Elementary Character Education Ideas

How to Teach Kids Respect

by Laura Parker on April 18, 2012

One of the most highly searched character-related education topics is how to teach kids respect, according to google searches. It’s the character trait teachers scour the internet to find ideas on how to teach most often. And it’s not difficult to see why– respect has its fingers in almost all classroom management issues. Respect can also include a student’s relationship with oh-so-many:  the elderly, the authority, the younger, the environment, animals, and for various races/religions/genders, etc.

And since teachers globally are googling it so often, I thought we’d take a day to highlight a few of the top resources for teaching respect in the classroom I’ve found, to date. Enjoy.

Character Counts Lesson Plan Ideas. This list of 18 lesson plans on respect spans several different grade levels. Lesson ideas range from a focus on showing respect for the non-native student, listening skills, respecting each other, and giving respect to everyday heroes.

35 Activities You Can Do to Learn Respect. Dr. Michele Borba assembled this excellent list of 35 practical activities you can encourage students to do, or do as a class, that encourage respect. Activities include: creating a “recipe” for respect, making a button or bumper sticker with respect’s motto, and engaging in classroom discussions on specific questions.

School Counselor Rob’s Video on Respect. In this 5 minute simple, drawing-style video, a teacher explains practical examples for respecting places, things, and people. Suitable for elementary grades.

The Cornerstone for Teachers’ Month of Respect. Our own Angela Watson has created a fantastic resource on character education over at her blog. If you scroll down to the month of January, you’ll find a definition, talking points, and several resources about the topic.

Create a Respect Rap. Show students the following short youtube from some elementary students. After you talk about respect and brainstorm what respecting others and ourselves might involve, group students and have them write and perform a rap for the class.

Fearless Lions Respect Video and Rap. {Don’t Miss This One Below! It’s really good!} This 5 minute video would be an excellent lesson starter or quick reminder to your students of what respect should look like. The first two minutes videos a common classroom scenario of disrespect, while the last three minutes shows a well-done rap/music video by a class of older elementary students and their teacher. {You can see just the rap itself, without the first scene, here.}

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Have any other ideas for teaching respect in the classroom?  Have you found a lack of respect to be an issue with your students, parents, or co-workers?

Related Posts. Top Ten Character Education Posts  |  Make Your Classroom Kinder  |  Teaching Individuality  |  Classroom Management Top Ten |  Classroom Management That Works

Want More Practical Teaching Tips? Visit our past teaching tips here. And the winner of last week’s teacher-door prize? Lindzee M., comment #17! Thanks to all who entered!

- Laura L. Parker, Editor and blogger at LauraParkerBlog

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Teaching kids (and ourselves) about being judgmental

by angela_watson on April 5, 2012

Have you seen this video? It’s been making the rounds on the interwebz for awhile and recently gained attention again when a high profile video-curating site shared it. Currently it has over 70 million views. Take a look–it’s only 45 seconds:

What thoughts floated through your mind as you listened to this child sing?  Maybe you had some of the same ideas as the people who commented about the video on YouTube: Yeah, he’s cute and all, but isn’t it sad that this child is so fat? How could his parents feed him so much junk food? Letting a kid get that big…wow…almost seems like child abuse.

Now watch this video the young man, Sam, made a few years later:

Well. It turns out that Sam is not obese at all. He happens to have a chronic, aggressive kidney disease which results in extreme swelling in his body, and the medication he takes to control the disease often makes the swelling worse. His weight problem has nothing to do with what he’s eating (or what his mom has been feeding him.) In fact, take a look at these two photos of Sam, one before he was inflicted with the disease, and one just a few weeks later:

Cuppycake boy before and after his disease

Isn’t it amazing how that one extra piece of information about Sam’s health completely transforms the way you view this young boy and his family? One missing link can alter your whole perspective of a situation.

I commend Sam for taking the criticism he received and turning it into a lesson on compassion and refraining from judgment. You can show the first video to your students and ask them to share their preconceived notions about Sam, then show the second one and talk about how their feelings changed after watching the second video. Here are a few teaching points you may want to guide them to understand:

  • People you see on the internet are real people, with real feelings.
  • The things you write on the Internet could be seen by the person you’re writing about and could be hurtful.
  • Watching a 45 second YouTube video does not give anyone enough information to make a judgment about a person.
  • Sometimes truths which appear to be self-evident are completely false.
  • We should always show compassion to others, because we have no idea what the extent of their problems might be.
  • It’s better to believe the best about others and give them the benefit of the doubt before criticizing.

What other lessons could you draw from Sam’s story? I’d love to hear about your (and your students’) reactions.

