Hi, my name is Michelle Lin and welcome to my second blog post! For my lesson plan, I would be using Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance. Emerson is I would focus on 5th -6th-grade students who’re about to enter middle school. This type of literature is great because it focuses on Realism. It also defines individualism, which most fifth to sixth graders will start to experience as they soon transition into middle school. While reading this text, students will learn to trust their intuitions and believe in themselves.

For this lesson, I would be using 3 of Gardner’s intelligence. In this lesson, I would focus on intrapersonal intelligence, which is understanding yourself and what you feel and what you want. While reading the text, I would give out discussion questions and allows students to discuss in groups about their thoughts about the book. I would also be using linguistic intelligence by giving them a list of vocabulary. The text has some problematic vocabulary, and it would be helpful to be able to understand vocabulary like integrity, aversion, etc. understanding these vocabulary words will help enhance their vocabulary and be able to use it in the future. This lesson plan will also include interpersonal intelligence, which involves sensing people’s feelings and motives. To better understand yourself, it is crucial to be able to understand others. During discussions, students will be able to understand and share their feelings and listen and understand others.

I would be using various clips from Disney movies to show self-reliance. The clips are a great way to use something many students have viewed and connect it back to the text. In the movie Brave, the main character, Princess Merida, shows non-conformity, by refusing to marry. She took matters into her own hands and choosing her fate, not the one that was selected for her. I would also be using a clip from Beauty and the Beast. The movie starts with the song “Belle,” sung by the townspeople. The lyrics of the song describes how different Belle is from the rest of them, and this shows self- reliance. Belle often is mistaken for her intelligence and her difference from the others, so she is showing self-reliance.   

I think that it is essential for students to be learning about self-reliance as they soon transition into middle school. Middle school is very different from elementary school, as they have a lot more responsibilities. Middle schoolers often try to fit in and act in various ways to be liked by others. I believe that learning about self-reliance and believing in yourself is helpful for those teens who will be learning to adapt to a new environment. This idea is useful to teach with this text as it can show them to trust themselves and increase their self-esteem.

Some of the challenges that I’ve encountered when making this lesson was to make sure that this lesson is grade-level appropriate. I believe that including group discussions and going over the material in class can help make it easier to understand. With the various clips from the Disney movies, I think that students will be able to understand the text better and hopefully have a good impact when they start middle school.