Emily's Back Pack: Mitey



Why was a bag left up in the cemetery and more to the point, what does the letter found inside mean?

Who wrote the it and are they ok?

Just a few things that passed through the minds of Room 8 yesterday as part of a Unit from Mitey called 

Emily's Back Pack 

based on understanding Identity and why people leave in difficult situations. 

Running Away Vs Running To.

Room 8 had a great time wondering why the bag was left in the cemetery. They diagnosed the letter left in the bag even researching online who the people may be that the writer was referring to. The bag was searched and the contents revealed... a change of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, empty lunchbox and a bracelet.

After much discussion and surmising, groups were formed just at the tables they were sitting... so as not to make it seemed staged. The groups were asked to fill in a four square using the headings: 

Know, Think, Feel and Wonder

What do you know so far, What are you thinking, What did you feel when you read the letter and what are you wondering (do you have any questions)? 

The ideas were thought provoking with one theme being the students wondering if she was safe and still alive.

After an hour the engagement was high with only a few considering the 'Back Pack' to be a bit 'Suspect' maybe a 'set-up'!!

The unit will take us through to the end of term concluding with a follow up discussion with our Mitey Team checking in, as part of the Pilot, to see how the unit worked and if there were any changes made and why. 

Watch this space to see how it continues! 








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evaluation

Image
 Following on from Monitoring, Recording and Tweaking I finally feel I have some semblance of data. So moving forward... Can the specific and deliberate use of two types of process drama not only improve  Reflective Discussion  amongst reluctant contributors but also  Critical Literacy? The work we did as a class on Ahi Ka , Bastion Point was a personal test of the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum . It allowed us to view both the Nonfictional and Fictional side of Bastion Point from the burial of Michael Joseph Savage to the land occupation. Where:                               I used a type of Drama called ' Mantle of the Expert' (MoE) along with ' Hot Seating'.   MoE allows the student to take on the role of the expert, research, create and present their understanding. Hot Seating allows students to question and find out more information through interrogation. As disc...
Read more

What's going on?

Image
Can development of my students Inferential and Evaluative comprehension skills by integrating Process Drama into the Reading Program improve their Critical Literacy and consequentially their Reading Age? The key question for my Inquiry! For the design and development of a program in response to this question I knew I needed to include both fiction and non fiction, books, articles, short movies/animations... any kind of media I could find that was appropriate and also engaging. Text that could be developed further and had strong themes running through them.  The text/media also needs to support the insertion of process drama throughout creating a link that flows appropriately building understanding of the character, plot and differing perspectives. Alternatively, for non fiction, using dramatic inquiry based tools such as 'Mantle of the Expert.'  Implementation of my change in practise will be noted within each presentation where the text/media will be available alongside the l...
Read more

Pennies for Hitler

Image
“Please keep reading!”  When you hear that you know it’s a goodie!   An afternoon shared book becomes a high stakes piece of classroom literacy and motivation.   Another example of integrating Mitey into the curriculum. Pennies for Hitler, by Jackie French...A story steeped in history just begging to be ripped apart through process drama baring the concepts of war, loss, grief, new beginnings, kindness, compassion and courage. The story explores the ideas of discrimination, hatred and fear of being different. There is the ongoing idea that while hatred is contagious so is love. Discussion was in-depth while writing became purposeful with highly descriptive language articulating the pain and suffering of those caught up in the era. Non-writers became silently obsessed patiently waiting to share their work. Critical moments, in a section of the story, were examined, rationalised for significance, re-created through process drama and expressed in clay. Through hot seating s...
Read more