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Today's Objective:
  • To learn the word of the week
  • To familiarize the advisees with a current event

Class Format: Whole-Group

Time Allotment: One 15-minute session

Word of the Week: Virtue
[vur-choo] - noun
1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.
2. conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude. rmore definitions on dictionary.com
Current Event:Discuss this week's current events, locally and from around the world.
    • Click HERE and allow students to read news article.
    • When finished, discuss:
      • What is happening?
      • Who is involved (countries, parties, people)?
      • Where is this taking place (part of the world)? If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you might use it. Start at Batesville.
      • Why is this happening?
      • How does this affect me


Essential Questions/Topic Starters: One definition of virtue is moral excellence, goodness, and righteousness. Can you identify people in your life that you would describe as virtuous under this definition? For what reasons do you think many people might fall short of being seen as virtuous?

Today's Suggested Activities:
  • 1 minute
    • Define Virtue (and write or display definition on the board). Definition: (Use one of the above definitions.)
  • 5 minutes
    • Discuss the Essential Question: One definition of virtue is moral excellence, goodness, and righteousness. Can you identify people in your life that you would describe as virtuous under this definition? For what reasons do you think many people might fall short of being seen as virtuous?
  • Remaining Session - (if time remains)
    • Journalizing and Discussion: Discuss character traits that help a person become more virtuous. Using what you have learned, write a personal goal in your journal to help you become more virtous.
    • Discussion: Discuss this week's current events. Click here to link to MSNBC U.S. and World News.
  • Homework: Strive for more excellence.

Key Terms: virtue, excellence, righteousness, goodness

Quote: "My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage." - Aunt Frances in the movie Practical Magic.

Resources: Dictionary.com, Wikipedia, About.com MSNBCNews

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