Truthfulness - Character Council of Cincinnati
Transcription
Truthfulness - Character Council of Cincinnati
Flexibility Truthfulness tell the truth encourage not cheat or steal admit when I am wrong not exaggerate to make things seem different from what they are FEATURES Quotes Quotes 22 Curriculum Connection 22 Model 33 TeamBuilding Activity 33 Family Activity 47 CEO Robin’s 58 Reading List Crosky’s 9 Crosky’s Corner Robin’s Reading List Character in the Character Classroom in the Continuously Classroom Continuously S E P AT U E G M U B S E T R 2 0 1 2 1 Earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts. others to be truthful Corner MONTHLY EDUCATOR BULLETIN Vs. Deception I WILL: Character… It starts with me! Picture water as it ripples from a central spot. Being truthful resembles those ripples. When we are truthful today we set ourselves up for being believed in the future. Each truthful act builds our future credibility ripple by ripple. we are true to ourselves. We become consistent and predictable, just like the ripples in the water. The more consistent we are with our core, the more we reveal that core to others. The more we act with integrity the more we reinforce that core. ripples build out from the center. Deception, on the other hand creates distance and can sever relationships. When we operate in a manner that is consistent with our core integrity, Truthfulness builds relationships and links us to each other just as the This month, practice truthfulness and watch it ripple. Go to the Root Veracidad vs. Engaño Ganarse la confianza futura, informando con precisión sobre hechos del pasado 4 6 11 7 14 Go to the Root The word truthfulness is from the Old English word treowth, which means “to be firm, solid, or steadfast”. Can you see how being truthful can help build a solid future? IN THIS ISSUE Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button 4 Truth-tionary 4 Cover-Up 5 Tower of Flour 5 Whoppers 6 Baloney 6 P AGE “ People will accept your idea much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first.” -David H. Comins “Honesty is always the best policy” George Washington “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” Albert Einstein “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” Buddha “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” Winston Churchill “If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.” Mark Twain “Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.” Ralph Waldo Emerson “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.” John F. Kennedy Character Quotables “I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” Harry S. Truman “By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.” George Carlin “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” Henry David Thoreau “Half a truth is often a great lie.” Benjamin Franklin “The object of the superior man is truth.” Confucius “Peace if possible, truth at all costs.” Martin Luther “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.” Elvis Presley “I believe there's an inner power that makes winners or losers. And the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts.” Sylvester Stallone “There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.” Antisthenes Curriculum Connection Science Lions speak the truth with their body language. Unlike tigers and other large cats, lions don’t hide their feelings. They use their tail, mouth and posture to let others know exactly what they intend to do. If a lion’s tail is hanging down in a long flowing curve and the tip points upward, they are giving you a friendly greeting. If the tail sticks straight out and the tip switches back and forth, he could be looking at you as his dinner! What other animals tell you what they are feeling with their body language? 2 P AGE Katie Davis, Model of Truthfulness In December of 2006, 18-year -old Katie Davis from Brentwood, Tennessee, traveled to Uganda for the first time. She was immediately captivated with the people and the culture. In the summer of 2007, Katie returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. She was shocked to see the number of school-aged children not is school. Most schools in Uganda are privately operated and therefore require school fees for attendance, making poor children unable to afford an education. Katie decided to start a child sponsorship program, matching orphaned and vulnerable children who are unable to afford schooling with sponsors all over the world. A gift of $300 will provide allowance for one child to go to school, providing school supplies, 3 hot meals each day, spiritual discipleship, and medical care. Originally planning to have 40 children in the program, the program sponsors over 600 children today. Shortly thereafter, Katie established a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries International. The organization seeks to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Uganda who need it most. In the Lugandan language, Amazima means "truth." Also, Katie became a mother for the first time in January of 2008 to three orphaned girls. She has since adopted more girls bringing the total to 13 adopted daughters. One of the many other programs she developed was designed to help the women in the Karimojong village provide for their families. She initiated a vocational program to teach these women to make unique Ugandan magazine bead necklaces. They are also taught money management skills. The necklaces made by the women are purchased and sold in the United States. The programs that Katie has created are her way of being true to her core. She firmly believes in helping those who are in need. To learn more about Katie and Amazima visit: http://amazima.org/ Team-Building Activity Building a culture of good character requires building the class into a community. Here is this month’s teambuilding activity: Me Give each one an outline of a human body or have each one draw one themselves. Inside the head area, have them write/draw one thing they would like to do when they grow up/get older. On the hands have them write/draw something they like to play. On the stomach they should write or draw something they like to eat. On a foot they should write/draw someplace they want to visit. Once they are all finished, have them share with everyone or you can break them into small groups and have them share in the groups. When they have finished sharing, point out that there were similarities and differences in what we like. It is nice to find someone who likes something that you do but having a variety of preferences in the group makes the group more interesting. 3 P AGE Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button? Seat the group in a circle. Choose one person to be “it” first. This person stands in the middle of the circle. Provide a button to one person in the circle. Instruct the person who is “it” to close their eyes while those who are seated pass the button around the circle. You can play music or set a timer. When the timer goes off, have all those seated to pretend to be hiding the button in their hands. The person who is “it” can open their eyes. The group then chants to the person who is “it” the game title “Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?”. The person who is “it” gets three guesses as to who they think has the button. If they are right, that person is now “it” and they get to take the vacated place in the circle. If they are wrong, you get to pick a new person to be “it”. Once you have played the game several times, discuss how it felt to pretend you had the button or how to pretend you didn’t when you really did. Whenever we are not being true, it feels uncomfortable. Learn to recognize these signs. Whenever we are uncomfortable with a situation, it is a good sign that it is somewhere we shouldn’t be or something that we shouldn’t be doing. Truth-tionary To prepare for this game make some cards with phrases that depict a scene where a child has to decide to tell the truth such as spilled milk, broken crayon, not emptying the trash can, forgetting to make your bed, not doing homework, etc. The game is played like Pictionary, using the cards as the drawing suggestions. Divide the group into two smaller groups and have them compete against each other. Provide a space on a chalk board or a white board for them to use for their drawings. Pick one team to go first. One person from that team comes forward, selects a card from a face-down stack. They have 3 minutes to draw something so that their team can guess what scenario is on the card. Be sure that both teams know what kinds of phrases they are trying to guess. The person who is drawing is not allowed to say anything until someone guesses the correct answer. Once the answer is given or time is up and the answer revealed, have a short discussion on the example that was drawn. Why is telling the truth the right thing to do in each instance? Be sure to include that the more you tell the truth, the more trust you build. 4 P AGE Cover-Up For this activity you will need a container about 4 -6 inches in diameter and no taller than 8 - 10 inches. Fill it with about 6 inches of water. If you have a large group you may want to divide into smaller groups and provide each group with the same set-up. Place the container in the center of the group. Have someone drop a nickel into the container, aiming to get it as close to the center as possible. Explain that the nickel is like a lie that you tell. Now give pennies to the others in the group. Each person has to try to cover up the lie (the nickel) by telling other smaller lies (pennies). How many pennies does it take to cover the nickel completely? How difficult is it to cover the lie when you don’t have a lot of control over where the pennies land? How is that like lies that you tell to cover your tracks? Tower of Flour You will first need to spread newspaper over the area for this demonstration. Place the dime in the center of the bottom of a plastic cup. Pour flour into the glass being sure to pack it in firmly. Place the paper plate on top of the glass and turn them over together on the newspaper. Tap the glass gently, and carefully lift it off. The flour should remain standing in the shape of the glass with the dime on top. Explain that the dime represents the character quality of truthfulness. Let the group take turns slicing some of the tower away with a plastic knife but keeping the tower intact. This represents what happens when we tell lies. Our reputation is weakened. Others will not trust or respect us, and eventually the tower of trust falls. Notice how each time more flour is removed the dime’s position becomes more precarious. Continue until the dime drops in. Ask the group what does the tower falling signify? (losing all trust). 