The Hero's Journey

Today marks the end of our journey through Literature of the Bible.  With such a vast text, we only scratched the surface of the curriculum, but in the process of reading from the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels, we charted our own journeys and found rich references to our world today and the texts we read and the films we watch.

I'll miss all of you.  What a wonderful, sharing and kind group we have.  Some of you are setting out on your own journey outside our building, and some of you are moving on down the hallway to new classes.  I hope you'll stop by room 185 on occasion and keep me up on how life is treating you.

You still have my email (bjames@spsmail.org) and I will leave the blog site open.  So, adieu for now and safe journeys!  Have a peaceful and restful holiday!

Proverbs, The Hero's Journey, and Thanksgiving Break!

Last week we read through Proverbs, translating them into modern day stories.  These we shared and compared with traditional English proverbs, learning a number of new idioms through a crossword hunt.  We also charted the hero's journey through characters in the Old Testament as well as a favorite movie, sharing our notes on Mulan.  


Learning about Joseph Campbell's lifelong study of myths, archetypes, and story patterns, we charted our own personal journeys, recognizing we are all heroes of our own personal journey.  We will pick up from there after our Thanksgiving break.

I hope everyone has a happy and restful Thanksgiving holiday.

Women of the Bible

Our next challenge:  Select a woman of the Bible to research.  Read her story and share her story on a blog post of your own.  You may want to start with a simple website. Read over the interesting choices and sign up to research the woman of your choice.  In your blog post include:

• Background information on your character.  What is her story?  Who are the important characters in her life?  What is her timeline? (Think about events in her life and also those that come before and after her.) Why is she important or what is the lesson we learn from her story?
• Bible quotes or passage from her story.
• Famous art, music, or movies inspired by your character.
• An illustration to accompany your post
• Your opinion, including any connections or evaluations you can make!

Monday is set aside for reading.  You will need to read your character's pages in the Bible.  Here you will piece together your character's life, lessons, and quotes.  You will also consult outside sources for additional support.  Your written description of your character's story will be drafted Monday , and your final blog post should be posted by the end of class on Wednesday.  Friday we will read the posts from our class and respond through meaningful comments to each post.

Children's Book Parable

This week our time has been spent creatively considering lessons to be taught to children.  We reviewed a number of children's books to enjoy and to analyze for the teachable lesson.  After deciding on a lesson (a parable), we worked on a rough draft by completing a storyboard with text and sketches (or words describing the pictures) for the pages of our own book creation.  Choices include creating a hard copy book or a digital book.  Directions are linked here.

We shared our rough draft creations, conferencing with a writing partner and keeping notes.  Our final day of work is Friday, October 30 when we will complete our self-scoring rubric and add any final touches on our books.  Book share presentations are scheduled for Wednesday, November 4th. Books are due at the beginning of class!  Good luck!

Good News and Good Lessons

This Wednesday we'll begin reading the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.  We will focus on the lessons taught by Jesus through the Parables contained in these opening books of the New Testament.

The writing response to accompany our reading is to select four Parables (there are many), write a brief summary (the gist) and state the moral or point.  See the handout.

Finally, your challenge is to choose one of your four parables to share on a blog post.  Include:

• a short summary, 
• a powerful passage with your explanation as to why it's powerful 
• the point or lesson of the story 
• a picture

Poetry of the Bible

We will try our hand at reading and interpreting the Book of Psalms as the second quarter begins. Psalm 23, a familiar psalm to many of us, served as our sample to interpret on Wednesday. Friday we will begin with an artistic sketch of ourselves, and then we'll read through many psalms (see handout in crate) to interpret and later select one or two others to analyze and present artistically, either through a found poem or tagxedo or the like.

Some things to know about Psalms include:

• written by many people, including David.
• written long, long ago and probably compiled in the third century B.C.
• used for praying and singing, and the underlying theme is there is one God in charge of everything...

We will also listen to psalm lyrics set to music, appreciating how wide spread and appreciated this poetry is.  One common example is the song Turn, Turn, Turn by the Byrds taken from the Book of  Ecclesiastes.  You may already recognize its origin in lyrics.

Responses to Literature and Presentations

This week we are focusing on responding to literature, beginning with a response to the children's story Fox.  Of course, it isn't really aimed at children because it is a rather grim story.  For practice, however, you wrote a sample "blog post" on paper.  Like a blog post, you included a short summary, a representative quote from the story with explanation, and a connection to other literature, particularly Bible stories.

On Wednesday during class, we wrote "blog posts" to the independent reading you've done this quarter.  These posts are due by Friday.  We will also share presentations on Friday, the last day of the quarter!

Storytelling and Bible Lessons

New projects are underway.  You'll be teaching your classmates your choice of story from the Hebrew Scriptures, either by yourself in your own solo presentation or with a partner or even with a group.  It looks like we'll have a bit of a variety.


