To Be, or Not To Be, Honest

75 MINUTES

personal skills: integrity

TEACHING RESOURCES

Post it note or other small paper 1 per student

HDO #1: Quotes - 1 per student
HDO #2 : Stories (Lexile: 1040) - 1 per student
HDO #3: Blog entry - 1 per student
HDO #4: Evaluations - 1 per student
Dice one per class
Scrap or recycled paper, one piece per student

DESIRED RESULTS
Established Goals:
SkillsUSA Framework Component: Integrity
Component Essential Element: Demonstrates Honesty
Common Core Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RHST.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the texts explanation or depiction of a
complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RHST.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the
precise details of explanations or descriptions
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RHST.9-10.5
Analyze the structure of the relationships among concepts in a text, including relationships among
key terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction force, energy).

Understandings:
Students will understand that

Essential Questions:
What does integrity mean?
How does integrity relate to honesty?
Why is it important for individuals to be
honest and live with integrity?
How honest do I live my life?

Integrity and honesty play an important

role in all parts of our lives
Each person exhibits an individual level
of honesty to others

Students will know

Students will be able to

Characteristics of integrity and honesty

How to exhibit honesty in real world
situations

Define integrity
Recognize the relationship between
honesty and integrity.
Evaluate individual level of honesty in
school, home and the workplace

ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE
Performance Tasks:

Other Evidence:

Self-Evaluation

Evaluation of quotes (Marginalia)

Double Entry Diary
Term Comparison

TEACHING/LEARNING PLAN
Key Terms:

Differentiation:

Integrity
Honest
Relationship
Truth

Read aloud: Readings provided can be

read aloud by teachers or other students.
Group Pairings: Teacher can predetermine groups based upon varying
levels of student ability.

TIME LEARNING ACTIVITIES OUTLINE:

Outline of instructional sequence taking place.

3 min

Bell Ringer:
Post the bell ringer on a writing surface or on PowerPoint. Students write responses to
the bell ringer.
You have a part-time job at the local grocery store. The manager asks you to
work an extra shift all day Saturday. You agree. Friday night your friends call and
invite you to go boating at the lake Saturday. What do you do?
Next, we will gather some data. Provide the four possible answers to the scenario below
on a common surface. Instruct the students to write the number on the paper next to
their most likely response to the scenario posed above, there is no need to put their
name on this paper:
1. I would go to work because I already committed to it.
2. I would find someone else to cover my shift.
3. I would call in a say there was a conflict and I could not make it.
4. I would call in sick.
Quickly collect the papers and tally the responses on the board for everyone to see.
Analyze the data with the students. Ask for a volunteer from each option to share why
they believe they would pick that option.

5-6 min

Interest Approach:
Students will utilize the Marginalia tool, to respond to the quotes on the Honesty Quotes
handout (HDO #1). To do this, students will insert written notes, drawings, charts, or
other markers along the margin of the quotes. In addition, connections, questions,
visualizations, inferences or other thoughts can be written in the margins as well.
Students will be provided 3-4 minutes to complete this task after you distribute the
Honesty Quotes (HDO #1) handout. First, using one of the quotes, demonstrate how to
use the process. Show an example with drawings, charts, notes etc. to the class as you
provide directions.
To get

students thinking before and during the activity, pose the following questions:
What do I already know about this?
What are the major ideas?
What do I need clarified?
What questions do I have?
What images or pictures come to mind?

The final step in utilizing this tool is to have students write a summary about what they
have read. Provide 5 minutes for students to write a 3-4 sentence paragraph about what
they read. They should use the stems and their notes/drawings to complete the summary.

1 min

Preview Objectives:
Posted

for students to view.

Define integrity
Recognize the relationship between honesty and integrity.
Evaluate individual level of honesty in school, home and the workplace

State the objectives to the students and offer any clarifications (if needed).

20-22
min

Understanding #1
Ask students to define integrity. First have them work independently and write their
definition in their notebook or piece of paper. Next, have them share their definition
with one or two other classmates, noticing similarities and differences. Provide the teams
3 minutes to create a collective definition. Have each group share their definition with
the entire class.
Write the definition of integrity provided below on the writing surface or on a
PowerPoint slide. Have students capture the definition in notes, explaining this is the
common definition the class will use as they dig deeper into the concept.
Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral
uprightness
After sharing definition, ask for clarification and/or how similar personal definitions
were.
Pass out Honesty Stories (HDO #2). Students will use A Double-Entry Diary to complete
the following task.
Have students divide their paper into two columns. In the left column, students will
write specific information from the text they are reading. This should include factual
information, quotes, or short passages. For this reading, students should write at least
three-four pieces of information. In the right column, students will respond to each piece
of specific information they write. To guide the students, provide a variety of stems for
students to respond to on a common surface everyone can read. Stems can include, but
are not limited to, the following:

This makes me wonder

This connects with integrity because
This is important because
I dont understand
This makes me think of integrity because

At the conclusion of the reading and double-entry diary work, conduct a student lead
class discussion on the stories and responses to stems. Ask for a student volunteer to
share their thoughts on one of the five stem questions, then have them lead a short class
discussion on that topic. Repeat this for each of the five stems.
At the end of the student lead discussions, make sure students understand that all of the
stories dealt with honest and integrity. Make connections to integrity in the workplace
from these examples.
Conduct the A to Z Review from SkillsUSA Accelerate (pg. 14). This activity will be used
to solidify their understanding of Integrity before moving deeper into the lesson. This
competitive activity challenge students to think faster than the other groups. Begin be
dividing the students into groups of 4-5. Provide each group with an area of the chalk/
white board or a piece of paper. Each should have the word INTEGRITY printed
vertically. Teams will be challenged to come up with words or short phrases that connect
with what integrity means for each of the letters in the work. One team member will go
first and then hand off the writing utensil to the next person, each team member will
contribute in order. The first group that is done will share with the entire class.

20-22
min

Understanding #2
Distribute Being Honest (HDO #3). Provide five minutes for student to read the article
Give students one minute to work with a partner and create a working definition of
honest. Have students share the definitions.
Share the following definition on writing surface or PowerPoint to be captured as notes.
Honest: Free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/honest
Lead a discussion on what students believe is the relationship between integrity and
being honest.
What did we discover about integrity?
What is our definition of being honest?
How are these two qualities the same? Different?
Provide HDO #4 to students. Term Comparison is a strategic reading tool where students
compare terms or concepts from the text using sentence stems to find similarities
and differences. This strategy provides students with structured guidance for their
comparisons.

To utilize Term Comparison, select key terms from the text that students will compare
in this reading, compare integrity and honesty. Provide the comparison template on
a handout, the writing surface, or in a PowerPoint slide. Students will complete the
template identifying similarities between terms and differences between terms, using 3-4
minutes.
The comparison template looks like:
Integrity and honesty are similar because they:
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Integrity and honesty are different because
_______ is ______, but ______ is ______
_______ is ______, but ______ is ______
After completed, have class share their ideas.
Conduct a discussion about this article using a dice. Post the questions below on a
common surface that all students can read. Have each student roll the dice and respond
to the question below that matches the number they roll.
1. What examples of honesty and integrity were shared in the work/friend scenario
we talked about earlier?
2. How does being honest affect our relationships with others?
3. In what ways do we demonstrate honesty at school?
4. How do we show integrity and honesty at home?
5. What happens in the workplace if people arent honest?
6. On a scale of 1-10, (1 is low, 10 is high) how important is being honest and living
with integrity important to you. Why?

Post the following steps to honesty on a writing surface or PowerPointreveal one at a

time and have students capture in their notebook the steps to demonstrate honesty:
Steps to Demonstrate Honesty
Tell the truth.
Keep your promises.
Express yourself positively.
Voice your opinion in a thoughtful manner.
Follow the rules.
Complete assigned tasks and chores.
Tell the truth!!
Divide into small groups of 3-4 students giving them five minutes to discuss: what makes
being honest and demonstrating honesty such a challenge?
Specifically apply question and discussion in these areas:
In the workplace
At school
With friends and family
In SkillsUSA
Students should also provide at least two real-life examples or scenarios. They can be in
any of the four categories.
Have groups share their ideas with the class. Working in the same groups, give one
minute to create an action plan or ways to overcome the challenges they listed. Have
groups share their plans.

