Icebreakers/Conversation Starters:

• What is your favorite holiday memory?

• What do the holidays mean to you?

• Do you have any traditions around this time of year?

• Who is someone you want to spend time with around the holidays and why?

• Do you prefer Thanksgiving time or Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Years, or something else?

• What is the best gift you have received? and/or best gift you have given?

• Have you ever worked really hard on a gift/something handmade?

• Have you ever volunteered or given back in some way?

• Would you like to volunteer or give back in some way? What are your ideas? What would you like to be involved with?

• If you had extra $ to donate to one cause, what would it be and why?

*Consider donating to an AG Food or Winter Gear Drive

Ideas for Winter/Holiday AG Activities:

-Spend a morning or two making cards

Free custom printable Christmas card templates | Canva

Printable Hanukkah Gift Tags - Bullock's Buzz

-Write a positive note or affirmation that could help someone else get through a hard day… bring these to Ms. Scharff or Mrs. Hempey

-Share your best (appropriate) holiday joke (write it down and bring it to Ms. Scharff or Mrs. Hempey too).

-Make paper snowflakes to hang up

-Make a winter collage

-Play a board game together

-Learn how to play dreidel:

How to Play Dreidel | Macaroni KID National

How to Play Dreidel Printable

-Go for a walk in fresh snow

-Make a snowman! or snow people 🙂

-Collect extra coins to donate - your AG can come together to decide or vote on where to donate to

Winter Activities that Middle School Students Will Love - Teaching Expertise

^The pine cone crafts look cute for a homemade gift!

Instead of daily activities, we ask AGs to think about the idea of gratitude this month.

Below are a menu of activities we encourage you to utilize during gratitude month.

-Grab a Turkey feather from the counter in the mail room. Copy enough for each student in your AG/Homeroom. Have each student cut out their feather, decorate or color it, and label it with something they are grateful for this season. Return all completed feathers to Mrs. Hempey or Ms. Scharff by November 17th.

-Try one of the guided gratitude meditations below.

-Watch a Power of Gratitude video below. Don't forget to discuss!

-Participate in a 30-Day Gratitude Challenge (see below)

-Keep a gratitude journal, feel free to use the template below.

-Make a Gratitude Jar for your AG/Homeroom. Each day, have kids drop a slip into the jar noting one thing they are grateful for. At the end of the month read them aloud as a group. (No names)

-Check out 5 Ways to Teach Gratitude in your classroom.

-Listen to some songs about gratitude. Discuss...what do you think?

-Watch an animated short about gratitude - What do these have to do with gratitude?

-Check out the Gratitude Experiment below. What do you think? How can you adapt it to work for you?

Does your AG have a good way to practice gratitude? Let Mrs. Hempey or Ms. Scharff know about it, and we'll add it to this month's Menu!

Songs about Gratitude

Gratitude Videos

The Gratitude Experiment

Monday, Oct. 24:PJ/Comfy Day

Happy Monday! Here are your AM Announcements.

AG conversation starters/icebreakers:

-How was your weekend?

-Share a high and a low of your weekend, and a hope for the week.

-It is PJ/Comfy Day - when is a time in your life you feel most comfortable?

-Describe your happy place

Tuesday, Oct. 25:Wear your team color day

Tuesday Trivia!

-Have everyone share their best/favorite trivia with the group.

Here is some Halloween Trivia for fun…

30+ Spooky Halloween Trivia Questions for Kids

Wednesday, Oct. 26:Dress as your parent or guardian day

Wacky Wednesday or Would You Rather Wednesday:

-Share about your outfit today…

-Share a wacky fact or play would you rather…

-Would you rather eat your favorite meal every single day or never eat your favorite meal again?

-Would you rather eat candy corn or marshmallows?

-Would you rather visit a haunted house or a haunted graveyard?

Thursday, Oct 27:Hat Day

-Share about the hat you chose to wear today

-Any significance, meaning, or story behind your hat?

