Subunit 2: Modern day Heroes

The purpose with this assignment is forcing students to get outside of their own backyards and hopefully get a little inspiration. There are so many role models out there that students are not aware of.

The next step in this heroes unit is talking about present day heroes. I have four biographies I use: Malala, Aung San Sun Kyi, Mandela and Terry Fox. They are modern day badasses in my opinion. You find your own modern day badasses if you want.

On the lesson plan this is Activity 2.

Lesson Plan What is a Hero_-Activity 2

I do this as a jigsaw activity. (click for explanation), and in order to differentiate for the learning levels the biographies range from easy to hard. It is a great assessment because it involves a lot of knowledge requirements. (Reading, finding information, writing and speaking).

Group A:  Nelson Mandela Biography Mandela Timeline
Group B: Malala Biography
Group C: Aung San Suu Kyi Biography
Group D: Terry Fox Biography 

How does it work?

Separate into groups and give them a hero based on their reading level. Nelson Mandela is probably the easiest, because I did a timeline for him with quotes attached. Within the groups students work together by doing various tasks that are indicated in the lesson plan.

After they are prepared I make new groups – so each person has a different hero. They present their hero to each other – I have them record their group conversation and send it to me. That’s how I judge their speaking. (Also to make sure they are actually doing something). Alternatively, you could listen to each group one at a time and judge them that way. The students also submit their written work. To add listening comprehension the others in the group could record information about one of the heroes that was presented.

Okay… that’s a crap tonne of information. Let’s break that down shall we?

They hand in the following:

• Written work 
  • Write a ½ page summary of your hero, and identify parts of the heroic journey
  • Do you think she/he is a hero. Why? (1 -2 sentences)
  • 1 Famous Quote. How can you relate to this? (1 – 2 sentences)
• Speaking
  • Presentation of their hero to group members
• Listening
  • Information of one of the other heroes presented by another group member

Afterwards there is this great movie on Terry Fox by ESPN called “Into the Wind” – get the kleenex out.

If you have any other good examples of heroes – let me know! Good luck!