Star Wars Inquiry Circles

My colleague, Brian and I use Star Wars to teach our 5th graders about the hero's journey, a common literary narrative. I've wrote about it before, here. This fall as we began our unit it was even more exciting because we knew the new film, The Last Jedi, would be released in December. As we explored the hero's journey with Rey, our new protagonist from The Force Awakens, students began speculating about the upcoming new movie. This is where inquiry circles come in.

If you aren't familiar with inquiry circles I've wrote about them here and here back when I was teaching third grade.  During inquiry circles students choose a question to study or research. They work collaboratively to answer the question. For our Star Wars Inquiry students selected a "burning question" they had about a Star Wars character. A question that couldn't be answered for sure, yet. As a class we brainstormed a list of questions we wondered about. Questions that we hoped would be answered in the next movie, The Last Jedi. For example, Who is Rey? Why was she left on Jakku? What would happen to her next? If you are a big Star Wars fan, you are familiar with these questions and probably have your own theories! Inquiry groups were formed based on students questions. We had a group wondering about Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren. I formed 2 groups each for Luke Skywalker and Rey because so many students were interested in these characters.

In the next part of the inquiry circles I did some lessons on collaboration, note-taking and listening. Then they set off to research everything they could find out about their character and evidence that might help them form a theory about their "burning question". Students used Wookiepedia, clips from movies and the trailers for the Last Jedi. We even had some Star Wars books they could use. After collected information was verified as 'canon', I showed students how to web out information so that they could begin looking for patterns that would help them form a theory. Once they had their theory, they needed to be able to back it up with evidence either from the movies, trailers or Wookiepedia.

Each day as students worked together, I moved between groups to help them navigate Wookiepedia, read and understand passages, suggest further reading and generally talk to them and push their thinking. Of course another big part of inquiry circles is learning to work collaboratively. Some groups had few problems and moved along, while others needed some help problem solving. All of these things are messy, but I view them as good learning experiences. Sometimes I would have a struggling group watch a more productive group to help them see how to make it work. One group struggled to come up with a theory on Rey. So they needed me to help them go over their evidence and help them think aloud. They struggled throughout with listening to one another. So, they needed frequent interventions and reminders from me. But eventually they were successful. I ended up combining the Luke groups because of absences and lack of participation by 1 student. This made the group too large and they struggled when it came time to plan the podcast. At one point a student rewrote the whole script at home. We had to have a discussion about how unfair this was because the rest of the group didn't have a say in the matter. The work was suppose to be collaborative. This particular student wasn't comfortable with the messiness of working collaboratively. He couldn't see the value of listening to others' ideas or understanding that some students needed things repeated or explained more than once. And that sometimes people don't pay attention. But with lots of teacher guidance and reminders this group turned out a great podcast that was so much better than the script wrote at home because it had input from everyone.  I'm still not sure if I did the right thing by combining them.

I decided to have my students present their theories on several episodes of our podcast, Radio Rosenquist. Actually, I didn't have a class podcast...yet. I'd been thinking about starting one and this project just pushed me to jump in and start one. Sometimes that is the best way to begin. So in less than 3 weeks my students completed the inquiry circles, wrote podcast scripts, practiced and record their podcasts.  I will write another post about podcasting at a later date.

Last night my husband and I went with friends to see The Last Jedi. I loved it! No surprise there. This morning we brought our 5th graders to see it. They loved it too. Our local movie theater opened the theater at 9am just for us.  It was both exciting and emotional to sit in a theater with well over one hundred 5th graders and experience this movie with them.  There is no way this post can show how valuable this Star Wars unit is to my 5th graders. Of course Star Wars captures their attention, but I am always amazed at the critical thinking my students engage in, and the connections they make to other literature and everyday life.

You can listen to our podcasts here or here.

#NerdcampLI - Tough Topics in The Classroom

image from @nerdcampli Twitter feed

Yesterday I attended nErD Camp Long Island, an "unconference" edcamp with a focus on literacy. If you want to know more about these amazing, fun, and free professional development conferences go to the #nerdcampLI website. The sessions are generally very informal and audience participation is encouraged.

