Confidence
March's Character Trait of the Month
Learning and Life Competency Skill Sets
- I know myself.
- I am aware of skills, behaviors, and attitudes that help me.
Self Management:
- I identify, express, and manage emotions.
- I exhibit self-regulation.
- I demonstrate perseverance and resilience.
Social Efficacy:
- I communicate and problem solve effectively.
- I demonstrate empathy and respect.
- I foster healthy relationships.
- I am assertive and I self-advocate.
- I cooperate and participate.
- I demonstrate civic responsibility.
Academic Efficacy:
- I invest in quality work.
- I organize to learn and study.
- I set goals and self-assess.
Conversation Starters About Confidence:
- Discuss a time you felt super confident. Discuss a time you did not feel confident.
- What does confidence look and sound like? In a classroom? At home? In the community?
- What does a classroom feel like when everyone feels confident?
- How can others help increase your confidence?
- How can you help others feel more confident?
- What actions cause others to lose their confidence?
- Is it okay to not be confident in everything you do?
- How does persistence help build confidence?
- What steps can we take to make our school a confidence building place?
Considerations for Read Alouds:
- Character Trait read alouds are a great way to connect students with other staff members in the school and can be incorporated into specials.
- If you would prefer to use a video version of the story through the links below, all YouTube videos can have the closed captions turned on and put into English, Portuguese, or Spanish.
Confidence picture books promote the positive side effects of high self-esteem / confidence, including:
- Taking responsibility for our actions
- Forming positive relationships
- Feeling confident and respected
- Feeling proud of our achievements
- Understanding mistakes is part of learning
- Being resilient and independent
- Being confident of our decisions in the face of peer pressure
- Having a positive self-image
Confidence Themed Book Possibilities:
- How Full Is Your Bucket?: Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer (Spanish) (Portuguese)
In this story the main character learns a valuable bucket filling metaphor and watches it come to life as the day unfolds. Every moment matters. Each of us has an invisible bucket. When our bucket is full, we feel great.
- I Like Myself: Karen Beaumont (Spanish) (Portuguese)
In this story using rhymes and beautiful illustrations the reader learns to celebrate self-acceptance and self-love. The text uses high energy and imagination to encourage us all to have the self-esteem to appreciate everything about ourselves -inside and out.
- It's Okay to Make Mistakes: Todd Parr (Spanish)
This story embraces mistakes and shows the joy of happy accidents. Everyone makes mistakes and that's how we build our confidence and learn!
- Remarkably You: Pat Zietlow Miller
This book is written as a manifesto of all the things that make us who we are. The book works to promote the reader to know that all of the parts of us that make us unique are what is special and we shouldn't strive to be just like anyone else.
- A Little Spot of Confidence: Diane Alber
Confidence Spot Song that accompanies the book
This book uses an orange spot to help a reader visual how their own confidence can grow or shrink. It's an important lesson to know that our confidence can change and that it happens to everyone.
- Crown An Ode To The Fresh Cut: Derrick Barnes
This story pays tribute to the power of a new haircut for someone's self-esteem. The book poetically shows the excitement of connecting with your community while also appreciating an experience that builds your own confidence.
- Beautiful, Wonderful, Strong Little ME: Hannah Carmona Dias
In this book the main character Lily knows that she does not look like her friends, and others have noticed. Through playful, lyrical lines, Lilly speaks up for every child who has been asked What are you? in this celebration of self-love and acceptance.
- The World Needs More Purple People: Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart
This story works to have the reader become a purple person by embracing what makes us each unique. While we are all unique we can also build our confidence by finding common ground with others.
- After The Fall: Dan Santat
An epilogue to the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty, this story teaches the reader to summon the confidence to try again after failure and to have the courage to face their fears.
Questions for Picture Books About Confidence:
- Why do you think [character] had low/high self-esteem?
- What actions did [character] take because of their low/high self-confidence?
- How did [character] feel when they compared themselves to others?
- Could [character] change their self-esteem? How?
- How do you think [character] overcame their challenges and increased their confidence?
- What lesson did [character] learn? Do you think they now have higher self-esteem?
- What do you think [character] learnt about themselves by the end of the book? How do you think they will use this knowledge?
- Why do you think [character] fears trying something new?
- What can [character] learn from their mistake? How does this improve confidence?