20 min

Understanding #3
Review definitions of integrity and honest so they are top of mind for students.
Divide students into groups of 3-4. Have groups read and respond to questions for the
two scenarios. Distribute Evaluation (HDO #5). Have students work on the first page
only. Take three to four minutes.
When finished, assign each group Scenario #1 or Scenario #2. Groups should take
three minutes to create a role-play (involving all group members) which illustrates the
situation AND any ideas/responses from the statements and questions.
Have each group present their role-play. Have students watch and listen for similarities
and differences portrayed in each.

Challenge students to think about honesty and integrity in terms of their own life right now. Have students look at page two of Evaluation (HDO #5). This is a personal
evaluation of a persons integrity and level of honesty. This should be completed
individually in three to four minutes.
Discuss as a class what it felt like to respond to questions. What are some specifics that
individuals want to work on to be more honest and live a life of integrity?

5 min

Review/Closure:
To conclude the lesson, conduct a snowball review. Provide each student with a scrap
or recycled piece of paper. Each student will write down what they feel is the most
important fact from todays lesson. When you say Snowball students will wad up their
paper in a ball and toss it around the room. When you say Freeze students will pick up
a snowball, read the fact(s) written on it and add a different fact. Repeat this 3-5 times.

End of Year Evidence:

Self-Evaluation of Honesty/Integrity

Extended Learning Application:

What additional opportunities can be offered for the students to be equipped in exploring and
experiencing the framework and standard(s) being taught through career readiness?
How will students continue to practice the use of the skill or knowledge on their own?

Extended classroom activity:

Students take their individual self-evaluation (HDO #5 page two) to a trusted adult and
discuss his/her responses. Students write a summary paragraph about the discussion with
adult.
Students keep a journal/log for one week and record situations and responses where being
honest and living with integrity were exhibited.

SkillsUSA:
Volunteer to visit a youth group or elementary classroom and read the book The Boy Who
Cried Wolf. After reading this book, conduct a discussion with the class about what you
have learned related to honesty and intergrity.
Have the local SkillsUSA chapter officers complete parts or this entire lessonhave them
discuss, evaluate and apply the importance of honesty and integrity to being leaders of the
chapter.

Workplace:
Students interview a local business owner/manager. Focus includes the economic impact on
business when employees are dishonest. Prompts for interview might include: What does it
cost your business when an employee is dishonest with a customer?; What is the economic
effect on business if you have to let an employee go because of dishonesty?
Have students share their self-evaluation (HDO #5 page two) with current employer or a
potential employer. Discuss the level of honesty and integrity needed in the job or position.

References
www.oxforddictionaries.com
http://humanresources.about.com/od/Trust/g/what-is-integrity.htm
http://allianceforintegrity.com/integrity-articles/
http://www.parenting.org/article/being-honest
http://plunksperceptions.blogspot.com/2007/11/is-truth-synonymous-with-honesty.html

HDO #1
Honesty Quotes
To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or
measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. Douglas Adams
Integrity has no need of rules. Albert Camus
Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence
and ability to perform shall cease to exist. Mary Kay Ash
Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobodys
going to know whether you did it or not. Oprah Winfrey
The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A life lived with integrity - even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune is a
shining star in whose light others may follow in the years to come. Denis Waitley
The highest compact we can make with our fellow is, Let there be truth between us two forever more. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson
In failing circumstances no one can be relied on to keep their integrity. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The glue that holds all relationships together -- including the relationship between
the leader and the led is trust, and trust is based on integrity. Brian Tracy
Integrity is the first step to true greatness. Men love to praise, but are slow to practice it.
To maintain it in high places costs self-denial; in all places it is liable to opposition,
but its end is glorious, and the universe will yet do it homage. Charles Simmons
Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and most
difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Walter Anderson
Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesnt blow in the wind or change with the weather.
It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who wont cheat,
then you know he never will. John D. MacDonald
Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness,
not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the
proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values. Ayn Rand

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HDO #2
Honesty Stories
(Page 1 of 2)
The CEO of the company kept the employees up-to-date on the struggles the business was
experiencing with clear and frequent communication at team meetings. Employees felt as if
they knew exactly what was happening.

