Character education lessons

Try these character building activities as part of your character education lesson plans.

Start by reading one of the Talking with Trees character trait books. You can even display ebooks on your whiteboard! Then choose a method to engage the students:

Option 1: Class discussion.

Read a Talking with Tress book aloud to the class. Use the discussion guide included in the book to lead a talk about character.

Option 2: Teach kids to identify emotions and understand their own feelings.

Look at the pictures and ask the children how they think the character is feeling in each picture. Use clues from body language (crossed arms, facial expression, stance) and the text to help children learn to read emotions.

Help children see how emotions change as you work through a problem. In each Talking with Trees book, the child has a period of becoming aware of the problem, feeling dismay at not knowing what to do, fear of facing the issue, and pride in having done the right thing.

Use the Empathy worksheets and character education activities.

Option 3: Prompt individual thought on tough character situations.

Pose challenging questions on character issues through one of the Talking with Trees worksheets on honesty, respect, or empathy.

Option 4: Team-based discovery.

For an interactive, team-based character trait lesson, break the class into small groups. Assign each group a question from the discussion guide that is included in the book.

Each group then presents their answer to the class. The presentation can be a verbal presentation, a poster, a play, etc. The discussion within the small group, as they develop their presentation, is a great way to get kids talking about character trait issues, and to hear multiple perspectives.

Option 5: Act out real-life character building situations.

Have the kids act out a situation someone in the group has faced that is related to the questions. The team should demonstrate a positive solution to the problem, drawing on the character traits they have just learned about.