I teach upper elementary students, but believe that great children’s literature contains the same room for re-discovery as any adult “classic.”  What follows is a summary of some Seuss, supplemented with a flurry of outside resources which might add greatly to the discourse, no matter what age your group.

[Note: I taught the boxes in the order listed, spacing out the Seuss enough that the next story to appear became an exciting "reveal," rather than a mechanical happening.  As of this post, we still hadn't gotten to Oh! The Places You'll Go!]

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (Green Box).  I chose this story, as most of the students have read the original.  The plot remains essentially the same: Cat in said cap returns to unleash chaos upon (less?) trusting children.  Green box discussions match nicely with the beginning of the year in which rules are established.  Students easily grasp the notion of a state of nature and the importance of fencing off the “wilderness” in order to establish natural law.

Horton Hears a Who (Yellow Box).  A classic tale of humanity that moves the reader beyond his/her own world (nationality, culture) and into the perspective of another.  Excellent discussion can be generated by connecting this with current events such as the Tsunami in Japan.

The Sneetches and The Lorax (Orange Box).  The civilization box is one I continue to explore.  To me, an understanding of what it means to be civilized includes the control of our power.  Whether the racism in Sneetches or the environmental havok in Lorax, there’s plenty of opportunity to debate what it means to be “civilized.”

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Red Box).  I’ve already written a post on this one

Yertle the Turtle (Blue Box).  Among the shortest of any of these tales, it quickly gets across the point of a bad king.  To explore the possibilities of a good king, this can be paired with The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. The King in the latter is a bit more complex in that he offers many opportunities to stay BC’s execution; however, the threat of his sovereign power remains.

Oh!  The Places You’ll Go! (Purple Box)  A common gift for graduates, this story relates well the power of an individual as well as the pitfalls possible without self-discipline.  There’s a strong federalist message here, with one’s personal constitution as GPS, hot-air balloon, row boat, or mountain-mover.

Additional Resources and Sample Activity:

GREEN BOX

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak; Hatchet; My Side of the Mountain; The Black Stallion; Duke Theseus’ soliloquy on imagination from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 7-22; Emily Dickinson’s “I Hide Myself within My Flower” and “Will There Really Be a Morning?”; Carl Sandburg’s “Young Sea” and “Summer Stars”; Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing”; Vachel Lindsay’s “The Rockets That Reached Saturn”; William Carlos Williams’ “Heel & Toe to the End”; Frost’s “On Looking up by Chance at the Constellations”; Gustav Holst’s “Jupiter”; David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Peter             Schilling “Major Tom,” Handel’s “Scipio”; Selections from Cicero’s “The Dream of Scipio”; The Mayflower Compact

Activity: Draw an inverted triangle narrowing your location from broadest/ most general to narrowest/ most specific  (Ex. Universe…1234 Schoolhouse Road); create a mandala circle with your personal relationships in proportion to you (circle center); use Google Earth

YELLOW BOX

The Stranger by Chris Van Allesburg; Sadako by Coerr and Young; The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth; Star Wars trilogies; Jacques’ reflective soliloquy on life from As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, Lines 139-166); Portia’s soliloquy on mercy from The Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 182-195; Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “A Time to Talk”; Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody!  Who Are You?”; Carl Sandburg’s “Phizzog”; BandAid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and a kajillion other 80s songs with human themes; Selections from Aristotle’s Politics

Activity: Contest to list most human emotions/ use “stick figures” to illustrate; what “new” emotion is created when anger gets crossed with sadness?; explore one emotion you have not yet felt (access compassion); connect with Needs of Humankind” “No (hu)man is an island.”

ORANGE BOX

King Henry’s stirring soliloquy from Henry V, Act 4, Scene 3, lines, 40-67; MacBeth‘s soliloquy in which he has murdered to become King, Act 5, Scene 5, Lines 19-28; Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade,” Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Dream Variations,” “I, Too,” “Words Like Freedom,” and “Mother to Son”; Carl Sandburg’s “A Sphinx,”             “Skyscraper,” and “We Must Be Polite”; Rudyard Kipling’s “Prelude to Departmental Ditties,” “If,” “Thorkild’s Song,” “Natural Theology,” and “The Ballad of East and West”; Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus”; ee cummings’ “Portrait VIII”; Poe’s             “Eldorado,” William Carlos Williams” “The Fool’s Song” and “The Problem”; reference Star Wars trilogies; excerpts from A Christmas Carol or other Dickens; Aesop’s Fables: “The Frog and the Ox,” “The Mice in Council,” “The Wind and the Sun,” “The Trees and the Axe,” “The Lion and the Other Beasts,” “The  Fox and the Stork,” “The Fox and the Crow, “The Wolf and the Goat,”  “The Boys and the Frogs,” “The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs,” “The Monkey and the Dolphin,” “The Travellers and the Bear,” “The Kite, the Hawk, and the Pigeons,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and “The Gnat and the Lion”;  mythology; Arrow to the Sun by McDermott; just about anything by Robert Browning; selections from the works of George Orwell, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Mead; video games such as Sims or 1602; “Manifest Destiny”; WtP (middle school) selection: Tragedy of Antigone; WtP (elementary): Two Years Before the Mast; What happens to social acceptance when other cultures are enmeshed?  What is the role of the layers below: Humanity? Natural rights?  What if the orange box grows?  What if it shrinks?

