You Will Be My Friend

Yesterday at a request of a second grade teacher I did a pop in lesson on making friends.
She has a new student who is struggling to make friends and we have several that could always use the social skills practice so here's what I did:

First we read "You Will Be My Friend" by Peter Brown.

We spent a lot time talking about the title: why did it end with an "!"?, what would you change?, what words would you switch?, etc.

 At the end of the book we brainstormed ways to introduce yourself to a new person, ways you could make friends, times you might need to make a new friend, etc.

To end we played Quiz- Quiz Trade. The game came from my new assistant principal and she was kind enough to share the directions and sample cards with us. Here's how the game works:

"What If Everybody.."

I love this story for so many reasons:

1) The illustrations really engage the students.
2) You can introduce so many topics with it:
           - Character Education Traits like responsibility, respect, and citizenship.
           - The importance of classroom, school, and community rules/laws.
           - Rules and consequences
           - Cause and effect
3) It works for a variety of ages. It's always hard to find a book that appeals the masses, but I've used this book for grades 2-5th and they all love it.


In fact I love it so much I made some discussion cards for students. You can use the cards to help facilitate discussion as you read or as a game (Quiz Quiz Trade) at the end of the story. You could also use the cards as writing prompts!  Get them at my TPT store.

These discussion cards are a companion for the book "What If Everybody Did That" by Ellen Javernick. You can use the cards as you read the story or as a discussion/review game at the end. This 20 page packet includes: 80 question cards, directions to play Quiz Quiz Trade, and connections to Common Core and ASCA Mindsets. Some of the cards ask similar questions, but they are differentiated for your grade and reading level of your students. There is also a blank card for you to create your own question.

Throw Back Thursday Update

I can't believe i originally posted this on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015! wow how time flies. 

I recently got to visit some of my favorite 4th grade teachers who also used this book for their back to school lessons. Here is how I used it and here's how they used it:

"What If Everybody.."

I love this story for so many reasons:

1) The illustrations really engage the students.
2) You can introduce so many topics with it:
           - Character Education Traits like responsibility, respect, and citizenship.
           - The importance of classroom, school, and community rules/laws.
           - Rules and consequences
           - Cause and effect
3) It works for a variety of ages. It's always hard to find a book that appeals the masses, but I've used this book for grades 2-5th and they all love it.

In fact I love it so much I made some discussion cards for students and FREEBIE activities here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_6T4rR2pFj5MEVnUjNCQWE1cE0/view?usp=sharing. You can use the cards to help facilitate discussion as you read or as a game (Quiz Quiz Trade) at the end of the story. You could also use the cards as writing prompts!  Get them at my TPT store.

These discussion cards are a companion for the book "What If Everybody Did That" by Ellen Javernick. You can use the cards as you read the story or as a discussion/review game at the end. This 20 page packet includes: 80 question cards, directions to play Quiz Quiz Trade, and connections to Common Core and ASCA Mindsets. Some of the cards ask similar questions, but they are differentiated for your grade and reading level of your students. There is also a blank card for you to create your own question.

I also like partnering the book with A Perfectly Messed Up Story to talk about how you can take care of school supplies? What if everybody ate snack while reading library books? 

Here is how my 4th grade teachers used it:

Agenda: 
Listen as I read.
Model expectations for materials.
Discuss in small groups.
Create a class chart.
Independent Work.



You can get all the worksheets here on TPT.
Check out more back to school activities from Jillian Starr here.

What I really did to prevent invisibility......

So I finally got to do my lesson on "The Invisible Boy!" Like all good lessons I started out with one plan, changed it, changed it the morning of, and then during my observation changed it again. Ha!

Well here's a rough draft of how I used this incredible book. Also, here's how it connect to Common Core Standards.

Introduction: 

I started having the kids gather around for a "science experiment."
Here's how it works:

        1. In a plate/flat container that's full of water I pour in pepper. I ask the students to think of the pepper as people. We call them our "pepper people." I ask them to notice that the pepper is floating together, almost like a family or a community This is a good place to discuss people coming together in the community, at school, etc. You can ask them to think of all the different ways people work together.

Just pour pepper into a plate filled with water.

        2. Then I introduce the "soap." Put the soap in the middle of the pepper. In previous lessons I have introduced the soap as a "bully," however this time I asked them to just think of the soap as a person.

Next take a bar of soap and place it in the middle of the pepper.

        3. As you will notice when you put the soap in the water the pepper immediately darts away from the soap. I asked the kids to tell me why the pepper would be running away from the soap. Some said that the soap was a bully, others said it might be someone who is scared, etc. This time I asked them to imagine the soap was not a bully, perhaps a new student or even a student they have known a long time. I then asked them again, why would the pepper run away?


