T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR Music ad Lyrics by Jaso Robert Brow Book by Da Elish ad Robert Hor Copyright 2003, Camp Broadway, LLC. All rights reserved.
CONTENTS USING THE FIELD GUIDE AND LESSONS...1 TELLING THE STORY...3 THE CHARACTERS OF 13...4 OVERTURE TO HISTORY...8 History Discussio Lesso...11 History Writig Lesso...12 History Experimetal Lesso....13 History After Hours Lesso...14 OVERTURE TO LANGUAGE ARTS...15 Laguage Arts Discussio Lesso...17 Laguage Arts Writig Lesso...18 Laguage Arts Experimetal Lesso...19 Laguage Arts After Hours Lesso...20 OVERTURE TO LIFE SKILLS...21 Life Skills Discussio Lesso...23 Life Skills Writig Lesso...24 Life Skills Experimetal Lesso....25 Life Skills After Hours Lesso...26 OVERTURE TO BEHAVIORAL STUDIES...27 Behavioral Studies Discussio Lesso...30 Behavioral Studies Writig Lesso...31 Behavioral Studies Experimetal Lesso...32 Behavioral Studies After Hours Lesso...33 OVERTURE TO THE ARTS...34 The Arts Discussio Lesso...37 The Arts Writig Lesso...38 The Arts Experimetal Lesso...39 The Arts After Hours Lesso...40 13 RESOURCES...41
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 1 usig the guide ad lessos Camp Broadway is pleased to brig you this 13 editio of StageNOTES, the 30th i our series. We are proud to be affiliated with this musical that will debut o Broadway durig the 2008 Seaso. This guide has bee developed as a teachig tool to assist educators i the classroom who are itroducig the story i cojuctio with the stage productio. By usig the 13 editio of StageNOTES, you will explore discussio o a variety of topics icludig the defiitio of a comig of age ceremoy (History), expasio of our vocabulary (Laguage Arts), illumiatio of the huma coditio (Behavioral Studies), self-exploratio (Life Skills) ad the ecouragemet of creative thikig ad expressio (The Arts). The Camp Broadway creative team, cosistig of theater educators, scholars, researchers ad theater professioals, has developed a series of lesso plas that, although ispired by ad based o the musical 13 ca also accompay class study. To assist you i preparig your presetatio of each lesso, we have icluded: a objective; excerpts take directly from the script of 13; a discussio topic; a writig assigmet; ad a iteractive class activity. The reproducible lessos (hadouts) accompay each lesso uit, which cotais: a essay questio; a creative exercise; ad a after hours activity that ecourages studets to iteract with family, frieds, or the commuity at large. The curriculum categories offered i the 13 study guide have bee iformed by the basic stadards of educatio detailed i Cotet Kowledge: A Compedium of Stadards ad Bechmarks for K-12 Educatio, 2d Editio, writte by Joh S. Kedall ad Robert J. Marzao (1997). This defiitive compilatio was published by Mid- Cotiet Regioal Educatio Laboratory, Ic. (McREL) ad the Associatio for Supervisio ad Curricular Developmet (ASCD) after a systematic collectio, review ad aalysis of oteworthy atioal ad state curricular documets i all subjects. The 13 study guide is for you, the educator, i respose to your eed for a stadardscompliat curriculum. We truly hope this study guide will help you icorporate the themes ad cotet of 13 ito your classroom lessos. Lisa Poelle CEO Camp Broadway
2 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 3 tellig the story As Eva Goldma gears up for his Bar Mitzvah, his parets go through a ugly divorce forcig him to move from New York City to Appleto, Idiaa. With his big ceremoy ow takig place i the small tow ad far away from his frieds, Eva is terrified that the oly attedees will be his mother ad her cousi Pam. Whe school starts, Eva realizes that he will eed to make frieds with Brett, the coolest kid i tow ad captai of the football team, i order to get people to come to his party. Ufortuately, this meas excludig the oly real fried he has made, his ext door eighbor Patrice, because she is ot i the cool crowd ad would rui his chaces of joiig the group. The itellectual ad seemigly idepedet Patrice becomes very upset ad let dow by Eva ad decides ot to talk to him aymore. Eva the ecouters a erdy kid amed Archie who is termially ill with a degeerative muscular disease. Archie persuades Eva to help him get a date with Kedra, the prettiest girl i school ad Brett s soo-to-be girlfried; by threateig that if he does t, Archie will show up ad rui Eva s Bar Mitzvah. At luch Brett talks Eva ito gettig tickets for him ad the rest of the cool kids, icludig Kedra ad her jealous fried Lucy, to a R-rated movie so he ca kiss Kedra (with togue). Eva, at a loss for a pla, promises Archie that he will get him a seat ext to Kedra at the movie if he will be the oe to ask Eva s mother for the tickets. While they are gettig ready for the movie, Lucy tells Kedra, out of pure jealousy, that if she kisses Brett, the she is a slut ad a skak. Lucy maipulates Kedra to get closer to Brett herself. Eva, tryig to smooth thigs over with Patrice ivites her to come to the movie with him. She says that she might show up, but she is clearly excited about the date. Eva thiks that everythig is goig as plaed i the movie theater util Archie bursts dow the aisle, elaborately dressed ad equipped with flowers. Brett is fially workig up the erve to kiss Kedra, but at the last momet she pulls back, just as Archie leas i to kiss her as well ad Archie plats a big kiss o Brett s mouth. Brett starts to go after Archie, who tells everyoe that it was Eva s fault for settig up the date. Brett turs his ager towards Eva ad this ruis his chaces of beig i the cool group. Patrice leaves the theater, also mad at Eva for ot payig attetio to her durig their date. Aloe i the arcade outside the movie theater, Eva makes the decisio ot to give up ad to fight to make thigs right ad succeed i his ew life. The ext day at the football game, Brett s performace is sufferig due to the fact that he keeps thikig about kissig Kedra. Lucy ad Kedra, both cheerig from the sidelies, sig to Brett. Lucy fially wis him over with her seductive sog. They leave the game together upsettig Kedra. Brett s frieds are jealous because Lucy takes up all of Brett s time ad he ever makes it to practice. Eva sees aother opportuity to get back i their good graces ad tells Brett that he ca help wi back Kedra. Archie, fearig for Eva s safety, seds Patrice to his side to make sure that Brett does t hurt him. Patrice ad Eva sig a sog about tellig how they truly feel which reflects their relatioship. Brett races to fid Kedra, who is fightig with Lucy i the ladies room. After Brett takes back Kedra, Lucy starts a horrible rumor that Eva ad Kedra are a little more tha just frieds. The gossip travels like wild fire ad before you kow it, Brett hears the ews ad fids Kedra ad Eva together. Kedra, who is oly seeig Eva to thak him, tries to explai, but Brett does t believe her. Pushed to the breakig poit, Eva realizes that Brett is just a big bully ad, i a momet of bravery, tells Brett that he does t wat him at his party ayway. Brett puches Eva i the ose ad walks off with Lucy ad the other cool kids. Patrice ad Archie comfort Eva ad she forgives him. Eva feels like he should just cacel his Bar Mitzvah, as it wo t be the perfect evet he had wated ad Archie ad Patrice teach him that the challege i life is to accept thigs the way they are ad ot the way you wat them to be. I a secod momet of bravery, Eva kisses Patrice. Eva has his Bar Mitzvah. Patrice ad Archie are there to support him as well as his parets. He speaks about what he has leared ad the other kids from the school joi him, sigig about their year, admittig they all have a little more homework to do.
