A 124-page guide provides instructors with what they need to know before launching a seven-lesson thematic unit designed for high school seniors on issues they will face after graduation. Topics covered include mental health and...

Through discussion and reflection, scholars discover what it means to have a positive attitude, that an individual can choose to stay positive, and discuss the benefits of a positive attitude. Learners listen to negative scenarios to...

The final lesson in the High School and Beyond Module focuses on stress management. The big idea here is that situations themselves are not stressful, but how one perceives stress is the issue. With that point in mind, participants...

A lesson challenges scholars to identify life stressors and list ways to cope. Learners create a "Coping with Emotions" book detailing the importance of responsibly working through our feelings.

Class members participate in a discussion to identify all types of positive and negative peer pressure and brainstorm strategies to not give in to negative peer pressure. Scholars create a T-chart to record their observations....

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...

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...

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,...

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.

The activities in a lesson 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 getting to know...

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.

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...

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...

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...

"Stop! Think! and Cool Down!" Participants in the third lesson in the Resolving Conflicts module learn how to pause and reflect in stressful situations rather than react. The class generates a list of strategies that could help control...

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...

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...

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...

Names come with all sorts of nuances and can influence how we see ourselves and how others see us. To gain insight into the power of names, class members journal about their names and then read a short essay about a girl and her feelings...

"Presenting Yourself," the last lesson in the "Looking to the Future" module, asks participants to review and reflect on what they have learned about themselves in the Overcoming Obstacles course. They review their course folder and...

Peter Pan doesn't want to grow up and doesn't want to change. Many middle schoolers feel the same way. The first lesson plan in the "Looking to the Future" module underscores the concept that change is a natural part of life and that a...

Often our decisions are impacted by a fear of how others see us. That's the big idea in a two-day lesson that asks how false assumptions, how our fear of how others may see us, impact how we act. After watching a video about such a...

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...

High school freshmen craft their own definition of honesty. They provide an example from their lives and reflect on the outcomes of their honest behavior. They also identify a time when they may have been dishonest in a relationship and...