Day+1

Lesson Plans


 * 1) Opening Journal Prompt: //What does it mean to survive? How is "surviving" different than "survival"?//
 * 2) Gateway Scenario-Based Activity--Survival Dilemma (found below)
 * 3) Scenario Redux--what themes did we notice developing?
 * 4) Introduce Feather Circle piece options: "I Remember" or "Survival Scars." (directions found below)
 * 5) Closing: Students begin the Journalling/prewriting process for FC piece


 * Survival Dilemma: What Would You Do?**

Your ship is sinking and you have managed to board a lifeboat with twelve other people. Most of the people were not able to reach the cabins to get warm clothing so they are in street clothes. One woman is in a bathing suit. The ship is in the North Atlantic, and the temperature is about 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and there are strong winds and high waves. The lifeboat has no motor, so it must be rowed. You may have to spend several days at sea depending on when the boat is spotted. The ocean is very foggy with low, heavy clouds. The boat is dangerously overloaded, so in order to keep safely afloat, you must dump 60 pounds of weight. You must decide which items you will remove. For safety reasons, you may not suspend any items from the lifeboat. You may not remove any of the people. These are the items from which you must choose:

5 slicker raincoats with hoods--each 2 lbs. 30 cans of tuna fish (flip tops)--each 1lb. 1 two gallon container full of water-- 10 lbs. 1 battery operated signal light--8 lbs. 3 skin driving wet suits--each 5 lbs. 2 buckets for bailing--each 3 lbs. 4 wool blankets--each 3 lbs. 1 large SOS flag--3 lbs. 1 first aid kit--10 lbs. 8 oars--each 5 lbs.

Total: 140 lbs.

Individually, make your list of items that you would remove from the ship--those items you deem unnecessary for survival in the scenario. For each item that you remove from the boat you must provide a rationale for why that item is unnecessary, in your opinion.

After you have made your personal list, get with two other classmates and discuss your lists. What were the similarities? The differences? As a group, come to a consensus (make one master list) of which items to remove from the boat. Your group should also come back to the discussion prepared to discuss your reasons for your choices (your rationale).

**Feather Circle Piece: Survival Scars**
Survival Scars

Survival scars are a variation on literal scars, but these stories do not come forth so readily. Here you will explore your emotional wounds and begin to tell the stories you may have been trained to hide from yourself and from others—those times that you “survived” an experience or an emotional trauma. These are stories that need to be told.


 * Reflect on your emotional wounds**. What are the hurts, the traumas of your heart? Look for those wounds that did not bleed, but often hurt more than the wounds that did.


 * Prewriting:** Draw a picture of a heart and mark your wounds on it. Some of these will be major and obvious (“my parents’ divorce,” “my brother’s death,” etc). Others will be smaller and more subtle (“not being asked to the prom my senior year,” “had to put my dog to sleep,” “got kicked off the wrestling team my sophomore year”). Put them all on your heart as you remember them.


 * In your journal**: Write about your scars and wounds. Pick the ones that you feel were the most traumatic—the ones that need to be told. Explore them. Wonder about them. Feel them again. Some of them may not yet be scars, but may be raw and unhealed hurts. This might be a sign that you need to work with them, to heal them.


 * Toward public writing:** Pick one of your survival scars and work it into a piece of public writing. Sharing your stories not only helps you, but helps others. Your piece can take the form of a short story, a poem, flash fiction—any form you’d like. Do what feels right to you.

“I Remember”

Loss is a part of life. We lose many things: We lose our way in the dark; we lose our car keys; we lose our temper; we lose friends and loved ones. The Universe giveth and the Universe taketh away. Our losses need to be acknowledged, grieved, healed, cried for, laughed at. These are moments that we have survived—moments lived through and changed because of.


 * Take time to remember and acknowledge your losses.** Think of the people and the things that have gone from your life—through leaving or dying or moving on—through time and change. Think of the moments or events in your life that you “survived” or “made it through” despite great personal pain or discomfort.


 * In your journal:** List your losses in your journal as they come to your mind and heart. Some will be obvious; some will wait quietly for your attention. List them like this:

//I remember losing…// //My grandmother, Anne// //My father—and finding him again// //Lorna, the first of my classmates to die// //My old yellow lab, Lucky//

//OR//

//I remember…// //My parents’ divorce// //Being stood up at the prom senior year// //Being beat up by two older kids when I was seven// //Feeling misunderstood by my parents//

Write freely about these moments and losses. What did they teach you, give you? How did they touch your life? What do you remember about them? What stories can you tell about them?


 * Towards public writing:** Pick one of these losses or moments of “survival” and craft a piece of public writing in which you explore your survival and the meaning that you have derived from the experience. Use the following as a starting place, but do not feel restricted by it. Let your writing take on whatever form it wants.

I remember… I remember… I remember… But mostly I remember…