4 - pilato-eshleman - character education

Character Counts Education 1

Character Counts Education

Emilee Eshleman

Michael Pilato

Liberty University


Character Education is an important component of developing students who grow

up to be well rounded individuals. As children get older, schooling becomes more

focused upon developing the core subjects, which include Math, Science, English, and

Social Science. Since the focus becomes so saturated with material, many students lose

the foundational importance of maintaining good character. That is why it is so vital that

Character Education is presented throughout the upper grades and especially in 4th grade.

It is the responsibility of teachers to incorporate such education into their everyday

lessons because students at this grade level soak up instruction like a sponge. In this day

and age, children are more exposed to all kinds of elements at a much younger age. The

concepts and ideas that children knew about ten years ago, at the Middle School level, are

now being learned and picked up by students in the 4th grade. It is unfortunate that

students have to be exposed to certain viewpoints and morale that can be damaging to

their own world view, but this is why it is so vital for all teachers to utilize good character

and present it through their teachings on a daily basis. If teachers fail to instill good

character within their students, the students will look to other outlets to become their role

models. These “role models” may not be the greatest influence upon the students, but

students crave to follow a leader. Teachers must be those leaders, and education must

take a stand as well as responsibility for molding students into individuals that understand

the importance of good character and what it means to be an actively positive influence to

everyone they come in contact with. There are many pieces of literature that can be

incorporated in any type of lesson to help students form a concept of good principles. The

key concepts to develop good character include honesty, perseverance, respect, self-

discipline, courage, responsibility, cooperation, and citizenship. There are many


characteristics that develop a great individual, but if at least these eight can be

maintained, then the students will be well on their way to growing up into becoming

positive influences upon the generations below them.

Respect:

One piece of literature that really develops the importance of having respect for

others is, The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynee Reid Banks. In this story, there is a little

Indian action figure that comes to life when it is put inside a cupboard. Later on in the

story however, another action figure comes to life as well, however this one is of a

Cowboy. As one might imagine, these two characters don’t really interact and get off to

the right start because they come from two very different worlds and different ways of

living. However, by the end, these two individuals learn to become friends and grow a

new found respect for each other. The students will really be able to relate to this and

learn, “by showing respect for others, individuals may find that they are receiving

unexpected benefits themselves” (Mannix, 2002, p. 129).

Social Science:

To incorporate this story into a social science unit, the teacher can lead a

discussion as to the conflicts Cowboys and Indians encountered with one another. The

class can be divided into two sections. Each section will be assigned a position of either

Cowboys or Indians. The teacher will then take out a map of the United States and pick a

location in the West. The students will be required to find some background information

on the general climate, vegetation, and living conditions of those areas. The students will


also be asked to research the culture and ways of living of their assigned people group.

Once all of the research is completed, the students will reconvene and battle over the

particular location in the West. In an organized class discussion, the students will argue

why their people group should be able to own the piece of land, how they will use the

land, and why they deserve it over the other group. After back and forth rebuttals, the

students will then have to pool their reasons for why they wish to live in that land, and

come to some form of an agreement as to how they can share the land together. In order

for the assignment to be completed, the class must come up with a valid plan as to how

they will share the land without disrupting the other people group. This will gives the

students first hand experience as to what it was like to be a part of a conflict between two

people groups. The students will learn that any situation no matter how large can be

resolved, and they can all learn to respect each other and become tolerant of one another.

English:

Whenever the issue of respect is addressed, bullying almost comes hand in hand.

Just as the Cowboy and Big Bear from The Indian in the Cupboard bullied one another,

children are bullies everyday in schools. School bullies are a big issue in and outside of

the classroom, and if students can learn how to be a bully buster, they will be able to

protect themselves, and bullies will learn to have respect for others rather than single

them out.

