The following is a simple lesson plan for middle school and high school history, but it can also serve as a lesson idea teaching individuality and creativity, too. You can use the video and discussion questions for a quick ten-minute character lesson, or you can stretch the lesson into a more in-depth education of modern-day historical heroes which could last for several days. {Want other Character Education Lesson Plans and Videos?}
First, take one minute to show the following inspirational video, which was originally an advertising campaign launched by Apple. The commercial is a montage of 17 iconic 20th century heroes. The video asks students to consider what it takes to change the world, and asks them to embrace being different. After watching the video, take a few minutes with your class to discuss some of the listed questions.
For a focus on history and famous people who affected change, ask students to write down the people they recognize in the video as they watch it. {You may need to let them watch it twice.} See how many modern day heroes they can identify. I’ve listed those shown in the Think Different commercial and a bit about each of them below the video itself.
Questions for Discussion
1. If you had to choose, would you rather be the same or different from everyone else? Why? Would you choose the same thing in your school right now as you would when you “grow up”?
2. Is it possible to affect great change if you embrace the status quo {the way things are, the normal}?
3. In our school/youth culture today, how are your peers different from the crowd? Do we embrace those differences or do we usually just make fun of them?
4. What are the things about our world today that have become the normal, but that need to change?
Famous People Shown in the Think Different Commercial
You may want to read through the list, and then go back and have students watch the video once more with the understanding of the people in it. Consider having them list the 17 modern-day heroes as you talk about them, and then have them choose one to do a brief report on for a later assignment. After the reports are given (written, biographical where students act like the hero, video, visual, etc), watch the video a final time and see if the students can recognize more of the famous people than they could when they watched the commercial for the first time.
Listed in order of appearance:
1. Albert Einstein. Developed the Theory of Relativity, affecting great change in the world of Physics. Winner of the Noble Peace Prize.
2. Bob Dylan. American singer-songwriter who was an influence in music for five decades. Wrote “Blowing in the Wind,” and “Like a Rolling Stone,” and was involved in the anti-war movement and the Civil Rights movement.
3. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leader of the American Civil Rights Movement., using nonviolence to push for equal rights for all races. Baptist minister, assassinated in 1964 in Memphis, Tennessee.
4. Richard Branson. English businessman who started his first business, a magazine, when he was 16. Founded Virgin Records and affiliates, and currently one of the richest men in the world.
5. John Lennon {with Yoko Ono}. English singer-songwriter who gained fame as a member of the Beatles, one of the most famous bands in the world, and Rolling Stone ranked him as the fifth greatest singer of all time.
6. Richard Buckminster Fuller. Bankrupt and suicidal, at 32 he decided to try “an experiment, to find what a single individual [could] contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity.” He went on to write 30 books, invented a host of theories and architectural designs- including the geodesic dome, still used today.
7. Thomas Edison. The fourth most prolific inventor in history. American who invented the electric light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera. He said, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”
8. Muhammed Ali. American Professional boxes who was the only person to win the World Heavyweight Championship three years in a row. He became an icon for his rhyming “trash talk” before matches and his unorthodox boxing style– “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
9. Ted Turner. An American business and philanthropist. He founded CNN, owned the Atlanta Braves, and has given a billion dollar gift to the United Nations. His controversial statements have him nicknamed as “The Mouth of the South.”
10. Maria Callas. An American-born Greek Soprano who became one of the most famous Opera singers of all time. She was called, “The Bible of opera.” She has been called one of the great “artist divas” of all time.
11. Mohatma Gandhi. An Indian known as the “Father of India,” Gandhi led India to independence through civil disobedience in total nonviolence, including long fasts as a form of protest. He was eventually assassinated. He said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
12. Amelia Earhart. The most famous American female pilot and pioneer, she also wrote books and started an organization for female pilots. She disappeared while trying to fly around the globe and people have been fascinated with the mystery behind her death ever since.
13. Alfred Hitchcock. A British film director and producer, he was the first to develop psychological thrillers and suspense movies. He was called the “Master of Suspense” and became a cultural icon in media.
14. Martha Graham. She was called the “Picasso of Dance,” because her influence on modern dance and choreography were similar to Pablo Picasso’s influence on the visual arts. She danced and choreographed for over seventy years, was the first dancer to dance at The White House, and has won numerous prestigious awards.
15. Jim Henson. Henson was a famous puppeteer, film director and producer. He created the puppets and characters called The Muppets, performed with great success on Sesame Street, and created The Muppet Show. He is known for his incredible creativity.
16. Frank Lloyd Wright. Called “The Greatest American Architect of all Time,” Wright created 1, 000 projects and completed over 500 works in his career. He believed in structures that were in harmony with their environment called “organic architecture.”
17. Pablo Picasso. A Spanish man, Picasso has been dubbed the greatest artists of the 20th century. He co-founded the cubist movement and is known as a major contributor to modern art today. He was a painter, a ceramicist, a sculptor, and a stage-designer.
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. – Apple Inc.
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Laura is a former middle school teacher and blogs at aLifeOverseas.
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