In the Junior classes, we have begun reading one of my favorite books, the Freedom Writer's Diary. Many students have already seen the movie, but reading the book is completely different. The student's words resonate with issues that many of students all over the country face. So far journal entries have included: segregation, racism, bullying, student action, the undeclared war, revenge, peer pressure, learning disabilities, love, world peace and violence.
Memorable quotes:
"I've lost many friends, friends who have died in an undeclared war. A war that has been here for years, but has never been recognized, A war between color and race. A war that will never end. A war that has left family and friends crying for loved ones who have perished" (16).
"World peace is only a dream because people won't allow themselves and others around them to simply be peanuts. We won't allow the color of a man's heart to be the color of his skin, the premise of his beliefs, and his self-worth. We won't allow him to be a peanut, therefore we won't allow ourselves to come to live in harmony" (39).
Question of the day: "Ms. Yeilding, do you ever just sit in one place and breath?"
Students wrote essays for their nine weeks exams on what is freedom and how does one truly attain it. We also learned about recent nobel prize winning, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa who said, "If there is no freedom in a society and you are a writer, you cannot say, that's not your problem, if there is no freedom, you write." Listen to the interview at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1133828&ps=rs
Also, Cartoon Network has just launched a campaign against bullying as October is National Bullying Awareness month, check this out at
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/promos/stopbullying/index.html
Keep writing guys, you amaze me (when you do)!!! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment