"What is a Hero"

Hi,
My name is Susan Hudgins and I teach freshman English in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
I just moved here, and my English 9 students are required to take, and pass, a state mandated test in order to be promoted to the 10th grade. I strive to provide material that combines all of the necessary content, and scaffolds information for better memory retention. In addition, being a mother myself, I know how difficult our society is today and I want my students to understand that there is more to the world than just individuals. Freshman English is based around analyzing literature, and I base my lesson plans and teaching that around a central theme throughout the semester. My theme is "hero."
 
What is a hero, who are considered heroes in our literature readings, both fiction and non-fiction, and what is it like to be a hero. I introduce this with the movie (which is great for presenting time lines and much more) and I present them their semester long project based on this movie.
Last semester was the first time that I had tried this with Pay it Forward, and I was actually brought to tears by some of the work that my 14 and 15 year old students did. Their creativity was amazing, the parents supportive, and their projects a joy in most cases.
 
I was unaware of your, and other, websites until now, as I am researching information to complete a webquest for this same class.
Thank you for your information!
 
Sincerely,
Susan L Hudgins, Teacher
English 9
Jack Britt High School