My district has a monthly character trait to focus on and this month’s trait is Responsibility. It’s a great trait to start the year with as we can tie in school success, how we treat ourselves and others, social responsibilities, and more! As always, you can download the lesson at the bottom of this post and there are 3 different options for worksheets so that you can individualize your lesson to different grade levels.
Lesson Title: Rights Vs. Responsibilities
Introduce the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Read the book.
Say: “One thing that I love about this book is that it captures how exhausting and frustrating our everyday responsibilities can be! Let’s look at some of the responsibilities Alexander had and how being irresponsible made his day more difficult.
Write the following categories on the board and go through these responsibilities and irresponsible actions on the board:
| Responsibility | Not Responsible |
| Getting ready for bed and waking up and getting ready in the morning | Sleeping with gum in his hair was not responsible and made |
| Keeping his room clean | Leaving his room messy and the skateboard on his floor made him trip and get his sweater wet |
| Practicing classwork | Blaming 16 instead of practicing to do better next time |
| Brushing teeth, hygiene | Cavities (if caused by not brushing teeth well) |
| Managing feelings in a positive way | Calling others names or hurting them |
Say: “Alexander’s mom said that some days are terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad… even in Australia! I like that even though Alexander was frustrated, he pushed through the difficulties of his very bad day! That’s called being resilient (pushing through difficulties) and is an important part of being successful.”
Activity: Explain the worksheet and provide examples on the board to help students get started.
One of our many goals as counselors is to effectively collaborate with our social workers and school staff to increase student attendance. This often looks like rewards, parties, competitions, etc. This year, my school is doing a grade level competition for attendance and the winning class of each grade level gets a party. We designated certain party themes for each month and made a poster to share with teachers, in common areas, and to be shared at our first school pep rally. I am sharing this poster here in case it fits your needs (feel free to save a copy for yourself and to edit as needed) and can save you some time!
For our tier 2 & 3 attendance students, the social worker and I are co-leading a small group with this amazing attendance curriculum I found a few years ago. It says it’s for grades 4-8 but I was able to use much of it with my younger students as well
I would love to hear some of the many ways you and your school are addressing attendance! I hope you all have an amazing year and see the impact from the tremendous work that you do!
My school district encourages our elementary schools to plan for Start With Hello week in order to encourage social skills, relationship building, and to prevent bullying, isolation, and more. I have always really enjoyed the activities I have done for this week as it has allowed me to begin the school year by emphasizing many important skills, character traits, and expectations that we will build off throughout the remainder of the year. I wanted to share my spirit week flier (page 1) and teacher informational letter (page 2) in hopes that it might help you to also kick off your school year! Feel free to remove the mascot (horse) from mine to replace with yours, change any of the spirit days, etc.! There are a ton of great resources to use for the Guidance/SEL lesson on the Start With Hello website as well.
Share the following: Today we are going to talk about respect. Does anyone know what respect means? [Call on students] Respect is a way that you think or treat something or someone. Respecting others means that you think well of them, behave in a positive way around them, and that you treat them the way you want to be treated.
We can respect Places, Things, and People! Draw two lines to create three different spaces on a white board. Label one spot Places, one Things, and the last People. Ask students to share different ways we can be respectful in each category and provide examples. The following video shows a counselor doing a good job of providing examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmqRNu_Wzbc&list=PLAP-GCgBucFnuYfJ4z-EDunmM65NkMfdG&index=3
The following worksheet allows students to explore respect. This first link (optional) can be used to help students to reference examples of respect or to hang up in your classroom. The second link is a worksheet you may provide to each student. I printed page 6: This is Me Showing Respect for K-1, page 7: Acrostic Poem about Respect for grades 4-5, and page 5: What It Means To Me for grades 2-3. If time allows, students may color/decorate or present their papers to the class.
End the activity by allowing students K-2 to watch the following segment on Respect from Sesame Street: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOzrAK4gOSo
This lesson provides a unique experience for students to gain a perspective on how other students view them. This is especially powerful for the older students, who often wonder what their peers think of them. I hope that this lesson increases student self-esteem, in addition to developing friendships and a more cohesive classroom.
Lesson Title: Character Traits That Describes You
K-5: Begin by asking students to share character traits and adjectives that can describe people – who they are, how they act, etc. A few examples include funny, kind, nice, honest, generous, friendly, outgoing, respectful, hardworking, smart, etc. Write these words on the board for students to reference.
2-5: Next, provide a blank piece of paper to each student. Ask students to write their name in the middle of their paper, leaving plenty of room for more writing. Explain to students that they are going to move from their seat to the seat next to theirs. Ask them to write a positive character trait or describing word about the person whose name is on the paper. When you play music, they may sit or stand to think of a word and write it on the person’s paper. Remind them of the importance of being both honest and kind at the same time. When you stop the music, have them switch to the spot next to them, and keep switching until you’ve made it around the room.
Once everyone has finished writing on all of their classmates’ paper, ask students to return to their student. Allow students to review their paper and allow students to take turns sharing with their class the most surprising or their favorite word/trait mentioned on their paper.
Ask students to flip their papers over. On the back, ask them to write the following:
K-1: Ask students to get in small groups of 5. Ask students to consider the character traits and describing words that your class generated earlier, and to think of which of these positive traits describe which of the people in the small group. Ask them to take turns sharing words for their peers. Remind them of the importance of sharing kind, honest, and positive traits only.
Ask students to share and brainstorm their answers to the following questions as a group:
Many counselors will see a student that struggles with substantial fears of a variety of situations, such as visiting the doctor or dentist office, seeing the principal, speaking in public, dogs, seeing a community counselor for the first time, and the bus to name a few. If you have a student who struggles with a fear, this activity will help you to explore the problem and will help you as you support this child. This activity does a great job exploring ways to use it, so check it out! Additionally, consider practicing some relaxation techniques, correct automatic/negative thoughts, and even exposure therapy (when appropriate, otherwise a referral is necessary)!
With student council elections right around the corner, I used this lesson to accompany the information I provided students on student council at our school. This lesson actually took two classes and the posters are great to display in the hallway! If you have a hard time printing the pages from the website, you can use the ones I included in the word document at the bottom of this post.
Lesson Title: Leadership – Historical Figure Poster
Lesson:
Warm-up
Today we will be discussing leadership. As a class, we will start by creating a list of people with positive leadership skills. Encourage students to consider leaders from a wide range of fields, including government, business, entertainment, philanthropy, and sports. For younger students, they may also include people like parents, teachers, friends, siblings, principals, etc. Ask how we know these individuals are leaders? What kind of behaviors do they exhibit showing us that they are good leaders?
Whole Group
As a class, brainstorm aspects of leadership. Ask, “Based on what we already know about each leader in the list we created, what are some traits that leaders possess?” On a white board, compile a list of leadership traits. Some traits might include honesty, vision, humility, competence, ability to inspire, intelligence, persistence, charisma, passion, emotional intelligence, curiosity, empathy, open-mindedness, empowerment, patience, diplomacy, and creativity.
Small Group
Work as a class or break into groups to explore thoughts/opinions on the following questions and scenarios listed on the table discussion cards below.
| What traits do leaders have? How do you know? | Is there such thing as a bad leader? |
| Why is it important to have leaders? What would life be like without leaders? | Share a time that you acted as a leader. |
| How does having leadership traits affect the leader’s ability to make a difference? | What leadership traits do you have? |
| You go to recess and start playing a game. Someone comes along and wants to play, but one of the kids tell the person that he/she can’t play. What would you do? Does that action show a positive leadership trait? | Your mom gets the flu and is sick and stuck in bed. What is something kind you can do that shows leadership skills? |
| There’s an elderly woman across the street from you who lives alone. Her family lives far away and she is rarely outside. Is there something you could do to help her? How could you show leadership in this situation? | You’re on a soccer team and your coach asks you to pass the ball to your teammate. You really want to score the goal by yourself, but your teammate is open. If you pass the ball to your teammate, are you still showing leadership? |
Assignment:
Grades K-1: Explain that students are going to make a poster about their favorite leader. Ask students to write the name of this person, draw a picture of this person, and to include words and pictures that show how this person is a leader.
Grades 2-5: Explain what a biography is to students – A biography is a collection of information shared to tell about a person’s life and their accomplishments. Tell your students that they are going to learn about leaders from history and that they will then make a poster about this individual. Ask students to include the following in their poster: name, information about this individual’s life, character traits that made this person a good leader, behaviors that prove this person is a good leader, interesting facts about this person and his/her contributions, and one way that we can show similar leadership skills in our own lives. Students may work individually or in small groups. Provide poster paper, markers/crayons/colored pencils/pencils to complete this project.
Have students work alone or work in small groups Provide a separate printout for each student/group of several of the biographies found at the following website or at the bottom of this lesson plan: https://www.ducksters.com/biography/
Closing Discussion
Ask one member of each group to share what they learned. As a class, discuss:
For any class that thrives off of group work, this is the lesson for you! My students love coming up with ideas as a group and being given the opportunity to present them to the class, not to mention their love for any lesson with a lot of classroom discussion. If you end up with extra time at the end, feel free to do some art therapy and let the students color their puzzle pieces or to cut the pieces out and use them on a bulletin board!
Lesson Title: School Success – Puzzle Pieces
Begin the lesson by asking students to describe what a successful person looks like. Sketch their ideas on the white board or ask another student to sketch for you. Students may describe someone in a suit with a briefcase, someone with glasses, someone with a lot of money, etc. Ask students what kind of behavior successful people have and sketch those ideas around this person.
Explore the accuracy of the ideas students had. For example, glasses don’t make someone smart or successful, dressing professionally is a behavior of a successful person, but doesn’t make the person successful, and so on. Emphasize that many of these ideas don’t define success, but instead may be qualities of some successful people. Transition to exploring what success actually is, looks like, and what behaviors accompany success.
Break students up into several groups to brainstorm the following question:
“what do you think the top 10 pieces of becoming successful are?”
Ask students to write each piece of success that they came up with into a puzzle piece. Allow students to present their ideas and to share their ideas with the class. Compare and contrast ideas.
Discuss how getting enough sleep, eating healthy, being organized, etc. can help you to be successful. Ask students what this might look like. Provide an opportunity for students to share their tips and tricks for these pieces of success. Lastly, explore/summarize with students how success as an elementary schooler can lead to success in middle school, high school, college, and in their career and home life.
Wording for group counseling consent forms can be a bit tricky and time consuming. Below you will find a consent form for a social skills small group. It is very easily adaptable as you only have to change the behaviors learned and the topic of the group. Please feel free to edit this and make it your own. As always, I hope this blog may provide you with efficient and effective resources to save you time in order to better serve your students through things that matter!
This is one of my favorite lessons that I received from the school counselor I interned under. I couldn’t wait for the day that I could do this at my own school with my own students, and I hope that this might be a great lesson for you too as you begin the new school year! I do this lesson each year for the kindergarteners to explain my role and to begin talking about emotions and coping skills.
Lesson Title: First Day of School – Mixed Up Feelings
This lesson is best to use on your first class when going to a new school and with kindergarteners when they have their first guidance lesson. This lesson can illustrate the job of the school counselor, to explore how talking about your feelings can help you to feel better, and to explore how feelings are not bad, only what you do with them may be bad.
Using a newsletter, I will be sharing with families different resources, topics discussed in SEL that month, a counselor referral QR code, and more! When I send this to teachers to include with their newsletter, I also send ways for them to connect to SEL activities that were taught as well. For example, the following connections were shared in my last email that touched on lessons that will be taught this month:
Lesson: School Success
Interactive activity: Ask students to find organize themselves in groups according to the most difficult school success skills mentioned. A few skills that we will discuss include attendance, organization, asking for helping, focusing/paying attention, perseverance, etc. After they get in groups, ask each of them to find a buddy that is good at the skill that they find difficult and to brainstorm ways that they can work on that skill. Ask them to follow up with their buddy for the next several weeks to see how they are doing and if they need any help.
Lesson: Leadership
White board/sticky note activity:
Ask students to write on the white board or place sticky notes on the board of ways that they can show leadership at school, at home, and in our community. Encourage them to think of unique ways that others may not have already considered.
Lesson: Responsibility
Class discussion: What responsibilities do I have on my own at school (completing work, participating in class, asking for help when needed, not interrupting) and what responsibilities do we share in our classroom? How about our school (walking quietly in the hall, caring for our school garden, keeping our school clean)? What is most difficult for me and how can I improve on this?
Lesson: Character Trait Goals
Writing prompt: ask students to write about their experience of having other people describe them with a character trait. Ask them to write about why they think others thought those character traits described them, how it made them feel, and how they utilize those character traits as strengths at home, school, and in our community.
I was running out of creativity this year after finishing my classroom bulletin board as to what I should do for the bulletin board I’m in charge of in the hallway. I decided to alternate between different character traits using the design & fonts provided in this TPT kit! Super kit and the kids love it. You will see some of the things mentioned in my beginning of year PowerPoint in this bulletin board, such as shout-outs and the teacher referral cards.
The first day of each SEL class is always used to get to know the students and for the students to get to know you. This is the perfect time for school counselors to inform students of exactly what they do (all the things!) and to advocate for the counseling program at your school. This is a great lesson for the students to connect with you and learn more about you. I attached my PowerPoint at the bottom of this lesson so that you can see what I included in mine this year.
Lesson Title: Introductions – 1 st Day of School PPT and Icebreaker Bingo
School counselors are often asked to work with students through situations and the choices they made – what happened and what was your response to the situation? This TPT free worksheet is super helpful in exploring that exact idea of whether or not our responses were healthy, positive, and effective. I cut off the parent and student signature at the bottom if I use this in individual counseling so that my students can talk about their choices in a safe place, but if behavior in the classroom or during guidance is an issue I may fill this out with a student to bring home or provide this worksheet to the teachers and staff at my school so that they can utilize this worksheet as a classroom management strategy.
Social skills are a great thing to go over in guidance class as it helps to improve the interactions between all students in your school, thus preventing some issues from ever developing. A pre/post test would be a great place to start, in addition to a few lessons I have used from TPT as a social skills series for k-5 classes. Depending on the time you have for guidance, you can combine 2 of these lessons each day.
Classroom Connection: Share this with teachers and specialists at your school so that they can make the social skills connection that you’re using in your classroom – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Social-Skills-Losing-a-game-1067886
I found a great (free) lesson on TPT to accompany the book The Anti-Test Anxiety Society by Julia Cook. I love and use so many of Julia Cook’s books as she does such a great job of exploring issues on the elementary level, and this is no exception. Check it out!
The teachers at my school thought this activity was super cute and loved hearing what their students thought was important for next year’s students to know (their teacher loves coffee, to listen to direction the FIRST time, to eat school lunch on chicken pasta days, etc.). The students also loved to hear their names and their teachers names in the book when I personalized it as I read. I hope you enjoy this super easy and cute activity for the last week of school!
Lesson Title: Last Day of School – Letter to Students Next Year
Begin by summarizing what the first day of school was like and what skills students used to be successful this year, or follow the script below:
“Today we are going to reflect on what the first day of (student’s current grade) was like and the skills and tools you used to be successful. What was the first day of school like for you? (call on a few students to share) Some of you may have been excited, or nervous, or you may have experienced many different emotions at a time. The first day of school is a big deal because first impressions, or the first time you meet someone or experience something, is very important! That impacts how you view that person/experience for a long time. We want to be sure that when our classmates and teachers meet us that they can see that we are wonderful people who are excited and ready to learn! It can also be a little scary because each year more is asked of you and you have more responsibility and independence, or doing things with less help and guidance. We are going to read a story about the last day of school and think about everything that you have learned this year, what you are excited for this summer and next year in (next grade), and lastly I want you to think of what it might be good for a student who will be in (teacher’s name)’s class next year to know in order to be successful.
