Monday, March 11, 2013

Heroes and Social Studies

Heroes are such an integral aspect of the study of cultures and societies - our values, morals, and beliefs about right and wrong as people groups throughout history. When working with my classroom teacher on a Rosa Parks unit during the month of February, I found it helpful to discuss heroic qualities with my students as way for them to clarify their thoughts in a prewriting exercise. One thing we did together was to create an anchor chart that recorded the students thoughts about what makes a hero.

First students engaged in an anticipatory set in which they took 1 minute to jot their thoughts about heroes on a Post-it note. Then students were given 1 minute to turn to a peer to discuss what they'd written. Students were then given 1 more minute to revise or add to their definition of a hero on their Post-it note.

After a lesson and discussion of heroism as it related to Rosa Parks, students dictated and I wrote their thoughts as we brainstormed the qualities of a real hero to create a classroom anchor chart. The students were then able to add their Post-it note definitions to empty areas of our poster. This anchor chart was used by students as they wrote an essay about why Rosa Parks is an American hero.

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