Activities to increase
in your classrooms…
¶ Possible Read
Alouds:
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, Free: Stories About Human Rights,
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin
Henkes, The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, Thank You Mr. Falker by
Patricia Polacco, Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse, Joey Pigza Swallowed the
Key by Kate DiCamillo, Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, Because of Winn Dixie by
Kate DiCamillo, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Playing with the Boys by Nicole Leigh
Shepherd, I Love You Dude by Vladimir Radunksy, Estrela The Star by Nicolaas
Lems, Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull, The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill,
The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Kids
With Courage by Barbara A. Lewis.
¶ Read Maya Angelou’s
poem “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” to your students. Have them change the words to
fit their own life, write a new poem on the subject, or illustrate the poem
with drawings or from pictures in a magazine.
¶ Do a biographical
study on Helen Keller. Afterwards, have
students research and give presentations on what it means to be blind/deaf, how
this would affect your life, and how people with disabilities are the same or
different. Also visit PBS Kids website,
“You’ve Got Braille” at http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/3872/preview/
to expose your students to forming letters in Braille.
¶ Check out the film
“The Mighty Macs,” the true inspiring story about an obscure women’s basketball
team having the courage to persevere through an unlikely championship season
(found on Netflix instant watch).
¶ Have students create
Power Point presentations around people in history who have persevered through
difficult situations. Check out this video for inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcXQoUZrJpU&sns=em
¶ Link “No Name
Calling Week” into being a community of Courageous Upstanders: http://www.schoolclimate.org/bullybust/parents/upstander-behavior
¶ Create a helpful
“Courageous Bystanders Chart” as a classroom community having students share 1)
Most helpful Bystander Strategies (These made things better more often than
they made things worse), 2) Neutral Strategies (These worked sometimes but
sometimes made things worse), and 3) Least Helpful Bystander Strategies (These
made things worse more often than they made things better).
¶ Have a “Perseverance
Board Game Challenge” where students are encouraged to play strategy games like
chess, checkers, monopoly, etc.
¶ Courage &
Perseverance Recipes: Have students write out: “What ingredients do you need
for Courage? Perseverance?”
¶ Link up with an
older/younger grade and have a Book Buddies discussion around “The Tortoise and
the Hare” where students can act out the story and create books together.
¶ Goal Setting: Have
students create goals for the month and monitor their perseverance as they work
towards achieving their goals.
Math Connection:
¶ Create a chart, bar
graph, barometer, or scale on “How to Reach Perseverance.”
¶ Host a Math-A-Thon
with your class where students are encouraged to not only build their stamina
but persevere through possible difficult and challenging math problems.
Arts Connection:
¶ Have students create
“Courage Badges” to remind themselves to be brave when they face an
intimidating situation.
¶ Design a mobile! Use
paper, string, & a clothes hanger to have students write four different
areas or situations where courage and perseverance could be shown (ex. to
peers, challenging situations, upcoming state tests, through a disability,
etc.)
¶
Paper
Crafts: Creating intricate crafts through origami, or paper weaving help to
encourage perseverance!
¶
Create
“Courage & Perseverance” masks. What does it look like?
¶
Draw
the feeling of Courage or Perseverance. Create a character and expand into a
cartoon or mini flip book.
¶
Have
students create a rap, chant, or song on courage and perseverance. Record and turn it into a class video or pod
cast! (remember to get photo/video releases signed)