One session I attended yesterday was called Tough Topics in the Classroom and was moderated by authors Tony Abbott, Barbara Dee, Sarah Darer Littman, Lynda Mullaly Hunt and Marissa Moss. Each of these authors have written books that include topics that often have been considered controversial and perhaps inappropriate for the middle grade audience. In the book, The Summer of Owen Todd, Tony writes about the sensitive topic of sexual abuse and Barbara Dee's book, Star-Crossed includes a character, Gemma, who has a crush on another girl. Lynda's book, One for the Murphys is about a girl in foster care and includes flashbacks that explain why she has come to live with this foster family. All 3 of these books are intended for the middle grade audience. Sarah's book, Backlash, is recommended for grades 7 and up and deals with the damaging effects of cyberbullying.

The session began with the authors sharing a bit about their books and why they think these topics need to be included in middle grade books. When they asked us how we share these types of books in our classrooms a flood of questions and comments began.  I want to write about it here on my blog so I can process what I heard and how I felt about everything that was said. First, I want to make it clear this is my opinion and I can only tell you my perspective. If you attended this session you might have taken away something different. And that is okay. Both personally and professionally I believe these controversial topics need to be included in middle grade books. I am so happy that I can now find more than 1 book with an LGBT character or theme to add to my classroom library. I read most of the books I put in my classroom and feel they are age-appropriate. They deal with themes of fitting in and trying to find out who you are. Many include themes of bullying and my 5th graders love those books. They have a great sense of fairness and are often dealing with these issues themselves.

During the discussion some teachers shared that they often required a parent signature when a student chose certain books that had topics that might concern parents. One teacher said she gave slips with notes to parents about the book chosen. My understanding was she didn't always do this, just sometimes. I was left wondering how she decided who got a parent note and who didn't? I shared that I included these types of books in my regular book talks. I didn't treat them any different than other books. I think that my parents trust that I have selected books for my class library that are appropriate for all 5th graders. What I didn't share, because of time constraints, was the few experiences I have had when a parent questions a book their child is reading independently. (Parents have never questioned my read alouds or book club choices.) Years ago a parent contacted me to express her concerns about her daughter's reading choices. The daughter had become very interested in Greek mythology and the parent requested she not read these books because they went against their religion. Since this was a student's choice and not an assignment I respected the parents wishes, but asked her to explain this to her daughter, as I do not restrict children's reading choices. If this had been a whole class unit on Greek mythology my response would have been very different. When I taught 3rd grade a parent contacted me about the Dork Diary books her daughter had begun reading and was concerned that the books modeled poor behavior and shallow morals. Fortunately, I was able to have a great discussion with this parent about the value of book choice and I was certain that her daughter would get bored with these books soon and move on, especially after conferring and book talks designed for her daughter. I encouraged her to discuss the books with her daughter and bring up her concerns because kids actually do listen and want to know what we think. Eventually, this reader moved on to different books.

When, during the session, a K-6 librarian shared that she was okay with including Lynda's book in her collection, but was uncomfortable with Barbara's book I decided to respond.  It seemed to me that most of the comments from teachers and librarians related to fear of parent reactions so I stated that we cannot let a few parents decide what we put on our library shelves. I said that we need to explore our own bias. It's okay to be uncomfortable but we have to think about and discuss why we are so uncomfortable with books that explore LGBT themes. These books aren't about sex, they are about self-acceptance, overcoming adversity and finding out who you are - important themes in children's literature. When we don't include books that make us uncomfortable I think it's essentially banning a book, and as the gatekeepers of what children get to read we have a responsibility to make sure diverse titles that children need are available.

Now here's the thing that bothered me after the session and made me write this post. I felt bad. The K-6 librarian had shared something about herself. She shared her discomfort and worry. That took courage. I had hoped my comments would lead to conversation about how to prepare and talk to parents or other adults that want to ban books. Maybe we would even talk about why we are uncomfortable with these "hot" topics. But I knew by her body language she was upset and felt attacked. I can't blame her. That was not my goal, but it happened.

Later in the day someone came up to me to thank me for my comments during the session. I shared with him that I felt I had come off rude to this poor librarian. We discussed the fact that the conversations were just getting going as the session came to an end. We agreed that this was an important topic and much more conversation was needed.

To me, it's clear why we need these types of books on the shelves. It's also clear that we have to have more discussion about these topics that make us comfortable. And most of all, how can we help teachers and librarians feel empowered and safe so they will put these books on the shelf?

