August 2008
August’s Key to Character
RESPECT
Definition:
Elementary – Respect is thinking highly of others and obeying authority; willingness to show consideration or
appreciation.
Secondary – Respect is due regard for the rights, values, beliefs, property, feelings and position of authority of all
people.
Related Words: self-respect, revere, devoir, filial duty, observe, tolerate, acknowledge, civility
Ways You Show Respect
Why should we respect others?
Being on time for class shows respect for your teacher and
classmates
Picking up the trash that falls out of your locker shows
respect for your school
Eating with your mouth closed shows respect for your
friends and family
Keeping your yard at home tidy shows respect for your
neighbors
Greeting your parent’s friends when you see them shows
respect for them and your parents
Not talking out loud in movies shows respect for others
Wearing clothing appropriate for the occasion shows respect
for everyone there
Respect is the regard and recognition of the
absolute dignity that every human being
possesses.
Respect is treating people as they should be
treated.
Respect is indicative of compassion and
consideration of others, which includes a
sensitivity to and regard for the feelings and
needs of others and an awareness of the effect
of one’s own behavior on them.
Respect also involves the notion of treating
people justly.
Source: Advisor/Advisee Character Education by Sarah Sadlow
Bulletin Board Ideas
The Multicultural Golden Rule
Confucius:
What you do not want done to yourself, do not
do to others.
Aristotle:
We should behave to others as we wish others to
behave to us.
Judaism:
What you hate, do not do to anyone.
Islam:
No one of you is a believer unless he loves for his
brother what he loves for himself.
Hinduism:
Do nothing to thy neighbor which thou wouldst
not have him do to thee thereafter.
Buddhism: Hurt no others with that which pains thyself.
Christianity: Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you.
Source: Advisor/Advisee Character Education by Sarah Sadlow
Put RESPECT in the middle of a large bulletin
board. Around the word, put pictures or
drawings of the different people that students
should respect (parents, grandparents,
teachers, friends, policemen, firemen, nurses,
doctors, etc.).
Use a large poster representing the environment. Add the words “Reduce,” “Reuse,” and
“Recycle” and pictures of ways to do each. Use
the header, “Do we respect our environment?”
Place the word RESPECT in the middle of a large
bulletin board. Use lines to link the word to
other words used to show respect, such as
“may I?” “please,” and “excuse me.”
Source: Teaching Character, by Anne C.
Dotson and Karen D. Wisont
CHILDREN CANNOT HEED A MESSAGE THEY HAVE NOT HEARD - George Nicholaw
Parent
Corner
Practice Respect: Without the principle of respect, democracy cannot
exist. When parents show respect to their children, children learn the
value of respect in sustaining democratic ideals.
Don’t minimize your power to make a difference: No single person
can change the world, but you can do what’s possible within your sphere
of influence. As a parent, that sphere begins with your children. Educator
Jesse Goodman (1989) said, “The key to transforming society lies in
transforming the consciousness of its citizens, especially children”.
Questions to Guiding You in Teaching Your Children
As you choose activities, the questions below can help you discern what
your children need to learn.
Are my children learning respect for human rights, openmindedness, responsibility, and cooperativeness?
Are my children hearing all sides of an issue, and know how to
respect another’s opinion, even if they disagree?
Source: Teaching Children Democratic Citizenship
As children grow, they will go to schools and interact with lots of different
people. For example, friends and teachers. Hence it is necessary to
teach them the social skills that enable them to get along with others,
work as part of a group, follow rules, make and keep friends and act
with confidence; these abilities also help children to build good character.
Families have a profound influence on the early development of
children’s social abilities and skills. If they enjoy love, warming
relationship with parents, siblings, grandparents and other relationships,
they will have a strong foundation and form good relationships with
other people. They will be more understanding about how other people
feel and have the ability to treat others the way they want and how they
should be treated.
It is important for parents to teach their children from a young age that
others have their own opinions and feelings. They need to learn to
respect them and know that it is perfectly okay for people to have
different views. With this understanding, children can then begin to
develop empathy – the ability to discern and share another’s feelings or
ideas. It is the ability to put themselves into someone else’s shoes that
makes them willing to share, take turns, cooperate and treat their friends
with kindness and respect.
Preschoolers usually do not have a clear sense of empathy. However
you can help them begin to understand by talking about other people’s
thoughts and feelings. At home, you might ask: “How do you think
Sarah will feel if someone takes her toys without asking her permission?”
“How will Mommy and Daddy feel if you hurt yourself?” “How would you
feel if none of your friends asked you to join them when they are playing?”
Parents need to help children know that there are certain rules of proper
social behaviors. For example, no hitting of others, no cutting of queue,
wait for others to finish talking before they can talk, ask for permission
if they want to take something that doesn’t belong to them, etc.
In school, your children will be surrounded by many children with their
own things such as books, stationary, toys, food, etc. They need to
learn how to treat their friends’ things and handle them with care when
their friends lend anything to them. And parents must teach their
children the proper way to make a request if they want to borrow
something from others and how to show their appreciation if their wishes
are granted. Teach them the proper use of words like “May I….”, “please”
and “thank you” and the importance of returning things that are
borrowed.
Source: http://www.alvinkh.per.sg/learningchamp
My Friend Anthony
Whenever I think back to third grade, I think of
my friend Anthony. He had blond hair and big,
brown, expressive eyes. I had been surprised to
see that he was in my class because he was older
than I was.
Although Anthony had AIDS and knew his
days were limited, he was always eager to come
to school and try to lead a normal life. Some days,
he got tired and had to leave early. His mother
usually came every day to eat lunch with him or
just to be with him. It seemed like he always had
a positive outlook on things even though he knew
everything wasn’t okay. He came to school with
what appeared to be a medicine pouch attached
to his waist. Many times I felt sorry for him because I knew he must have been in pain.
In June of that year, Anthony died. I clearly
remember that he wore a Charlotte Hornets windbreaker outfit in his coffin, and lying beside him
was his Cabbage Patch doll, along with a small
bag of toys. After that, I sometimes lied awake
at night, afraid to go to sleep because I was afraid
of dying.
I knew Anthony had left his body to go to a
better place, a place without pain, but I felt bad
for his family because they would always feel
empty without Anthony.
During the year that I had gone to school
with Anthony, I had grown to respect him and
his mother, too. Through her love and compassion, she taught Anthony, as well as others such
as myself, to be brave, and to love, care for and
respect everyone.
Anthony had taught me to live life to the
fullest, and I intend to do just that.
Katie Short, age 12
Source: “Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul”
I FOUND THIS IN HER BACKPACK!
Contributed by Norma Cardenas
She was 15 years old when she wrote:
Success basically means to me to have respect
for yourself and others. I feel that respect is the
key to success and to life and you cannot live
without it. Success, which is respect, can get you
anything if you really think about it.
Say you feel lots of money is success. In order to get money honestly, with respect for yourself, you get a good paying job. To get a good
paying job you must have a good education. Who
most wants you to receive a good education, but
your parents, by doing so you respect your parents and fulfill their wishes.
Perhaps you feel being famous is success to
you. There are those who become famous in a
negative way and a positive way. You want the
positive way. With this, others look at you for
being famous and having respect for others in
your good deeds for the community.
I think making good choices in your life
which respect others and yourself truly bring
success upon a person.
Source: http://valleynews.com/TheValley/Stories/
Creative-Writing/Short-Stories/Story~299144.aspx
Students Learn Respect—Thanks to Good Manners!
R-E-S-P-E-C-T—Aretha Franklin sings for it. Rodney Dangerfield never gets any. Educators who teach good manners
find it every day in student behavior. Could mastering manners make a difference in your classroom?
Recently, a seventh grade class found it entertaining to mimic manners from the Beaver Cleaver era. “Gee
whiz, ma’am,” gushed Tanner. “This was a swell class.” The teacher expressed appreciation for his etiquette revival
and informed the class that students in some states are required to address teachers as “ma’am” and “sir.”
“We did that in Alabama,” said Casey. “When we moved to Connecticut, my fifth-grade teacher asked me to stop.
She said it made her feel old.”
