Lesson Plans for The New Heroes

These classroom materials are written for students in grades 6-12 to deepen their understanding of the world and related social issues. These activities will raise awareness of individuals who make a difference and show how problem-solvers begin and carry out their work. Students are likely to have many questions after viewing The New Heroes series. These classroom resources will help them answer questions raised by these powerful stories.
We hope to help students understand the following:

• How do people really make a difference?
• What is their approach? Their vision?
• What are the steps or process to making a difference?
• What kinds of people are good at this? Are there common characteristics and/or personal attributes that visionary problem-solvers have?
• What do you care about?
• What do the people around you need?
• What is going on around you right now, in your own community?
• What would you need to do now to get going?

As a result of these learning experiences, students should be better able to:

• Recognize both problems and potential solutions to local issues.
• Recognize that there are different levels of entry into involvement in social issues.

These resources contain two different types of materials to use in conjunction with the video series in your classroom. Lesson plans address themes that appear in multiple stories in the series and use short, specific video clips to explore the themes. Unit plans dig deeper into each of the four episodes in the series and use the full 20-minute video stories from the four episodes.

Lesson Plans

Innovation for Good

Students will engage in a discussion, watch selected video clips online, use a handout in small groups to create a "virtual innovation for the good," and present ideas to the class.

The Power of One

This lesson allows students to hear from some of the world's greatest (and sometimes quietest) leaders who have changed the world through their individual effort and vision, then asks students to consider their perceptions of what one person can really do.

Social Entrepreneurship

Students learn about the economic trend of what has come to be called "social entrepreneurship" and its impact on global economics.

Units

Stories of Shelter

This unit looks at transitional and transformational spaces that support people who are in need of shelter in order to grow and develop new lives.

Bringing the Future to People

The three videos in this series share stories of people on the frontiers of technology working in developing countries. Their stories are engaging ways to introduce students to complex and compelling concepts around technology and progress.

The Business of Doing Good

This unit engages students in thinking about global economics and society.

Learning Matters — Making a Difference

This unit focuses on the positive impact that education has on social problems such as poverty, disease, and child prostitution.

• http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/teachers/