Courage & Making a Difference
Meet real and fictional heroes who saw a problem and chose to act — from a boy who grew a forest to a girl who demanded the right to learn.
Targeted Learning Goal
Students will analyze how determination and courage create change, and connect each character's actions to their own community.
Standards Connections
- ELA: RL.K-7.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details
- ELA: RL.K-7.3 — Describe characters and their actions
- ELA: RL.K-7.6 — Acknowledge differences in characters' points of view
- ELA: SL.K-7.1 — Participate in collaborative discussions about making a difference
- ELA: W.K-7.3 — Write narratives about how characters create change
- SEL: Responsible Decision-Making — Analyze how characters make ethical choices
- SEL: Social Awareness — Identify community needs and ways to help
Books in This Unit
11 titles — each with a full lesson plan.
Refugees & Human Rights
The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees
by Don Brown
4 learning goals · 90 minutes
Civics & Democracy
We the People!
by Don Brown
4 learning goals · 60 minutes
Justice & Resistance
A Sea of Lemon Trees
by María Dolores Águila
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Making A Difference
The Boy Who Grew A Forest
by Sophia Gholz
2 learning goals · 50 minutes
Justice & Biography
You Are a Star: Ruth Bader Ginsburg
by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Sarah Green
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Rules & Consequences
Don't Feed the Bear
by Kathleen Doherty, illustrated by Chip Wass
4 learning goals · 35 minutes
Sharing & Fairness
Even Steven: A Book About Sharing
by Carrie Finison
3 learning goals · 30 minutes
Making A Difference
Something, Someday
by Amanda Gorman
4 learning goals · 40 minutes (plus ongoing observation)
War, Guilt & Forgotten History
Salt to the Sea
by Ruta Sepetys
3 learning goals · 90 minutes
Trauma, Loyalty & Speaking Truth
One of Us Is Back
by Karen M. McManus
3 learning goals · 75 minutes
Determination
The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
2 learning goals · 45 minutes