Character

Building
Honesty

By Kelly Nelson 2013

Owlinspireyou.blogspot.com

Books on Honesty
Grades K-3
A Day's Work - Bunting
The Empty Pot - Demi
Ira Sleeps Over - Waber
Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine - Ness
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Potter
Too Many Tamales - Soto
What's So Terrible About Swallowing an Apple Seed? - Lerner & Goldhor
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Petunia - Duvoisin
Pinocchio
Ruby Copy Cat - Rathmann
Strega Nona - De Paola
Rooter Remembers: a Bank Street Book about Values - Oppenheim
The Berenstain Bears and the Truth - Berenstain
The True Francine - Brown
Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock - Stevens
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - De Groat
I Did It, I'm Sorry - Buehner

Tales of Honesty
Name______________________Date______________
Who?

Where/When?

What happened?

What is the moral of the story?

Have students make an acrostic poem about honesty.

Model how to use words and phrases for each letter.

Honorable
Open heart
Never tell a lie
Ethical
Sincere
Trustworthy
You should always try

H
O
N
E
S
T
Y
Name______________________Date______________

I am honest because

As Honest As
George Washington
Using the story of George Washington and the cherry tree
explain to your students the importance of being honest.
There are many childrens books that have the story of
George Washington or you can use the story on the following page. After discussing George Washingtons honesty ask
your students why they think it is important to tell the
truth.
Finish the activity with by having each student create a
cherry that can be placed on a tree bulletin board. To make
the cherry the student should use the cherry template.
First, the student should trace the cherry onto a piece of
red paper. Second, the student should trace the cherry onto
a piece of writing paper. Third, the student should trace the
leaf pattern onto green paper. Have the student copy the
front of the cherry onto their copy You should always be
honest because Then have him/her write their reason on
the writing paper. Line up the two cherry pieces and staple
at the top. Tape the green leaves to a green pipe cleaner. Finally, attach the pipe cleaner to the cherry and hang from
the class tree.

Cherry Tree Template

You should
always tell
the truth
because...

You should
always tell
the truth
because...

As Honest As George
Washington
A Poem by Paul Perro
Little George Washington was a good boy
So his mummy gave him a brand new toy.
It was a little axe, a real sharp one,
And George thought that it would be lots of fun.
He took the little hatchet out into
The garden, where lots of plants and weeds grew.
He chopped at some weeds, chopped them to the ground,
After that he began to look around.
He looked around for something else to chop,
He was having a ball, and could not stop.
Right at the bottom of the garden he
Came across his daddy's best cherry tree.
He chopped at it with his little hatchet
The tree was big, he could only scratch it.
So he tried much harder, chopping the wood,
Until at last it fell down with a thud.
Then George was happy and put down his axe
And he sat down and started to relax.
Suddenly, a cry, it was Georges dad;
Hed seen the felled tree and was really mad.
Who has chopped down my lovely cherry tree?
His face was red he was really angry.
George was scared to tell the truth but he knew
Telling the truth was the right thing to do.
So George said Sorry daddy, it was I,
I killed the tree, I cannot tell a lie.

At first dad was cross, then he realized

As he looked into his little boys eyes,
Georges behavior had been outrageous
But hed been honest, which was courageous.
My boy said dad, Im very cross, but still,
Your honesty is quite admirable.
I cannot punish you because Im so
Proud that youre my son. I love you, you know.
If youre brave and honest, you can go far,
You can grow up to be a superstar.
Yes George grew up to be one of the greats
A President of the United States!

Honesty Talks
Use the scenario cards on the following pages as a tool for
discussing honesty. Cut the cards apart and laminate them
for long-lasting use. Split your students into groups and provide each group with a scenario card. Have the groups discuss the scenario. Some of the cards are examples of dishonesty and others are examples of honesty. They should talk
about the following things, Is it honest?, Would I do
this?, What is a better choice? or It was a good choice
because Then have each group read their card to the
class and then explain what they thought about it.

Marco cheats Susie budges in

on his spelling line because she
wants to be first
test.
to recess.

Honesty Talks...
It isnt her job,
Lila asks her
but Mia helps
friend to do her
Chan with the ball homework for
bin.
her.

Cooper finds a Nick finds money

backpack on on the floor so he
gives it to the
the bus and he
teacher.
keeps it.

Honesty Talks...
Sal finds a letter Dee walks to the
in the trash so
water fountain
she delivers it to instead of going
the teacher.
to class.

Leah does her Tim writes on

homework with the board
her brothers without asking.
help.

Honesty Badges
Print and cut out the badges. Give a badge to a student if
they do something honest and honorable during the day.

Honesty
Advocate

Honesty
Advocate

Honesty
Advocate

Honesty
Advocate

Thanks and TOU

The material and ideas in this packet were created
by me, Kelly Nelson. It is for your personal use
only. If you share any ideas from this packet,
please place a link back to me at
http://owlinspireyou.blogspot.com

Lastly, I would like to thank the artists that help

make my packets possible with their wonderful
clipart and fonts: