Honesty

With K-1st grade the lesson focused entirely on the difference between pretending and lying. Pretending is fun and playful, like when we pretend to be a superhero or princess. Our goal when we pretend isn't to make anyone believe we are really a superhero or princess, only to play the game along with us. A lie, however, is meant to get out of trouble, get something we want but don't deserve, or to make people believe something that isn't true. When we tell a lie it isn't usually to have fun with others in a playful way and when people find out we have lied they are usually disappointed or angry. Telling a lie usually ends in a hurt relationship or getting into trouble.

To help illustrate the point of the lesson I read two picture books:

• The Adventures of Beekle the Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
• Tell the Truth, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra or Princess K.I.M. and the Lie that Grew by Maryann Cocca Leffler

After reading each book we talked about how the stories were different and how the outcome was different for each character regarding their friendships, trustworthiness, or consequences. The lesson ended with the animated book Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey on His Back by Howard Binkow, which is accessed on the website wedolisten.org. 

Second through fourth graders are more mature, of course, and so was their lesson. For them I created a MadLib-style story about a character who lies several times (see below). To simplify the process of having students select words to fill in the story, I created a PowerPoint where each slide acted as a word bank for each slot in the story. Once completed as a class activity, I read the story to the students. The twist to this story time is that one volunteer helped illustrate the difficulty of keeping up with lies. As the story progressed, I handed a plastic dinosaur (6-12" in size) for the volunteer student to hold on to. The dinosaur represented each lie told by the main character in the story. With several lies throughout the story, this task became increasingly difficult. It is an easy visual for students as they see the volunteer have more and more difficulty holding on to the uncomfortably-pokey dinosaurs -- as is the case with holding on to details of a lie or managing the guilt we feel. 

When the story is finished we processed what happened to the volunteer and then we talked about reasons why people are tempted to lie and what the "cost" is for lying.

Lisa’s Big Day of Lies

Once there was a girl named Lisa. She was (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) years old. One day during Show-and-Tell at school, Lisa’s classmate showed his (huge, tiny, slimy, smelly) pet. It was a (Purple-Throated, Yellow-Bellied, Blue-gilled, Green-backed) -- (monkey, tarantula, snake, bird). It was so cool! Lisa really wanted to touch it to see if it felt (smooth, soft, scratchy, fluffy, prickly) or (smooth, soft, scratchy, fluffy, prickly), but the teacher said that it was absolutely off-limits.

While the class was at recess, Lisa sneaked inside. She knew it was against the rules to go inside without permission from a teacher. Lisa really wanted to take a closer look at her classmate’s animal. When she touched the animal, she was surprised that it was so (tiny, angry, cuddly, puffy). She put the animal back inside the cage and went back to recess.

The teacher saw her walk out the door and asked Lisa where she had been. Lisa answered “I had an upset (stomach, foot, head, elbow, knee) and thought that going to the bathroom would help. It was an emergency.”

The teacher replied “Okay, but next time you really need to get permission before you go inside.”

Her teacher believed the lie! Lisa couldn’t believe how easy it was to get out of trouble!

When the class came back inside after recess, the animal cage was empty! It was easy to see the lid was partly open. The teacher (laughed, screamed, shrieked, howled, sang) and  (jumped, ran, danced, cartwheeled, flew) “How did this happen? This is terrible! We need to call the (police, fire department, principal, school nurse, Army)!”

Soon, the children started (screaming, laughing, pointing, burping). “Mrs. Miller! The animal is on your (Smart Board, hair, shoulder, desk, glasses)!”

Mrs. Miller (fainted, squealed, laughed, jumped) and eventually put the animal back in its cage.

After the class was settled down, Mrs. Miller asked Lisa what she knew about the animal escaping. Lisa thought a while and answered “I saw someone come through the classroom window. I think it was a/an (alien, ninja, robber, pizza delivery man). He told me not to tell or he would (tickle, steal, chase, squeeze) me!”

Mrs. Miller got a (funny, confused, angry, sad) look on her face and went back to teaching the class about (presidents, chimpanzees, long-division, cheeses of the world).

When Lisa got home from school, her mom asked about her day. She was feeling guilty about her day, so Lisa decided to tell another lie to keep her mom from asking any questions. She said “Oh, my day was (okay, fantastic, funny, awesome)! My teacher let us have extra recess and I got to play (soccer, princess, tag, kickball, gymnastics). It was fun!”

After finishing her homework, Lisa was supposed to go clean her room. She didn’t want to. Instead, she decided to play with her (Barbies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, American Girl Doll, Legos). When her mom called her in for dinner, she asked Lisa “Did you get your room clean?”

Lisa answered “Of course I did! My room looks (spotless, perfect, awesome, unbelievable)!”

While Lisa’s mom was doing the dishes, Lisa decided to watch TV. She was only supposed to watch shows her mom had approved. While Lisa was going through the channels, though, she found a show about (pirates, beauty queens, ninjas, dinosaurs, weddings) that looked really exciting. When her mom came in the room and saw what was on TV, she was (sad, mad, furious, disappointed, confused). “Lisa, I have told you before that you aren’t allowed to watch TV shows like that! What were you thinking?”

Lisa had to think quickly “Um.....I was actually watching a cartoon about (bunnies, puppies, kitties, princesses, superheroes). But, right before you walked in here, I (sneezed, tripped, fell asleep) and dropped the remote. When the remote hit the floor, it switched to this show. That’s what happened! Honest!”

Lisa’s mom believed her, but made sure the TV was on a cartoon before she left the room.

Soon the phone rang. It was Lisa’s teacher. As her mom talked, Lisa tried to listen in. It was clear that Mrs. Miller was telling Lisa’s mom all about what really happened at school. After she finished talking with Mrs. Miller, Lisa’s mom began asking for the truth.

“Mom, I really did have an upset (stomach, foot, head, elbow, knee) and went inside. I really did see a (alien, ninja, robber, pizza delivery man) coming through the window and he really did threaten to ­­­­­­­­­­(tickle, steal, chase, squeeze) me if I told anyone what happened. Honest!”

It was too late and Mom was too smart for Lisa…she knew Lisa had lied about everything. Mom took Lisa to her room for a long time-out and that’s where she discovered that Lisa had lied about cleaning her room, too. “Lisa,” said Mom, “it sounds like you have had a day full of lies. Did it feel good to lie?”

Lisa shook her head no and started to cry.

“It is time for the day of lies to be over. You’re going to go to bed now and when you wake up you’re going to go back to being honest. I want to be able to trust you and so do your teacher and all of your friends. Can you do that?”

Lisa nodded and Mom gave her a big hug. Lisa was relieved to be finished with all the lies. It was hard to keep up with all the stories she had made up.