Using Star Wars to study the Hero's Journey

It's been a long while since my last post, and I am now teaching 5th grade.  But today I am back and writing about Star Wars!

Last spring, after deciding to move from 3rd to 5th grade, a colleague asked if I might be interested in creating a literature unit surrounding Star Wars.  Of course, being a Star Wars fan, I immediately said yes!

But we weren't studying and watching Star Wars movies just for fun. (Although it has been lots of fun.) We used the Star Wars movies to teach our students about the narrative archetype of the Hero's Journey.  The movies helped us to understand the different stages of the journey. We would then be able to tie in the Hero's Journey to other literature.  There's even a website dedicated to using Star Wars in the Classroom. If you want to read about Star Wars and other sci-fi from the female fan perspective I highly recommend The Fangirl Blog.

The Hero's Journey is a narrative pattern that scholar, Joseph Campbell, identified in myths, storytelling and other dramas. In this monomyth, or hero's journey, the Hero goes on an adventure, faces many tests, wins a victory or achieves a goal and then returns home, changed.  You can read more about it in Joseph Campbell's book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  You might also like to watch this TED-ED video that explains the Hero's Journey archetype very nicely.

There are several different versions of the stages out there, but we decided to use the stages found at The Writer's Journey website.  You can view the Google slideshow that my colleague, Brian St. Pierre, created for us to teach our students about the Hero's Journey stages. We watched Episode IV, A New Hope first, and then we began learning about the stages. My students used this graphic organizer to take notes as we went through the stages.  You can complete the hero's journey for Luke Skywalker for just the first move, A New Hope, or you can study Luke's journey over the entire trilogy. With my class, I had my students analyze Luke's journey for the first movie.  Later, after we had viewed the entire trilogy we re-analyzed his journey.  After we finished the original trilogy we watched The Force Awakens and then were able to analyze Rey's heroine's journey.

After watching The Force Awakens students immediately started discussing the character, Rey.  Who was she?  We all had our theories and opinions. This led to an assignment that you can view here.

Then in December the new Star Wars movie, Rogue One, came out.  Many students went to see the movie.  So many students wanted to talk about it that Brian set up a Google Classroom just for kids to discuss the movie without spoiling it for others that hadn't seen it yet.

In case you are wondering, we watched the first movie, A New Hope, during class time.  Later, we showed the other 2 movies - The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - during recesses.  Students were given the option, but I think all of them decided to stay in and watch.  We also discussed the unit as part of our Back to School Night.  We wanted our parents to be as excited as we were and also understand the connections to learning.  My parents were all very excited and supportive of the unit.  We did ask all of our parents to sign permission for viewing the movies.

Each class also began reading literature that followed the hero's journey narrative.  Brian's class read The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander and my class read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.  Other books you could use are Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson & the Olympians. There are some great picture books that you could use also, like Brave Irene and the wordless book Journey .  I've even see a post with someone using Last Stop on Market Street!

Once my class finished Where the Mountain Meets the Moon we began analyzing the main character, Minli, and her journey.  Often when the hero, or heroine in this case, is female their journey is slightly different. So we adjusted our stages as we went. My students created a Google Slideshow to share what they had learned.  You can view it here.  

Our entry into the world of Star Wars and the Hero's Journey was a great way to start our school year. It engaged my students and helped to create a classroom community.  We bonded over Star Wars.  If you were already a fan it was frosting on the cake and I am excited that we created new fans along the way. New Star Wars clothing seem to appear weekly, especially with the girls in the class.  One of my students has even tried out many different Star Wars inspired hairdos.  When we had to decorate our class door to celebrate an author's visit, my students decided to draw Star Wars characters reading the author's books. As any teacher knows, your classroom is like a little family. Star Wars has helped us to achieve academically, but it has also helped us bond as a group.

I was in high school when the original Star Wars movies came out and cannot remember how many times I have watched these movies.  Watching them with my own children was a great experience and now watching them through the eyes of my 5th graders is a real treat.  Luke and Rey's journeys continue to inspire conversations and students are always looking for ways to connect to the hero's journey during reading.  Just yesterday, during one of our book club groups, reading Elijah of Buxton, the students discussed Elijah and the hero's journey stages.

The entire 5th grade faculty dressed up as Star Wars characters for Halloween.  That's me as Princess Leia.