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Find the solution to all your planning nightmares! This article houses my complete School Counseling Lessons with my yearly outline and examples along the way! Believe me…. you don’t want to miss out!
So… planning the entire school counseling year can be stressful! Most take it a piece at a time. I get that… but I like to have all my standards planned and organized so I know what I am preparing for each month. It makes life so much easier… if I know my plan ahead of time!
With that being said… I am going to list out the activities and resources I use during my school counseling lessons each month.
So, first of all, we talk a lot about the 7 Habits of Happy Kids at our school. We really focus on leadership and letting students take responsibility for their learning. I do school counseling lessons every month on the 7 Habits. I will list what I use for that below…
Teaching the 7 Habits of Happy Kids (Sept. – May)
- The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by: Sean Covey
- The Dog Poop Initiative by: Kirk Weisler (Kids LOVE this one!)
- The 7 Habits of Happy Kids Collection by: Sean Covey (Collection of 7 individual books)
- Working Together PowerPoint by: Eve Coates
- Understanding Others PowerPoint by: Eve Coates
- A Bundle of Habits + Parent Letters
August (Meet Your School Counselor)
- Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High-Fives by:ย Erainna Winnett
- Back To School Character SCOOT Game
- Minute Meetings with the School Counselor (I use the first two weeks to individually meet with all the kiddos!)
September (Skills Needed for Educational Achievement/Expected Vs. Unexpected Behaviors)
- Manners Mash-Up by: Arnold & The Rest of the Rowdies
- My Mouth is a Volcano by: Julia Cook
- My Mouth is a Volcanoย Activity Book by: Julia Cook
- Baking Up School Success Lesson – out of the book Puzzle Pieces – Classroom Guidance Connection by: Gwen M. Sitsch + Diane S. Senn
- Growth Mindset Digital Sorting Activity
October (Personal Safety/Drug Awareness)
- SCOOP by: Julia Cook
- Scoop Activity Flipbook
- Charlie and the Curious Club Candy or Medicine by: Erianna Winnett
- I Said NO! by: Zack + Kimberly King
- No Thanks! Saying No to Drugs and Alcohol by: Erianna Winnett
- Berenstain Bears Learn about Strangers by: Stan and Jan Berenstain
- What if a Stranger Approaches You? by: Anara Guard
- Smoking Stinks by: Kim Gosselin
- Not Everyone is Nice by: Frederick Almonti and Ann Tedesco, PhD.
- Red Ribbon Week Bundle
November (College & Career Readiness)
- Whose Tools are These? by: Sharon Katz Cooper
- Whose Hat is This? by: Sharon Katz Cooper
- Career Bingo
- Career Riddle Cards- in the book More Career Fun by: MARCO products
- Career Interest Inventory
- Career Cafe Packet
- Journey to Jobs by: Debra Wosnik
December (Friendship Skills)
- The Crayon Box that Talked by: Shane Derolf
- The Sandwich Swap by: Kelly DiPucchio + Queen Rania of Jordan
- Enemy Pie by: Derek Munsen
- Sneetches by: Dr. Seuss
- The I Hate Wendy Club by: Debra Wosnik
January (Conflict Resolution)
- How to be a Friend by: Laurie Krasny
- You’re Mean Lilly Jean by: Frieda Wishinsky
- Do Unto Otters by: Laurie Keller
- Cliques Just Don’t Make Cents by: Julia Cook
- Peace Path A Conflict Resolution Guide for Kidsย (we go outside and practice using this)
- Bullies are a Pain in the Brain (DVD) by: Trevor Romain
- Broken Toy (DVD) by: National Center for Youth Issues (Grades 4 and up)
- Gum In My Hair, How to Cope with Bullying Version 2.0 (DVD) by: Twisted Scholar (MY FAVORITE)
- Anti-Bullying Book for Girls (I wrote this book to help young girls navigate friendships and relational conflicts)
February (Feelings/Emotions)
- The Way I Feel by: Janan Cain
- Today I Feel Silly by: Jamie Lee Curtis
- My Many Colored Days by: Dr. Seuss
- Personality Inventories
- The Story of My Feelings by: Laurie Berkner
- A to Z Do You Ever Feel Like Me? by: Bonnie Hausman and Sandi Fellman
- Inside Out Movie (DVD)
March (Stress Reduction + Coping Skills)
- Mind-Up Curriculum by: Scholastic
- Imaginations by: Carolyn Clarke
- The Busy Body Book by: Lizzy Rockwell
- Starting a Mindful School Year: A 3-Step School Counseling Guide
- Teaching Self-Regulation to Children (CD-ROM) by: Will Moody, M.Ed, NBCT + Brad Chapin, M.S, LPC, LMLP
- Enchanted Meditations for Kids (CD) by: Christaiare Kerr
April (Testing Preparation)
- The Biggest Test in the Universe by: Nancy Poydar
- Testing Miss Malarkey by: Judy Finchler
- The Anti-Test Anxiety Society by: Julia Cook
- The Big Test by: Julie Danneberg
- Testing Skills Foldable
- Testing Assembly Poem by: The Brighter Rewriter
- Beating Test Stress- Small Group Curriculum
May (Transitions)
- The Night Before 1st Grade by: Natasha Wing
- The Best Seat in 2nd Grade by: Katharine Kenah
- YouTube Videos on How to Work a Lock for a Locker
- 4th Grade Transition Tours of Middle School
I hope this bibliography and activity list can help you plan out your year! If you have a Type A personality like myself (ha,ha), I have included my personal Yearly Lesson Outline below! Click on the link or the picture to see the full outline.
