Writing a Narrative About Humanity: Crafting a Character’s Hero’s Journey
Grade
Grade 5
UNIT
9
•
Humanity
In Unit 9, Lesson 3, “Writing a Narrative About Humanity: Crafting a Character’s Hero’s Journey,” students will imagine and create a character from one of the two books we read earlier in this unit: The Escape of Robert Smalls: A Daring Voyage Out of Slavery by Jehan Jones-Radgowski or Elizabeth Blackwell: America’s First Woman Doctor.
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SUGGESTED TIME:
45 minutes
RELATED SUBJECT:
English Language Arts
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Understand the seven core elements of the Hero’s Journey (protagonist, shift, quest, challenge, allies, transformation, legacy).
- Write a Hero’s Journey narrative containing all seven elements.
- Demonstrate understanding of the word humanity
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
- Prohuman Grade 5 Unit 9 Worksheet 3: Writing a Narrative About Humanity: Crafting a Character’s Hero’s Journey
ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS MET
CHARACTER AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL (CSED) NATIONAL STANDARDS MET
LESSON PROCEDURE
- Earlier in this unit, we read two books: 1.) The Escape of Robert Smalls: A Daring Voyage Out of Slavery by Jehan Jones-Radgowski, and 2.) Elizabeth Blackwell: America’s First Woman Doctor by Trina Robbins, illustrated by Cynthia Martin and Anne Timmons.
- Today you will imagine and create a character who is either:
a.) One of the enslaved people on the ship commanded by Robert Smalls, or
b.) a patient at Elizabeth Blackwell’s clinic.
- You will imagine and write their Hero’s Journey.
- The Hero’s Journey is a narrative structure identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell. It is a story arc with a protagonist or main character who faces challenges, overcomes adversity, and is transformed.
- Show Joseph Campbell’s diagram of The Hero’s Journey: https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-heros-journey
NOTE: Collect and keep the worksheet on the following page for the next lesson in which students will share their stories with a partner.
GRADE 5 UNIT 9 WORKSHEET 3: WRITING A NARRATIVE ABOUT HUMANITY: CRAFTING A CHARACTER’S HERO’S JOURNEY
Humanity: I see that every person is special. People are more alike than unalike. We all need to work together to make our lives better.
ACTIVITY:
STEP 1: Choose a character to create who is either:
- One of the enslaved people on the ship commanded by Robert Smalls
- A patient at Elizabeth Blackwell’s clinic
STEP 2: Before you begin writing the character’s Hero’s Journey, identify the seven core elements of their story:
1.) Protagonist: The central character of the story. What are their likes and dislikes, their hopes and dreams?
2.) Shift: A change in setting or life circumstances that initiates the journey
3.) Quest: A clear goal or mission to pursue. What do they want to do when they reach freedom?
4.) Challenge: Obstacles or difficulties that must be overcome
5.) Allies: Friends, mentors, or supporters who aid in the journey
6.) Transformation: Personal growth or change resulting from the journey
7.) Legacy: How the hero's journey positively impacts others
STEP 3: Write the character’s Hero’s Journey and do the following:
- Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
- Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.
- Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
- Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
Prohuman K-12 Curriculum © 2025 by Prohuman Foundation is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/