MHJH Room 121 - IT's a CommUNITY - Day 2

Yesterday when the students walked into Room 121 they were met with the agenda as always.  They knew we were going to be using Kahoot again for another activity centered around our classroom environment.  The plan for yesterday was to show a short clip from the movie, "Remember the Titans," and play the music video of Bette Midler's, "From a Distance."

It was the songs that were the driving force of yesterday's activity.  In the short clip from the movie, Cat Steven's "Peace Train" is playing in the background as Julius, is on his way to Gary Bertier's home.  Julius is an African-American high school football player in a predominately white neighborhood when a police officer pulls up beside him.  The racially charged times made building the Titans football team a difficult task. However, with the dedication of head coach, Herman Boone and his staff, and constant, yet at times, subtle reminders a mutual respect for the game and ALL its players was built.  It was no accident that the song "Peace Train" was chosen as background music for that scene.  Take a look at the clip and see if you understand why such a powerful song was put into that scene.  The students were asked to do the same on Kahoot :-).

"Peace Train" in "Remember the Titans"

We transitioned away from "Peace Train" and to another song, "From a Distance."  I prepped the students for the viewing by asking them to pay attention to the words being sung and the role of children in the video.  I emphasized not getting caught up in the religious connotation of the song's refrain, but to pay more attention to the words of the verses.  At the conclusion of the video, the students were asked to identify the theme of the video.  Give the song a listen and the video a look and ask yourself, what is the theme?

Bette Midler's music video for "From a Distance"

At the end of our Kahoot and a short discussion, students were asked to begin working with their table partners on the task of defining the words respect and community.  They were then to come up with two examples for each word of the definition in action.  What does respect look like?  What does community look like?  The students struggled with coming up with a definition for respect.  They knew what it was but couldn't put it into words.  The table with Julia, Zach, Kylie, Roman, and Lily summed up the difficulty of this task well, when they said, "Respect is so easy to understand yet so complicated to explain/define."

So, why are these two songs the anthems for Room 121?  It's very simple, "Peace Train" is connected to RESPECT, and "From a Distance" is connected to COMMUNITY.  The student's experiences of not belonging, these two songs, along with the ideas of respect and community they came up with together, and the third part in our series, will lead us to an environment in Room 121 that supports and encourages ALL.  Come back later today for the final installment of MHJH Room 121 - It's a commUNITY.