My Multi-genre Project!

Good morning,
Students at a district high school are creating a multi-genre project as outlined by Tom Romano of Utah State University. Part of that assignment requires a research log. I am also working with those students and their teacher in a very small way; so I decided to post my research journal on my blog to model this process! I invite any interested parties to come along for the ride. To see details about his project, click here: https://literacylinkup.wikispaces.com/Multi-genre+Project

Deciding upon a topic:
As soon as I learned of this project, I instantly knew what I wanted to do. I don't know why the idea popped into my head so quickly, but I love it and further reflection convinced me that it's a topic I find interesting, fascinating and fun. I can't wait to get started!

I have never read the book or seen the movie adaptation of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, but I decided I want to center my paper upon that concept. My project will introduce the five people I would like to meet in heaven. Unlike the book, it will not explore the theories of the afterlife, just some great people who I believe are hanging out in that celestial realm.

Narrowing down the list of people I'd like to meet was a little more difficult than choosing the overall theme of my paper. But right now, this moment in my life, I'd like to meet these individuals:

• Irene Colvin Corbett - Utah passenger who sailed upon the Titanic in 1912
• Albert Einstein - world-renowned physicist who was also a great humanitarian
• The apostle Paul - ancient missionary who brought Christianity to the western world
• Katie Duncan Salisbury - my husband's grandmother
• Rebecca Wheelwright Howe - my maternal grandmother

I chose these individuals for a variety of reasons. I first learned about Irene in 1995 when my seventh grade students studied about the ill-fated Titanic. The bits and pieces I knew of her experience prompted me to research her story further.

I have never been a great student of science, but after reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Einstein I became intrigued with the genius - his work and his politics. As I studied the New Testament this year in Sunday School, I enjoyed learning about the apostle Paul, his conversion to Christianity and his missionary work throughout the Roman Empire.

I never met Katie Duncan Salisbury because she died when my father-in-law was 17, but I have a copy of a delightful letter she wrote to her sister in 1919 that unveils a spunky spirit that survived many hardships. My own grandmother, Rebecca Wheelwright Howe, died in a car accident when I was 13; nevertheless, she influenced my life in several ways.

I have so many questions I would love to ask these people, and so I thought it might be fun to start preparing for those heavenly interviews now - not that I expect to conduct them anytime soon. I just want to know more about them before I meet them!

Signing off and wishing you the best in your work,

Renae