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Teaching Newcomer Students Language and Content Knowledge Through Intentional Planning Practice
One of the most exciting aspects of our work at Education Northwest is that it provides the opportunity to connect and partner with teachers and school leaders. In each community we serve, we are guided by our goal to support all students in realizing their potential.
Over the last two school years, I have had the honor of collaborating with colleagues from El Cajon Valley High School, or ECVHS as my colleagues call it, located just east of San Diego, California.
ECVHS is a school community rich in culture and diverse in language. The school has a significant population of newly-arrived language learner students from nations such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central America, Mexico and Congo. Our role is to collaborate with our ECVHS colleagues on planning practices that elevate and extend language development throughout the school day.
One challenge in teaching language learners is that for the students to succeed academically, they need to learn English and gain content area knowledge and skills at the same time. Adolescent language learners do not have the luxury learning English before subject matter content.
There are relatively simple ways to invite students to use their new language as often as possible throughout the day that can make an immediate impact. However, this strategy can be challenging to implement in classes, such as math and history, that rely on concept-specific language that students do not necessarily learn while developing their conversational English.
This is the challenge we are addressing with our colleagues at ECVHS.
ECVHS is adopting a process called Intentional Planning Practice, a set of planning practices designed to amplify access to grade-level content while simultaneously developing disciplinary language.
I am working with ECVHS leaders to adapt the process so that it aligns with the school’s priorities, assets and challenges while maximizing teacher buy-in and sustainability.
The following steps provide a simplified picture of what intentional planning practice involves:
Analyze the language demands of our content area standards
For a cohort of ECVHS teachers with newcomer students in their classes, we are providing coaching on how to anticipate the core concepts, thinking processes and associated language demands of tasks aligned to content standards. The goal is that students will be able to understand the content more deeply and express their thinking when we attend to these concepts and practices.
Complement content area learning with English language development (ELD) standards
California’s ELD standards define the many ways students use language for academic purposes—and they explain the specific language students need for particular tasks. In addition, much like other states’ ELD standards, they serve as a tool for designing lessons that seamlessly weave content and language learning.
Design lessons with scaffolds
At Education Northwest, we follow a lesson-design mantra of “high expectations and high support.” In other words, we coach our colleagues to anchor their lessons in high expectations (grade-level standards), communicate their expectations to their students in the form of lesson outcomes and then focus on designing scaffolds that supports student learning in content, practices and language that help students advance in academics.
It’s important to remember that scaffolds help students reach grade-level standards. When designing lesson scaffolds, make sure to provide students:
- A sense of the concepts, themes and vocabulary they will encounter in content area texts
- An invitation and purpose to engage and re-engage their texts
- Opportunities to apply their understanding of content-specific concepts and language in different contexts
Look and listen for evidence of student learning
Simply listening to how students are using language to express their understanding of class content will reveal much about how and where to provide differentiated supports. As a result, it is critical that teachers are clear on the lesson goals and provide feedback in real time.
Our teacher colleagues at ECVHS are piloting lessons that incorporate Intentional Planning Practice—and in just a few days, we’ll reconvene to analyze artifacts of learning with formative assessment tools derived from the proficiency descriptors of California’s ELD Standards.
These efforts appear to be setting a strong foundation; we were excited to hear that the work of our cohort is permeating other parts of ECVHS as school leaders are connecting other teachers to some of the corresponding principles and practices.
Any teacher on campus can do this…. It’s not just an English learner training.
—Doug Martin, assistant principal at El Cajon Valley High School
For me, collaborating with colleagues at ECVHS and other schools is a thrilling experience, especially when we see an immediate impact in teachers’ ability to support the simultaneous development of language skills and content knowledge that students need to succeed. |
Saint Marys, Georgia 31558Cumberland Island National Seashore webpage
See all hotspots at Cumberland Island National Seashore
Cumberland Island National Seashore is a beautiful, largely undeveloped 36,000-acre barrier island. Access is by ferry or private boat. Extensive salt marshes border the island to the west, and 16 miles of pristine, white-sand beaches border Cumberland on the east. The island hosts an amazing variety of wildlife and plant communities. A total of 322 species of birds have been seen on the island.
Types of Birds: Songbirds, shorebirds, wading birds, waterfowl, gull-like birds
Best Birding Seasons: Songbirds (spring and fall), shorebirds (all), wading birds (all), waterfowl (winter), gull-like birds (all)
Specialties: Peregrine falcon, painted bunting, red knot, black skimmer, warblers
Tips: Look for peregrine falcons during fall migration. Painted buntings are common in summer. Shorebirds are best seen in summer, winter, and spring. Warblers can be seen during fall and spring migrations. Piping plovers may be spotted on the beach in winter. Bring along food, beverages, sunscreen, rain gear, and other necessities because the island has no stores. Private boaters may dock at Sea Camp or Plum Orchard. Overnight boaters must anchor offshore.
Cumberland Island is the largest and southernmost barrier island in Georgia. With little commercial development, Cumberland has remained relatively stable over the last several hundred years.
However, barrier Islands are dynamic environments. For visitors who spend a few hours or a few days on Cumberland, this soon becomes apparent. Wind shapes the dunes, fire shapes the plant and animal communities that depend on them, and humans leave their impact too.
Cumberland Island supports a rich diversity of animals, and plants, and offers amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean and Cumberland Sound. The rich marsh environment, as well as the deep night sky, hold something for everyone.
The only way to get to the island is by passenger ferry (not a car ferry) or private boat. For information about making a reservation with the National Park Service official concessionaire-operated ferry visit the Reservations page or visit Cumberland Island Ferry website.
Content from Cumberland Island National Seashore webpage and Georgia Colonial Coast Birding Trail |
The paleontologist Richard Leakey was born and raised in Kenya, son of the famous paleontologist team, Louis and Mary Leakey. Influenced by his dynamic parents, the value of a traditional English education waned in the face of both adventures of new hominid discoveries and the diversity of life found in the African environment. After successful completion of his primary school education, Leakey attempted to further his education by attending the Duke of York. Contrary to previous success, his scholastic term at Duke of York was less than illustrious. Similar to his father’s plight, the free, warm, and sympathetic association with the native populations of Africa led to social conflict for the young Leakey, eventually leading him to become a social outcast. However, the prospects of an African adventure allured Leakey from the halls of academia to the rugged African landscape that was a form of personal comfort. For Richard Leakey, who skipped classes and was fiercely independent, both his rebellious nature and the issue of dropping out of school were divisive factors in the crippling of the relationship with his father. However, the decision that led to Richard’s financial independence (due to his father’s ultimatum and generosity) would eventually shape his future endeavors.
With monies secured by his parents, Leakey’s wildlife venture earned him the respect and financial independence that he sought. This success continued and was furthered by the formation of his safari company shortly before Kenya’s independence in 1963. During an excursion to Olduvia, he became aware of the geological formations at Tanganyika’s Lake. The ensuing expedition yielded an exciting discovery, for evidence of a new fossil hominid was recovered. Although Richard was initially absent during its discovery, the recovery, interpretation, and announcement of this new species, Homo habilis, was left to the patriarch of the Leakey clan, his father Louis. The second expedition might not have had the same importance as the first expedition, but the fossils recovered were just as impressive.
Leakey married Margaret Cooper in 1966 (divorced in 1969) and later married Meave Epps in 1970. Between the two marriages, he had three children.
Leakey acquired additional professional responsibilities during this period. He served as director of the National Museums of Kenya (1968-1989) and director of the Kenya Wildlife Service (1989). His days in the field came to an end in 1993 when his plane crashed. Concerned with political corruption and environmental issues, Leakey’s efforts for environmental protection and political reform had led to the creation of the political party Safina. Subjected to hostile intentions from political and criminal enterprises, Leakey continues to further his ideals through education and writings. His publications include Origins in 1977, People of the Lake in 1978, The Making of Mankind in 1981, and The Origin of Humankind in 1994.
Contributions and Perspectives
Similar to Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Louis Leakey (1903-1972), Richard Leakey considered Africa as the evolutionary cradle of the human species. Although he was not a credited scholar, the influence of his parents and his naturalism led him to a historical approach within an anthropological framework. Within this historical approach, Leakey placed the evolution of the human species’ history that can be traced back to the origin of bipedality in the African environment around 5 to 10 million years ago, although evidence of Australopithecus afarensis places the earliest known bipedal creature between 3 and 4 million years ago. From this point, both brain expansion (complexity is another issue) and stone tool use in Africa were seen between 2 and 3 million years ago. Major advancements in stone technology (for example, the Achulean) were seen between 1 and 2 million years ago, when the expansion of Homo habilis out of Africa coincided with an increase in meat consumption. With the first use of fire around 700,000 years ago, another major technological advancement (the Mousterian) led to the origins of modern humans in Africa around 200,000 years ago. However, the greatest advancements can be seen as stemming from the Agricultural Revolution around 10,000 years ago. From this point, divisions of labor and the creation of cities with larger populations made both the Industrial Revolution and the Technological Revolution possible. All this progress became possible through the refinement of hominid bipedality around 5 to 10 million years ago.
Although this post hoc analysis of human antiquity does possess an evaluative power, Leakey’s analysis of hominid taxonomical structure becomes a point of interest. Unlike most taxonomical analysis that places the human species as sharing a common ancestor, A. afarensis, with other hominids, Leakey depicted our species as descending from an unknown hominid form. In this manner, a hominid taxonomical structure creates two parallel evolutionary branches: one consisting of the Homo line and the other for the Australopithecines. When placed in a hierarchy, an unknown species of Homo gave rise to H. habilis, and then Homo erectus, ending with the human species Homo sapiens. Parallel to the Homo line, A. afarensis gave rise to both Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus Boisei, and A. africanus gave rise to Australopithecus robustus. Compared with the accepted phylogenetic analysis as performed by Randall Skelton and colleagues in 1986, A. afarensis gave rise to A. africanus, which then split into two branches: H. habilis and A. robustus/boisei. The interpretation of the evidence does become a point of inquiry. In the use of inference from molecular genetic evidence, as with Leakey’s preference, it is important to implement extreme caution when classifying extinct hominid forms based solely on some unstandardized morphological characteristics.
Regardless of the interpretation of the evidence, Leakey’s vitality and deep interest in our own humanity created an opportunity for open dialogue and research. Viewing the human species as a part of nature, it becomes clear that it is human’s own responsibility to conserve their natural environment. With understanding and compassion, if not being subjected to utility, this process should be extended to all life, including the treatment of members of the human species. Perhaps stemming from his cultural environment, Leakey’s political activity clearly depicts his concerns based on his earlier experiences. Although the plane crash ended his fieldwork, paleoanthropology will continue to benefit from the “Leakey luck” that has greatly enriched the field of anthropology. Work will continue by Richard’s wife, Meave, and the couple’s daughter, Louise. Richard Leakey, like his father Louis, will be remembered as one of the patriarchs of African paleoanthropology.
- Leakey, R. (1978). People of the lake: Mankind and its beginnings. New York: Anchor.
- Leakey, R. (1981). The making of mankind. New York: Dutton.
- Leakey, R. (1982). Human origins. New York: Lodestar.
- Leakey, R. (1994). The origin of humankind. New York: Basic Books.