Activity:  Trace  the history of an invention to the notion of “standing on the shoulders of giants”, explore resources and the ways in which these are harvested and the human resources behind them; contrast locally-grown with industrial product.

RED BOX

Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”; Langston Hughes’ “My People”; Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?”; selections from Sherman Alexie; selections from Will Rogers; Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”; Civil War as “house divided”; Who has been disenfranchised from our people?;  What does it mean to be Vietnamese, Iraqi, British, Japanese?  Who are these peoples?; Who are Native Americans? The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Goble; Revisit Mayflower Compact; Declaration of Independence; When did we become a people?/ How are we still becoming a people?; connect with Needs of Humankind; Shays’ Rebellion; Can a people coexist without a shared view of civilization?  Humanity?  Natural rights?; Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges; Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin On?”; Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is”; Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”; Neil Young’s “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” (maturity dependent); Simon & Garfunkel’s “America”; Spinal Tap’s “America”; Arlen & Harburg’s “Over the Rainbow”; Williams’ “Rainbow Connection” (I like the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes’ version.); National Anthem; Bernstein & Sondheim’s “America” (West Side Story); music as very powerful connection to red box stuff

Activity: Find a song that represents “the people”; bring a copy of the song and printed lyrics; be prepared to explain your interpretation

BLUE BOX

Selections from “The Masque of the Red Death”; Articles of Confederation; selections from Notes on the Debates of the Federal Convention; Kipling’s “The King’s Job”; Milne’s “The King’s Breakfast”; Shelley’s “Ozymandias”; Andersen and Zwerger’s             The Nightingale; Tennyson’s “On the Jubilee of Queen Victoria”; selections from various British musical acts, maturity dependent (The Who, The Beatles, The Housemartins, The Clash, etc.)

Activity: Invent a card game using the royalty cards to show what you’ve learned about monarchy.

PURPLE BOX

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson; Langston Hughes’ “Youth”; Claude McKay’s “America”; Henry Van Dyke’s “America for Me”; U.S. Constitution; Emily Dickinson’s “Revolution is the Pod”; Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”/ Springsteen’s live version

Activity: Write a constitution of self; “mail it” to yourself one-year from today (delivered by teacher); how have you amended yourself/ how have you remained?

In a separate post, Stepwinder waxed eloquently over “Who We Are”.  I’ve been struck repeatedly with the notion of “We” since the National Academy.  It’s that phenomenon which I call the BoomerLang Effect; you know, where one first learns a new word, then suddenly comes across it everywhere?  Well, you’d think that I’d have learned what We meant, but that was before Will came into my head and shook it like a kid with a Christmas present.

Since the Nat’cademy, I’ve been pondering not just how Americans interpret We, but how other English speakers and non-English speakers understand it, as well.

Reading Jared Diamond’s The Third Chimpanzee, I was struck by his analysis of language and its relation to how it shapes our thoughts.  The degree to which structure and vocabulary express personal responsibility, causation, and emotion is phenomenal.  One passage, in particular, leapt out:

The English pronoun “we” actually lumps two quite different concepts: ‘I plus you to whom I am speaking,’ and ‘I plus one or more other people, but not including you to whom I am speaking.’  In Neo-Melanesian these two separate meanings are expressed by the words ‘yumi’ and ‘mipela,’ respectively.  After I have been using Neo-Melanesian for months and then meet an English speaker who starts talking about ‘we,’ I often find myself wondering, ‘Am I included or not in your ‘we’?    (157)

Of course, disenfranchised African-Americans felt the same way upon reading “We the People” for a long, long time; and even today, some groups do not feel included in the whole.

So what is We?  We means different things to different people based upon their personal experience. Currently in my class, we’re studying immigration. I can’t help but imagine being an Italian émigré and arriving here, trying to understand the subtleties of English.  Or even of my Anglo roots, as a Scot, trying to comprehend the rights I own as an American.  I wonder, too, about my first generation Indian-American students and how language is interpreted in their homes.  What an honor, as a teacher, to be able to help bestow a depth to English to these kids, to part of their personal experience which bridges India to America.

