• Jess Ritchie Fahrenheit 451 Project

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 1/26/2017

    Students were tasked with creating a dystopian school to further draw attention to the dangers of attemtping to create a perfect society/school.

    Jess Ritchie created the following "school," with its motto being "LISTEN. OBEY." A very though-provoking piece. Here is a sampling of her work:

     

    Poster

    UNIFORM

    Bill of Rights

    Diary

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  • R + J Character Map

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 10/30/2015

    Anika Patterson

    Anika

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  • Lucy Character Maps

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 9/28/2015

    Character Maps force students to think about a character more deeply. How they look, feel, think, and how others perceive them.

    Here a couple of examples from St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.

     

    Alex Shantler

    Jeanette

     

    Grace Dowdall

    Grace

     

    Anika Patterson

    Anika

     

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  • A Sound of Thunder

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 5/26/2015
    Today we read a short story and discussed how little actions today can have great impact tomorrow.
     
    Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder 
     
     
     
     
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  • Journal #41

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 5/13/2015
    What is your biggest fear? What is one powerful memory you have of being afraid?
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  • Art Spiegelman Self-Portrait

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 4/27/2015
    Today students were tasked with interpreting Art Spiegelman's self-portrait (see below)
     
     
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  • Journal #39

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 4/15/2015
    "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death."
     
     -Elie Wiesel
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  • Journal #37

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 4/9/2015
    "Fear always springs from ignorance."
     
     -Ralph Waldo Emerson
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  • Haiku (with pictures)

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 4/8/2015
    Students were asked to write Haiku based on a view they have somewhere near their house.
     
     
                           Sydney Halterman 
     
                          It just stopped raining
                        Listen to the water flow
                             I like it out here
     
     (Sydney's Picture)
      SydHaiku
     
     
                                   Brett Lyons
     
                           Smelling the fresh air
                     Thinking of the waving pines
                         While the sap drips low
     
     (Brett's Picture)
    lyonshaiku  
     
     
                             Abigail Gostomski
     
                          The trees growing tall
                The fresh air goes through my nose
                             Like a masterpiece
     
    (Abigail's Picture)
    AGHaiku  
     
     
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  • Twenty-One Pilots "March to the Sea"

    Posted by Brian Bernys on 3/25/2015
    As opposed to Simon & Garfunkel, Twenty-One Pilots is just gaining popularity in music, particularly among teens.
     
    The following song lends itself to the themes in Fahrenheit 451, especially that of being a critical thinker and nonconformist.
     
    Check it out.
     
     
    "March To The Sea"

    There's miles of land in front of us
    And we're dying with every step we take
    We're dying with every breath we make
    And I'll fall in line

    A stranger's back is all I see
    He's only a few feet in front of me
    And I'll look left and right sometimes
    But I'll fall in line

    No one looks up anymore
    'Cause you might get a raindrop in your eye
    And Heaven forbid they see you cry
    As we fall in line

    And about this time every year
    The line will go to the ocean pier
    And walk right off into the sea
    And then we fall asleep

    And as we near the end of land
    And our ocean graves are just beyond the sand
    I ask myself the question
    Why I fall in line

    Then out of the corner of my eye
    I see a spaceship in the sky
    And hear a voice inside my head:
    Follow me instead

    Then the wages of war will start
    Inside my head with my counterpart
    And the emotionless marchers will chant the phrase:
    This line's the only way

    And then I start down the stand
    My eyes are focused on the end of land
    But again the voice inside my head says,
    Follow me instead

    Take me up, seal the door
    I don't want to march here anymore
    I realize that this line is dead
    So I'll follow You instead

    So then You put me back in my place
    So I might start another day
    And once again I will be
    In a march to the sea
     
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