- Meikle, W. E. (1994). Naming our ancestors: An anthology of hominid taxonomy. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
- Morell, V. (1995). Ancestral passions: The Leakey family and the quest for humankind’s beginnings. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Skelton, R., McHenry, H. M., & Drawhorn, G. M. (1986). Phylogenetic analysis of early hominids. Current Anthropology, 27, 21-43. |
Guidelines - The Principles in Practice
Thursday, 2nd November 2017
US organisation CAST, which first developed the UDL Framework, have produced a set of key guidelines related to each of the core principles of UDL. We have created a quiz tool below which will help you to reflect on your own practice and gives you your 'UDL Score'.
CAST's UDL Guidelines
Principle: Provide Multiple Means of Representation - Guidelines
Guideline 1: Provide options for perception
- Offer ways of customising the display of information e.g. provide PowerPoint slides in advance, provide accessible digital documents which can then be manipulated by students (colour, size of font etc.)
- Offer alternatives for key Auditory and Visual information e.g. ensure videos have captions, ensure images are described using alternative text etc.
Guideline 2: Provide options for language, mathematical expressions, and symbols
- Clarify vocabulary and symbols e.g. provide glossaries, definitions of symbols and keys for graphics/maps
- Clarify unfamiliar syntax (in language or in math formulas) or underlying structure (in diagrams, graphs, illustrations, extended expositions or narratives)
- Support decoding of text, mathematical notation, and symbols e.g. by providing key documents in an accessible digital format (which allows for text to be read aloud, manipulated and for words to be defined/translated to other languages)
- Illustrate through multiple media e.g. present key concepts in one form of symbolic representation (e.g., an expository text or a math equation) with an alternative form (e.g., an illustration, diagram, table, model, video, comic strip, story board, photograph, animation)
Guideline 3: Provide options for comprehension
- Activate or supply background knowledge e.g. anchor instruction by linking to and activating relevant prior knowledge (e.g., using visual imagery, concept anchoring, or concept mastery routines)
- Highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships - emphasise key elements in text, graphics, diagrams and formulas
- Guide information processing, visualisation, and manipulation e.g. Give explicit prompts for each step in a sequential process, “Chunk” information into smaller elements and remove unnecessary distractions unless they are essential to the instructional goal
Principle: Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression - Guidelines
Guideline 4: Provide options for physical action
- Provide alternatives in the requirements for rate, timing, speed, and range of motor action required to interact with instructional materials, physical manipulatives, and technologies
- Provide alternatives for physically interacting with materials by hand if possible
Guideline 5: Provide options for expression and communication
- Use multiple media for communication e.g. encourage ‘composition’ in media such as text, speech, drawing, illustration, design, film, music, visual art, sculpture or video
- Use social media and interactive web tools to communicate and receive feedback (e.g. for in-lecture group work)
- Build fluencies with graduated levels of support for practice and performance - Learners must develop a variety of fluencies (e.g., visual, audio, mathematical, reading, etc.).
Guideline 6: Provide options for executive functions
- At the highest level of the human capacity to act skillfully are the so-called “executive functions”, allowing humans to overcome impulsive, short-term reactions to their environment and instead to set long-term goals, plan effective strategies for reaching those goals, monitor their progress, and modify strategies as needed. Executive capacity is sharply reduced when: 1) executive functioning capacity must be devoted to managing “lower level” skills and responses which are not automatic or fluent thus the capacity for “higher level” functions is taken; and 2) executive capacity itself is reduced due to some sort of higher level disability or to lack of fluency with executive strategies.
- Guide appropriate goal-setting e.g. Provide guides and checklists for scaffolding goal-setting and post goals, objectives, and schedules in an obvious place
- Support planning and strategy development e.g. Embed prompts to “show and explain your work” (e.g., portfolio review, art critiques) and provide checklists and project planning templates for understanding the problem, setting up prioritisation, sequences, and schedules of steps
- Facilitate managing information and resources e.g. provide templates/tools for data collection and organising information
- Enhance capacity for monitoring progress e.g. ask questions to guide self-monitoring and reflection, show representations of progress (e.g., before and after photos, graphs and charts showing progress over time, process portfolios)
Principle: Provide Multiple Means of Engagement- Guidelines
Guideline 7: Provide options for recruiting interest
- In an instructional setting, it is often inappropriate to provide choice of the learning objective itself, but it is often appropriate to offer choices in how that objective can be reached.
- Provide learners with as much discretion and autonomy as possible by providing choices in such things as tools used for information gathering or production, format/media of submissions, color, design, or graphics of layouts, etc.
- Optimise relevance, value, and authenticity e.g. vary activities and sources of information so that they can be socially/culturally relevant and appropriate for different racial, cultural, ethnic, and gender groups
- Include activities that foster the use of imagination to solve novel and relevant problems, or make sense of complex ideas in creative ways
Guideline 8: Provide options for sustaining effort and persistence
- Heighten salience of goals and objectives e.g. prompt or require learners to explicitly formulate or restate goals and encourage division of long-term goals into short-term objectives.
- Foster collaboration and communication e.g. create cooperative learning groups with clear goals, roles, and responsibilities
- Increase mastery-oriented feedback - assessment is most productive for sustaining engagement when the feedback is relevant, constructive, accessible, consequential, and timely.
Guideline 9: Provide options for self-regulation
- Promote expectations and beliefs that optimise motivation e.g. provide coaches, mentors, or agents that model the process of setting personally appropriate goals and support activities that encourage self-reflection and identification of personal goals
- Facilitate personal coping skills and strategies e.g. provide differentiated models, scaffolds and feedback for developing coping mechanisms based on real life situations or simulations
- Develop self-assessment and reflection e.g. offer tools/templates to assist individuals in learning to collect, chart and display data from their own performance for the purpose of monitoring progress
Get Your UDL Score
We've devised a quick tool which gets you to look at CAST’s UDL principles and guidelines in the context of your own practice and ask – which of these principles am I already unknowingly adhering to in my work?
