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Goals and Perseverance

Lesson 2:

From Unit Character Education: Perseverance (Grade 6)

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

6th-8th Grade

Subjects:

Language Arts, Library / Technology, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ELA:	Brainstorming; Creative Writing; Group Discussions; Personal Response; Poetry; Teamwork
PHIL:	Character Education: Perseverance; Perseverance
SOC:	King, Jr., Martin Luther; Civil Rights; Common Good; Good Character; Personal Virtue; Social Action

Purpose:

Students review the Civil Rights work of Martin Luther King, Jr. as discussed in Lesson One. They create an acrostic about his life and work. Then students identify his goals and relate goals to perseverance.

Duration:

One 20-minute lesson

Objectives:

The learner will:

write an acrostic poem about Martin Luther King, Jr.
identify the goals of Martin Luther King, Jr.
describe the relationship between goals and perseverance.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

This character education mini-lesson is not intended to be a service learning lesson or to meet the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice. The character education units will be most effective when taught in conjunction with a student-designed service project that provides a real world setting in which students can develop and practice good character and leadership skills. For ideas and suggestions for organizing service events go to generationon.org.

Materials:

paper and pencils for creating acrostic poems
chart paper and markers

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set

Tell the students that they are going to talk about goals today. Ask the students to define what a goal is [the end point to which efforts are directed]. Discuss their definitions and write a final definition on the board.

Remind the students of the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. discussed in the previous lesson. Have them reflect on what they think are one or two goals of Martin Luther King, Jr. Allow them a minute of thinking time and then tell them to talk with a partner and come to a consensus together about one or two goals of Martin Luther King, Jr. Then, ask each pair to share with the whole class. Write down the different goals on a chart. If a team describes a goal that is already on the chart, make a checkmark after the goal rather than rewriting. After everyone has reported, read over the goals and star the one or two that seem to capture his main goal(s).
Ask the students how perseverance helped him achieve his goals.
Discuss how goals and perseverance are related. Work together to craft a sentence that explains their relationship.
Put the learners in groups or have them work on their own to write an acrostic poem about the perseverance and legacy [something passed on from the past] of Martin Luther King, Jr. They may use the letters in his name or in the word perseverance. For each letter, they write a word or phrase that describes the character and work of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Example:

Paying attention to the needs of his friends,

Especially the poor and mistreated,

Reverend King raised expectations,

Sure that they would succeed.

Events were nonviolent because

Violence was not the way to gain respect.

Eventually the Civil Rights Movement won the fight.

Real change could occur because people persevered.

Always a champion for doing the right thing,

Not stopping when they were put in jail,

Children and adults worked together until

Elegant justice prevailed.