How to explain there is a gun culture in the US + beginning of the text

10.02.2010

Hey,

today we first warmed up with "the snow" that was falling in the playground. Here is what we said about it:

When I was a child, I used to make snowmen when it was snowing.
The perfect snowman:
The props:
- a broom or skis instead of the broom
- a scarf
- a hat
- a carrot for the nose
- chesnut for the eyes
- a tie to make it smart
Now, I love having snowball fights.

Then we continued our lesson with a recap of what we had said about Lord of War (the credits) and we moved on with an analysis of the double page (pp. 98-99) in your books and answered the question: why is there a gun culture today in the US. Here is what we wrote:

A long "love story" with guns:
Americans have always had guns. Since the time when the first settlers arrived, they have had a right and even a duty to bear arms. It used to be necessary to fight back and conquer new land. When the settlers went West, they had to kill buffaloes to eat and they also killed native Americans / Indians to conquer their land. Weapons are at the core of the making of the country. Now, there is a powerful lobby (the NRA). It defends the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The second Amendment to the "Bill of Rights" states that weapons are necessary for protection.

Finally we began speaking about the text p. 100-101 and the photos. Here is what we said:

Text and Pictures (p100-101):
The cover of Time magazine depicts a 5-year-old who is bearing a gun. He seems unaware of what he has in his hands. He is bearing the gun as though it were a toy.

HW: no homework during the vacation but the lessons. You will need a rest after the mock exams. But I do want you to remember Maxime's remark about the child in the text and in the magazine cover. I also want you to ponder on Claire's thoughts about gun toys. If she had a child, she would allow her son to play with a gun toy whereas she would forbid her daughter... food for thought...

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