Unit 4 – Integrity

1st Grade Unit Introduction

Sub-Concepts Covered: Perseverance, Kindness

Kindness in the Classroom lessons teach kindness skills through a step-by step framework of Inspire, Empower, Act, Reflect and Share. Each lesson starts with the ‘share’ step to reinforce learning from previous lessons. The ‘act’ piece is woven into the lessons but really takes place in the projects.

This unit is the fourth of our six unit series. Be on the lookout! It presents a new and difficult concept for young children. The goal is to introduce the concept of honesty as a precursor to integrity, and then build on it as we introduce the language of integrity. The focus of this unit is twofold- understanding the importance and value of honesty as it relates to kindness, and using honest methods to persevere during difficult situations.

Unit Objective

Students will:

● Review respect, caring, and inclusiveness. ● Define honesty, dishonesty, and perseverance. ● Understand the concept of “white lies” and how they build on each other. ● Identify strategies that help people persevere through challenges. ● Introduce the concept of integrity.

Student Introduction

Thank you for practicing inclusiveness in our classroom as I observe others including new friends and trying out new ideas in a kind, caring, and respectful manner! We are ready to explore Integrity. This is an advanced word that connects back to honesty and always telling the truth, even when others aren’t around. We will also use honesty and perseverance to try our hardest, even when something seems too tough and we would rather give up! It can be tempting to tell “white lies” to move ahead or avoid trouble- however our ultimate goal is a kind classroom and honesty is the best policy! Our main focus this unit are on the following areas:

● Making honest choices, every time! ● Using kindness and respect by being truthful! ● Persevering through difficult times...you can do it!

Let’s start with our first lesson!

Unit Lessons

Lesson Title Lesson Objectives Materials Required

Lesson 1 ● Utilize caring and kindness to develop ❏ White, Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow The Lie Snowball honest alternatives to deceptive actions. Clay/Playdough ● Practice showing honesty in social ❏ A knife situations. ❏ The Little White Lie by Lisa Rose ● Understand how to speak up when we have told a white lie.

Lesson 2 ● Explore ways to be honest in difficult ❏ Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan An Honest Review situations. and Jan Berenstain ● Use art to identify how dishonesty ❏ Internet access (if Youtube link is used) negatively affects you. ❏ Blank paper ❏ Basic art supplies

Lesson 3 ● Demonstrate perseverance through a math ❏ Tangrams for each group Perseverance Puzzles exercise. ❏ The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle ● Explain how being honest helps others trust you.

Lesson 4 ● Create a step-by-step plan for building a ❏ Basic art supplies A Community of Integrity community of integrity within the school. ❏ Other supplies ● Examine areas needing improvement within ❏ (depending on your class goal) the school as it relates to integrity. ❏ Action Step Template

Unit Projects

Project Title Project Overview Materials Required

Project 1 Students will work in small groups and locate ❏ Map of classroom Perseverance Pirates 12 items that correspond with the 12 letters in ❏ Various items (already in your classroom) the word PERSEVERANCE, documenting their ❏ Blank book with 12 pages in it treasures on a classroom map.

Project 2 This project focuses on integrity through ❏ Integrity Handbook pages Integrity Handbook honesty and perseverance. Students are a (see project) valuable part of the classroom team and their honesty and perseverance enables it to run smoothly. To highlight their value and demonstrate various ways to show integrity in the school, the class will create an Integrity Handbook for use throughout the school year.

Integrity 1st Grade • Lesson 1

The Lie Snowball This is the first lesson of the Integrity unit. At this age, the concept of integrity can be difficult to understand. As such, the focus will be on learning about honesty and perseverance. This lesson will focus on identifying honesty and dishonesty and speaking up when we have told fibs so they do not become great big lies.

Integrity Sub-Concept(s) Lesson Objective Kindness Students will: Lesson Timeframe 45 minutes ● Utilize caring and kindness to develop honest alternatives to deceptive actions. Required Materials ● Practice showing honesty in social situations. ❏ White, Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow ● Understand how to speak up when we have told a white lie. Clay/Playdough ❏ A knife ❏ The Little White Lie by Lisa Rose Teacher Connection/Self-Care (attached) Integrity is defined as acting in a way you know to be right and kind in all Standards Map situations. As teachers, we are held to a level of integrity that is This lesson aligns with CASEL unprecedented in any other profession. Not only are our reputations built on Competencies, National Health our level of professional integrity with what we teach and how we teach it, but Education Standards, and Common we are a physical example of integrity for dozens of students every school Core State Standards. Please refer to year. What promises do you make for your students each year? How do you the Standards Map for more information. infuse integrity into how you teach, how you plan, how you follow through? The teacher connections this unit will focus on simple yet effective ways to embody integrity from the top down. This week our promise is an overarching promise we all start with at the beginning of the year, but can lose focus on during this time! Promise #1 is, “I, ______(insert name) will focus on my students.” Let’s be honest. No one chooses teaching for the summer vacation. You are here because of the students. As this semester comes to an end and grades, parent teacher conferences, and staff meetings begin to cloud your vision, take a step back and remind yourself of the first and most important goal you have: your students. How can you start and end each day with this simple statement?

Tips for Diverse Learners

● Use simple drawings and hand motions to act out each little white lie during the story. ● If you have time, create picture cards to illustrate each lie. ● Cut up and roll flat each piece of clay used for the activity to help students with manual dexterity struggles.

3-5 minutes

We have spent the first half of our school year learning about respect, caring, and inclusiveness. Let’s take some time to talk about what that looks like in our classroom.

● Caring: How have others cared for you in our classroom? ● Gratitude: How have we shown gratitude towards others that have treated us with kindness? ● Inclusiveness: What is one way you’ve used inclusiveness to make a new friend?

All of these actions require us to be honest about how we treat others and how they affect us.

Inspire

What is Honesty?

3-5 minutes

Explain that Honesty means being truthful in our words and actions. Telling the truth can be difficult at times. Telling stories can be fun and it might be tempting to make up stories when someone asks you questions about your homework or why your sister is crying. Remember: your words have power! Every time you tell the truth, you earn a small amount of trust from others. When people trust us, they can count on us in both little situations and big situations alike. If you get into the habit of always telling the truth with little things, you will find it easier to tell the truth when bigger topics come up! It’s always bEST to be honEST.

Honesty in Action

5-7 minutes

Let’s take some time to brainstorm what exactly honesty looks like. Divide your board (or a piece of large paper) into a T-chart. Label the two sides: Words and Actions. ● Words: Honesty means you only say things about people that are true. Telling lies about others or speaking unkindly hurts their feelings. It also takes away the trust others have for us and they might not want to spend time with us. ○ Ask students for some examples of times they have used honesty with their friends. Write them down on the T-chart. ● Actions: Honesty means you make honest choices as well. When you break something, do you own up to your actions and tell the truth? Are you willing to face the consequences even if it means getting in trouble? ○ Ask students for some examples of times they were honest about a bad choice they made. Write them down on the T-chart.

Empower

20 minutes

Have you ever heard of the expression, “It’s just a little white lie”? It means that you are lying, but it’s about something small. Some people think that this type of lie is no big deal. However, little white lies often build on top of each other until you have a whole lie snowball! Today I will read a story about the little white lie that grew and grew until it became a HUGE lie.

Each student will get a small white ball of clay. Emphasize that this is the little white lie in the story they will hear. Give each table/group 4-5 different colors of clay in addition to the little white ball. Explain that every time they hear another little lie, they will cover up their ball with a different color of clay. As they do this, their lie snowball will grow and grow.

● Read the story below. After every white lie, pause and let the children have a chance to cover their little white lie clay ball with another color of clay. Make sure they are alternating colors. ● After the story is finished, use a knife to cut each student’s lie snowball in half. Emphasize just how much the lie grew from the tiny white lie that started. ● Count the number of layers and remind the students that this is the number of extra lies the girl had to tell because of her “little white lie”.

Reflect

5-7 minutes

Ask the students the following questions to evaluate their understanding about honesty.

● What was the original white lie Lisa told? ● How many lies did she have to tell to cover up her initial lie? ● What happened to the lie snowball as we added more clay? ● What happens to a “little white lie” when you start covering it up? ● Do you think a “little white lie” should count as a real lie? Why or why not? ● How could Lisa be more honest next time? ● What would have happened if Lisa had been honest from the beginning?

Remember, honesty means you are telling the whole truth, all the time. It also means you are willing to fess up to a little white lie instead of adding more lies on top of it to cover it up. It is bEST to always be honEST. It is never too late to tell the truth!

Extension Ideas

● Create a bulletin board of Honesty. Have children tell you times that they were kind and practiced honesty during the day; write those things on sticky notes. Add the notes to the board to see how honest the class can be. You can also add sticky notes as you “catch people” being honest.

The Little White Lie By Lisa Rose

Once there was a little girl named Lisa. She really enjoyed playing outside and climbing trees all day long. One day, she asked her mother if she could play outside. Her mother agreed, but she reminded her not to climb the smallest tree in the backyard. It was too small for climbers.

Lisa went out back and began playing a pretend game of fairies. She pretended to live under the largest tree, gathered food from the bottom of the medium sized tree, and then needed a place to call home. She tried and tried to climb the two bigger trees, but she was just too small. She looked longingly at the smallest tree.

“I’ll just climb it very carefully. Mommy won’t mind as long as I don’t hurt the tree,” thought Lisa. She gingerly climbed the tree, being extra careful not to hurt any of it’s small branches. However, it wasn’t long before she was caught back up in her pretend fairy game and forgot all about how fragile the young tree was. Just as she was jumping off the tree to escape a fairy-eating ogre, Lisa heard a SNAP. The branch on the small tree had broke.

