Accomplishment
April – 3rd Grade
Accomplishment: To complete a task successfully; an achievement.
Purpose: To teach students to understand the importance of working hard to achieve an
accomplishment
Quotes:
“It is not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.”
John Wooden
“It’s how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success.”
David Feherty
Materials: each student should have a piece of notebook paper for the final activity
Activity 1
1. Ask students if they know what the word accomplishment means?
2. Next give the students the definition of accomplishment.
(Completing a task until you can do it successfully)
3. Ask the students to share some of their accomplishments.
(sports, school, clubs, family)
4. Share some stories of YOUR accomplishments. You can even share a story of when you were
their age & what you remember accomplishing, such as learning to ride bike without training
wheels or learning how to whistle.
Activity 2
Read the following clues to the class and see if they can guess who achieved accomplishment after
many failures.
1. Politician: Ran for political office seven times and was defeated each time.
Answer: Would you have given up on politics if you had been defeated 7 times in your run for political
office? Any guesses as to who it was? I’m glad that Abraham Lincoln didn’t give up. He was
defeated for legislature, defeated for speaker, defeated for nomination to Congress, defeated for Senate,
defeated for nomination to Vice Presidency, defeated again for Senate. Yet he hung in there and
succeeded in becoming the 16th, and one of the most respected, presidents of the United States.
2. Cartoonist: All he wanted to do was to sketch cartoons. He applied with a Kansas City newspaper.
The editor said, "It’s easy to see from these sketches that you have no talent." No studio would give
him a job. He ended up doing publicity work for a church in an old, dilapidated garage.
Answer: And what about the cartoonist whom no one would hire? The one who was told that he had no
talent? The old garage he worked in was in such bad shape that it had mice. One day, he sketched one
of those mice. Any guesses as to the name of that mouse? The mouse one day became famous as
"Mickey Mouse." The artist, of course, was Walt Disney.
3. Writer: His first children’s book was rejected by 23 publishers.
Answer: The writer whose children’s book was rejected by 23 publishers? Take a wild guess…. Dr.
Seuss. By the way, the 24th publisher sold six million copies.
4. Inventor: In the first year of marketing his new soft drink, he sold only 400 bottles.
Answer: The soft drink that sold only 400 bottles its first year? Coca Cola.
5. Athlete: As a baseball player, he struck out more than any player in the history of baseball: 1,330
times.
Answer: The baseball player who held the strike-out record? He also held, for many years, the home
run record. His name is Babe Ruth.
Follow up discussion to activity 2:
 How did these people show accomplishment?
 How do you think these people felt when they failed so many times?
 What do you think they had to do in order to overcome their failures?
 Explain this: You can become either "bitter" or "better" from tragedies. And the only difference
between these two words is the letter "i". "I" have the choice as to whether to grow or wither
from my tragedies.
Activity 3
1. What are examples of accomplishments that third graders might have?
2. Why is it important to accomplish the goals you set for yourself?
3. Come up with one goal that you want to accomplish before the end of this school year. Write it
down and explain how you will achieve this accomplishment. Place this piece of paper in the front of
your notebook so you can see it everyday and remind yourself everyday to keep working towards your
goal.
4. Have the students share their goals
Closing: Tell students that this is the last character education lesson. Remind them to continue working
towards their accomplishment. If they reach their goal by the end of the school year as you instructed
them do, then tell them to set a goal for the summer. (read a certain number of books, do a special
chore for your parents each day, etc…)
Lesson Plan Evaluation
Character Word___________________Grade Level_____________
Objective
Was the lesson easy to read and understand buy the
teachers?
Was the sequence of the lesson correct?
Were the activities easy to understand?
Were the students engaged throughout the lesson?
Did the students enjoy the activities?
Were the materials easy to use?
Were the visuals appropriate for the learners?
Were there adequate activities planned?
Was the lesson relevant to the learners?
Comments:
Yes
Somewhat
No