Our Centers for Ethics:

Weekly writing prompt

---

March 29 – April 4, 2009 April 15th is Holocaust Remembrance Day Anne Frank was the Jewish girl whose family hid from the Nazis during World War II, and who kept a diary that has become one of the world's best-selling books. Among her quotes, in addition to those below, are: "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart" and "Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" She died in a concentration camp in 1945. Using the words of Anne Frank, students will examine tolerance within their own community.

Write or discuss it! Foundations for Life gives teachers an easy way to improve students' critical thinking and composition skills. Each of these weekly prompts comes with a maxim illuminating an ethical issue. Students can analyze it and apply it to current events and their own lives, through discussion or writing. Each prompt also references at least one of the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. As a result, students can easily tie the author’s words to community values. Suggestions for using the prompts:

• Read the biographies in the Teacher’s Resource.
• Present the maxim to the students.
• Briefly discuss:
  •   What did the author mean?
  •   Can you think of ways the statement applies to something in your life?
• Point out the Pillar related to the maxim.
• Present the writing prompt to the students and have them answer these questions in their draft book or other format.

---

Elementary level

"No one has ever become poor by giving."
– Anne Frank (1929-1945)

Focus Pillar: Citizenship
This year a large group of refugees enrolled in your school. Other students have often made fun of them and the kids don’t feel like they belong. You are in charge of the school tolerance club. Your job is to come up with activities this month that will help all the students get along and have fun at school. You will need to present these ideas at the next student council meeting. Write your ideas in the following format:

• A persuasive paragraph explaining why the school needs these activities
• A list of three activity ideas including a brief description of how and where they will take place

Secondary level

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
– Anne Frank (1929-1945)

Focus Pillar: Citizenship
Last night the news reported that someone spraypainted “KKK” on a local synagogue. It is the third incident of racial graffiti this month, and the perpetrators may be students at your school. Your principal has asked you to write an article informing students of the ramifications of hate crimes. In this article, be sure to include:

• The Pillars that the perpetrators need to learn more about
• Ways the community can help prevent these offenses
• The penalties for committing these crimes

« Back to weekly writing prompt archive