Just then her mother came out and asked what Lisa was doing. “Oh, just playing fairies,” Lisa answered.

“Oh no, what happened to the branch on the smallest tree, Lisa?” asked her mother.

“I have no idea Mommy!” Lisa lied. Lisa knew this was not the truth, but she was worried about getting in trouble. Hadn’t her mother told her to stay off the smallest tree?

● Make a small white ball to represent Lisa’s little white lie

Lisa’s mother looked a bit confused. “I wonder what happened to it?” she wondered. “Did you see any animals near it Lisa?”

“Yes, actually I did,” Lisa lied again. “Now that I think about it there was a rather large squirrel jumping on it.”

● Cover your little white snowball with red clay.

“Oh really, wow that must have been very interesting my love! What did the squirrel look like?” asked her mom.

“He was grey, with white speckles all over him. He was the most beautiful squirrel I have ever seen!” Lisa lied again. She seemed to be lying for no reason now. Why was she making up this silly story? Oh, well, thought Lisa. It’s too late now. I guess I’ll just hope my mommy doesn’t ask me anymore questions.

● Cover your red snowball with blue clay

Lisa’s mother was very excited about her squirrel spotting. Apparently it was a rare type of squirrel that the local zoo had been trying to save. Her mother ran inside to call the zoo and report what Lisa had seen in their backyard. Lisa began to feel a little sick to her stomach. Later on that evening, a zookeeper from the zoo came by to interview Lisa about the squirrel. “Do you think you could draw a picture of what exactly you saw?” the zookeeper asked.

“Um...sure” Lisa hesitated. Should she really be drawing something she didn’t see? It was too late now. She drew a picture of a squirrel.

● Cover your blue snowball with green clay

“Holy Guacamole! That is the rare Speckled Grey Flying Squirrel of North Carolina! We thought this squirrel was extinct!” exclaimed the zookeeper. Lisa was getting a bit dizzy. Maybe she should tell the truth. Then again, she would be in HUGE trouble if she spoke up now. She decided not to say anything. “Do you know what extinct means little girl?”

Lisa nodded. “Yes, it means that all of that type of animal have died and there are no more left.” gulped Lisa. This little white lie was growing out of control!

Well, since you have seen it in your very own backyard, we can take it off of the extinct list!” shouted the zookeeper. He immediately placed a call to the local newspaper to report the exciting news. A reporter came out that very night and took Lisa’s picture for the article. “Can you please describe what you were doing when you spotted the Speckled Grey Flying Squirrel of North Carolina?” asked the reporter.

“Um...er...well...I was playing fairies in my backyard and it just sort of came jumping out of nowhere, like it was flying.” Lisa lied yet again.

● Cover your green snowball with yellow clay

The reporter looked a bit disappointed with her story, but she assumed Lisa was just nervous because it was all happening so quickly. She promised to send them a copy of the article and she and the zookeeper left together.

Lisa felt a big knot growing in her stomach. She couldn’t handle the guilt any longer. She walked into the kitchen to talk with her mother. “Mommy, I need to tell you the truth.” said Lisa. “I never saw that squirrel in the tree. I was the one who actually broke the branch on the smallest tree. I disobeyed you and now the tree will die!” Lisa fell into her mother’s lap and began crying loudly.

“Oh, Lisa. The tree will not die, we can help the branch heal by taping it back up. We can also help it heal by caring for it and using kind words to encourage it to grow. But Lisa, you have to do a lot more than just apologize to me. The newspaper is about to run a false article about the squirrel and the zookeeper is preparing a place for it.” Lisa looked up at her mom.

“Will you help me call them?” she asked. “I will tell them the truth right now so my little white lie can stop growing.”

Lisa’s mother smiled and picked up the phone.

THE END

Integrity 1st Grade • Lesson 2

An Honest Review This is the second lesson of the Integrity unit. At this age, the concept of integrity can be difficult to understand. As such, the focus will be on learning about honesty and perseverance. This lesson will go deeper into honesty through a review of deceitful actions and a brainstorming session on how people can be more honest, even when they make poor choices.

Integrity Sub-Concept(s) Lesson Objective Kindness Students will: Lesson Timeframe 45 minutes ● Explore ways to be honest in difficult situations. ● Use art to identify how dishonesty negatively affects you. Required Materials ❏ Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan and Jan Berenstain Teacher Connection/Self-Care ❏ Internet access (if Youtube link is used) As we continue to move through our unit on integrity, let us take some time to ❏ Blank paper focus our attention on the parents of our students. This week’s promise ❏ Basic art supplies reminds us to look at parents in a slightly different light. Promise #2 is, “I will remember that parents are doing the best the can and are parenting the only Standards Map way they know how.” As teachers, we receive children from every possible This lesson aligns with CASEL background, socioeconomic status, and level of preparedness. It is easy to Competencies, National Health place blame or judgement when a child’s home life appears substandard Education Standards, and Common according to our own personal measures. However, we have a duty to make a Core State Standards. Please refer to positive assumption that parents are doing the best they can. We must the Standards Map for more information. respect where they are coming from and use the common ground of education as a bridge to meet them halfway during this joint journey of learning we are on during this school year. Worrying about what you cannot change is unproductive. Show up, be present, and follow through on your words.

