Walden Lesson Plan

Practicing Contemplation

Kind of Activity:

Role Play

Objective:

Students will attempt to comprehend the nature of contemplation as described by Thoreau through the virtual setting of Walden Pond.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7

Structure:

Thoreau belongs to the literary movement of American Romanticism and also practiced the philosophy of Transcendentalism. Contemplative meditation, according to the transcendentalists, could elevate a person from the mundane world into a more spiritual plane, and communion with nature was essential to medication.

Suggest to the class that they experience transcendental meditation with a video (1:28 minutes) of...