2 Decker Tartick Character Education Paper

Character Education 1

Running head: CHARACTER EDUCATION

Character Education Principles Morgan Decker and Julie Tartick Liberty University

Character Education 2 Character Education Character education is an essential part of any elementary school curriculum. The goal of character education curriculums is to promote a caring, compassionate, cooperative environment and to empower the students to change their community by exercising positive character traits (Yarrow, 2000, p. 9). Character education is a key component of the second grade curriculum as citizenship is heavily stressed in the social science subject area; however, character education is not limited to social science alone. Character principles can be taught in many creative ways and integrated into almost any core subject area. Integrity Integrity is an essential character principle to teach in elementary school classrooms. Integrity is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary (2004) as “firm adherence to a code of moral values.” It is synonymous with honesty. Finders Keepers for Franklin by P. Bourgeois is a valuable children’s literature selection to use when teaching integrity. This book tells the story of an honest turtle who found a camera and returned it to its owner. Math The teacher will create a worksheet of story problems involving Franklin and his friends (VA-SOL MATH 2.26). The students will complete their story problem worksheets using no help from calculators or other students. The teacher will explain that the students are practicing honesty by being obedient and solving the problem themselves.

Character Education 3 Social Science At the second grade level, it is easy to integrate character education on integrity with social science because students are required to learn that the responsibilities of a good citizen include being honest and trustworthy (VA-SOL SOCIAL SCIENCE 2.10). The teacher can lead the students in a discussion about how Franklin was a good citizen in Finders Keepers for Franklin. This discussion will include the importance of honesty and will allow the students to share about situations in which they practiced honesty. Language Arts The teacher will read the beginning of Finders Keepers for Franklin and ask the students to write down what they think will happen in the story. The teacher will finish the story and ask the students to raise their hand if they guessed the ending correctly. She will remind them to be honest when raising their hands. This activity will allow the students to practice making predictions about the content of books (VA-SOL LANGUAGE ARTS 2.8). It will also allow the students to practice honesty by raising their hands only if they truly did predict the correct ending to Finders Keepers for Franklin. Science The teacher will bring in a turtle to keep as a class pet. The students will observe the turtle and write their observations down. The teacher will stress that scientific observation is based on fact and not personal interpretation (VA-SOL SCIENCE 2.1). She will connect this concept to the character principle of integrity.

Character Education 4

Respect Second, respect is an extremely important character principle to develop in students. It is valuable in all social situations, including the classroom. Character Counts (2007) defines respect as the act of being “considerate of the feelings of others.” The Grouchy Ladybug by E. Carle is an excellent piece of children’s literature to read when teaching respect. The book describes the journey of a disrespectful ladybug and ends with the grouchy bug finally learning to respect others. Furthermore, there are many effective ways to integrate instruction on respect into the core curriculum. Math When using The Grouchy Ladybug to teach math and respect, the class will make ladybug analog clock manipulatives. The teacher will read The Grouchy Ladybug aloud to the class. Whenever a time is mentioned in the book, the class will pause and set their analog clock manipulatives to that time. This activity will teach students how to read analog clocks to the nearest quarter of an hour (VA-SOL MATH 2.16) and will teach respect by requiring the students to listen to the teacher as she reads. The students will also respect each other by encouraging each other as they learn instead of ridiculing those who are struggling with learning to tell time. Social Science The students will work in pairs to construct a simple map of the grouchy ladybug’s travels. The teacher will inform the students of the importance of using a title, map legend, and compass rose on their maps. This activity will allow the

Character Education 5 students to practice creating simple maps (VA-SOL SOCIAL SCIENCE 2.6) and teach respect by requiring the students to work with their partners. Language Arts In order to integrate character education on respect with language arts, the teacher will use an adaptation of an activity included in the lesson entitled “The Torn Heart” from Don’t Laugh at Me (Roerden, 2000, p. 21). The students will write a journal entry describing how the animals in The Grouchy Ladybug might have felt after they were put down by the grouchy ladybug. The students will share their completed journal entries with the class. Finally, the teacher will help the students create a play based on The Grouchy Ladybug for the class to act out (The Official Eric Carle Website). This activity will allow students to participate in an oral dramatic activity (VA-SOL LANGUAGE ARTS 2.1 and 2.12) and will teach respect by requiring students to recognize how disrespectful words and actions are hurtful. Science The teacher will bring in several ladybugs to keep as class pets for the day. The teacher will ask the students to observe the ladybugs and write down what they know about ladybugs. The students will research ladybugs including where they live, what they eat, and their importance to the environment. This activity will help students learn that living organisms are interdependent with their living and nonliving surroundings (VA-SOL SCIENCE 2.5). This activity also teaches respect by showing how every action affects others.

