My Lesson Plan for Dave
This PBL unit was designed for my partner Dave, a college professor and creative writing teacher with a passion for world travel and classic literature. Inspired by a chance encounter with a soldier on base reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, I designed a three-layer project for first year college and dual enrollment students to map their own Personal Legend, give voice to the people placed in their path, and explore their cultural roots. This unit connects critical pedagogy, culturally responsive teaching, and project-based learning.
Omens, roots, and voices:
A culturally responsive PBL unit
based on the alchemist
Designed by: S. Kirk
Learner Age: First Year College / Dual Enrollment High School Students
Anchor Text: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS
My partner is a well-rounded, educated, experienced learner who puts his family first. Family is important to him as well as culture and education. He is a private person who has a passion for writing and is exceptionally talented from the little I have read. He is definitely someone I would like to get to know better as I too have traveled and lived in another country, not as an educator, but as a student.
While meeting on Zoom, I learned that Dave enjoys classic novels, his favorite being Pride and Prejudice. He told me of a lesson he has done with his college students when reading The Odyssey. The Odyssey is a classic epic poem told from the perspective of Odysseus, the heroic male protagonist on a long journey home. Along the way he encounters Circe, a powerful sorceress who detains him on her island. When students finish reading The Odyssey, Dave then has them read Circe by Madeline Miller, which retells the same story from Circe's perspective, giving voice to a character who was previously a minor figure or obstacle in someone else's narrative.
I would like to briefly pause to share the inspiration behind this lesson. Several days ago I went on base to have lunch with my husband. When I walked into the visitor center I saw a young soldier behind the desk reading a book, so naturally I had to ask him what he was reading. He said The Alchemist and that it was his fifth time reading it. He said it was a great book that had helped him in his life. I looked it up on Amazon, saw that it was free for Kindle, and added it to my reading list. The following day I read the book and was instantly inspired to create this unit for my partner.
The Alchemist is by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author who drew inspiration from his own spiritual journey. It begins in Spain, where a young shepherd boy named Santiago dreams of treasure and questions whether shepherding is truly his calling or if something greater awaits him in the world. He travels through North Africa and the Sahara Desert toward Egypt on his journey of self-discovery. I was inspired by this book because Dave is a college professor, administrator, and world traveler who has taught in Saudi Arabia, Spain, Colorado, and New Mexico. First year college and dual enrollment students are on the path of discovering who they are, what they want to do with their lives, where they want to go, and what their calling is. I felt this book is a great one for students to read and reflect on who they are and why they are where they are. What brought them to this classroom, with Dave as their professor at this college?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Layer 1 — The Student as Santiago: Students will be able to identify and articulate their own Personal Legend, journey and goals in life, the omens, the people placed in their path, and what led them to this campus and this classroom. What do they hope to find? ___________________________________________________ Layer 2 — The People in the Backdrop: Students will be able to examine and give voice to the significant people in their journey, including each of their stories, wisdom, and trials that equipped them to guide the student with what they needed at that moment in their life. ___________________________________________________ Layer 3 — The Tree: Students will be able to reflect on and connect to a snapshot of the cultural roots and heritage of each significant person to acknowledge where the wisdom came from and honor the full story behind it. ___________________________________________________ Critical Pedagogy Connection: Students will identify and name whose stories are typically centered in the narratives we consume (literature, media, history) and whose stories exist only as backdrop. Through their project, students will take meaningful action by actively giving voice to those who have been in the background of someone else's story, honoring the full humanity and journey of people who are often overlooked, including their own cultural ancestors whose stories shaped them but were rarely told (Freire, 1970; Gay, 2002).
