Family Values

To get the picture for this blog, I typed "perfect family" in a google image search and these are the first two images that appeared. I wouldn't have expected anything different, yet at the same time felt somewhat disappointed. We see societal views haven't changed much in the past, oh, 50 years.

Is society right? Do these images capture "family"? Do they capture the "family unit" in the "perfect world" of The Giver? Would you say the "family unit" was a "family"?

Think about all the times throughout the book we are asked to question the meaning of "family" and how this applies to real life. You may want to consider discussing:
-Mother's job in the Department of Justice vs. Father's job as Nurturer (gender equality, anyone?)
-When Jonas recieves the memory of Christmas/Love
-The concept of grandparents, and biological parents (birthmothers) vs. those who raise the child (family unit)
-Jonas asking his parents if they love him
-The Giver's love for Rosemary and Jonas
-Jonas' relationship to Gabe
Try to take these events from this fake society and expand them out to real society, adding your own opinions about what is family?

Memories

"Memories are forever" (Lowry 144).

What do you think? Use evidence to support your answer from both The Giver and your life.

Here is a song for you to enjoy (about memories). Check out the lyrics.

Thank you, all, for creating very happy memories for me in class!

The Color Divide

Don't we all wish that the world could follow Micheal Jackson's famous words, "It don't matter if you're black or white"?

The problem is that skin COLOR is an easy way to DIVIDE people. It's visible, just like eye color in "A Class Divided", the video we saw today.

In these videos, did eye color CAUSE divisions in class, or was it the MEANING that the teacher (the person in power) put to eye color that caused them?
In society, does skin color cause divisions, or is it the meaning that society puts to skin color that causes the divisions? Do you think the people in power help to form and keep these meanings going?

Now, let's think about the societal problems you mentioned today that are caused by dividing people by color (whether it is eye color, skin color, hair color, etc). Some of those "color" problems are: racism, discrimination, stereotypes, prejudice... the list goes on (and on and on).

In Chapter 12 of The Giver, we discover the community's "solution" to these problems:
"There was a time, actually-you'll see this in the memories later-when flesh was many different colors. That was before we went to Sameness" (Lowry 94).
When Jonas asks why colors disappeared, the Giver responds, "Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences... We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others" (Lowry 95). 

So, is the PROBLEM in the COLORS themselves? Do we need to eliminate different skin colors to eliminate racism, etc.? Or is the PROBLEM in what skin color MEANS? Think about the video in the previous post (Perspectives on Life). Is the problem between Haitians and Domincans the NATIONALITY or is it what MEANING we give these nationalities? What (historically, culturally, socially, etc.) causes "The Color Divide" in society? Why does it (still) exist? What can we do to eliminate it, without going Giver-style and sacrificing colors?

Perspectives on Life

 

Yesterday, we were VERY lucky to be able to have a discussion with Emmanuel College students and staff. 

To all of our visitors from Emmanuel College... thank you for taking the time to come to MC School and share with us. Also, thank you for pushing us to think about and express our opinions on important issues in society today. 

To my beautiful 8th graders... I can't express enough to you how impressed I was with how you handled yourselves yesterday. Not only was I amazed at your ideas, but also the fluency and clarity with which you expressed them, and your focus, dedication and participation in the discussion. You make me proud to be your teacher and happy to know such bright, intellectual, caring individuals.

Now, to continue the discussion... Our main question is: 

Does everyone deserve the right to a quality education? 

(Think about The Giver and why the members of the community don't have books).

And if you would like to specify it to this country: 

Do Haitians deserve the right to a quality education in the Dominican Republic? 

(You may want to check out this video so you understand a little more how Haitians are treated legally in the Dominican Republic). 

 

I would like to invite everyone, including Emmanuel College, to comment. Feel free to look back on and comment on prior blog posts as well!

The Ceremony

8th grade is a BIG year, the year you "move on" to high school or graduate from middle school. You will soon celebrate this process with a ceremony in which each one of you is recognized for your abilities, talents, and strengths as an individual. In Jonas' Ceremony of Twelve a similar process happens, as we read in chapters 6-9. We often call this "moving on" a "rite of passage" or "coming of age". What other ceremonies have you had or will you have that are a "rite of passage"?

Imagine someone from a different community or culture were watching your move-on ceremony. They might find it a little strange that we have the tradition of wearing a funny-looking, flat, square hat with this little colorful string that dangles in front of the face. They may not understand why we wear a silky nightgown-like robe. Do you? (Read about it in "The History of Graduation Day"). Just like we found the community's ceremony a little different, we might find this 13-year-old Apache girl's "coming of age" unique (definitely compared to a USA-style "Super Sweet Sixteen"). The point is, every community and culture has their own way of recognizing important landmarks in life, such as the "coming of age".

What ceremonies do you/will you celebrate as you move through life?  What "rite of passage" or "coming of age" will you have? How are these similar and different to those of the community? Feel free to share here any ideas that came up in class while working with chp. 6-9, such as which Assignment you may have been given if you were a member of the community, the "timeline" of life that each community member follows, etc. Make sure to check out all the links above so you can use those to help enhance your ideas and comment!

What is Love?

Valentine's Day: The day of love and friendship. On this day, everyone celebrates the "power of love" by giving cards, chocolates, flowers, balloons, teddy bears... while chocolate distributors, card stores, and flower shops everywhere rejoice. But the question is, what exactly are we celebrating on this holiday? WHAT IS LOVE?

You all did a VERY impressive job of describing this sensation in class, without using any of the traditional words we usually do, just as Lois Lowry did in Chapter 5 of The Giver. (On a side note, please feel free to share any of those descriptions here, or descriptions you like from your favorite songs). In Chapter 5, we read about Jonas' first "stirrings". He describes a dream in which he has that feeling of "wanting" another person. *Sigh* Jonas, can't we all relate? He describes this feeling as being pleasurable, and wanting to feel this way again. *Sigh* Jonas, don't we all? Sorry about that pill...

So, the questions that remain:
1. What does it feel like to love someone?
2. Is this a PROBLEM for a "perfect society"? Why/Why not?
3. By eliminating "stirrings" with a pill, what societal problems does "The Community" avoid?
4. Is there any potential harm to "The Community" by eliminating "stirrings"? Explain.

(I would like to remind you to answer in the format you wish, but please keep your comments PG and put your name so you get credit for your work).
Much love to you all!

Community Roles: The Giver Chapter 1-4 Review/Literature Circles

Here are the tasks for each role in your "community". Please come prepared on Thursday with your task(s) complete and ready to share... or else you may get "released" from your community!

SPEAKER: Make a list of all the rules in the community (in Chp. 1-4). Include the p. # you find the rule (or a hint of it) on. You will present your group's work to the class.

"OUTSIDER": You just moved from your community (Santo Domingo) to "the community". Write a letter home describing the community and summarizing what's happened so far.

ELDER: Record observations of Jonas' character (what he says, does, thinks...). Choose the format you wish, but include p. #s of where you got the info.

PRECISION OF LANGUAGE MASTER: Select 5 words from each chapter (2, 3, &4) that you or your group does not know. Mark or record their context. Then, make vocab. word cards for the words. Design a creative way to teach the words to your group/the class. (Color code: Chp. 2=orange, Chp.3=blue, Chp. 4=yellow).

PLANNING COMMITTEE: Draw "The Community" based on the descriptions you have read so far. Write down 4 quotes (with p. #) that helped you create your drawing.