Overview | How do people manage when the going gets tough? What traits help some people, or whole societies, succeed where others fail?
In this lesson students will first survey their own experience of adversity, looking for moments in which they managed to overcome obstacles or witnessed others doing so. Then they will explore coverage in The New York Times to seek a broader understanding. Finally, students can write narratives in which they propose a theory on how people overcome challenges, based on their research and personal experience.
Materials | Computers with Internet connection for students to read articles from The Times online, or copies of articles as needed; projector to display article and slide show; wall or online map showing the location of Latvia in Eastern Europe.
Warm-Up | Tell students: Today we?re going to look at some of the qualities that help people to overcome obstacles and succeed when the going gets tough. To start, I want you to think of a time when something was really hard for you but you succeeded, or a time when you witnessed someone facing a big challenge and managed to handle it. It could be a situation from your own life, a friend or relative, or something you read about or saw on TV.
Rather than ask you to talk about that situation, I?d like you to open up your notebooks to a fresh page and spend a few minutes writing about it. Please summarize two things: 1) What was the problem or obstacle? 2) What were the things you or someone else did to overcome that challenge?
After students have had time to write, you can introduce the related article and help students locate Latvia on a world map.
Now we?re going to read a story about a country, Latvia, that has been coping with severe economic challenges. As we read, please watch for examples that show how people there have responded when faced with a challenge.
Related | Life got hard in tiny Latvia when the global economy slipped toward recession in 2008. But unlike people in other struggling European countries, few Latvians went on strike or protested when the government cut back on services. According to the following article, Used to Hardship, Latvia Accepts Austerity, and Its Pain Eases, people scrimped, saved, and looked for work wherever they could find it.
?What can you achieve in the street? It is cold and snowing,? said Peteris Krigers, president of the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia. Organizing strikes, he said, is nearly impossible. ?It is seen as shameful for people who earn any salary, no matter how small, to go on strike.?
Background Vocabulary: Read the entire article and related slide show with your class, then answer the questions below. You may wish to introduce students to the following words or concepts before reading: credit-fueled economic boom, austerity drive, European Union, budget deficit, exports, ?migr?.
Questions | For reading comprehension and discussion:
- Give me some examples of people in the story who overcame adversity.
- What did they do when things got tough?
- Is there a suggestion here that Latvians are different than other Europeans, such as the Greeks? Why might that be?
- Is there anything in Latvia?s history that might explain such a difference?
- Does everyone in the story agree with the idea that Latvia is a success story?
- Based on what you?ve read, do you think Latvia offers any lessons for people who struggle in America or other parts of the world?
A Time to Fight: Faced with the foreclosure of her home, LaKeisha Tuggle of Detroit devised creative solutions to weather economic hardship. Go to related article ?
Activity | Ask students to write a personal narrative in which they explain how people overcome challenges. Each narrative should include both personal elements, based on student experience or observations, and research based on coverage from at least three stories in The Times or elsewhere.
Students may wish to begin by continuing their personal brainstorming, writing down examples of people from their own experience who have faced and managed adversity.
They can then search the archives or track coverage of The New York Times for stories that match their interests, using appropriate keywords or exploring Times Topics pages on Recession, Unemployment, Layoffs and Job Reductions, or similar issues. (Note: teachers may wish to coach students to look for profiles or other stories with a focus on human experience.)
Students may also consider stories from the list below, looking for examples or research that sheds light on their personal stories.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. How do people find the strength to overcome adversity? These two stories describe very different situations, but in both cases the people struggling with adversity find the strength to keep fighting. In ?The Power That Wouldn?t Fail,? Breland Archbold pulls his school football team together even though the whole team was displaced by Hurricane Sandy. In ?Life in the Red,? LaKeisha Tuggle fights to hold onto her home despite losing her job and facing foreclosure.
2. Can different child-rearing or parenting practices make people more resilient? One commentator thinks so. Her story about hands-off parenting in Kenya and other African countries looks at what children can accomplish if their parents give them a ?long leash.? Other research seems to support the idea that resilience can be taught. Have you seen examples of children whose parents force them to grow up quickly and take on real responsibilities?
3. Or, does genetics determine how well we can overcome adversity? Adversity depresses some, but not others, because certain genes may confer emotional resilience. But researchers have found some evidence that genetics, in combination with a person?s environment, helps some people to recover more effectively, as in this story about recovering from sexual abuse. (Note to teachers: you may wish to review this story, which contains some graphic descriptions.)
4. Perhaps suffering through pain and hardship makes people stronger? In this article, reporter Benedict Carey looks at research that suggests there?s a ?sweet spot? when it comes to learning from hardship. Too much or too little might be harmful, but the right amount can provide us with needed experience and resilience.
Senator Olympia Snowe writes about her own early experiences with hardship, and how they helped to shape her life. And in a recent memoir, Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor writes ?exceptionally frank account of the challenges that she faced during her ascent from a public housing project to the court?s marble palace.? Or, read additional examples we collected in a previous lesson from sports, politics and business of how failure can teach important lessons in life.
5. Maybe unrestrained optimism is the best strategy? Jane E. Brody suggests that optimism in the face of adversity may actually lead to a richer life. And, writer Judith Warner explores what makes millenials tick in her story about ?The Why-Worry Generation? and the recession. Does this attitude ring true for you?
6. Can government or charity help people to land on their feet? Or, are personal qualities more important? Though any day?s Times will yield many pieces that can address this big question, here is a story to start with about one man?s experience. Read about Tyrone Freeman, a man who found a job after months of struggle, and figure out which personal qualities or outside factors helped him to finally reach his goal.
7. Does success lie in frugality and personal responsibility? Read these stories about the challenges of saving; one writer?s attempt to sell his stuff for cash; and the dilemma of spending versus saving for low-income families. Then decide for yourself whether bottom-line thinking can make a difference during hard times.
8. What else can the economic crisis in Europe teach us about overcoming adversity? Other nations besides Latvia have been trying to weather the economic storm: Greece, Spain and Ireland, for example. What light can the experiences in those countries shine on how best to deal with hardship? Consider this multimedia feature and related stories on Europe?s troubles. Then read this feature by Russell Shorto, ?The Way Greeks Live Now?, looking for examples in which people work to rise above adversity.
Common Core ELA Anchor Standards, 6-12
Reading
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Writing
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization and analysis of content.
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
This lesson is also aligned to the McREL Standards
Health
4. Knows how to maintain mental and emotional health.
7. Knows how to maintain and promote personal health.
Behavioral Studies
1. Understands that group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity and behavior.
2. Understands various meanings of social group, general implications of group membership and different ways that groups function.
Source: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/making-do-learning-and-growing-through-adversity/
the voice World Ending 2012 gossip girl channing tatum Ink Master Jenni Rivera Funeral aspergers
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.