On a limited budget, need to know the absolute must haves for an elementary school counselor? Here's the list of my favorite tools and resources.
12 interactive and fun games to teach self-control and build self-regulation skills for kids and teens. Strong skills for self-control are the foundation for success in and outside of the classroom.
Looking for a fun and meaningful activity for your school counseling worry group? Help your students make a worry monster! Get details here:
Restorative practices in elementary schools are incredible, but they look a little different than in the secondary levels.
Making paper chains in counseling is a great way to talk to students connections. It could be the connections between their actions and consequences or the connections between friends. These hands-on activities can help abstract concepts become more concrete. Perfect for individual counseling or small group counseling at the elementary and middle school level.
two fun games to use in classroom guidance lessons or small group counseling to teach and practice self control strategies -Counselor Keri
Don’t get me wrong — I love candy. And, a jolly rancher, a tootsie roll, or a starburst can work wonders in the classroom for student motivation and enthusiasm. So can pizza parties, and cupcake days, and brunch, and…I’ve had so many types of food parties I can’t even keep track! Recently, however, I’ve been […]
You have just been asked to be the teacher sponsor of your elementary school's student council. But you have no idea what you are doing. Where do you start? When will you meet? What do elementary student councils do? Once upon a time, I was in those shoes. Don't worry. I learned it's easy to get started and the whole goal is to engage the students in learning leadership and service to their school and community. What does an Elementary Student Council do? The school's student council will provide students with learning opportunities in leadership, service, teamwork, and school spirit. An elementary student council helps its school with organizing special projects, events and fundraising. The students, with the guidance of their sponsor, can plan fun events like school carnivals, pep rallies, and special assemblies. They can raise money to beautify the campus, add to the playground, or put picnic tables in the schoolyard. Student Councils can also provide service to the community. They do this through food drives, winter coat and blanket drives, nursing home visits, Toys for Tots and local community beach or park clean-ups. In elementary school, the student council faculty or staff sponsor will take much of the lead in the events and activities of the group. But, as the students meet throughout the year they learn lessons in leadership and teamwork that will help them achieve success. The hope is that they will continue to have an interest and participate in student council when they get to middle and high school. Student Council Meetings When I led our school's student council we would regularly meet once a month. Our elementary council included two students from each class in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. The class voted on the two members they wanted to represent them on the student council. You can gather your students this way or open it up to anyone who is interested in joining can be on the council. At our first meeting of the year, I would have the students do an icebreaker activity so they could get to know each other. They would then brainstorm ideas of projects they could do based on needs of the school, students or community. After selecting the goals for the year, we would put them on a yearlong calendar. Each monthly meeting would address the project or event that is scheduled and would also have a leadership or teamwork lesson that I would lead. Sometimes additional meetings would need to be scheduled so students could complete tasks to meet the goal. Student Council Officers Student Council Officer positions can vary from school to school or district to district. In most student councils you would have a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Some Student Councils also include officers such as Historian or Parliamentarian. Officers come from the council membership but we had the entire student body in 3rd-5th grade elect them. They ran a campaign where they put up posters around the school and made a speech over morning announcements the week before the election. My student council had a President who led the meetings and worked closely with me to plan and prepare for them. The Vice President assisted us and took over as leader when the president was unavailable. We had a Secretary who would write out our agendas and take notes during our meetings. The Treasurer would help me collect funds and count money during fund raising events. They would also keep simple records of the council's budget and funds. The officers would also be our school representatives to the district and our city. For example, when it was our school's turn to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the school board meeting, our President and Vice President were the students we sent. These elementary aged officers were learning how to be leaders by experiencing some easy responsibilities in running the council. Service Projects Our student council did at least one service project a year. Most of the time we did several. One project we always participated in was the community food drive around the holidays. The student council made posters to advertise the drive and put them up around school. Each classroom would make a decorated collection box to put outside their door and collect food from their class. There would be a contest for the most creative decorated box and the winning class would receive a popcorn party complements of the student council. There would also be a contest to see which class and grade level would bring in the most food. Student council members would be in charge of collecting and counting food from the boxes each Friday and helped deliver them to the community drop off location on our assigned day. The students loved helping their community each year during the holiday season with this food drive. Fundraising In order for the student counsel to meet many of their goals they need to fundraise. Our council used funds for a variety of events: Classroom contest rewards, beautification of the school grounds, Easter egg hunt for neighboring head start program, Christmas Caroling field trip, Teacher Appreciation Week, and the end of year student council celebration. We had one main fund raiser that they did multiple times during the year. We sold Candy Grams. They were a big hit near all the major holidays at our school and we were able to raise all the money we needed. Visit this post to learn more about how to use Candy Grams as a fundraiser. School Spirit Another thing our student council did was help promote school spirit. They worked with administrators to help plan spirit weeks on our campus. We had special dress up days during Red Ribbon Week, National Library Week, and Texas Public School's Week. They helped think of fun ideas to get everyone involved. Some of their favorites are crazy hair day, twin day, sports day and pajama day. The staff and students all like to participate in these days to show their school spirit. If your school does not have a student council it would be a great opportunity to talk to your administrator about starting one. Start small with just one or two projects and see how it will grow. You will always find a group of students who want to work to make the school and community a better place. Until Next Time....