4 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 He s a little mafia Do. It s as though he does t realize he s i a 4-foot body as he give orders, terrorizes the geeks ad lives to serve Brett. He s a force to be reckoed with. Eddie Lucy Di-va! She s Paris Hilto ad Bette Davis i the body of a 14-year old. She s a predator. Quee of the school, she decides where people fit i this hierarchy. She stops at othig to get what she wats, has more purses tha scruples ad lets o oe get i her way. Brett The star athlete ad the rig leader. He s a kid who gets by o popularity, looks ad itimidatio. He s also scared the world will see he s isecure ad vulerable - a kid that sits aloe ad writes poems the burs them. Meawhile, everyoe wats to be him, kiss him, or hag with him. Kedra Dumb as a box of sakes, her body has matured faster tha her awareess of it. She has always bee i Lucy s shadow. Church-goig ad God fearig - she walks the lie betwee moral ad mea. Great studet, the leader of almost every club, a eye-o-the-prize kid of girl. She s all about beig the best she ca be, lovig her frieds, keepig up o treds, ad stayig plugged i! She will someday ru a major corporatio, ad is shoppig for all the outfits ow! Cassie Richie Stad back! Richie is explosive, the class clow, the goofball. He s out there, everywhere, i perpetual motio. The girls love him, the boys love him; he s the school mascot, the oe you cout o to make you laugh. Molly She s better tha everyoe at everythig; the girl who everyoe likes ad is able to fit i aywhere. She loves life, loves school, loves aimals - is just all love. She ca go from cheerleader to soup kitche voluteer without missig a beat or messig her hair. Simo He s the quiet, uassumig kid that just wats to get by, yet fids himself i the middle of everythig; the guy that ca get the girls to flirt with him by just beig himself. He s the guy i Brett s shadow o the team, but is always there as back-up. He s a tech savvy wizard ad a quiet geius. Charlotte She s cool, hip, cofidet, ad also the girl that loves to gossip, loves to start a rumor, gets ito everyoe s busiess, the steps back to watch as all hell breaks loose. Totally textually active, she kows everythig about everyoe, ad is the source of all school iformatio. 6
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 5 She s quirky, offbeat, some might say geeky, ad ready to begi her life - away Patrice from where her life is. Sesitive, playful, emotioal, she s smarter tha most, celebrates what makes her differet, ad just wats to be uderstood by someoe she uderstads. Whe she hurts, she hurts hard. She s total chic-geek, daces to her ow DJ, ad has a lot of love to give. She sees people for who they are, rather tha what she wats them to be. He is 13 goig o 30. Smart, sarcastic, Superbad meets super Jew! His life as he kew it has bee tured upside dow, ad he has decided to take cotrol. He has that uique bled of optimism ad agst. His fortitude ad determiatio are admirable. He s fuy, iroic, cofidet, sesitive, ad almost ready to become the ma he will soo be. Eva Lyrics from the sog 13 from EVAN TWELVE YEARS OLD EVERYTHING THAT USED TO BE GOOD AS GOLD STARTS TO CRUMBLE AND CRACK. PRESSURE MOUNTS: ONCE IT WAS A JOKE, NOW IT REALLY COUNTS AND THERE S NO TURNING BACK. LIFE GOES WRONG; SUDDENLY THEY RE YELLING CAUSE YOUR HAIR S TOO LONG OR YOUR ROOM ISN T CLEAN. ROLL ALONG: EVERY CONVERSATION IS ANOTHER LOST CAUSE OR A LIST OF MY FLAWS AND I M JUST ABOUT TO TURN, JUST ABOUT TO TURN, GOD, I M GONNA TURN THIRTEEN! EVAN ad KIDS RICHIE I WANT A DIRT BIKE! THIRTEEN! KIDS LUCY I WANT TO KILL MY MA. THIRTEEN! KIDS EDDIE I WANT A MUSTACHE! This pitsized, take o prisoers, side kick to a side kick brigs a suburba-urba poit of view to the world he orbits. I the chai of commad, he is third, but i his mid, he is okay, third. Still, this fast talkig follower has a itimidatig cofidece ad charm that fits well with his basic uawareess of the world aroud him. He is there for oe reaso to serve, protect, ad be iflueced by Brett. Oh, ad sig mea harmoies with Eddie! Malcolm Archie He makes u-cool, cool, ad proves with every move that life is what you make it. No oe kows it yet, but years from ow, Archie will be the oe that every kid remembers. Maipulative, quirky, charmigly Machiavellia, he s a kid who uses his afflictios to get what he eeds. Never the victim, he kows his way aroud sarcasm, likes to get others to fight his battles, ad for as slow as he goes, always maages to stay a step ahead of everyoe. ONE GROUP ANOTHER GROUP THIRTEEN! SOMETHING IS COMIN! THIRTEEN! SOMETHING IS GOIN UP! THIRTEEN! SOMETHING IS HUMMIN! THIRTEEN! SOMEBODY S GROWIN UP! THIRTEEN! THIRTEEN! (CASSIE respods) THIRTEEN! (MALCOLM adds o) THIRTEEN! ALL (CHARLOTTE yells back) THE BEST AND THE WORST AND THE MOST AND THE LEAST AND THE CRAZY AND THE SCARY AND WE RE JUST ABOUT TO TURN THIRTEEN! 7
6 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 usig the lessos Each Lesso Uit (History, Laguage Arts, etc.) cotais the followig Lessos: Discussio: The focus is o facilitatig a i-depth class dialogue. Writig: The focus is o the expressio of thoughts i writte form. Experietial: The focus is o uderstadig social dyamics as well as collaboratio ad teamwork i small ad large groups. A take-home After Hours lesso Each StageNOTES lesso geerally icludes the followig compoets: Objective: A overall ote to the teacher outliig the goals of the lesso to follow. From the script: A excerpt or situatio from the script of 13 to help set the stage for the activity that follows. Featured Lesso Uits 1 History 2 Laguage Arts 3 Behavioral Studies 4 Life Skills 5 The Arts Exercise: A detailed descriptio ad istructios for the activity to be facilitated i class. Teachig Tips: Direct questios teachers may use to help guide the studets through the activity. The Stadards listed throughout the StageNOTES Field Guide are excerpted from Cotet Kowledge: e: A Compedium of Stadards ad Bechmarks for K-12 Educatio (2d Editio) by Joh S. Kedall ad Robert J. Marzao, published by Mid-Cotiett Regioal Educatioal Laboratory, atory, Ic. (McREL) ad the Associatio for Supervisio ad Curricular Developmet (ASCD), 1997.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 7 The Guide to Theatergoig Etiquette I the early part of the ieteeth cetury, theatrical performaces usually bega at six o clock. A eveig would last four or five hours, begiig with a short curtai raiser, followed by a five-act play, with other short pieces preseted durig the itermissios. It might be compared roughly to today s prime-time televisio, a series of shows desiged to pass the time. With o televisio or radio, the theater was a place to fid compaioship, light, ad warmth o a cold witer s eveig. As the cetury progressed, the theater audiece reflected the chagig social climate. More well-to-do patros still arrived at six o clock for the full program of the eveig, while half-price admissio was offered at eight or eight-thirty to the workig class. This allowed for their loger workday ad tighter budgets. Still, the theaters were always full, allowig people to escape the drudgery of their daily lives ad ejoy themselves. Because of this popularity, theaters bega to be built larger ad larger. New progress i costructio allowed balcoies to be built overhagig the seats below i cotrast to the earlier style of recedig tiers. This meat that the audiece o the mai floor (the sectio called the orchestra ) were out of the lie of sight of the spectators i the galleries. As a result, the crowds became less busy peoplewatchig ad gossipig amog themselves, ad more iterested i watchig the performace. The theater maagers bega the practice of dimmig the lights i the seatig area (called the house lights ), focusig the attetio of the audiece o the stage. The advet of gas lightig ad the limelight (the earliest spotlights) made the elaborate settigs eve more attractive to the eye, gaiig the audiece s rapt attetio. By the 1850s, the wealthier audieces were o loger lookig for a full eveigs etertaimet. Curtai time was pushed back to eight o clock (for the coveiece of patros arrivig from dier); oly oe play would be preseted, istead of four or five, freeig the audiece for other social activities afterward. Matiee (afteroo) performaces were ot give regularly util the 1870s, allowig society ladies, who would ot have vetured out late at ight, the opportuity to atted the theater. Now i a ew milleium, may of these traditios are still with us. The theater is still a place to see ad be see ; eight o clock is still the stadard curtai time; ad the excited chatter of the audiece falls to a hush whe the house lights dim ad the stage lights go up, ad aother ight o Broadway begis. You ca make sure everyoe you kow has the very best experiece at the theater by sharig this Theater Etiquette with them. Ad ow, ejoy the show! Beig a Good Audiece Remember, goig to the theater is t like goig to a movie. oi There are some differet rules to keep i mid whe you re eat a live performace. Believe it or ot, the actors ca actually hear you. The esa same acoustics cs that make it possible for you to hear the actors meas that they ca hear all the oises a audiece makes: talkig, uwrappig gc cady, cell l phoes rigig. g That s why, whe you re at a show, there eisof food or drik at your seats s (eat your treats at itermissio; save the popcor-muchig chig for the multiplex) No talkig (eve if you re just explaiig the plot to the epe perso ext to you) Always keep cell phoes ad beepers tured off (This eve meas o textig your frieds durig the show to tell them how great it is...).) Of course, what the actors like to hear is how much you re ejoyig the performace. So go ahead ad laugh at the fuy parts, clap for the sogs, ad save your biggest cheers ad applause for your favorite actors at the curtai ut call. That s their proof of a job well doe.
8 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 overture to history Comig of Age i Today s World The real voyage of discovery cosists ot of seekig ew lads but i seeig with ew eyes. Childre are bor. Adults are created. From the momet we come ito the world, our lives are shaped through what we eat, how we are cared for ad how we react to those aroud us. Through the situatios we experiece, we form a set of values that will hopefully guide us through the rest of our years. Upo achievig this kowledge, it is oly the that society exteds Summary of Stadard for Historical i luder t di 1. Uderstadig ad aalyzig alyzig chroological relatioships ad patters: Historical Uderstadig Aalyze ifluece of specific beliefs o these times. How would evets be differet i the absece of these beliefs? Aalyze the effects ects specfic decisios had o history. How would thigs have bee differet i the absece of these specific decisios? 2. Uderstadig the historical perspective: Uderstad that the cosequeces es of huma itetios are iflueced ed by the meas of carryig them out. Uderstad how the past affects our private lives ad society i geeral. Perceive past evets with historical empathy. Evaluatecredibility ad autheticity of historical sources. Evaluate the validity ad credibility of differet erethistorical iterpretatios. a full cultural membership ito what is kow as adulthood. Ay ritual accompayig this etrace ito adulthood is kow as a Comig of Age ceremoy. These ceremoies have existed i societies for ceturies ad sigify a perso s acceptace i to a larger uiverse. Presetly, these rituals have become largely symbolic accompayig such milestoes as graduatio, marriage or death. Perhaps this is because much of moder society frows upo ceremoy, holdig the belief that ufamiliar rites are suspect. For this reaso, most Comig of Age ceremoies exist i religious commuities. Eva s Bar Mitzvah is oe such ceremoy. I Judaism, males celebrate their Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13 while girls celebrate their Bat Mitzvah at the age of 12. Upo reachig these ages, boys ad girls are resposible for followig the Jewish commadmets. The Bar Mitzvah ceremoy sigifies that a boy has become a ma ad assumes the actios correspodig to mahood i the Jewish faith. These actios iclude the right to lead religious services, to be couted as a miya (a quota of me eeded to perform certai parts of a religious service), to form bidig cotracts, to testify before the religious courts ad to marry. 10
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 9 Just like Eva i 13, he must lear to chat the haftorah as part of his Bar Mitzvah ceremoy. The haftorah is a short selectio from the Prophets read o every Sabbath i a Jewish syagogue followig a readig from the Torah. Although it has become commo practice for a Bar Mitzvah to iclude a elaborate party, this is a moder ritual. Previously, boys who reached the age of 13 automatically became a Bar Mitzvah with o ceremoy ecessary. Judaism is ot the oly religio to icorporate a rite of passage ito its structure. Catholicism believes that the practice of Cofirmatio completes a perso s iitiatio ito the Christia commuity. Upo the completio of religious studies, the cofirmad is blessed by a priest or bishop ad accepted as a full member of the Catholic Church. A fully iitiated Catholic may perform certai church duties such as a lector who reads scriptures, a miister to the sick or a Cofirmatio sposor. The females of the Apache Idias udergo a four-day ceremoy kow as the Apache Surise Ceremoy or Na ii ees. Begiig o a Friday ad edig o a Moday, it is cosidered by the Apaches as oe of the most importat evets i a female s life sigifyig her etrace ito Apache womahood. The ceremoy cosists of paitig a girls ski with a mixture of polle ad clay, which caot be removed util the completio of the ceremoy for the girls caot touch water. Water for drikig purposes must be sipped through a reed provided by the medicie ma. Girls must pray ad dace for hours, sit with their backs completely straight ad coduct physically gruelig activities. Taught the spirit ad characteristics of the first Apache woma amed White Paited Woma, the girls lear self-esteem, digity ad cofidece. Completio of the ceremoy icludes prayig towards the east at daw ad i the four cardial directios represetig the four stages of a Apache s life.
10 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 I may Spaish speakig coutries the celebratio of a youg girl s jourey from childhood to maturity is called Quiceañera. Similar to the Jewish Bat Mitzvah, the celebratio begis with a religious ceremoy ad eds with a celebratio. Amog the may rituals performed durig the celebratio icludes the Chagig of the Shoes. Durig this observace, the father of the girl or her favorite male relative symbolically chages her shoes from flats to high heels sigifyig her trasformatio from little girl to youg lady. Boys ad girls of the Amish commuity experiece Rumspriga. Derived from the Pesylvaia Dutch word for ruig aroud, Amish childre turig 16 years of age are free to experiece life beyod their commuity. After years of seclusio, they are allowed to live outside of the strict ethics code ormally carried out by the Amish ad coduct activities like shoppig at a mall, watchig televisio ad goig to usupervised parties. It is hoped by the Amish elders that after samplig life outside of the Amish culture, they will happily retur to the church. Some retur while others do ot. Those that do ot retur are shued by the Amish commuity ad ever spoke to agai. I secular societies, the majority of existig rites of passage such as birthday celebratios or retiremet are maily ceremoial. While ceremoies provide the illusio of adulthood, it is t oe or a series of rituals that creates a adult. Adulthood is achieved through a variety of life experieces. It s ot the parties that determie adulthood but more the life experieces combied with age that truly determie whether a idividual has achieved adulthood. Hebrew words from the script: Bimah The platform from which services are coducted i a syagogue. Kipah A skullcap wor by Jewish me ad boys. Haftorah A short selectio from the Prophets read o every Sabbath i a Jewish syagogue. Rabbi The chief religious official of a syagogue. Torah The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures used i a syagogue durig services. Mazel Tov A Hebrew phrase extedig cogratulatios or best wishes. 12
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 11 History Discussio Discussio Objective The importace of religious traditio from a historical perspective. From the Script Act 1, Scee 1 Boy 1 Hey Eva, you ve got to have a major party! Boy 2 Oh! Like Zach Farber! Teachig Tips Not everyoe is religious, or follows ows religious traditio. For those who do certai ceremoies, particularly those which are rights of passage ito mahood or womahood. The Bar ad Bat Mitzvah is oe of those ceremoies. How much do you kow about the traditio? io? Boy 1 I heard his dad is hirig ig Jay-Z to free style over his Haftorah.We iz totally goa kick it old shul! Eva I do t care how much my parets hate each other. If they do t cash i a 401K, ad hire Israeli fighter jets to sky write Mazel tov, Eva! across the Upper West Side, my life is totally ruied! Exercise It is obvious from the begiig that this play ceters o Eva s focus o his Bar Mitzvah. Someoe who is ot Jewish may ot uderstad this. So what if he does t have a Bar Mitzvah. Will the world ed? Ivite someoe oe i your school who is Jewish to talk about the ceremoy. What is the history of Bar ad Bat Mitzvah? What is its religious sigificace; its place i Jewish culture? Ask the guest to discuss his or her ow Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Was kid of celebratio was it? Where was it held? How may people atteded? What kids of gifts did they receive? eive?
12 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 History Writig Writig Objective The Apache Surise Ceremoy A Moveable Feast Teachig Tips If you belog to oe of the more traditioal faiths you may ot kow much about rites of passage coected to other belief systems. That s all right. However, there s o time like the preset to lear. From the Script Act 1, Scee 1 Steve ad Bill keep harpig o the fact he ca ot have his Bar Mitzvah i Idiaa. Eva Eva The thig is, my mom s all aloe. My How hot your party is sets s up your etire Dad s got the stewardess, U.S. Airhead, social stadig.who you ll hag with, ad but mom s got me, so I had to move here. wo t. So I eed this part to be the best! Or, as she put it: it s your decisio, The best DJ i the best ballroo at the which is Jewish for you re comig with best hotel... me! Now I have to have the Bar Mitzvah I ve bee plaig forever, i Appleto, Patrice Idiaa!!...which is the Best Wester Patrice Eva If it s so awful, just do t have it. Really? That s my oly optio? Eva Patrice You do t uderstad. derstad.this is the oe Oh wait, I kow the perfect ect place! amazig day i your life whe everythig gets to be happy ad perfect. Eva Where? Patrice See, Catholics do t have that day. It Patrice would be agaist everythig we believe i. NewYork. Exercise Eva is devastated about havig his Bar Mitzvah i Idiaa. His frieds Steve ad Bill fid it all ufathomable impossible. Yet i other traditios, locatio is ot importat. It s the ceremoy that couts. Apaches, for istace, hold their Apache Surise Ceremoy aywhere they happe to be eve o reservatios. Oe might thik a reservatio, a symbol of their subjugatio, would be uacceptable. But they have it there oetheless. Research the Apache Surise Ceremoy olie. Be sure to visit all of the sites featurig iformatio o the ceremoies coducted i various places. Keep a cultural log. Divide the log ito sectios for each idividual ceremoy that you foud. Begi the log with a geeral descriptio of the Surise Ceremoy ad its historical sigificace to the tribe. The begi fillig out the sectios with iformatio o the various ceremoies coducted. cted. Iclude quotes, details ad as much iformatio as you ca fid. If possible, explai why the ceremoy was held i that particular locatio.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 13 History Experietial Experietial Objective Atted a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, Cofirmatio, or other religious rite of passage ceremoy From the Script All the KIDS ope their ivitatios, but ca t figure fg out how to read Bar Mitzvah. Brett A bra what? Eddie Like, okay, so, what is a Barf Matzah ayway? y? Teachig Tips Discussig a ceremoy that has bee aroud for ceturies is oe thig. To actually participate ate i it gives us a uderstadig beyod simple explaatio. Participatio requires emotioal oal respose. Emotio is at the core of most religious ceremoies. Exercise Lucy It s this weird Jewish thig where they make you talk backwards ad everyoe gets circumcised. The above excerpt tis a extreme example of figorace of fthe faiths ad practices of others. Attedig a religious ceremoy ca be a very elighteig ad iterestig experiece. Ask aroud to see who may be participatig i a right of passage ceremoy. Without beig rude, ivite yourself. Take someoe with you who is familiar with the rite ad ca explai thigs as you go alog. Take particular ote of historical implicatios ad sigificace relevat to the religio.
