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Teacher Lesson Plans from 2019

Participant Projects

The principal project will be the creation of a curriculum unit that uses as a base the observations Thoreau made, the questions he asked, and the questions that the teachers (and ultimately their students) will articulate based on their own observations. Participants will have a choice of seven major threads to follow which connect to what we believe are the most important aspects of Thoreau’s thought for young people, and to answer perhaps the most important question of all: Why does Thoreau matter? 

  1. Being Awake, Aware, and Alive
  2. Hearing that Different Drummer
  3. Examining Desperate and Deliberate Lives
  4. Living in Society
  5. Living in Nature
  6. Practicing Simplicity
  7. Choosing Life with Principle

Participants will develop lessons based on one of the threads, lessons focused around Thoreau’s inquiries, and their relevance to what students worry and wonder about today. The Concord Museum will develop a website for the use of the Summer Scholars, which will serve as a place for all to contribute their quotes, questions, and visuals around each thread as a shared database. Their lessons will also be mounted on the website under each thread, arranged by grade level, and available freely to educators and students everywhere.

 

NEH 2019 Lesson Plans

Please check back for updates.

Lesson Title
Teacher Name
Grade Level Taught
Link to LessonCourse Subject
Thoreau & WordsSerrin Anderson11 and 12Anderson Lesson PlanEnglish
The Language of Nature: An exploration of the individual and society from Transcendenalism to TodayKerri Bundy11 and 12Bundy Lesson PlanEnglish
Into the Wild and TranscendentalismCharles Cangemi11Cangemi Lesson PlanEnglish
Living and Writing Deliberately: The Concord Landscapes and Legacy of Henry ThoreauKathy Carrol9 – 12Carrol Lesson PlanLibrary
Henry David Thoreau – Curriculum UnitChristopher Donovan11Donovan Lesson PlanAmerican Literature
Henry David Thoreau UnitDavid Duer9 – 12Duer Lesson PlanEnglish
Focus: Being Awake, Aware and AliveMaura Dwyer11Dwyer Lesson PlanEnglish
Thoreau: Desperate and Deliberate LivesBradley Fletcher9 – 12Fletcher Lesson PlanHistory
Living Life Deliberately – Journal ActivitiesBarbara Fowler9 – 12Fowler Lesson PlanSocial Sciences
Thoreau, Social Location, and the Personal Statement Merry Gordon9 – 12Gordon Lesson PlanEnglish
Henry David Thoreau and The Green New DealCarol Graham11Graham Lesson PlanEnglish Literature
Deliberate ChoicesStephanie Gronholz10Gronholz Lesson PlanEnglish
Whole Life Examined: Transcendentalist Ideas in the Modern EraDavid P. Iverson11Iverson Lesson PlanEnglish
Walking as a Data Collection ProcessDr. David Valdez12Valdez Lesson PlanIB Psychology
Living and Writing Deliberately: The Concord Landscapes and Legacy of Henry ThoreauRebecca Newland9 – 12Newland Lesson PlanLibrary
How did Thoreau’s writing and work influcence the American Environtmental movement?Laura Gallant9 – 12Gallant Lesson PlanEnvironmental Technology
Examinging Desperate and Deliberate Lives: Running a Thousand Miles for FreedomSarah Jelinski9 – 12Jelinski Lesson PlanInstructional Services
Living and Writing Deliberately: The Concord Landscapes and Legacy of Henry ThoreauAmy Krukowski11 – 12Krukowski Lesson PlanEnglish
Contact! Thoreau’s Most Pivotal PassageTim Larsen11 – 12Larsen Lesson Plan English
Connotative and Denotative meaning: an intro to reading and thinking expectations through Transcendentalist literatureShannon Martin10Martin Lesson PlanEnglish
Choosing a Life of PrincipleRobert McClung9, 10, 11McClung Lesson PlanEnglish
Within and Without: Living in and out of Society with Henry David ThoreauErik Mortenson8 – 12Mortenson Lesson PlanEnglish
