Tag Archives: Character Traits

Apr 10 2013

Leo the Lightening Bug-Perseverance

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Leo the Lightening Bug- A great book about perseverance!When teaching about perseverance in my school counseling program, I always reach for one of my favorite books by Eric Drachman.  Leo the Lightening Bug is an adorable story of perseverance.

Little Leo is the “littlest” lightening bug of all his friends.  When you look at the cover of the book, can you guess what Leo’s problem might be?  You probably guessed it:  Leo can’t make his light.  All of his lightening bug friends are able to make their lights.  Leo’s mom lets him know he simply needs a little time and practice.

Leo decided to practice making his light, but as much as he tried- he still couldn’t light up.  It didn’t help things when his friends laughed at him when they saw him.  At this point, Leo is so frustrated that he flies away to a cave and cries.  After some time, he remembers his mother telling him he needed to practice.  Before long, in the midst of a thunder storm, Leo is finally able to light up!  He’s so proud of himself that he declares he could be “King of the lightening bugs!”

You’ll enjoy reading this story, but you will especially love hearing the story narrated on the CD which is included with the book.  The little voice of Leo will warm your heart, and the sound effects are just great!  You can hear a few excerpts from the book HERE on the Kidwick Books website.

If you don’t already have this wonderful book, add it to your list of future purchases!  It’s a winner!

Over the past couple of years, I’ve used this book with my Kindergarten friends.  I always include the song “Never Give Up” from my character song collection.  Initially, I always used it each year with second grade. After reading the story, we would talk about how Leo showed perseverance in the story. The students were given the opportunity to share how they have shown perseverance.  Next, each child was given a sheet with six boxes to create a short comic strip illustrating perseverance.  This idea came from my former intern Rachel.  Here is the sample comic strip Rachel created to help the students understand what to do.  It shows a little girl learning to ride her bicycle.  She falls off, but she gets back on and tries again- showing perseverance.

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Through the years, I have always enjoyed seeing the comic strips created by the students.   I created comic strip tables for the eight character traits my school district uses.  Click HERE to download this FREEBIE from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Stick around!  You can follow Savvy School Counselor with free email updates.  You can also follow my TpT Store to keep up with my latest products and freebies.  Also, don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY for the Social Skill Builder iPad App!  It ends Friday night at 11:59 PM, and three will win!

 

Mar 24 2013

Character Trait Paper Folding

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Courage Paper Folding- Freebie

I recently began creating more character trait paper folding activities to use with my students.  I first shared one in this blog post about respect.  Since then, I’ve tried to find a simple way for my blog readers to make these activities with their students too.  This courage activity simply needs to be copied onto your preferred paper (front to back) and given to your students to cut and create.

Where to Cut

 

Once they fold the paper in half and cut the two lines on the inside, they are ready to illustrate and write about how they show courage.

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Character Paper Folding 003

Character Paper Folding 005

To copy front to back, I fed my sheets into the copier’s feeder one on top of the other this way:

Character Paper Folding 001I won’t promise that it will work for your particular copier, but I do believe with 95% certainty it will copy correctly.

To print your own copies for this activity, simply click the pictures below.

Courage Paper Folding- Freebie

Courage Paper Folding- Freebie

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have created a character pack for my Teachers Pay Teachers store which includes Courage, Kindness, Respect, and Responsibility.  All four sell for $2.50.  I will be adding more character packs soon.  I’d love for you to visit if you’re interested, but I am happy to give away the courage freebie here.

Stick around!  You can follow Savvy School Counselor with free email updates!  As always, I’d love to hear from you.  How would you use this activity?

4/8/13 ETA:  Two new character packs have been added to my store.  More Character Trait Paper Folding Activities includes Self-Discipline, Integrity, Perseverance, and Good Judgement for $2.50.  The Character Trait Paper Folding COMBO PACK includes all eight for $4.00.

Sep 23 2012

Kindergarten: Feelings and Responsibility

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One thing I really look forward to each year in my school counseling program is my very first visit with my new Kindergarten friends.  After seeing grades 1-5 over the last three weeks, it’s finally time to share my first lesson with Kindergarten.  I usually schedule them last intentionally.  I do this as to not disrupt the teachers’ firsts days with them.  They have so many new things to learn including classroom procedures.  Usually by the time I visit, they are ready to sit on the carpet crisscross applesauce with hands in their fish bowls and listening ears.

I had the opportunity to assist with the Kindergarten assessments, so I worked with most of them one-to-one during their staggered entry days.  So, many of them are already waving and saying hello when they see me.

I have thirty minutes to complete this lesson. The first part of my lesson includes my “A Counselor is…” cards I wrote about in a previous post.  These cards are great for explaining what a school counselor does.  As mentioned in my other post, the students learn that a counselor is a friend, a helper, a listener, a problem solver, and a secret keeper.  I make sure to stress that I can keep any secret as long is no one is being hurt.

Next, I introduce my Jellybean Friend Eugene, the emotional blue jellybean from Jellybean Jamboree.  This leads us to a discussion about feelings.  You can read more about Eugene and the other jellybeans here.  I read The Feelings Book by Todd Parr to Eugene and the class.  It is a great book which showcases many different feelings including some silly ones like “Sometimes I feel like eating pizza for breakfast” or “Sometimes I feel like kissing a sea lion.”  This year, I also have Todd Parr’s “Feeling Flashcards” which I am so excited about using.  For the purpose of this lesson, I will share the flashcards for happy, sad, angry, and scared as I discuss the different feelings Eugene has experienced.  I’ve decided to use the majority of the cards during Lunch Bunch and other small groups.  I will also use some cards here and there throughout the school year during future lessons.