14 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 History After Hours Teachig Tips It s time to allow studets to questio. Whether it s a ideal preserved by geeratios or oe that simply makes us feel good, everythig is subject to iterpretatio. Let them iterpret. Challegee #1 America as Apple Pie The musical does ot preset Appleto, Idiaa as a very attractive place. It is portrayed as flat ad brow with arrow-mided people, oly iterested i sports, cheerleadig ad goig aroud with the popular people. Characters are petty ad, while friedly at first, do ot seem to gel with the image of idyllic middle-america tows as welcomig places with Fourth of July parades ad good old-fashioed values. The real America, as some prefer to see it--is the kid of tow featured i Thorto Wilder s Our Tow,, ad i the paitigs of Norma Rockwell. Watch the play Our Tow o DVD. Look up the paitigs of Normal Rockwell olie. Now get your ow impressio. Adopt a small tow aywhere with less tha 10,000 i populatio. Research its history. Start at its very begiigs igs through today. Get all the iformatio you ca. Call the tow hall. See if you ca fid a local historia. Iterview them by e-mail. Talk to local officials, to the police. Gather all the iformatio you ca from holiday festivals to crime statistics. What do you thik about this tow? Does it meet your stadards ds as the perfect All- America commuity? Challegee #2 How About This For A Idea? Choose a right of passage ceremoy other tha the oes metioed i the lessos. Write a essay o your choice. Iclude opiios o how you feel about right of passage i geeral. Do you thik it is a silly custom or a traditio worth preservig? How importat is it to defie exactly whe a perso is cosidered a ma or a woma? From your research earch o your choice, say how you thik this whole idea got started. ted. At the ed, propose a ew rite of passage ceremoy for your geeratio.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 15 overture to laguage arts Gossip Girl ad Gossip Boy Summary of Stadardfor Laguage Arts Writig Demostrates competece e eithe geeral skills ad strategies of the writig process Demostrates competece e i rewritig, draftig ad revisig, editig i ad publishig Demostrates competece e i the stylistic ad rhetorical aspects of writig ii Uses grammatical ad mechaical covetios i writte compositios Gathers ad uses iformatio for research purposes Readig There s o way aroud it! We love to gossip ad whether we admit it or ot, we all do it. It feels powerful to be the first to kow a piece of iformatio about a perso or thig ad cotrol how the iformatio is beig used ad where it will go. Rumors are ofte icorporated ito gossip ad although similar i ature, the fact is that gossip ad rumor are differet. Rumor is Demostrates competece e eithe geeral skills ad strategies of the readig process Demostrates competece eceithe geeral skills ad strategies for readig a variety of literary texts Demostrates competece e i the geeral skills ad strategies for readig a variety of iformatioal texts Listeig ad Speakig Demostrates competece e ei speakig ad listeig i as tools for learig defied as a piece of ucofirmed iformatio circulatig from perso to perso from o kow reliable source pertaiig to a object, evet, or issue i public cocer. Gossip, o the other had, is talk circulated about the persoal ad private affairs of a particular perso. I both istaces, iformatio is geerally usubstatiated. 17
16 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 The term gossip, i spite of its iheretly egative cootatio, has played a key part i the evolutio of huma itelligece ad social life. Gossip allows those that participate i it to establish a bod withi a particular social circle. This group shares a commo iterest through the subject beig discussed. Gossip ca serve as a road map for how to behave socially. It clarifies life s uwritte rules because it discusses topics ad iformatio oe would t ormally discuss or read about. The very act of gossipig allows iclusio ito a larger group elimiatig isolatio. Gossipig helps us to establish, develop ad maitai relatioships; to bod with other members of our social circle; to assess ad maage reputatios; to resolve coflicts; to wi frieds ad ifluece people. The egatives of gossip far outweigh the positives. Gossip, i its purest form, ivolves spreadig lies ad half-truths that ca have a life alterig impact o a idividual. Those who spread gossip are geerally isecure. They are ofte jealous idividuals who fid satisfactio i spreadig stories that will give them a appearace of beig i the kow. As is the case with Lucy i 13, gossip plays a key role i her effort to wi back Brett. Lucy uses the act of gossip as a weapo to drive a wedge betwee Kedra ad Brett by tellig her frieds that Kedra ad Eva seem as though they are a lot more tha just frieds. Furiously she makes phoe calls to the other girls spreadig the tale ad chagig the origis of the gossip. Soo the story takes o a life of its ow allowig Lucy to cotiue her maipulatio of the situatio. The gossip circulates through both the boys ad the girls of Da Quayle Juior High School equally. Studies have show that both males ad females ejoy gossip. While gossip regardig wome teds to focus o looks, gossip about me ceters more o wealth ad status. It takes a strog idividual to hold fast to the decisio to ot be ivolved with gossip. By steerig clear of gossip ad the circles it ivolves, a clear message is set to the gossiper that what they are doig is uacceptable. I refraiig from takig part i furtherig gossip, the gossiper s audiece is dimiished reducig the effects of his or her story. The best retaliatio agaist gossip is silece for oce the gossiper looses his or her power, the gossip loses its power as well. 18
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 17 Laguage Arts Discussio Discussio Objective Gossip ad Rumor The destructive power of words. From the Script Studets at the school react to the rumor that Eva ad Kedra are a couple ad woder what Brett, Kedra s boyfried would do if he foud out. Cassie, Charlotte ad Molly HOLY MACK-A-ROLY, OH, IT CAN T BE TRUE! NO,YOU CAN T REPEAT A SINGLE WORD I M TELLING YOU! AND OH, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT BRETT WOULD DO IF HE HEARD THAT T KIND OF A RUMOR? Teachig Tips We read gossip colums ad see it as iocet fu. What are our favorite stars up to? Who s doig what? Gossip writers make a lot of moey exposig the private lives of others. But is this right? Exercise Lucy, who has a crush o Brett, starts a rumor that Eva is meetig secretly etly with Kedra. She does this so that Brett will become agry, break up with Kedra ad become her boyfried. People who wat to believe thigs ofte do. Some people fid the spreadig of such stories excitig, especially i places where there s ot much goig o i the first place places like Appleto, Idiaa. Gossip ad rumors i such a eviromet ca be a form of etertaimet. et. However, what we say, true or ot, ca hurt others. Ask studets s to thik of a time whe someoe has spread a rumor about them. Or thik of a situatio they kow of whe someoe has spread a rumor about a fried or someoe they kow. Without amig ames or specifics, what were the results? Did someoe get hurt? Should people ple check o the facts before tellig others. What about ot tellig others at all, eve if the rumor is true? Thik of all the reasos why that would be a better optio.
18 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 Laguage Arts Writig Writig Objective Write a ballad. From the Script Eva tells the audiece about his life ad woes at 13. Eva JUST ANOTHER COOL KID IN N.Y.C.,.C., NEAR THE PARK AND THE MET. LIFE IS SWEET: YANKEES IN THE BRONX, PRETZELS ON THE STREET JUST HOW GOOD CAN IT GET? WHO D HAVE GUESSED DAD WOULD MEET A STEWARDESS? MOM S DEPRESSED, AND HER LAWYERS ARE MEAN. NOW I M STRESSED MOM JUST STARTED TED PACKING AND SHE SAID WE VE GOTTA TA GO. LEAVING EVERYONE I KNOW, AND I M JUST ABOUT TO TURN, JUST ABOUT TO TURN, JUST ABOUT TO TURN THIRTEEN! TEEN! Eva ad Kids Exercise A ballad is a poem usually set to music. Whe you fid out about ballads, you will see that the excerpt prited above falls ito that category. I the old days, ballads (kow as broadsheet ballads) were prited ad sold o the streets of Eglad from the 16th cetury. Topical ad ofte humorous, they sag about the exploits of heroes such as Robi Hood ad the trials of everyday people. New ballads lads told the tale of fires ad catastrophic evets makig them the foreruers of ewspapers. s. Go olie ad study as may ballads as you ca. Oe moder ballad recommeded is by the coutry siger, Johy Cash, called Ballad of a Teeage Quee. This a good example of a moder ballad. ad. First write a paper o the history of the ballad. The write your ow ballad ad o becomig 13.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 19 Laguage Arts Experietial Experietial Objective Havig fu with derogatory repartee. From the Script Kedra ad Lucy cofrot each other about who Brett really cares about. Lucy Lucy We re ot frieds ow Kedra so I ca Brett s mie! Deal with it! be hoest. Brett s over you. Kedra Kedra You d climb over ayoe to get what You re Lyig! you wated. Teachig Tips We ll play this oe for fu, while hopefully learig a lesso or two about repartee ad how the author uses it i 13. Lucy It s what he told me whe his togue was i my ear. Kedra Are you sure he was t tryig to push you away? Lucy I wo.yo You lost. I m hotter. Kedra I m goig to get eve with you, Lucy. Lucy Yeah? How? Kedra Oh o. Do t try to cofuse me with trick questios. Exercise Lucy Ad you d climb over a glass wall to see what was o the other side! Kedra I m goa pray for you. Slut! Lucy Virgi Slut! Kedra Fugly! Lucy Skakly! Repartee (ou) a quick, witty reply; coversatio full of such replies; skill i makig such replies Listeig to this immature repartee betwee e Kedra ad Lucy is remiiscet of a old Jerry Lewis movie from the 1950s. I it, he cofrots aother character..frustrated, rated, he sigs the sog with these comical lyrics: You crumb, you scum, you vaaa-cu-um. Repartee, however, does ot have to ivolve ve egative commets such as those i the excerpt. It ca simply be a quick witty back ad forth betwee two people who are, as they say, quick o their feet whe it comes to resposes. Make sure the class reads the excerpt above before begiig the exercise. Divide the class ito pairs. Have each pair thik of a topic which they ca discuss back ad forth i short resposes. The pair decides who will begi. After the first statemet, tt tthe other perso has a miute to come up with a witty retort util oe or the other fails to thik of oe. Whe the exercise is over, ask the class if they thik repartee betwee ee two people is a difficult activity.
