Thursday, September 10, 2009

Twilight Unit Study

So, I'm thinking it's possible that I've mentioned my Twilight obsession here a time or two...or twenty.  My goodness I love those books!  I love them in and of themselves, for my own personal reading enjoyment, but even if it weren't for that, I love them because my very reluctant reader, never-wants-to-finish-a-book-because-they're-all-boring, fourteen-year-old is almost finished with the third book in the series.

It's 629 pages long, y'all!

The first one is 498 and the one in between them is 500-something pages.  I'm blown away that Brianna is reading them.

So, being as impressed as I am with all of the books (aside from some profanity and mild sensuality), I'm seriously considering doing what any good homechooling mom would do -- capitalizing on my daughter's (and my!) interest.  I think we're gonna do a Twilight unit study, baby.

I hope to have some time within the next couple of weeks to work on the details, but some ideas that I already have in mind are (possible slight spoilers if you haven't read all four books):

  • Time periods when each of the Cullen family lived as humans:  1600's, early-1900's, 1920's, 1930's
  • WWI
  • Spanish Influenza
  • The rise of Protestant religions in the 1600's
  • Geography - Denali wilderness, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Italy, South America, Romania, Ireland
  • Literature - Wuthering Heights, Sense and Senibility, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Bram Stoker's Dracula
  • Health and Personal Safety - Edward tells Bella her scent is like his own personal brand of heroin.  I'd like to use this to discuss drug and alcohol use.  We may also discuss sexual purity (Edward was a gentleman, folks.)
  • Character traits - compassion, self-control, esteeming others higher than yourself
  • Science - wolves, bears, mountain lions
  • Fine Arts - Claude Debussy, Francesco Solimena
  • Native Americans - Quileutes
  • Physical Edcuation - volleyball, badminton
  • Vocabulary - If  you've read the books, you know that Edward has an incredible vocabulary.  A friend told me about the book Defining Twilight: Vocabulary Workbook for Unlocking the SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT.  It's gotten great reviews and Brianna is excited about getting it.  Excited.  About a vocabulary workbook!
Those are just some of my initial thoughts.  I may come up with more as I reread the books.  Yes, reread them.  I'm about halfway through my second reading of Twilight.  If you've read the books and have any additional suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I'll post more details as I figure out exactly what we're going to be doing, but I'm terribly excited about using Brianna's interest in the Twilight series to jump into further study of some of the things mentioned in the book.  I'm hoping it will encourage her to go off on her own rabbit trails when she finds something that truly interests her.
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Posted by Kris at 8:00 AM
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26 comments:

  1. **squeeeeeee!!!!!**

    That's the best word I have, though it mightn't be in the vocab book LOL
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  2. Mine is in kindergarten so I won't be doing this but it is a GREAT idea. Love it and hope Brianna does too.
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  3. that's cool!

    funny thing is my daughter wanted to read the series, so my wife started pre-reading before her-- just to make sure there's no inappropriate hormonal behaviours. turns out she's quickly addicted to the series, and my girls just trying to keep pace with mom. good luck, Bear!

    i like your unit study better than ours. so far, we've decide we need a pet wolf and asked mom if she could please find a job in seattle...
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  4. @ Mister Dad -- I had to LOL at that comment because that is EXACTLY how my addiction started.

    Brianna and I were neck in neck for a long time, then, she had a friend spend the weekend and I managed to get a book ahead.
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  5. This looks like a fun idea...will you be "holding class" for the rest of us?

    yes that Edward is a gentleman...a pretty hot one though!

