PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project was about learning agents of change, researching and wrote about our own inspirations who were agents of change. An agent of change (AOC) is someone who puts their own needs to the side and does some act of kindness of bravery for a cause. We were paired up with 6th grade students in High Tech Middle Media Arts who gave us critique and feedback on our essays, and vice versa for us. All the essays will soon be published using a software called CreateSpace, the book was all designed by us students. Any person can make a positive change in our community or around the world, even if they are young, by finding something to inspire you to do something better, and being passionate about the cause. My favorite part of this project was learning more about World War 2 and random facts.
AGENT OF CHANGE
My agent of change I chose to write about was Sophie Scholl. At the age of twelve, she already a negative opinion about Adolf Hitler and at the age of twenty-one, she was distributing leaflets explaining the unfairness discrimination toward Jews. Sophie Scholl inspired me because of her bravery. Even though she was German and perfectly safe, she decided to put herself in Jewish peoples shoes and couldn’t imagine the circumstances they went through and decided to do something about it even though she could be imprisoned or even worse killed. Sophie believed in justice towards everybody no matter who they were and what they looked like, she showed true equity by the age of 12, because of her actions people have looked up to her for confidence and bravery.
IQBAL
Bonded labour is widespread in India. A person becomes a bonded laborer when their labour is demanded as a means of repayment for a loan. The person is then tricked or trapped into working for very little or no pay, often for seven days a week. Workers therefore find themselves trapped as they are unable to pay off the inflated debt. (productsofslavery.org) This book was in the point of view of a fictional character, Fatima, who was a child slave in a carpet factory. Since a young child she had worked for Hussian Khan who owned Fatima and other children. Most kids have already lost hope and do not dream anymore, until Iqbal arrives, he rattles them and gives them faith into having a future and reuniting with their families. Having to escape two times he finally frees them all changing Fatima's life and many other children in the future.
WRITING PROCESS
First when writing we began by figuring out who our agent of change was going to be, I had chosen Sophie Scholl, after that we researched on our AOC and filled out a pre-writing and research packet. Once that was completed it, the class began working on our first draft by starting the introduction, three body paragraphs, and the conclusion. From there, we all received critique from our classmates, the teacher, and our 6th grade critical friends and created multiple drafts. Finally we had finished and had our final draft for our agent of change essays. In my essay I am most proud of being very informative and adding as much information, as possible. A challenge that I faced when writing my essay was knowing where to put all my information, I didn't know which paragraph to put the research in.
6TH GRADE CRITICAL FRIEND
While working with my critical friend she was very helpful with her critique and very specific. When we went to meet our critical friend at first it was very awkward, but she was really sweet and made it a lot more easier to talk. We talked about our challenges when writing, and complimenting each others work and what we did best!
CHALLENGE OPTIONS
I did do challenge options with my dear friend, Sarina. We were sent scanned maps, to fix up and delete the background using Photoshop. At times it was difficult, depending on the map and mistakes made, it would sometimes take an hour to finish one which was frustrating.
⬇ ESSAY, A PICTURE OF MY AGENT OF CHANGE, AND MY MAP⬇
Such a Fine, Sunny Day
By Bethany Rodriguez, 7th Grade HTM
By Bethany Rodriguez, 7th Grade HTM
From January 30, 1933 to November 20, 1945 in Germany books were burned in Berlin, Jews were prohibited from owning land, not allowed health insurance, banned from joining the military, professional occupations, trading, and practicing medicine. Jews were arrested, lost rights, one by one the Jews were losing more and more freedom and later were all sent to concentration camps. In 1993, Adolf Hitler was nominated as Chancellor (a Chancellor is a legal official) of Germany and began controlling Germany’s society. At first Sophie wasn’t affected, but once she saw the discrimination towards Jewish people, she realized it was wrong and something had to be done. An agent of change is someone who puts their own needs to the side and does some act of kindness or bravery for a cause. Sophie Scholl is an agent of change because she fought for the Jewish people living in Europe at the time of WWII.
Sophie Scholl was born May 9, 1921. At the age of 12 she joined a Nazi organization, the League of German Girls. At the time she began becoming conflicted with her conscience of Nazi’s philosophy. She was pleased with activities that the “club” provided, by 1935 Jews were banned, prohibited, not allowed, from almost everything and the Nuremberg laws were passed. The Nuremberg Laws were laws that “excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of German or related blood” (ushmm.org). Sophie’s Jewish friends were prevented from joining the “club,” Sophie couldn't read The Book of Songs. All these incidents led Sophie to have a more critical attitude towards Nazi Germany. Sophie Scholl viewed the inequity towards Jews and knew it was morally wrong and had no justice.
Sophie Scholl became associated with groups that shared her political views, she knew something had to be done, but didn’t know how to help. Not until 1942 her brother, Hans Scholl, Willia Graf, and Christoph Probst made The White Rose Movement, an organization who opposed the war and Nazi management. Initially Sophie didn’t know about it, but once she became aware about her brother’s activities, she fancied to take part. The organization wrote six anti-Nazi resistance leaflets. Leaflets are pieces of paper containing information. Sophie would carry messages and hand out leaflets, because she was a young lady making her less suspicious. “Sophie Scholl and other members of the White Rose were a potent symbol of how people can take courageous action to resist, even the most brutal totalitarian regime.” (biographyonline) Sophie Scholl was not only a great influence during WWII, but also throughout the future to many other people.
