ABSTRACT

Nora’s new self-motivation leads to an unexpected action, and the Organic Curriculum ranges from the purpose of tears to the complex language of the Constitution. Nora had taken the SAT without preparation, in 12th rather than 11th grade, without private courses, and without the benefit of strategy training. Nora had no internal vocabulary or any familiarity with the concepts of prehistory. Another truth is that stories told in pictures require the background knowledge to interpret the visuals. Nora was spellbound by the imagining and revisualizing scenes that previously had been so frightening to her. The ethnography teacher was particularly responsive, noting that Nora didn’t really participate, was always very quiet, politely smiling, and saying she didn’t know the answers. But she had begun to open up recently with her own life observations. They all concurred that she never demonstrated much competency verbally in the classroom but seemed to be paying almost painfully close attention.