    Enjoy your journey with your daughter...this is why I love homeschooling!
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  6. @ Nicole -- Oh, my goodness, he is such a little hottie. ;-)

    Yes, I'll definitely post details as I work them out.
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  7. You know I just came across Twilight lesson plans the other day and thought of you. Here's one but I'm sure there are more circulating the web if you need more ideas!

    http://twilightnovelnovice.com/scholastic-apple/twilight-lesson-unit-plans/
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  8. Brilliant. This is why you're my homeschool hero!
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  9. Coolest thing ever. I'd love to relive my teen years with you as my mom haha! Enjoy it, sounds like a blast :)
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  10. I'm not sure if you've read the 4th book yet or not, but it does get a little more adult. I don't want to spoil it for you, but its a very different book.
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  11. @ Antonia - I've read them all. The fourth book is more adult, but it's done in a tasteful way, in my opinion. It was actually my favorite in the series. I had some reservations about my daughter reading certain portions of it, but we've discussed it and plan to continue to discuss it throughout.
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  12. @ Erica -- LOL Not sure my daughter is as impressed with me as you...well, she might be as far as this subject is concerned. ;-)
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  13. What a great idea! I am obsessed too! My dd is a little young yet, only 10, but I might save some of your ideas for a few years.
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  14. Thanks for adding Nevaeh's button to your blog:)
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  15. Love it! I will be passing this on to all my Twilight loving homeschool mom friends.
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  16. This is quite possibly the coolest unit study ever. As an addicted twilight mom who has read them all at least twice, I cannot wait for my daughter to get old enough to use this. I may have to borrow my niece!
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  17. Wow, a Twilight unit study! Genius! And fun for moms!!!!!! I too am Twilight-obsessed. It's similar to my Lord of the Rings obsession (specifically the-hunky-men-in-LOTR...) Look forward to hearing about it!
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  18. I loved the Twilight series and think the unit study idea is brillant. I probably won't let my daughter read the series until she is about 16 or 17 I agree that some of the material is a little touchy for younger teens.
    Blessings
    Diane
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  19. Okay Kris - you are now my favorite person of the day! Love the Twilight Unit Study idea. Now just to wait until my oldest is older, she's only 8! Ugh... maybe my sister and I will do the twilight Unit study....

    I'll pass some Twilight ideas along when I get a chance.... I've read the books more than 20 times since February.
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  20. I'm also a Christian homeschooling mom of 3 who loves twilight. I've been working for the past 9 months on writing a twilight bible study for teens. I've taught it to a group of 8 teens and we had a great time with it. I'm working to get it published. Meantime, I began a blog with some of my spiritual connections thoughts that I didn't get to use in the study. You can find it at http://karadee-twilightened.blogspot.com Enjoyed your post. Thanks a bunch!
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  21. I think this is a FABULOUS IDEA!!!!!
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  22. And I just read your and Mr Dad's comments- that's how I started the series, reading ahead of Brielle. She started first but after talking to her teacher about how B's anxiety might be peaked by reading the book, I had to obsesssively read it to get and stay ahead- of a girl who until then (sixth grade) had struggled toread even a paragrapgh of grade level reading!! I would totally love to hear any ideas you have - the unit study- to apply them at home for "fun" after school and on weekends...
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  23. Hi, Kris. My dd's teacher just recommended she read this book. My dd is 9 and the teacher said she'd recommend the 1st, but probably not the others to her. I wonder what you think. I'll probably be checking it out to try it myself! Thanks for posting about it.
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  24. @ School For Us -- I wouldn't let my 9 yr old read it. It is, first and foremost, a love story. There is a degree of sexual tension, plus the fact that Edward's (the vampire) big internal conflict it whether he loves Bella enough not to kill her.

    Edward and his family are "vegetarians" in that they don't drink human blood, but there is always the fear that they'll slip up.

    I loved the entire series, which gets progressively more mature with each book. I really debated whether or not to let my 14 yr old read the final book in the series.

    I let my 8 yr old watch the movie with Brianna and I, but I made her leave the room for a couple of parts (one sensual, the other violent), but I would NOT let her read the book, even if she were that strong a reader.

    I think the series is acceptable for teenagers, though I would recommend that moms of younger teens pre-read.

    That's just my opinion.
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  25. This is incredible!
    I'm a slightly addicted Twilight mom myself. My little one is only 5so we have awhile but we will certainly be doing this when it's time. So glad I stumbled upon your site!
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  26. don't forget picture study of works by Botticelli as I think she describes the vamps this way
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