Team Member Memory Boxes

Contribute to your community of caring! Gather memorable symbols of qualities such as honesty, generosity, courtesy, respect, kindness, and gratitude.

• 1.

  How do people who live in caring communities treat each other? With your classmates, brainstorm traits of effective, caring team members, at school, at home, and around the world. If possible, make a chart with definitions and examples of these traits.

• 2.

  Work with a partner to create a unique display to remind others to care! Decorate paper with Crayola Markers. Cut the paper to cover a tissue box. Glue the paper to the box.

• 3.

  Design colorful index cards with words and symbols of at least six of the traits on your class list. Create 3-D symbols with Crayola Model Magic® compound. Use them to add dimension to the cards, to decorate the box, or as stand-alone sculptures. Find out how these traits are expressed in several other languages and cultures. For example, you could sculpt the Japanese symbol of honesty (shoujiki).

• 4.

  Arrange your display in a way that captures the attention of others. If possible, arrange for a show at a local library or other community facility.

Benefits

• Students identify and define attributes of behaviors that contribute to caring communities.
• Students work with a partner to research and create 3-D representations of at least six of the attributes.
• Student partners design memory boxes as reminders to others to practice the caring-community behaviors.

Adaptations

• Explore Respect. Talk about teasing, put-downs, and insults with your classmates. Are they fun? Are they funny? Make an "erase it and replace it" notebook! Write put-downs you have heard using Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils. Then… erase them and replace
• Consider Courtesy. Imagine a classroom without courtesy. What might it look like? Draw your idea of an un-courteous classroom. Fold up your drawing and place it in a small box. Make a list of rules for a courteous classroom on a small piece of paper and g
• Generosity. Practice generosity with your friends and family. Spend just 10 minutes more a day talking with your parents. Do small favors for each other without being asked. Write sweet notes and tuck them in lunch boxes. What can you do to be generous to others with your time and talents?
• Kindness. Read books about kindness such as Eric Carle’s The Tiny Seed. Plant flower seeds for children in another class or shut-ins in your community. Press one seed into a Model Magic heart to give along with the flowers.
• Gratitude. Write folded-paper thank-you notes to people in your community to whom you are grateful for the job they do. Then list all the things you are thankful for in a thank-you note to yourself.
• Assessment: Observe how well children practice the caring attributes as they work with their partners. Ask students to exchange Memory Boxes and verify that the spellings and symbols of the attributes are accurate. Expect displays to be original and invit