Overview

This six- to eight-week novel study is designed to help students explore the habit of mind of independent-mindedness
and nurture a sense of personal identity in the face of social pressures. Twenty lessons are organized in three sections:

• Understanding independent-mindedness (3 lessons)
• Examining independent-mindedness in the novel Stargirl (12 lessons)
• Examining personal independent-mindedness (5 lessons)

Each lesson presents a critical challenge designed to nurture students’ understanding of this habit of mind and to further their ability to create and implement their own independent-mindedness action plans.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Foreword
Student testimonials
Guide to lesson components
Overviews of critical challenges

Critical challenges
Understanding independent-mindedness
1 Introducing independent-mindedness
2 Acting out independent-mindedness
3 Identifying attributes of independent-mindedness

Examining independent-mindedness in Stargirl
4 Introducing Stargirl
5 Understanding Stargirl
6 Assessing reading responses
7 Rating characters
8 Being liked
9 Experiencing “Hot Seat”
10 Sharing connections
11 Being excluded
12 Identifying change
13 Attempting to be “normal”
14 Identifying important messages
15 Rating a characters’ independent-mindedness

Examining personal independent-mindedness
16 Examining decisions
17 Rating my independent-mindedness
18 Planning for action
19 Becoming more independent-minded
20 Reflecting on action

Support materials
List of resources