The teacher should develop a lesson that incorporates everyone because it is

important when talking about bullying, not to single anyone out. The teacher can start out

the class by have everyone pass out a large heart and say something nice that they like


about one of their friends (Roerden, 2000, p. 59). This is a great ice breaker to get into

discussing bullies, and it makes the lesson non-threatening. No one is being yelled at or

scolded on how bad bullies are; rather the focus is on how to be kind. Once the

introduction is over, have the students each write out a situation where someone can be

bullied. The teacher will collect the writings from each of the students, fold them, and put

them in a box. Next, the teacher will draw five from the box and ask for volunteers to

come in front of the class and act out the situation written down on the piece of paper.

After each skit, the students will have time to react, and then provide suggestions to the

class as to how the person being bullied can avoid the situation and how the bully should

act in order to no longer be a bully. By allowing the children to write down their

scenarios and act them out, they will be able to express often times real life situations that

occur in their own life, which they would not normally express openly. The objective of

this lesson would be to have the class learn better ways to respect one another and avoid

bullying tactics.

Science:

By now the students should be aware of how people bully another and how

respect for one another is so important. Now the students should be able to recognize that

respect is not only and issue among humans and characters like Big Bear and the

Cowboy, but it is something that occurs all over the animal kingdom. The teacher will

explain how all kinds of animals live every day together in harmony. The teacher will

show students how different animals live together in different regions in the world and

respect each other. The students can then explore on their own by going on to the internet


and learning interesting ways that animals mark their territory so that other animals will

respect it and not enter into the homes of certain animals. The classmates who feel they

have the most interesting examples can share with the class. The class can also talk about

things humans might do to mark their own territory, and how others should respect

property that does not belong to them. Later on the teacher will show the students what

the life cycle is among animals, and the order and rank of various animals. The students

will then learn that even though many animals eat each other or may be not so important

to us, each animal serves a purpose in the circle of life and without particular creatures,

humans would not be able to survive. As a closing activity, the teacher can draw a cycle

of animals that eat one another in order to live. The teacher will then pick an animal to

mark as extinct, and the class will have to figure out how this would disrupt the rest of

the animal cycle and how it could in fact affect humans. From this lesson, the students

will learn how animals respect one another, and how people should respect all animals

even if they do not like them because all animals are important in the cycle of life and out

very existence.

Math:

Even math teachers can incorporate the principles of respect learned from The

Indian in the Cupboard. The class can be split up once again into two sides, Cowboys

and Indians. The teacher will observe the students for a month’s period of time and give

points to people who show commendable respect to other students. That will then gain

points for that student’s particular team and form a race between the Cowboys and

Indians. The students will tally the points on a chart throughout the month and at the end,


the team with the most amounts of tally marks wins the race over the battle between

Cowboys and Indians.

Self-Discipline:

A classic novel that shows the true self-discipline of one little girl is Matilda, by

Roald Dahl. Matilda, although finding that she possesses these psychokinetic powers, has

to learn to discipline herself not to use them for revenge, but for good. For instance, Miss

Honey, her classmates, friends, and even Matilda herself have had to endure cruel

punishments from Miss Trunchbull and while Maltilda does want to use her newfound

powers to get revenge on the headmistress, she does not do this in a way that requires her

to do evil things, rather cleverly tricks Trunchbull in order to rid of her. Matilda is also

faced with a family who treats her just as badly and while she could harbor resentment

and release some of this by using her powers against them, she chooses not to despite it

perhaps being the easier choice.

English:

In the novel, Matilda had an inner struggle with using her powers. The teacher

will have the students journal something that they have a struggle controlling in their own

lives. Throughout the whole month of the unit, the students will work to overcome their

struggle and update their journals to see how they are progressing. If students have

learned to self-discipline themselves in their struggle by the end of the month, they can

share their struggle to the class and explain how they went about overcoming it. This is


only to be done if the student is comfortable sharing. This way students can relate to one

another and find out that they may have some of the same self-discipline issues.

