Self-improvement is not an insurmountable mountain, but a majestic peak of success built from steadily stacked tiny rocks of courage to try new things. This is the valuable message this SEL lesson instills in pre-kindergarten students using engaging and age-appropriate activities.
It starts with an illustrative conversation between the students’ star friends, StarBoy and StarGirl. StarBoy is struggling to remember a sentence he wants to recite. Feeling defeated, he starts to lose courage. But with StarGirl’s help, he learns to take it one word at a time. Through this, StarBoy realizes how having the courage to try can help him improve.
"Self-improvement is not an insurmountable mountain, but a majestic peak of success built from steadily stacked tiny rocks of courage to try new things."
Afterward, the students participate in an insightful discussion about the different ways they can manifest courage. They learn that doing things a little bit at a time is essential to avoiding feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand. Another approach is to practice regularly, enabling them to gain mastery over what they aspire to achieve. Additionally, they can seek help from experienced people to learn from their expertise. To help them better understand the lesson concepts, pre-kindergartners provide their own examples of showing courage and trying.
As a fun SEL activity, they recite the sentence that StarBoy is trying to remember: "The harder I try, the better I do." The students repeat this sentence multiple times and promise to practice this positive action often. The lesson ends with the students marking their Positive Behavior Chart. They realize that having the courage to try new things improves their self-concept.
Improvement is a gradual process that cannot be accomplished overnight. It can be particularly daunting for pre-kindergartners who are still grappling with the vastness of the world around them. However, there are ways to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the task of making progress. This lesson for pre-kindergartners is designed to instill the courage to try new things, one small step at a time. By building their courage, young students can achieve academic and personal success and make positive changes to their behavior.
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