Lesson 2 -- It Begins with Good Instruction

Grade 7 -- Language Arts

Concept: Heroes and Heroines

Key unit principles:

•  Heroes and heroines reflect cultural values.
• What can be considered heroic in one time period may not be considered heroic in another.
• Not all people in a given time or culture agrees on what is heroic.
• Chance and circumstance shape heroes and heroines.
• Fictional heroes and heroines are both like and different from real-life heroes and heroines.
• Real-life heroes and heroines have both strengths and weaknesses.

As a result of this learning experience, students should be able to:

• Know (facts) -- Names of authors and their works, definition of heroes and heroines, characteristics of heroes and heroines, elements of a short story
• Understand (principles) -- Heroes and heroines reflect cultural values. Not all people in a given time or culture agrees on what is heroic. Fictional heroes and heroines are both like and different from real-life heroes and heroines.
• Do (skills) -- Synthesize ideas to draw conclusions, write for a specific audience, defend a position with reason and evidence

Background:

Some of the introductory activities that students have already completed in this unit include working as a whole class, independently, and in small groups to create a "Heroes Wall of Fame" with posters and drawings of people the students think are heroic; creating a list of students' own personal heroes and heroines (both real and fictional), each listing five heroes and five heroines on index cards as a starting point for doing a concept development with heroes and heroines; and developing criteria for what makes a person a hero/heroine.

Today's experience:

The resources for this activity include "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling, "Song of the Trees" by Mildred B. Taylor, and "A Christmas Wish" by Betty Smith, as well as newspapers, news magazines, and television shows (students choose from a range of materials available in the classroom or use their own materials).

The teacher assigns students to tasks on the basis of their current skill levels in reading and writing.

Task A

(Work alone or in pairs to read and complete the sense-making activity.)

With your reading partner or alone, read two of the three selections from your textbook, plus a current source about someone heroic. Then complete the following exercise:

Name all the heroes and heroines you found in these readings. Why would you call them heroes and heroines? Who from the readings is the most heroic to you? Why? When is it okay to fight or be violent and still be a hero or heroine? When would fighting or violence by someone make you say that person was not a hero or heroine?

Make a list of rules you think would be appropriate for elementary students on when it is acceptable to fight and when it is not. Be sure you base your rules on what you learned from your readings and discussion. Feel free to illustrate the rule if you'd like. Your goal is to make your language clear and convincing to your elementary audience (including suggestions you can defend and that would be helpful to your audience, complete sentences, and correct punctuation). Be ready to try out your ideas on a real audience.

Task B

(Read alone and then work alone or in pairs to complete the sense-making activity.)

Read two of the three selections from your textbook, plus a current source about someone heroic. Then, alone or with a partner, complete the following exercise:

Name all the heroes and heroines you found in these readings. Why would you call them heroes and heroines? Who from the readings is the most heroic to you? Defend your answer with supporting evidence. What is the relationship between violence and heroism? When is it okay to be violent and still be a hero? In what situations might some people regard actions as heroic and others think they were merely violent or extreme? What are the similarities and differences between peaceful/pacifist heroes and "violent" ones? Cite examples from the stories and other sources to support your statements.

Select someone whose hero or heroine status is debatable (can be past or present, real or fictional). Based on what you learned from your readings (and other sources), construct the closing arguments for a debate in which one side argues that the person you selected is heroic and the other argues that the person is not heroic. Each closing argument should not exceed three minutes when spoken. The goal is to make persuasive, defensible, and insightful arguments in the compact time period. Your word choices should show careful selection for the purpose of making your case to a panel of college-age judges. Your written documents should show careful use of spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and organization of ideas, because they will be presented to the debate judges for review in their deliberation.

Note: Adapted from Differentiating Instruction for Mixed-Ability Classrooms: A Professional Inquiry Kit, by Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1996, Folder 6, Activity 1, pp. 5-6. Copyright ASCD.

 My Analysis

 Author's Analysis

Close this window.