The Themes of Nature: pOrtal to the unpredictable

Students: Johnson High School 10th Graders: Nature/Science focus

Class length: approx. an hour and a half

Class size: 25-30

Materials needed: Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Internet access, video cameras, iMovie, TV/VCR or DVD player, The Endurance (Shackleton Documentary DVD or VHS tape), A River Runs Through It DVD or VHS tape, Backpacker or Outside magazines (disposable), Worst-Case Scenario book, Hemingway’s “Big, Two-Hearted River”

Extra Materials students need: journal notebooks, outdoorsy magazines (if they have them), a young heart.

Activities

1) Introduction to Insanity

Objectives:

1. Catch the students’ attention.
2. Get them into a mindset to take a journey.
3. Help students relate to the main character of Into the Wild.
4. Help students feel a lightheartedness when writing (it need not be pulling teeth).
5. Jump start students’ creative juices and getting comfortable using the Internet.
6. Introduce Into the Wild (they will not begin reading for another week. This is sort of an acclimation period (getting to know the book).

Directions:

a) Imagine you were picked to be on the next Survivor show, only this time instead of a beautiful, tropical island you are dropped off in the frozen tundra of the arctic (*note: make sure everyone knows what the tundra and the arctic is). The producers allowed you to bring or buy materials but you must limit it to 10 things. What you are wearing now you may bring along, but anything else, including jacket and food, must count as one of your 10 things. You must be able to carry all these things on your body, so I recommend bringing a backpack of some sort, which does count as one of your ten things.
b) Break students into groups of three after they have written down their “10 things” in their journals on page one. They will discuss their choices and why they chose what they did. Let students who want to share with whole class do it.
c) Short lecture on the perils of places like the Arctic and Antarctic. Segue into Into the Wild with what Chris McCandless brought with him when he went to Alaska.

Assessment: Participation and “10 Things”/ 15 pts

2) The Story within Photographs

Objectives:

1. Continue to get to know the book before reading it.
2. Help students see how much is held in a picture (maybe touch on advertisement use of images and photographs).
3. Further encourage fun during writing.
4. Familiarize the students with image finding on the Internet.5. Use Internet as a source of motivation and exploration (a new frontier).
6. Begin to understand the form and strategies Krakauer uses within the text.

Directions:

a) Pass out student copies of Into the Wild (if at all possible, give students the option to buy their texts). Point out the cover photo. Ask them what they think the story is about by just looking at the cover. Turn to the inside page and have them guess further what the story might be about by this picture. Give them a little clue as to the meaning of the photos.
b) Pair students up and bring in portable computer cart assigning two students per computer. Ask them to go to Google.com. Have them search for “Modern Ruins.” Have them find and click on http://www.modern-ruins.com/. Let them explore the photographs on the site and choose one that intrigues them. Have them print their pictures out (remind them that they will not be in color, which might affect their decision). They must also jot down some of the basic information about the picture in their journals (i.e. where the ruin is, what it was and when, and anything else they find interesting.
c) Introduce the assignment: Use the picture they found as an impetus for a creative story. What could have happened at the site of the picture? Why was the site abandoned? What might happen to it in the future? If they would like to use a different picture through the Internet or from the class’s horde of outdoorsy magazines, they must print or cut it out. All pictures must be attached to the writing (Pictures must be cleared by teacher before use). At least 2 pages, double-spaced, titled, identifiable message or theme.
d) Model how to find images using Google.com.
e) Have Students type in http://www.brainyquote.com. Let them search for quotes by Jack London, Thoreau, or Tolstoy, introducing them as writers talked about and used in Into the Wild. They must choose one quote that compliments the picture and/or their story and use it as an introduction to their story.

Assessment: Paper (follows directions of c and d and turned in on time)/ 50 pts; Participation in class/ 5 pts

3) Adventure Journal

Objectives:

1. Parallel their lives with the characters in the texts we study to help make their learning relevant.
2. Learn how to journal write.
3. Introduce them to the world of blogging (if time permits).
4. Get them to try new things.

Directions:

a) Starting from the rear of their journals and working backward students will document and reflect on their own personal “mini-adventures.” They will be required to go on at least one “mini-adventure a week and journal about it (it will be important to note that these “mini-adventures” must be safe, legal, and abide with their parents’ rules and regulations. It can be anything: from biking on a new nature trail to picking up an anticipated comic book to sleeping over at a new friend’s house. The only rule is that the “frontier” must be previously untraveled by the student (i.e. something that excites them because there is an elemental “newness” to the experience. In the journals, students must also note if they would ever do it again.
b) If time permits, we will set up a community blog that students can share and recommend their experiences. Each student must post one entry (same requirements as in the journal).

Assessment: They will be graded according to guidelines set out in a and on development of documentation and quality of thought put into reflections. Each entry will be worth 15 pts

4) Reading of Into the Wild

Objectives:

1. To bring students into a higher awareness of an author’s agenda
2. Reflect and understand what roles ideals, imagination, Truth, nature can play in a text and how it can develop and change depending on factors such as point of view, experience, and motivation.
3. Bring the student to a point where they feel that they “know” a book (I don't mean Biblically!)
4. Learn and use critical thinking skills when diving into a text to divulge meaning and understand techniques used by writers to convey what they want.

a) The pace of the reading will be about two chapters a day/ completing it in about two weeks, but students will “carry” the books with them for about a month.
b) Vocabulary will be addressed for each reading assignment the class before so they will know the words when they encounter them.
c) Brief discussions (5-10 minutes), after quizzes, about the book will take place each day taking note of the authors style and use of quotes before each chapter. Nature themes will be discussed throughout.
d) Writing topics in their journals (done mostly in class followed with a structured discussion):

• What do you think McCandless’ goals are in life? Is he trying to prove something? If so, what?
• How does nature play a role in McCandless’ life/ goals? Does that role change? How does McCandless’ interactions with nature change his goals and actions?
• What is Truth? Where did you get your sense of Truth?
• What do the words “nature” and/or “wilderness” mean to you? Does is comfort you? Scare you? Excite you? Why?
• Is McCandless brave or a foolish nut? Explain.
• What are some of your ideals? From where do/did your ideals come? Are they realistic? What are McCandless’ ideals? Are they realistic?
• Choose a friend or family member to write a short letter to trying to persuade them to support your trip to a specific place to which you would like to travel (i.e. Alaska, outer space, Middle Earth). They will be sponsoring your trip, so your letter must convey to them the seriousness of your intentions.
• Interview your parents/ guardian about something they always wished they would have done. Find out why they haven’t done it? What stopped them?
• What do you think McCandless’ motives were? He kept a journal, wrote in the margins of his books, and carvings inside the bus. Do you think that these actions were merely for his own edification or for the edification of others, or was he motivated from something else, like fame or romanticism?
• At the end of the reading, Krakauer asserts that one reason adults have so much difficulty understanding McCandless’ actions is that they struggle “to recall how forcefully [they] were once buffeted by the passions and longings of youth.” To understand this observation, one must be able to define what “the passions and longings of youth” are. What do these passions and longings have to do with escape? With the natural world? And if one can recall such passions and longings, how might this change the way one looks at McCandless’ death? (from www.newhum.com/ sample assignments)
• What does it seem like the author is trying to say, what’s his agenda with how he has arranged his “evidence”? How does he use quotes, interviews, his own experiences and opinions to try to steer the way a reader may interpret this text?
• What is your position on hunting? Defend you answer.
• How might Krakauer’s background as a reporter affect the way the story unfolds and what is put in and what is left out? Does it make the tale more or less credible? Why?

e) Short quizzes (5 questions) will be given each day a reading assignment is due to encourage a steady pace and to note who is reading or having trouble keeping up so as to aid students who need it.

Assessment: The quizzes will be worth 5pts each with a total of ten quizzes (50 pts). Journal discussion questions will be evaluated on depth and quality of thought put into answers. They will vary in length, but roughly will be around a page and a half of writing in their journals (200 pts).

5) Arctic Transect Interaction

Objectives:

1. Test if the integration of the Arctic Transect project is one that sparks the students imaginations and is motivating to them.
2. Get students involved with interactive learning on the Internet and accustomed to live meetings over the Web.
3. Introduce a reality from which students can draw when reading Into the Wild and viewing The Endurance.

Directions:

a) In computer lab have students go to www.polarhusky.com, give them the username and code given after registering the class and let them explore the site for about 5 minutes. Hand out a sheet with short missions they must accomplish within the site. Each mission will be timed/ about 2 minutes per mission (reassure them that it will not be graded, but the person/group with the most “right” answers will get a prize. Example missions: 1. Find the oldest dog of the pack. Write down her name, age, and eye color. 2. Draw a map of the area that the team will be traveling through and plot the route they are taking with a clear starting and ending point. 3. What do they call the type of sleeping bag they use in the Arctic? 4. What part of the Arctic do zebras live in (give proof in website).
b) Attempts will be made to have live interaction with the team traveling in the Arctic. Students must prepare questions to ask the team and have done a little research on the site in relation to what the Arctic team is studying prior to the meetings.
c) In journals students have students write about the experience. Did they like it? Do they want to do it again? What are some cool things about it? What are some dumb things about it?

Assessment: Because this will be more experimental grading will be difficult. Mostly, participation and fulfilling their journal entry for their experience will be the only aspects assessable.

6) Worst-Case Scenario Segue

Objectives:

1. Bridge and slide into Shackleton documentary
2. Give students a little break from seriousness

Directions:

a) Mark places in Worst-Case Scenario Guidebook that are similar to the situations McCandless found himself in.
b) Have students bring in a worst-case scenario they might be wondering about and see if the book can give an answer.
c) Share a few random, interesting ones.
d) Share ones related to Shackleton’s adventure.

7) Understanding the Documentary: The Endurance

Objectives:

1. To further get to know Into the Wild after reading the text.
2. Compare and contrast Into the Wild with The Endurance.
3. Help understand the underlying workings of a documentary/ see its structure.
4. Give another angle of adventure –i.e. success!!!
5. Note what role nature plays in the documentary and follow how it drives the plot of the tale.

Directions:

a) Introduce the documentary (if possible to use DVD show a short “extra” that would capture their curiosity).
b ) Give background information about documentaries (i.e. agenda/ intended message, the different kinds of documentaries, reliability/ consistency, audience).
c ) Discuss the similarities and differences of how Into the Wild is structured and how a documentary may be set up.
d ) Discuss the intended meanings and themes portrayed, agenda, editing in documentary.

Assignment: Using video footage prepared/supplied by teacher (about half an hours worth) students (in groups of 2-3), using iMovie, will edit the material to a 5-7 minute documentary. Before editing the groups must write down on a sheet of paper, to be turned in, their position, intended audience, theme, and a tentative title. Using this guide the groups will cut, slice, and blend until they have developed a final product that fits their guidelines (guidelines can change, but must be recorded and turned in). Final movie will be exported and view by class. Each mini-documentary will be discussed by comparing the class’s reaction to what the reaction the directors/editors/ reporters wanted to get.

Assessment: Participation/ 10pts; Final mini-documentary/ 150 pts; Informal reflection in journal (at least 2 pages)/ 30 pts

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