Afterwards, we’ll give you your UDL score. It’s not too scientific, but it’s a bit of fun and might give you an indication of where your practice is at in relation to UDL. |
How a New Podcast is Making STEM Accessible: Queer Science! is Breaking Boundaries
A few months ago, NC State graduate Bri and current student R launched Queer Science!, a podcast dedicated to making science accessible and elevating the voices of those who are traditionally underrepresented. “Queer is an umbrella term,” R said, “It includes a lot of underrepresented and oppressed groups.”
The two co-hosts met a few years ago through the Citizen Science Club at NC State. Their friendship, and the idea for the podcast, formed out of a mutual frustration with the barriers that currently exist within the educational system. According to R, the Citizen Science Club is similar to their podcast because, “Anyone who wants to be a scientist can be a scientist.”
Anyone who has listened to the podcast will not be surprised to learn that the response so far has been positive. “We’ve had a lot of people reach out to us,” Bri said. Sometimes that means praising the podcast, but a lot of people have offered their expertise and help. “People will just reach out and offer knowledge or experience,” R explained, “Messages will come through from people who seem super duper qualified, and it’s like ‘why are you listening to this little podcast?’”
Well, one reason might be the breadth of topics covered and the depth with which they’ve explored them. With only three episodes under their belts, the pair has already tackled mental health and the unnecessary research around bisexual men. Bri said, “With the podcast as a whole, I think, we’re just trying to figure out what queer science is and what it looks like. Is it a verb? Is it a noun?”
R and Bri see queer as a term encompassing a lot of marginalized communities, meaning that their work isn’t limited to just LGBTQ+ individuals. “How does queer science overlap with decolonization and antiracism and other perspectives on science? That’s what we’re exploring.” Bri explained. A lot of marginalized groups have been excluded from science for far too long, so it is important to fight for a just science for all communities. “For me, using the word ‘queer’ is a reclamation process,” R said, “it’s about owning the narrative. Our work is really about providing a platform for marginalized groups to share their stories.”
An important part of making science more accessible for queer people and marginalized people more generally is ensuring that no harm is being done unintentionally to those communities. Many have a deep-seated and well justified skepticism regarding scientific research because of both terrible abuses of power, like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and unintentionally harmful practices, such as how BiDil is prescribed . “The first part of the scientific method is forming a question,” Bri said, “you can’t ignore the reasons why someone would want to ask a question.” The culture a scientist lives in, and their role within it, shapes their worldview and, therefore, how science is and should be conducted.
“The very cold, hard truth is that scientists are human,” R said, “Science is supposed to benefit everyone. But if you are only focusing on a certain group, such as cisgendered, heterosexual, white men, you’re only looking at it from one perspective.” It can be very hard for people to understand others’ experiences, so including a diverse set of people at every stage of a scientific study can ensure that the results are more broadly applicable and less harmful. Being part of a group that has experienced very little or no oppression, or has always been represented on both sides of a scientific study, can affect the questions you ask, according to Bri, or “you could just not take into account other factors, like environmental effects.”
One way to ensure that scientific research is not harming vulnerable communities is just to educate researchers about why they need to be careful. You need to be able to step back, analyze your own intentions, and ask yourself questions like “Why am I studying this? Where is that coming from?” R said. A lot of science has a very dark past: part of the reason that such strict rules regarding human experimentation exist is that someone violated them in the past. A lot of studies on marginalized groups carried out their work without fully explaining it to their subjects, some of whom didn’t have the education necessary to understand what they were told or didn’t even speak the language of the researchers. And not all of those scientists had bad intentions; they just didn’t pause to consider the effects their work may have on these communities. “Being aware of your own bias and being willing to challenge that within yourself” is a great way to try to minimize the harm you do, R recommended.
Another way to work to combat harm in science is to be sure to include contextualizing information when presenting findings. For example, Henrietta Lacks’ cells were taken without her permission and used for numerous experiments throughout the years, effectively founding the field of cell culture. “You need to make sure you’re giving credit where credit is due,” R said. Acknowledging how certain situations have arisen is key to ensuring that your research is ethical. People who are exploited for science still deserve to have that acknowledged because, R said, “They’re still important. They still matter. They still made a contribution.”
Including more queer and marginalized people at higher levels can also help reduce the potential harm from your work and ensure that you’re asking the right questions. “One thing that comes to mind for me, being trans and wanting to medically transition,” R said, “is that you can tell that a lot of the terminology and diagnoses were written by cisgendered people.” While it’s good to recognize that something exists, including queer researchers in your work can ensure that you’re using language that makes them comfortable and increases access, rather than restricting it. “Why not include trans doctors or trans scientists in your work?” R asked. Asking for help to make sure you’re actually helping people is extremely important. And this can be extended to other marginalized groups, R said, “Why not include indigenous people in research on indigenous populations?” Rather than assuming you know what’s best for these people, why don’t you ask them what’s best?
There are also some important, but simple, ways for cisgendered, straight allies to support their peers in academia, such as asking for pronouns. “You don’t have to shout it around the room,” Bri said, “but making an active effort to share your pronouns and ask everyone for theirs can go a long way.” Many queer students and faculty remain in the closet for fear of the repercussions of coming out, so making it clear that you support the LGBTQ+ community can make it much easier for them to feel comfortable being themselves. “It’s the difference between being invited to the dance and being asked to dance,” R explains, quoting from the first episode with Dr. Jamila Simpson, also from NC State, about the importance of diversity and inclusion. It’s all well and good that you allow people to tell you their pronouns, but asking for everyone’s pronouns off the bat creates a much more inclusive environment.
