Learning Through Our Leaders: Nelson Mandela
This particular lesson focuses on Nelson Mandela, an inspirational Black leader in South Africa who fought to overcome apartheid and lead his country down the path of equality. Nelson Mandela has had a tremendous affect on the people of South Africa, the continent of Africa, and the entire world. I chose to focus on Nelson Mandela because he exemplifies nonviolent resistance, determination, and the universal fight for equality.
Unit: Learning About Equality through the Words and Actions of Our Leaders
Unit Essential Questions:
· How do our leaders think about equality?
· How do our leaders take action on their beliefs about equality?
· How do we think about equality?
· How can we take action on our beliefs about equality?
Lesson: Learning About Equality through the Words and Actions of Nelson Mandela
Lesson Essential Questions:
· How does Nelson Mandela think about equality?
· How does Nelson Mandela act on his beliefs about equality?
· What can we learn from the words and actions of Nelson Mandela?
MMSD Standards:
· History: retell past events, legends, biographies, or historical accounts
· Behavioral Sciences: identify self as an important member of groups
· Behavioral Sciences: exhibit group membership traits by being trustworthy, responsible, respectful, and by demonstrating accountability for actions, displaying self direction, and showing pride.
· Geography: identify the globe as a model of the earth and recognize land masses and bodies of water
· History: use vocabulary pertaining to time and events such as day, month, and year.
NCSS Standards:
· Time, Continuity, and Change: the study of the past and its legacy
· Power, Authority, and Governance: the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power, authority, and governance
· Global Connections: the study of global connections and interdependence
· Civic Ideals and Practices: the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic
UW Teaching Standards:
· II. Understands the social context of schooling
· III. Demonstrates sophisticated curricular knowledge
· IV. Demonstrates pedagogical knowledge in specific domains
· VII. Understands and adapts to multiple forms of communication
· X. Employs varied instructional strategies
· XI. Uses technologies
Materials:
· Letters to Madiba: voices of South African children
· 2 pictures of Nelson Mandela
· Classroom Timeline (a timeline that is hung on the wall and extends from one side of the classroom to the other; historical events and people are placed on the timeline and put into context)
· Classroom World Map (a large map of the world that is hung on the wall in the classroom; historical events and people are placed on the map and put into context).
· Mandela: from the life of the South African Statesman – written and illustrated by Floyd Cooper
· Chart paper
· Writing utensils
· Thanks and Changes handout
· Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grh03-NjHzc
Objectives:
· Students will be able to identify words and actions that fight for freedom
· Students will be able to apply the action taken by children in South Africa to their own lives through the Thanks and Changes handout
Lesson Opening: Gather the students on the rug and read three letters from Letters to Madiba: voices of South African children (pages 44, 59, 79). Ask the questions: What do you know just from hearing these three letters? Who is Madiba?
Procedure:
· Introduce Nelson Mandela using the Author’s note in the book Mandela: from the life of the South African Statesman
· Have a student place a photograph of Nelson Mandela on the classroom timeline (this part is debatable and open for student input – somewhere in between 1918-2010).
· Have a student place a photograph of Nelson Mandela on the classroom world map (in South Africa – Mvezo, Robben Island or Pretoria). Explain association with each place.
· Read aloud portions of Mandela: from the life of the South African Statesman written and illustrated by Floyd Cooper (pages 1, 6, 17, 23, 25, 28, 30, 31,33) . Create an interactive experience in which students practice (through echo or call and response) saying the names of people and places in the book, repeat key lines, and discuss meaning.
· While reading the book record Nelson Mandela’s thoughts and actions in two separate columns on the chart paper.
· Review the list of actions taken by Nelson Mandela in the name of equality and add (in a different color) the actions that were taken by Martin Luther King Jr., Faith Ringgold, and Malcolm X.
· Have the students stand in a circle. Encourage all students to participate by clapping their hands in a steady beat and chanting the words: “equality, equality, what do you see, when someone fights for equality?” Encourage each student to answer the class chant by stepping forward into the circle and responding with “I see… (someone going to school, someone writing books, someone giving speeches, etc).” The students may use the class list of actions or come up with their own idea. Students may also act out their action with their bodies or accompany their idea with a dance move. Return to the rug after all students have had a turn to share their idea.
· Return to Letters to Madiba: voices of South African Children. Read several more letters/poems and show the illustrations. Discuss the content and purpose of the letters.
· Do a whip-around where each student shares one thing that they are thankful for because they live in the United States of America. Do a second whip-around and have each student share one thing that they wish would change about living in America.
· Pass out the Thanks and Changes Handout and provide directions.
· Travel around the room to provide assistance when needed and to push student thinking.
Closure: Play the clip of Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address for students to watch and listen to while they are finishing up their handouts. Collect the handouts.
Special Considerations: This lesson is designed with a specific classroom, set of teachers, group of students, timeframe, and pedagogical/curricular system, in mind. Modifications can and should be made to meet the needs of the class.
Assessment:
· Students will be assessed through observation on their ability to identify ways to take action on the issue of equality both through discussion and through the movement activty.
· Students will be assessed on their ability to apply the actions taken by Nelson Mandela and the action taken by children in South Africa to their own lives through their handout. The handouts will be formally assessed on their completness and the depth of thinking based on the teachers' knowledge of each student.
Resources:
· The 7 Principles of Kwanzaa – Maulana Karenga
· The 7 Cardinal Virtues
· The 9 Cultural Precepts Forrest Gathercoal
· The multicultural and social justice teaching of Marisa Carr-Flowers, Emily Schmitt, and Poppy Paynter
· Letters to Madiba: voices of South African children
· Mandela: from the life of the South African Statesman – written and illustrated by Floyd Cooper
· Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grh03-NjHzc
