Well I gave my presentation at Conduit. There were about 30 people in the room. I told three stories, discussed some popular fiction books and gave examples from history of heroic traits of real people. The presentation was well received.
Intro: (This is not verbatim but just the general ideas that are discussed.
We love the heroes in movies and books because we love seeing characters who use their brains, who are brave even when they’re scared and press on even when it’s hard.
Heroes succeed because of brains, courage and perseverance.
Trait one: Brains
Audio Story: War with Grandma
Discuss what Peter had to do to win the water balloon fight against his grandma.
Books:Fable haven book: Story about Kendra and Seth go to stay with their grandparents at a magic creature preserve.
Spider wick book: Jarid, Simon and Mallery gain access to book about magical creatures.
Here are some real people who used their brains to solve a problem:
– Benjamin Franklin: when he was just a boy, he created fins and a kite to help him swim in a pond.
– A 5th grader used plastic pencil bags to store food during a science fair. Plastic bags became known as zip lock bags.
– A seven year old boy decided to make a list of traits of what kind of man he wanted to be when he grew up. This same George Washington became the first President of the United States.
– At 15, TV Philo Farnsworth at age 15 came up with the concept of the television by using his experiences of plowing a field. OL: masking tape across a paper to imitate a plowed field and how the first TV screens refreshed a displayed imaged.
– At 17 George Washington became a land surveyor in America
– James Madison a founder father of the United States, studied a lot about old governments and used the best of those elements when he helped in the creating of the united states government.
Trait two: Courage:
Audio Story: Ocean Voyage
Real People:
– Ben Franklin when he lived in Britain had the assignment of being the first post master general.
– When the colonists began to rebel the high society of England mocked and called Ben Franklin a colonial traitor. He said nothing.
– A young Lieutenant George Washington went with General Brattic and headed for Fort Decane with 1300 British soldiers. George was one of the 86 officers. On the way to the fort, they were ambushed. Two horses were shot under George and four bullet were shot through his coat while George rushed about the battle field to relay General Brattic’s orders. George felt God protected him.
Third Trait: Perseverance
Heroes are great because they often grab the opportunity when it becomes available or solved a problem:
Audio story: Franklin in a tavern uses ‘his horse eats osters to get the best seat in a tavern.
Books:Lord of the rings: discussed various challenges that different characters faced: Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, Aragon and discussed Mordoor, Sauron
real people:
– Ben: saw a problem of glasses that helped with either near or far sightedness, so he created bifocals.
– Washington fought an eight year war against 30,000 trained British troops against 10,000 untrained civilian colonial troops.
– The founding fathers sometimes didn’t get along, but worked together to help create the United States of America
– Lewis and Clark faced multiple challenges as they explored the land of the United States. –
– Thomas Edison faced over 10,000 attempts of trying to create a working light bulb. He told a reporter it was not 10,000 failures but 10,000 ways the light didn’t work.
A review of Lord of the Rings most memorable speech: Sam’s soliloquy.
Sam’s Soliloquy
Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass.
A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.
Save the wizard scenario:
If there’s time go with the kids on the ‘Save the Elemento wizard’ scenario. An Elemento wizard has the ability to capture the elements of nature into a ring that can later be released against an enemly. During one battle is cornered in a ravine. He has four elements left to defend himself. 3-6th graders have learned various levels of science.
Heroes often have mentors in their youth that helps them gain the traits of hero isems. We collect knowledge and experience in our lives for later use.
– 3rd grade: earth rotation, day night, friction
– 4th grade: evaporation, weather, soil erosion, fossils, trees & plants
– 5th grade: physical properties of matter, erosion, magnets, electricity
– 6th grade: moon cycles, orbit, solar system, astronomy, microorganisms
Brain storm as a group how to help the wizard and discuss the pros and cons of using each defense.
Four items:
A Big bee nest, a lava flow, a tornado, a Mine shaft with multiple entrances.
Needed items:
Clock ; scarf ; recorder ; 1000 pages of book ; photos, masking tape on plastic.
