January 2005 Activities

Lesson Plan

- January 2005 Activities -

An event which happens only every 4 years is very memorable in the life of a child. If a child is 8 years old now a different impression will occur when the child is 12. The inauguration of our President of the United States is a focal point of democracy and easily leads to discussions about our country with kids of any age.

#1 President Bush is being inaugurated on January 20th. As President-elect our Constitution of the United States stipulates in Article 2, section 1 that he must take a special oath before becoming President.

This is the Oath of Office. It states,

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will try to the best of my ability, to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

This is a unique time for children to study this Oath and exactly what it means. A thesaurus is a tool that will aid in understanding the oath’s language

Ask a child to replace some of the words with more familiar synonyms.

solemnly
seriously, earnestly

swear
vow, pledge, promise

faithfully
loyally, devotedly, dependably

execute
perform, carry out

ability
skill, capability

preserve
safeguard, care for

protect
guard, shelter

defend
shield, secure

(Click photos to enlarge image.)

When the suggested words have been replaced with synonyms, rewrite the oath using the chosen words.

I do seriously promise that I will devotedly carry out the Office of President of the United States, and will try to the best of my capability, to safeguard, shelter, and shield the Constitution of the United States.

#2 Martin Luther King Jr. day is celebrated this year on January 17th. He was the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner at the age of 35 in 1964. In one of his speeches Dr. King stated that he dreamed of the day when his four children would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Good character traits need to be reinforced in children. This idea helps to identify the character traits that you feel are important to a child.

(Click photos to enlarge image.)

Here is a list of some character traits.

Character Traits
absent-minded ambitious awkward boastful bossy brave calm careless care-free cautious changeable charming clever confused contented cooperative courageous cowardly cruel	hard-working curious daring demanding dependable determined dreamy dull fearful fierce forgetful forgiving friendly fussy generous gentle gloomy greedy	helpful honest intelligent jolly kind lazy loud loyal mischievous nagging neat obedient organized outspoken patient playful pleasant polite	quarrelsome quick-tempered quiet reasonable reckless relaxed restless rude self-centered selfish sensitive sentimental serious sharp-witted shiftless shrewd shy sneaky	soft-hearted spunky stern stingy stubborn superstitious suspicious talkative timid tough trusting understanding unfriendly unkind wise withdrawn witty zany

Choose the traits that are important for your family or situation.
Once the traits are listed think of ways to remind children to develop these traits.
One method – select 4 traits for the year and every month, one week is devoted to each trait. For example the 4 traits selected are:
1. politeness
2. loyalty
3. cooperative
4. wise
The first week of January emphasizes “politeness”, the second week, “loyalty”, “cooperative” during the third week and “wise” for the fourth week.
Another method is to select 12 traits and each month is devoted to a specific trait.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Honesty
Responsibility
Perseverance
Self-Discipline
Patriotism
Citizenship
Fun Loving
Courage
Fairness
Respect
Integrity
Caring

Have visual reminders such as bracelets or posted signs to keep the trait in your thoughts. One idea is to make a door knob sign with the picture of a child saying the selected trait – “I am honest” that hangs on their bedroom door. Share how a behavior shows the targeted trait.
Read books that illustrate the selected character trait. This book gives examples of stories to read – Books that Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories, by William Kilpatrick.
Here are a few books that deal with character traits for younger children .

Caring
Battle-Lavert Brumbeau Freeman Gay Helldorfer Kasza Kroll Lionni McKee Lobel	The Shaking Bag The Quiltmaker’s Gift Corduroy Stella Star of the Sea Hog Music Grandpa Toad’s Secrets Pink Paper Swans Swimmy Elmer Frog and Toad series

Cooperation
Blackstone Brett Chall Galdone Lord	Making Minestrone Berlioz the Bear Sugarbush Spring The Little Red Hen The Giant Jam Sandwich

Helpfulness
Adam Auch Udry Waddell	Hilda and the Mad Scientist Eggs Mark the Spot Is Susan Here? You and Me, Little Bear

Honesty
Alexander Breathed Brown Bunting Jennings Lerner McKissack Soto Weigelt Hoban	We’re in Big Trouble, Blackboard Bear Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big Arthur and the True Francine A Day’s Work Priscilla and Rosy What’s So Terrible about Swallowing an Apple Seed? The Honest-to-Goodness Truth Too Many Tamales Alex Did It! A Bargain for Frances

Responsibility
Brown Burton Burton Piper	Arthur’s Computer Disaster Katy and the Big Snow Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel The Little Engine that Could

Self-discipline
Alexander Carle Henkes Neugebauer	What’s Wrong Now, Millicent? The Grouchy Ladybug Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse The Real Winner

Sharing
Boelts Lionni Luthardt Macdonald Munsch Rix Rosen Russo	Little Bunny’s Cool Tool Set It’s Mine! Mine! Rosie and the Poor Rabbits We Share Everything! The Last Chocolate Cookie This Is Our House The Big Brown Box

Let me know by e-mail what your favorite activity was this month. I am compiling information for a resource book and want your input. Thanks.

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