What type of book is freedom writers

Oct 12, ISBN Add to Cart. Buy from Other Retailers:. Apr 24, ISBN Audiobook Download. Paperback —. About The Freedom Writers The Freedom Writers are a nonprofit organization that funds scholarships for disadvantaged students. Product Details. Inspired by Your Browsing History. The Tao of Wu. The Music Lesson. Victor L. Being Heumann. Judith Heumann and Kristen Joiner.

A Very Punchable Face. Disability Visibility. Ellen Forney. There Are No Children Here. Alex Kotlowitz. Nice Racism. Robin DiAngelo. Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition. Temple Grandin. Love, Teach. Kelly Treleaven. The Way I Am. The Noble Hustle. What is the conflict in Freedom Writers?

The external conflict in this is from the husband argueing about Ms Gruwell many jobs. The conflict in this scene develops the narrative by allow Ms Gruwell to understand that she has a lot being lost for these kids.

Montage of students reading The Diary of Anne Frank, while reading it out in voiceover. What books did the Freedom Writers read? Anne Frank. Zlata's Diary. Zlata Filipovic. The Other Wes Moore. Wes Moore. Tony Danza. A Common Struggle. Patrick J. What is the setting of freedom writers? The Freedom Writers. Who dies in Freedom Writers? The few poems recited - although not great - at least convey some emotion.

It's a shame since some of these stories are extremely powerful - issues such as homelessness, child abuse, domestic violence, street violence, peer pressure I expected to see a realistic progression in the journal entries; I wanted to see improvement as these students grew as writers and people.

I appreciate a variety of perspectives, but I think the book suffered from not having a consistent batch of identifiable characters that progressed over the course of four years.

Anonymous entries further their cause, but detract from the impact and make it harder to "own" the characters as you read. The book certainly got better as I read. The students certainly had some amazing opportunities, and I was proud to see them develop as people as the book progressed. Perhaps as they got better as writers over the years the later entries were less heavily edited and retained more flavor.

I really wish there had been more information about how the book was compiled and edited. Certainly she couldn't have gotten these students to write the long-winded and introspective entries at the beginning of her first semester. Without that information many of these entries feel so forced and unbelieveable that I found it difficult to read them at all. Even an afterword explaining that the pieces were elaborated on and edited before the published final draft would be helpful.

I can understand the students wanting to showcase their best work, but I'd like to see more information about the process. From an education perspective I felt like I wasn't getting the whole story about Ms. Grunell and her resources. It's wonderful that she had the support that she did, but it is so glazed over that it seems like it should be within any teacher's grasp. That doesn't seem quite fair to many of the amazing teachers that struggle just to keep their head afloat.

I know that she has another book that is more focused on her methods, and maybe that has more of what I was looking for. View all 6 comments. Jun 21, Valdir Delgado rated it it was amazing.

Freedom Writers by Erin Gruwell is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. It is about how one teacher Erin Gruwell makes it her goal to change the way students in her class view the world. The students in her class view the world as one big war zone and have their own goal which is to be able to survive the streets without being killed.

Gruwell takes it up on herself to show the kids the theirs more to life then gang violence trying to do so she risks losing her job and husband. She does alot for these kids she get two extra jobs jus so she can take her students on feild trips to see life changing people,and to fancy resturants to show the kids that theres is more to life them the grimy streets they live on.

Through out the story you see how the kids treat her sometimes wih no respect because they think that she'll do the same ting everyone else in their life has done which is lie to them. But you'll see that by not giving up on the students like they've already done on them selves you see how they grow on each other and become one big family and start to become cool friends with people outside of their race.

Apr 25, Anne rated it liked it. I work in an inner city school. This doesn't quite touch on the way inner city schools really are. For instance, all the kids' writing is in standard English. My kids, when expressing how they really feel, use what I call Urban English. I just couldn't hear my kids in this book.

I related a bit to the teacher's writing. But there are a lot of realities that were not portrayed in this book. For instance, the teacher had her own room the same room for the 4 years she taught. The reality of I work in an inner city school. The reality of my urban setting is quite different.

I have taught in about 15 different classrooms in the 3 years I've been teaching. Usually, in the urban schools I know, teachers move from room to room each period. This deeply impacts our instruction.

I also hated the way the union was portrayed as protecting the seniority of teachers over the best interests of the kids. Unions in schools is a very complex situation, and, as a union activist, I feel compelled to point this out. My union has done things like ensure that I get a bathroom break, books in my classroom, and paper for the copy machine. View all 5 comments. Jan 19, Karen J. Shelves: nonfiction. Unfortunately, I did not love the book. I wanted to, being a teacher who hopes she makes a difference, even in some small way, in the lives of her students.

