I CARE
Resource Manual K-12
Character Education Program

Table of Contents

There is no formal I CARE curriculum. What is done at Lowell Elementary School may not be appropriate for Byrant Intermediate or West High Schools. Yet, because all three school faculties and administrations are committed to I CARE principles, they have willingly shared ideas, lesson plans, and activities.

Many programs have been utilized for implementing the I CARE principles including: Community of Caring, Peer Court, Improv Group, Law-Related Education, D.A.R.E., Peer Leadership, Conflict Managers, and Anytown USA. In addition, teachers in each of the three schools have researched and developed their own lesson plans and activities consistent with the principles.

This section of the Resource Manual presents kindergarten through twelfth grade activities that have been used successfully in the three schools. Included are activities that can be used by students, teachers, parents, the school as a whole, and the community. Activities are organized around each of the principles--Integrity, Compassion, Action, Responsibility, and Excellence. Each principle is introduced by a list of synonyms and a definition and is followed by activities.

In addition to providing ideas and activities that are useful for implementing an I CARE program, it is hoped that this section will stimulate those who share a commitment to go beyond these ideas and develop their own activities.

Integrity
Compassion
Action
Responsibility
Excellence

  • General Activities
  • Affirmations
  • Appendices
  • Appendice A: Random Acts of Kindness
    Appendice B: Reach Theme
    Appendice C: Excellence Work
    Appendice D: Class Meeting
    Appendice E: I Care Marching Song and I Care Song
    Appendice F: Quotations on Character
    Appendice G: Social Studies Catalog and Conflict Management Materials
    Appendice H: Mini-Anytown
    Appendice I: I Care Cheer
    Appendice J: Colors of Success
    Appendice K: Salt Lake School District Character Education Programs


    Quotation
    You know that the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is the time at which the character is being formed, and the desired impression is more readily taken. Shall we just carelessly allow children to hear any casual tales which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they are grown up?

    We cannot. Anything received into the mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts.

    Then will our youth dwell in a land of health, amid fair sights and sounds, and receive the good in everything; and beauty, the effluence of fair works, shall flow into the eye and ear, like a health-giving breeze from a purer region, and insensibly draw the soul from the earliest years into likeness and sympathy with the beauty of reason.

    There can be no nobler training than that.

    Plato's Republic


    For information concerning the creation process of the I CARE Manual, contact Marti Frankovich or Joan Coen at Lowell Elementary School 801-578-8190.

    All rights reserved except those which may be granted under Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. This document may be freely distributed in its entirety for non-profit purposes provided that the copyright notice is not removed. If you have questions concerning proper use of this material, or if you are interested in obtaining permission, contact the Curriculum Section Reception Desk at 801-538-7698.

    This document was submitted for posting to the Internet by the State Character Education Specialist. Any questions concerning content should be directed to that individual.

    Updated October 1 1997 by Michelle Dumas