This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Sunshine Klus! This month we’re giving away two books full of true stories that will inspire kids and teens to do and be their best. Our lucky winner will receive Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Character and Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change by Garth Sundem.
To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us how you build character in kids. This giveaway is now closed.
For additional entries, leave a separate comment below for each of the following tasks that you complete:
Each comment counts as a separate entry—that’s four chances to win! Entries must be received by midnight, August 3, 2016.
The winner will be contacted via email on or around August 8, 2016, and will need to respond within 72 hours to claim his or her prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with, administered, or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Winner must be a U.S. resident, 18 years of age or older.
We welcome your comments and suggestions. Share your comments, stories, and ideas below, or contact us. All comments will be approved before posting, and are subject to our comment and privacy policies.
© 2016 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved.
Following on facebook,twitter,and pintrest
I build character in my daughter by teach her to treat others with respect and kindness. We go through her toys and clothes and donate them to family and children services and take food to our local food banks.
I follow you on pintrest
I follow you on twitter
I follow you on facebook
I build character by incorporating social skills and character education lessons into my everyday teaching.
I love Free Spirit Publishing and character education but I live in Canada so I can’t win a prize. 😥 Our 5th graders at my school are members of the Kiwanis K-Kids, which is a terrific service club that helps young people develop leadership and service qualities.
I follow FSP on Twitter! 😊
I follow Free Spirit on Twitter! 😊
I liked Free Spirit Publishing on Facebook! 👍
I have been a first and second grade counselor in East Texas for five years. I am always looking for ideas to teach character to these children. I have been incorporating bits and pieces of several programs to teach my lessons. I would like to incorporate a more thorough campus-wide program that all teachers and staff can buy into; rather than relying on my monthly classroom visits. I would love to be able to present a character program to my new principal that would incorporate our entire campus, grades 1-3.
I teach character education to my students by using Morning Meetings and Afternoon Wrap-Ups, teaching problem solving skills, and using a “Safe Place” in my room.
I run the Character Education Program in my elementary school and we do so much to support this program that I am only sharing a very brief glimpse of what we do. Everything that we do focuses around striving to be a peace school. Every day begins with a morning announcement (written by me) on a character value that our teachers are encouraged to talk about with their students. Classroom guidance lessons and daily lessons of our teachers incorporate character building throughout the lessons. Displays are set up all around the school. Students create posters in art and incorporate peace images in their regular artwork. Students initiate conversations on the values that we are focusing on within their classrooms and in small group discussions. We do so much at our school that we have been asked to present our Striving to Be A Peace School program at Baltimore County’s Safe Schools’ Conference. In addition, principals and school counselors from around our county have asked us for information showing what we do. As a result of what we are doing, our office referrals have been greatly reduced. I would love to have these materials in order to share them with teachers in our building. I am thinking that they could use them as starters for some of their morning meetings.
I teach a service learning class to 9-12th graders at an Alternative School. I incorporate character building into all of my lessons. My favorite unit is using the Medal of Honor curriculum. We study such traits as sacrifice, commitment, and service, and then we travel one a week to the Veterans Home to vitas with the Veterans who have served our country. My students are surprised each year by how much they have in common with the veterans. They learn so much in those interactions that in reinforces the curriculum.
In my 3rd grade classroom, we have a reading corner. We end each day with a read-aloud, and I try to find books that specifically illustrate children working through character issues.
Monthly students are recognized at a luncheon provided by school that they can invite a family member to join them at. They learn about which character trait is emphasized that month in a video clip watched in their homerooms.
I use the character education books by defining each theme by reading stories and then having students come up with ideas on how to implement these fundamental practices into their own lives on a daily basis. It could be as simple as giving someone a smile, saying hello, or shaking hands and understanding the importance of the human connection at any age.
I ask my kids to write a card for the character trait that describes what they want and how they will fulfill that trait.
