Talk with fourth-grade students about the Six Pillars of Character: citizenship, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, responsibility and respect. Assign homework where students must write a couple paragraphs about why each of the pillars is important and what each means to them.
Assign fourth-grade appropriate books that explore themes related to character. Examples include "Island of the Blue Dolphins," which talks about courage, and "The Little Princess," which explores compassion. Talk with your class about the books, their themes and about the character traits contained within the story lines.
Reward students when they exhibit good character traits in their daily actions. For example, give a student a colored pencil or a decorative eraser if she helps another student. Students who choose poor behaviors, such as lying, may be punished by writing an essay about why their behavioral choice wasn't a good one.
Ask students to write their own stories around a specific character trait of their choosing. They could write stories demonstrating honesty or hard-work.
Find news stories that illustrate character traits in the local newspaper. Copy the story, hand it out to students and read the story in class. Lead a discussion by asking the fourth graders their thoughts regarding the news story.