Being Fair

During the month of December and January, our character trait of the month is FAIRNESS.  Sometimes fairness is hard for children to understand because it doesn't always mean being "equal."  It really means that everyone is given what they need to be successful and everyone is treated like the way you want to be treated.  In first grade we read the book Being Fair by Mary Small.  This book shows many great examples of how others can be fair to each other by following the Golden Rule.

Afterward, I did a quick activity using band-aids to reinforce the idea that being fair doesn't always mean being equal.  I asked a few volunteers to come up front and fake some injuries: a broken arm, a headache, a scratch on your hand, a broken leg.  Then I went to each student and put a band-aid on their hand.  All the kids were surprised and didn't understand why I put a band-aid on everyone, to which I replied, this way it is equal!  We discussed how even though it is equal, it is not giving everyone what they need to help their injury.  This was a great visual for students to apply their knowledge to.  Students then came up with their own definitions of what fairness means and drew pictures to illustrate an example of fairness.