>  Character Education Lesson Plan Bank

Positive Mistakes

Overview

To reinforce perseverance, children are encouraged to look at a mistake as a learning opportunity.

Materials

• Copies of the handout (one for each child)
• Crayons
• A Big Mistake by Lenore Rinder and Susan Horn (optional)

Handouts

• Positive Mistakes

Procedure

1. Ask: How can we show we're responsible? Explain and review examples of responsible behavior. (See the "Six Pillars" listing at the beginning of this section.)
   
2. Say: Responsible people aren't afraid to admit when they're wrong. They understand that everyone makes mistakes, but they try to learn from their mistakes. What are some mistakes we might make? Field answers. Discuss the examples. (You might also mention breaking rules and failing to follow instructions.) Emphasize that everyone makes these mistakes.
   
3. Discuss how they feel when they make mistakes. Compare this to their feelings after the mistakes are corrected.
   
4. Distribute the mistake handout and crayons. Say: Pretend you made this line accidentally. But you are responsible students, which means you keep trying. So see if you can turn the line into something nice.
   
5. Turn the paper various ways to model the many perspectives from which the children can view the mistake line. Once the task is complete, encourage the children to share their "beautiful mistakes" with the class.

(Optional: You may want to introduce and read aloud A Big Mistake to further enhance this lesson.)

This lesson is from the Good Ideas book, available for purchase from the CHARACTER COUNTS! online store: http://www.charactercounts.org/materials

Adapted from an idea submitted by Katherine Boyer, a librarian at Conewago Township Elementary School in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. Her idea is based on an activity in Building Character and Community in the Classroom, K-3 by Rhonda Howely, et al. (Cypress, CA: Creative Teaching Press, 1997).

Arts 

Standard 5. Understands the characteristics and merits of one's artwork and the artwork of others.

Level II, Benchmark 3. Understands that specific artworks can elicit different responses.

http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/