It’s your first day of school and you have a whole new group of students to get to know. By being interested in who they are as people, their interests, feelings, experiences, backgrounds etc., you’re making them feel welcome and setting a tone of caring, and by making them feel welcome and showing that you care you’re building positive relationships and winning them over right from the start. When you get to know your students on a personal level you’ll have a better understanding of group interactions, personal likes and dislikes, and motivating interests. This can help you plan lessons, organize groups, and diffuse potential problems.
Some Great Resources
Grades 7-12
Here are a few quick activity sheets and some suggestions for follow up group interactions that help you to get to know your students and for them to get to know each other.
One Last Thought…
It’s important to remember that building positive relationships and maintaining a classroom of caring is about taking time on a regular basis to be in touch with the human side of your students. Check out more activities from the many books available from the Innerchoice Publishing website
Activities for the elementary grades – All About Me
Welcoming families as vital partners in the school community can create a stimulating learning environment. It can also be frustrating and challenging, especially when social customs and mores, language differences, even fear become barriers that can hinder this partnership.
The Student Reality
In many cases, immigrant students prove surprisingly resilient and eager to mimic the behaviors and values of their American peers. Some come from countries where Western culture has already made significant inroads, whether through television, movies, music, technology or MacDonald’s. However, too rapid acculturation can often spell trouble at home, as conflicts develop between children intent on change and parents determined to preserve traditional values.
Linking with Parents
This book is about reaching out to immigrant parents because it is often the parents, not the students, who need the greatest understanding and help. School systems differ around the world.In many countries parent involvement is not expected, or wanted.Immigrant parents may not understand how the U.S. school system works and be totally unfamiliar with the concept of parent involvement.In addition to not understanding the school system they often have very little knowledge of how to support their children’s educational development.
Few children, regardless of culture, achieve their full academic, social and leadership potential without the support of a caring, involved family. Talented, able immigrant children can easily fall by the wayside if their parents are so alienated from the educational system that they are unable to assist with homework, language acquisition, and a whole array of compliance issues ranging from simple attendance to behavior codes and discipline policies. When parents are in overt (or covert) conflict with the educational system, the cultural tug-of-war for the mind and heart of the child can be devastating.
By extending a welcoming hand, making efforts to communicate, and involving immigrant parents in the schooling of their children, we can circumvent many of these problems. It’s a preventive approach, really, one that attempts to support and strengthen the child at the foundational level.
Building a Repertoire
As educators, we need to comprehend and address a complete range of cultural issues. To do this, we have to understand the values, customs and worldview of the dominant American culture as well as those of immigrant students and their families. We must be aware of the unique behaviors of each immigrant child, while appreciating and understanding the cultural context from which these behaviors originate. We should also try to understand the immigration experience and the process of acculturation — which is often painful and conflicting.
Cultural Factors to Keep in Mind
Understanding your own culture is a major step toward understanding others. It’s like anything else. Having a context and a basis for comparison makes identifying differences a lot easier. Remember that while values are the bedrock of culture, they often can only be understood by examining customs, communication styles and individual behaviors. The values themselves are hidden.
Communication styles and patterns, including body language, vary from one culture to another. For example, people from some cultures pull away in response to direct questioning or see “why” questions as accusations. Others feel an obligation to please the person with whom they are talking and think nothing of massaging the facts in order to do so. In some cultures, smiling and nodding have little to do with genuine pleasure or agreement. In others, having direct eye contact with someone in an authority position is considered rude.
In communicating with immigrant students and their families, it is important to do perception checks. Is your interpretation correct? Check with the other person. The rules for good listening and responding don’t change, but if you are willing and able to make small adjustments in your style of communicating (to more closely mirror the style of the other person), communication will be improved.
The more you know about a student’s culture, the better the chances of effective communication. This doesn’t mean that you have to devote hours of study to becoming multiculturally literate. Showing an interest in the diverse experiences of students and their families is an important way to build relationships. Observing, asking questions and exploring differences in an open and honest way will go a long way to building insight and understanding. For example, questions and observations may tell you such things as:
• The amount of personal space an individual requires. (This tells you how much physical distance to allow between you and the other person.)