Tips for Diverse Learners

● Photocopy pictures of the book that show the lie being told (or use screenshots on your smartboard if possible) to help visual learners and students with attention deficits focus on their specific task. ● Encourage strong writers to write down a description of their picture using their own words and spelling.

3-5 minutes

Review The Lie Snowball story from last week.

● What was one lie Lisa told to her mother? ● Why did Lisa decide to lie? ● Why did she continue to lie over and over again?

Inspire

15 minutes

Last week we talked about lying and how “little white lies” can add up and turn into a great big lie snowball! This week we will practice choosing honesty even when others have already decided on lying. Part of being a kind friend is helping others to be honest in all situations! Let’s review what it means to be honest.

Invite student responses.

Yes, being honest means always telling the truth, no matter what! This is not always easy, but it is the kind choice to make, even when we are scared that we might get in trouble.

How do our words show honesty? How do our actions show honesty? Why is important to always be honest and tell the truth?

Invite student responses.

These are great answers! Remember, Honesty is the Best Policy! This is always true, no matter what is happening. It might feel scary, but it is always better to be honest than to lie and get in trouble twice!

Read Aloud- The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EjUhZ01AFw

To help us understand the importance of honesty, we will read a story about a two bears who get themselves into trouble by creating a huge lie to cover up a poor choice they made.

After finishing the book, guide a discussion using the following questions:

● What poor choice did the little bears make in the story? (played with the ball in the house) ● What lies did they create to hide their poor choice? ● How did their parents react to all of the lies? ● Do you think their parents knew they were lying from the beginning?

Empower

10-15 minutes

Explain that each student will now create a picture to illustrate 1-2 examples of dishonesty and lies they heard in the book.

Step 1: Have each student fold their paper in half.

Step 2: Instruct the students to draw an example of one lie they heard within the book. If time allows, encourage them to add a second example on the other half of the paper.

Step 3: Have each student explain what they drew and why they drew it. How does your picture illustrate dishonesty? How could the little bears have been more honest in what really happened? Write their answers down on the paper.

Reflect

3 minutes

If time allows, have several students share their pictures with the rest of the class. Hang the pictures up on the wall as a reminder of dishonesty. Use the illustrations in the future when encouraging honesty as the best policy in your classroom!

Extension Ideas

● Write the word honesty on the board with each letter going down. As a class, brainstorm situations in which you could be honest.

Integrity 1st Grade • Lesson 3

Perseverance Puzzles This is the third lesson of the Integrity unit. At this age, the concept of integrity can be difficult to understand. This lesson focuses on perseverance and how it connects to honesty. Students will work together in groups to create tangram objects that become more and more challenging throughout the game.

Integrity Sub-Concept(s) And Lesson Objective Perseverance, Kindness Students will: Lesson Timeframe 45 minutes ● Demonstrate perseverance through a math exercise. ● Explain how being honest helps others trust you. Required Materials ❏ Tangrams for each group ❏ The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle Teacher Connection/Self-Care

Standards Map The next promise focuses on how to continue the topic of integrity throughout This lesson aligns with CASEL your day, every day. Promise #3 is, “I promise to teach from bell to bell.” While Competencies, National Health five minutes here and there to grade, lesson plan, or update the newsletter Education Standards, and Common doesn’t seem like a lot, it adds up. You only have these students for a limited Core State Standards. Please refer to time each day, and every day is not guaranteed. Illness, vacations, transitions, the Standards Map for more information. and life struggles all take time away from your time with that student. Five extra minutes daily during guided reading could be just enough to get that struggling reader over the hurdle! Five minutes every day for a week adds up to one more math lesson you could have included, an impromptu field trip outdoors for a alphabet-focused nature walk, or even some much needed read aloud time. Every child counts; every minute counts. Use your time wisely to create stronger connections with them.

Tips for Diverse Learners

● Divide the groups into heterogeneous groups so that everyone can participate. ● Give struggling students a sample object to copy or cover up with the tangram shapes. ● Add more challenging instructions to advanced learners.

. Share

5 minutes

Play 2 truths and a lie:

One person stands up and thinks of 2 true things about themselves and 1 lie. They must tell all three things to the teacher. The person will then announce the three things about themselves. Write all three things on the board. The rest of the class will vote on which two are true and which one is the lie. People can ask 3 questions to help them decide which is true.

The person will then reveal the correct answers.

Repeat this with 3-4 volunteers.

Ask the class: Were you able to figure out the lie? Did asking questions help you? If so, you used perseverance to find out the answers!

Inspire

What is Perseverance?

7-10 minutes

Explain that perseverance is when we keep trying, even when something is difficult. It means we refuse to give up! Have you ever struggled with something new? Maybe when you learned how to ride a bike, tie your shoes, or pour water into a cup? All of those skills take practice, because practice makes perfect! Whenever we have to practice something, we are using perseverance. Sometimes new things are very, very hard for us to learn. We might feel like giving up because we will never learn how to do it. When you feel this way, KEEP GOING! You can use perseverance to learn that new skill. Kind words from your friends, help from your parents, or compassion from me as your teacher can all help you keep going. We can all help you to persevere and reach your goals!

Read Aloud: The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

10-15 minutes

Link for a read aloud if needed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls6wTeT2cKA

After the story, review how the tiny seed used perseverance.

What challenges does it face? The seed must fly to a new planting location. It goes slower than the others, but it perseveres! The seed must avoid the bird. It is so small the bird doesn’t see it! The children trample another plant and it dies. A child picks the flower next to him so it doesn’t grow into a tree.

Emphasize that this seed seems not quite good enough when he compares himself to the other seeds. However, his perseverance helps him to be the only seed that actually makes it into a tree! We all learn and grow at different speeds, but if we use perseverance, we can all accomplish our goals!

Empower

30 minutes

Today we will play a math game to practice perseverance. We have been learning about many math concepts. Today we will use tangram shapes to create basic pictures. Sometimes I will be tricky with my directions, so listen carefully. You will work in groups of 2-4 (depending on how many tangrams you have for this activity).

Pass out an equal amount of tangrams for each group. You may want to sort them so every table has the same number of each shape as well. After you announce each direction, circulate throughout the class to observe what the groups have created. Give praise for each object created, even if you struggle to find a resemblance to the item you gave them. Their creativity is just as important as their ability to actually create the object. Here is a list of objects for the groups to build:

● A House ● A House using only squares ● A Car ● A Car without any circles ● A Bird ● A bird without any triangles

Reflect

5-7 minutes

● Have each group share their favorite object to create. ● Which object was the most difficult to make? Why? ● How did the people in your group help you to create each object? ● Did you see any other groups struggling? Were you able to help them persevere through? If so, how?

Perseverance helps us learn new things. We must be honest in our struggles and reach out to others when we are struggling. It can be tempting to lie or give up when things become too challenging. If we are honest about needing help and use perseverance to reach our goals, anything is possible!

Extension Ideas

● Have the entire class combine all of tangrams and repeat the activity using everyone’s contributions. Can you use ALL of the tangrams?

Integrity 1st Grade • Lesson 4

A Community of Integrity This is the fourth lesson of the Integrity unit. At this age, the concept of integrity can be difficult to understand. As such, the focus will be on learning about honesty and perseverance. We lay the foundation for integrity by discussing how we build positive reputations through kind, caring, fair, inclusive, and honest behaviors and actions. This lesson focuses on how we can build a community of integrity, specifically at the school. Students will work together as a class to identify a common goal for the school and then execute their plan with a focus on maintaining integrity as they do the work of reaching their goal. Specifically, students will learn how completing a large-scale task requires follow-through and doing what you say you will do, even when no one is watching. This is a foundational element of integrity.

Integrity Sub-Concept(s) Lesson Objective Perseverance, Kindness Students will: Lesson Timeframe 45 minutes ● Create a step-by-step plan for building a community of integrity. ● Examine areas needing improvement within the school Required Materials as it relates to integrity. ❏ Basic art supplies ❏ Other supplies (depending on your class goal) Teacher Connection/Self-Care ❏ Action Step Template The final promise within your classroom relates back to our first concept this year: Standards Map Respect. Promise #4 is, “I promise to show respect to my students at all times.” This lesson aligns with CASEL This may seem obvious. Of course we respect our students! If we are to be truly Competencies, National Health honest with ourselves, we can recognize that there will always be some students Education Standards, and Common that are a struggle for us in one way or another. We may have opposite Core State Standards. Please refer to personalities, they may struggle to be in a group setting, there may be behavioral the Standards Map for more information. challenges, etc. Regardless of the reason behind it, you must work to ensure that same level of respect for them as for the rest of the class. Take some time with this week’s promise. Examine exactly HOW you show respect to every student. Do your words and actions both inside and outside the classroom convey respect with regards to every student? When discussing difficult matters related to a student, are you able to do so in an honest, yet respectful and compassionate manner? Do you continue to advocate for your students even when the level of respect you are giving is not reciprocated by the student and/or family? Integrity starts with you. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Your kind words and actions make all the difference!

Tips for Diverse Learners

● Identify ways each child can help accomplish the class goal regardless of physical or verbal limitations. ● Draw pictures during the brainstorming session to aid in comprehension.

