11.1 School Strengths
Domain: Positive Purpose
Module: Character Development
Create an artwork about one of the more prevalent character strengths in Activity 2.
DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME
Understands ways in which character strengths can be used at school and home
LEARNING INTENTIONS
Recognise and name a number of character strengths
Create ways in which these strengths can be used at school
ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Contributions to class discussions
‘Strength Spotting’ suggestions
‘Values Continuum’ responses
RESOURCES
Audiovisual equipment (optional)
Large Strengths Wheel
Character strength stickers
Paper and pencils
MINDFUL MOMENT
BRAIN BREAK
REMOTE OPPORTUNITIES
If you would like to teach these activities remotely, please find below the links to this content on SeeSaw. See their Getting Started Guide for further information about this free online platform.
STRATEGIES AND QUESTIONS
Optional: Play ‘Don’t Give Up’ by Bruno Mars as students enter the room, or use it as a lesson transition.
INTRODUCTION – WHERE THE LESSON IS GOING AND WHAT IS EXPECTED
Big questions: What are we learning about? Why?
Introduce the learning intentions and contextualise the lesson for your class.
ACTIVITY 1 – BIG WHEEL
Spin the class Strengths Wheel and ask students to identify examples of when they have actioned this strength, or to create a scenario demonstrating when this strength could be helpful.
TIP: Start this activity by modeling examples of your own. If students are hesitant to offer suggestions, you could ask them to do a ‘Think, Pair, Share’ using any of the questions below, rather than asking for individual responses.
Questions could include: When have you seen this strength in action? Who do you think represents this strength? Why? How could this strength help you? When have you used this strength?
Success criteria: Listen to others, take turns talking, give relevant examples
ACTIVITY 2 – CHARACTER STRENGTH SPOTTING
Each student places an A4 piece of paper on their desk that displays their name in large lettering. Students walk around the classroom and place stickers listing character strengths on other people’s posters.
TIP: Ensure that students understand how many stickers they have so that they only use stickers that are particularly descriptive of each person. You might like to ask students to form pairs who then share 1 sheet of stickers and therefore need to collaborate when deciding what strengths to recognise in their classmates.
Questions could include: Why do we all have different character strengths? How can you tell whether someone has a particular character strength or not? What strength do you particularly appreciate in others? Is it possible for someone to not have any strengths? Why/why not?
Success criteria: Listen to others; take turns talking; think carefully about, and identify, others’ strengths
ACTIVITY 3 – STRENGTH PLAN
Students choose one of the strengths and draw a picture about them actioning this strength at school in the future. They might choose to annotate the picture with a simple sentence explaining the content of the picture.
Give students feedback about their plans, and encourage them to determine practical times and ways in which these can be actioned that day or the next.
Questions could include: Why did you choose that character strength? How could you action that character strength in different ways at school? What could it feel like to actually carry this out as a plan?
Success criteria: Choose one of your strengths, make a clear plan to use it at school
REFLECTION – RETHINKING AND REVISING
Big Ideas: What have I learnt about character strengths and using these at school?
Students engage in a ‘Values Continuum’ reflection in regard to the following statements:
→ Everyone has character strengths
→ We can use character strengths in different ways
→ Character strengths can be used in different places
→ I can use my character strengths at school
Success criteria: Listen carefully to the statements, show your understanding
