Students explore the power of spoken word to build safe spaces by analyzing CHIKA’s poetry, reflecting on their classroom culture, and committing to actions that foster respect, inclusion, and expression.

Participants will determine if engaging in a fitness activity has an effect on how they feel emotionally, and explore how regular exercise can support their mental and physical health as a tool for self-control and emotional regulation.

Students move around hula hoop "islands" to music and must work together to fit everyone onto fewer and fewer hoops each round, with the goal of including every student rather than eliminating anyone.

Students brainstorm and play a series of relay races they help design, taking turns passing a ball down the line in creative ways, then reflect on how their team worked together.

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Almost every teacher has heard students use the expression, “that’s so gay” as a way of putting down or insulting someone (or to describe something). These lessons will help students examine how inappropriate language can hurt, and will help them think of ways to end this kind of name-calling.

In this lesson, students will address misconceptions they likely have about Christopher Columbus and the colonization of what is now the United States.

In this interactive lesson, middle school students explore the concept of impostor syndrome through video, music, and discussion, while building self-awareness, affirming personal strengths, and creating personalized “positivity playlists” to combat self-doubt.

Students will watch Drew Dudley's TED Talk on everyday leadership, then write a "Lollipop Letter" to someone who positively impacted their life, expressing gratitude for that moment and sharing their letters in small groups.

Students will first independently choose 10 people from a list of 30 to survive on a new planet, then negotiate with a small group to reach a shared final list and defend their choices in a class-wide discussion.

In small groups, students will collaboratively design a prototype of the "newest iPhone" — including a new look, a unique ringtone, and an original app — then present their creation to the class and reflect on how their team made decisions together.

Students will take turns navigating a tape grid on the floor, using trial and error and memory to find the hidden safe path across while their teammates watch and remember the route to help the group get everyone across.

Students will choose an inspiring image, connect it to a community value, and write multiple short poems in different styles, then perform their favorite in a poetry slam format for the group.

Students will write a secret self-compliment, then take turns using the Operation game to pull out and read classmates' compliments while trying to guess who wrote each one.

Students will write their own definition of what it means to feel inspired, then collaborate in small groups and a gallery walk to build a shared class vision of inspiring behavior — which gets posted in the room as a living agreement.

Students will watch a video of a four-year-old solving a problem, then observe a floating-wax demonstration and work together to generate and discuss hypotheses about why the two jars behave differently — connecting their own curiosity and perseverance to the work of scientists.

Students will learn what a self-portrait is and create their own — building self-confidence by giving voice to who they are and what they like about themselves.

Students will compete in teams to guess mystery words from the Taboo game using only related clue words, then reflect on what the game revealed about their listening and focus skills.

Students will write their own definition of support, then collaborate in small groups and a gallery walk to build a shared class vision of what supportive behavior looks like — which gets posted in the room as an ongoing reference.

Students will research and define "self-esteem" in their own words, privately reflect on their own self-esteem, then brainstorm in small groups why teenagers might struggle with low self-esteem and share their ideas with the class.

Students will write their own definition of what it means to feel safe, then work in small groups and a gallery walk to build a shared class vision of safety — which gets posted in the room as a living agreement for the whole class.