EDUCATORʼS RESOURCE GUIDE - Learning Seed

Lesson Plan 1a (page 2 of 2)
(Estimated Length: 40 minutes)
I. Lesson Set-up (10 minutes)
1. Before class, access the following websites and choose 5 dilemmas that are appropriate for your class:
! Good Character! http://www.goodcharacter.com/dilemma/archive.html
Quose !! http://www.quose.com
2. At the beginning of class, share with students the following:
• Moral dilemmas can be used to assess how children think about moral situations at various stages of
their development.
• Examining moral dilemmas is useful to understand how moral development takes place, and also to
inform caregiving adults as to what is developmentally appropriate for children at various ages.
3. Read each dilemma to the class and probe for responses. Ask students why they feel as they do. Represent
responses visually on white board/projector etc.
II. Learning Activity (20 minutes)
1. Explain to students that they will be reading various dilemmas and answering questions about how they would
handle each one.
2. Distribute copies of “Moral Dilemmas: What Would You Do?” (Worksheet A in the Appendix) for each student
to complete independently.
3. Facilitate a class discussion about each dilemma and their responses.
III. Closure: Discussion (10 minutes)
Have a class discussion about Moral Development. The five questions below should guide your daily closing
discussion.
Answer Key
1. What is moral development?
2. How can moral development be assessed?
3. Why is awareness of moral development important to our society?
4. How can adults foster positive moral development in children?
5. How could a lack of moral development lead to negative consequences?
1. 3-year-oldʼs answer: “JOHN - He broke so many!”
2. A. 4-year-old ! “Itʼs bad to steal. She will be punished.”! ! ! ! ! !
B. 7-year-old ! “She should return it...but if she had no other way to get a
present she could use that money...if she doesnʼt get caught.”! ! ! !
!
D. 17-year-old! “She should return it. If it were mine, I would hope someone would return it to me. !
! ! ! Keeping it would be stealing and we canʼt condone stealing or what would our
! ! ! society be? She should give it back for the good of society.”
C. 9-year-old ! “She should try to find the owner and give it back. Whoever lost it deserves it back. !
! ! ! People canʼt just go around taking what isnʼt theirs!
3. Moral Rule; Social Rule
A Child's Mind: How Kids Learn Right & Wrong
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