Overview:

Students will practice the skills necessary to show respect and teamwork through a group project to build a structure. Students will practice teamwork, giving helpful feedback, and patience.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• practice patience while being limited in their abilities during the challenge.
• demonstrate effective teamwork by completing the structure together.
• reflect on how feedback can change the outcome of the project.

Materials:

• Materials to build a structure: pieces of wood, cardboard blocks, etc.
• Sample structure should be built ahead of time and piles of exact same building materials laid out for each group.

Lesson:

1. Divide students in groups of 2-4.
2. Facilitator shows group the structure. Allow them to look at it for at least one minute.
3. Give the instruction that each person will take a piece or pieces and must not touch any other pieces other than their own or the group will have to start over.
4. Each person in the group takes a piece or pieces of building material.
5. The group now duplicates the structure like the original.
6. Give the group a set amount of time. If they need more time, negotiate for what they are willing to give up (talking, one arm behind back, etc).
7. If groups are having trouble, take a time out and have them discuss how they are going to do it, then have them try again.

Discussion:

• Discuss the process they used either by plan or by default.
• Discuss what they heard while they were working, were people being encouraging or critical? How did that make them feel? Did they do anything to change the atmosphere?
• Discuss patience. Is it hard or easy for them?
• How does this activity reflect other things they have to do as a group or team?

More:

• Respect is one of the Six Pillars of Character.  Learn more about the Pillars.
• For more lessons on respect, use the filter tool to find lessons by value and age range.

Overview: Students will participate in an activity where they will have to rely on the trustworthiness of their peers.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• Consider how it feels to rely on the trustworthiness of others.
• Discuss how trustworthiness is related to caring and respect.

Materials needed: Blindfolds

Directions:

1. Put students in pairs. (This lesson may also work in groups of three or four.)
2. One partner puts on a blindfold with their partner or group members standing at least 10-15 feet away.
3. When the blindfolded person gets the blindfold in place, the others begin to walk toward the blindfolded person slowly until the blindfolded person holds up their hands and says, “Stop.”
4. (Optional variation) Allow the sighted player to approach their partners from any direction, trying to sneak up on them without them knowing where they are.
5. Trade places until all have had a couple of chances to be the sightless participant.

Discussion Prompts:

• Ask participants how it felt when they were blindfolded—could they “feel” when the other person was getting close? Relate this to our issues of personal space.
• Ask participants how it felt when they were sighted? Did they feel superior? If so, discuss how that sense of “control” or “power” can be used well, or how it is sometimes used poorly (like with teasing and bullying).
• Pick up on any comments you heard and process them out. Ask them how it felt to be the one at risk. Relate to caring and standing up for someone if they are being bullied.

Overview:
An important part of building your teamwork skills is to be reflective. When you have successes or failures, always make time to reflect on what you did well and what you could do better or differently as a team. Thinking about the skills you need to build as a team will help strengthen your team and give individuals opportunities to grow their own teamwork skills.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• work as a team to complete a task.
• reflect on the performance of their team.
• practice adapting and modifying a plan for success as a team.

Materials: 

• Rope or yarn in a large circle tied together (large enough for all students to be able to stand and hold a piece of it)
• Bandanas or fabric
• Large open space

Lesson:

Large Group

1. Place the rope/yarn in a circle on the ground and have students find a spot around it. Have students place their blindfolds on themselves and then pick up their piece of the yarn.
2. Students will now need to work together to turn this circle into a square. They can do anything to make the square except take off their blindfolds. 
3. Give the students five minutes to complete the task. When five minutes is up, ask students to drop the rope/yarn and step back to see how close they were to making a square.
4. Ask students to reflect on the activity with a “Praise and Polish” conversation. Instruct students to think about this reflection through the lens of teamwork.
5. First, talk about things they did well as a team. Guide the conversation by asking questions about their communication and collaboration. Then, ask students to reflect on what they could better or differently next time. This conversation may need assistance, as they may start talking strategy. Keep them on track by encouraging them to make a plan around how they will work as a team.
6. Put the rope/yarn back in the circle on the ground. Have the students find a space and put their blindfolds on. 
7. Students will have the same instructions as the first time, but this time encourage them to think about their praise and polish as they work together. 
8. Give the students five minutes to complete the task. When five minutes is up, ask students to drop the rope/yarn and step back to see how close they were to making a square.

