With a proactive approach, one of our goals is to reach the entire student body as often as possible. We are able to do this by teaching 30 to 40 minute counseling lessons to each class about every two weeks. The foundation for the instruction of life skills meets the American School Counselor Association national model. The lessons are based on our local school's needs as identified through administration, staff, parent, and student needs assessments. Our lessons cover three domains of academic success, career exploration, and personal/social. Please check this page for our most recent lessons.
March 28 - April 1
Kindergarten - Community Helper Detectives
This week's focus was on careers. Students had an opportunity to share with the class what they hope to be when they grow up. Then, we read the story, Curious George Takes a Job, by H.A. Rey. After the story, the students became detectives by looking at picture clues to solve each community helper mystery. This lesson is a great introduction to our Careers on Wheels event that happens Friday, April 1st! Watch for pictures of the event on our blog!
March 14 - 18
Tattling or Reporting?
It is very common for 5 and 6 year old children to tattle. We need to consistently and repeatedly teach the appropriate time to get an adult's help and the appropriate time to solve the problem on your own. This lesson explains the difference between tattling and reporting.
Tattling
You are trying to get someone in trouble.
It is something you can solve by yourself.
No one is being hurt or harmed.
It is not that important of a situation.
Reporting
You are trying to keep other safe or get them out of trouble.
You need help from an adult to solve the problem.
It is a harmful or dangerous situation.
It is an important situation.
The students enjoy watching an episode of Seven Little Monsters to see examples of tattling and reporting. After the video, we spend a few minutes talking about those examples. Then, the students are given several common scenarios and they have to decide if it is an example of tattling or reporting and why. This is a great way to determine if they understand the difference and have great conversations about why it is tattling or why it is reporting.
February 28 - March 4
Self Control
This week we are learning what it means to use self-control! The lesson starts off with a cute Sesame Street video clip of Cookie Monster trying to resist eating a chocolate chip cookie by using self-control. Then, we read the story, Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale. Clark is a little loud in the classroom, likes to get up out of his seat, eats his friends' lunches without asking, and plays a little rough with his friends. He realizes that these behaviors tend to cause him trouble. Luckily, his teacher teaches him the phrase, "Stay Cool!" Clark puts his self-control into practice and things start getting better for him. After the story, the students are given two tasks to help them practice self-control. First, they play Jenga in a small group and have to practice pulling the blocks carefully and slowly so not to topple the tower. Secondly, each student is given either a mini-marshmallow or Gummy Bear and are told that if they use self-control and don't eat it during their Jenga game, they will get a second one. However, if they can't wait and decide to eat their treat early, they will only get one. It has been fun watching the students practice their self-control skills.
Feel free to reinforce this skill by noticing when your child uses self-control in all situations.
You can use an encouraging statement such as, "Wow. You are really showing great self-control right now!"
February 7 - February 11
Valentine Friendship
With Valentine's Day coming up, we found a great book to use in our lesson on friendship! We read, The Mouse in the Hammock: A Valentine's Tale by Bethany Brevard. The little mouse realizes that the best gift of all is his friendship. The students get to watch a quick Sesame Street video about friendship. Then, we play a human tic-tac-toe game by figuring out if certain scenarios are Friendly or Unfriendly. The kids always have fun playing a game while learning!
January 24 - January 28
Teamwork
This week we are talking about and practicing our teamwork skills. We read the story, The Giant Potato by Aubrey Davis where an entire family (including the pets) work together to pull a giant potato out of the ground. Then, we watch a video about teamwork. After reviewing some important ways to be a team player, we practice being a team with two fun activities. We sit in a circle and pass a ball from person to person without using our hands. And, we stand in a circle, hold hands, and move a hula hoop around the circle without letting go of our hands.
To help reinforce teamwork at home, feel free to acknowledge when the family is working or playing together as a team, talk about t.v. shows, books, or movies that demonstrate positive teamwork, and give positive reinforcement when your child is demonstrating teamwork.
January 10 - January 14
Finding Hope
Sometimes situations occur and we feel sad, frustrated, or worried. It is important to make sure our children know that there is always hope in the smallest problems and in the biggest problems. This week our students heard the story, Little Mole Finds Hope by Glenys Nellist. Little mole's mom helps him to see the hope in different situations throughout the book. After the story, we talk about several problems that may cause us to feel sad and how we can look at the hope in those situations. Then, the students draw a picture of their own situation and then draw the hopeful outcome.
November 29 - December 3
Listen, Really Listen
This week's lesson is all about Active Listening. The students learn that to truly listen, we need to use our entire body from head to toe, not just our ears.
- Brain - Thinking about what is being said.
- Eyes - Looking at the person speaking.
- Mouth - Mouth is closed waiting until the speaker is finished talking.
- Heart - Showing that you care about the person speaking and what they are saying.
- Hands - Hands are still while someone is speaking.
- Feet - Feet are still while someone is speaking.
- Body - Facing the person speaking.
We watch a cute story about Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. Then, we discuss how active listening can help us at school, at home, with our family and friends. The students finish the lesson by drawing four things they use to help them be an active listener (brain, eyes, heart, hands, feet, mouth).
Check out this website for more stories with Howard B. Wigglebottom!
https://wedolisten.org/
November 8 - November 12
The Jelly Donut Difference
With World Kindness Day coming up on Saturday, November 13, we decided it would be a great time for a counseling lesson on KINDNESS! We got to read an adorable book called, The Jelly Donut Difference by Maria Dismondy. It demonstrates two siblings learning the value of family and kindness. The class spends some time brainstorming ways to show kindness in all different places: school, lunchroom, school bus, home, neighborhood. Then, they finish the lesson by creating their own paper donut sprinkled with action words that demonstrate kindness.
