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Doing the Right Thing

A 40-minute Kindergarten lesson on the civic virtues a class needs: fairness, honesty, patience and respect.

Doing the Right Thing is a free 40-minute Kindergarten to Grade 2 social studies lesson plan for Common Core standard D2.Civ.7.K-2 — show fairness, honesty and respect in how you take part at school. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Kindergarten to Grade 2
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
D2.Civ.7.K-2

Kindergarten to Grade 2 · Civics

D2.Civ.7.K-2

Apply civic virtues when participating in school settings.

Objective

Students will be able to name the fair thing to do in a classroom situation and say why.

Students are successful when they can

  • Names the fair action.
  • Gives a reason.
  • Names the virtue it shows.

What you need

  • Four virtue cards: fair, honest, patient, respectful
  • Situation cards
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — four words

5 min
  1. Read the four virtue cards. Give a one-line example of each.
  2. Keep them on the board all lesson.

Teach — the hard ones, not the easy ones

13 min
  1. Give an easy situation. Everybody knows the answer.
  2. Give a hard one: you broke it and nobody saw. Wait.
  3. Take the honest answer and name the virtue.
  4. Give another: you were first but somebody else needs it more.
  5. Say why the hard ones matter: a virtue you only use when it is easy is not doing much.
“Nobody saw. That is exactly when it counts.”

Guided practice — name the virtue

12 min
  1. Pairs take six situations, say what they would do, and hold up a virtue card.
  2. Two of the six have more than one right answer.
  3. Take feedback on the hardest one.

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the doing-the-right-thing page.
  2. Read each situation aloud.

Close

2 min
  1. Take one situation from today's real playtime and name the virtue.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Gives the answer they think is wanted rather than what they would do.

Why: The right answer is obvious and saying it is easy.

Fix: Use situations with a real cost. The gap between knowing and doing is the lesson.

Thinks fair means the same for everybody.

Why: Equal shares is what fair has meant so far.

Fix: One child has a broken arm. Fair is not always identical, and this is the first time that idea lands.

Names the virtue without a reason.

Why: The card is right there.

Fix: Ask why that one and not another. The reason is the thinking.

If they are not there yet

  • Two virtue cards rather than four.
  • Give the action and name the virtue.

If they finish early

  • Find a situation where two virtues pull opposite ways.
  • Say what makes a virtue hard.
  • Name a virtue not on the cards.

Exit ticket

You knock over somebody's model and nobody saw. What do you do, and why?

What to look for: Owning it, with a reason. A right answer with no reason means the why-that-one question needs asking.

Printable practice for D2.Civ.7.K-2

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Doing the Right Thing

How long does the Doing the Right Thing lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Doing the Right Thing teach?

D2.Civ.7.K-2 — D2.Civ.7.K-2, Civics for Kindergarten to Grade 2: “Apply civic virtues when participating in school settings.” In plain terms, show fairness, honesty and respect in how you take part at school.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

Four virtue cards: fair, honest, patient, respectful, situation cards and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: gives the answer they think is wanted rather than what they would do; thinks fair means the same for everybody and names the virtue without a reason. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “You knock over somebody's model and nobody saw. What do you do, and why?.” Owning it, with a reason. A right answer with no reason means the why-that-one question needs asking. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Doing the Right Thing?

Yes — 1 printable D2.Civ.7.K-2 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Doing the Right Thing free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to D2.Civ.7.K-2 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.