Little Eagles Week of Oct. 21-25:
I was able to find the original film, shooting script of ET.  The true title of the film is A Boy's Life.  In case its been a while since viewing the movie, it is the epic tale of friendship.  Friendship is a virtue that pulls in so many others like: loyalty, love, courtesy, work, reliability, faith, tolerance, trust, integrity and the list goes one.  As we read the script, the students are able to participate both as if they were in the audience at the movies and have the ability to "step into" the movie and be part of the cast.  They are able to dissect the emotions of the relationships within the movie and in doing that we are able to tie in so many virtues.  It is common for me to stop and say, "How do you think Elliot is feeling?"  "How would you feel in that situation."  This is a thought provoking/discussion based class, meant to tie the students emotions to real life scenarios.  We find significance in how the scene is set, the character's physiology and behaviors.  Example, ET's heart is only covered by thin skin - does that make him appear vulnerable or aggressive.  Why does ET carefully dig through the dirt to find the plants?  What does that tell us about his character?  Having it in script format also allows us to express emotion through drama and often they are asked to become part of the scene.  This week we ended at the scene of ET being left on earth as his family flies away.