Wintergirls


 * THEMES:**

Divorced Parents (DC) Peer Pressure mfw Communication (Nick Schreiber) Friendship Loss Being emotionally "frozen" or stuck (MD) Internal Struggles (MQ) Teen angst Self Destruction (Sarah Babler) Family (TRH) Conformity(MarkD) Media Influence Body Image Puberty (Kathy Kepulis) Emotional Healing (Kathryn Love) Rehabilitation (Georgia Wagner) Cutting (MarkD) Eating disorders? (EH) Death or a friend in adolescence (EH) Mental Disorders/Stigmatization (AH) Loneliness (SM) will power (SN) Parental angst (SN)


 * SUGGESTED PAIRED TEXTS:**

Bronte's Story By Bronte Cullis (MQ) Snow Angels By Stewart O'Nan (DC) The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier mfw The Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron // The Catcher in the Rye  //  by J.D. Salinger (MD) //Go Ask Alice// by Anonymous Cut by Patricia McCormick (Sarah Babler) Perfect: A Novel by Natasha Friend (TRH) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (MarkD) Body Image In Primary Schools by Nicky Hutchinson and Chris Calland Are You There God, Its Me Margaret by Judy Blume No Body's Perfect: Stories by Teens About Body Image, Self Acceptance, and the Search for Identity by Kim Kirberger (Kathy Kepulis) __Tyranny__ by Leslie Fairfield (Kathryn Love) Next to Nothing: A Firsthand Account of One Teenagers Experience with an Eating Disorder by Carrie Arnold and Timothy Walsh (Kaite Sweval) North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley (Georgia Wagner) __The Best Little Girl in the World__ by Steven Levenkron (Nick Schreiber) __Diary of an Anorexic Girl__ by Morgen Menzie (Nick Schreiber) __Stick Figure: Young Adult Diary of an Eating Disorder__, Lori Gottlieb (EH) //Thirteen// (movie) or //Real Women Have Curves// (movie) AH __The Bell Jar__ by Sylvia Plath (SS) __Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys,__ Daniel Kindlon (SM) __The Biggest Klutz in 5th grade__ By Bill Wallace (SN)


 * PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES:**

> > Students could choose from the list of themes above to research and write about an issue facing teens today such as eating disorders, self-hurting behavior, death of a friend, divorced parents, blended families or even suicide. Through education and awareness, teens can better understand how to help themselves and their peers that may be dealing with some of these issues. (EH)
 * Drawing a positive body image picture of yourself and writing a poem about it (Nick Schreiber).
 * Write about a time you were emotionally frozen and what you did to move on from this period in your life (MD)
 * Have students write about a time when they made a choice that was self destructive and a consequence from that action. (Sarah Babler)
 * Discuss as a class several positive/healthy ways to deal with emotional stress and grief (TRH)
 * Have guest speakers. Students with past eating disorders, counselors or even the author. Her website says she would be willing to Skype into a classroom. (MarkD)
 * Make a collage of images and words found in newspapers, magazines, the internet, etc. that depict what the media tries to sell as the perfect looking male or the perfect looking female. Journal your thoughts on what you learn from the activity. (Kathy Kepulis)
 * Using facts researched individually by the student, each student would create a public service announcement/advertisement/billboard dealing with body image or eating disorders aimed at young adults. This could be created using any medium of the student's choice. (Kathryn Love)
 * Students write a journal entry about a hypothetical encounter he or she has with Lia or a character of his or her choice. What would you say to the character? Provide details about the scenario and include dialogue you have with the character. (Kathryn Love)
 * Have a reading unit in which the class reads several books relating to body image and then at the end have then define what they think is a positve body image and come up with ways they can positively reinforce such images throughout the school (i.e. posters in the bathroom, an assembly addressing body image, a school play production) (Kaite Sweval)
 * Make a brochure of resources they have available that they would like to give to Lia. Have them write a reflective essay about what they would do if they had a friend in a similar situation. Have a healthy living expo for other classes to view where students select a them and do a multi-media workshop or presentation including sharing blog posts, information, and resources. Themes could include things like the ones listed above, but have students choose. This could be done in groups or individually. (Georgia Wagner)
 * If your parents are divorced write about how it makes you feel and how it has affected you. If your parents are not divorced how do you think things would change if they are? Write about what you think it would feel like to be split between two households. Maybe write a letter to both of your parents explaining how you feel. (Dc)
 * Have your students write a list of all the healthy things they do for themselves vs. all the unhealthy things they do. Once they make their list ask them what types of changes they need to make in order to lead healthy lifestyles, and have them work on those changes at school and outside of class. (MQ)
 * Have students pick a book theme from __Wintergirls__ and have them adapt it to their lives through creating a short play with other classmates showing how it would occur in their lives (Nick Schreiber).
 * Role Play--small groups research write and perform mini-skits exploring common forms of mental "illness" among teens--depression, hyperactivity, eating disorders, depression, bi-polar, etc. Combine w/ group inquiry projects (research/writing/presentation). (AH)
 * Lable one side of the room never and the other side that's me, then have the class stand in the center of the room and ask a series of serious questions such as Do you wish that you could lose weight? and have the students chose the answer by picking which side of the room to stand by to help them see how much they relate to eachother.