The response to my character education clipchart, Clippin’ for Character, has been absolutely overwhelming. I am so humbled by and appreciative of the feedback, Q&A’s, e-mails, Facebook posts and comments about this system I use in my classroom. I’ve tried my best to respond personally to each inquiry, but wanted to also answer questions in a central location so that you’re able to share this easily with your colleagues, administration, and parents. {You can read the original blog post here.}
As with anything, YOU know YOUR students best. The way I implement this clip chart in my classroom isn’t necessarily the best way for you to implement it in yours — please make it your own, and let it be a reflection of YOU and YOUR classroom community… that’s the best possible feedback you could give me!
Why bother with character education at all?
I’m a big believer in spending time up-front to develop a strong classroom community so that I don’t have to spend that same time (or more!) later writing discipline referrals, making negative phone calls, or redirecting a child in the midst of an important learning opportunity. While it can be tempting to skimp on developing rules, procedures, and norms at the beginning of the year — because we “shouldn’t have to do this” — I think it’s critical to a successful classroom. Students that have high expectations for themselves in their words and deeds are a lot less likely to be distractors and disrupters later in the year when time is at a premium.
I choose to use character education as a huge piece of this because let’s face it — rules & procedures may differ from room to room… but the importance of developing strong character does not. Being caring, fair, respectful, responsible, trustworthy, and a good citizen is valued in each and every classroom or space in our school. I also believe personally that I should play a role in shaping a child’s personal character — after all, they spend 7.5 hours with me over the course of 180 days. It’d be awful hard NOT to do so.
Can I use this WITH a traditional clip chart?
ABSOLUTELY. While I do not use one myself, I have heard from many readers that have used it successfully in conjunction with their traditional clip chart. Most readers have used a different color clip {sometimes patterned}. For clip charts that already have additional positive levels (above green), I’ve heard from readers that have had students clip to the character trait they exhibited at the same time they move their clip above green.
For example: Suzy displayed empathy toward a classmate that was having a hard time — Suzy moves to blue on the traditional clip chart and also places her special clip on “caring” on the character education chart. This allows you to give parents extra information at the end of the day — why was Suzy on blue? Well, Suzy was on blue because she displayed the “caring” character trait. It’s a great way to make your praise specific.
How do you teach children the traits? Can 2nd graders (or 1st graders or Kindergarteners) really understand them?
I teach my students each trait in multiple ways, as I know that a best practice in teaching is approaching any topic from multiple entry points. Each trait is taught through read-alouds, role-playing, writing prompts, anchor charts, group discussions, and day-to-day interactions. While I do front-load these learning opportunities at the beginning of the year, there is not a day that goes by that I do not reinforce them, even if it’s a 30-second connection during guided reading or in the hallway to/from specials.
A child’s age or grade level does not preclude them from internalizing the meaning of these traits, though the time it takes to do so may differ. Integrating the traits and clip chart into your classroom on a daily basis allows the students to learn by example in addition to learning from the lessons. Modeling the traits and highlighting peer models is a great way to teach them.
In the resource you’ll find links to books that I’ve personally used to teach the traits. I will be adding teaching resource units for each trait to my store this fall, as well as a classroom rule/community building pack to jumpstart your positive classroom management!
Do you make sure students go on the chart every day? Can a child be recognized more than once? Do you monitor how often they’re on the chart? Do students monitor themselves?
I do not put every child on the clip chart every day. At the beginning, I do make an effort to recognize an instance of one of the traits in each child every few days so that they internalize the system. This isn’t forced — the students are still earning it, I’m just putting in more effort to actively looking for the behavior.
If a student is already on the chart but earns their way on to another character trait, I put them there. I don’t keep multiple clips for each student, so they simply move their clip. They’re generally SO PROUD (and I am too, and make a big deal of it with hugs & high-fives) that they do not forget to include the second (or third) trait at the end of the day when they mark their chart and I mark mine.
I track the students that are on the chart at the end of each day using an easy checklist that I keep on a clipboard at my desk. At the beginning of the year I’ll just tally, since I’m actively looking for the behaviors more often. After we’ve established and integrated the chart fully in our day-to-day activities, I will write dates instead of tallies so that I can tell if it’s been a while since a particular child has been recognized.
My students are responsible for bringing me their take-home folder at the end of the day to mark their charts. I set out my stickers {simple colored smileys, sometimes smelly if I’ve got them!} and they pick the corresponding sticker. If they clipped on two or more traits, I have some smaller stickers that they use or they use my smelly pens to draw smileys. In the beginning, I tend to do a lot of this myself as students learn the procedure — but then I let them take ownership and I get to just give lots of high-fives and hugs!
What do you do if a child isn’t earning their way on the chart?
I consider this chart to be a Tier I intervention, meaning that it should reach 80% of my students. For the remaining 20%, this chart should be a part of other interventions (such as an individualized behavior plan, check-in/check-out system) that we have in place in our tiered PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports) system. I’ve found that this chart reaches more than 80% of my students, and even for my students that receive Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions, is an important part of the PBIS process.
I follow a few steps when a child hasn’t been on the chart in a week or more. First, I look at myself. Am I missing subtle instances of positive character? I give myself a day or two of more purposeful monitoring of that student before deciding if next steps are needed.
Next, I look at the student. Are they displaying negative behaviors, or are they meeting expectations? If a student is displaying negative behaviors, I follow our school’s PBIS program to intervene with short-term Tier 2 interventions. I also take this time to coach the student through checking-in with them 1:1 more often, pairing them with a student that consistently exceeds our classroom expectations, and just generally giving them positive attention whenever possible.
Finally, I involve their family support system. I call home or catch them at dismissal to just check-in — are they noticing anything different at home, has anything changed in their situation, etc. Families are a GREAT first line of defense when something is “amiss” and I really value their partnership.
How do you communicate with parents using this system? Do they expect their child to be on the clip chart each day?
Each of my students has a take-home folder that goes home each day and comes back each morning. This folder is used for basic home-school communication — we send home flyers, graded papers, etc. It has prongs in the middle, which is where the character calendar is placed.
The purpose of the character calendar is to allow a child to celebrate their successes and character development with their family. At the beginning of each year I send home a sample calendar as well as discuss it at Open House and the first parent-teacher conference. We talk about the goal of the character clip chart (to develop positive character among students and strengthen our classroom community) and the expectations.
I am very clear with parents and my students: being on the chart is earned, not given. Their child will not be on the chart every day. That does not mean that they were bad or had inappropriate behavior — it just means that today they were not specifically recognized for an instance of positive character.
How do you use the brag tags, certificates, and bracelets? Do they get one each time?
The first time a student has earned their way on to a particular trait they earn the corresponding brag tag. By the end of the year, I’ve always had every child earn all six of the corresponding brag tags. Some take a month to earn them all, some take until the last week of school. It’s all about the child’s journey and progress, not the speed with which they do it.
Students take such pride in putting them onto their tags! Rather than award the tags in the middle of a lesson, I award all the tags for the week at once. My students wear their brag tags each Friday (to minimize distraction), and are given their new tags during our morning meeting that day. {They also wear them to assemblies or on other special occasion.} Their necklaces are HUGE sources of excitement and pride, and they love taking them home at the end of the year!
I award the certificates to students monthly. Each month, my school focuses on one of the particular traits (or a combination of two or more) as a part of our PBIS initiative. Any student that has earned that particular trait that month is awarded a certificate. I like to make two copies — one color that they take home, and one in black & white that they color and we string on our walls {since some students don’t have a fridge at home to hang it on!}. I award the certificates during the last Friday morning meeting of the month.
I keep a large stash of the paper bracelets in the clip chart basket. This basket also holds all of the student’s clips on its edge, as well as our class mascot, Toto. If I have it, I do copy the bracelets on the coordinating colored paper, but the kids love white copies just the same — mostly because they will color them during indoor recess or after morning work in the morning. At the end of the day when they’re filling out their character calendars students grab one and tape it on so that they can make a big deal out of it the minute they get home!
If you still have a question about Clippin’ for Character after reading this FAQ, please let me know by leaving your question in the comments! I will be happy to respond and add an answer to the post.
If you’re interested in sharing Clippin’ for Character with your team or staff, I do have a 25-license pack available at a deeply discounted price! I’m also available to do staff development via Skype, Google Hangouts, and in-person on the East Coast. Please e-mail me for more information at noplacelikesecond@gmail.com!
Do you have a parent letter?
I have a parent letter that I've used in the past, which I could certainly include in the file as an editable component! I have a few projects that I have to finish up, but I will do my best to get that added before the weekend is out. Thanks for asking about that, it'll be a great addition!
Thanks so much for this! REALLY helpful. I can't wait to get geared up to start this new year. How have I never heard of brag tags?! I've been teaching for 15 years! lol. Thank you again.
Do you update the calendar each year for those that buy the bundle?
Yes, Tamara, I do! I’m actually working on the update right now. 🙂
Great, thanks Sarah. Once I have purchased, will I be notified each year for the update?
TpT currently doesn’t have a method for notifying about updates, other than a line below the title of the resource on the “My Purchases” page.
The best way to be notified about updates is to follow one of my social media pages, as I post notifications about all updates there. 🙂
Would this be effective with 4th graders? This will be my first year in 4th and I’m not sure if they will be “too cool” for this? I love the idea!
Hi, Lorrie! I teach third grade, and my third graders really love being recognized for their personal character. We are a PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports) school, so these traits are discussed routinely by the guidance counselor and classroom teachers. I’ve found that students take a lot of pride in being recognized for such “grown-up” things, and I know of my upper-elementary (3-5) classrooms that utilize this pack as-is.
That said, I am planning on making an upper-grade version in the next two weeks for those classrooms that would like something a little less colorful and more mature. It will not utilize clip-art the way that this one does, and will use famous Americans and cultural icons to exemplify the traits. Be sure and follow my store so you’re notified when it is released – I’ll also post about Facebook when it’s released. 🙂
Great! I would be very interested in an upper elementary version. Thank you!
Hi Sarah, I was so excited to find this clip chart! I have been using a regular ole’ clip chart with my 1st/2nd graders for a few years and have been trying to get away from it; this is perfect! At our school we follow something called FRRED (fairness, responsibility, respect, empathy, dignity) and it is a big deal to the kids across all the grades. I was wondering if you might be able to include an editable version of all the components as well so people can put in their school’s core values? I also saw someone above mention a parent letter and I love the idea of including that too! Once again thanks for creating such a valuable teaching product! 🙂
Hi there, Kayla!
At this time this product as it stands is not editable in terms of the traits available. I am, however, in the process of creating a “Create-Your-Own Clippin’ for Character” that will have that capability. (The parent letter you mentioned is already available in this pack! :D)
If you’d like to be notified when that product is available, be sure to follow my TpT store and Facebook page. Thank you for your interest and your high-praise!
Hi Sarah,
I hope you are doing well.
I am a dual immersion teacher in Corona, CA and I was very excited to see that you included some pages in Spanish in the file that bought from you. The only thing is that the translation on pages 219-244,249, 250,251,252 need to be corrected.
Is there a way you can send me this pages unlocked so I can make the changes myself? Do you have another idea?
Thank you so much for your time
Maria
Maria, would you email me at sarah@sarahplumitallo.com with what you feel should be the correct translations? I worked with two Spanish-speaking colleagues on the Spanish translations, so I’d like to see what improvements can be made; I’ll update the file after doing so and you will be able to redownload. Unfortunately I can’t send the unlocked file due to copyright. Thank you!
Maria, would you kindly try the sarah@sarahplumitallo.com e-mail again? I believe I’ve fixed the issue.
Hi, Sarah!
I decided to use a clip chart for this upcoming year, but I just wasn’t loving the traditional ones that I saw. I’m tickled to have found yours! Thank you! 🙂
I read your statement, “Last year I spent the first month of school tying my clip chart into each and every language arts lesson. Every read aloud. Every writing assignment. We spent hours discussing our clip chart.”
Can you please give me some examples of how you incorporated a discussion of the clip chart into everyday subject material? (I also teach 3rd grade.) I’m worried that I’ll discuss the character traits during the first week or so of school, and then neglect revisiting them throughout the year.
Thank you!
Hi, Chelsie! This is a GREAT question.
One way I kept character traits present is by incorporating a discussion of them naturally during our language arts block. When reading fiction, or auto/biographies, one of the comprehension strands we’d always touch on is analyzing character. We would determine what traits from our chart, if any, the characters embodied, and if none what actions they took in the story/their life could they have changed to have exhibited one of the traits.
Another way I kept character traits present is by doing a brief weekly class meeting in which we hashed out any class-wide issues we were having, supported one another, celebrated success, and talked about a goal we might have related to one of the traits. For example, we might’ve discussed how we aren’t turning in our work in a timely manner as a class, so we’d discuss responsibility and make a goal for that for the upcoming week.
Hope this helps! Thank you for your wonderful feedback!
the calendar says it is editable, but when I try to edit it says I do not have access rights?
Angie, are you trying to edit the PDF? The PDF is not editable but the included PowerPoint is. 🙂 Please let me know if I can help troubleshoot for you further!
I was trying to edit the PDF. For some reason it says it is editable? I will open it in PowerPoint instead. Thanks! 🙂
I tried opening it and it still says I don’t have access rights. I am using Open Office with Windows 10. Maybe I’ll wait until I am in my classroom rather home and try it there.
Are you opening the PDF in Open Office or the PowerPoint? When you download the product from TpT it comes as a zip file – when you unzip it there is a PDF as well as a PowerPoint. I’m not familiar with Open Office, but you should be able to open the PowerPoint file itself.
I am a newly hired “at-risk” teacher and we utilize a school-wide moral focus curriculum. This seems perfect and I may use it with my various caseloads and see how it works. When I transition to my own classroom 2017-2018, I hope to use it full scale in the classroom! Thanks
SO excited for the editable traits version that I can coordinate with our school-wide traits. Such a good idea…following you now. Thank you!
Three cheers for this product! I’ll implement it with my 2/3 combo class and am looking forward to great results. And a high-five to the power of Pinterest as well–I had searched on that site for a flexible seating anchor chart, and a pin with your character clip chart appeared right next to it. Feels like I hit the behavior jackpot this morning. 🙂 Thanks for your hard work and making it available to other professionals.
Hi! I just bout your product on TpT and I love it! However, i have a few questions. If you could contact me please at silkakern@gmail.com (TpT store : ESL Village) Thank you!
Hi! I just emailed you.
This looks fantastic Sarah. How many learners do you have in your class? I am teaching kinder this year (I teach in South Africa, so we are starting our second semester tomorrow) and I have 40 in my class. Do you think this would work effectively with such a big class too?
Hello! I read your post and questions and I love this idea. I have been researching behavior plans for months ( I am going from 4th to 2nd) and this is the best to me so far. Two questions:
1. Can you give me specific explains of how you discipline? I know what students I will have and know I have a very hyper active class this year.
2. Do you only use your brag tags on their necklaces for the traits or do you incorporate other brag tags as well for other things?
Thanks!