This week, the NWA Writing Project was asked for a nonfiction text set to pair with a novel study of The Miracle Worker. When Annie Sullivan arrives in the Keller household, she encounters Helen, who to that point had never been disciplined. Blind and deaf, Helen is prone to tantrums, and her parents, out of pity and guilt, have allowed her misbehavior. The Miracle Worker chronicles the journey Helen and Annie take together as Helen learns how to communicate.

Students who engage in this set of bell ringers will work to consider how parents should discipline children, whether in extreme cases like Helen Keller’s or in the day-to-day scenarios with which students themselves are familiar: http://tinyurl.com/letsgetfiredup. Let us know how it goes!