*Remind the group of topics we covered earlier in the year - like being a member of a group and a larger community

-Remind them of what it means to “wear many hats” and ask how they see this playing out at school, at home, and in the community

This could lead into asking how each group member thinks that others view them or perceive them.

Friday, Oct 28:Spooky Day

Friday should be beautiful out and it is finally our Staff vs. 8th Grade Soccer Game Day, woo! ⚽

Get outside, enjoy playing a game together, or do a fun team building activity today.

Monday, Oct. 17:

Happy Monday! Here are your AM Announcements.

8th Grade vs. Staff Soccer Game is this Thursday, woo!

AG conversation starters/icebreakers:

-Rate your weekend 1-5, 1 being the worst, 5 being the best and why? What would have made it better?

-Give your weekend a movie title…

-What are you excited about this week?

Tuesday, Oct. 18:

Continuing on the theme of perspective this week…

*Try a game of Written Telephone with your AG today. The way this works is everyone has a blank sheet of paper and a pen or pencil. Have each participant write a one-line sentence at the top of their paper. The sentence can be random/anything that is school-appropriate. For example, “The 7th grader dressed up as a ghost for Halloween.” After everyone has written their sentence, pass the paper to the person to your right. That person now draws a (small) picture of the sentence directly below the sentence. Then, fold the top of the paper over the sentence, so the sentence is no longer visible, but the drawing is. Next, pass it to your right again, and that person writes a sentence to describe what they think is going on in the drawing. Then, fold over the picture, so only the sentence is visible…continue this process until you get to the bottom of the page… when the pages are filled, everyone can unfold the papers and see how their original sentence changed with different perspectives around the table.

-This is a fun activity that also helps to open up more conversations about how different individuals perceive words, images, or situations differently, or also how rumors are spread…

Wednesday, Oct. 19:

Today, I am sharing a Tedx Talk that I found to be an important reminder about perspective for all of us. I hope you enjoy it:

The Life Altering Power of Perspective | Angela Popplewell | TEDxUofW

Thursday, Oct 20:

Take time to finish the Tedx Talk from yesterday, Here are some thought questions to go with it:

1. What did you think of the video?

2. Any specific parts or quotes that stood out to you? Why?

3. Can these concepts apply to any situations in your life right now?

4. Anything else you want to share?

Friday, Oct 21:

Fri-yay! Go outside or play a game with your AG today. Share these optical illusions with students to wrap up the conversation on perspective:

https://www.optics4kids.org/optical-illusions

How many figures can you see in this image?

How many animals do you see in the image?

How many legs do I have?

Tuesday, Oct. 11:

AG conversation starters:

-How was your 4-day weekend? What did you do?

-We have another 4-day week now. What are you looking forward to?

-We had yesterday off from school. Does anyone know what the actual holiday is celebrating?

-Does anyone know why the holiday has shifted from focus on “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples Day?”

Here are some resources:

Why Columbus Day Is Being Replaced by Indigenous People's Day | NowThis

The Columbus Controversy

About the Abenaki for kids

On October 10 and every day, we should:

• Acknowledge

• Educate on

• Support

• Honor

• and Celebrate

The people who were here first.

Wednesday, Oct. 12:

-Continue to explore those resources related to Indigenous Peoples Day, and have conversations about it.

*How does this relate to us? What can we take from this shift in focus from Columbus to Indigenous People? How does this relate to the topic of perspective?

“As we gather today in a circle, let’s take a moment to acknowledge this land. Remember that Vermont is the homeland of the Abenaki people and that this land was stolen. We recognize that the circle process is rooted in ancient traditions that Indigenous Peoples use and have used for thousands of years.”

-What can we do to celebrate, honor, or show respect to Indigenous people?

Thursday, Oct. 13:

Thursday Thanks! Have everyone share what they are feeling grateful for today - they can share out loud in a circle, or take a few minutes to write it down and/or journal. You can talk about the benefits of feeling and expressing gratitude.

