Amelia Earhart Lesson Plan: Build goal-setting and resiliency skills

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic, Amelia Earhart, and addresses the concepts of setting goals and persevering through challenges. 

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Prompt students to think of a challenging goal they’ve set for themselves. Ask:

  • What was your goal and what made it challenging?
  • What steps did you take to reach your goal? 
  • What setbacks or obstacles did you face along the way and how did you overcome these challenges?

Step 2: BUILD BACKGROUND

  • Read aloud the description below the Movie player.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
  • Students examine the Primary Sources and answer the accompanying questions.
  • Have students choose to read one of the following Related Reading articles: “Quotables” or “Unsolved Mysteries.” Pair students who read different articles and share with each other what they learned.  

Step 3: APPLY

Students synthesize their ideas and express them through one or more of the following creative projects. They can work individually or collaborate.  

  • Make-a-Movie: Imagine you’re Amelia Earhart, and make a vlog ( “video blog”) about one of your groundbreaking flights. Describe how you feel, what you see, what message you want to send about setting goals and persevering despite obstacles.
  • Make-a-Map: Identify characteristics that describe Amelia Earhart and evidence to support each one.
  • Creative Coding: Code a newscast reporting on Amelia Earhart’s 1932 solo flight across the Atlantic.


Step 4: REFLECT & ASSESS 

  • Reflect: After sharing creative projects with each other, students reflect on what they’ve learned about Amelia Earhart. Prompt them by asking questions such as:

    • What barriers did Amelia Earhart break? What character traits enabled her to persevere and reach her goals?
    • How did Amelia Earhart impact women’s history?
    • Why do we still celebrate Amelia Earhart’s accomplishments today?
    • What can we learn from Amelia Earhart about setting goals and following dreams?

Step 5: EXTEND LEARNING

For strategies on how to set and achieve goals, explore the Setting Goals topic with support from the accompanying lesson plan.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Amelia Earhart, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7