written responses

Each day this week, students have answered a different question to tie back to our overarching question for the unit: Is it a blessing or a curse to live forever? This week's questions have been as follows: 

• Tuesday: What would you do if you could live forever? 
• Wednesday: What would be the drawbacks of living forever? Support your answer with 3 examples. 
• Today: Considering what we've discussed this week, is living forever therefore -- in your opinion -- a blessing or a curse? ​

By putting these three responses together today, students realized they were able to form a complete content-to-self response to our overarching question, the first 1/3 of their final unit essays. The looks on their faces when they realized they had been (secretly) formulating the first parts of their essays was hilarious -- they were accomplishing what they had previously deemed unimaginable and suddenly picking a stance and providing supporting details wasn't that difficult. Throw in the fact that they're finally getting the hang of transition words and you've got one happy teacher! 

I want to share some of their responses so far so you could see some of their amazing thoughts about the possibilities of living forever. I love reading what they have to say and I think you will as well!