Character Education 6 Responsibility Third, responsibility is a key character education principle to teach to elementary students. Responsibility means being accountable for one’s actions (Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2004). Students should be taught that responsibility is related to many of the other character principles that they have been learning about. They should recognize that they are responsible for things such as respecting one another, completing their homework, and being honest. Arthur’s Computer Disaster by M. Brown teaches responsibility in an easily understandable manner. In the book, Arthur if forced to decide whether to take responsibility for breaking his mom’s computer. Math The teacher will create a patterns worksheet for the students to take home. The patterns will include numbers and pictures of items mentioned in Arthur’s Computer Disaster (VA-SOL MATH 2.25). The students will complete the worksheet for homework. The teacher will remind the students that it is their responsibility to complete the worksheet and bring it back to class the next day. Social Science The teacher will lead the class in a discussion on their responsibilities as a good citizen (VA-SOL SOCIAL SCIENCE 2.10). The class will discuss what Arthur should have done in order to be responsible. The teacher will ask for volunteers to share some of their responsibilities at home. Finally, the teacher will guide the class in creating a poster listing their responsibilities in the classroom.

Character Education 7 Language Arts The teacher will create two charts for the students to fill in. The first chart will ask the students to identify the problem, solution, and main idea of Arthur’s Computer Disaster, and the second chart will require the students to list characteristics of the main characters in the book (VA-SOL LANGUAGE ARTS 2.8). After the class has finished filling in their charts, the teacher will go over the answers with them, focusing on responsibility. Science The teacher will prepare a slideshow including pictures of sea creatures mentioned in Arthur’s Computer Disaster. As each picture appears, the students will raise their hands to name each sea creature and share one fact they know about it. At the end of the slideshow, the teacher will explain how humans have a responsibility to protect the environment. She will ask the students how they can protect the environment. Answers could include recycling and not littering. Creativity Fourth, creativity is a valuable character principle for elementary students to learn. L. Roberts says, “Creativity involves a person's ability to use imagination or inventiveness to bring something into existence” (Creativity, 2003, p. 1). Although some students are naturally more creative than others, creativity is a character trait that can be developed with practice. A good children’s literature selection to use when teaching creativity is The Value of Creativity—The Story of Thomas Edison by A. Donegan Johnson.

Character Education 8 Math The students will create story problems based on The Value of Creativity— The Story of Thomas Edison or on their inventions. After the students have completed their story problems, they will switch papers with another student and solve that student’s story problem. Finally, the teacher will ask for a few volunteers to share their story problem and solution with the class. She will point out that the students practiced creativity by writing their own story problems. Social Science The students will study the life of Thomas Edison. The teacher will divide the class into groups and provide each group with an invention of Thomas Edison. With the teacher’s guidance, each group will research their invention and tell the class about it. Each group should describe the invention and point out what makes it creative. Language Arts The teacher will instruct the students to write a journal entry describing their own invention. Each student’s journal entry should include a drawing of the invention. This activity will allow the students to practice writing (VA-SOL LANGUAGE ARTS 2.11). It will also allow the students to be creative. Science The teacher will lead the class in performing a scientific experiment (VASOL SCIENCE 2.1). In the experiment, the class will test the effect of differing amounts of water on plant growth. After the experiment is completed, the teacher will ask the class for ways in which they could modify the experiment. In doing

Character Education 9 so, the teacher will stress that scientific experiments are all about creativity. Accountability Fifth, accountability is an imperative character education principle for second grade students to be taught. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2004) defines accountability as, “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions”. In the book Miss Rumphius, B. Cooney clearly represents a lesson on accountability and shows how important it is for the students to act responsibly. Math In order to practice the student’s skills of determining the volume of rectangular boxes, the teacher will create small paper cubes that have pictures of Miss Rumphius’ flowers. These cubes will be placed in a rectangular “garden” box. The students will begin by estimating the number of cubes they believe are in the rectangular box. The students will then proceed to count the number of cubes in the “garden” boxes (VA-SOL MATH 2.14). After the students correctly estimate and determine the volume of three various rectangular “garden” boxes, they will receive a cut-out paper flower to show they have completed the activity. The student must show accountability by being trustworthy to continue the process until three boxes have been completed correctly. Social Science To integrate science with this piece of children’s literature, the teacher will begin the activity by giving each student a piece of construction paper. The teacher will ask the students to draw a picture depicting things they could do to make their school or community more beautiful (VA-SOL SOCIAL SCIENCE

