do not have a favorite Thanksgiving memory. I do however like Turkey. 

Did you Know: The wild turkey is native to Northern Mexico and the Eastern United States.

Turkeys lived in North America almost ten million years ago .

The turkey was domesticated in Mexico and brought to Europe in the 16th century.

Adult turkeys can have 3,500 feathers. Most turkey feathers are composted. Feathers are spread out on fields, then plowed under in the spring. The feathers decompose and fertilize the soil.

-Ryan McDermott

In my country we do not celebrate Thanksgiving, and even though I think that it is a good way to get together with your family, I do not agree with the fact that 5.32 million turkeys are killed each year because of Thanksgiving.  Here are some facts about Thanksgiving yo can find on wikipedia and other sites:

Thomas Jefferson thought the concept of Thanksgiving was "the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard."

Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey.

The first Thanksgiving was not a feast, but rather a time when Native Americans helped Pilgrims by bringing them food and helping them build off the land.

Here are some videos about Thanksgiving:

THANKGIVING!

THANKSGIVING

by Emily Morad

I do not like the actual holiday of Thanksgiving, however I do love the gathering of family. Every year since I can remember, I have been celebrating Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family, and look forward to that time I spend with them every year. I never liked turkey, and now I have an excuse not to eat it, because I'm a vegetarian. However, I enjoy all of the delicious sides like sweet potatoes, and potatoes, and all of those other amazing things.

The reason why I do not like the holiday of Thanksgiving, is because during this time period when the first Thanksgiving came to be,  in 1621, the Pilgrims were destroying the Wampanoags' way of life. They would rape their women, take their goods, and they would try to "domesticate" their "savagely" ways. It was NOT in any way the Native Americans and Pilgrims living happily ever after. On this holiday, we should all take a moment of silence for the Native Americans who died during the destruction of their land. 

On a lighter note, I think that we should thank our friends and family for what they give to us everyday, because without their love and support life would be very difficult. That is what Thanksgiving should celebrate.

One funny memory I have of Thanksgiving, is two years ago, when about 20 of us were all around a huge table, and I reached for something on the table, and as I sat down the chair fell out from under me, and I fell on my butt. It was hilarious.

Here is a Video!

THANKSGIVING!!!!!

I like Thanksgiving because you get to eat a but load of food then watch some football, eat pie then go to bed. I remember one year on Thanksgiving I ate a lot of turkey and other Thanksgiving type foods then I ate some pie watched some football then went to bed. Thanksgiving is fun!!! Did you know that Thanksgiving is on November 26th this year. Also in the United States Thanksgiving is on the 4th Thursday of November and in Canada it's on the 2nd Monday in October

much love

-Ben Sampson

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving for me has always been a time to pig out on some delicious home cooked food from my wonderful mother. I remember one year I ate a good amount of turkey and hen watched some football with my family, that was a good year.

QUICK FACT: 535 million pounds of turkey is consumed in the U.S. every year

  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving

One memories I have from Thanksgiving is going on our trip to Vermont every year.  We'd always leave after the thanksgiving Football game and arrive at my grandmothers house in Vermont around lunch time.  We always ate around 3:00 and watch the Macy's Day parade that they taped for us.  Thanksgiving is a good time to get together with your family and eat good food.

Here is a Video from MADtv :

Did you know:

The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days. 

The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land. 

The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817. 

The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's. 

Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States. 

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. 
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada. 

In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.

-Julia P

PSA IDEAS AND SCRIPTS

PSA PARTNERS:
Camilla & Dan
Melissa & Vanessa
Oliva & Margy
Jamie & Laura
Joe & Matt

In a GOOGLE doc please have the following
1. An idea and description for your HUMAN RIGHTS PSA
2. An idea and description for your NON-PROFIT PSA
3. SPOOF PSA (if time permits)

* You'll need to do internet research to look up non-profits in Mass and/or the United States--the non-profit must be legit and active.
* Descriptions must be at least a paragraph long--How does it start and end? What are some of the shots/footage that you'll use? TRY TO BE AS DETAILED AS POSSIBLE,
 Go to Youth For Human Rights, if you forgot what some of the Human Right.

BE PREPARE TO PRESENT YOUR IDEAS ON MONDAY AND SHOW ME YOUR SCRIPTS.
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!! MS V

PSA's

A PSA, or a Public Service Announcement is a way to get a certain message to the public and give information about the subject. It is used to raise awareness about a certain problem so the community can do something about it. PSA's are broadcasted throughout the internet and television. They are used to communicate with everyone throughout a certain area which means they relate to mass communications.

Here is a funny Spoof PSA I found on the Internet

Caution: Do not watch video if easily offended by 2 swears

A Funny Video that you should watch

- Ryan McDermott

A PSA or, public service announcement, is a short commercial informing the public about an issue, usually about healthcare or safety. Lasting only 30 seconds the purpose is to inform the public and their attention to a specific issue. Many charitable associations post PSA's to inform a mass audience about their cause.

