CHARACTER EDUCATION
Volume 2, Issue 8
COLLIER DISTRICT SCHOOLS/APRIL 2012
A Class Divided
The day after Reverend Martin
Luther King, Junior’s assassination
in 1968, a small-town Iowan teacher
divided her class based on their eye
color. Thus began a lesson on
discrimination, privilege, and
prejudice. As we focus on Fairness
and Justice this month, this lesson
may be one that you will want to
share with your students in order to
have a discussion about how Fair and
Just our society is today.
Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
pages/frontline/shows/divided/
Quotes to use
for Discussion
A Wordle for A Class Divided - http://www.wordle.net
“Fairness requires that we do not make judgments until we know all the facts.” –Anonymous
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail
to protest.” -- Elie Wiesel
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” --Martin Luther King,
Jr.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” --Mahatma Gandhi
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that
Character Traits
CARING
COURAGE
FAIRNESS
INTEGRITY
PERSEVERANCE
CHARITY
FAIRNESS
FREE FROM INJUSTICE OR BIAS
JUSTICE
RESPECT
CITIZENSHIP
FORGIVENESS
JUSTICE
KINDNESS
SELF-CONTROL
COOPERATION
HONESTY
PATRIOTISM
TOLERANCE
THE QUALITY OR ACT OF BEING
RIGHT OR EQUITABLE
ARTS
EDUCATION
Classroom displays and
posters are ways we can
send positive messages to
our students. Here are 2
ideas for creating art work
for your room or school site:
• After discussing Fairness
and Justice with your
students, have them use
newspapers or magazines
to depict a visual
representation of either
character trait. Upon
completion, have the
students present their
collages to their peers/
class and explain why
they created the image
they did.
• Students may also make
photo montages of fairness
or justice. Ask students to
take pictures around
school or the community
where fairness or justice is
being depicted. After each
student has a picture,
have them share these
images with the class.
Vocabulary Enhancer: Using
Latin & Greek Roots
HELP EXPAND YOUR STUDENTS
VOCABULARY WITH A FEW ROOT WORD
ACTIVITIES
Your students can become word
detectives with a little knowledge of root
words. As students read their textbooks
or independent reading materials, have
them search for words that contain the
roots listed in the right margin. When a
student discovers one of these roots, have
him or her write down the word, the
context or sentence in which it was used,
and then make a prediction about the
meaning of the word. Students can then
check their predictions using a reference
material like a dictionary.
“If there is light in th
e soul,
There will be beauty
in the
person.
If there is beauty in
the person,
There will be harmon
y in the
house.
If there is harmony in
the house,
There will be order in
the nation.
If there is order in th
e nation,
There will be peace in
the world.”
theme, such as Fairness and
Justice, students will increase
--Chinese Proverb
their awareness of word parts
and meanings.
You can even create a bulletin
board highlighting the various
words that students come
across in their readings that
use these roots. By focusing
the root word study around a
ROOTS
anti-, contra- = against
Examples:
antinuclear = against nuclear
antisocial = against society
contradict = against what
someone has said
contraband = something that is
against the rules
bene-, eu- = good
Examples:
benefactor = someone who does
something good for someone
else
beneficial = something that is
good for you
euphoria = an extremely good
feeling
eulogy = a speech given after
someone’s death that details
the good aspects of the person’s
life
dys-, mal-, mis- = bad
Examples:
dysfunction = a bad function
dyspepsia = bad digestion
malaise = a generally bad/sick
feeling
malevolent = describes
something that is bad or evil
misanthrope = a person who
has bad feelings towards
humankind