Character Education Steps to Respect Literature Unit with the Fruit of the Spirit Character Traits of the Month

Steps to Respect Literature Unit:

Children learn best when they feel safe and secure, respected and cared for. Cooperative learning is one of the best ways to develop core virtues such as respect, responsibility, altruism, integrity, conflict management, and friendship. It is a vehicle that the educator can employ to foster a classroom environment where social skills are practiced and nurtured daily, thus ensuring a safe and positive learning environment for all students. Conflict resolution is a main tenant of cooperative learning, without a concern for and motivation to act for the welfare of others, tempestuous conflicts will arise.

The goal of the Steps to Respect Literature Unit will meet both social-emotional elements as well as language arts objectives. Successfully applied, the literature unit will give students an opportunity to apply the skills they have learned through the Steps to Respect Skill Unit, thus creating a safe, secure, and positive learning environment with the inclusion of all students as an integral element.

The unit will begin the first day of school to help students begin fostering citizenship and social skills in order to function productively in our room and outside of our room. For the first few days lessons will focus around the central theme of creating a community.

Social Skills Objectives: Students will learn:

• Courtesy and cooperation and recognize the concept of mutual interdependence with others resulting in polite treatment and respect for them
• Compassion, kindness and generosity by showing concern for the suffering or distress of their classmates and respond to their feelings and needs
• Emotional skills, such as understanding how to deal with anger, handle rejection, and manage emotions
• Friendship skills that include how to make friends, join group activities, manage conflicts, and communicate effectively and confidently
• To recognize, refuse, and report bullying when it happens to them or someone else
• How to use the learned positive values as a guide for their behavior

Language Arts Objectives: Students will learn:

• An appreciation for poetry
• Comprehension strategies
• Writing and grammar skills

Teaching Social Skills –
The Framework for the Rest of the Year 

The Fruit of the Spirit (FOS) Character Traits of the Month:

The ground work has been laid. To help children continue to grow socially and emotionally throughout the year I will teach the social skills with a systematic approach, just like I teach academic skills.

The framework for the rest of the year will look like this:

• Introduce the Fruit of the Spirit for the Month (See Chart and/or download the Mini-Poster supplied).
• Discuss the need for the social skill.
• Teach the skill.
• Practice the skill.
• Pause and reflect.
• Review and reflect.

Character Traits of the Month

FOS Character Traits of the Month (doc file)
The Fruit of God's Spirit Character Trait for the Month

doc file: You need the Microsoft Word program, a free Microsoft Word viewer, or a program that can import Word files in order to view this file. To learn more about the free Microsoft Word Viewer, visit the Microsoft Word website.

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