• How time is viewed. Does the American expectation of punctuality have meaning in the other culture? Is the fast pace of American life creating conflicts for the student or family? Do children and their parents understand and accept the concept of deadlines and due dates for projects and papers?
• The family’s decision-making process. How does information seem to flow from the child to the home and back again to you? Is there an established protocol for gaining parent cooperation? Do family members other than parents (e.g., grandparents, aunts, siblings) need to be involved?
Gauge the amount of information you provide. This is particularly important when working with immigrant parents. Individuals experiencing culture shock are already overwhelmed. Piling on reams of information is probably going to be counterproductive. Prioritize what you need to convey to parents and then deal with it in small chunks. Have more contacts of shorter duration.
Never neglect or take for granted the emotional life of your students.Feelings, self-awareness, life skills, conflict management, self-esteem, and all of the other developmental areas now identified as social emotional learning are critically important.An impressive array of research from multiple fields supports the validity of time and energy spent by educators in these domains.Emotions are not unruly remnants of stone-age survival to be hushed and otherwise ignored while we develop cognitive skills.Emotions drive our behavior, shape our values, and predispose us to choose one course of action over others.Emotional and rational skills are equally important interdependent components of human intelligence.
This Sharing Circle topic comes from the elementary grades activity book, Social-Emotional Learning Activities For The Elementary Grades. The topic is, A Time I Showed SomeoneThat I Care…
Here’s Your Monday Morning Sharing Circle.
Enjoy!
Do you want more information? • Leading a Sharing Circle • Sharing Circle Rules • Books and Resources • Free Activities • Subscribe
Explain the rules for sharing, and get agreement from everyone that they will follow the rules.
Sharing Circle Rules:
• Everyone gets a turn to share, including the leader.
• You can skip your turn if you wish.
• Listen to the person who is sharing.
• There are no interruptions, probing, put-downs, or gossip.
• Share the time equally.
After everyone has shared, who wants to share, ask the discussion questions.
Children who have learned to understand, accept, and control their feelings are not only less vulnerable to conflict, they are better equipped to deal constructively with conflict when it occurs. This Sharing Circle will allow students to better understand the connection between feelings and behavior. The topic for this Sharing Circle is, Something I Do That Makes Me Happy…
Here’s Your Monday Morning Sharing Circle.
Enjoy!
Something I Do That Makes Me Happy
Objectives:
The students will:
— identify something that they enjoy doing.
— state that all people can make themselves feel better.
Introduce the Topic:
Today we are going to think about things that we do to make ourselves feel good.The topic is, “Something I Do That Makes Me Happy.”
Do you know that you can make yourself feel happy?We all do things every day to help ourselves feel good.We give hugs to people we love, and that feels good.We sometimes sing or dance or tell jokes to make ourselves happy.We might make ourselves happy by playing a favorite game or reading a good book; by getting together with a close friend, playing with a pet, relaxing in front of T.V., or taking a walk.Close your eyes right now and think of one thing that you do to make yourself happy.Maybe you eat a favorite snack in the afternoon, or cuddle up with your cat.Perhaps you paint, or work on your computer.Take a few moments to think about it.The topic is, “Something I Do That Makes Me Happy.”
Discussion Questions:
1. Why is it important to know how to make yourself feel better?
2. What ideas did you hear that you’d like to try?
3. Who is in control of how you feel?Explain.
Do you want more information? • Leading a Sharing Circle • Sharing Circle Rules • Books and Resources • Free Activities • Subscribe
Explain the rules for sharing, and get agreement from everyone that they will follow the rules.
Sharing Circle Rules:
• Everyone gets a turn to share, including the leader.
• You can skip your turn if you wish.
• Listen to the person who is sharing.
• There are no interruptions, probing, put-downs, or gossip.
• Share the time equally.
After everyone has shared, who wants to share, ask the discussion questions.
Everyone gets angry, and everyone gets involved in conflict.Both are normal human experiences and often one leads to the other.Anger can lead to conflict, and conflict can lead to anger.They generally go together and it’s hard to tell which came first anger or conflict.Indeed, it’s often difficult to tell them apart.It’s only natural then that the teaching of the skills and awarenesses that lead to the ability to effectively managing these powerful emotional events be taught together. Children need to learn effective ways to control, express, and release their anger and strategies for dealing with the conflicts that inevitably arise in life.
The Reality
Because so many influences in their lives teach otherwise, powerful approaches and consistent intervention are needed to teach children positive, social and emotional skills.Practice makes perfect.Repeated exposure to positive alternatives, consistent reinforcement, and practice.Lots of practice!
A Complimentary Activity
Learning together in a classroom or counseling session makes it easier to internalize the skills, strategies, and methods of anger control and conflict management.We all are social beings designed by our long evolutionary history to learn our interactive behaviors with others.The activities in ANGER CONTROL AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT FOR KIDS are designed to actively engage the students with each other in applying knowledge, solving problems, communicating, cooperating, and relating experiences to their own lives. They demonstrate to students the power of approaching anger and conflict with a win-win attitude, and to teach them a number of basic pro-social strategies for managing anger and resolving conflict.The experiential group activities included in this book examine the nature of anger and conflict as well as their causes, effects, and resolutions.A unique Sharing Circle and role-play process builds into the learning experience repeated opportunities for behavioral rehearsal.
Today’s selected group activity is Learning to Control My Anger.
Use this activity now, and purchase the book to have a whole library of instantly usable social skills skills activities with which to engage your students.
You can check the book out HERE, and you can open a reproducible PDF of your student activity HERE.
If you like our blog resources and would like to receive them regularly, please subscribe here or on our website at www.InnerchoicePublishing.com
What does it take for people to get along?What is required for individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds to willingly seek common ground while respecting and proudly maintaining the sundry paths that brought them to the places they share?
The Reality
Our multicultural society is made up almost exclusively of immigrants and the descendents of immigrants, many of whom arrived on these shores seeking religious tolerance and freedom from oppression.What ethics must we nourish in our children, what skills do our youth need to learn in order to appreciate the brilliant kaleidoscope of colors and cultures they have inherited?How can we get them to honor, enjoy, and protect what increasing numbers would shatter and separate into little piles of hues and textures with jagged, hostile edges?
A Place to Begin
We can start by recognizing that a school is a community and the classroom a smaller community, and that whatever happens here not only goes home, but to the theater, the mall, the library, the park, the athletic event, and the religious service.Children must grasp that in order for any of us to truly enjoy and benefit from the amenities and opportunities that are available in the community, in order for any of us to feel entirely safe and secure, in order for any of us to expect optimal conditions for learning and growth, we must ensure that those same benefits, securities, and conditions are available to all of us.In short, we must learn to get along.We don’t always have to agree.We can expect to have different ideas, different values, and different goals, but we must learn to respect one another’s rights, to work and play cooperatively, to resolve conflicts, and to take responsibility for our own behaviors and the effects those have on others and on the community as a whole.
What It Really Takes
Merely admonishing students to be “good citizens” is not enough.Most are very familiar with the label and can readily parrot all the implied expectations.For students to get along in the deeper sense characterized by true interdependence, they have to develop self-awareness; undertake responsibility for their actions; accept and appreciate differences in others; listen with empathy and understanding; communicate their thoughts and feelings accurately and assertively; include others in their activities; be open to divergent styles and points of view; work together to solve problems and complete projects; and peacefully resolve any conflicts they experience along the way.What’s more, they have to be conscious that they are doing these things, and be able to verbalize the reasons and benefits.To develop competency in these areas involves the acquisition of specific skills, along with growing awareness and open discussion concerning the process.This in turn requires not just explanation, but modeling, plenty of practice or behavioral rehearsal, and ongoing dialogue.
A Complimentary Activity
The activities in GETTING ALONG – Social Skills Activities for Middle and High School Studentsare designed to introduce students to these skills in a deliberate, enjoyable fashion and, in the process, elevate their awareness of the responsibility that each has to make the classroom and/or school a cooperative environment where everyone is included, where people experience true interdependence, and where dissent and conflict are never fearsome or ugly but, rather, natural and productive.
Today’s selected activity, Promoting Inclusion, comes from the unit “INCLUDING OTHERS”.
Use this activity now, and purchase the book to have a whole library of instantly usable social skills skills activities with which to engage your students.
You can check the book out HERE, and you can open a reproducible PDF of your student activity HERE.
