April 2, 2008

Homework:
Finish unit 11 in vocab

Today:
Spelling
Reviewed vocabulary
Continued to discuss the lessons from HSM2

After struggling to get a topic from the last song of the movie, I have decided on a shorter piece instead of a full blown essay. Just when I think I know how students will react to something I create, the first class I give it to always gives me a reality check. What I thought would be easy to write apparently was not. The proverbs from the song were not as easy for the students to explain as I thought they were. Many students did not know the characters and the story of the movie as well as I thought, even though we have studied all the songs throughout the year! So, with the feedback of one of my classes, I have decided upon the following project.

The students must find a quote that is important to them, one that represents how they understand or feel about how to live life right now. An example from the song is, "There's more to life when we listen to our hearts." The quote should also be one that they would be willing to wear on a t-shirt. I say this because t-shirt slogans are usually an outward expression of some inner idea that we want to proclaim to others. Therefore, the quote should be something they feel is relevant to how they feel about life yet important enough that others should read it and think about it.

The writing part of this will be a 500 word piece that explains why the quote is important to them. The enduring understanding for this month is, "Relationships and life lessons continually mold an individual's character." The piece should explain how relationships and/or life experiences have influences them to believe that this quote is an expression of how they feel about how to live life.

I am mulling over ways to publish the pieces. I would love to make actual t-shirts, even if they use markers and an old shirt. Maybe we could tape paper onto shirts for the period. Ideally, I would like to see them wearing the shirts around school. (Yeah. Like that will happen!)

The writers of the movie had some messages they wanted the viewers to go away with. As writers, we, too, want people to leave our pieces with a message. This assignment is pretty much just what message do you want to tell other people? There's no poem, song, or narrative. Just tell me what you understand in a short message. After that, explain to me why that short statement expresses how you see life and how you came to that understanding.