“Honesty”
Supplemental Activities for Ruhi Book 3, Children’s Lesson 10
Picture Books
*Please note that the term “R.L.” below refers to the reading level of the book, the
grade at which the student can read the book independently. “I.L.” refers to the
interest level, the book can be read to children in these grades.
1. Honest people can be depended upon and trusted
Believing Sophie by Hazel Hutchins
Sophie goes to the store to get the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. She is
accused of shoplifting and has to defend herself. Children sometimes are wrongly
accused and this book demonstrates well how someone can prove to others that
he really is being honest (or any other virtue). Activity: Making cookies. Honesty
can taste very sweet. There is a recipe in the book for Sophie’s cookies. The quote
could be written and illustrated on a piece of paper and covered with contact paper
or laminated. The children could then eat their cookies on their “honesty” placemat.
(The book is out of print, but may be in libraries)
The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan & Jan Berenstain (R.L. 3) (I.L. Pre-
K-3) Brother and Sister break Mama Bear’s favorite lamp and learn the importance
of telling the truth rather than covering up. Role Play: Have the students role play
or make a skit about having to admit a big mistake and making amends. Talk about
the courage it takes to be honest and to set things right. Also see The Empty Pot
below.
A Day’s Work by Eve Bunting (Mexican- American) (R.L.3rd grade) (IL 1st-5th)
Bilingual Francisco waits with his Spanish-speaking grandfather at a place day
workers are hired. He lies to get his grandfather a job and learns from his
grandfather the importance of honesty even in very difficult circumstances.
Activity: Glue a quote on honesty on craft the children have made. Look on the
web or in multicultural art books to get ideas for simple crafts to make from Mexico.
The Empty Pot by Demi (China) (R.L.3) (I.L. K-5th)
This beautifully illustrated story powerfully shows the courage it takes to be truthful
and the rewards of honesty. Ping, who loves to grow flowers, feels ashamed when
he presents an empty pot to the Emperor in a flower-growing contest. His
truthfulness bears amazing fruits. Activity: Have the students make a Chinese
craft from a multicultural book. (Tangrams works well. Put “making tangrams” or
Chinese art projects for children into a web search and you may get some good
ideas.” Glue a quote on honesty on the craft. This makes a nice piece of work to
display in the home.
“Honesty”- Supplemental Activities for Ruhi Book 3, Children’s Lesson 10 Page 1
Compiled by Liz Arrambide, email finchread@yahoo.com
The Secret Room by Uri Shulevitz (Middle East)(R.L. 3rd grade) (I.L. 1st-5th)
An old man who lives in the desert shows great wisdom and honesty in dealing
with a greedy counselor and the king. The humor and the illustrations make this a
great read a loud. Activity: Ask the students to make a picture from the story or
have someone teach a simple craft from the Middle East (Idea: Calligraphy or craft
from Iran) or look for ideas on the web or in Multicultural Art Books. Glue a quote
on honesty on the artwork.
2. Honesty and sharing it with a spirit of utmost kindliness and goodwill are
qualities that attract the human heart
The Honest-to-goodness Truth (African-American) by Pat McKissack (R.L. 3rd
grade) (I.L. K-3) This is a delightful story illustrating that one must be tactful when
being honest and truthful. Activity: Skit: Bring a few props and let the students
perform a skit using kindliness and good will while be honest and another skit what
happens when these qualities are not used when being honest.
3. Honesty includes being honest with oneself and bringing “thyself to
account each day”.
Activity: Have the students sit in circle and make up a statement that is true, but is
missing some important detail. The circle can ask “What is the rest of the story?”
and with humor the important details can be added. Example: a student could say
“I have done a great job cleaning the house. Look how nice it looks.” What is the
rest of the story?” “I just hope that no one steps on the rug and hears the
crunching of the cookie crumbs.” Circle: “What are you going to do next?” Student:
“I guess I have some sweeping to do.”
4. Honesty means that stealing, lying and cheating are not permitted.
Role play: Have the students act out a situation where they see friends cheating,
lying or stealing and how they would handle it with goodwill, kindness and justice.
Show that you can’t trust or depend on someone who is not usually honest.
Art project: Ask the class to make picture or a mural on butcher paper of
problems that occur when people lie, cheat and steal. Example: In stores and
public libraries there are screens to tell if an item hasn’t been paid for (store) or
checked out (library). Implications: Everything we buy is more expensive because
we have to pay for the machines, video cameras etc. to make sure people don’t
steal. What would the world look like if all people were honest? What could
change? Would everyone feel safer and more secure?
“Honesty”- Supplemental Activities for Ruhi Book 3, Children’s Lesson 10 Page 2
Compiled by Liz Arrambide, email finchread@yahoo.com
5. Honesty as a part of consultation
Look at the quote: “the Baha’i principles of consultation are tools for
discussing openly., honestly and tactfully any problem which arises within a
family. The goals is to allow “the truth to be revealed” in a way which will solve
the problem to the benefit of all. When used by a couple or a family,
consultation is a powerful means for maintaining unity.” (BIC, 1993 Nov. 25,
Family in a World Community)
Activity: Make up a skit of what family consultation should or should not look
like. Some possibilities:
1. Discussion on how house hold chores are divided.
2. Daughter wants the car keys but mom and dad want to go out together
for the evening.
3. Teenager wants to go off with friends, but parents don’t approve
4. Kids have done the chores they were asked to, but the parents don’t
feel that they were done well enough.
5. Conflicts between parents and kids on what events the family will
attend (Kids want to go to a baseball game and parents want to go to a
concert.)
6. Child is in a store and wants something, but the parent says “no”. (One
family would ask the child to give 3 logical reasons why he/she should
have the item. It usually became clear to both the child and the parent
whether the purchase was necessary or an “I wanna”.)
“Honesty”- Supplemental Activities for Ruhi Book 3, Children’s Lesson 10 Page 3
Compiled by Liz Arrambide, email finchread@yahoo.com