“On February 18, 1943 Sophie and other members of the White Rose movement were arrested for distributing anti-war leaflets” (biographyonline). At court she was sentenced to death, but before being beheaded by the guillotine she said, “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” After her death many people did awaken and she was seen as a symbol for the anti-Nazi Party. As for the organization she was in, White Rose, leaflets caused tremendous stir among the student body. People began copying and spreading them out. Propaganda, including graffiti on public buildings, spread messages like, “Down with Hitler!” “The White Rose really has a more symbolic value, but that’s a very important value” (Jud Newborn).
Sophie saw the discrimination towards Jewish people, she realized it was wrong and something had to be done. Sophie saw the injustice towards Jews and knew it was prodigiously wrong. She became educated at the University of Munich and joined the White Rose Movement, an organization that opposed the war and Nazi management. The White Rose institution made leaflets that caused a stupendous uproar in the student body. Sophie Scholl inspired me because of her bravery. Even though she was German and perfectly safe, she decided to put herself in Jewish peoples shoes and couldn’t imagine the circumstances they went through and decided to do something about it even though she could be imprisoned or even worse killed. Sophie believed in justice towards everybody no matter who they were and what they looked like, she showed true equity by the age of 12, because of her actions people have looked up to her for confidence and bravery. You can make a change too by inspiring people to do acts of kindness because of your emboldening actions!
Bibliography
Hornberger, Jacob. “Holocaust Resistance: The White Rose - A Lesson in Dissent”.
<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/rose.html>
“Nazi Germany”
<http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/nazi-germany>
Pettinger, Tejvan. “Sophie Scholl Biography”. 2013.
<http://www.biographyonline.net/women/sophie-scholl.html>
Rosenburg, Jennifer. “The Holocaust” .
<http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/tp/holocaust.htm>
Trueman, Chris. “The White Rose Movement”. 2011.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/white_rose_movement.htm>
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Nuremberg Laws”.
<http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007695>
Sophie Scholl was born May 9, 1921. At the age of 12 she joined a Nazi organization, the League of German Girls. At the time she began becoming conflicted with her conscience of Nazi’s philosophy. She was pleased with activities that the “club” provided, by 1935 Jews were banned, prohibited, not allowed, from almost everything and the Nuremberg laws were passed. The Nuremberg Laws were laws that “excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of German or related blood” (ushmm.org). Sophie’s Jewish friends were prevented from joining the “club,” Sophie couldn't read The Book of Songs. All these incidents led Sophie to have a more critical attitude towards Nazi Germany. Sophie Scholl viewed the inequity towards Jews and knew it was morally wrong and had no justice.
Sophie Scholl became associated with groups that shared her political views, she knew something had to be done, but didn’t know how to help. Not until 1942 her brother, Hans Scholl, Willia Graf, and Christoph Probst made The White Rose Movement, an organization who opposed the war and Nazi management. Initially Sophie didn’t know about it, but once she became aware about her brother’s activities, she fancied to take part. The organization wrote six anti-Nazi resistance leaflets. Leaflets are pieces of paper containing information. Sophie would carry messages and hand out leaflets, because she was a young lady making her less suspicious. “Sophie Scholl and other members of the White Rose were a potent symbol of how people can take courageous action to resist, even the most brutal totalitarian regime.” (biographyonline) Sophie Scholl was not only a great influence during WWII, but also throughout the future to many other people.
“On February 18, 1943 Sophie and other members of the White Rose movement were arrested for distributing anti-war leaflets” (biographyonline). At court she was sentenced to death, but before being beheaded by the guillotine she said, “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” After her death many people did awaken and she was seen as a symbol for the anti-Nazi Party. As for the organization she was in, White Rose, leaflets caused tremendous stir among the student body. People began copying and spreading them out. Propaganda, including graffiti on public buildings, spread messages like, “Down with Hitler!” “The White Rose really has a more symbolic value, but that’s a very important value” (Jud Newborn).
Sophie saw the discrimination towards Jewish people, she realized it was wrong and something had to be done. Sophie saw the injustice towards Jews and knew it was prodigiously wrong. She became educated at the University of Munich and joined the White Rose Movement, an organization that opposed the war and Nazi management. The White Rose institution made leaflets that caused a stupendous uproar in the student body. Sophie Scholl inspired me because of her bravery. Even though she was German and perfectly safe, she decided to put herself in Jewish peoples shoes and couldn’t imagine the circumstances they went through and decided to do something about it even though she could be imprisoned or even worse killed. Sophie believed in justice towards everybody no matter who they were and what they looked like, she showed true equity by the age of 12, because of her actions people have looked up to her for confidence and bravery. You can make a change too by inspiring people to do acts of kindness because of your emboldening actions!
Bibliography
Hornberger, Jacob. “Holocaust Resistance: The White Rose - A Lesson in Dissent”.
<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/rose.html>
“Nazi Germany”
<http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/nazi-germany>
Pettinger, Tejvan. “Sophie Scholl Biography”. 2013.
<http://www.biographyonline.net/women/sophie-scholl.html>
Rosenburg, Jennifer. “The Holocaust” .
<http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/tp/holocaust.htm>
Trueman, Chris. “The White Rose Movement”. 2011.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/white_rose_movement.htm>
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Nuremberg Laws”.
<http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007695>