They were not blindsided by the CEOs request that they all take a 10% pay cut so that
the company could avoid layoffs or furloughs for the time being. The employees also felt
confident in the turn-around plan they were following as they had helped develop it and they
trusted their CEO.

John was a developer who had taken a path that was not working out to optimize the
process the code was supposed to create. Rather than patching together a solution that was
not optimum, but that would allow him to save his work, he went to his team. He explained
the dead ends he had run into and that he thought that they could create problems for the
continual development of advanced features for the software product in the future.
The team discussed and worked through the problem. John scrapped all of his code and started
from scratch with the teams input. His new solution allowed the team to be able to expand
the products capabilities easily in the future.
Barbara went to the womens restroom and used up the last bit of toilet paper in her stall.
Rather than leave the dispenser empty for the next employee, she tracked down the location
of the toilet paper and replaced the empty roll. Sure, it took her five minutes, but she didnt
leave the next employee in a bind.
Ellen missed a deadline for an important deliverable her team was supposed to have
developed. Rather than throwing her team members under the bus, even though they hadnt
delivered as promised, she took responsibility for the missed deadline.

She addressed the problems with her team and they put in place safeguards that would keep
them from underperforming again. Team members recognized their contribution to the failure
but there were no repercussions because Ellen took responsibility as the team leader. (They
also recognized that a repeat failure was not allowed.)

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HDO #2 (Page 2 of 2)
Two team members were discussing another team members failure to perform. They talked
critically about the individuals lack of skill and imagination. They criticized his follow through
efforts and his production. Paul entered the room in the midst of the gossip and discussion,
listened for a minute, and then, interrupted.

Does George know that you feel this way, he asked? How will he ever improve if no one talks
to him about his perceived failures? There may be reasons that we dont know about. Reasons
that we could help him overcome. Lets plan to speak with George so that we can pull the
team together to best get the project done. Who wants to approach George? Lets have this
conversation quickly so we dont screw up the project.

Mary, the HR manager, was approached by an employee who wanted to formally complain
that her boss, a senior manager, was bullying her. Mary immediately investigated the situation
and discovered that indeed, the manager was acting in ways that could be considered
bullying.

Other employees had experienced the same behavior. Several employees had brought to
his attention how his actions made them feel (Brave souls). Mary asked the complaining
employee how she wanted the situation handled. The employee asked Mary to mediate a
conversation because she was afraid to talk to him on her own.

Mary set up a meeting and was able to facilitate the conversation. She also warned the
manager that he could not retaliate. I would like to say that the manager stopped the
behavior. But, he did not. Mary finally went to his boss, a Senior VP, who intervened powerfully. Then, the behavior changed. This story is an example of employees doing the
right things, having courage, and demonstrating personal and professional integrity at each
step.

A customer asked Mark, a customer service rep, whether a software product would perform
certain functions that she needed. These capabilities were the deciding factors in whether she
would purchase the product. Mark thought that the software would perform the needed tasks
and told her so.

However, he also indicated that he was not positive, that he would talk with the other reps
and the developers and get back to her that day with an answer. After talking with the
others, he discovered that one capability was missing. He called the customer who decided to
purchase the product anyway as she had been unable to find one that did a better job.

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HDO #3
Reading taken from: http://www.parenting.org/article/being-honest

Being Honest
When you have done something, whether its good or bad, you need to be honest and always tell the
truth. Being honest lets other people know they can trust you. If they can believe what you say, you will
be considered trustworthy. Sometimes, people will ask you questions about your involvement in a situation. To tell the truth, you should:
1. Look at the person.
2. Say exactly what happened if youre asked to provide information.
3. Answer any other questions. These can involve what you did or did not do, or what someone
else did or did not do.
4. Dont leave out important facts.
5. Admit to mistakes or errors if you made them.

