Creating a Bucket List

Lesson Plan for The Bucket List

Grade Level: 7-12, college

Subject: English, Composition

Film: The Bucket List

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, including a sexual reference

Keywords: The Bucket List, Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, places to go, people to see, things to do, list, dealing with death, grieving, literature, composition, project, teaching with movies, teaching with film, using movies in the classroom, lesson plans for literature, language arts lesson plans, lesson plans, Lesson Plan, Movies in the Classroom,

Author: Cynthia Kirkeby

Affiliation: ClassBrain, Inc.

Date: 15 December 2007

Duration: 1 - 2 Class Periods

Background: In The Bucket List, Nicholson and Freeman spend their last days crossing items off their list of things to do, people to see, and places to visit. Why not make your own list and start today?

My sisters and I started a variation on the Bucket List years ago. We each have a notebook with photos of places we'd like to visit that we've cut from magazine. Sometimes, we have a particular cruise or trip we'd like to take. Other times we just have wonderful photos of a location that we'd like to see one way or another. One of the top items on my younger sister's list is Machu Picchu, a pre-Columbian Inca site in Peru. One of mine is the Bone Church in Kostnice, just outside of Prague, The Czech Republic.

Writing Your Own Bucket List

Choose a notebook with a comfortable layout. (I personally like very faint lines or blank pages, while both of my sisters like lined journals).
Go through travel magazines, such as Budget Travel, Conde Nast Travel, National Geographic Traveler, and National Geographic Adventure, and cut out pictures or itineraries for the places you'd like to see. Past them into your book, and if you can, give it a month and year deadline.
Has it been awhile since you spoke to your best friend from High School? Put them on the list, along with anyone else you regret loosing touch with through the years. There is no time like the present to get back in touch. Switchboard.com and Classmates.com are good places to start looking if you've lost their addresses or phone numbers.
Have you always wanted to go sailing or para-gliding? Add them to the list. Keep in mind that some events are actually dangerous and might bring your entire list to an end prematurely. I personally think jumping out of an airplane is too high risk for me, since I have 2 kids that depend on me, but you'll have to make those decisions for yourself.
You might also want to add some small acts of kindness to the list:
- Go to a community college bookstore at the beginning of the semester and pay for the books of a student who can't afford them (you'll be surprised how many kids have to put down their books and leave, because they're short of funds).
- Buy someone a dinner, who hasn't eaten for awhile.
- Reach out to someone who has run out of gas, or needs to be rescued from the freeway.
- Simply thank the person who cleaned your room during your business trip instead of ignoring them as you pass, it will be appreciated.

Once you have your list assembled, start marking things off and adding new ones onto it. It's a living document, one that will need attention, but what an interesting life-long project it will be. After all, if you don't know what the targets are in your life, it is awfully hard to hit them.