Holding Out for a Hero

The past six months has seen a renaissance of superheroes, particularly in feature films such as The Green Lantern, Captain America, and Thor.  The final installment of the Harry Potter movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, however, does not feature a superhero, but instead a hero in the classic sense – one who completes his quest and hence concludes his archetypal heroic journey. In completing his quest, Harry joins the pantheon of archetypal heroes such as Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Huckleberry Finn, Luke Skywalker, and many others.

Archetypes are recurring types of characters, events, or symbols found in stories, artwork, religions, and mythologies throughout the world’s cultures. They’ve been present in folklore and stories for thousands of years, and have garnered attention largely due to the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung and professor Joseph Campbell. In his seminal books The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth, Campbell compared myths from around the world and highlighted many common themes among them. He was particularly interested in heroes, and the archetypal heroic journey portrayed in world literature, art, and religion. Campbell found that many myths and stories present heroes’ journeys in similar stages. The hero begins in the everyday world and receives a “call to adventure” that enables him (or her) to leave his familiar life (“crossing the threshold”) and enter an unfamiliar world where he must engage in a series of tasks or tests. Sometimes the hero must face these trials alone, and sometimes he receives assistance from companions or other loyal helpers. The tasks ultimately conclude in a final battle, after which (if successful) the hero again crosses the threshold to re-enter ordinary life. In all, Campbell identified 17 distinct stages of the archetypal hero’s journey, which he dubbed the “monomyth.”  

The study of archetypes and the heroic journey is a fascinating addition to the classroom, as it pulls elements from art, literature, religion, world cultures, and mythology. Younger students can be introduced to common archetypes through fairy tales, such as the wise old woman or man characters, the “trickster” (usually a fox), the child(ren), and the villain. Young students don’t have to be told about archetypes per se, but may be encouraged to think about the types of characters and situations that frequently occur in fairy tales and other stories. Older students are able to delve much more deeply into the texts, relating them to similar journeys in other texts as well as in films. The Star Wars films are famously based on Campbell’s monomyth, and many other films such as The Lion King, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Avatar and others also feature the heroic journey. Higher level students can also examine how archetypes and the hero’s archetypal journey can be viewed as man’s search for self-knowledge.

This week’s picks feature three resources from the Gateway’s collection on the archetypal hero and the heroic journey for a range of ages. We’ll also feature many more lesson plans, activities, and information throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please be sure to check those pages for lots of good classroom ideas and materials.

Identifying Supporting Evidence from a Text - What is a Hero?

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-08-01.0719354500

Subjects: Language Arts

Grade: 1-4

Students watch a 3-minute video about Ping, a young hero who proves himself worthy to be the emperor of China. Students identify what makes Ping's behavior special using evidence from the story. This lesson is designed for grades 1-4. It includes video and support materials. This resource was produced by PBS LearningMedia, an online site offering educational materials and public media content for PreK-16 teachers.

A Story of Epic Proportions: What Makes a Poem an Epic?

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-08-01.6126300576

Grade: 6-8

Students learn about the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition. They study the epic hero cycle and will learn how to recognize this pattern of events and elements in both ancient and modern texts, including Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. This lesson is a product of EDSITEment, an educational outreach program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. EDSITEment offers lesson plans and activities for social studies, literature and language arts, foreign languages, art, culture, and history classrooms.

I Need a Hero

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-08-01.9522773918

Grade: 9-12 Gifted

The heroic archetype features prominently in literary analysis at the high school level. A clear understanding of, and the ability to manipulate and apply, this idea is critical to any approach to world literature for the high school student. This series of lessons was designed to fulfill the needs of gifted children for extension beyond the standard curriculum with the greatest ease of use for the educator. The lessons may be given to the students for individual self-guided work, or they may be taught in a classroom or homeschool setting. This lesson was produced by Mensa for Kids, part of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation. The Foundation is committed to the pursuit of excellence in the areas of intelligence, and focuses on scholarship, education, and awards.

~Joann's Picks - 8/12/2011~

Just Wild About Harry

It’s been nearly 14 years since the publication of the first Harry Potter book. The first generation of Potter fans has now likely completed college, having grown up alongside the books’ protagonists that they’ve grown to love. Although sales of the Harry Potter series have slowed since the publication of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in 2007, a new crop of readers continue to discover the series each year. According to Scholastic, the American publisher of the Harry Potter series, there are currently 143 million copies of Potter books in print in the U.S., and 400 million copies worldwide. Kids in high school and middle school still tell me on a fairly regular basis that they are trying to wean themselves off the series, and ask for alternative book recommendations. If my town is a literary barometer of any kind, then the series is still in brisk demand: our public and school libraries regularly replace existing copies of the Potter series, due to constant use.

