Freddie Mercury

FREDDIE MERCURY - 

A ROCK MUSIC legend

Freddie Mercury was born in the African island of Zanzibar in 1946. His real name was Farrokh Bulsar, and his family came from India. He went to school in India, near Mumbay.

He hated his front teeth because they came out of his mouth – the cause was that he had two extra teeth! At school, everybody called him Freddie. He was bullied for his aspect. He was very shy and didn’t have many friends.

He liked table-tennis, hockey and boxing. He loved art and he made a lot of drawings for friends and relatives. He had a real musical talent, so he started to learn the piano when he was 7 years old. He also sang in the school choir and played parts in school theatrical productions. He was an excellent piano player.

  

When he was 18, there were political problems in Zanzibar, so he and his family had to move to London. He studied design in an Art school there and sang in a blues band in his free time.

He met Roger Taylor and Brian May, members of a band called Smile, and became the vocalist of the band. They changed the band’s name into Queen and Freddie changed his surname into Mercury.

 

He fell in love with Mary Austin and went to live with her. The bassist John Deacon joined the band in 1971. Their first album was Queen, but the big success arrived with their third album, A Night at the Opera and the single Bohemian Rhapsody.

In 1975 Freddie was already very famous for his extraordinary voice, his extravagances and his performances during concerts. Queen had tours in Europe, Japan and the USA.

 

All the members of the band wrote songs and decided about the albums together, but Freddie was the front-man of the band. Their big success continued all over the world. They had a concert in Sao Paulo in Brasil with 230.000 fans! Their performance during the Live Aid charity concert in 1975, where a lot of artists sang to raise money for starving people in Africa, was epic. One billion people watched the concert on TV!

 

The band started making videos of their songs, something new for that time.

Freddie worked with Dave Clark to create the successful musical “Time”; he danced in a classical ballet show in London with the Royal Ballet and recorded some songs with his favourite opera singer,  Monserrat Caballè. The song Barcelona became the anthem for the 1992 Olympics. He loved parties, having lots of friends and… cats!

 

He also released records as a soloist but worked with Queen for all his life. After seven years of marriage with Mary, they stopped living together but they remained best friends. He had many partners after that, women and men, but Mary was the love of his life. She worked with him and helped him when he discovered that he had AIDS. Freddie didn’t want anybody to know about his disease and kept it secret until 1991. 

The members of the band and his last partner, Jim Hutton, also knew he was ill but they worked together until the end. He announced to his fans he had AIDS the day before his death. At that time there were no therapies to fight this terrible disease. He died at the age of 45.

20 years after his death, he is still considered one of the greatest artists of the history of rock music. There is a fantastic musical about Queen’s songs, We Will Rock You and a very nice biopic with the actor Rami Malek playing Freddie, Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

Videos:

Inspiring Freddie: https://wror.com/2018/11/07/freddie-mercury-what-i-have-in-common/

Freddie Mercury Draw My Life:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A52JL03K5MA

Top 10 Queen Songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVcT4LmiqhI

We Will Rock You Musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9oCLIkVYoI

Bohemian Rhapsody Movie Clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ifcOah-FQI

Songs with lyrics:

•I want To Break Free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBthBQ-cKJA

•Too Much Love Will Kill You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvY3LeSQhA8

•Another One Bites The Dust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGJ_IyFwieY

•Somebody To Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj69iA_goIk

•Radio GaGa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdZ_ef3O8xI

•The Show Must Go On: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKLMYZlbIb8

•We Will Rock You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q1CduLhHP8

•We Are The Champions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O71fetlkCZo

•Bohemian Rhapsody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG_5LfMTel4

•A Kind Of Magic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uVluCQl4ko

•Under Pressure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krIwMS_wlJc

•Crazy Little Thing Called Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18sbJPKCo7Y

•Hammer To Fall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0giBmm1COY

•Don’t Stop Me Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKny_ia8Fvo

•Love Of My Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9woC3Mrq9w

•One Vision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5u-AIhfcyE

•I Want It All: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odkv4aE3pTI

Songs for Christmas, 2018

CHRISTMAS 2018 HOMEWORK!

An exciting way to improve your pronunciation, sing along!!!:

• Elderbrook, "Old Friend": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqk5bo1pRW4

• Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, '"Hallow": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPot3IZuJq

• Panic! At The Disco, "High Hopes": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI6jW8KvJco

• Marshmello ft. Bastille, "Happier": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25Sx6uFmS5w

• Imagine Dragons, "Bad Liar": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCZ_unHU13Q

• The Chainsmokers, "This Feeling": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNylZDSnPTU
• 
  
• Imagine Dragons, "Zero": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tGebP_FWT4

Enjoy, and... 

NATIVE AMERICAN ARTIFACTS by our students

BY CLASSES 3B AND 3C

PIEROBON SCHOOL AGAINST BULLYING AND CYBERBULLYING

Tough Kid Bully Blocker

Make your school bully-free!

