Friday Freebies: Perseverance

Perseverance by Growing Firsties

Lesson-on-Perseverance-Mindset-and-Goal-Setting by Paws-itive-School-Counselor

Perseverance Kite Project by Tamara Gumm (goes along with THIS BOOK)

Captain-Perseverance-to-the-Rescue by Nola-Russell

Perseverance-Bingo by The-School-Counselors-Corner

Character-Education-Skit-PERSEVERANCE by The-Charismatic-Counselor

 

Sammie-Sled-Dog-Learns-to-Persevere by Nicolas-Morgan-Born

Perseverance-Activity-Classroom-Guidance-Lesson by Counselor-Keri

Perseverance Lesson Plans:  

1.  Perseverance.pdf

2.  Bury Negative Thoughts

Related Post:  perseverance with Ormie the Pig

Anything Is Possible (Perseverance)

Anything Is Possible

I've been having a hard time keeping up with this blog!  I'm finally getting around to posting some new materials that I found at the beginning of the school year.  I spent so much time looking for books and lesson plans to accompany them and had so much fun opening all of the Amazon boxes that were arriving daily at the school and then I just left it all sitting in a pile.  I have a good excuse though!  I haven't gotten around to using all of the books yet as I just recently returned to work after taking 11 weeks off for maternity leave.  I'm hoping to get back to posting lessons as it helps to keep me organized...wish me luck!  

Anyway, I love finding fun videos on YouTube to teach perseverance but I needed some books for my younger students.  I found Anything Is Possible by Giulia Belloni and Marco Trevisan and it is exactly what I was looking for.  

Anything Is Possible is about a determined sheep and a skeptical wolf who are trying to build a flying machine.  This book could also be used to teach teamwork, persistence, and mindset. 

Connections:

*note:  I did not create the following resources.  I have provided links to resources that I have found while searching the internet.  Be sure to visit the seller's pages on Teacher's Pay Teachers and leave feedback on items!

Bury Those Negative Thoughts (lesson by Education World)

Anything Is Possible Lesson Template

Perseverance - Freebie by Growing Firsties (Free)

Character Education Skit PERSEVERANCE by the Charismatic Counselor (Free)

Perseverance Activity by Counselor Keri (Free)  -Includes a Pre-test!

**Counseling Connections is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Mindset Monday-Someday

 I recently purchased the book Someday by Eileen Spinelli.  Someday is a cute story about a girl who dreams about becoming something great.  I like this story because it starts with the girl telling about her goals for the future and follows up with something that she is doing now that is related to that goal.  This would also be a good book for discussions about careers, goal setting, dreams, etc...   I plan to use the book to teach students to use a growth mindset and found several great connections:

Growth-Mindset-lesson-using-book-Someday-by-Eileen-Spinelli (FREE)

Someday...When I Grow Up Writing by Kheila-Dunkerly

Someday-Literature-Response (Free)

Someday Student Book by Teaching-Full-Steam-Ahead (FREE)

Someday-writing-to-accompany-Eileen-Spinellis-amazing-book ($1.00)

Teaching Elements of Fiction Using Mentor Text "Someday" + Icebreaker Activity by Amy Mezni ($3.00)
2 great activities for counseling:  making a someday book and writing down goals/dreams.


Hopes-and-Dreams by Teaching-With-Jackie ($1.20)
love this one!  It is great for matching the present action with the long-term goal

The-someday-me-lesson-plan by Crayola

Lesson Plan by Lindsey Broskie

Stick and Stone

I recently added Stick And Stone to my collection of books and am really liking it for my kindergarten-2nd grade students. It is a very simple story with few words on each page but the message is still there.  From the author's website:  Stick and Stone are all alone.  But when Pinecone makes fun of Stone and hurts his feelings, Stick steps in and defends Stone.  "That's just what sticks do.  Friends do it too," says Stick.  Now Stick and Stone are inseparable best friends.  When Stick gets stuck, it's Stone to the rescue.  That's just what stones do.  Best friendship rocks too," says Stone.  I also love that an activity kit is easily downloadable!  Purchase the book HERE.