“Listening” is key when helping to build character in kids, and anyone for that matter. When they/kids realize you actually care about what they have to say, and how they think and feel, it creates a bond that allows conversations to continue. This gives you the opportunity to guide them down a path that teaches them respect for themselves and others. It also lifts them up and gives them a sense of belonging no matter what the situation. Our kids are our future and have much to offer. It is crucial we never forget that important fact.
Liked on Facebook
Following on Pinterest
I build character in children by teaching them basic life skills like responsibility, organization, perseverance, problem-solving and caring (just to name a few). By developing these basic skills in the children it helps them understanding who they are and allows them to use those skills inside school and in the community. Also, it’s important as a School Counselor to model these character skills for the students.
We are always reading books on character and talking about character and roleplaying. We also talk about and compliment on good decision making and praise when a child is seen using good decisions.
In my role as a coach with my daughter’s volleyball team, I am faced with a multitude of challenges: instilling an understanding of the sport, how to follow directions, and how to uplift and encourage young teens. They will be 8th graders this year, faced with so many changes in the next year. They will all be going to a new school; many without the friends with whom they have shared the past 9 years of their lives. My hope to to help them each develop or maintain a strong sense of self and confidence. We have so many negative influences in their lives!
We have a program called PS 1 ROCKS in our school. ROCKS stands for Respect, Ownership, Citizenship, Kindness, and Safety. These values are mentioned daily over the loudspeaker and when students are caught “Rocking” they are given a reward.
Embrace “teachable moments” with real-life connections
Followed on Pinterest
Followed you on Twitter
I build character in kids by organizing community projects for kids to do good deeds.
I build character in a kids by helping them learn empathy. Service learning is an excellent way to teach all character traits
We have a set of life skills, when we see an example of a life skill being used, we stop and notice. We spend a lot f time discussing the life skills and also notice them as we read books
As a Juvenile Probation Officer, I teach programs aimed on character traits and also incorporate character building when I am working with juveniles one on one. Respect, Responsibility, and Citizenship are some major character traits that I am constantly trying to instill in youth.
Working with high risk students, I want to change thier abilty to see themselves and how the community views them. We work on how they can keep their individual style but still be civically accepted. We want them to contribute in the positive.
As a teacher, we build character in students through peer discussion and team building.
Follow on Pinterest.
Follow on Twitter.
Like of Facebook
I consider my role as community-builder and -shaper as one of my most important responsibilities as school leader. We value the importance of maintaining high academic standards at IAA, but we balance that academic focus with our shared commitment to building and maintaining a strong school community. One concrete way we do that is to meet regularly together, face-to-face, to nurture our interconnectedness.
We have a tradition of convening for two weekly gatherings at IAA, one on Monday morning to begin our week and another on Friday afternoon for celebration and performance.
Our Monday Morning Meeting (MMM) allows us to focus on those vital social skills that allow us to function and contribute to our community in positive ways. The context of MMM allows us to make explicit connections to our district-wide PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports) initiative. Often there are short presentations by teachers and students illustrating what it means to be a good citizen at our school. We also recognize students who have recently exemplified aspects of our four “core community expectations,” which are Respect Yourself, Respect Others, Respect All Learning, and Respect Property. This is done by highlighting, through a very specific and genuine classroom teacher written narrative celebrating one student a week from each class. Over the course of the year each student is celebrated at least once and every student is exposed to hundreds of examples of strong character, compassion and kindness. I also incorporate storytelling at these MMMs to draw examples of character development, social skills and positive community engagement.
Occasionally we use the Monday Morning Meeting as an opportunity to address some larger issue in the community or in the national news. For example, when one of the presidential candidates made public comments that created some anxiety among our Muslim students and families, I read aloud a picture book by Hena Khan called “Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns” to show our community commitment to tolerance and pluralism. A week later we invited four Muslim slam poets called “Muslin Girls for Change” from Burlington High School who had recently appeared on Vermont Public Radio to perform in order to help us dispel cultural stereotypes.
Meetings are open to families, community partners, and neighborhood residents, and we regularly have 50 or more family members attending, which connects them to our community. These weekly Town Meetings are important rituals that frame our week and allow us to pause in order to appreciate each other and celebrate our learning and its connection with the arts.