One of the beauties of the Potter books is that they speak to students without moralizing or condescension. There are many themes running throughout the series, but the ones that seem to resonate the most with students include power, survival, fitting in, good versus evil, and oppression. These themes reflect what many students – in the throes of adolescence – experience daily in their own lives to some degree. Students are naturally interested in situations that they can relate to, and are likely to be more vested in lessons where they feel some emotional or intellectual connection. While using the books in English Language Arts classes is a natural choice, there’s no reason to limit the use of the novels exclusively to these classrooms. Introducing Harry Potter-themed lessons across the curriculum can be a fun and interesting way to interject something unexpected in a seemingly straightforward lesson, and perhaps invigorate some of the topics that students often find less than interesting.

My picks this week all make innovative use of Harry Potter characters and events across the curriculum. I’ll be featuring many more Harry Potter-themed lessons, activities, and other resources for a variety of ages and subjects throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please be sure to visit those pages regularly. Lots of great ideas, and no wands necessary.

Harry Potter Math Stories
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-02-27.7159760155
Subjects: Math
Grade: 1-3
These addition and simple multiplication word problems use characters and situations from the Harry Potter novels. An answer sheet is provided. This resource was produced by MathStories, a math site devoted to helping students in grades 1-6 boost their math critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Introduction to Primary and Secondary Sources
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/32048
Subject: Research skills
Grade: 4-8
What if you had the scrap of paper on which J.K. Rowling wrote the beginnings of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? In this lesson, students pretend that they are doing research for a biography of the author J.K. Rowling. They will examine examples of sources of information and decide which are primary sources and which are secondary sources. This will give students an introduction to primary and secondary sources in a familiar context, and prepare them for further study. This lesson was published by Florida Memory, an online project of the State Library & Archives of Florida. In addition to lesson plans and other educational resources, the site also offers interactive exhibits, photo collections, and documents of Florida history.

Genetic Traits in Harry Potter
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-02-27.7244414478
Subjects: Biology, Life Science
Grade: 7-11
In this lesson, students review or learn genetic terms and concepts, such as DNA, chromosome, gene, allele, homozygous, heterozygous, recessive and dominant genes, genotype, phenotype, complex traits, Mendelian inheritance, and Punnett Square; and apply them in identifying possible inheritance patterns and genotypes of magical ability demonstrated by several characters in the Harry Potter series. This lesson was produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health. NLM is the world’s largest medical library, and offers a plethora of materials, information, and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care.

~Joann's Picks - 3/10/2011~

Transformers

A few weeks ago, my third grader stopped in her tracks, flung her arms far apart, and breathed deeply. Nonplussed, I stopped and asked her what she was doing.

“Remembering the way summer smells,” she said.

I sniffed the air tentatively, but all I could really smell was car exhaust. We were in the middle of a plaza parking lot, after all.

I had forgotten this little scenario until this morning, when we awakened to temperatures in the 40s. As we waited for the school bus, my daughter raised her chin into the wind and announced that it now smelled like fall. “But I still remember how summer smells,” she said.

We live in New England, where summers are fleeting and – for me, anyway – fall arrives much too quickly. The leaves are changing color, pumpkins have appeared on doorsteps, and I can’t seem to keep my hands off a local farm’s seasonal cider donuts. Like spring, autumn seems to be a season when transformations are most noticeable. Plants go dormant, hornet colonies die off, and caterpillars begin constructing chrysalids. The world around us changes continuously via weather, seasons, human-induced development, natural disasters, and so forth. Many examples of transformation are all around us all the time, if we slow down to look.

The concept of metamorphosis has a long and rich tradition. Classic horror stories and legends depict werewolves, vampires, and various types of shapeshifters, all capable of transforming themselves into other guises. Around the year 8 A.D., Ovid published The Metamorphosis, which describes various tales of transformation. Although Ovid’s work is still widely read in academic circles, most people are more familiar with Kafka’s Metamorphosis story of Gregor Samsa, a hardworking salesman who inexplicably awakens one morning as a large insect. While his physical transformation is pronounced, his family too undergoes a metamorphosis in the story, prompting the reader to ask “what is human?”

Metamorphosis is most often demonstrated in the classroom via the lifecycles of various creatures, such as mealworms, butterflies, and frogs. The ability to view these species’ dramatic changes in a relatively short period of time is a fabulous way to illustrate the concept of transformation to students. My picks this week focus on some aspect of metamorphosis, whether it occurs in life science, literature, visual art, or elsewhere. I will be featuring many more resources for all ages throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please be sure to check in to view them.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Subjects: Literature, Writing
Grade: 9-10
In this lesson, students analyze the many interrelated literary elements and universal themes in Kafka’s seminal short story. Students are asked to delve much deeper into the story’s symbolism beyond Gregor’s literal transformation into a bug as they examine the effects of society, family, stress, and environment on the characters. This lesson is offered by LEARN NC, a program of UNC Chapel Hill School of Education that provides lesson plans, professional development, and other resources to support teachers. The lesson is aligned to North Carolina state standards.

