Michelle Cunningham

Everyday Heroes - What it means to be a good citizen

I. Lesson Plan Overview and Description
Expected Duration: 2 class periods- 60 minutes
Social Science: Civics
Concepts:
Citizenship
Heroes
Community
Character traits
Vocabulary:
Good Citizen: an inhabitant of a city or town; especially : one entitled to the rights and
privileges of a freeman (patriotic, responsible, trustworthy, respectful, fair, honest
Heroes: An everyday person who stands up for something they believe in and is willing to risk
their own welfare to preserve others
Community: A group that lives side by side and will help each other in their daily life
Character Trait: A quality that makes up a person and defines their personality
Skills:
Work cooperatively in a small group
Create a quilt of everyday heroes
Have discussions in small/whole group and define what a hero is
Create quilt square
Journal writing
Broad Goals of Lesson:
Understand what it means to be a hero
Understand that they can be a hero in their school and community
Understand character traits and how that can influence your life
II. Content Outline
A community is full of everyday heroes
A hero is someone who does something good for others and sets an example for them
Some everyday heroes in your community may be parents, teachers, firefighters, police
officers, and volunteers
Good citizens are people who are fair, honest, responsible, hard working, caring, and fair
A character trait helps define a person and a character trait of a hero may be brave or
courageous
A hero stands up for justice and respect of all people regardless of race, religion, gender,
etc.
Some examples of heroes in America are Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Jimmy
Carter, firefighters on 9/11,
III. Standards
1 5.2.3.A: Identify personal rights and responsibilities.

5.2.3.D: Describe how citizens participate in school and community activities.

R3.A.2.3.1: Make inferences and/or draw conclusions based on information from text.
2. NCSS THEMES AND SUBTHEMES
X.B. X. Civic Ideals and Practices. B. Identify of rights and responsibilities of citizens
IV. Lesson Objectives
1. Students will write down three responses to three questions in their writing journal
2. Students will do a quilt square about their everyday hero and listing a character trait to
describe them
V. Teaching Procedures
Anticipatory Set:
1. divide groups into four and have them write down on chart paper What it means to be a
hero.-Any words or phrases that come to mind (Creating a word cloud)
2. Watch a four minute clip from kid president on being an everyday hero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgF1Enrgo2g
For the Heroes: A pep talk from Kid President
3. Is there anything you would want to add after watching the clip from kid president
Lesson Input:
1. Teacher will read the page from the textbook and have the vocabulary words posted on the
Smart Board or White board.
2. Teacher will have students turn and talk about what they think it means to be an everyday hero
3. Teacher will write down responses and we will compare them to the groups word clouds/webs
to look for similarities and differences
4. Teacher will go over character traits and give the students a printed out list of character traits
5. As a group they can write down one character trait down next to a person they wrote down on
their word cloud
Guided Practice:
5. Teacher will read aloud Fireboat and students will write down any character traits or more
words they would want to add to their group word cloud/web. Students will think about what it
mean to be an everyday hero.
6. after reading students will discuss what they wrote down in their group and add it to their
poster
7. Groups will share out in whole group with teacher directing
8. Teacher will make lists based on the posters and separate them into categories (they may
include words, traits, phrases, super heroes, people, friends, family)
Independent Practice:
Journal Writing:
1. Students will write in their journal what it means to be an everyday hero? They can explain
why or why not they think they are an everyday hero? If yes they can explain why and if no they
can explain why
2. We talked about being a good citizen and everyday hero what can you do in your school or
community to be an everyday hero?
3. Who is an everyday hero to you? Tell a story about your everyday hero and why they mean so
much to you
4. What can you do to be an everyday hero in your school or community?