I am in charge of Daily Announcements for our school. I incorporate our district’s character education program into each addition by giving examples of ways our kids can demonstrate character qualities at home and at school. Each Friday, teachers choose the top 2 students from each class who have demonstrated our weekly character quality. We announce their names and present them with special character certificates. It really helps to make a difference in student behavior and social development. This is just one way we are Reaching Out with Character and Kindness. Our students R.O.C.K.!!
I am a middle school math teacher. The 3 R’s (Respect for yourself, Respect for others, and Responsibility for your actions) are implemented throughout the year. Please and thank you’s are a given. Students are guided how to help each other at the beginning of the year and advocate to do this on their own soon after that for the remainder of the year. By the 2nd semester, they are offering to help me and other teachers as well! The culture of learning in my classroom is healthy, student-centered and full of an outpouring of respect. #bringiton is a normal saying we use to remind ourselves that when things get rough, we don’t buckle. If students perhaps make a mistake by violating one of the 3 R’s, they simply “take it back”, and continue focusing on positivity behavior. There’s no other option in my classroom and parents have been telling me their children are transferring this at home, too!
I teach third grade. I work with my students daily on how to build character and treat others with respect. We do this activity called the kindness/character web where we take yarn and all sit in a circle. We take turns throwing the yarn to a classmate and telling them something we like about their character. The kids really enjoy this activity. I try to be a role model to my students and help them build upon their character to grow into individuals who are kind, hardworking, true to themselves.
I encourage basic manners and social skills so that children will learn how to relate to other people. I also tell them at we are all dealing with issues in our families, school, etc. and we have to figure out and learn how to interact in an acceptable way with people.
I work with college students as an education professor, but we often collaborate with elementary children. I find working on projects in the community such as making lap blankets for area veterans or collecting arts supplies to start an art room for children at the local homeless shelter is an excellent way to build character.
I’m a school counselor. I build character in kids by teaching them appropriate behavior. I also teach them how to solve conflicts peacefully. I teach them how to value themselves as they also value others!
As a middle school counselor, I do not let an opportunity pass for teaching positive character traits and behavior to my students. I also work in a mental health facility and have ample opportunities to teach positive social skills. I would definitely use the resource material with presenting the ideas and examples to my students and clients. Examples, examples, and more examples are what are youth need to get the message across. Of course, they are the best teachers!!
We have recently begun a specific character and community service program for 4th and 5th graders in my school district. These students participate in project learning, team building and leadership. These books would be wonderful for them to use as a reference as they research and design their annual project.
I work with teachers in implementing best practices for teaching social skills, decision-making, taking responsibility, etc. with their students. We often use real-life testimonials from print, video, etc. to help bring the issues closer to the students. These resources would be a great addition to our current bookshelf!
I work with my students on the use of internet and how to be safe and how this might affect them in the future.
Reblogged this on Wanda Luthman's Children's Books and commented:
Teachers–check out this contest and enter to win!
I work with high school students as a Guidance Counselor. Often times, I’m called on to talk to students that are having difficulty in the classroom. More times than not, after I’ve spoken with them awhile, I realize they are having social/emotional issues at home. I listen and support them offering encouragement and some advice. By acknowledging their struggle and supporting them, they make better choices and build better character. When they feel someone cares and listens and is paying attention, they want to become better people. I’m very glad I get to be a part of helping students make a positive change that will stay with them the rest of their lives.
I work with my teenage girls on the consequences of social media and their role. Building character comes from these moments when they have the light bulb finally go off.
We are constantly discussing decision making and consequences with our children, and opportunities present themselves every day. From helping up a fellow soccer player who has fallen, to discussing the motives of those running for president, and even just sharing toys, we hope to instill a strong sense of community and character that will become routine, rather than exception.
I would implement these books in my Social Skills Groups for discussion to help build character with my Upper Elem. students, as well as presenting to classrooms at my 2 Elementary Schools!! I am a School Social Worker!