https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9 en-us 2022-11-21 20:39:17 UTC 2025-11-18 21:45:38 UTC hello@padlet.com evegoodwin15 https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402725206 At the beginning of the film, we quickly see how smart and talented Akeelah is. She plays Scrabble for fun and can spell almost any word you throw at her. However, she is met with the challenge of being at her low-income middle school, Crenshaw. Here a lot of the kids make fun of her for being smart and try to bully her into doing her homework. As we can see through her social development, she is reluctant to show off her talents when Mr. Welch asks her to participate in the school spelling bee in fear of being bullied. You adolescents' social development is typically centered around acceptance. When Akeelah gets even the slightest idea that her ability to spell is not cool, she immediately wants to suppress it to never get called "a brainiac" ever again. Even though her talents will bring her a lot of positive attention and success, her priorities are more set on being socially accepted at school. Young adolescents tend to fail to see the "big picture" in situations like this. ]]> 2022-11-30 00:01:13 UTC https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402725206 evegoodwin15 https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402736295 After finally agreeing to compete in the middle school spelling bee, Akeelah wins and moves up to the district bee. Seeing how impressive her abilities are without ever having a tutor, Dr. Larabee wants to coach her himself. Visiting Dr. Larabee everyday shows us progress in her intellectual development. Dr. Larabee teaches her new words through reading old scholar's journals. He teaches her that Dylan, her main competitor, will learn to spell words like a robot. However, she will be more successful because she is learning the actual meaning and use of these words, along with being able to spell them. To further enhance her intelligence, she studies with a group of kids from the nicer middle school across town. Here, she makes a lot of friends and finally feels like she is starting to fit into her own friend group. ]]> 2022-11-30 00:14:42 UTC https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402736295 evegoodwin15 https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402739615 One of the friends that Akeelah makes after attending the district bee is Javier. Javier is how we get to see her physical development come into play. When Akeelah is invited to Javier's birthday party, he kisses her cheek on a whim and explains that he "had an impulse." This is the first sign of attraction that we see in between these characters. They are at the age where they are slowing starting to understand their hormones, but are way too young to really do anything about it. They have each others back throughout the film and develop a really great friendship. Young adolescents physical development is all over the place at this age. The boys are acting on, like Javier said, impulses. While the girls are simply learning what guys they like and what they like about them. It is a confusing time for both Akeelah and Javier, but they both help create a wholesome, friendly environment for the other. ]]> 2022-11-30 00:18:28 UTC https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402739615 evegoodwin15 https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402744478 Akeelah gets in some big trouble halfway through the film when her mother finds out that she has been sneaking around town, takes buses by herself across town, and lying about participating in spelling bees her mother told her not to do. Akeelah's moral development is called into question when she admits to putting her late father's name on a spelling bee permission slip after her mother refused to let her compete. In this situation, Akeelah that the only way to get to do the spelling would be to go behind her mother's back and lie. She is not morally developed enough to know better than to do something like this. As a young adolescent, they seem to have an invincible attitude most of the time where they think nothing bad will happen to them. They also think that no matter what their parents say, they obviously know more than them. This is demonstrated when Akeelah defies her mother and does what she thinks is right regardless of the consequences. Akeelah and her mother talk it out and find a middle ground that makes both of them happy. From now on, Akeelah will have a consistent, healthy line of communication with her mother. ]]> 2022-11-30 00:23:36 UTC https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402744478 evegoodwin15 https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402777609 After Akeelah met in the middle with her mom and agreed to do the national spelling bee, the crowds back home relying on her become too much pressure. Akeelah gets overwhelmed after excelling at the regional bee and is asked to compete in the national spelling bee. Dr. Larabee decides that he does not want to be her coach anymore after her presence brings up to much familiarity of his late daughter. Akeelah is quickly freaked out by the amount of people in her community relying on her to show that people from everywhere can compete and be just as smart as the other people. Akeelah goes to her mom and shares her concerns about not having Dr. Larabee's support anymore. Her mom then tells her that she, her dad, along with the entire community are all supporting her and are part of 10,000 coaches on her side. Akeelah expressing her emotions and communicating to her mom shows her emotional development as a young adolescent. Their emotions are all over the place at this age. They tend to think that someone as small as them can change the world and do great things. However, Akeelah needs a little push before she is comfortable enough facing everyone at the national bee. ]]> 2022-11-30 00:53:46 UTC https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402777609 evegoodwin15 https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402994151 At the end of the movie, Akeelah goes to Dr. Larabee and realizes that his resentment towards her runs deeper than just not wanting to coach her any more. He has his own wounds that need tending to. Akeelah shares that she too lost a family member very close to her. They bond over this situation and agree to go to the national bee together. It took a lot for Akeelah to swallow her pride and go to Dr. Larabee the way that she did. This shows her character development over the course of the movie. Another crucial example of this is at the very end of the movie where Akeelah wants to give the win to Dylan, who she has been battling with the entire movie. Dylan realizes that she is trying to give him the win, but he does not want a handout. He tells her to give it her all "or I don't want it." Both Akeelah and Dylan go through all of the championship words and tie for first place. Dylan's dad is overjoyed and Akeelah earned her place at the top. This is a great example of character development. At the beginning of the movie Akeelah would not have taken her time to do anything for Dylan or Dr. Larabee. After some experience and self-evaluation, Akeelah learned from her mistakes and did the right thing. ]]> 2022-11-30 04:29:06 UTC https://padlet.com/evegoodwin15/4a6ofm3uzwhmgea9/wish/2402994151