Today I beamed as I heard the morning announcement...."Attention students, have you read or are you reading The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer..." My Twilight project at JFK Middle is in full swing. I am very excited to bring our first segement tomorrow. I provided the participants with a two paged packet of questions surrounding both the novels and the movie. For once, students happily scribbled down their answers, in complete sentences no less! (Yes, this was an attempt to be funny, though I am sure it is lost on all non-teacher types). Our first segment will focus on two areas:
1) How did you first hear about the Twilight series?
2) If you could create the soundtrack for the Twilight movie what songs would you choose and what scenes would you choose them for?
I also plan to post some pictures of my students "twilighting out," and hope to post a video of what my students call "going into Alice and Edward Mode."
How can you help with this project? By answering our two segment questions....
Just to repeat (Because thats what good teachers do...wink, wink):
1) How did you first hear about the Twilight Series
2) If you could create the soundtrack for the Twilight movie what songs would you choose and what scenes would you choose them for?
16 comments:
Question 1. I first heard about the book from some friends at school, and at first i thought who would be so crazy to spend thier time reading a 500 page novel...but before i knew it i had already the finished the book, and i loved it!! so i spread the news to my friends and now even my older brother has read it!
2.WOW. this is a hard question because i feel there are so many songs that realate to the book and ive read it over 4 times and each time i find differnt songs that remind me of what is happening...
Lately ive found that i can realate almost all the songs from the movie across the universe to twilight
I hope all goes well with your class project!!!
Hi. I'm an eighth-grader and I think that you're probably one of the coolest teachers ever.
1. My friend told me I HAD to read it. She really stressed the "had to" part. So I went to the bookstore and got it. Once started, it was hard to put down.
2. Umm... Not sure. There are tons of songs that I love that fit well. (Although I do like a lot of the songs on the playlists on His Golden Eyes.)
Great blog! You've been mentioned on Twilight Lexicon, so your hits should skyrocket very very soon, if they haven't already.
1. Facebook. There was a group about aweesome fictional guys (you know what I mean) and Edward Cullen was on the list. Some girls were spazzing out in the comments, and I'd never heard of him, so I Googled him. I read the Wikipedia article about Edward, then I high-tailed it over to Stephenie's site and read everything I could find there, and then I read all the excerpts I could find on Amazon. Then, to make sure it wasn't demon vampire lit, I asked a couple friends, one of whom assured me it would change my life. I was hooked before I even read the books, and after I read them that was it.
2. I have no idea... a lot of Muse, though. Stephenie's got that part down.
Just jaunted over from the Twilight Lexicon, and I must say, what an awesome project! I wish my teacher's got so involved in some of my favorite books!
Question 1: I first heard about Twilight through a search on Amazon.com. I'm a Holly Black fan (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside - all recommended) and Twilight was a "Recommended Read." And yet, I didn't pick it up - it just sounded too "teen." Then Eclipse came out and I needed a book to read, so I picked up Twilight. The series was done within days after that faithful purchase.
Question 2: The one song that comes to mind and refuses to go away is Iris, by the Goo Goo Dolls for The Meadow Scene.
Good luck with the project!
Can I just say that you are awesome for doing this?
1. I first heard about Twilight from two of my friends last year who were debating about the whole Edward vs. Jacob for Bella thing and I thought they were insane. I was told for months to read it so when I finally picked it up just last month I was surprised to find it enjoyable and I finished it in one night. I read the rest of the series in record time and the rest as they say is history.
2. I have to agree with another commenter about the His Golden Eyes playlists for the perfect songs. Personally I prefer playlist number one but the other three are good as well.
1. I stumbled across them by accident a couple of months ago. I had a ton of Barnes & Noble gift certificates (I have a minor book addiction) from x-mas and my birthday. I was just cruising the site and they were in the best-sellers list and looked interesting. I pulled up the excerpt and I liked the writing style so I bought all three. Once I got them and sat down with them, it was all over. I read all three in three days. I couldn't put them down and I still haven't been able to. I read them all about 10 times and they're just as good as the first time I read them, although not as emotionally crippling. If you've read New Moon you know what I'm talking about here.