Ladies and Gentleman... we officially have the first week down in the books!! And what an AMAZING week it was!! #BestFirstWeekEver!! My kiddos are just awesome. We learned a lot and laughed a lot! My own children also had a great week (aside from a quick bout of a stomach bug that kept one home for a day!). My oldest, Drew, started 1st grade. My middle, Quinn, started Kindergarten. And my toddler twins, Addy and Chase, began two-mornings-a-week preschool. Additionally, Mr. Musings from the Middle School (my husband Dennis), started a new school year, too! Phew!! My head is spinning! Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great weekend and recovering from this busy time of year. This post is mainly a pictorial of some of the goings on in my classroom this week. As we settle into our routine, I'll be back with more "meaty" posts (and hopefully some new videos, too!). One of my favorite activities from the week was this Growth Mindset lesson that I adapted from here. Basically, the kids had to create the image on top using just a piece of paper and scissors. It was NOT easy... but that's exactly the point! As the kids worked, I wrote down some of the comments I heard. Things like, "this is impossible," and "I give up!" After I let them struggle for a while, I brought them back together and discussed the activity with them. It was eye-opening to see their words. They all agreed that their attitude was too negative so of course they would never have been successful. Then we read the Growth Mindset posters hanging in our room and discussed what each one meant. I closed with this video from Khan Academy. It was a fun and powerful lesson. One of the BEST purchases I made from TpT for this school year is the Icebreakers that Rock bundle from Cult of Pedagogy. This product contains three PowerPoint activities that allow students to talk to each other in an easy, comfortable way. What is great about these is that you can use them as one, big activity, or you can break them up, showing just a few slides here and there, as "brain breaks" through out the day. That is how I used them. So, on the first day, I did a big "Find Someone Who" activity with them. This allowed all the kids to learn each other's names. Next, I assigned them all their lockers and we practiced opening the combination locks (super-stressful for these first time locker users)! After that, we did a few slides from Icebreakers that Rock. Then, we went over the syllabus. Next, a few more Icebreakers that Rock slides. After that, I handed out and went over all the paperwork that had to go home and be signed (oh, the paperwork!!!). Then, a few more slides right before lunch. And then a few more right after lunch. Next up, a tour of the building. Then a few more slides before trying our lockers again. Finally, another slide right before dismissal. It was the perfect break/filler/attention-getter/distraction to use throughout the day... actually, I used the slides throughout the whole week! Run to TpT and pick this product up today! Totally worth every penny. (Some of the slides can be done silently. I LOVED these slides!!) Of course, we had to number our notebooks to get ready for ELA next week. I always tell kids that this is the easiest, most difficult task that we do all year :) I really the love smell of a Mr. Sketch anchor poster in the morning! This year, I'm starting with Reading Nonfiction: Notice and Note Stances, Signposts, and Strategies. My thinking is that it will really help with getting started with Article of the Week. Here is one of several of the posters I'll be using to teach these strategies. I'm jumping on the #ObserveMe bandwagon! Read more about it here. I'll keep you updated on how this goes throughout the year! Okay... that is enough for now! The beach is calling my name... nothing beats September here at the Jersey Shore! Hope the back-to-school season is treating you well! I'd love to hear how your school year is going so far. Happy Teaching!!