Angela Watson is the creator of The Cornerstone, a collection of print and online resources designed to make teaching more effective, efficient, and enjoyable. Angela was a classroom teacher for 11 years and currently works as an instructional coach and educational consultant based in New York City.  She conducts webinars and writes books centered on her passion for helping teachers build strong classroom management and a positive mindset so they can truly enjoy their work. Angela’s website, TheCornerstoneForTeachers.com, features hundreds of free teaching articles, lesson ideas and activities, classroom photos, printable forms/posters, and more. You can follow her on Twitter at: Angela_Watson .

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Teaching Tips Tuesday {Stop the Nag. Ask the Question.}

by Laura Parker on January 31, 2012

Do you feel like you have slowly become a teacher that nags?  A teacher that lectures more than a Harvard University professor? An educator that ends up harping more than cheerleading?

I get it. In parenting and in teaching, it’s so easy to become the Character Cheetah without even realizing it — pouncing on the the same flaws in students, over and over again. {And I know, I know, if they wouldn’t have the flaws, you wouldn’t have to pounce so much.} But eventually, I’m afraid our voices become nothing more than the adults’ voices on the Charlie Brown cartoons . . .  ”waa, waaa, waaaa . .  .”

“This is not responsible to forget your homework, again, John. How many times is that this week?”

“Kiley, you have to stop pushing to the front of the line. That’s so rude.”

“Guys, be respectful!”

“Stop leaving your bags in the floor. Clean up the stations. Don’t write on the desks.”

“What is your problem?  Didn’t you hear me say to stop talking when I am trying to teach?!?”

day 071: project log lady
We all know the Character Cheetah has made an appearance in most of our classrooms, and we also know that it’s not a pretty site. Or an effective teaching strategy at that.

Try this. When you catch yourself beginning to harp on a student for a behavior, particularly one that is related to their character or is affecting your classroom management, skip the nag and ask them this simple question,

“What does {insert behavior here} say about your character?”

And then, wait for their answer. Have them evaluate their actions themselves. And see what happens.

Maybe their actions reflect dishonesty or irresponsiblity or selfishness or a lack of kindness. Maybe they are displaying laziness or disrespect or pride. But, don’t be the one to tell them about it. Let the student be the one to take responsibility for what his or her actions are communicating.  Of course, be sure to communicate that one instance doesn’t equate to a dishonest character forever. However, you will want to take a chance to remind them that . . .

Actions speak louder than words.  Be sure that what you are saying without words is what you want to be communicating.

And, of course, this works the opposite way, too. When you see a student displaying a positive quality, take the chance to ask  the same question and give them the chance to claim their good choices, too. {Especially in front of others, of course.}

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The winner of last week’s Teaching Tips Tuesday link-up was the lovely lady that linked up Sarah Mackey’s idea for “Heart Attack” good behavior punch-cards. Congratulations!  Send an email with your mailing address to: lauraleighparker@gmail.com, and the vintage chalkboard is yours!  Thanks, again, to CrabAppl1 for donating this item.

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How about you?  ’Fess up. Do you struggle with nagging your students verbally?  How do you handle difficult students?

Photo credit here. Laura has a Middle Grades Education degree and blogs at aLifeOverseas.com.

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Five Ways To Make Your Classroom a Kinder Place

by Laura Parker on January 24, 2012

Welcome to our second edition of Teaching Tip Tuesday. We are making this a weekly event here at Inspired Teacher, and many weeks we’ll be doing giveaways to participants. Today, in fact, we are giving away a gorgeous vintage chalkboard for all who share a teaching tip in today’s link-up. So be sure to read through to the end of the post to see the details.

5 Ways to Make Your Classroom a Kinder Place

1. Go Marbles. Get a glass jar and a bowl of marbles {of course, use whatever you have}. Tell your students that for each kind deed you observe for one week, you will share it and put a marble into the jar. If all the marbles get from the bowl into the jar by the end of the week, give your whole classroom a surprise– no homework, rewards, etc. This is a fun, easy way to remind everyone to focus on kindness.

2. Random Acts of Kindness. Talk to your students at the beginning of the week about what it means to treat others with kindness. Give examples and talk about the joy it brings others. Then, give them the Random Acts of Kindness Challenge. Ask them to do something nice for someone else, in secret, and then come to class Friday ready to share about the experience. You can have them write a paragraph on it, tell the story aloud, or draw a picture of how they think the recipient of their kind act felt, for more learning. Keep this short and sweet by giving the students the assignment on Monday and completing it by Friday. You may need to brainstorm ideas as a class to get them thinking in the right direction. And remember, the key to this “mission” is secrecy! You can visit this page from HelpOthers.org for a list of kind deeds kids can do fairly easily.

