Character Education in Our Universal Pre-K Classroom

Why Bucket Filling? 

To establish student rapport in the classroom it is essential to develop a warm and caring learning environment. There are several different  ways to start, one of which includes Bucket-Filling. The concept comes from the book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?, by Carol McCloud. 

The bucket filling concept is simple, we all carry invisible buckets with us everywhere we go. When people are kind to us, our buckets get filled, and it makes us happy. When people are unkind, they are bucket dippers and are dipping into our buckets, which makes us feel sad or upset. A great way to make this idea more tangible for the students is to have them decorated their own individual bucket. I have posted a sample of a classroom bucket filling area that has a bucket with slips of paper that read "I would like to fill ________'s bucket. The kind and thoughtful words that I would like to share:___________________. From _______".

You will notice students slipping these little papers into each others buckets during the day. By the end of each week the buckets are full and ready to be shared.  It's best to encourage students to fill all classmates buckets. 

It's a great way to make new friends!

Character Education In Our Classroom: 

I like to reinforce character education by incorporating a number of books during read aloud time. Its a good idea to discuss the themes common to each book- anti-bullying, kindness, courage, perseverance, and acceptance. Many of the characters in these books share traits that are good examples of a bucket-filler and or citizen in the school by the choices that they make. 

Here are a few good examples of books that I like to share:

 

Why read about good character traits?

By using the concept of good character will really help students to see themselves as part of the school/classroom family, rather than individuals alone in the classroom. The key is to make sure positive character education endures, and is not just a beginning of the year lesson.