- Lesson 1, Counselor Introduction: During the months of August and September I visit each child's classroom to introduce myself to new students and review my role as the school counselor. Students learn the process for seeking my assistance when they have a concern to discuss or a problem they need help solving. In grades 2-5 students complete a needs assessment to help me gather data to determine how to best structure to my counseling program for the school year.
- Lesson 2, Bullying Prevention: The focus of this lesson is helping students understand the difference between a funny joke and hurtful teasing. Students read and discuss the book Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig. Main ideas we discuss as a group include not doing anything mean back to the teaser, getting help from an adult if you try to solve the problem on your own and cannot and hanging out with kids who make you feel good about yourself. Students then complete one of three writing prompts on the topic of teasing and create a classroom sign.
- Lesson 3, Identifying Interests & Abilities: Fifth grade students complete part one of a two-part lesson. We discuss how everyone has different talents, strengths, and interests. Students learn about multiple intelligences and how there are many different ways that people can be "smart." Students complete a learning-strengths survey about their own talents and interests to identify which of the eight multiple intelligences they are strongest in.
- Lesson 4, Identifying Interests & Abilities: Students take a more in-depth look at each of the eight different multiple intelligences developed by Howard Gardner: Verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, naturalist, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. We explore different career choices related to the strengths and interests of each multiple intelligence. Students then complete an individual poster about one of their top multiple intelligences. Posters included strengths, interests, preferred learning strategies, and potential careers for each student.
- Lesson 5, Managing Emotions: Students discuss how everyone feels sad, angry, worried, and upset at times. When we have these feelings there are certain activities we can do to help us cope with our feelings. Students learn that "coping" with feelings is a fancy way of saying that we deal with our feelings and do things to help us feel better. Students identify situations that might make them feel upset, sad, angry and worried. Students then learn about a variety of coping skills appropriate for their age group and have the opportunity to practice certain coping skills. We also take some time to talk about inappropriate ways people may chose to deal with their feelings. In 5th grade students use the website Smiling Mind to practice mindfulness activities and calming breathing. Students then create their very own coping toolkit full of ideas they feel will help them when they are upset.
- Lesson 6, Review & Assessment: The last few weeks of the school year are spent with students in grade K-5, reviewing their learning by creating posters as a class to show others concepts they covered through school counseling classroom lessons throughout the school year. Students also engage in age appropriate games and/or interactive assessments to determine how well they have learned concepts taught to them over the past year.