It’s important that we keep in mind that the language barrier can restrict an understanding of the Constitution for other peoples.  For if Americans are still figuring out who’s in the We, it’s bound to confuse others!

It’s a cliché line in comedies when an ignorant tourist babbles something like, “I speak American!”  Yet, there is something unique to the American experience with English.  Our history seeps through the space between the letters and punctuates our declaratives.  Our identity is present not only in the syntax, but between the lines.

It is crucial that students be exposed to some of language’s subtleties.  It provides them with an appreciation for the world’s diversity, as well as knowledge that it will take time for the world’s people to reach mutual understanding.

As Diamond points out, English, lacking the nuances of highly inflected languages like Latin, may not even be the best language for our much-needed diplomacy.   And, in my opinion, it’s always a good thing to suggest to students that America doesn’t own all of the answers.  Hmmm.  Which brings me back to my soap box about the Metric system…

It also brings We to Wii.  What role is gaming playing in closing the communication gap?  I gotta admit that I get pretty geeked when my kid plays people around the world in FIFA Soccer.  And although our virtual world can lack manners, I doubt that a world war will start over calling it FIFA “Football” instead.  Cosmopolitan folk learn the importance of context, and there’s certainly a role for gaming in that.  Opportunities abound for cultural exchange!  From the virtual communities through which we share to games based upon learning language; it’s only a matter of time before my mii is sitting at a Turkish cafe, struggling with the subtleties of a foreign culture, but learning, learning, learning.

In all the branches of knowledge and in every kind of craft the end in view is some good. In the most sovereign of these, the capacity for [leadership in] political matters, the end in view is the greatest good and the good which is most to be pursued. The good in the sphere of politics is justice; and justice consists in what tends to promote the common interest” (112).

The course of the National Academy then pursued a series of questions for the sake of political knowledge.

From Aristotle, How do you know?

From Cicero, How do you see?

From Hobbes, How do you make?

From Deuteronomy, how do you judge?

And here’s a big question for National Academy alumni… how are you using these questions or these texts to promote an inquiry of political knowledge in your classroom?

A Federal Teacher shared his Path to Description with us in February. He provoked his students  to better examine what they know by describing what something is as well as what it is not. It took a year after the Academy but Hobbes21 unpacked the National Academy’s boxes to share them with his students. The Constitution became a protagonist in the story of We the People as Hobbes21 wove together the We the People text and his National Academy notes. His three part series, My Serial of Boxes, chronicles his concerns as he plunged into the depths of political philosophy in his Montessori classroom and the brilliant achievements of his students as they worked together to make order of this brave new world. You’ll want to check out the fantastic photos in the final post too!

Politicolor is a place to share your success and talk through your concerns. The healthcare debate still struggles to emerge from a summer of what believe was politics at its worst. As teachers and National Academy alumni we have the ability to share the story of politics at its best… how people organize themselves to achieve the good life.

If you have topics you’d like to discuss here… drop a line in the comments. We can also get you set up to write a post of your own.

So, please bear with us this weekend as we extend the floorplan of Politicolor. We’ll clear the dust and throw the doors wide open in just a few days.

The Declaration of Independence. [Please read this as if you have never read it before--slowly, back and forth, sideways if possible. Try to make the text seem strange. Then read it as if you were its author, revising where you would. Read it again, as an editor. Change your roles with the text, thinking about what printed, published, archived texts allow you to do. But also, thinking about this text, as it permanently is, given what happens when you try to change it.]

The fourth of July provokes so many to share excerpts from this text. You may have heard a good deal of fuss about Twitter during the initial days of unrest in Iran. Today I’ve seen Twitter friends quote “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” as they encourage friends to “be free today!” My feed has included promises of picnics, cold drinks and the best spot for watching fireworks downtown.

In fact, all of today’s celebrations and the Twitter story form Iran interesect in another interesting way. So many of my online friends were eager to support what they saw as a people’s movement for independence in Iran. This drove the stream of news from Iran to continue for days as people changed profile pics and avatars to bear the green hue of the opposition movement and retweeted every scrap of news as they found it. Americans love independence and find it difficult to resist a movement that seeks to achieve it.

Today I encourage you to make this assignment from the National Academy part of your celebration. Leave your thoughts in the comments below–what do you have to say as an author or an editor? What resonates more now after the work of the National Academy? What quotes would you like people to discuss more? And, let’s not forget your classroom incubators for American ideals…. did you use some version of this activity in your classroom? What did you do and what did your learn by doing it?

