Seekers Day 5 — Mesopotamia

<intro/overview> add the flood story in? what else from the bigger book?

Seekers Day 4 — Egypt

<intro/overview>

Seekers Day 3 — Interwoven Wisdom

Seekers Day 2 — Heroes, Collaboration, Commitment

• MM —
• Relay—[tables, wb, 5m] So we talked a little bit yesterday about the value of helping each other stay focused and we recognized that times of transition can test our strength there. Signal <model> if you've heard of 'passing the torch'? It's like a relay race, you pass it to the next person, so that they can carry it further. Signal if you've heard of or know what a relay or relay race is. What are the origins? <nod to maps, note how we relay messages today, c/c>
• Transition to Sharea—[transition, 2m] I want to meet you guys over at the Sharea, so I'm going to pass the torch to someone, who will silently pass it along on their journey to the Sharea. You can pass it to the person to your right or your left, across from you or on the way to the circle—the point is to be quick and quiet, swift and silent. Thank you for helping each other maintain focus.
• Read The Mother Who Turned to Dust—[Sharea, NM bk, wb, 30m]
  • What was the timeline of this story? <b/m/e> What was a key turning point? <a few, including the strong one standing up and offering to help>
  • Raise your hand if you want to be that Strong One, if you want to help—our mothers, each other, our cities, our planet? 
  • Given that everyone's had some time to consider the map we made yesterday, our goals to generously and curiously challenge and support each other in effort to leave it better than we find it, to pay it forward—is this something you take to heart? <model signal hand over heart, yes?>
• Palm Tree—[transition to tables]  We are going to Pass the Torch quietly back to our desks. I want us to maintain a sense of silence so that we can all contemplate this valuable commitment and opportunity. As you guys Pass the Torch, I will distribute blue and yellow paint to our table tribes. Please quietly continue your consideration of whether you'd like to raise your hand to help. 
  • Thank you all for nurturing our focus. Signal if you feel like you've had enough time to consider your commitment. Signal if you think it's important. Valuable? Heroic? Do you choose to be a hero? 
  • If you want to commit to generously and curiously challenging and supporting each other throughout our adventures, please show your commitment by combining the two colors at your desks to make your shade of green. Then, as a show of our commitment toward generous and curious growth and development, we will plant our palms on this Palm Tree, under whose shade we will learn and grow together. You have one minute to mix your paint. When you are done, please center it in your desk, place your hands in your lap and look at me. <I see ____ Tribe is ready, thank you... etc.>
  • Now, I could have called you all over individually as you finished—but this is important and a communal commitment. We're all in this together, so I am going to pass the torch to a Table Tribe who is showing me that they are ready to commit to our crew here on Spaceship Earth. We will all watch each tribe plant their palm on the tree, and then we will give them a thumbs up to show our appreciation and support before they take a paper towel, carefully clean up and quietly return to participate from the Sharea in prep for Anthropology.
• Anthropology—
• Discuss, Intro; Antrhopology, Stories, Culture/Community—[m, Sharea, wb]
  • What is Anthropology? How is it?
  • How and why do people cooperate? 
  • Why are stories valuable? 
  • So we—like many before us, and hopefully many generations to come—have just made a commitment to come together as a group of diverse individuals and work together toward a common goal of something larger than us individually—just like the two colors of paint combined to make a new color <Venn Diagram>.
  • What happens if we don't make that commitment to consciously come together? <we fall apart> People have had to do this again and agains and again throughout history—how do they do it? What have we been coming together over so far this week? <stories>
  • And when people tell stories, do we tell them exactly the same way, every single time? That's right—people edit and embellish, forget and omit and occasionally construe. Signal if you've ever heard of or played the game Telephone. And if you can explain it to me? <explain>
• Telephone—[m, Sharea], 
  • Now if we could all scoot into a circle, I'd like to play a game of Telephone. You are, as in storytelling, free to add your own edits and embellishments, as you might in storytelling, but you do want to strive to maintain some integrity and remember what you heard bc we might ask you to share that in review. <play game, announce messages, c/c original and latest.> Are they the same? Why not? <lost in trans, due to imprecision, embellishments, etc.>
