Honesty
(Second Grade)

Purpose: By the end of this session, I want my students to desire to be honest.  

Other resources:  

Great article on honesty: http://character-education.info/Articles/Honesty_Urban.htm 

Teaching Hints: 

• Students want to know how you've struggled with honesty, yet why you're passionate about it. Think through your own life experiences. How did a romantic relationship go sour because of dishonesty? Have family members, co-workers, employers, or friends hurt you with dishonesty? Have you seen someone fail because of their dishonesty? How has being less than honest hurt you? How has your honesty helped you? 
• Use one or more of these personal stories in your lesson. You'll find that as you share personally, your students will reflect and share their own life lessons about honesty.

Story Time! (Gather around in a way that's most conducive to story-telling.)

Chad gazed out of the school bus window at the rushing stream and the mountains that meandered slowly upwards toward a clear, blue sky. In about a minute, he'd jump off the bus, shed his backpack, throw on his helmet, and ride his bike at break-neck speed through the mountain trails - his daily after-school ritual. 

Pete, his neighbor and school-buddy, had already gotten off the bus at his stop, and would be waiting for him at the meet-up path. Pete was a year older than Chad, the only middle-schooler who could keep up with him on a mountain bike.

The voice of the bus-driver interrupted his daydream...

"Hey Chad! Are you getting off, or going home with me?"

Embarrassed, he rushed the door and within four minutes was riding his bike toward the meet-up path. 

But Pete wasn't there. He waited impatiently for a couple of minutes before taking the steep path to Pete's house.

"Pete! Come on!" Chad yelled.

"Come here!" Pete replied. "You gotta see this!"

Pete and his mom sat on their front porch, looking at an extreme sports brochure.  For $25.00 each, Chad and Pete could compete in the "Blue Ridge Open," a mountain bike race set for next weekend.

Third place would receive $50, second place $75, first place $100 and a first class mountain bike. They looked at each other, slapped hands, and gave a "YeeeHaaaa!!!" that echoed through the valley.

"Not so fast," said Pete's mom. "You spent your Christmas money long ago. How will you come up with the entry fee?"

"We'll set up a stand and sell stuff to the people who drive by after work," Pete suggested.

"What about Lemonade, since the weather's getting warmer?" suggested Chad. "We'll compete, me in my front yard against you in your front yard."

"You're on!" said Pete.

Within the hour, both had their businesses in high gear, but Pete was clearly in the lead, getting twice the business of Chad. Close to sunset, Chad road down to Pete's to scope out his competition.

Pete's sign read, "Free Lemonade!" But when the customers stopped, he let them know that although the warm Lemonade was indeed free, the ice would cost them seventy-five cents. The customers always looked a little disappointed, but paid the money to get their Lemonade on ice.

That night, Chad thought long and hard about Pete's strategy. It didn't seem quite right to lure in the customers promising free Lemonade and then charging them unexpectedly for ice. It seemed deceitful, dishonest. But he really, really wanted to race the "Blue Ridge Open" and have a shot at one of the prizes.

The next day after school, Chad set up his stand and decided to make his own "Free Lemonade" sign. But before he could get his tools and materials, customers began to pull in.

"Is this lemonade really seventy five cents, just like your sign says?" asked the first. "Yeah," echoed the second customer. "The rat down the street promised a free drink and charged us for the ice. What a rip-off! I'd rather deal with someone who's honest."

Chad got almost all the business that second day. On the third day, Pete had to change his sign to get any business at all. Chad got all his money in three days, but Pete had to work a fourth day to get enough.

They both got to race on Saturday, with Chad finishing second and Pete taking third. But they both agreed that, more important than the race, they'd learned a valuable lesson. Dishonesty might sometimes pay in the short-run, but it can sure hurt you in the long-run. It pays to tell the truth.

Discussion

1. What did Chad and Pete like to do after school?
2. Why did they want to compete in the "Blue Ridge Open"?
3. Why do you think Pete put up a sign advertising free Lemonade?
4. What was wrong with that?
5. How did lying hurt Pete's business?
6. What are other ways that lying hurts us?

Teacher Hint: this is a good time to share a story from your own life - either how others lied and hurt you, or how you lied and hurt yourself. Then ask your students if they have examples from their own lives. The point is to help them feel how lying hurts, motivating them to not want to hurt others with lies.

Optional Activity: Illustrate the Story

Since this story didn't have pictures, you had to use your imagination. Could you take one picture from your mind about this story and draw it? 

Teacher: This activity could produce more discussion, as students tell about their drawings. If somebody drew Chad sitting at his stand with nobody coming, you could ask, "What do you think Chad was thinking and feeling? Also, if you'd like, you could send in some of the best pictures for us to consider adding to the story! Either scan and e-mail to webmaster@character-education.info , or snail-mail to: 

Legacy Educational Resources
5814 Sailboat Pointe
Acworth, GA 30101

Conclusion

This week, let's be more careful to be completely honest with each other.