School Counselor Blog

These pictures are from a classroom guidance lesson I did on cooperation with all of the first grade classes. First, I had the students help me draw a picture using only one color. Then, I asked them what we could do to make the picture better. Eventually, students stated that we needed to have more color. We talked about how boring the world would be if it was only one color. We read The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf . The book explains that everyone needs to work together in order to create a beautiful picture. We talked about "okay" and "not okay" behaviors that the crayons were doing. In order for the picture to be complete in the The Crayon Box that Talked , the crayons had to work together and use all of their colors. I divided the students into groups of four and asked them to draw a picture as a group. I gave them all a large sheet of paper, markers, and crayons to use. They had to make decisions about which side was the top of the picture...

I created this tree for a lesson about anger. I read 1st graders for the book When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry... by Molly Bang . We talked about things that make us angry, such as when somebody pushes in line, when someone takes my crayons, when someone will not play with me, etc. While reading the book we talked about "okay" and "not okay" behaviors that Sophie was doing. I asked students to give me a "thumbs up" for "okay" behaviors and a "thumbs down" for "not okay" behaviors. After reading  When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry... , we played a game with the tree pictured. I gave students examples of things that made them or Sophie angry and had students put a leaf on the tree for their response. The students enjoyed coming up with positive ways to handle their anger such as, tell the teacher, count to 10, ask another friend to play, take deep breaths, etc. To make the tree I used b rbro...

The Colors of US! One of the first classroom guidance lessons I did as a long-term substitute counselor was about diversity. I read the book The Colors of Us by Karen Katz to first grade. We talked about how no one is black, white, yellow, or red. We are all a beautiful color. I had the students trace their hand and mix crayon colors together until they found their color. I also had them write something unique about themselves. Students enjoyed finding their own unique color and making their hands. Here is a picture of the hands students created. What activities do you facilitate about diversity?  Comment below,  email me ,  tweet , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at  School Counselor Blog , a place where school counselors share innovative ideas,  creative lesson plans,  and quality resources.  Contact Daniell...

I did a lesson about breaking down the walls of tolerance with a third grade English-immersion class. I read Papalotzin and the Mona rch s :A Bilingual Border Tale b y Rigoberto González to the students. The story is about the Great North building a wall to keep everyone on the Great South out. Both the Great North and the Great South suffer. Papalotzin convinces everyone to help break down the wall so everyone can move freely again. After reading  Papalotzin and the  Mona rch s , I asked students what walls existed in their classroom. Students talked about how sometimes they get treated differently because of the color of their skin. Students commented that sometimes people don't want to let you into their group because you aren't cool enough. I asked for suggestions about how we could break down walls in their classroom. The students suggested: being kind to each other, sharing, letting others join the group, asking people to play with us at recess. As a foll...