Social Science:

A great way to exemplify people who are self-disciplined would be to bring in a

group of men and women from all units of the military and have a panel discussion with

the class. They can each tell stories to the class of what a typical day is like in their

particular armed force, and how vital self-discipline is in the life of a person in the

military. Students should have the opportunity to ask questions back, and it will give

them the opportunity to really have a great respect for self-discipline and see it in action

first hand.

Science:

At the beginning of the school year the students will plant a tree outside of the

school. They will watch it weekly and record the progress of its growth through the

spring. Doing a weekly observation may become monotonous and repetitive but it will

give the students an appreciation for how self-disciplined scientists are and how

important it is to record every bit of data collected. This will prepare them as they go

through science learning about the scientific method and how important it is to keep

records and do trials of experiments over and over. The self-discipline that a scientist has

should be well appreciate one the tree growth observations are complete.


Math:

This lesson is great for students who love sports and statistics. Have the students

keep a record each week of the baseball teams that have the most runs for that week, and

plot the stats on a bar graph each week. The students can then at the end of the baseball

season see which teams scored the most runs in total and which team took first place on a

weekly basis most often. This will incorporate various math skills including the concept

of mode, and it allows students to take self-discipline in recording data weekly, while

doing something they love and enjoy. If the students are truly apart of the lesson they will

get the most out of it.

Responsibility:

In Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet is a self proclaimed spy who takes

pride in observing her friends, her parents, and her neighbors. She carries a notebook

with her to write down these "observations", even though no one notices her doing it and

she is unfortunately writing things that could get the people she loves in trouble which in

turn makes them angry with her. Harriet refuses to believe that she has done anything

wrong even though her parents come to find that because of all of the time she has spent

spying, her grades have suffered and she has lost all of her friends. In the end, Harriet

realizes that she should have been loyal to her friends and that her first responsibility

should have been to doing well in school, to her parents, to her neighbors, to her friends

and especially to herself. In order to make up for the harm she causes, Harriet apologizes

to everyone and then uses the school newspaper as an outlet for "observing" people,

which in the end is the more responsible, mature thing to do.


English:

Just like Harriet learned the importance of being responsible, it is crucial for the

students to understand responsibility in the classroom. In 4th grade, the students are

starting to get prepared in their minds what responsibilities they must take on when they

become Middle Schoolers. They will soon find out that they can not take on greater

responsibilities in school if they are not responsible enough to be organized. At this age,

there will be many students who are not organized, and therefore need a lesson in being

responsible to be on task. The students can keep a notebook in class of their daily tasks

and make check marks each day as they complete the tasks. They can also make a “list of

smaller things that are needed to be done in order to complete larger things” (Mannix,

2002, p. 86).

Social Science:

Since Harriet the Spy, does revolve around Harriet’s spying and sneaking around

for a good part of the story, the students can study about organized associations involved

in spying. The teacher should have the students get into small groups and research

organizations such as the FBI, CIA, or even international organizations such as the KGB.

The students will then make a visual representation of their findings and make a

presentation in front of the class. During the presentation the students will be responsible

for explaining to the class the various responsibilities that are entailed by each of these

organizations. After the presentations, a class discussion can be conducted to discuss


other organizations that are constantly responsible for the lives of people and that

individuals take for granted often times.

Science:

A great way to get students involved and enjoying lessons about responsibility is

by getting them involved first hand in an activity that requires them to actually be

responsible. The teacher should go to the local pet shop and purchase some goldfish,

which are very cheap and give one to each student to take home. The student will be

responsible for taking care of the goldfish, cleaning its tank at home, and feeding it daily.

The students will get very protective of things that actually belong to them and they will

therefore take pride in being responsible while caring for their particular fish at home.

Math:

After Harriet was done with spying, she became more responsible and starting

doing observations for the school newspaper. If the elementary school that the students

are in has a school newspaper, the students can be responsible each week for writing an

article and presenting some type of statistics for the week. For example, the students can

collect a sample of data from each of the grades and see what the most popular candy

bars are at each grade level. It is a fun activity that will keep the students responsible and

diligent in creating an article for the school paper weekly, and it will give them a vital

lesson in collecting information and understanding how to read and interpret statistics.