To block bullying at our school, we need to recognize bullying and learn what to do to prevent it.

What is bullying?

· Bullying is one-sided. That means it only gets one way.

  Teasing back and forth is not bullying. Two-sided arguments are not bullying.

  Bullying goes one way.

· Bullying is intentional. That means it’s on purpose.

  Accidentally hurting someone is not bullying. Bullying is on purpose.

· Bullying is repeated. That means they’ll do it over and over again.

· Remember: bullying goes one way, it’s on purpose and it’s repeated.

· Bullying is hurtful and can make you or someone else very, very sad.



How are people bullied?

· Bullying can be physical.

  The bully might use his body or hands to hurt someone.

· Bullying can be verbal.

  The bully might use mean words, ridicule or spread rumors about someone.

· Bullying can also happen when someone is left out or excluded on purpose, or when       someone tries to damage friendships. 

  When a bully or bullies use friendships to hurt someone, that is called relationship bullying.

Who is a bully?

· A bully can be a boy or a girl, or even a group of kids.

· Some kids watch other kids get bullied, or even laugh when someone is bullied.

To have a safe and bully-free school, we all must remember and use the bully blocker pledge.

· I agree not to bully other students.

· I will help students who are bullied by speaking out, and getting adult help.

· I will include students who are left out.

  Remember: bullying is on purpose and hurts othe people. No one likes to be bullied.

  Let’s all say the pledge.

Youtube: Learning About Bullying - Pt 1, The Tough Kid Bully Blocker Shorts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcFICCVWliY



Safe Web Surfing: Top Tips for Kids and Teens Online

Top 4 things you absolutely need to know about Internet safety:

1. The Internet is forever. Anything you put on the Internet will be there for a long time. So, what to do? Start by googling your name, your phone number, your address, just to find out what’s really online. If you are on social media, use the strictest privacy settings.

2. Don’t put personal information online. If you do, it leaves you open for attacks fron either cyberbullies or just someone who wants to take advantage of you. Ask a friend what private information thay can see on your sites. If you’re not happy with the answer, remove it.

3. Don’t forget about smartphone safety. Don’t accept phone calls or texts from strangers. Only answer tests and phone calls from your contact list.

4. Handle hacking intelligently. No matter how careful you are, your account may get hacked. There are a few important things to do when you get hacked to ensure your safety:

· Change your password, and make the new one secure. Check if your email service provide a 2-step verification.

· Check your sent-box and let any affected people know that you were spammed, especially if your account sent out a phishing link.

· Do a sweep of your computer with antivirus software. Odds are not only did you send something nasty to your friends - you might have something nasty in your hard drive!

· Backup your files. If there’s a virus your computer doesn’t catch, you don’t want to lose everything. Invest in a cheap portable drive and keep it somewhere safe.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrln8nyVBLU

How to beat cyberbullies 

1. Privacy is prevention. Take a second to go through any place you store data about yourself online and make sure the privacy settings are air tight. 

Make sure your Facebook settings don’t give out your email address or phone number.

2. When bullied, don’t respond and don’t retailate. Retaliating to a cyberbully just encourages the bully because you’re giving him what he wants.

3. Block the bully if possible. What’s better than ignoring a bully? Making it impossible for him to contact you! Try the following methods to make it harder for your bully to reach you:

· if you’re on a messaging system, set it up so that only contacts on your buddy list can contact you – if this doesn’t work, try going invisible or blocking the individual screen names that you know to be dangerous.

· Screen all incoming phone calls and text messages. If necessary, temporarily suspend your social media pages.

4. Save the information and tell someone. First and foremost, report the bullying to the service provider, because cyberbullying is outlawed on most sites and messenger services and it is illegal in most states – bullies might think nobody knows who they are, but they leave an electronic trail. 

Save any threatening correspondence, email, Facebook, phones, etc, and show it to somebody you trust. This could be a parent, teacher or friend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAjGnivJEBs

NATIVE AMERICANS' FIGHT FOR THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS

Civil Rights - Native American Rights 

The Native American tribes of the United States have fought for their rights since the arrival of the Europeans. Today they are still fighting for their civil rights.

Early History 

Before the arrival of the settlers, many different Native American groups lived on the East Coast of today’s United States. They spoke different languages. Some were farmers, some were hunters. 

These groups are called tribes. They had their own cultures, their religion, a system of trade.

The first meetings between Europeans and the natives of the East Coast took place after Columbus discovered America. French fishermen looking for whales often traded with the local Indians and paid them for their work.

The first settlers in New England arrived in 1620. They wanted to live in peace with the Indians. They needed to trade with them for food. 

Land was very important to the Europeans: possessing land meant that a person was rich. American Indians believed no person could own land, they believed that anyone could use it. 

At first, the Indians helped the settlers by teaching them how to survive in their territories. But the Indians did not understand that the settlers wanted to keep the land. This idea was foreign to the Indians, it was like trying to own the air, or the clouds.

