Resources for Developing Caring Schools

Beyond Rhetoric and Rainbows

As you explore this educational tool we hope that you will discover new ideas and rediscover how your role as a change agent can bring inspiration, genuine caring, and new levels of performance into the classroom. These activities are divided into primary, intermediate and upper grade levels and will challenge students' minds, empower their senses of well-being, and rekindle their hearts with a commitment to values and beliefs essential to becoming and being whole individuals.

To download the 29 Beyond Rhetoric and Rainbow activities go to http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/ce/strat-index.html

Breaking the Code (BTC) Bullying Simulation Kit

Breaking the CodeBreaking the Code (BTC) is a research-based prevention simulation that can help you help your students understand their role and know their options as a bystander of bullying. Designed for middle and high school students, this resource includes a facilitator guide, an introduction of characters, eight relevant scenarios that students face in schools today, lanyards and name tags, posters with graphic symbols, decision cards, symbol cards, spectator sheets, talking squish ball, handouts and evaluation form. Each scenario and guided discussion involves up to 12 students and takes about one half hour to complete. Each scenario includes both a narrator version and a skit version to allow for greater or lesser student participation, embedded research statistics that may or may not be included during the presentation, side notes for symbol disbursement and guided discussion questions.

The BTC Kit is available for purchase, at the link below.  Attending a facilitator training is highly recommended to increase the skill with which you can use the kit from the very first usage.

Additional BTC Kit details

To order this kit, go to the Publications Plus website.

Leadership Development Through Community Action

Leadership Development Through Community ActionThe service learning curriculum, Leadership Development Through Community Action, is a multi-faceted resource for teachers to help youth learn life and academic skills through group activities and community-based experiences. Targeting middle school youth, it is based on a model that begins with understanding self and their group before moving on to explore their community and issues of concern. They then select an issue they want to address and plan a project(s) to impact the issue. After evaluating their "results" and "process", they decide on future individual or group action. The seven-module curriculum includes thirty lessons, each about one class period length, which have multiple experiential activities, ideas for reflection, handouts, visual masters and Illinois Learning Standards identified. Each module also gives ideas for student portfolios or basis for evaluation by the teacher. The complete curricula (Publication #CLV99-1) includes a teacher guide with all lessons and teaching background and a notebook of visual and handout masters. Additional teacher guides may be purchased separately.

Sample from Leadership Development Through Community Action – Lego Model

To order this curriculum, go to the Publications Plus website.

Polite Is Right

Polite Is Right is designed to teach children social skills and encourage the use of considerate behavior. The program focuses the attention of youth on social rules and customs, helps children understand why rules are important, and helps children develop skills and behaviors consistent with these social rules and customs. The lesson titles are: Rules Help Us, Respect, Sportsmanship, Mealtime Manners, Put Your Best Foot Forward, and Electronic Etiquette. Illinois Learning Standards are identified for each lesson. Support pieces include family pages and ideas to catch students being polite. Designed for elementary school children, the program is more successful when the whole school participates.

Sample from Polite is Right - Compliments Count

To order Polite Is Right, go to the Publications Plus website.

TeRRiFiCC Teachable Moments (PreK-2 and 3rd -6th )

TeRRiFiCC Teachable Moments is a character development resource for educators and caregivers of children from pre-kindergarten to second grade (Level I) and third to sixth grade (Level II). Each booklet is a set of 75 activities with short (about 10-minute) hands-on, minds-on activities or mini-lessons meant to reinforce and encourage children to make positive character choices. Illinois Learning Standards are identified for each lesson. The activities are categorized using the Six Pillars of Character—Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship—identified by the Josephson Institute of Ethics and used in CHARACTER COUNTS! programming. Each activity presents the behaviors, objectives, materials, and procedure for completing the activity. Additional helpful hints are also included for many activities. Available as a stand-up “flip-book” or searchable CD.

Sample from Terrific Teachable Moments: PreK-2 grade - Magnets Draw Others
Sample from Terrificc Teachable Moments: 3-6 grades - Working to Stay Honest

To order Terrific Teachable Moments, go to the Publications Plus website.

TeRRiFiCC Teachable Moments: Grades 7-12

TeRRiFiCC Teachable Moments is a set of lessons with hands-on, minds-on activities meant to build skills and reinforce and encourage youth to make positive character choices. The activities are categorized using the Six Pillars of Charactersm—Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship—identified by the CHARACTER COUNTS!sm program. Each activity identifies and lists the behaviors addressed, objective, materials needed, Illinois Learning Standard addressed, Illinois Social/Emotional Learning (SEL) Standard addressed, Promising Practice (PP) addressed, the step by step procedure for completing the activity, processing questions and additional helpful hints from those who piloted the activities. The Promising Practices are approaches that have the potential to impact the development of performance and moral character. These Promising Practices are part of A Report to the Nation: Smart and Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work, and Beyond, by Dr. Thomas Lickona and Dr. Matthew Davidson.

Sample from Terrific Teachable Moments: Grades 7 through 12 - Thoughts in a Poem and accompanying handout: “Consequences of Lying”
To order Terrific Teachable Moments, go to the Publications Plus website.

Walk in My Shoes

Walk in My Shoes is a 4-H project that reaches across generations and teaches young people about growing older and the physical changes that occur with age. A 59-page member manual enables individual youth working with an older helper to distinguish between the realities of aging and the stereotypes or myths that exist about older adults. Youth learn to develop an awareness of the impact of physical and sensory changes on the lives of older people through "hands on" activities. Young and old are able to share, learn and understand one another. A 67-page Leader's Guide provides assistance to volunteers or teachers who are assisting a group with the project. In addition to background information on aging, life skills, developmental issues for 9-14 year olds and teaching experientially; the Guide includes 24 activity plans for which Illinois Learning Standards have been identified.

Sample from Walk in My Shoes -- Butterfingers

To order both the youth and leader's guide of Walk in My Shoes, go to the Publications Plus website.

Additional Resources [Downloadable PDF Files]:

100 Ways to Promote Character Education – A list of ideas for schools.

Ideas for Elementary Schools to Help Students Become People of Good Character – Ideas specifically for elementary schools and not found in the “100 Ways . . .”

Ideas for High Schools to Help Students Become People of Good Character – Ideas specifically for elementary schools and not found in the “100 Ways . . .”

Ideas for Schools to Help Students Become People of Good Character – Ideas for schools to promote character education, not found in the “100 Ways . . .”

School Bus Character

  • School Bus Rules Handout – summary of the individual student handouts
  • Individual Student Handouts – ½ sheet handouts; how to show trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship on a school bus.
  • Bus Visor Signs – the same information as listed in the handouts, but in a landscape format that could easily be posted on a bus sun visor.

Social and Emotional Learning: The Foundation to Students’ Success in School, Work, and Life - An overview of SEL, including Illinois SEL standards, co-authored by University of Illinois Extension and CASEL.

Stages of Moral Reasoning – Fact sheet that helps us understand if a specific age child is capable of certain types of moral reasoning.

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign College of Agricultural Consumer & Environmental Sciences University of Illinois Extension