Though the fine points of acceptable manners may vary slightly from decade to decade and from one state to
another, experts agree, behavior based on respect is still the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, American adults are exhibiting
less civility toward one another, and children are following suit with teachers and peers in the classroom.
In 1999, 73 percent of Americans in an ABC NEWS/World News Tonight poll thought manners were worse than 20 or 30 years ago.
Respondents primarily placed the blame on inadequate parenting. They also citied movies and television shows that encouraged children to
be less respectful of others. Under those circumstances, it’s no surprise that manner illiteracy is rampant in classrooms from coast to coast.
WHY SPEND TIME ON MANNERS?
SINGING THE PRAISES OF MANNERS
Although character education is a hot topic in schools across the nations, education in
manners generally receives scant attention. With growing demands on teaching time,
etiquette is rarely a priority. But it might be a mistake to ignore the adage that actions
speak louder than words.
Psychologist John Rosemond declares that manners and respect are inseparable. He
believes children can never learn to respect themselves unless they learn respect for
others. Suggestions to help teach manners are:
Work on one skill at a time.
Give immediate positive feedback for manners success.
Be tolerant of children’s mistakes, but do not overlook them.
Give a noncritical prompt when children forget social rituals.
Set a good example—manners are not a one-way street.
Etiquette author Letitia Baldrige wrote, “Manners for the Modern Child.” Much of her advice
promotes taking advantage of teachable moments, including the following instructions:
Advise children of behavioral expectations ahead of time.
Point out to children observed acts of kindness and manners.
Admit your mistake if a child catches you using bad manners; discuss other
ways you could have handled the situation.
According to the National Association of Elementary School Principals, lack of good manners
is a growing problem in classrooms and playgrounds. Tips for adults to help children
include the following:
Stress to children the importance of treating others the same way they like to be
treated.
Help children understand the harm caused by thoughtless, unkind words and
actions.
Role-play difficult situations for children in order to demonstrate appropriate
responses.
Establish a politeness policy for basic manners.
Teach your class to start each day with a rousing
musical rendition of manners. As an example,
the following song is sung to the tune of “The
Farmer in the Dell”:
Manners are the way
To brighten up my day.
Please and thank you is what I say
To brighten up my day.
FILL YOUR PLATE WITH MANNERS RESOURCES FROM THE WEB
Good Manners Are Fun! Persuade students in grades 2 through 4 to practice manners
through computer activities spanning a unit or a yearlong theme. Some suggestions are:
Write and publish original books on good manners.
Create manner problem stories for the rest of the class to read and role-play.
Design HyperCard stacks on the proper use of eating utensils.
Combine sound and graphics to demonstrate making introductions.
Take digital pictures of children using good manners, add text, and publish
them as posters.
Manners Themes and Activities will provide you
with poems, role plays, crafts, games, and
teaching guidelines. Many simple rhymes will help
children link manners and respect. For instance:
Manners
We say, “Thank you.”
We say, “Please.”
We don’t interrupt or tease.
We don’t argue. We don’t fuss.
We listen when folks talk to us.
We share our toys and take our turn.
Good manners aren’t too hard to learn.
It’s really easy, when you find.
Good manners means
JUST BEING KIND!
You’ll never run out of good things to say about
respect and other values after you visit the
Resource-Quote Library. This quotation bank of
insightful statements can be a thought-provoking
educational resource for older students.
Quoting the ancient Greeks is a good way to
explain what manners are all about.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small,
is ever wasted.” ~Aesop
Source: Joan Luddy, Education World:
Curriculum: Students Learn Respect—Thanks
to Good Manners!
Viewing Others and Ourselves
When you look through a piece of glass, you can see people and the world around you.
Press a black piece of paper behind the glass, and you see a reflection of yourself. Some
people prefer to limit their view in this way, so instead of seeing the needs and desires of
other people around them, they focus only on themselves. These self-centered people are
as one-dimensional as the glass in front of them, and everyone around them knows it.
If you look through the transparent window, you’ll see yourself as part of a larger,
multi-dimensional picture. Viewing and appreciating other individuals with gifts, needs
and dreams different from your own makes you an interesting and caring person.
Life is much the same. When we only focus and evaluate life according to our needs,
we become egocentric. Our view of others darkened when we consider only the following
questions:
What will benefit me the most?
How can I change this circumstance to my advantage?
How can I use this individual to enrich my life?
In this mode we are always preoccupied with ourselves and are not pleasant company for
others. Think of times when you may have acted to benefit you the most, or changed
circumstances to your advantage, or used someone for your own gain. When we’re able to
see beyond ourselves to the needs of others, we gain satisfaction from relationships and
feel the benefit of giving and receiving care. Our focus shifts from seeing only ourselves
to seeing others.
People Who Give of Themselves
When you think about the ability to share with
others, remember the special people in your life
who are the unsung heroes. What about the father
who coaches your recreational sports team? For
practice after practice, he shows up early just to
be there for you. What about the mother who
volunteers to drive during school events? What
about the neighbors who pick up trash in public
areas? There are many people who never receive
applause for things they do; they do them
because just making a contribution with a
generous heart brings them satisfaction and joy.
Those individuals deserve your respect and
appreciation.
Source: Advisor/Advisee Character Education
by Sarah Sadlow
Subject Related Lesson Plans
Sunshine State Standards
Property: Ownership, Respect, and Responsibility
Subjects: Arts & Humanities (Language Arts –Literature), Mathematics
(Measurement—Statistics), Social Studies, Civics
Grades: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Brief Description
Students learn to respect others’ property by rating the severity of a variety of
damaging acts.
Objectives
Students will:
recognize that other people’s property needs to be respected, and that
the use of property involves responsibility.
understand that laws and rules protect personal property (individual
property) and public property (property which is not owned individually).
Keywords
respect, property, responsibility, public, consequences, punishment
Materials Needed
Those Terrible Toy-Breakers by David McPhail (Parents Magazine Press)
or any other children’s literature that correlates with damage done to
property
a set of tagboard thermometers or similar ranking scale
a teacher questionnaire (included with lesson)
Lesson Plan
In this lesson, students use a tagboard “thermometer” to rate the severity of 15
statements describing situations in which a person damages the property of another.
Alternative idea: provide students with work sheets on which are drawn 15
thermometers with a scale of 1 to 10. Let students respond to each situation by
coloring a thermometer on their work sheets.
Following are a few examples of the kinds of property-related damages
introduced in this activity:
Scribbling on a school wall.
Smashing jack-o-lanterns on a neighborhood street.
Trampling a flower garden while taking a shortcut home.
This lesson includes follow-up activities.
See the entire lesson at http://www.ccle.fourh.umn.edu/rulespocatello2.html.
Assessment
Students’ understanding is evaluated throughout the lesson by teacher observations.
Observation of the ranking students give will indicate students' understanding of
this concept.
Lesson Plan Source
Civically Speaking (Minnesota Center for Community Legal Education)
FCAT Connections
Have students work as a class or in small groups to brainstorm responses to the
question, What does “respect” mean to me? Will they mention the Golden Rule “treat others the way you would like to be treated” - as a simple definition of the
word? From their responses ask students to think about times they might have felt
disrespected or seen someone act in a disrespectful manner, then use one of the
prompts below to write a paragraph or essay.
Explain to a younger grade level why they should be respectful
Convince someone that a certain act of their choice is disrespectful
Describe ways that we can show respect for our nation, family, community
or environment
PreK-2 Grade
Activities
Have students make a list of synonyms for the word respect. For example,
esteem, honor, regard, value, cherish, appreciate, admire, praise, compliment…
Different people have different likes and dislikes. To emphasize that point, you
might invite each student to share something he or she likes very much. That
might be a food, an activity, a place... or anything else. After students share,
ask some of the students to identify things that other students like but they
don’t like as much. Conclude the discussion by emphasizing that people should
treat one another respectfully in spite of their differences.
Have students look through magazines for pictures showing people respecting
others’ differences or pictures of different kinds of people working or playing
together. Create a class “We Respect Differences” collage.
After talking about some of the things respect means, you might start a class
or small-group discussion about what respect does not mean. What kinds of
behaviors could be considered disrespectful? Students might provide responses
such as rudeness, malicious gossip, criticism, insults... As a follow-up activity,
ask students to offer synonyms for the word disrespect. For example, rudeness,
dishonor, ridicule, scorn, disregard, ignore, disdain...