7-10 minutes

Ask students to share what they have learned about honesty and perseverance in this unit so far. Have they noticed they are getting better at finishing hard tasks rather than wanting to give up early?

Inspire

Overview of Building Integrity in our School

2-3 minutes

Explain that this lesson will target how we can help our school community demonstrate greater integrity through honesty and perseverance. Our class will help build a community of integrity by executing a common goal of honesty and perseverance. To do this, we must first decide what having a community of integrity looks like.

Brainstorming Session

7-10 minutes

Draw an empty school on the board (or on a large piece of paper). Ask the class to brainstorm ways they can build a greater sense of integrity, honesty, and perseverance within our school community. Aim for at least 10 solid ideas based on your school needs. If your class gets stuck, ask the following questions to spark conversation:

● What areas in our school could use some help or kindness? ● What is one way students can show honesty? ● What change in our school would make you feel like you can persevere through challenges? ● How can we encourage each other better to be honest and hard working?

Some ideas might be helping out more around the school to keep it clean and inviting, making sure we do our own work, setting school-wide goals and posting encouraging messages to help people reach their goals, designing posters about honesty and integrity, showing up for school on time every day, and following all the school rules.

Empower

20 minutes

Part 1 (if you decide to split up the lesson):

Narrow down your large list to the top three and vote as a class. The winning vote will become your Class “School Community of Integrity Goal”. Using the template below or the online sample via your interactive whiteboard identify three actions that can help the class obtain their School Community of Integrity Goal. ● Note: Make sure that you create actions that accommodate visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. For example, if your goal is picking up trash, your actions might be: creating posters to inspire others to help, creating a catchy phrase or song to sing in other

classrooms as you try to gain community support, or actually completing a clean sweep of the school each day after lunch. ● Write each action step in its own column. Include a simple picture to help with comprehension. ● Hang your Goal Sheet up in a prominent place if space allows.

(If needed, end the first lesson here as this is a natural break within this activity.)

Part 2: ● Once the three action steps are created, work through each step as a whole group.

How will we accomplish this action? Do we need supplies? Do we need adult supervision outside of the classroom? (If so, you may choose to have this action completed when you have a parent volunteer present.)

● Remind them that they are focusing on how to increase the level of integrity within the school community. Each person’s talents are a valuable asset to this project! Work together as a team to complete each action step. Your goal is to unite as a class to accomplish your ultimate goal of demonstrating kindness and integrity to the school as a whole. ● After all the action steps have been prepared, get out there and start spreading kindness and inspiring a community of integrity!

Reflect

10 minutes

This lesson will require ongoing reflection as to how your action steps are working, if they need to be adjusted, etc. After you have created your goal, the action steps, and collected the tools needed to follow through, process your progress on a routine basis. The following questions can help guide the conversation:

● How has our School Community of Integrity goal changed our school in a positive way? ● How has our class been able to spread kindness through this goal? ● What changes should we make to go deeper, reach more people, and/or make a bigger change (depends on your goal)?

Increasing integrity, honesty, and perseverance will not happen overnight. It takes PERSEVERANCE! Encourage your class to continue this goal throughout the year by creating a habit of integrity moving forward. During reflection time your class may also begin to notice that an additional action step or an adjustment to a current action step is needed to ensure the overall goal is met. That’s okay! Part of goal setting is continual review and adjustment.

Extension Ideas

This lesson is just the beginning stages of goal setting for a larger activity that requires ongoing action. This activity can easily be extended through the following:

● Ongoing monitoring of the original goal. ● A monthly addition of a new community of integrity goal to incorporate some of the other ideas identified during the brainstorming session.

Integrity 1st Grade • Project 1

Perseverance Pirates! One major focus within the social studies standards in first grade are maps and directional cues. This project utilizes these cues for a fun, kinesthetic activity. The task is to find items that start with every letter in perseverance and mark them down on the “treasure map” the teacher provides. Each group will receive a blank copy of the classroom (their map) and a blank book with 12 blank pages in it.

Integrity Sub-Concept(s) Step 1: Perseverance, Kindness Create a map of your classroom. Here is a standard template to get your Project Timeframe juices flowing. You can also use this website to create one. 25-30 minutes http://classroom.4teachers.org

Required Materials ❏ Map of classroom ❏ Various items (already in your classroom) ❏ Blank book with 12 pages in it

Step 2:

Strategically place 10 items for each letter in Perseverance throughout the classroom. Here are some suggestions:

● P: paper, picture, pencil, popcorn, plant ● E (they need to find 4): egg, elephant, eraser, eel, envelope, eleven, eight ● R (they need to find 2): red, rubber band, rose, ruler ● S: stamp, scissors, snake, stapler, six, seven ● V: van, video, violin, vacuum, vest, volcano ● A: apple, airplane, ant, ape, apron ● N: nest, nine, notebook, noodles, net, needle ● C: cat, crayons, calculator, cookies

These items can be physical or pictures. Make sure you mix them up so that you don’t have all the items beginning with the same letter in the same location. Keep a list of what you put out and where you placed it so you can help people as needed and verify if they are honest in their answers when they have completed the activity.

