Who Can Be a Hero? Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, and Discovering Strength of Character

classroom resources Social Studies and the Young Learner 17(4), pp. 17-30 ©2005 National Council for the Social Studies Who Can Be a Hero? Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, and Discovering Strength of Character Kathleen Dunlevy Morin and Rachel Oestreicher Bernheim A Study of Heroes: Making a Dif- Students explore the tradition of heroes Selecting Handouts ference Using Your Heart, Intellect, and drawn from diverse periods of history, eth- This article includes materials from all Talents is a program originally developed in nicities, and areas of accomplishment. This three levels. We only include Level I and diverse school communities. Public, inde- multicultural, interdisciplinary program II biographies due to the confines of space. pendent, parochial, and private schools (K- (now K-adult) integrates social studies and The Level III biography is extensive and 12) in High Point, North Carolina, New language arts with character education. It serves two purposes—background read- York City, and suburban Long Island fosters service-learning, critical-thinking ing for teachers and reading for upper level responded wholeheartedly to our call for skills and conflict-resolution strategies; students. All levels are presented in a non- volunteers to participate in the grassroots moreover, it encourages intergenerational childish tone, so that they appeal to a wide development of this program. Teachers, family and community involvement.1 range of audiences: for example, second administrators, parents, students, guidance We wish to share a selection of materi- grade students; middle school English lan- counselors, school secretaries, custodians, als from one of our units of study: “Helen guage learners; or adults who are learning and other staff were among those who had Keller and Annie Sullivan: The Miracle to read. Today, because of its adaptability, direct input into the design and content of and the Teacher.” The 22 hero-profile units A Study of Heroes is finding wide applica- this instructional resource. follow a similar format, offering biographies tion: in schools (K-12+, from traditional to Students learn to distinguish between at three readability levels and a rich assort- gifted, ESL, and special education classes) the concepts of hero and celebrity and ment of related activities. Eight companion in 48 states and 3 foreign countries; after- to discover the real heroes in their own units present creative resources to further school programs; counseling sessions; fos- families, schools, communities, and most develop “the basics” while building good ter-care settings; camps; juvenile offender importantly—within themselves. This character. We encourage teachers to review facilities; and adult prison classrooms. program was designed to complement all handouts in this article and then select mandated curricula and can be used to the materials that most appropriately meet Handout 1 address national and state curriculum their own classroom environment, teach- “A Contextual Timeline of World Events.” standards. Thirty units offer teachers rich ing style, and students’ abilities. Infusing The need for this non-traditional timeline content, engaging activities, teachable the topic of heroes into existing curricula, was sparked when a fifth grade student artwork, and most of all the flexibility to while addressing an array of standards, can asked, “Did Abraham Lincoln fax the easily integrate these resources into their be easy and enjoyable. Gettysburg Address to the battlefield?” individual instructional settings. Instantly, we realized that students need to place the featured individual within the A Study of Heroes contains the following units: curricular themes of social studies.2 The ▶ Getting Started: Evaluating ▶ Pope John XXIII ▶ Chief Wilma Mankiller entries in this timeline are not meant to be Personal Perspectives on Heroes ▶ Chai Ling ▶ Thomas Jefferson comprehensive, they are complemented by ▶ Heroic Character Traits from A to Z ▶ Roberto Clemente ▶ A Hero of Your Choice contextual timelines in all 22 hero profile ▶ Raoul Wallenberg ▶ Martin Luther King, Jr. ▶ A National Tradition: Heroes, ▶ Harriet Tubman ▶ Andrei Sakharov Holidays & Hoopla units. The timelines provide students with ▶ Mahatma Gandhi ▶ Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan ▶ Heroes: Generation to Generation a glimpse into and a feeling for the pace ▶ Eleanor Roosevelt ▶ James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, ▶ Educators as Heroes of history over the course of a single gen- ▶ Rosa Parks and Michael Schwerner ▶ Researching Heroes: Ethical eration—in this case the lifetimes of Annie ▶ The Dali Lama ▶ Jacobo Timerman Strategies, Tools & Technology Sullivan and Helen Keller. ▶ Anwar Sadat ▶ Cesar Chavez ▶ The Hero