I was teaching my students about writing persuasive essays and citing evidence to support their claims. I used the topic of "What is a Hero?" for them to write their essays. We discussed the definition of 'hero'- and through discussion, the students decided someone needed to go out of their way to risk their life to save someone else's. I then had them read some articles about different people who had been named as heroes in the media. This brought up the question- can animals be heroes, if they have saved someone's life? Do they have the ability to make a decision to risk their own life or do they just act instinctively? Is someone a hero if they simply did what their job requires them to do, as Captain Sully had done? Is a teacher a hero??
As mentioned, we did this assignment using articles, but a good follow-up or even an attention-getter would be to have the students view these short videos listed below (under 5 min each), and to also have students cite these videos as sources to support their claim. Students may also wish to search and find their own YouTube videos as evidence to their claim on this topic.
Captain Sully, who landed the plane in the Hudson River:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6EblErBJqwAnthony Perry of Chicago jumped onto electric rail line to save electrocuted man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jp1tyxapZsAnimal Heroes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw1wRJ5HojoTeachers Are Heroes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvDtGLl4qT4
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