School Counselor Blog

I have shared many times how much I absolutely love the Teaching Tolerance website.  They have soooo many great activities and lessons , many of which I have used in my work as a school counselor. One of my favorite parts of the Teaching Tolerance Magazine (that educators can receive for FREE)  is the "One World" poster at the back.  The "One World" posters are always so beautiful and have such a great message.  I was so excited to learn yesterday that Teaching Tolerance has select  "One World" posters  available for you to download on their website for FREE!  The image quality is great so you can get them printed to up to 11" x 17" size to hang in your school counseling office or somewhere in your school!  You can also do a search and find other smaller "One World" posters available to download for FREE! This "One World" poster below reminded me of the work we do as school counselors. Which Teaching Tolera...

International Peace Day is on September 21st. To celebrate and spread the message at our school, my school counseling colleague and I are collaborating with the art teachers to facilitate the Pinwheels for Peace Project  at our school. Pinwheels for Peace  is a visual and artistic way to celebrate International Peace Day. Students create pinwheels to display at the school as a symbol of peace. At my school, students in third through eighth grade will be making pinwheels to display. A free template  to create your own pinwheels is available on the  Pinwheels for Peace website . Instead of celebrating International Peace day on the actual day, we are having a "Peace Week" at our school to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and to spread the message of peace at our school. We plan to display the student created  Pinwheels for Peace  in the lawn of our school in time for our open house. Have you ever done the  Pinwheels for Peace Proje...

Looking for ways to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of 9/11? Here are some links to resources. Please help other school counselors by sharing any resources you find in the comment section. 10 Days of Peace : Starting on 9/11 and ending on International Day of Peace, 9/22 Bringing 9/11 in the Classroom - Useful Lessons  from Teaching Tolerance.  10 Books to Share with Kids and Teens from Huffington Post 9/11 Resources from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Understanding 9/11   from Scholastic Remembering 9/11 and Memories Shared  from Reading Rockets 9/11 Tenth Anniversary from USA.gov Also check out my post about Pinwheels for Peace . That is how we will be commemorating the tenth anniversary of 9/11 at my school.  How are you commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11 at your school? Do you have any resources to share? Comment below,  tweet , or  contact Danielle , share on the  School...

I am currently running a group for children with a loved one in jail. One of the activities I have facilitated with my group is the kiwi lesson.  The kiwi lesson can be used to address many different topics including stigma, shame, diversity, tolerance, body image, and more.  This lesson is fun and engaging. It worked especially well in the context of this group. The idea for the kiwi lesson comes from  The Freedom Writers Diary Teacher's Guide  by Erin Gruwell.  In the book there is a lesson called the "Peanut Game." I decided to use a kiwi instead of peanuts because of how colorful kiwis are on the inside and to avoid any allergies.  At the beginning of the activity I pass out a kiwi to each child. I instruct students to explore the outside of the kiwi and to make a list of as many adjectives as they can that describe the kiwi.  I recommend having students pair up to do this part with one student recording the words at a time.  After ...

Monday was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  In honor of Dr. King's legacy, I participated in my district's day of service. Hundreds of volunteers, including school counselors from my district, gathered to work on service projects to support individuals in our community. Together we made MLK day a day ON, not a day off. In honor of Dr. King's legacy, I wanted to find a lesson that would bring the spirit of acceptance and social justice into the classroom.  I facilitate weekly classroom lessons for students in sixth grade, so I am always looking for engaging lessons. I found some great lesson ideas on the Teaching Tolerance website. I combined aspects of two extension lessons, "Take a Stand" and "Keep Moving Display," from the lesson Dr. King and the Movement . This week, I am facilitating the lesson in the three sixth grade classes. When students enter my room, I explain that I will be reading three quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and asking th...

I enjoy integrating drama and art into my counseling lessons as much as possible. In the following post I detail some lessons I facilitated and where to get more ideas! When I was working at the charter school, I ran an after school club about tolerance and respect. We did many activities, but my favorite was reader's theater, a dramatic reading of a story in script form. The story we used was Crocodile and Ghost Bat Have a Hullabaloo: An Australian Tale of Name Calling from Teaching Tolerance . The students created their own characters for the story out of construction paper, crayons, and googly eyes. I also had them create mosaic style scenes to using cut up construction paper. The students loved this activity! After the students felt confident reading their lines, we took our show on tour to kindergarten, first, second, and third grade.  The students were excited to share their work and the story with others; the younger students enjoyed hearing and seeing it! I included pi...

Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others? - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. April marks the 42nd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Death. I was recently informed about efforts to create a National Memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy. For more information about the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial visit http://mlkmemorialnews.org/. The site has banners available and a search engine toolbar available for download. There is a great companion website available for kids called Kids for King. The site has information, activities, and contests for kids. Comment below,  email me ,  tweet , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at  School Counselor Blog , a place where school counselors share innovative ideas,  creative lesson plans,  and quality resources.  Conta...

