Dear Lower School Families,

 

We had a wonderful Town Meeting this week, celebrating our student work about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and also welcoming two babies to our Lower School family: James Winstead Owens, and Finley Andrew Lundeen! Congratulations to Mrs. Owens in Kindergarten and Mrs. Lundeen in Second Grade on the additions to their families. We are so excited for the upcoming week, as we celebrate 100 days of school together! Please see the attached flyer for fun dress-up ideas for Wednesday, February 3.

 

We continue our exploration of Tom Hoerr’s book The Formative Five to learn more about success skills that every student needs. This week we look at integrity.

 

Hoerr shares that “integrity stems from honesty, but is a higher, more public form of action. It is possible to be honest without displaying integrity, but it is not possible to have integrity without honesty.” Parents and teachers must teach honesty and integrity directly, so that children will develop an understanding and begin to internalize these concepts.

 

The following survey is designed for children to gather a sense about their feelings about integrity. It is a tool to elicit reflection and discussion, not a scientifically valid instrument.

 

Directions: Place a 1-strongly disagree; 2-disagree; 3-not sure; 4-agree; 5-strongly agree, for each item.

 

____ 1. There are times when it is OK to be less than honest.

____ 2. If I am not sure what is right or wrong, there is a family member or educator I can talk to.

____ 3. It’s important for me to be honest, even if other people don’t know who I am.

____ 4. It is most important for me to be honest when money is involved.

____ 5. Everyone deserves to be treated in an honest way.

____ 6. As long as I am being honest, it is not important for others to know how I think.

____ 7. As long as you believe something, it doesn’t matter whether you show it and others know it.

____ 8. If someone else is being dishonest or unfair, I should let them know.

____ 9. Being honest may mean saying something that costs me.

____10. It is important that my friends know that I agree with them.

 

Scoring:

____ (A) Total points for 2, 3, 5, 8, 9

____ (B) Total points for 1, 4, 6, 7, 10

____ (C) Subtract (B) from (A) for your score.

 

 

If you scored…

 

When we act with integrity, we are consciously making our personal values known to others. By teaching and promoting integrity, we all help children become leaders and change agents, people who take a stand and make things right. Included are five steps that outline the shift from honesty to integrity:

 

Picture Books:

Amazing Grace (1991), by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch

Mr. Peabody’s Apples (2003), by Madonna

Jamaica and the Substitute Teacher (1999), by Juanita Havill

The Honest-to-Goodness Truth (2000), by Patricia McKissack

Lying up a Storm (2105), by Julia Cook

The Empty Pot (1996), by Demi

Say Something! (2019), by Peter H. Reynolds

When your child is in the midst of an honesty or integrity issue, it can be difficult to “teach the lesson” in the moment. These books will provide a proactive opportunity to elicit conversation with your child and provide for a teachable moment that can potentially be applied in future situations. According to Brené Brown, “integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.” In two weeks, we will move into Chapter 5, Embracing Diversity.

 

Our plans for Valentine’s Day are attached here.

 

Kind regards,

Angie Crabtree