Topic outline
Breathing Exercises
Go Noodle is a website that can be used with students to support students learning strategies to calm. This website also has activities to encourage students to move as a way of exercising and calming. The categories in GoNoodle are Guided Dancing, Free Movement, Stretching, Sports and Exercise, Kinetics Learning, Coordination, and Calming. This is a free website but you do need to create a username and password.
PATHS Lesson 8- Ok and Not OK behaviors when feeling angry
This is a smartnote book lesson from the PATHS curriculum. This is lesson 8 which focuses on the feeling of angry or mad. Students are reminded that all feelings are OK but some behaviors are OK or Not OK. Students identify which behaviors are OK or Not Ok when they are angry.
- PATH Lesson 8- Ok and Not Ok behaviors when feeling angry File 2.9MB application/x-smarttech-notebook
smART (simple Mindfulness art)FOCUS
Doodling may help people concentrate because it prevents their minds wandering (common occurrence when bored) while allowing the person to listen. Doodling might also keep the doodler sufficiently engaged with the moment and able to pay attention to information presented; in other words, doodlers are actually not “spacing out,” but are at least somewhat “in the moment.” There are many structured forms of doodling. Zentangle is a popular form of doodling.
- This topic
Who Am I
This lesson focuses on the strengths and skills of the individual learner. It can be used as discussion starter, a getting to know you activity, for private introspection or for others to see traits in others that can be recognized.
Students can increase their ability to understand different types of poetry while learning more about their own personality traits.
How do others see me? How do I see myself?
Lesson Ideas: In small groups do a poem together for each member after each student has completed on for themselves. Brainstorm positive personality traits for each question.
Mindful breathing
In this activity students and staff practice the feeling and speed of relaxation breathing. Students will notice differances in how they feel after breathing in short shallow breaths for 30 seconds and how it feels to breath mindfully.
Self-Regulation/Self-Control: Tips and Strategies-Explore Middle School
This is a list of a number of ways caregivers can help children gain self-control and avoid damaging behavior when they are angry. Not all strategies will work for all children. These strategies are provided as ideas only.- Self-Regulation/Self-Control: Tips and Strategies File 2.3MB PDF document
Relaxation Activity- Drawing to Music-Explore Middle School
This activity is helpful when students need to relax or calm down their bodies.
1) Choose a song: We like to use the "1812 Overture" because of all the dynamics it has.
2) Give the students a blank piece of paper and some colored pencils, crayons, or marker.
3) Explain to the students that when the music starts, they can draw to the music. Students will often ask what it means to "draw to the music." We tell them to just draw what they want or how they feel, as long as it is school appropriate.
4) When the activity is done, have the students explain their drawing.
(When staff modeled this activity, we used squiggly lines at first. As the music got louder, the spaces between the squiggles got larger and darker.
Yoga Calm
Yoga Calm is used to help students learn ways to regulate their emotions in any environment that they might be experiencing anxiety, anger, frustration or even as waiting for an activity, etc. Using these techniques will help to lower the student's stress levels.
The benefits of using Yoga Calm:
- Promotes mindfulness, improves self-regulation, and relaxation skills.
- Improves topic or subject retention and increases test scores, providing the student with better focus.
- Increases self-confidence and self-esteem, communication, trust, teamwork and leadership skills.
- Develop the ability to make healthy life-long wellness choices.
- Yoga Cover File 136.3KB PDF document
- 1-3-5 Scale File 76.9KB PDF document
- Calming Sequence File 103.9KB PDF document
- Breath File 45.5KB PDF document
- Squeeze Hands File 47.2KB PDF document
- Volcano Breath File 53.1KB PDF document
- Rub Knees File 40.2KB PDF document
- Stretch Back File 48.3KB PDF document
- Hook- Ups File 80KB PDF document
- Happy Thoughts File 54.3KB PDF document
- Calming Sequence - Simple File 301.8KB Word 2007 document
- SmartBoard Calming Exercises File 180.1KB application/x-smarttech-notebook
STAR Problem Solving Strategy
STAR (Stop, Think, Act, Review) is a problem solving strategy, that can be used with students, to assist them with developing skills that allow them to increase their independence with problem solving. Once students learn how to identify problems and to come up with possible solutions, students can then learn how to gauge the severity of the problem and develop calming and coping strategies, for when a problem is creating stress or anxiety.
- STAR Cover File 53.1KB PDF document
- Problem Solving Poster File 51.1KB PDF document
- Steps to Problem Solving - Visual Page 1 File 34.6KB PDF document
- Steps to Problem Solving - Page 2 File 29.6KB PDF document
- Steps to Problem Solving - Page 3 File 27.5KB PDF document
- Steps to Problem Solving - Page 4 File 29.9KB PDF document
- Gauging My Problems - Page 1 File 50.5KB PDF document
- Gauging My Problems - Page 2 File 41.9KB PDF document
- Sample Practice Problems - Page 1 File 56.7KB PDF document
- Sample Practice Problems - Page 2 File 40.9KB PDF document
- Sample Practice Problems - Page 3 File 47.6KB PDF document
- Sample Practice Problems - Page 4 File 32.9KB PDF document
- Personal Problem Solving Recording Sheet File 72.8KB PDF document
Teen Anxiety Resources
AnxietyBCYouth is a website with a variety of resources for teens who are dealing with anxiety. There are interactive activities grouped in the following tabs: Anxiety 101, Facing Fears, Thinking Right, How to Chill, Videos, Healthy Habits and Common Problems.
Meditation with Music
Relax with Calm, a simple mindfulness meditation app that brings clarity and peace of mind into your life. The most basic level this app provides five choices of calming music set to a five backgrounds including a mountain lake, rain on leaves, sunset beach, silent clouds, fireplace, or planet Earth.If you open a free account you have access to a timer, the 7 days of calm program, and two guided meditation topics. The app tracks your daily progress.
For a fee you can purchase a subscription with 7 meditations programs and over 20 guided meditation topics. Within each program and guided meditation topic there a multiple ways you can personalize each segment to match your needs.
Stretching to music
We spend 10 minutes doing a stretching routine while listening to a variety of calming music. While stretching there is a visual of the stretch displayed on the SmartBoard. I took a picture of each student engaged in each of the stretching poses. I inserted each of the pictures into a smartboard activity and added a brief description of the stretches. The first page of the smartboard activity includes a link to music that plays throughout the stretching session.
Circles FOCUS model
The FOCUS Circles model identifies who are your resources of "go to" people when needing assistance or guidance or just overall friendship. The Circles group meets frequently to discuss various topics of acceptance into each circle of support. There is guiding questions such as what or who would you bring if you had to leave your house in a hurry. The main topics that are discussed and analyzed are The Spirit of Belonging, The Spirit of Mastery, The Spirit of Independence, The Spirit of Generosity, and Mending a Broken Circle.
