Can One Person Make a Difference?

1. Can One Person Make a Difference? Three cups of tea By gregmortenson

2. 5.9 • Journal #1: Has there ever been a problem you wish you could change? What was it and why? Think BIG and small.

3. Who is Greg Mortenson anyway? • A man who wanted to make a change • Travelled to Pakistan in memory of his sister and got lost • Ended up in a poor village where there was no school • Made a promise to the people “ I will build you a school.”

4. Day 2: Map Activity • Take a copy of the map of the Middle East • Using the large class map- label the following countries:

5. Journal # 25.17 • “ We cannot all travel to Pakistan. Few people could do what Greg has done. But we can all, everyone of us, make a difference in the world, every day.” • Jane Goodall Think about it– what can we do each day to make a difference? What are some things you do each day to make a difference?

6. Chapter Summaries • I know this book is long, and so in order to get through all the activities and service projects before final exams, we are going to be reading some chapter summaries. • You and a partner will practice summarizing after reading each chapter/summary by using a variety of summarizing activities.

7. FailureChapter 1 • Greg gets lost while climbing K2 ( the second tallest mountain in the world located in Pakistan). Greg was making this climb to leave a necklace belonging to his dead sister, Christa, at the peak/summit of the mountain. Because the group was climbing in such high altitudes, a person’s body is greatly weakened. It took Greg hours to cover just three miles! During this walk Greg meets Mouzafer, a guide, who will lead them down K2. But, while on the way down, Greg looses sight of Mouzafer and becomes lost. He spends the night alone and afraid on the mountain unsure if he will survive the night.

8. The Wrong Side of the RiverChapter 2 • Greg wakes up in the morning a tries to find his way back. He realizes that he is not as far from the path as he once thought. He hears someone calling his name and turns around and sees Mouzafer. Mouzafer leads him into a town where the women’s faces are all covered up, but children were friendly and ran up to Greg. Greg is welcomed into the village of Korphe and offered a cup of tea. He is frustrated he missed his chance to climb the mountain, but happy he found this village.

9. 580 Letters, One CheckChapter 5 • In order to raise money for his school, Greg wrote letters to famous people like Oprah, Michael Jordan and Susan Sarandon. In order to speed up the process, he rented a computer. While he was sending letters, Greg actually received a letter from his mother who was a teacher at a school in Wisconsin. The students at her school really understood what Greg’s mission was all about, and so they decided to help. • The students started a “Pennies for Peace” campaign, where they would collect only pennies from people, something that is basically useless, to raise money for Greg’s school. The school raised $623.45! That was more money than Greg received from any of his letters. • As a last ditch effort, Greg published an article about his project in a newsletter called the American Himalayan Foundation, where a man, Jean Hoerni, took notice of Greg’s article. Hoerni called Greg on the phone, asked how much the school would cost to build, ($12,000 Greg said), and Hoerni wrote him the check right there.

10. Korphe at LastChapter 7 • During the 8 hour drive to Korphe, Greg thinks about how happy he is to be finally building his school. Twaha( Haji’s son) greets Greg in Korphe and they begin to pull themselves across the river in the wooden crate. Haji Ali tells Greg that he is different from many people, he can’t believe how fast he came back to Korphe! • Greg is very excited to tell the Balti people he has the supplies to build the school. When he finally gets the words out, Twaha tells him that “ first we must build a bridge.”

11. Greg’s Difficult Journey • List the difficulties Greg has had to overcome in order to obtain his goal. • He had to build a bridge • He struggled getting the money • He failed climbing K2 • He got fired from his job • His girlfriend broke up with him • He ran out of money • Kidnapped • Landslide • Town of Korphe has to give away what little money they have

12. Journal #36.1 • What do you do when things get difficult? Imagine you are trying to do homework, or read a book for class, or help your parents out at home and it’s just too difficult. You don’t want to do it either. Give me an example of a situation you have encountered in your life similar to this, and tell me how you handled it.

13. Socratic Seminar Did one person really make a difference?

14. What is a Socratic Seminar? • A group discussion • Refers to an article or some other reading material • Not an argument/ yelling match

15. Ten Sizzling Secrets for a Sensational Seminar • PIGGY BACK- agree/disagree with what is being said and find support from the text • GET ANGRY- refer to any part of the text that made you angry and tell us why • CALL 911- alert people to any of the text that made you confused • CUPID’S CALL- “ I love this part because…” • EINSTEIN and ME- underline an intelligent part from the text and write why it really made you think • IN THE Hood- refer to any part of the text you can relate to • HI I’M CHRIS ROCK- any part you found funny and why • TEACHER IMPRESSOR- use the text to refer to anything you have learned in any class- math, science, English , Art etc. • SONG of SOCRATES- write a question of your own and refer to the text • STARTRECK VOYAGE- make a connection to everything

16. What is your job? • Write down the guiding question • Read and ANNOTATE the article- think about the 10 steps to a sizzling seminar • Add some notes/thoughts while watching the video • Write down some thoughtful questions to use during the discussion • Be ready to participate actively in the discussion!