BEWARE
THE STINK’N THINK’N GANGCharacter Education: Making Good Choices
BEWARE
THE STINK’N THINK’N GANG
A Character Education WebQuest for 2nd to 6th Grade (Social Skills)
Designed by
Katrenia A.
McCormick
kmac103@aol.com
Introduction
The purpose of this Webquest is to focus on the development of mental and emotional faculties essential to academic and moral development.
The greatest handicaps any of us face are internal
not external. They occur in the
mind and in the heart. Anyone who
doesn’t learn how to recognize and overcome them is highly vulnerable to making
poor choices and having bad experiences.
Think of it this way, if you were teaching a course on wilderness survival, you would not only teach your students what they can eat. The same is true in helping young people develop their thinking skills. There are mental and emotional traps people continually fall into that ruin their lives. If we can help young people to recognize and avoid these traps it will be one of the greatest services we can provide them.
The Task
You are Newscaster 3 and you do the following:
Step 1
Read the descriptions of the Stink’n Think’n Gang.
Step 2
Summarize and write responses for each gang member specialty on a sheet of paper.
Step 3
Beware the Stink’n Think’n Gang!
Complete this
worksheet about what you have learned about this activity.
You can do some writing and or a drawing.
The Process
BEWARE THE STINK’N THINK’N GANG
Newscaster 1:
Folks, I need to interrupt our
regular programming. We have a breaking news story. Let’s
go to our reporter at the White House. Newscaster 2, are you there?
Newscaster 2:
Yes, Newscaster 1. The president has just issued a warning that a vicious band of thieves
called The Stink’n
Think’n Gang is on the loose. Every citizen is at
risk. No one is safe. If you are not careful, the Stink’n
Think’n Gang will steal everything of importance to
you. They will rob you of your ability to make good choices. First, they steal
your common sense and good judgment. They sneak in when you’re
not looking. They make you believe things that aren’t
true and want things that aren’t good for you. They make things seem more
important or less important than they really are. If they succeed, they will
rob you of your feelings of responsibility and fairness. They will steal your
ability to be trustworthy and strip you of self-respect and respect for others.
They will rob you of kindness and caring. They will even take away your desire
to be a good person. Again, their goal is to rob you of your ability to think
clearly and to make good choices. Now let’s go to
Newscaster 3, who has been closely following the situation.
Newscaster 3:
Thank you, Newscaster 2. We
now have pictures of each member of the Stink’n Think’n Gang and their descriptions. I can also tell you
something about how they operate and each gang member’s
specialty. Let me give you a rundown on each of these sinister
characters.
Step 1:
Read the
descriptions of the
Stink’n Think’n Gang.
Step 2
What is each gang’s specialty? Summarize and write responses for each gang member on a sheet of paper.
What is Li Fib specialty?
What is Nameit Blameit specialty?
What is Judge B. Fore specialty?
What is Iwannit Now specialty?
What is Biggs Bigger specialty?
What is Eency Wency Tiny Too specialty?
Step 3
Beware the Stink’n Think’n Gang!
Complete this
worksheet about what you have learned about this activity.
You can do some writing and or a drawing.
Name:______________________________
|
What does the Stink’n Think’n Gang want to take from you?
|
Who do you think is the leader of the gang? |
|
Why do you want to avoid these forms of thinking?
Why do you suppose, Iwannit
Now is the leader of the Stink’n Think’n Gang?
|
What can you do to avoid being influenced by the Stink’n Think’n Gang? |
|
Have you had any experiences with any of
these thinking habits? |
Why is it necessary to develop several
thinking skills? |
Evaluation
This webquest can be with a group or individually for learners. It's up to the teacher to decide how it's performed.
|
Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Accomplished 3 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Student to explore the thought processes and motivations that lead to self-defeating behaviors in fun, objective, and non-threatening ways.
|
|
|
|
|
Student understands the connection between thoughts, feelings, choices, and actions.
|
|
||
|
Student recognizes the relevance of ideas being taught.
|
|||
|
Student understands the influences that lead people to injure themselves and others
|
Conclusion
The greatest handicaps any of us face are internal, not external. They occur in the mind and in the heart. Anyone who doesn’t learn how to recognize and overcome them is highly vulnerable to making poor choices and having bad experiences.
Think of it this way. If you were teaching a course on wilderness survival, you would not only teach your students what they can eat, you would also tell them what they must not, under any circumstances, ever eat. The same is true in helping young people develop their thinking skills. There are mental and emotional traps people continually fall into that ruin their lives. If we can help people to recognize and avoid these traps it will be one of the greatest services we can provide them.
Credits & References
Character Counts, http://www.charactercounts.org/
Character Education, http://www.goodcharacter.com/
Character Education Webquest,
http://www.rvschools.org/lhoffman/CharacterEdWebquest
The Seven C’s of Thinking, http://www.choiceskills.com
