Tag Archives: character

Grand Forks high school students teach respect & caring at elementary schools

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Red River High School drama students (L-R) Jacoba Woodard, Nic Rolph, Morgan Yound, Seth Cline and Erin Lesch present their annual Character Education performance for children at Century Elementary School Wednesday. Photo by Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald

Be sure to check out this story by Jennifer Johnson, Herald staff writer, in the Thursday, March 21 Grand Forks Herald.

With skits, Grand Forks high schoolers teach respect, caring at elementary schools

Here is an activity page on Respect to use with younger students.  Download by clicking on the following link:  RESPECT

March is Women’s History Month

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Information and activities are from KRP’s The Ultimate Holiday Activity Guide.”

March is National Women’s History Month

Schools and communities have been celebrating March as Women’s History Month since 1987. As you plan your classroom celebration, consider creating a bulletin board display of women in history or publishing a Women’s History Month newsletter. You could also stage a play about a milestone in women’s history or sponsor a school debate to discuss women’s issues.In addition, you can use the newspaper to demonstrate the effect that women have on society today, as well as illustrate the contributions women have made in the past.

Consider the following activities:

1. Encourage students to keep a scrapbook of newspaper stories about women who achieve success or make a difference in people’s lives.

2. Tell students about Deborah Samson, a young woman who in 1782 disguised herself as a man to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Revolutionary War. Samson could have faced execution for lying to the army, but she served fearlessly. Now, have students find a story about a woman who exhibited bravery and courage in the line of duty, a military officer, policewoman, firefighter, etc. Allow them to share their stories and discuss whether a woman would have been allowed to do such a job 20, 50, or 100 years ago.

3. Talk about women in government and the many ways they serve as governors, senators, cabinet secretaries, and in other positions once held only by men. Compare the number of female political figures featured in the newspaper to the number of male political figures. Ask them to discuss their conclusions.

WOMEN’S HISTORY GUIDE  This guide from the NIE Institute provides biographies of 45 historic women celebrating their accomplishments. A newspaper lesson activity is provided with each bio related to the woman’s area of achievement.

To download click on the following link: legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/WomensHistoryGuide[1].pdf

What is the Medal of Honor?

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A North Dakota man will receive the Medal of Honor on Feb. 11 at the Whitehouse.  Read the complete story in the January 17 Grand Forks Herald.

An undated photo of Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, while on duty in Afghanistan (Photo credit: Romesha family).

What is the Medal of Honor?

Here is a special page that focuses on the Medal of Honor Character Development Program created by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The program was produced in conjunction with a group of educators, and the educational curriculum is  focused on perpetuating the legacy of the Medal of Honor and its Recipients while providing character education to our nation’s students.

Click on the following link to download the page: http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/medal_of_honor.pdf

Note: if you are going to print this pdf, make sure to adjust your print setting to fit on page. The pdf is bigger than 8.5 x 11 (normal print size.)

 

Choose Kindness

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Check out this story, “Program at East Grand Forks middle school urges students to choose kindness” in the Wednesday, 9/19/12 Grand Forks Herald by reporter Pamela Knudson.

You can also find coverage of it on WDAZ TV http://www.wdaz.com/event/article/id/15113/group/Reporter%20Stories/

Program at East Grand Forks middle school urges students to choose kindness

Students were urged to improve their school’s culture by starting a “chain reaction” with acts of kindness and compassion, as part of an anti-bullying presentation Tuesday at Central Middle School in East Grand Forks.  The audiovisual presentation, “Rachel’s Challenge,” is the story of 17-year-old Rachel Joy Scott, the first person killed April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., during the worst school shooting in U.S. history.

Every student has the power to change the culture of their school, Snipes said, by choosing to accept and live by five challenges:

  1. Look for the best in others
  2. Treat others the way you want to be treated
  3. Choose positive influences
  4. Speak words of kindness, not cruelty
  5. Let go of anger, bitterness, hatred

“Rachel’s Challenge” will be presented in Grand Forks next month on the following days:

  • Wednesday, Oct. 10, 6:30 pm, Red River High School Theatre
  • Thursday, Oct. 11, 6:30 pm, Chester Fritz Auditorium/UND campus

Adults may attend either session.  Call the Parent Information Center for more information (701)787-4216.

Here are some Kindness activities you can use with the newspaper in your classroom. The information is from the NIE tab, Count on Character distributed by the NIE Institute.

Click on the following link to download:  http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/KINDNESS.pdf

Check out this school year’s NIE supplement schedule!

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Welcome back to a new school year!  I am pleased to present our 2012-2013 NIE Supplement Schedule.  Newspapers in Education supplements or tabs are featured once, sometimes twice a month, during the school year in CLASSROOM COPIES ONLY of the Grand Forks Herald. Tabs deal with a variety of topics and age levels. They also include activities to be used with the newspaper. Topics this year include:  The constitution, the presidential election, anti-bullying, staying drug free, character education, veterans, careers and more!

