Students: working with you this year has been a delight. Each of you has brought innumerable insight, joy, fun, and hope to Rm. 33, and once summer arrives, I will miss our conversations, projects, and collective growth.
However...however!
We still have our final project to finish: our "Ideal Country" creations. As we discussed in class today, these projects give you a chance to try and form a society better than the ones we have recently explored. We want to try and create systems that can help provide justice, equality, and freedom for the people who live in your countries, and yet also maintain stability. We have seen how rule in Nazi Germany and then in Taliban Afghanistan failed miserably on those fronts, and now you have the chance to create in hope.
Think deeply, yet marry your thinking to solid and practical ideas.
Good luck!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Writing to (Help) Change the World
As we finish Livia Britton-Jackson's powerful memoir, I Have Lived a Thousand Years, we will begin to ask ourselves one of the toughest questions we can: How can we take our learning beyond the four walls of our classroom to create change for the world in which we live?
We've studied the Holocaust, we have learned about child labor, and we now know that there are currently approximately 27 million slaves in the world today. It is time to take our passion for writing beyond the walls of our classroom and create change for justice.
Towards the end of this week and in the following two weeks, we will craft insightful essays in which each class will choose a theme. Together, we will revise our work, help one another edit, and learn about what it takes to put together a book of meaningful writing that we can then use as a fundraiser for one of the important causes we have studied this year.
Last year's class chose to work with an organization called Women for Women, which helped to free women from slavery and also educate many women who have never learned to read. It was a moving experience for us as a class, and I can't wait to dive into this project with you all!
It is a way to continue to work on strong writing skills while we also make a difference in the world around us!
We've studied the Holocaust, we have learned about child labor, and we now know that there are currently approximately 27 million slaves in the world today. It is time to take our passion for writing beyond the walls of our classroom and create change for justice.
Towards the end of this week and in the following two weeks, we will craft insightful essays in which each class will choose a theme. Together, we will revise our work, help one another edit, and learn about what it takes to put together a book of meaningful writing that we can then use as a fundraiser for one of the important causes we have studied this year.
Last year's class chose to work with an organization called Women for Women, which helped to free women from slavery and also educate many women who have never learned to read. It was a moving experience for us as a class, and I can't wait to dive into this project with you all!
It is a way to continue to work on strong writing skills while we also make a difference in the world around us!
Monday, March 15, 2010
A Single Raspberry
There is a story told on the glass walls of the Holocaust Memorial in Boston, MA. It's of a Jewish man who has been imprisoned in a concentration camp, and he sees a little German girl on the other side of the fence one day.
Somehow, the Jewish prisoner has managed to get a single raspberry while inside the camp, and as he is preparing to eat it, he sees the little girl, looking at him--staring at him. Without hesitating, he reaches his hand through the fence and gives the raspberry to the girl.
Years later--many years later--that girl grew up and remembered what the Jewish man gave to her. She had this to say: "Imagine a world in which your only possession is a single raspberry--and you give it away." The generosity of spirit from someone so abused remained with that little girl throughout her life, and changed forever the way she viewed the world.
This month in ELA, we'll be reading the powerful Holocaust memoir by Livia Britton-Jackson entitled, I Have Lived a Thousand Years. We'll be exploring the tragedy and inhumanity of the Holocaust, but we'll also see how the power of love and courage can be used today to stop the genocides that are occurring right now in our world. We'll look at the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and see how we can make a difference there.
Be ready to learn, grow, and consider ideas and perspectives you may never have before!
Somehow, the Jewish prisoner has managed to get a single raspberry while inside the camp, and as he is preparing to eat it, he sees the little girl, looking at him--staring at him. Without hesitating, he reaches his hand through the fence and gives the raspberry to the girl.
Years later--many years later--that girl grew up and remembered what the Jewish man gave to her. She had this to say: "Imagine a world in which your only possession is a single raspberry--and you give it away." The generosity of spirit from someone so abused remained with that little girl throughout her life, and changed forever the way she viewed the world.
This month in ELA, we'll be reading the powerful Holocaust memoir by Livia Britton-Jackson entitled, I Have Lived a Thousand Years. We'll be exploring the tragedy and inhumanity of the Holocaust, but we'll also see how the power of love and courage can be used today to stop the genocides that are occurring right now in our world. We'll look at the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and see how we can make a difference there.
Be ready to learn, grow, and consider ideas and perspectives you may never have before!
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Group of Real-Life Nonconformists...
As we continue working on our nonconformist research project this week, we begin a powerful film entitled Glory Road. The film explores the true story of the 1966 Texas Western College basketball team, and their journey to fight racism through sports.
Don Haskins, the coach of this remarkable team, makes some unpopular decisions which will prove to go beyond the basketball court and still cause powerful emotions and analysis today. As we view the film, we'll discuss other real-life application of being a nonconfromists, and we'll also do some background reading on Don Haskins and the Texas Western basketball squad.
I can't wait to learn more about your chosen nonconformist, too!
(See the links in the post, below, for two important documents as we view the film.)
Don Haskins, the coach of this remarkable team, makes some unpopular decisions which will prove to go beyond the basketball court and still cause powerful emotions and analysis today. As we view the film, we'll discuss other real-life application of being a nonconfromists, and we'll also do some background reading on Don Haskins and the Texas Western basketball squad.
I can't wait to learn more about your chosen nonconformist, too!
(See the links in the post, below, for two important documents as we view the film.)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Real-Life Nonconformists!
As we finish our novel, Stargirl, this week, we'll segue into our nonconformist research project. While we work on exploring the life of a nonconformist of our choice, we'll also view the powerful film, Glory Road, based on the true story of the 1966 Texas Western Division I basketball team.
See the links, below, for supporting materials we'll use as we view and discuss this real-life example of nonconformity.
1) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AWu8U06kQIhbZGYzd3R6bXBfMjJnYnNtam1nOA&hl=en
2) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AWu8U06kQIhbZGYzd3R6bXBfMjhkamZ6ZjNnaA&hl=en
See the links, below, for supporting materials we'll use as we view and discuss this real-life example of nonconformity.
1) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AWu8U06kQIhbZGYzd3R6bXBfMjJnYnNtam1nOA&hl=en
2) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AWu8U06kQIhbZGYzd3R6bXBfMjhkamZ6ZjNnaA&hl=en
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Nonconformity
Throughout this month in ELA, we'll explore what it means to be a nonconformist--in both small and large ways. As we read Jerry Spinelli's novel Stargirl, we'll also look at our own lives and ask where we might be lying about who we are so as to fit in with others. We will also consider the ways in which we break away from the mold to follow our own intuitions and beliefs.
Be ready to dig into some research, as well. We will have the opportunity to explore a nonconformist who has worked to have a positive impact on the society in which she / he lives or lived. You'll have the chance to meet some amazing people and dig into their lives, all the while considering how their voices might help strengthen and grow yours!
See this link for the full research assignment on a nonconformist:
Nonconformist Research Project
"Evil is created when good people do nothing." --Albert Einstein
Be ready to dig into some research, as well. We will have the opportunity to explore a nonconformist who has worked to have a positive impact on the society in which she / he lives or lived. You'll have the chance to meet some amazing people and dig into their lives, all the while considering how their voices might help strengthen and grow yours!
See this link for the full research assignment on a nonconformist:
Nonconformist Research Project
"Evil is created when good people do nothing." --Albert Einstein
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