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ABSTRACT
The intent of this paper is to familiarize, stress the importance of and educate ourselves as
well as others on character education incorporated into the curriculum for any given
class. Our hypothetical school has chosen eight character principles in which we have
given examples for fourth grade curriculum incorporation. The above mentioned eight
characteristics include: responsibility, diligence, integrity, courtesy, creativity, courage,
loyalty and humility; and the subjects these traits will be incorporated in are: math,
science, language arts and Virginia studies.
Character Education at FES 3
into our curriculum. The goal of Character education can best be defined by Martin
Luther King Jr. having said, “ The Function of education is to teach one to think
intensively and to think critically…Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of the true
morals and values to develop their personal identity. Falwell Elementary has specifically
Courage, Loyalty, and Humility. The Fourth Grade classes are no exception, and plan to
incorporate all eight-character qualities into the studies of math, science, language arts,
Diligence
a task.” Students will learn that they can overcome the obstacles that get in their way by
being diligent and never giving up. The book chosen to represent diligence is The
Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. The story deals with a swan that makes a horrible
squawking sound. The other swans are put off by this noise and the swan must go and
find a new home. In the city, he overcomes adversary by learning that he can do
In math, the teacher will address the math Standard of Learning(SOL) 4.5. “The
student will estimate whole-number sums and differences and describe the method of
estimation. Students will refine estimates, using terms such as closer to, between, and a
The teacher will use the examples of swans on a lake and teach the students to use
various terms such as “closer to, between and a little more than” as stated in the SOL.
The students will then be broken into groups and given a scenic lake picture with
various swans placed about on it will take turns asking each other where certain objects
are in relation to other objects and the students will reply given the terms of “closer to,
In science, the teacher will provide a unit about the lives of swans and their affects on the
ecosystem (SOL 4.5). “The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals in an
ecosystem interact with one another and the nonliving environment. Key concepts include
b) organization of communities;
The unit will include flow charts of the life cycles of swans and the food chain involving
swans, and how swans are willing to adapt to their communities as the swan did in the story The
The students will learn about the various life cycles of swans by being put into
groups and having been given a certain stage of the swans life will research and write a
one-page paper about that particular lifecycle and each group will present their findings
to the class. The presentation will be made in the order of the swan’s life cycles.
In Language Arts, the teacher will show the students the steps to the writing
process. The teacher will go over each step and to make sure the students understand each
step the teacher will have written a story about a fish who shares the same lake with the
Character Education at FES 5
swans that the class has been reading about. The teacher will give each student a copy of
what writing the story looked like for each step. The students will in turn choose another
lake animal and begin their own narrative story involving the writing process. The
students will take turns reading and correcting each other’s work. The students will make
a final draft and will turn in the final draft to be counted as a test grade for their Language
Arts grade. This activity includes SOL 4.7 a, b, d, e, and 4.8. “The student will write
4.8 The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, spelling, punctuation,
homophones.”
Character Education at FES 6
In Virginia Studies, the teacher will show the students the various geographic land
features of the states as given in VS.2.a.b.c. “The student will demonstrate knowledge of
a) locating Virginia and its bordering states on maps of the United States;
The areas will be labeled on a class map that will be available to the students to use
through out the year. The teacher will provide good descriptions of life forms and various
circumstance that are in those areas that could help sustain swan life.
The students will then label individual maps. Using their maps, the students will
select a region and tell why they believe a swan could survive there. The students will
give good concrete facts about what they believe to be true. The students who selected
the same regions will be broken into groups and will share ideas and present their ideas to
the class.
Responsibility
Responsibility is something that everyone must learn. The students must learn to
take responsibility for their actions. As students, they will need to learn that being
responsible mean completing one’s homework on time, taking care of the environment
around them and being responsible in how they treat each other, so that to treat each other
with the respect that each students deserves. The book chosen to represent responsibility
Character Education at FES 7
is Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. Young Opal finds a dog and decides to
keep him. She learns that since he is her pet that she must take responsibility for him.
This is a big task for her but she will learn many lessons along the way. In math the
teacher will show the students how to divide a two-digit quotient by a one-digit divisor.
SOL 4.8 will be addressed. The student will estimate and find the quotient of two whole
numbers, given a one-digit divisor. Many examples will be given for this lesson.