5 P AGE Whoppers Pass out a Whopper candy to each child in the class and encourage them to eat it. Once they’ve eaten the candy, ask for it back. This demonstrates how hard it is to take back a lie once it is told. (Remember when: Back in the day, when someone told a big lie, they told a ‘whopper’…) Ask the students to come up with their own slang for the word ‘lie’. Why is it important to tell the truth? What does it feel like when someone spreads gossip about you? If the story is true, but not complimentary, is it still gossip? What will you do the next time someone spreads gossip to you? What will you do the next time you want to lie? How will you encourage others to tell the truth? Baloney! This is a common card game, also known as Cheat, I Doubt It or B.S. Have the group break up into smaller groups containing an odd number of students and give each group a deck of cards. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. The entire deck is dealt to the group and whoever has the Ace of Spades begins play. The first student can lay down any number of Aces. They announce how many ‘Aces’ they are laying face down into the discard pile in the middle. The player to their left goes next with twos and the next person has threes and so on continuing around the circle until you get back to the Aces. Since you won’t always have the cards that are assigned to you, you are allowed to lie about all or some of the cards you are discarding. You are not allowed to pass if you don’t have the correct cards. Once the cards are down, any player can challenge the claim by calling “Baloney”. The cards are turned over and, if they are caught lying, they have to pick up the entire discard pile into their hand. If they are telling the truth, the challenger gets the cards in their hand. A time limit can be set, or the game can be played until a student wins by running out of cards in their hand. Who had the best ‘poker face’? Who was really bad at lying? How easy was it to lie the first time? The last time? How did it feel to get caught? What will you do the next time you are tempted to lie? 6 P AGE For the Family We are studying the character quality of Truthfulness: Earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts. To practice Truthfulness I will: tell the truth encourage others to be truthful not cheat or steal admit when I am wrong not exaggerate to make things seem different from what they are Family Activity: Tall Tales For this activity, gather the family together and tell a story about something that really happened to you. Pepper the story with 5 lies or exaggerations. You can decide how obvious you want to make them. They can be anything from encountering a bear, to changing the color of a wellknown object. Ask the family to hold any comments or questions until you are finished with your story. Once you have finished ask if they have any questions. If they didn’t notice the lies, then tell them that you included a number of lies and can they figure out what they were. When they have discovered all of the untruths in your story ask them how it felt to be lied to. Was the story believable? Do they feel gullible? How do they think it would feel to be caught in a lie? How would they feel about a friend if that friend lied to them? The next time they are tempted to lie or stretch the truth, ask them to remember this story. Other ways to teach character in the home: Display the character quality and definition in a prominent place such as on the refrigerator or let each child decorate it for their bedroom door. At the dinner table ask if anyone noticed anyone (not just family members) demonstrating the character quality (or not demonstrating it). Point out news stories where character was or was not involved. Review the “I wills” and see if there are specific actions you can add to this list. During car trips, challenge the kids by describing scenarios and having them identify if it describes being the quality or being the opposite. Praise with character by recognizing the character quality involved rather than the achievement. For more ideas visit www.charactercincinnati.org/education.html 7 P AGE Character Education Opportunities In September September 15: International Dot Day Every year on September 15, innovative educators around the world celebrate International Dot Day by making time to encourage their students’ creativity. The project involves encouraging students to be creative with a dot. You can come up with a project idea and have everyone do the same thing in their own creative way or you can encourage them to be completely creative with idea. For more information, visit http://fablevisionlearning.com/dotday/ Other Days You Can Use To Teach Character This Month 3 Labor Day 8 International Literacy Day 9 National Grandparent's Day 11 Patriot Day (9-11) 15 Big Whopper Liar Day 16 Trail of Tears Commemoration Day 18 National Attention Deficit Disorder Awareness Day 18 National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day 18 National Respect Day 19 Talk Like A Pirate Day 22 R.E.A.D. in America Day 24 Punctuation Day 27 Ancestor Appreciation Day 28 National Good Neighbor Day 29 World Heart Day Week 1 International Enthusiasm Week: Week 2 Suicide Prevention Week Week 3 Pollution Prevention Week, National Clean Hands Week, Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week Week 4 National Keep Kids Creative Week The Month of September is AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Month, Children's Good Manners Month, International People Skills Month, International Self-Awareness Month, International Strategic Thinking Month, National Prosper Where You Are Planted Month For more information on these and other holidays visit: http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/september.htm or http://www.brownielocks.com/september.html 8 P AGE Croskey’s Corner OK, School is back in session! Time for a True/False quiz to recognize Truthfulness. 