• The Message—[m, Sharea]
  • Now gather round, I have another story for you...<The Message>
  • Why this story? Is this worth re-telling? Would you edit or emphasize anything? 
  • <Quick Chalk Talk>
• Mathematics
• Songs as Stories, The Mathematics of Music/Musical Mathematics
  • So we've been exploring the role of story in human history as a way to help us better remember as we relay across the deserts of Time—and we know these fragile stories are vulnerable to these sands of time. How might we reinforce a story's staying power—even just a little bit?
  • Does anyone here know what a jingle is? <ever get a song stanza stuck in your head? examples: discuss, play a few: folgers, rice-a-roni, state farm—used largely in advertising to stick in brains>
  • Did you guys know that the first songs and rap songs were traveling bards, messengers carrying a poetic tune from village to village? So yes—a song can help protect and maintain a story through time. 
  • We spoke yesterday of what our songs might sound and feel like—let's take another look at musical measures now. 
  • <You all have sheet music in your folders/desk centers/math baskets>—I want you to mark where you think these beats would fall on a 4 count measure. How many beats did we hit in each measure? That's right * out of 4 beats or */4. Note these beats above each measure in this format. How many beats did we hit total? How many would we have hit if we'd hit all 4 beats in each measure? What's the difference between these two numbers? (Is 4/measure the most we could hit?)
  • Quietly enough to help your friends focus, try out a few beats and note them on your measures of music. If any of your neighbors gets lost in the music, gently put your hand on their shoulder and smile understandingly to remind them. I'll set the timer for 5 minutes to decide on a beat/rhythm for today. When the timer sounds, you'll have an additional 5 minutes to answer the same questions <on the board>. For the next 2.5 minutes we will turn and teach to our side neighbors and then switch. As I see teams that are ready, I will start signaling tables over to the Sharea for Science. <observe, listen + note>
• Science—
• What/Why/How is Science <Venn? Table?>? <evidence, inference> How are Science + Stories interwoven? 
  • Evidence/Inference/Reality—So, we've explored the role of stories and their susceptibilities to cultures and time; we've seen how messages can change as they're handed on, one generation after the next. With that in mind, do we always take things at face value? <metaphors, we don't really we don't really, various other susceptibilities> How can we reinforce and find our footing in a world rich with metaphor and play? <science-define, as a tool, etc. > 
  • (read excerpt from The Value of Science? or later? may be better for Discoverers unit...)
• Gather round for a story <Honey Words>
  • <Quick predictions/guesses/ideas>
  • Why that title? Why did he do it? Why did they do it? What could have saved the monkeys time and energy? Now that they are stronger physically, do you think they are also stronger intellectually? How do you think they would handle it the next time? How would you handle it? <discussion/s>
  • What is Science? Why is Science? How is Science? <journal>
  • Energy is neither created nor destroyed—what happens? What's its timeline? Where does it start and where does it end? Where do we get energy? Where does our energy get energy? Where does our energy go?  <separate lesson> (<==why do we seek)
• Readers Workshop
• Intro to Adventures of Spider
  • Warm Up [m, desks, wb/journals/notes]—What makes for a good story? <basic timeline, Hero's Journey, characters, setting, specifics>
  • Map— <slide, print outs, otg slide, colored pencils>
    • Which is West? How do you know? <from looking at map>
    • What if you were on the ground in Africa? <slide with sun>
    • <print outs in folders>Find Liberia <color blue>. Ghana? <color yellow> Which is further West? East? <label, add your own compass>
    • <Journal/Tribal Meeting—Can the setting be a character in the story? Why/How or why/how not?>
  • Read Introduction + Waist—note characters, setting + specific descriptions. Discuss + note on table on wb.
  • <wkst, wb or tribes?> If this is East Village and this is West Village, please put Anasi in the middle. 
  • Choose a question: Can setting be a character? Specifically describe a setting or a character.
• Writer's Workshop
  • Review timeline/arc/cycles
  • Review elements of myth/legend/folklore <Venn Diagram>
  • Highlight themes, characters, settings, elements etc that inspire
  • Over the next 7 weeks, we are going to build out our own myths <slide of 7 wks>
  • Choose a metaphor/moral/animal/approach
  • Continue to explore and build on ideas from yesterday

materials:

NM/Mother, signals, blue + yellow paints x tables (or math or science?) sheet music, drum

Seekers Day 2 — Writer's Workshop; Character & Setting

• Review timeline/arc/cycles
• Review elements of myth/legend/folklore <Venn Diagram>
• Highlight themes, characters, settings, elements etc that inspire
• Over the next 7 weeks, we are going to build out our own myths <slide of 7 wks>
• Choose a metaphor/moral/animal/approach 
• Continue to explore and build on ideas from yesterday

Seekers Day 2 — Reading Workshop

• Intro to Adventures of Spider
  • Warm Up [m, desks, wb/journals/notes]—What makes for a good story? <basic timeline, Hero's Journey, characters, setting, specifics>
  • Map— <slide, print outs, otg slide, colored pencils>
    • Which is West? How do you know? <from looking at map>
    • What if you were on the ground in Africa? <slide with sun>
    • <print outs in folders>Find Liberia <color blue>. Ghana? <color yellow> Which is further West? East? <label, add your own compass>
    • <Journal/Tribal Meeting—Can the setting be a character in the story? Why/How or why/how not?>
  • Read Introduction + Waist—note characters, setting + specific descriptions. Discuss + note on table on wb. 
  • <wkst, wb or tribes?> If this is East Village and this is West Village, please put Anasi in the middle. 
  • Choose a question: Can setting be a character? Specifically describe a setting or a character.

Seekers Day 2 — Science; Honey Words

• Science—
• What/Why/How is Science <Venn? Table?>? <evidence, inference> How are Science + Stories interwoven? 
  • Evidence/Inference/Reality—So, we've explored the role of stories and their susceptibilities to cultures and time; we've seen how messages can change as they're handed on, one generation after the next. With that in mind, do we always take things at face value? <metaphors, we don't really we don't really, various other susceptibilities> How can we reinforce and find our footing in a world rich with metaphor and play? <science-define, as a tool, etc. > 
  • (read excerpt from The Value of Science? or later? may be better for Discoverers unit...)
• Gather round for a story <Honey Words>
  • <Quick predictions/guesses/ideas>
  • Why that title? Why did he do it? Why did they do it? What could have saved the monkeys time and energy? Now that they are stronger physically, do you think they are also stronger intellectually? How do you think they would handle it the next time? How would you handle it? <discussion/s>
  • What is Science? Why is Science? How is Science? <journal>
  • Energy is neither created nor destroyed—what happens? What's its timeline? Where does it start and where does it end? Where do we get energy? Where does our energy get energy? Where does our energy go?  <separate lesson>

Seekers Day 2 — Mathematics; Musical Math

• Songs as Stories, The Mathematics of Music/Musical Mathematics
  • So we've been exploring the role of story in human history as a way to help us better remember as we relay across the deserts of Time—and we know these fragile stories are vulnerable to these sands of time. How might we reinforce a story's staying power—even just a little bit?
  • Does anyone here know what a jingle is? <ever get a song stanza stuck in your head? examples: discuss, play a few: folgers, rice-a-roni, state farm—used largely in advertising to stick in brains>
  • Did you guys know that the first songs and rap songs were traveling bards, messengers carrying a poetic tune from village to village? So yes—a song can help protect and maintain a story through time. 
  • We spoke yesterday of what our songs might sound and feel like—let's take another look at musical measures now. 
  • <You all have sheet music in your folders/desk centers/math baskets>—I want you to mark where you think these beats would fall on a 4 count measure. How many beats did we hit in each measure? That's right * out of 4 beats or */4. Note these beats above each measure in this format. How many beats did we hit total? How many would we have hit if we'd hit all 4 beats in each measure? What's the difference between these two numbers? (Is 4/measure the most we could hit?)
  • Quietly enough to help your friends focus, try out a few beats and note them on your measures of music. If any of your neighbors gets lost in the music, gently put your hand on their shoulder and smile understandingly to remind them. I'll set the timer for 5 minutes to decide on a beat/rhythm for today. When the timer sounds, you'll have an additional 5 minutes to answer the same questions <on the board>. For the next 2.5 minutes we will turn and teach to our side neighbors and then switch. As I see teams that are ready, I will start signaling tables over to the Sharea for Science. <observe, listen + note>

Seekers Day 2—Anthropology

• Discuss, Intro; Antrhopology, Stories, Culture/Community—[m, Sharea, wb]
  • What is Anthropology? How is it?
  • How and why do people cooperate? 
  • Why are stories valuable? 
  • So we—like many before us, and hopefully many generations to come—have just made a commitment to come together as a group of diverse individuals and work together toward a common goal of something larger than us individually—just like the two colors of paint combined to make a new color <Venn Diagram>.
  • What happens if we don't make that commitment to consciously come together? <we fall apart> People have had to do this again and agains and again throughout history—how do they do it? What have we been coming together over so far this week? <stories>
  • And when people tell stories, do we tell them exactly the same way, every single time? That's right—people edit and embellish, forget and omit and occasionally construe. Signal if you've ever heard of or played the game Telephone. And if you can explain it to me? <explain>
• Telephone—[m, Sharea], 
  • Now if we could all scoot into a circle, I'd like to play a game of Telephone. You are, as in storytelling, free to add your own edits and embellishments, as you might in storytelling, but you do want to strive to maintain some integrity and remember what you heard bc we might ask you to share that in review. <play game, announce messages, c/c original and latest.> Are they the same? Why not? <lost in trans, due to imprecision, embellishments, etc.>
• The Message—[m, Sharea]
  • Now gather round, I have another story for you...<The Message>
  • Why this story? Is this worth re-telling? Would you edit or emphasize anything? 
  • <Quick Chalk Talk>

Seekers Day 2—Morning Meeting

• Relay—[tables, wb, 5m] So we talked a little bit yesterday about the value of helping each other stay focused and we recognized that times of transition can test our strength there. Signal <model> if you've heard of 'passing the torch'? It's like a relay race, you pass it to the next person, so that they can carry it further. Signal if you've heard of or know what a relay or relay race is. What are the origins? <nod to maps, note how we relay messages today, c/c>
• Transition to Sharea—[transition, 2m] I want to meet you guys over at the Sharea, so I'm going to pass the torch to someone, who will silently pass it along on their journey to the Sharea. You can pass it to the person to your right or your left, across from you or on the way to the circle—the point is to be quick and quiet, swift and silent. Thank you for helping each other maintain focus.
• Read The Mother Who Turned to Dust—[Sharea, NM bk, wb, 30m]
  • What was the timeline of this story? <b/m/e> What was a key turning point? <a few, including the strong one standing up and offering to help>
  • Raise your hand if you want to be that Strong One, if you want to help—our mothers, each other, our cities, our planet? 
  • Given that everyone's had some time to consider the map we made yesterday, our goals to generously and curiously challenge and support each other in effort to leave it better than we find it, to pay it forward—is this something you take to heart? <model signal hand over heart, yes?>
• Palm Tree—[transition to tables]  We are going to Pass the Torch quietly back to our desks. I want us to maintain a sense of silence so that we can all contemplate this valuable commitment and opportunity. As you guys Pass the Torch, I will distribute blue and yellow paint to our table tribes. Please quietly continue your consideration of whether you'd like to raise your hand to help. 
  • Thank you all for nurturing our focus. Signal if you feel like you've had enough time to consider your commitment. Signal if you think it's important. Valuable? Heroic? Do you choose to be a hero? 
  • If you want to commit to generously and curiously challenging and supporting each other throughout our adventures, please show your commitment by combining the two colors at your desks to make your shade of green. Then, as a show of our commitment toward generous and curious growth and development, we will plant our palms on this Palm Tree, under whose shade we will learn and grow together. You have one minute to mix your paint. When you are done, please center it in your desk, place your hands in your lap and look at me. <I see ____ Tribe is ready, thank you... etc.>
  • Now, I could have called you all over individually as you finished—but this is important and a communal commitment. We're all in this together, so I am going to pass the torch to a Table Tribe who is showing me that they are ready to commit to our crew here on Spaceship Earth. We will all watch each tribe plant their palm on the tree, and then we will give them a thumbs up to show our appreciation and support before they take a paper towel, carefully clean up and quietly return to participate from the Sharea in prep for Anthropology.

Seekers Day 1 — SciEx, Mapping the Year

So we have talked about heroes and our shared African heritage and the creation and use of maps. Would you say a map is a tool?

Now let's look forward to our journey through the upcoming year. I have a map to share with you and a map to build with you. First we will take a quick overview of our journey throughout the year. Then we will discuss our goals here individually and together—is there a muscle you want to exercise and strengthen? What might we accomplish together?

First let's begin by referencing our map. I'll walk you all through a quick overview, and I want you all to pull out your Field Notes and jot down your thoughts, questions, excitements, etc. for us to discuss. <walk through map>

So now we've established that we can journey great adventures and achieve great things—what challenges, obstacles and traps lay in our path? How and where can we find reinforcement and resources? <Group discussion, possible Chalk Talk>.

Create Tribal/Crew Map. 

• Goal/Treasure—informed, honed curiosity focused toward stronger and more sustainable tomorrows, Wonderstanding. 
• Does it hurt or does it help?
• Elements:
  • Scale—of all time, known and beyond; calendar year.
  • Direction—to leave it better than we found it, does it hurt or does it help?
  • Legend—<scale, compass, resources, hazards>
  • Hazards—obstacles, challenges, traps
    • Helping each other focus
    • Fear
    • Dishonesty
    • Weakness
  • Landmasses/Resources
    • Each other—support each other with:
      • Signals
      • Eye contact
      • Gentle hand on shoulder
    • Structure—daily routines and rituals
    • Supplies & Maintenance
      • Tidying/better than we found it
      • Systems free up brain space

<Signal to speak, generously challenge and support each other, use our powers to build/leave it better than you found it, our tribe in the cosmic desert, Spaceship Earth>

Seekers Day 1 — Writer's Workshop

• Writing—CoA lyrics, hunters and gatherers of tangible and intangible. 
  • Do we still have heroes today? Who are they? What are they doing? 
  • What problems are our heroes working on today? How can we help? 
  • In Writing Workshop this week, you will choose to work on a Hero's Journey, A Song or a Parable <vs. myth, vs allegory vs fable> We will start by exploring the following: Are we heroes? What makes us strong? Where are us weak? Who are our team mates? What is our journey/goal? Write out your thoughts and we'll share<how> a few during the Share Chair in our Sharea. This is smoothing and readying the foundation for our stories to come. 
• Adventure: Intro print out so students can mark, notate and highlight. 
• 7 wk map of mythmaking.

Seekers Day 1 — Reader's Workshop

• Reading—read and discuss CoA lyrics
  • q1 etc. 
  • why 'flung'?
  • 200,000 on a timeline
  • made it through the ice age
  • any parts of the song that really resonates with you? <soaring imaginations—why? the key>
  • what's different between us and chimps? what's the same? 
  • 'instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, perhaps it is time we begin to control the population"
  • purpose of writing, stories, music, song (maintain integrity across intergenerational game of telephone, 
  • what messages do you feel need to be shared? why? how? <poem, song, painting, dance, details, examples, analogies, metaphors—feel free to quietly consult with your tribe for quick questions and help each other focus and explore.
• Adventures: Intro + Wisdom