2. It would take some time to put together a full playlist, but Muse and Linkin Park work very well for a large majority of the book. One song that sticks in my head is Painted on My Heart by The Cult.
*I love your project and best of luck with it! Ever since I picked the series up for the first time I've thought it should be required reading (especially for the guys).
1. I heard about it at a school book fair on September 18, 2007, and I found it and asked my friend if it had romance in it. She said yes. I bought it.
2. I would choose, for the bedroom scene when Edward's just watching her, Sing for Absolution by Muse. Awesome song, and it is pretty much Twilight from Edwards point of view.
Oh, and I am an eight grader and I really want you as my teacher, golly!
Oh, but one thing...Stephenie Meyer's name is spelled StephEnie. Not to be rude, or anything, I'm just ultra-precise about her name. :)
Good luck!
i started reading the series after finding out about the movie.
if i was to make the soundtrack it would go a little something like this:
chapter 5: bood type - "clair de lune - debussy"
chapter 13: confessions - "seventeen forever - metro station"
chapter 14: mind over matter "dearest - buddy holly"
chapter 19: goodbye "the way - fastball"
chapter 22: hide and seek "hide and seek - imogen heap"
chapter 23: the angel "sanctuary - utada hikaru"
:]] good luck with your project.
I'm currently a junior and my english teacher from my sophomore year totally would do this lesson. The best part? I found out today that she drives the only Volvo in our huge school parking lot.
1) My best friend was obsessed with it but never really mentioned anything (that I remember). The only thing that ever really registered was when she told me "the kid that played Cedric Diggory" is going to star in it. I only remember this because I was COMPLETELY obsessed with Harry Potter. This did not cause me to get the book. What caused me to read Twilight was the girl who sat across from me on the bus. Everyday, she would read it. Finally, I was curious. I went home, looked it up on Wikipedia (found out the whole plot haha), and had to go to Borders IMMEDIATELY. I was completely in love before I read them. This was 3 months ago and I haven't stopped rereading them since. I've also brought 10 people over to the dark side. My life is Twilight, and I don't care how pathetic it is. It's made me a much more optimistic person.
2) Well, for Twilight, specifically, "Time is Running Out" by Muse. Stephenie has it on her playlist. It's about being addicted to someone, not to mention, one line is "you will be the death of me" and Edward definitely says the very same. It's basically for the whole book. For the meadow (or right before), "Collide" by Howie Day. There are just too many coincidences in that song. And lastly, one that sticks out MAJORLY is "Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel)" by Billy Joel. No explanation needed.
1. I heard about the series from my 12 year old. She is into vampires and said she heard this series was the best. So I bought it for her birthday. I read it before her just to see if it was suitable for her age. I have now read the entire series 4 times over.
2. There are so many good songs out there that I can't pick just one to go for the entire book. It's just too hard.
Firstly, you are made of amazing for having your students do this. I wish my English teacher would have us read a book like this.
1) I actually found the book on my own. I was almost done with this one book, and I figured I should stock up. I don't really know what possessed me to buy Twilight, because I've never been into the whole vampire thing, but there was something about it. Maybe it was the romance -I've always been such a sucker for the stuff.
It's kind of ironic, because when I first started it, I didn't even think I was going to like it.
And now, well, I'm a bit on the obsessed side.
2) Oh, man, there are so many songs. One of my first favorites was The Scientist by Coldplay for Edward.
You are the Moon by The Hush Sound though -in my opinion- is the epitome of Edward and Bella's relationship. It has that insecurity and devotion that's a big part of their relationship.
Muse is also fantastic for the series.
Especially their Absolution album. There as at least one song for each book on that CD.
I think what you're doing is just so awesome. I've always been a total bookworm, but this book is something else. I've never read a book so many times before, or put so much thought into a book before, or even cared so much about the characters.
Good luck!
