Teaching kids how to be Brave!

Kids often become scared or afraid of things they are not familiar with or not used to doing. Having to speak in front of people, having to read in front of people, riding a bike for the first time, standing up to a bully, not giving into peer pressure are all examples of what might frighten some students. If we teach our students about courage and how to apply it to their real world, then some of those things that scare them will begin to scare them a little less.

So, what does it mean to be brave or to show courage?

When you are brave you show courage by doing things that would normally make you nervous, afraid or even scared. This video does a great job with explaining what courage is!

When I’m teaching this character trait to my students, I like to start with a discussion around things that frighten or scare them. I will have students think about the things that frighten them and have them share them with other students. This part of the lesson is so important because it gives each student a voice and allow them an opportunity to hear some of the things that scare their classmates. This is helpful because it helps them understand how common their feelings are. Next, I will move into a read aloud story.

I have two different stories about courage. The first story (Howard Wiggle Bottom) is great for the lower grades, kindergarten through second. The second story ( I Am Courage: A Book of Resilience) is great for the upper grades (third through fifth.)

My younger students love the Howard Wiggle Bottom books; they find them relatable and funny! With this particular story, Howard learns all about courage. Towards the end of the read aloud story, students will be able to listen to a song about courage. After the song they will look at different pictures about fear and courage.

This video is great to use with the upper grades. It talks about courage and resilience! It is about a girl who talks herself up to doing things that frighten her.

After showing the video, I will put students in pairs and have them work together to discuss what they learned or noticed from the story. Then I will have students come back together as a whole group and revisit the things discussed earlier in the lesson that scares or frightens them and move into talking about what they can do to show courage. I also like to give students a chance to practice showing courage, if possible. They can do this through role-play. Role-play is great because it gives students a chance to apply the information learned using real world scenarios. You can even use some of the situations discussed earlier in the lesson as scenarios during role-play.

To end the lesson or as an extension to the lesson, I will give my students an exit ticket to see what they know and learned. This will be done in the form of independent practice so that I know who needs additional support. If you need some resources that will promote student learning and help you teach the character trait courage, then I have just what you need!

I’ve create a fun product that includes 16 different activities geared towards teaching students all about courage. These activities will have students write, draw, read, think, cut-n-paste and much, much more! Students will be given the opportunity to create meaningful work that will help them think and reflect on ways to be a courageous person. See below..

Click here to access the product: Courage Activities

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