Character Building In Middle School

I believe that character building is imperative for students. Teaching students about positive traits and productive ways to deal with their problems promotes a safe, encouraging, constructive classroom, self-esteem, and better grades. I plan to teach Language Arts to middle-school aged students; anywhere from 6th to 9th grade. The middle-school years are an optimal time to urge good character as it is when kids are defining themselves. For the purpose of this paper, I will write as though I were teaching the 8th grade. In English, particularly, there are many ways to teach character that enhance normal lessons rather than distracting from them. Incorporating character driven questions into bell-work and papers, as well as analyzing the literature that we read in terms of the positive and negative traits of the characters and the themes of the text, are ways that I plan to teach about character. Including character building themes to normal bell-work questions is a simple way to amalgamate character. I plan to use bell-work as a teaching tool because it immediately lets students know that it is time to begin class and start learning. Therefore, including character questions would require little additional effort.
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Why is it your favorite? This activity helps them identify with something positive. Once again, they could share with the class. Sharing with the class helps promote self-esteem by combating shyness in a safe environment. With me helping to keep the students optimistic, sharing should seem less intimidating. Another sample of a character-building question is Describe a time that somebody was nice to you. A question like this not only helps them appreciate good character traits in others, but also gets them focused on positivity, which is vital in middle school. Questions like this not only advocate superior character, but they are easy to integrate and are a effective way to practice