Everyone’s a Helper

Overview:

This lesson helps children identify their own strengths and struggles. Students will work on ways to bring all their strengths together to build a classroom community.

Building a safe and productive classroom community is one of the most important tasks when beginning the school year. Engaging students in getting to know one another and helping each other teaches them to appreciate the beauty of diverse abilities, makes the teacher’s life much easier and helps the whole school community feel safe and respectful.

Additional Resources
To read about some other activities that help students talk about their strengths and learn more about each other, see, Who We REALLY Are [1], Getting to Know Each Other [2] and Happy Faces [3].

PRIMARY GRADES [4] (K-2)

ELEMENTARY GRADES [5] (3-5)

Standards [6]
Activities and embedded assessments address the following standards (McREL 4thedition):

Language Arts

Standard 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process.

Standard 3. Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions.

Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes.

Visual Arts

Standard 1. Understands and applies media, techniques and processes related to the visual arts.

Standard 5. Understands the characteristics and merits of one’s own artwork and the artwork of others.

Working With Others

Standard 1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group.

Standard 3. Works well with diverse group of individuals and in diverse situations.

Standard 4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills.

Self Regulation

Standard 2. Performs self-appraisal.

Standard 5. Maintains a healthy self concept.