Standing Up to Mr. O., Claudia Mills

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Area: Ethics, Literature/Language Arts
Grade Level: Middle School, Primary/Elementary School
Topics: animal rights, authority
Estimated Time Necessary: 30-60 minutes, can be done across multiple sessions

Lesson Plan

Objectives:
Discuss philosophical themes raised in the book Standing Up to Mr. O.
Discuss questions about animal rights.
Students will have an opportunity to discuss questions about animals' moral status, what we owe them, and whether or not they have rights.
Discuss questions about challenging authority
Students can think together about whether and/or when it is appropriate to stand up to authority figures or object to what they believe.

Plot Summary:

Maggie admires and likes her biology teacher, but she is against dissection and refuses to dissect a worm, declaring to the class that killing is wrong. Some of her classmates support her and some don’t, and her best friend agrees with her but doesn’t stand up to the teacher herself. Maggie finds that her principled stand also leads her to act in ways she later questions.

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Discussion Questions

  • Should all of our views be consistent? For example, if we say we love animals, does that mean we can't eat meat?
  • Do animals have rights?
  • Is not feeling comfortable doing something a good reason not to do it?
  • Are we always required to do what authorities tell us to do? When is it acceptable to resist authority?
  • How do we decide when moral rules apply and when they don't?
  • Can we admire someone and at the same time think they are wrong about something?

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