Restorative practices in elementary schools are incredible, but they look a little different than in the secondary levels.
Kindness demonstration to give students a visual representation of how kind acts create a ripple effect in the school community!
Set a friendly tone in your classroom with these 30 "Get to Know You" games perfect for back to school or when welcoming a new student.
Ensuring students know the value and power of their courage is crucial for upper elementary students’ social-emotional learning and growth. Get easy-to-implement ideas, courage activities, suggested titles for books on bravery, and courage lesson plans to help you create a classroom community where
Check out this blog post for 5 great ideas to host a Veterans Day program and celebration at your elementary school, includes musical concert and lots more!
This template goes with the following blog post from 'Creative Elementary School Counselor'. http://creativeelementaryschoolcounselor.blogspot.com/2016/07/i-cant-imagine-life-without.html The blog did not provide a template for the activity, so I created my own template. This is NOT my original idea.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been found to promote academic success and increase students' commitment to school. Generally, there are five key components that make up social emotional learning. These competencies include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making. Today, I'd like to focus on ways to help students develop self-awareness. Self-awareness includes one's ability to recognize emotions, have an accurate self-perception, identify strengths, develop confidence, and show self-efficacy. Researchers have found that a student's ability to control his or her feelings, thoughts, and behaviors can be linked to academic success. So, let's take a look at some easy ways to help students develop an awareness of their individual characteristics and personal emotions. All About Me - A - Z This activity helps students to define and identify a variety of aspects about themselves. They'll create a list about themselves with a characteristic, quality, or emotion for each letter of the alphabet. Materials: Piece of paper, pen or pencil Directions: - On a piece of paper, have students create two columns. (Or grab a ready-made poster here.) - Have them write all the letters of the alphabet in each column. - Then, challenge them to write something about themselves for each letter. For instance, they might write "gregarious" for G or "curious" for C. Ideas: - Share your own A to Z list with students first. - Create a class list of emotions and descriptive words to get students started. - Assemble students' finished lists in a class book. Moment of Mindfulness Mindfulness is a great way to build self-awareness. Since mindfulness is all about paying attention to the present moment, it's a great way for students to pause and reflect on how they are feeling, what they are thinking, and what they need in the present. It's simple to do too! Ways to take a moment of mindfulness: - At the beginning of class, have students close their eyes and take several deep breaths. Ask students to pay attention to their breathing. - Share a mindfulness quote with students to help focus students' thoughts during a moment of mindfulness. - Pause during instruction and have students do a self-awareness check. Encourage them to be mindful of their thoughts and feelings. Reflective Journaling Reflective journaling is a powerful way to help students become self-aware. With targeted writing prompts, students can develop insight into their feelings, make sense of their experiences, and build clarity on their thoughts. When students write about their own experiences and feelings, they become more self-aware. Materials: - A notebook and/or computer, pen or pencil, writing prompts - A list of writing prompts that spark self-reflection, these might include: --- Write about a time when you were proud of yourself. --- List ten things that make you feel excited. --- Reflect on how you have changed this year. --- What is something that you find challenging? (Check out a set of 10 engaging prompts here.) Ideas: - Have students respond to their prompts as if they are writing a letter to themselves..."Dear me..." - Read students' responses and respond to their writing in the margins. Add questions and positive notes at the end of their writing to build connections and spark further reflections. - Schedule a time each day or week for journaling to make it an intentional part of your classroom community. Growth Mindset There are many ways to help students develop a growth mindset. When students develop an understanding