Class Activities Using MY HERO's Multimedia Content

Class Activity: Inside Outside Circle

Divide students into partners and assign a film to watch or story to read. Students discuss a suggested question from the Lesson Plan.

Students then create two circles, an inside circle facing an outside circle, with each student standing in front of their partner.

The inside circle shifts to the right and students share their answers to the discussion question.

Every 2 minutes, students shift to the right and repeat until they reach their partner. 

Class Activity: Think, Pair, Share

Group students in pairs or groups of three. Have each group read the same story or watch the same film. 

Give students time to consider one of the suggested discussion questions. 

Then students share their thoughts with their partner or group.

Repeat with the remaining discussion questions.  

Class Activity: Post it Parade

Assign students a story to read or film to watch. (This can be done individually or in groups).

Give students a few post it notes. (If more than one student is assigned the same story, try to give them the same color post it note.)

Have discussion questions from lesson plan on the top of chart paper around the room.

After reading the story or watching the film, students individually write the answer to each discussion question on a post it note to place on chart paper. 

Students walk around the classroom reviewing answers. When more than one student read or watched the same story, have them notice what their classmate read.

Facilitate a class discussion once all students have had an opportunity to review each others answers.

Class Activity: Roundtable

Have students push their desks or chairs into a circle so that they can see each other. Students can also sit in a circle on the floor. This can be done with the whole class or in smaller groups.

Students read a story or watch a film from the Lesson Plan. 

Going around the circle, students respond to a discussion question included in the lesson plan. (It is recommended that students have access to all the discussion questions prior to the roundtable share.)

Repeat with the other discussion questions included in the lesson plan. 

Class Activity: Group Rotation

Put discussion questions from the lesson plan on the top of chart paper and place around the classroom. 

Put students in groups of 3-4 to read the same story or film. Give each group a copy of the discussion questions and a different color marker.

Give groups time to discuss the questions after reading the story or watching the film.

Have students rotate around the classroom writing their group's answers to each question on the chart paper. 

Have students rotate reading each other's answers, encourage them to notice similarities and differences.

Facilitate a class discussion once students have had the opportunity to review each others post its. 

Class Activity: Fishbowl

Arrange students in two, four or six groups depending upon class size. Assign each group a story to read or film to watch. 

Two groups will work together, giving you one - three groups depending upon the number you started with. 

One group will sit in a circle and the other group will stand in a circle around them. Assign one of the discussion questions for the inner group to discuss regarding their hero while the other group listens to their conversation.

Then the groups switch places and repeat. 

This can be repeated by creating new fishbowl groups depending upon class size and time available.