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Are you looking for ideas to implement Character Counts!
in the classroom?
The Josephson Institute of Ethics has put together
a two volume set of Good Ideas To Help Young People Develop Good
Character. This book gives lessons and activities that will help
you implement the six pillars of good character in your classroom.
The book, Caring Messages for the School Year
by Sharon L Banas, is another resource. It contains 40 weeks of
daily discussion ideas on character.
Some ideas that have worked for my school:
I teach middle school grades 6-8 in a school of
Pre-3-8 grades. In the beginning of the year I divide my 6th
graders into groups of 4-6. Each group is assigned a pillar. Their
task is to come up with a skit or lesson that can be used for our
monthly all-school assemblies. Since each group tries to “out-do” the
other, the skits are great.
We also have students in our entire school earning
stars. Whenever a teacher or another students catches someone going out
of his/her way for another, that student can earn a star. The color of
the star matches the color of the pillar which that child exemplified.
At the end of each quarter, the child that earned the most stars in
his/her class receives a Baskin-Robbins gift certificate, and
recognition at an all-school assembly.
One year we encouraged students to partner up with
our local library. Our library has listings of books whose stories
exemplify the pillars of good character. Students read a book and
reported how one of the characters showed good character.
Schools can be involved in Make a Difference Day
which comes the third Saturday in October. We took our entire school to
work several hours at our Nature Center.
During National Character Counts!SM week, students make posters. Each student is given one pillar
of good character, and their poster gives an example/picture of that
pillar.
Click below to find out what the Itasca
schools and Spring Brook Nature Center are doing.
Visit the National Character Counts! site
at
www.charactercounts.org for
more ideas. |
