Download these PDFs and get started coloring!

Trustworthiness – Camel

Respect – Lion

Responsibility – Elephant

Fairness – Giraffe

Caring – Kangaroo

Citizenship – Bear

Learn more about character education.

Learn more about character education.

See more character quotations in our quotations database.

Overview:
With the holidays approaching, it is a wonderful time to remind students about the wide array of celebrations around the world. Respecting the cultural differences of one another includes becoming informed of the celebrations of others. This lesson is designed for students to learn about the traditions of others and celebrate the similarities and differences. 

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• learn about several holidays celebrated by other cultures.
• share and learn about the traditions of other students

Materials

• Paper with Venn diagram (two overlapping circles)

Lesson: Large Group

1. Watch “Holidays Around the World” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sv0ac-W8Vc
2. Have students share out things they saw in the video that looked similar to how they celebrate, things that looked different and things they would like to try at their next family celebration.
3. Have students pair off and give each pair a Venn diagram. Explain that a Venn diagram is designed to show how two things are the same in some aspects and different in others. This Venn diagram is going to be about how your family celebrates. Each circle includes the things you do that the other person does not do, but the middle are things you both do. For example: My family wraps presents, but my partner’s family hides the presents. In my circle I would have wraps presents and my partner would put hides presents in his circle. My family makes a cake and my partner’s family makes a cake, so we would put that in the middle, overlapping part of our circles because we both celebrate by making cakes.
4. Have students write their name above one circle and their partner do the same. Have students start to discuss celebrations in their families. You may need to help students along by asking some of these questions:
   • What do you eat when you celebrate?
   • Who celebrates with you?
   • When do you celebrate?
   • Do you travel or go somewhere else to celebrate?
   • Are there parades or festivals?
   • Are there presents? Who receives presents and who gives presents?
   • Do you make anything special to celebrate?
   • Do you wear a certain outfit to celebrate?
5. Have the pairs share out to the large group some ways they are similar and some ways they are unique in celebrating. After each pair, ask the large group to raise their hand if they heard any similarities to their own celebrations.

Journal
After learning about different celebrations, encourage students to think about why it is important to learn about different holidays and reflect on how best to respect the celebrations that look different than your own.

Learn more about character education.

Learn more about character education.

Download our CHARACTER COUNTS! with Puppy Jake coloring book.

Special thanks to our friends at the Puppy Jake Foundation and Sticks.

Overview: Students today need more opportunities to build their emotional toughness in a world that is as fast paced and ever changing.  Thus, creating conditions that allow them to take responsibility for their behavior, emotions, and responses is important in building resilience for learning and development. This lesson will have students focus on their emotional toughness and highlight the need to be responsible for our responses in emotional situations.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• utilize the Scale of Emotion to describe how they feel 
• discuss Emotional Toughness Indicators
• reflect on their own emotional resilience and the importance of taking responsibility for their own emotional response.

Materials

• Scale of Emotion 
• Emotional Toughness Handout 
• Emotional Toughness Indicators 
• Exit Ticket 

Lesson Plan

Journal (5 mins)

• Using the Scale of Emotion explain where you feel you are today and why. 

Small Group or Whole Group Discussion (30 mins)

• Read through the Emotional Toughness Indicators
• As a group discuss/respond to the following: 
  • Emotional Flexibility
    • Define productive and unproductive states of emotion
    • What emotions make you unproductive?
    • Why are emotions so important?
    • Who is responsible for your emotions?
  • Emotional Responsiveness 
    • What are some positive responses students when you face unpleasant or unproductive emotions?
    • Give an example of a time you took responsibility for creating a positive emotional response
      • How did this impact you and those around you?
  • Emotional Resiliency
    • Look up the definition of resilience and come up with a working definition with your group 
    • What is a situation you have had to show resiliency in your own life?
    • How has this situation made you more responsible and resilient?
  • Emotional Strength
    • How do people develop a never-quit attitude?

References
Hurst, K., 2020. Learn How To Move UP The (Vibrational) Emotional Scale. [online] The Law Of Attraction. Available at: <https://www.thelawofattraction.com/law-attraction-learning-move-emotional-scale/> [Accessed 24 March 2020]. 

Learn more about character education.

Overview: You may often hear students place blame on others for their own emotions. It is difficult for students to understand that not only do they control their own emotions, but they are responsible for their emotions. One of the best ways to be responsible for your emotions is to be aware of how you are feeling and take preventative measures. This lesson is designed for students to think about how they are feeling, and how they move towards more regulated emotions.

Character Education Objectives:

Students will:

• describe their behaviors and emotions during calm, increasing stress.
• create a plan of how to safely and effectively regulate during each period. 

Materials

• Stoplight handout

Lesson: (large group)

1. Share with students about how responsibility includes being responsible for our own emotions. Although it doesn’t always feel like, we do have a choice in how we respond and we have the responsibility to regulate our emotions to keep ourselves and others safe. 
2. Show students the stoplight handout. Talk about each light. Green light is your calm state. Describe what you look like, what you sound like, what you do and how you feel when you are personally calm. Yellow light is when you are escalating. Again, share your personal feelings and behaviors when you are escalating. Red is distress. Share with students how you feel and behave when you are in distress. It is important to be candid and show students that adults get to the red light occasionally, too.
3. Ask students to individually reflect on their own emotions. Encourage them to write or draw in each light how they feel and how they speak or act while in that light. It may be helpful to go light by light with students, depending on their level of comprehension. 
4. Once students have completed their own stoplight, explain that life isn’t always being in the green light and it is ok to be yellow or red, but part of our responsibility of our emotions is to regulate and try to bring ourselves back down to green. Also, share that often when we are in the red it is too late. Catching ourselves in yellow means we need to know what yellow looks and sounds like for us. Then, we have to use the tools we have to bring ourselves back down to green.
5. Have students brainstorm ways they can bring themselves back down to green. Share personal examples and encourage students to think about the resources they have available to them in the classroom or the school.

Journal
Have students write down a few ways they can deescalate when they are in the yellow or green. Ask them to think about the resources they have available at school and home, as these techniques may look different in different settings.

Learn more about character education.