School Counselor Blog

I worked with first through fourth graders to share a drug free message with the surrounding community. Students created brown paper grocery bags with a drug free message using a "bee" theme. I am going to take the bags back to the grocery store so that they can give the bags to customers for Red Ribbon Week. Check out the pictures of the students work! Also, check out the other posts I have written with Red Ribbon Week Ideas: Red Ribbon Week Ideas   BEE Drug Free Grocery Bag Decorations College Pennant Display Career Day Costume Idea - Vet Red Ribbon Week 2011*  I will be continuing to add more posts to this list this week! College Door Decorating Contest and Spirit Day College, University, Military, and Trade School Day Dress for Success and Drug Free Pledges   Wear Red Day   What other messages could you put on a paper grocery bag?  Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K

I facilitated a lesson about cooperation to kindergarten students. We talked about bees and how bees cooperate with each other. We also discussed what kindergarten students could do to cooperate and work together. The students create bees to reinforce the message of cooperation. I created a template for a body and wings. The students had to share the templates. They had to trace the templates and cut out the bee pattern. Afterward, they decorated their bees with crayon and glued their bee parts on. The bees serve as a visual reminder of cooperation for kindergarten students. What creative lessons do you facilitate about cooperation? 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 Danielle via  email ,

I facilitated a lesson with 4th graders that involved spaghetti, marshmallows, and cooperation! I divided the class into groups of three or four students. Each group received dry spaghetti noodles and a bowl of marshmallows. I instructed students that they would be making a tower with their group members. I told them that the group who had the highest tower at the end of ten minutes would get a prize from me. After the 10 minutes were up, I asked groups what they thought the point of the activity was. Students suggested that the activity was about "working together." I asked students what was difficult for them during this activity. They commented that it was difficult to work with others, it was frustrating when the spaghetti broke, and that it was hard to figure out how to make the towers stand with all of their group members helping at the same time. I asked the students what they had to do during this activity to work together. They commented that they had t

We are implementing a positive school wide behavior program that focuses on the three "B's": Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful. We have been using "bees" to represent the three "B's" because of the play on words. I am currently teaching lessons about cooperation in grades K-4. I wanted to do a lesson that would involve art and teach first graders about cooperation. One of the art teachers gave me an idea of using finger print art . The students used a yellow marker to color their finger and then used their finger like a stamp to make bee bodies. The students did a great job. We talked about how bees cooperate with each other to make honey. I asked the students how first graders show cooperation. Some comments were: we share, we help each other, we ask each other for things, and we work together. Below are two finished pictures. What lessons do you use to teach students about cooperation? Comment

In honor of National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, I have been facilitating classroom guidance lessons about bullying. I shared one of my favorite counseling books, Good-Bye Bully Machine, by Debbie Fox and Dr. Alan L. Beane , with second, third, and fourth grade students. Through the use of Good-Bye Bully Machine, we discussed what bullying is, how bullying feels, and what to do if you are bullied. The students really enjoy Good-Bye Bully Machine . It makes them think creatively about what makes a bullying problem at a school get bigger and how they can make a difference. I have also utilized the free interactive facilitators guide that is available to use with this book from Free Spirit Publishing . The facilitators guide has great ideas and handouts. In order to make the bully-free message more noticeable in the school, I wanted to make bulletin board that corresponded with the Good-Bye Bully Machine . I consulted the FABULOUS art teacher , whom I have collaborated

This is the extension of the The Colors of Us Revisited lesson using the book The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. At the beginning of the next class, We listed to the Jack Johnson song "My Own Two Hands. " We spoke about things that the students could do with their own two hands to change the world. After listening to "My Own Two Hands," the students were instructed to use the sheet of their own unique color to trace their hand print. After they traced their hands, they cut them out. The students were instructed to decorate their hands using crayola construction paper crayons. They could either draw pictures on their hands of their favorite things or make a design. The students then pasted their hands to a circle with a picture of the world in the center. I went around to each student and asked what they could do to change the world with their own two hands. We used the suggestions that the students came up with as a background for the bulletin board. Som