that all forms of intelligence are malleable, they are inspired to work toward success. That's why it is so powerful to infuse lessons about growth mindset into instruction. Giving students a moment to reflect on their own mindsets builds self-awareness. Materials: - Short lessons or articles about Growth Mindset to help students understand the differences between a fixed and growth mindset. - Series of questions about students' own mindsets. Directions: - After teaching students about Growth Mindset, have students respond to questions about their own mindsets. - Give students a chance to share their responses with a partner, small group, or the entire class. Ideas: - Share and display inspirational quotes about growth mindset. (I particularly love paper desk tents. They are an easy way to display quotes right on students' desks.) - Highlight important people who demonstrate a growth mindset. Emotions Skits Researchers have noted that there are at least six universal emotions. These include happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust. Help students investigate and demonstrate these universal emotions by challenging them to write a short play or skit that involves a character or many characters experiencing one of the universal emotions. Materials: - List of the universal emotions, paper, pen - Skit planning pages (optional) Ideas: - Review the six universal emotions with students. As a class have students brainstorm what each emotion looks like (how people look when they are experiencing that emotion) and sounds like (what people might say when experiencing that emotion). - Brainstorm situations where people might feel each emotion. Encourage students to share personal situations when they felt a certain way. - Divide students into small groups. Secretly assign each group an emotion. - Challenge students to write a script that their small group could act out for the class that demonstrates that emotion. - Have small groups perform for the class. Have the audience identify the emotion prevalent in the skit. Self Check-In Daily feelings check-ins are a great way to build self-awareness. When students are given the opportunity to assess how they are feeling and share their emotions with others, they begin to know themselves more fully. Self check-ins also help normalize feelings. Materials: - Paper with an open grid shape - List of feelings Directions: - Pass out the gridded paper to students. - Have them fill the grid with different emotions. - Then, have students display the grid on their desks. - Have them place a token or shape on the emotion that shows how they are feeling at a particular moment. Ideas: - Once students can recognize their feelings, help them to develop strategies for regulating their emotions. - Encourage students to track their feelings over an entire school day. Then, discuss how feelings change in different situations. -------------------------------------------------- I hope you've found a few ways to help students develop self-awareness. Incorporating lessons that target social emotional learning is essential in today's classrooms. If you're looking for ready-made resources, check out this set of 10 SEL reading passages and this set of 6 Self-Awareness Activities. Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth
Already a fan of The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig? Here's my Invisible Boy Lesson Plan to use it with your upper elementary kiddos.
Ready to go student check-in activities to find out what your students are thinking and feeling. Find the ones that work for you!
Last year, I found a great idea for introducing myself to my students. It worked so well that I decided to do it again this year! The original idea came from Wanda P., a school counselor on the ASCAScene web forum. (If you aren't a member of ASCA, I recommend it just for the discussion forum alone. It's been a lifesaver at times.) I use Mrs. Potato Head to introduce the various parts of my job as Elementary School Counselor. I bring her in a bag to each class and have the kids help me put her back together again. As I take out each part, we talk about how that part helps me do my job. I created a handout that outlines what we go over in class and serves as a coloring page that students can give their parents to let them know who I am and what I do, too! Click here to download a copy of the Mrs. Potato Head handout and lesson plan. NEW!!! Click here to download a copy of Mr. Potato Head handout and lesson plan. The kids love Mrs. Potato Head and I leave her up all year in my office to remind the students what we talked about in class. It's a great way to start the new school year!
Through the years I have had a few students with selective mutism. When I met my first student with S.M., I thought she was just very shy. For this post, I will call her Sally but that is not her real name. But, after a couple of weeks of school, it was clear that there was more going on that a case of shyness. That is when I asked for a meeting with Sally's parents to get their insight into what was happening. Her parents told me that she would only talk to the people in her immediate family and one neighbor. She wouldn't even speak to her grandparents or cousins. After observations and meetings with her pediatrician, counselor, speech pathologist, she was officially diagnosed as having selective mutism. Luckily, Sally's parents were very open to ideas and happy to try anything that we suggested. Sally's mom would send me something to school on a weekly basis. Sometimes it was a bag of cookies that Sally and her mom had baked together. Other times Sally's mom let her pick out a packet of stickers to donate to our class. Sally's job was to hand the item(s) to me. We set the following goals: 1st: Hand the item to the teacher without mom standing beside her. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 2nd: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 3rd: Hand the item to the teacher and say you're welcome. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 4th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 5th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. Answer teacher's question with one word. I said thank you and then asked her a question that could be answered with one word - usually a yes/no question. 6th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. Answer teacher's question with 2 or more words. I said thank you and then asked her a question that required a few more details. Once again, Sally's parents provided extra support to help her build relationships with her classmates. Sally and her mom loved to bake. Usually students only brought treats for their birthday. I gave her mom permission to send in treats more frequently. When Sally passed out the treats to her classmates, she was concentrating on the actual process of passing out, and less about her anxiety about communicating with her classmates. We set goals for this too. 1st: Pass out treats without teacher support. 2nd: Pass out treat and make eye contact with classmates. 3rd: Pass out treat, make eye contact with classmates, and smile when student says thank you. 4th: Pass out treat, make eye contact with classmates, and say you're welcome when classmate says thank you. Sally received weekly support from our school counselor. Our counselor let Sally choose a buddy come with her. She and the buddy played games in the counselor's office. In the beginning, Sally would only smile and shake her head for yes or no. But, over time she slowly began to whisper to the counselor and her buddy. I think it helped that there was only one buddy and they were in a quiet office so she felt more comfortable. By the end of the year, she was able to invite 3 buddies to go with her. As you can imagine she became very popular because she got to pick her buddy(ies). Word quickly spread that if Sally chose you, you got to go play games. Students wanted to sit by her at lunch and invited her to play games with them at recess. There are different reasons why a student may have S.M. Sometimes it is an anxiety issue. Click HERE to read more about this topic. Interested in reading more posts? Click on the pictures below.
Kick-start your leadership class or student council group with these must-do activities that will set your whole year up for success.
Teaching Honesty in the Classroom; character education; classroom community; honesty for kids
Simple, yet effective social responsibility strategies you can try today to teach kids to be more responsible, make good choices and set attainable goals.
Looking for an introductory First Grade Self Control Activity? Your students will love this fun story and craft for practice!
Hello! Welcome to the Kindness Clubhouse Blog! A Kindness Club can transform your school. It encourages and inspires students to think beyond themselves and seek out opportunities to show compassio…
What is the wrinkled heart activity? Find out how to use this anti-bullying tool in the classroom.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been found to promote academic success and increase students' commitment to school. Generally, there are five key components that make up social emotional learning. These competencies include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making. Today, I'd like to focus on ways to help students develop self-awareness. Self-awareness includes one's ability to recognize emotions, have an accurate self-perception, identify strengths, develop confidence, and show self-efficacy. Researchers have found that a student's ability to control his or her feelings, thoughts, and behaviors can be linked to academic success. So, let's take a look at some easy ways to help students develop an awareness of their individual characteristics and personal emotions. All About Me - A - Z This activity helps students to define and identify a variety of aspects about themselves. They'll create a list about themselves with a characteristic, quality, or emotion for each letter of the alphabet. Materials: Piece of paper, pen or pencil Directions: - On a piece of paper, have students create two columns. (Or grab a ready-made poster here.) - Have them write all the letters of the alphabet in each column. - Then, challenge them to write something about themselves for each letter. For instance, they might write "gregarious" for G or "curious" for C. Ideas: - Share your own A to Z list with students first. - Create a class list of emotions and descriptive words to get students started. - Assemble students' finished lists in a class book. Moment of Mindfulness Mindfulness is a great way to build self-awareness. Since mindfulness is all about paying attention to the present moment, it's a great way for students to pause and reflect on how they are feeling, what they are thinking, and what they need in the present. It's simple to do too! Ways to take a moment of mindfulness: - At the beginning of class, have students close their eyes and take several deep breaths. Ask students to pay attention to their breathing. - Share a mindfulness quote with students to help focus students' thoughts during a moment of mindfulness. - Pause during instruction and have students do a self-awareness check. Encourage them to be mindful of their thoughts and feelings. Reflective Journaling Reflective journaling is a powerful way to help students become self-aware. With targeted writing prompts, students can develop insight into their feelings, make sense of their experiences, and build clarity on their thoughts. When students write about their own experiences and feelings, they become more self-aware. Materials: - A notebook and/or computer, pen or pencil, writing prompts - A list of writing prompts that spark self-reflection, these might include: --- Write about a time when you were proud of yourself. --- List ten things that make you feel excited. --- Reflect on how you have changed this year. --- What is something that you find challenging? (Check out a set of 10 engaging prompts here.) Ideas: - Have students respond to their prompts as if they are writing a letter to themselves..."Dear me..." - Read students' responses and respond to their writing in the margins. Add questions and positive notes at the end of their writing to build connections and spark further reflections. - Schedule a time each day or week for journaling to make it an intentional part of your classroom community. Growth Mindset There are many ways to help students develop a growth mindset. When students develop an understanding that all forms of intelligence are malleable, they are inspired to work toward success. That's why it is so powerful to infuse lessons about growth mindset into instruction. Giving students a moment to reflect on their own mindsets builds self-awareness. Materials: - Short lessons or articles about Growth Mindset to help students understand the differences between a fixed and growth mindset. - Series of questions about students' own mindsets. Directions: - After teaching students about Growth Mindset, have students respond to questions about their own mindsets. - Give students a chance to share their responses with a partner, small group, or the entire class. Ideas: - Share and display inspirational quotes about growth mindset. (I particularly love paper desk tents. They are an easy way to display quotes right on students' desks.) - Highlight important people who demonstrate a growth mindset. Emotions Skits Researchers have noted that there are at least six universal emotions. These include happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust. Help students investigate and demonstrate these universal emotions by challenging them to write a short play or skit that involves a character or many characters experiencing one of the universal emotions. Materials: - List of the universal emotions, paper, pen - Skit planning pages (optional) Ideas: - Review the six universal emotions with students. As a class have students brainstorm what each emotion looks like (how people look when they are experiencing that emotion) and sounds like (what people might say when experiencing that emotion). - Brainstorm situations where people might feel each emotion. Encourage students to share personal situations when they felt a certain way. - Divide students into small groups. Secretly assign each group an emotion. - Challenge students to write a script that their small group could act out for the class that demonstrates that emotion. - Have small groups perform for the class. Have the audience identify the emotion prevalent in the skit. Self Check-In Daily feelings check-ins are a great way to build self-awareness. When students are given the opportunity to assess how they are feeling and share their emotions with others, they begin to know themselves more fully. Self check-ins also help normalize feelings. Materials: - Paper with an open grid shape - List of feelings Directions: - Pass out the gridded paper to students. - Have them fill the grid with different emotions. - Then, have students display the grid on their desks. - Have them place a token or shape on the emotion that shows how they are feeling at a particular moment. Ideas: - Once students can recognize their feelings, help them to develop strategies for regulating their emotions. - Encourage students to track their feelings over an entire school day. Then, discuss how feelings change in different situations. -------------------------------------------------- I hope you've found a few ways to help students develop self-awareness. Incorporating lessons that target social emotional learning is essential in today's classrooms. If you're looking for ready-made resources, check out this set of 10 SEL reading passages and this set of 6 Self-Awareness Activities. Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth
Adjusting to Kindergarten: how to help your child make the big school leap and adjust to life at full day school as a kindergartener!
