In the ending of the novel Natalie returned back to the blind school in Baltimore. She was in an interview with something who told her that she was an amazing person because she helped deliver goats and load a gun even though she was blind. But Natalie didn't think she was an amazing person, she just had to do what she had to. Natalie cares about Nuisance and she didn't want her to die, so she had to help her. Also, loading the gun was something that Natalie did before, so it wasn't really a big deal to Natalie. After Natalie goes back to the school, she starts to "look" at colleges with her friends. Natalie was finally happy and accepting that she was blind. This relates to my personal life because, like Natalie, in my life I learned to accpet
Please discuss the ending of the novel, what the overall lesson learned was, and how it connects to you in your personal life.
In the ending of the novel Natalie returned back to the blind school in Baltimore. She was in an interview with something who told her that she was an amazing person because she helped deliver goats and load a gun even though she was blind. But Natalie didn't think she was an amazing person, she just had to do what she had to. Natalie cares about Nuisance and she didn't want her to die, so she had to help her. Also, loading the gun was something that Natalie did before, so it wasn't really a big deal to Natalie. After Natalie goes back to the school, she starts to "look" at colleges with her friends. Natalie was finally happy and accepting that she was blind. This relates to my personal life because, like Natalie, in my life I learned to accpet
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In this chapter, we learn that some people are affected by sensitive topics. When communicating with people (peers/adults/family/mixed company) how should you always carry a conversation?
Have you ever been in a situation where you or someone you know put "their foot in their mouth"? What happened and what was the outcome? A way that you can always carry a conversation is by either asking questions or saying something about yourself that the other people can build on. I can always carry on a conversation is by showing interest in what the person is talking about. Then I can respond with something that is on topic with what the other person is talking about. I haven't been in a situation when someone put "their foot in their mouth," but an example of it can be if someone says something that is offensive to someone. Natalie and Bree faced their ultimate nightmare as they navigated their way back to school. Their fear came true, and awful people took advantage of them in a cruel way. How do you think Natalie will handle what happened to her friend? Will she continue on her courageous path, take a few steps back, or completely regress and shut off completely? What events in the story make you think this?
Natalie and Bree were not always close, and I can't imagine becoming really good friends with someone and then they are gone in a blink of an eye. Natalie is probably shocked/scared. Natalie is shocked because she most likely thought that someone attacking her would never happen. Natalie is also scared because she will probably never want to go outside again without a seeing person. Natalie will most likely try to keep going, but eventually she cracks and starts from the beginning, wondering why she became blind. Natalie went from accepting her blindness to being back at the start, wanting to know why her and why it was so hard. I predict this because Natalie lost a friend who helped her through most of her problems. She had a friend with her who was going through the same things as Natalie and Natalie losing Bree must make Natalie feel alone and abandoned. Make a list of 20 things that a teenager goes through that would be very difficult without your eye sight. In class we will do an activity with these everyday things that we may or may not take for granted.
1. Taking notes 2. Watching educational videos 3. Seeing where their classmates are 4. Deciding where to sit 5. Which book is which 6. Where the teacher is standing 7. Where the board is 8. Walking around 9. Not knowing who you are talking to 10. Deciding if people are really your friends 11. If anybody understands how hard life is 12. Doing homework 13. Getting from class to class 14. Not knowing if people are pointing/staring 15. Where their school materials are 16. Needing more help than the other students 17. Wondering if the teacher will give up trying to teach me 18. Reading will take longer 19. Writing without a brailler is impossible 20. Studying Miss Audra and Natalie are having a conversation and Natalie seems to be down on herself. Miss Audra says, "It is in you. But it takes practice. It takes self-confidence". How can these words help you when you get down on yourself? Has anyone ever given you words like this to encourage you through a hard time?
Positive words tend to encourage others to do better. Miss Audra is just trying to make Natalie happy and accepting. Natalie is having a hard time becoming completely blind, and the way Miss Audra is helping is by telling Natalie to believe in herself so she will do better. Nobody has given me those words because I try to look at things in a positive way. If something doesn't work, than I will try again until it does. Sometimes I am the person to say to "try again" or "practice one more time." I want to help others and want the people in my life to know not to give up. Have you ever seen someone being made fun of or ridiculed because of the way they look? because of their disability? or because they were different than "normal"? Did you do anything to stop it or did you stay out of it? Why?
