Lesson Plans

LESSON: TALK ABOUT A HERO/HEROINE!
Grades: 1-4
Subject Areas: Reading, Language, Geography
Estimated Time: 30 minutes per book selection

I. Summary: Maya and Miguel have positive role models in their lives like their parents, grandmother, aunts, uncles and family friends. These special people also help teach Maya and Miguel about their own unique cultural heritage. Learning to appreciate the uniqueness of one’s own heritage can also foster an appreciation of other cultures. This lesson focuses on identifying multicultural heroes/heroines, and encourages students to use graphic aids to increase their understanding of geography.

II. Objectives:

• Students will practice conversational English skills to demonstrate comprehension
• Students will become familiar with the terms “hero,” “heroine,” “role model”
• Students will experience a variety of books about multicultural heroes/heroines
• Students will use graphic aids to increase their understanding of geography
• Students will cooperatively compose a written description of book characters

III. Materials:

• Map/globe
• Lesson printout: Map It!
• Books: Cesar Chavez: A Hero for Everyone by Gary Soto (Ages 7-10)
• Remember the Ladies: 100 Great American Women by Cheryl Harness (Age 8) Note: This is an excellent resource for American multicultural heroines!
• Gandhi by Hitz Demi (Ages 7-10)
• Escape North!: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Monica Kulling (Ages 5-8)

IV. Procedure:

1. What is a hero (male) or heroine (female)? A hero/heroine is an ordinary person that has done something extraordinary! For example: Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa (1910-1997) spent her life in India caring for people living in the slums. Her only possessions were a bucket and two saris (Indian clothing). She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work and is remembered as a true heroine for the many years she dedicated her life to serving the poor and dying.

2. Explain that many heroes/heroines are not famously known or materially wealthy, never seen on television, or read about in books. Encourage students to identify someone in their own lives that they regard as having heroic status. Share with students that a hero or heroine may also be called a “role model.”

3. Encourage students to make predictions. For example: Before reading about Cesar Chavez, create interest by sharing with students that this cultural role model was born in Arizona in 1927. He was named after his grandfather who migrated to the United States from Mexico. Continue by adding that this person worked hard as a child on the family farm and grew up to become a famous labor leader for migrant workers.

4. Using map or globe, help students locate physical points relating to a story or particular character. (Example: For Cesar Chavez, locate Mexico, where his grandfather came from, and Arizona, Chavez’s birthplace.)

5. Read book selection then check for understanding by encouraging students to recall details. Conclude each reading by cooperatively composing a brief 2-3 sentence character description of each hero/heroine on the board. Invite students to participate by offering story details for composition.

6. Read aloud character description. Practice for fluency and rhythm. Ask students to contribute ideas on how to improve the composition. Note: It’s important for students to see that in the process of writing, it’s normal to make changes, additions or deletions to a working composition. Make adjustments to composition. Adjust composition until everyone is satisfied that it expresses a good character description.

V. Assessment: Heroes/Heroines- Students should be able to define in conversational language what a hero/heroine is and identify a person of heroic status. Students should become aware that everyone comes from or lives in a special place that can be identified on a map, globe or graphic aid.

VI. Extensions in Learning:

• Using lesson printout Map It!, help students locate/label keys points on a U.S. map.
• Invite local “heroes/heroines” to share experiences.
• Support theme of cultural models by watching Maya & Miguel episodes "Mala Suerte;" "La Nueva Cocinita;" and "An Okri-Dokey Day"
• Within your own school environment, discover and compare how globes and maps can be amazingly alike or different.
• Read and explore more bilingual books:
  • Heroines and Heroes/Heroines y Heroes by Eric Hoffman (Ages 5-8)
  • Castillo Misterioso/Mystery Castle by Kathy Gammell, Susannah Leigh, Gaby Waters (Editor), Kate Needham (Editor) (Ages 4-8)

Related National Standards (These are established by McREL at URL: http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/.)

Language Arts

• Summarizes information found in texts (e.g., retells in own words)
• Relates new information to prior knowledge and experience
• Contributes to group discussions
• Responds to questions and comments (e.g., gives reasons in support of opinions, responds to others' ideas)
• Makes connections between characters or simple events in a literary work and people or events in his or her own life
• Uses writing and other methods (e.g., drawing pictures, using letters or phonetically spelled words, telling, dictating, making lists) to describe familiar persons, places, objects or experiences

Geography

• Understands the nature and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics
• Knows major physical and human features of places as they are represented on maps and globes (e.g., shopping areas, fast-food restaurants, fire stations, largest cities, rivers, lakes, wetlands, recreation areas, historic sites, land forms, locations of places discussed in history, language arts, science and other school subjects)

Related National Standards for ESL- Grades Pre-K-3 (These are established by TESOL at URL: http://www.tesol.org/assoc/k12standards/it/07.html.)

• Goal 1, Standard 2 - To use English to communicate in social settings: Students will interact in, through and with spoken and written English for personal expression and enjoyment
• Goal 2, Standard 1 - To use English to achieve academically in all content areas: Students will use English to interact in the classroom
• Goal 3, Standard 3 - To use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways: Students will use appropriate learning strategies to extend their sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence