Contemplating and Evaluating Ethics

# of Days

Prior Knowledge

The students should have a general sense of ethics, morals, and values
that have been instilled in them by their families/guardians, but they may
not have a proper name to place on these feelings and ideas. Additionally,
the students should have be able to provide reasoning for their decisions,
thoughts, and choices.

Lesson Objective(s)

SWBAT interpret the context and characteristics of ethical scenarios.

SWBAT generate and verbalize rationales for their answers to ethical
scenarios.
SWBAT reflect on the situational nature of ethical scenarios in a wholeclass discussion.

Lesson Assessment

The students will be assessed based on their participation in the Ethical

Dilemma activity and the reflective whole-class discussion at the end of
the class period.

Standards

CCSS.ELA.Literacy.SL.9-10.1.D - Respond thoughtfully to diverse

perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and,
when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding
and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning
presented.
CCSS.ELA.Literacy.SL.9-10.4 - Present information, findings, and
supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development,
substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

IB Characteristic(s)

Open-Minded
Risk Takers
Communicators
Reflective

Materials Needed

Ethical Dilemma Scenarios worksheet

Time

Learning Task

Methods or Procedures

5 min

Bellwork: Do you think that every

situation is either black or white
(wrong or right)?

Bellwork is a daily warm-up standard in our

classroom that encourages students to read,
write, and discuss the topic with their peers.

5 min

The teachers will give a brief

introductory lecture on the definition
and application of ethics, morals, and
values. Additionally, they will hand

The intention of this portion of the lesson is to

provide students with more concrete
terminology to refer to their feelings and
understandings of what is right or wrong to

30 min

out the Ethical Dilemma Scenario

worksheets.

them. These terms will be important once the

class moves into argumentative writing at the
end of this unit.

The teachers will take the class to a

larger area (commons or outside).
They will then explain that the
students will be forming a line of
continuum to give their answers to the
ethical dilemmas.

It is more efficient to conduct this activity in a

larger space so students have the ability to
position themselves on the line of continuum
more easily.

The class will then go back into the

classroom. The teachers will lead a
large-class discussion with some of
the following guiding questions:
What scenario was the most difficult
for you to answer?
What scenario was the easiest for you
to answer?
Would you have changed your
answers if there were more of your
peers around?
Would you have changed your
answers if your parents or
grandparents were watching the
activity?
How did the context impact your
answer to the scenario?

This reflective discussion is important to give

students the opportunity to synthesize the
information that they have learned about ethics.
The guiding questions are meant to lead students
on investigations of how ethical scenarios will
differentiate depending on the context. This
information will be important for students to
engage in conversations and writing for the end
of Of Mice and Men.
Reflective

The teachers may need to explain what a line of

continuum is to the class. The intent behind
The teachers will read off the
using this kind of line is to give students to
scenarios and inform students which
express mixed ethical feelings about certain
end of the line of continuum stands for scenarios (aka moving beyond situations being
what belief.
black or white).
Open-Minded
The teachers will then ask students to
share their rationales for why they
It is important to call on a variety of students to
chose which decision.
share their opinions during this activity; there
will inevitably be some students who want to
The same process will be enacted for
dominate the discussion with their opinions.
every ethical dilemma or until the
Calling on a variety of students with their hands
thirty minute time frame runs out.
up or down can elicit some interesting rationales
that could benefit the whole class.
Open-Minded
Risk Takers
Communicators
10 min

If time permits, the teachers can allude

that lesson on ethics that was
completed during this class period will
have connections to the text they will
begin reading called Of Mice and
Men.