Freedom Writers Diary - Our Perfect School

Our Perfect School 

Create your idea of the perfect school. 

You will share your ideas with the rest of the class, so do your best, most thoughtful work.

Work in pairs!

Two lessons to prepare in class.

Deadline: Presentations will start on Monday, the 4th of May.

You will need to write down your ideas and create Google Slides to present

your school.

Owning a school generates money - the more students that choose your

school the more money you make!

Make students choose YOUR school! 

When you are done with your presentations the class will vote for the

best school!

The questions below are just to help you - no need to answer them all! 

Create at least 6 slides, using both pictures and text. 

Not too much text. Just a few lines per slide - speaking English is your focus!

Feel free to use AI to generate pictures.

You need to show me your slides before you present.

Here you can find templates for slides: Slidesmania 

1.)  What would the name of your school be?

2.) What courses would you keep?  What courses would you eliminate?

3.) What new courses would you offer?  Describe them thoroughly.

4.) What kinds of teachers would you hire? What qualities do an excellent

teacher have?

5. What about teaching materials - would you have real books, everything

online or a mix?

6.) How long would the school year be and what hours would it

start and end?

7.) Would the school have bells to indicate the end of a period or would

there be something else?

8.) What sports would your school have?  Are there any sports you would

add that the school does not already have? 

Would you eliminate any sports?

9.) What would you offer at the school cafeteria?

10.) What are the students able to do during their breaks?

11.) Would you have computers and mobile phones in your school?

Motivate your opinions.

12.) Describe the physical layout of your new school. 

    a.) What would the building be like? What would its layout be like?
    b.) What would each classroom be like? 

Would the desks, for instance, be in rows as in most classes in the

school today? Would there even be desks? 

What might be introduced into your new school that would make it more

comfortable and inviting?

    c.) What would you do to improve the climate in the school?

13.)  Add anything else you can think of that would make your school

a perfect place for learning

Freedom Writers Diary- stand on the line if..

Stand on the line if...

• 🟡 Group pressure
  • Stand on the line if you have ever done something just to fit in.
  • Stand on the line if you think friends can influence your choices a lot.
  • Stand on the line if you think it is easy to be yourself in a group.
  • –  have ever been teased, made fun of, or bullied.
  • –  have ever been teased, made fun of, or bullied, and you
  • tried to play it off like it didn’t bother you, but it did.
  • –  have ever teased, made fun of, or bullied someone else.
  • –  have ever given in to peer pressure to do something you didn’t want to do.
  • –  have ever peer-pressured someone to do something they didn’t want to do.

  ---

  🔵 Criminality

  • Stand on the line if you have ever tried to vape
  • Stand on the line if you think people can be pushed into crime.
  • Stand on the line if you believe people can change after doing something wrong.
  • Stand on the line if you think young people sometimes don’t understand
  the consequences of crime.
  
  
  • –  have witnessed violence or serious crime
  • –  have had someone break a promise they made to you.
  • –  have broken a promise you made to someone else.
  • –  have told a lie to protect someone else.
  • –  have told a lie to protect yourself.
  • 
    

  ---

  🔴 Drugs

  • Stand on the line if you think young people feel pressure to try drugs.
  • Stand on the line if you think drugs can destroy a person’s future.
  • Stand on the line if you think it is important to talk openly about drugs.
  • Stand on the line if you have tried to stop a friend from using drugs.

  ---

  🟣 Mixed / reflection

  • Stand on the line if you think it takes courage to say no.
  • Stand on the line if you think one bad choice can change your life.
  • Stand on the line if you think friends should protect each other.

  ---

  💡 Follow-up prompts (important!)

  After each statement, ask:

  • Why did you choose this position?
  • Can you give an example?
  • Do you think many teenagers feel the same?

• 
  

Freedom Writers Diary

 -What did you think about the movie? Motivate your opinions.

- Who is your favourite character? Describe him/her and motivate why he/she is your favourite.

1. Choose 3 of the questions and write down the answers:

Tolerance

1. Why does Erin compare the drawing of an African-American student to the drawings of Jewish
men during the Holocaust?

2. Why do you think Erin refers to the Nazis as the most famous gang in history?

3. Why does this comparison make the students begin to listen to her?

4. Do you think Ms. Gruwell’s teaching methods should be used at the entire school? At other

schools? Why? Why not?

5. What would you do to break the ethnic and racial barriers in Ms. Gruwell’s classroom?

6. Think about your own school or out-of-school activities. Are youth respectful of each other’s differences? Are there, at our school, problems similar to those in Wilson High? If so, what

can you do to make a change? 

- Choose 3 of the questions below and write down your answers: 

Respect 

 1. Why is it important that teachers and students can trust each other?

2. Why do the students feel betrayed when they get to know that Ms. Gruwell will not continue
teaching them in their junior and senior years?

3. How do the classmates learn to trust one another?

4. Imagine you are Ms. Gruwell. What would you have done in her situation?

5. What would you have done to earn the trust of the students?

6. Respect and trust issues are not the only problem among the students. The teachers and
administrators at Wilson High do not support Ms. Gruwell’s teaching methods. Why do they
refuse to trust her?

