Today, Acton’s heroes were thrilled to spend time reading, and they even proposed “reading one book a day” as part of their contract of promises to each other that they will each sign at the end of this first session.
Talking with your hero(es) about their first week at Acton:
During this first session, our heroes are “building their tribe,” focused on team-building, creating studio contracts, and introducing Acton processes and systems. Some of the things you can ask your child(ren) about are:
- Lip dub video process. What was the most fun part? Was it ever frustrating? Tell me more about the rubric and critiquing.
- What’s a character shout-out? How does it feel to give one? How does it feel to receive one?
- What books have you been reading during D.E.A.R (drop everything and read)?
- What put you in your challenge zone this week? What put you in your panic zone? How did you deal with that?
- What’s the peace table?
- What’s a S.M.A.R.T. goal? What is a goal you are interested in setting for yourself?
- How did you discover the creek outside with your friends?
- What’s your favorite poem so far? (poetry is our writers’ workshop genre for the next several weeks)
- How does it feel to do your work on a computer? (we launched core skills (math, reading) using Dreambox for math and IXL for language arts this week)
- What’s different about Acton that you like vs. your old school? (the heroes had a deep, unprompted conversation over lunch about this on Day 3)
Language to use at home: Challenge Donut
This week, the heroes learned about the “challenge donut.” Heroes take on challenges in pursuit of a worthy quest. The wise hero accepts challenges within his or her reach that stretch and hone new skills. The Challenge Donut is a visual metaphor that helps young heroes describe when a task challenges and stretches, but not to the point of being counterproductive. Creating a wall hanging of it and referring to it often equips heroes to mentally self-assess regularly. The inner Comfort Zone describes a goal so easy it’s uninspiring and even boring. Growth does not happen in the Comfort Zone. The outer Panic Zone is a goal so far beyond current abilities that a sense of being overwhelmed prevents growth. The middle Challenge Zone is where the maximum learning takes place, and a Hero is likely to experience Flow.
Fun family activity: The Hero’s Journey
Heroes also learned about the hero’s journey this week. In literature, the hero’s journey is the common template of stories that involve a hero who heeds the call to adventure, faces challenges and obstacles, gathers friends and mentors along the way, and comes home changed or transformed. It’s a story of daring, resilience, grit and growth. Our heroes learned about this archetype this week and it’s one we will continue to explore their entire time at Acton since it serves as a metaphor for instilling a growth mindset.
At home, as you read stories with your child(ren) or listen to podcasts or watch movies, discuss the connections between the characters and events in the story with the template of the hero’s journey. For example, when did Luke Skywalker hear the call to adventure? What prompted him to set off with Obi-Wan Kenobi? What was his challenge? Could he have done it himself? What friends and mentors helped him along the way? And how was he different at the end of the movie vs. the beginning.
Got time in the car? Story podcasts we love:
National Geographic’s Greeking Out
The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian
Have a wonderful weekend and see you next week!