-Eric Dupuis

PSA

Public Service Announcement, or PSA is an advertisement that was made by the government or a non profit organization that is focused on getting the attention of the public for a specific cause. It came into being with the beginning of WWII for the promotion of war effort. Often times this includes health and environment issues like the Red Cross blood donations and weather announcements. In order to diversify and attract a larger audience many PSA's use celebrities who support their cause. For more information follow this link:http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=publicservic

View some examples of PSA below:

Public Service Announcement

A PSA or public service announcement is an advertisement or announcement on public radio and or television for the general public. You will see many PSA's a day and just not think about it but they are all around you. PSA's are letting people know about a certain issue and it is informing them about it.

click here for a link to PSA, 

and another one 

and another one

much love

-Ben Sampson

What is PSA?

What is a PSA? A PSA (public service announcement) is "a short film or video recording presented by a nonprofit organization which attempts to persuade the audience to take some specific action or adopt a favorable view towards some service, institution, issue, or cause" according to www.itsmarc.com. PSA's are used to get the work out about certain issues or events going on in a certain area.  PSA's are are good example of Mass Communication.  Its also a good way to raise awareness because a lot of people watch TV.

Here is an example of a PSA.

by Julia Patsios

2 Million Minutes

2 Million Minutes is a powerful film that explain how other countries such as China and India are going to beat out the U.S. in education and eventually take the jobs of U.S. Citizens. In China and India Math and Science are a big deal where as in the U.S. we are ranked 24th for how smart students are in theses subjects. If Students in China and India go to school for almost 10 hours a day while in our country, kids go only around 6 hours a day and stop studying after the bell rings. This is a wake up call for people in the U.S. to study harder so their jobs don' get taken from highly educated immigrants. 

 

-Ryan McDermott

2 Million Minutes

The documentary 2 Million Minutes provides insight on the global competition that the U.S faces in science and math related job fields. It shows how hard working countries like China are to become successful engineers while the majority of American students have little interest in achieving the most that they can. Students in India spend most of their free time studying or in school in hope to gain an advantage over the rest of the world when trying to get a job or get into a good college. American students would rather have fun while they can and do enough to get by with average grades than set high goals and achieve them. I think that the U.S is going to be far behind other countries in terms of educated engineers and doctors because we take our education resources for granted. Although it is important to study and get good grades I feel that the amount of work that students in China and India apply is too overwhelming. Teenagers shouldn't be cooped up inside studying all day, they should have time for fun and enjoy themselves because life isn't all about getting a good job and becoming rich, I would rather enjoy my life than do homework and study all day just so I can make more money when I graduate college.

-Eric Dupuis

2 Million Minutes

Watching 2 Million Minutes made me realize that Education in the US is much lower then I had though.  Compared to other countries like India and China education in the US needs to be improved.  People from India and China are coming over to America and applying for Jobs that Americans are applying for, making it a competition.  With the education you get in China and India they have a better chance of getting the jobs.  How are American Children supposed to control what they learn in school?  In the video they say that the US is raked #24 in Mathematics, there for we have a large disadvantage when we graduate College and start looking for jobs.  Because of this the government needs to re look our curriculum and teach us at the same levels that other kids are taught at.  If I was raised in China and went to their schools until my freshman year and came back to the US to finish high school I would know a lot more then the kids in my grade, and would probably be at a 11th grade level as a freshman.  Overall the video was educational and it made me think about why education means to other kids around the world and that most kids in America just take advantage of the education that they are given.  

By Julia Patsios

2 Million Minutes

              "2 Million Minutes" is a documentary that explores education and it's importance to different countries. It is based on the stories of six students coming from China, India, and America. "2 Million Minutes" demonstrates how these kids have different ideals and values for their education. The girl from America said that even though education is important to her, her parents raised her to also be sociable, while the boy from India said that his parents insist that he focus on education. I thought it was interesting that even though they worked much harder, the kids from India and China still did not get into the universities they wanted, whereas the American kids got scholarships at good universities. This might be one of the many reasons why America is so international, because it is viewed as having many opportunities and not as much competition. 

Go to their website on:http://www.2mminutes.com/

UMASS Boston & Boston Globe Media Matters Conference

The event at the university was the "Media Matters" where students from different schools took lectures on journalism. My first one was on Sports and Entertainment Broadcasting. Most of it was on learning to host your own show and being a correct reporter, meaning that intonation and improvisation are a huge part of it. However, I was more interested in my second class that was called Investigative Journalism. I could relate to it more because the lecturer talked not only about theory, but actual investigations. There are many websites that can be used for investigations and these will help your story. In general, it was very interesting and included many students coming from other places.

Reality Show

If you could make a reality show about your life, what would it be about?