GUIDANCE CURRICULUM

GUIDANCE :: ELEMENTARY ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

ELEMENTARY ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

Acquire the attitudes, knowledge and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

Competency Areas

• Improve Academic Self-Concept
• Acquire Skills for Improving Learning
• Achieve School Success

Complete school with the academic preparation essential to choose from a wide variety of substantial post-secondary options.

Competency Areas

• Improve Learning
• Plan to Achieve Goals

Understand the relationship of academics to the world of work, and to life at home and in the community.

Competency Areas

• Relate School to Life Experiences

Key Connections:

NCESAC: The North Carolina Education Standards and Accountability Commission was created by the General Assembly in July 1993 to ensure that "all graduates of North Carolina public schools will have mastered the skills to become productive members of the work force and succeed in life." The following six competency areas are those in which graduates must demonstrate proficiency:

• Communication
• Using numbers and data
• Problem solving
• Processing information
• Teamwork
• Using technology

SCANS: Is an acronym that stands for the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. SCANS is the study of the skills now needed in the American workplace. The SCANS competencies span the chasm between the worlds of the school and the workplace. There are 27 SCANS skills divided into two categories:

Foundation skills -Basic Competencies; Thinking Skills; Personal Qualities
Functional skills - Resources, Interpersonal, Information, Systems, Technology

BENCHMARKS

Competency Area: ____Academic ____Career ____Personal/Social

Establish a benchmark for a specific student objective. In collaboration with your planning team design benchmarks that support your school
improvement/safe schools plan.

Competency:

Student Objective:	Benchmark: End of Grade 2	Benchmark: End of Grade 3	Benchmark: End of Grade 5

LESSONS

CURRICULUM: SCHOOL COUNSELING
AREA: ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

001.0 Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

001.01 Demonstrate pride in work and in achievement

K-5

Students collaborate with the teacher to identify classroom standards of quality.

Conduct a discussion in the class about the definition of quality according to the works of David Langford in Quality Schools. Brainstorm as a class what will be necessary for their school work to be considered quality. Post this agreed upon list in the classroom. When work is turned in, it should be returned to the student if it does not meet the agreed upon definition of quality.

When reviewing work products, the counselor will use the same definition of quality as the classroom teacher. In appropriate other lessons emphasize quality.

When parents check homework that does not meet the definition of quality, they will have the student redo to meet quality.

Communicate ways to value quality.

Students know the definition of quality and can use it as a benchmark for their work.

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001.0 Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

001.02 Justify mistakes as essential to the learning process.

2-4

Students learn to apply critical thinking skills after making a mistake.

Help children recognize and learn from mistakes through positive support.

Popkin, Michael H. and Greathead, Susan D. Free the Horses.
For an introduction ask students how they think they learn. Follow up with asking what happens when a mistake is made.
Tell students that in the spiral of success they will learn about mistakes and how everyone can learn by breaking learning into small steps.
View Part F of the video tape Free the Horses. After viewing use the following questions:
1. Do you ever feel overwhelmed when starting a big job? Let's look at some big jobs and see what steps are necessary to complete them. Brainstorm.
2. How do you learn to do new math problems?
3. What is the secret to everyone learning?

Prompt parents in a letter around the time you are using this activity to begin asking their child what they learned whenever they made a mistake.

Students understand that mistakes are part of the learning process.

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001.0 Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

001.03 Practice attitudes and behaviors which lead to successful learning.

K-1

Students participate in communication skill development activities.

The week after session I, the teacher will point out the good and acceptable behaviors being shown.

Miller, Connie, Bearable Behaviors. Session I consists of learning about good and acceptable behaviors from discussing and reading information in class. Make a list of good acceptable behaviors mentioned during the discussion. Lead the discussion to the fact that showing the acceptable behavior as opposed to unacceptable behavior is a choice the student makes. Emphasize making good choices. Session II teaches what it takes to be a good listener. Lead the discussion soliciting responses as to how to be a good listener. Emphasize what each part of the body is doing.. End with making a class list of what your body must be doing to display good listening. Make a set of bear ears on a paper head band for students to wear to emphasize listening. Session 3 focuses on following directions. Lead discussion of what it is to follow directions. Play "Simon Says" focusing on how the players must listen and follow the directions of Simon. Review by focusing on all the things we follow directions for: to stay safe, to learn new things, to play fun games, to stay out of trouble. Have students follow some made up directions or use Teddy Bear's Picnic from Connie Millers lesson guide. Session Four focuses on rules and following them. What is a rule? Brainstorm how rules help in school, at home, on the playground. Make a list of rules. Read the rules and have the children circle the smiley bear or sad bear according to whether it is a good rule to follow or not a good rule to follow.

