Candy: Works Every Time!

Here is a summary of the Perseverance I presented to my older kiddos!

Fourth and Fifth Grades

We started with the same pre-test survey in fourth and fifth grades that I had used in the lower grades, although we added another answer choice to match the older students' higher developmental level.  Then, the fun began!  I chose four students to sample Warheads in front of the class.  They all tasted them at the same time, and I immediately  got one word from each student that described how it tasted.  It was pretty entertaining to see the looks of disgust on their faces and hear "terrible", "sour", "awful" as their adjectives.  Then, I asked them for another word after approximately two minutes.  They shared words like "delicious", "scrumptious", and "good".  We brought this icebreaker back to Perseverance and continuing to try even if something is "terrible" initially.



Then, I introduced the choices we can make with our thoughts when faced with a difficult situation.  I acted out a "trashy" thought and a "recycled thought" (my version of positive thoughts).  The students got a chance to check their understanding of these thoughts with the Kooshball game on our Smartboard (on TPT here).  This game always brings out a lot of student volunteers!  Each time they threw the kooshball (softly) at the Smartboard, a new thought would pop up and the students would decide if it was "trashy" or "recycled". Our final work product to encourage application of their learning was a "What's in Your Head?" sheet that I adapted from Pinterest.  Students drew images of their Smart Goals for the year (see post here) and then surrounded them with recycled thoughts they would use to encourage Perseverance.  They did a really great job, and I am going to use them on a bulletin board, which I will share with you in the next couple of weeks.   
Happy Counseling! ~  Angela