Citizenship:

There are many people in history whose lives have exemplified classic citizenship

and how to be a huge impact upon community, but a great person to look at in particular

is Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life: A Biography, by Beverly Lowry

explains the incredible live Harriet Tubman lead. Harriet has been a slave since she was

six years old and finally escaped at around 27. Throughout her entire live she rescued

around 300 people and played many roles from spy, to nurse, to solider. She was an

amazing woman of faith who was a crucial part of the Underground Railroad movement.

Harriet set the pace for many other freedom riders for days to come, and had a huge

impact on the African American community. Students should have leaders like Harriet to

look up to and aspire to be one day. However, students must also learn that they do no

necessarily have to wind up in a history book in order to be recognized by others. Evan

the smallest acts of kindness done for others and the community helps in the large

scheme of things.

English:

The best way the students can learn what it means to be a good citizen is by

actually getting involved and doing something to make the community a better place. The

teacher can set up each student with an elderly person form a local nursing home, and the

student as well as the senior citizen can be pen partners together and write letters back

and forth at least once a month. Some students might not see the significance of this

activity and how it really has an impact upon the community, but in actuality the students

will be instrumental in making the seniors feel joy and happiness. The seniors may not


have many visitors during the regular year, and this may therefore brighten their spirits.

The students will soon find out that impacting one person’s life at a time is what

citizenship is truly about. If possible the teacher can organize for the students to meet the

people they wrote the letters to at the end of the year.

Social Science:

The teachers should have the students all pick their hero in life; the one person

that they feel is the greatest citizen in the world. This person can be a deceased historical

figure or someone living today. The man or woman can be famous or someone never

formal recognized for anything. Each student will have to present a 3 min presentation as

to why the person they chose is actually the greatest citizen. The class will vote at the end

of the unit and decide who truly the greatest citizen is. This activity will allow the

students to have a person to aspire to be and give them the opportunity to tell everyone

who their life role model is. The students can also discuss how they would actually go out

into the community and make it a better place. “The students can think about the

problems they see in the community today that are keeping it from being “perfect.” Then

have the students select five problems from the list that they consider most important to

address” (Roerden, 2000, p.40).

Science:

Community is a universal word for a group of individuals who live in a tight knit

group, no matter what the community consists of. Community can consist of even a

group of animals, so for this activity the teacher should create a habitat in the room where


a group of turtles can live. The students can help make the turtles feel like they are in a

community similar to that of the kind humans live in. Each student can do this by

designing some form of a miniature structure or building to put in the turtle habitat that

will make the animals comfortable. “Each building can be created using small boxes and

milk cartoons wrapped in paper. Each building should be identified with labels such as

“City Hall,” “Post Office,” or “School.” The buildings that the students create must

represent some important part of a community” (Nish, 1998, p. 74). The students can then

observe how a family of turtles interacts together and performs citizenship within the

animal kingdom. This activity allows students to see that humans are not the only ones

being citizens in our big great world.

Math:

The students can develop a great project to help out the community by starting a

collection jar of lose change that will go to the local homeless shelter to provide food for

those who need it. Each week another student will spread out the change, count it and

record the amount collected for that week on a collection chart. At the end of the school

year, the class can go to present the change to the shelter. It is a great dead to do for the

community and it allows the students to organize and keep track of bank, knowing how

much money there is at all times.


Honesty:

A specific lesson about character is taught in each of the short chapter books in

the series by Beverly Lewis, The Cul-De-Sac Kids. Each book tells a story of one of the

children and the challenge he or she faces. The fourth book in this series, No Grown-ups

Allowed, talks particularly about honesty and Jason Birchall’s struggle to overcome the

temptation to lie. Jason is a young boy with ADHD, and even though he understands the

importance of his medication, he despises it. When Jason’s grandmother comes to stay

for a weekend while his parents go out of town for Valentine’s Day, Jason sees an

opportunity to eat all the chocolates he wants. Jason spends his weekend lying to both his

grandmother and his parents about his candy consumption and his late night television

viewing. After the chocolates hurt his stomach and the scary movies on television give

him horrible nightmares, Jason realizes the importance of honesty and obedience. Jason

tells his grandmother the truth about his poor decisions, and his grandmother rewards him

with a Valentine’s Day gift, a bullfrog.

