Intelligent Choices

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo Credit (no changes made): InSapphoWeTrust

Tomorrow in my classroom I will start teaching a new unit that I have never taught before: Chew on This! You may have guessed that our major text will be the book Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food , the middle school version of Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson. The essential questions for the unit focus on how to make intelligent choices by recognizing how inside and outside forces influence our decisions. In addition to reading the book, students will watch and analyze film clips, TED Talks, advertisements, and more. Throughout the unit my students will start to develop their point of view on the topic in preparation of sharing their claim with others. At this point I am still brainstorming the end result of this unit. Currently, I am playing with the idea of students creating public service announcements proving their claim. I am also considering providing them with choice and allowing them to decide how they want to showcase their own claim.

As I spend countless hours preparing the lessons and activities for this unit, I continue to ask myself how will this unit experience impact my students and the world. My goal by teaching this unit is to help my students become informed citizens and start to make their own choices while acknowledging the influences that helped them arrive at their decision. I am hopeful that the future choices my students make will transcend the classroom and create a larger impact.

As we approach Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I reflect back on Martin Luther King Jr.'s work and recognize the differences he made in our world. I an hopeful that the work I do in my classroom will cause a ripple effect and impact our world for the better.

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