John Wooden

Pyramid of Success Lesson Plan

Materials:

• colored pencils
• colored construction paper or colored cardstock
• scissors
• glue

1. Quickwrite

a. Have students to think about their definition of success.
b. Some questions you could ask:
• “How do you define success? Why is success important to you?”
• “Who are some of the successful people in your life? Why do you think they
are successful?
• “What makes a successful person?”
• “Who are some people you admire that are successful? Why do you admire
them?”
• “How does our society define success? Do you agree or disagree? Why?”

2. Think-Pair-Share
a. Give students time to write and have them share w/a partner or in a small group.
b. Have students share w/others they don’t know, etc. to get them up and moving.

3. Introduce John Wooden
a. Read the following quote and have students copy it down in their notes:
“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in
knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best you
are capable of becoming.” (John Wooden)
b. Have students take some notes on who John Wooden is.
c. Here are some helpful links:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden
• http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/woo0bio-1
• http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/ucla-woodenpage.
html



4. Show the TED.com talk that John Wooden gave. If your school blocks the TED.com site,
you can download the video from home (the download is of a much higher quality).
Here’s the link:
• http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_wi
nning_and_success.html
• The video is about 20 minutes long.

5. Focused Note-taking
a. Students practice Focused-Note taking skills (based on the new materials from
AVID Center) as they watch John Wooden’s TED talk.
b. Let the video play all the way through in order to give the students practice taking
notes as if they are listening to a college lecture.
c. Be sure to give the students a purpose for taking notes—they are to take notes on
how John Wooden defines success and how he learned it.
d. After taking notes on the video, give students sufficient time to collaborate and
compare notes with others (Step 3: Review and revise notes) and to fill in any
gaps in their notes. You can also take notes on the video and have students
compare their notes with yours.
e. Also, give students at least 8 minutes to write their summary or learning log
reflection on their notes.
f. Students read their summaries to a partner.

6. Pass out the handout on Pyramid of Success blocks (Handout 1).
a. Talk to the students about building a pyramid and how the base and cornerstones
are the most important parts of the pyramid i.e. important to have a strong
foundation of values and traits.
b. Instruct students to first decorate each block before cutting them out.
c. Be creative on each block i.e. use designs, different colors for each block, etc.
Encourage students to go beyond using one solid color for each block.
d. Show examples of how to color each block.
e. After coloring each block, cut blocks out.
f. Students create their own personal Pyramid of Success, with “Personal Best” at
the top.
i. Glue the blocks on to the colored paper.
ii. Five blocks on the bottom make up the base and build up from there.
g. Students write an explanation on the back of the colored paper explaining why
they choose those traits as their base and cornerstones.
h. Post the students’ pyramids of success around the classroom.

7. Focused Note-taking on John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success.
a. Show the PowerPoint on John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success.
b. Students use the blank Pyramid of Success to fill in.
c. Students copy the quotes on each building block and also any explanations you
choose to include for each block of the pyramid.
d. Show the video clip “John Wooden Quotes” to end the notes.
e. After taking notes on the PowerPoint, give students sufficient time to collaborate
and compare notes with others (Step 3: Review and revise notes) and to fill in any
gaps in their notes.
f. Also, give students at least 8 minutes to write their summary or learning log
reflection on their notes.
g. Students read their summaries to a partner.