Even just having a rainbow sticker on a laptop or somewhere in an office can help queer students feel more at ease in a space. “So, like, I have generalized anxiety, so I’m constantly on edge,” R said, “and just seeing that someone has a rainbow pin… can make a huge, huge difference.” Allies need to meet queer people in the middle, and queer people are already there just by existing as who they are. It’s up to the allies to put in the extra effort of making sure queer people are comfortable with them and in science in general.
For more conversations like this, go listen to Queer Science! What are you waiting for? You can find the podcast on Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts and other major streaming platforms. You can follow them on Instagram at @queer_sci, on Twitter at queer_science and Facebook at Queer Science. |
Rupture of the rotator cuff is among the most common problems of the shoulder. The rotator cuff is the tendinous structure which surrounds the head of the humerus and lifts the shoulder laterally and rotates it internally and externally. The tendons of the rotator cuff are broad, thin belt-like structures. A tendon rupture may occur in conjunction with a trauma or it may have a non-traumatic origin, for example through wear and tear under a tight acromion. Oftentimes, a tendon tear occurs in the supraspinatus tendon, which lifts the arm up from the side.
The classic symptoms of a supraspinatus tear are painful loss of range of motion and pain even in rest. Lifting the arm upwards, especially, is difficult if not impossible. Many times, there is only a partial tendon rupture in which case the arm moves, but it is weak and painful. If there is a complete tendon rupture, the strength in the arm may be remarkably weak.
Rotator cuff tendons consist of two layers: the inner and outer layer. Ruptures of the tendons may be partial whereby either one or the other layer is ruptured. However, the symptoms may still be pronounced, i.e. the arm is painful to move and there is significant loss of strength. Sometimes even a partial tear may need operative treatment.
Rotator cuff operations are arthroscopic procedures. A torn cuff tendon is fixed back into place using suture anchors. The anchor screws are usually made of titanium or resorbable materials which have strong sutures attached.
An acromioplasty is usually performed as well. This procedure involves making more space for the repaired tendon underneath the acromial bone. Operation time is 45–60 minutes. The operation is conducted under general anesthesia and the patient is discharged from the hospital the same day.
The patient wears a sling for four weeks. Light rotatory movements are allowed at the waist line. The patient can write, use a computer, make coffee, eat, etc. However, the patient must be extremely careful not to harm the reconstruction. The sling is removed after four weeks and active rehabilitation may begin 5–6 weeks after surgery. Taking care not to damage the reconstruction by using the arm too early is crucial. The patient may engage in heavy labor 3 months and sports 4–6 months after surgery. |
The Ai (Hebrew: הָעַי, romanized: hāʿAy, lit. 'the heap (of ruins)'; Douay–Rheims: Hai) was a Canaanite city. According to the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible, it was conquered by the Israelites on their second attempt. The ruins of the city are popularly thought to be in the modern-day archeological site Et-Tell.
According to Genesis, Abraham built an altar between Bethel and Ai.
In the Book of Joshua, chapters 7 and 8, the Israelites attempt to conquer Ai on two occasions. The first, in Joshua 7, fails. The biblical account portrays the failure as being due to a prior sin of Achan, for which he is stoned to death by the Israelites. On the second attempt, in Joshua 8, Joshua, who is identified by the narrative as the leader of the Israelites, receives instruction from God. God tells them to set up an ambush and Joshua does what God says. An ambush is arranged at the rear of the city on the western side. Joshua is with a group of soldiers that approach the city from the front so the men of Ai, thinking they will have another easy victory, chase Joshua and the fighting men from the entrance of the city to lead the men of Ai away from the city. Then the fighting men to the rear enter the city and set it on fire. When the city is captured, 12,000 men and women are killed, and it is razed to the ground. The king is captured and hanged on a tree until the evening. His body is then placed at the city gates and stones are placed on top of his body. The Israelites then burn Ai completely and "made it a permanent heap of ruins." God told them they could take the livestock as plunder and they did so.
Edward Robinson (1794–1863), who identified many biblical sites in the Levant on the basis of local place names and basic topography, suggested that Et-Tell or Khirbet Haijah were likely on philological grounds; he preferred the former as there were visible ruins at that site. A further point in its favour is the fact that the Hebrew name Ai means more or less the same as the modern Arabic name et-Tell.
Up through the 1920s a "positivist" reading of the archeology to date was prevalent—a belief that archeology would prove, and was proving, the historicity of the Exodus and Conquest narratives that dated the Exodus in 1440 BC and Joshua's conquest of Canaan around 1400 BC.: 117 And accordingly, on the basis of excavations in the 1920s the American scholar William Foxwell Albright believed that Et-Tell was Ai.: 86
However, excavations at Et-Tell in the 1930s, undertaken by Judith Marquet-Krause, found that there was a fortified city there during the Early Bronze Age, between 3100 and 2400 BCE, after which it was destroyed and abandoned. The excavations found no evidence of settlement in the Middle or Late Bronze Ages.: 117 These findings, along with excavations at Bethel, posed problems for the dating that Albright and others had proposed, and some scholars including Martin Noth began proposing that the Conquest had never happened but instead was an etiological myth; the name meant "the ruin" and the Conquest story simply explained the already-ancient destruction of the Early Bronze city.: 117 Archeologists also found that the later Iron Age I village appeared with no evidence of initial conquest, and the Iron I settlers seem to have peacefully built their village on the forsaken mound, without meeting resistance.: 331–32
Five main hypotheses exist about how to explain the biblical story surrounding Ai in light of archaeological evidence. The first is that the story was created later on: Israelites related it to Joshua because of the fame of his great conquest. The second is that people of Bethel inhabited Ai during the time of the biblical story and they were the ones who were invaded. In a third, Albright combined these two theories to present a hypothesis that the story of the Conquest of Bethel, which was only a mile and a half away from Ai, was later transferred to Ai in order to explain the city and why it was in ruins. Support for this position can be found in the Bible, the assumption being that the Bible does not mention the actual capture of Bethel, but might speak of it in memory in Judges 1:22–26.: 80–82 Fourth, Callaway has proposed that the city somehow angered the Egyptians (perhaps by rebelling, and attempting to gain independence), and so they destroyed it as punishment. The fifth is that Joshua's Ai is not to be found at et-Tell, but a different location entirely.