Seekers Day 1 — Anthropology, Children of Africa

• Science—energy, living matter; all living things eat
  • So we've been adventuring through African landscapes, eras and mythologies today, and tomorrow we will move up the map a bit north to Egypt and Mesopatamia, just as human tribes did generations ago. Does everyone here know that we are all children of Africa? That is the cradle of our species, from whence we adventured? Would you guys like to see a quick music video about it? <Children of Africa, print/post lyrics>
    • Did anyone see any heroes here? <pioneers, explorers, hunters> What were they doing? Why? How? <resources, food, water, shelter>
    • Do we still need resources, food, water and shelter today? <list some; water, sleep, safety, energy/food/fuel>
    • So we are going to practice our hunting and gathering with our tribes. As we all know, hunters are skilled in silence and focus, so we will all clothe ourselves in our hunting mentality and hunt silently, quietly and focused for 20 seconds. This is more than enough time to get more than you need, so in this scenario, we have room to pleasantly and cooperatively collect what we need. At the sound of the bell, the hunt is up and you will return to your tribe tables with your spoils. The spoils today are truffula fruits which you will keep in your cloth pocket until we all regroup <pom poms, rectangles of material, questions, journals>.
    • So, to recap <timeline on wb> 1) at the sound of the bell, the 20 second silent hunt will begin 2) silently hunt for 20 seconds 3) at the sound of the bell, the hunt ends with us sitting with our poms in our pockets. Is everybody onboard? <all hands in—annnnd (tribal eyes) break>
    • Very nicely done everyone, I appreciate silent hunting skills! Now, with your poms still in your pockets, please take out your math journals and pencils, and take inventory according to the questions on the board. 
      • How many do each of us have? What is the largest number of truffula fruits any one member gathered? The smallest? What's the difference between the largest and the smallest? How many do we have all together? How many do we each get if we divide them up equally? Are there any left over?
      • Next, I want you to discuss among your groups "Why/How did humans invent/discover math? Is math a tool? What is science? Are science and math related?"
      • Then we will come together as a group to discuss. 
      •  

Seekers — Mathematics; Timelines

Mathematician MeetUp—timelines, measures of music, hunting and gathering and sharing the spoils

• Timelines—we were looking at timelines this morning, let's take another quick look at timelines before we do some hunting and gathering with our table tribes. 
  • Hand out/hold up timelines. Signal—Where is the beginning of the timeline? The end? How do you know? Turn and teach. 
  • How do we start a timeline? What goes at this very first mark? Always? Any other answers? What are we looking, where are we beginning? Cosmic calendar to mythological timeline to the Civil War to seconds in a minute—where do we start with each of those? End? Sketch and discuss. What did you guys find?
  • Draw a timeline of your own choosing, from any of the listed above to the schedule of your day, to the arc of a story. Then compare two points on the timeline/storyline and articulate the sum or difference numerically—as in, this many years between a and b or this many days total, etc. It can be anything you want, I just want to warm up our arimethic muscles wake us up to timelines all around us. After 5 minutes of quiet time, we will share our findings in group discussions, so listen for the 60 second bell. 
  • • In the Magical Bird story we read during Anthropology, the kids focused on their own music, marched to their own beat. What might your beat look, sound and feel like? Behind your timelines in your Math Notebooks, you should have a measure of music. We will explore and experiment and collaborate on this throughout the rest of the unit and ultimately include it in our unit portfolio, so today is just the beginning, the exploration and play. I have plenty of these to experiment with during centers etc., so explore and experiment freely. Music is usually written in measures of 3 or 4, as in 1, 2, 3 or 1, 2, 3, 4. Within those thirds or quarters, you can further divide to 8ths or 16ths etc. To mark these loosely on your bars of music, you can fold it into 3 or 4 equal parts. Discuss with your table mates if you have questions or troubles. Mark with a pencil ideas, beats and rhythms you might like to explore for your song. We will have 5 minutes to explore quietly before we share with our tibes and return these to our folders
    •  

Seekers — The Enchanting Song of the Magical Bird

History/Anthropology—What is anthropology? Why? How? Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales: Forward and "The Enchanting Song of the Magical Bird."

• Intro—
  • Where is Africa? What is Africa? How is Africa? <evaluate familiarity, misunderstanding, gaps in knowledge, interests>
  • Who is Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela? Why is Nelson Mandela? Where is Nelson Mandela <SA, 1918, Xhosa>? Is Nelson Mandela a hero? How so? <equality, shared riches of freedom, peaceful, generous, perseverant, left it better]
  • What is freedom? How is freedom? <apartheid/aparthood v. unity/equality [Anasi's 6 sons & the moon; artificial division divides us from the treasure]>
  • Foreward
    • In African culture, repeating something emphasizes it—"so small, so small, so small" means "very, very small."
    • With that in mind, signal if you understand this quote, "We do not really mean, we do not really mean, that what we are going to say is true." 
    • Do you predict this story will be fact <palm up> or fiction <hang loose>? 
    • What is a metamorphosis? 
    • Has everyone here played Telephone? Does the message subtly change throughout the course of the game? 
    • Do we want to hold winged stories back? 
    • "take some elsewhere and let some come back to me." —everyone take a moment with this quote—turn and teach with a partner, discuss what you think it means. 
    • Why to the children? Are children limited to a certain age group or, just like we all have a little bit of Anasi within, do we all still carry a flicker of that childlike spirit and hope? What might happen if we all came together and nourished these flames and each other across generational, territorial, genetic, etc. boundaries? Would we be weaker or stronger? 
    • Why does he want to ensure the survival of the Storyteller? Why does he want children to experience 'the magic of stories"? 
    •  

Seekers Day 1—Morning Meeting

• What do you notice? 

  Images?

  Words? (Known & Unknown)

  Ideas

  Thoughts

  Questions

  Faces (NDT, Attenborough, Jane Goodall, space woman and lead woman?)

  first put foot to the ground (from where?)

  timelines (200,000 years?)

  flung themselves and their machines

  we are all children of africa

  chimp

  ndt

  survival of the environment

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0vlrTVC2tQ

• What do you want to be? Today? Tomorrow?

  If you could do/be/explore anything and everything over the course of this coming year—what would you do/explore/be?

  Make Popplet and cluster/color code. Save for later. 

  Give me a thumbs up <model near heart> if you’ve thought about being a hero. 

• What is a hero? How is a hero? Who is a hero? — Discuss and note on whiteboard. 
• The Hero's Journey
  • Small groups—with the collective examples we just discussed, draw a timeline of a typical hero's story; b/m/e. Once you've sketched it out, everyone draw it in their journal. <determine who presents, >
  • Sharea—bring your journals and a writing utensil. show your group's timeline to the larger group and summarize the beginning, the middle and the end of the general timeline of a hero. 
  • Regroup—
    • Thank you. I notice a pattern, signal if you notice it too—most examples seem to start with a call to adventure, some sort of battle and a resolution. 
    • So—these are our basics. There's a wonderful man by the name of <Joseph Campbell>, and he was fascinated by <myths> to the point that he devoted his entire life to them, starting when he was 14 and whole-heartedly pursuing his passion his entire life. Who in here knows of Star Wars <or maybe we mentioned it earlier.? Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars, and the two became good friends. Would you guys like to see a closer look at this same pattern through the lens of Joseph Campbell, one of Earth's greatest mythologists? 
    • First off, he noticed many similar themes, repeating themselves incessantly along this same timeline. So <with marker> if we're going a>b>c and back around again and again and again—what do you start to notice? What shape are you beginning to see? Yes—we're beginning to close this loop; we have a circle, a cycle. So Campbell brought the ends of the timeline together to make a circle. Then he added a few more specifics, noting helpers, tests, flight and elixir (solution). Signal if you can think of examples of any of these? Awesome. Please copy the Hero's Journey into your journal for reference, and feel free to note any examples. When you're finished, please quietly close your journal, pen in hands in lap and look at me. I will silently signal you to return to your seat to prepare for Anthropology. You can keep your journal open to study the Hero's Journey graphic—it will prove a helpful tool during our Anthro class. Please help maintain a quiet environment for our friends who are still focusing.