Yearly School Counseling Lesson FREEBIE!
Let me know the resources you use throughout the year? How do you plan and organize your school counseling lessons?
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I’m a new school counselor, so these ideas are so helpful to me as I begin to get a grasp on classroom guidance lessons and resources! Thanks for sharing your long-range plan!
Ohhh, I am so glad I could help! Congrats and good luck on your new adventure! ๐
I am so glad I found this!! This is my first year as a school counselor, and this will be so helpful!!
Kristie, I am so glad too! Thank you for commenting! Be sure to sign up for my emails! We have a fast growing email community!
Fantastic resource! Thank you for sharing.
You are very welcome Judi! ๐
I am new to the field as well AND a school counseling program is new to my school, so this is incredibly helpful!! I cannot wait to use these ideas as I create my lessons for the rest of this year and then plan/revamp for next year! Thank you for sharing!
You are so welcome! Glad I could help! ๐
What an AMAZING help you are and this is! Is there anyway to purchase editing access to the free Yearly School Counseling Lesson in it’s current form? I would be thrilled to discover their was.
Gratefully,
Tracy
Hello Tracy! Thank you for your kind words! Great idea! Let me work something up and check back with me on my TPT Store! ๐
HI,
Were you able to make an editable copy of the yearly counseling lessons? I would love to purchase it.
Hey Victoria! Thank you so much for asking! Here is a link to the Google Sheet where you can make a copy and edit what you need. ๐ Hope this helps!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-EyR1v7TI1cYuC0wMaS52heT5HhX8xiWrIikaXEhf8o/copy
This is my first year as a school counselor: Pre-K -8th!!
I am so thankful for these resources.
Jennifer, Congrats on your new job! I’m so glad you are loving the resources on my blog! Here is my newest post, I thought it could be helpful!
https://simplyimperfectcounselor.com/5-tips-for-first-year-school-counselors/
As a new counselor, I absolutely love the spreadsheet! As for the lesson plans that correspond with this list are they available on TpT? I would love to see how they are laid out, etc.
Hey Melissa! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and write me! Unfortunatly, right now I don’t have all the corresponding lessons for that. It’s just my outline that I use to keep on track and piece together what I’m doing. ๐ I am in the process of making a years worth of lessons… it’s just a big undertaking! ๐
Have you written these lesson plans yet?
Hey Beth! Thank you so much for asking! I am in the process of writing a curriculum bundle for these, but it’s taking me a little longer than expected! ๐
Hi Jessica! Did you ever get a chance to write all of the lesson plans?
Hello, Aundrea! Thank you for asking! Unfortunately, time has not allowed me to get in and write specific plans for each of these. However, I have written 3 uniformed curriculum sets that are for elementary! These can be modified and used with grades K-3. Here are the links to what I’ve been working on… https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MEGA-BUNDLE-Elementary-School-Counseling-Lessons-10797328
Thanks again! Hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing this! Do you have anymore details or resources about your lessons for the 7 Habits? I’m starting that this year and am looking for resources.
Hello Kate! Thank you so much for writing and taking time to read my blog! Here are some things I use to teach the 7 Habits…
Habit Handouts for Parents – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Habit-Handouts-for-Parents-Much-More-4125260
Classroom or School-Wide Assembly Skit – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Student-Skit-for-Setting-Goals-3609118
7 Habits of Happy Kids – https://amzn.to/30g6keA
Leader in Me – https://amzn.to/2M3h862
Wonderful! Thank you!!
I will be using EVERYTHING on here. This is my first year as a counselor AND I just moved to a new state so I’m totally clueless on everything that’s expected for elementary school counseling. I just did my first classroom lesson on bullying and then I found this site. This is going to be so helpful! I truly appreciate you for sharing your wealth of resources. One question, do you know of any good read aloud books that I can find on Youtube? A teacher suggested to use that instead of trying to purchase every book. I am new to the site so I havent really explored around but I’m just looking at October activites and couldnt find those books on Youtube. Again, many, many thanks as I get acclimated into this new role.
Also, our school focuses on the 7 habits already! We a re a Leader In Me School so its already ingrained in the kiddos!
Awesome! I love teaching the habits and seeing the kids use them on their own time! ๐
Thank you so much for writing me and taking the time to read my blog! Congrats on your new school counseling adventure! There are TONS of books on Youtube to use! I would suggest looking there first before buying… if your in a budget pinch! I use it ALL the time! However, I do have certain hardcopy books that I use in the classroom and individually with students. I suggest researching the title of the book in Youtube. Somwtimes, I have to write read-aloud after the title. ๐ Hope this helps! Thanks Again!
I am currently a middle school counselor but my dream is elementary! I am so glad I came across this because now I want to make that dream a reality ๐
Chloe, thanks for writing and taking time to read my blog! Elementary is a really fun place to be! ๐
These are great! Do you happen to sell the lesson plans that go with them?
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read! Actually, some of these lessons I do from this list are not mine to sell. However, through the years I have made my own sets! You can find TONS of topics here…
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/First-Grade-School-Counseling-Lessons-Year-Long-Young-Learners-8363507
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2nd-Grade-School-Counseling-Lesson-BUNDLE-Year-Long-Curriculum-8736274
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-School-Counseling-Lessons-Year-Long-Curriculum-Young-Learners-7938504
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing!