CHARACTER COUNTS! Kindness 101

Modeling Character – How a Maine 8-Year-Old Inadvertently Became a Fashion Trendsetter at His School 

We model our character for other people in everything we do.

Modeling Character
Grade Level: K-12
 
Character Skills
  • Respect
  • Caring
SEL Skills
  • Self-Awareness
  • Social Awareness
Academic Skills
  • Curiosity and Passion
  • Self-Direction and Engagement

Definitions

Respect
  • Follow the Golden Rule.
  • Be accepting of differences.
  • Be courteous to others.
  • Deal peacefully with anger, insults, and disagreements.
  • Be considerate of others’ feelings.
Caring
  • Be kind.
  • Be compassionate.
  • Express gratitude.
  • Forgive others.
  • Be considerate of others’ feelings.
Self-Awareness

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

Social Awareness

Assess and be sensitive to the feelings and needs of others.

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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The Ray Center at Drake University

Students will learn about the importance of embracing other people and being models of good character.

Download Google Slides
activiate prior knowledge

Activate Prior Knowledge

  • Who is someone that you look up to? Why do you look up to them?
  • What does it mean to be a role model?
    • A role model is someone that others look up to and admire.
Kindness 101

Kindness 101 Video

discussion

Discussion Prompts

  • How did James model good character at his school? How did his classmates model good character?
  • What impact did James’s fashion have on the students at his school?
  • Every day we are a model for other people. What elements of character should we aim to model at our school?
  • What is the power of telling someone they are a role model to us?
  • In the video, we see James being authentically himself, and his classmates accepting him for trying something new.
    • What is the importance of accepting other people as they are?
    • How does that help us model good character?
materials

Activity Materials

  • Paper
  • Writing utensils
activity

Activity: Positive Referrals

  • Students will create a “positive referral” for a classmate.
  • Ask students to think about a classmate who is always modeling good character for others to follow, but does not always get recognized for it.
  • Students will identify this classmate by writing a paragraph about their character. They should include the student’s name and examples of them showing good character. Encourage students to reference the specific character skills that the role model shows. Students should also explain the impact that person’s character has had on them.
  • Collect the positive referrals from students and share them with the recipient.
  • Follow up-questions:
    • Before today, have you ever thought about who the role models in our school are?
    • Have you ever considered that you are a role model for others at school?
journal prompts

Journal Prompts

K-5

  • How can you be a trendsetter of good character, like James?
  • When is it challenging to model good character? Why?

6-12

  • What character skills do you believe are the most important to model? Explain your answer.
  • Everyone models something for others to learn from. Think about the friends and people you surround yourself with.
    • Are they models for good character? Why or why not?
    • If not, what can you do to model good character for them?
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 being a good role model.

  • How did the people in James’s school respond to his fashion? Would you have responded the same way?
  • How did James model good character? What can we learn from him about good character?
  • What positive character skills have you had modeled for you in your life? Where did you see these modeled?
  • What character skills can our family commit to modeling for each other and the other people we interact with often?

More Kindness 101

CHARACTER COUNTS! Lessons and Activities

 

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(C) 2024 The Ray Center at Drake University is proud to be the home of CHARACTER COUNTS! CHARACTER COUNTS!, the Six Pillars of Character, and Pursuing Victory with Honor are trademarks of the Josephson Institute. CHARACTER COUNTS! was founded by Michael Josephson through the Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics.