Character Connections brings learning to life with Duke & Gertrude, our lovable dog and kitten mascots, and a robust menu of character development lessons that can be seamlessly woven throughout your educational day.
With Duke & Gertrude part of every adventure, children play, learn, and grow - building kind hearts, strong minds, and lasting character.
Character Connections
Say hello to the Character Connections Mascots!
Building character. Through practice & application.
Our new resource, Character Connections, is designed to be used anytime, anywhere! No matter if you have a character education program in place or not, Character Connections bridges the gap between "knowing" what to do, and "doing" the right thing.
The mascots, Duke & Gertrude guide and encourage the practice of 8 core values - fairness, kindness, respect, responsibility, empathy, cooperation, perseverance, and citizenship - through a variety of fun and engaging activities.
What's Included:
The mascot scenarios will tackle tough topics in a nurturing and lighthearted way, as well as be a memory hook for teaching and retaining positive behaviors and core values.
Starting each day with a personal greeting helps set a positive tone for the day. Greetings build new connections and a sense of belonging, boosts academic engagement, and reduces disruptive behavior.
Inspirational quotes get children motivated to think deeply and are an effective way to directly teach character traits and life skills that need to be reinforced.
Characters in books bring the core values alive! They demonstrate the traits we want our children to be aware of and use (or maybe not use!) in real life situations. Literature gives children a chance to see other people's perspectives. Stories are just GREAT TEACHERS!
The proof is in the pudding! If children are actively learning, concepts take root! In fact, movement, like role-playing, simulations, debates, discussions, skits, games, etc. does not take place, anywhere from 20% to 80% of learned cognitive information is lost! (Madigan, n.d.)”
Connect emotionally with the core values through easy to remember lyrics, rhyming words, and routines. Repetition helps us remember and apply our skills. Cheers, songs, and poems are also great ideas for ‘brain breaks!’”
It WorksI found Character Connections to be a great program with a lot of value!!! It provided engaging tools to help kids develop important social-emotional skills and the incorporation of the mascots was so fun! This has led to better peer interactions, increased emotional awareness, and a greater sense of community within the group.
Duke & Gertrude & Educator Flipbook.
Duke & Gertrude join you, as you explore real-life scenarios that challenge your children's choices. Sometimes Duke & Gertrude make wise decisions...and sometimes they don't! But that's where the fun and learning begins.
Connections MadeI love connecting children with animals. Involving animals allows my students to be more vulnerable, and to think outside of themselves. Having the mascots, Duke and Gertrude, in the lessons allows my students to have empathy, without explicitly telling them to. I especially like the wide variety of skills and characteristics that this program offered.
