Support learners in understanding how their actions can affect themselves and others with this visual think sheet. It includes a collection of images representing some bad choices youngsters can often make, and walks them through...

People won't let me finish talking!...I hate the lunch room...Leave my name alone! Explore a variety of problems learners can face on a daily basis, and use this game to have pupils determine the best ways to answer those situations.

When faced with a difficult situation, do you respond selfishly, face it head on, or ignore the problem? This game encourages learners to evaluate the wide range of reactions we can have to problematic situations, and how our responses...

Losing isn't any fun. It is, however, a part of competing. Two activities encourage middle schoolers to consider what good sportsmanship is, how they can be a good sport, and ways to handle situations when some are acting...

Conflicts happen. Learning to deal with them positively, manage anger, and communicate feelings is the focus of a lesson that gives high schoolers the tools they need for conflict resolution. After reading a series of related articles,...

The increasing number of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, red cards, and ejections from games points out the need for activities that help young people recognize behaviors that exemplify good sportsmanship. For homework, class members...

A pinwheel encourages deep breathing to calm one's body and recenter their thoughts. Scholars breathe into a personal pinwheel with different types of breathing patterns then answer a question about how they feel. 

Everything you ever wanted to know about mindful meditation can be found in this New York Times article. The article contains information about what mindful meditation is and what it isn't, about how to and how not to practice the...

Instill the importance of mindfulness with six breathing exercises. Scholars trace shapes using their fingers, following arrows that tell them when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Exercises increase by counts of breath in and out.

Life changes may cause stress. Here, scholars identify stressful situations in a peer's life and offer coping skills to make for a better day. A short story, "Stressed Out Sally," provides pupils with a look inside a bad day. After...

The exercises and activities in the 28-page Teen Choices Workbook are designed to provide teens with the tools they need to become thoughtful decision makers, to act responsibly, to reflect on past decisions, and to take responsibility...

Conflicts happen, conflicts grow, it's how to handle them that middle schoolers need to know. Introduce tweens to a problem-solving approach for handling anger with a series of activities that has class members read articles, research...

Stressed out and tensed up! When stressed our bodies tense and our muscles clench. Teach youngsters how to calm down with simple deep pressure exercises. Press and release! 

Learning to read body language, especially facial expressions, is the focus of a mini-lesson. Young learners examine a series of photographs, identify the emotion being illustrated, and then discuss the cues that revealed the emotion.

Scholars calm their minds and bodies with a 5-5-5 breathing exercise. Learners breathe in for five seconds, out for five seconds, then wait five seconds to start again. The exercise takes one minute to complete. 

Stop, think, act. Impulse control, stress management, self-discipline, self-motivation, and goal setting are among the skills associated with self-management, one of the social and emotional learning competencies. A short video suggests...

A lesson instills the importance of appropriately navigating emotions. To begin, pupils act out emotions or play a themed-game. A discussion about feelings leads the way to scenario role-play. Pairs compose a dialogue that showcases a...

Create emotional superheroes with a unit equipped with several activities and lessons designed to establish coping skills and practice tools that boost healthy habits. Through discussion, chants, writing, and drawing, scholars learn to...

A scholar is wrongly accused of cheating on a test. How should he or she respond? Learners brainstorm ideas for diffusing a difficult situation. Next, they work in small groups to complete a conflict scenario role-play worksheet. As an...

How can people handle anger productively? Scholars discuss peaceful and productive ways to respond to anger and share their own experiences with the emotion. As an optional science extension, learners conduct an experiment to determine...

Is it easier to squeeze toothpaste out of a tube or push it back in? Through activities scholars make the connection that it's much harder to take back angry words than to use them. Additionally, they sit in a talking circle to share...