Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Programs
Calculating Control/Self-Control
Self-control can seem like such a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be! By participating in this series of small group counseling activities, youngsters learn strategies to help them gain better control of their thoughts and actions.
Missouri Department of Elementary
What Are Bullying and Harassment? Part 2
After reviewing notes from the previous lessons, small groups obtain a scenario card that describes a situation in which bullying is happening. Peers discuss the event and brainstorm two solutions using the STAR method then present their...
Missouri Department of Elementary
STAR Deputies
Scholars become STAR deputies in a lesson that encourages them to be problem-solvers. Small groups gather to complete a worksheet by answering questions. A discussion presents a scenario in which a problem occurs on the playground. Small...
Missouri Department of Elementary
STAR Deputies, Unite!
STAR deputies unite! Scholars gather in small groups to solve problems using the STAR method. Pupils read a card that describes a situation that requires problem-solving. They role-play the scenario in front of their peers.
Childnet International
Self Esteem
To middle schoolers, there's nothing worse than being excluded from a peer group. Developing important self-esteem skills can not only get them through awkward adolescent times, it can carry them through the rest of their lives as...
Missouri Department of Elementary
What Is Comfortable and Uncomfortable Touch?
Two stuffed animals open a lesson that examines two types of touch. Scholars discuss the difference between comfortable and uncomfortable touch. They offer examples then brainstorm ways an individual can keep safe from uncomfortable...
SPHE
Identity and Self Esteem
It may not be easy to be green, but sometimes just being isn't easy. A resource packet is filled with lessons and activities designed to help kids develop a positive regard for themselves.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Dealing with Peer Influence: What Are Bullying and Harassment?
Scholars examine examples of peer pressure and discuss how specific actions negatively affect one's well-being. Learners gather in small groups to write two scenarios in which peer pressure is used. They reference the STAR method in how...
Advocates for Youth
How Well Do I Communicate with Others?
So many of life's problems could be resolved with proper communication. Teenagers work on replacing negative messages with positive messages, active listening techniques, and communicating assertively in a series of classroom activities.
Advocates for Youth
Who Am I and What Can I Do?
Knowing yourself is a great start to getting through high school! A series of activities introduce individuals to the rest of the group as they share their backgrounds, their interests, and their goals in life.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Safe and Healthy Life Choices (Part I)
As high schoolers seek to grow more and more independent, they must constantly make choices. Some options are healthy and some not so much. To begin the discussion, class members are asked to identify five safe and healthy (or...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Risk Taking Behaviors
Sophomores can be sometimes wise and sometimes foolish. The same can be said for their behaviors. After watching a presentation about risk taking behaviors, class members discuss the presentation in small groups, and then complete a...
Nemours KidsHealth
Stress: Grades 9-12
Everyone feels stress from time to time, but how can you move past it? A seven-page packet of activities guides high schoolers through the process of recognizing and managing their stress. The resource includes discussion topics, a quick...
Childnet International
Crossing the Line: Cyberbullying
Members of the LGBTQ community are more likely to be bullied online than their peers—and bystanders who do nothing can be as problematic as the bullies themselves. Middle schoolers explore ways to protect themselves and others on the...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Maintaining Your Health and Well-Being
Future counselors and mental health professionals engage in two activities that give them insight into careers in human services. First, groups of four compare and contrast health and wellness apps and share their findings with the...
Family & Children's Service
Children in Change
While children may not have the opportunity to directly affect the changes happening in their family life, help them develop necessary coping skills for expressing their emotions and dealing with those changes.
Advocates for Youth
What Are My Relationships with Others Like?
Relationships are often the highest priority for teenagers, but they don't always have the maturity to navigate a healthy connection with peers or family members. A series of group activities prompt class members to interview their...
Nemours KidsHealth
Suicide Prevention: Grades 9-12
The teenage years are tough. Internal and external pressures lead 1 in 15 high schoolers to attempt suicide. Two activities focusing on suicide prevention provide class members with information about when and how to get help for...
Nemours KidsHealth
Eating Disorders: Grades 9-12
After gathering information about various eating disorders, high schoolers create a poster or infographic that presents both unhealthy and healthy appearances and eating habits. A second activity asks pupils to craft letters of advice to...
Curated OER
Simulated Genetic Counseling Session
Students, in groups, prepare a family history for a family with a genetic condition. They simulate a genetic counseling session and listen to a guest lecture by a genetic counselor.
Missouri Department of Elementary
My Feelings
Encourage self-awareness with a lesson that challenges scholars to identify feelings—happy, sad, mad, and scared. Using a feelings thermometer, similar to that of a bar graph, pupils discuss how they would feel in specific scenarios then...
Department of Education (Ireland)
Understanding Influences
"Understanding Influences," a richly detailed, carefully scaffolded unit, asks middle and high school scholars to examine how internal and external factors like friends, media, and society influence their attitudes and behaviors.
Curated OER
Children of Alcoholics Group
Ninth graders identify characteristics of alcoholism, resources available to them and their family within the community and school, and look at strategies to help them increase safety and anger management strategies too.
UNICEF
Knowing Your Risk for HIV/AIDS
What are the various ways people can become infected with HIV? Build awareness with your pupils and dispel common myths on the transmission of HIV with this resource, which includes a brainstorming activity, group discussion, and a...