Bobbi Carroll
Future School Counselor
Lesson Plans
Friendship Soup Lesson Plan
Friendship is a fun elementary-aged lesson plan meant to teach students characteristics that should be in any healthy relationship. As a class, students discuss the proper "recipe" for a good friendship. Later, students use the Friendship Survey Worksheet to tell their classmates more about what they are looking for in a friendship.
To follow up, counselor should compile the class recipe for friendship soup, and Inventory Sheets together in a folder for the class to keep in their classroom library. Students loved the activity and they stayed engaged the entire time!
Emily Breaks Free Lesson Plan
Emily Breaks Free is a fun lesson plan for second grade elementary students. This lesson uses bibliotherapy to help students understand bullying and how they can effectively stand up to bullies.
Counselor begins by reading the book, and gauging student involvement by asking students to hug themselves when someone is being nice, and raise their hand when someone is being a bully. After, the counselor allows students to decorate a bully shield in any way they choose.
This lesson is meant for second grade and younger, it is a bit too immature for third grade and higher students.
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? Lesson Plan
The Have You Filled a Bucket Today Lesson plan can be tweaked for grades 2-5th in the elementary school environment. This lesson is really helpful in helping students understand the consequences of their words, while also learning how to fill other's buckets.
In the past, I have required all students to write one bucket filling statement about a student of my choosing. However, it is always helpful to find out which pairings are toxic from their core teacher. I have also used this as an opportunity for students to fill the buckets of their teachers as well. It's important for them to remember that teachers have feelings too!
Students love the lesson, and many teachers tend to adopt the bucket filling classroom ideology!
Sneetches Lesson Plan
The Sneetches Lesson plan is used to teach students grade 3-5 about empathy. It is imperative to note that it requires actually watching the VIDEO of the Sneetches, as the book doesn't have the same absolution at the end.
When doing this lesson, I usually pass out stars with one student's name on the back, and then I pass them out to the other students. At that point, students are asked to write one thing about that student that makes them a star belly!
One of the best things about this lesson is watching the kids' faces as they read the positive words of their classmates.