This year we are working with all of the classes during the week they have Media as their resource. Mrs. Bishop teaches KG, 2nd and 4th grade classes and Ms. Wicksell teaches 1st, 3rd and 5th grade classes. We will work with students on various topics such as character education, friendship skills, feelings, etc. Check back each month to see what we focus on and how you can help reinforce these things at home.
August-September-Lesson 1
Kindergarten:
- Meet Your School Counselor-The Responsive Counselor
- Our first lesson with all of the kindergarten class will be an Introduction to the School Counselor. Students will not only get to know their own school counselor, Mrs. Bishop, but will also learn what school counselors do. We will talk about what school counselors can help them with, such as problems they have at school or home, helping with feelings or friendships, etc. We discussed how school counselors can work with them one-on-one with issues they may be having. Students learned about other things school counselors do such as working with students in a small group and coming into the classroom for a guidance lesson. We even got to take a field trip to see Mrs. Bishop’s office!
First Grade:
- Book-The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
- The first guidance lesson is all about understanding our feelings! We will be reading The Color Monster and talking about how the monster is feeling throughout the story. Students will learn that all feelings are okay and that it is important to recognize and express how we feel. To make it extra fun, students will color their very own Color Monster to represent their feelings!
Second Grade:
- Meet Your School Counselor-The Responsive Counselor and Game
- Our first lesson with all of the second grade classes at Picolata will be an Introduction to the School Counselor. Students will learn/review what school counselors do. We will talk about what school counselors can help them with, such as problems they have at school or home, helping with feelings or friendships, etc. We discussed how school counselors can work with them one-on-one with issues they may be having. Students learned about other things school counselors do such as working with students in a small group and coming into the classroom for a guidance lesson. We even got to take a field trip to see Mrs. Bishop’s office! We ended by playing a fun game to see how much students knew about school counselors.
Third Grade:
- For the first lesson, we are getting to know our new school counselor. Students will participate in a fun, interactive “Get to Know Your Counselor” activity while learning what a school counselor does and how I can support them throughout the school year. We’ll talk about ways counselors can help with feelings, friendships, problem-solving, school success and more. Most importantly, students will learn that my office is a safe place where they can come when they need someone to talk to, support them, or help them work through a problem.
Fourth Grade:
- Learn S’More about the School Counselor Lesson by Counselor Keri
- Students learned more about Mrs. Bishop and her job here at Picolata. We used a s’more to represent the many different things school counselors do and talked about the role of a school counselor and examples of things Mrs. Bishop can help them with and how to request to see her.
Fifth Grade:
- For the first lesson, we are getting to know our new school counselor. Students will participate in a fun, interactive “Get to Know Your Counselor” activity while learning what a school counselor does and how I can support them throughout the school year. We’ll talk about ways counselors can help with feelings, friendships, problem-solving, school success and more. Most importantly, students will learn that my office is a safe place where they can come when they need someone to talk to, support them, or help them work through a problem.
October-November-Lesson 2
Kindergarten:
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- Book: Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow
- Listening is such an important skill. We talked about why it is important to listen and how we can become better listeners. We talked about how we don’t just use our ears to listen, we listen with our whole bodies-our brains are thinking, our eyes are watching, our mouths are quiet, our ears are listening and our body is calm. We did a fun coloring activity to see is they were being good listeners.
First Grade:
- In our second lesson, we will be reading The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin! This story follows a pumpkin who looks different from the others but discovers that his differences are what make him special and help him save the day. Through this story, students will learn about embracing differences, celebrating what makes each of us unique, and treating others with kindness and acceptance.
After the story, we will play a fun game of Pumpkin Musical Chairs! Students will look at different pumpkin facial expressions and identify the emotions that go along with them. This activity will help students practice recognizing facial expressions, understanding emotions, and building emotional awareness.
Second Grade:
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- Lesson: Friendship Attractors and Repellors from Puzzle Pieces
- Book: You Will Be My Friend by Peter Brown
- This month our second graderscompared the properties of a magnet to our personal behavior. A magnet can either attract other magnets to it, or it can repel other magnets to it. People are the same way. The things that we do either attract others to want to be around us, or they can push people away and make them not want to be around us. Therefore, it is very important to think about a behavior or action before doing it. In class, we made a list of attractor behaviors and repellor behaviors and then played Attractor and Repellor Tic-Tac-Toe
Third Grade:
- In our second counseling lesson, we will be learning about the difference between bullying, being rude, being mean, and having a disagreement. Students will discuss what makes each situation different and learn how to recognize when a situation may need adult help. We will focus on how our words and actions affect others and how we can respond in kind and respectful ways.
To wrap up the lesson, students will have the opportunity to spread some kindness by creating “Saying Boo to Bullying Ghost Grams!” 👻 Students will make a kind note for a classmate to remind them that small acts of kindness can make a big difference!
Fourth Grade:
- Lesson: Emotion Potion by Counselor Keri
- This lesson focused on how to use a 3-step method, known as an I-Message statement to express to others their feelings and needs. We learned the I-Message-“I feel ___ when ____. Could you please ____.” Students then played Magical Chairs (like Musical Chairs) and students got to practice using the 3-step method. Students then made their own Emotion Potions flip book to keep to help them remember to use this 3-step method next time they need to share their feelings with someone!
Fifth Grade:
- In our second counseling lesson, we will be learning about the importance of not judging others based on how they look, dress, or appear on the outside. Students will explore how first impressions can sometimes be misleading and why it is important to get to know someone before making assumptions about them.
Students will participate in an interactive activity designed to demonstrate social maturity, perspective-taking, and making thoughtful choices. This lesson will also help strengthen important leadership and teamwork skills, including communication, cooperation, respect, and understanding different perspectives. ⭐