3 November Lesson Ideas For School Counseling And SEL
November can feel stressful for educators. It’s been a while since you’ve had a day off, and you and the students are feeling burnt out. Plus, at the beginning of the month, kids are facing a sugar rush from all of the candy they collected during trick-or-treating. Just when you think you can’t feel any more exhausted, you remember that you need to plan your counseling or SEL lessons.
These 3 November lesson ideas will help you feel less stressed as you think about how you can help your students grow in gratitude and mindfulness, as well as celebrate Native American Heritage Month.
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November Lesson Idea #1: Gratitude
On the fourth Thursday in November, many Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. One of the central themes of this holiday is gratitude, which makes November the perfect time to talk about this with your students.
One idea is to incorporate gratitude into all of your lessons - no matter the topic - by making it a habit to share what you are thankful for. At the beginning or end of your counseling lessons, you can ask a few (or all) students to quickly share one thing that they are grateful for that day. You can also ask them to write or draw about things they are thankful for on slips of paper, and then put them in a “gratitude” jar. This exercise will help your students get in the habit of focusing on the great things in their lives.
You can also teach explicitly about gratitude by talking about the benefits of gratitude (this video is great!), reading books, or by using these no-prep fall themed activities.
For more ideas about how to encourage an attitude of gratitude in your students, check out this blog post!
November Lesson Idea #2: Native American Heritage
November is Native American Heritage Month! According to the National Congress of American Indians, “The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.”
Thankfully, there are many ways that you can incorporate this mission into your counseling lessons. One idea is to use books written by Native Americans that will help students learn about different cultures, as well as important SEL topics. Some of my favorites are:
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
We Are The Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith
The National Indian Education Association also has many lessons and activities on their website that are accessible for free!
November Lesson Idea #3: Mindfulness
November is such an interesting time in schools. The students haven’t had any days off in forever, and we’re headed into the holiday season. This can mean that feelings of anxiety and exhaustion are high. Introducing mindfulness techniques, and talking about how to use them, can be a great way to help students manage the feelings of excitement or anxiety during this month.
These mindfulness activities are perfect for your November lessons.
Depending on how familiar your students are with this topic, explaining what mindfulness is and how it can help them is a great place to start. Mindfulness can be a confusing topic, especially for kids, but thankfully there are many picture books and videos that do a great job at explaining it.
Once students are familiar with the concept of mindfulness, it’s time to help them practice! Some of my favorite ways to do this are:
Mindful Eating: Bring in a treat - like Smarties or Skittles - and help the students use their five senses to really focus on what they are doing as they enjoy the candy.
Fall Themed Mindfulness Activities: These are perfect for your November counseling lessons and will help students practice different mindfulness techniques like guided imagery, thorough reflection, awareness of thoughts and feelings, close observation and deep breathing.
Using pinwheels to encourage students to focus on their breathing as they watch the pinwheel spin. Students can try to change their breathing to control the pinwheel, like trying to get it to spin slowly, as fast as it can, to the left, to the right, etc.
November can be a tough month in schools, but my hope is that these 3 counseling & SEL lesson ideas will take lesson planning off your plate! If you’re looking for more time-saving tips, make sure you sign up below for my weekly e-mails. Each Monday, you’ll get practical ideas and activities delivered directly to your inbox.
