Have you flown a KITE?

It was in 2006 when the National Library Board introduced this book as a read for the Read! Singapore campaign. About 10 teachers and I read the book and had a reading circle discussion on the book. We shared our many views over coffee at  Campus Haven.

A year later, the book was made into a movie. Maybe it is due to the length of time, the movie give a good overview of the story but reading the book gives me more insight in the lives of the main character, Amir Jan. Well, if you want a glimpse of Afghanistan, the movie gives you some good insight and the way people live then.

Riding with Freedom Writers

What is it really like in the other countries?

Watching Freedom Writers open a new world to the students. The borders, the tribes, the conditions and hardship of the writers and the dedication of the teacher, Erin Gruwell.

Is this a real story?

Yes. Taken from the book, Freedom Writer’s Diary. And you can borrow it from the National Library, if you want to find out more.

One student did just that last term.

When the students watched the part when Erin distributed the journals for her students to write, the students in my classes would give me the look.

One of them even noticed in an earlier scene, the blackboard behind Erin that had written the aspects of writing an essay. She spotted; Introduction, Body and Conclusion. Something we had discussed earlier before I screened the movie.

They are writing a whole book and you are only doing 4 journal entries.

For my students who have watched Freedom Writers in class with me… these are the questions;

What can we learn from lives of these young people? What personal message do I get from this movie?

Please post your comments … have fun …writing.

Interest Reads from the movie: 

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Freedom Writers Diary:how a teacher and 150 teens used writing to change themselves and the world around them / the Freedom Writers, with Erin Gruwell ; foreword by Zlata Filipovic.

The story of Odysseus  shortened from Homer’s Odyssey, translated into plain English by W.H.D. Rouse

Romeo and Juliet

Durango Street by Frank Bonham

http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/site/c.kqIXL2PFJtH/b.2259975/k.BF19/Home.htm