1. I'm very much into HP! I listen to the two most prominent podcasts, Pottercast and Mugglecast. Well, they BOTH talked about the Twilight books with excitement and when Mugglecast pulled their April fool's joke, saying they'd devote a segment to Twilight, I just HAD to figure out what all the fuss was about!
So, I'm a very NEW fan. A Twilight podcast I listen has an intro that goes like "Hello, my name is Roxie (HI ROXIE!) and I've been dazzled for two months".
2. Oh my. You can't ask me that...I don't think there's enough bandwith on all of the internets! lol
"Bloodsuckers The Girls Necks Door" is another Twilight related podcast I love (it's done by a bunch of very intelligent, intuitive highschool girls), have a song of the week every week...so far, songs I have picked out that go excellent for "Twilight" (specifically) are
"Untouched" by The Veronicas and "Our Time Is Running Out" by Muse (one of Meyer's fav bands, btw!) The first song is more of Bella's voice and the second is more of Edward's voice.
I have other songs I think would go excellent for "new moon", but I'll save those for later!
OH one last thing. The Girls Necks Door recently did a podcast where they took several suggestions they had for songs relating to the whole saga and discussed how the connections where made. I think this would be a fantastic activity for your class!
1) How did you first hear about the Twilight Series?
My family friend was reading Eclipse, I remember being slightly interested at the time but not interested enough to read it.
A few months later my sister brought Twilight and we both read it.
2) If you could create the soundtrack for the Twilight movie what songs would you choose and what scenes would you choose them for?
Hero Heroine for Twilight, in the meadow. I have soo much more for New Moon than I do for Twilight though..
P.S I'm in year 9 and currently trying to get my teacher to use Twilight as a text..but it's not working. I am however getting heaps of kids in my grade to read it :)
Firstly, I want to say that I think this is an awesome project! I came across your blog via the Twilight Lexicon, and it's one I will keep checking back on.
Question 1:
I was taking a 12 week module course at university, Young Adult Fictions, and Twilight was one of the novels we were required to read and have lectures on in March (this year). I fell in love with the novel from page one, and finished it within two days. I bought the other two novels for my own reading pleasure, and decided to do my assignment on those three books. I have since read the series three times, and although I'm trying to give myself a bit of a break from them, I keep itching to pick the books up again.
Question 2:
I have to say I find music playlists quite difficult. I have looked at the playlists Stephenie Meyer has on her website, and when I hear some of those songs now, I think of Twilight, but I haven't really come up with any of my own. It doesn't entirely fit, but Let Me Take You There by Plain White T's always makes me think of Edward's meadow - but it doesn't fit the story, really.
Good luck with the project, I look forward to reading your future blogs!
Hello! I'm a fellow English teacher for 10th and 11th grade, and I first heard about the Twilight series from my students. When both my remedial reading class and my advanced placement class were lugging those big books to school every day, I figured it had to be worth a read!
As far as music for the movie, hmm... I became a quasi-fan of Muse thanks to Stephenie Meyer's website and I agree with her that their music would match the film. I also like the music styles of Interpol and Depeche Mode. Not sure about individual songs, but those bands would be a good fit.
Good luck with your project and kudos for a great idea!
Saw your blog on the Lex and had to check it out!! I am 23 and wish this book had been around and had a teacher awesome enough to have us read it when I was in HS.
1. My best friend read Twilight and sent it to me. I had it sitting around for a few months before I decided to pick it up. I stayed up till 3:30AM to finish it. I drove to the nearest bookstore (30 miles on way!) asap and bought eclipse and new moon. I have since been hopelessy hooked. My sister & grandma along with countless friends have fallen in love with the twilight series as well. I had to get a good hardback copy of each for myself, and now I have a set of loaners cuz being without mine is like missing a limb!!
2. Soundtrack...this is tough. I like First Time by Lifehouse for Bella & Edward as well as Iris by the Goo Goo dolls. Also for Edward when he decides he cannot ignore Bella anymore, Can't Get Away by Rush of Fools. I Miss You By Incubus when Bella (or edward) are separted due to James. Do What I Have to Do by Sarah McLachlan when Bella is on the way to meet James.
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