Embedded Files
Students in all grade levels will have age-appropriate lessons in the following areas:
Self- Awareness
Identifying Feelings
Identifying Traits
Social Awareness
Recognizing others feelings
Empathy
Disagreeing with others
Respect for other people’s feelings and belongings
Self- Management
Monitoring Stress and coping skills
Growth Mindset - Developing Grit
Showing Self Control
Goal Setting
Responsible Decision Making
Communicating
Appropriate behavior
Following rules
Safety
September
Fourth-grade classroom lessons always begin with a quick lesson on the role of the school counselor and the tools we have at school to help support students with small problems that impact their success at school with academics, friendships, and personal struggles. Students learn how to use sycamore to make an appointment or share concerns for themselves or a friend. We discuss how our role in school is to be a student first and support our classmates.
Students completed a sheet with something unique or special about themselves to share. We discuss how we are all given gifts by God and sharing our gifts with others builds are confidence and also helps us develop healthy friendships.
In order to celebrate FIRE week and inclusivity, we read the book Just Ask by Sonia Sotomayor. This story explores differences and how they are to be understood and celebrated. We use full group discussion to share our experiences with tolerance and compassion. We also discussed how it is ok to just ask a question if you want to understand a friend or classmate better instead of casting judgment or rumors. Inclusive education means that all students should feel valued and welcomed in our school. We use this topic to encourage students to be courageous, kind and friendly to all.
October:
In the month of October we discuss how to treat others kindly, with empathy and understanding. We use this month which focuses on inclusivity to explore the ways to make and keep friendships. Often in fourth grade, we see an influx of friendship issues in which students struggle to understand how to maintain healthy friendships. We discuss as a group how mean behaviors, that often take the form of passive aggression, affect others. Eye rolling, ignoring, leaving out, and gossip are behaviors that can make a friendship feel unhealthy if not addressed properly. I worked with a class of girls to lay out some "rules" for friendship including the expectations we should have of one another. We used these rules in our next lesson to explore which ones were impacting students the most in 4th grade. We also practiced some role playing to give students an opportunity to understand the difference between confident behaviors and passive behaviors.
Students have a copy of this list of friendship rules to help guide them to take ownership of the relationships they choose to work on in school. Students learn that using an i-message with a friend is a bridge that can correct issues instead of ignore them like most students will do. Sometimes it is important to use ignoring with an unkind classmate but with friends, being direct with how you feel will help give kids the opportunity to solve a problem.
We read the story: My Secret Bully and students discussed the characteristics of bullying behaviors, even between friends. We discussed forgiveness and empathy but also making sure to set your standards high with friendships and not allow others to embarrass or humiliate you - even if they claim to be your friend. After the story, we discussed ways to tell an adult when bullying behaviors persist and the problem is not resolving on its own or with conflict resolution skills. We also look at the symptoms victims of bullying may experience such as an anxious stomach, avoidant behavior (not wanting to go to school), sadness, or even anger.
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