Helping Bereaved Children: 20 Activities for Processing Grief
Copyrighted Article Re-Posted with Permission from authors Brad A. Imhoff, Kaela Vance and Amberle Quackenbush of Ohio University Presented to the 2012 All Ohio Counselors Conference in Columbus, Ohio

http://www.allohiocc.org/Resources/Documents/AOCC%202012%20Session%2062.pdf

10-lesson fifth grade unit to build classroom culture focused on identity, diversity and community.

10-lesson first grade unit to build classroom culture focused on identity, diversity and community.

10-lesson fourth grade unit to build classroom culture focused on identity, diversity and community.

10-lesson kindergarten unit to build classroom culture focused on identity, diversity and community.

10-lesson second grade unit to build classroom culture focused on identity, diversity and community.

10-lesson third grade unit to build classroom culture focused on identity, diversity and community.

Students kick off the unit with an analysis of images by engaging in a Four Corners activity, in which they begin to unpack the many positive and negative impacts of innovations on communication, infrastructure, and workers’ rights. After this initial analysis, students listen to oral histories, read narrative accounts, and study photos of people and places, to answer the question: How does innovation impact communities in Washington? Throughout the unit, students research a transformative innovation in workers rights, communication, and infrastructure in order to create a thought-provoking photo essay about how their chosen innovation impacts people and places in Washington.

Intergenerational Stories
A Lesson Developed and Contributed by Christine Hennig, MA, LMHP, ATR With a Link to Copyrighted Dick Blick Lesson Plan “Home Town Map” www.DickBlick.com

Objectives (Elders):
1. To encourage reminiscence, which has been shown to be beneficial for elders

2. To increase feelings of self-worth by discovering that elders have interesting stories to tell about their lives

3. To increase feelings of self-worth by passing on their wisdom to young people

4. To brighten moods through contact with young people

Objectives (Children):
1. To bring history lessons they may have learned in school to life through contact with people who have “lived it”

2. To encourage respect for elders by discovering what they have lived through and learned from their experiences

3. To increase tolerance for disability and aging

Audiences:
This is a project to complete with a small group of elderly people plus a small group of school-aged children. It is recommended that you have group facilitators for both the elders and the children (i.e., at least two—one for the elders and one for the children). Elders should be high-functioning and be able to tell their stories. Elders with mild dementia, but still good long-term memories, can be involved if there is extra staff or volunteers available to work one-on-one with them and the children to encourage and guide.

This Digital Citizenship unit was created by the Snohomish School District. This strand in the unit focuses on: Internet Safety & Media Balance.

Memory Frame
A Lesson Developed and Contributed by Christine Hennig, MA, LMHP, ATR

Objectives:
1. To reminisce about pleasant memories

2. To create a beautiful image that reminds you of a pleasant memory

3. To increase feelings of competence and usefulness by creating something beautiful

4. To create feelings of enjoyment through exploration and combining attractive materials

Audiences:
Students and Adults of all ages

This Guide, from Mental Health Literacy, includes six interactive web-based classroom-ready modules, a teacher self-study resource, lesson plans, print and video resources, PowerPoint presentations, evaluation options, and supplementary materials.Developers of the Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide worked with The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, The Jordan Binion Project, and CHI Franciscan Health  to create a Washington State Version of the materials.

Monarch Mystery is an early elementary curricular program that is grounded in a local phenomenon about migrating monarch butterflies and is shared through the story of a migrant girl named Violeta. Combined with the story, this unit uses interactive activities to teach to the Next Generation Science Standards and the Washington State Environmental and Sustainability Education Learning Standards. It is also guided by a framework for Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. We included literary opportunities to develop ELA skills in support of multilingual learners. Rounding out the program are outdoor activities, arts, and written activities that enable students to practice skills, and build toward an action project informed by their understandings and experiences. Monarch Mystery is an early elementary curricular program created by EarthGen. For this unit, we offer professional development training and assistance with implementation. If you are interested in implementing this program at your school or district, please let us know! Please contact info@earthgenwa.org for more information. 

