Character Cards

You may have read on my profile that I'm the school counselor at a Character Education Partnership State and National School of Character; as an NSOC, we're asked to do outreach and help other schools integrate character education into the fabric of their schools so that it becomes a way of life rather than just another add-on. So all week long, I'm sharing fun infusion ideas along with some bonus bulletin board designs 
for your character building.

I'll start with the Character Cards I've been making to give away as door prizes for my February speaking gigs. First I typed up 54 challenges, questions and dilemmas onto Avery labels - ie. A stakeholder is someone who cares about and could be affected by your choices; who are the stakeholders in your decisions? - then I trimmed them slightly to fit the cards before affixing them. I gave a deck to one of our first-grade teachers and she uses them as Morning Meeting discussion starters. They could also be used as essay prompts.
  

You could put them in a center or work station and have kids discuss and/or act out the scenarios. At home, we incorporate them in our card games as a family; when we're playing War, for example, we'd discuss the winning card between having a battle and resuming play. So much potential . . . here are a few of the prompts: 


*If your neighbor isn't taking good care of her dog, what should you do?
*What can you do for someone if he's sad?
*If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?
*Is it fair to punish the whole class for the misbehavior of a few kids?  Why or why not?
*How would it feel to be the new kid in class? What would you need?

How would you use Character Cards? Be one of the first three to reflect on that question below and I'll send you a digital file of 60 prompts that you can choose from to make a deck for your class. I wonder what your students would write if they could help you make the deck.


This type of Character Card allows students and faculty to catch one another showing good character.

 

These cards are displayed on a bulletin board like this:

This farmer's daughter is LOVIN' the Holstein Cow motif!

Here's another visual from our character building 
to show that we're hooked!

Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship - That's TRRFCC character!