20 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 Laguage g Arts After Hours Teachig Tips Stories ca be told i may differet ways. Ballads are just oe of them. We do t hear much about ballads ads these days, probably because we ow get our ews about evets i other ways. Ballads, however, are a much more literate ad creative way to see that stories get told. Challegee #1 That s A Odd Way To Say That! I Eva s lamet o becomig 13 the characters acters tell him to Hold Your Horses. The term is a idiom, a expressio whose meaig makes o literal sese based o the words used. Kick the Bucket is aother example. There are hudreds more. How may ca you thik of? Idioms ca be the most dautig part of learig aother laguage. Research te widely-used idioms i Frech, Spaish ad Germa. Share them with your class. Make sure you read them first i the other laguage, the traslate. Challegee #2 That s A Odd Way To Say That! Oe or more toasts are ofte a cetral part of the ceremoial meal that follows the Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Go olie ad fid some fuy oes. Pick the oe you like best ad read it to your family at dier or to a gatherig of your frieds.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 21 Summary of Stadard for Life Skills Thikig ad Reasoig Uderstads ad applies the basic priciples of presetig a argumet Uderstads ad applies basic priciples of logic ad reasoig Effectively uses metal processes that are based i idetifyig similarities ad differeces (compares, cotrasts, classifies) Uderstads ad applies basic priciples of hypothesis testig ad scietific iquiry Applies basic trouble-shootig ad problem-solvig techiques Applies decisio-makig techiques Workig With Others Cotributes to the overall effort of a group Uses coflict-resolutio techiques Works well with diverse idividuals ad i diverse situatios Displays effective iterpersoal commuicatio skills Demostrates leadership skills Self-Regulatio Sets ad maages goals Performs self-appraisal Cosiders risks Demostrates perseverace Maitais a healthy self-cocept Restrais impulsivity Life Work Makes effective use of basic tools Uses various iformatio sources, icludig those of a techical ature, to accomplish specific tasks Maages moey effectively Pursues specific jobs Makes geeral preparatio for eterig the work force Makes effective use of basic life skills Displays reliability ad a basic work ethic Operates effectively withi orgaizatios Oe s actios ca have a ripple effect o those aroud us both positively ad egatively. The Butterfly Effect suggests that the miuscule act of a butterfly s wigs flappig ca possibly affect a chage i the atmosphere that could alter weather patters such as the path of a torado or maybe eve prevet it altogether. The cosideratio that a chai of evets ca take place stemmig from oe small actio is staggerig. The outcome ca affect the world. I 13, Eva s Bar Mitzvah looms i his future. He must deal with the possibility that the party that he has bee lookig forward to his etire life may ot tur out the way he had hoped. Eva is determied to covice the cool kids to come to his party ad will do whatever it takes to achieve this. Through the course of the musical, Eva s actios move him closer to his goal. What he does t realize is that to achieve this dream meas doig thigs that could ultimately have egative, farreachig effects o those aroud him. The realizatio that our actios ca have a direct effect o the world aroud us is oe that ca happe at ay age. Although adults are most ofte equipped to affect positive chage for causes they believe i, age is t always a hidrace. May teeagers ad pre-tees seeig a problem i their world have bee able to establish orgaizatios that offer assistace ad solutios. Their actios may have origially bee desiged to fill a specific eed i a particular commuity but some have take their efforts beyod their commuity s borders to help a eve larger populatio. Tees Makig A Differece I Our World 23 overture to life skills ove erture to life skills s y of Stadard fo Summar ills e Sk Lif easoig Thikig ad R or Thikig ad Reasoig Uderstads ad applies iciples of prese basic pr t argume Uderstads ad applies priciples of logic ad rea Effectively uses metal pr that are based i idetifyi similarities ad differece ompares, cotrasts, clas (c Uderstads ad applies priciples of hypothesis t scietific iquiry Applies basic trouble-sho problem-solvig techiqu Applies decisio-makig the tig a basic asoig ocesses r ig es ssifies) basic estig ad ootig ad ues techiques Workig With Others otributes to the overal C oup r a g e Uses coflict-resolutio t Works well with diverse i ad i diverse situatios Displayseffectiveiterpe commuicatio skills Demostrates leadership Self-Regulatio Sets ad maages goals l effort of echiques dividuals rsoal skills Sets ad maages goals Performs self-appraisal Cosiders risks Demostrates persevera Maitais a healthy self-c Restrais impulsivity Life Work Makes effective use of ba Uses various iformatio icludig those of a tech to accomplish specific tas aages moey effective M ursues specific jobs P tio Makes geeral prepara ce cocept sic tools sources, ical ature, sks ely o for p p g eterig the work force Makes effective use of ba Displaysreliability ad a b ethic Operates effectively withi orgaizatios sic life skills basic work i
22 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 Mimi Auslad Da ad Betsy Nally I 1996, Da ad Betsy Nally, ages 9 ad 6 respectively, were moved by a televisio ews story regardig the Greater Bosto Food Bak ad its eed for a additioal 5,000 turkeys for Thaksgivig. Believig that o family should be without a turkey for Thaksgivig, the brother ad sister team set out to fid stores ad busiesses that would be willig to doate turkeys to the cause. They were able to deliver 36 turkeys to the Greater Bosto Food Bak. Sice the first year, the Nallys have received atioal media attetio greatly icreasig the doatios received each year. Elistig the help of such corporatios as Perdue Farms, Ic. ad BJ s Wholesale Club, their atioal orgaizatio called Turkeys 4 America cotiues to provide families i eed with a turkey for the Thaksgivig holiday. Mimi Auslad, age 12 wated to help ad feed the dogs livig at her local aimal shelter. Upo securig a corporate sposor, Mimi created freekibble.com. The web site features a caie questio of the day. Visitors to the site ca aswer the questio ad whether their aswer is correct or icorrect, 20 pieces of kibble are automatically doated to the Humae Society of Cetral Orego. I the first five weeks sice goig live o April 1, 2008, freekibble.com geerated over 210,000 pieces of kibble providig a sigle day s food for 560 dogs. Doatios have reached two ad a half millio with o sigs of stoppig. Efforts cotiue to further the reach of freekibble.com to iclude shelters i other states. Alex Scott Craig Kielburger At oly 12 years old, Craig Kielburger read a article i his local paper cocerig a youg boy from Pakista beig held captive ad used as slave labor. Realizig that there were childre i the world who were beig exploited, Craig ad eleve of his frieds set out to fight child labor practices creatig the orgaizatio Free the Childre. Oly a year later, Craig made a trip to South Asia to lear about the epidemic of global child rights abuses ad brought the issue of child labor to a global stage. Today, Free the Childre thrives as a global orgaizatio that provides educatio for childre i eed creatig empowered idividuals ad assistig i breakig the cycle of poverty that may live i, day to day. At the youg age of 4, Alexadra Alex Scott was diagosed with cacer. Alex decided to do somethig that would help to raise moey for cacer research. She opeed her first lemoade stad i July of 2000 doatig the moey she collected to what she referred to as her hospital. Despite her icreasigly poor health, Alex cotiued to ope her lemoade stad i her frot yard aually util her death i 2004 at the age of 8. I 4 years, she maaged to raise over $1 millio for cacer research. Her legacy cotiues i the Alex s Lemoade Stad Foudatio, which has raised over $20 millio for childhood cacer research throughout the coutry. The extraordiary youg people metioed achieved life-chagig results stemmig from a basic idea. Although their achievemets may be cosidered extreme examples of what ca be accomplished by tees ad pre-tees, the Butterfly Effect ca be felt from actios o a far lesser scale. Whether it s voluteerig at a ursig home or givig time to a local orgaizatio, people of ay age ca affect chage that ot oly beefits the greater commuity but also istills a sese of pride ad accomplishmet i the perso providig their time. The smallest of efforts ca ofte create the largest of chages. 24
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 23 Life Skills L Discussio Discussio Objective Does adaptig mea givig up your priciples? Teachig Tips What do you kow or thik you kow about beig a paret? Should people who wat to become parets be required to take classes? Does havig childre ecessarily mea you will be a good paret? The aswer is obvious. No! We see evidece e of that all aroud us. From the Script Eva ad the kids sig about beig 13. Eva ad Kids EVERYTHING TURNS AROUND. UND.THIRTEEN! TEEN! END UP IN STITCHES,THIR THIRTEEN! TEEN! HIDE AWAY AY UNDERGROUND. ND.THIRTEEN! TEEN! CAN I GET THROUGH IT? THIRTEEN! TEEN! LIFE HAS CHANGED OVERNIGHT! THIRTEEN! TEEN! HOW DO I DO IT? THIRTEEN! TEEN! I BETTER GET IT RIGHT! Eva ad Kids THE BEST AND THE WORST AND THE MOST AND THE LEAST AND THE CRAZY AND THE SCARY AND I M STANDING ON THE EDGE!... YES,THIS PLACE IS FLAT AND BROWN, BUT I COULD LEARN TO LIKE THIS TOWN! I VE GOT A FEELING I M GONNA BE JUST FINE. Exercise At some time i our lives all of us must adapt apt to ew or chagig situatios. The famous Darwiia quote isists, Adapt or die. While hopefully we ll ever be faced with that dire optio, it is to our beefit ad ultimate happiess i life to adjust to chagig circumstaces. Eva must adapt to his ew livig situatio. He does so pretty well. Ufortuately, he also fids himself i a costat state of tryig to adapt to the whims of others i the iterests of makig ad keepig frieds. Tell the classs to place themselves i Eva s situatio. Discuss how they might hadle the pressures of ot oly adaptig to a completely ew livig eviromet, but also to the pressures of egotiatig a ew social group whose expectatios are ukow. Have studets ew to your district share with the class their experieces i adaptig to their ew eviromet. met. You ca also ask ay studets who has ever moved to share theirs as well.
