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2008 - 2009 School Year
Classroom Guidance lessons will begin during the third quarter.
Videotaped guidance lessons begin the week of August 18.
Videotape topics for the month of August = Safety, Who I am?, What is a counselor? Feelings -
Happy, Sad, Mad
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2007 - 2008 School Year
I will visit each 1st Grade class once every four weeks to facilitate a
guidance lesson on social skills and other important topics.
Guidance lessons will begin Tuesday, August 28. I will visit your child's class on the
following dates:
Week A –
Archer – 130 – 2 pm
August 30
October 4
November 8
December 13
January 31
April 3
Week A –
Penn – 2 - 230 pm
August 30
October 4
November 8
December 13
January 31
April 3
Week A –
Petty – 230 – 3 pm
August 30
October 4
November 8
December 13
January 31
April 3
Week B –
Bordes – 130 – 2 pm
September 4
October 16
November 13 – (due to Dibels guidance will have to be November 16, 130 – 2 pm)
December 18
February 12
April 8 (due to Dibels testing, guidance will have to be April 11, 2 – 230 pm)
Week B –
Neeley – 2 – 230 pm
September 4
October 16
November 13 (due to Dibels testing, guidance will have to be November 16, 2 – 230 pm)
December 18
February 12
April 8 (due to Dibels testing, guidance will have to be April 11, 2 – 230 pm)
Week B –
Schwaner – 230 – 3 pm
September 4
October 16
November 13 (due to Dibels guidance will have to be November 16, 230 – 3 pm)
December 18
February 12
April 8 (due to Dibels testing, guidance will have to be April 11, 230 - 3 pm)
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Each week your child will have a guidance video shown. Please see below for a listing of all
videos shown.
Video #1 (August 28) I Can Follow Rules
Video #2 (September 4) - Safety First! Rules have a reason
Video #3 (September 11) - Let's Talk about Feelings
Video #4 (September 18) - Don't Be So Bossy
Video #5 (September 25) - Don't Call Me Names
Video #6 (October 2) - Sooper Puppy
Video #7 (October 9) - Sooper Puppy
Video #8 (October 16) - Sooper Puppy
Video #9 (October 23) - Sooper Puppy
Video #10 (October 30) - Sooper Puppy
Video #11 (November 6) - Sooper Puppy
Video #12 (November 13) - Stop Picking on Me
Video #13 (November 27) - Listen to What I Just Heard: Gossip, Rumors
Video #14 (December 4) - but names will never hurt me
Video #15 (December 11) - The Power of One
video #16 (December 18) - Use your Words
Video #17 (January 8) - Ten Things to Do Instead of Hitting
Video #18 (January 15) - My Friends and Me
Video #19 (January 22) - What's Respect?
Video #20 (January 29) - What to Do When you get Angry
Video #21 (February 12) - Respect Yourself and Others Too
Video #22 (February 19) - You can Count on Me - Building Character
Video #23 (February 26) - What I Like About Me
Video #24 (March 4) - McGruff the Crime Dog and Gun Safety
No video March 11 due to Testing
Video #25 (March 18) - TBA
Video #26 (April 1) - TBA
Video #27 (April 8) - TBA
Video #28 (April 15) - How would you feel?
Video #29 (April 22) - Let Me Choose
Video #30 (April 29) - Doing the Right Thing
Video #31 (May 6) - You Can Choose Dealing with Feelings
Video #32 (May 13) - Cooperation
Video #33 (May 20) - Resolving Conflicts
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In addition to the weekly video, I will do guidance lessons every fourth week. Please take a
moment to review what lessons have been taught with your child so that you can reiterate the
lessons at home...
Guidance Lesson One
Lesson one focused on introductions - who I was and what a counselor does. We went over
important rules in the classroom - raising our hand when we have something to say, listening
with our eyes and our ears, keeping our hands and feet to ourselves, pay attention, etc. We
talked about what respect was and the total opposite, bullying, was. Your children should have a
basic understanding of respect - treating people the way we want to be treated (nice) and the
basic understanding of what a bully is - someone who is mean to you for no reason - they may
call you names, tease you or make fun of you or even hit or kick you. I gave the children
examples and asked them what the respectful thing to do would be if they passed someone in the
hallway that they knew or someone that they didn't know and another example - what would you do
if you accidentally ran into someone on the playground? I also presented them with specific
situations and asked them if this would be a bullying situation or not. We talked about what
you can say to a bully - "Stop that"; "I don't like when you tease me." A big thing I stressed
was that each child can choose who they want to be friends with and no other child has the right
to tell them that they can't be friends with someone or that they won't be their friend if they
are friends with another child. The children were on their best behavior and I look forward to
my next lesson with them.