Journal/Discussion

Encourage students to journal or discuss the following prompts:

1. Was there a difference between the first time and the second time you made the square? What were some of those differences?
2. Think about the things your team chose as things they could do better or differently for the second time. Did those changes help you be successful?
3. Praise and polish your team’s second attempt at the square.

Overview:
Respecting differences means being accepting of others. To practice that skill, you need opportunities to learn about others and how they may be different than you. A great way to practice it and to learn about others is to play ice breaker games throughout the year. You’d be surprised how much you learn about even lifelong friends by doing some get-to-know-you activities.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• learn about the similarities and differences of their classmates.
• practice tolerance and acceptance of differences.
• reflect on how differences positively impact relationships.

Materials:

• A balloon for each student
• A slip of paper for each student

Lesson:

Large Group

1. Give each student a balloon and slip of paper.
2. Ask students to think about one question they would like to know about their classmates. You may need to give them some suggestions to help them start to think. They can ask things like “Do you have any pets?” “What holidays do you celebrate in your house?” or “What’s your favorite game?”.
3. Students will put the piece of paper inside of the balloon.
4. Depending on the age of your students, you may instruct them to blow up the balloons themselves or you may need to plan time for you to blow them all up.
5. Put all the blown-up balloons in the center of your circle of students.
6. Have students grab one balloon, avoiding their own balloon.
7. One at a time, students will pop their balloon. Please note, you may also choose to have a teacher pinch the tie and cut a slit for the balloon to deflate if concerned about students and the loud pop. Have the students retrieve the question. The student will answer the question inside of their balloon. 
8. Go around the circle until every student has had the opportunity to answer a question.

Journal

• What are two new things you learned about your classmates? 
• Did some of your classmates answer as you would? How about different than you?
• Why is having differences from your friends a good thing?
• What can you do to show others that you are respecting differences between you?

Overview: Students will practice caring by recognizing and showing compassion for the emotions of others.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• sort and label the different emotions on the Faces of Emotion Handouts.
• discuss how having compassion for another person’s emotions shows you care.
• illustrate emotion and share it with a friend.

Materials:

• Faces of Emotion Handout (1-4) 
  1. Students will write in the emotion 
  2. Students will trace the emotion 
  3. Students will cut and paste an emotion 
  4. Students will draw the emotion 
• I Feel Handout 
  • The teacher can also take pictures of familiar faces around the school posing with different faces of emotion to make the lesson more personal to the students in the building 
• Discussion prompts (below)
• Family Connection Handout

Lesson Plan:

• Students work in a group or individually to sort and label the Faces of Emotion Handouts (5 min)
  • Depending on skill levels students can write, trace, or use a drawing or emoticon to label.
• Discussion Prompts (5-7 mins)
  • What emotion do you feel today?
    • Teacher: I feel happy because I get to teach you today.
  • What is hard about knowing how other people feel?
  • Why do some people cry, and some people yell when they are angry?
  • How can you show you care for someone when they are feeling (insert emotion)?

• Complete the I Feel Handout (5-7 mins)
  • Choose an emotion you feel. 
  • Draw a picture of yourself when you feel that emotion. 
  • Write (depending on skill level) what emotion you are feeling and why.

• Share your picture with a friend (1-2 mins)

References
Images are from: https://www.pexels.com/ are free and attribution is not required. 

CHARACTER COUNTS! is designed to work in partnership with students, parents, and faculty to make your school a great place to learn. The acronym T.E.A.M (T-Teach, E-Enforce, A- Advocate, M- Model) is a process for you to use in the implementation of CHARACTER COUNTS!

When you think TEAM, my guess is your first thought is drawn to an athletic team or any group of individuals that work collaboratively for a common goal. In some ways CHARACTER COUNTS!, does provide a framework to work in partnership with students, parents, and faculty to make your school a great place to learn.

This lesson will use the acronym T.E.A.M  as a process for you to use in the implementation of CHARACTER COUNTS!

Teach

• The values that we want young people to learn.
• Direct and intentional teaching of values through lecture or large group discussion.
• Utilizing experiential activities that allow for students to self-discover what values mean and how they apply to their life.
• Teach values by engaging students in vicarious experiences employing stories told, stories read or stories watched.

Enforce

• Consistently prohibit gossip and, when appropriate, addressing/discussing its damaging consequences.
• Enforce a zero-tolerance policy on swearing. Prohibit vulgar and obscene language in your classroom, in hallways, and at school-sponsored activities.
• Not allowing unkindness of any manner in your classroom; no “put-downs.”
• Create a code of behavior for your classroom to which students and you agree related to the pillars.
• Make expectations clear and holding students accountable for them.

Advocate

• Hang posters or quotations in your class. Refer to the Six Pillars of Character throughout the day as appropriate.
• Discuss campus “issues of character” on a regular basis (vandalism, good deeds, etc.).
• Remind students – and yourself – that building our character is not an easy or one-time project. Fashioning our character is the work of a lifetime.
• Emphasize the importance of working hard and striving for certain standards of achievement.

Model

• Model the Six Pillars of Character; let students observe that you strive to be a teacher who is trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring, and a good citizen. 
• Follow through. Do what you say you will do.
• Strive to be consistent in dealings with students; avoid allowing personal feelings to interfere with fairness.

One of the most basic behaviors of trustworthiness is honesty. Honesty is not always easy, but lying affects more than just your character. The cost of lying is much greater than you think when you are in the moment where a lie may be the easiest answer. This lesson allows students to explore the impact of lies on both their relationships and themselves and the decision, to be honest, even when it’s the hard path, is the best long-term decision. 

Character Education Objectives:
Students will:

• describe the negative impacts of a lie.
• reflect on their own honesty.
• explore opportunities to grow in their own Pillar of trustworthiness.

Materials:

• YouTube video: The Effects of Lying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbftlDzIALA

Lesson:

Large Group

1. Watch the TEDx Talk from Georgia Haukom. The Effects of Lying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbftlDzIALA
2. Break students up into pairs or in small groups.

Partners/Small Group

1. Have students answer the following questions in their pair/group. Encourage students to brainstorm as many ideas as possible.
   • Georgia shared about a study where the adults telling lies had negative things happen to their health. What other things do you think happen to you when you tell a lie?
   • Thinking about how someone else will feel is always good to consider when making a decision. Think about how a lie might make someone else feel?
2. Bring students back to the large group to have a discussion. Be sure to share your own life examples of how you may have been negatively impacted by a lie you have told or been told. Ask students to share their own experiences if they are comfortable.

Personal Reflection/Journal

1. After the large group discussion, encourage students to do a self-reflection of their own honesty.
2. Ask students to privately rate themselves 1-3 on their own honesty. 1 is that “I always tell a lie”, 3 is that “I always tell the truth), and 2 is that “Sometimes I have lied.”
3. We often say we don’t have to be sick to get better, so this self-reflection is designed to allow all students, no matter where they scored themselves, to think about how they can grow. Ask students to think about the following prompts:
   • When was one time I told the truth when it was hard?
   • Why did I choose the truth, even though a lie would have been easier?
   • Where is one place I could work on being more honest? Encourage students to think about their honesty at home, school, with friends, in their community, etc. Remind them that sometimes not giving all the details is also dishonest, so it helps them think of a specific example.

Overview:
Reflecting on your own character is important to grow and stay accountable. This lesson is designed for students to reflect on the character skill of caring and the ways they display it to others. It also allows students time to discuss how they can continue to show care towards others and how they can make changes to become even more caring.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will

• reflect their own character.
• share their character traits with a partner and discuss similarities.

Materials

• Body outline for each student

Lesson:

Large Group

1. Discuss the character trait of caring with students. Ask them what caring looks like and what caring sounds like. Encourage them to think about people who they know that are caring and what they say and do.
2. You may want to write those traits down on chart paper.

