As a class we watched the movie Akeelah and the Bee.
Not only was it a great movie, it also contained some very important lessons and themes. Many of the ideas from the movie are found in the real world, and the events in Akeelah and the Bee connected with people and events in history— People like Amelia Earhardt, Harriet Tubman, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Marian Anderson, Harriet Quimby, Wilma Rudolph, Rev. Martin Luther King, and Booker T. Washington. Students read and studied picture books on these famous people. What are the connections between the movie and these real people’s lives? What central themes do these books hold? Keep reading to find out. But first, a poem from the movie.
Our Greatest Fear ~Marianne Williamson
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, Our presence automatically liberates others. http://explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/122.html
This connects to Akeelah and the bee because in the story Joe was watching the two older men boxing, that is where he developed his like for boxing. In the movie Akeelah was watching the national spelling bee and saw the competitors, and that is where she developed her like for spelling bees. They both developed there passion for the thing they loved by watching others do it first.
Joe returned day after day to practice boxing to get better at his sport. Akeelah participated in each spelling bee so she could get to the finals, she studied day after day so she could expand her vocabulary with Mr.Larabee. To get to what you want you need to practice and work hard for it, and not doubt yourself.
Joe got beat in boxing and that bruised his ego, and made him think he should give up. In the movie, Akeelah was in the regional spelling bee and spelled a word wrong. She thought it was over, until her sister realized that a kid was cheating. This is important because they both had to go through something tough to get to where they are now.
The central theme of the book A NATION'S HOPE the story of boxing legend Joe Louis is that you should never give up on your dream and persevere. We got this central theme because Joe Louis went through hard times. He never gave up. This central theme affects my life because it says you should never give up and you should always try again.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:
Joe Louis beating Max Schmeling
Natalie K. Natalie H. Hailey C.
Both the book "Martin's Big Words" and the movie "Akeelah and the bee" have the connection of their trait of leadership. The book and the movie both have the resemblance of leadership because in the book "Martin's big words" Martin had to lead the African American race to having equal rights. In the movie "Akeelah and the bee" Akeelah had to lead her schools/community and give them a better reputation by winning the national spelling bee. It shows because it tells us that anyone can lead if they want to.
Both the book "Martin's Big Words" and the movie "Akeelah and the bee" had the connection of them both having a dream. In the movie "Akeelah and the bee" Akeelah had the dream of winning the national spelling bee. In the book "Martin's big words" he had the dream of having the African American race to their equal rights. This shows that anyone can have a dream and also aects us because if Martin didn't have a dream we right now would still be in segregation. If Akeelah didn't have the dream of winning the national spelling bee she wouldn't be as confident.
Both the book "Martin's big words" and the movie "Akeelah and the bee" have the connection of someone dieing. In the book "Martin's big words" Martin dies of being shot. In the movie "Akeelah and the bee" Akeelah's father dies from getting shot by someone on the way home from work. This shows us that people die for everyone and sometimes they are really important.
The central theme of the book is that violence is never the answer. We think this because Martin Luther King Jr. always set the example of using kind words and not using violence. He didn't use violence to solve the equal rights or his race. It aects our life because if he did use violence to solve his races equal race our races today could be in battle/ a huge disagree meant.
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In the book, Booker T couldn't do stu because he was black. And in Akeelah and the bee, that kid Dylan's dad said "you are not going to lose to black girl".
In Booker T doesn't have his dad there to be there for him only his mom. And in Akeelah and the bee she doesn't gave her dad there for her in hard times.
In Booker T he wants to learn and spell. And in Akeelah after her dad died She used spelling words to calm herself down after losing someone she loves.
In this picture the boy right there is tying to learn how to read and spell in stu like Akeelah . Also I think that he loves to learn and spell a lot just like Akeelah .
In this picture the boy finally got there where he wanted to be and he finally reached his goal like Akeelah did when she won the nationals spelling bee. And both people had there dreams come true.
This is a picture of her parents telling Amelia that she couldn't learn to fly even though she did just like Akeelah because Akeelah was told that she couldn't win a spelling bee by the popular girls even though she could. This shows that some people in different eras were always ignorant of people's talents.
This shows Amelia figuring out that she needs to learn how to fly like Akeelah finding out that she needed to study with dr. Larabee to learn how to spell . This shows that if you can commit to your strong points, you can make it if you try.
This shows Amelia helping her friend from a plane crash like Akeelah helped Dylan to win so he could avoid an argument with his dad. This shows that people of all ages can have compassion with anybody no matter the situation.
We think the central theme is: if you set your mind to something, you can succeed. We think this because in the book Amelia set her mind to flying and she succeed to becoming a famous flyer. She started out by trying to make a roller coaster and after a couple of tries, she finally did it. This can go into our lives because even though Amelia Earhart tried something really hard she did it so if we have something hard that we are trying to do we just have to set our mind to it so we can do it.
Extra resources http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4COKAGaGN9U http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jmLefOGbxv8
http://www.ameliaearhart.com
From google
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart
Kyle D/Ryan S
No madder how many people called him names and hit him he never gave up and no matter what people said to akeelah she never gave up.When the two girls where making fun of akeelah she wanted to just give up but she didn't and Jackie Robinson would never give up no matter what the white people said to him he knew he could do it.
Jackie Robinson lead his team in the national baseball league he had a lot of pressure on him because all the whites kept calling him names and hitting him and Akeelah Lead her school to win the bee and she also had a lot of pressure because she knew her whole town needed her to win.
Akeelah had a coach who encouraged her to go the extra mile Jackie had a coach who was branch Rickey who encouraged him to play with White people even when they called him names and kicked him and some people would call Akeelah names she wanted to give up but Dr. Larabee Convinced her to continue with the bee.
In the book Jackie Robinson the central theme is that it is better to try than to just give up because sometimes you can do big things.We though of this because Jackie and Akeelah both had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get where they are now.This could aect us because if Jackie just gave up in the beginning then he would not be the first black person to play baseball with whites.
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Anthony A. And Raphael K.
Harriet was doubting her self when she was leaving her family to be a slave and she didn't have no other choice but being a slave and she doesn't want to be a slave she wants to stay home with her family. In Akeelah and the bee she was also doubting her self cause her father died and when he died Akeelah didn't think that she would make it and win the spelling bee. And didn't know she couldn't make it the national spelling bee in D.C.
Harriet is thinking about what she should do and she curious on if she should leave or stay and be a slave. This relates to Akeelah in the bee because in the beginning she didn't know if Akeelah wanted to be in the spelling bee. And in both the story and the movie Harriet and Akeelah what choice they should pick, and they were confused.
Harriet finally accomplished and escaped Slavery by listing to and praying to the Lord. This relates to Akeelah in the bee by Akeelah finally making it to D.C. and winning the spelling bee with Dylan and she also accomplished her goal and so did Harriet.
In the story Moses Harriet kept praying and never gave up hope and faith she also never give up. Or also never underestimate herself want to do but you think you can't do them cause you think there impossible any thing is possible if you put your faith in The Lord and that's what Harriet did and look what happened she got out of slavery and escaped the horrible nightmare.
Cole F., Grace C. and Ariana G.
In this scene in "when Marian Sang," her father dies. Marian's father was protective of her, and kept people from taking advantage of her. His love for her made her feel very important. Similarly, Akeelah lost her father in the movie. He loved spelling words just like her and he was loving towards her. This similarity is important because it shows that their father was a big part of their lives and their passion.
In this scene from "When Marian Sang," it tells how Marian had a passion for singing and was good at it. This is like Akeelah because she had a passion for spelling and was very good at it. This similarity is important because if neither of them had passion for what they do in the movie/book, it wouldn't have driven them to do they great things they did.
