Character Education: Courage (Grade 8)
What role does courage play in relationships and life success? How can developing courage equip people as world citizens who contribute to the common good?
Photo credit: Courage by jridgewayphotography is licensed under CC by 2.0
This unit asks learners to choose their favorite heroes from the "Star Wars" or other movies and identify acts of courage. Using charts created in lesson one, learners find hero traits related to courage and facing daunting challenges. After highlighting the key words explaining the classic hero myth, learners look for these traits in themselves, the Founding Fathers, and our current leaders. The learners will then reflect on the relationship between courage and fear, and identify the different character attributes that guide us when facing a challenge.
Learners choose their favorite heroes from the "Star Wars" movies and identify acts of courage. They read about and discuss the traits of a classic hero from literature.
Students work in a small group to identify the circumstances and courage of a hero who acted for the common good.
Learners study the charts they made in the previous lesson to find hero traits related to courage and the classic hero story. They compose a summary line for each real-life hero.
Students work as a group to create a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of the viability of taking courageous action in a specific difficult situation.
Learners reflect on the relationship between courage and fear, and identify the different character attributes that guide us when facing a challenge.