- Choose 9 of the questions:

Families 

1. What makes Eva choose to “go against her people” in the courtroom?

2. Do you think this was a good decision? How do her family and friends react?

3. Do you think it’s more important to “protect your own” or do what’s right?

4. Put yourself in Eva’s shoes. Would you tell the truth in the witness stand or protect

your friend?

5. In the book, the students write openly in their diary entries about sensitive family problems

such as drug use and sexual abuse. Would you too have been that open?

6. In the movie, how does Erin Gruwell’s obsession with work conflict with her marriage?
Describe the changing relationships with her husband.

7. What does Erin’s father think about Erin's choice to work as a teacher- at the beginning
of the movie and at the end of the movie?

8. In what ways does Ms Gruwell’s classroom become a family for the students?
Do you have a “family” outside your actual family?

9. Why are the students so angry at the beginning of the movie?

Do you think their anger is reasonable?
10. Why aren’t Ms. Gruwell’s students motivated to succeed in school?

What outside factors affect their ability to learn?
11. Why do so many of Ms. Gruwell’s students believe they won’t live past the age of 18?
12. How do teachers and students deal with bullying, violence and/or gang activity in your

school? 

Make sure you have answered 15 of all the questions. Write in English and size 12.

Personal Narrative- the SENDD Method

Writing a personal narrative isn't about telling everything that happened in an entire day. It is about zooming in on a small moment—like looking at a single frame in a movie instead of the whole film.

See It in Action: The Pool Example 🏊‍♂️​

​

Here is how a student used SENDD to write about a single, scary

moment on a diving board.

Notice how they didn't write about the whole swim lesson—just the few

seconds before jumping.

Part of the Text SENDD Analysis I stood at the very edge of the trembling blue diving board in the crowded pool hall. Setting The air smelled strongly of chlorine, and I heard the other children's screams echoing against the tiled walls. Experience (Senses) I looked down at the glittering water, which seemed a mile away. Next Step "Jump now!" my big brother shouted. My knees shook so much I had to use my arms to keep my balance. Dialogue & Action My heart hammered in my chest like a trapped bird. I was terrified, but I had never been closer to my goal. Deep Feeling

Activity 1: Analyse a Moment 🕵️‍♀️​

​

Read the short paragraph below about taking a test. Identify the SENDD

elements:

The Exam Room

The classroom was completely silent, except for the loud ticking

of the clock above the whiteboard. I smelled the sharp scent of

pencil shavings and saw thirty heads bent over their papers.

I turned the page of my exam, the paper crinkling loudly in the

quiet room. "Five minutes left," the teacher announced, and I

gripped my pen tighter until my knuckles turned white. Panic

fluttered in my stomach; I knew I wouldn't finish in time.

Activity 2: Create Your Own Small Moment ✍️​

Choose one of the prompts below. Use the table to draft a sentence for each part of SENDD. Remember: zoom in on just a few seconds! Prompts: The moment you dropped your lunch tray in the dining hall The second before you scored a goal in the Champions League Opening a surprising gift you got from someone you love

SENDD Checklist	Your Sentences
Setting (Where are you?)
Experience (What do you see/smell/hear?)
Next Step (What happens?)
Dialogue & Action (What is said/done?)
Deep Feeling (Physical feeling in body)

​

Take a look at the assignment:

• identify SENDD

• has the author written about all three parts? 

Model Text: Being a Teen – Now and in the Future 

The blue light from my phone screen glows in the dark room at 6:00 AM as I begin another day as a teenager in my hometown. I can hear the distant hum of traffic outside and the soft, repetitive "ping" of new notifications on social media. I slowly reach out to silence my alarm, already thinking about the long day of school and practice ahead. "Five more minutes," I mumble to myself, even though I know the pressure of grades and future expectations is already waiting for me. Being a teen here feels like a constant race between the digital world and reality—it is exciting and exhausting all at once.

This is the reality for many of us, and as you gather for the international youth conference in Madrid, there are specific issues you must address. First, the conference should focus on mental health, as the pressure to perform in education and maintain a perfect image on social media is creating a crisis of anxiety. Secondly, you must prioritise the environment and climate change; young people today feel a deep sense of responsibility for the planet's future, and we need to see global leaders take real action. These issues are vital because they define our quality of life and determine whether we feel safe and supported in our transition to adulthood.

Looking ahead, life as a teenager will likely change significantly in the future. Education may become entirely digital, allowing for more flexibility but perhaps making real-life friendship harder to maintain. While technology might solve some problems, the economy and the changing nature of jobs could make our future more unpredictable. However, despite these changes in lifestyles, the need for human connection and a fair world will always be at the heart of the teenage experience. By focusing on these issues now, the Madrid conference can help ensure that the teenagers of the future have the tools they need to thrive.

Without looking at your notes! Do you remember?

1. What does SENDD stand for?
   
   

2. Which part shows feelings?
   
   

3. Which part moves the story forward?
   
   

4. Why is dialogue useful in a story?

Now go to Trelson and write your own text! 

Final Assignment: Will be published on the same day

You write.