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Lesson Two
Dear Parents,
As mandated by the St. Tammany Parish School Board, trained personnel will be presenting a
classroom lesson on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, Education, and Reporting during the month of
October. Although the children will have a chance to talk about the topic with a guidance
counselor during the class lesson, we would like to encourage you to talk with your child about
this important issue. This might also be a good time to talk to your child about other general
safety issues.
Materials to be used in the lesson are available at the school for preview during the remainder
of the month of September. If you wish to preview the material, or if you have any questions,
please call the school.
Thank you for your concern and interest in the safety of your child.
Sincerely,
Stacey Boitnott
Counselor
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Lesson Three
Lesson Three focused on the three R's of bullying - recognizing, refusing, and reporting. A
story called My Secret Bully was read to the students. Following the story we talked about
using our words to refuse bullying - I do not like when you call me names and I want you to
stop. If the bullying continues the students were taught how to report by saying who was
involved, what happened, where they were when it happened and when it happened, as well as what
they did to solve the problem. Students practiced reporting specific situations and also had to
determine whether situations were tattling or reporting situations.
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Lesson Four
Lesson four focused on the role of a witness/bystander when it comes to bullying. The
definition of a bystander if anyone who knows that bullying is happening and they know it
because they see it or they hear it. I showed the students a picture of a bullying situation in
which one student was being pushed around and other students are standing by watching/hearing
and doing nothing about it. We talked about how they are making the situation worse for the
target. We talked about the quote, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the
problem." I read them a story called Nobody Knew What to Do - A story about bullying.
Following the story we did an activity in which I asked the students if certain things were part
of the solution or part of the problem and they had to answer them. I hope the students got the
message that if they see/hear bullying then they need to either stand up for the person being
bullied, tell the bully to stop or if they are too afraid to stand up to the bully then they
should report it to an adult immediately.
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Lesson Five
Lesson five focused on the importance of the words "I'm sorry" and not only saying it when it is
appropriate but showing you are truly apologetic. Saying those words when you don't really mean
it is dishonest and rude and typically a person gets busted when they use those words and don't
really mean it. Actions speak louder than words. Children were also taught the importance of
forgiveness.
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Lesson Six
We read enemy pie and talked about really getting to know someone before deciding someone is an
enemy because you might lose out on a good friend if you are too hasty.
Last year's guidance lessons:
Last year's lessons:
LESSON ONE
My first lesson will consist of: Introductions! During our guidance lesson
I will introduc myself and explain what a counselor does. I do a lot of
play therapy which is a child’s form of counseling. Elementary school age
children are sometimes unable to put their feelings into words so they play
out their feelings and thoughts. This explains why there are different
kinds of toys in my office. Play therapy is a child’s language and a toy is
its words. Children know toys and it allows the counselor to be on the
child’s level. To explain what play therapy is I will read the story, “A
Child’s First Book about Play Therapy.” I will explain what confidentiality
means and that I am unable to keep what a student tells me to myself if they
tell me that someone has hurt them or if they are hurting themselves or
someone else. I also will explain that all threats are taken very seriously
and consequences will follow.
After introductions, I will introduce two things that I will be using every
time I visit their class for guidance lessons – 1. a “talking stick” – the
only person that will be allowed to speak is the person holding the talking
stick to avoid interrupting and 2. a Good Choice/Bad Choice sign – if I
think the class is or particular students are making a good choice I will
hold up the green side for GO good choice; if I hold up the red side for
STOP bad choice the class or students will know they are to S – Stop, T –
Think, O – (choose a better) option, and P – pick a positive behavior.
We will also review the six pillars of character: responsibility, respect,
caring, fairness, trustworthiness, and citizenship and what each of them
looks like. Each student will be given a bookmark that says Life is Like a
Pickle Sometimes it’s sweet Sometimes it’s sour A counselor is someone you
can talk to when life is sweet or sour or in-between. A counselor is always
a friend. They will put their names on them and color them and then I will
have them laminated so they can use during reading time.
