The Differing Perspectives of Success: What Does it Really Mean to be Successful?

Katelyn Gardepe, 4th Grade, Selwyn Elementary School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Synopsis

This unit focuses on three core goals: centralizing happiness, embracing failure, and broadening the definition of success. Students will work to examine their current understanding of success and how they will use this understanding to obtain their goals in life. At the beginning of the unit, students will evaluate their understanding of success and create a vision board expressing how they will acquire success in their life. As students
work through this unit, the hope is that they will reexamine their current view of success and determine that being successful is self-defined. Students will explore failure and the opportunities that failing at something can create for success. Throughout the unit, they will see examples of famous people who were turned down numerous times before become a
huge success in their field. Using various strategies based on Positive Psychology, students will understand the importance of resiliency, perseverance, and self-love. As a culmination of this unit, students will complete their Vision Boards to show how their definition of
success may have altered based on what they have learned throughout the unit.