Connections:

Stick and Stone Activity Kit from the Author's website:  Download HERE

Stick and Stone - Friendship Freebie by Khrys Greco (Free on TPT)

Stick and Stone Reader Response Freebie by Nicole Oconnor (Free on TPT)

Stick and Stone: Interactive Read-Aloud Lesson Plans and Activities ($3.50 on TPT)

Bullying Unit ($2.00 on TPT)

My Day Is Ruined (Flexible Thinking)

I have several books by Bryan Smith and recently ordered two more!  The first one is:  My Day is Ruined! A Story for Teaching Flexible Thinking.  This book is great for students who are rigid in their thinking.  The main character, Braden, is excited for his upcoming Championship baseball game and has to learn how to deal with the game being cancelled due to pouring rain.  The story lists four steps to Flexible Thinking and shows how Braden uses the four steps to be more flexible in his thinking.  This book was perfect for one of my fifth grade students as one of the examples in the story shows Braden getting upset about having to show his work on a math problem.  Other examples in the story include a change in the schedule and a change in the lunch menu.

You can purchase the book here:  My Day Is Ruined: A Story for Teaching Flexible Thinking

Teaching Guide:  mydayisruinedactivityguide.pdf

Flexible Thinking Social Stories:  https://www.iidc.indiana.edu

Flexible Thinking Worksheet

The Jelly Donut Difference (compassion and empathy)

I ordered The Jelly Donut Difference a few months back and keep forgetting to write a post about it. The Jelly Donut Difference is written by one of my favorite authors, Maria Dismondy.  I originally purchased The Jelly Donut Difference to read with my first graders during their unit on compassion and empathy.  After reading the book I decided to use it with a group of kindergarten students who are having a hard time getting along with their classmates.

The Jelly Donut Difference is about a brother and sister who don't always get along (argue, push each other out of the way, etc...)  They notice that an elderly neighbor is lonely and work together to show empathy and compassion.  The author has a free Reader's Guide available.  Many of the pages are more beneficial to a classroom teacher, however, I did use the comprehension questions as well as the pages that are focused on making a difference.  I also downloaded a free lesson on TPT (link below) and found this to be the most useful in teaching the idea of kindness to kindergarten students.  Finally, I gave each student a kindness goal and rewarded them with jelly donut holes from dunkin donuts if they met their goal.  I also love the idea of doing a jelly cake in a crockpot for a classroom lesson and have included a link to that blog as well.

Connections:

You can purchase The Jelly Donut Difference HERE.

teachinginstripes.blogspot.com -jelly cake in a crockpot

Free Reader's Guide

Teacher's Pay Teacher's FREE lesson by An Apple A Day in First Grade

Cute Ideas HERE by www.teachingwithcrayonsandcurls.com

Another lesson and downloadable writing template HERE by www.primarily-speaking.com

Fidget Spinners

Apparently Fidget Spinners have been "all the rage" for the last month or so.  My son, a third grader, came home from school begging to have one and said that he would even use his own money to purchase one!  I had not heard of fidget spinners so I did a quick google search and saw claims that they were good for ADHD, Anxiety, and Autism.

These claims perked my interest and we went to Target to find one of these gadgets.  We quickly found out that fidget spinners are not easy to find.  My son was told that Target does not sell them and that they were looking into getting stock as they were getting questioned about them by multiple people daily.  We were able to track some down at a local grocery store and paid $8.99 for one of these gadgets.  Later that night we showed up at a benefit and to my surprise many of the children attending the benefit had these fidget spinners as well.  I show up to work on Monday and one of our fifth grade students pulls one out of his pocket to use during my classroom lesson.  THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!

So, what is a Fidget Spinner?  Its a very simple gadget that you hold in your hand, spin, and watch twirl in circles.  The toy is supposed to be used as a fidget and is said to relieve stress.  I'm not so convinced.  My son has already looked up videos on YouTube and has been trying to do "tricks" with his.  I have seen where some schools have already banned the toy...for being "distracting".  My own son will be leaving his at home for the time being (although they are allowed at his school).  I do provide services to an autistic student who stims with a pencil and I would be curious to see if he would be willing to try using a fidget spinner instead.  I'm curious to know if other counselors have had any success using fidget spinners as a tool?

Fidget Spinners on Amazon: