Drawing of Thoreau's cabin by his sister Sophia Lesson 1: The life and times of Thoreau Lesson 2: Thoreau's philosophy of government Lesson 3: Thoreau's writing style Lesson 4: Imprisonment and individuality |
Lesson 2: What is H. D. Thoreau’s philosophy of government? Instructional Objectives: Students will be able to read with understanding part of the essay “On Civil Disobedience” that deals with Thoreau’s philosophy of government. They will be able to work in groups to paraphrase two of Thoreau’s criteria for his beliefs. Individually they will be able to write a persuasive argument defending their own opinion on Thoreau’s beliefs. They will use technology to organize their writing and survey the opinions of their peers. Time: One forty minute class (Allot more time for extension activities). Motivation: Marching Boycotting Legal action, e.g., lawsuit Striking Breaking the law, e.g., defacing property The students are directed to define these words and phrases in the second column in terms of how they are used in protests and to give an actual example if they know one in the third column. In the fourth and fifth columns, the students indicate if they would be willing to participate in such a protest for a cause they believe in, both as part of a group and individually. The answers are examined in a brief class discussion. Here is an example of how a completed worksheet might look. Development:
Homework: Extension: The results of the "motivation" may be polled, tallied, and graphed to report the results of students’ reactions to protesting in a group and individually. - To quickly create a free online poll, try HTML gear from Lycos: http://htmlgear.lycos.com/specs/poll.html - Or, take a hand count of the class answers and have students enter data in either an Excel spreadsheet or using an online graphing center such as the National Center for Education Statistics "Create a Graph" site: |