Project:
4. Going into the second day we will do a quilt presentation as a whole class
5. Each student will get a quilt square with marker(s)
6. Each student will write down who their everyday hero is and why with one character trait to
describe their everyday hero
7. Students will decorate their quilt and we will fasten each square together to hang inside the
room
Differentiation:
Above level: Answer questions more in depth
Create a poster, visual, or video about being an everyday hero
Below Level/ELL: Have the read aloud on tape or video from youtube
Only have them answer 1-2 journal questions
Give them a smaller list of character traits
Print out vocabulary words with pictures on it
Closure: As a closing activity we will hang the posters and allow students to walk past the quilt
and read the stories. At each group students can star or underline words, phrases, people they
agree with for everyday heroes. At the end of the gallery walk we will come together whole class
and discuss being a good citizen and being an everyday hero
VI. Teacher and Student Resources and Evaluation of Resources
Resource Title or Website Address
Influenc 3+
e:
Characterist
Significa ics
nt
suggesting
Influenc that the
e (SI)
source is a
or
quality
Minor
resource,
Influenc reliable
e (MI)
material
in
informin
g your
thinking
,
decision
s about
the
lesson
plan
-teacher
http://www.kidsareheroes.org/lily.htm
SI
friendly
-well known
MI
-non-profit
http://myhero.com/
-student

Accessibil
ity
Access for
teachers
or others

Overall
Rating
and
Suggestio
ns for
current,
future
use of
resource

Online

4/5- would use

to teach
about
everyday

friendly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=tgF1Enrgo2g

Social Studies in Elementary Education

by Parker

heroes

SI

SI

-class
textbook
-chosen by
WCU
-reader
friendly

Online,
Bookstore
s,
Libraries

5/5would use
to teach
other
parts of
Social
Studies

VII. Formative and Summative Assessment of Students

Formative- students on task in whole group, small group and partner discussion
Students participate in poster/word cloud/web
Active engagement
Summative1. Students respond to the journal questions in their journal notebook
2. Students complete quilt square to add to the classroom quilt
VIII. Technology/Materials/Equipment
Small white board
Quilt spaces
Poster board
Markers/crayons
Construction paper
Tape
Pencil(s)
Textbooks
Interactive Smart Board or White Board
notebooks
IX. Reflection on Planning
After watching the video in class narrated by Tom Hanks that showcased ordinary people
doing extraordinary things during the catastrophe of 9/11 this inspired me to do a lesson
on every day heroes. I think most students think of heroes as an unachievable feat and
only those who are superheroes or in certain jobs have that status and ability. That is why
I started out with the poster/word cloud to engage the students and see what they thought
about heroes. I then wanted them to see a video from a relatable source like kid president
just like the boat video resonated with older students. I wanted to get as much input and
help from the class and allow them to work in groups. I added in the book as a
supplement to the textbook material along with character trait sheets, posters, and a video

to get as much resources as possible. I wanted them to do the work in chunks and then
add any new thinking or learning as the lesson progressed over the two days. The lesson
can go a number of ways depending on what they put down in groups on their poster, if
they know what a character trait is, need more guidance on being a good citizen, and even
if they know anything about what a hero is. By going back and adding to our posters we
can see the strands of new learning. I also wanted them to write in their journals about the
topic of being an everyday hero and have higher order thinking questions with the ability
to relate it to their everyday life. I wanted to add the quilt project to give the students a
chance to showcase their hero and why they are so special to them and it gives the
teacher a chance to see if they know what a character trait is. I wanted to see if they can
use them to describe their hero, and what an everyday hero is to
**After these lesson, projects, and journal lessons, we can use the website myhero.com
and begin to look at next steps as a good citizen and becoming an everyday hero in our
school and community and ways we can take action to seek justice and respect.

EVERYDAY HEROES
September 23, 2002
Every day heroes are like you and me.
We meet them at work, in the grocery shop, on the busy street and everywhere.
They come in all shapes and sizes; we only have to look all around us.
Every day heroes have attitude.
They maybe the stranger, who rescues a teenager from a wrecked car,
Or the next-door neighbor fighting a battle with cancer,
Or the lady who lives down the road; struggling to relearn, after severe brain injury.
They have a ready smile in spite of their pain.
They never complain and always think positively.
They have great vision, no handicap; no obstacle can keep them from pursuing their dreams.
They never give up and do not let us give up either.
They never take relationships for granted.
They care a lot about other people in the community.
They always say, " I know what you are going through."
They have an indomitable spirit and great strength.

They have a lot of faith and courage.

They take pleasure in performing small acts of kindness rather than in grand intentions.
They look for the best and give the best, they have.
They inspire us to carry on when things go wrong
And teach us how to sing even when the sky turns gray.
They teach us a lot about living and how to appreciate the gift of life.
And they see a beginning in every end.
Every day heroes are people who touch our lives
And leave footprints on our hearts to change our lives forever.

http://myhero.com/