3. Drop a Love Bomb. As a class, choose one person in your school who needs encouragement. It may be a principal that is stressed out, a student that just lost a parent, a new teacher that’s just started her job. As a class, think of a way to drop a love bomb on that person. It may be letters of encouragement, a host of blog comments, an act of service {helping the school janitor?}, small gifts that students donate, buying something at the lunchroom for that person, etc. The idea here is for the whole class to work together to shower kindness on a single person.

4. Pass the Compliment. Take ten minutes of class time and have students clear their desks of everything but one piece of paper with their own name written in large letters at the top. Randomly collect the papers and then pass them out again. Have students write one kind compliment about the person on the paper with that person’s name on it. Have students not sign their messages and continue to pass the pages around as you direct. At the end of the time, collect the papers, giving a quick glance for appropriate messages {you may have to give them out the next day}, and hand them back to the correct student. For another example of the power of this activity, check out the post, The Gift of Sincere Compliments.

5. Set a Secret Goal, and Tape It Somewhere. This simple activity can be done in a week or in a day. Talk to your students about kindness, and then ask each student to set a goal for themselves for that day or week regarding a person they’d like to be kinder to or a kind deed they’d like to do that day/week. Have students write a “code word” for that goal on a piece of white masking tape that you stick to their desks. {Older students might want to put the tape on a notebook/book, if they are changing classes and not at the same desk every period.} The tape will serve as a visual reminder of their goal throughout the given time. Students get to take off the tape and turn it in to you {possibly telling the story of their kind deeds} when they have accomplished their personal kindness goal.

And remember, teaching friends, always Lead by Example. Attitude is trickle-down. Be sure that you are leading the atmosphere of kindness with your words and actions in the classroom, in the teacher’s lounge, and even after school. Make it your mission to become a positive role model of kindness for each one of your students.

- Laura has a Middle Grades Ed. degree and blogs at aLifeOverseas.com.

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To celebrate Teaching Tip Tuesday, the lovely vintage shop CrabApplCreations is donating a shabby chic chalkboard for a lucky winning teacher. This gorgeous gift would make a nice addition to any desk! To enter, simply link-up a post sharing a teaching tip {either one your’ve written or one you’ve read}. You can link-up or leave a comment sharing your tip.

You can also get extra entries for:

*SHARING THIS POST via pinterest, twitter, or facebook.

*LIKING Inspired Teacher on facebook (sidebar).

*Following CrabApple on TWITTER at CrabAppl1

Post your link below, and grab our graphic to put on your own post, if you are including a post from your own blog. The more, the better, and come back next week to find out who won our lovely chalkboard and to participate in another Teaching Tip Tuesday!


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The Top Character Education Lessons Plans and Motivational Videos of 2011

January 7, 2012
Kids at zebra crossing

If you are looking for easy lesson ideas or videos to encourage good character in your students or children, the following is a listing of the top articles on character education which InspiredTeacher.net has produced in the year 2011. Remember, you don’t necessarily have to commit to a time-consuming curriculum to teach intentionally and inspirationally. [...]

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Justin Bieber Visits a Needy School

January 4, 2012
Justin Bieber Spreads Inspiration to a Needy School

If you work with students in any capacity, you know Justin Bieber.  Our family is homeschooling in Thailand, and we even have a cat named after the guy. {Bieber is a cute kitty name, is it not?} Much to my surprise, and to the delight of my eight-year-old daughter, I came across this inspirational story [...]

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The Gift of Sincere Compliments

December 12, 2011

In eighth grade, I begged my mom to put me in another school. I was a country girl plopped down in a city school. I wore sweatshirts, and they wore Guess. I laced-up scuffed Reeboks, and they sported sparkling Keds. I played Madonna again and again, and they jammed out to the Beastie Boys. I [...]

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Why Character Education?

November 11, 2011

Why should a teacher spend valuable class time on character education when students aren’t held responsible for things like kindness, respect, or integrity on those ever-pressing end of year state tests? I get it. I do. A teacher is overwhelmed with pressure to barrel through curriculum and oftentimes it leaves little room for intentional instruction on [...]

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Kindness in Words

October 11, 2011
Kindness in What We Say

The following is a character education lesson on kindness.  It can be used with your children or with your students.  You can watch this two minute video of my demonstration of the lesson, and then grab some blocks and do it yourself for the students, or you can just show them the video itself.  Either [...]

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