I want to help the students find some sort of positive meaning from the Coronavirus crisis. The conversation with Sophocles on hardship would be a great tool to encourage self-reflection on the fact that sometimes a person has to go …
In Norma Jean, Jumping Bean the main character is a young kangaroo who must learn to follow rules. When she gets in trouble for jumping, she resolves to never jump again. By the end of the story, she has the …
Many people believe that one must suffer in order to achieve success and happiness, or that people can only appreciate success once they’ve known true hardship. Before reading James and the Giant Peach, in which a young, mistreated orphan embarks …
One of the main themes in Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein is responsibility. The main character Dr. Frankenstein is responsible for many people in the story. After a study of the novel I would use the conversation with Dr. Seuss …
Most students will understand the theme of hardship after a study of John Steinbeck’s classic The Grapes of Wrath, set during the Great Depression. During the reading of the novel, there are many points where I would stop and use …
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” would be an ideal primary source to teach the theme of obedience. I could use the Albert Einstein conversation before introducing the letter to get students reflecting on how they …
When looking at Rosa Parks’ contribution to The Civil Rights Movement it makes sense to explore the theme of obedience. Even though she knew she might be arrested, Parks sat in a whites-only bus section and inspired a movement of …
I am teaching argumentative writing and I want to focus on the theme of obedience by exploring the pros and cons of following rules even when you disagree with them. Using the Albert Einstein quote, “Never do anything against conscience, …
Theodore Roethke states, “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” Does suffering disillusion, or does it reveal? Is there a choice? When still young, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped and enslaved, educated and published as a poet (after 17 …
I would use the book Walking for My Life, written by Jennifer Dewey, to teach students about the ways in which suffering can help a person become more knowledgeable and understanding. In this story, the narrator walks through the desert …