Teachers can furnish parents with classroom rules and communicate at least weekly with the parent concerning child's behavior. Parent uses the information from school to talk about behaviors and the advantages of good learning behavior.

Invite a speaker from the community to discuss rules/regulations that must be followed by employees. Discuss the importance of interpersonal skills.

Students can help develop and follow classroom rules.

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001.0 Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

001.04 Demonstrate time management and task management skills.

2

Students become aware of how they spend their time.

Post and review the quality agenda for each day. Evaluate the agenda at the end of each day with the class.

Following a classroom lesson on time or the clock, tell the students that you will be looking at all of the things that have to be done in a day. Make a list of their ideas - be sure to include the sleeping, eating, leisure time. Let students guess how much time they spend doing each of the things listed. Add the time up and see if they have enough time in the day. Send a chart home to allow parents to help students complete listing the activities done every thirty minutes each day for a week. The next lesson categorize the times spent. Find places in the day where a reprioritization would produce time for other activities such as homework.

Complete the daily schedule sent home with your child.

Completed schedule

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001.0 Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

001.04 Demonstrate time management and task management skills.

3

Students become aware of how they spend their time.

Post and review the quality agenda for each day. Evaluate the agenda at the end of each day with the class.

Relate to the students that the secret to having time to do the things they want to do and be a good student is to learn to organize their time. Have students write down the subjects they have in school and the approximate amount of time they need to study that subject each day. Next have them write down the time they get home from school, time they eat dinner, and time they go to bed. On a chart, color in the times for eating and bed each day of the week. Begin the chart with the time student arrives home from school. Use a different color to write in the homework and study times for each day. Use a different color to color in the times they have left for TV, play, or other activities they want to do. Keep your schedule for a minimum of two weeks and see if grades improve.

Review the daily schedule sent home with your child.

Students can develop and follow simple schedules.

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001.0 Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

001.05 Verify responsibility for actions.

4

• Students can identify responsibilities they have at home.
• Students are able to list several benefits for being responsible.

Schwartz, Linda. Responsible Rascal. Introduce the topic of responsibility by asking what jobs children have at home. Find out what happens when jobs are not completed. Ask what responsibilities parents have and what would happen if parents did not do their jobs. Read the book Responsible Rascal. Discuss by asking:
1) What was Rascal's one bad habit?
2) What are some responsibilities you have at school?
3) What would happen if you did not do as you are supposed to (be responsible) at school?
4) How did Rascal become responsible?
5) What can you do to become more responsible?

Assign responsibilities at home. Let the natural consequence occur if student does not take care of assignment.

Invite an employer to discuss examples of employee responsibility.

Students complete assignments

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001.0 Acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

001.06 Demonstrate the ability to work independently, as well as the ability to work cooperatively with other students.

3

Students complete an activity independently and through cooperation.

Use cooperative grouping when possible for classroom work. In the cooperative work, every student must finish a piece of the finished product independently.

Ask questions to get the definition of cooperation. Focus in by asking:
1) What makes working in groups fun? Not fun?
2) Name some things at school that require cooperating. At home. Read the story from Scholastic You Can't Have Harmony Singing Alone. Discuss examples of cooperating in the story. Discuss the consequences of not cooperating. View "Cooperation" video from Live Wire Video Publishers. Writing assignment - Write about a problem in the world that might be solved if people would cooperate better. Place students in groups of threes. Provide magazines, scissors, and glue. Allow each group to make a collage of things they did this summer. Each student in the group will contribute at least two pictures to the collage. Before the activity begins, give the group its goals and awards. Group presents the college to the class.
Groups then discuss
1) Did everyone contribute at least two pictures about their summer activities?
2) Did we share our materials?
3) Did we help, encourage, and finish our work?

Introduce family or child games that require cooperation.

Invite a Chamber of Commerce representative to discuss a community event requiring cooperation from many groups.

Students can work cooperatively in a group.

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MORE LESSONS

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