Reasons for using the skill, Being Honest: It is important to be honest and tell the truth because people
are more likely to give you a second chance if they have been able to trust you in the past. We all make
mistakes, but lying will lead to more problems. If you get the reputation of being a liar, it will be hard for
people to believe what you say. Plus, when you are honest, you can feel confident that you have done the
right thing.
Being honest can be difficult. Many times, it will seem like lying is the easiest way out of a situation. But
when people find out that you have lied, the consequences are much worse.
Lying is the opposite of telling the truth. Lying is similar to stealing or cheating. All will result in negative
consequences for you.
http://plunksperceptions.blogspot.com/2007/11/is-truth-synonymous-with-honesty.html

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HDO #4
Blog Entry
August 15th, 2011 by Jim Thomas

People often interchange the great virtues of honesty and integrity as if they are one and the same.
But, they are decidedly distinct and separate, each being important in its own way.
As Professor Stephen L. Carter of Yale Law School points out in his book Integrity, one cannot have
integrity without being honest, but one can be honest and yet lack integrity. Consider that for a
moment.
The word integrity is invoked to describe everything from the condition of old master paintings
to the state of human organs. We see it in TV advertising and politics. It appears in the names of
businesses, apartment complexes, and on outdoor signage. That poses a problem. Everybody who
uses the term seems to mean something different from everyone else.
Integrity in its bare-bones essence means adherence to principles. It is a three-step process: choosing
the right course of conduct; acting consistently with the choiceeven when it is inconvenient or
unprofitable to do so; openly declaring where one stands. Accordingly, integrity is equated with
moral reflection, steadfastness to commitments, trustworthiness.
The major difference between honesty and integrity is that one may be entirely honest without
engaging in the thought and reflection integrity demands. The honest person may truthfully tell what
he or she believes without the advance determination of whether it is right or wrong. This can range
from matters mundane to the complex.
For example, one friend may tell another, Only poor people work on garbage trucks. She may be
honest in her belief without taking the time to determine if she is right.
Consider this example. Being himself a graduate of an elite business school, a manager gives the
more challenging assignments to staff with the same background. He does this, he believes, because
they will do the job best and for the benefit of others who did not attend similar institutions. He
doesnt want them to fail. He claims integrity because he is acting according to his beliefs.
The manager fails the integrity test. The question is not whether his actions are consistent with what
he most deeply believes but whether he has done the hard work of ascertaining whether what he
believes is right and true.
Many refer to integrity as the thinking persons virtue. Is it any wonder?
Source: http://allianceforintegrity.com/integrity-articles/

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HDO #5
Evaluation
(Page 1 of 2)
Scenario #1
You are a sales clerk in a store and some of your friends come in right before closing and want
you to let them shoplift. Your manager is gone and you and one other sales associate are the only
employees there. Your friends say that they wont take any expensive items and that your manager
wont even know.
If you refused to let them shoplift, would that make you a disloyal friend? Explain your answer.
How would you respond if your friends said to you:
-

Just turn your back. You wont even be involved.

Dont let it bother you. Everybody does it.

This store rips everybody off. Were entitled to get even.

Many people think you cant get ahead being honest. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

Scenario #2
You are walking with your friends outside of school near the practice fields. One of your friends,
Joe, sees a baseball next to the sidewalk behind the baseball field. He picks it up and puts it in his
backpack. You ask him about it, knowing it belongs to the schools baseball team. Joe said, finders
keepers, losers weepers and says the team wont miss it. You tell him thats stealing. Joe says its not
stealing since it was just lying on the ground. Joe then asks you not to say anything about it. You
agree.
Where was honesty exhibited?

Who acted with integrity?

If the situation happened to you, what would you do the same? Differently?

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HDO #5 (Page 2 of 2)
Self Evaluation
Respond to the statements based on your level of honesty and integrity at school, work and at home.
Circle the number that is most accurate for you.

I always try and do what is right,
even if it is difficult

Seldom Sometimes Always

1
2
3
4
5

I am true to my very best self

I live up to my highest ethical standards

I dont compromise my values

I am truthful, sincere and straightforward

I dont lie, cheat or steal

I dont intentionally mislead others

How many lies do you get to tell before you are a liar?

Do you consider yourself to be an honest person? Why?

What would you do if you found $1,000 on the shelf beneath an ATM machine and nobody saw you find it?

Is there anything wrong with a small lie to parents or friends to keep from upsetting them? Why or why not?
How important is it to you that your friends be honest?

What risks are involved in being honest? What risks are involved in being dishonest? How do you benefit from
being an honest person?

What does YOUR ability to be honest have to do with YOUR integrity?

My plan for being honest and living a life of integrity in the future is:

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