Perhaps I am in a minority or am mis-interpreting the purpose of the summer reading course, but I would (if it were me, granted) focus on authors that would touch the soul and stir the imagination much more than any that would seek to fire my students' angst or rankle their sensitivities. I'm probably butchering the original statement here, but essentially, people will only care for those things they care about. Those things they love. Show the students how to love and really SEE their environment, how they are intuitively connected to it in ways they hadn't thought possible...teach them to let their senses flow and "saunter" without beating them over the head with a message. They'll get the message. It'll be loud and clear, and inherent. They will pick up on the passion in the words, and passion carries the message more clearly than any of us can. To that end, I humbly recommend some of the works of Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and others...reach back for some classics. Reading them aloud and discussing their meaning whilst sitting in the great outdoors can be very powerful. Next to a quietly ambling river, in the middle of a wind-rippled meadow, or under the cooling canopy of a maple tree, have them close their eyes and...listen. Smell. Touch. And read. Respectfully, Kelly Stettner
Black River Action Team (BRAT) 45 Coolidge Road Springfield, VT 05156 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.blackriveractionteam.org ~Making ripples on the Black River since 2000! ~ --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