9 True/False: If you are swimming, you have to wait an hour after eating or you'll get cramps and drown. True/False: Keep unused batteries in the refrigerator to prolong their lives. True/False: Sugar causes hyperactivity in children. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ main/art.asp?articlekey=52516 The answers are all “False” or at least highly debated. These beliefs are old “wives” tales, or what would now be called Urban Legends. For further information on these, check out http:// www.snopes.com/ You may or may not agree with the above statements. (If you want to get teachers - or parents- riled up, ask them on the day after Halloween or Easter whether candy causes increased hyperactivity!) Not unlike UFO sightings or miracle cures, legends entice us to be believers, and to pass them on as true. Also, legends may be attractive because they are really just well-constructed stories. I'll bet you know a story teller; a charismatic person who enjoys the conversation spotlight. A story teller hooks the listeners, leads them along, and delights or surprises them with the ending. The joy of a story well-told comes from the pictures created, the pretending they afford, and the possibilities which are conjured by the telling. With story telling, taking the trip is often as much fun as reaching the destination. When I was a kid, one expression that our parents used to describe us NOT telling the truth was to say we were “telling stories.” The message from this turn of a phrase was that a “story” was an untruth. OK, I admit a story may be true, or false, or a mixture. But you might readily agree that one can convince a lot more listeners with a story than one can by showering an audience with facts. Stories may be more powerful than data, yet those stories that are false can lead others to act based on lies. That brings us to the Character Quality for September, Truthfulness, and its opposite, Dishonesty. Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist whom I have written about in the past, tells the story of a locksmith, a philosopher-tradesman, really. The locksmith believes that one percent of people will always be honest and never steal. Another 1% will always be dishonest and always try to pick your lock and steal your television; locks won’t do much to protect you from the hardened thieves, who can get into your house if they really want to. The purpose of locks, the locksmith said, is to protect you from the 98% of mostly honest people who might be tempted to try your door if it had no lock. Ariely has research to suggest that our approach to the Truth is proportionately about the same. Most people are a little dishonest, he says, in his latest book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone---Especially Ourselves. He conducted a research study in which subjects had to take a test, then report on how many answers they got right, with the knowledge that they would be paid a dollar for every correct answer. When the subjects believed that they would be the only ones who knew their exact score, they tended to cheat and report higher scores than they actually achieved. When the subjects earned tokens which could immediately be turned into dollars, even more people cheated. So, the indication is that many, if not most of us, are at least somewhat Untruthful. http://danariely.com/2012/05/26/why-we-lie-from-wsj/ You are thinking, “OK, Bill, what you are saying is, people tell little lies and sometimes big lies. What else is new?” My guess is that the idea that humans tend to stretch the Truth, combined Bill Croskey is a school psychologist from the with the idea that we love to hear stories, suggests that people are likely to tell Loveland City Schools P AGE 10 Croskey’s Corner exaggerated or even made up stories to make a point. Then add this to the mix: Research tells us that we remember a concept better when we have an emotional reaction to it. Doesn't a story help you generate feeling for the topic? When I was a young driver, seat belts were just starting to be standard equipment on cars. I was a casual belt “clicker.” But one day, I watched as a car in front of me got “T-boned” by a car from a side street. It was a chilly December, but as I drove by the scene, I saw the driver who'd been hit stretched out, halfnaked, on the pavement, his clothes ripped off as he was thrown through the windshield. Clearly he had not been wearing his seat belt. All the data about seat belts saving lives had registered with me. But the story I saw unfold made me a life-long seat belt user. I tell that story to others, hoping to convince them