The Social and Emotional Learning in Washington State Schools: Building Foundations and Strategies module is designed to be a part of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's (OSPI) professional learning constellation of topics. It can be used by Washington Educational Service Districts (ESD) and LEAs for administering clock hours. Clock hours are not available to individuals who take the course on their own.

Intended Audience
This module is designed for educators, administrators, school staff, others professionals and parents who interact with youth as a means to help them build and improve their understanding of social emotional skills.

Structure of the Module
This online module has been designed in six distinct learning segments.
Learning Segment 1: Introduction to SEL
Learning Segment 2: Embedding SEL Schoolwide
Learning Segment 3: Creating a Professional Culture Based on SEL
Learning Segment 4: Integrating SEL into Culturally Responsive Classrooms
Learning Segment 5: Trauma Informed Social Emotional Learning
Learning Segment 6: Identifying and Selecting Evidence-Based Programs
Although the online module can be completed by an individual, the learning is significantly more impactful if it is done collectively by those who will be implementing SEL. Throughout the online module, suggestions on ways in which to engage in the learning in a group setting are provided.

Completing the Module
Registration on the OSPI Moodle is required to take the course.

Cover image by congerdesign from Pixabay

This lesson, developed by Pacific Northwest Ballet Community Education Programs, is designed to help K-2 students explore concepts about self and general space that are a part of all dance styles as well as creating their own movements. The lesson addresses fitness and health academic content, motor skill development, and social emotional learning.

This lesson from the Holocaust Center for Humanity provides an opportunity to define and recognize hatred in all of its forms and how hate and prejudice can escalate when no one speaks up or takes action. The resource incorporates the Pyramid of Hate, created by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Echoes and Reflections, and further adapted by the Holocaust Center for Humanity.

The content included in the Holocaust Center for Humanity website is intended for educational purposes only and is free for viewing online.

Students begin this unit by exploring the themes of humanity and community as they discuss  the many factors that influence the development of personal identities. They unpack together how we show versus hide different parts of ourselves, and how our identities can be both fixed and ever-changing. Then, students listen to oral histories by Vietnamese Americans in Washington to learn how displacement and resettlement have impacted them personally and shaped their outlook on helping others. Using evidence from these firsthand accounts, students answer the question: What can the experiences of displaced people teach us about community, resilience, and humanity? Throughout this unit, students work in teams to create a podcast where they reflect on their collective responsibility to stand in solidarity with displaced people.

In this 5th grade library lesson, students examine three images about year-round school and identify their initial emotional responses using a Likert scale, developed by Jennifer LaGarde and Darren Hudgins. They are then given the opportunity to read more about each image and discuss how that changes their response. In part 3, they write a paragraph about how the addition of information changes their emotional responses and whether or not they would share the image and why.Shared by the LPBrown Elementary Media Literacy Teacher Team:Brandi Appelgate, teacher-librarianCarolyn Balderston, instructional coachErin Bernier, 1st grade teacher Nina Woodhouse, 2nd grade teacherTony Perez, 5th grade teacherSean Shaughnessy, principal

This unit begins with a challenge in which students must make a decision for the common good. The task highlights the importance of considering various stakeholder perspectives in order to serve the common good. Students transfer what they have learned to their study of a major dam project in Washington State. Teams focus on one of four projects (Upper Skagit Hydroelectric Project, Lower Snake River Project, Columbia River Gorge Project, Columbia River Basin Project). Each team works together to understand the perspectives of diverse stakeholders as they develop a response to the unit-driving question: How can dams in Washington serve the common good? Teams apply what they have learned to come up with a recommendation for the future of the dam project that considers how it will impact people and places.

This unit by Northshore School District, Washington, contains four progressive lesson activities created for primary grades which connect Washington Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Standards 1, 4 and 5 with Washington Music Standards 1, 2 and 8 using the creating/responding processes to generate original songs and express personal feelings.