English:

Anne L. Steele’s book titled Developing Character When It Counts defines

honesty as “being truthful and sincere in your actions and words, and accomplishing

goals fairly, without cheating or stealing”. In the same way Jason learned the importance

of being honest with his family members, students need to understand the importance of

being honest with their classmates, teachers, and friends. This lesson is a group activity

that will paint a picture for the students about the effectiveness of honesty on the

classroom. Each student will receive a blank strip of white paper. On this strip of paper

they will write an example of a way they can show honesty in school, at home, or in their


community. After each student writes an example, everyone will sit in a circle in the back

of the classroom. The teacher will participate also and be the first to read aloud the

example written on his or her strip of paper. After reading and discussing with the class

what was written, the piece of paper will be rolled and stapled to create a circle. Each

student will follow the teacher’s example and share with everyone what he or she wrote

down. After sharing, the paper will be connected to the first rolled paper in a chain. After

everyone shares, all of the papers will be stapled together in a large chain looking much

like the chains people create around Christmas for decorations. The teacher will explain

to the students that honesty and trustworthiness go hand in hand. When each person in the

classroom is honest, trust is created in the same way the chain was created. The chain

should then be hung up in the classroom to provide for the students a daily reminder

about the importance of honesty (Steele, 1999, p.4).

Science:

Jason Birchall struggles with a medical condition called Attention Deficit

Hyperactive Disorder. Many of the students will not understand much about this disorder

though it is rather common in classrooms today. The teacher should give the students

time to write down specific questions they have about ADHD on 3x5 cards. Because the

questions are written on cards, discretion is inevitable and the students will not be

embarrassed to ask questions. After collecting all of the cards, the teacher will take the

cards home and answer each of the questions to the best of his or her ability using

available resources such as credible websites and encyclopedias. The following day, the

students will have their questions answered in class. This activity will give the students a

better understanding of what Jason Birchall deals with daily while taking medication and


avoiding sweet treats. As a treat, the teacher can provide a few different snacks for the

students and explain why Jason could or could not have specific foods.

Social Studies:

The Cul-De-Sac Kids series is about eight children that live in a cul-de-sac. In the

beginning of each of the books a map can be found depicting the location of each child’s

house. Each student will use a piece of paper and a pack of markers to create their own

map of the classroom being sure to include a key of the important objects. This activity

will encourage the students to observe their surroundings and specifically note the

locations of certain objects around the room. After understanding the concept of the map,

the students will be split into groups of four or five students and be instructed to complete

a scavenger hunt that the teacher had prepared. Each group will be completing a different

hunt so that everyone has to work within their own team. The scavenger hunt will take

them to different places around the school building and eventually lead them back to a

different place in the classroom where their prize will be the math lesson and the food

involved.

Math:

Jason struggled with telling the truth when dealing with candy. In this math

lesson, the students will use estimate the different lengths and widths of selected candy

bars. This is taken from Virginia’s SOL 4.10. After returning back from the scavenger

hunt, each group will arrive at a different location in the room to complete the math

lesson. Waiting for them will be a paper bag filled with different kinds of candies such as

Snickers, M&M‘s, Lollipops, and many more. The students in each group will take turns

selecting a piece of candy from the bag and estimating the measurements. After each


group is finished, the teacher will record a chart on the board of each group’s estimations.

In the final column of the chart, the teacher will provide the correct measurements of the

candy. The students will use subtraction to choose which group had the best estimating

skills.

Perseverance:

Though Katie the Camel by Alice Leedy Mason is a book clearly written for an

audience younger than 4th grade, concepts about perseverance still can be grasped by the

older students. The story is simple, written in verse, about a young female camel starting

on her first journey across the desert. She grows weary in the desert and sleeps longer

than the other camels. The others go on without her, leaving her to persevere and find her

way back to them all by herself. The last line in Katie the Camel sums up the idea of

perseverance very well by stating, “When your goal seems far away, trying hard can save

the day”. Fourth graders are preparing to enter middle school which makes perseverance

an important characteristic for them to acquire. They will need to learn to push on

through the upcoming trials they will face.

Social Studies:

Being a camel, Katie’s body functions in very specific ways so that she is able to

survive her long trek across the desert. Many other animals, however, do not just travel

across the desert but call it their home. The desert is not a very easy place to live because

of the harsh conditions, so it is very interesting to learn the different methods the plants

and animals use to survive. During this lesson, the students will work together in pairs to

create a presentation. The students will spend time in class choosing a different plant or


animal specifically located in the desert. After each group has their selection made, they

will work with their partner to study and collect information. It will be important for the

students to find as many interesting facts as they can about their selection, but it will be

most important for them to discover a way this plant or animal perseveres in the desert.

Following the research, the students will find a creative way to present their selection to

their classmates. While classmates are present, the other fourth graders will record down

the most important information given. This will train the fourth graders to listen carefully

for the most important pieces of information to write down in their notes, which is a skill

they will need as they go further on in their education. After each group presented, the

teacher will review the important notes written down to be sure that all students wrote

them down. These notes will later be used to test the students on how well they retained

the information.

Science:

Katie went for a long walk through the desert and showed that she was able to

persevere. The students will for a long walk outside if the teacher is able to get

permission from the school principal. While on the walk, the students will have an

opportunity for a casual sharing time. The teacher will direct the conversation so that the

students talk about times when they were given the chance to persevere, whether it was

continuing to practice the piano when they had no desire to do so or when they worked

extra hard in a soccer game when they were all out of energy. The walk should be long

enough so that the students need to push themselves to finish. After returning back the

room, the students will calm down by discussing the mirage that the book explained

could happen. The students will then use their imagination to create their own mirage on


a piece of white paper using markers and crayons. They will create a mirage that they

might have seen while on the long walk outside. These pictures will then be hung up

around the room for everyone to see.

Math:

One of the most outstanding features in the desert is the extreme temperatures.

Many of the students will not have a very good idea of the average temperature in the

desert. They will also not know how cold a desert can become in the evening when the

sun goes down. This lesson will be good for the students to learn the different

temperatures in the desert and also to teach them how to create a line graph. Each student

will choose a different hour that they would like to be responsible for. For homework, the

students will research what the temperature in the desert is at that particular time of the

day. The following day the students will return with their data. The teacher will record

the data on the board and instruct the students in creating their own line graph. The

students will be sure to include all of the important aspects of a graph while creating their

line graph.

English:

Walking across the desert would take a very long time, and it is important for a

person to record the events that took place on their journey. In this lesson, the students

will pretend that they are traveling across the desert, and they will record five different

journal describing their adventure. After learning about the desert, the students will be

able to choose different plants and animals to incorporate into their entries to make them

informative and exciting. The students can use these things to create pretend challenges

that they encountered while on their journey. In their entries, they will need to describe a


situation where they were able to use perseverance to get them through. This lesson will

strengthen their creativity and reasoning skills.

Cooperation:

Angelina and Alice, by Katharine Holabird is geared for a much younger

audience, but it can still be used to teach fourth graders about cooperation. Because of the

simple illustration of cooperation, it is very easy to understand the message that is written

out in this sweet story about two little mice. The two mice, Angelina and Alice, are

friends that are talented in almost all of the same ways. They loved to play on the

playground together and do cartwheels, hang upside down, and do gymnastics together.

The only difference between the two of them was that Angelina could not do handstands

very well. Eventually, this led to ridicule from the other little mice. Alice ridiculed her,

too, and Angelina thought she had lost her friend forever. Angelina continued to be

excluded until one day in gym class Alice asked her to be her partner for a gymnastic

show. Angelina was elated, and the two of them began practicing together. Alice helped

Angelina to perfect her handstand, and their act was the hit of the final gymnastic show.

Often times, cooperation is more complex than just working together with friends.

Sometimes cooperation entails students working with other students that they do not get

along with. Teasing can occur at times where cooperation is not being practiced,

Science:

Just like the two mice had to cooperate to achieve their goal at the gymnastic

show, the students will need to cooperate in this lesson to achieve their goal in a race.

This lesson can be prepared in many different ways by using many different relay races


that promote teamwork and cooperation. One race in particular that would be an excellent

way to encourage the students to cooperate would be a three-legged race. The students

would work each choose a partner and set up a double elimination tournament to see

which pair in the class can race the fastest. The students will be required to use a

stopwatch to time themselves while racing and to record those times on a chart for the

tournament.

Math:

The students will set up an Olympic style contest using different events such as

the cartwheel and the balance beam, which are things mentioned in Angelina and Alice.

There will be a number of events for the students to compete in. Each student will have

an event that he or she is responsible to score and then will compete in all of the other

events. The students will be responsible to keep track of their own scores, as well as

record them on a chart placed in the front of the room. Finally, the students will add up

their scores and the three highest scorers will receive a special award for winning the

“Angelina and Alice Olympics”.

English:

Don’t Laugh At Me suggests an excellent activity to do when students are learning

about cooperation and teasing. Using the guidelines from the book Angelina and Alice,

students should group in pairs and have one pretend to be Angelina while the other

pretends to be Alice. If the pairs are boys, they can change their names to Alex and Allen

or two other names beginning with the letter A. The students will take turns acting out the

scene in the book where Angelina gets ridiculed for not being able to do a handstand

(Roerden, 2000, pg. 48). After all of the students have an opportunity to act each role, the


class should then have a discussion about how it felt to be teased for not being able to do

something. The class should discuss the correct way to treat their friends when one seems

less able than someone else.

Social Studies:

Often times, a classroom can be viewed as a little government with each person

playing a specific role in the classroom. When everyone is cooperating together, the

classroom is run successfully. In this lesson, the students should take the time to write a

paragraph or two about the importance of cooperation in the government. They should be

sure to include sentences about the different roles of each person. They should also be

sure to write about how our nation would run if nobody cooperated.

Courage:

The character trait exemplified in this story is integrated in the title of the book,

The Courage of Sarah Noble, by Alice Dalgliesh. Sarah is a young eight year old girl

that travels with her father to the wilderness of Connecticut to help him build a house for

her family. Her family is large, but her father chose to bring her along because she is such

an excellent cook. Sarah is young, however, so her mother sends her off with

encouraging words. “Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble (Dalgliesh, 1954, p.2)!” Sarah

travels with her father to Connecticut, and she hears many strange animals in the forest

on her journey. The two of them arrived on the land of their future home and began

building the house with the help of their trusty horse, Thomas. Eventually, Sarah meets

little Indian children in the woods and she reminds herself to keep up her courage. As the

chapter book goes on, Sarah and her father befriend the Indians to the point that Sarah


stays with them while her father travels back home for the rest of the Noble family. Sarah

is afraid, but she keeps up her courage. At the end of the story, Sarah’s family returns and

her family tells her how proud they are of her for having such courage.

Social Studies:

Indians are some of the most important characters in The Courage of Sarah

Noble, and it is important to recognize how they are similar and different from the Noble

family and people today. On the board the students will create a Venn Diagram titled

“Indians vs. Noble Family”. The students will work together to explain ways that the

Indians and Nobles compare and contrast. Then the students will write a paragraph using

the information gathered about the Indians and the Nobles. The students will then

practice by creating their own Venn Diagrams about two different people in history that

they would like to compare and contrast. This will be a good challenge for them because

students will be prone to picking two completely opposite characters so that the

assignment is easy in the contrasting aspect. The students will find it more difficult to

find similarities between two random characters in American History.

