Exploring Catholic Social Teaching
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Lesson Plan<br />
Materials<br />
ӹ<br />
ӹ<br />
Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss<br />
Handout A: Jesus’ Friends<br />
DAY ONE<br />
Warm-Up<br />
A. Have your students help you come up with a list of people who work to defend us and keep<br />
us safe. Keep a list on the board for the class to see. Examples may include police officers,<br />
firefighters, lawyers, nurses, doctors, military/soldiers, and so forth.<br />
B. Have each of your students choose one of the jobs listed on the board and pretend that it is his<br />
or hers. Arrange your students in groups based on the job they chose. (Doctors sit with doctors,<br />
soldiers with soldiers, and so forth.) If some students chose jobs that don’t fit exactly with<br />
others, try to arrange them with other similar jobs.<br />
C. In their groups, have students take turns sharing why they chose the job they did and explain<br />
why it is appealing to them. Then, have each group determine whom they would be defending<br />
or keeping safe if they had that particular job. Have one person from each group share with the<br />
rest of the class, and write this list of different types of people on the board for all students to<br />
see.<br />
D. Have your students return to their seats. Explain that you are going to read a story about<br />
someone/thing you might not expect to be a defender and protector, but who will defend and<br />
protect an entire city!<br />
Activity<br />
A. Read the book Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss aloud to your students. Facilitate the following<br />
discussion by asking the following questions:<br />
ӹ<br />
ӹ<br />
ӹ<br />
ӹ<br />
Who is the defender/protector in the book? Horton, who is an elephant.<br />
Who is Horton protecting? The city of Whoville, which is populated by tiny people called<br />
Whos.<br />
Who is trying to destroy or harm the Whos? All of the other jungle animals, who ridicule<br />
Horton for his beliefs.<br />
Horton keeps saying, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” What does that mean?<br />
Accept reasonable answers, but be sure to make the point that it does not matter about a<br />
person’s size or age or ability. Every single person has something to offer the world! Everyone<br />
should be respected!<br />
38<br />
© SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS
Change language