AFT’s Sharemylesson.com is chocked full of great lesson plans and ideas for your classroom. It is a free resource for AFT members.
Restorative circle talks can center your class and/or advisory group in social emotional learning and restorative practices. These easy-to-employ lessons can lead to profound discussions.
“Build A Web -Interdependence Lesson”
This lesson is a great primer on restorative circles.
Although it is designed as an early elementary lesson, it can easily be adapted for any grade level.
It uses very simple, inexpensive materials like a ball of yarn or twine, markers, scissors, glue and construction paper to help students identify with each other. The students find connections through some things they like. The passing of a ball of twine to foster students’ tactile engagement. Through building a web of twine, they connect to the familiar skill of webbing and find they have many things in common.
Students reflect on webs in their lives by creating their own webs using crafting materials.
“Head, Heart, Conscience”
This lesson is designed for grades 6-12, but it could be adapted to any grade level. It is designed to help students respond to a current event, video, or story by identifying the knowledge they gain (head), the emotions and feelings evoked (heart), and the values that the subject touches on (conscience).
This integration of head, heart, and ethics is important to learning, and it is particularly crucial when students are considering contentious or emotional topics. This strategy can be particularly useful for an initial discussion of complex and emotional current events and to help students clarify their relationship to and their perspective on the event.