Character Education 10 2.10). The students will then be told to take the picture home and hang it on their refrigerator. The picture will serve as a reminder to the student to follow through with improving the community like Miss Rumphius did, because a good citizen has this responsibility. Hanging the picture on the refrigerator will help keep the students accountable for following through with improving the school or community. Language Arts The teacher will begin this activity by breaking the students up into small groups. The teacher will tell the students to create and share stories of times when they felt like giving up on a chore or task, but they decided not to (VA-SOL ENGLISH 2.1). The teacher will instill the concept of being accountable and not giving up when there is a chore or task at hand. The students will realize that when they follow through with their chores and tasks, they will be able to proudly account for their actions. Science The teacher will bring in a flower pot and seeds into the classroom, just like the seeds Miss Rumphius planted. As a class, the students will plant the seeds in a flower pot. Each day, one student will be responsible for watering the plant. The teacher will take a picture of the plant various times throughout the plant’s lifecycle (VA-SOL SCIENCE 2.7). The students will realize that if they do not water the plant every day, the seeds may not grow. The students will have to be accountable for following through with this action. Obedience

Character Education 11 Sixth, obedience is a character principle that will help to encourage students to behave in an orderly manner. Merriam-Webster defines obedience as, “the quality or state of being obedient” (2004). The Story about Ping by M. Flack and K.Wiese helps the students realize that it is important to be obedient and that disobedience may lead to trouble. Math The teacher will create a math worksheet with twenty ducks that are numbered. The teacher will also create a boat made out of construction paper for each student. The students will cut each duck out and paste it on the boat in order from one to 20 (VA-SOL MATH 2.3). This is similar to the way Ping and his family lined up on the boat. The students will show obedience by following the directions given to them. Social Science Before reading The Story about Ping, the teacher will show the students where China is on a map and explain a little bit about China. Ping’s family was on the Yangtze River, so the teacher will specifically point out the large river to the students. The teacher will pass out a worksheet of a world map for each student and ask that they color in China with a specific color crayon (VA-SOL SOCIAL SCIENCE 2.4). The students will show obedience by correctly locating and coloring China on the map.

Language Arts

Character Education 12 The teacher will read The Story about Ping to the class. The students will demonstrate comprehension of the story, by discussing the book as a class. The teacher will ask the students what the problem was, what the solution was, and what the main idea of the story was (VA-SOL ENGLISH 2.8). The students will realize that if Ping would have been obedient, he would not have gotten in the trouble he got himself into. Science The teacher will ask a person who raises ducks to bring a duck to visit the class. The visitor will tell the students the type of things the duck eats. This will correlate with the way Ping and his family went hunting for food in the book. The students will understand that Ping had to eat snails and small fish in order to survive, just like humans eat various foods in order to live (VA-SOL SCIENCE 2.5). As the visitor brings the small duck around, the students will sit obediently in their seat. This activity shows that the students are able to obey the teacher and the teacher will continue to reward their obedience by letting them see the duck. Leadership Seventh, leadership is a character principle that can be instilled in all students. The students can begin to practice leadership skills, even at a young age. In an article on classical leadership, Doyle and Smith define leaders as, “people who are able to think and act creatively in non-routine situations” (2001). There are many instances where students should be able and willing to step up and take on leadership in a situation. However, students must be equipped to do so. In George Did It, students are shown a time when George Washington had to step up to the plate and take leadership of certain situations.

Character Education 13 The students are able to see the way the people were influenced by his positive role as a leader. Math The teacher will ask various students from the class to come to the front of the room. The teacher will have fake money at the front of the room and various items that are worth $2.00 or less. The students will pretend like they are George Washington traveling to New York and they must purchase specific items for the trip to New York. The student must count out the money needed for the product they are “purchasing” (VA-SOL MATH 2.11). The student will practice leadership by making the decision of what item to buy and correctly counting out the money needed. Social Science The teacher will read George Did It to the class and lead a discussion on how George Washington led the people. The class will focus on discussing how George impacted the lives of Americans (VA-SOL SOCIAL SCIENCE 2.11). The students will learn that people in leadership take on an important role and can strongly influence individuals under their leadership. Language Arts The teacher will ask the students to come to the front of the room and talk about various leaders who help lead them. The students will be able to tell of people in their life who contribute to leading them in the correct way (VA-SOL ENGLISH 2.3). The students will understand that there are many kinds of leaders and various jobs in leadership.

