Grade Level:  6

Subjects: Language Arts  Social Studies
 
Learner Outcomes:

1. Students will use the internet to do research.
2. Students will read about and analyze the lives and careers of well known people.
3. Students will work in cooperative groups.
4. Students will develop a powerpoint presentation.

Technology Tools/Courseware:  computer, internet, LCD panel, overhead, floppy disk

Teacher Notes:

• Lesson may be modified one grade level above and one grade level below sixth grade.
• Acceptable Use Policy

1. Write the following on the board:
   "All through the universe it's being fought, all through the cosmos, and my, but it's a grand and exciting battle.  I know it's hard for you to understand about size, how there's very little difference in the size of the tiniest microbe and the greatest galaxy.  You think about that, and maybe it won't seem strange to you that some of our very best fighters have come right from your own planet, and it's a little planet, dears, out on the edge of a little galaxy.  You can be proud that you have done so well."
2. Let students break into small groups to make a list of the "great fighters" that are named in the book by Charles Wallace, Meg, and Calvin.  (5-10 min)
   
3. Come back together and list those people on the board.  (Jesus, Bach, Einstein, Gandhi, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Madame Curie, Buddha, St. Francis, Euclid, Michelangelo, Pasteur, Schweitzer, Beethoven, Copernicus)
4. Working in groups, students will research each of the people on the list plus any others that they wish to add.  They will find out what they did in their lifetimes to qualify them to be on a list of those who "fought the darkness".
5. As a group, students will decide on a group of ten people who have dedicated their lives to enlightening the world in some way. (These may be people from A Wrinkle in Time or their own suggestions.
6. In the computer lab, students will then use their research to design a powerpoint presentation of their ten "fighters".  The presentation should include at least one frame on each person giving details about him or her.
7. Students will then present their powerpoints to the class.

Modifications:  small groups, modify according to IEP's
 
Enrichment Activities:

1. Students may construct a statue of their favorite fighter of darkness.  Statues can be made of paper mache', clay, playdough, wire, wood etc.
2. Students may write a complete written report about their favorite fighter of darkness.  Include details about their childhood, adolescence, adult life, careers, death etc.

Evaluation/Assessment:

1. Observation during research in the computer lab.
2. Completion and presentation of powerpoint.

West Virginia Standards:

    Language Arts: 6.2, 6.3, 6.28, 6.29, 6.33, 6.136, 6.155, 6.157, 6.160
    Social Studies:  6.2, 6.45
 
National Standards:

Language Arts: 
4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes
6. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts
7. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts 

Technology:
1. Knows the characteristics and uses of computer hardware and operating systems
2. Knows the characteristics and uses of computer software programs
6. Understands the nature and uses of different forms of technology

References:

Glencoe Literature
A Wrinkle in Time  

Frances Brookhart
Mary Beth Hunt
Kim Love

Overview

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5