Apprentice Readings & Inspirements

October Theme: 

Citizenship, Christian Principle of Self-government

Study  – Know

1. Before you begin:  Plan your studies for the week and discuss it with your parent(s).
Use a SAR (Student Accountability Report) or another planner-type tool.  Discuss your plans and progress with your parents in your weekly parent mentor meeting. (Estimated time: 30 minutes)

2. Read a poem a day (from Sister Bates) in American History in Verse. Read the poems to “________”.  (Estimated time: 30 minutes)

3. Read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. If you own the book, mark it up. Highlight things that stand out to you. Make notes in the margins. Circle your favorite quotes.

4. Word Study. Do a word study on ONE of the following words: citizenship, society, community. (Estimated time: 30 minutes)

Teach – Understand

Choose ONE of the following inspirements: (Estimated time: 30 minutes or more)

• Research a navigational skill from the book, and come to class with a diagram or model and be prepared to teach us how to do it. Some examples are: using a sextant to “shoot the sun,” telling time by the Big Dipper, or keeping a log.
• Choose one of the following quotes from the book. (Page numbers are approximate as they may be slightly off depending on what copy you have.)

- “Being happy takes a lot of practice, don't you think?” (pg. 73)
- “Sometimes, if you look at the stars long enough, they sort of shrink your troubles down to size.” (pg. 86)
- “We can't have freedom – unless we have freedom.” (pg. 90)
- “It did things to a man, Nat thought, to find out he had a brain.” (pg. 139)
- “The best way to stay at peace is to be prepared for war.” (pg. 170)
Reread the part of the story that includes the quote. Write a few paragraphs on what you think that quote means and if you agree or disagree with it. Be prepared to share your thoughts in class.

• Do a character T chart on Nat Bowditch using quotes from your reading. Choose one of the qualities that he had that you would like to develop in yourself. Do a word study on that quality and include a paragraph on how you can build that quality in yourself.
• Study the types of boats they had in the late 1700's and make a physical representation on one of them (drawing, sculpture, model, etc) and then come to class and teach us about the parts of the boat that we learned about in this book.
• Do a skit or make a movie to show the class your favorite part of the book.

Serve –Become

Choose ONE of the following inspirements : (Estimated time: 30 minutes or more)

• President Gordon B. Hinckley said he was fascinated by the North Star. Regardless of the earth’s rotation, the North Star maintained its position in the heavens and never moved. He said: “I recognized it as a constant in the midst of change. It was something that could always be counted on, something that was dependable, an anchor in what otherwise appeared to be a moving and unstable firmament.” (Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (1996), 5–6)

Noting the unwavering, absolute position of the North Star, one writer told the contrasting story of a young boy who became lost on a camping trip. When his father finally found him, his father asked if he had remembered to pick out something in the landscape that he could always see. This, his father said, would have helped him to fix a steady position. The boy said, “I did.”“What was it?” the father asked. “That rabbit over there,” the boy said.  Think about what the navigation stars are in your life.  What things in your life do you use to measure truth?  Which of the things that you use to measure truth truly provide you with truth and which things don't?   Spend some time thinking about this and decide on something you could do better on in your life and work on it this week.

• It takes Nat several years to learn Latin well enough to read “Principia”. Have you ever spent a year or more working on or towards something? Why did you spend that much time? Was it worth it? What did you learn from the experience? Write your thoughts down and be prepared to share in class.  If you have never spent that long working on something, think hard about something you would like to learn or do that might take that long and set a goal to accomplish it.  Be prepared to share your plan with the class.