Our school is having a door decorating contest in honor of Black History Month.  I am excited to participate! I think the contest is a great idea to raise awareness and to build excitement about Black History Month.  I was throwing around a couple different ideas for my door decoration, but I then had an "ah-ha" moment. I happened to glance at my shelf and The Secret Olivia Told Me , a book about rumors, inspired me.   The Secret Olivia Told Me  received a Coretta Scott King Book Award  in 2008 for the amazing illustrations by Nancy Devard.  The Coretta Scott King Book Award is given to works that promote and honor the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including messages of peace, nonviolent social change, and brotherhood. One of the art teachers at my school helped me make my door decoration by drawing me the silhouette featured on the front of  The Secret Olivia Told Me . I covered the door in white roll paper. I then cut construction ...

This is the extension of the The Colors of Us Revisited lesson using the book The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. At the beginning of the next class, We listed to the Jack Johnson song "My Own Two Hands. " We spoke about things that the students could do with their own two hands to change the world. After listening to "My Own Two Hands," the students were instructed to use the sheet of their own unique color to trace their hand print. After they traced their hands, they cut them out. The students were instructed to decorate their hands using crayola construction paper crayons. They could either draw pictures on their hands of their favorite things or make a design. The students then pasted their hands to a circle with a picture of the world in the center. I went around to each student and asked what they could do to change the world with their own two hands. We used the suggestions that the students came up with as a background for the bulletin board. Som...

One of my favorite lessons I have ever facilitated was a tolerance and diversity lesson using the book The Colors of Us by Karen Katz .  I read The Colors of Us to a first grade class. I then had the students trace their hands and mix crayon colors to find their own beautiful color. I told the art teacher at my current school about the lesson. We came up with a way to collaborate and teach first graders an important lesson about diversity and tolerance. The art teacher read The Colors of Us to both of the first grade classes. After reading the book, she gave students the opportunity to use paint to find their own unique and beautiful color. The art teacher showed the students how they would mix the colors together to find a color that matched their skin color. Each table was given four colors: orange, white, brown, and dark brown. She demonstrated that she would need white, orange, and a little bit of brown to make a color that matched her skin color. Once the studen...

I taught a lesson on tolerance to a group of third and fourth graders. I showed the students a kiwi and asked if anyone could tell me what it was. All of the students had seen and tasted a kiwi before. I asked them what they thought of kiwis when the first saw one. Students gave descriptive words such as "nasty, hairy, and ugly." Since the students have tried kiwis before, I focused the discussion on how it feels to be judged by the outside. Students commented that they felt sad and kind of angry when people judged them by the outside. I asked students what lesson we could learn from kiwis. One student stated that the lesson that we learn from kiwis is "don't judge a book by it's cover." He commented that just because a book may be strange on the outside doesn't mean it isn't a good book. I gave the students an opportunity at the end to have some kiwi fruit that I brought. I also gave the students a bookmark that is pictured. The front reads...

"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as i live, it is my privlege to do for it whatever I can," by George Bernard Shaw This poster was featured in the Spring 2009 issue of Teaching Tolerance Magazine . I love this quote and wanted to share it with others! If you click on the poster you will be directed to the Teaching Tolerance website ! What are your favorite posters or quotes? Comment below,  email me ,  tweet , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at  School Counselor Blog , a place where school counselors share innovative ideas,  creative lesson plans,  and quality resources.  Contact Danielle via  email , follow her on  twitter , and become a fan of the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page .

These pictures are from a classroom guidance lesson I did on cooperation with all of the first grade classes. First, I had the students help me draw a picture using only one color. Then, I asked them what we could do to make the picture better. Eventually, students stated that we needed to have more color. We talked about how boring the world would be if it was only one color. We read The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf . The book explains that everyone needs to work together in order to create a beautiful picture. We talked about "okay" and "not okay" behaviors that the crayons were doing. In order for the picture to be complete in the The Crayon Box that Talked , the crayons had to work together and use all of their colors. I divided the students into groups of four and asked them to draw a picture as a group. I gave them all a large sheet of paper, markers, and crayons to use. They had to make decisions about which side was the top of the picture...

The Colors of US! One of the first classroom guidance lessons I did as a long-term substitute counselor was about diversity. I read the book The Colors of Us by Karen Katz to first grade. We talked about how no one is black, white, yellow, or red. We are all a beautiful color. I had the students trace their hand and mix crayon colors together until they found their color. I also had them write something unique about themselves. Students enjoyed finding their own unique color and making their hands. Here is a picture of the hands students created. What activities do you facilitate about diversity?  Comment below,  email me ,  tweet , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at  School Counselor Blog , a place where school counselors share innovative ideas,  creative lesson plans,  and quality resources.  Contact Daniell...