Students write poems of respect. In this character education lesson, students use the words "please," "thank you," "excuse me," and "I'm sorry" in acrostic poems that define the polite words and phrases.

Collective story writing is a great way to reinforce the concept of story elements and collaborative learning. Young writers discuss story elements such as, setting, character, action, climax, conclusion, foreshadowing, dialogue, and...

Students explore the feelings surrounded by humiliation, resentment and retaliation in the context of school violence.  In this character building instructional activity, students examine possible reasons for school violence and...

High schoolers examine the ADL's Pyramid of Hate and use it to identify bullying instances they are aware of. In this character education lesson, students discuss their findings and design activities or programs to combat bullying in...

Students participate in an interview of a school employee. In this interview lesson, students develop appropriate interview questions and carry out an interview of a school employee to show that all jobs well done is worthy of respect....

Students develop a definition for self-control and explore how practicing self-control can lead to other positive character traits. They read and discuss examples of student behaviors that exhibit self-control and those that don't.

Fourth graders create a character map for each character in the novel, adding to each as he or she is revealed in "Their Eyes Were Watching God." They document how each character deals with attitudes and injustices.

Eighth graders read selected passages from The Diary of Anne Frank. Working in pairs, 8th graders determine what qualities and characteristics they would assign to her from their selected diary entry.

High schoolers explore the various societal and cultural "lenses" which color their perspectives and life experiences by reading the short story "What Means Switch" by Gish Jen. They discuss how the cultural ideas and beliefs affect the...