The students will be given a work sheet pretending that they are Opal and they are
planning a party for some friends in the neighborhood. The students will be given
problems such as; Opal has to prepare 21 sandwiches. Each person will eat 3 sandwiches
apiece. How many people will Opal feed? The teacher will have candy such as M&M’s
for the students to use also fro them to help grasp division. The students will be divided
into groups and will be given a bag of M&M’s and will be asked to separate each color.
The students will have to decide how many red M&M’s each student in their group will
In science, the teacher will explain motion and force to the students using the dog Winn-
Dixie as the main example. Simulation problems will be given relating to the dog’s movement
and speed. There are forces that contribute to Winn-Dixie’s speed such as him hearing his name
called from an opposition direction. The teacher will also explain kinetic energy to the students
by showing them by way of video clip that a moving dog creates kinetic energy. The SOL
addressed will be 4.2. “The student will investigate and understand characteristics and interaction
The students will create their own kinetic energy by using a ball and themselves.
They will demonstrate forces that can get in each objects way.
In Language Arts, the teacher will dress up as Opal and give a presentation to the
class on why Winn-Dixie would make anyone a great dog including 10 reasons for why
The students will observe the presentation. They will choose a character from the book
and create their own 10 reasons list about a certain person, place or object in the book and give a
presentation to the class including their 10 reasons list. SOL 4.2 tells that “The student will make
In Virginia Studies, the teacher will provide the students information on Virginia’s
role in the Civil War. The information will be provided through the use of a PowerPoint
presentation. The teacher will share with the students the various battles that took place in
Virginia.
The students will read various Civil war stories that have been selected by the
teacher. The students will read these stories and will test them for their accuracy. The
facts that the students have been given about the war will be the accurate facts that the
students will test the tales against. The class will also reread chapter 16 in Because of
Winn-Dixie, and test Miss Franny’s Civil War story for accuracy. The SOL will be used;
VS.7.b. “The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation
b)describing Virginia’s role in the war, including identifying major battles that
Courtesy
respect; and act of kindness or favor performed with politeness.” In Don’t Laugh at Me,
the section “The Caring Being,” this an activity that could help make a teacher’s
classroom more capable of being courteous by accepting each other’s behaviors. The
good activity for courtesy would be the “Walk in Another’s Shoes” activity (45). Instead
of putting down a person because a student has a conflict with them, the student could
learn to see the other person’s point of view. This is showing courtesy because the
students are taking the time to see the conflict from both sides of the argument and not
The book chosen to represent courtesy is You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover,
by Judge Judy Sheindlin. This book takes children through circumstances and let’s them
decide the consequences. The children in some situation have to chose between being
In math, the teacher will show students how to find equivalent fractions. 4.2 “The
student will b) represent equivalent fractions;” This will by done by taking two objects
that look alike and separating one object twice as many times as the one before. The
teacher will make the fractions easy for the students to understand at first so they will
The students will be broken up into pairs and given a bag of Reese’s Pieces will
separate the candies by color. The students will then create equivalent fractions, letting
the other student check to make sure that the problem is correct.
In science, the teacher will take the students on a field trip to a near by wooded
area, along with parents and let the students look at the various plants, rocks, and see if
they see any animal life. While in the woods, the teacher will enforce that the students
will need to be courteous to their surroundings, because many living things make their
The students will come back to the classroom and write a one-page report on one object
that they have seen in the woods. SOL 4.8 will be used in the activity; “The student will
investigate and understand important Virginia natural resources. Key concepts include
In Language Arts, the teacher will read the book, You Can’t Judge a Book by Its
Cover to the class. The teacher will pause at some of the scenario’s in the book and let the
students discuss what should be done in the cases. The students will learn courtesy by
respecting each other’s thoughts, and not talking when another students is sharing their
opinions.
The students will come up with their own scenarios. A few of their scenario’s will be read
to the class and the class will decide what the correct outcomes or outcomes should be. SOL 4.1
will be attained by “The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety of
settings:
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ideas.”
In Virginia studies, the teacher will explain what relationships the settlers had
with the American Indians. The class will discuss the interactions between these two
groups of people and how these two groups made contributions to each other. SOL VS.3
will be taught the student and “The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first
permanent English settlement in America by g.) describing the interactions between the
English settlers and the Powhatan people, including the contributions of the Powhatans to
The students will find one resource of Indians helping settlers or settlers helping
Indians and write whether the group showed courtesy to the other group in dealing with
them. Showing courtesy or not will come from the resource that the student used.
Creativity
Creativity will be encouraged in all aspects of the student’s lives. The students
will express creativity in arts and other academic studies, but also in handling different
situations.
The book that will be used to demonstrate creativity is The Lion, The Witch and
The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. In this book, four young children are taken to a new world
through a secret passageway. This world is full of people that are different from them.
Character Education at FES 12
The world itself is a very different place to the children. By reading this book hopefully
the fourth grade students will express creativity through their imagination and allow what
In math, the teacher will show the students how to create lines that are
perpendicular to each other, lines that are parallel to each other and lines that intersect.
The student will learn how to create these types of lines. The students will draw a
character from the story by using the given lines to create the character. Special emphasis
will be given on creating lines in the character’s that intersect, are parallel, and are
perpendicular to each other. The SOL addressed is Math 4.16 “The student will identify
perpendicularity.”
In science, the teacher will show the students the plant life process. This life process will
be compared to that of Narnia and how the plants there haven’t seen the sun and the other various
conditions that he plants have been under. The class will discuss how certain conditions are not
good for plant growth and how other conditions are better for plant growth. In SOL 4.4 “The
student will investigate and understand basic plant anatomy and life processes. Key concepts
include
b) photosynthesis (sunlight, chlorophyll, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and sugar); and
c) dormancy.”
The student will draw the plant life cycle and label each cycle, highlighting key
In Language Arts, the teacher will create a character identification rhyme of one
character in the book. The rhyme will include basic facts about the character and also
some facts that the students may not have picked up on while reading the book.
The students will break up into groups and will write their own character analysis
to be presented to the class. The students will have to make their analysis rhyme. SOL 4.7
tells that “The student will write effective narratives, poems, and explanations.
In Virginia Studies, the teacher will inform the students of how the Indians of
Virginia learn to deal with their land, just as the people in the forest of Narnia learned to
deal with their land after the witch had put a curse on the land.
The students will write a essay on how the Indians interacted with the land by
way of either cultivation, housing, hunting, make goods for themselves, and what other
topics that the students can come up with. The SOL that the students will understand is
VS 2.e. “The student will demonstrate knowledge of the geography and early inhabitants
of Virginia by- e) describing how American Indians (First Americans) adapted to the
climate and their environment to secure food, clothing, and shelter.” Creativity will be a
with a proposition that in his arrogance, he cannot refuse. The story closes with the
prince learning life’s lessons on humility in his retreated state, in the woods of his
kingdom.
Math
The teacher will use a felt board to illustrate the math lesson on more than, less than, and
equal to using the characters from the weekly featured book, The King’s Equal.
The students will take a quiz applying their skills in the content-area of more than, less
than, and equal to (SOL m 4.4 …compare the value of two decimals, using
symbols (<,>, or =)…).
Science
The teacher will set up a model ‘forest’ such as the one described in the weekly
featured book-to include out-of-place items and ask the students to identify them
by participating in a game of ‘which item does not belong.’
The class will apply their scientific content-knowledge by participating in the game
(SOL s investigate and understand important Virginia natural resources…).
Language Arts
The teacher will have the students popcorn read their literature book’s excerpt of The
King’s Equal and then discuss what it means to be humble.
The class will popcorn read the weekly featured book and each circle, look up in the
glossary and define an unknown word from the text for homework (SOL e 4.3
…use word-reference materials, including the glossary, dictionary, and
thesaurus).
VA Studies
The teacher will instruct a lesson on the difference in the new world’s governmental
system of democracy in comparison to the Motherland’s system of monarchy-
relating the lesson to the featured book.
The students will construct a compare/contrast chart with a partner using democracy
versus monarchy (SOL vs .3 …identifying the importance of the Virginia
Assembly as the first representative legislative body in English America…).
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References
press.
Operation Respect, Inc. (2000). Don't laugh at me teachers guide (p 1-96). New York:
Don't laugh at me. Lewis, C.S. (1950). The lion, the witch and the wardrobe. New York,
NY: HarperTrophy.
Paterson, Catherine (1992). The king's equal. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Peet, B (1986). Zella, zack and zodiac. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.
Sheindlin, J (2001). You can't judge a book by it's cover. New York, NY: Cliff Street
Books.
Aardena, V (1975). Why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears. New York, NY: Dial books.
White, E.B. (1970).The Trumpet of the Swan. New York, NY: Harper Collins.