    4. This was a good place to introduce our vocab. words of the day: exclusion and inclusion. I explained that the pepper were all off by themselves and the soap was left alone. We discussed the word exclusion here, when one student noticed that some of the pepper had stuck to the soap. She commented that if the soap were a bully perhaps they were joining the bully or maybe trying to stop him. I asked them to discuss why else the pepper might stick to the soap.



   5. Next we talk about inclusion and that it's important to include everyone and it just takes one "sugary sweet" random act of kindness to make a big change. As I talk about this I pour the sugar where the soap was and slowly you will see the pepper coming back together.

Lastly, pour sugar into the middle of the plate.

Lesson: Next I read the story, stoping frequently to ask the students to make connections between our experiment and the book; looking for pepper people, the soap, and the sugar. I also asked them to make text-to-life connections. Many of my students really opened up!

Game: Next we played Quiz Quiz Trade using the discussion questions in the back of the book. I had a student demonstrate with me how to play and model how to restate an answer. I asked everyone to show their listening skills by restating what they heard and repeating it each partner. They did a great job, I loved the "I heard you say that you think..." or "So you are saying that...." It was amazing.  I also added a few like: "What do you think exclusion is?" "Do you think exclusion is bullying?" and "What food have you tried from other countries?"

I don't have a Smart Board yet so I wrote the directions of how to play on the board. I had the students turn and talk with a neighbor to practice our level 1 whisper voices. They had to share one text-to-life connection using their level 1 voices. 

We discussed answering the same question again. I asked them to use high order thinking for repeat questions.

What if I don't have a partner? I asked a student to model with me how to ask for a partner before we began.

Get your game cards here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quiz-Quiz-Trade-Game-Cards-for-The-Invisible-Boy-1745395
Get the lesson plan with CCSS and ASCA standards here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_6T4rR2pFj5SlplTndNSE1GRU0/view?usp=sharing


Exit ticket: To leave the room I gave each student a post it note and asked them tell me what stuck with them.

Can you see me now?

So I started this entry a few times this week, but never finished. Then I was reading the "Corner on Character" and ironically she had the same post! Great counselors must think alike.

"The Invisible Boy" by Trudy Ludwig is one of my favorite new buys.

Not only are the illustrations gorgeous, but the story is very powerful. So many of our students feel lost in the crowd, feel like they don't fit in, or even that they are the only ones dealing with a specific issue.


I love the suggestions that "Corner On Character" had for this book and I plan on incorporating several into my lesson. I love the idea of looking for character education words in the book and talking about the connecting it to their own lives with the use of "I" statements.


Here's how I planned on using the book. First, the author included discussion questions at the end of the story. I plan on having my students discuss these questions using the Quiz Quiz Trade game.

Next I am going to write a letter to the students in a "Dear Abby" format. I'll create a few one will be about bullying, one about being new to school, and one about making friends. I'll have the students write their own letters back to this fictional student. You could also use these social situations to do a role play activity, depending on the time you have with your class.

I'll post more as I continue to develop this lesson.


Speaking of invisible. These two are not! No, no these two have no consideration for personal space, but I love them.

Funny Friends

Are you guys loving this Android commercial as much as me?

I adore it!  I knew I had to sneak it into one of my lessons. I also had to share with one of my favorite collaborators, S. Svarda, School Librarian extraordinare. Check out her blog here!!!

 This month my lesson with 2nd/3rd really continues to morph, especially with Valentines Day. Here's a rough sketch of what I did and how I used this wonderful video.

Introduction: This month we are talking about respect, being a considerate classmate, and bullying prevention. I introduced the topic asking students to share with a neighbor one way they include others at school.

Lesson: Next I asked them to look and see if they could see any of their answers in our story and we read the  award winning and wonderful book "Each Kindess" by Jacqueline Woodson.

Next (depending on time) we played Quiz Quiz Trade using my "Each Kindness" cards. You can get them on my TPT store for $1. Some classes we played a short game (find 5 partners) and some classes we played a longer game. It really depended on time and what I had planned next.

Follow Up Fun - Here are 2 options for what to do next.

September Lesson Plans

Finally getting around to sharing what I've been up to. What a school year!!

Here's what we are doing in our class in September. I'll upload my lesson plans to Google Drive and keep updating them there so check it out here.

gonoodle.com

K and 1st: Let's Listen

We started by reading Interrupting Chicken.  Then we practiced our skills by learning the chicken dance on Go Noodle.

gonoodle.com

Then we talked about all the body parts it takes to listen (eyes, ears, body, brain, etc).  We then met Howard B Wigglebottom who is also learning how to listen. After watching our story,
we practiced again by playing Freeze It on Go Noodle.

http://speech-specialed.blogspot.com/p/whole-body-listening.html

Follow up: We did a cut and paste activity about whole body listening.

