Giving your child the power to make choices is an important strategy for any parent. It allows children to have some control over their own lives. Which in turn can help you avoid those dreaded power struggles.
Welcome back to our series on social emotional learning in the elementary classroom! We are going to be chatting about some effective strategies and procedures you can easily and quickly apply to your classroom for improvement in student self-awareness, self-control, and social skills. During the month of January, we will cover four different SEL topics. January has always been my favorite month to teach, because I was always able to do a reset with the students I already had a relationship with. We could then really hone in and improve SEL skills to in turn take a deep dive into instruction. The less you are having to stop and redirect student behavior, the more time you have to teach. We know that is more important now than ever. This month, we will cover four topics that I felt were most needed right now that could cover the most behaviors: listening, making good choices, kindness, and resilience. Let's talk MAKING GOOD CHOICES this week. This post may contain affiliate links. Often times, students can be impulsive and make choices without stopping to think. The goal of these lessons and ideas is to provide students with the strategies they need to stop, think, and make a good choice. By teaching them these, students will begin to develop self control and self discipline. I have found that students need explicit SEL instruction all throughout the year. The problem is that we don't have the time to do that. I tried to think of ways you could easily and quickly incorporate it into your day, because it's so important to keep your classroom running smoothly and to decrease undesirable behaviors. The best time I feel to teach these, if you can, is first thing in the morning, during morning meeting. I have come up with some quick mini lessons, along with quick and fun activities, to teach each SEL topic. This week, we are going to look at some strategies to practice making good choices in your classroom. Provide Your Students with Opportunities Provide students with choice throughout the day. Have discussions about those choices and if they are the right or wrong choice in that situation. You might do so during independent work time by discussing how different choices could extend that time or not help us focus. During centers, you can provide them with choice in choosing the best activity to fit their current needs. You can give them different scenarios during morning meeting. Have them sort the scenarios by happy and sad choices, or good and poor choices. Have a discussion about what makes a choice good and what makes one poor. Visual Checklist Students, especially in the beginning, need a visual reminder in place. You could print this as a poster or make a mini one for students' desks. Remind them before making a choice, it's important to stop and calm down so that they can think before acting. Teach them how to weigh the positives and negatives. How can this choice affect me or others around me? What might happen next? Then, they are more equipped to make a good choice. Practice Making Choices within a Story The What Should Danny Do? series is perfect for practicing making choices within a text. In each of the stories, the reader get to make choices for Danny for a whole day. The choice that is made determines what happens next in the story. Students get to see in real time the consequences that choices can have. After reading the story, read it again and have students make different choices to see how his whole day can change just by making one choice. They also learn that just because you made a bad choice does not mean that you can't correct it. Students learn that you can turn your day around by making better choices. The way that the story stops at each choice allows students to also practice that stop and think time, as well as weighing the positives and negatives of each choice. Read What Should Danny Do? School Day as an interactive read aloud during the week you teach making choices. You can read through several choices each day and then go back and make different choices. I have made sticky note questions that you can ask each day as you read to help lead student discussions on the topic of making good choices. You can also bring in the other books from the series to give students even more practice at making choices. What Should Darla Do? is super fun, as well! You can also get these fun dolls that you can use in your classroom. There is a Darla doll and a Danny doll. These would be fun to let students hold for a given amount of time if they are caught making a good choice. Songs and Videos Choices Sesame Street Making Choices How to Make Good Choices Making Tough Choices with Kid President Making Good Choices Mini Lessons I am going to take you through the five days of mini lessons that you can do to teach students strategies for making good choices. On day one's lesson, you and your students will make this anchor chart in which you will sort different school situations into two different columns. Discuss the consequences of each choice and how they can affect others. Students will make their own and add it to their SEL notebook. I would ask students to draw and label 2-3 different choices each that might happen at school that are good choices and poor choices. On day two, students will learn that the choices you make can come from the heart. Get them in the practice of asking themselves how a specific choice can affect others. I call these choices "good hearted choices." One of our goals in these SEL lessons to transform students' hearts. We want them to make good choices because they know it's the right thing to do for themselves and for the good of those around them. Appealing to their hearts is very powerful. Go through some different situations that could happen in the classroom and talk through some of the choices they might make. Discuss how those choices might make them feel. For practice, students will be given two different scenarios in which they will have to explain what choice they will make. Hopefully, it's a good hearted one! Day three is always game day! This game gets students up and moving during your lesson. Divide your carpet or an open area in your room to have two sides. Hang the THIS or THAT signs up on each side so students can see which side to stand on. Read one of the questions and have students move to the side that they believe is the right choice. It can be either side, so they will be moving and making choices! Day four is the day in which we meet our new SEL animal friend, this week being Good Choices Cheetah. Today, you will focus on making good choices at recess during your mini lesson. Students will get a cheetah face to color and the Good Choices Cheetah poem to trace and attach. Finally on day five, we read the whole story and then discuss what lesson the author was trying to teach the reader. I then assign a writing activity (differentiated sheets included) in which they have to apply what they have learned about making good choices. This is a great way to wrap up the unit and assess their understanding. Let's set our students up for success by giving them the tools they need to thrive in the classroom. I hope these activities help your students become successful choice makers at school and in the community! Thank you so much for stopping by this week! Be sure to come back next week for our next SEL skill, KINDNESS. Last week was all about LISTENING AND FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS and the next week will be all about RESILIENCE. You can grab the Making Good Choices Activities below or by clicking on any of the photos!
