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Bridging the Generational Gap: Walking a Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes Grade Level:
9-12 Academic Areas:
English Language Arts Duration of
service: 10 weeks Character Virtues:
Respect, Civic Virtue and Citizenship Service Areas:
Human Services, Education/Tutoring
Service Learning Project: Harper Lee’s influential novel To Kill a Mockingbird contains valuable life lessons that can
easily be tied to service learning and character education. For example, the main character, Atticus
Finch, is constantly trying to teach his children, Scout and Jem, to see life
from other people’s perspectives so that his children may reach a deeper
understanding of human nature and learn to be more empathetic towards their
fellow human beings. Atticus uses this
walk-a-mile-in-your-brother’s-moccasins approach in one part of the novel
when he gives this significant advice to his daughter, Scout: “If you just
learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of
folks. You never really understand a
person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb
inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
Throughout the novel, Scout and Jem constantly learn this lesson
through their interactions with a variety of characters from Mrs. Dubose to
Dolphus Raymond, and this lesson helps them to fight the prejudice beliefs
put upon them by the racist society that they are surrounded by so that they
do indeed learn that all of their fellow human beings are worthy of equality
despite their skin color. The idea of
seeing life from another’s perspective also helps to support another of the
major themes of To Kill a
Mockingbird, that education is not limited to the classroom but is an
important part of a person’s every day life, as we can learn so much just by
considering another’s point of view. A
strong connection, therefore, can be made between this novel and students’
lives. The idea of bridging the
generational gap can be approached, as both sides of the generational gap
often misjudge each other. Students
and elders can learn that they truly aren’t as different as they think they
are and that each has a lot to teach the other. A balance can be struck between the two
groups so that mutual admiration and respect can exist. After reading To Kill a Mockingbird and focusing
on Atticus’ advice, students will work in pairs to interview and to be
interviewed by elders from the community.
The goal for each side is to learn as much about one another as
possible so that they can then each write a creative short story in first
perspective from the other’s point of view.
In other words, the students will write a story from the elder’s
perspective and the elder will write a story from the young adults’
perspective. All stories will be
published in a booklet to be distributed at the celebration to all who took
part in the project. Copies may also
be distributed to the local senior center.
Also, throughout the school year, the elders and students will
continue to write to one another and elders will be invited in periodically
during some class activities such as watching The Crucible movie after reading the play. The purpose of this project is to encourage
young people and elders to gain mutual respect for one another. Students and elders alike will realize that
they have a lot to offer to one another.
Goals and Objectives Academic Learning Goal: Students will learn the important components of
the interview process. Standard: ELA #1 and #4 Learning Goal: Students will learn the components of writing a
business letter. Standard: ELA #1 and #4 Learning Goal: Students will learn the importance of historical
background for understanding literature. Standard: ELA #1 Learning Goal: Students will delve into their creative writing
abilities and enhance them through writing the elders’ stories. Standard: ELA #2 and #3 Service Community need: There is a need to help
bridge the gap between young people and the elderly population so that young
people can gain a sense of respect for their elders and elderly citizens can
feel invested in the school district. Possible Community Partners: senior centers, rotary club, veterans associations,
local library Objective: Students will gain respect
for elderly citizens and the elderly will feel a connection to the students,
therefore, strengthening the community as a whole. Objective: Students and elders will break down barriers that exist between one
another. Character Virtue: respect Objective: Students and elders will
increase their regard and value for one another. Virtue: civic virtue and
citizenship Objective: Students will have an increased feeling of belonging, empowerment, and
ownership due to their hard work as a result of being advocates for the
elders. In return, the elders will
feel less fear and anxiety associated with young people and will feel a
connection to them.
Key Activities Key Planning Activities 1.
The teacher will reach out to the community in search
of active senior citizens who are willing to participate in this
project. Participants must be willing
to be interviewed by and to interview a pair of young adults and to write a
story from the young adults’ perspective.
Therefore, they must be willing to come to school several times for an
informational session about the project, to be interviewed and to interview,
to meet with the teacher for help writing their story, to come in for
student-led computer tutorials if needed so that the story can be typed, and
to come in for the end-of-the-unit celebration. Elders must also be willing to write
letters back and forth with students throughout the school year and perhaps
come into the classroom during select activities. 2.
Students will learn/review the components of the
interview process. It is possible that
an expert in the field of interviewing (newspaper reporter, journalist, etc.)
can come into the classroom to share his/her tips on how to conduct a
successful interview. A list of
quality interview questions will be generated. 3.
Students will learn/review the process of writing a
business letter. This letter writing
format will be used by students to introduce themselves to their elder
partners and invite them into the school for the interview. The friendly letter format will be used for
subsequent letters. 4.
The idea that we all have more in common than we
think and that it is important to take the time to see life through someone
else’s perspective (a connection here to To Kill a Mockingbird will be
made) will be discussed. Students will
be made aware that the purpose of the interview is learn as much about the
elder as possible so that they can then write a story in first-person point
of view from the elder’s perspective. Key Service Activities 1. Students will be paired with one
another and then partnered with an active, elderly citizen. The two students will interview the elder
and the elder will interview the two students. Each side will then write a creative story
in first-person point of view using one another’s perspective. 2. Stories will be published in a
booklet to be given out to everyone who participated in the project (elders,
students, community partners, etc.) as well as perhaps putting copies out in
the community, i.e. local and school libraries, historical society. A photograph of the students and their
elder partner will be included. 3.
Students and elders will continue to write to one
another throughout the school year.
Students will write a letter as each major literature unit is
completed, most likely for a total of about four times throughout the school
year. Students will describe what they
learned from reading the literature to their elder partner, fostering a
further understanding of the literature. Key Reflection
Activities 1.
(oral) At the start of the
unit in groups of 3-5, students will migrate to different areas in the
classroom where they will view a variety of pictures of elderly people. In their groups, they will discuss what
thoughts, ideas, words, and opinions come to mind as they study each
picture. One group member will be
responsible for jotting down the group’s responses to this brainstorm. Once every group has spent 3-5 minutes at
each picture, the class will be called back together and a discussion will
take place about what they noticed about each picture. This will bridge nicely into a discussion
about stereotypes and how unfair they can be.
responsibility/civic virtue and citizenship/justice and
fairness/respect 2.
(written) After the interviews
take place, students will write thank you notes to the elders they
interviewed. In the thank you note,
they will include their thoughts and feelings about the interview and what
they learned from the interview. caring/respect/giving 3.
(performance) Students will
compose a short monologue using their elder’s voice. They will read it to the class as if they
are the elder that they interviewed.
This activity will allow fellow classmates to get a feel for what each
pair of students learned from their elder during the interview and encourage
students to step into someone else’s shoes for a short while. giving/caring/respect/civic
virtue and citizenship Celebration Activity A grand
celebration complete with food and bringing students back together with their
elder partners again will be given.
There, everyone will receive a copy of the booklet of published
pieces. Also, each pair of students
will introduce their elder partner to the audience and discuss the most
interesting thing they learned from the interview. The elder will do the same
for each student. Booklets will be on
display in the local and school library and perhaps the historical
society. An article on the entire
service learning project will appear in the school’s newsletter. Parents and
community members will be invited to attend the celebration. They will read the stories that are
published in the booklet and the article that will be published in the school’s
newsletter. |
