Character Strengths
Learning Intention
Background Info
Student Activities
Learning intentions
- To understand that there are a range of character strengths and that everyone has character strengths.
- To identify what personal character strengths each student identifies with and consider how to apply these.
- To identify and appreciate the personal character strengths in others.
Teacher
Key take away messages:
- Using our character strengths can enhance our wellbeing.
- Appreciating the character strengths in others can improve our relationships.
Research and shared knowledge.
What are character strengths?
Sorting characters strengths
Download Printable Character Strength Dots
Emily Spence, Grade 6 teacher, begins working with the language of character strengths by asking students to sort character strengths into groups that make sense for them.
Emily’s students explore the graphemes (the letters making up the words), phonemes (the sound parts of the word), and the meaning of character strength vocabulary.
Character strengths for adults.
If you are interested you are welcome to complete the VIA character strengths for adults: https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register choose adult survey.
Character strengths for children.
The evidence relating to using character strengths in children and youth:
Student
Everyone has character strengths and virtues – what are yours?
Here are the 24 VIA Classification of Character Strengths. Poster to view and print:
©Copyright 2004-2017, VIA Institute on Character. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission. www.viacharacter.org ©Copyright 2017, Children, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
What are yours?
Choose 5 that you think apply especially to you.
Circle your top 5 character strengths.
Download Printable Character Strength Dots
Emily Spence, Grade 6 teacher, begins working with the language of character strengths by asking students to sort character strengths into groups that make sense for them.
Emily’s students explore the graphemes (the letters making up the words), phonemes (the sound parts of the word), and the meaning of character strength vocabulary.
Regularly using our character strengths or building new character strengths, can enhance our wellbeing.
Recognising strengths in others can improve our friendships.
Here is a strengths spotting activity from the grade 6 class of Emily Spence.
Download Printable Character Spots
World paralympic sprint champion, Isis Holt and character strengths.
Character strengths spider charts
Choose one of your character strengths.
How can you use this character strength day to day?
What goal might it help you achieve?
For example, do you like athletics like Isis? Or soccer, or netball, or football, or dancing, or investigating insects, or making inventions, or reading, or drawing, or singing, or bike riding or cooking? There are so many experiences to be had in this life, what do you love to do? And what are the character strengths that help you?
Make a spider chart to place one of your character strengths in the centre.
Think of how you can show this strength, using it to help achieve your goals.
Try to use your character strength this week.
Behind the news video
