Teaching Character Strengths Through a Schoolwide Book Study

This article was written by Melissa Cahall, School Counselor at Patriots STEM Elementary School in Cabarrus County Schools, North Carolina. Patriots STEM is one of 44 schools in Cabarrus County, a district that adopted The Positivity Project (P2) across every campus in 2022. This year, the school paired P2 with its “Wild About Learning” theme and a schoolwide read of The Wild Robot.

Patriots STEM Elementary School partners with The Positivity Project (P2) to teach character strengths and develop The Other People Mindset (OPM). This year, our schoolwide theme, “Wild About Learning,” gave us a way to build P2 into daily instruction through our “One Book/One School” selection, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown.

One Book/One School means every class in the building reads the same book at the same time. Kindergarteners and fifth graders were following the same story, which gave the whole school something to talk about all at once. Pairing that with P2 meant that students worked through the same character strengths at the same time.

More On Our “One Book/One School” Program

Led by our STEM coach, Kate Highsmith, this P2-aligned work built character strengths into grades K through 5 using a shared text and consistent language. Daily read-alouds and structured discussions focused on kindness, self-control, perseverance, love of learning, social intelligence, and OPM helped students connect the text to their own experiences at school and at home.

Every teacher throughout our school was working from the same pages in the book, so a strength introduced in one classroom was being introduced everywhere else that week. This meant that students heard the same vocabulary from every teacher in the building.

Reading About Roz and Learning Character Strengths

As students followed the story of Roz, the main character of the book, they examined how various characters responded to new situations, worked through hard moments, and supported one another during challenges. Instruction emphasized recognizing when others are struggling and taking action through kind words, helpful behaviors, and thoughtful choices.

That is just one of the five elements of OPM. The others are identifying and appreciating the good in others, knowing that your words and actions affect others, cheering others’ successes, and being present and giving others your attention. The story of Roz the robot learning to live among animals gave students plenty of places to look for all five.

For many young students, using a book like this to identify and practice OPM is easier than jumping right into practicing on each other. Students could say what Roz should have done without anyone in the room being the one who did it. From there, students were encouraged to notice and name positive behaviors in their own classrooms, giving appreciation to the people around them. The vocabulary they built around the book was the vocabulary they had at recess, so it made it less intimidating to begin using in their own lives.

Where the Story Met Our STEM Work

P2 supported interdisciplinary learning at our school as well. Roz’s problem-solving and observation aligned with our focus on creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. This helped reinforce curiosity, perseverance, and a love of learning in our students.

Additionally, as a STEM school, we already ask students to observe, test ideas, and work in groups. Roz does all three across the book. That overlap meant our character work and our STEM work were happening in the same lesson, so neither one took time away from the other.

Taking P2 and The Wild Robot Home

P2 isn’t just taught in our school. Family engagement opportunities and shared resources extended P2 language beyond the classroom and strengthened home-school connections. We gave families the same materials their children were using in class, so a parent or caregiver could ask their child what Roz did that week and learn about the character education curriculum along the way. We also held a virtual visit with the author, which gave students a chance to meet the writer whose book they had been reading all year.

What We Learned From the Book Study

Through our ongoing partnership with P2, Patriots STEM Elementary has built a schoolwide approach to character education that connects instruction, relationships, and school culture. Every grade read the same book and used the same character strengths to talk about it. By teaching character strengths and modeling OPM, our community continues to bring P2 principles to life each day, demonstrating #PositivityInAction.