Second - Third Grade
Developmental Characteristics
Physical
Enthusiastic about games
Experiencing improvement in both gross and fine motor skills
Possess a high activity level
Practice to master variations of movement for physical activities
Enjoy games that allow for comparison of skills
Enjoy games that allow for self-f-improvement
Social Emotional
Have a strong drive toward independence
Develop a strong sense of loyalty to friends
Need to belong to a group
Play with and are friends with same-sex peers
Like to take on responsibility
Live in a world of games, rituals and humor inhabited only by children
Like to have a best friend
Have a rigid sense of right and wrong
Need help accepting peers who are different or left out of a group
Cognitive
Like to talk; use language to express feelings/tell stories
Developing a sense of time
Enjoy collecting things
Enjoy problem-solving games like treasure hunts
Can plan and carry out projects with adult support
Becoming more self-directed in activities
Better able to understand and appreciate differences of opinion
Week 6: Celebrating Growth (1st-5th)
Students take turns walking around the circle in a Confidence Parade — striking a proud pose while classmates clap and cheer — then decorate a personal Confidence Certificate with their name and an affirmation about something they've accomplished to take home.
Week 5: We Can Do It! (1st-5th)
Students play the Partner High-Five Challenge — practicing a clap-then-high-five rhythm with a partner, adding speed and pattern variations before switching partners — then collaborate on a large butcher paper mural drawing scenes of friends helping each other, each signing their name on the finished "We Can Do It!" mural.
Week 4: Positive Self-Talk (1st-5th)
Students play the Mirror Game in pairs — mirroring each other's slow movements, then pairing affirmations with matching poses ("I am brave!" with arms raised strong) — then fill a heart worksheet with drawings and words about what they love about themselves.
Week 3: Sharing with Pride (1st-5th)
Students dance freely during the Confidence Pose Parade (freezing in their strongest confident pose when the music stops), then play Bravery Freeze Dance — freezing in response to confidence challenges like "Freeze like a superhero!" — before taking turns leading the class in their own brave pose for everyone to copy.
Week 2: Growth Mindset (1st-5th)
Students draw and decorate a "Brave Brain" worksheet with things that help them keep trying (friends, practice, courage), then act out how to fix playful "oops" moments (spilled crayons, drew on the wrong paper) one at a time while the class cheers "We can fix it!"
Week 1: Celebrating Strengths (1st-5th)
Students strike "Confidence Poses" responding to fun prompts (brave superhero, proud artist, kind friend), then draw and decorate a "Confidence Juice Box" worksheet — filling it with the people, activities, and moments that make them feel strong and brave — and share one "ingredient" with the class at the end.
Week 5: Friendship Skills (1st-5th)
Students play Follow the Leader — taking turns leading the group through simple motions (clap, stomp, jump, spin) that everyone copies — then pair up for a Partner Share Game where one partner talks for 10–20 seconds about a simple prompt while the other practices active listening, then they switch roles.
Week 3: Kindness Signals (1st-5th)
Students play the Mirror Game — taking turns leading a line of classmates through a series of moves everyone copies — then practice "kind signals" in pairs, with two students facing each other in the circle and choosing a kind gesture (thumbs-up, high-five, smile) to give each other while making eye contact.
Week 2: Working Together (1st-5th)
Students play Copy Cat Dance — taking turns standing in the middle of the circle, doing a move, and having everyone copy — then extend the activity with a group pretend adventure where each leader acts out what the group "sees" in an imaginary setting and everyone mirrors them.
Week 1: Finding Common Ground (1st-5th)
Students play Partner Dance Freeze — taking turns leading and copying each other's dance moves until the music stops — then stay with their partner for one minute to find one thing they both like and share it with the class.
Clustergrams
Students move around the room to find classmates who share the same answer to each statement (same breakfast, shoe size, favorite food, etc.), cluster together, and act out a mime representing their group before the next statement is called.
Anger Choice
Students will reflect on how they personally experience and handle anger, hear how their peers describe theirs, and explore what healthy responses to anger can look like. The lesson uses movement-based choice activities to make anger something we can talk about openly.
Empathy Interviews
Students will interview multiple partners using a feelings-based scenario sheet, recording both their own and their partner's emotional reactions to identify where their feelings match and where they differ.
Beanbag Freeze
Students play a movement game where they balance a beanbag on their head while music plays. When the music stops, they freeze. When a beanbag falls, a friend has to help by carefully placing it back—then they move together as partners. The game builds listening, body control, and cooperative care all at once.
Creating Agreements
Co-create community agreements and classroom norms between teacher and students.
Chain of Compliments
Students will learn what a compliment is, practice giving compliments to classmates, and notice how compliments can make a person feel valued. The class will build a paper chain of compliments together.
Brown Bag Theater
To develop short skits about the community values, and for participants to produce their own theater festival.
Creative Coloring
Students each receive one color and must collaborate to create a single picture together, using only their assigned color with no trading allowed, then reflect on what they learned about teamwork.
Friendship Bank
This lesson teaches students that everyday choices either strengthen or weaken their friendships, using a "bank" metaphor where kind acts are deposits and unkind acts are withdrawals. Students physically add or remove peanuts from a bag in response to friendship scenarios to make the concept tangible.
Here Fishy, Fishy
Students will simulate a fishing village economy by using straws to "catch" goldfish crackers, experiencing the consequences of taking more than they need as resources deplete and villagers get eliminated. A debrief connects the game to real-world thinking about wants vs. needs and practicing self-control.