24 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 Life Skills Writig Writig Objective Makig life s hard choices. From the Script The group says they ll go to Eva s Bar Mitzvah. Whe they yfid out Patrice is ivited they tell him if she goes, they wo t. Lucy Malcolm Hold o. Is she comig? Ad if we do t go we do t go. Get it? Patrice? Eva Brett Well, which is it? Us, or her... Teachig Tips Choices are just that. They are the opportuities to do oe thig or aother. What we decide to do ofte depeds o what we see as a positive outcome. Sometimes, however, a choice we may see as the right oe does ot produce the desired effect. These choices ca be difficult. Lucy Eva Cause if she goes, we re so subbig. I VE GOT ONE DAY IN OCTOBER AND IF I DON T GET IT DOWN, Eva THEN IT S ONE MORE HUGE DISASTER, Come o.w What s wrog with Patrice?... LIKE MY PARENTS, LIKE THIS TOWN. I VE GOT ONE DAY IN OCTOBER... Lucy I CAN MAKE IT TO OCTOBER......If God wated me to hag out with BUT IT S REALLY GOTTA BE THE losers, he would have made me ugly. PREFECT PARTY. THE PERFECT PARTY! Eddie Ad if they do t go.we do t go. Get it? Exercise Eva has a choice. Do the right thig ad ivite Patrice to his party, o matter what, or do t ivite her ad keep his ew-foud frieds. What to do? Life is full of hard choices. This time Eva made his, ad it is ot i Patrice s favor. Later he regrets his choice ad fixes thigs with Patrice. But for ow, he rips up her ivitatio ad she rus off, hurt. We ca say he made a wrog choice but that is ot for us to judge. We ca say he simply made a choice. Tell studetss to write Eva a letter as if they were a old fried from New York City who was respodig to a letter he had set tellig them about what happeed. Discuss his choice. Iclude persoal statemets regardig the fact that they uderstad the choice was a hard oe give his eed to fit i. Tell them to reserve harsh judgmets ad focus o positive ways they might get him to look differetly at what he did. Suggest ways i which he could have hadled thigs differetly. Poit out how ot givig i might have gaied him respect i the ed.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 25 Life Skills Experietial Experietial Objective Livig o your ow terms. Teachig Tips We ca t always do what everyoe else wats us to; or be what they wat us to be. We must have our ow visio of how to survive ad how to be happy ad fulfilled. To accomplish that we must, to some extet, live life i a way that makes sese for us, ot someoe else. From the Script Archie, a disabled outsider i the group, explais his life philosophy p Archie IF THAT S T S WHAT IT IS, THEN THAT S T S WHAT IT IS. THOUGH THAT S T S NOT THE WAY I CHOOSE TO SEE IT. I HAVE MY OWN VIEW THAT T WORKS WITH ALL THESE JERKS AND UNENLIGHTENED FOOLS. I MAKE MY OWN RULES. I DO WHAT I CAN. IF I HIT THE WALL, WELL, MAYBE IT S ALL JUST PART OF THE PLAN. TOMORROW OW WILL COME, TODAY WILL BE GONE: AND SO I PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER, ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER AND JUST KEEP WALKING ON Exercise It is t easy to live life o your ow terms the way Archie does. Everythig, every day tells us to go alog with the crowd; fit i; do t make waves. Disabled people, such as Archie, ofte fid it hard to fit i. Most have a strog sese of idepedece as a result. They must take life by the tail, as they say, ad force it to give them what they eed. Like Archie. Go to a orgaizatio for the disabled i your commuity. Ask if they ca supply a speaker. Before the speaker comes, studets should develop questios about what livig their life o their ow terms meas to them. I what way have they doe that? What recommedatios might they have for the rest of us? Write the above excerpt o the wall ad ask them to iterpret Archie s words i terms of their ow disability ad life philosophy.
26 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 Life Skills After Hours Teachig Tips Oe of Eva s greatest fears of movig to Idiaa is how he will make ew frieds. He does so without t too much effort, but i the ed he fids out that maitaiig friedships ca be harder tha makig them. Challegee #1 Makig Frieds ad Ifluecig People There s a book called How to Wi Frieds ad Ifluece People by Dale Caregie. It s a worthwhile read. We ever kow whe some time i future, or maybe eve ow, we may be i market to make a ew fried or two. Most adolescets ad eve may adults say this is the hardest life skill to acquire. Makig ew frieds is ever easy. The oly way to get better at it is to do it. Commit to makig oe ew fried over the ext several weeks. Challegee #2 Ad Now For The Hard Part Difficult as it ca be to make frieds, maitaiig friedships ca be a full time job, as Eva fids out. Oe miute you have frieds, the ext that perso is your bitter eemy, committed to brigig you dow. There are jealousies, s, disagreemets, coflicts of every order that the youg perso must egotiate. Commit to makig a ew fried. Perhaps it is someoe who you have thought ht about approachig, but for oe reaso or aother, have ot. Work o the friedship for a while. Keep a daily diary o how thigs are comig alog. Do you see ay warig g sigs that might mea thigs are t goig so well? Idetify them ad make plas to deal with them so the friedship does t fade.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 27 overture to behavioral studies Cliques ad Peer Pressure Upo Eva s arrival i Appleto, Idiaa, Archie clearly describes the may social groups that reside at Da Quayle Juior High School. Some coexist while others do ot. Eva appears to be accepted by a variety of groups simply because he s the ew kid i tow ad precoceived stereotypes have ot bee applied to him. Meawhile, other log-time residets like Archie fight a daily battle agaist ridicule ad teasig hopig ad prayig that the day will come whe they will o loger be outcasts. THERE S THE COOL KIDS THERE S THE PREPS AND THERE S THE SKATE PUNKS AND THE JOCKS AND THEN THERE S ME. THERE S THE LOSERS THERE S THE NERDS AND THERE S THE STONERS AND THE GOTHS AND THEN THERE S ME. Summary of Stadard tadardfor Behavioral al Studies Uderstads that group ad cultural iflueces cotribute to huma developmet, idetity, ad behavior Uderstads various meaigs of social group, geeral li implicatios i of group membership, mbership ad differet eretwa ways that groups fuctio Uderstads thatiteractios learig, physical ldevelopmet affect amog huma behavior el g iheritace ad Uderstads coflict, cooperatio, ad iterdepedece edece amog idividuals, groups ad istitutios 29
28 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 For a small tow like Appleto, a great may tight groups or cliques exist. Members of these cliques, despite differet self-iterests, typically all share oe uifyig trait. There are usually hierarchies of cliques amog tees ragig from the i-crowd to the losers ad everythig i-betwee. Virtually everyoe is part of a group durig their teeage years. Eve those who are cosidered loers, such as Archie ad Patrice, ted to be grouped together by observers ito a idividual group. Clique memberships are ofte cotrolled by a small group of leaders. These overseers have the power to iclude or exclude ay give idividual. Oce etrace has bee give, members feel like that they have foud a place where they ca be themselves, peculiarities ad all. Much like i 13, a wide variety of cliques exist throughout the secodary schools of the Uited States. Just some of the may groups ad their perceived traits iclude: Popular: The cool group cosidered to be the most attractive by other studets. Goths: This group is dressed from head to toe i black with eyelier ad a zombie-like appearace. Goths ca be loers ad prefer to live life outside of societal orms. Nerds: See as itellectual ad computer savvy, ofte socially awkward aroud others. Preps: A prep has lots of extracurricular activities, may be a coutry club member ad is destied for a top Ivy League school. Skate Puks: The clothes wor by skate puks icludes Acid Jeas, trucker hats ad a baseball cap with the bill flipped up. A skate puk s attire is ofte strew with holes ad rips due to the hazards of skatig. Etry ito a clique is t guarateed eve if a perso possesses all of the characteristics of a give group. Persoality ad cofidece may appear threateig to the already established chai of commad. If a ew member is perceived as more of a leader tha a follower, membership may be deied. 30
