Movie: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Theme: The Power of Fear
Teaser Question: Has your fear ever kept you from doing something?
Going Deeper: Yoda "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you." Do you think most people who are angry are also afraid? Why? Why not? Has fear ever caused you to do the wrong thing? On the other hand, has fear ever caused you to do the right thing? Can fear be a good thing?
Making Choices: You are invited to a party by a person you do not know well, but with who you would like to become better friends. You know that there will be drinking and no parental supervision at the party. You are afraid to go to an unsupervised party but also anxious about what this person will think of you if you do not go. Even if you go, you are afraid to drink but also afraid of what others will say if you don't drink. In the face of so many different fears, what would you do?
Movie: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Theme: Taking the First Step
Teaser Question: What enables you to take the first step?
Going Deeper: How is the future like the invisible bridge that Indiana Jones had to step out on? What is the difference between a leap of faith and a leap of foolishness?
Making Choices: You've moved to a new school. For the first few weeks no one talks to you. You want desperately to make friends, but you are afraid to do so. What will give you the courage to talk to other students? How could others help you gain the courage to take that first step?
Movie: The Wizard of Oz Theme: Pretending to be Brave
Teaser Question: Have you ever pretended to be brave when you were actually scared? Why?
Going Deeper: In a scary situation, what helps more: to pretend that you are brave while inside you are truly scared, or to admit that you are afraid, yet go on? What do others think of us when we say that we are afraid? How do you think Dorothy summoned the courage to stand up to the Lion? Would she have done so if her beloved dog Toto were not in danger? Some people say that love casts out fear. Do you agree? Disagree? Why?
Making Choices: You and a group of friends are about to take the biggest test you have ever taken. You get together to study, but no one is able to concentrate because everyone is distracted by fear of failing the test. Should you: A: Try to take their minds off their fear by telling them that they really do know the material? B: Encourage your friends to talk about their fears? C: Leave the group and study by yourself?
Movie: Monsters, Inc. Theme: Overcoming Fear
Teaser Question: What helps you overcome your fears?
Going Deeper: How does Sully help Boo deal with her fears? Have you ever been afraid of someone because of how they look, the color of their skin or the clothes they wear? Have you ever changed your mind about someone who made you nervous? What made the difference? How did you lose your fear of that person?
Making Choices: There is a student in school whose clothes and hair make that student look tough and angry. You and your friends are intimidated by this person. On Saturday you see this student in a park, sitting alone on a bench. Should you go up and start a conversation, or avoid the person? What would help you overcome your nervousness?
Activities
Keeping a Journal
As a homework assignment or in a class activity, the students will write two entries into their journal under the heading of Courage answering the following questions:
Of all the examples of courage demonstrated in the clips, which was your favorite? Why?
Write about a time in your life when you demonstrated courage. Tell of a time when you wished you had courage.
Activity 1: Fear Charades
Performance Objective: To build a sense of camaraderie by sharing fears and ways to overcome them.
Materials Needed: Paper and pens/pencils
Instructions:
Ask students to write down on a sheet of paper the thing of which they are most afraid (for example, "spiders" or "dark rooms"). They should then fold the paper and put it in their pocket.
When all are finished writing, ask them to go around the room and find someone who shares their fear, BUT WITHOUT SPEAKING OR SHOWING THEIR PAPER. They must act out their fear and see if they can guess one another's answer, as in the game of Charades. When they have guessed correctly, they can confirm this by showing their folded papers to each other.
Once groups have been formed of people who havre similar fears, they then talk amongst themselves and share ideas on how best to overcome their fear.
The members of each group join together to act out for the other groups BOTH their common fear AND their proposed way of overcoming that fear. Members of the other groups have to try to guess the charade.
The teacher then writes down on the board the various fears and the proposed solutions, so that the entire class can discuss them
Activity 2: Profiles of Courage
Instructions:
Divide the class into six or seven groups of students and supply each group with a newspaper (with all the sections, not simply the front page).
Each group should divide the newspaper among themselves, search for as many examples of courage as they can find in either stories or photographs and then cut out these stories and photos. The teacher should encourage students to look beyond the front page and think about other, less obvious examples of courage.
After a specified amount of time, the various groups should share their findings with one another and discuss the different ways in which people display courage.
For added enjoyment, you can make a contest out of the exercise, seeing which group can find the greatest number of examples in stories and photos.
Activity 3: Courageous Critters
Performance Objective: To explore the meaning of courage by thinking about animals that can symbolize it.
Materials Needed: Sheets of paper, markers, or crayons
Instructions:
Each student should take a sheet of paper and draw a picture of an animal that symbolizes courage. Encourage free expression of drawing/coloring. Artistic ability is not what is important here, but rather the power of imagination.
When everyone is finished with their pictures, invite them to show their pictures to the rest of the class and tell why they chose that particular animal.
Ask the whole class to debate and finally agree on which one animal they would like to have as their "courage class mascot." Is it one of the animals already pictured, or did the conversations lead them to come up with a new animal?
The students' pictures can be put on the wall in the hallways to create a "gallery of courage" for other classes to see.
Activity 4: Role Play
Performance Objective: To express opinions on a topic through written, oral, or dramatic expression.
Materials Needed: Paper, pencil, props for skits
Instructions:
The teacher divides the class into groups of five students.
Groups are instructed to come up with a situation contrasting cowardice and courage and develop a short role play or "skit" to present this situation.
Each group presents their skit to the class.
After all the role plays have been performed, the teacher leads the class in a discussion of the ideas contained in the skits.
Optional Teaching Strategies
Students write a short reflection paper telling about a time when they had to face their fears and overcome them.
Give a random number to each student in the class (for example, 1 to 20 if there are twenty students in the class). Then call out each number in turn and ask that student to go to the board and write down one phobia/one thing that people might be afraid of. They cannot repeat something already written down.
When everyone is done, students talk about which of the phobias/fears are the most scary.