Step 3:

Explain the activity. Each group of 3-4 pirates will receive a map of the classroom. Their mission is to find an item that starts with each of the 12 letters in PERSEVERANCE. Some letters appear 2-4 times. You will need to find a different object for every letter, even it appears multiple times. When you are all done, you will have 12 different items listed.

You must go in order of the word. P will be the first sound you are looking for. Once you have found an object that starts with this letter, write it down on the first page of your treasure notebook. Draw a picture to help you remember what you found. You will also need to mark where you found this using your map. Place a P on the area where you found the P item. You will have 12 letters in all on your map.

Turn the page and look for an item that starts with E. Write it down on the second page, add an illustration, and mark it on your map with an E on the area where you found the E item.

Persevere until you have found all 12 letters in PERSEVERANCE.

Step 4:

Review how perseverance helped each treasure hunting group find their objects. Were certain sounds more difficult to find than others? How were you able to use perseverance to complete the activity? Did you ever struggle with honesty when you couldn’t find a certain sound?

Extension Activity

Want to take your map skills to the next level? Check out this National Geographic sponsored map tool to have your students create their own maps of your classroom!

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/mapping-classroom/

Integrity 1st Grade • Project 2

Integrity Handbook This project focuses on integrity through honesty and perseverance. Students are a valuable part of the classroom team and their honesty and perseverance enables it to run smoothly. To highlight their value and demonstrate various ways to show integrity in the school, the class will create an Integrity Handbook for use throughout the school year.

Integrity Sub-Concept(s) To help students brainstorm ideas for the handbook, create a bubble map on Perseverance, Kindness a large piece of paper or whiteboard. In the center write SCHOOL in a bubble.

Project Timeframe How can we show integrity at school? Remember, integrity is doing what you 25-30 minutes know is right and kind, even when other people aren’t around. Let’s take some time to brainstorm ways we do this throughout our school! Required Materials ❏ Integrity Handbook pages ● Write all of the answers down on the paper or board around the center (see attached) bubble. Draw lines to connect the ideas back to the center bubble. If kids give suggestions that apply more to home, write those off to the side so you can talk about them later. Remind the students that the goal of integrity to act in ways you know to be right and kind in all situations. If ideas come up that do not apply to integrity, ask follow up questions. How will this show others at school that I am doing what I know to be right and kind? Encourage age appropriate and safe answers.

Explain that the class will be creating an Integrity Handbook for our classroom library. Each person in our class will identify one way they can show integrity in our school through pictures and words, and they can use our bubble map to help. Since this will be in our library for the rest of the year, we want to take extra special pride in our work today. Every book made is done with pride so it will last. Let’s treat our book with that same level of pride!

Students will finish the sentence starter, “I can show integrity by…,” using pictures and written text. Dictation can also be used as needed for diverse learners.

● Read the sentence starter aloud to each student as you dismiss them to complete their Integrity Handbook page. This will keep the idea fresh in their minds. ● As students finish their pictures, have them write their answers on the lines provided. If you are using dictation, write down exactly what they say below their picture. This writing can also serve as a writing sample for the first quarter if needed. ● When students are finished, have them convene at the carpet/circle time area.

1st Grade

Hello Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to Unit 4 of our Kindness in the Classroom curriculum. For the next 4-6 weeks we will be learning all about INCLUSIVENESS. Since this is a completely new concept for children this age, we will focus on the following topics:

TOPIC QUESTIONS WE’LL BE EXPLORING HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME

Honesty ● Why is honesty the best policy? Talk with your child about the importance of ● What happens when we start to tell always telling the truth, even when it is difficult. little lies? When we get into the habit of telling lies, adults ● How do these lies start to build on start to trust us less and less. each other?

Perseverance ● How do we stick with things, even Practice identifying small goals with your child. when they are difficult for us? List the steps it will take for them to reach that ● How can we use honesty to reach our goal. Celebrate with them when they succeed! goals? Goal setting is a lifelong skill. ● How does cheating hurt us in the long run?

Integrity ● What is the connection between Talk with your child about the importance of honesty and integrity? being honest, even when no one is around. ● How can we do what is right and kind How can we practice integrity at home as well as in every situation? at school?

Key activities we’ll be doing: TRY THIS AT HOME! ● Explore the concept of “white lies”! ● Examine honesty through literature! As a family, choose one new thing you ● Persevere through puzzles! would like to try out. Commit to trying it for ● Create a community of integrity at school! one full week, even if it is difficult. Avoid shortcuts, which promote dishonesty. If you have any questions about our Kindness in the Demonstrating perseverance at home is a Classroom lessons, please feel free to contact me at terrific example for children at this age. anytime. We are on this kindness path together!