Be on the lookout for other updates from me on the lessons I am teaching.
Please visit my web site for other counselor updates at
http://teacherweb.com/LA/BonneEcoleElementary/StaceyWoodsBoitnott/h1.stm
Please ask your child about our lesson today and reiterate what they have
learned.
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LESSON TWO
My second lesson consisted of being respectful and not interrupting when someone is speaking. I
used a Dr. Pepper soft drink and shook it up really hard and asked the students what would
happen if I opened it. Of course they all responded it would explode. I explained that
sometimes our mouths get the best of us and do the same thing. I taught them that when you have
something to say the appropriate thing to do is to raise your hand and wait to be called on. If
it is an emergency such as a fire then it would be alright to interrupt me then. I also talked
about making sure what you choose to share is relevant to what we are discussing. For example
if we are talking about manners raising your hand to share that you lost a tooth last night or
that your brother won a trophy would not be appropriate. I read a story "My Mouth is a
Volcano," and then we talked about scenarios such as what would the respectful thing to do be if
your teacher was talking, your recess bell rang, and out on the recess yard. Because they were
RESPECTacular in their answers each student colored a I respect myself and I respect others
page. I did use the talking stick and Go/Stop Sign and was impressed with their
behavior.
Please ask your child about our lesson and reiterate what they learned at home! Thanks!
Be on the lookout for other updates from me on the lessons I am teaching.
Please visit my web site for other counselor updates at
http://teacherweb.com/LA/BonneEcoleElementary/StaceyWoodsBoitnott/h1.stm
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LESSON THREE
Lesson Three focused on sharing. For a lot of our kindergarteners this is their first
experience in a school setting being around other children their same age. It is an adjustment
to have to learn to share with others. I explained that sharing is when you take turns and play
fair. I told them that are three basic rules when it comes to sharing - 1. If you want to use
something that belongs to someone else you must ask first. They may say no. 2. When someone
asks you to use your things you can't simply say no. You don't have to say yes, but if you say
no you should respect the other person enough to give a reason or suggest an alternative - Let's
take turns, You can play with it but only inside or That's my favorite toy but you can play with
any of these. 3. Remember the Golden Rule - Treat others the way you want to be treated. I
asked them lots of questions like - What are some different ways of sharing?, Have you ever
shared with others by dividing thigns up?, How do you feel when someone tells you you can't have
a turn?, In this situation, do you think it's alright to hit or grab?, Does sharing something
with another person give you a good feeling?, How does taking turns help everybody get along?,
How would you feel if somone refused to share something with you?, Why is it important to
respect someone's decision not to share?, If you received something you'd always wanted for your
birthday, would you want the friends at your birthday party to play with it?, What does "sharing
is your choice" mean?, Do you have things you wouldn't like to share? What are they? What are
some things you have that you would share? After lots of lots of questions to get them
thinking, I showed a video called "Can I have a turn? Learning about Sharing." We reviewed what
we learned while the students colored a sharing coloring page.
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LESSON FOUR
During lesson four we discussed how sometimes the things we say to others can really make us
feel good but sometimes we say things to other that can really hurt someone's feelings.
Sometimes kids don't realize how bad words can hurt until they have something happen to them.
We talked about how important it is to use our words in a nice way. I encouraged each of them
to think before they speak and ask themselves how would I feel if someone said this to me. We
read a story called Words are not for hurting. Following the story I presented different words
and the students had to decide if it was an okay word to say or not. Some of the example words
were: meanie, get out of my way, you're not my friend anymore, I'm sorry, I love you, you're my
friend, have a nice day, can I help you?, excuse me, you can't play with us, cry baby, you can
share with me, you look nice today, thank you, can I play with you?, and you did a great job.
Ask your child about the lesson and present some words yourself and ask them to decide if what
you said is an okay word or a not okay word.
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LESSON FIVE
Because it is Red Ribbon Week, lesson five is a lesson on good drugs vs. bad drugs, staying
drug free, making good choices and living a healthy life. We will talk about what kids know
about drugs. It is always surprises me what they know. We will play SAY NO bingo where the
kids will learn facts and statistics about drugs. The winner will receive a drug free prize.
