Lesson 1 (Week of 9/27 - 9/30)

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Grade

Summary

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Kindergarten

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that paying attention means watching, listening, and thinking carefully about something. They practice different ways of showing they’re paying attention.

Ask your child to show you how they can pay attention, for example, when you are reading a story with them or explaining how to do something.

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1st Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that paying attention can look different depending on the situation, for example, listening to the teacher during a lesson, or looking both ways before crossing the street.

Ask your child to show you how they can pay attention, for example, when you are reading a story with them, explaining a task, or crossing the street.

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Lesson 1 (Week of 9/27 - 9/30)

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Grade

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2nd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that their best skills have developed as a result of practicing, trying hard, and asking for help

Ask your child to share what they’re good at and how they became good at it. Share with them something you’re good at and what you did to practice and try hard, and who you asked for help

3rd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that when they learn something new, the brain changes as different parts of the brain begin to send messages to each other.

Ask your child to explain what happens in their brain when they learn something for the first time.

Lesson 1 (Week of 9/27 - 9/30)

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Grade

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4th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child’s class will work together to set a 2-week goal that’s specific, challenging, and doable.

Ask your child to describe their class goal and explain what makes it challenging and doable for their class. Tell your child about a goal you recently set and what makes it challenging and doable for you.

5th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn how to set a goal that's right for them. A goal that's right for someone is specific, challenging, doable, and motivating.

Ask your child what their goal is and how they know it’s right for them. Encourage them to describe why it’s motivating to them. Talk to your child about a goal you reached in the past and why you chose that goal.

Lesson 2 (Week of 10/3 - 10/7)

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Grade

Summary

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Kindergarten

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn two important reasons for paying attention: to learn and to stay safe

Ask your child why they think it’s important to pay attention during different activities, for example, when listening to information or instructions, when helping out with a task, or when crossing the street with you.

1st Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that a distraction is something that takes their attention away from something else. They’ll learn different ways to manage distractions, such as reminding themselves to focus, turning away from the distraction, changing places, or politely asking someone to stop a distracting behavior.

When you need to pay attention or focus on a task at home, ask your child to suggest some ways to manage distractions.

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Lesson 2 (Week of 10/3 - 10/7)

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Grade

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2nd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that mistakes tell us something’s not working and that they can respond to mistakes by asking for help, trying again, or making a small change to keep going

Ask your child what a mistake tells them and what they can do to keep going after a mistake

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3rd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that every time they practice a new a skill, the brain gets better at sending the messages for that skill.

Ask your child to explain what happens in their brain when they practice.

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Lesson 2 (Week of 10/3 - 10/7)

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Grade Level

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4th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child’s class will work together to make a good plan to reach their 2-week goal.

Ask your child to describe their plan to reach their class goal. What will they do? What will they need? Who can support them? Tell your child about a time when you made a plan to reach a goal.

5th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn how to make an effective plan to reach a goal.

Ask your child about their plan to reach their goal. What will they do? What will they need? Talk to them about how you can support them as they work toward their goal.

Lesson 3 (Week of 10/11 - 10/14)

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Grade Level

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Kindergarten

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that mistake are a natural part of the learning process. They’ll practice encouraging their classmates (and themselves) while the class learns and practices a new skill together: snapping their fingers.

Remind your child that everyone makes mistakes or tell them a story about a time you learned something from a mistake.

1st Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will reflect on different skills they’ve learned and talk about how practice and continued effort helped them get better.

Talk with your child about different tasks and skills they have learned to do by themselves at home, for example, making their bed, etc. Remind them that it took time and practice to get better at these things.

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Lesson 3 (Week of 10/11 - 10/14)

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2nd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that helpful thoughts can help us keep going when we’re learning and unhelpful thoughts might make us want to give up.

Ask your child whether the thoughts they have when they’re learning something new are helpful or unhelpful. Ask your child to share examples of helpful thoughts they know.

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3rd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that if they’re practicing a skill but not getting better, they can try a new way of practicing or find someone to learn from.

Ask your child to tell you something new they’ve been practicing at school. Ask if they can think of other ways to practice or someone they could learn from.

Lesson 3 (Week of 10/11 - 10/14)

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4th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child’s class will work together to identify roadblocks that might be getting in the way as they work toward their 2-week goal. Then they’ll decide what they can change to remove or get around their roadblocks.

Ask your child if they’ve run into any roadblocks while working toward their class goal. If so, how will they work around them? Tell your child about a time you ran into a roadblock and what you did to overcome it.

5th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn how to evaluate their progress toward a goal and change their plan accordingly.

Talk to your child about the progress they’ve made toward their goal. Ask them if they’ve run into any roadblocks, and offer to help them think about how to keep moving forward.

Lesson 4 (Week of 10/17 - 10/21)

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Grade Level

Summary

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Kindergarten

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn that it’s important to practice and keep trying in order to get better at something they want to learn

Encourage your child to choose something they want to get better at (such as tying their shoes, adding or subtracting, writing their name, dribbling a ball). Set aside a few minutes each day for them to practice the skill, and highlight the progress they’re making.

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1st Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will practice using helpful thoughts to encourage themselves and keep going while learning a dance with their classmates.

Ask your child to suggest some helpful thoughts to encourage you or a family member to complete a challenging task (ex: a school/work project or an exercise routine)

Lesson 4 (Week of 10/17 - 10/21)

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Grade Level

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2nd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn how to replace an unhelpful thought with a helpful thought so they can keep going when learning feels hard.

Ask your child how they might change an unhelpful thought into a helpful thought. Encourage them by using helpful thoughts at home.

3rd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will work with a partner to make a practice plan that includes what they want to learn, how they will practice, and what they can do if they aren’t improving.

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Ask your child to tell you what a practice plan includes.

Both Grade Levels

This week students watched episode 3 of the video series Team Kentron, which is created by the nonprofit organization A Place to Be. Click here to view this week’s episode and discussion questions.

Lesson 4 (Week of 10/17 - 10/21)

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Grade Level

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4th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child’s class will reflect on their journey of working toward their 2-week goal.

Ask your child about their experience with setting a class goal and working toward it. What worked? What didn’t work? What could they do next time? Reflect on a goal you’ve worked toward and what you learned.

5th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will learn how to reflect on their experience working toward a goal.

Ask your child to tell you about their goal-setting journey, including what worked, what didn’t work, and what they could do next time. Tell your child about a goal that you set and worked toward. What worked, what didn’t work, and what did you learn?

Both Grade Levels

This week students watched episode 3 of the video series Team Kentron, which is created by the nonprofit organization A Place to Be. Click here to view this week’s episode and discussion questions.

Lesson 5 (Week of 10/25 - 10/28)

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Grade Level

Summary

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Kindergarten

In this week’s lesson, your child will show what they’ve learned about the importance of paying attention, practicing, and continuing to try after making mistakes. They’ll put these skills to use while learning a rhyme with accompanying movements

Ask your child to show and teach you the rhyme they learned, along with the movements so you can do it together.

1st Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will show what they’ve learned about paying attention, managing distractions, and practicing as they learn to draw Pepito, a character from Second Step Elementary animated videos

Ask your child to tell you about their experience learning to draw Pepito. Encourage them to draw a family portrait with Pepito in it as a way to keep practicing.

Lesson 5 (Week of 10/25 - 10/28)

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Grade Level

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2nd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will use what they’ve learned from the unit to give advice to someone who is struggling to learn something new.

Ask your child what advice they would give if you were having a hard time learning something new.

3rd Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will make their own practice plan.

Ask your child share their practice plan with you. If they brought it home, find a place to display it where they’ll see it every day. Check in to see how their plan is going, and support them if they need help adjusting their plans.

Lesson 5 (Week of 10/25 - 10/28)

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Grade Level

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4th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will practice the full goal-setting process as they work toward a 10-minute goal with a group.

Work with your child to make a list of 1-week goals you could set as a family. Choose one and make sure it’s specific, challenging, and doable. Follow the goal-setting process to make a plan, check in on how it’s going, and at the end of the week, reflect on how it went and what you could do next time.

5th Grade

In this week’s lesson, your child will apply the full goal-setting process they learned in this unit to work toward a 10-minute goal of their choice.

Ask your child about the goal-setting process they learned in this unit and why it’s important. Encourage them to set a new short-term goal that's right for them and to follow the process they learned. Check in along the way to see how it’s going.