to use their belts. Thus, love of stories + tendency to exaggerate + emotional teaching power of stories = stories being a strong force for good - or not. This applies to school. Here is a current example. Many of us know a situation where a student was retained, and found more school success after repeating a grade in school. Yet the research on retention is overwhelming! Retained students are more likely to be from a minority group, be male, more likely to drop out of school, have a late birthday, be delayed in development, have attention problems, live in poverty or in a single-parent household, have parents with low educational attainment, have parents that are less involved in their education, or have changed schools frequently. Yet because of the power of anecdotes shared by educators or family friends, we tell a convincing story about a person who was seemingly helped by a retention, and talk parents into holding their child back. This may be story power misused. Teachers are faced with this dilemma of the power of stories in another way. You are in a battle for the brain power of your students. Brain power for students is like purchasing power for consumers. The student and the consumer have only so much time, and space, and credit (or thinking effort) to “spend” on a purchase. These two types of purchases come together with TV ads. A company that places ads wants TV viewers to spend money on its product. The advertising company promoting the product usually wants the consumer to spend little or no brain power on the message. If the consumer spent more brain power, he or she would probably spend less money because the arguments made for buying are so flimsy. The less thinking the better. Same with video games or entertainment TV: not much thinking need be spent here, but a lot of money, or time. But school requires a lot of thinking to be expended. In this way, teachers are competing for the attention and interest of their students. And dry facts, data, logic, and complicated arguments may lose the audience. So, teachers are tempted to resort to the TV ad approach and tell a story which intrigues the student, but may not help them advance their understanding of the skill or concept. Stories are more fun to listen to than a string of facts. We like stories and want to believe them. Yet they may be less than truthful, exaggerated, appeal to emotions but not intellect, and may discourage critical thinking. Facts and data can be crucial in helping student to make judgments, to analyze, and to draw conclusions. Therefore, maybe we are OK in doing both in school. Searching critically for the truth and story telling may each have a role in helping us reach students. When we want to encourage imagination and growth, we may choose story-telling. When we want to help a student acquire or advance in a skill, we may need to provide the facts and the skills for the student to grow. Is it oversimplifying to say that life divides into “What to think?” and “How to think?” situations? In that case, facts and stories have the potential to lead to the path of wisdom and more truth - just from different from different starting places. P AGE Robin’s Reading List Grades Pre. - 3 Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Jan and Stan Berenstain This book has so may inspirational stories in it! They are about growing up as teens and different challenges they may face. They also have short quotes at the top of each story for you to analyze and they really get you thinking. children and educates parents in how to calmly and compassionately respond to a youngster who has told a lie. There is nice detail and consistency in the pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations, largely done in soothing blues and greens. The stuffed animals are animated with human expressions from the start so that the fantasy ending is not totally unexpected. Pinky Promise: A Book About Telling the Truth by Vanita Braver When Madison accidentally breaks her mom's expensive camera, she lies to protect herself from punishment. After a difficult evening, she consults with her teddy bear, named Honesty. She then bravely approaches her mother and apologizes, with a pinky promise never to lie again. Feeling better immediately, she is able to do her homework and eat. That night, in a break from the reality-based premise, Madison's bear scampers down from the shelf to cuddle with her in bed. His whispered goodnight reiterates the book's message. While a bear named Honesty is a glaring literary tool, at least the toy is not prone to lectures. Even though the girl asks him for advice, he doesn't verbally respond, so that the answer is seen to come from within. This reassuring book provides a lesson Robin Castetter is a Retired Elementary Teacher to Loveland City Schools Tattletale Tilly by Joanna Weaver Tattletale Tilly, the youngest O'Toole, made sure those around her kept every rule. From her big sister Milly to her big brother Tom, Tilly kept them in line with her threats to tell Mom. Little Tilly is such a squealer, both at home and at school. After a while her family has had enough of her selfrighteous tattling. When her dad tells her the tattling must stop, Tilly realizes she needs help being more kind and merciful to others. The Honest-to-GoodnessTruth by Pat McKissack When Libby lies to her