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LESSON SIX
The guidance topic for lesson six was empathy. We began our lesson by explaining that empathy
is when we try to put ourselves in someone else's shoes, not literally but figuratively. For
example if you called someone a shrimp and that someone got upset about it and you didn't think
it was a big deal because you were only kidding -- empathy is when you try to pretend the be the
person who got upset and picture how you would feel if someone called you a name you didn't
like. I then read them a story called How do I Stand in your shoes? by Susan DeBell. We then
followed the story with a video called "How Would You Feel?" Learning about Empathy so the
students could see real life situations where children tried to put themselves in someone else's
shoes. Here are some points I hope to help the students understand: 1.
When someone is unhappy, imagining yourself in that person's place can help you decide what to
do, 2. Asking yourself how you feel in that situation helps you see it from another point of
view, 3. If you want to make it clear you understand how somone feels, try to say something that
makes the situation better, not worse, and 4. Imagining how someone else feels and responding in
a caring way makes you a better friend. You can help in aiding your children to understand by
presenting situations to them such as: Your brother was upset when you borrowed his new CD
without asking. How would you feel if he did the same to you? or You might suggest that when
your child breaks a playdate with a friend, that she imagine how she would feel if her friend
did the same to him or her. The goal is to develop a sensitivity to, and compassion for, the
feelings of others.
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LESSON SEVEN
As mandated by the St. Tammany Parish School Board, trained personnel will
be presenting a classroom lesson on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention,
Education, and Reporting. Although the children will have a chance to talk
about the topic with a guidance counselor during the class lesson, we would
like to encourage you to talk with your child about this important issue.
This might also be a good time to talk to your child about other general
safety issues. A video is shown with a discussion following about what the video covered.
Students also had the opportunity to ask questions if they had any.
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LESSON EIGHT
Lesson eight focused on self-esteem. The students learned to say I love myself and I am my own
best friend. The kids learned that they couldn't really love anyone else unless they loved
themselves and that should each be proud of how special they are in their own way. We also
discussed how important it is to be a leader and not a follower and that even if those around
you are making bad choices you can steer in the other direction and do the right thing. We read
a cute story called Stephanie's Ponytail - ask your child to tell you about it. Following the
story and discussion, the students viewed a video called What I Like About Me: Building Self-
Esteem. Following the video each child was asked to think about what makes them special - maybe
they have a special talent, maybe their giving, maybe their friendly, etc. - a few raised their
hand that there was nothing special about them which we all know is not true. Remind your child
how special they are to you and to everyone around them. And remind them to tell themselves
they love themselves and that they are their own best friend.
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LESSON NINE
Lesson nine will focus on decision making and consequences. Upon arrival in the classroom, I
will write a quote on the board - "You can control the decisions you make, but you seldom
control the consequences" - then ask the students what they think it means. I will go into
different examples such as drinking and driving, shooting an air soft gun without wearing
goggles, touching the stove. I then explain to the students each day you are asked to make
several decisions - some will be easy and some will be hard but the choice ultimately lies with
you. When a discussion is very difficult some of the questions you can ask to make the decision
somewhat easier are: 1. What will happen if I make this decision?, 2. Do I know enough to make
this decision?, 3. Is this decision reflecting what I believe in? (values), 4. What will the
consequences be if I make this decision?, and 5. How would I feel if someone found out that I
made this decision? Following the discussion we will watch a video called Let Me Choose: Making
Decisions with discussion following each segment of the video.
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LESSON TEN
Lesson ten focused on building character. The first question I ask the students is What does
Doing the Right Thing mean to you? I then ask them if they know the definition of responsible,
honest, and considerate are. We review the terms by saying you are responsible if people are
counting on your to do something and you do it, you are honest when you tell the truth, you are
considerate when you treat others the way you want to be treated (the golden rule). We also
talked about not being afraid to stand up for a friend who is being treated unfairly. I then
explain to the students that a person who has all these traits is a person of good character. A
person of good character is trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring, and a good
citizen. We then watched a video called Doing the Right Thing - Building Character and
following each segment we stopped the video to do a question/answer session.
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LESSON ELEVEN
Lesson eleven focused on friendship, perspective, and conflict. We discussed the definition of
a friend - a person attached to another person by feelings of affection or personal regard,
perspective - how you see things, and conflict - a disagreement with someone, when you don't see
eye to eye). We talked about how everyone is unique and that even though you may think of
someone as a dear friend it doesnt automatically mean that you are going to see eye to eye on
everything and that is where conflict comes in. We talked about how conflict is normal on
occasion but there is an appropriate way to handle conflict, as well as an inappropriate way.
