http://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/wiki/%22Dragons_and_Giants%22_from_Frog_and_Toad_Together
After reading the text to my students we held a group discussion that went a little like this:
Question 1: What does it mean to be brave?
Student 1: To do something really scary, something hard to do.
Student 2: To be brave you have to be tough and strong.
Student 3: I have been brave before, my mom said I was brave when I feel off my bike.
Teacher: Frog says that trying to climb a mountain should tell him and Toad whether they are brave, do you think this is a good test for bravery?
Student 4: Yes, you have to be strong to climb a mountain.
Student 5: Climbing a mountain would be really scary.
Question 2:Have you ever done something really brave?
Student 1: Yes, I have ! I jumped off the diving board in the deep end of the pool
Teacher: Can you tell me why that was brave?
Student 1: Because the water is deep and I use to be scared to jump.
Student 2: I have been brave before, I broke my arm at school and my mom said that I was really brave.
Teacher: Yes, you were really brave, I remember when that happened and I was so proud of you. I know that your arm had to hurt really bad, but you let the nurses look at it and X-ray your arm even when it hurt to move it.
Student 3; My brother is brave, he has big muscles.
Teacher: Do you think you have to have big muscles to be brave?
Student 3: Maybe, you have to be strong
Questions 3: Were you scared when you did that brave thing?
There was a bit of silence so I, prompted more…
Teacher: When you jumped off the diving board were you scared?
Student: Yes, I was scared but then it was fun so I did it again and again.
Teacher: When you broke your arm were you scared?
Student: Yes, it hurt and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I had to wait in the office for my mom to come and it was the end of the day. I was worried about my sister because she wouldn’t know why I wasn’t on the bus and then you came in with her and stayed till my mom got me. I got a pink cast at the doctor’s office and everyone signed it.
Teacher: Do we still think you have to have big muscles to be brave?
All Students: No
Teacher: Can you have big muscles and be brave as well?
All students: Yes
Question 4: Do you think people can be brave and still scared when they do the brave thing?
Teacher: When the snake tries to eat Frog and Toad, they jump away and Toad starts shaking, was he still brave?
Student 1: Yes, because he kept climbing.
Teacher: Sometimes it is scary to be brave. Remember when we had our discussion about the kidnappers in the area? Well I think that it is very brave to scream and say no, even though you are scary.
Student 1: Yes, you told us to yell fire!
Student2: I would be scared, but I know you told us to yell fire so people would look and help.
Student 3: We yell fire because sometimes people don’t listen to kids yelling, they may think we are just playing.
Conclusion:
We have had a great discussion and found out that you can be brave even when you are scared of things. We also found out that anyone can be brave. I want you to look around and notice when you see brave things in either a story that we read or someone that you know. When we share morning news, you can tell us about the brave things that you have seen.
Teacher Thoughts:
I found this a very rewarding activity, I really found out new ideas about my students. It is a great way to compare and contrast, and to get the brain working. I also like the way that students wanted to add to the conversation. So many kids wanted to tell stories about a book they had read or something they had heard on the news. I like to have discussions in my classroom, so this was not a new process for the students but I found out a lot about what makes someone brave. I also think this is a topic that need to be addressed more in the classroom or at least in my classroom.
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