Koert van Bekkum writes that "Et-Tell, identified by most scholars with the city of Ai, was not settled between the Early Bronze and Iron Age I.
- Battle of Jericho
- Tel Hazor
- Battle of Gibeah for similar tactics
- Archaeology of Israel
- ^ Genesis 12:8, 13:3.
- ^ Joshua 8:28 NIV
- ^ a b c d e Davis, Thomas W. (2004). Shifting Sands: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19516710-8.
- ^ Hess, Orna. "Judith Marquet-Krause". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ Gomes, Jules (2006). The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity. Walter de Gruyter & Co. p. 103. ISBN 978-311018993-3.
- ^ Naʼaman, Nadav (2005). Canaan in the 2nd Millennium B.C.E. Eisenbrauns. p. 378. ISBN 978-1-57506113-9.
- ^ Mazar, Amihai (1990). Anchor Bible Reference Library: Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10,000–586 B.C.E. (1st ed.). Cambridge, England: Lutterworth. ISBN 978-0-71882890-5.
- ^ Wright, George Ernest (1957). Biblical Archeology. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ASIN B0007DNVKG. OCLC 301439730.
- ^ Callaway, Joseph. "Ai." In David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 1, pp. 125–30. Doubleday, 1992.
- ^ Van Bekkum, Koert. From Conquest to Coexistence: Ideology and Antiquarian Intent in the Historiography of Israel’s Settlement in Canaan. Vol. 45. Brill, 2011, pp. 41–42
- Media related to Battle of Ai at Wikimedia Commons
- Easton's Bible Dictionary |
The dead sea ranks among the saltiest bodies of water in the world. Due to its high salinity, water in the dead sea is more thicker (more viscous) compared to other seawaters (oceans). Due to the high water thickness in the dead sea, do boats go on the dead sea? Let’s find out.
Boats can go on the dead sea, and for the most part, it has nothing do with the high levels of salinity in the dead sea. The Dead Sea is 34% salty (9.6 times more than oceans), which increases the water’s viscosity (thickness), but the boat can move adequately with that amount of saltness in the dead sea’s water.
With that 34% saltness (9.6 times saltier than oceans), the water in the dead sea will have high thickness and viscosity (fictional water resistance increases). If the water’s saltness exceeds beyond a certain threshold (which is unknown yet), boats may not perform well in that higher saltness levels of the water.
Did you know? Mistakenly publicized as the saltiest body of water globally, the Dead Sea ranks among a handful of hypersaline lakes with over 30 percent salinity. The lake that ranks number one on that list is Don Juan Pond in Antarctica, at more than 40 percent salinity. On the other hand, the Dead Sea has just over 34 percent salinity, according to the latest measurements.FROM THE GRAPEVINE
A boat will do well in the dead sea, but it will lack in performance. Due to high salinity in the water, viscosity increases. If the viscosity increases, the frictional resistance on the boat increases, decreasing the boat speed. So, it consumes more gas to go from A to B in the dead sea than covering the same distance in regular waters.
Viscosity indicates the intermolecular attraction between the molecules. In the dead sea, the intermolecular attraction between the molecules is higher than that of normal water.
Other than those two drawbacks (consuming more fuel and reduction in the speed), using a boat in the dead sea will be FINE. Even now, many people use boats, swims, races, etc. in the dead sea. Check this small video on using a boat in the dead sea.
You can see that in the video that the boat is doing FINE in the dead sea. But only fewer boats go in the dead sea, not many. And there are so many adverse effects of using a boat in salt water, which can damage the boat quickly compared to using it in freshwater. That can be one reason for fewer boats in the dead sea.
Saltwater damages the metal 5 times faster than freshwater. At the same time, saltwater in the dead sea is 9.6 times saltier than the ocean’s water. So, using a boat in more saline waters (dead sea) will result in serious problems. However, there are appropriate measures you can take to prevent that.
Can a boat sink in the dead sea?
Now that you have gotten some idea about whether boats go in the dead sea or not. (since the water in the dead sea is high viscous) We will see now whether a boat can sink in the dead sea or not?.
A boat can sink in the dead sea if it has a hole in it or if the boat is capsized; the dead sea’s waters are still WATER (with high salinity), so a boat can sink in the dead sea just like in other waters. Since the boat is in the dead sea, it doesn’t mean that it won’t sink at all in the dead sea.
Until the boat stays in the upright position, a boat will not sink in the dead sea. If the boat has a hole in it or the boat is capsized, the water will get into the boat, and it will definitely sink. So, higher salinity in the water doesn’t mean that the boat will not sink; it can sink if it has a hole or capsized.
Although if the boat sinks in the dead sea due to a hole or if the boat capsizes and sinks, you don’t have to worry about drowning in the water because high salinity increases the viscosity (thickness of the given fluid), and you will float in the water.
Viscosity indicates the intermolecular attraction between the molecules. In the dead sea, the intermolecular attraction between the molecules is higher than that of normal water. So, you will float in the dead sea. If it is less (viscosity), you will sink (drown) in the dead sea, just like in other waters.
Not only in the dead sea, but the viscosity of salt water (seawater) is also greater than normal water at all temperatures in general. Thus, at a given temperature, seawater is more viscous than freshwater. That doesn’t mean that you will float in seawater; you will only float if the viscosity is high (like in the dead sea).
Effects of boating on a dead sea
We will now see the effects of boating in the dead sea and what problems most people encounter.
Note – If you take your own boat in the dead sea, you need to worry about the effects of boating in the dead sea (for which chances are very less).
1. Reduction in the boat’s performance
Reduction in boat performance is the most significant drawback of boating in high salty waters. The viscosity increases with saltness; if the water is saltier, the viscosity will be more, increasing frictional resistance between the water and the boat. An important thing to note here is viscosity and density are different, not the same as many think.
In fluid dynamics, viscosity is the parameter to measure the thickness or thinness of any given fluid. Density is the measure of spaces between two particles in a given fluid. Viscosity and density are fluid characteristics, but there is no direct relation between viscosity and density.Byju’s
Viscosity indicates the intermolecular attraction between the molecules. The intermolecular attraction between the molecules will be high if the fluid is more viscous in nature. Since the water in the dead sea is more viscous, the frictional resistance increases, making it harder to move a boat in that water.
That increase in frictional resistance decreases the speed, and the boat will consume more gas to move it from one place to another in the water. So, a boat consumes more fuel, and it covers less distance, which is a drawback. However, if you take your boat in the dead sea, you need to worry about this (for which chances are very less).
2. Corrosion problems
This is the most common problem in the boats, especially for the ones that go in saltwater. Generally, saltwater corrodes metal 5 times faster than freshwater. And in the dead sea, which is 9.6 times saltier than seawater, will corrode the metals 9.6 times more than in seawater (saltwater)
However, if you take your own boat in the dead sea, you need to worry about this (for which chances are very less). Saltwater affects the boat more than any other waters due to its saltiness. There are so many things that get affected due to saltwater, not only the metal parts. Here are the things that get affected by saltwater in the boat.
- Boat hull (constructed material)
- Outboard or inboard or i/o motor and its parts
- Trim tabs
- Anchor and anchor line
- Bottom paint will wear off or fade out quickly
- Electric hardware and bolts
Related post – Check my article on the Effects of saltwater on boats to know about those 6 effects in a detailed way.
Boats can actually go on the dead sea, and for the most part, it has nothing do with more saltness in the dead sea. The Dead Sea has just over 34 percent salinity, which is more viscous in nature, but the boat can float and move in the dead sea. If it contains higher salt percents beyond a certain threshold, a boat may not do well in the dead sea.
Due to the increase in the water’s viscosity, a boat may struggle in the water to move quickly, and that whole process may result in an increase in fuel consumption. So, a boat can move in the dead sea, but it may consume more gas and slow down a bit due to increased frictional resistance between the boat and the water (viscosity).
If the water you are boating in contains higher salt percents beyond a certain threshold (it increases the thickness of the given fluid (water) more), a boat may not do well in that water. But the dead sea has around 34% percent of salinity, which will not resist a boat to move in that water. |
"White House Plantation rested on a bluff along the scenic outside bend of the Pamunkey River. White(...TRUNCATED) |
"The Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework explicitly recognises that the contemporary social and e(...TRUNCATED) |
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in Data Studio
Polysemy Words
Polysemy Words is a large-scale collection of contextual examples for 200 common polysemous English words. Each word in this dataset has multiple, distinct senses and appears across a wide variety of natural web text contexts, making the dataset ideal for research in word sense induction (WSI), word sense disambiguation (WSD), and probing the contextual understanding capabilities of large language models (LLMs).
Dataset Overview
This dataset is built from the 350B variant of the FineWeb-Edu corpus, a large-scale, high-quality web crawl dataset recently used in training state-of-the-art LLMs.
We focus on 200 polysemous English words selected for their frequency and semantic diversity. The initial list was generated using ChatGPT, then refined through manual inspection to ensure each word has multiple distinct meanings.
For each target word:
- The FineWeb-Edu corpus was filtered to retain only samples containing a surface-form match (the full word without regards to capitalization).
- The final dataset contains almost 500 million contextual examples, totaling about 3 TB of raw text.
- Data is organized by word, allowing easy per-word processing or analysis.
📍 Dataset URL: https://huggingface.co/datasets/tsivakar/polysemy-words
Format
Each target word has its own subdirectory (e.g., bank/, file/, rock/), which contains parquet files in the following structure:
polysemy-words/
├── bank/
│ └── part_0.parquet
│ └── part_1.parquet
│ └── ...
├── spring/
│ └── part_0.parquet
│ └── part_1.parquet
│ └── ...
...
Words and Meanings
Below are some of the polysemous words included in the dataset along with a few of their common meanings.
Note: The listed meanings are illustrative and not exhaustive.
