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 - 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 staff, administration, 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.
February 14 - March 4
Thanks for the Feedback!
Sometimes it is difficult to receive a compliment with a simple, "Thank you." It can also be challenging to accept constructive feedback from your teacher, coach, or parent. During this lesson, our 2nd and 3rd grade students learn about giving and receiving feedback. We watch several short video clips of some competition television shows judging the contestants. The students point out the difference between a compliment and constructive feedback from each clip. We also read the book, Thanks for the Feedback by Julia Cook. As a class, we talk about ways to respond to both compliments and constructive feedback. We end the lesson by having the students review a new game and give us feedback about the product. What they like, don't like, and what they would change.
This is a wonderful lesson to reinforce at home. When your child receives constructive feedback from a teacher, a coach, a friend, or yourself, remind them that it is to help them grow and improve. Then, talk about the best way to respond: "Thank you for letting me know. That is great feedback! I will do my best to work on that."
January 31 - February 11
Teamwork
It is all about working together this week! Learning to work and play as a team is a valuable life skill. It will help students when completing group projects in school, playing sports, being in the band or chorus, help them as they work with colleagues in a future career, and so much more. In this lesson, we read the story, Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland. After discussing the story, the students have a teamwork challenge. It is an activity called, "Save Fred!" They are given a gummy worm, a gummy lifesaver, a clear plastic cup, and four paper clips. After we set up the items, they must work together to save the gummy worm. It is a fairly challenging task that we know our students will be able to master with the help of their team!
January 18 - January 28
You're Here for a Reason!
This lesson is all about students recognizing their strengths and purpose in this world. We start the lesson by reading the story, You're Here for a Reason, by Nancy Tillman. It is a great rhyming story saying that we are all part of the world's puzzle and all of our acts of kindness make an impact on others. After the story, the students share with the class something that makes them special and unique; their interests or hobbies; what they hope to achieve in their life. Then, each student is given a puzzle piece to design and color. All the puzzle pieces are put back together to create one big design to show that each person is just as important as the next and they all belong in the puzzle.
December 6 - January 14
Focus
As a continuation to Active Listening, we are practicing our Focusing skills this week. All of us know how important it is to maintain focus when the teacher is speaking, completing an assignment, listening to our friends, or cleaning our room. However, it can be challenging when distractions arise. Distractions can come from noises, items/toys within our grasp, T.V., video games, other people, the weather, the room temperature, our hunger, even our own thoughts. The trick is to practice our focusing skills and learn how to block out those distractions.
We have several activities during the lesson where the students get to practice maintaining their focus. They watch a "Bubble Bounce" mindfulness video where they are told to keep their eyes on a certain bubble. Then, the students listen to a story being read while I try to distract them by doing different activities in the room. After the story, they are asked several comprehension questions to see how well they were able to focus. Our next activity is a memory game. The students take turns trying to make a match by focusing on the pictures that other students have already uncovered. Lastly, the students are shown a word on the board. They are asked to tell me the color of the word rather than read the word. This, too, requires a special kind of focus.
The students really seem to enjoy this lesson and practicing their focus skills!
November 15 - December 3
Active Listening
This is a really fun lesson practicing our active listening skills! We start with a great book called, Listen, Buddy! by Helen Lester. Then, we talked about what it means to be an active listener. The students learn that listening requires you to use more than just your ears:
- Eyes - look at the person speaking
- Brain - think about what is being said
- Hands & Feet - remain still
- Mouth - closed
- Body - face the person speaking
- Ears - listen to what is being said
We also discuss how active listening helps us at school, at home, with our friends, and with our families. The students get to practice their active listening with a fun drawing activity. Each student is given a blank piece of paper. We read a set of directions, one step at a time. If the students follow the directions correctly, they will end up with a picture of a bunny or a bear. The kids really enjoy this lesson and practicing their listening skills.
As a parent, I know our children don't always listen when we speak or ask them to do something. If you've experienced the same thing, here are a few tips to try:
- Use your child's name before you make a request.
- Make sure your child has paused the t.v. show or video game they are watching.
- Ask them to look at you.
- Make your request. Be specific about when you would like them to complete the request.
- Sometimes children struggle with multi-step directions. So, give them one direction at a time if needed.
- Ask them to repeat back to you what you said.
- Give them positive feedback after they followed your directions.
October 25 - November 12
Tough!
This week the students are enjoying the third book of our series called, Tough! by Erin Frankel and Paula Heaphy. This story is from Sam's point of view - the girl that has been bullying the other kids. We learn that Sam is being treated in a mean way by her brother, she is TV watching shows that model negative peer interactions, and she is jealous of some of the other kids. In the end, Sam demonstrates empathy towards others and starts developing positive friendships. After reading the book, each student is given a paper heart. We go over several of the situations from the stories that may have "broken" someone's heart. Each time we hear one of these situations, the students tear a piece of the heart. Then, we talk about ways that we can mend a broken heart: through kindness, friendship, upstander behavior. The students glue their hearts back together on a new sheet of paper to remind them to be kind to others. We hope that this unit on Bullying Behavior has been informative and helpful! Please let us know if your child ever needs help in a bullying type situation. We do not want this behavior at our school and will do what we can to prevent it from happening.
