Calendar of Planned Activities

Week 0- Rally

Week 1-Mindfulness Learning- Self-Awareness

Week 2-Everything I Need to Know about Emotions

Week 3- Oh no! My Emotions are Out of Control…What Do I Do?!

Week 4- Connecting with my Body

Week 5-Bye Bye Painful Emotions

Week 6- I Survived the Hurt/Crisis

Week 7-How to Stay Uplifted

Week 8- Healthy Relationships and Positive Communication

Week 9- Putting it All Together/Debrief

Lesson Plan Activities (Week 1 &2)
Week 1 Week 2

Icebreaker- Name Game- Each student will state his/her name and their favorite
season (change be changed) Icebreaker

Collaboratively brainstorm “house rules” for the group during the next 8 weeks Activity 1- Name that Emotion

Activity 1- On a piece of paper write thoughts you have had in the past week and Show Meet Riley’s emotions clip from movie Inside Out (
what emotions you felt when you had that thought. Open discussion on https://youtu.be/1S0RKRRyqhQ). Discuss with the group the 5 primary emotions
thoughts (Anger, Sad, Happy, Disgust and Scared). As a group brainstorm other emotions
that may fall under each primary emotion. Discuss with students, at times we may
Mind full vs. Mindful show others one emotion by how we act but feel a different way deep down inside.

Activity 2- Facilitator will discuss and provide a visual of being “mindful” or

Activity 2- Thoughts, Emotions, and Behaviors
having a full mind. After, facilitator will read 5 scenarios. After each scenario
students will guess if individual in scenario is being “mindful” or has a mind full
and is acting unmindfully. Discuss how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all connected and impact one
another. Have students write a significant situation that personally happened that
Activity 3- Discuss use of breathing as a way to manage difficult thoughts. Guide prompted an emotion and complete the thoughts and behaviors that were
students through mindfulness breathing exercises. contributors to the emotion. After completion of pattern, discuss with students the
impact negative thoughts have on emotions, and behavior.
Check out- Name one thing you enjoyed about today’s group?
Activity 3- Draw that emotion

Have students draw the emotion they are currently feeling.

Check out- Name one thing you learned about yourself and/or your emotions today?
Lesson Plan Activities (Week 3&4)
Week 3 Week 4

Icebreaker Icebreaker

Check-in Question- Fill in the blank. This week I felt___ because ___
Check-in Question- Name 1 thing that excited you about this week?

Activity 1- Discuss 3 different ways of thinking (ie. Reasoning self, emotional self, Activity 1- Where do I feel it in my body?
and wise self) Ask students to give examples of each. Give students the “Your
typical way of thinking “ Quiz. Ask students to share findings. Discuss with students, how emotions are felt in the body. At times, our body
gives us clues on how we are feeling in the moment. For example, headache can
Activity 2- Discuss impact having healthy habits have on emotions (ie. Sleep, = stress, clenched fist can= anger and ect. Ask students to get into a comfortable
position. Start from the head down to the toes naming each major body part (ie.
eating, physical illness, exercise, & drugs and alcohol). Brainstorm ways they can
Eyes, heart, arms, legs etc). As you name each body part ask students to follow
develop healthy habits in each category in their lives.
along and write how their body feels when they are worried, sad and etc.

Activity 3- Practice one of the healthy habits (ie. Make a healthy snack and/or
guide students in a fun workout activity) Activity 2- Grounding exercise and/or yoga

Guide students through either a grounding exercise, yoga, or mindful

Check out- Name one healthy activity you would like to try this week?
meditation. Discuss with them the relationship between connecting with their
bodies as a way to relax and let go of any difficult emotions they are carrying.

Check-out Question- Name one thing you do to relax your body?

Lesson Plan Activities (Week 5&6)
Week 5 Week 6

Icebreaker Icebreaker

Check-in Question- For fun I like to … Check-in Question- If you can go anywhere in the world where would you go and
why?
Activity 1: Charades (Acting opposite to urges)
Activity 1- How do you Cope
Prior to group, have a list of negative emotions written and in a hat/bag. Place
students in groups of 2 or 3. Each team will take turns acting out and guessing Give student a pre-written list of negative coping strategies and ask them to
emotion. Once emotion is guessed, ask guessing team to name an opposite check off any of the activities they do when they are feeling difficult emotions.
positive emotion to the one acted out initially.
Activity 2- Replacing with positive activities
Activity 2: Message in a Bottle
As a group brainstorm a list of healthy activities they can do when experiencing
Give students a list of negative emotions (ie. Anxiety, sadness, anger). Ask difficult emotions.
student to write on a piece of paper what they were told about that emotion by
others prior to group. As a group, discuss how the message has impacted the
Activity 3- Self-Soothe
way you behave, and deal with hard emotions. Discuss with group how negative
messages impact the way people feel about themselves and respond to difficult
Guide the group through a self-soothe activity in which they can practice
situations. Debunk any myths or false truths students have about coping with
connecting with each of their 5 senses to relax
difficult emotions.

Check-out question- This week I am going to do ___ to relax

Check out Question- Say one positive statement about yourself
Lesson Plan Activities ( Week 7-9)
Week 7 Week 8

Icebreaker Icebreaker

Check-in Question- One thing I would like to learn is ___ Check-in Question: One quality I would like in a friend is ____?

Activity 1- Goal Setting Activity 1: Lean on Me

Ask group to set a goal for themselves that would give them pride in achieving. Ask students to identify people in their lives they can lean on/talk to when
Discuss importance of creating SMART goals . feeling down. Discuss what is it about that person that makes them a support.

Activity 2- Nature Walk/Scavenger Hunt Activity 2: Guess that communication style

Discuss with group the importance of doing things you enjoy and taking in the Discuss with group the importance of positive communication and the 3
beauty of what is around us. Take the group on a nature walk giving them a pre- communication styles. Give the students example of each type of communicator
written scavenger hunt of pieces of nature that they can find along the way. and ask them to guess the communication style.

Check-out Question- One thing I am good at is____? Activity 3: How to be a good friend/listener

Place students in pairs. While in pairs one student will describe a “good friend”
while the other friend listens. After 1 min, ask the student that was listening to
paraphrase what they heard the student talking saying. After, reverse. Discuss
Week 9
the importance of listening and validation in a healthy friendship.

Debrief (post-survey)/ Provide resources and extracurricular groups and Check out question- “One thing I can share with a friend is___________”
activities
Purpose of Lesson Plans and Activities
- Main purpose:
- Develop social skills to use among peers and adults
- Other purposes:
- Develop emotion regulation skills, including coping skills such as mindfulness
- Learn how thoughts, emotions and behaviors influence one another
- Develop healthy self-talk strategies
- Connecting physical symptoms with socioemotional symptoms
- Learning what SMART goals are, and how to use them positively
- Develop positive communication skills