The Little Prince: Friendship

Friendship is not something you learn in school. 

But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.

Muhammad Ali

Today the students used textual evidence from The Little Prince, along with their own hypothetical situations, to debate whether a true friendship should have limits and boundaries.

The debates were well-done.

Reading about the prince's relationship with the flower, and his relationship with the pilot, has helped me think about how I can be a better friend.

How will you strengthen your friendships in 2015?

The Little Prince: "Only With The Heart Can One See Rightly"

The students are conducting a series of debates related to themes from The Little Prince.

Today, two of the groups debated whether people should rely on feelings or logic when making important decisions.

Alex made a strong case for relying on feelings. Importantly, Alex incorporated textual evidence from The Little Prince, including the fox's advice to the prince:

"Here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

History Video #11: Vocabulary Review for Religion Quiz

In the last few chapters, we’ve met a king, a vain man, a drunkard, a businessman, a lamplighter and a geographer. 

Choose two of these characters and compare them to each other. In what ways are they similar, and in what ways are they different?

Dawson: These planets represent people who love something but are afraid to try it. The geographer who had never left his desk for example. I think he would love to go out and explore, but he was afraid of what might happen, and afraid what that would make of his reputation.

Leah: I could never imagine for [the king and the businessman] to meet without having a huge fight. 

I wish that in this book the author could make some characters meet, just so that we could see what would happen.

Tomas: What I wonder is, has the king ever judged himself? 

Does he know from experience how hard it is to judge yourself, or is he just imagining things as the businessman would say?

Lucas P.: They [the king and vain man] are different in another way. One had everything and one wanted everything.

Holiday Choir Concert: Smiling With Your Eyes

“Then pass judgment on yourself," the king answered. “That is the hardest thing of all. 

It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it’s because you are truly a wise man.”

Pretend you are the little prince. 

When the king tells you to pass judgment on yourself, what would you say?

Lucas M.: I have a heart of abundant joy and imagination. My imagination is like a piston because it's always bursting and pumping, although sometimes it may need starting fluid.

Lisa: A bit disappointed. Not just in himself, but maybe in his actions. For example, he feels sad that he left his little planet to explore, leaving his faithful flower behind.

Gardiner: “Lonely,” the little prince repeats a bit confidently. “Loneliness is what I am made of.”

“Well then there is only one thing to do,” exclaims the king.

“What would that be?”

“I command you to go on a great adventure and to only come back when you are made up with something completely different than loneliness. Happiness.”

Ariana: I found love. Stupid enough, I let it go.

The Little Prince: Caterpillars, Butterflies, and Beauty in Our World

Congratulations to the orchestra students on a wonderful concert!

Just as the little prince was about to leave his planet, the flower tells him not to cover her with the glass dome:

"I need to put up with two or three caterpillars if I want to get to know butterflies. Apparently they're very beautiful."

What is the author telling us? 

Nikki: The flower is meaning that if we want to see something extraordinary, we need to experience the bad and the inferior. Thus making our achievement more divine than if you go to it without any troubles. 

Jago: You have to face some of your fears to see the brighter side of them. You can't have someone caring for you and protecting you your whole life. When the little prince decided to come talk to and become friends with a random stranger he was facing his fears to feel less alone.

Thomas: The author is telling us that you have to sacrifice something of yours, like a toy, but in the flower’s case it’s leaves and give it to others to see them grow and become happy. Happiness is beautiful.

Samantha: Take a seed. You plant the seed and all you see is an ugly black layer of just plain old stuff with no beauty. It grows, and it’s nice. It’s not great, it’s just something. But when the time comes on that one day, the plant opens and the treasures inside are revealed.

A Visitor to Class, The Little Prince and Friendship

Mrs. Ripley and I have combined our History and English classes!

For the next week-and-a-half, students will read The Little Prince, and we will all have the opportunity to think deeply about how religion, literature, and history are all connected to each other.

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During class today, Mrs. Chapman (Amrit's mother and Gresham's aunt) gave a wonderful presentation about Sikhism. 

She talked about her own family's experiences and helped us all to better understand Sikh beliefs and rituals.

Thank you, Mrs. Chapman, for sharing your perspectives with us today. And, thank you for the scrumptious prashad!

While reading The Little Prince, students will begin each class by writing a response to a question based on a theme from the book.  Today's question:

The pilot points out:

"When you tell them about a new friend, [grown-ups] never ask questions about what really matters. 

