TK - First Grade
Developmental Characteristics
Physical
Enjoy long periods of free play
Developing eye-hand coordination
Enjoy small group cooperative play
May require rest after high-energy play
Improved body coordination; yet still can fall easily
Social Emotional
Eager to receive adult praise
Enjoy dramatic play
Eager to engage in new activities/adventures led by involved adult
Eager to identify with older children
Enjoy exploring new materials and equipment
Can be easily frightened by novel or strange events
Prefer play in small groups
Like responsibilities they can handle
Learning to cooperate with others, but may at times display selfish behavior
Cognitive
Understand language better than they speak
Are interested in present; vague concepts of past/future
Eager to learn
Ask many questions
Define things by their use
Developing a sense of humor
Communicate best within a small group of peers
May need guidance of adult when starting a new task
Brave Steps
Students will identify what being brave means, share a brave thing they did, and choose one small brave step to try.
Mistake Monsters
Students will understand that mistakes are a normal part of learning, name a mistake they made and what they learned, and practice a class response that makes mistakes feel safe.
Goal Garden
Students will set one small, specific goal and name one step they can take toward it, connecting confidence to trying and growing.
Strength Badges
Students will name a strength they see in a classmate and receive a strength badge from a classmate, building confidence through peer recognition.
All About Me Shield
Students will identify parts of who they are (family, favorites, strengths, what makes them unique) and present their shield with pride.
Super Me: I Can Do Hard Things
Students will identify personal strengths and parts of their identity (culture, family, interests, talents, values) as sources of confidence rather than obstacles. Students will write and share a "My identity is a superpower because..." statement and recognize how positive self-talk and self-knowledge support confidence.
Week 2: Uplifting Others (TK-2)
Students build a Friendship Web by tossing yarn across a circle while saying something positive about the person they throw it to, then watch a Charlotte's Web storytime video, color and cut out a farm animal to glue on a popsicle stick, and use their puppet to practice walking up to peers and asking them to play.
Week 1: Positive Self Talk (TK-2)
Students play Counting to 10 — working together as a class to count without overlapping or repeating numbers — then listen to a read-aloud of I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont, practice a guided mindful breathing minute, and complete an affirmation worksheet with a self-portrait to share with the class.
Week 7: Confidence Through Kindness (1st-5th)
Students pass a ball around the circle, each sharing one kind action they can do that day while classmates cheer, then decorate a paper crown with drawings and words representing their own kind actions before wearing their finished Kindness Crown.
Week 7: Confidence Through Kindness (TK-K)
Students pass a ball around the circle, each sharing one kind action they can do that day while classmates cheer, then decorate a paper crown with drawings and words representing their own kind actions before wearing their finished Kindness Crown.
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 6: Celebrating Growth (TK-K)
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 5: We Can Do It! (TK-K)
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 4: Positive Self-Talk (TK-K)
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 3: Sharing with Pride (TK-K)
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 2: Growth Mindset (TK-K)
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!"