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Dinsdag 4 maart, it is a good day! Ik typ deze update in de avond en vandaag was een fijne dag. Ik werd wakker met maar een beetje jeuk en een naderende huiduitslag aanval bleef gelukkig uit. Op een paar kleine blaasjes na dus nergens last van gehad, dus ik nam geen prednison om te […]
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Recognize, celebrate, and "brag on" your students when they make good choices, show improvement, demonstrate empowering character traits, or just because they are wonderful, lovable, and worthy no matter what. These brag bracelets are a fun positive reinforcement tool to add to your classroom management system. Plus, they help teach students positive affirmations and compassionate self-talk; key skills that support a strong sense of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and internal locus of control. Because students get to take these brag bracelets home with them, it's a great way to let families know just how awesome, cared for, and valued their child is at school. These brag bracelets can also be used as a fun craftivity to use in counseling groups focused on friendship, self-esteem, and social skills. Invite students to pick one out that describes themselves or is a positive affirmation they would like to practice and integrate into their self-talk, and discuss what it means to them. Print on brightly colored paper for a "pop" look. Or print on white paper, and let students color in their bracelets, creating their own unique design. To assemble, just cut out each individual strip and tape around students' wrists. You can also laminate or print on card stock to use as positive affirmation "brag bookmarks" too! Or use as a classroom chain, adding a link each time students are celebrated, creating a working classroom community bunting to hang on the walls. 50 designs in total! Black and white for ink-friendly printing too! The messages on these positive affirmation brag bracelets are: *I Show Empathy *I Am A Valuable Community Member *I Am A Team Player *I Am Creative *I Am Awesome *I Am A Good Friend *I Give It My Best *I Am Adventurous *I Am Brave *I Am Beautiful Inside and Out *I Am Important *I Am Ready To Learn *I Am A Leader *I Am Patient *I Am A Great Listener *I Treat Myself With Kindness *I Am A Good Sport *I Am Peaceful *I Am Well-Mannered *I Am Prepared *I Am Kind *I Am Confident *I Am Courageous *I Care For The Earth *I Am Optimistic *I Enjoy Learning *I Am Caring *I Shine Bright Like A Star *I Am Loyal *I Listen To My Heart *I Am Fun *I Am A Super Citizen *I Am Respectful *I Am Honest *I Am Helpful *I Am Trustworthy *Effort Is My Superpower *I Am A Hard Worker *I Am Responsible *I Am Lovable *I Am Marvelous *I Pay Good Attention *I Have A Wonderful Imagination *I Make Good Choices *I Have Perseverance *I Am Determined *I Make Safe Choices *I Stand Up For Others *I Show Compassion *I Am Fair Save 30% when you purchase this set in the POSITIVE AFFIRMATION BUNDLE! ✅ CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW MY STORE to be the first to learn about deals, sales and new releases! Looking for more positive affirmation and self-esteem boosting tools? You may like: Self-Esteem & Positive Affirmation Cards: Positive Self-Talk "Reward" Tags *FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS and SELF-ESTEEM CUFFS AND *POSITIVE AFFIRMATION FORTUNE TELLERS
We all have mental health and it affects how we think, feel, act. It also helps determine how we cope and handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.
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Giving your child the power to make choices is an important strategy for any parent. It allows children to have some control over their own lives. Which in turn can help you avoid those dreaded power struggles.
