Choose Your Own Heros Journey 50 minute period

Overview: Topic:
This lesson will span 2 class periods in which students will The Heros Journey & The Knights Tale
learn about Campbells The Heros Journey, write a
creative piece to add to the Heros Journey, and
experience the journey themselves through game play.

Essential Question: How do we tell others about our journeys? What do these stories tell us about a society?

Standards:
A. K5 Follow a writing process to produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, style,
and voice are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience; self-select and blend previously learned narrative,
expository, and argumentative writing techniques
D. R1A, R1D Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, independently and proficiently

Objectives (Students will be able to):

- apply Campbells The Heros Journey to Chaucers Canterbury Tales and other heroic journeys
- apply their understanding of The Heros Journey in the creation of their own enchanted tale
- craft a creative story to adapt to Campbells Journey

Materials Needed:
Joseph Campbells Heros Journey Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/a/truman.edu/presentation/d/
17aBEd896a548QdItpdBoLg_bAffHA57yHZvcSF__6p8/edit?usp=sharing
Instruction pages: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6aOCmMZZu4mWGRkRUpVTnhEVk0?usp=sharing

Procedures:
DAY 1
-Class begins with a bell ringer. On the board, students will be prompted to brainstorm a list of at least 10 heroes that
they are familiar with. Students will join a polleverywhere where they will type in the name of heroes that they come up
with. The heroes that are entered into the poll will create a word cloud that emphasizes the heroes that were entered in
more often than others.
-When the students have finished entering in their 10 heroes, the teacher will prompt discussion about which heroes
were thought of more than others, focusing on the qualities that these different heroes characterize. ASK: What makes
them heroic? Their character traits? The things that happen to them? How they respond to those events? All of the
above? Are there similarities between these different heroes that you brainstormed?
-This activity will lead into introducing the objectives for the new few class periods, while beginning to explain Joseph
Campbells The Heros Journey. A brief background as to who Campbell is and how he came up with this structure are
important to introducing students to this topic.
-Go through the slideshow and have students fill out notes during the presentation. Tell them that they will need this
chart for upcoming activities (the slideshow for direct instruction is attached). Before the teacher begins the slideshow
they should choose a hero to use an example to model how Campbells structure is applied.
-In the last 10 minutes of class students will need to choose one of the heroes that they came up with at the beginning
of class and attempt to dissect it using the Heros Journey. Students will turn this in as they leave for class to gather
data on student understanding.
DAY 2
-When students walk into the class they will be handed a sheet of paper indicating which group they will be in for the
day. The class will need to be split up in 2 large groups. Within each large group, depending on the number of
students, they will need to be further divided into 7 groups of 2+ for each major step of the Heros Journey.
Major steps of the Heros Journey:
#1 Ordinary World
#2 Call to Adventure
#3 Meeting the Mentor/ Crossing the Threshold
#4 Tests, Allies, Enemies
#5 Ordeal
#6 Reward
#7 Return
-Once students are in their groups, explain the objectives for the lesson.
-Students will be given their specific instruction sheets and will be given the remainder of class time to write their
storyline. While students are working, the teacher should move around the room asking students to explain their
thinking, ask questions, and help students who are confused. It should be clear to students that they can collaborate
with other partners working on different parts of the storyline to make their stories match.
-If students complete this assignment early, partners can begin to go through the other groups Heros Journey. To
avoid all students from one group going through the storyline at one time provide students with an alternative activity
to stagger the amount of students going through the journey (vocabulary assignment, short writing assignment, etc.)
-The written portion of the storyline should be turned in by the end of the class.

Assessments
Discussion: informal/ digital discussion among the whole class, small groups, and teacher conferences to assess
student understanding
Day 1 Exit Slip: assessment of how well students understand and are able to apply Campbells Journey to heroes they
are familiar with
Day 2 Writing: assesses student ability to use Campbells Journey to produce clear, coherent, and creative writing in
response to a prompt

Differentiation
Creative choice engages student interest and interaction with the content.
Providing modified notes and increased visual content provides support for visual learners and those who need extra
support during direct instruction.
Collaborative activities allow for students of varying abilities and interests to produce coherent and creative writing.
Game play allows students to physically move around in effort to increase their learning. Connecting movement and
creative game play encourages learning for students who are often disinterested in class content.