Why Say, Mean, Matter  This is a strategy that helps you ANALYZE information  ANALYZE: breaking down information to interpret and explain the information  You are usually given a topic to think about when analyzing

What is the “SAY” STEP?  This is just a quote or a short passage related to the topic  Ex: Topic: Working Hard  Quote: Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.

What is the “MEAN?”  This step means you have to restate the quote/passage in your own words  Ex: Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared. There was a rose that was able to make it through difficult circumstances. It basically did not give up because it was committed to a larger goal of survival. The rose worked hard and proved others wrong.

What is the “MATTER” STEP?  This step means you explain how the quote/passage relates to the topic or why it is important to the topic  Ex: Tupac  Topic: Working hard

SAYMEANMATTER Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared. There was a rose that was able to make it through difficult circumstances. It basically did not give up because it was committed to a larger goal of survival. The rose worked hard and proved others wrong. The quote relates to the topic of working hard because the rose can represent someone that works hard, in order to reach a larger goal. It shows how people can overcome any challenge, proving people that doubted them wrong.

PRACTICE  Topic: Keeping hope, despite the struggles you might go through  SAY: I write music to convince you to believe in you, stay positive, keep smiling, and one day you’ll see anything is possible and you could make your dreams come true –Phora  MEAN?  MATTER?

BACK TO DEMOCRACY!  You will do the same steps with words that relate to the topic of building a DEMOCRATIC society/country  Overall, remember democracy means the people are given a voice/a say in the way their government is being ruled  Some words are hard, but struggle through it! Like Tupac and Phora point out, make things happen don’t just give up!