Elementary Lesson Plans

Below, you will find the Medal of Honor Character Development Program’s elementary lesson plans. You can search and sort to find a lesson or download a PDF of all the lessons.

Our elementary lesson plans are designed to inspire your students to be their very best selves, and teach them the foundations of good citizenship through the core values of real Medal of Honor Recipients. While the first few lessons will welcome your students to the Character Development Program and the Medal of Honor, later lessons will explore how students can embody the values of courage, sacrifice, integrity, commitment, patriotism, and citizenship in their own lives. To keep students engaged, each module contains a combination of lecture-style teaching, discussions, activities, and videos that tell the inspiring stories of Medal of Honor Recipients across many generations.

For Elementary students, we suggest starting with the Introductory Lessons (Introducing the Character Development Program, Introducing the Medal of Honor, Exploring the Six Core Values, and Honoring Citizen Heroes) and then moving on to grade-specific lessons. There is also a set of Culminating Lessons, accompanied by a set of seven elementary-specific Character Club videos that focus on each of the seven core values.

Keep in mind that the elementary lesson plans are designed to be flexible. We know that you, the teacher, are the expert in your classroom, so we encourage you to adjust as needed: do only some of the activities, swap out the suggested Recipient Living History, or spread a single lesson out over a week. Some elementary teachers build a whole course around the lessons, and others pull lessons to use around Veterans Day. Some schools have fully embraced the program and have it in every classroom, while some teachers use it independently. Find what works for you!