Dianne Schilling

Social and emotional skills are recognized as vital for improving student academic performance, emotional development and positive behavior. With these ready-to-use, student centered activities you'll be able to easily weave SEL into your busy classroom or counseling program. This collection of the most popular and effective activities for middle school offered by Innerchoice Publishing aligns with CASEL's five core SEL competencies: Self-awareness, Self-management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision-making. Within these units engaging activities, Sharing Circles and reproducible student pages address topics such as: Recognizing how thoughts and feelings affect behaviorIdentifying emotions and how they affect othersRegulating and controlling angerDemonstrating honesty, reliability, and respectConsidering the consequences of different actionsMaking positive choices and decisionsIdentifying individual strengths and weaknessesExamining prejudices and biasesLearning effective stress management strategiesSetting and attaining short and long-term goalsEstablishing and maintaining healthy relationshipsMaking positive connections with othersEmpathizing with othersTaking the perspective of othersAccepting and appreciating differences in othersRecognizing value in diversityMaking and keeping friendsUsing effective communication skillsBeing aware of group dynamicsIdentifying peaceful conflict management strategiesListening with empathy and understandingAnd more Written and designed for clarity and ease of implementation, each activity includes behavioral objectives, step-by-step instructions, and thought-provoking discussion questions formulated to elicit higher-level thinking and reflection. Engage your students in these enjoyable and effective social and emotional learning skills that will serve them throughout their lives.

How To Handle A BullyThis revised and expanded version of How To Handle a Bully teaches students how to deal with bullying in a safe, pro-social manner using highly effective prevention and intervention strategies. Through easy to implement activities, stories, discussions, and reproducibles, bystanders learn how and why to become upstanders, and targets learn the skills and strategies needed to effectively handle bullies. By changing attitudes, learning new and effective social skills and behaviors and developing listening, friendship and assertiveness skills, all students (Targets, Bullies, Upstanders, and Bystanders) learn practical approaches to banishing bullying behaviors. With an emphasis on social-emotional learning these lessons foster respectful interactions while creating welcoming school and classroom communities for all.

Teach important social and emotional skills with this powerful emotional intelligence curriculum. By involving you students in these engaging activities, they learn how to: - constructively express themselves and control their behavior - think through the consequences of their actions - learn how to take the perspectives of others and to develop empathy - accept responsibility for their decisions - develop skills for positively managing conflict, anger, and stress The instructional strategies are appropriate for classroom or counseling groups and include a variety of meaningful large- and small-group activities, lively discussion topics, and reproducible activity sheets. This collection of the most popular and effective social-emotional activities ever offered by Innerchoice Publishing is organized into ten units. They are: - Self-awareness - Managing Feelings - Decision Making - Managing Stress - Personal Responsibility - Self-concept - Empathy - Communications - Group Dynamics - Conflict Resolution

You'll find this rich and ready resource to be a complete and creative collection of after-school activities that engage kids in learning and having fun at the same time. This valuable resource is packed cover-to-cover with inviting, kid-friendly games, arts and crafts, science projects, environmental lessons and more. Every activity comes with step-by-step directions and complete guidance for getting the most out of each lesson. All activities are readily adaptable to a variety of situations and skill levels. An ideal resource for every after-school or other out-of-school venue. The activities help all children to: - cultivate self-awareness and positive self-esteem - learn to value family and community connections and develop a sense of belonging - work collaboratively, with consideration for others - focus on listening, speaking, reading, and writing - important aspects of literacy and communication - develop effective problem-solving and decision-making skills - engage their feelings of wonder and appreciation for the natural world

The lessons in this easy-to-use activity book are designed to develop in your students the skills, behaviors, attitudes, and perspectives that lead to emotional literacy. Social competence, self-management abilities, and respectful, responsible living are all vital aspects of healthy social and emotional development. As such these skills and behaviors support learning, positive behavior, personal development and well-being. The carefully designed activities in this book will engage your student's minds in learning and their heart's in embracing such valuable life lessons as: ◼ Respecting Self and Others ◼ Encouraging Trust and Honesty ◼ Expressing Gratitude ◼ Developing Empathy and Compassion ◼ Being Responsible and Dependable ◼ Cooperating with Others ◼ Controlling Anger ◼ Managing Conflict ◼ Overcoming Harmful Peer Pressure ◼ Reducing Prejudice and Stereotyping ◼ Valuing Differences ◼ Practicing Non-Violent Communication ◼ Exploring Win-Win Strategies ◼ Making Friends ◼ Speaking Up Against Bullying ◼ Eliminating Put-Downs and Gossip

