Same Old Story

As I've written before, I have been fascinated by the story of the Titanic since I was a child. Back then the ship was still lost and had seemingly vanished forever. It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that Robert Ballard and his crew located the wreck, nearly two-and-a-half miles below the surface. 

After that discovery, the Titanic became a huge industry; exhibits of recovered artifacts were everywhere, and I attended quite a few. The popularity of the ship was helped along by the 1997 blockbuster movie and then rekindled again in 2012, the 100th anniversary of the sinking. Back then, we went to a great exhibit at National Geographic, but as I made my way through the galleries, I realized that there wasn't much information that was new to me. I knew everything I cared to about the disaster. 

So when a few months ago I received an e-mail about a traveling exhibit on Titanic, I summarily deleted the message. And when our district added a required common text for sixth graders that was an excerpt from a survivor's account of the sinking, I explained to anyone who cared to listen that my objection was not made out of ignorance or disinterest, but rather relevance. Why should we teach every single kid about a random tragedy that happened over a hundred years ago? Don't they have enough bad news in their lives without adding to it?

But, as the saying goes, I don't really run anything except my mouth, and so I a couple of weeks ago found myself teaching about the Titanic. (And, as it turned out, writing raps about it, too.) Of course, the recent catastrophe of the Titan sub had brought the ship back into public attention, and the kids were fairly engaged by the grim tale. Although I still felt like studying the topic was a bit of sensationalism and rubber-necking, I also remembered what an interesting story it is, and while planning my lessons, I watched some new videos about recent explorations of the wreck with new technology. It's amazing to me that it's been nearly 40 years since it was found. 

Oh, and that exhibit? Well, I got an email that it's been extended a few weeks, so this Sunday? We're going.

Fair Rap

Students were working quietly when I decided to try my hand at composing a Titanic rap using the required vocabulary (accommodations, ambitious, evacuate, luxurious, plague, sound, tragedy) and the knowledge of the ship we had gained over the last few sessions. I had already offered kids the opportunity to put on a beat and share their work, if they wanted to, and it seemed like having a model might be helpful.

I was pretty pleased with what I composed, so I decided to risk sounding like an old white lady posing and step up to the figurative mic. (Click here for a version of what my classes heard.) 

And I was gratified at how much the kids appreciated my effort. But what was most cool was how many students went right to work, eager to share their own compositions. 

Two guys even made an album cover for their single. "Don't worry," they told me. "We'll sign you to our label!"

Titans of Rhyme

"What rhymes with luxurious?" a student asked me today. She was working on an assignment about the Titanic where students were asked to write a rap using some key vocabulary words. 

"Curious? Furious? Penurious?" I suggested. "That last word means 'cheap,' by the way," I explained.

"The ship was luxurious, but with the lifeboats they were penurious," she tried.

"That's pretty good!" I laughed.

"I can't find anything for plague, though" she sighed.

"The vocabulary word doesn't have to be at the end of the line," I told her. "You could say something like, 'No problems plagued the amazing ship..." I paused for a moment to think. 

"Until the hole the iceberg ripped!" she finished, nodding. "What about ambitious?" she prompted.

"The plans for the ship were ambitious," I began, "but now she sleeps with the fishes."

She gasped and the kids around her who had been listening to our conversation, did, too.

"I'm going to use that!" said one.

"No! I am!" said another.

"Nobody can," I shrugged. "It's my line. Come up with your own."

A little while later the bell rang, and as she was packing up to go a student caught my eye. "You should stick with that rapping," she advised me. "You never know what might come of it."

History 101

I have the New York Times website as my homepage-- I just like seeing the Grey Lady's perspective on the world every day. Tonight when I clicked over, I saw a banner advertisement that was hard to ignore: Experts say the first 150-year-old has already been born.

Imagine that!

The ad was interactive, and you could click on a time line to see some of the iconic headlines you might have known if you, yourself, had lived for the past 150 years. How could I resist?

But wait... mapping the human genome, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Maggie Thatcher's election? These were not exactly the first events that came to my mind for the last 35 years. I kept clicking back in time until at last I hit the one that I knew would be there, probably because it is always there: Titanic Sinks Four Hours After Hitting Iceberg.

Coincidentally, I just started reading a book about that tragedy today. People who know me may be surprised; not because I'm reading about Titanic, but rather because I've found a book that isn't a rehash of all those I've already poured over. You see, when I was a child, I was fascinated by the story of the doomed ship, which was then still lost on the floor of the ocean. The enormity of such a loss weighed heavily on my young mind, and it was nothing short of a miracle to me when the wreck was discovered in 1985.

Today, though, the book I picked up is a completely novel take on the ill-fated voyage that even after 101 years so many of us are so familiar with. It's called, Titanic: Deck Z.

And yes, Z is for Zombies.

I know, right?

Amazing Grace

I just can't get that shark tooth off my mind. When I hold it my hand, I'm practically overwhelmed by the fact that sometime between 5 and 23 million years ago this small thing was in some sand shark's mouth and then two days ago I found it on the beach. Is that not amazing?

When I was a child, I was fascinated by the story of the Titanic, which was then still lost on the floor of the ocean. The enormity of such a loss weighed heavily on my young mind, and it was nothing short of a miracle to me when the wreck was discovered in 1985. And just last week I read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Di Camillo, and I experienced a similar emotion, particularly when Edward falls to the bottom of the sea where he remains for almost two years before a storm resurrects him.

Discovery, redemption, salvation-- who could resist the power of those?