Melea, Trinity, and Thalia will be presenting a sack puppet show of the story of  Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt.  Leanne is teaching the story of Cain and Abel, Jacob the Tower of Babel, Kevin is presenting David and Goliath, Jakob and Tyler are presenting the story of Esther, Jordan has The Lion's Den, Autumn the story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz, and Paige and Kambria are presenting art related to the book of Judith.

Learning about Bible stories through your own creative efforts should be fun and informative.  You'll be rewarded for your ability to teach the rest of the class and to learn from each other.  Presentations are scheduled for a week from Friday, October 9th.  You can access the assignment handout here.

Exodus... Moses and the Israelites

Wednesday marked the beginning of the Bibilical book of Exodus.  We read Exodus 1 - 6 together,and made a picture summary of the stories as we read, and you read Exodus 7-12 on your own and continued the picture summary.

Check the make up crate in the classroom for the handouts.  Friday we will watch the History Channel's documentary, The Exodus Decoded.  

As we watch, we will note evidence presented by documentarian Jacobovici, and we will make notes of the artifacts and events traced.

Reading, Thinking, and Blogging: Monday!

As promised, Monday is set aside for "choice" reading and blogging.  Today's challenge:

• Write a blog post about your independent reading book 
• or follow our blog link to the New York Times opinion page and write in response to a choice editorial.  Select a topic from the two column list of religious editorials and read the main story.  Read the discussions and create a post on your own blog site.  Your post should include the title of the article in your title.  

Like your book posts, you will include a short summary of the issue.  Quote a powerful passage (a few key lines) you would like to interpret and respond to.  Include a photo or graphic to illustrate your thoughts.  Proofread before you hit "publish."

You could write something like this below:

                          Natural Disaster or ‘Acts of God’? - New York Times Editorial

No doubt we have all heard comments about the wild fires in California, the recent tsunamis and earthquakes, flooding, and droughts, and people connecting these disasters with Biblical forecasts.  The question posed on the New York Times opinion page asks, “Is it constructive to think of natural disasters as acts of God?”

Professor Reuben Mendoza points out scripture to remind readers that those who want to blame God have a tendency to see God as vengeful. He explains that “To attribute these events to the will of God is to hold on to a tyrannical image of God.”  If God is love, then why would He allow people to suffer, and why would He render harm to humans?  Mendoza suggests that it is time to “lay this image to rest” because we live in an imperfect world and God is not taking vengeance on mankind.  He reminds readers of the good that comes of disasters, of the international community who help countries in need, sending volunteers and resources, raising funds for countries like the Philippines devastated by recent typhoons.  Disasters happen, but people are guided by God’s love.

I liked Mendoza’s editorial response to the question.  He describes a world full of hope, a God who is kind, guiding people to come to each other’s aid.  

Translations: Do They Change the Story?

Last Friday in class, we posted (or commented) about the stories of Joseph as they appear in various texts.  Then we began to view a scene from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat and music written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and also the Dream Works version of the same story.  We may finish those up before we move on the Exodus.

In focusing on translations, you can visit this site to get a comparisons on the texts.  Our study is on the Bible and also how it has influenced other texts, stories, poetry, narratives, media, and more.  In class on Monday we will continue reading about the Israelites with our reading of Exodus.  Stay tuned!  More to come!  We will look for connections to literature and art and culture as well as lessons as we read about Moses.

The Story of Joseph, Son of Jacob - Comment Below or Post! --REVISED POST--

Please go back and read through the favorite Genesis stories each of you wrote about. Abram and Noah were the most blogged about, but Joseph should also have a close look before we move on to Exodus.

• Read my comments and post your own comments to each other as you read through the class.

Paige wrote about Joseph and his colorful coat. Our "Genesis 37 - 41" handout summarizes his story according to the New International Version.  It's fascinating, though, to research the various versions according to scholars.  The Jewish International Library has a similar but slightly different version. Yet one more to look at is Joseph in Islam version.  If you would prefer a hard copy of the stories, you can pick them up in our handout crate in the classroom.

For your written response,

• you may post your thoughts about the different versions by commenting here (below) in the comment box, or you can respond like Jakob and Era with a new post on your own blog.  Be specific if you can.  What's the basic theme?  What is different in the two versions?
• add, if you wish, your knowledge of any of the movie versions. 

I became interested in the Joseph story in Islam because I was listening to the musician, philosopher, philanthropist Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf (Joseph), and I wondered why he chose a new name and what it meant.  He recorded a beautiful version of a popular church hymn, "Morning Has Broken," one of my favorites. I know you can learn a lot about Cat Stevens, or Yusuf, and what his life is like now by reading about him in this Rolling Stone interview.  It's an interesting article about his controversial past (his comments about Rushdie) and his renewed passion for peace.