A time I have seen someone being made fun of because they were different was a time I was in Texas with my cousins. I went to camp and there was a girl who had to use crutches because she broke her leg. People in the camp would leave her out because she needed help getting around. I also saw people pointing and laughing at her. I didn't think it was right, so me and my cousin went up to her and became her friend. As soon as I sat down next to her, she had a really big smile on her face. Even though the rest of the people in the camp started to laugh and point at me and my cousin, I didn't care because it was worth it. I learned that the girl was really nice and I didn't understand why people were being so rude. After about 4 days of being pointed at and laughed at, I kind of understood what the girl with the broken leg felt like. I didn't really care what the people were saying about us or why they were laughing because I don't care what other people think of me. But, if I was more sensitive than I would understand that people pointing at and laughing at someone is not a good feeling to have. "Let me keep what I have and I promise to have a good attitude. I will learn what I have to and I will help others."
What does Natalie mean when she says this? Have you ever made a deal with God? She is trying to make a promise so she doesn't lose her eye sight. Natalie desperately wants to keep her eye sight and in return is she agreeing to help people and always have a good attitude about it. Natalie is also saying that she is going to learn the skills of a blind person and help others who are becoming blind. Natalie is hoping that she never loses her sight, so in return she is trying to make a promise. I have never made a deal with God because he plans my life, if I don't like something, it will most likely turn out for the better because God has a plan for me and I doubt that he is trying to make my life bad. Natalie felt worried and confused when Jake asked her to go to the football game. Why do you think she felt that way? Do you think she should have felt that way? Was there ever a time in your life where you felt the same way?
Natalie most likely felt confused why Jake asked her to go to the football game because she was becoming blind and thought that nobody would want to hang out with her anymore. She felt this way because she didn't know that her true friends support her and try to help her out through the hard patches of her becoming blind. A time that I felt the same way was when I got a cut on my face. I thought that nobody would want to talk to me because I looked weird, but it turned out that I learned who my true friends are. FROM THE BOOK:
Emotionally: seeing her parents as much as possible, incase she will never see them again Intellectually: keeping a strong bond with her friends back home and making new ones at the school Physically: taking a self defense class MY EXPERIENCE: Natalie wants to protect herself in many ways and by doing this, she wants to keep herself happy. She also wants to keep herself out of harm by other human beings. I would most likely do exactly the same thing Natalie did because I would want to protect myself physically and emotionally. Keeping friends and staying out of harm would be the first thing on my list I would always think about if I became blind. In these chapters Natalie is understanding less of where her "old" friends are coming from, and relating more to those she comes in contact with regularly at her new school. Tell me a time when you were confused about "what you were used to", which then pushed you to understand something else more clearly. I know relating to Natalie is difficult as far as her vision issues, but what about being "confused" as a teenager?
A time I was confused about what I was used to was when I shadowed a high school. A day in the life as a high school student was so different than what I was used to. I was wondering how people were able to understand the set up of the day and get through the halls without getting lost. This pushed me to understand that I would have to learn how to get around the school and learn how the school works. When the college kids came to have TEEN GROUP in the library, each student spoke up and talked about what frustrates them. Give me a well written "monologue" coming from YOUR point of you of something that bothers you about PEOPLE. (hee hee) This should be interesting!
The human race has progressed a lot throughout MANY years, and I appreciate all the inventions and knowledge that humans learned, but even though humans are smart, there are things that bother me. The main thing that bothers me about people is that feel to associate someone in a "group." This bothers me the most because everyone is equal and nobody should label someone. Getting labelled is putting a name on someone, and the name would isolate them into a group. Labeling someone can result in leaving someone out, bullying, and getting judged. Leaving people out of something is not only incredibly rude, but it also affects a person's personality. Bullying is a problem that is happening all around the world, and I don't understand why someone wants to make someone feel bad about themselves/sad/angry. Lastly, when someone gets judged, it is another form of bullying because they are most likely thinking of things wrong with someone. People annoy me in many ways, but the main reason is because they put a label on someone and isolate them into a group where people can't leave. Were Natalie's feelings about her "new room mate" normal? Was she over reacting? Has this ever happened to you or someone you know?