| Word | Common Meanings |
|---|---|
| anchor | ship device, TV host |
| arch | structure, shape |
| ball | toy, formal dance |
| bank | financial institution, riverbank |
| bar | metal rod, pub, law |
| barge | large boat, to intrude forcefully |
| bark | tree covering, dog sound |
| barrel | container, gun part |
| base | foundation, military station |
| bass | low sound, fish |
| bat | animal, sports equipment |
| beam | light ray, structural support |
| bell | alarm, object |
| bill | invoice, legislation, bird part |
| bit | small amount, drill part |
| blade | knife, fan part |
| block | building unit, obstruction |
| board | wood piece, group of people |
| bob | move, hairstyle |
| bolt | fastener, lightning, run |
| boot | footwear, computer start |
| bowl | dish, game |
| brace | support, dental tool |
| bracket | support, tournament pairing, punctuation |
| break | pause, damage, opportunity |
| bridge | structure over a gap, dental appliance, card game |
| brush | tool, contact |
| buckle | belt fastener, collapse |
| bug | insect, flaw |
| bump | hit, swell, encounter |
| cab | taxi, truck front |
| cap | hat, limit |
| case | container, situation |
| cell | organism unit, prison room |
| chain | series, store, restraint |
| channel | TV station, path, focus |
| charge | fee, accusation, power |
| check | verify, bill |
| chip | snack, fragment, electronics |
| circuit | route, electrical path, competition |
| clasp | fastener, grasp |
| clip | fastener, cut, short video |
| club | weapon, group |
| coach | bus, trainer |
| coil | spiral, electrical unit |
| cone | ice cream, shape, tree part |
| cord | string, power line |
| court | legal body, romantic pursuit, sports arena |
| cover | protection, song remake |
| crack | split, joke, sound |
| crane | machine, bird, gesture |
| crash | collision, failure |
| crust | bread edge, outer Earth layer |
| current | flow, present time |
| cushion | pillow, buffer |
| cut | incision, reduction |
| dart | game, quick move |
| date | fruit, calendar day, romantic outing |
| deck | card set, boat surface |
| dial | watch face, to call |
| disc | object, spinal part, media format |
| dish | plate, gossip |
| draft | breeze, plan |
| drill | tool, military routine |
| drive | urge, journey, storage |
| drum | musical instrument, container, cylindrical object |
| fair | event, just, appearance |
| fan | cooling device, enthusiast |
| file | document, tool |
| flap | cover, disturbance |
| foil | metal sheet, contrast |
| fork | utensil, divide |
| frame | structure, deception, part of a video |
| glass | material, cup |
| grill | cooking device, question intensely |
| gum | mouth tissue, candy |
| handle | grip, deal with |
| head | body part, leader, top |
| hook | metal curve, attention-grabbing start |
| hoop | ring for sports, clothing accessory |
| horn | instrument, animal part |
| hose | tube, clothing |
| jacket | clothing, book cover |
| jam | fruit spread, traffic, musical session |
| jug | container, slang for prison |
| key | lock opener, essential, piano part |
| knot | tangle, speed unit |
| ladder | climbing tool, hierarchy |
| lap | body part, circuit |
| latch | door fastener, to catch or attach |
| leaf | plant part, page |
| letter | alphabet, mail |
| light | illumination, not heavy |
| line | rope, queue, text |
| lock | fastener, hairpiece, canal mechanism |
| log | record, tree part |
| mark | score, target, impression |
| mask | disguise, cover |
| match | competition, pair |
| mine | possession, excavation |
| mint | plant, coin factory, condition |
| mold | shape, fungus |
| mouse | animal, computer device |
| mug | drinking vessel, face, robbery |
| nail | finger, metal fastener |
| net | mesh, gain after expenses |
| note | music, message |
| nut | snack, crazy person, mechanical fastener |
| organ | body part, instrument |
| pad | cushion, notepad, landing zone |
| paddle | boat tool, game controller |
| pan | cookware, criticize |
| panel | flat board, discussion group, control surface |
| parcel | package, land unit |
| patch | fabric piece, software fix, area of land |
| pen | writing tool, enclosure |
| pencil | writing tool, hairstyle |
| pitch | throw, field, tone |
| plane | aircraft, level |
| plant | factory, living organism |
| plate | dish, tectonic plate, serving |
| plateau | flatland, leveling off |
| plug | stopper, endorsement, power connection |
| point | location, score, idea |
| pole | rod or beam, North/South geographical point, electoral position |
| pool | water body, resource sharing |
| port | harbor, wine, computer socket |
| post | mail, job, pole |
| pot | container, weed, jackpot |
| press | media, apply pressure |
| punch | strike, beverage |
| race | competition, ethnicity |
| rack | storage, torture device |
| reel | film roll, stagger |
| ribbon | fabric strip, award |
| ring | jewelry, sound |
| rock | stone, music genre |
| roller | tool, skater, coaster part |
| rope | cord, hang |
| row | line, argument, paddle action |
| saw | tool, proverb |
| scale | measure, skin |
| score | points, music, scar |
| screen | display, filter |
| seal | animal, official stamp |
| shed | small building, to discard or lose |
| shell | covering, projectile |
| shop | store, workshop |
| shovel | tool, move effortfully |
| sink | basin, submerge |
| skirt | clothing, avoid |
| slide | move, playground, image frame |
| slip | small mistake, clothing, fall |
| socket | joint, outlet |
| space | outer universe, room |
| spade | tool, playing card suit |
| spike | nail, rise, shoe |
| spool | cylinder for winding, to unwind/print data |
| spray | liquid burst, paint |
| spring | coil, season, leap |
| stall | booth or stand, engine failure, delay tactic |
| stamp | mail, mark, stomp |
| stand | furniture, posture, resistance |
| stem | plant part, stop, origin |
| stick | branch, adhere |
| stock | inventory, finance |
| strap | band, punish |
| string | cord, sequence |
| stud | fastener, horse, attractive person |
| suit | clothing, legal case, match |
| swing | motion, seat, change |
| tack | pin, approach |
| tank | military vehicle, container, fail badly |
| tap | faucet, gentle hit, phone interception |
| tape | adhesive, audio medium |
| tent | shelter, taut shape |
| tie | clothing, equality, connect |
| tile | flooring, game piece |
| tin | metal, container |
| tip | end, advice, gratuity |
| tire | rubber wheel, exhaust |
| tooth | mouth part, tool edge |
| track | path, music piece, follow |
| train | vehicle, to teach |
| tray | serving dish, data storage |
| trip | journey, stumble |
| trunk | tree, luggage, elephant nose |
| tub | container, bath |
| tube | pipe, transport, TV |
| valve | control device, heart part |
| vent | opening, express |
| view | sight, opinion |
| volume | sound level, book, quantity |
| watch | observe, timepiece |
| wave | hand motion, ocean, physics |
| well | water source, state of being |
| wheel | circular device, control |
| wire | metal thread, communication |
| yard | length, outdoor area |
| zip | fastener, speed |
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