Activity 1

Activity: Who are your Heros? -Discuss with your neighbor who your hero is and why -Pair Square your answers with the members at your table group -Hand out introduction article on what a hero is outlining what makes a hero and what some of the qualities are that a hero possesses -Then have students describe who their hero is outlining at least three of the qualities discussed in the article Why this activity: It provides students with a basis of what a hero is and gives them some foundational background knowledge to build off of in this unit. The focus is what makes a hero a hero

Activity 2
Activity: Gawain and the Green Knight -Hand out graphic organizer of The Heros Journey Cycle along with handouts on what the each of the steps in the cycle mean -Focus today is to be able t understand (1) what the call to adventure is, as well as (2) what crossing over the threshold means in this journey -Read article Gawain and the Green Knight in small groups. Each group had a recorder (person who writes down the answers), a reader, and a correspondent (who reads the groups answers to the class) -Students are asked to discuss who the hero is in this story and to identify what their call to adventure was and what the threshold was as well as what crossing the threshold means in this story and how they did this -Each group shares their responses with the class and hands in their written work at the end of class Why this activity: Provides students with an opportunity to work in small groups and develop an understanding of these two stages of the Heros Journey

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Activity 3
Activity: The Count of Monte Cristo -Students will be watching the film The Count of Monte Cristo in class -The goal of this activity is to provide students with a concrete representation and visual of what this process of The Heros Journey looks like -After watching the film students will be able to understand and identify the difference in roles are within this process between the mentor or the threshold guardians and helpers and what the role is that each play in this journey -After watching the film each student individually will have written down what each of these three roles are and given who in terms of this film fulfilled each roles along with one reason to support this answer Why this activity: Provides students with an opportunity to see this journey visually as well as this is a film that really helps students to identify the differences between these three roles that can be easily interchangeable if not known well

Activity 4
Activity: Demeter and Persephone -Students will read the article Demeter and Persephone individually and will complete a worksheet while reading through the article -The focus of this lesson will be to develop students understanding of (1) what the abyss is in this process, which is essentially the deepest darkest part of the journey which signifies the death of one person and their re-birth as a changed being and figuratively when they become the hero and (2) describe this step and the process within this step and what it is in this story with Persephone -Students will then explain this step and its process in written format with connecting it to this story and then to their own life by choosing one situation they have gone through so far in life that has changed them and has ultimately made them a better person as a result of going through such a situation

Why this activity: I feel that this story in particular is a good example of one abyss an initiate (what the hero is before the cycle is complete) goes through because of the references of good and bad and her literally traveling to the darkest place which is where Hades lives, which is Hell.

Activity 5
Activity: The Mandela Assignment -Students will complete a Mandela of their own Heros Journey -This lesson will focus on developing students understanding of (1) the revelation stage (what the hero realizes as a result of the abyss occurring) and the (2) transformation (how this transforms them) the hero undergoes as a result of the abyss and how they have changed - Students will then complete the Mandela and a written portion outlining their own personal Heros Journey so far and will present to their classmates Why this activity: I feel that this is a good activity to really allow students an opportunity to understand revelation and transformation because they are teenagers who are going through changes everyday and to understand that there is always a lesson to take from these experiences and to know that this is what makes you a better person.

Activity 6
Activity: Buddha -We will read this as a class reading aloud the article in a popcorn type of reading -The focus of this lesson will be on developing an understanding of the last two stages, which are (1) atonement and (2) return -We will discuss these stages as we go and students will take note of what we discuss in terms of what the atonement is and what that does in terms of how the initiate return home and is thus then the Hero Why this activity: I chose to have students complete this reading to focus on the atonement and revelation stages of the Heros Journey Cycle because this is really the story that most reflect these stages of the Heros Journey. Buddha transforms into the Buddha and thus finds enlightenment, which is what makes Buddha a changed man and a hero in this story

Activity 7
Quiz on this cycle of the Heros Journey -Students will be able to identify each of the stages in this cycle and in what order they are in and then what each stage is and how it connects to the previous stage and how to continues to the next stage

Activity 8
Activity: The Odyssey -We will be reading the Odyssey as a class -There are 3 tiers of this bridged version of the novel, which will allow me to meet the needs of each student by accommodating to their reading level and comprehension -Throughout this novel study the focus will be on understanding and applying this understanding of The Heros Journey Cycles and this process to a variety of contexts Why this activity: It was important for students to understand this cycle before reading The Odyssey but now that they do it is vital that students be able to apply this understanding to multiple texts, to themselves and to the real life situations and therefore this provides students with an opportunity to now take what they have learned and apply it to this novel before taking this acquired knowledge out into the real world

Activity 9
Heros Journey Test!!