Lastly… if you’re not sharing a few big smiles and hardy laughs with friends and family today, you’re doing something wrong. Here’s some silly fun to mark the day:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Below is the section related to citizenship…

Now you know that no love letter written to you from me would be complete without my wishes for you as citizens of our community, our country and our world.  And you may think that it is slightly strange that I would transition to the topic of politics in a letter about religion and spirituality as most see them as completely unconnected, or even the antithesis of one another.  But I actually see them as very connected.  You see when I think of our membership in a democratic society, I consider it to be a covenantal relationship.  Each one of us enters this sacred compact and agrees to jointly protect and defend one another’s freedom and liberty.  The preservation of this covenant ought to be the principle business of our work as citizens.

While I don’t want to put an undue amount of pressure on you, I do think you all should know that I fundamentally believe that the survival of our democracy rests on your shoulders.  Our Founding Fathers designed our unique form of democracy as a “Grand Experiment.”  They naively believed that the people, yes the people, could be trusted to guard their liberties and build a society based on justice and the common good.  And though they borrowed their ideas from the great thinkers of antiquity including Aristotle, Cicero, Locke and Hobbs, their ideas were revolutionary and a clear departure from the past.

Although the system they created is less than perfect, I would venture to say that you enjoy more security, more safety, more opportunity, and more freedom in the United States than people in any other part of the world.  If you want this experiment to succeed – your energy, enthusiasm and service is required.  George Marshall, an American general, once said that, “Democracy is the most demanding of all forms of government in terms of the energy, imagination, and public spirit required of the individual.”  You, the individual, the citizen, are the most crucial component of our nation’s survival. Just as it has been suggested that your teachers are not teaching you enough about religion and spirituality, it has also been suggested that they are not teaching you enough about the foundations of government and your role in its upkeep.  There is some irony in this phenomenon, as the original purpose of public education was to educate the citizen for it was feared that without an educated and virtuous citizenry, no republic could survive.  Until last summer, I would have considered myself to be a teacher that Thomas Jefferson would be proud of, as I always taught my students about their government.  However, after attending a three week long academy sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, I learned that I had been going about this study in my classroom all wrong.

You see, government is not about checks and balances and rules for elections….it is much more than this.  It is about a compact, a social covenant, where people voluntary bind themselves together with the goal of attaining what Aristotle characterized as “the good life.”  Without government man can be left in a brutish state of nature.  Aristotle even went as far as to say that, “He who is without a city is clanless and lawless and heartless who at once plunges into a passion of war…”  Because of this, people agree to unite and form a common bond for the mutual protection of their life, liberty and property.  Many trace this concept all the way back to the covenant the Israelites made with God when Moses led them out of Egypt.  God promised the Israelites that He would lead them to safety if they agreed to be obedient to His higher law.  So, whenever you think of the government, don’t think about it in terms of some abstract machine removed from the people.  Think of it as a sacred bond created and entered into by the people.

And in our government, you need to know that you – yes you – play the most critical role in its functioning.  The citizen is the foundation of our democracy.  Aristotle defined the citizen as one who participates in power.  I hope that each of you takes this charge seriously and shares in the power that you already hold.  Don’t for one minute think that you are insignificant in this system.  Justice Louis Brandeis once said that, “The only title in our democracy superior to that of the President is the title of citizen.”  Think of people in the government as the actors but you are the author of their scripts.  Remember that it is you that consents to be governed and it is you that grants government officials the opportunity to serve on your behalf.

Many recent studies have shown that young people, such as you, are much less likely today to follow politics and take an active role in the political process than any previous generation.  In fact, since the 26th Amendment extending voting rights to 18 year olds in 1971, voter participation in the 18-24 year old category has actually decreased by 15%.  I don’t believe this is due to laziness on the part of our youth but rather a systematic alienation of young people from civic discourse by those who currently hold power.  If we do not take steps to right this wrong in your generation, I have great fear that our nation’s posterity will not have the opportunity to enjoy the great freedoms and liberties we are each afforded today.  The French philosopher Montesquieu once quipped, “The tyranny of a prince is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.”  In short, good men will be ruled by evil men if they collectively choose to be indifferent to public affairs and the political process.