These ready-to-use lessons recognize that making wise choices is a teachable process and that learning the skills and habits of wise choice making reduce the incidence of risky behavior and leads to more success in school and in life. Focusing on developing key areas like self-concept, personal strengths, and supportive, healthy relationships these activities cover essential health and safety information while teaching vital decision-making skills. Fun and engaging, yet packed with plenty of important information and skill practice to help kids learn to make good choices, develop healthy friendships, identify positive support groups, recognize and affirm their positive qualities and develop good decision-making and problem-solving abilities. Use these interactive lessons, discussion questions and reproducible worksheets to put kids on a speedy path to wise choice making. Topic areas include: - Assertiveness- OTC Drugs, Smoking & Marijuana - Stress Management- Peer and Gang Pressure - Self-Esteem- Resistance and Refusal Skills - Decision Making and Problem Solving- Media Influences - Anger Management- Health and Safety - Friendship- Role Models and Support Systems

This timely and practical book provides a variety of engaging activities, group discussions, reproducible handouts, and Sharing Circles all designed to help teens develop the knowledge, skills and techniques necessary for effective conflict resolution. In addition, students are given meaningful experiences and information to help them improve their own behaviors while giving them the abilities to deal effectively with others. Use these high-impact activities to provide students with guidance and help in: - handling confrontations - learning the language of conflict de-escalation - coping with anger - managing moods and dealing with criticism - understanding the rules for fighting fair - exploring alternatives to conflict - developing the power of listening - improving social skills - effectively solving problems and making decisions - learning the factors that trigger conflict - controlling behaviors that lead to misunderstandings and conflict

This valuable career resource covers the skills and attributes needed for success in all aspects of school, life, and work. With the easy-to-use reproducible student-handout format you'll be able to directly engage teens in important issues with language and examples they relate to and understand. Teach teens effective life and career skills with these important topics: ] Finding a Job That's Right for You ] Writing a Winning Resume ] Ensuring Successful Interviews ] Developing and Maintaining a Positive Attitude ] Taking Charge of Your Appearance ] Being There: The First Requirement ] Becoming a Successful Communicator ] Following Directions With Care ] Managing Time and Being Productive ] Respecting Expertise, Experience and Authority ] Proving Your Dependability ] Working Cooperatively With Others ] Giving Great Customer Service ] Making Effective Decisions ] Taking Assignments All the Way ] Doing What Needs to Be Done ] Initiative ] Solving Problems Creatively ] Welcoming Criticism and Compliments ] Assertively Conveying Personal Needs ] Effectively Managing Conflicts ] Becoming a Trusted Employee Help your teens learn essential workplace skills, gain knowledge and confidence, and know what it takes to have a successful, fulfilling future.

Teach teens how to handle important life issues and concerns with these easy-to-use, entirely reproducible worksheets. Understanding Me contains more than 85 relevant activity pages all designed to promote student insight and understanding around significant life skill areas. These relevant activity sheets are also designed to provide suggestions for generating discussion and background for teacher/counselor led presentations. Topic areas include: Decision-making Managing time Problem-solving Managing conflict Communication Trust Listening Justice Leadership Money Goal setting Creativity Friendship Values Careers Initiative Responsibility Packed with meaningful information for teens to learn new ideas, attitudes, behaviors, perspectives, and skills while promoting self-awareness and self-esteem these flexible worksheets can be used by anyone working with teens - teachers, counselors, youth group and after-school leaders, homeschoolers, and parents.

Current research is establishing the importance of teaching such social and emotional skills as kindness, tolerance, respect, empathy, responsibility, self-control, and cooperation. We now know that repeated experiences impact the brain and shape the person. The more children are exposed to these concepts and practice these skills, the stronger the underlying mental circuits become. It is through this development that kids become caring and capable. The group activities, short stories, songs, reproducible activity sheets, Sharing Circles, and thought-provoking discussion questions provided in this award-winning book address qualities inherent in caring people. The skills that develop are those that make children capable. They include: - Keeping agreements - Developing responsible habits - Effectively solving problems - Demonstrating respect for self and others - Being loyal, trustworthy, and honest - Following rules - Demonstrating kindness, consideration, and empathy - Peacefully resolving conflicts - Developing self-management skills, and - Learning to be a team member