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 29 It is t always a perfect existece for those already i the clique. Most members follow the established leader ot out of true friedship but more so to keep their positio i the group. The leader o the other had, may worry as much as the members about maitaiig popularity ad cotrol. Maipulatio, pressure ad humiliatio are ofte used to preserve stature. Peer pressure is aother tool used by those i commad. The defiitio of peer pressure is the social pressure put o somebody to adopt a type of behavior, dress or attitude i order to be accepted as part of a group. Peer pressure exists i all school settigs ad Da Quayle Juior High is o exceptio. The type of peer pressure Eva experieces makes him choose to adopt actios that are t ormal for him. Social acceptace is his ultimate goal. Eva agrees to Archie s request to help get him a date with Kedra i exchage for Archie repairig the rift i Eva ad Patrice s friedship. Later i the musical, Eva agrees to fid a way to get tickets to a R rated movie after Brett promises that the football jocks will come to his Bar Mitzvah. I both istaces, Eva compromises his values solely to gai acceptace. Peer pressure ad cliques are t ecessarily all bad. I the proper settig, cliques ca form friedships that reflect positive peer ifluece. Peers that are committed to doig well i school or sports ca be a welcomed ispiratio maifestig the adoptio of similar traits i others. Cliques ca provide valuable feedback ad advice whe it comes time to tryig out ew ideas or explorig ew settigs. Through the buildig of lastig bods ad the coveyace of moral support, cliques have the potetial to carry a idividual through the rockiest of times. 31
30 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 Behavioral al Studies av Discussio Discussio Objective The cocept of impulsive behavior. From the Script Eva explais to his fried what s goig g o i his household. Eva My mom s makig me go. My dad s ruied our lives ad she s s a mess. She wet aroud the house yesterdayy cuttig his head out of all our photos. Exercise Teachig Tips Thik before you act. Please. Eva s dad has left his mother for a stewardess. It s uderstadable that Eva would be upset. After all, they d obviously bee married for some time, Eva is 13. So Eva, too, has lost somethig. His mother is actig as if she is the oly oe who has bee hurt by his father s decisio. Eva s momm is ot thikig of Eva as she goes aroud the house cuttig the father s picture out of all their photos. She is ot thikig about how this makes Eva feel. She is makig a bad situatio worse. The last thig Eva eeds ow is to feel that his father, whom we re sure he loves, will be permaetly goe from his life. It s bad eough that he has to move away from his frieds ad the city he loves to a strage place where he has to make ew frieds ad adapt to a ew eviromet. That also seems ems like a fairly impulsive decisio o his mother s part. Is she thikig of Eva? Has she asked him how he feels about movig? Impulsive behavior is somethig people do without thikig. This behavior ca really hurt people without you itedig it to do so. It s a selfish behavior. It makes you feel better for the momet. met. Ope a class discussio about impulsive behavior; about doig thigs spotaeously sly without much thought. Let the discussio flow i whatever directio it takes. A lot of ideas, feeligs ad persoal isights s may come out i the process. All of it will be cathartic for studets, ad hopefully, i the ed, get them to realize they must thik before they act.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 31 Behavioral al Studies av Writig Writig Objective Explore the ature of special iterest groups ad lobbyists. From the Script Eva tells the clique about his Bar Mitzvah. They say they ll go, g, but ot if Patrice goes. It s a exclusive group. They do t like losers. Lucy sees Patrice holdig the ivite. Lucy Hold the phoe. Is she goig? Patrice? Eva Lucy Cause if she goes, we re so subbig. Teachig Tips Start with a discussio of cliques ad lead studets toward the reality that cliques are ot oly foud i school. They are ot merely social groups. They are groups with similar ideas ad goals that ca buy govermet favors that may or may ot be i the iterests of the geeral populatio Eva Come o.what s wrog with Patrice? Brett She ll be there. Lucy Ad if God wated me to hag out with losers, he would have made me ugly. Eddie Adifthe they do t go.we do t go. Get it? Malcolm Ad if we do t go we do t go. Get it? Exercise Much of what we hear i the dialogue of 13 tells us Eva is dealig with a very well established clique which he must break ito if he is to be popular i Appleto, Idiaa. At least that s the way he sees it. As studets, most of us have experieced the power of cliques. But there are other, eve more powerful cliques at work i our coutry. They are ot called cliques. They are called special iterest groups who, through lobbyig our govermet officials, ofte get special favors for their group. Research a particular special iterest group (clique). Hudreds of articles exist that will help you i your research. I a well-developed ad cited paper, expose oe of these special iterest groups, how they lobby the govermet ad what special favors they have obtaied. Is it i the best iterests of the America people?
32 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 Behavioral al Studies Experietial Experietial Objective Recogize ad cope with peer pressure. From the Script Kedra ad Lucy are vyig for Brett s attetio. Lucy tauts Kedra, who does t wat to act i a iappropriate way, with threats that if she does t give Brett the kiss he wats the she will. Lucy No, Brett ivited you because he wats to do the togue! The togue? The Togue! Kedra Lucy Teachig Tips Eve people who are your frieds ca push you ito doig thigs you do t wat to do. We ve all experieced it. Trick is to recogize whe they re doig this ad fid ways to deal with it. There s othig worse tha doig somethig you kow is ot right for you. Givig i to peer pressure also gives people power over you they should ot have. Exercise Kedra No way! Lucy So way! My God, Kedra wake up ad smell the double soy decaf chai o-fat latte. Brett totally kows The Rule. Kedra The Rule? Lucy The Rule! Seriously, Kedra, are your parets sibligs? If you have t doe the togue, you re ot officially ficially goig out. That s The Rule. Kedra is i a quadary about whether to do somethig she really does t wat to somethig she believes is ot the right thig to do. Tees are especially vulerable to pressure from peers, although adults, too, ca ofte fid themselves i these types of situatios. Ask studets s to thik of a time whe peer pressure was temptig them to do somethig they did t wat to. Ask them to write a aoymous accout of the situatio, how they felt ad how they hadled it. Did they give i or stad firm ad do the right thig? Thikig it over, would they ow hadle the situatio i a differet way? Tell studets s to had i their accouts. Because they are aoymous, o oe will kow who wrote the accout.
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 33 Behavioral al Studies s After Hours Teachig Tips Feelig strog ad powerful is a good od feelig. Feelig powerless is ot. Be strog. Acquire the tools to defed ed yourself. You will like the way you feel. Challegee #1 Defed Yourself (for the wome) Lucy Hey, keep your hads to yourselves. s. Either oe of you guys put so much as a figer ear me, you ll be pullig back a stump. This is tough talk o the part of Lucy ad she meas it. No oe is takig advatage of her. Fid a self-defese course for wome i your area. Take it. Write a paragraph agraph or two o The New Powerful Me. Put it o the wall above your desk or i a place where you ofte sit to work. Challegee #2 Defed Yourself (for the me) Ma, you re such a jerk. Eva The crowd all gasps ad takes a step back. Did you just call me a jerk? Brett Eva I ca t believe it took me so log to figure it out, but yeah: you re a jerk. Brett Oh, right, comig from Mr. Every Everyoe Come to My Little Lame Birthday Party. Eva Forget it, all right, I do t wat you there ayway. y. Now we have, for the first time, some tough talk from Eva. He is sick ad tired of Brett s bullyig ad has had eough. If you ve had eough of a peer tellig you what to do, ad essetially tryig to bully you about, fid a good self-help book for tees o bullyig. lyig. Read it ad apply the techiques. Write a paragraph agraph or two o The New Powerful Me. Put it o the wall above your desk or i a place where you ofte sit to work.
