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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Handling Stress

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers learn how to "put stress to rest" by identifying their stress factors and the physical and emotional signs they exhibit when stressed. After the class brainstorms ways to handle these stressors, individuals commit to...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Perservering

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Hang in there! To conclude the Goal Setting module, class members reflect on the importance of perseverance by engaging in an activity that asks them to revise a plan when faced with obstacles. They then review their stepping stone goals...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Taking Action

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Don't put off this lesson! Using a self-survey, middle schoolers take a close look at why they procrastinate and identify some of the things they do to put off actions they know they should take. They then reflect on the consequences and...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Being Assertive

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Passive! Aggressive! Assertive!. The activities in the fourth lesson in the Communication module teach middle schoolers the difference among these behaviors and how to develop assertive communication skills. After defining and offering...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Exit Cards

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Everyone wants to feel heard and valued. Provide learners with an opportunity to share their thoughts and have them heard with this closing routine. Participants use an exit card to share their response to prompts that ask them to share...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Closing Challenge

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The future can be yours to see with a bit of planning. That's the takeaway from a routine that asks participants to first brainstorm a list of personal and academic goals. Individuals then select one to focus on for the week, identify...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Compass Points

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Needs, Suggestions, Excitement, and Worries. A Compass Points worksheet asks pupils to give feedback on that day's lesson. Learners identify what they need from the instructor and classmates, what excites them about the class, what...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Maintain and Modify

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Maintain or modify? That's the question scholars answer as they reflect on their focus and engagement in that day's lesson. Were learners focused and contributing, or do they need to modify their level of participation?
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

First Chapter Fridays

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Fridays can be a challenge with learners already dreaming about their weekends. Here's a routine that will bring their minds back to the classroom. Read aloud the beginning of a story, sure to engage your listeners.
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Study Guide
Penguin Books

A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of The Awakening by Kate Chopin

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Immoral!" "Scandalous!" When published in 1899, Kate Chopin's The Awakening was not well received. The novel traces the tragedy of Edna Pontellier, who rebels against the strictures placed upon her as a woman and mother. However, the...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Developing Personal Power

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Money? Beauty? Education? The final lesson in the Confidence Building module encourages middle schoolers to consider the power they have to determine the course of their lives. After investigating different forms of power, participants...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Avoiding Stereotypes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The activities in a instructional activity about stereotypes teach middle schoolers about the dangers of one-perception fits-all thinking. Participants learn how to check their perceptions by identifying ways to avoid stereotyping, like...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Clarifying Values

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The fourth instructional activity in the Confidence Building module asks participants to think about what they value and how these values influence their decisions. Class members engage in activities that help them identify what they...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Through a series of activities, middle schoolers learn how to celebrate their strengths, identify their weaknesses, and brainstorm strategies they can use to turn their weaknesses into strengths.
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Lesson Plan
2
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Overcoming Obstacles

Giving and Earning Respect

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers learn what respect means to them and their classmates with the opening exercise in a series of confidence-building lessons. Participants list people they respect and why they respect them. They generate a definition,...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Take a Stand

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Whole-heartedly agree! I sort of agree. Disagree! Class members indicate their stance on a controversial statement by participating in a Barometer activity.
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Fist to Five

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A "Fist to Five" routine asks participants to indicate how they feel about an opening question, like how ready they are to start learning, how well they understand instructions, etc. Groups then suggest strategies to get learners ready...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Rose, Thorn, Bud

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Developing engaging opening and closing class routines is essential in post-COVID, face-to-face classrooms. The 7th routine of 15 in the Building Community series invites participants to begin class by reflecting on a success (rose), a...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Slow Down with The Slowdown

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Help learners bring their focus to the classroom with an opening routine that asks them to listen to a podcast about what a particular poem means to the narrator. Participants then share what's happening with them.
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Notable Quotable

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Engaging learners in the classroom can be a challenge. Here's a bell ringer that can easily adapt to any subject area. Instructors post a "Notable Quotable" and ask learners to respond to it in their journals.
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Three Good Things

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A "Three Good Things" routine asks participants to sit quietly and reflect on three positive things in their world: family, school, community, or the world at large. After journaling about one that feels most important right now, writers...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Emoji Emotions

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The BC (Before COVID) and AC (After COVID) classrooms differ. Instructors must reestablish protocols and opening and closing routines with learners who are no longer used to in-person learning. The second routine in the series designed...
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Activity
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Facing History and Ourselves

Mood Meter

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Returning to in-class learning has proved to be a challenge for both teachers and learners. This series of 15 lessons provides instructors with ideas about establishing or re-establish classroom protocols and opening or closing routines...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Setting Expectations

For Teachers 6th - 8th
As Don Quixote asserts in the musical Man of La Mancha, it is possible to achieve your dreams. For the last lesson plan in the Getting Started Module, participants learn the importance of having dreams and setting goals that help them...