Read The Last Day of Kindergarten by Nancy Loewen and substitute the grade, teacher’s name, and student’s name with relevant names for the class you are teaching. Students love to hear their teacher’s name in the story!
Hand out the Dear Student, Welcome to _____ Grade activity and ask student’s to fill it out with information that might be helpful for a student going into that grade to know. Provide an example to the class. Offer these handouts to the teacher to provide to her students next year or allow the students to bring these home.
With EOG’s coming up I wanted to find a good lesson to provide to students in guidance. I found a couple different free options from Teachers Pay Teachers that I am using that you can check out below. Additionally, I will attach a PowerPoint that you may use. Check out my lesson plan at the bottom of this post to see exactly how I explored this topic the week before EOG’s.
I try to find free or DIY resources for lessons, but this one from TPT was too good to pass up. My students loved it and it gave several worksheets for longer periods of class time or to provide a different lesson for different grade levels. For 5th grade, I adjusted this lesson to be a student led activity as I explained they will be doing more presenting and projects in middle school, where they may sometimes have to take on a teacher role. They took turns presenting/reading the content/book and reflecting on different skills we have learned throughout the year (coping skills, self-control, affects on others, etc.). Students liked this because watching their peer play the teacher role was both silly and interesting.
Lesson Title: Self Control – Even Superheroes Have Bad Days
Read the book Even Superheroes Have Bad Days.
Hand out worksheets for students to explore their responses to bad days. I purchased the following TPT pack of worksheets and use different ones for different age groups:
It is often difficult to find lessons that will work for kindergartners and 5th graders alike, and although this seems to be too young for 5th grade they actually responded quite positively to this lesson. They liked the abstract aspects of this story and thinking about the differences that others have made in their lives. I think it’s important that we have developmentally appropriate lessons for our older students, but to also remember that our 5th graders can discover advanced insight into most lessons and that they too enjoy lessons like these. Let me know what your older students thought or how you adapted this lesson to work for older levels in the comment section below.
Lesson Title: One
Introduce the story about One: “Today we are going to read a story about a dot named One. There is a very special lesson in this simple story that I want you to pay attention to.”
“I want you to start considering how you might have the impact on someone like One did on his friends. I also want you to be reflecting on who has had an impact on your life like One did on his/her friends. I am going to handout a worksheet for you to write about or draw a picture of these people and experiences. Show the potential impact that these experiences might have on these people and on their futures. For example, if you stood up for a friend and made a difference, how might that change their future for the better?”
I wanted to share a few free counseling referral options with you all since this has proved to be the easiest way for me to know which students need to see me.
First, I have an online referral for parents and teachers to use to refer students to me. Of course they also refer via phone calls, emails, etc., but this is an efficient way to gain a variety of information on a student. I used Google Form (SO EASY) to make the referral and then made a QR code.
To make the QR code, go to the following website: https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/
Then enter your google form URL in the website, click create QR code, then download or save your code for you to share and add to documents.
In order for students to self-refer, it’s nice to have forms out in a popular hallway so that students can grab one and turn it in. There are many perks to having students fill out these forms, one of the biggest being that it allows you to easily count how much students you saw via self-referral and the note acts as a reminder for you to meet with them. My favorite way to have them turned in is to have a small box (the counselor I interned under used a painted/decorated old cigar box that she attached to the wall using command strips) with a slit in the top for students to stick their notes and a way for you to retrieve the notes each day. You can also have students give the note to their teacher to turn in, but this may deter students who don’t feel comfortable with their teacher.
Here are a few free referral forms that you may use!
It seems that elementary levels never get to focus enough on careers, despite the fact that this is when kids are so creative in their career dreams! I hope that this lesson can set a healthy foundation for career planning and that it gets students excited for all of the opportunities to come for them. There are so many avenues to explore when it comes to careers – please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!
Lesson Title: Career Exploration – Jobs in Pawland and My Next Move Lesson Plan
Introduce the activity by sharing the following information:
Today we are going to discuss career and education opportunities you will face after you graduate high school. After high school, you will choose between the following three options: finding a job, joining the military, and college. You can be successful doing any of these options! If you want to start working immediately after high school, you can find an entry level job (meaning it doesn’t require any college or experience). You may also choose to be an entrepreneur, meaning you start your own business. Some businesses you may want to start may require money in order to buy the supplies needed for your business (example: a lawncare business requires you to buy a lawn mower, a truck to transport your lawnmower, and other tools), so you may have to work an entry level job to save money before you can start your business. Another option for after you finish college is to join the military. The military pays you for your time serving our country and also provides you the opportunity to receive a free education (college) if you’d like. Another option is to go to college. You may choose to go to a trade school (1-2 years) or a 4 year university (bachelors degree). It is important that you decide which option is best based on the career you want. It’s also important to note that it often costs money to attend college. If you or your parents don’t save money to pay for college, you can apply for financial aid (a way that you can borrow money, but you have to pay it all back with interest – more money than you borrowed). Some people decide to work for a year or two before college so that they can pay for it. There are also scholarships people can apply for (sometimes you earn a scholarship for being good at sports, good grades, community service, etc.). Going to school for longer periods of time sometime result in higher pay, such as if you receive your bachelors degree in a high paying job, or if you go on to receive your masters degree, doctorate degree, or PHD. However, sometimes going to school for a longer period of time does not result in more pay than certain trade school jobs or being an entrepreneur. For example, HVAC careers (people who work with air conditioning and heat) require between 6 months – 2 years of college and average a salary of $50,000 a year. Meanwhile, someone who studies psychology at a 4 year college average a salary of $49,000. Therefore, these two careers differ in schooling required, but pay around the same.
Students will explore different careers using the following website: https://pawsm.xap.com/paws-mobile/index.html#/
Have students begin by taking the following test to explore their interests. Explain that exploring your interests (what you like) helps you to find a career that they might one day be interested in pursuing. Explain that student’s interests will change over time, and that learning one’s skills (what you’re good at) may also be helpful in determining a career: https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip
Once students finish the test, have them record their answer (top interests and career categories) using the following worksheet: https://www.onetcenter.org/dl_tools/ipsf/IP_Score_Report_Starter.pdf
Next, go over the worksheet. This will instruct them to explore careers using one of the websites listed below. They will use the information they find (such as years of education required) to fill out their worksheet:
I hear a lot of my students talk about “bad” kids or “bad” people. I hate to think that any of my students think that they are “bad” if they make bad choices or have bad behavior. This is a great lesson to discuss the topic of good and bad choices and how it can affect who you are as a person. I emphasized that you can decide to turn your day/week/year around and start making good choices. I also wanted to explore the idea that people are mostly “good” to foster hope. I hope this helps your students make the transition to talking about good people and bad choices!
Lesson Title: Bad Seed
Consider drawing a picture or showing a picture of a healthy plant and an unhealthy plant. Opening Discussion:
“That’s right! So this unhealthy, sad looking plant here is lacking all of those things. This is very similar to people too! Happy, healthy people need certain things too, like kindness, encouragement, love, family, friendships, and more! When they don’t have those things, their inside looks kind of like this unhealthy plant here. We are going to read a book that explores the life of a seed who had some tough stuff happen to him and made him look pretty unhealthy and sad on the inside.”
Read or play the book The Bad Seed
Split students up into groups. Introduce the next activity: “Now we are going to do a fun activity. Start by drawing a line down the middle of your whiteboard. Now, I am going to give each group 3 minutes to make a list of bad things to go on one side of the line. For example, on my board I included thunderstorms, tests, bullies, and bees on this side of the line. Leave the other side of the line blank for now. Ready, set, go!”
After several minutes explain: “Now I am going to switch up your boards so you are now using another group’s board. On the other side of the line, you are going to try to find something that is good or something positive that could happen because of this “bad” thing. For example, on the others side of thunderstorms, I wrote that the rain that comes from these storms waters plants. The good thing about tests is that it helps measure how much we know and what we can work on learning. A good thing that could come from bullying is that kids learn to stand up for themselves, it gives other kids the chance to stand up for their classmates, and the bully might learn a lesson about kindness. The good thing about bees is that it helps pollinate our plants! See if you can find something good about each bad thing. Ready, set, go!”
At the end of class, allow each group to share a couple of the bad things and the good that they found in the bad things. Explain that no matter how bad something is, something positive can always come from it!
Finding lesson plans for our older students can definitely be difficult, but this was definitely a favorite for them! They loved using their artistic talents and comparing the likes and posts they made on their “social media”. The younger students also related since many of them have seen their parents on social media and liked being able to make a profile for themselves.
As far as the book goes, many of us have books laying around from counselors before us that talk about integrity. This lesson can be used to accompany any of those books that you might have! I am using this with the Cloud 9 World curriculum that my school has, but I left a Youtube video of a book that you can use if you don’t have anything else that might work for this.
Lesson Title: Cloud 9 World – Integrity Lesson Plan
For this lesson, I used a book that my school has as a part of the Cloud 9 World character development curriculum. Since many schools do not have this, consider using another book that you may have laying around that could be used to teach a lesson on Integrity. Another book that I thought looked great is the Tell the Truth, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra. If you’re on a budget, consider checking this book out at the library or use this free read aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABS4elk3Llg
After reading your book, discuss the main points with your class and discuss the topic of integrity.
Explain the following: “People with integrity are all around us and we can learn a lot from how they conduct themselves each day in what they do. One popular activity that many people engage in is social media. I want you to consider what kinds of things people with integrity post online. Integrity online is very important because not only do your friends and family see what you post, but your future employers do as well! Most employers check out the profiles of all people that they hire. What kind of stuff would you want those people seeing on your page? Consider the kinds of things you would not want them to see. Those are the kinds of things you shouldn’t post. Now let’s see how much you know about integrity! I am going to give each of you a paper with places to put some of the information that we might put on our social media accounts. We are going to use this to develop a Facebook profile for someone who has great integrity. You are welcome to use yourself and include aspects about you that show integrity. You can also make someone up. For example, where do you live, what are your interests, what kinds of post might you share if you have integrity? Include those!
If time allows, allow students to share some of what they included in their profile.