Sincerely,

1st Grade Standards Map

Integrity Unit

This Standards Map summarizes each of the standards met by all lessons within this unit. All Kindness in the Classroom® lesson plans have been mapped to the five CASEL Core Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Education Standards (NHES), and the national Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy and Mathematics. Utilization and adoption of these national standards and competencies vary by state. Teachers can use this resource to align their own state standards with each lesson.

Lesson 1: The Lie Snowball

CASEL NHES Common Core

Self-awareness Standard 1. Understanding English Language Arts Standards Identifying emotions concepts Reading: Literature Accurate self-perception 1.2.1 - Identify that healthy Key Ideas and Details: behaviors impact personal health. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 Self-management Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Impulse control Standard 7. Practicing healthy CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Self-discipline behaviors Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key Self-motivation 7.2.1 - Demonstrate healthy details. practices and behaviors to Craft and Structure: Social awareness maintain or improve personal CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4 Perspective-taking health. Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings Empathy or appeal to the senses. Respect for others Speaking & Listening Relationship skills Comprehension and Collaboration: Social engagement CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1 Relationship-building Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger Responsible groups. decision-making CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.A Identifying problems Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with Analyzing situations care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under Evaluating discussion). Reflecting CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.B Ethical responsibility Build on others' talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.C Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4 Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Language Conventions of Standard English: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English © The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. All Rights Reserved. www.randomactsofkindness.org Page 1

grammar and usage when writing or speaking. Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.A Sort words into categories (e.g., colors, clothing) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.C Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are cozy).

Lesson 2: An Honest Review

CASEL NHES Common Core

Self-management Standard 1. Understanding English Language Arts Standards Impulse control concepts Reading: Literature Self-discipline 1.2.1 - Identify that healthy Key Ideas and Details: Self-motivation behaviors impact personal health. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Social awareness Standard 7. Practicing healthy CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Perspective-taking behaviors Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key Empathy 7.2.1 - Demonstrate healthy details. Appreciating diversity practices and behaviors to Craft and Structure: Respect for others maintain or improve personal CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4 health. Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings Relationship skills or appeal to the senses. Communication Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7 Responsible Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, decision-making setting, or events. Identifying problems Analyzing situations Speaking & Listening Solving problems Comprehension and Collaboration: Evaluating CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1 Reflecting Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about Ethical responsibility grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.A Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.B Build on others' talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.C Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4 Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Language Conventions of Standard English: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.C Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are cozy).

Lesson 3: Perseverance Puzzles

CASEL NHES Common Core

Self-awareness Standard 1. Understanding English Language Arts Standards Identifying emotions concepts Reading: Literature Accurate self-perception 1.2.1 - Identify that healthy Key Ideas and Details: Recognizing strengths behaviors impact personal health. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 Self-confidence Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Self-efficacy Standard 7. Practicing healthy CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 behaviors Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key Self-management 7.2.1 - Demonstrate healthy details Goal-setting practices and behaviors to Craft and Structure: Organizational skills maintain or improve personal CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4 health. Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings Social awareness or appeal to the senses. Appreciating diversity Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Respect for others CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, Relationship skills setting, or events. Communication Teamwork Speaking & Listening Comprehension and Collaboration: Responsible CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1 decision-making Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about Identifying problems grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger Analyzing situations groups. Evaluating CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.A Reflecting Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.B Build on others' talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.C Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4 Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Standards for Mathematical Practice Geometry Reason with shapes and their attributes. CCSS.Math.Content.1.G.A.1 Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes. CCSS.Math.Content.1.G.A.2 Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.

Lesson 4: A Community of Integrity

CASEL NHES Common Core

Self-awareness Standard 1. Understanding English Language Arts Standards Recognizing strengths concepts Writing 1.2.1 - Identify that healthy Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Self-management behaviors impact personal health. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.8 Goal-setting With guidance and support from adults, recall information from Organizational skills Standard 2. Analyzing experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a influences question. Social awareness 2.2.2 - Identify what the school Perspective-taking can do to support personal Speaking & Listening Appreciating diversity health practices and behaviors. Comprehension and Collaboration: Respect for others CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1 Standard 3. Accessing valid Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about Relationship skills information grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger Communication 3.2.1 - Identify trusted adults and groups. Social engagement professionals who can help CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.A Relationship-building promote health. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with Teamwork 3.2.2 - Identify ways to locate care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under school and community health discussion). Responsible helpers. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.B decision-making Build on others' talk in conversations by responding to the comments Identifying problems Standard 5. Decision-making of others through multiple exchanges. Analyzing situations 5.2.1 - Identify situations when a CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1.C Evaluating health-related decision is Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts Reflecting needed. under discussion. Ethical responsibility CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.2 Standard 7. Practicing healthy Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or behaviors information presented orally or through other media. 7.2.1 - Demonstrate healthy CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.3 practices and behaviors to Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to maintain or improve personal gather additional information or clarify something that is not health. understood. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4 Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.