Giving a compliment isn’t so scary, third graders learned in an early Halloween activity at Fairfield Elementary School. On Oct. 9, students in Christine Russo’s class walked around the room to write positive character traits on each other’s paper ghosts.
The project started with children coloring their paper ghosts and adding legs. Then, it was time for their peers to contribute. Students were tasked with visiting every desk to write a word that reflected a positive character trait of that specific classmate. They were encouraged to think outside of the box and use more complex and detailed adjectives.
Ms. Russo said that in preparation for the project, students have been learning about character traits in fiction books. They read several books from the Jory John and Pete Oswald series including “The Good Egg,” “The Bad Seed” and “The Smart Cookie.”
When all the ghosts were filled with words, students came up to the front of the room one by one to share the positive character trait that most defined them. In addition to building a classroom community centered on kindness, Ms. Russo hopes that children will incorporate their expanded vocabulary into their own writing.