I found the cutest, free worksheet that is so good for helping students to discuss their feelings and to focus on positive coping skills to help them during a difficult time. I think that it aligns well with Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and student’s almost always ask if they can bring it home (and I let them)! I also like to send them home with a coping skills worksheet (see the Individual Counseling: Coping Skills post) to accompany this worksheet. Personally, I like to encourage them to practice these coping skills and promise them a prize from my prize box if they complete all 100 coping skills! Most of them are pretty easy, and they can put a smiley or frown face next to each skill to show whether the coping skill was helpful to them or not.
This is a lesson that I love to do near testing time as it allows students to move around and take a brain break during a time of stress and pressure. Students definitely love this game and I hope that it helps our students to rely on one another and improve their group work skills.
Lesson Title: Team work – Mine Field
Before class, place objects (you can borrow balls or cones from P.E.) throughout a designated area. Place the items so that it will be a bit difficult for students to navigate around with their eyes close.
Introduce the activity: Today we will be playing a game called mine field. In this game, we will break into teams. Each team will be attempting to beat the other teams in a race. Teammates will be taking turns walking through this area without knocking into the items placed here. The tricky part will be that you are navigating this area with your eyes closed! The first person on your team will be on the other end of the area and will be helping you find your way through the obstacle course. The person guiding the next member on their team cannot touch them to guide them but can use words. For example: take a step forwards, walk to the right, stop, walk the opposite way. If the person runs into something, they go back and go to the end of the line. Once someone on you team makes it across, they become the new leader who guides the next classmate in line. The first person who lead but didn’t get to walk will go to the end of the line. The rest of the people who cross will stay on the other side and wait for the rest of their team to make it across successfully.
After each member of a team completes this obstacle course successfully, announce that they won! You may allow other teams to complete their obstacle course, so everyone has a turn.
If time permits, you can allow students to share times they have demonstrated good teamwork or people that they look up to because of their good teamworking skills.
One summer, I was working in my garden when an 8 year old boy from my neighborhood came over to check out what I was doing. I am passionate about gardening and find so much peace when I spend time in nature and get to work with my hands. It is one of my favorite self-care practices! Anyway, when he saw me pulling the carrots out from the dirt, he asked me why I would put my carrots in there. He had no idea that little seeds could grow into carrots in this dirt in my backyard! He had learned about that in school, but without the hands on knowledge he didn’t quite understand. His only experience of eating carrots is after buying them from the grocery store. This motivated me to apply for a grant that would allow me the funds to start a garden at my school so that my students could have the exciting experience of using the knowledge their learning in their classes to our garden! The potential to use this garden for character development is endless – patience, hard-work, persistence, cooperation, confidence, self-care, coping skills, planning and organization, and even health and wellness for mental health!
You can find a great lesson embedded below that I used to accompany our garden project that we are doing at my school. I wanted to use a lesson plant that supported the core curriculum and the character development curriculum at our school. I thought that this one did a good job of doing just that, and will allow us time in each class period to allow students to get their hands dirty in the garden as they work in the garden. My students are so excited to see their seeds and starter plants grow and are amazed that in a few short months we are going to have fruits and vegetables that we can harvest and eat in class!
Here is the lesson plan I used:
I have been using this free restorative practice worksheet with students in individual counseling and have found it to be super helpful! It is a guide that helps you to walk students through a difficult situation, such as getting into trouble at school, got into an argument with a friend, did poorly on a test, is having issues at home, etc. It allows you to explore the event(s), their thoughts and feelings (CBT anyone?), the impact they see their actions having on others, and potential solutions. I like that this allows students to take this home to use again and to help remind them of their future plan of action. You can find this free worksheet here:
If you ask my students what their favorite lesson of all time was, I would bet that most of them would say The Marshmallow Test lesson. They loved to see who had self-control and who didn’t, not to mention their love for any lesson that allows them to eat something. Marshmallows are pretty cheap to get in bulk and it is a relatively allergy-friendly food. However, you must check in to ensure that your students are allowed to eat marshmallows since they contain gelatin (Kosher, vegan, and Muslim students often cannot have any food with gelatin). I had a back up candy for students who might not be able to have marshmallows.
Lesson Title: Self Control – The Marshmallow Test
Begin by explaining the rules of the marshmallow test and passing out one marshmallow to each student.
“This is your marshmallow. You can touch it, smell it, etc. if you choose. You can even eat it. However, if you choose not to eat, lick, or taste the marshmallow, then you can get another marshmallow in a little bit. If you choose to eat the marshmallow now, that’s totally your choice, but you will only get one.”
Play the following videos for the corresponding grade level:
K-1 Play Cookie Monster “Me Want It (But Me Wait)” Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PnbKL3wuH4
Imagine riding in a car that is out of control. It can be frightening and very dangerous! This is also true for people who are out of control. They can hurt themselves and other people. Self-control is like having steering and brakes in the journey of life. It means saying “no” to some things in order to say “yes” to something better—something that can help you reach your goals!
This is activity that we have been doing is called the marshmallow test. A famous researcher first did this same test with kids younger than you a long time ago. He told the kids that if they waited to eat their marshmallow that they could have another. Do you think the younger kids found it easier or more difficult to wait to eat their marshmallow. More difficult! Little kids typically have less self-control because they’re still gaining their self-control skills. The interesting thing is that the kids who were able to practice self-control and wait for their second marshmallow were found, many years later, to be more successful! The kids who didn’t eat their marshmallow right away were more likely to make good grades, go to college, to make more money, to be healthier, and even to be happier! Does that mean that if you didn’t practice self-control and ate your marshmallow that you will be less successful? No! It just means you need to work hard on your self-control skills so that you can be successful too!
Optional: Ask students to complete the Family Connection Self-Control Handout
End with passing out a second marshmallow to students who did not eat/lick their first marshmallow and share the marshmallow test video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ
This is a great activity with very little prep time and no worksheets, all you have to do is print and cut a couple pieces of paper for the game. Group work is always fun in guidance and my students had a great time acting out the skills. I thought the video would be a little advanced for my younger students, but they actually really enjoyed it too and were very interested in it. It’s extremely helpful to have this lesson to reference back to later when working with students on calming down and managing their feelings and conflicts.
Lesson Title: Managing Emotions – Calming Down Before We Lose Control
*For Kindergarten and first grade, consider doing this game as a whole group. You can read the scenario out and have all kids express the emotions that they would feel. Then read the strategy they can use and have them act it out, or have one student act it out (whisper the skill in their ear to act out) and have the class guess.
Hand out the materials to groups (3-5 people) to allow them to play. Walk around and give clues as needed if any groups need any help.
A topic often posed to us as school counselors at the Elementary level is tattling. Tattling takes away from teaching time and robs students of the opportunity to solve their problem themselves! My students loved acting out different scenarios and brought about many laughs during their role plays. I am always so impressed by the creativity of my students in their role plays and in their teamwork when doing role-plays.
Lesson Title: Big Problems and Little Problems
Read Of Course It’s A Big Deal by Bryan Smith
Break students up into groups of 3-5 people. Explain that we are now going to practice (role play) solving different kinds of problems. I am going to give a situation to each group. Each group will have to act out their situation before acting out a potential solution to their problem. After each group presents their situation and solution, discuss with the class whether the problem was a big problem or a small problem. Ask students to share other solutions they may have considered.
Here are a few worksheets that you can use instead of or in addition to acting situations out if you like to have a worksheet with your lesson. Some kindergartners may find acting out a bit difficult, and the Report Vs. Tattle Sort is a nice activity to do with younger student to test their knowledge and allow them to practice their fine motor skills.
We have all had students that just can’t seem to find anything good in any situation. This can be a very frustrating position as it seems to put a roadblock in the way of making any progress with these students. This is a game I found that has been very helpful with these students and it is actually really fun! This game allows students to understand the difference between positive and negative attitudes, and it really illustrates why it it so much easier and more fun to be positive. After practicing both ways, I think a lot of students feel a weight lifted off their shoulders when they see things in a positive, yet realistic light. Most students laugh at how silly the negative attitudes sound. I have used this game with individuals and with groups. You’ll definitely want to follow the printing instructions as they are very helpful. Follow the link below:
I LOVED the lesson that is found in the Zootopia movie, and since Dolly Parton might be a little outdated for some of our young students (as much as I hate to say that), I thought tying characters that our students may know a little better would take this lesson even further. I hope the templates in this lesson plan make preparing for lessons easier for you so that you have more time for all of the other duties that you have as a school counselor!
Lesson Title: Stereotypes and Judging – The Coat of Many Colors
Show a picture of different characters from the movie Zootopia found on the Zootopia stereotypes printouts.
Define the word stereotype – a thought or opinion about someone based off how they look without actually getting to know them. Explain that in the movie Zootopia, the sheep is actually the evil mastermind. People stereotype the fox for being sneaky, when he actually helps save the day. The buffalo looks mean and grumpy, but he is actually a good guy! However, the sheep’s body language makes her look friendly, even though she is very dangerous. Lastly, the rabbit is very smart, motivated, and hard working, even though a lot of people told her at the beginning of the movie that she didn’t have what it takes to be a police officer! The stereotypes we placed on these animals in the filmed tricked us into thinking we know who the bad and good guys really were. However, we now know that we can never tell just by looking at someone!
Explain that you are going to read the lyrics from a song called The Coat of Many Colors:
| Back through the years I go wonderin’ once again Back to the seasons of my youth I recall a box of rags that someone gave us And how my momma put the rags to use There were rags of many colors Every piece was small And I didn’t have a coat And it was way down in the fall Momma sewed the rags together Sewin’ every piece with love She made my coat of many colors That I was so proud of My coat of many colors That my momma made for me Made only from rags But I wore it so proudly Although we had no money I was rich as I could be In my coat of many colors My momma made for me | So with patches on my britches And holes in both my shoes In my coat of many colors I hurried off to school Just to find the others laughing And making fun of me In my coat of many colors My momma made for me And oh, I couldn’t understand it For I felt I was rich And I told ’em of the love My momma sewed in every stitch And I told ’em all the story Momma told me while she sewed And how my coat of many colors Was worth more than all their clothes But they didn’t understand it And I tried to make them see That one is only poor Only if they choose to be Now I know we had no money But I was rich as I could be In my coat of many colors My momma made for me |
In this story, many people assume that this girl is poor because of the jacket she wears.
