• expand upon Series 1, 2, and 3
• keep the content fresh by addressing current and calendar events
• deliver directly to the classroom messages for national tragedies or emergencies
  
• address pressing issues facing our youth
  
• bring more character education directly into the classroom
  

Ways to Implement

The Project Wisdom Educator Resource Site Messages and Lesson Plans can be used school-wide or in individual classrooms as a supplement to the 600+ broadcast messages found in the Project Wisdom Library (Series 1, 2, and 3). Consider setting aside one day per week to both broadcast the message and implement the corresponding lesson plan. These tools work really well for weekly advisory, character education, life skills or enrichment classes.

Classroom teachers are also incorporating these materials into a variety of content areas. Each secondary level lesson plan includes follow-up activities for art, language arts, social studies, math, science, and computer science.

This new content has several components: 1) special messages, 2) discussion generators, 3) grade level or content specific follow-up activities, and 4) worksheets for secondary-level students. You can choose to take 10, 20, 30 or more minutes with this content, depending on your schedule or needs.

If you are planning to use the weekly or monthly themes, it's important to know that because the ERS content addresses many calendar events, these topics may or may not fit within the theme you choose for any particular week. Consider setting aside one day per week to broadcast these special messages schoolwide and then implement the corresponding lesson plan. These tools work really well for weekly advisory, character education, life skills, or enrichment classes.

What's Included

Special Messages

When appropriate, these messages can provide an excellent opportunity for a student to apply his or her spoken language skills by speaking in front of an audience (the classroom or the entire school via the PA or in-house television network.)

However, if you choose to read these messages to your class, it can help establish your role as character educator in the classroom. Some schools are reading these ERS messages over the PA system once a week, with time set aside school-wide for the worksheets, discussion generators and follow-up activities during advisory or during a time dedicated to character education or life skills training.

Discussion Generators

The Discussion Generators are designed to help students think through the meaning of the message, as well as consider the everyday applicability. These discussions can help students learn to communicate more effectively and appropriately, while using their critical thinking skills.

For those of you with limited time to devote to this content, you can take as little as 10 minutes to read the message and spend another few minutes discussing the content of the message.

Worksheet (Secondary Level Only)

Reflection is a key component of any effective character education. These worksheets are intended to allow for reflection, critical thinking, and an opportunity to demonstrate the ability to comprehend, interpret, and evaluate information and to apply their written language skills.

Follow-up Activities

Another key component of any effective character education is integration into the daily curriculum and classroom experience. Each lesson plan includes follow-up activities which are intended to take the character lesson and apply it more specifically to either grade levels (Elementary) or content areas (Secondary). If your school is organized into clusters, groups or teams of teachers, you might consider ways to work together for the most effective use of these activities.

Project Wisdom's third-party research indicates that using the Weekly Journals improve results. These are great tools for discipline, classroom management, or simple encouragement. These easy-to-access journal pages allow students to reflect on their choices, attitudes, and behaviors.