A 15-page packet includes detailed plans for three activities related to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. To gather background information, class members research topics and create a newspaper page reporting their findings. After finishing...

Students discuss issues related to fairness and the music industry with a variety of partners. In this character education lesson, students sit in a round formation and discuss five topics for one minute at a time before changing...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...

Part of growing up is differentiating between good and bad habits; developing the positive and eliminating the negative. This resource on  life skills can be adapted to almost any age group. Class members participate in multiple...

"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly." The second lesson in an 11-part unit that accompanies The Twits by Roald Dahl uses poetry to encourage positive character traits. Mrs. Twit has ugly thoughts, but those...

Show this presentation to your students at the beginning of the school year and they'll know just what to do when they are having a hard time making good decisions. This resource asks students to remember to use their own personal...

Is money the root of all evil, or the answer to everyone's dreams? Analyze the role of money in John Steinbeck's The Pearl with a writing prompt where kids imagine that they have won the lottery, and must think about the ways it will...

What makes a fairy tale a fairy tale? Use a 27-page packet to supplement your next fairy tale unit. With sequencing activities, story map worksheets, character analyses and story elements graphic organizers, and fairy tale highlight...

Even someone with a dark side can make a good decision—and vice versa. Readers explore Cole's traits and decisions in Ben Mikaelson's Touching Spirit Bear and analyze his sunside and...

Painted, portable, pocket lockets encourage kids to display personal treasures and items they value. The activity, combining art with social and character studies, is perfect for any classroom.

Familiar puppets set the stage for a thoughtful discussion about friendship. To show what they know, scholars role-play scenarios. Peers offer a thumbs up when they view positive character traits exhibit good friend behavior.  

Inspire scholars to be the best they can be with a worksheet featuring the character trait, respect. Individuals read multiple scenarios, match their outcomes, and identify whether the behavior was respectful or...

The Grapes of Wrath may be the most famous novel set during the Dust Bowl, but what other stories cover the same time? The unit focuses on the Karen Hesse novel Out of the Dust. Learners keep a timeline of the Dust Bowl, maintain a...

What contributions have great peacebuilders made to our society? Civic-minded scholars take an in-depth look at people who have made a difference world-wide during the 12th lesson in a 15-part series. After researching facts about their...

Good discussion questions are hard to find and even harder to craft. If you're looking for questions that will stimulate in-depth discussions for all four books in of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, check out this resource.

Students read "Frog and Toad are Friends" and investigate physical, emotional, and mental character traits. They brainstorm a list of character traits that make a good friend. The list is placed into a visual ranking system that is...

Third graders practice identifying characters and story elements by creating a character cluster in class.  For this story analysis lesson, 3rd graders discuss the story Snow White and identify the characteristics of the evil witch....

Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...

Explore the concept of yin and yang with this resource. On the first page, learners study a picture of George Bush. Then, have learners choose a character from The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. After brainstorming adjectives and choosing...

For some schools, character-counts lessons are a big part of the curriculum. This resource focuses on following directions and the importance of being a cooperative team player. Learners role-play a variety of situations by being...

This James and the Giant Peach instructional activity provides 15 short answer questions and extension activities. They address characterization, basic reading comprehension, making personal connections to the reading, and...

What could be more fun than two birthday parties in one day? Compare and contrast two parties with a short reading passage and a graphic organizer that focuses on character, setting, and events from the story.

Teens of the world, unite! Take your class or club on a multicultural journey through the relationship between cultural values and teen leadership skills. Groups work together to learn about one another's cultures while examining the...

Students identify characters who exhibit conflicting character traits.  In this Crime and Punishment lesson, students identify and discuss characters who have opposing character traits.  Students relate their character study to...