They never ask: 'What does his voice sounds like?' 'What games does he like best?' 'Does he collect butterflies?' 

They ask: 'How old is he?' 'How many brothers does he have?' 'How much does he weigh?' 'How much money does his father make?”

If you were describing a friend to your parents, what kinds of things would you say?

The students came up with a number of thoughtful responses.  Here are excerpts from several excellent paragraphs:

Bertie: I would talk about if they stand out in a crowd. Individuality is of the utmost importance to me. Not to say I have anything against plain people I just prefer a colorful character.

Ellie: They can be quiet at times but when they are, you can tell they are thinking about something interesting. They seem to love punk rock music, clothes, and lifestyle, they seem to be a little goth within their mix of punk, and they never wear makeup. I definitely like this person’s sense of humor, style, and just their personality in general. 

Oliver: If I were describing my friend to an adult, I would say things about his personality. For example, he has a warm heart, and an open mind.

Gia: I would say that he is very optimistic. If he comes across an event that is challenging or tough he problem-solves, and when he solves it he always has a smile on his face.

Christianity: The Miracles of Jesus

Today we had a fascinating discussion about Jesus's miracles described in the Gospels.

We focused on the story in Matthew that states Jesus cured Peter's mother-in-law by putting his hands upon her, as well as the story in which Jesus calms a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee.

We discussed the students' range of explanations (scientific and non-scientific) for the miracles.

The students also shared a variety of opinions about whether more people or fewer people would have become Christians if the Gospels had not included descriptions of Jesus performing miracles:

Hannah: I think that fewer people would have become Christians without the stories about the miracles. So many people wouldn’t have become Christians because without those stories, who was this Jesus person? He was just a person that said that he was the “savior” that God sent. The miracle stories made him more believable.

Jacqueline: Yes and no. It depends on the person. I think if one person had a lot of faith, then that person would believe in Jesus even without the miracles. But if another person had no faith, they would not believe in Jesus unless the Gospels included stories about miracles performed by Jesus.

Peyton: I think that a lot more people might have become Christians if there were not any stories with miracles in them, because some people do not believe in miracles. Having so many stories about miracles might actually have made people not believe in Jesus.

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Musical Mondays: We listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's rendition of Joy to the World.

Here is the Choir performing For Unto Us from Handel's Messiah:

Jack: The music is beautiful, but this choir has a lot of older people.  Could they find some young people to join?!

Christianity: Jesus and Paul

As I discussed in last week's video, Jesus and Paul were one of the most important partnerships in history.

First, Jesus brought the message of Christianity to people. Then, Paul spread Jesus's words and ideas and helped to establish the Christian religion.

I asked you to think about the following question:

Who are some of the other influential partnerships in history?

I received this e-mail response from Amanda with her initial thoughts about great partnerships

I saw the history video and thought of some famous partnerships:

Simon and Garfunkel

Batman and Robin

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Kirk and Spock

Sherlock and Watson

Steve and Steve (Jobs and Wozniak)

Lucy and Ricky

Wilbur and Orville

History Video #10: An Important Figure in Christianity - Paul

Dawson: What does "nity" mean (for example: the trinity, Christianity, etc.)?

The Science Fair: Leonardo Would Have LOVED It

Your projects were fantastic!  Great work.

History videos return tomorrow; my mind is occupied with science tonight.

Christianity: The Journey to Bethlehem

Today we began to study Christianity by learning about the story of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem in order to register for the census.

Lisa and Jago got our questioning off to an excellent start with their question about the recurring significance of the donkey in Christianity:

Lisa and Jago: Is it a coincidence that Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem at the end of his life, just like his mom (Mary) rode a donkey into Bethlehem at the beginning of his life? Why did they ride on donkeys rather than horses?

Charlotte: Do you think Mary and Joseph tried to help Jesus before he was killed?

Lia: Do you think it is a good idea to become a nun or a monk? Is it worth it to give up family and true love (which the Bible says is really important; even Paul says, “And now faith, hope and love abide, these three: and the greatest of these is love”) and marriage, even if it is for what you believe in?

Celia: Do you think nuns commit sins?

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Musical Mondays: We listened to The Piano Guys' rendition of Angels We Have Heard on High. Here's another performance of a Christmas favorite: