Education Resources Blog

In the 1960s, The Beach Boys scored a hit with the song, Be True to Your School about being proud of the school you go to and defending it to others. Are you proud of the school you represent? School pride might come from belonging to a group, or defending your choice to go there, but pride can run deep within the culture. When you build a culture of kindness, you're building a community of pride stemming from everyone feeling safe, involved, and supported. With this in mind, we partnered with Cathy Henry, educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, to create this Building Community With Kindness Lesson Plan for K-8 teachers. It is designed to help students and staff work together to build classrooms of individuals that strive to help others and spread kindness throughout their schools and communities.

In this midst of the back-to-school shopping season, teachers, parents, and students alike are purchasing tools they will need to be successful in the coming school year. And using notebooks, folders, and pencil boxes, students will be filling the insides with useful knowledge and creative expressions which will lead them onto paths of success for later in life! So as you fill your teacher toolboxes for the upcoming school year, we've put together some extra inserts that will help everyone - My Logins and References Page Inserts for student notebooks or folders - in both English and Spanish. We know you're busy, so these are designed to be plug-and-play!

What does a compliment cost? Nothing! When you give someone a compliment, not only are you making them feel better, you get a little happiness boost from the good deed as well. Teaching our students about spreading kindness is an invaluable life lesson, and this activity is an easy, fun way to do it!

When big feelings take over, it's tough to take a step back before exerting an emotional response to a perceived issue. As students learn and grow in their social-emotional development, the best help we can provide as educators is giving them the tools and tips necessary to work through these big feelings in a productive way. As adults, we have all heard the "count to 10" or "sleep on it" suggestions to prevent reacting irrationally when we're angry, but there are lots of coping mechanisms that are great calming techniques. And because many students are visual learners, and repetition is key for retention, we've got some visuals for you!

Regulating emotions is tough - for all of us. And understanding (and accepting) what's in and out of our control is a powerful tool to help. In our students, learning to control feelings is an important lesson that will guide them through decision-making, personal relationships, and cause-and-effect consequences - both now and throughout their lives. And because we at VariQuest want to continue to help you fill your teacher toolbox with valuable learning - and in this case, social-emotional learning - supports, we've designed this fun coloring activity as a picture diagram of recognizing things both in and out of an individual's control - to help with this learning process!

As an elementary teacher, when you reach that 100th Day of School, you may be thinking about it being the halfway point in the year, as well as a good time to reevaluate and set new goals for the remainder of the classroom days with your current students. But reaching that halfway point - also deserves a celebration! Often students will be asked to bring 100 of something, complete a scavenger hunt, make shirts, or otherwise to commemorate the event - but because we at VariQuest want you to have endless options in your toolbox, we've come up with a few more ideas - and we'd like to share them with you.

Reflecting on, and regulating emotions is a life-long learning process. Even as adults in the age of discussing the "Karens" - we all need to remember to take a moment to stop and think about how we're going to react to a problem, before our reaction becomes the problem. In an elementary classroom with lots of different personalities and energy levels, students may be working on the lines between "tattle-tale", needing an adult to help, or critical thinking to calmly solve problems on their own. In this realm of social-emotional learning, we've once again partnered with Cathy Henry, educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, to create this How Big is My Problem? lesson plan for elementary teachers to help students look at problems and regulate how they would (or should) react. By encouraging thoughtful reflection and practicing scenarios, students can begin to see how things might upset themselves and others, and how they can find their own solutions to many everyday issues.

We can't control our feelings, but we can control how we act on them. For students learning this concept as they grow socially and emotionally, this means not only recognizing feelings, but understanding what causes them, and how the same scenarios may impact others differently. Because social-emotional learning for elementary students is such an important part of their learning and development, we've again partnered with Cathy Henry, educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, to create this Emotion Meter Lesson Plan Activity Booklet to help students identify and express their feelings in a healthy way to nurture growth not only emotionally but academically as well. By creating a supportive environment for group discussion and sharing, you'll create that sense of community every teacher hopes for in the classroom.

Planning, organizing, and having things to look forward to are concepts we all can appreciate. While surprises are sometimes lovely, clear expectations for what's ahead can bring a sense of calm - especially for students in the classroom. "Pop quiz" is a phrase almost no one wants to hear! For special education and primary students, this is especially true - and as we educators know, visuals can help bring a schedule to life. So in partnership with Cathy Henry, an educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, we've created this Visual Schedule Cards Lesson Plan activity to manage classroom anxiety, help with transitions, and encourage social-emotional wellbeing in the classroom. For both verbal and non-verbal students, this exercise will promote that sense of calm with clear expectations an organized schedule can bring for both teacher and student.

Belonging. Community. Inclusive. Comfortable. These words describe the environment that educators work so hard to achieve in their classrooms and school buildings. Our students need our help and support now more than ever, as we all work through challenging and divisive times. When a student enters your classroom for the first time or the 100th time, you want them to feel like they belong, and that for the short time they're with you, they are in supportive surroundings where they can fully focus on learning and growing. Enter the morning welcome - a way to set the tone for every day. In partnership with Cathy Henry, an educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, we've created this Morning Welcome Activity lesson plan and download pack for Elementary teachers to help introduce students to their day in the classroom - the moment they step foot through the door. And it not only helps students settle in for their day, but it teaches them valuable social-emotional learning skills in the process.