If you like our blog resources and would like to receive them regularly, please subscribe here or on our website at www.InnerchoicePublishing.com
This Sharing Circle topic comes from the grades 3-6 resource book, Hearts and Minds. Your students will explore the impact of the things they do that make others feel good. The topic helps your students see the kinds of words and actions that create good feelings in others. They will also discover how to take credit for kind deeds and become aware of the benefits that acts of kindness produce. The topic for this Sharing Circle is, Something I Did to Make Someone Feel Good…
Here’s Your Monday Morning Sharing Circle.
Enjoy!
Something I Did to Make Someone Feel Good
Objectives:
The children will:
— identify specific words and actions that create good feelings in others.
— accept credit for good and kind deeds.
— explain how acts of kindness benefit themselves and others.
Introduce the Topic:
Today’s topic is a very broad one that can be discussed in many ways. It is, “Something I Did to Make Someone Feel Good.” You see what I mean? You have probably done hundreds of things to make other people feel good. Just tell us about one.
Maybe you gave someone a flower, a present, or a compliment. Perhaps you hugged a friend who was feeling bad, or offered to relieve a parent of a chore or errand. Telling a joke can make someone feel good. So can telling a person what a good job he or she did, or saying, “I like you” or “I love you.” Describe what you said or did and how you felt inside. The topic is, “Something I Did to Make Someone Feel Good.”
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you feel when you know you’ve made someone feel good? 2. Usually, when a person feels good, everyone who comes in contact with that person benefits. Can you explain how that happens? 3. If everyone in our group tried to make one extra person feel good each day, how would our group benefit?
Do you want more information? • Leading a Sharing Circle • Sharing Circle Rules • Books and Resources • Free Activities • Subscribe
Explain the rules for sharing, and get agreement from everyone that they will follow the rules.
Sharing Circle Rules:
• Everyone gets a turn to share, including the leader.
• You can skip your turn if you wish.
• Listen to the person who is sharing.
• There are no interruptions, probing, put-downs, or gossip.
• Share the time equally.
After everyone has shared, who wants to share, ask the discussion questions.
Scientific research into learning and the human brain is currently exploding with discoveries about how humans learn best. It’s now widely recognized that neuroplasticity (the ability of the human brain to grow, learn, and change throughout life) can, and should be, positively enhanced by schooling. Compelling evidence suggests that if educators understand how the brain learns and implement the correct skill-building educational experiences, all students can experience success.
Movement and Stress:
This current research explosion has made it apparent that physical movement is critical to learning. Voluntary large motor activities such as games, team sports, dance, and running raise the good brain chemicals needed for learning, focus, thinking and memory access, and also help to reduce stress. Since chronic, acute stress negatively impacts learning and behavior, providing regular physical activity becomes a natural de-stressor and an important part of any school day. Research suggests that students benefit from 30 to 60 minutes per day of movement and organized physical activity.
Games and Learning:
Pro-social games of all kinds offer additional important ways to purposefully promote social and emotional learning. The natural desire of children to play together and have fun makes games an ideal delivery system for teaching important life skills. Through the structure, rules, and social interaction of games, children learn to share and take turns. They practice self-control and the effective management of negative emotions. They learn that motivation and persistence pay off. Games teach children the benefits of interacting with others in fair, just, and respectful ways, and help develop the critical life skills of collaboration and teamwork.
These important social and emotional skills are not innate talents, but learned abilities. The acquisition of social-emotional skills is facilitated by the structure and rules of games, by peer interaction, and also by adults modeling these behaviors and helping students to make appropriate learning connections.
The games in this section were selected because they encourage self-disclosure and sharing in the non-threatening context of play.They can be used to help students become better acquainted, to promote inclusion, to build team cohesiveness, or as preludes to more challenging tasks.Players introduce themselves to one or more persons, focusing on the value of each individual and acknowledging similarities and differences.
Use this activity now, and purchase the book to have a whole library of instantly usable games to engage your students.
You can check the book out HERE, and you can open a reproducible PDF of your student activity HERE.
