Curated OER
Character Building - Brick Wall
High schoolers build a wall of kindness. For this character education lesson, students design a character trait bulletin board that features noteworthy student acts of kindness.
Curated OER
Character Ambassadors
Young scholars act as ambassadors. In this character education lesson, students take on the roles of ambassadors of the character traits listed. Young scholars write essays regarding the character traits they select.
Curated OER
What a Character !
Students identify traits associated with a character in a biography. In this character analysis instructional activity, students select a biography and discuss character traits. Students complete a related worksheets and complete a...
Novelinks
The Winter’s Tale: Bio Poem
Readers of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale demonstrate their understanding of the play by selecting a character and crafting a bio poem that reveals his or her fears and aspirations.
Curated OER
Peace Education | Wreath or Tree Craft
What is peace and what does it mean to our society? To understand why peace is celebrated and what character traits or concepts relate to the action of peace, learners engage in a discussion, story time, and a craft project. The lesson...
Curated OER
Character Education: Honesty
Students explore the character trait of honesty. They listen to the book, Jamaica's Find, identify the examples of honesty and dishonesty, role-play scenarios from the story, and draw a picture about a time they were honest.
Curated OER
Character Education - Tolerance "The Big Orange Splot"
Students explore the character trait of tolerance. They listen to the story, The Big Orange Splot, discuss the concept of tolerance, and create a house out of a cereal box and other craft materials.
Curated OER
Counting Up/Down Stories
Mirroring Jerry Spinelli's style in Wringer, chapter 5, pupils use the "counting up/down technique" to recall an important moment in their lives. In the book, the character is being punched, and between blows he remembers details...
Curated OER
A Monster of a Metaphor
What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...
Curated OER
Lord of the Flies
Address the ways Piggy and Simon try to prevent the other boys from becoming savages in William Golding's Lord of the Flies with an informative slideshow presentation. The slides portray an in-depth comparison of the...
Talking with Trees
What is Responsibility?
Encourage responsible behavior with a worksheet that challenges scholars to read four scenarios, identify the level of responsibility, and brainstorm consequences of the actions taken.
Curated OER
Patriots, Traitors, and Spies
Fifth graders determine how Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold influenced the American Revolution. In this American Revolution lesson, 5th graders research primary and secondary sources to find three character traits of Benedict Arnold and...
Curated OER
Character Diary Entry (3+)
Students better explain a character after examining their traits as well as trying to write a diary entry from their perspective.
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Students analyze a piece of writing by creating diary entries based on a character. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read an assigned book with their classmates and create a sketch of what they believe the main...
Curated OER
Character Building-Brick Wall
Students develop and recognize positive traits and random acts of kindness through modeling, positive reinforcement, class discussions and activities and charting the traits. This continues throughout an entire year.
William & Mary
Inferential Reading Comprehension Considerations Packet
Don't forget to read between the lines! Educators learn tips and activities to help scholars learn to infer to increase reading comprehension. Activities suggested include think alouds, backwards words, and who's who. the packet includes...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Think Positive!
Following an attention-grabbing read-aloud, scholars brainstorm ways they can change negative thoughts into positive thoughts. Small groups plan and perform a skit that showcases one of the new ideas to uplift one's feelings....
Missouri Department of Elementary
Are You Balanced?
Balance scales create a strong visual of how an individual prioritizes one's self alongside their commitments to the community, school, and home. Scholars complete a graphic organizer then discuss their findings with their peers. A...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Keep Finding the Positive
Group members take on roles to create a positive classroom community. Learners perform their role—leader, recorder, presenter, timekeeper, encourager, and collector—in preparation for a formal presentation of their positive thinking...
US Institute of Peace
What Does It Take to Be a Peacebuilder?
Is the spirit of peacebuilding already inside you? Scholars take a closer look at the characteristics of peacebuilders, past and present, in instructional activity 13 of a 15-part series. Individuals identify common traits of...
Spreading Gratitude Rocks
Values Survey
What are the most important values a person possesses? Teens and parents take a collaborative survey and discuss what values are important to them. They return the signed form to the teacher to confirm they completed the activity.
Overcoming Obstacles
Cooperation and Teamwork
One of Aesop's fables begins with a lesson about cooperation and teamwork. Scholars listen carefully, taking note of the moral of the story. The class discusses their findings and why working with others makes work easier. Learners share...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast: Literary Analysis
Great for a reading intervention or remedial Language Arts class, this lesson uses two stories from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III ("Terri Jackson" and "Mary Lou" to reinforce note-taking skills, story elements, and comparing and...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Heart
Bring Edgar Allan Poe's spooky story to life! After reading the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," middle and high schoolers identify the theme, character traits, irony, and other story concepts. During pre-reading, they take notes,...