As the years passed, more and more settlers arrived, and took more and more land. They cut down trees. They built fences. They demanded the Indians to stay off their land. Settlers began to think that the Indians were evil because they weren’t Christians. 

But they didn’t understand that the Native Americans were extremely religious: they believed that all things in the universe depend on each other. All native tribes had ceremonies that honored a creator of nature. 

Other events also led to serious problems between the Native Americans and the settlers. One problem was disease. The settlers brought sickness with them from Europe, for example smallpox. Some people carried the bacteria that caused it, and unintentionally killed whole tribes. And, smallpox was only one such disease. There were many others.



The Indians are Forced Out 

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act: five Tribes (the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole and Choctaw) had to move from the south-east of the United States to Oklahoma. 

Most of them were forced to travel on foot. If they refused to go, they were killed. This march is called the Trail of Tears. Thousands of people died during the march.

No Longer Considered Nations 

From the beginning, the United States made treaties with different Native American tribes. The tribes were recognized as independent nations. 

In 1871, a law said that the tribes were no longer considered nations and that the previous treaties with the tribes were not valid anymore.

Getting Worse 

Then, Native Americans were forced to live on reservations and they also continued to lose land because of new laws made by the U.S. government. Native Americans often lived in poverty, had low employment and poor education.

Indian Citizenship Act 

As Indians were moved from their tribal lands and saw their traditional cultures destroyed, a movement to protect their rights began to grow.

The American Constitution says that all persons born in the United States are US citizens. But this wasn’t valid for Native Americans. They could not vote in elections even if they were born in the country. 

In 1924, a new law gave Native Americans full citizenship including the right to vote, but only in 1948 they could vote in every state of the USA.

Making Things Better

In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act. Native American tribes had the right to govern themselves on their reservations, write constitutions and manage their lands and resources. It also gave some money for Native Americans to start their own businesses and get a college education.

But conditions on the reservations did not improve. Most tribes remained poor.

Only thirty years later, Native Americans got the right to freedom of religion and the right to a trial by jury. 

Moving Forward 

There are many problems with Native American civil rights. This is also because people who live on reservations are dual citizens: they are citizens of the United States, but also of a tribal nation.

From 1975, tribes can have control of programs about education and resource management. Many tribes have also used their new freedom to legalize gambling and to open casinos on their reservations.

Now the tribes have the right to conduct traditional ceremonies and rituals, including those that use otherwise prohibited substances like peyote cactus and eagle bones.

The tribes of today try to maintain their old traditions. They practice their religion, they gather at pow-wows, pass on dances and songs. 

But conditions on the reservations can be comparable to Third World. 

Half of the adults haven’t got a job and live in poverty. In families, fathers often must leave the reservation to seek work, and grandparents have to take care of their grandchildren.

It is common for 3 or more generations to live in a two-bedroom home with inadequate kitchen facilities, cooling, heating, running water. All these problems cause health risks. Hospitals and doctors are far from the reservations.

There is a high percentage of alcohol and drug use, suicide attempts, vandalism, stealing, violence, mental health problems. Most of the children and teenagers aren’t good students and don’t go to high school or university. 

All this is the result of a cultural trauma after centuries of dispossession and practices intentionally designed to break apart culture, communities, families and identities. They need help in order to survive.




YouTube videos:

The "Indian Problem": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-BOZgWZPE

Trail of Tears Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rJr4kgDdqU

Trail of Tears for Kids Documentary (cartoon): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q5Z4UUitdU

Reservation | Native Americans | One Word | Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOWUDM1GBhk

How Independent Are Native American Reservations?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcivYX3IUGA



QUESTIONNAIRE

1. How were the tribes on the East Coast before the arrival of the Europeans?

2. Who were the first Europeans to contact Native Americans?

3. When did the first settlers arrive in New England?

4. Why was it important for the Europeans to possess land?

5. What did American Indians think about land?

6. How were the first contacts between Europeans and Natives?

7. What did the Indians not understand about the settlers?

8. How did the settlers change land as the years passed?

9. Why did the settlers think the Indians were evil?

10. How were Indian religious?

11. What were the consequences of new diseases brought by the Europeans?

12. What did the Indian Removal Act say?

13. Where did the tribes have to go?

14. Was it possible for the tribes to remain on their land?

15. How did they travel to Oklahoma?

16. How is this sad historical event called?

17. What happened in 1871?

18. How did things get worse?

19. What changed with the Indian Citizenship Act?

20. What was the Indian Reorganization Act?

21. Did things change on the reservations after this law?

22. Why are people living on reservations dual citizen?

23. What are the Native Americans’ right today?

24. How are living conditions on a reservation?

25. How are the houses on a reservation?

26. What problems are there?

27. Why can we talk of a cultural trauma?

28. What is your opinion about what you have learned about Native Americans?

29. How would it be possible to help them in your opinion?

30. Do you know any other ethnic group whose civil rights are denied? Talk about it.

WATER SCARCITY IN AFRICA: STUDENTS' ARTIFACTS