This Friday each class will receive a SECRET RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS MISSION to complete that day.
It might be fun to do some secret RAK's at home this weekend too! See the chart below for some great ideas!
October 18 - October 22
Don't Judge a Book by its Cover
The lesson starts off with a fun "hook." We bring out two wrapped presents. One is wrapped very poorly with torn paper, smushed bow, duct tape, etc. The other is wrapped beautifully. We ask the students which present looks better. The way they are wrapped probably indicates how good the present is on the inside. So, we open the beautifully wrapped present first and it is filled with something not so great. Then, we decide to open the other one and we find that it has M & M's inside. We use this demonstration to explain that we can't know what is on the inside based on what we see on the outside. It is the same with people, we have to get to know them before making a decision on what type of friend they might be. Then, we ask a student to come to the front of the room. They close their eyes and we give them one M & M to put in their mouth. Then, we ask them what color they got. They usually guess wrong. The students explain that they all taste the same. You can't tell the difference in the colors. Next, we talk about how all the M & M's are different on the outside but the same on the inside. Once again, we compare that demonstration to people. We are all different on the outside, but the same on the inside: we all have feelings, we all want friends, we all want to have fun, etc. Next, we read the story, The Legend of Spookly the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano. The kids love the book and the idea that being different is something to celebrate. We follow up the book with a quick video about Being Different is Beautiful. Finally, the students color their own Spookly pumpkin any way they want to that shows we are all different and that is a good thing! Oh yes, each student gets a few M & M's to enjoy while they are coloring too!
October 4 - October 8
What is Bullying Behavior?
Now that students know how to manage conflicts by using "I" messages, we want to teach them what is and is not bullying behavior.
The students learn that for a "mean" behavior to become a bullying behavior...
- it has to be repeated
- it was done on purpose
- there is an imbalance of power
- the student being bullied doesn't feel that he/she can make it stop on their own
If you ever feel that your child is being bullied or has witnessed a bullying incident, please feel free to contact the classroom teacher or one of the school counselor for assistance.
September 13 - September 17
"I" Messages
This week our students are learning how to solve problems by using an "I" Message. First, they listened to the story, A Weekend with Wendell, by Kevin Henke. It is a difficult weekend for Sophie as her friend Wendell comes over to her house and then takes over! After the story, we talked about all the problems that happened in the story and how Sophie handled them. Come to find out, Sophie didn't really do anything to help solve the problems. That is when the students learned what an "I" Message sounds like and how to use one. The students had fun coming to the front of the class to help create an "I" Message for various conflicts. If you would like to encourage your children to solve their own conflicts, remind them to use an "I" Message. Here is the template and a couple of examples:
I feel _____________
when you _____________.
Could you please _____________.
I feel angry when you barge into my bedroom. Could you please knock first?
I feel sad when you won't take turns with the video game. Could we try to take turns?
August 31 - September 3
Empathy
This week we are learning what it means to show EMPATHY! Our students are learning what it means and how it can improve our relationships with our family, friends, peers, and other adults in our lives. We start our lesson with a great video from Sesame Street! The characters explain (in a fun way) what it means to have and show empathy. Next, we read the story, You, Me, & Empathy, by Jayneed Sanders. It is a wonderful book about a little girl who shows empathy to her family and friends. We end the lesson by playing a ball toss game. The students are given a scenario and have to tell us how the person feels in that situation by tossing the ball into a basket with the correct feeling picture on it.
If you want to continue developing empathy with your children, you can ask questions while reading a book, watching a movie, or T.V. show. How do you think that made the character feel? How would you feel if that happened to you? What would you do in that situation? How could you show kindness in that situation? You can also help your child identify his/her own feelings by saying, "You seem really sad about that." or "I bet that made you feel a little nervous."
August 16 - August 20
Kindergarten Lesson
Meet Your School Counselor
We had a great first lesson getting to know each other this week! I took the time to call each student's name and ask them to tell me one thing about themselves. They may have told me about their siblings, a pet, their favorite color, or if they play a sport. Then, I told them a little bit about myself and my family. We read the story Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High Fives, by Erainna Winnett. Except, I changed it from Mrs. Joyce to Mrs. Briggs. It is a story about what a school counselor does and how she helps students. Then, I did a magic trick for the students, showing them how our unpleasant feelings (like mad, sad, scared) can change to more pleasant feelings (like happy, silly, cool) after visiting with the school counselor. The students finished the lesson by coloring in a handprint to represent a "high-five." Please take a moment to ask your kiddos about this lesson and who is their school counselor!
August 16-20
First Grade Lesson
I can control my
feelings!
We had a great first lesson!!! We reviewed the role of a
school counselor to start the lesson.
Next, we watched a Sesame Street clip called: Name that Emotion! The students enjoyed each character and assisted
on naming the feeling based on the characters’ descriptions. Then, we had a little fun experiment with
Skittles to introduce our coping strategy for our big feelings! It was so cool to watch the beautiful colors
of the skittles turn into a rainbow. We
talked about how using the colors of the rainbow can help us calm our bodies! Using the rainbow, we found something in the
room for each color of the rainbow. We
finished by coloring the rainbow to remind us to use our strategy!! Remind your
children to try that when they are feeling BIG feelings!!
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