Finally, I talk about all of the BIG words they’ll be learning about throughout the school year called character traits.  I share the first trait, responsibility, which is on their very first scoop of ice cream.  I mentioned my ice cream cone and scoops incentive  in the post They All Scream for Ice Cream.  I make a big deal about how big the word is, and we count the 14 letters.  (Then I make a big deal about how they can count to 14!)  I explain what it means to be responsible by sharing the book You Can Count On Me.  This is one of the character songs I sing with my kindergarten friends throughout the school year.  The words in the book are the words to the song.  After sharing it and having them repeat the chorus, we sing along with the CD and give ourselves a “round of applause” by clapping around in a circle.  If time allows, we will usually sing it two times.

To close, I review all the things we talked about during our lesson and add their very first ice cream scoop to their cone.

Stick around!  You can follow Savvy School Counselor with free email updates.  As always, I’d love to hear from you.  What special activities do you use with your Kindergarten students during your first visit?

Aug 20 2012

Setting Up the Office: B-Boards and Displays

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It’s amazing how we, as educators, can work in our rooms all day long and feel like we’ve barely accomplished anything by the end of the day!  I’ve been so excited to start seeing my school counseling Pinterest inspirations come to fruition.

Today, I finished the small bulletin board outside my office, the bulletin board behind my desk inside my office, and one of my doors-for the most part! I also put my character trait sayings back up.  I’ve been so excited to be back in my guidance office this year with sufficient space for all I need to do.  I had no bulletin boards last year, so even though boxes and such are still all over the floor- I spent most of the day laminating, cutting, and putting together my boards!

First is my board inspired by Danielle from School Counselor Blog.  I couldn’t wait to do this board.  I purchased the puzzle pieces from a teacher supply store. (Trend- Classic Accents)  I traced and cut out the letters by hand.  I even punched holes to add the polka dots on them.  I found the border at Target in the $1 section.

Also inspired by Danielle is my “What you say in here stays in here” poster I ordered from Vista Print.

Next is my bucket filler board.  I first saw these buckets on a bulletin board here on Pinterest.  Here is my adaptation.  I purchased the buckets at the teacher supply store. (CTP- Designer Cut-Outs)  I decided to put the title “How will you fill a bucket?”  On each bucket, I added different ways to fill someones bucket such as saying kind words, smiling, and giving compliments. I have several extra buckets to add more ideas in the future. The smaller side of the board is for the monthly calendar, my lunch bunch schedule, and other schedules I’ll need to see at-a-glance.

I’ve always had this on my door to show where I am.  I came across this pin on Pinterest and decided to try something new.  This is the door on the main hallway.  I have another door that enters into the student services suite area.  I’ll be putting my buddy Garfield back on that door.

 

Finally, I have my character trait sayings.  I’ve had these for eight years.  I have no idea who created them, but I took them from a paper I received at a school counselor meeting and created this display.  I purchased to kids from a teacher supply store.  I’ll probably create a caption to go with it at some point.

I still have A LOT to finish in my office.  We have several meetings and open house this week, so I am hoping I can have some final pictures by Friday.

Stick around!  You can follow Savvy School Counselor with free email updates.  As always, I’d love to hear from you.  Is there something special you’ve done in your office this year that you’re excited about?

Jun 11 2012

A Very Respectful Foldable

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I have continued to spend time thinking about how to use foldables in my school counseling program.  I teach students about a different character trait each month during classroom guidance at my school.  My latest idea is this four flapped foldable where students can list or illustrate the different ways they show respect.

Whenever I discuss the character trait respect with my students, I always make sure they understand that it can be shown in many different ways.  Many times, the focus is on how to show respect to others by saying that respect is “treating others the way you want them to treat you.”  To extend this, we discuss how to show respect at school and at home.  We also include showing respect to the Earth.  So when I came across this foldable style, I thought it would work well to teach respect.  It can be adapted to fit the needs of lower or upper elementary students.

First, I folded the paper the long way leaving a small section for writing on the side.

 

 

 

 

Next, I folded the paper in half.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, you can fold it in half again to make the four sections.  Because I used card stock for my sample foldable, I folded each side to the center.

 

 

 

 

Once it is opened, you can cut across the folds on the shorter side to make the four flaps.

 

 

 

 

Across the bottom, I will have the students write “This is how I show respect!”  On the flaps, they will write “To Others,” “At School,” “At Home,” and “To the Earth.”  The students will also be able to draw a simple illustration on the front side of the flap.

Under each flap, younger students can draw a picture showing how they will show respect.  Older students can list a variety of ways to show the trait in each area.  You could also have students write an idea under the flap and then illustrate the idea at the top (behind the flap).

 

 

 

 

You could use this foldable for other traits too.

  • Responsibility- How I show it at school, home, with my things,  and with other’s property
  • Courage- Illustrate or write about four examples of times you showed courage.
If you can think of other ideas, please leave a comment.  I’d love to hear more suggestions!

Stick around!  You can follow Savvy School Counselor with free email updates. Also, be sure to enter the Character Readers and CD Giveaway which ends at 11:59 P.M. EST on Friday, June 15.  As always, I’d love to hear from you.  Connect with me!