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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HANDBOOK
Learning Goals
In Visit 2, students will:
- Understand the special skills and talents that make them individually unique
- Understand how their skills, talents and interests can lead to possible careers
- Understand that knowing ones’ values is the basis for positive decision-making and begins the career exploration process
Preparation for Visit Two
Visit Two is full of wonderful exercises, too many to complete in one session. Work with your teacher to determine the top 3 exercises to complete with your students based on their needs.
You may also extend the exercises into the next visit. All the exercises are valuable; time management is essential for success in this visit.
Introduction and Icebreaker
When you arrive, greet the students warmly. Set the tone again and go over rules and expectations.
Pass out the curriculum books, ask two students to help you.
Ask several questions about Visit One. For example, "Who was my Role Model?", "What is my Job?"
Collect the homework from Visit One, reward students that participated and discuss the homework.
Announce the objectives of this visit. Let the students know that you intend to teach them about the qualities that make them unique. Share with them that everyone has value and is special. This information will help them succeed at completing the exercises in unit 2.
The first three exercises of unit 2 can be very challenging for our students. We all know how difficult it can be to say nice things about ourselves. One way to approach these is to combine the first 3 exercises together. Ideas for each individual exercise and the 3 exercises together can be found below.
Exercise #1: Marvelous Me! I’m Rising Star
Ideas for Exercise #1:
- Have the students work independently to complete the exercise. Set a time limit. Be prepared for some students to not finish on time.
- Go over each statement one by one making sure each student has answered all the questions. If you are concerned about time, chose a few statements you feel are most important. Have the students share their answers with the class. Praise students who participate and encourage those who are reticent.
- When students are working independently, you may have a few minutes to touch base with the teacher.
- If the students are having trouble coming up with activities, write examples on the board that they can use.
Exercise #2: The Strong Me
Ideas for Exercise #2
- Demonstrate your strengths to the class creatively.
- Ask the students to identify each other's strengths.
- Write four possible answers to the questions on page 10 on four separate pieces of paper. Place one answer on each wall in the classroom at the students' eye level. After students complete the exercise independently, ask them to stand at the wall that represents one of their strengths. If a student is having a hard time identifying a strength, ask the teacher to help or a fellow student
Exercise #1, #2 and #3
Exercise Objective: Students will be able to identify qualities about themselves that make them unique and special. Students will understand that knowing themselves well is the basis for making good decisions.
Preparation: Answer the questions in exercises 9, 10 and 11. Perhaps you can bring in some items that represent what makes you unique to emphasize that we are all different.
Presentation Suggestions:
- Ask the students to think about the kinds of things people can be good at. After you give the students a few seconds to think of ideas, conduct a brainstorming session on the board with headings like: HOME, SCHOOL, or COMMUNITY (e.g., church, sports, clubs, other). Write down words the students come up with that are things people can be good at. Be sure to use words that are both alive and tangible (e.g., soccer, math, art, etc.) and intangible (e.g., kind, helpful, strong, creative, fast, etc.).
- Go over the directions for each exercise. Share with the students some of the things you did when you were their age. Let them know how difficult it can be to say nice things about yourself - even as an adult. Give the students a time limit (e.g., 10 minutes) and ask them to complete the exercises. Let them know that they can get ideas for each exercise by completing the other exercises. Walk around the room to see how students are answering the statements.
- If students are having difficulty, cite more examples from your life and ask them to reflect on strengths they see in others. It is very difficult to see intangible strengths in others that we do not already possess ourselves.
- Once the time limit is up, Have the students work in pairs or threes to share their answers and see if they can come up with a few more. Students will be excited to work with their friends. Give them a minute to chat and calm down before they begin to share their qualities and talents. If they are having trouble staying on task, respectfully remind them about your expectations. If they continue to be disrespectful, then they should be separated.
- Let them work for a few more minutes. Then ask for volunteers to share their partners’ answers. Again, acknowledge how much courage it takes to share such personal answers.
