The purpose of this DVD-ROM is to provide teachers, program facilitators, and students of all ages with plenty to think and talk about. Interviews, film footage, background content, study guide questions, and curricular resources are brought together around six themes to allow for maximum flexibility and continuity.
The emphasis of the DVD-ROM is not on Thoreau, though it is meant to introduce Thoreau's ideas and the implications of his questions for today's world. The emphasis here is on our lives, the challenges that confront us, and the choices we make.
Our six key themes were identified by educators from across the country as being the most meaningful concepts to connect Thoreau's writings to the lives and concerns of students today.
Thoreau was an open-minded individual. As the goal of the Life With Principle project is to promote intelligent reflection and open dialogue, then we need to expose the students to some potentially "disturbing" ideas with the caveat that they do not have to agree with them. Thoreau himself did not make people comfortable; he shook them out of their complacency.
It is not our job, in fact it is inappropriate, to take specific positions on controversial issues or to put words in Thoreau's mouth. All we know is the kinds of questions he asked in his own time. All we can advocate is that people think about those questions and whether they are applicable today: the questions, not the answers.
Life With Principle aligns with curriculum guidelines and complies with current state mandates for Literature, History, Social Studies, Science, Government and Environmental Studies. The 51-page Curriculum Guide can be printed from a computer with a DVD-ROM drive. It contains discussion prompts, writing assignments, research topics, activities in other media, relevant reading lists, and group projects.
After you have used "Life With Principle" as a discussion starter with your students, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact us at info@thoreausociety.org so that we can share your success stories with others.