National School Counseling Week Link Party!

I love a good party! #NSCW14

To celebrate the National School Counseling Week Party I wanted to share one of my favorite lessons from the year and how I celebrated National School Counseling Week last year.

"The Invisible Boy" has to be on my list of" Top 10 Books Counselors Should Own and Use". I love it!

Check out my lesson plan here and with common core standards here. You can also get the game cards on my TPT store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quiz-Quiz-Trade-Game-Cards-for-The-Invisible-Boy-1745395
Also, check out this video that my music teacher shared with me. It ties in perfectly.

Here's how I celebrated our special week last year.

This week we are celebrating Feb. 3rd-7th! What will you be doing?

Since I am at a new school I might be sneaky and recycle my ideas from last year. I plan on creating these cuties again and doing the trivia contest since students are still getting to know me!

Read more about the National School Counseling Week Party and how you can participate here!

SCALI 2015

What a day- I woke up sick, shattered my cell phone, got the time wrong due to a time change story that's legendary, went to the SCALI conference without my computer adaptor, didn't have a mic in my session and lost my voice, and ran out of handouts. Oh my!

However, I did have the best time in my break out session. What a wonderful group of counselor. We talked about collaborating with your school librarian/media specialist and connecting lessons to Common Core and ASCA Standards.

Here are the handouts and resources I shared:

Here is my Power Point: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_6T4rR2pFj5NkdoWS1iVVFqUEU/view?usp=sharing

Here is my brochure: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Using-Biblio-Counseling-To-Meet-Common-Core-Standards-2119832

A lesson plan with standards for "The Invisible Boy": https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_6T4rR2pFj5SlplTndNSE1GRU0/view?usp=sharing
Get the QQT game cards for the lesson here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quiz-Quiz-Trade-Game-Cards-for-The-Invisible-Boy-1745395

Parent Workshop ideas: http://libraryeverything.blogspot.com/2013/05/its-time-for-summer-reading.html

Wonderopolis- an amazing resource for non fiction and to enhance research: http://wonderopolis.org/

Flocabulary - videos to boost your lessons: https://www.flocabulary.com/topics/social-and-emotional-learning/

Kahoot- https://kahoot.it/ and Plickers- https://www.plickers.com/ for easy assessment tools

Get kids talking and sharing about books at https://www.biblionasium.com

Need a lesson on friendship and tolerating differences? Check out: http://libraryeverything.blogspot.com/2015/02/unlikely-friendships.html and follow it up with : http://libraryeverything.blogspot.com/2013/03/im-bored.html

Want a fun problem solving lesson you can collaborate with your librarian on? http://libraryeverything.blogspot.com/2013/03/im-bored.html

Use Anchor Charts to help review a books and meet CCSS: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/101119954104843525/

Need an easy print out of CCSS and more ideas check out: http://cjayneteach.com/

Check out my Scope and Sequence here and here.

One kind counselor in the session shared this new amazing resource for parents, teachers, and students.  Check out https://bookopolis.com/#/
It's an online reading community and it allows students to earn FREE books. Awesome.

Also, my friend Svarda insisted (and I am so glad she did) the TN Standards App. Download it and the ASCA model app for EASY access to standards that make lesson planning a breeze.

Quiz Quiz Trade

I love this game!
Here's why:

*Time- this game can be done in five minutes or last for 15. It's an easy add-in to any lesson.

*Social skills- students get to practice social skills as they play.

* Built in review time- it's a great review of a lesson or previous lessons.

* Move it- I love that it gets the students up and moving. After sitting all day I like giving them a break.

* Friendship- student have to practice good team work and getting along with others in order for the game to continue.




Since I love it so much I have started creating game cards for several of my books.
Today I created game cards for "Enemy Pie" and "Each Kindness."

Note: Cards are for print on Avery 5371 business card stock.

Everyone Loves Bacon! A lesson on popularity, fitting in, and being yourself.

Last month I read The Invisible Boy  with a class and the conversation turned to popularity, fitting in and being yourself. The conversation was so good we needed a follow up lesson. Here it is: 

Standards:

ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors (Domain/Standard):   Mindsets: 1. Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/ emotional and physical well-being 3. Sense of belonging in the school environment Behavior- Social Skills:

2. Create positive and supportive relationships with other students5. Demonstrate ethical decision-making and social responsibility6. Use effective collaboration and cooperation skills 7. Use leadership and teamwork skills to work effectively in diverse teams 8. Demonstrate advocacy skills and ability to assert self, when necessary 9. Demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment

Student Learning Objectives: I can create a definition of popularity. I can work in a group, with a partner, and by myself. I can explain what it means to fit it.

Materials: Everyone Loves Bacon, paper bags, markers or crayons, I Wish slips of paper, post it notes or scrap paper.

Procedure:

 As a table/ group discuss what they think is the definition of popularity. You can also have them discuss what it means to fit in. Then on a post it note or scrap papers ask them to write down their definition of popularity and/or fitting in. This will be a working definition they can change and add to  throughout class. 

Next, read and discuss Everyone

Loves Bacon.  Discuss how the books relates to popularity and fitting in. We also talked about self esteem/confidence vs. cocky and arrogant. If possible (because the class has had previous lesson) ask how it relates to The Invisible Boy. You can also discuss feeling comfortable with yourself and the pressure to fit in.

Next we played a quick game of  Quiz Quiz Trade for review.

Then, I asked students to think about the discussion they had today and the book and go back to their definition. They could add on, change, etc. and then they turned in for their exit ticket.

Next, ask students to think about a time they might have hidden something about themselves because they wanted to fit in. I asked them to think of things they have been scared to share for fear of fitting in.  

Each student then got to decorate their paper bags with things we know about them, that they are comfortable sharing, that anyone might know about them that isn’t private. I had a bag as an example.  

Then ask students fill out the I Wish slips; I wish my teacher knew.... I wish my class knew..... I wish my parents knew.....and I wish.....,  These slips went inside of their bags, because they are often hidden and take a lot of courage to share. If time allows, students may share their answers.  

Lastly I invite students to leave their bags with me if they want me to know something about them that is on the inside. I took them home over the weekend and read and wrote notes back to the students. 

A student with Down's shared she wished her class knew how scared she got in crowds. 

Plan for Evaluation: How will each of the following be collected? 

Process Data: number of classes taught, number of students in each class

Perception Data:  Number of students able to create a definition of popularity/fitting in. Number of students able to answer QQT game questions.

Outcome Data:  Number of student self referrals about concerns about fitting in or popularity. Number of student self referrals for peer relationships (including bullying and friendship).

Follow Up:  Teacher will be given a copy of Lady Pancake and French Toast for follow up in morning meeting.

Lessons for November- friends, safety, empathy, decision making, thankfulness, and bullying!

It's almost time for Thanksgiving break!!!!! Until then, here is a little about the fun we are having in class..

K-
We are talking about being a good friend.

Intro: We started out by reading "Let's Be Friends" on BookFlix.

Next, we watched "Rainbow Fish" on Storyline Online to talk about how good friends put others first and share. 

The class shared examples of good friendship skills that I wrote on starfish and fish.  To end each student decorated his/her own rainbow fish that we put on our bulletin board: "We are all friends in our school" (get it school haha!) 

Need more: Check out the word match on Book Flix:

1st Grade: Our character education word of the month is citizenship. We are reading "Michael, Recycle!" This is such a cute rhyming book and it has a lot of big vocabulary words for 1st grade, like crusader! 

In the past I have used this amazing Rhyme, Define, Rhyme pack by Speech Snacks I found on TPT.

I really like it, but I think its too hard for 1st grade. I would definitely use it for 2nd or 3rd. If your students are up for the challenge there are rhyming cards in the TPT pack- you could hand them out to each child and them find the partner whose card rhymes with theirs. There are also some great discussion cards you could play Quiz Quiz Trade with. 

First, we read and slowly discuss the book. I let the students turn and talk and share their ideas and answer questions. Then at the end the students draw what they would do at school if we had a "Be Greener Campaign." 

Perseverance as summer approaches!

This time of year is all about testing, field days, and more testing. I know this time of year I start to lapse on my training with Brooklyn and the dogs get away with a lot.

This time of year I love to do lessons on perseverance (although I still need spell check to help me with that word after many years of teaching.). My favorite book this time of year is "The Three Ninja Pigs" by Corey Rosen Schwartz. I love it so much I've blogged about it many times . I love it so much that I created a packet designed to help teachers and counselors tie it into testing, perseverance/resiliency , team work, problem solving, cultural appreciation, and of course CCSS.  Also, you can connect this book to bullying (link at the end of the blog post).

So here is my latest packet for a book you all NEED to have on your book shelves:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Three-Ninja-Pigs-Activity-Guide-a-lesson-on-perseverance-test-prep-and-more-1792121