34 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 overture to the arts Talkig with Jaso Robert Brow Composer ad Lyricist of 13 Jaso Robert Brow is the award wiig composer ad lyricist of 13. He received the 1999 Toy Award for Best Origial Musical Score for his work o Parade. StageNOTES recetly sat dow with him to discuss the creative process that wet o behid the scees for 13 ad how creatig a musical featurig a teeage cast ad bad created a differet set of challeges. Summary of Stadardfor The Arts Art Coectios Uderstads coectios amog the various art forms ad other disciplies Theater Demostrates competece ec actig skills ce i writig scripts Uses Desigs ad produces iformal Directs ad formal productios scees ad productios Uderstads how iformal ad formal theater, film, televisio, ad electroic media productios createe ad commuicate meaig Uderstads the cotext t i which theater, film, televisio, ad electroic media are perfomed today as well as i the past Music Sigs, aloe ad with others, a varied repertoire of music Performs o istrumets, aloe ad with others, a varied repertoire rtoire of music Improvises melodies, variatios, atios, ad accompaimets Composes ad arrages rages music withi specified guidelies Reads ad otates t music Kows ad applies appropriate to performaces Uderstadsd the relatioship p criteria music ad music betwee ee music history ad culture ur Stage NOTES: After havig such success with The Last Five Years ad Parade what drew you to 13? Jaso Robert Brow: It s hard for me to kow the specific spiritual geesis of ay of my works. I origially came up with the story ad the cocept of 13 for utterly commercial reasos a publishig compay had asked me to propose a tee-orieted book series. But the piece has obviously grow well away from that iitial impulse, ad i doig so has pushed some very persoal ad emotioal buttos for me. I have to assume that those spiritual coectios were hidig i there all alog. Goodess kows I ever felt like my ow teeage years were resolved o a lot of levels, ad writig this piece has come to feel like closig that circle. Certaily watchig Eva, Archie ad Patrice avigate their way through the thickets of adolescece is very gratifyig to me; it feels like they re takig me alog with them. Visual Arts Uderstads ad applies media, techiques ad processes related to the visual arts Kows how to use the structures (e.g., sesory yq qualities, orgaizatioal priciples, expressive essive features) es) ad fuctios of art Kowsar rage of subject matter, symbols, ad potetial ideas i the visual arts Uderstads the visual arts i relatio to history ad cultures Uderstads the characteristics ad merits of oe s ow artwork rk ad the artwork of others SN: Is the subject of 13 based o ay real life situatio that happeed to either you or someoe you kew? JRB: Not i ay literal way. My parets ever got divorced, I ever lived i the Midwest, my Bar Mitzvah was t eve a particularly traumatic 36
T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 35 occasio for me. That havig bee said, a girl with whom I wet to high school saw the show i Coecticut, ad said she clearly recogized little pieces of lots of people we kew back the. I drew o a lot of very specific memories whe drawig these characters, but I thik Patrice ad Lucy ad Brett ad the other kids are sufficietly icoic that everyoe will recogize them from their juior high school hierarchies. SN: The lyrics of your sogs are very sophisticated. Were you ever afraid that although the target audiece is tees ad pre-tees that the words may go over their heads? JRB: I do t kow that my target audiece is tees ad pre-tees, but I ever really kow who s goig to get what I do ayway. The fact is that a surprisig (to me, at least) umber of my fas are teeagers, ad they do t seem to have ay trouble parsig the lyrics or the emotios of The Last Five Years or Sogs for a New World, both of which are rather complicated ad layered pieces. I wet ito the process of writig this show with oe thig i mid: do t uderestimate what teeagers ca do; that applies both to the astoishig work that the actors pull off ad the rather challegig listeig that the audiece has to do. I do t thik teeagers eed to be fed a costat diet of cotto cady, ad I m always a little depressed that growups seem to desire little more tha that for themselves or their kids whe it comes to musical theater. What differetiates 13 from ay umber of youth-orieted shows ad movies is that eve though the situatios are comic ad somewhat over-the-top, the emotios are, I thik, geuie ad complex, like the kids themselves. SN: Was it difficult to put yourself back ito the midset of a teeager i order to create the score? JRB: The verbal laguage has bee more of a challege tha the musical laguage. There are certai words that are part of my everyday vocabulary that just would t soud right i the mouth of a 13- year-old; ad vice versa. II ever wated the show to seem overly slagy, but I did have to respect the fact that kids vocabularies are emietly fugible quatities. The real teeagers who make up this cast eologize ad idiomaticize (that ca t be a real word) almost reflexively, ad I did feel it was importat for the book ad score to reflect that without drawig too much attetio to it. But the musical laguage, frakly, was a piece of cake: after I had writte a couple of umbers, I realized that I was drawig almost exclusively (ad etirely subcosciously) o souds I would have heard o the radio i 1983, whe I was 13. Oce I ackowledged that as the template, everythig else dictated itself from there. There are plety of curret pop styles i the show, but what geerated all of the musical material was whatever radio persoality Casey Kasem played o a radom week twety-five years ago. SN: Was there ay character, i particular, that you idetified with? JRB: Everyoe isists that Eva is a autobiographical creatio, but i fact, other tha beig Jewish ad eurotic, he ad I do t have much i commo. (Secretly, I ve ofte imagied that Eva grows up to be Da Elish, ad I ve writte a lot of his sogs with that i mid.) What I m surprised o oe has picked up o is that my real alter-ego is Archie, who determies ot to let his outsider status dimiish his ambitios. But there s a lot of me i Patrice as well, ad my writig techique is such that all of the characters i the show bubbled up from somewhere very geuie i me, regardless of how ulike me they may seem o the surface. SN: Other tha the tees that appear i the productio, the bad is comprised of teeage musicias. What are some of the differeces i workig with teeage musicias rather tha adults? JRB: They complai less ad practice more. SN: As the composer ad lyricist, were you ivolved i the auditio process ad i the evetual castig? JRB: Oh, sure. Sice I ve bee ivolved with this project the logest, I ve see more kids tha ayoe else, probably well ito the thousads. What s always bee true about this show is that some kids walk i the door ad are just right for it. We ve see lots of awesomely taleted actors 37
36 T HE MTI STUDY G UIDE F OR 13 over the five years I ve bee workig o 13, ad ofte, o matter how gifted a certai performer is, he or she just does t seem to fit ito the world of this show. Ad the someoe else will come i, ad without eve sigig two otes, all of us will thik, That s perfect! Castig gets more mysterious as I get older, ot less so. All of my shows are hard to cast because the vocal demads ad the actig requiremets are so itese, but I ve ever had a harder time castig a show tha I did this oe. SN: Sice tees are still i their growig years, do chages i height or voice determie how log a particular actor stays i a role? JRB: Sice the show s oly bee doe i short-term rus up to ow, we ve ever had to replace a actor because he or she aged out of a role, but it s my earest hope that this show will ru log eough that we have to fire every sigle perso. As far as determiig whether ay kid is still right for the show, I thik that s a combiatio of factors: voice ad physical developmet. But I suspect that really it ll just be a feelig there comes a poit at which a actor is o loger believable as a 13-year-old, particularly i a cast of other 13-year-olds. I also suspect some of the actors will decide o their ow that they do t really belog aymore; o matter how youg you may look, a 17-year-old is t really goig to wat to hag out with a buch of 13-yearolds all the time. SN: The show was previously performed i Califoria to very positive reviews. Have there bee ay major chages i script or score durig its move to Broadway? JRB: Everythig, everythig, everythig. I thik of the Broadway versio as 13 Versio 2.0, though it s actually probably Versio 2.4 at this poit. The major differece betwee the L.A. script ad the NY script is that the show i L.A. was really more about the people aroud Eva tha it was about Eva itself. Eva arrated the evets of the show ad facilitated a lot of the plot, but mostly he was a fairly passive presece; that s all chaged for New York. Now Eva is very much the protagoist of the piece, ad gettig that to happe required iumerable chages i the script ad the score. The most obvious chage is that the versio of the show that premiered at the Mark Taper Forum last witer was oe act, 75 miutes, ad had thirtee sogs. This two-act, two-hour versio of the show has may more sogs, ad more tha half of the origial score was replaced alog the way. Aother fairly obvious chage has bee the additio of Robert Hor to the team; Da Elish ad I felt that, after four years, we eeded someoe else to push us up the last hill, ad Robert has lifted the show to a whole ew thrillig level with his work. SN: What do you hope that audieces will take away after seeig a performace? Do you feel the message is differet for tees as opposed to adults? JRB: There are so may thigs I wish I could have figured out whe I was youger, but chief amog them is that I m happiest whe I m ot tryig to be somethig other tha what I am. I m smart, I m ambitious, I m taleted, ad I do t swim alog i the maistream; those four thigs almost etirely defie my persoality. I ve spet so much of my life regrettig that I was t more typical, more ormal, more cool, ad that s ofte kept me from ejoyig the very real beefits of beig whatever I am. I did t kow util alarmigly recetly that the really cool kids are the oes who do t thik about whether they re cool or ot; they accept themselves for precisely who they are, ad some people are just draw to them because of it. Whe I look back, I see that I ve always draw people to me, ad I feel silly that I did t appreciate that eough at the time. Cool, I guess, is iside all of us but it s ot the same for everyoe, ad o oe is goig to be everybody s fried. Istead of tryig to appropriate someoe else s idea of who we should be, if we could just recogize ad stake our claim to our ow versio of cool, I thik we would all be much happier.