Small Group/Partners

1. Give each student a body outline.
2. Encourage students to think about their own character of caring. Give them a few minutes to brainstorm how they are caring. Remind them with some of the examples they thought of in the large group.
3. Have each student describe the things that make them caring in the body outline by either writing or drawing. Encourage students to fill their entire body because it’s important not only to self-reflect, but also to compliment yourself and the work you do.
4. Students will share their character body outline with a partner or small group.

Discussion Questions

• How do you and your partner/group members show caring the same way?
• How do you and your partner/group show caring in different ways?
• When is it hard to be caring? 
• What do you do when 
• How can you show caring more often or in a better way?

Journal

Encourage students to journal one thing they will commit to in order to become more caring. Have students be specific with their commitment, not something general like “I will be nicer” or “I will care more.” 

Learn more about character education.

Teachers care about the relational aspect of teaching. They take time to establish a trusting and caring connection with students, who in turn become more receptive to what’s being taught. Caring is at the heart of our character and will help in creating a positive school climate. Here are our tips for educators: an introduction to caring:

Questions to ask:

• What are your thoughts on teaching caring, kindness and empathy in the classroom? 
• In what way are our students already upholding the Pillar of caring? 
• Are there examples of where we could improve in words or actions on the part of students toward the Pillar of caring?  How about as a staff? 
• What can we do to teach students to be more caring and kind to others?  

Activities to do:

1. Write 3 classroom key beliefs around the Pillar of caring that you would like to instill in your students.
2. Write 2 key beliefs you would like to instill in students throughout the school, hallways, lunchroom, etc.
3. What instructional strategies or classroom management techniques could you use to be intentional and explicit in instilling these beliefs?
   • Positive Sticky Notes – Leave sticky notes with positive messages
   • Thank You Letter – Write (and send!) an anonymous letter to someone you respect in your school, workplace, or other community space.
   • Caring Bulletin Board – Create a bulletin board in your school and provide plenty of paper in fun shapes or designs where adults and students can write down the acts of kindness they have received or benefitted from.

Project to explore:

One of the effective ways to implement CHARACTER COUNTS! in a school is the creation of a school-wide project. As this lesson is on the Pillar of caring, a school could consider as a project a Campaign of Kindness. As a staff, brainstorm the following:

• Slogan for the campaign
• Agree upon at least four action items that would help to implement the Culture of Kindness campaign
• Assign responsibilities for staff, students and parents
• Establish a timeline with a specific target date for the Kindness project

For additional ideas, a great resource is Random Acts of Kindness – https://www.randomactsofkindness.org

Join our CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition to have access to more videos like this!

Overview:

Our citizenship does not stop at the physical space we occupy. Citizenship has expanded to the communities we have created online. Digital citizenship is important for students as they complete school work and socialize in the digital space. This lesson is designed to give students tips on being a safe digital citizens. 

Character Education Objectives:

• Students will discuss their own digital citizenship.
• Students will brainstorm ways to be a safe digital citizen.

Materials:

• Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Htg8V3eik
• Chart paper or space on whiteboard/chalkboard

Lesson:

Discussion Questions

• Where are you a digital citizen? YouTube? SnapChat? TikTok? Google?
• What do you do the most on the Internet?
• How do you know it is to talk to someone on the Internet?

Large Group

1. Explain to students that just like their neighborhood, school and family, the internet is a community as well. As a community member, they a responsibility to be a safe digital citizen. 
2. Watch “5 Internet Safety Tips” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Htg8V3eik

Small Group

1. Break the students into five groups. Each group will be assigned a different Internet safety tip. The tips are:
   1. Don’t give out personal information.
   2. Never send pictures to strangers.
   3. Keep passwords private.
   4. Don’t download anything without permission.
   5. Tell an adult if you receive a mean or strange message.
2. Have the groups develop a slogan, song, rhyme or short skit for their rule. The goal is to find a way to create something catchy so students are able to retain the rules.
3. Have groups present their ideas to the large group.

Journal
Remind students that there are a lot of restrictions put on internet access at school, but in some settings (home, friend’s houses) there are few restrictions. What are some other things you can do to make safe internet decisions?