Our group is designing a lesson using Dennis Denenberg's book. The students will write a persuasive essay on whether Ben Franklin was a hero during his time. This satisfies a fifth grade writing standard of a five paragraph persuasive essay. We will use the two page article and a primary source for the lesson. I think this is a great way to give students information about important people of the time so they can connect it to their own lives. It brings the past more alive and relevant to them.
I previewed this type lesson during the week of Columbus Day. First, we talked about the traits a hero. After our discussion, I asked them to write down what they knew about Christopher Columbus; they didn't know much. I used a primary source from Cicero(Heros or not) and had them read it in pairs with two different color highlighter. One student highlighted what was heroic and the other colored "non-heroic" actions. They were very worried that they didn't find much positive. I had the two sides meet and discuss what they found and then we listed our findings. Great discussion followed about the motives of exploration. Students have a better understanding of who Columbus was. I always end the week with the story Encounter by Jane Yolen.