Source: Education World
HE.A.1.2 understands positive health behaviors that
enhance wellness
HE.B.2.3 knows and accepts the differences of
people with special health needs
HE.B.3.2 knows the skills needed to be a responsible friend and family member
HE.B.3.3 knows how to use positive communication
skills when expressing needs, wants, and
feelings
HE.B.3.4 knows various ways of communicating care
and consideration of others
HE.B.3.5 listens attentively
HE.B.3.8 identifies healthy ways to handle feelings
Grades 3-5
HE.B.2.2 understands how information from school
and family influences personal health
behaviors
HE.B.3.2 knows the skills needed to be a responsible
friend and family member
HE.B.3.3 knows nonviolent, positive behaviors for
resolving conflict
HE.B.3.4 knows various ways to communicate care,
consideration and acceptance of self and
others
HE.B.3.5 exhibits attentive listening skills to enhance
interpersonal communication
Grades 6-8
HE.B.2.3 identifies aspects in one’s own culture and
in the cultures of others that may have an
impact on health and the use of health
services
HE.B.3.2 knows various ways to communicate care,
consideration, and acceptance of self and
others
HE.B.3.3 knows skills for building and maintaining
positive interpersonal relationships
HE.B.3.4 understands how the behavior of family
members and peers affects interpersonal
communication
HE.B.3.5 demonstrates attentive communication
skills
HE.C.2.5 knows ways to work cooperatively with
others to advocate for healthy individuals,
schools, and families
Grades 9-12
HE.B.1.4 knows strategies for improving or
maintaining personal, family, and
community health
HE.B.2.4 knows how ethnic and cultural diversity
both enrich and challenge healthy living
HE.B.3.1 understands the relationship between
verbal and nonverbal communication
HE.B.3.2 knows techniques for communicating care,
consideration, and respect of self and
others
HE.B.3.3 knows positive strategies for expressing
needs, wants, and feelings
HE.B.3.4 knows skills for communicating effectively
with family, friends, and others
HE.C.2.1 knows oral, written, audio, and visual
communication methods to accurately
express health messages
HE.C.2.5 knows methods for working cooperatively
with others to advocate for healthy
communities
S
t
sted Reading Li
e
g
s
ug
Primary: Kindergarten – Grade 2
Pigs in the Pantry: Fun with Math and Cooking by Amy Axelrod.
Mr. Pig and the piglets try to cook Mrs. Pig’s favorite dish to cheer her
up when she’s sick. Includes a recipe for chili.
Max’s Words by Kate Banks. When Max cuts out words from magazines
and newspapers, collecting them the way his brothers collect stamps
and coins, they all learn about words, sentences, and storytelling.
10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle. When a storm strikes a cargo
ship, ten rubber ducks are tossed overboard and swept off in ten
different directions. Based on a factual incident.
On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole. Upon moving to a new house,
young Caroline and her parents encourage wildflowers to grow and
birds and animals to stay in their yard, which soon has the whole
suburban street living up to its name.
Open Wide: Tooth School Inside by Laurie Keller. Through a classroom
setting in which teeth are the students, this book presents information
about the structure and care of teeth and the services provided by
dentists.
When Stories Fell Like Shooting Stars by Valiska Gregory. When Fox
sees the sun fall from the sky, his selfish actions set in motion a
series of events that lead to war, but when Bear finds the fallen moon,
he gets the other animals to work together to return the moon to
where it belongs.
Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln by Judith St. George. Growing up poor in the
backwoods of Kentucky and Indiana, Abraham Lincoln lost his mother
before he was ten. Sally Johnston, who married Abe’s father a year
later, brought a library of books to their log cabin home and turned
young Abe’s life around.
Math Fables by Greg Tang. A series of rhymes about animals
introduces counting and grouping numbers, as well as examples of
such behaviors as cooperation, friendship, and appreciation.
Wheels on the Bus by Paul Zelinsky. The wheels on the bus go round,
the wipers go swish, the doors open and close, and the people go in
and out in this movable book version of the classic song.
Nancy la Elegante by Jane O’Connor. A young girl who loves fancy
things helps her family to be fancy for one special night. (Book in
Spanish)
Intermediate: Grades 3-5
Olympic Dream by Matt Christopher. When overweight fourteen-yearold video whiz Doug Cannon is introduced to the sport of cycling; he
begins a transformation that leads him to health and self-respect.
Young Abe Lincoln: the Frontier Days, 1809-1837 by Cheryl Harness.
Briefly presents the life of this famous president from his birth until
the age of twenty-eight.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney. Greg Heffley
tells about his summer vacation and his attempts to steer clear of
trouble when he returns to middle school and tries to keep his older
brother Rodrick from telling everyone about Greg’s most humiliating
experience of the summer.
Rockwell: A Boy and His Dog by Loren Spiotta-DiMare.
Math-terpieces by Greg Tang. A series of rhymes about artists and
their works introduces counting and grouping numbers, as well as
such artistic styles as cubism, pointillism, and surrealism.
A Gift From Papa Diego/Un regalo de papa Diego (Billingual Edition)
by Alire Benjamin Saenz. When Little Diego gets a Superman outfit for
his birthday, he hopes to fly across the border to Mexico to be with
his grandfather whom he loves.
Summer Reading is Killing Me by Jon Scieszka. At the beginning of
summer vacation, Sam, Joe, and Fred find themselves transported to
a bizarrely bookish universe. They find themselves trapped in their
summer reading list. Can they find The Book and get home before the
Headless Horseman and a dastardly Mr. (Teddy) Bear do away with
the heroes of their stories OR will Alice become Frankenstein in
Wonderland?
Middle: Grades 6-8
The Widow’s Broom by Chris Van Allsburg. This is an intriguing
story to get students to look beneath the surface of books. The
illustrations are wonderful and the story is reminiscent of “The
Sorcerer’s Apprentice” but it’s the superstition and prejudice that
we want to emphasize. Spivey’s determination to rid the
neighborhood of the witch’s broom and all its marvelous
accomplishments is equaled by the widow’s determination to keep
her newfound friend and worker.
Rebel by Allan Baillie. This is a story about a community that stands
together against a bully. Based on a true story, it tells of how a
General marched his army into a village. They round up the villagers.
“You are my people now!” he shouts, and a single, small sandal is
thrown at him from the crowd. Enraged, he orders his army to find
the culprit – the child wearing just one sandal – but the villagers
thwart him by putting all their sandals in a big pile and they all
stand bare footed.
The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor. A young narrator
has called a family meeting to discuss money – she thinks they
don’t have enough. Her parents, however, consider themselves quite
rich and they proceed to describe and enumerate their riches. They
value working out of doors, wildlife, sunsets, coyote howls and the
beauty they see all around them. The humor keeps the book from
being saccharine and it should get students thinking about the things
they value.
The Giver by Lois Lowry. A seemingly ideal society eliminates all
that they find inconvenient or unpleasant. They value conformity,
good health and hard work. The price they’ve paid for their ideal
society is something we learn about bit by bit.
The Glass Castle by Jennifer Walls. This story is a memoir of a girl
who grows up in a difficult home with irresponsible parents. This is
a story of survival and the ability to thrive against all odds.
13 Moons by Charles Frazier. A twelve-year-old boy is sold by his
aunt and uncle into indentured servitude around 1800. He operates
a general store in Indian country, befriends the Indians, and goes
on to become rich and famous. The story spans the nineteenth
century and gives a great feeling for the lives of the Native Americans
in the South during the time of American expansion into the West.
High School: Grades 9-12
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kyosaki. This book has been on
the New York Times Best Seller List for over 6 years; about what the
rich teach their kids about money that the poor and the middle
class do not.
For One More Day by Mitch Albom. It is a story of a mother and a
son, and a relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond. It is about
a family and the choices we make and the opportunity that a son
has to go back and fix what he did wrong in life.
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. Story of a woman who
uncovers a century old conflict between two mail distribution
companies, Thurn and Taxis and Tristero.
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards. A doctor’s wife
gives birth to a baby with Downs Syndrome in 1964. He decides
during the birth (his wife is medicated) that he will send the daughter
(a twin) away with the nurse. The nurse is supposed to place the
baby in a home; she doesn’t and the ensuring story is told through
the nurse’s eyes.
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. A post-college
working experience of a young woman who encounters the
hardships of life under a demanding and insensitive boss.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom. “I smiled,
wept, smiled and wept….The Five People You Meet in Heaven gives
us all time to think about those whose lives have touched us and
those whose lives we’ve, in some way, touched. There are ways to
heal us that we never imagine and if we do, somehow we don’t
reach for them.”
Sources:
http://www.clintonpublic.org/documents/bookchat.htm
http://www.st.-charles.lib.il.us/youth_services/letstalk.htm
http://www.carolhurst.com/profsubjects/reading/
readingaloud.html
Respect Quotes
Week 1
Week 3
“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society
in which all persons live together in harmony and with
equal opportunities.” ~Nelson Mandela
“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in
unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” ~Theodore
Roosevelt
“My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every
boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence
of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other
land could a boy from a country village, without
inheritance or influential friends, look forward with
unbounded hope.” ~Herbert Hoover
“The flag of the United States has not been created by rhetorical
sentences in declarations of independence and in bills of rights.
It has been created by the experience of a great people, and
nothing is written upon it that has not been written by their life.
It is the embodiment, not of a sentiment, but of a history.”
~Woodrow Wilson
“About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody
moves the ends.” ~Herbert Hoover
“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities
and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.”
~Harry Truman
“Freedom is the open window through which pours the
sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.”
~Herbert Hoover
“Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must
fight and die.” ~Herbert Hoover
“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men
and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower
cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” ~Dwight D.
Eisenhower
Week 2
“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to
mankind.” ~John F. Kennedy
“When we make college more affordable, we make the
American dream more achievable.” ~Bill Clinton
Week 4
“Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.”
~Thomas Jefferson
“If you’re for the right thing, then you do it without thinking. If
we lose (our) love and self-respect and respect for each other,
this is how we will finally die.” ~Maya Angelou
“It is error alone which needs the support of government.
Truth can stand by itself.” ~Thomas Jefferson
“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery I feel a
strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
~Abraham Lincoln
“The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick
good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint
enough to keep from meddling with them while they do
it.” ~Theodore Roosevelt
“It’s better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and
regret.” ~Jackie Joyner-Kersee
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free,” ~Ralph Ellison
“Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged
bird that cannot fly.” ~Langston Hughes
“I remember being afraid of what OTHER PEOPLE thought of me:
then I realized that it didn’t MATTER what THEY thought; it only
mattered who I REALLY WAS…” ~Lisa-Nicole Jackson
Websites Connections
http://www.urbanext.uiucedu/ce/strat-index.html
Strategies for Empowering Students: These activities will challenge students’ minds, empower their senses of well-being, and
rekindle their hearts with a commitment to values and beliefs essential to becoming and being whole individuals. The activities
are divided into primary, intermediate, and upper grade levels, each with appropriate developmental strategies.
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgl?activity_id=7077
Hero Quest: This short activity encourages students to explore the qualities that make a hero, using the six values of
Character Education.
http://myhero.com/
My Hero: My Hero illuminates the “unsung” heroes in the cities, towns, and countries where we live. Submit a description of
your hero or browse other submissions. (Read about artists, explorers, scientists, teachers, and other inspirational people at
this extensive Web site.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001675F/
Crossroads of Character: This is an interactive web page for kids to learn about what it is to have good character, where they
are in their own personal development, and what they can do to better themselves and the world. There are five different
sections: Know Thyself, The Hero Within, The Path You Take, What Can I Do? and Other Activities.
http://www.dosomething.org/
Do Something: National non-profit organization that inspires young people to believe that change is possible, and trains,
funds and mobilizes them to be leaders who measurably strengthen their communities. They offer $500 grants to youth
under 30 to implement service projects in their communities.
http://www.usaweekend.com/diffday/index.html
Make a Difference Day: Unique program that inspires and rewards volunteers. A national day of helping others – a celebration
of neighbors helping neighbors.