Spotlight Character Ed Books at Your School

Each month my school focuses on a character trait for the month. These traits (responsibility, respect, courage, kindness, self-discipline, integrity, perseverance & good judgment) are chosen by my school district.  I thought of a neat way to remind students of what the character trait of the month is by making a featured character trait of the month book spotlight shelf in the library.  I spoke with the librarian and asked if I could have a shelf to display books based on the character trait of the month for students to check out.  The librarian at my school is fantastic and is so very helpful with my numerous counselor "projects".  She gave me a shelf to use in a library prime real estate area (right in front of the checkout computers) so you can't miss it!

I made signs for each character trait of the month using Word and printed and laminated each sign.  I did have to measure and trim the edges of the signs to fit in the frame.  I used the frame insert as my guide to measure.  I put the signs in a "fancy" frame I found on sale from Pier 1 Imports ($8.00).  I pulled about 10-15 books (for all reading & grade levels) to put on the shelf to display. 

Responsibility

Kindness

Trimming edges of sign so they'll fit in the frame.

Edges trimmed

Wow, what a difference a frame makes!

So here's a picture of my shelf before the "transformation":

Before the character ed "transformation"

So with a few book stands and a new picture frame here's the finished product...

Book stands, $3.99 (w/coupon) Bed, Bath & Beyond.  I bought 4 stands. 

Character Books Spotlight: Responsibility

I made the "Character Books Spotlight" sign using Word, printed & glued the words on a sentence strip (courtesy of a 1st grade teacher).  I glued a colored backing on the back of the sentence strip and laminated the sign (so it will hold up better from wear and tear).

I can tell that this book showcase is working very well.  After the 1st week of setting up the "character books spotlight" most of the books displayed were checked out by students, so I had to pull more books to keep the shelf full.  I'll update the shelf each month (or as needed) with books based on the trait of the month.   

To get my book list, the counselor intern found some character book suggestions online and I asked for suggestions from my librarian.  I email the list of books for the month to the librarian.   The parent library volunteers pull the books that we have from my list for me and I set up the display.  It took about 10 mins (or less) to set up. 

Just in case you're wondering what books I used for Responsibility, here's my list:

-My Penguin Osbert (Kimmel)

-Big Words for Little People (Curtis & Cornell)

-Judy Moody Saves the World (McDonald)

-Because of Winn-Dixie (Di Cavilla)

-Shiloh (Naylor)

-The Biggest Bear (Ward)

-Angelina's Birthday (Holabird)

-Ramona the Brave (Clearly)

-Chair for my Mother (Williams)

-The Lemonade War (Davies)

-Frank & Ernest on the Road (Day)

-Miss Rumphus (Cooney)

-Mr. Popper's Penguins (Atwater)

-There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom (Sachar)

This was an easy and simple project to do.  I think that this will be another great way to reinforce the character trait of the month. 

Do you have a way to recognize character education books at your school?

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