In order for you to fulfill your role as citizen, I wish that each of you pursue every opportunity to continue your education for there is no freedom without knowledge.  You must engage your mind in as many ways as possible.  Read the great works, study the story of our past, discuss your thoughts, questions and wonderings with people that stimulate your thinking and consider ideas from a variety of perspectives.  So many adults are stuck in the here and now and are therefore unable and uninterested in learning the lessons our history has provided.  Don’t be one of them.  Cicero would tell you that, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.”  Make him proud. Learn as much as you can from our past and carry the teachings forward in your thinking.  And, as you read from multiple perspectives and traditions, don’t feel the need to embrace everyone.  Consider all viewpoints but think for yourself.  Aristotle would tell you that, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”  So ponder all perspectives but rely on your own intellect and understanding to determine your position.

When considering your role as citizen, it is my true hope that you will dedicate your time to the service of others.  Marian Wright Edelman once remarked that, “Service is the rent we pay for living.”  I hope you are able to think of it in this way.  I hope you wake each day considering what you might be able to do to make the world a better place.  Take the opportunity each and every day to do something for another.  Jackie Robinson, my favorite baseball player, ever famously said, “A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.”  Make your life significant.  I have found that for every act of service I have given, much more has been returned to me.  Gandhi believed that, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”  I could not agree more with his statement.  For every moment I have served you as your teacher, I have received an exponential amount of blessings.  Cicero said that, “As you have sown so shall you reap,” so consider the kind of bounty you wish to receive in your life and give accordingly.

It is also a dream of mine that each of my students works to eradicate the world of injustice in their coveted roles as citizens.  Thomas Jefferson said that, “Government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.”  And if any man or woman is made to feel unequal in the eyes of the law, our covenant is broken and must be repaired.  Historically, we have many blemishes.  It embarrasses me to think that originally only white, rich men were viewed as worthy of the title of citizen.  Or that our Founding Fathers who espoused equality owned slaves.  Or that black children were systematically separated from white students and forced to endure a second class citizenship.  But thankfully, some of these past injustices have been corrected through collective vigilance and determination.  If citizens had not risen up these same injustices might still have continued.  Horace Mann once stated that, “A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.”  Take this to heart and never allow yourself to contribute to injustice in any form.  Plato believed that, “He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it.”  Never let someone suffer on your watch.

As you ponder your role in our democracy, I challenge you to think of your service as citizen not just to the town or city you currently reside in but rather as a member of the global community.  Even Cicero subscribed to this philosophy.  He stated that you are not a “resident in some particular locality surrounded by man made walls, but a citizen of the whole world as though it is a single city.”  I hope that you view injustice and inhumanity in any corner of our universe as unacceptable.  Ridding the world of cruelty and injustice must be a cornerstone of our work as citizens.  As Gandhi said you must, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Now I know that routing out injustice might seem like a difficult task as just one citizen.  But the good news is – you are not alone.  We are all part of this sacred covenant and together the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Margaret Mead is famous for saying that we should, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, commited citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  And just as the Buddhists believe that the gem is in your pocket, so are all the tools you need to do this work.  No matter how rich or poor you are in mind, spirit and material, you have all that you need to do the work of citizen.  Teddy Roosevelt urged citizens during his presidency to, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  Although his words are very simple, the message is prolific.  Use the talents, the gifts, the resources and the knowledge that you have today to make our world a better place. And though the business of preserving our compact is difficult work, Cicero would tell you that, “The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.”

When Benjamin Franklin was leaving the Constitutional Convention he was asked by a group of people what type of government had been created.  His reply, “A republic, if you can keep it.”  Albert Einstein theorized that, “The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.”  It is my sincere hope that each one of you feels that you play a vital role in the preservation of our compact and therefore possess the determination to protect and defend this fragile covenant.  In order for this “Grand Experiment” to succeed, your energy, enthusiasm and commitment is required.  The good news is I have total faith and confidence that you have all that is needed to do this difficult work.  You are all well on your way to becoming noble and virtuous statesman and woman and I know our covenant is in excellent hands.

Now no letter from me would be complete without some words of Irish wisdom.  To
close, I share this blessing with you:

An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

With Great Love and Affection,

Miss Reen

P.S. Isn’t it great to be alive?

Revolution is the Pod

Systems rattle from

When the Winds of Will are stirred

Excellent is Bloom

But except its Russet Base

Every Summer be

The Entomber of itself,

So of Liberty–

Left inactive on the Stalk

All its Purple fled

Revolution shakes it for

Test if it be dead.

I’m in a two-week math school, and as I’ve said previously, Federalism is rapidly becoming the lens through which I view the world!

puck

I’m happy with the revision and just got around to coloring it.  Thanks to Lord V, I found out about free “BOX” accounts, and I’m able to share it via a link.  The other parts of the project are there, too, if anyone’s interested.

Better late than never, right, Hollie?

http://www.box.net/shared/19jdh2o848