- Lead a discussion about all the different talents, qualities and hobbies the students have. Emphasize the importance of knowing yourself, liking yourself, and understanding yourself. Everyone is unique and special in his or her own way.
Ideas for Exercise #3
- Refer to the homework assignment. Facilitate a discussion of findings among students as a result of the assignment.
- Bring in props, pictures, or other artifacts that reflect your interests.
- Show students how to do something that interests you, e.g., origami, magic tricks, etc.
Exercise #4: Hey World – Here I Come! I'm Reaching for the Stars!
Exercise Objective: Students will be able identify ten things they like about themselves. This is the self-esteem building exercise for the curriculum. Many of you have already done this exercise in your training session. You know how difficult it can be to pat yourself on the back and write down things that make you special. Everyone is a natural at something. Use this exercise to accentuate the positive in each one of your students.
Preparation: If you have not already done so, fill in your answers to the exercise and think about the times when it was most difficult to create a list like this. Prepare a personal story that emphasizes the importance of knowing your most positive qualities.
Presentation Suggestions:
- This is a great exercise to use “paired sharing”. If the students are already in groups of two or three, keep them there for this assignment.
- Have them work together to complete the exercise. Encourage students to use both tangible and intangible things that they like about themselves and each other.
- Let students use information they have written down in previous exercises for clues to figuring out their ten favorite personal qualities about themselves.
- Go around the room and have each student share a favorite quality about their partner. Have them recite something like: "One of the ten best qualities about _____ is _________."
Ideas for Exercise #4
- As stated above, it can be challenging to write down things you are good at. To build confidence, let the students work with a partner or in groups while they write down their talents. Then go around the room and have each student say one of their talents out loud.
- If a lot of students are struggling, it is helpful to give them ideas. Write down a list of interests on the blackboard for the students to choose from.
- Kids tend to think of their talents in terms of nouns, e.g., soccer, math, or art. Give them adjectives that are creative, fun, smart, and easygoing; or provide verbs like drawing, writing, cooking, singing, or telling jokes.
Exercise #5: My Values
Objective: Students will be able to correctly define positive values. The goal of this exercise is to introduce the concept of positive values and its connection to positive decision making. Be prepared to define and explain the words on this page.
Preparation: Ensure that you can define and identify examples of the words in the exercise.
Presentation Suggestions:
- Write down the word "compassion" on the board. Ask for a volunteer to read the definition. Ask students for a definition of compassion and write those words on the board as well. As a class, answer the statement: "When the new girl came to class, we showed compassion by..." Then ask the students to independently complete the questions: "Do you value compassion?", and "How have you shown compassion in your life?"
- Have the students work in groups of three. Assign each group a value from the word list to complete and present to the class. Each presentation should consist of reading the definition, sharing synonyms, and completing the statement below the definition.
- As each group presents their word, give the students a minute or two to reflect on the definition and answer the personal questions below the bolded statement.
- Link the definition of values to positive decision making.
Exercise #6: Hit Single
The students can rip out the exercise from the curriculum book to complete or you can print out copies from the Tools section of the website. . Collect the finished product and, with the student’s permission, take the CD exercises home and scan them into your computer. Purchase empty jewel cases and insert the pictures so they look like "real" CD covers (see the CD Material section on the Volunteer Tested Ideas page of the web site). (Idea by Melissa Horn)
For Teachers: Activities to Integrate into the Curriculum
If your teacher is willing and has the time, or you have made time in your visit schedule, the two activities found on page 15 are exercises to highlight unit two’s learning goals.
Ask the teacher if they have extra school pictures of the students that they can use to design a "Me Mobile" or "Marvelous Me" poster.
Visit Summary
Recap the second unit by asking the students a few questions that reflect their understanding of the visit goals. For example: "What are some interests and strengths you possess?" Discuss the importance of knowing yourself well and loving who you are.
Collect the books, go over your expectations of the assigned homework, and end the visit by thanking students for their time. Let them know when you will see them again.