mama and is caught, she vows never to lie again. So she tells the truth. Ruthie Mae has a hole in her sock. Willie hasn't done his homework; old Miz Tusselbury's yard looks like a jungle. So if she is honest, why is the whole world mad at her? When Libby gets a taste of her own medicine, will she finally learn the difference between a lie and the honest-to-goodness truth? Ruthie and the (not so) Teeny Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin Ruthie loves tiny things and when she finds a tiny camera on the playground she is very happy, but after she lies and says the camera belongs to her, nothing seems to go right. Ruthie and the (not so) teeny tiny lie / Laura Rankin. Rankin, Laura. Ruthie loves tiny things and when she finds a tiny camera on the playground she is very happy, but after she lies and says the camera belongs to her, nothing seems to go right. Grades 4 -8: Heat by Mike Lupica With a pitching arm that is truly exceptional, Michael Arroyo hopes to take his team to the Little League World Series. Since the death of their father, Michael and his brother, Carlos, are trying to fly under the radar of Social Services so they can stay together, out of foster care and in the country. When Michael’s fantastic pitch raises eyebrows and he needs his birth certificate to prove his age, he and his brother need all the help they can get. Both truth and a few hidden secrets keep the reader actively involved in the story. If A Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko Kirsten McKenna and Walker Jones are both starting seventh grade at the same 11 P AGE Robin’s Reading List school, but have never met. Kirsten is thrilled that summer is over so she can get back to her best friend and away from her parents, who only communicate through an intermediary, which may explain why she's gained so much weight in the past few months. Walk just wants to keep his head down at the predominantly white private school his mom transferred him to so that he can stay out of trouble. When Kirsten and Walk meet, they instantly take a liking to one another, but they are completely unprepared for the shocking truth that links them together forever. The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes Two gifts on a boy's 12th birthday fortuitously bring an entire family closer together. Young Benjamin likes to draw and paint, but when his parents give him a present of a room to use as a studio, he feels pressured into becoming an artist. He is enthralled by his second gift: a letter from his Uncle Ian in Oregon, inviting Ben to come for a visit. Ben's mother, however, is not so enthralled; she still blames her younger brother for a wood-shop accident that caused Ben to lose a finger at age two. Not until Ben tells her, "If I had to choose, I'd take the trip over the room," does she consent to the visit. As Ben spends time in Oregon with his mother, Uncle Ian, Ian's expectant wife, Nina, and the Deeter children who live nearby, he discovers some important truths about his family and himself, and eventually finds a special purpose for his "birthday room." Four Truths and a Lie by Lauren Barnholdt Scarlett has left her old school and her old friends for a new start at Brookline Academy for Girls. A scandal involving her father tainted her old life and she wants to be where no one knows anything about it. Brookline is a rigorously academic boarding school, and Scarlett has a new roommate to adjust to, as well as a heavy load of homework. She somehow gets roped into joining the basketball team, which ought to be interesting as she doesn't really play sports, and a pen pal project her English teacher initiates makes Scarlett's life very interesting indeed. Funerals and Fly Fishing by Mary Bartek Twelve-year-old Brad Stanislawski can't wait for school to be out, if for no other reason than to get away from the kids who tease him about being tall and call him "Stan-islousy" all day. He's feeling rather unappreciated! But to add to his troubles, his mom has to go on a business trip and the babysitting arrangement she made for him has fallen through. Now the only option left is for him to spend two weeks with his estranged grandfather, whom he has never met, in a small town in Pennsylvania. And this guy not only runs a funeral home, he lives right above it! Brad will learn that first impressions don't always mean everything, as he spends his vacation figuring out who he is, learning the truth behind his mother’s silence towards her own father while helping the adults in his life see the truth. Grades 9 -12: A Little Honesty by Jonathan Pearce Sixteen-year-old Zachary Taylor Burnross acts far more immature than an upperclassman should be. But Zachary is surrounded and pressured by very adult problems, such as his mother's possible adultery and his elderly father's gradual mental degeneration. Surrounded by people who talk to him of sex, marriage, and threats to blow up his school, his own desire for a motorcycle and a date with a TV star could be lost amidst the tumult of conflicting troubles. A Little Honesty is a highly recommended and entertaining novel which does not talk down to adolescent readers. 12 P AGE Robin’s Reading List In Too Deep by Amanda Grace Carter didn’t rape me. People at school think he did. Suddenly, new friends are rushing to my side, telling me that Carter hurt them, too. They say he’s getting what he deserves. Sam is in love with her best friend Nick, but she can’t seem to tell him. So she decides to flirt with goldenboy Carter Wellesley, hoping Nick will see it and finally realize his true feelings for her. On Monday, everyone at school is saying that Carter raped Sam. He didn’t, but Sam can’t find the words to tell the truth. Worst of all, she’s afraid she’ll lose Nick if he finds out what really happened. As graduation approaches, Sam discovers that living the lie isn’t as easy as her new friends make it sound—and telling the truth might be even worse. Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs a lot of money. She's been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon's dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler's lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn't made even half the money she'd hoped. When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks” NoWay”. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn't react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-yearold leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore. Soon Shannon's caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money's this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold? Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School: 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Older Teens by Jack Canfield Stories in this book cover topics important to the 14 to 18 -year-old range, including regrets and lessons learned, dating and sex, family relationships, applying to college, and preparing for life after high school. This book has so many inspirational stories in it! They are about growing up as teens and different challenges they may face. They also have short quotes at the top of each story for you to analyze and they really get you thinking. Divergent by Veronica Roth Fans of The Hunger Games will enjoy this new dystopian novel. Beatrice Prior’s society is divided into five factions based on virtues: Erudite (knowledge), Dauntless (bravery), Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peace), and Candor (honesty). Now that Beatrice is turning sixteen she must declare a faction. Will she choose Abnegation, where she’s been raised to be selfless and defer to others, or will she choose another faction? Torn between staying with her family and being true to her yearning to be more daring, Beatrice must make a choice and she must keep a secret she does not understand. What is her secret? She is Divergent. Once Beatrice chooses her faction there is no going back, so with a new sense of bravery she changes her name to Tris and begins a painful initiation that will test her physically, mentally, and emotionally. Along the way she meets a boy who has secrets of his own, and together they discover a plot that will destroy the delicate balance between factions and turn their society into chaos. 13 www.charactercincinnati.org Written by Jill Tomey © 2012 Character Council of Greater Cincinnati & The Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky P.O. Box 33144 Northern Kentucky The 49 Character Qualities are adapted from Character First! materials and are used with permission. Cincinnati, Ohio 45233 Mary Andres Russell, Executive Director Phone: 513.467.0170 Use of external website links in our articles does not imply endorsement of the site, its content or the views and opinions of the external Web site's sponsoring organization. Please use your own discretion when using material from these links. Fax 513.941.2755 E-mail: [email protected] Character...It Starts With Me! Character in the Classroom Continuously There are many ways that you can teach the Character Quality of Month. Here are just a few suggestions: Ask students to make posters to hang in the classroom or around the school. Challenge students to find quotes, news stories, current (or classic) songs or movies that portray the character quality of the month. Be sure to share these with the class and “archive” these to use in future years. Add the character trait of the month to the spelling word list. (Even if it is posted in the classroom to copy!) Offer for students to make a video or write a rap that demonstrates the Character Quality of the Month. If you teach younger students, see if you can “borrow” some older students to lead your students in an activity or switch the roles and have the younger students “teach” a rhyme to the older students. If you teach older students, you can be the initiator in the previous activities. Invite local business leaders or small business owners to talk about the importance of a character trait. If you teach older students, aim to get a representative from a business that typically hires teens so that they can relate the importance of good character when applying for and keeping a job. Men and women in uniform usually make impressive guest speakers. Police departments, fire departments and military recruiting offices are usually willing to come into a classroom. Do not be afraid to give them specific requests or guidelines for speaking so that it is pertinent to the lessons of the month. Always have a generic character activity planned and ready to go that you can use as filler when you have time to kill or that a substitute teacher can use in your absence.