Getting Into Character

By Observer Staff Posted on November 24, 2015

McKenna Elementary School students in Mary Anne Ferraro’s sixth-grade reading class had a chance to “live like a character” from a book. After reading the novel, The Cay, by Theodore Taylor, the students were blindfolded and participated in several challenging hands-on activities to experience how the main character, Phillip Enright, who lost his eyesight during a torpedo attack while leaving his native island of Curacao, had to go through life.

“This activity allowed the students to connect with the main character and identify with his emotions of frustration, sadness and achievement,” Ferraro said. “It gave them a deeper understanding of the incredible journey and survival skills needed for Phillip to make his way back home.”