Students have quick conversations with multiple partners while secretly tallying dots on each other's sheets every time their partner exhibits a specific assigned behavior (like making eye contact or saying "like") — then, after the reveal that each dot represents "breaking" someone's cultural norm, they discuss what it felt like and write a private reflection on how to honor others' norms going forward.

Students complete an "Are You Empathetic?" self-check and discuss empathetic listening behaviors as a class, then pair up with character cards to role-play sharing a situation while their partner practices empathetic listening — maintaining eye contact, not interrupting, and asking follow-up questions — before switching roles and debriefing with specific feedback.

Students mingle around the room and repeatedly "partner up" with whoever is nearest, each time sharing a positive memory about a third group member — focusing on moments when that person showed good values or was an ally — then debrief together about what the stories revealed about the community.

Co-create community agreements and classroom norms between teacher and students.

Students will use abstract thinking to compare themselves to everyday objects by choosing between two options (e.g., "hammer or nail?") and explaining their reasoning to a partner. Through this pair-share activity, students will practice self-reflection and get to know their classmates better.

Students will discuss the poem Harriet Tubman by Eloise Greenfield, learn about her courageous actions, and identify a current issue of injustice in their community or world that they would like to help change.

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.

Students will read Eloise Greenfield's poem "By Myself" and then create their own "I am" poems, building a list of words and phrases that describe who they are. Younger students can draw a picture instead of writing.

Students will be able to identify the people, places, and things they love — building self-confidence by recognizing the joy and goodness already present in their own lives.

Students will explore different types of greeting cards and then design and write their own to build a class card collection, practicing empathy by thinking about how to acknowledge and respond to others' experiences through words and art.

Students physically move to large pre-drawn chalk circles representing broad interest areas, discuss their specific goals within their group, then use chalk to draw branching smaller circles capturing increasingly specific personal goals — culminating in an individual circle for their most personal goal, which they share aloud before writing a concrete action plan for how to achieve it.

Students toss a numbered ball around the circle, and wherever their right thumb lands determines which reflection question they answer — progressing through three increasingly personal levels (from "What's your happy place?" to "What would you do if you weren't afraid?") with the option to pass at any time.

Students rotate through gallery-walk brainstorm posters about what inspiration means to them, then use those ideas to create a personal visual "Inspiration Roadmap" — a collage or drawing of the specific people, places, and things they can turn to when they feel uninspired.

Students will create a drawing or collage that expresses how they see themselves and how others see them — building self-confidence by giving voice to who they are on the inside.

Students journal about what family means to them, discuss the concept of "intentional family" (chosen relationships beyond biology), then create an illustrated family tree featuring the people they consider family — noting why each person belongs — and write a reflection on how they show those people they're valued.

To introduce the concept of doing a good job by yourself and in a team, and to have participants explore ways they can be helpful to each other and their communities.

Students will identify their positive qualities and write a letter to themselves — building self-confidence by giving themselves the kind of encouragement they often save for others.

Over several sessions, each student secretly observes an assigned classmate and tracks their positive qualities, then writes a formal letter to that classmate's family describing the strengths they witnessed — which is mailed home after a draft-and-revise process.

In small groups, students choose a real-life challenging scenario (e.g., a friend using drugs, a parent's divorce) and create a five-section poster mapping out the fears, opportunities, possible actions, and consequences — then do a gallery walk to add to each other's posters before presenting to the class.

Students watch Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” and step into the role of Emotion Ambassadors — brainstorming, prioritizing, and electing peers to lead initiatives that bring creativity and emotional intelligence to the wider school community.