"And let the words fall out..."

Today marked a temporary ending to our Abydos class.  We will meet monthly throughout the year to share ideas and discuss implementations in our own English classrooms, which is great since I have really grown close to our special group.  The final lesson was amazing and I plan on using it in my own classroom during the first week of school.

The desire to create a writing environment for my students that is a comfortable community in which risk taking is encouraged is of utmost importance to me.  I plan to do this through a series of team building exercises, short bursts of writing, and daily readings from the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  In order to adapt our lesson from today for my 7th graders, I will be providing them with the word "BRAVE" and having them write about how they think bravery and writing are connected.  We will share ideas and they will then watch the music video that has absolutely become my own anthem for the year, "Brave" by Sara Bareilles.

I will then have them reflect on how their connection of bravery and writing may have connected to the video and they will be welcome to add anything they like to their quick write. 

Mine looked something like this:
"Bravery is a characteristic crucial to create change.  It is required in order to attempt something new and often times goes against the norm.  If your attempt doesn't work, that is completely fine.  What is important is that you did everything in your power to try.  Writing works this way and I am reminded of this when Sara Bareilles says, "Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live."  Many of my students are trapped in the "cage" of their home life and need the escape that writing offers.  More importantly, "Let the words fall out..."

As my kids embrace the release of writing and create a classroom community, I will be letting my words be heard in my life as well as we all become a bit more "Brave".