1. Activate students’ prior knowledge.

Write the terms perseverance and grit on the board. Invite volunteers to define the two terms in their own words. (Perseverance is the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult. Grit is mental toughness and courage.) Then have volunteers explain how they think the terms are related. (Both show strength of character in the face of obstacles.) Have a whole-class discussion using the prompts below. Ask:

• Name someone who has never failed at anything. Why is that impossible?
• Think back to when you first learned to ride a bike. How many of you fell down while you were learning? Did you get back up?
• Have you or someone you know ever made a mistake while cooking, and ended up creating a new dish that you liked just as well? Share some of your experiences.
• Is failure final? If you fail at something, is it time to give up?
• Name some traits of people who show perseverance.

2. Introduce the activity.

Write the following quotation from Thomas Edison on the board: “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”  Place the items you gathered before the activity on a table in front of the class. Write the names of the items, as well as those of innovations you couldn’t bring in, on the board: Silly Putty, Post-It Notes, Scotchgard Carpet and Upholstery Protector, Penicillin, a Slinky, a Microwave oven, potato chips, and Saccharin artificial sweetener. Ask: Do you know what all of the items have in common? Explain that all of these items were invented by accident, by mistake, or because the inventor tried and failed to invent something else. Explain to students that, in this activity, the class will work in teams to explore one of these items, which would never have been invented if its developers had given up. Students will investigate how it was invented or discovered and why it serves as an ideal example about the importance of perseverance and grit. Then they will share that story with the class in a unique and creative way.

3. Have small groups research an innovation.

Divide the class into pairs or groups of three. Distribute a copy of the Failures That Succeeded worksheet to each team and assign or allow them to self-select one of the items from the list. Try not to have more than one group investigate the same item. Explain that each team will research their item on the Internet and complete the Failures That Succeeded worksheet. When they have completed their research, they will create a simple comic strip on a poster to display to the rest of the class. Show the class a wooden matchstick (the kind sold in boxes; not safety matches torn from a book) and explain that the first friction match like this one was created by accident in the late 1820s by English chemist John Walker, who liked to use thin sticks to mix his concoctions. One day he found that he couldn’t clean a mixture off the end of his stick. After rubbing with a cloth he started scraping the stick on the ground, and suddenly, the stick burst into flames. John Walker quickly realized that he had created something that would change the world.

4. Have small groups create a comic strip poster of the innovation.

Project the Matchstick Comic Strip example, and discuss the parts of the strip that they will be required to include in their own posters. Teams must include at least three and no more than four frames. Above or below each frame should be a short, 1–2 sentence caption explaining what is going on in the illustrations:

• Frame 1: Illustrate what the innovator was trying to do. Include details to suggest the setting like the laboratory in this example.
• Frame 2: Illustrate what “went wrong.” Include speech balloons if you’d like to show the inventor’s reactions.
• Frame 3/4: Illustrate how this mistake became a success. This can be the inventor realizing what he or she has done or a different scene, showing the product in use.

Provide each team with poster board and have them use their research to design a 3-4 frame comic strip illustrating how this innovation came to be. Have students attach the object (or a photo of one) on the poster. Display all of the posters around the room or in the school hallway.

5. Have the whole class do a poster walk.

Have students walk around the displays and explore the posters, learning the stories of these “Failures that Succeeded.” When everyone has had time to fully explore the posters, have students vote on their favorite failure-to-success story.

6. Debrief the activity.

Invite students to share their favorite “failure to success” stories from the activity. Ask:

• What is the main reason that you voted for that story? (Possible responses: they like and/or use the product themselves, they enjoyed the story behind the invention, they were inspired by the way the inventor turned a mistake into a success or showed perseverance, and so on.)
• How do the stories we’ve explored today highlight what Thomas Edison said in the quotation written on the board? What would have happened if these inventors had given up, or if no one else came along to see the possibilities in the mistakes that were made?
• What would the world be like today if nobody ever made a mistake? Do you think we would be enjoying chocolate chip cookies or Microwave ovens?
• How do these stories serve as a lesson for the rest of us to live by?

7. Have students write an opinion statement essay of at least three paragraphs. First share the essay prompts:

• How can failure sometimes point the way to success?
• Is failure a critical part of achieving success?
• Does every success story include someone with grit and perseverance driving the experience?
• Explain your reasoning and provide examples to support it. How does your opinion relate to the Thomas Edison quote, “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”?

Project and discuss the Opinion Statement Rubric so that students know on what criteria their essays will be assessed (statement of purpose [opinion], adherence to all three questions in the writing prompt, as well as general writing skills like logic and organization).