Orange County Department of Education
My Character Odyssey
Young scholars explore and analyze how the trials of life can develop one's character and values of respect, responsibility and compassion. Then, while reading and evaluating The Odyssey, they reflect on their own hero journey and write...
Curated OER
Defining Character, With Help from History
In a single, soundly-designed class period, high schoolers define good character, think-pair-share about thought-provoking quotes on character (More options would enhance the discussion, worth searching online for other quotes to add.),...
Orange County Department of Education
Poppa's New Pants
Angela Shelf Medearis' Poppa's New Pants provides third graders with an opportunity to stitch together their own narrative filled with sensory details. After reading the story and noting the sensory and concrete details in the tale...
Curated OER
Cultivating Caring - Filling Buckets of Caring Carrots
Students practice compassion. In this character education lesson, student read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Students discuss the book as well as ways to demonstrate they care for one another. Students fill buckets...
Curated OER
Owen and Mzee
Students examine the trait of compassion. For this character education lesson, students read Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff. Students discuss the theme of the story as well as what it means...
Curated OER
Character Ambassadors
Students act as ambassadors. In this character education lesson, students take on the roles of ambassadors of the character traits listed. Students write essays regarding the character traits they select.
Curated OER
Defining Character Traits
Students read and analyze an extended definition in preparation for writing an extended definition of a CHARACTER TRAIT. They use analogy as a definition strategy to tailor writing to a particular audience. Finally, students SHARE...
Curated OER
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Young scholars explore the concept of self-respect. In this character education lesson, students listen to the original "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" story and listen to the song. Young scholars discuss the meaning of the word...
August House
The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog
Read the story The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog: A Folktale from Great Britain by Margaret Read MacDonald and choose from multiple activities to learn about the tale's theme—kindness. With so many options, your kind kids will...
Curated OER
Whoever You Are
Students examine cultures, traditions, and feeling throughout cultures. In this cultural lesson, students use literature, maps, and cultural information to examine how people have universal feelings despite their different cultures and...
Curated OER
Teach Peace Now
Help your learners discover empathy and understanding by investigating two sides of a situation. In this humanities lesson, pupils examine different pairs of shoes and hypothesize about who may have worn them. Discuss real life...
Curated OER
Character Education Read Alouds
Students listen to the story Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon and discuss the way each character interacts with the others. They role play pares of the story to practice showing compassion, and how to positively interact with their peers.
Reed Novel Studies
Wringer: Novel Study
Some traditions should be broken—or at least Palmer thinks so. Palmer, a character in Wringer, dreads the tradition that goes along with turning 10 so much that he even dreads his birthday. Scholars learn how Palmer solves his troubles...
Curated OER
Heroes, Kindness, and "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Students explore the concept of heroism. In this character education lesson, students reflect on the actions of the characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird as they create mission statements for Atticus Finch and prepare...
Curated OER
Defining Caring
Middle schoolers define the word care and discover the importance of caring for others. In this character education lesson, students work as a class to brainstorm synonyms for care. Learners write a list of 5 things or people that they...
Curated OER
Using Words to Work Things Out
Students explore appropriate ways to communicate feelings. In this character development lesson, students listen to Hands are not for Hitting and several other books about expressing emotions appropriately. Students observe...
Curated OER
An Introduction to The Outsiders
Introduce S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders with a bell work journal that asks class members to define loyalty. Key words (patience, unity, honesty, caring, etc.), drawn from their musings, are posted around the room, and groups search for...
Curated OER
Characteristics of Anne Frank
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.
Curated OER
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
Seventh graders read Sherlock Holmes silently and work together to demonstrate an understanding of the story. They participate in small group and whole class discussions and analyze Holmes' method of deducing details about an object and...
Curated OER
The Pigman
In this language arts worksheet, students read through the summaries of the eighteen chapters from this book study of The Pigman.
Curated OER
A Visit to the Vet
Students identify the differences and similarities between doctors for humans and veterinarians. Students draw a pet's visit to the veterinarian's office and a person's visit to a doctor's office. Students describe exactly what they have...
Curated OER
Get Ready, Set, Go
First graders learn the importance of listening carefully and why to follow oral directions carefully by playing Simon Says. They learn the importance of waiting your turn.
McGraw Hill
Proofreading a Paragraph
In this proofreading instructional activity, students rewrite a paragraph to correct for errors. Each paragraph may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and usage.
Shmoop University
Shmoop: The Scarlet Letter Quotes
This site provides a series of quotations, character analysis, themes, plot analysis, and quizzes from the novel that represent such themes as revenge, compassion, sin and free will.