Creating character: Courage
http://college.usc.edu/vhi/creatingcharacter/index.html
A lesson plan for Grade 6 Guidance, Social Studies, and English Language Arts
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 6
- Subjects
- English language arts (writing), social studies (Europe, sociology, world cultures, world history), thinking skills (critical literacy, visual literacy), diverse learners (race and culture)
- Provider
- USC Shoah Foundation Institute
Legal
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In this lesson, students examine how people develop and define “courage”. Students watch visual history testimony clips given by three people involved in the Holocaust in different roles. The activities in this lesson include small-group work, whole class discussion, creative writing prompts, and independent practice. Joseph Lipshutz, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust speaks of his personal experience with an underground group of prisoners in a concentration camp. Lusia Haberfeld, another Jewish survivor, talks about youth resistance and survival in a Warsaw ghetto. Gys Jansen van Beek speaks from the perspective of rescuer.
Students will:
- Explore and develop an understanding of the concept of courage
- Identify their own attitudes and beliefs about courage
- Isolate examples of courage in current events and in their own lives
- Evaluate examples of courage in the context in which they occurred
- Work with visual history testimony
- Use visual history testimony to examine the courageous actions and deeds of others during the Holocaust
Shoah provides a list of materials necessary for completing the lesson, discussion questions, links to the video archives, graphic organizers, handouts, and step-by-step instructions for how to complete the activities.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Guidance (2001)
Grades 6–8
- Goal 7: Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and interpersonal skills to help understand and respect self and others.
- Objective 7.01: Develop a positive attitude toward self as a unique and worthy person.
- Objective 7.03: Classify and appropriately express feelings.
- Objective 7.10: Establish that everyone has rights and responsibilities.
- Objective 7.11: Respect alternative points of view.
- Objective 7.12: Recognize, accept, respect, and appreciate ethnic, cultural, and individual diversity.
- Objective 7.15: Understand that communication involves speaking, listening, and nonverbal behavior.
Social Studies (2003)
Grade 6
- Goal 7: The learner will assess connections between historical events and contemporary issues.
- Objective 7.01: Identify historical events such as invasions, conquests, and migrations and evaluate their relationship to current issues.
- Goal 8: The learner will assess the influence and contributions of individuals and cultural groups in South America and Europe.
- Objective 8.01: Describe the role of key historical figures and evaluate their impact on past and present societies in South America and Europe.
- Objective 8.02: Describe the role of key groups and evaluate their impact on historical and contemporary societies of South America and Europe.
- Goal 11: The learner will recognize the common characteristics of different cultures in South America and Europe.
- Objective 11.01: Identify the concepts associated with culture such as language, religion, family, and ethnic identity, and analyze how they both link and separate societies.
- Objective 11.03: Compare characteristics of political, economic, religious, and social institutions of selected cultures, and evaluate their similarities and differences.
- Goal 13: The learner will describe the historic, economic, and cultural connections among North Carolina, the United States, South America, and Europe.
- Objective 13.01: Identify historical movements such as colonization, revolution, emerging democracies, migration, and immigration that link North Carolina and the United States to selected societies of South America and Europe and evaluate their influence on local, state, regional, national, and international communities.
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 6
- Goal 1: The learner will use language to express individual perspectives drawn from personal or related experience.
- Objective 1.01: Narrate an expressive account (e.g., fictional or autobiographical) which:
- uses a coherent organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
- tells a story or establishes the significance of an event or events.
- uses remembered feelings and specific details.
- uses a range of appropriate strategies (e.g., dialogue, suspense, movement, gestures, expressions).
- Objective 1.03: Interact appropriately in group settings by:
- listening attentively.
- showing empathy.
- contributing relevant comments connecting personal experiences to content.
- monitoring own understanding of the discussion and seeking clarification as needed.
- Objective 1.04: Reflect on learning experiences by:
- describing personal learning growth and changes in perspective.
- identifying changes in self throughout the learning process.
- interpreting how personal circumstances and background shape interaction with text.
- Objective 1.01: Narrate an expressive account (e.g., fictional or autobiographical) which:
- Goal 2: The learner will explore and analyze information from a variety of sources.
- Objective 2.01: Explore informational materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by:
- monitoring comprehension for understand of what is read, heard, and/or viewed.
- studying the characteristics of informational works.
- restating and summarizing information.
- determining the importance and accuracy of information.
- making connections between works, self and related topics/information.
- comparing and/or contrasting information.
- drawing inferences and/or conclusions.
- generating questions.
- Objective 2.02: Use multiple sources of print and non-print information in developing informational materials such as brochures, newsletters, and infomercials by:
- exploring a variety of sources from which information may be attained (e.g., books, Internet, electronic databases, CD-ROM).
- distinguishing between primary and secondary sources.
- analyzing the effects of the presentation and/or accuracy of information.
- Objective 2.01: Explore informational materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by:
- Goal 4: The learner will use critical thinking skills and create criteria to evaluate print and non-print materials.
- Objective 4.02: Analyze the communication and develop (with teacher assistance) and apply appropriate criteria to evaluate the quality of the communication by:
- using knowledge of language structure and literary or media techniques.
- drawing conclusions based on evidence, reasons, or relevant information.
- considering the implications, consequences, or impact of those conclusions.
- Objective 4.02: Analyze the communication and develop (with teacher assistance) and apply appropriate criteria to evaluate the quality of the communication by:
