This I Believe

Submitted by: J. Harvey Stone
Collaborators: Angie Branyon
School: Glen Allen High School

Summary

This lesson is actually a series of lessons taught over the course of the year. Students are introduced to the PBS essay series THIS I BELIEVE and it becomes a common thread woven throughout the class. Students develop THIS I BELIEVE essays for historic figures and groups of people in both first and second semester. The year ends with each student writing, editing, and recording a THIS I BELIEVE essay about the one thing they know to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt. The essays are published on the school website and shared with a local PBS affiliate for feedback.

TIPC Ratings

This lesson falls in the Approaching category for Research and Information Fluency. Students are given tools to evaluate and share research. Students are required to use multiple resources to create a final product. Students share valid resources with each other. Students apply varied research skills to find and evaluate relevant and accurate resources. They also use information and resources to apply knowledge to real-world situations and accomplish real-world tasks.

This lesson falls in the Approaching category in Communication and Collaboration. It provides many opportunities for students to work with each other. There are times when the students read blog entries by other students and other times where students are working together to develop a final project. The opportunity to publish work on the school website and get feedback from our local PBS affiliate begins to make a connection beyond the school building.

This lesson falls in the Ideal/Target category for Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. The PBS series is a “real world” example of personal history. These projects allow students to create their own path for understanding important people in America’s history. (Answering open-ended questions & using higher-order thinking skills)

This lesson is Ideal/Target in Creativity and Innovation. Students are taking the idea of the PBS series and giving a voice to a historic figure who did not have the opportunity to record an essay for themselves. They are taking the “facts” of history and creating a belief system for an individual based on those facts. This allows the teacher and student to see if students actually understand the universal humanity of people from the past, one another, and themselves.