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.

After the last two years being anything but normal, you might be on a constant quest for ideas and ways to support the social-emotional wellbeing of your students and boost their self-esteem. Social-emotional learning (SEL) has become a critical focus in helping our students grow not only personally, but academically as well. In partnership with Cathy Henry, an educator and founder of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, we've created this Motivation Station Social-Emotional Lesson Plan activity to help spread a little positivity! And it's not only approaching the topic from a self-love standpoint, but encourages peer-to-peer support as well!

There are plenty of reasons and ways to recognize students. Doing so promotes self-confidence, determination, a positive attitude, and overall social-emotional wellbeing! In the age of cell phones, social media influencers, and YouTube stars, the word "selfie" has become commonly used in our vocabularies, and the concept is foreign to no one. Alongside displaying student artwork in your school hallways and classrooms, allow students to showcase work they're especially proud of, and infuse parental involvement in a modern way with this fun and easy selfie station in your classroom!

An emotion meter is a great way to gauge what mood your students are feeling in the moment! Whether it's for posting in the classroom, calming corners, or student journals, this tool can be created large or small for group or individual discussions. With social-emotional learning for students a topic of the utmost importance as children grow and mature, use these simple exercises to give students meaningful tools for managing and working through their feelings!

As students today are spending more time sitting with technology than ever before, educators continue to innovate with creative ways to get them up and moving, while learning as they go. And after a year centered around terms like isolation, quarantine, and shelter-at-home, finding new ways to engage students and welcome them back to school buildings for learning can be a challenge. But we've got a fun way to get the wiggles out. And as you may have guessed, it's another free sensory path for schools! (Download our forest adventure sensory path here!)

With traditional education instruction rooted in desk-sitting and blackboard-writing, teachers today are constantly innovating to reach students where they are, and how they learn best. In a classroom full of visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners, educators have found creative ways to help students learn through viewing, hearing, and doing. Enter - the sensory path for schools.

We're moving towards holiday break, and we don't need to tell you that it has been one crazy year. Whether your students are heading home for their break early in distance learning, or they're only apart from the classroom for the holiday, send them off with a "Flat Stanley"-like cutout of their favorite teacher (that's you!) and a fun assignment to document your (their) experiences while you're in two different places! With social-emotional support at the top of every educator's mind during a trying year, what better way to remind your students you're always with them, than a small cutout take-along of yourself!

With all of our advances in the science field and access to more research tools than ever before, we have come to learn more about our human activities' negative impact on the earth. So how can we teach our students to preserve and protect it for future generations? Ecosystems is a science unit that will spark a child’s interest in our earth and the ever-present need to make it better for all living creatures. Complete with a "write-the-room"-style assessment and “All About” posters to create and share with others, students will participate in discussions on ways the class can work together to have a positive impact on the earth. As we at VariQuest put a spotlight on kinesthetic and project-based learning, this unit provides hands-on activities and games that will make the discovery of ecosystems more meaningful.