This is a new, five-lesson unit that can be used to help rebuild students’ connections to school in the wake of extended school closures. There will be separate sets of lessons for Kindergarten–Grade 1, Grades 2–3, Grades 4–5, and middle school. The unit includes strategies educators can use to help foster a positive, supportive school environment. The lessons are designed to be taught when schools first open for in-person instruction, whenever that date comes.
Students identify people they can go to for comfort and support. They create a “Support Tree” with each person they identify represented on a leaf.
Students practice belly breathing, a simple breathing technique that helps them calm their body and manage strong feelings.
Students record their worries in words or pictures and put them in a jar to contain them so they don’t dominate their thoughts.
Students expand their emotional vocabulary by naming feelings they’re having because of the difficult event.
Students practice belly breathing and discuss other ways to calm down. Then they make a plan to use calming-down strategies to manage their strong feelings.
Students use words and illustrations to create a short story that describes their experience of a difficult event.
Students focus on the positive things in their lives and say thank you for them by practicing gratitude.
Students plan ways to move more during the school day as a class to help them cope with stress.
Students generate more specific words for each of the six basic emotion categories. Then they use these words to track their feelings for one day.