English (Research & Technical Writing) TEKS:

(4) The student applies the conventions of usage and mechanics of written English. The student is expected to:

(A) produce legible written work, including handwritten, word processed, and typed documents;

(B) use correct capitalization and punctuation;

(C) use correct spelling in the final draft;

(D) demonstrate control over grammatical elements such as subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and verb forms in final drafts;

(E) use appropriate technical vocabulary;

Social Studies TEKS:

(19) Citizenship. The student understands the importance of effective leadership in a democratic society. The student is expected to:

(A) describe qualities of effective leadership;

(B) evaluate the contributions of significant political and social leaders

Math Models TEKS:

(M.2)  The student uses graphical and numerical techniques to study patterns and analyze data.

The student is expected to:

(A)  interpret information from various graphs, including line graphs, bar graphs, circle graphs, histograms, scatterplots, line plots, stem and leaf plots, and box and whisker plots to draw conclusions from the data;

None identified for department. 

In this lesson, students will perform an other study of leaders throughout history.  The students will analyze the character of these leaders in terms of leadership skills, as well as performance and moral character.  The students will then publish and present their findings as a "Top 10 Listing" for Character Leadership Traits.

After introducing the lesson overview to students, they will generate their own set of questions to explore as it pertains to the lesson objective(s)  Students will explore their own questions such as:

1) What leaders throughout history stand out?

2) What leadership qualties did they possess that made them successful?

3) What character driven traits did they possess that helped influence the direction of their decisions?

4) What common character driven traits did all of the leaders have in common?

5) What lessons from their stories have I learned that I can use in my leadership experience? 

6) To what degree do I possess these effective leadership character driven traits?

Students will use the world wide web and/or library resources to research information about leaders such as: Mohandas Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, Shakespeare, Buddha, Marie Curie, Susan B. Anthony, Benazir Bhutto, Louis Farrakhan, Thomas Jefferson, Barbara Jordan, Ruth Perry, Golda Meir, Nelson Mandela, Chandrika Kumaratunge, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mikhail Gorbachev, and Indira Gandhi.  The research will be guided by the questions students generate when the lesson is introduced (see engaging questions).

Students will analyze and compare the leaders in terms of their leadership and character qualities, and assess the common character traits that made them great. 

Students will then publish a "top 10" list of character traits that all leaders should possess using any media available.  This could take the form of a "Top 10 Video" or "Top 10 Hit List' or even a video that assimilates the leaders and showcases these qualities in action.  

Students will use the "top 10" list created to evaluate the degree to which they possess or are developing these traits.  They will rate themselves on a scale of 1-10 for each trait, and show their results on a histogram created using MS Excel.  Students will need to present justification for their reasoning by providing examples from their own leadership experience. 

Students will compare the leaders in terms of their leadership and character qualities, assess the common character traits that made them great, and publish a "top 10" list of character traits that all leaders should possess.  Students will evaluate the degree to which they possess or are developing these traits in their leadership roles using a histogram, and justify their reasoning by providing examples from their own leadership experience.

Graphic Organizers will be used to guide student research, and organize thoughts during the lessons while comparing the leaders. 

Students will use the world wide web for research, and any available software to create and publish their "top 10" list, and develop their histogram. 

Excel, Publisher, Word, FrontPage etc. are all availble programs that students can use to complete the project. 

Teacher

"What Do You Stand For?" for Teens Text

12 Character Traits of Good Leaders Comparison

Mobile Computer Lab Carts

Performance and Moral Character Information from Smart & Good Schools Report