English:

Sarah Noble needs to have a lot of courage when moving to a new home.

Everyone has changes that occur in their lives which require great bouts of courage. In

this English lesson, the students will refer to the worksheet in Ready-to-Use Social Skills

Lessons & Acitivities for Grades 4-6 on page 170 which talks about changes that take

place at home. On this worksheet the students will write in complete sentences three

changes that have occurred in their homes. Then, they will write about their reaction to


these changes. Also, the students should include how they needed to have courage to

handle these changes in their homes.

Math:

Sarah is very descriptive about the things she sees while traveling to Connecticut.

Students will use their imagination to create a diorama of a scene from The Courage of

Sarah Noble using rulers to measure out the items placed in the diorama. Before creating

the diorama, the students will prepare a sketch of what they plan to place inside. While

creating this sketch, the students will decide on the specific size certain objects need to be

in order to fit inside of the diorama. This lesson will encourage the students to plan ahead

and use good measuring technique so that the objects are not too big for the shoe box.

Science:

In the very beginning of the book, Sarah is afraid of many different animals in the

woods. Her father calms her down by explaining what each animal is and how it will not

hurt her. To practice using descriptions students will each choose any animal.

Descriptions are very important in science because plants and animals need to be

characterized by their different qualities. The students will then be instructed to not share

with any of their classmates the animal that they have selected. Each fourth grader will

write down a specific description of their selected animal without giving away what

animal they have chosen. One at a time, the students will stand at their seats and share

with their classmates the description they have thought of. The students will take turn

guessing the animals. This activity could be very fun if the students give an honest whole

hearted attempt.


Conclusion

As a student furthers his or her education, the primary focus in the classroom is

the core subjects, which include Math, Science, English, and Social Science. Because

these subjects become so much of the focus, it is important for the teacher to incorporate

Character Education into each lesson to continue teaching the students all of the

foundational healthy characteristics to maintain. Today, children are learning more

content at a faster speed than children ten years ago, so in that sense, fourth graders are

learning what was originally planned for a Middle School Student. The key concepts to

develop good character include honesty, perseverance, respect, self-discipline, courage,

responsibility, cooperation, and citizenship. An excellent teacher is set apart from a good

teacher by the amount of Character Education he or she is able to integrate into the lesson

because he or she realizes how essential it is to the well being of the students being

taught. Content is always of value but when Character Education is instilled in a child,

that child will go much further and grow up to be a well rounded individual.


References

Banks, Lynne Reid.(1999).The Indian in The Cupboard. HarperTrophy.

Begun, Ruth Weltmann. (1996). Ready-to-Use Social Skills Lessons & Activities for

Grades 4-6. New York: The Center for Applied Research Education.

Dahl, Roald.(1998).Matilda. Puffin.

Dalgliesh, Alice. (1954).The Courage of Sarah Noble.New York: Charles Scribner’s

Sons

Fitzhugh, Louise.(2004).Harriet the Spy. Collins.

Holabird, Katharine. (1987). Angelina and Alice.Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Company

Lewis, Beverly. (1995).No Grown-ups Allowed.Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers

Lowry, Beverly.(2007).Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life: A Biography. DoubleDay.

Mannix, Darlene.(2002).Character Building Activities for Kids. New Jersey: Prentice

Hall.

Mason, Alice Leedy. (1984). Katie the Camel.Chicago: Children’s Press.

Nish, Steven.(1998). Good Ideas: To Help Young People Develop Good Character.

California: Pace Publication Arts.

Roerden, Laura Parker.(2000).Don’t Laugh at Me. New York: Operation Respect, Inc.

Steele, Anne L. (1999). Developing Character When it Counts.California: Frank Schaffer

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