Honesty – The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A kindergarten teacher at my school asked me if I could do a guidance lesson on this topic, as it was coming up again and again in her classroom. It is hard to think of a better lesson than using the Boy Who Cried Wolf story! My class was most excited about the opportunity to act out the different scenerios. My students love acting as it allows them to teach their classmates, to get up out of their seats, and it gives them an opportunity to be a little bit silly and laugh (especially if you ask them to show you what we SHOULD do and show you what we SHOULDN’T do). I hope your classes enjoy this lesson as much as mine did!

Lesson Title: Honesty

Grade(s): K-5

ASCA Standards:

• A:A3.1 Take responsibility for their actions
• PS:A1.2 Identify values, attitudes, and beliefs
• PS:B1.2 Identify consequences of decisions and choices

Learning Objectives:

• Students will be able to define honesty and provide examples of honest and dishonest behavior
• Students will be able to determine honest responses to situations and why honesty is important

Materials:

• Access to the following free read-aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFD4KoyXuu8
• Optional: Printable worksheet (Honesty Family Connection) from the following website: http://characterfirsteducation.com/c/curriculum-detail/1951185

Lesson:

Start by introducing a story called The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Explain that they may have heard this story before, but that it is a very good one for the special topic that we are going to discuss.

The following link is a free read-aloud of the story:

Discussion:

• The boy in this story lied two times because he was bored. What happened when he really needed help the third time?
  • People didn’t trust him and didn’t come to help him.
• What does the word honest mean?
  • Honesty is telling the truth without lying, tricking, or exaggerating.
• Is it easy or difficult to be honest?
  • Easy because it is the right thing to do and you don’t have to try to remember your lies.
  • Difficult because sometimes we will get in trouble if we tell the truth.
• Why is honesty important?
  • We may lose the trust of our friends if we lie.
  • People may stop believing us.
  • We may lose friends, relationships, jobs, etc. if we are not honest.
  • We need to be able to trust people when they say things. For example, we trust that a police officer will help us if we are in trouble. We trust that a doctor will help take care of us if we get hurt or sick.
  • It makes the world a better place.

Activity:

1. Split the students into groups of 3. Explain that each group is going to be presented with a situation for them to act out to the class. Explain that the students must show read the situation to the class, then they must act out the situation with an honest response to each situation.
   1. Your teacher gives you a special prize for getting the best grade on a difficult test. When your teacher hands the tests back, you realizes that she gave you someone else’s test who received the highest score.
   1. You are supposed to wash the dishes on Tuesdays as one of your chores. You want to tell your sister to do them for you.
   1. You forgot to study for your test and you don’t know any of the answers. You can see the answers on the person’s paper next to you.
   1. You find a $20 bill on the floor in your classroom. You really want to keep it because that’s how much a new video game that you want costs.
   1. Your friends tell you that you should download this cool app onto your phone. The app says you must be 13 years old to download it, but you’re too young.
   1. You are buying two toys at the store, but the cashier only charges you for one toy.
   1. Your parents tell you that you must put your phone on the counter every night before bed. Your parents go to bed before you so you know that they won’t check if your phone is put where they asked you to put it.

Discussion:

• How does it feel when someone lies to you?
  • We may feel sad, mad, or betrayed.
  • It makes us worried that we can’t trust them anymore.
• Why are lies so wrong?
  • It hurts friendships and relationships.
  • It can make a big mess of things
  • People might not trust you anymore
  • You may tell one lie, but then have to tell another to cover up that lie, and another and another…
• How can we do what’s right if we already lied?
  • We can tell the person that we hurt that we are very sorry and apologize to that person.
  • We can explain why what we did is wrong and why it won’t ever happen again.
  • We can try to fix the lie by doing what is right. For example, if we took money, we can return the money to the rightful owner. If we told a lie to a friend, we can go tell them the truth.

The following website has several additional activities, including a worksheet that is great to measure and collect data on student’s knowledge of honesty (Honesty Family Connection): http://characterfirsteducation.com/c/curriculum-detail/1951185