Following that discussion I read a story called Hey, Little Ant to the students and then ask
them to tell me the perspective of the ant, the kid, the ant's family, and the kid's friends.
Each perspective is different but none of the perspectives is necessarily right or wrong - it's
just the way they see it. Following that discussion I take out a few pictures and ask the
students to tell me what they see - each picture can be more than one thing. After each student
has the opportunity to say what their perspective is we discussed it to show them that everyone
is different - there is not a right or wrong answer and that's how conflict is. When we are
faced with conflict you may think your way is right but your friend's perspective is their way
is right. The only way to handle this in an appropriate manner to avoid a full blown fight is
1. learn to cool down before saying something you may regret, 2. use words than can stop a fight
rather than start one, 3. listen carefully to others in order to resolve conflict, 4. ask
questions so you don't jump to conclusions, and 5. say how you feel to avoid conflict.
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LESSON TWELVE (Beginning in April)
To do a follow up to lesson 11, lesson 12 focuses on what to do if no matter what you do it
seems like you can't seem to get along with a friend. We will review that a conflict is when
someone does something you don't like or something that makes you angry. We also review that
conflicts between people are normal and can happy anytime but there are things they can do to
settle their disagreements without getting into a fight. I then will ask the students if they
think specific situations are conflicts or not and then if they think specific ways to handle
conflict are appropriate. Following the review and question sessions, we will watch a video
called Let's All Get Along. We will review what was covered in the video and then we will do
some role plays to see what the students would do to handle conflict with examples provided.
The students will learn ways to stop and cool down when a conflict threatens -- count to 10,
take deep breaths, accept apology; They will learn what will start a fight -- name calling,
blaming, acting bossy--- and what they can do to avoid a fight with easy fixes -- heads or
tails, take turns, I'm sorry, no putdowns, ridicule or sarcasm, the value of good listening
skills -- paying attention, not interrupting, providing eye contact, not changing the subject,
asking questions to get the facts -- getting the whole story and not jumping to conclusions, the
importance of saying how you feel when conflict arises, and how to brainstorm a problem --
saying what the problem is, brainstorming for ideas, discussing each idea (can we work this out
together?), choosing an idea that makes everyone happy, and then finally trying the idea and
reevaluating it if it doesn't work. We know that conflict is inevitable but hopefully these
lessons will help them in dealing with conflict.
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LESSON 13 (The week of April 23 and April 30)
Lesson 13 will focus on what to do when we get angry. The lesson consists of teaching the
students that getting angry is normal and that everyone gets angry at times but there is an
approrpriate way to handle anger, as well as an inappropriate way to handle anger. Actions like
hitting, kicking and pushing someone else or ourselves is not acceptable. I will teach the
students how to control their bodies in angry situations, to think about and verbalize their
feelings of anger and frustration in an appropriate way, and help them understand that the
energy caused by being angry should be handled. We will focus on anger buttons - what bothers
you and angry reactions - 1. exploding with uncontrolled anger, 2. holding anger inside, or 3.
displacing anger inside oneself. We will also focus on consequences that can come out of how we
react to anger - if we handle our anger in an appropriate way the consequence will be positive
but if we handle it in a negative way the consequence will be negative. We will also focus on
how to handle anger - Stop and Think (Time Out), positive self-talk, and using our words.
Another area we will address is Anger and Friends - People who are overwhelmed by anger and show
it are unappealing to others. The students will watch a video called Angry? Ten Ways to Cool
Off.
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LESSON 14 (The week of May 7 and May 14)
Lesson 14 is a continuation lesson of Lesson 13. This time we will read a story called When I
Feel Angry followed by a demonstration of some strategies the students can use when they get
angry to help them out. Everyone deals with anger in a different way and each person needs to
find out what works for them. The strategies that I will show them are: hitting a punching bag,
hitting a pillow, screaming in a pillow, doing some type of physical activity, squeezing
something (playdough), counting to 10, taking deep breaths, journaling - students can rip it up
if they would like -, talking to someone, using angry rocks, stomping bubbles, the turtle
teachnique, using our words - I feel __________ when ____________ and I wish ______________, an
anger dance, and the paper towel/drawing technique. Ask your child how they will handle it the
next time they get angry.
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