~ You Can Make a Difference ~

A Teach Peace Now Lesson for All Ages

Make a Difference: Introduction

Each of us has personal strengths that can make a difference in the kind of world we live in. It can be a difference in one’s family, among friends, in school, in the community, in our country… To make a difference each of us must use our strengths to face challenges that result when we stand up for something we believe or for a cause we support. In many stories, individuals make decisions and stand by them and as a result make a difference in their own life and that of others. In this lesson we will use children’s books with strong characters to illustrate this idea.

Procedure

Primary: Ask: Can one person make the world a better place? How could they do this? List student responses on a chart.

Intermediate: Have students brainstorm personal strengths and actions people can take that make a difference. Record these on a T-Chart, and then discuss their ideas.

Reading Aloud

• Select a biography in which an individual makes a difference. Find great biographies to use on Teach Peace Now’s Great Books list.
• Before reading, ask the students to tell you what they think the book is about based on the cover.
• Read a few pages. Have students write down the challenges the character faces. This could be a historical incident, a personal problem, a conflict due to bias, or a situation caused by a mistake.
• Have students write down other questions during the reading
• Ask inferential questions: How would you feel if you were ___? Imagine you were ___, how would you handle this situation? How did ____ make a difference?
• What were the challenges ____ faced? What personal strengths did ____have?
• How do the challenges faced by this character compare to ones you have faced?

Follow Up

Have students form literature circles and have each group read books matched to their reading level about people who made a difference. Many of the biographies on the TPN Great Books list would work well for this, but fiction can also be used.

Questions to discuss or journal about

• What qualifies as “making a difference”? Can breaking the law or doing something bad count? How long must a change last to be considered a “difference”?
• Who are other people who made a difference? Compare book characters among literature groups with other well-known historical personages, and with people in the news.
• How can you personally make a difference? In your family, in your friendships, in school, in the community, in the world.

Arts Extension

Create a collage of pictures and student-created text about a character in the book they read who made a difference.  [OR]  Make a collage about yourself that shows your personal strengths and ways you might use these to make a difference. To emphasize that there is strength in numbers have students who have similar themes form groups and discuss how they could work together to create a difference. Have them combine their collages to create mini-murals.

What have you done to make a difference?

We welcome your thoughts and comments.