Your Character in Action In this lesson, you will Learn About… The elements of good character. How you can develop good character.

Your Character in Action The Vocabulary terms in this lesson are: Character. Advocacy. Role model. Click each term to display its definition.

What Is Character? Your character is the way in which you think, feel, and act. Good character is built from a combination of the following elements: Attitudes Behaviors Values Ask volunteers to give their own definitions of character.

What Is Character? (cont’d.) The six traits of a good character: Trustworthiness Respect Responsibility Fairness Caring Citizenship, advocacy Explain the traits of good character using the following points. Trustworthiness: A trustworthy person is reliable and honest, someone who a person can count on. For example, a trustworthy teen can be depended on to be honest with his or her parents and teachers. Respect: When a teen shows regard for his or her health and the health of others, he or she is demonstrating the trait of respect. Respectful listening and speaking are important communication skills. A respectful person also realizes that others have a right to see situations and ideas differently. Responsibility: Being accountable for one’s own actions is a large part of responsibility. Responsible people are willing to step forward and do the tasks they need to do. They take the credit if a task is handled wisely and accept the consequences if it is not. Fairness: Being fair means treating everyone equally and honestly. Someone who is fair is open-minded and does not favor one person over another. Caring: To care means to show understanding and compassion toward others. A caring person treats people with kindness and generosity, listening to them and trying to help when possible. Citizenship: This consists of all the responsibilities and privileges of being a citizen. Good citizenship means obeying rules and laws. It also means doing what you can to help your school, community, and country, and encouraging others to get involved as well. Citizenship is related to the skill of advocacy, which is taking action in support of a cause.

Developing Your Character Character must be learned when you are young and developed throughout your life. You learn about character from parents, teachers, religious leaders, and from life experiences with other people. Some of the people around you may become role models for you to imitate.

Know Yourself To develop good character, become aware of your words and actions. You can learn about your character by answering these questions: Are you an honest person? Are you kind? Do you stand up for what you believe in? Do you help people who are in trouble? Do you listen to and try to understand other people’s point of view?

Reviewing Terms and Facts _________ is taking action in support of a cause. Advocacy Click to show the correct answer.

Reviewing Terms and Facts What is character? What six traits contribute to a person’s character? Your character is the way in which you think, feel, and act is. Six traits that contribute to a person’s character are: Trustworthiness Respect Responsibility Fairness Caring Citizenship Click to show the correct answer.

Thinking Critically Give an example of how life experiences can teach you about good character. Responses will vary. Accept all reasonable examples.

Thinking Critically How might working to develop good character be an acceptable way for someone to gain attention and recognition? Responses will vary. Accept all reasonable responses.

End of Chapter Review Chapter Review

Reviewing Terms and Facts You can use _______________ skills to find a solution to disagreements. conflict resolution Click to show the correct answer.

Reviewing Terms and Facts The standards on which you base a decision are called ______. values Click to show the correct answer.

Reviewing Terms and Facts Striving to reach your goals will have a positive effect on your _____________. self-confidence Click to show the correct answer.

Reviewing Terms and Facts A _________ inspires you to act or think in a certain way. role model Click to show the correct answer.

Thinking Critically Suppose that two of your friends have stopped talking to each other because they had a fight about whom to invite to a party. Explain how communication skills and conflict resolution might help them reach a peaceful solution. Responses will vary, but should provide details on how each element of the T.A.L.K. strategy can help the two friends resolve the conflict peacefully.

Thinking Critically Evaluate a recent decision you made. How well did you follow the decision-making steps? Responses will vary. Accept all reasonable responses. The decision-making steps are as follows: State the situation. List the options. Weigh the possible outcomes. Consider values. Make a decision and act. Evaluate the decision.

Thinking Critically Explain why it is not good to set too many or too few goals. If you set too many goals, you may not be able to achieve all of them. This can result in a loss of self-confidence. If you set too few goals, you may not be challenging yourself enough. This causes you to miss out on the feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment that come with achieving a goal that you’ve set for yourself. Click to show the sample response. Accept all reasonable responses.

Thinking Critically Suppose your school is launching a Good Character Award. How might winners be selected? Winners might be selected after evaluating traits such as trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Click to show the sample response. Accept all reasonable responses.

Vocabulary Review Your character is the way in which you think, feel, and act. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.

Vocabulary Review Advocacy is taking action in support of a cause. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.

Vocabulary Review A role model is a person who inspires you to act or think in a certain way. Click the slide to go back to the Vocabulary Review home page.