Friday, Oct. 14:

Once again, try to enjoy time outside as a group if it isn’t too cold! Walk around the building or on the trail by the field, play soccer, football, basketball, tag…ask what their favorite fall activity or food is.

Monday, Oct. 3:

AG conversation starters:

-What was a high and a low of your weekend?

-What is your hope for this week?

-What are you looking forward to this week?

-Did anyone go to the Fun Night at the Ice Center?

-Hocus Pocus 2 came out on Friday. Did anyone watch it? You could watch the trailer as a group or watch clips from the original Hocus Pocus.

This week, we are shifting our focus to the concept of community. What does the word “community” mean to you?

Tuesday, Oct. 4:

Remember yesterday, we introduced the topic of community?

-What different communities are you a part of?

• School

• Sports teams

• Family

• Friends

• Church or another organization?

-What gives you a sense of community in your life?

Wednesday, Oct. 5:

-What values make a good community? Work together to make a list.

-What values do you want to keep inside your community and what values should be left outside?

You could draw a visual that you can keep for AG time. You could draw a big circle and write values you want to keep inside of it, and values to keep away outside of the circle. Students can be creative with writing and drawing on it. You could also make key words into a word cloud.

Thursday, Oct. 6:

Play a game together as a community and practice noticing the values you outlined yesterday. You can come grab a game from Mrs. Hempey or Ms. Scharff. Ideas:

• Hangman

• Telephone

• Pictionary

• Jenga

• Headbands

• Scattergories

• Scrabble

• Boggle…

Monday, Sept. 26th

Play Perfect Pairs - Team up as an AG to list as many perfect pairs as possible (example: salt/pepper or Jack/Jill). Submit your perfect pairs to Mrs. Hempey or Ms. Scharff and to see which AG comes up with the most and gets bragging rights.

Tuesday, Sept. 27th

Work together as an AG to solve these Rebus Puzzles - once you've figured out as many as possible, drop them off in Mrs. Hempey or Ms. Scharff's mailbox to see which AG got the most correct answers! Rebus puzzles will be available in the mail room Tuesday morning.

.

Wednesday, Sept. 28th - Bring your BackPacks to AG tomorrow!!

Try to count to 20 with your AG. You must count as a group. No one can say more than three numbers in a row, if two people talk at the same time the group starts again, if the group goofs up (repeats or says the wrong number) they start again.

Did you get to 20? Try to get to 30...50...or even 100!

Thursday, Sept. 29th -

Backpack Scavenger Hunt. As an AG work together to find as many scavenger hunt items as possible:

Pick up the scavenger hunt list on Thursday morning in the mail room! Submit your tally to Mrs. Hempey or Ms. Scharff to see which AG collectively found the most items.

Friday, Sept. 30th

Enjoy some outdoor time with your AG today! Take a walk, shoot some hoops, or just soak up some rays on the side walk!

List of Adjectives kids can use for reference.

-20 Questions Grab bag (what's in the bag...) - Make it a treat someone can win...it gets them all to engage.

-Categories/Scategories - Have someone name a category and have everyone name their favorite thing in that category, or have someone pick a letter an

-Board/Card Games (Lots to choose from in Jennie/Emily's space)

-Backpack scavenger hunt. Have the kids bring their bags and see who can produce items like Band-aids, phone chargers, markers, etc...

-Directed Drawing - elect a simple picture. Don’t show the picture to players. Players draw the picture based on the directions/ description you provide. The picture prompt is revealed at the end; players reveal their drawings.

-Spot the Difference or this one from the Smithsonian.

-NYT mini Crossword and other puzzle games

-What's going on in this picture?

Have things you can add to the AG Grab Bag? Let Jennie and Emily know. Email us @ cbms-schoolcounselors@huusd.org.

Week of October 24th-28th:

Topic: Spirit Week Fun! 🎉