Making
lesson 7:
character strengths
Lesson Summary
This lesson introduces students to the 24 character strengths and helps them understand that they each have these inner qualities which they can grow with practice. Students begin by watching a short video and discussing how character strengths influence how we think, feel, and act. Through the Strength Charades activity, students understand that our character strengths are demonstrated daily through our actions.
Purpose
Purpose: In this lesson students learn that their character strengths are the best parts of who they are and understand that these qualities make them unique.
Process
Time Needed: 30-35 minutes.
Activity: Character Strengths Video (5 mins)
Intro (2 mins)
Activity: 24 Character Strengths (10-15 mins)
Activity: Character Strengths Charades (10 mins)
Debrief and Reflection (5 mins)
Materials & downloads
For this lesson, you will need the following:
Plain Paper
Coloured pens or pencils
Optional: Student workbook / notebook
Activity: Character Strengths Video (5 mins)
Watch the video above about character strengths.
Debrief:
Each of us is uniquely and wonderfully made. We have different features, characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. A characteristic is a special quality or feature that makes people different from each other. For example, some of us have blue eyes, whilst others have green or brown eyes. Today we are going to look beyond our physical characteristics, and we are going to look at our character, which means who we are on the inside.
intro (2 mins)
Today we are really going to focus on our Strengths of Character. We can have strengths in reading, writing, maths, sports, music etc. Our strengths can be big or small, visible or invisible. But today, we are looking more specifically at our character strengths, these strengths that are on the inside, our invisible strengths, those that we can’t directly see with our eyes. These Strengths of Character often decide how we see the world, what makes us happy or what gets us energized, and can decide where and what we focus on. Our character strengths are the best parts of us
There are 24 character strengths in total. We all have these strengths, however, some people have a bit more of a certain strength than others. Just like a muscle, we can grow and change these strengths with focused time and effort.
Activity: understanding each character strength (10-15 mins)
There are 24 character strengths in total. We all have these strengths, however, some people have a bit more of a certain strength than others. We can grow and change these strengths with focused time and effort.
Above is an image showing each of the 24 character strengths. Let’s take some time to glance over them. Some of them we may recognise straight away, others we may need to spend some time on to gain understanding.
For example; kindness is something we can all recognise whereas prudence means someone who is careful or cautious in situations.
Go through each of the character strengths, asking the students if they can explain what each character strength means.
activity: character strength charades (10 mins)
The teacher selects one or two volunteers per action (at teacher discretion) and asks them to silently act out a character strength in action (e.g., helping someone pick up books, listening attentively, playing fairly, cheering up a friend). The class then guesses the strength being demonstrated.
After the demonstration, students need to find a partner. For an additional challenge, students can be partnered with someone they do not usually work with. Once in their pairs, decide which student will act out first and which will guess. Give students 3 minutes to act out as many as they can before swapping over.
Find below a few examples: (more can be found in the download link.)
Creativity — drawing, painting, or building something with imagination.
Bravery — standing tall, stepping forward to volunteer.
Perseverance — trying again after something doesn’t work, like missing a shot, then taking another.
Humour — making a funny face, pretending to tell a joke.
Gratitude — saying thank you, showing appreciation for a gift.
Curiosity — pretending to look through a magnifying glass or asking lots of questions.
Zest/Energy — jumping up and down excitedly, showing enthusiasm.
Debrief:
This activity reinforces the idea that our strengths aren’t always just about our words, they’re also shown in our actions. The more we practice demonstrating different character strengths, the stronger the strength becomes, just like in the activity!
Lesson Debrief:
It is important and helpful to know our strengths and continue to grow our strengths, even the strengths that are not quite as strong as others we have yet! After completing all of the activities, ask students to answer the following questions:
What are my strongest character strengths?
Which strengths would I like to grow?
Students can then share their answers with a partner or the class.