In this scene from "When Marian Sang," she was turned down from going to the music school she wanted to go to. Similarly, Dylan from the movie told Akeelah that if the boy that cheated wasn't caught, she wouldn't have made it. This is important in both because it made them stronger and pushed them to go harder.
The central theme in "When Marian Sang" is that you never give up on your dream because if you do, you will never be able to succeed in life. We see this when Marian is turned down again and again but kept trying and never gave up. Because of that, she ended up singing in front of thousands of people and was very famous. This could affect our lives in the future because if we want a good paying job in life, we're going to have to work hard at our dream. We may be turned down, but we need to keep trying in order to achieve our dreams.
Kailey K. And Isha S.
1. In the story, Wilma Unlimited, Wilma was bullied. She was bullied because of her leg brace. In the movie, Akeelah and the BEE, Akeelah was also bullied. She was bullied because she was really smart and a great speller. If they didn't get bullied, they would have probably had more faith and confidents in themselves.
2. In the story, Wilma Unlimited, Wilma worked hard to walk again by practicing and working on the exercises that her doctor told her to do, even if her leg hurt. In Akeelah and the BEE, Akeelah worked hard. She worked hard on spelling the 5,000 words that Dr. Larabee gave her to study, even when things seemed as though no one was there to help her out. Since they both worked hard, it helped them succeed and become great at what they did.
3. In the story, Wilma Unlimited, Wilma ended up having everyone cheering for her, after all the bullying that she went through before. In the movie, Akeelah and the BEE, Akeelah ended up with people cheering for her too. Even when some of those people used to bully her. In both the story and the movie they ended up over coming their challenges. By over coming their challenges, it made both of them stronger and more confident.
Central theme
In the story it showed us that working hard and pushing your limits can get you to great places. One reason we think this is because in the story Wilma Unlimited, Wilma worked hard even when she hurt her ankle. She pushed her limits and won the 100 meter dash.
Isha: This could eect my life because instead of whining and complaining about the little things in life that go wrong. You can just push through the hard times.
Kailey: This eects my life because it shows that no matter how bad things seem to get, you can just work hard and get through it.
Additional pictures
Ryan M., Riky Z., Angelina H.
In the book Brave Harriet, Harriet was determined to be the first women to fly across the English Channel. People said no women has ever gotten their flying license, and Harriet was determined to prove them wrong by flying across the English Channel. This relates to Akeelah because she was determined to win the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC, Akeelah kept studying and practicing words with Dr. Larabee to get better and better so she could win the spelling bee. This is important because if they were not determined they wouldn't of succeeded anything.
In the book Brave Harriet, Harriet was the first women to fly across the English Channel. The character Gustav didn't believe that Harriet would be able to fly across the English Channel.
This relates to the movie Akeelah and the Bee, because Akeelah was the first person in her school to compete in regional spelling bee and many people didn't believe she was able to make it in the spelling bee or they made fun of her. This is important because if Harriet or Akeelah listened to the other people's discouraging comments and they gave up they wouldn't of gotten where they are now.
In the book Brave Harriet she was always interested in aeroplanes and flying. She always wanted to fly and get her pilots license. She felt she belonged in the sky. The first time she saw a plane she was very eager to get flying lessons, people thought she was crazy. This relates to Akeelah because she always had a desire for words and spelling. The first time Akeelah learned about the spelling bee she wanted to try it out (sort of). Just like Harriet people thought Akeelah was crazy or a brainiac. This was very, very, very important because if they didn't feed their desire (do what was interesting to them) they wouldn't of succeeded or gotten anywhere.
The central theme of the book Brave Harriet was to do what your interested in or what your instincts tell you to do. We say that because in the book, Harriet wanted to try flying once she saw a plane because she thought it was very cool and interesting. She didn't listen to the people that called her crazy, if she did she wouldn't of been the first women to fly across the English Channel. This aected our lives because if you don't try something you like, you may not be successful.