What if Everybody Did That?

This summer I stumbled across a book I hadn't seen before and the title immediately caught my eye.  It is called What if Everybody Did That?  As I flipped through the pages I couldn't help but laugh at many of the comical illustrations.  More importantly though, I also couldn't help noticing how this book so perfectly illustrates that actions and choices have consequences.  In a very simple and fun way this book shows children the effects of their actions and why certain behaviors aren't acceptable. The oh so simple question, " What if everybody did that?" along with the clever illustrations by Colleen M. Madden drive home the point so beautifully.

This book is perfect for the beginning of the year as you are establishing your classroom rules and procedures, or  later in the Spring, as it lends itself perfectly to Earth Day.  I love finding ways to use literature to support other subjects like social studies and science and this works perfectly for topics that revolve around helping others and the planet too! It's like Character Education and Science Mashup of sorts!

Have y'all watched many of the Kid President videos yet?  If not, you are missing out! Not only is he adorably funny,  his messages are fantastic!  Here is a great one to share with your students after reading What if Everybody Did That?   Part of what I love about this book is how it ends.  I won't completely spoil it for you, but just know that the end of the book and Kid President can encourage your students to think about the ways and the power they have to shape the future.  How awesome is that?





If you'd like to do some extension lessons based on the book I've  put together a few simple activity pages. They include:

• Cause & Effect Graphic Organizers
• Templates to make your own What if Everybody Did That? class books.
• Vocabulary Activities (choice, responsible, consequence, cause, effect, actions)
• Reflection Writing Activities

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Character Goals

Are you a goal setter?  I like to think I am, but it's debatable.  I think I tend to only set goals in certain areas of my life....probably the areas that I am more likely to meet with success.  Yet, I totally believe goal setting with kids is fantastic!  Hypocrite?  Yeah, sometimes.

I've been working on a lot things that provide students the opportunity to set goals, track and then reflect on their progress. Some of them are basic, like math fact goals and nightly reading goals.

My most recent  project involved designing an activity that has students setting goals for character development.  My thought was to have them choose 3 character traits to really focus on, think about and actually set goals to work toward for the school year.  My hope being, that in addition to learning about what having good character means and what it looks like, students will see character as something they can learn, improve at and work toward growth just as they would in math or reading,

The idea is that if we help students take the time to think about ways in which they can specifically show good character, both at school and out in the world, then hopefully they won't simply become rule followers (though I absolutely love rule followers and happen to be a rather hard core rule follower myself),  but rather people who choose to live out desirable character qualities.  The big picture goal is for them to decide they want to be good people, good citizens, and successful individuals.

I know as teachers and parents we care very deeply about the academic success of our children (and we should), but I do think caring about who they become as people is equally important and having students set goals for their character development just sounded like a good idea.  Agree? Thoughts?

I was inspired to use some adorable clip art from  Educlips to put together some posters, puzzles, awards and brag tags to go along with these goal setting pages.  Click the cover image below to go to my TpT Store and take a look.  Meanwhile, I think I need to do some of my own goal setting....