Fun with Character: No Man is an Island
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;”
John Donne
Start the activity by writing or reciting the quote. Ask the class what it means. When the discussion is complete, distribute the downloadable worksheet or have them draw a simple outline of a head on their paper. On the inside, they should identify those people who depend on them. On the outside, write the people that they depend on. You may want to give them clues as to who they depend on. They can write a name, their job, or their role in the school or community.
For each person they depend on, discuss what could happen if that person weren’t dependable. What would happen if the bus didn’t come every morning? Then turn it around and have them identify what would happen if they themselves were not dependable. What if they didn’t do the work for a group project for school?
To process the activity, ask these or similar questions:
Was it hard to identify the people on the page?
Were you surprised at the number of people on each list?
Did you put your name on the outside list? How do you depend on yourself?
Does seeing these lists make you want to be more dependable?