To download the schedule, including instructions on how to order, click on the following link:  http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/20122013NIE.pdf

 

 

Demonstrating Courage

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Olympic athletes are very brave, don’t you think? They train incredibly hard for many years to be good enough to participate in the Olympics. They compete against the greatest athletes in the entire world!

Think for a moment about an Olympic diver. She slowly climbs up all those steps to the high dive and positions herself. Down below there are thousands of people watching and waiting anxiously, including her friends and family. Millions of other people are glued to their televisions around the world. She must dive perfectly to get a gold medal. Her teammates and her country are depending on her. It takes a lot of courage to do that, right? But do you think she’s scared? Absolutely! But because she’s so courageous, she’ll try to overcome her fears and do the best that she can do.

That’s what courage is all about. Trying to do the best that you can do, even when you’re afraid. But you know something else about courage? Courage means being smart and making the right choices. The Olympic diver is especially trained to do her job.  She has practiced for many years. If you had never gone swimming, you wouldn’t jump off a fifty foot diving board, would you? That’s not bravery, that’s called not being smart! Courage is trying hard and doing the right thing. If you try to do the best you can all the time, and make the right choices every day, you’ll be a hero, too!

This 8-page character ed guide has many activities to make learning about courage fun. It was produced by Project Solution & the Washington Times and distributed by the NIE Institute.

Download by clicking here

 

Character Education Series “Caring”

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Take a moment to think about all the people who care about you. There’s probably a very long list of concerned individuals. Your parents, your brothers and sisters, your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, teachers, doctors, neighbors. — Whew!  That’s an awful lot of caring.  You’re in very good hands!

Now it’s time to give back to the world some of that caring.  Having compassion, understanding and respect for others is a good place to start. Acting responsibly and doing the right thing is next in line.  This 8-page character ed guide has many activities to make learning about caring fun. It was produced by Project Solution & the Washington Times and distributed by the NIE Institute. 

Download by clicking on the following link:  http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/Caring%203-7.pdf

 

The Avengers and Character Ed Newspaper Activities

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“The Avengers” movie hits screens on May 4th. With all of the excitement and talk about the movie and superheroes, here are some character education activities you can use with the newspaper. They are taken from the KRP tab, Making a Difference distributed by the NIE Institute

What does “heroic” mean to you? Do you think of daring acts of bravery? Strong leadership? Triumph over great odds? Outstanding achievements in sports or entertainment?  Heroism takes many forms, including these. There are as many ways to be heroic as there are individual lives. Ordinary people in ordinary circumstances perform countless acts of courage and sacrifice in everyday life. You probably know several people that have been heroes in your community or even in your own life.

ACTIVITIES (From the KRP tab, Making a Difference distributed by the NIE Institute.)

1.  Write down the 10 qualities you most admire in your personal heroes; then, with your class, decide on a list of the top 10 qualities. How different is the class list from your personal list? As you read the newspaper each day, look for people who have these qualities. Cut out pictures and articles to make a poster with the theme “Heroes.”

2. Design your own superhero! Think about the qualities you find most admirable in your own heroes and create a comic strip character based on those qualities.

3. Watch for articles about heroes in your own community. Cut out all the ones you find and create a classroom bulletin board on “Local Heroes.”

4. Choose a movie you have seen with a heroic character, then write a review. (For examples of movie reviews, refer to your newspaper’s entertainment section.)

5. Which of your personal heroes would you like to make a movie about? Write a brief plot summary and give your movie a name. For extra credit, try filming your story as a short skit or musical video.

6. Imagine that you are in charge of placing an ad for “heroes wanted.” What qualifications will you be looking for? Using your newspaper’s classifieds as a model, write an ad that includes all the character requirements you think are important.

Download and print the activities by clicking on the following link:  http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/GFH%20HEROES%20NEWSPAPER%20ACTIVITIES.pdf

Here’s a look at the movie “The Avengers” from McClatchy Tribune. To download this page, click here.  Note: if you are going to print this pdf, adjust your print setting to “fit on page”. The page is bigger than 8.5 x 11 (normal print size.)

Celebrating Our Cultures 2012

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You are invited to Celebrating Our Cultures Tuesday, April 24 at Red River High School in Grand Forks. The event will feature presentations, cultural songs and dances from New American & International students and food sampling from various countries. The event is free and open to the public. The meal is from 5-6pm and presentations and entertainment from 6-7pm. Enter through Red River High School Door #1 by Cushman Field.  For more information call (701)746-2205 #115.  Check out the article by Herald staff writer Chuck Haga in Sunday’s Herald.