If you like our blog resources and would like to receive them regularly, please subscribe here or on our website at www.InnerchoicePublishing.com
This Sharing Circle topic comes from the grades 2-12 resource book, Lessons in Tolerance and Diversity. It lets your students explore the differences between themselves and their friends. The topic helps your students understand that we all differ from one another and that these differences are what really are at the root of all our relationships but, importantly, from the foundations for our friendships. The topic for this Sharing Circle is, Lessons in Tolerance and Diversity…
Here’s Your Monday Morning Sharing Circle.
Enjoy!
I Have a Friend Who Is Different From Me
Purpose:
This circle asks students to identify specific differences between themselves and their friends, and fosters respect for differences in race, culture, lifestyle and ability.
Introduce the Topic:
Today we are going to talk about friends who are different from us and what we like about them. The topic for this session is, “I Have a Friend Who Is Different From Me.”
We are all alike in many ways, but we are also different. Today, I want you to think about a friend who is different from you in at least one major way, and tell us why you like this person so much. Perhaps your friend is of a different race, or has a much larger family, or is many years older than you. Does your friend speak a different language or eats a different way than you do? Does your friend have a disability that causes his or her lifestyle to be different from yours? Maybe your friend celebrates birthdays differently than you do, or has different holidays. Tell us what you enjoy about this person. Does your friend listen to you and share things with you? Does he or she invite you to go places? Do you have something in common like a love of sports, music, or computers? Think about it for a few minutes. The topic is, “I Have a Friend Who Is Different From Me.”
Discussion Questions:
1. What are some of the ways we differ from our friends?
2. How are you enriched by the differences between you and your friend?
3. What causes people to dislike other people because of things like race or religion?
4. What would our lives be like if we could only make friends with people who are just like we are?
Do you want more information? • Leading a Sharing Circle • Sharing Circle Rules • Books and Resources • Free Activities • Subscribe
Explain the rules for sharing, and get agreement from everyone that they will follow the rules.
Sharing Circle Rules:
• Everyone gets a turn to share, including the leader.
• You can skip your turn if you wish.
• Listen to the person who is sharing.
• There are no interruptions, probing, put-downs, or gossip.
• Share the time equally.
After everyone has shared, who wants to share, ask the discussion questions.
This Sharing Circle topic comes from the elementary resource book, Caring and Capable Kids. It lets your students explore the differences between being asked or told to do something and choosing to do it just because it needs to be done. The topic also helps your students see the importance of taking personal responsibility for getting things done. Finally, students get to actually experience the positive feelings and other rewards for both taking initiative and accepting responsibility. The topic for this Sharing Circle is, A Time I Helped Without Being Asked…
Here’s Your Monday Morning Sharing Circle.
Enjoy!
A Time I Helped Without
Being Asked
Objectives:
The students will:
— describe the difference between choosing to do something and being told to do it.
— state the importance of assuming responsibility for things that need to be done.
Introduce the Topic:
Today we’re going to talk about taking the initiative — about accepting responsibility without being told to by an adult. Our topic is, “A Time I Helped Without Being Asked.”
Think of a time when you saw something that needed to be done and took it upon yourself to do it. No one had to tell you or ask you or even hint to you that it needed doing. Maybe you walked into the kitchen one evening and saw a sink full of dirty dishes and, instead of just ignoring the mess, you cleaned it up. Or maybe you saw someone drop and spill or break something and you got down and helped pick up the pieces. Perhaps a neighbor was searching up and down the street for a missing pet and you joined in. Or you might have stayed to help a teacher straighten up a classroom after school. You can probably think of lots of times when you decided on your own to take responsibility. Tell us about one of those times. The topic is, “A Time I Helped Without Being Asked.”
Discussion Questions:
1. How did you feel when you helped without being asked?
2. How would your feelings have been different if you had been asked, or even ordered, to do the same thing?
3. What does it mean to be a responsible person?
4. Why is it important for each of us to take responsibility for things that need to be done?
Do you want more information? • Leading a Sharing Circle • Sharing Circle Rules • Books and Resources • Free Activities • Subscribe
Explain the rules for sharing, and get agreement from everyone that they will follow the rules.
Sharing Circle Rules:
• Everyone gets a turn to share, including the leader.
• You can skip your turn if you wish.
• Listen to the person who is sharing.
• There are no interruptions, probing, put-downs, or gossip.
• Share the time equally.
After everyone has shared, who wants to share, ask the discussion questions.
