Lesson
Clara Barton and Responsibility
Founding Principles
Civic Virtue, Equality, Individual Responsibility, Private Virtue
Virtues
Guiding questions
Essential Question
- How does an individual’s responsibility to their fellow citizens affect the health of a civil society?
Guiding Questions
- What does it mean to be responsible for oneself? For one’s community?
- When is it difficult to act with responsibility? How can you overcome and still act responsibly?
Learning Objectives
- Students will analyze the story of Clara Barton to identify her actions as examples of responsibility.
- Students will define the virtue of responsibility. They will create examples that demonstrate how to responsibly care for themselves and for their fellow citizens and others in civil society.
- Students will explain how an individual’s responsibility to their fellow citizens affects the health of a civil society.
Materials
Student Resources
Teacher Resources
- Analysis Questions
- Virtue in Action
- Journal Activity
- Sources for Further Reading
- Virtue Across the Curriculum
Lesson Components
Lesson plan
Key Terms
- Responsibility
- Acting on good judgment about what is right or wrong even when it is not popular. Individuals must take care of themselves, their families, and their fellow citizens/others in civil society and a republic and be vigilant to preserve their own liberty and the liberty of others.
- Civil Society
- The various volunteer organizations and associations that are separate from the government that are dedicated to the well-being of society
More Information
Procedures
- The following lesson asks students to consider the virtue of responsibility.
- Students will engage with the story of Clara Barton and the virtue of responsibility as they consider the question: How does an individual’s responsibility to their fellow citizens affect the health of a civil society?
- The main activity in this lesson requires students to read and analyze a narrative that explores Clara Barton’s responsibility towards her work and others. Students may work individually, in pairs, or small groups as best fits your classroom. The analysis questions provided can be used to help students comprehend and think critically about the content. As the teacher, you can decide which questions best fit your students’ needs and time restraints.
- Lastly, the lesson includes sources used in this lesson for further reading and suggestions for cross-curricular connections.
Standards
Related materials
How does an individual’s responsibility to their fellow citizens affect the health of a civil society? Explore the story of Clara Barton in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how she exhibited the virtue of responsibility. Heroes and Villains uses narratives to discuss the concepts of civic virtue in all classrooms. Each virtue narrative includes corresponding discussion guides, journal templates, a toolbox with additional activities, and suggestions for further reading on each topic or virtue.
How can the example of Clara Barton dedicating herself to the responsibility for caring for others throughout her life inspire students?