I just finished an October Respect unit with
my second graders that was one of the most fun units I have ever
created. I decided to create four lessons that linked Respect to
behaviors throughout the school: on the bus, in the classroom, in the
cafeteria, in the hallways, etc. What I enjoyed most about the unit was
the integration of the second grade curriculum (reading/writing) with
the ASCA competencies I was covering.
In my first lesson, I was able to use a short story that described a student’s first day on the bus. We identified story elements such as the main characters and if the story was fiction/nonfiction while also reflecting on the character traits shown in the story and how we felt reading it. In another lesson I used a poem called “The Goops” to highlight bad manners. As a class, we discussed imagery and the students visualized what they read in the poem. We also emphasized rhyming words as students took turns reading different lines of the poem.
Another activity as part of the unit was creating a placemat that students could keep. I found a great template on parents. com that showed a formal place setting, and the students wrote respectful cafeteria behaviors around the border of the placemat. Before sending the placemates home with the students, we used them in a “Manners Lunch” that I had organized for the students. I was able to get a local restaurant to donate pasta for all of my second graders, and I supplemented with brownies and bread. I have never seen students so excited about macaroni and cheese! Many of the students even dressed up for the event and some parents attended without any prompting from us.
When the students entered the cafeteria, they brought their placemats to the cafeteria table, which was covered with a tablecloth. Plates, utensils, and napkins were located at the end of the table. The students were responsible for setting their own place setting on top of the placemat template. Then, they went through the food line and were served lunch as they used polite words. All the students waited for their classmates to be seated at the individual tables before beginning to eat. It was a delight to see them putting napkins in their laps, chewing with their mouths closed, and keeping elbows off the table.
The best part is that the final lesson of the unit is focused on teaching the classes the five parts of a letter so that we can write thank you notes to the restaurant that so generously donated the pasta. Pictures of the event will accompany the letters so that we can show our community the great things we are doing at our school! I really found the entire experience valuable and hope the experience is something our second graders will remember fondly from their elementary years.
In my first lesson, I was able to use a short story that described a student’s first day on the bus. We identified story elements such as the main characters and if the story was fiction/nonfiction while also reflecting on the character traits shown in the story and how we felt reading it. In another lesson I used a poem called “The Goops” to highlight bad manners. As a class, we discussed imagery and the students visualized what they read in the poem. We also emphasized rhyming words as students took turns reading different lines of the poem.
Another activity as part of the unit was creating a placemat that students could keep. I found a great template on parents. com that showed a formal place setting, and the students wrote respectful cafeteria behaviors around the border of the placemat. Before sending the placemates home with the students, we used them in a “Manners Lunch” that I had organized for the students. I was able to get a local restaurant to donate pasta for all of my second graders, and I supplemented with brownies and bread. I have never seen students so excited about macaroni and cheese! Many of the students even dressed up for the event and some parents attended without any prompting from us.
When the students entered the cafeteria, they brought their placemats to the cafeteria table, which was covered with a tablecloth. Plates, utensils, and napkins were located at the end of the table. The students were responsible for setting their own place setting on top of the placemat template. Then, they went through the food line and were served lunch as they used polite words. All the students waited for their classmates to be seated at the individual tables before beginning to eat. It was a delight to see them putting napkins in their laps, chewing with their mouths closed, and keeping elbows off the table.
The best part is that the final lesson of the unit is focused on teaching the classes the five parts of a letter so that we can write thank you notes to the restaurant that so generously donated the pasta. Pictures of the event will accompany the letters so that we can show our community the great things we are doing at our school! I really found the entire experience valuable and hope the experience is something our second graders will remember fondly from their elementary years.
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