Particularly since it was a true story, it had all the potential of a classic tearjerker where this sap is concerned, and yet, it fell flat. First of all, they edited it so much that it felt fake. I think I would have much preferred to see the diary entries as photocopies in the students' own handwriting. It would have added a level of authen Unfortunately, I did not love the book.

It would have added a level of authenticity that was sorely lacking. The other major problem with it was that I felt there were things missing. If, in a regular school, in a safer environment, students are ridiculed for focusing on their studies, I can only imagine what the Freedom Writers were going through with all of the challenges that their lives presented for them.

I would have liked to have seen more of a rounded picture, more balance between "yay, us! I think I would have liked this better if it had been fiction, to allow me to suspend my disbelief. I felt, being a true story, it should have felt much more real than it did. We didn't get to see the whole picture. Maybe I would have liked it better if I'd only seen the movie, when I could have said, "Well, they only had so many minutes -- they couldn't show everything.

Sep 17, Jessica Baccari rated it it was amazing. The Freedom Writers Diary is an amazing, moving, and inspirational piece of art. It consists of a collection of diary entries written by the Freedom Writers and their English teacher, Ms.

Gurwell as their teacher. This is Ms. Gurwell's first teaching experience, and it will have a lasting impact on her. One of the first assig The Freedom Writers Diary is an amazing, moving, and inspirational piece of art. One of the first assignments she gives is for everyone to keep a journal, no one knew just how powerful these journals were to become, not even Ms.

Through out these entries you will learn about the hard lives of these incredible individuals, their amazing English teacher, and their journeys towards changing the world and becoming a second family.

When you thick of Long Beach the things that come to your mind are probably beautiful beaches, expensive boutiques, and magnificent mansions. However for the Freedom Writes they saw something much different. They saw a hostel environment filled with corruption, hate, and discrimination. There were multiple gangs, each of different races, causing riots in the streets. It was dangerous for some of these student to just walk home from the bus stop, let alone go out at night.

Many of these students lost their innocence at a very young age, never having the opportunity to be a kid.

They felt as though they were at a dead end with no way to turn around, until they met Ms. She couldn't believe the way they viewed their life and refused to accept it. In an attempt to change the way they though about themselves and each other, she decided to change her lesson plan to studying the Holocaust, hoping to teach them about tolerance.

Gurwell provided everyone in the class with a copy of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl to jump start into her lesson of tolerance. At first the students were reluctant to learn, but eventually started to read the book.

They were shocked by how well they could relate to Anne. They said they too felt as if they were living trough a war but an "undeclared war". Many of the students wanted to continue learning about the Holocaust and even wrote letters to Meip the woman who protected Anne and her family during the war , who would later become a close friend of theirs'. The students connected once again with the author of this incredible true story, so Ms.

Gurwell had them also write letters to Zlata, who had survived her war. She challenged them in their letters to invite Zlata to Wilson, and the unthinkable happened. She came. Gurwell went on to have her core group of students for all four years they were at Wilson, and continued to receive more kids as the years went on.

Everyone wanted to be in her class because it was the one place people said they felt wanted, needed, and safe. They would become a family, and together have a lasting impact on the world around them. As their final project Ms. Gurwell had them compile their journals, which they had been keeping for four year, into a book of their own. She would even get 35 computers donated to them from John Tu, to help aid them in their process. While writing this book they would officially gain their name The Freedom Writers based off of The Freedom Riders, who were a group of American and African American student who rode on a bus through the South to protest against discrimination.

Their book would also lead them into incredible journeys such as a trip to Washington DC, where they hand delivered their book to the secretary of education Riley, and going to New York City to accept the spirit of Anne Frank award. It was the first time this award was given to a group of people and not an individual.

The Freedom Writers had done the impossible, they had gone from a group of kids in a below average English class to published author, advocates for change, and people who believed in their bright future ahead of them. This book is by far one of the best books I have ever read. It truly opens up your eyes to the world around you, grabbing your attention and refusing to let go.

I, even someone 16 years younger then the average student in this book, was able to easily relate to their stories. It was also genuinely inspirational.

I always knew I wanted to change the world, but now after reading about the Freedom Writers I know I can. I also was inspired by Ms. Gurwell, I though I wanted to become a teacher but now regardless of where I end up in life I know I want to do something involving the empowerment of the youth, because they are the future of tomorrow.

View 2 comments. Apr 28, Krista Stevens rated it liked it Shelves: young-adult , non-fiction , adult , education. An interesting but ultimately unrealistic story of a high school teacher in an urban school in CA who does amazing things with her students.

The unrealistic parts - first, the students write diary entries - what I missed immediately were student's voices. With one or two exceptions, they could have all been written by the same student - the stories were different of course fresh, sad, poignant, brutally honest dealing with everything from molestation to drugs to violence - but the sentence str An interesting but ultimately unrealistic story of a high school teacher in an urban school in CA who does amazing things with her students.