• Read the interview and we can discuss some of his issues/challenges in class (if we have time Friday) !  No required additional response about Yusuf at this time!

Monday, Monday

We just finished reading most of Genesis.  Today's writing prompt:  Which story or character in Genesis stands out the most to you?  Briefly summarize the story and identify the lesson to be gleaned from it.  How might this lesson be applied to your life or simply to life today?

Before you close your post, please write briefly about the book you will read for independent reading. Why did you choose it?  What's the gist of the reading so far?  Do you anticipate any lessons we can tie to our reading or allusions to the Bible?

With any extra computer time you may have, please read each other and comment!

Happy Friday! Happy Reading!

Many of you selected a book to read for pleasure. (Yes, pleasure and reading can go together.) If you haven't got a good book to read yet, you will need to have one by Monday because you will have time Monday to read.  We have enough computers for half of the class, and this will work out perfectly. On Mondays you will allot half of the class time for reading, and the other half for posting on the computer.

This Monday you will begin in class reading time, and I will give you more direction on what to post to your own blog, but be thinking about your favorite character or story from Genesis.

Heads up!  I will be recording blog grades this weekend. You have a score sheet for this, so you should know that it will include your post for "10 Things About Me," the Noah project, and your comments to our other bloggers.  

Ancestors of Israel - The Call of Abraham

We are wrapping up blog set up, so today you should be able to access blogs from our class and leave meaningful comments to the "10 Things About Me" post as well as the Noah projects. 

After you post your Noah project and read those from the rest of the class, we will be continuing our reading of Genesis to learn about the ancestors of Israel and Abraham's call to ,"Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you" (Genesis 12:1)

Those of you who have completed your comments and posted your project can be researching the nomads of the desert, learning more about what life might have been like in the desert with a nomadic people.  For optional and extra credit, you can write a research paragraph with an overview of your topic and an in-text citation for each of two sources you will find.  You may also research current events regarding the flight of Syrian refugees and their search for a home.

More Projects: The Story of Noah

It's a joy to see many of you have created your blogs, which are now (finally) connected to our site.  Thank you.  We'll work on getting the rest of you on board this week.

Sorry I missed you Monday.  Ms. Inskeep, our substitute, is a Parkview grad, and she left me a note about how wonderful you are.  Another thank you.  You have started your Noah projects, and I'll be anxious to help today (Wednesday) as you continue work, finish up, and post them to your blog site. The key here is choosing a site which is easy to share, like Google Slides or Prezi.

If and when you have finished your project, I have one more "community building" challenge for you.  Bloggers often like to publish information about themselves, and one way you might see this is in a post entitled "101 Things About Me."  I know 101 may be crazy, but how about 10 interesting, little known, classroom appropriate facts?  For 10 points credit, give it a try!  It's a great way to get to know each other.

Blog Introductions and Project 1

Your school Google accounts will now allow access to Blogger, so on Friday, August 26, we are setting up our own blog sites and linking them to this site.  The most powerful facet of blogging is sharing your writing with others, reading theirs in return, and making meaningful and substantive comments to each other.

Another benefit is the fact that you can access this site at any time.  This means you can work on your blog outside of class, and if (heaven forbid) you should miss class, you can see what you've missed, and you can ask questions of any of us by clicking the "comment" button and typing in the box.

So, by the end of class on Friday, you will share your digital creation (your blog) with the class and get to know each other in a new way.  Your first post will be to summarize your project 1 (Eden or Blake) in a few sentences and upload it to your blog post.  If your project was visual, we can take a picture and upload it that way.

Happy Blogging!  Happy Friday!

The Story of Noah and Evan Almighty

During week two we read the story of Noah and the flood and watched the movie Evan Almighty, noticing the characterization of Noah and God as well as the parts of the story which were changed in order to create a modern day comedy. The viewing guide gave you an opportunity to record what you saw, including your opinion of those changes.  

This lesson was intended to provide an enjoyable opportunity to highlight Biblical allusions.

Why Study the Bible?

Welcome bloggers!  This site will serve as a great place to share our reading responses and projects, and to get feedback from others in our class.

To kick off our semester together, we've touched on powerful lessons we can learn from our study, not just lessons and themes dealing with the human condition, but also all genres of writing, history, and literary allusions.

We started with stories of creation from various cultures,  and we read Genesis 1, the first book of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament.  With the focus on literary allusions and connections to art, music, and poetry, you chose a project related to William Blake or a project related to the Garden of Eden.

With directions and support provided in class, you will create your own blogs and connect them to this site.  Your first post will focus on your project, providing us an opportunity to get and give feedback.

Please remember as we share with each other throughout the semester, many of us hold different beliefs and traditions and respecting others only makes our class richer.   You may have joined our class with your own unique expectations, but it is my sincere desire to provide an enjoyable, meaningful experience for all, regardless of beliefs, knowledge, background and goals.  Welcome!