How I will DARE TO MOVE Name: _____________

Move yourself Move your community

Move the World

BECOMING YOUR BEST SELF

A Four Month Project of Positive Change
PART 1
This project is about becoming your BEST SELF. There is too much negativity, violence, sadness, and injustice in our world and we need to be angry about that. Every person has the power to change his or her life and to bring positivity to the world. To get rid of all those negative things, you have to have a positive sense of self first. How can you heal the world if you need to be healed first? For some people, healing others is healing themselves. For other people, we need to change something for ourselves before we can change the world. you

You will choose a Project of Self or Project of Community to work on for the next 4 months. You will meet with me one-on-one to discuss your project and create an action plan to carry it out. You will make a positive change for yourself and your community, and then you will present what youve done to your family and friends, teachers and peers here at school in February.

To get started, follow the instructions below, answering questions after youve given them some thought. 1. On a separate paper that youll staple to this packet, answer the following questions: What inspires you? What do you love? What do you feel really passionate about? What makes you angry or want to do something? 2. Interview 3 different people. Ask them each of the following questions: 1.What am I good at? 2. What are my strengths? 3. What do you like about me?

Person 1:

Person 2:

Person 3:

3. Brainstorm your ideas on the same separate paper you used for #1 about what issues exist that need to be changed. What problems do you see in your life or your world?

4. Make a small collage or other small presentation that shows what youre good at, what youre passionate about, and what you are interesting in changing for this project. Bring this project in on Thursday, November

21st if you have my class on A Days and Friday, November 22nd if you have my class on B days.

Totally lost? Here are some sample project ideas: __ Collect garbage in our community __ Help teachers at school recycle __ Raise money for a family in need __ Help hydrate the homeless __ Volunteer at an animal shelter __ Volunteer at a retirement home __ Collect clothes for Salvation Army __ Collect cans for a food pantry __ Close achievement gaps for elementary/ middle school students by tutoring them __ Get fit/ healthier __ Make amends with a family member __ Tutor or mentor a sibling __ Change your own reputation __ Reconnect with a distant loved one __ Forgive someone who caused you pain __ Accept wrongdoings from your past __ Use a diary to heal from past hurts __ Join/ start an after school youth group

Name:

Class Period:

BRAINSTORMING
Read the excerpt from chapter 7 of To Kill a Mockingbird below. Pay attention to how Scout uses Atticus' advice to resolve conflict in her life. Clearly, Scout has great respect for both her father and brother, and demonstrates a high level of maturity for her young age. As Atticus once advised me to, I tried to climb into Jems skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon. So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him (Lee 57). Answer questions 1-5.
1. What advice has Scout received from her father in regard to judgment of others? 2. Give an example of a time that you or someone you know tried to climb into someone elses skin and walk around in it before stereotyping that person? 3. Are there still prejudices in the United States today? 4. What prejudices have you experienced in your life? 5. What actions could you have taken to prevent the prejudices you described above from occurring?

Read the excerpt from a letter below. The letter was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to church officials while Dr. King was in jail for protesting the racism of his country. Pay attention to what he says about the anger and frustration that African-Americans were feeling and how they should deal with it.
Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent [hidden] frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression [come out] through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your anger." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent [anger] can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent action. --Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

1. Who are the oppressed people that King talks about in the first sentence? 2. What people are oppressed today in 2013?

Answer questions 1-5.

3. Why might African-Americans have many pent up resentments and [hidden] frustrations? 4. What does King want frustrated and angry African-Americans to do with their anger? 5. Have you ever felt anger similar to the anger described by King? Please explain your answer.