October 11 - October 22
Bystander or Upstander?
The students are so excited to read the second book in our series called, DARE! by Erin Frankel and Paula Heaphy. This time the story is from the perspective of the bystander turned upstander, Jayla. It really illustrates the dilemma kids experience when they have been bullied and when they see bullying happen. It is difficult to stand up for others out of fear that they may become the new target. After the story, we discuss the differences between an Upstander and a Bystander and how important it is to have courage to become an upstander. Then, each student has a chance to tell how they would be an upstander in different situations. After they answer the question, they get to shoot the basketball into a kids' basketball goal. Finally, we watch a great video by Soul Pancake that demonstrates a social experiment about bystander behavior. The students learn that the larger the group of people, the less likely anyone will jump in and help someone. The smaller the group of people, the more likely someone will help. This is called the Diffusion of Responsibility. Ask your child about this phenomenon and how it works.
As parents and adults in our children's lives, it will be valuable to model upstander behavior in all situations: welcoming new neighbors, helping someone broken down on the road, getting something off a high shelf for someone at the grocery store, stopping gossip when you hear it, etc. Also, praise your children when you see them being an upstander. You can also point it out in books that you are reading or movies you are watching.
September 20 - October 8
Is it Bullying, Mean, Rude, or Conflict?
This week students are learning to decipher between various negative interactions with others. Many times it is difficult to determine if a negative action is bullying, mean, rude, or just a conflict between peers. The students watch a great video about bullying behavior to get the lesson started. We read the first story of a three-book series, Weird, by Erin Frankel and Paula Heaphy. The first story is from the perspective of the student being targeted. The kids are really enjoying the book and many can relate to how the main character is feeling. Next, we go over the characteristics of the different types of behaviors. See the chart below. Finally, the students work together to sort through various scenarios and categorize them into bullying, mean, rude, or conflict behaviors. As school counselors, educators, and parents it is important to help our students identify what type of behavior has occurred so they can know what types of strategies to use in each situation.
In our next lesson, we will read the second book of the series, Dare. It will be from a bystander's perspective. We can't wait to talk about ways students can by "upstanders!"
September 7 - September 17
Conflict Resolution
Our students learned that conflict means having a problem, disagreement, or argument with another person or group of people. We read a cute book called, The Almost Terrible Playdate, by Richard Torrey. The two children in the story had a difficult time deciding what they wanted to play and finally figured out how to play together. Our students really enjoyed the book and related to this type of conflict. After the story, we learned and reviewed ten different ways to solve problems with friends, classmates, and siblings. The students spent the last part of the lesson matching up conflict scenarios with one of the ten strategies for solving problems.
If you would like to encourage your children to solve their conflicts on their own, have them choose a strategy from this list.
Walk Away
Postpone
Share
Take Turns
Flip a Coin
Apologize
Get Help
Talk it Out
Use an "I" Message
Pick a Different Activity
August 23 - September 3
Empathy
Putting Yourself in Someone Else's Shoes
This week we want to define EMPATHY for our students and discuss 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 - yes, Sesame Street! The kids may say they don't like it but they actually become engaged the minute it is playing on the screen! The characters explain (in a fun way) what it means to have and show empathy. Next, we read the story, Stand in My Shoes, by Bob Sornson. It is a wonderful book about a little girl who learns how to show empathy to her family, friends, and teacher. After the story, we have two scenarios that we ask the students to discuss. We answer questions like, "How do you think that person feels?" or "What is it like for that person during their work day?" Lastly, the students play a game about empathy, answering questions about various everyday life scenarios.
If you want to continue developing empathy with your children, you can ask questions during reading a book, during a movie, or t.v. show. How do you think that made the character feel? How would you feel if that happened to you? 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 9 - August 20
Coping Cafe' (3rd Grade)
Filling Your Toolbox with Coping Strategies (2nd Grade)
We wanted to begin the year by giving our students several strategies they could use if they find themselves feeling sad, mad, frustrated, worried, scared, or stressed. We read the story, In My Heart, by Jo Witek. Then, the students rotated between six different centers where they learned and practiced various coping strategies: breathing, stretching, coloring, using fidgets, using their senses, and the "Rainbow" strategy. We ended the lesson with a great visual of food coloring in water. Each color represents different feelings. Sometimes when we don't express those feelings, we feel all murky and yucky inside. Students then told us their favorite coping strategy they learned today. For each strategy, we poured a "magic solution" into the murky water and watched it lighten up. We explained that is how the coping strategies work on our feelings. It makes us feel lighter and clearer so we are ready to face any problem that may arise.
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