CHARACTER COUNTS! Kindness 101

Dedication - Doctor Adopts Boy Who Came to Surgery Alone, Then Finds Homes for His 5 Siblings

Dedication is committing time, effort, and energy to support a person, cause, or goal, especially when it requires going above and beyond what is expected.

Grade Level: K-12
 
Character Skills
  • Responsibility
  • Caring
  • Good Citizenship
SEL Skills
  • Relationship Skills
  • Self-Awareness
  • Self-Management
Academic Skills
  • Curiosity and Passion
  • Self-Direction and Engagement

Definitions

Responsibility
  • Do what you are supposed to do. Try your best.
  • Persevere. Keep on trying.
  • Be self-disciplined.
  • Think before you act. Consider the consequences.
  • Be accountable for your words, actions, and attitudes.
Caring
  • Be kind.
  • Be compassionate.
  • Express gratitude.
  • Forgive others.
  • Be considerate of others’ feelings.
Good Citizenship
  • Do your share to make your home, school, and community better.
  • Cooperate.
  • Stay informed. Vote.
  • Be a good neighbor.
  • Make choices that protect the safety and rights of others.
  • Protect the environment.
Relationship Skills

Create positive relationships and meaningful connections with family members, classmates, and teachers.

Self-Awareness

Identify and understand emotions, values, attitudes, motivations, mindsets, and personal attributes .

Self-Management

Regulate emotions, attitudes, and actions, and resist negative emotions and impulses.

Curiosity and Passion

Enthusiastic to understand more about themselves, others, and the world around them.

Self-Direction and Engagement

Fully engaged in the educational process and connected to the school community.

Learn more about our character, SEL, and academic outcomes.
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CBS News
The Ray Center at Drake University

Students will explore how dedication often involves putting forth extra effort to help others. Through a team challenge, students will consider when it is appropriate to go above and beyond, how helping others can strengthen a community, and why it is important to balance helping others with their own responsibilities and well-being.

Download Google Slides
activiate prior knowledge

Activate Prior Knowledge

  • What does dedication mean to you?
  • Who is someone you know that is dedicated to helping others?
  • Can a person help others while still taking care of their own responsibilities? How?
Kindness 101

Kindness 101 Video

discussion

Discussion Prompts

  • How did the people in the video demonstrate dedication?
  • What motivated them to go above and beyond for someone else?
  • Why do you think people are willing to spend extra time and effort helping others?
  • How can one person’s dedication inspire an entire community?
  • What is the difference between helping someone once and being dedicated to helping them?
materials

Activity Materials

  • 1 cup per team
  • 50-100 small objects (paper clips, pom-poms, counters, cubes, etc.)
  • Timer
activity

Activity: Community Cup Challenge

  1. Divide students into teams of 4-6.
  2. Give each team an empty cup.
  3. Place all the small objects in a pile in the center of the room.
  4. Instruct students that when you say “go” one person at a time will walk quickly to the center, collect one object, and place it in their team’s cup. They will then tag the next person to collect another item. The team with the most objects after four minutes wins.
  5. Allow teams to play for about one minute. Then announce a new rule without any additional instructions. The new rule is:
    • If you notice another team struggling, you may place an object into their cup instead of your own.
  1. After four minutes, have groups count their objects and declare a winner.
  2. Explain to students that groups often fall into three types of teams.
    • Self-Focused Teams
      • Keep all objects for themselves.
      • Focus entirely on winning.
    • Balanced Helper Teams
      • Continue working toward their goal.
      • Occasionally help another team when they notice a need.
    • Over-Helper Teams
      • Spend so much time helping other teams that they stop contributing to their own team’s success.
  1. Follow-up questions:
    • What did you notice when teams were allowed to help one another?
    • Did anyone sacrifice some of their own success to help another team? What motivated that decision?
    • When is it important to go above and beyond for someone else?
    • Is it possible to help others too much?
    • How can helping others become unhealthy if we ignore our own needs?
journal prompts

Journal Prompts

K-5

  • Describe a time when someone went above and beyond to help you.
  • What is one way you can help someone this week?
  • Why is it important to take care of your own responsibilities while helping others?

6-12

  • Reflect on a time when you made a sacrifice to help someone else.
  • How can a person balance service to others with their own responsibilities?
  • What does dedication look like in everyday life?
family connection

Family Connection

Educators: Copy the Family Connection and email it to parents or click here to download a PDF version to email or print.

Watch

Discuss

Use these questions to start meaningful conversations about dedication.

  • Who in our family regularly goes above and beyond for others?
  • Why do people choose to help even when it requires extra effort?
  • How can we help others while still taking care of our own responsibilities?

Activity

  • As a family, identify one person or group that could use extra support this week. Examples might include a neighbor, family member, teacher, or community organization.
  • Work together to complete one act of service that goes beyond what is normally expected.
  • After you complete the act of service, discuss:
    • How did it feel to help?
    • What effort was required?
    • How did working together make the task easier?

More Kindness 101 Activities

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