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Hook: "Have you ever wondered what your purpose in this life is? What led you here?" Everyone is put in our path for a reason. Whether it's to teach us something, guide us, help us, make us smile, or maybe we are meant to help or guide them? You're going to create a Personal Legend built into three layers. You decide the format you want to use for each layer, however everyone will need to develop a timeline/journey map for brainstorming and a written narrative tying all three layers together. Before you begin you will need to read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Don't panic! It's only 84 pages! While you are reading, pay attention to the minor characters throughout the story and the omens or signs that appear. How do you relate to the main character? To the story? Reflect on this story for a moment when you are done reading. What was your takeaway? ___________________________________________________ LAYER 1 — You Are Santiago Place yourself in Santiago's shoes and mentally walk through the story, but instead of Santiago's journey and setting, I want you to visualize your life from past to present. From the time you were born to where you are right now sitting in this classroom. What does your setting look like? Was it here in the United States? Another country? Where does your story take place? Who are the characters you interact with? What wisdom, lessons, and warnings do they give you? For this layer, you are going to map out your Personal Legend, your journey, your omens, the people placed in your path, and what brought you to this classroom. What do you hope to find? ___________________________________________________ LAYER 2 — The People in the Backdrop Every story has at least one main character and several minor characters. The characters that go unnoticed or are easily forgotten….until now. You are going to give these minor (but very important) characters a voice. For each significant person in your journey, you are going to give voice to THEIR story. What wisdom, trials, and journey did they carry that equipped them to guide you? What is their cultural background? Is it one that generally gets neglected in our cultural norms? This connects to Gay’s (2002) framework of culturally responsive teaching, which emphasizes honoring the full cultural backgrounds of all learners. ___________________________________________________ LAYER 3 — The Tree Like a tree, we all have roots, cultural roots and heritage. That is part of our story and makes us who we are. It does not necessarily define us, but it does tell us who we are. There are two paths. The path you choose will apply to you and your circumstance: Path A: Trace a snapshot of your cultural roots and heritage. Where did the wisdom come from even further back? Path B (for those whose roots are inaccessible): Name what's missing and why. Then take meaningful action by beginning to preserve and build what you CAN know for future generations. Freire (1970) reminds us that naming that is missing is itself an act of critical consciousness and the first step toward meaningful action. The format to deliver these layers falls directly into your hands. You decide. ___________________________________________________ Non-Negotiables: - Create a timeline/journey map - Create a written narrative tying all three layers together Submission: - Submit your complete Personal Legend Project (all three layers, timeline, written narrative) to your instructor - Create a screencast walking through your project - View and respond meaningfully to at least two classmates' screencasts ___________________________________________________ Have fun with this and be creative. Make this meaningful to you because by doing so, you may discover patterns and omens within omens and unleash an amazing story you didn't realize you have, one that is unique only to you.
UNIT OUTLINE: THE PERSONAL LEGEND PROJECT
Estimated Duration: 4 weeks Week 1 — The Hook and The Book - Day 1: Hook introduction, essential questions, project overview - Days 2-4: Read The Alchemist independently or in class - Day 5: Post-reading reflection and discussion. How did you relate to Santiago? What was your takeaway? What omens or minor characters stood out to you? Week 2 — Layer 1: You Are Santiago - Days 1-2: Introduction of Layer 1, modeling and examples - Days 3-5: Students begin mapping their Personal Legend, developing their timeline/journey map, work time with instructor feedback Week 3 — Layer 2 and Layer 3 - Days 1-2: Introduction of Layer 2, giving voice to backdrop people - Day 3: Introduction of Layer 3, Path A and Path B explained - Days 4-5: Work time across both layers, instructor conferences with students Week 4 — Narrative, Screencast and Community - Days 1-2: Students complete written narrative tying all three layers together - Days 3-4: Students create screencast walking through their Personal Legend Project - Day 5: Submit project and screencast, begin viewing and responding to two classmates' screencasts
RUBRIC
The following rubric outlines the assessment criteria for The Personal Legend Project. Point values are to be determined by the instructor.
REFERENCES & AI DISCLOSURE
Bradshaw, A. C. (2017). Critical pedagogy and educational technology. In A. D. Benson, R. Joseph, & J. L. Moore (Eds.), Culture, learning and technology: Research and practice (pp. 8–27). Routledge.
Coelho, P. (1988). The alchemist. HarperCollins.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Herder and Herder.
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106–116.
AI Disclosure: I used Claude (Anthropic) as a thinking partner throughout the development of this PBL unit. The inspiration, creative concept, three-layer structure, and all instructional decisions are entirely my own. Claude assisted me in organizing, articulating, and refining my ideas. The Alchemist was read independently and served as the genuine inspiration for this unit design.