Yes, Natalie's feelings about getting a room mate were normal. Natalie was not over reacting because if I was here, I would not want someone living in the same room as me. I do not like people touching my stuff and moving things around, so living in the same room as someone would make me go crazy. This happened to me when over the summer, cousin "lived" with me for about a month. My cousin would share a room with me and every time she would touch something or move something, I would get annoyed because I like things in their place. Later on, when I "lived" in her house for a month, I would try not to touch things because I know how annoying it is. Natalie acted the same way I would act because I would be nice, but would be paranoid if the other person touched my stuff. WHAT DOCTOR ROSE SAID/ BLIND AS A BAT (Make a List/ Connections to Self)
Make a list of at least 20 things that you would immediately think of if your doctor told you that you would lose your sight. Why are these the things that you would miss seeing the most??? 1. Why?? 2. How long until I loose my eye sight? 3. Go see the Grand Canyon 4. I need to see all of my family members 5. Look at places that I go often 6. How long will it take to go blind? 7. When will I loose my eyesight? 8. How did this happen? 9. Will I need to learn braille and use a cane? 10. Will I still be able to go to the same school. 11. Go see people I care about. 12. Tell my friends and family. 13. Be in denial 14. Will I need surgery? 15. Will I be 100% blind? 16. Sadness 17. Clean my room so I know where everything is. 18. Need to learn to depend on my other senses. 19. Accept the fact that I will go blind 20. If there is a cure. The things I would miss the most seeing is my family and friends, because eventually I will forget what they look like. Not being able to see my friends and family would be the major thing I would miss seeing because those are the people that I care about and even though they can see me, I can't see them, and that would make me really sad. Are they Kidding?/The Worst (Point of View/ Letter Writing) On page 27... Nat explains how the "strange scene" reminded her of Meredith, Suzanne, and Coralee, her friends from back home. In this journal, you will take on the point of view of Natalie and write a friendly letter to one of her friends that she misses telling them of her experiences so far. ***Be sure to add feelings and the FIVE parts of a friendly letter.
Hey guys, I really miss seeing you guys every day and I want to know what going on. So far, my experience here isn't the best. I made a few friends and they are pretty nice, but the school is making me learn how to read Braille and use a walking stick. I really don't like it here because it is away from you and I have to learn all these new things that I might not even need to use. I want to let you guys know that I think of you every day and I just can't wait to see you again. Natalie Have you ever been somewhere new that you felt out of place? What was it like?
Did you leave or get used to it there? I time I felt out of place was at camp because everyone had been there for 3 weeks and I just joined so everyone had friends and then I was just there. I felt like everyone was judging me and didn't want to accept me into anything. I eventually got used to it and became friends with a lot of people. "I am a normal person. An excellent student with big dreams. A typical teenager with friends who are cool-And normal like me." CONCEITED? DENIAL? SELF-PRIDE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
This quote is saying that even though Natalie is loosing her eye sight, she is still a normal person who has friends and lives a normal life. Natalie and her dad are in denial of her becoming blind. A typical teenager is not someone who blind and needs to depend on someone. Natalie is a person with real dreams and even though she is losing her eye sight, she is still a normal person. Who did we meet in this chapter? What characters? Tell me about them...
In the first chapter of Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings, we met the main character, Natalie. Natalie is a girl who lives on a farm with her mom and dad. Natalie has a friend named Meredith and so far, she has helped Natalie in her hard experiences with becoming blind. Natalie's dad cares a lot about Natalie an he does not want to accept the fact that his daughter is becoming blind. Natalie's mom is very caring and supports Natalie, she was the best for her daughter and clearly, from reading the first chapter, you can tell that the family cares and loves for each other. How would you feel if something you were born with/ used to having around was taken away from you? Has this ever happened? How did you act? Would it have been easier if you never had it in the first place?
if something I was born with was taken away from me, I would most likely act sad/frustrated/mad. I time where something was taken away from me was when I had to get glasses. Before I got my glasses, I couldn't see, and everything was blurry, and it didn't really bother me until I couldn't read the board at school. When that started to happen, I went to the eye doctor and chose my first pair of glasses. After a few weeks of not being able to see, I started to get frustrated, then my glasses came. When I put them on, I could see again and I was so happy. But that night I said to myself, for the rest of my life I am always going to have to have something on my face. At that point, I got annoyed that I would have to deal with having glasses for my entire life. After a few years, I got contacts and then I would have to deal with putting in contacts every single morning. I was annoyed every single morning that I had to put in contacts and after a while, I had to accept that I had to deal with this for my entire life unless I got an eye laser to fix my eyes. I don't think it would be easier if I had it when I was born because it would have been frustration for a longer time and I would have just freaked out every morning. "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller This quote from Helen Keller means that there is nothing that better than love from other people. The best thing in the world is love and nothing can top that. Love cannot be seen or touched, but love is felt in your heart. Love cannot be given out because it is not an object, it is a feeling. The feeling of love is the best thing in the world.
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Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings
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