Missouri Department of Elementary
Put Yourself in Check
The final lesson in a four-part unit on conflict resolution offers middle schoolers strategies for how to keep themselves in check when involved in conflicts. A role-play activity and a reflective journal stress the importance of...
Missouri Department of Elementary
To Give In or Not to Give In—That Is the Question!
No! A very simple word that can be very hard to say. Seventh graders have an opportunity to practice this difficult skill as they engage in a series of role-playing scenarios. As an exit ticket, 7th graders write a reflection on the...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Managing Conflicts
Conflicts happen. Learning how to manage conflicts in mature and positive ways is an important part of social-emotion growth. The lesson offers insight into behaviors that exacerbate conflicts as well as suggestions for how to resolve...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Using Negotiation to Settle Difficulties
Negotiating can be a win/win experience if the involved parties apply the skills and techniques offered in a lesson plan about negotiating to settle differences.
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Clique
Mean girls and bully packs are favorite topic for films and TV shows that focus on the destructive power of cliques. High school freshmen are asked to reflect on both the positive and negative aspects of cliques by reading a short...
K20 LEARN
What Lies Beyond Talent? Mindset And Neuroplasticity
Individuals' views of their learning processes largely affect how they learn. An engaging activity provides your classes with tools to analyze their own views of learning. Using an online game, they explore the concepts related to a...
Curated OER
Small Actions with Big Purpose
Seventh graders examine the trait of perseverance. In this character education lesson, 7th graders discuss community causes they care about and make plans to contribute their time and energy to overcome their personally-selected issues.
Curated OER
Kate and the Beanstalk Lesson Plan
Students gain a deeper understanding of the fairy tale genre by reading fractured versions of familiar tales. In this Kate and the Beanstalk lesson plan, students read a variety of fairy tales and fractured fairy tales in order to...
Missouri Department of Elementary
What Color is Your Apple?
Build your classroom community with an activity that uses apples to examine oneself and their classmates. Participants draw four large apples on blank paper then exchange them within a small group. Group members write a character trait...
Curated OER
Moving West!
Students explore, explain and experience the importance of good character traits in everyday life by assessing the challenging journeys traveled on the Oregon Trail. They study the daily accounts of perseverance and courage along the trail.
Curated OER
The Clay Marble
Students probe the story, "The Clay Marble" by Minfong Ho to identify examples of courage, quick thinking, and perseverance. The lesson plan creatively extends the plot of the story by celebrating the heroin's birthday many years after...
Curated OER
People to Look Up To
Middle schoolers research an assigned person who exemplifies one or more of the following character traits: respect for others, empathy, perseverance, integrity, composure under pressure or responsibility. They assess how a person's...
Curated OER
Wilma Unlimited: Ambition and Goal Setting
Students listen as the teacher reads a book about an Olympic Gold Medal runner who made her big dream come true despite her hardships with polio. In this Wilma Rudolph lesson, students think about and discuss what big dreams are and see...
Curated OER
Taking on a Task
Eighth graders identify ways to persevere. In this character education lesson, 8th graders work in small groups to complete a task using strategies to persevere.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Bursting Stereotypes
Balloons take on the role of stereotypes in an activity that asks high school freshman to generate a list of different adjectives that are frequently used to describe men and women. Then then attach a stereotypical label to a balloon and...
Curated OER
Talking Heads
Students create an imaginary conversation. In this perseverance lesson, students complete a t-chart about words that describe perseverance and words that describe the opposite of perseverance. Students sketch a "talking heads"...
Curated OER
Persevering Poetry
Students practice perseverance by practicing and memorizing a poem. In this perseverance lesson plan, students see how their hard work pays off when they eventually memorize their poem.
Missouri Department of Elementary
The Quest for Magic Minutes
A "Magic Minute" activity asks class groups to develop a commercial to advertise a way to turn a time-waster into a time-saver. Ad groups begin by brainstorming time-wasters and then problem-solve was to turn them into time-savers. After...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Color Your Destiny
Class groups bring feeling words alive by creating a poster that illustrates with images and colors, but not words, the feeling conjured by the word. The posters are then combined into a mural for the classroom wall.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Opportunity Knocks, But It Costs, Too!
Sixth graders practice six steps to effective problem solving. Working with the school counselor, class members are presented with a scenario that requires them to make a decision. Individuals then write a reflection in which they...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Safe and Healthy Life Choices (Part I)
As high schoolers seek to grow more and more independent, they must constantly make choices. Some options are healthy and some not so much. To begin the discussion, class members are asked to identify five safe and healthy (or...
Missouri Department of Elementary
I Know What You Did This Summer
Developing and maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships is difficult, especially as middle schoolers begin dating. A short activity permits eighth graders to practice their skills as they consider how they should respond to a...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Listening Exercise
Active listening is key to interacting with others in a way that shows respect. To develop their skill as listeners, high schoolers first play the "Telephone Game" to demonstrate some of the problems that arise in communication. Pairs...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Survivors
Developing a positive self-concept can sometimes be a challenge. Seventh graders engage in an activity that helps them identify their individual strengths and helps them recognize how these strengths can contribute to being a successful...