Lesson Plan: Modern Day Heroes Connection to the Integrated Unit Students will learn about modern day

y heroes, everyday people who are making a difference in the world today. Students will learn about people in the past and present who have stood up against injustices. This will help them develop their understanding of advocacy and activism. Students will begin to see what other people have done, and understand that they also have the ability to make a difference. As students learn about everyday people and children who fought for social justice, they will start to build on their understanding of advocacy and how they can apply it in their own lives. Students will be encouraged to think about what they as individuals can do to make a difference in their own community for activism and advocacy. Goals and Objectives SWBAT understand how individuals are able to stand up for social justice issues and fight for what they believe in. Students will recognize the characteristics of the heroes. SWBAT understand the role of activism and advocacy people take on for social justice issues. Standards National Social Studies Standards 4A: Analyze how over the last 200 years individuals and groups in American society have struggled to achieve the liberties and equality promised in the principles of American democracy. Common Core 1.2.3.C. Text Analysis: Students will be able to evaluate the key events in a historical time period, incorporating time-ordered vocabulary Materials Smartboard Profiles of Modern-Day Heroes (Taken from CNN See Appendix) Computers for video clips Pencils Worksheet (See Appendix) Classroom Arrangement and Management Skills This lesson will be taught in the normal context of the students classroom. The classroom arrangement will remain the same to help maintain a sense of familiarity for the students. Since I have taught Social Studies before, I do not anticipate any problems for managing the classroom during this time. The students already know what my expectations are for class. Students will be working together in small groups. They frequently work together in different types of groups so I do not anticipate any problems with the students working together. I will determine the groups to make sure that each student in a group will share about a different hero. Some students may

work collaboratively if they want to talk about the same hero, but they would go into a different group during the sharing time. For the ELL students and student with a disability, I will supplement their written piece with a video clip that is related to the profile of the person. I will have them working separately on the side to make sure they get enough information to share with the larger group. Introduction (12 min): o (5 min) For the hook of my lesson, I will ask the students to answer the question: If you had a superpower that you could use for good, what would it be, and why? There will be a short KWL activity to make sure students know what superheroes are. This will help the students make connections to heroism later in the activity. Students will be asked to share their answer with a partner and I will call on a few students using the popsicle sticks since I anticipate many of the students will want to answer this question. I will record some of their answers on the smartboard so that the whole class can participate in the discussion. o (5 min) I will then ask the students: What is the difference between a hero and a superhero? What makes a good hero? Why? I will record the answers on the board. o (2 min) I will then explain to the students that the focus of todays lesson will be about everyday people who are doing work that many others consider to be heroic. I will tell students that are many different types of heroes and people who are making a difference by standing up for what they believe in. Body (28 min): o (13 min): Students will be given two profiles of a modern day hero (see appendix). Students will be asked to read the profiles of the heroes and choose one to focus on. They will be given a handout to fill out important information about the hero and the project or activity he or she is involved with. The handout also includes questions about the qualities of the hero. Some students may be allowed to work collaboratively in small groups to scaffold and support those who are struggling. o (15 min): Students will get together in small groups of about four or five. They will be asked to share about their hero and the information they learned with the rest of the group. Ideally, each person will have a different hero to share about within the group. Conclusion (5 min): o At the end of the lesson, I will quickly review some of the characteristics the students discussed about modern day heroes with their group. As a class, we will fill out a chart about the modern day heroes and I will close the activity by reminding students that Not all

Plan

acts of heroism need to have a global effect to be defined as brave or courageous. There are many people who, in a variety of ways, have take up causes in their daily lives. Their efforts show how simply getting involved can open doors to bigger projects involving human rights or rescue opportunities (Teaching Tolerance). The profiles in this lesson are focused on people in the United States. However, I will also let students know that we will be looking at international figures the next time, which will give them a different perspective on fighting for social justice. o The end of the lesson will also be a good time where students will be able to go back to the original chart we filled out in the beginning. We can see if any of their ideas changed and add their responses to the bigger idea web the class will continuously be adding to about social justice. Assessment The students worksheet (see appendix) will be filled out independently. I will be able to see if students were able to understand the informational text. I will also be doing informal observations during students group time and class discussion. I plan to ask more open-ended questions such as What makes a good hero? Why? to see how students understand the attributes of how people are fighting against social injustices. I will also ask questions to see what kinds of connections students are making with the lesson to social justice and advocacy. I want students to begin to see themselves as possibly becoming a modern day hero. Anticipating students responses I think that some of the students will want more details than what the profiles are giving. I will encourage the students to do outside research on their own if they want more information. There will be time during the week to go to the library for research. I will follow-up with these students and give them the opportunity to get more information if they want. However, if they finish early, I will give them more profiles to read. Accommodations There are two ELL students in the class who may find this activity to be more challenging because it requires reading and writing. There are also short video clips associated with each profile that they could watch if they are struggling with the reading. Putting them in groups with other students will help them to hear more information and see models of other student work. Some students who tend to finish work faster might be given an extra profile to make sure they stay on task and engaged. Resource Teaching Tolerance

Appendix CNN Hero Profiles

HeroesEveryday People Changing the World Irene Zola Jeff Parness Wanda Butts Sal Dimiceli Taryn Davis Jake Wood Marlo Manning David Wing-Kovarik Mary Cortani

Profile of an American Hero Worksheet 1. Heros name: 2. What is the heros project or activity? 3. What need does the project or activity address? 4. Why was the project started? 5. What challenges do you think the hero faced in starting this project? What did the hero do to overcome those challenges? 6. What qualities would a person need to overcome those challenges and succeed? 7. Of all the qualities that you learned about the hero, give three adjectives that best describe the hero in your opinion. 8. What kind of similarities do you share with this hero?