Great news! We’re creating a Writer Membership, exclusively for students and teachers contributing to the Journey through the Capitol series. This membership will address genre and background content for the lessons, to better support your assignment work and projects. For all our new students – if you’d like to join our free online writing group,…
A warm welcome to teachers and students! The Study Questions in this blog, are designed for classroom discussions, study groups or book clubs. If you have extra questions to add, please contact us. We welcome all suggestions. Students – please note that all your comments are public. Comments are moderated. Let us know, if you’d like…
Where I’m from ~ this is the title of a poem written by George Ella Lyon. The poem captures moments in the poet’s life that begin to tell us something about her history, her values, her cultural background. You may not understand all the terms she uses, because they come from a particular time and…
Professional writers, university students, ESL students – regardless of their background – everyone struggles with writing at some stage. These problems are often called ‘writing blocks’. Sometimes they can be so daunting, they become a nemesis rather than a simple block. They stop you every time you try to be creative, or enjoy the writing…
The Teacher -Writer by Christine M. Dawson, Robert P. Yagelski For those teachers struggling to add creativite writing into their lives, this book is invaluable. Very much a professional development resource, it describes the writing journeys of five colleagues and makes practical suggestions for developing your writing practice. Here’s an opening quote from Chapter 3:…
Rebuilding Arcadia (book 1) is set in a steampunk universe. This means history has taken a different course. Events in the past have led to a radically altered future. Take a moment to examine historic events, organizations and political entities while completing the task below. Use reasoning, logic and your imagination to explore how this…
HIGH FLIGHT Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased…
In Chapter Three, the Capitol is promoted as an ecological marvel – self-sufficient and sustainable. However, what evidence do we have that this is actually true, rather than an illusion created by the ruling military elite? What resources would you need to realistically sustain a city with several hundred inhabitants? Several thousand? Could the terrorists…
[Even]before the invention of the airplane, some people imagined flight as one of mankind’s potentially greatest achievements. Flight would not only free people from the tyranny of gravity and its earthly chains, but it would liberate them mentally, socially, and spiritually. This linkage of the airplane and freedom was prevalent in much of the literature…
With any book, the setting in the first chapter, often holds clues to character traits, themes and plot lines. Test your observation skills, with these questions: Observation 1) What are the key words used to describe this world? 2) What type of government is featured in this book? What clues do you have? 3) How…