Character Education 14 Science The teacher will pair students up into groups of two. Following the advice of Don’t Laugh at Me, the teacher will purposely group children with strong cooperation skills with those who are not as strong (Roerden, 2000, p. 87). Together the students will discuss the importance of animals in George Did It. They will specifically discuss how George had to find someone to replace his job of tending to the farm when he was gone (VA-SOL SCIENCE 2.5 a). The student with the strong cooperation skills will lead the discussion. Then, the other student will follow by example and be in charge of leading the discussion. This activity will help improve their leadership skills. Compassion Lastly, compassion is an objective principle that students desperately need to attain. As J. Heeman states, “Compassion, like all objective core values, requires the involvement of the head and the heart together with the hand”(2000). The students must continually think about being compassionate and act upon those thoughts. In today’s society it is easy to only think about the benefits an individual will receive for an action, without thinking about how it will affect others. Using the value of compassion, the student will be able to distinguish whether the action done will hurt another person. The Great Kapok Tree takes the students on a journey to the Amazon rainforest. They are shown how a man’s compassion helps save the animals’ homes and the rainforest.

Math

Character Education 15 After the teacher reads each page of The Great Kapok Tree, the class will count the number of animals illustrated on that page. The students will raise their hand and tell the teacher whether the number of animals on that page is even or odd (VA-SOL MATH 2.5). The students will each answer only one time and show other students compassion by giving them a chance to answer. Social Science After the teacher reads The Great Kapok Tree, the teacher will lead the students in a discussion of ways they can create a classroom of compassion. As Don’t Laugh at Me states, “A caring community can only exist when helping becomes fashionable and hurting of any kind becomes unacceptable to a preponderance of students” (2000, p. 84). The teacher will explain that just like the man had compassion on the animals, the class as a whole needs to respect and protect the rights and property of fellow classmates (VA-SOL SOCIAL SCIENCE 2.10). The teacher and students will create a “Constitution of Caring” contract for the class and each student will write their name on the constitution (Roerden, 2000, p. 79). The students will understand that in order to be a good citizen and classmate, it is their duty to work on being compassionate. Language Arts The teacher will create a class Kapok Tree to hang on the wall. The students will each write a letter thanking the man who decided to have compassion on the animals and not cut down the tree (VA-SOL ENGLISH 2.11). The class will post their letters on the class Kapok Tree. Through this activity, the

Character Education 16 students will realize how important it is to have compassion. The students will realize that when a person has compassion, it could affect many people’s lives. Science For this activity, the teacher will begin by passing out construction paper to each student in the classroom. The student will create and cut out an animal whose home was saved the day the man decided not to cut down the Kapok Tree. The students will each hang their animals around the room. The students will realize that the trees and plants are very important for the survival of these animals (VA-SOL 2.8 c). The students will realize that they can save homes of animals by recycling and not wasting products. The students will learn to have compassion on animals and try to make a difference. Conclusion The activities listed above and those included in many character education curriculums, such as the Don’t Laugh at Me curriculum, “provide a bridge to integrate social, emotional, and ethical development instruction” (Roerden, 2000, p. 9). As shown, these character building activities are extremely important and can be creatively integrated into all aspects of the curriculum. All teachers should strive to ensure that their students have received adequate character education. For as D. Frederick has said, “Academics is the cornerstone of education, but character is the building block of life" (1999).

Character Education 17 References Bourgeois, P. (1998). Finders keepers for Franklin. New York: Scholastic. Brown, M. (1997). Arthur’s computer disaster. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. Carle, E. (1977). The grouchy ladybug. Carle, E. (2007). The official Eric Carle website. Retrieved September 2, 2007, from http://www.eric-carle.com/bb-ladybug.html Character Counts. (2007). The six pillars of character. Retrieved September 2, 2007, from Character Counts. http://www.charactercounts.org Cherry, L. (1990). The great kapok tree. New York: Harcourt. Cooney, B. (1982). Miss Rumphius. New York: Viking. Doyle, M. & Smith, M. (2001). Classical leadership. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from http://www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm Flack, M. & Wiese. K. (1933). The story about Ping. New York: Viking. Frederick, D. (1999). One character education program that works! Retrieved September 3, 2007, from Education World. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr114.shtml Heenan, J. (2000). A Case for Teaching Objective Values. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from http://www.teachingvalues.com/valuecasestudy.html Johnson, A. D. (1981). The value of creativity: The story of Thomas Edison. La Jolla, CA: Value Communications. Jurmain, S. (2006). George did it. New York: Dutton. The Merriam Webster Dictionary (2004). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Character Education 18 Roberts, L. (2003, October). Creativity. Tech Directions, 63(3), 12-12. Retrieved September 3, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db= aph&AN=11088096&site=ehost-live Roerden, L. P. (2000). Don’t laugh at me. New York: Operation Respect.