The topic is one that can inspire anyone and re-enligthen our understanding of what makes us unique, special, excellent human beings. It is a reminder of not just doing average, but really excelling and being thankful for the ones who helped us succeed. It is an opportunity to inspire our students and ourselves to go beyond, to step forward and show the world the best of us.
Warm-up Ideas
- What are the main characteristics of good leaders?
- What do you do well? Explore “I am good at/ I have a special talent for/ I excel in”
- Students make a digital poster of people who excelled/excel in their fields (sports, arts, education, science…) and have a show and tell explaining why they chose those people
- Discuss quotes related to excellence and leadership
http://thinkexist.com/quotations/excellence/ - Ask students to complete the sentence: “Excellence is…/Being excellent means…”
Then, explore some famous sportsmen/sportswomen in students’ country and what they all have in common.
Video Activity
Show an image of the NBA player Derrick Rose and ask them if they know something about the basketball player and why he is famous.
Remember to use Creative Commons photos!
More Creative Commons photos here.
Show the students the video of Derrick receiving KIA Award of most Valuable Player 2010-2011
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/award_nominees/2011/05/03/20110502_kia_rose_mvp_presser.nba
What the presenter/coach mentioned about Derrick
Who Derrick was thankful for and why
Why they think he got the prize
Then, compare their initial list/sentences/images from the warm-up part (whatever you decide to do with the group) with what people thought made Derrick an excellent/most valuable player in the NBA season.
Tell students that they got an Excellence Award
They imagine why they were receiving it (The Most… in…of (year)…)
They create their certificates (paper or digital) and share with the class
The students can make their speech to receive the award
Any other ideas to make this classroom activity even more meaningful?
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