I wanted to share a great resource for teaching older elementary students about transitions to middle school. I recently used it in combination with my own PowerPoint for a class I am doing.  It is called Middle School Keys to Success by Pathways 2 Success. It includes worksheets and task cards. Did I mention it's FREE?  

If anyone is curious, here is my powerpoint that I made to go with the lesson.  
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This meaningful and thought-provoking lesson comes from Marissa Rex. It is a companion lesson to a TED talk by Sam Berns.  Sam was a teenager with Progeria, a rapid aging disease.  He talks about how to live a happy life even if you are facing huge challenges.  Afterward, the students answer prompts about what they learned about life from Sam.  Marissa provides the prompts so all you have to do is show the video and lead the discussion.  I had my students tape their answers onto a huge piece of paper so we could see what other classes said in their responses (See slide show above).   

I found this lesson on Missouri's Department of Education website.  Click here to go look for yourself.   It is filled with lots of lessons on all grade levels.  

This lesson teaches students about being respectful, responsible, caring, and cooperative from two puppets.  The lesson is very well written.  It includes standards, assessment, a script for the puppets,  and printable signs to hold up during the lesson.  
     The lesson suggests that the counselor should hold up the signs themselves during the lesson.  Since I only have 2 arms and was using 2 puppets, I couldn't figure out how to do that.  I told students to listen for the word on their sign and hold up the sign when they heard it.  It worked well and the students loved being involved.  
     This lesson got plenty of laughs as I tried to talk the way I thought a turtle would talk.  I thought my supervising counselor was going to lose it! Hahaha.........
ASCA Standards:
Personal/Social Development A: Students will acquire the knowledge, attitude and interpersonal skills to help them understand and respect self and others.

​This is a great lesson for little ones! It teaches the concept of self-control through blowing and popping bubbles.  There are adorable worksheets and a label for the bubbles available for FREE in Lauren Kuhn's Teachers Pay Teachers store.   
ASCA Standards: 
PS:A1.6 Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior
PS:A1.8 Understand the need for self-control and how to practice it

I think my favorite lesson this week was Tattling vs Reporting. 
We read a social story I found on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Just in case you haven't heard of them, social stories are a story (sometimes written and sometimes totally visual) originally used for students with autism to describe a social situation.  They usually explain the situation or concept and help the students understand the accepted behaviors in this situation.  They also usually explain the ways others may behave in the situation.  Even though they were originally for use with special ed, I noticed some counselors talking about them on blogs so I thought I'd try it.  I love social stories and Teachers Pay Teachers probably has one for almost every situation, some of which are free.
After we read the story and practiced using "I messages" (which are part of the story), we did a cut-and-paste activity (available here for free) in which the students sort different situations into tattling or reporting.  

The social story is by One Giggle At A Time (Click here to go to her store)
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Have you ever noticed the ways in which we are all connected?  A smile and a friendly "hello!" from a stranger can brighten our days.  If we do something for someone else, their day gets brighter and they might go on to make someone else's day better.  This video does a much better job of explaining the concept than I do. 

I wanted to a short lesson with the students before their normal gym time and the following was perfect.  

This lesson is a mix of a lesson I found on our state's education department website and one from the School Counselor Blog.  

I started by explaining the basics : 
I held on to one end of a yarn ball and threw it to a student.  I looked that student in the eyes and have him or her a quality compliment.  That student would then hold on to the yarn, throw the ball, and compliment the next person.  

I also told the students what a quality compliment is (not based on what someone looks like or what they own, etc).  

We kept that going until everyone had received a compliment.  

Next, I asked the students to notice how we were all connected.  If one person pulls on the yarn, we all felt it.  If one person lets go, all of us feel the web begin to fall apart.  

I asked them how this is like our lives.  

I loved to hear their answers and hear how they felt getting compliments from each other.  

Last, we reversed the order and threw the ball back to the person who had complimented us, so that everyone got a compliment from the person they gave one to.  

This entire lesson only took about 10 minutes but felt like a powerful message.  I'm going to ask the students what they remember about it this week so see if it stayed with them.  I think it did because one of them mentioned it to me today, days later.  
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This is a lesson plan I am very proud of.  I wrote it myself and plan to show it during interviews.  I embedded it below.  If that doesn't work, please try this link: Friendship Cookies