Within Yourself ▶ Mother Teresa ▶ Albert Schweitzer Handout 2 ▶ Abraham Lincoln ▶ Arthur Ashe Reading Level II Biography.3 This middle- March/April 2005 17 A Timeless Hero A Study of Heroes was developed by The Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States Handout 10 (www.raoulwallenberg.org), a nonprofit educational organization, founded in 1981 to educate the Levels I, II, III “Heroes-In-Training: Meet- American public about the nonviolent heroism and humanitarianism of Raoul Wallenberg, ing the Challenge Using Your Heart, Intel- a Christian who is credited with saving the lives of at least 100,000 Hungarian Jews during lect, and Talents.” These problem-solving the Holocaust. On January 17, 1945, the 32-year-old Wallenberg, a voluntary Swedish scenarios present challenging contempo- diplomat, was arrested by Soviet troops in the city of Budapest. He was taken to Moscow rary social situations drawn from all three and has never again been seen as a free man. His ultimate fate still remains a mystery. A levels in A Study of Heroes. In coopera- Study Of Heroes is our living monument to the third Honorary Citizen of the United States, tive learning groups, students consider how Raoul Wallenberg. they might react. What are possible ways to resolve the problem or conflict without level, one-page, multi-purpose biography activities. resorting to violence? How would the fea- is designed for teachers when time and/or tured hero approach the situation? attention-spans are short. It can be used to Handout 6 develop and assess student comprehen- Level I Biography “Meet Helen Keller and Teacher Preparation sion, artistic interpretation, and charac- Annie Sullivan.” This two-part biography From the outset of the development of A ter development through activities such provides a springboard for teachers to tell Study of Heroes, teachers asked that we not as: designing a book jacket; narrating an a story or lead students in round-robin give students any definition of hero. They impromptu dramatic enactment; creating or independent reading. Students analyze preferred that students grapple with the an interpretive art form; stimulating discus- the illustrative content of the teachable concept of hero and come up with their sion in advisory or counseling sessions; etc. art presented in the Level I biography. In own definitions, which evolve over time. It is also an effective tool for empowering this case, they discuss the fashions of the Students are asked to nominate heroes; students and building self-esteem. Before period; teacher-student roles; translation of then defend their choices through com- telling the students about whom they will the written word through Braille; and com- paring, contrasting, and debating; thereby, study, engage them in a discussion posed by prehension of the spoken word through the distinguishing between hero and celeb- questions in the first paragraph. If students sensation of sound vibrations. rity—two concepts that are different, but answer “yes” to most questions, they will not always mutually exclusive. feel a commonality with the featured hero Handout 7 Using these resources, teachers cre- and see that they also have the potential to Level I “Let’s Discuss.” The elements of atively develop and assess cognitive and make a positive difference. this resource extend and enrich the learning affective changes in their students. Strate- experiences based on the Level I biography. gies might include: storytelling; role-play- Handout 3 Teachers can tailor the content and activi- ing; designing a heroes quilt; debating; pup- Level II “Let’s Discuss.” Pick and choose ties to their students’ strengths, needs, and peteering; honoring local heroes; sending elements of this resource, which is based interests. (This is a two-page handout). letters or packages to our nation’s troops; upon the Level II Biography, to teach preparing Heroes Banquets; analyzing vocabulary; grammar; geography; career Handout 8 primary source materials; creating a play choices, as well as discussion and research Level I “The Student and The Teacher.” or musical; researching on the internet; skills. After each biography (Levels I, II, III) Students are to imagine themselves with planting a “Heroes Garden;” constructing in any unit, there are “Let’s Discuss” activ- Helen Keller’s challenges and explore how a Heroes website for the school; holding a ity sheets that offer teachers a myriad of this would affect a student-teacher relation- Heroes Fair; and resolving local conflicts opportunities to develop and assess, not ship. Referring to the lead quotes from both by applying the wisdom of heroes they only the basics, but also critical-thinking, Helen and Annie, discuss Helen’s percep- have studied. problem-solving, and research skills. tions of her “world” and analyze the physi- cal, psychological,

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