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The Community Toolbox
A character education and social learning activity
for boys*.
Based on the chapter “Relating to Relating” from
the book
A Mind
at a Time
By Mel Levine
“All students should learn formally about social cognition
and social behavior…They should be taught the terminology contained in this
chapter.” – Mel Levine
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Most boys want to feel socially accepted and well-liked by
their peers at school. The activity tables in The Community Toolbox are
designed for students to think about how they get these tools, who to use
them with, and how useful the tools will be everyday.
Good Citizen Tools
- Use www.thefreedictionary.com
to find definitions for words in your toolbox. Re-type the definition in
your words in the DEFINITION column.
- Use
the PERSONAL
NOTES column to type an example of how you have used this tool in the past, or how you may use this tool in the future.
- Use
the CLASS
NOTES column to type an example shared by a classmate
that you believe is another useful way to get this tool and keep it for
a long time.
- Use
the WHO
column to note who you think it is most important to use this tool with.
Use the following abbreviations for WHO: S=
Student; T=Teacher; P=Parent; N=Neighbor. You may add more than one group. For example: Friendship may only be "S" but for other tools you may wish to include more than one letter because these skills are important for more than one group.
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TOOL
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1. DEFINITION
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2.
PERSONAL NOTES
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3.
CLASS NOTES
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4.
WHO
S = Student; T=Teacher;
P=Parent; N=Neighbor.
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Friendship
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Politeness
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Respect
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Kindness
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Good Language Tools
The definitions for these words are given. Continue to use
the PERSONAL NOTES, CLASS NOTES, and WHO columns for this activity.
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TOOL
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1.
DEFINITION
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2. PERSONAL NOTES
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3.
CLASS NOTES
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4.
WHO
S = Student; T=Teacher;
P=Parent; N=Neighbor.
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Vibes
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Understanding the
speaker’s feelings based on their words, tone, body language and facial expression.
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Code switching
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Knowing when to change
your way of speaking to match the people you are with.
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Topic selection
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Knowing what to talk
about and when to stop.
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Conversation
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Good speaking and
listening skills. Each boy understands the other.
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STOP!
(A fair warning)
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An important tool to use
if you want someone to know that their actions are unwelcome. Be clear and
tell the person what you do not like so that they understand.
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Reporting
(Not tattling)
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When the STOP tool has
been used and is not working, reporting unwelcome behavior to at least two
adults, a teacher and a parent at home is protected under the school
policy.
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Humor
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Understanding humor and
using it when appropriate.
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Requesting
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Knowing how to ask for
something without turning people off.
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Perspective
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Making an effort to
understand how the person you are speaking to feels.
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Mood (Affective) Matching
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Matching moods with
someone through language.
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Complimenting
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Knowing when to praise
another person.
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Lingo
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Related to code
switching. Speaking the language of your peers.
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Body
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Dressing appropriately,
good posture, eye contact, and facial expressions to match the mood.
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Good Behavior Tools
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TOOL
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1.
DEFINITION
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2.
PERSONAL NOTES
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3.
CLASS NOTES
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4.
WHO
S = Student; T=Teacher;
P=Parent; N=Neighbor.
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Assume the best
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Don’t immediately assume
the other person is being mean or selfish.
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Window
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Being careful to clearly
understand what you are seeing and hearing during a social incident.
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Mirror
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Being careful to watch
how you are behaving while interacting with others.
This tool can also be
used together with the conversation tool to help someone else see how they
are acting. It can work for you if you want that person to STOP!
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Reflection
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This tool is best used
when you have some time to think about what has happened in the recent
past.
Reflection is useful for
considering what is really important.
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Critical Thinking
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An Essential Quality of a
Haverford School graduate, critical thinking is used when students brainstorm
options and carefully consider which option is the best.
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P.R.
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Public Relations – The
ability to hold your head high, feeling both confident and comfortable with
others.
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Conflict resolution
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Able to peacefully
resolve conflicts with others.
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Collaboration
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Working cooperatively
with others as a team or a partnership.
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This character education module
was designed by Mr. Brown and is intended for use as part of the Computer
Studies curriculum for 5th grade boys at The Haverford School.
* Some terms
from Mel Levine’s book A Mind at a Time have
been modified and added for use with Lower School boys.
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