Being Awake, Aware, and AliveKristin Pollack9 – 12Pollack Lesson Plan English
What is the relationship of man to society? Thoreaut’s TextsDeborah Posner 9 and 11Posner Lesson PlanEnglish
Into the Wild: Chris McCandless as a reflection of Henry David ThoreauPaula Priour10 and 11Priour Lesson PlanEnglish
Thoreau’s Rhetoric in Civil DisobedienceRebecca Randolph11 and 12Randolph Lesson PlanEnglish
Citizens of Concord! Sophocles’ Antigone and Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”John Rearick10 and 12Rearick Lesson PlanEnglish
Podcasting Like ThoreauKim Rott 12Rott Lesson PlanEnglish
Obey or Rebel: Obeying Authority or One’s Conscience after reading Antigone and “Civil Disobedience”Ryan Smith 9, 11, 12Smith Lesson PlanEnglish
A Dead Cat at Last: Connecting Thoreau’s Resistance to Dystopian TextMichael Arthur Soares11 and 12Soares Lesson PlanEnglish
The Individual and SocietyCrystal Spackman11 and 12Spackman Lesson PlanEnglish
Transcendentalism’s Enduring PrinciplesLyndsay Thompson10 and 11Thompson Lesson Plan
Walden as Performance Art?Anne Wenzel7 – 12Wenzel Lesson PlanCreative Writing
Being Awake, Aware, and AliveGary Wyss8 – 12Wyss Lesson PlanEnglish
A Multimodal Urban WaldenCourtney Beavan6 and 7Beaven Lesson PlanScience
Repurposing and Old book into Something New – A Nature Journal!Beverly Black4Black Lesson planElementary
Observing and Measuring with ThoreauElizabeth Jorden5Jorden Lesson PlanElementary
Awake, Aware, AliveDanny Carratala6Carratala Lesson Plan English Lanuage Arts
Living Deliberately – ThoreauStephanie Dixon7Dixon Lesson Plan English Language Arts
Practiving Simplicity (And Planting a Seed)Elizabeth Ellingson6Ellingson Lesson PlanEnglish Language Arts
Hearing that Different DrummerJosh Gilgoff6, 7, 8Gilgoff Lesson PlanEnglish Language Arts
Journal UnitJeannine Mendoza7Mendoza Lesson Plan Language Arts/Social Studies
Using Thoreau’s Words and Way of Living to Inspire Creativity in our WritingKerri Packwood6Packwood Lesson PlanEnglish Lanuage Arts
Using Paired Passages to contemplate “Hearing that Different Drummer”Anne Pennypacker8Pennypacker Lesson PlanEnglish Lanuage Arts
Living in NatureDanielle Snyder7 and 8Snyder Lesson PlanHumanities
My Wild Life: Choosing Individualism in SocietyVanessa Carroll7Carroll Lesson PlanEnglish
Living in Society: Conforming to ExpectationsKaytlin Yachim6Yachim Lesson PlanEnglish
Living in Society: Global CitizenshipCatherine Christensen3 – 5Christense Lesson PlanElementary
Thoreau’s Relationship with NatureClara Defilippis4Defilippis Lesson PlanElementary
The Concord Landscapes and Legacy of Henry David ThoreauJacqueline GregoryPre K – 4Gregory Lesson PlanElementary
Thoreau and His WorkJodie Lang4Lang Lesson PlanElementary
Portraying Nature: Deliberate art making inspired by the writing of Henry ThoreauElizabeth Sobkiw-WilliamsK – 5Sobkiw-Williams Lesson PlanVisual Arts
Living in Nature: Looking at the Natural World with both “scientist eyes” and “poet’s eyes.”Rosemary Barilla4Barilla Lesson PlanElementary
Living in Nature: Where is my Walden Pond?Randolph Costilow

2 – 6

(gifted)

Costilow Lesson PlanElementary
Henry David Thoreau: Place, People, PurposeTed Donahue5Donahue Lesson PlanElementary
Hearing that Different Drummer: Henry Builds a CabinTina GenayPre K – 4Genay Lesson PlanElementary
Choosing Life with PrincipleKatie Hartman3 – 5Hartman Lesson PlanElementary
Living Deliberately: Henry Hikes to FitchuburgAimee Levesque2Levesque Lesson PlanElementary
Choosing Life with Principle: How can we do routine tasks in more mindful, conscious way?Elaine Phipps5Phipps Lesson PlanElementary
How does paying more attention to our world change our writing?Annmarie Rad3 – 5Rad Lesson PlanElementary
Henry David Thoreau at a Primary LevelZamaria RocioK – 1Rocio Lesson PlanElementary