Learning with video and popcorn Akeelah and the Bee and the SAT

Akeelah and the Bee

Please print out this lesson plan  (see link below) sponsored by Party City in 2006 when the movie debuted. These activities will include illumination of strategies related to every area you can use to improve your scores on the SAT.
Do not be deceived by the grade level. You can learn on many levels with these exercises.

I can use these activities to show you how and why you can add points to your test score.  
How can you do this within a few weeks? 

You can understand the nature of the test better.
You can find out what you need to know and what you already know and make connections.
You can understand the way words are put together so you will have some ideas about unfamiliar words.
You can learn why the questions are asked the way they are asked on the test.
You can learn what you are ‘expected’ to know anyway, and why, and how to manage. 
You can add to your knowledge base, including vocabulary and terminology.
You can do more, but this is enough for now!

In the movie, Akeelah reads the following quotation from Dr. Larabee’s wall:

[quoting Marianne Williamson] Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

[Dr. Larabee then uses the ‘Socratic Method’ and asks, as the method is about asking questions:]
Dr. Larabee: Does that mean anything to you?

Akeelah: I don't know.

Dr. Larabee: It's written in plain English. What does it mean?

Akeelah: That I'm not supposed to be afraid?

Dr. Larabee: Afraid of what?

Akeelah: Afraid of... me?

Does the quotation mean anything to you? What does it mean to you? If you have someone to discuss the movie, discuss what the quotation means to you. If you are studying alone, think about whether it means anything to you. Why or why not?

Please print out from:

http://www.Akeelahandthebee.com/education_guides/guide.pdf

For the next few days, I will use strategies to study for the SAT based upon watching the movie Akeelah and the Bee. The reason I choose this video is that several strategies for the SAT specifically and other standardized tests, in general, are presented in this movie.

The movie also portrays a type of intelligence that is difficult to describe in words, though the movie is about the study of words. This is ‘emotional intelligence.’ Emotional intelligence, as pointed out by Jonah Lehrer in his book, How We Decide, is an additional strength to make good choices for your personal well being.

You can exercise some of the functions of your brain in amusing ways. The exercises at http://www.lumosity.com/ are terrific examples of what you can do to keep your brain functioning at top level while having fun. These little games are quick. They hone your skills in acting upon what you are seeing, not the diversions.

Do you want to take over some of the controls about how others steer your life? Think of the reasons you want to learn to drive or why you did learn to drive a car. Think of the reasons why you like to be closer to the places and people you like. Maybe you even learned to ride a bicycle to get away for awhile! Being in control of your own travel is liberating!

For our lessons, please print out the package of materials sponsored by Party City when the movie, Akeelah and the Bee, debuted in 2006. If the package indicates it is for an age group younger than you are, ignore this. I am certified to teach Gifted and Exceptional Education, as well as English. Believe me when I tell you, using materials from every ‘grade level’ from Baby Einstein board books to MIT lectures on line is the way to learn.

Rocketboy, my cat character who inspired the Rocketcat imagery in my lesson plans, was a cat who could leap tall buildings in a single bound! This is the truth, actually (‘for real’), as one of his adventures outside (where he launched without permission), was atop a house with barking German Shepherds in the yard.

Rocketboy could not hear the dogs. Rocketboy was deaf. But he saw them; and I saw him because of them. I looked up, and there he was: a white, deaf cat perched on the steepest part of the rooftop. The dogs were in a frenzy, and I was, too.

I went to the neighbors and beseeched them to call their dogs inside while I coaxed my spirited mentor-in-adventure down to earth. Rocketboy curled atop his paper towels in the kitchen afterwards, pulling them down to make a bed, and then pushing them closer to a heat vent, I knew his dreams were about all the things he could do when he woke up again.

Come back on Saturday. We will talk more about raising those scores. It is easy to do. You will love some of these strategies. They are fun to know. They are like solutions to life problems. You think, ‘Oh! So that’s the way it is! I can do this!’ You can.

Judycarol&Rockeboy cat Feb 2010

Rocketcat's Program for SAT and Akeelah and the Bee

Check my next post for the activities to do to make watching the movie fun and helpful in adding points for you on the SAT test (or any other test of your critical thinking skills).  The movie is about a national spelling contest, but the inclusion of community support, after some family conflict is part of the lesson to help on standardized tests. The emotional intelligence strategies make this movie one of the best models for studying words, as they are in addition to the traditional ways to add comprehension skills.

If you dismiss the study strategies related to this part of the SAT studies because you are not good with spelling, I hope you will visualize what I tell you. This can make the difference in how well you do on all standardized tests.  The ability to spell well does not help you on a multiple choice test by showing your personal spelling ability.  Learning words, visually, along with all of the examples connected to them and the background of the words, is the fastest and strongest method of building your comprehension for the type of questions you encounter on standardized tests.  After all, the answer is there. Everything you recognize and connect to what else you know leads you to the correct solution.  Think of each word as code.

If you are learning to use invented spelling for expressing ideas, please let me share some more information with you.  Invented spelling is quite useful when you are using your own code or shorthand to jot down information and ideas while writing.  When you have the chance to look up the correct spelling of words, however, this is an activity that adds to your brain power in more ways than learning to spell. 

Making up your own words--or neologisms--and spelling them according to a specific reasoning on your part, is brain expanding.  Inventing spelling of words already in use--so you can jot down ideas of words you want for certain expression is a positive technique.  Some other usage will confuse your own thought processes, as you see the word you are not managing in your own mind yet, and do not recognize it.

We can learn from how difficult it is for a dyslexic person to copy a word correctly when writing.  The same person can often visualize words on the 'blackboard' of the mind and spell them forward and backward.  Realizing the ability to do this for a person is a strong tool to use in other areas.  This visualization can be a method of putting the thoughts in your mind into a sort of filing system that slips in together when you encounter new problems or new issues.

We will be using more tools like this to exercise the areas that help in displaying knowledge.  For now, believe me, looking at the word while hearing or seeing the word in captioning or singing the word, writing the word in a special font--all with the correct spelling, is a way to build understanding. It is more than spelling.
Check back for more about the program. judycarol&rocket cat

SAT COUNTDOWN ACTIVITIES WITH POPCORN

Today: Watch Akeelah and the Bee and pay attention to the features I describe in the program for the movie. I have especially designed this program, see below, complete with simple activities, to multiply the benefits of watching this movie in conjunction with studying for the SAT. If you are taking the SAT in March, you have additional assignments.  The next SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is on March 13, 2010. Activities to build skills from now until the test date will definitely add points. With today's movie, using my accompanying program, you will increase the following critical thinking skills to help you on any standardized tests:

P.S. Do watch the movie with my program alongside you
even if you have seen the movie  before.  

1.  Recognizing language as code.

2.  Analyzing the way the language codes modify words for different purposes,

i.e., parts of speech.

3.  Interpreting probable spelling of some words based upon etymology.

4. Examining how noticing etymology of words helps to understand

science, law, medicine, social studies, and other areas in addition to language arts.

The good news is that the activities and strategies we are into at this point, with less than a month to go, are carefully directed to lead to additional correct answers on the test.  The good news includes the fact that some aspects of the test are predictable.

The news for your brain now is that each of the activities I describe on this site are designed for you to step up the attention of your sensory and emotional intelligence.  When you watch a movie, read excerpts from a book, or design a game I suggest, the impact upon your knowledge base and critical thinking skills can be exponential, or multiplied many times over. judycarol & cool rocket cat