Character Counts and Super3/Big6 (Garry Hutchinson, Carroll, Iowa)
Garry Hutchinson said, on September 21st:
“I am an elementary school counselor (K-3) who teacher guidance lessons on Character Counts. We do introduce career lessons during the month of May. I am interested in hearing more about the Big6 and Super3 concepts and how I can incorporate that into our elementary lessons.”
LR Responds: With the Super3 and Big6, we want to help learners- even the youngest students- to become critical thinkers and more adept in their overall problem solving skills. Character Counts is a perfect opportunity for this to happen. With the Super3, students begin to think about the whole process from Plan (Beginning) to Do (Middle) to Review (End).
To begin with, you may want to present various scenarios to your students relating to the different character concepts (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, citizenship). Work with the students to solve these “problems/situations” from the beginning to the end using the Super3. This can start out as a whole class activity with a lot of teacher guidance and then students can work in small groups or even individually to progress through the Super3.
Plan: understanding the problem and deciding what to do to solve it and how to solve it.
Do: locating and using appropriate resources in order to solve the problem and actually “doing” it.
Review: reflecting back to the problem (plan) and deciding if the problem is solved, how the process worked, and what could be better next time.
Another activity could be to use the Super3 to define each of the Character Counts terms.
Character Pillar: RESPECT
Plan: What does respect mean? How will I know if I am respectful? What does respect look like? Who can help me understand this concept of respect?
Do: This is where students will actually engage in respectful activities that were defined in the PLAN stage- complimenting another student, using manners, holding the door open for the teacher.
Review: Refer back to Plan and think about Do. Did I accomplish the task of acting respectful? What worked well? What could I do better next time?
I hope this helps. I would be happy to work through a few scenarios using the Super3 if you provide me with a specific examples. Also, I recommend our book, The Super3: Information Skills for Young Learners, which provides detailed information, ideas, lessons, teaching strategies, and resources for aspect of the Super3.
Best- Laura Robinson