Print a coat template for each student. Explain that students are now going to make their own “coat of many colors”. Explain that when you look at someone you may not know anything about them, and this coat of many colors is going to show these things that we normally don’t know unless we get to know you. Provide coloring materials so that students can draw different aspects about themselves that are unique, such as sports they like, subjects they enjoy, their family, their style, hobbies, dreams, etc. Allow students to share their ideas with their class for the last few minutes.
Attached below is a powerpoint page that you may edit to make your own! This is a fun attachment to have on the outside of your door, on your website, or adapted to function as a brochure to share your role with your students, staff, and parents. If you want to develop a QR code to use to develop your own online referral form, start by developing a form with your google account here: https://gsuite.google.com/learning-center/products/forms/get-started/#!/
Here is an example of my form. Feel free to copy my questions as needed for your survey: https://goo.gl/forms/3aiCM2bDCyL7Tb0C3
To make the QR code, go to the following website: https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/
Then enter your google form URL in the website, click create QR code, then download or save your code for you to share and add to documents.
To add a Bitmoji to your file, download the Bitmoji app found in the app store on your phone. Next, you will make certain selections, such as eye color and hair style, to develop your Bitmoji character. When you have compeleted your character, you can select certain themes (saying hello, drinking coffee, etc.) to save on your phone, then upload these to drive, email, or whatever way is most convenient for you to then upload to this document.
I hope this help! If you have any questions, submit them in the comment section below!
Recently a very sweet colleague of mine and I were talking and she shared her frustration with the idea that a number of her co-workers expect school counselors to fix everything and that we aren’t doing enough. To be totally honest, I’m not surprised that many of our co-workers feel this way! If we had a nickel for every time someone asks what exactly it is that school counselors do we would probably have enough to pay for our masters program (another question we are frequently asked. Yes, we do need a masters degree 😉 ). Needless to say, people don’t understand exactly what it is that we do all day because they only see us when we are working directly with their students and we are often spread thin – 1 counselor to several hundred students. One aspect of our counseling program is advocacy, which means that we must be sharing this information with the staff at our school. This is so important, because if they don’t know the small groups that counselors [can] offer, how to refer students to a counselor for individual counseling, why they should refer their students to a counselor for individual counseling, etc. then our ability to make a difference at our school is severely stunted. There are a million and one ways for you to provide this information to the staff at your school (email, staff meetings, website, handout, brochure, etc.), but the only thing that matters is that you’re getting this information out there.
Another important aspect of the “you’re not doing enough” mentality is the culture of your school. If your workplace is a super negative, it’s probably a sign that the culture at your school is breeding negativity. Again, this does not at all surprise me that so many schools are stuck in this negativity hamster wheel. Teachers are expected to sacrifice financially, socially, emotionally, and more to do the best for their students, and yet parents and administration still ask them to do more! I am currently reading the book Awakened by Angela Watson, which is aimed towards teachers but I found this book to be so incredibly helpful and it does a good job touching on this topic. Teachers have their own set of challenges, and I learned early on in my internship experience (Thanks Ashley Price, you’re seriously school counselor goals) that supporting teachers is a huge aspect of supporting our students. For example, if a teacher doesn’t respect or understand your role(s) at your school they are less likely to send students to you for your counseling sessions, or to invite you to parent conferences that you could be really helpful in, or share concerns or information that would be valuable for you to know. These are all activities that are vital to you making a difference in the lives in your students and lead to a more cohesive, supportive environment. Therefore, showing teachers that you are supporting them and on their team will lead to more collaboration and hopefully a more positive school culture as a whole. Leaving an encouraging note for a teacher, leaving a small gift (I have never met a teacher who doesn’t like coffee or chocolate), or complimenting a teacher on her classroom management skills or how she handled a difficult situation goes a long way! I also think that developing relationships with my teachers by stopping in after school to ask them how they are doing really builds up this sort of teammate mentality.
I should point out that it’s a process to prove yourself to your school (as a new counselor, I am certainly still working on this and will take all the help I can get), but your goal shouldn’t be to prove yourself to teachers, but to do what you think will most benefit your students. For example, if a few negative teachers at your school think behavior is the problem and that you should be focusing on that, your focus is providing and referring students with/to mental health support resources (counseling, referrals to community counseling agencies, etc.). This will in theory help with problematic behaviors, but that isn’t necessarily your focus.
Lastly, one things that I think can be really helpful is administering a needs assessment to teachers to find out exactly what needs they see as being a priority because then we can narrow in our focus on those things. I have no doubt that this will allow your teachers to clarify what they need (and see their students as needing) from you and they will certainly notice your attention/response to their feedback. At the beginning of the year I did a google docs assessment, but got very little responses back even after several reminders. I provided a paper version in their mailboxes around December for a mid-year assessment and I had a 100% response rate! This assessment gave me super helpful insight that narrowed my focus in on topics for guidance/SEL, pointed out kids I should be seeing, and provides data to share with my principal and staff. Although Google seems to be so much easier as far as analyzing information goes, this worked best for the teachers at my school and provided me with far more information than I received online. Attached is a downloadable counseling assessment that you may edit and share with the staff at your school. I hope that this information allow you to feel less alone, empowered, and employed with ideas that may help build more cohesion at your school! Please share any additional ideas or feedback you may have below in the comments!