Claymation Metamorphosis
Subjects: Art, Life science
Grade: 5-12
Like Gumby, but educational! This lesson provides an introduction to the basics of Claymation and media production using a familiar scientific theme — the metamorphosis of a butterfly. This lesson is produced by Blick Art Materials, an art supply company that also offers lesson plans and video workshops for teachers. The lesson is aligned to national standards.

How a Caterpillar Becomes a Butterfly
Subjects: Life science
Grade: K-1
This activity introduces young students to the life cycle of a butterfly. Students role play and draw the various stages that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. Students also listen to and discuss Eric Carle’s classic book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This lesson is offered by the Educators Reference Desk, a repository of lesson plans, resource guides, and AskERIC Q&A archives from the Information Institute of Syracuse at Syracuse University.

~Joann's Picks - 10/7/2010~

Dazed and Confused

According to a recent CDC survey, one in five U.S. high school students say that they have taken prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription. The survey also found that 72% of high schoolers had used alcohol in the past year, while 37% had used marijuana. Clearly, drugs and alcohol continue to be attractive to teens, despite various drug education programs and public service announcements to alert them to the dangers of such behavior.

Teens and adolescents are bombarded daily with lyrics, images, and information about drugs, some of it correct, much of it not. Music with drug references is nothing new, but the frequency with which drug and alcohol references appear in songs has increased dramatically over the past decade. Eminem’s latest release, Relapse, for example, is riddled with drug and alcohol references – and remains a favorite album with the middle- and high school crowd. Watch any televised sporting event, and kids are exposed to numerous ads glorifying drinking (ever see any alcohol ads featuring old, overweight, or unattractive people? Thought not). So, just how do parents and educators combat the slick allure of drugs and underage drinking when celebrities and other media types appear to revel in it?

Most experts agree that drug education has to start early with age-appropriate materials and discussions; the subject should also be consistently addressed throughout the K-12 years and into college. My picks this week focus on drug and education materials from a variety of sources for use in the classroom. The first two resources are provided by the American Council for Drug Education, a substance abuse education and prevention agency that develops educational programs and materials based on current scientific research on drug use and its impact on society. The third resource, “It’s My Life: Dangers of Drug Abuse” is a product of PBS, which offers high-quality TV programming and online content to tens of millions of people each day. As always, please check our Facebook and Twitter pages throughout the week, where we will post links to more drug education resources for a variety of ages.

People We Trust
Subjects: Safety
Grade: K-3
The goal of this lesson is to teach young children how to identify the appropriate persons from whom he or she can safely take medicine.

Peer Pressure
Subjects: Literature, Safety
Grade: 7-8
This lesson uses segments of Mark Twain’s novel Tom Sawyer to discuss and illustrate peer pressure. Students also learn to identify ways to cope with peer pressure to use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

It’s My Life: Dangers of Drug Abuse
Subjects: Health, Safety
Grade: 5-12
Studies have shown that experimentation with drugs often begins in early adolescence. In this lesson, students will understand that they will be faced with a variety of decisions regarding their health – some of them involving illicit substances. They will evaluate the health hazards of legal and illegal drugs, and explain the advantages of remaining drug-free. Students will also describe the short- and long-term health risks of using drugs.

~Joann's Picks - 7/31/2010~

Storytime

Once upon a time, there was a fabulous storyteller – which, alas, is not me. My grandmother, however, was a superb storyteller; her ability to keep scores of cousins engrossed in her tales was legendary. Her gift of timing, as well as her ability to use different accents and intonations kept us all enthralled. The oral tradition of storytelling is ancient; Homer’s numerous repetitions of the “wine-dark sea” in The Iliad and The Odyssey, for example, illustrate how the stories were memorized and passed down over the years until they were finally transcribed into print. Storytelling in the oral tradition is both a craft and an art, and something that deserves a resurgence in popularity.

Storytelling is not restricted to the oral tradition, however. Many authors are master storytellers, and the increased use of technology in schools has resulted in a happy melding of ancient art and modern methods of communication. Digital storytelling delivers narrative in a digital context, and can incorporate digital content such as images or sound. Digital stories can be as simple as a series of Powerpoint slides, or as complex as a film with music and live or animated action. There are a multitude of tools appropriate for classroom use, such as Photo Story, MovieMaker, iMovie, and others. Another tool that has gained popularity in recent years is Scratch, an easy-to-use graphical programming language from the MIT Media Lab that allows kids to create their own digital stories, games, art, and music. Tools such as Scratch present a terrific opportunity to integrate technology into the classroom and incorporate 21st century skills into the curriculum.

My picks this week focus on storytelling lessons and resources; all can be used as written or applied to a different medium if desired. As always, we’ll present a variety of additional resources and supporting information about this topic on our Facebook and Twitter pages throughout the week, so please be sure to take a look.

Ghosts and Fear in Language Arts: Exploring the Ways Writers Scare Readers
Subjects: Literature, Writing
Grade: 9-12
This lesson examines how storytellers and writers scare their audiences – how do they create suspense and fear? Students create their own scary stories using a variety of media, while learning about audience awareness and story elements. This lesson is from ReadWriteThink, which offers free resources in reading and language arts instruction. All lessons are reviewed by teachers and members of the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, so you know they’re good. This lesson is aligned to NCTE/IRA Content Standards.

Round Robin Writing
Subjects: Writing, Language Arts, English
Grade: 4-10
In this lesson, students work in teams to write collaborative stories. Using photos or other images as story prompts, students begin a story on a computer, then are replaced by successive students on their team, each picking up the story where the previous student left off. I like the creative spirit of this lesson, where students have to think on their feet to create a story where the essential elements are not necessarily of their choosing. This lesson is a product of LearniT-TeachiT, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting business, industry, government, and other agencies to use the power of technology to prepare teachers and learners to develop 21st century skills.

Arthur: Group Stories
Subjects: Writing, Language Arts
Grade: 1-3
This guide provides numerous writing and reading comprehension activities. Students first learn about the elements of a story, and then create their own stories based on the characters from Arthur, the beloved books created by Marc Brown and also a long-running animated series on PBS Kids. I like that this lesson presents younger students with the challenge of creating their own stories, while still safely ensconced in the context of a known set of characters and settings – stimulating, but not daunting. This guide is a product of PBS, which in addition to educational television programming also provides educational resources for preK-12 students and teachers.

~Joann's Picks - 7/15/2010~

Running With The Wolves

According to The Farmer’s Almanac, Native Americans named January the month of the Full Wolf Moon. Historically, it was a time of increased prowling by wolf packs, looking for food as the winter deepened. Most students are fascinated by wolves. Wolves are big, hairy, and find humans to be tasty (at least in fairy tales). They’re also mysterious creatures that offer plenty of fodder for lessons in a host of subjects.

Lon Po Po, by Ed Young
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/25012
Subjects: Literature, Chinese culture and Inventions
Grade: K-3

Wow, Grandma’s packing some pretty big teeth in this Chinese version of the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. Students delight in this engaging twist on a familiar tale, and this resource offers several enrichment activities for the classroom to further the experience. Published by TeacherVision (part of Pearson Education, Inc.), which offers a wide range of education materials, such as lesson plans and printables. While most resources require a subscription to the service, some free content is available. A
seven-day free trial is also offered.

What I like about this resource are the options that it presents.  Students use Venn diagrams to compare and contrast Lon Po Po with Little Red Riding Hood, but they can also take their analysis a bit deeper by discussing the story from the wolf’s point of view. Seeing events from a different perspective isn’t intuitive for kids this age, particularly when they’re asked to see things from a “bad” character’s viewpoint. It’s a good exercise for little noggins. The resource also provides links to Chinese symbols for students to reproduce, as well as a list of Internet resources and an Ed Young bibliography.

Wolves and Dogs: Fact and Fiction
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/20920
Subjects: Endangered species, Wildlife, Biology
Grade: 3-8

I’ve logged a fair amount of time watching “The Dog Whisperer,” so I thought this quiz about dogs and wolves would be a snap. Oops. This old dog will obviously have to learn some new tricks, or at least dog facts. This online quiz posits ten questions about the differences between dogs and wolves. What’s nice about the format is that after clicking on either “true” or “false,” you immediately know whether you’re right or not – no waiting until the quiz is finished to see how you did. You’re given the correct answer, plus additional information about the particular topic addressed by the question. Immediate feedback is critical in learning, and as usual, PBS/NOVA, who offers this resource, has gotten it right. NOVA is an award-winning PBS TV science series, and their companion Web site offers a multitude of science-related lessons and activities. Sponsored by the WGBH Educational Foundation.


The Living Edens - Denali: The Wolf and the Moose
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/13553
Subjects: Biology, Geography, Wildlife, Ecology
Grade: 6-8

Which would you rather be – prey or predator? Me too. In this lesson, students study the Denali Wilderness in Alaska and identify the predator/prey relationships of animals. They will role play moose and wolves to simulate the relationship between species found in Denali National Park, and write about how the balance of nature works.  Published by PBS TeacherSource, this lesson gets the kids up and moving in an outdoor physical activity. PBS TeacherSource provides PreK-12 educational resources and activities for educators tied to PBS programming and correlated to state and national standards.

~Joann's Picks~