I had 30 minutes with each class to do an intro lesson to school counseling. Here's what I did with each level: K-1: Object Lesson Materials Needed: Rainbow Fish book Finding Nemo ("just keep swimming") Dumbo (great listener) puzzle pieces (help put the pieces together) heart (care about all of the students) Frozen characters ("Let it go!") Star (reach for the stars and achieve goals) angry birds (anger management) happy face (help you be happy to be at school) tissue (dry up tears when you're sad) Bandaid (help when you're hurting) Funny glasses (think about things from a different perspective) eraser (cant change your past mistakes, but I can help you make better decisions next time) lock (I keep your secret, unless the secret will hurt you or someone else) Intro: After going over rules and expectations, I told students I was going to read them one of my favorite books of all time, Rainbow Fish. I asked that when I was reading, think about who in the story helps rainbow fish learn how to be happy (The Wise Octopus). After reading the story, I explained that I am like the Octopus at this school because I help kids when they have problems. Activity: I explained ways in which I can help students by letting each student pull one object from my bag. As a student pulled an object from the bag, I let them explain to the class what the object is, and take a guess about what it could represent about my job as the school counselor. (Originally I was just going to explain to the students what each object meant, but I LOVED to hear their ideas!) After each object was pulled from the bag, I placed the item on the board for the class to see. Conclusion: Once all of the objects were discussed, I gave the students a coloring worksheet that had a summary of the symbols that we talked about around an octopus. We talked about how to get help if they need to talk to me. Before I left, I gave each student a "shiny scale" (a.k.a. metallic star sticker) for them to remember Rainbow Fish. 2-3 Grade: Object Lesson In second and third grade, I adapted the same lesson as K-1 to be slightly more advanced. We did not read Rainbow Fish, but instead spent longer discussing what each of the symbols meant. I let more students guess what the symbols could mean, and for the most part, everything that they said was even more profound than what I had planned to say! As the conclusion to the lesson, I gave the students a matching worksheet where they line up the symbol to what it means. This was a great assessment and review to make sure the students had learned the information that I gave them! Before I left, I gave each student a heart sticky note that said "Your School Counselor cares about you!" and a shiny star sticker to remind them to "reach for the stars". 4-6: Rocks and String Activity Materials: Small and large rocks student volunteer 3-4 foot string for each student Rocks: At the beginning of the class, I asked for one volunteer to be my helper. I had the class brainstorm things that would be considered "small problems" (small rocks) and things that would be considered "big problems" (big rocks). I explained that with many of the small problems, I can teach them ways to handle their own problems responsibly. If it was a BIG problem, I could help them figure out what to do. When discussing the "big problems", I made sure to mention confidentiality, and that I can not keep their secret if it means that someone might get hurt. For each of the problems, big or small, I would place a stone into the hands of the volunteer student. Once the volunteer's hands are completely full, I told the volunteer that I needed him to take a quick test for me, and immediately handed him a test and a pencil. Of course, he could not take the test because he was holding on to so many problems! I explained that although I can't make most of their problems disappear, I can help them with their problems so that they can do their best at school. From here, I explained how to get in touch with me if they need to talk, and where to find me. I told them about small groups, classroom lessons, and other fun programs that I would be having this school year. String: I gave each person a piece of string. I told them that the object was to tie a knot in the middle of the string. The rules are that once they pick up the string, their fingers become "superglued" to the ends of the string- they can't switch fingers. There can NOT already be a knot in the string when picking it up, they can NOT cut the string, and the knot can NOT be on the outside of the string (tying the ends together). I then quickly added that "it's okay to ask for help, BUT it is possible to do. It CAN be done." I let the students struggle with it for a while, repeated the instructions several times, and waited for the first person to ask me for help. Once they asked for help, I motioned for them to follow me to a hidden area of the class, and explained the trick to them. (Cross your arms into a "knot" so that one hand pops up through the hole in your arms. Grab each end of the string while arms are crossed. Uncross arms, and you should have a knot.) Make sure you try this first before doing it with kids so you know how!! I explained to three of the students, before others started to catch on. From this point, I let those I had helped teach others in the class how to do it. 7-12: Advanced Rocks and String Activity Materials: index cards Small, medium, large rocks student volunteer (class nominated to be the strongest) 3-4 foot string for each student Introduction: I handed out index cards to each student, and had them write down their name, grade, what they think I do as their school counselor, and any questions that they might have about me or about school counseling. Rocks: I asked the class to nominate one person in the class who is the strongest, and that person came to the front to help me with the next activity. I asked what it means to be "strong" (Physically, emotionally, academically, and spiritually, etc) I explained that even the strongest people need help sometimes, as I dumped a pile of rocks on a desk in front of the class and smiled at my volunteer. The rocks represent the problems that teens deal with on a normal basis. Some are just small problems or annoyances; others are big problems that consume much of your daily thoughts. I asked everyone to brainstorm what types of problems teens might have to deal with. As they named things, I had each one come to the front, choose a rock to represent the problem, and hand it to the volunteer. I also added a few to keep it going and give them more ideas. Once the volunteer’s hands were at capacity, I gave him a SUPER easy test and a pencil. (I printed off a one digit addition test.), and said he had 10 seconds to finish. After a few seconds, I started “yelling” at him saying things like, ”This should be easy! Why have you not started? You should be done by now!” After the point was made, I asked the volunteer how he felt right then (frustrated/ agitated, etc). I asked the class why he was struggling to take such an easy test, and what would make it easier? I then explained that it’s nearly impossible to do well at school when you are holding onto so many rocks. The school counselor (me!) can help them handle all of their rocks. I told them again that even the strongest people will need help at times. From here, I transitioned to the specific services offered to students (Groups, classroom, individual, school programs, etc), and how to get in touch with me if they did need to talk about something. I also used this time to discuss any questions that we had not already covered from their index cards. String: I gave each person a piece of string. I told them that the object was to tie a knot in the middle of the string. The rules are that once they pick up the string, their fingers become "superglued" to the ends of the string- they can't switch fingers. There can NOT already be a knot in the string when picking it up, they can NOT cut the string, and the knot can NOT be on the outside of the string (tying the ends together). I then quickly added that "it's okay to ask for help, BUT it is possible to do. It CAN be done." I let the students struggle with it for a while, repeated the instructions several times, and waited for the first person to ask me for help. Once they asked for help, I motioned for them to follow me to a hidden area of the class, and explained the trick to them. (Cross your arms into a "knot" so that one hand pops up through the hole in your arms. Grab each end of the string while arms are crossed. Uncross arms, and you should have a knot.) Make sure you try this first before doing it with kids so you know how!! I explained to a handful of the students, before others started to catch on. From this point, I let those I had helped teach others in the class how to do it. I told the class that the point of the exercise is that it's okay to ask for help! Even the strongest people... (will need help at times!) (Purchase the lesson plan and worksheets from my TPT store!)
As educators, we realize the value of goal setting and are constantly encouraging our students to dream big and set goals. What we often forget is that unless
Download a FREE elementary library curriculum map or scope and sequence for school librarians grades K-5, broken down monthly by grade.
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Foster a growth mindset in your upper elementary and middle school students this year with these four FREE learning activities! They can be set up as stations around your upper elementary classroom! Topics include the brain, positive self-talk, dealing with mistakes, and accepting feedback.
Check out these top techniques for employing character building activities for students of all school ages!
No-Prep Self-Control Guidance Lesson: Students will be able to define self-control, identify strategies to stay in control, and apply this information at school and home. This lesson is completely editable and a great way to get students critically thinking about self-control! This resource includes an editable PowerPoint and Google Slides version. **** Save 20% and have a lesson for every situation with my Guidance Lesson Super Bundle*** Resource Includes: ↠ EDITABLE PowerPoint & Google Slides versions ↠ Sharing Activity ↠ Conversation Starters ↠ Self-Control Video Link ↠ Discussion Questions The editable aspect of this resource makes it easy to modify across different grade levels and settings. Take what you need! Guidance lessons are a great resource to use alongside your character education program and are an essential tool for Tier 1 RTI practices. Benefiting Students Self-Control is a critical skill for students' success in school and at home. At a minimum, students will learn new self-control strategies that they can practice throughout the day. Saving Time This lesson is ready to use and designed to be no-prep. Who is this Lesson Designed For? This lesson is designed for students grades 1-5 but the PowerPoints are completely editable and can be changed to fit a wide variety of student needs. RELATED SELF-CONTROL RESOURCES: * Guidance Lesson Super Bundle * Self-Control Activity Pack- Self-ConTROLLS * Self-Control Mega Bundle * Self-Regulation Counseling Group - Ready to Regulate Visit Bright Futures School Counseling Blog and subscribe to my email list to gain access to my Class Lesson Cheat Sheet. You will also receive a weekly email with my latest school counseling tips, research, and freebies! Follow me on social media to be the first to learn about sales and new resources! School Counseling Simplified Podcast Bright Futures Counseling INSTAGRAM Bright Futures Counseling FACEBOOK
Are you a School Counselor, Psychologist, or Speech Pathologist who has a “LUNCH BUNCH” or...
Help your students refocus on their goals and identify the strengths they have that will help them persevere and finish the school year strong with this fun perseverance activity!
Let’s face it, kids are used to having worksheets and templates and preprinted note pages, but sometimes I don't have time to gather those fancy materials. In my office, I always have plain copy paper and it is an integral part of my counseling program. Here are 5 school counseling activities where I turn