With one or two exceptions, they could have all been written by the same student - the stories were different of course fresh, sad, poignant, brutally honest dealing with everything from molestation to drugs to violence - but the sentence structure and diction had all been sanitized by too much editing.

I would have preferred to see their original writing. Teaching voice is difficult - but it can happen - Each student's voice, like a fingerprint, is extremely unique, represented by punctuation marks, word choice, sentence variety.

In addition, some of the entries become redundant. Happily, none of my unions were anything like Gruwell's. There is also not a lot about how she originally caught students - classroom management is not discussed but extremely important, so if you are a novice teacher looking for ideas, I suggest "Teach Like a Champion" instead.

Finally, Gruwell left teaching after about four years. If you want to stay in teaching for the long run, there has to be clear boundaries between school and personal life to stay balanced and healthy.

Gruwell did not have that and I wonder if that is one of the reasons she left teaching. Jan 13, Kat rated it it was ok Shelves: , books-i-ve-taught , nonfiction. Basic Premise: First-year teacher Erin Gruwell is given the traditional assignment of her position: the classes none of the other teachers want.

She goes on to inspire them to read, write, travel, and go to college. I almost feel guilty for giving this book two stars instead of five. I mean, it's an inspiring story, so it should have blown my mind, right?

The book is made up of students' diary entries, so from the get-go the reader has to know that this is not professional writing. It shows. At ti Basic Premise: First-year teacher Erin Gruwell is given the traditional assignment of her position: the classes none of the other teachers want.

At times, the repetition of topics started to actually irritate me. It took me far longer to read this book than it probably should have, simply because I kept getting bored with it.

How's that going to inspire my special needs sophomore English class? I've heard that some people have problems with the language and some of the content of the stories sex, drugs, gangs, etc. Frankly, I had no problem there. These are diary entries. Honesty is to be expected, and real life today or in the '90s is not an episode of The Brady Bunch. Where I had a problem was in the endless repetition of the kids saying the exact same things, telling the same stories, with little variation in voice or tone.

It IS an inspiring story. I have to give it that. These kids dealt with a lot, overcame a lot, and seem to have become better people for it. Frankly, I remember the classes I had to teach my first year, and the juvenile delinquents in some cases this was real truth in those classes. I wracked my brain daily, as Gruwell did, coming up with ways to not only keep them from tying me to my lectern, but also to engage these students and get them to learn something.

Gruwell worked in a racially diverse urban environment where she was the minority as a white woman and got her students to think beyond racial and gang violence.

She changed their lives in an inspiring way. I kept thinking, "How did she have a life outside of school? It was too much for me. I admire her and the work she did, but she seemed too perfect to be real. As much as I love my kids and want them to succeed, I'm not staying at school until 11 o'clock every night to individually tutor them.

By the way: she no longer teaches high school at all. No wonder she burned out after that kind of effort. She teaches at a university, according to the Freedom Writers Foundation website and the afterward of the book. So after only 4 years in a high school classroom, she now teaches others to do what she did. I don't think I like that. Maybe I've just lost the fresh-faced idealism of a brand-new teacher. Maybe I'm just cranky.

I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that I'm about to teach this book to a bunch of white kids who live in suburbia whose only knowledge of gangs, life in the projects, or urban poverty comes from the movies. Again with the question of how to make a text connect to my students' lives. Jun 12, Ayla rated it it was ok. Let me start by saying I only picked up this book after I watched the movie and heard they wrote a book.

I must say I did not really enjoy the book there was diaries and there was students, they only pick out one diaries entry per person so I really feel like I did not get the story I wanted.

There was some story's that I really enjoyed and wish to have read more about,and there was a lot that I did not care for. The way it was written was smart they made one diary picked up where the ot Let me start by saying I only picked up this book after I watched the movie and heard they wrote a book.

The way it was written was smart they made one diary picked up where the others left off so you got to see not just one point of view. I think the movie was better because it held more emotion then the book did. No matter what this class of room made it and made a difference the teacher was amazing so happy they had her in their life.

I would recommend this book to students for learning something, but as just reading for fun ehh! If you like true stories then yes this is a book for you. Aug 03, Jean rated it liked it. I had to read this after having seen an essay in Newsweek.

We former teachers always want to to hear those great success stories and this is certainly one of them! My only wish is that the rest of the wonderfully creative and committed teachers out there were recognized like this one I found it a bit redundant. Worthwhile but I think you'll skip ahead after awhile. I don't want to take anything away from it May 09, Erin rated it really liked it Shelves: library-borrowed. I never read enough nonfiction books with my students and the freedom writers diary seemed a perfect fit for my Secondary 3 grade 9 students.

We watched the film adaptation, read some interesting articles and watched some TEDtalks about the real Erin Gruwell and her students.

Yes, we also did journal writing and activities from the teacher's guide.