"Sailing Through The Storm To The Ocean Of Peace," is a classroom guidance lesson developed by Cheryl Biegler, along with other Lakeville area elementary counselors, to assist elementary students (grades 2-3) in identifying different kinds of violence/bullying and the feelings that often accompany violence/bullying. Students also learn methods to cope with and resolve violent situations.
The lesson is to be delivered during two 30 minute periods. The materials needed for this lesson are the text "Sailing Through The Storm To The Ocean Of Peace," by Edie Julik, one piece of construction paper for each student, and crayons or markers for the students to use.
Initially, the terms bullying and violence are defined in class. The class then discusses positive reactions to both bullying and violence, what makes people want to hurt others, and finally, the connection between anger and violence. A counselor or teacher then reads aloud "Sailing Through The Storm To The Ocean Of Peace."
After reading the book in class, the students are asked several discussion questions. Here are some examples:What does the word violence mean to you?
Do you ever get angry?
Is anger O.K.?
How do you feel when someone hurts you?
What can you do if someone is really mean to you?
Have you ever hurt someone and been sorry later? What happened?
How could you get trapped in a storm of violence?
What do you think lifesavers are?
Where is your ocean of peace?
After a lengthy classroom discussion, the students are asked to create their own sail boat picture on the provided construction paper. This is their homework assignment for the next guidance class period. The students must be prepared to describe their sail boat and their own personal ocean of peace and how they use it in their lives. The students can either share their sail boats in groups or may share individually to the class. The sail boats are then posted in the school hall way during Violence Prevention month.
Connections to Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains
The "Sailing Through The Storm" lesson is directly related to the Personal/Social and Educational domains of the Minnesota School Counselors' Model of Developmental Guidance and Counseling. The lesson focuses on violence/bullying that children in grades 1-3 may experience. Through reading the text and a classroom discussion, the students learn appropriate coping methods and ways to resolve situations involving violence/bullying. Students may also gain confidence and acceptance after sharing their own sail boats and may gain empathy for other students and their stories.
By delivering this lesson during Violence Prevention month, the students have the opportunity to become more aware of this social problem and how they can help prevent it in their own lives. After completing this lesson, students can define terms such as, anger, violence, bullying, coping, and prevention.
No comments:
Post a Comment