Mini-Lesson: Thought Patches
Teaching Point: Good writers identify the parts of the text that linger longest in their hearts and minds and write thought patches to find out why these parts linger.
CA State Standard:
Active Engagement:
Individual Practice: Students should go to their desks and review the parts that linger from The Outsiders, selecting one or two and pushing their thinking forward - thought patches.
Link:
Today and everyday, I want you to consider those areas in your text that you react to. I want you to push your thinking forward.
Share:
Have two to three people share what they wrote.
Wow, I can’t believe that Rob Hall dies on top of Everest. I think this is important because it makes me think of how his death will impact his team on the mountain and his family at home. For example, he died while trying to save his friend and the rest of the team knew this. To add on, he refused to leave his friend. This made me cry and I wanted someone to save him, but his team was too exhausted and fractured to do so. I felt helpless for him and I imagined his team did too. Rob begged for help on the radio but because there was a storm, it was too treacherous to try a rescue even by teams who were potentially physically able to. In the end he was too damaged to help himself and too much time had gone by, enough time for his friend to die in his arms. I felt so sad that he, as the leader, couldn’t save someone who was not only his friend, but someone he was supposed to keep safe. This is giving me the idea that he knew that it was not only his friend’s life that was lost but that his friend’s family would also have to grieve him and that he would be blamed. Another reason I reacted to this section is because his last words were sweet words to his wife. For example, he was a man freezing to death, asking his sweetheart if she was warm in bed. His knowledge of his pending death and yet his love for his wife, struck such a cord in me that I cried myself to sleep. I really felt his love for others. His acceptance and courage in the face of his own death, I will never forget.
I can’t believe that Mt.Everest is littered with corpses.
Pushing our Thinking:
For example….
To add on…
This makes me realize…
This is giving me the idea that…
The reason for this is…
Another reason is…
This connects with…
On the other hand…
I think this story is important because Willie was being raised by a mother who seemed very reluctant to find her own happiness and even more reluctant to have Willie search and find happiness. For example, she didn’t want him to talk with the homeless man, a man that Willie found who seemed to be the most unhappy person he had ever seen. To add on, Willie’s mother did not want Willie to question her about unhappiness. This makes me realize that she thinks it is better to live in denial than to face her own feelings. This is giving me the idea that it is better to deal with your emotions than to hide from them. The reason for this is that my dad passed away from cancer and I remember wanting to hide or deny that he had died, but found that I couldn’t and that trying to do so wasn’t making me better, it was making things worse. I was staying angry. Another reason is that Willie is a young boy, whose father left, but he can’t change that, but he can change how he faces life. This connects with the idea that all people have control over is their own emotions and that people’s journey’s to find happiness or at least a better existence has to be their own journey. On the other hand, Willie’s mother is on her own journey and maybe Willie finding happiness will lead her to happiness…maybe she will “follow” him. Willie realized what happiness was and learned to believe in himself.
I think this story is important because Adam needs to know that just because something bad happens it doesn’t mean that life can’t still be good. For example, Adam was hit by a car and could no longer run because it damaged his leg and arm and more importantly what he thought about himself. To add on, he then isolated himself and was unhappy/depressed. This makes me realize that all people have a tendency to think that when something bad happens it means that life no longer will or can be good. This is giving me the idea that it is important for people to find a new way of finding happiness or a new “normal” in their life. The reason for this is that staying isolated wasn’t making Adam happy and the more pain he seemed to be in emotionally, the more pain he felt in his body evidenced by the fact that before he took the art class he talked about the pain and dread that his hand was. Another reason is that the more Adam tried something new the more he seemed to come out of his shell and find more that was interesting, such as the art teacher, than just his own misery. This connects with the idea that people need to not give up and to try new things and to not feel that life ends because something bad happens. On the other hand, Adam could have decided not to join the art class and instead chosen to isolate himself, but then he might have found that not only was his body somewhat crippled, but so was his spirit…