Sonia Campos

September 23, 2018

Wonder
2 hours 40 minutes
September 22, 2018
Non- Fiction

Wonder. Wonder is a film about a Fifth grade boy name August Pullman; better referred in the

film as “Auggie”. Auggie was born with facial differences. He required a lot of medical attention and

multiple surgeries. Despite many reconstructing surgeries Auggie’s facial features were still different

from the rest of the kids his age. Auggie lived with both parents and his sister in New York. He was

homeschooled by his mom. However, mom thought it was time Auggie attended school and so Auggie

entered mainstream elementary school for the first time. Auggie undergoes many challenges at school

because of how he looked, but with the help of his family and new friends he was able to finish his first

year of public school. Needless to say Auggie was portrayed as a realistic fifth grader through the film.

Initially, some Individuals in the film had low expectations for Auggie. The initial reaction was

that he was not smart. In one of the scenes a boy is showing Auggie the science room and he assumes

that he would fail the class. That same boy asked if he ate “special food”. Auggie finally speaks up and

corrects the boy’s use of the word supposibly and so the kids start to realize that he may not be as

“dumb” as they may think. Auggie's parents knew very well how intelligent he was and believed he

would do great in school. Studies in the past suggest that educators should always set high expectations

for their students. Higher expectations on students lead to higher levels of student achievement.

Auggie definitely made a positive contribution to the lives of others in his school. He taught the

rest of the kids that it’s okay to be different. He made an impact on a kid that once bullied him. The kid

at the end of the film turned around and became his friend learning to be more accepting. The impact

he had in his school was so big that he received a special award that honored his courage and strength
for being himself. Auggie, also demonstrated how intelligent he was academically by answering all the

questions in class correctly. Despite his insecurities he decided to attend school and that took a lot of

courage. He knew what he was facing and he was brave to do it all by himself. In the beginning of the

film Auggie was given the opportunity to stay homeschooled or go to public school. Auggie chose to go

to school. He later faced different decisions that were highly important in his life. At one point he was

determined not to go to back to school. However, his sister had a little talk with him and encouraged

him to go back. After some time Auggie made a big decision to return to school. Auggie’s self-esteem,

social skills, communication opportunities, self-determination, independence increased through his

experience at school. Without the exposure with others his age Auggie would have remained afraid and

sheltered.

The only relationships that Auggie had in the beginning of the film were with his family

members. As the movie went on he slowly made friends in school. It took Auggie a while to make

friends at school, because the kids were not very welcoming at first. Once he did make a new friend,

Auggie was ecstatic. However, his new friend said something hurtful and Auggie was devastated.

Auggie no longer believed in having a relationship with neither this kid nor the other kids. This incident

affected him and caused him to shut down. It took a new friend to warm him up again to the idea of

trusting someone new. Eventually, he made friends with a few kids and at the end of the film he was as

popular and accepted like anybody else. These new relationships allowed the other students gain

growth in social cognition, better understand and acceptance of individuals with differences, lessening

the impact of harassment and bullying. This allowed all students to feel included and accepted. These

learning experiences helped the school environment and created better opportunities for all students.

The school offered Auggie the same rights as the other students. The principal was aware of his

unique differences and made proper accommodations to make Auggie feel welcomed to his school. The
principal knew it would take some adjusting. The principal partnered Auggie with three students. The

three students would act as ambassadors of the school to help Auggie get familiar to the school. The

school offered the least restrictive environment by placing Auggie in a regular mainstream fifth grade

class. His home school teacher, Mr. Brown was indeed very welcoming and treated Auggie not a bit

different since the first day of class. The Administrators and teachers at this school believe in the

Universal design for learning and offered Auggie the support he needed to be successful in school.

After viewing this film people will have more positive attitudes about people with differences. It

makes adults and even kids understand that everyone is human and that we all should be treated with

respect and acceptance. Students that were able to meet Auggie developed social skills, empathy,

acceptance and tolerance for all. This film reminded me of my students at work. I was glad to be able to

see a video depicting the perspective of an individual “different “than others. I am glad that it showed in

depth how hard it can be on a person to have to live their lives being labeled and undermined. I am

also glad the film depicted a kid; I think other kids in society need to be exposed to these differences at

an early age. Overall, everyone with or without a disability deserves the same rights and opportunities.

Educators have a big platform and should use it wisely, by introducing and accommodating students

with needs to the mainstream classroom as much as possible.