PurposeFull People is CharacterStrong’s K-5 Toolkit. It is intentionally designed to support any work you are already doing around Character Education and Social-Emotional Learning - and is a robust option on its own.
Designed by veteran teachers, school counselors, play therapists, and many other incredible voices, PurposeFull People is packed with tons of practical and easy-to-use tools that focus on developing character and social-emotional skills in students, staff, and families.
School culture is not just shaped by mission statements and what we teach in the classroom. Every behavior - whether it is a student’s, a teacher’s, or a parent’s - shapes how we experience school. For that reason, PurposeFull People focuses on resources for:
START INTENTIONALLY: Thoughtful ways to begin your month, your week, and your day related to the month’s character trait!
ENGAGE RELATIONALLY: Activities that get students connecting, playing, and engaging with a focus on the monthly character trait!
RESPOND WITH EMPATHY: Tools to get students thoughtfully re-focused to best meet their social, emotional, and physical needs throughout a day.
VALUES PRACTICED: Experiential learning designed to put abstract values into practical action so students can better understand each character trait.
EXIT INTENTIONALLY: Effective ways to end your month, week, and day related to each month’s character trait and to create a consistent classroom routine.
The STAFF component involves a weekly character challenge related to that month’s trait so that the adults in the building are role-modeling what character development looks like in action. We know that, particularly in education, personal development IS professional development!
The FAMILY component includes a letter home that has conversation starters, simple activities, and Family character challenges (“PurposeFull Pursuits”) related to the monthly trait. We know that this bridge is one of the most important ones to build! Speaking a common language between school and home and equipping families with the tools to engage in these meaningful (and sometimes tough!) conversations is critical for sustainable change.
The PLAYGROUND portion offers some practical games and tools for focused, character-trait based play and/or experiences. Recess offers a lot of behavioral challenges for many schools, so providing resources in this area was important to us for full-school impact.
We know that Elementary campuses don’t have room for another prescriptive curriculum, so we built PurposeFull People in a way that lets schools and educators choose the content for what is relevant and doable for them. We put usability first: beautifully designed and incredibly easy to navigate, you have the very best SEL & Character activities and resources at your fingertips.
Start each day by discussing a quote from diverse thinkers and perspectives from around the world. Learn about how Malala showed Courage or about how Nelson Mandela teaches us about Honesty or about how Harriet Beecher Stowe demonstrated Perseverance.
We’ve had some of the best illustrators and designers around the country create imagery and artwork to support your conversations. Start each week with an image that inspires thoughtful reflection.
Use our hand-lettered posters in the classroom or around the school to help students be reminded of the character trait you are focusing on. We need to be reminded more than we need to be taught!
Check out our content for yourself with this full month of practical resources focused on Courage. You’ll find inspiring quotes, engaging activities, challenges, images, videos, book recommendations, and more!
Download Courage Sample
Let us help support your work teaching the Whole Child with our engaging and continuously updated content.