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Basketball is a popular sport in Oklahoma.  The National Basketball Association has a team in Oklahoma City called the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Famous players on the team include Olympic athletes Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrooke and Serge Ibaka.

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We learned at our symposium teachers in Morocco teach 1/2 days.  The school week begins on Monday and ends on Saturday.  The school day runs from 8am-12pm, followed by a 2-hour lunch period.  School resumes at 2pm and finishes at 6pm.  There is no plan time built into the daily schedule.  Teachers may teach in different rooms from hour to hour.

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Known as "The Stars & Stripes", "Old Glory" and "The National Flag", this is the current configuration of the flag of the United States of America.  There are 50 stars, one for each state in the Union.   The stripes, according to the Continental Congress of 1777, represent rays of light from the sun.  The Red stands for valor.  White stands for innocence and purity.  Blue stands for vigilance, perseverance and justice.   In 1977, the US House of Representatives added the star represents the heavens and freedom.

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When Oklahoma was still part of the Wild West in American history, herds of cattle were driven from Texas to Kansas City, Missouri where they were sold at the Kansas City Stockyards.  The trails across Oklahoma were rough and treacherous.  It was not easy to "drive" the cattle that far.

It took rugged individuals who could ride horses all day and sleep outside under the stars at night.  They often wore boots, wide-brimmed hats, leather chaps and spurs on their heels to encourage the horses they rode to speed up.  These men were experts with a rope lasso so they could chase down and  capture stray calves.

Of all the names the men who rode the range were called, the one that stuck over time was "Cowboy".  Until farming became popular and fences went up all over the Western American prairie, limiting cross-country travel on horseback, the Cowboys ruled the landscape of the American West.

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Oklahoma looks like a cooking pan.  The branch on the NW corner of the state is known as "The Panhandle".  There are 6 bordering neighbor states which include:  Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico & Colorado.

Oklahoma has 77 smaller divisions called counties with the 3 largest cities being the capital, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Lawton.  The coloration on this map indicates the kind of land in each part of the state.  The Green in the Northeast, where I live, is called Green Country.  The Red Northwestern part, including the panhandle, is called Red Carpet Country because there is a lot of iron in the clay making the ground red.  The purple in the middle is Frontier Country since it was part of the land run and the historic Oklahoma frontier.  The Yellow in the Southwest is Great Plains Country since it's on the edge of the Great Plains and has desert in it.  The blue in South Central Oklahoma is called Chickasaw Country, named after the Native American Tribe that lives there.  The orange in the Southeastern corner is called Choctaw Country, named after the Native American tribe that lives there.

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Oklahoma sits near the New Madrid Fault which means there has been much seismic activity as far back as scientists have had seismographs to measure them.  This activity can be tracked by visiting the website:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

Many times Oklahomans will post online or text friends or relatives "Did you feel that?" when there has been an earthquake.

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The state known as Oklahoma first belonged to France.  The Spanish explorer Coronado is said to have named the land Okla (People) Humma (Red) during his explorations in 1541.  It was purchased from the French by the U.S. in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

http://www.history.com/topics/louisiana-purchase

The land called Oklahoma became Indian Territory in the early 1830's when President Andrew Jackson had the five Civiized Tribes removed to the area.  The Native American populations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi were relocated in what the Cherokee called "The Trail of Tears".

In 1889, the Federal Government held a land run and most of what is central and western Oklahoma was claimed by settlers looking for a new start on the dry, flat prairie.  Before the rush began, some settlers sneaked across the starting line sooner than the rest to claim the best parts of the land.  They were called "Sooners" and Oklahoma is still called "The Sooner State" as a result.

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Interestingly enough, for a tea lover, the title of this bulletin board is very appropriate!  Moroccan Madness is a tea blend from The English Tea Store.  Their website says the tea is: "A combination of black teas with peppermint leaves".  Sounds delicious!  Looking forward to trying a cup, or two.

http://www.englishteastore.com/1mt-mm.html

Of course, a popular tea in Morocco is green tea with mint and sugar.

And this historical tea info from:

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/teapot/medical.html

"During World War II, tea from China and Japan was not available, but trade routes to India, which produced only black tea, remained open. After World War II, most of the tea consumed in the U.S. was black. In recent years, with revelations about its health benefits, sales of green tea have grown."

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After statehood, in 1907, when Oklahoma became the 46th state in the Union, the flag underwent a major change in 1925 when a flag design contest produced the flag seen below.  The blue field is the same as a battle flag Choctaw warriors carried during the American Civil War and there is an Osage shield, covered with buffalo hide, in the center with 7 eagle feathers and 6 red crosses on it.  The 7 feathers are significant Native American symbols.  The 6 red crosses represent stars and high ideals.  Across the shield are a Native American peace pipe and an olive branch which is also a symbol of peace.  The word "OKLAHOMA" was added in 1941.  As automobile tags in Oklahoma state, Oklahoma is and will always be, "Native America".

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Padlet is an online bulletin board which can be used to gather ideas, ask questions and communicate across time zones.  Post anything you like as long as it's school appropriate and I'll reply as soon as I can!

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Morocco First Nation to Recognize US Independence

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Morocco First Nation to Recognize US Independence

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We were told by Rashid, our Moroccan instructor in Washington, D.C., Morocco was the first country to recognize the Independence of the original 13 colonies from Britain.  In those days, the U.S. flag looked like the one below.  It was patterned after one sewn by Betsy Ross in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania around the year 1777.

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The flag of Morocco is red and has a green 5-pointed star in the  center.  Red and green are the colors of Arab flags.  The star is the Seal of Solomon.  Red stands for bravery, strength & valor.  Green, the traditional color of Islam, stands for hope, joy & love.