Lesson 1: Peacemakers Have Feelings

Grade 1 Curriculum: Peacemaker Skills Time: 60 min Lesson 1: Peacemakers Have Feelings Lesson Overview Purpose: To be (re-)introduced to Peace First goals and structures, create guidelines, and preview what we will be learning this year. Timing: 60 min This lesson is designed to take 60 minutes. Objectives By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: Understand what will happen during Peace First time this year, and how this connects to other classroom time and to what they may have learned in previous years in Peace First. Help create guidelines and expectations for the kinds of behavior they want/will practice in their peaceful classroom. Identify (at least) three actions, behaviors, and/or attitudes that contribute to building a peaceful classroom community, as well as three that do not. Agenda Opening 15 min Welcome Review Preview Name Chant Focus Activities 30 min Building a Feeling Community (Discussion) Peace Person Poster Closing 15 min Reflection (Independent or Group) Closing Game 2012 Peace First 1

Supplies Peace Person poster (drawn on large piece of chart paper) Sticky notes two colors (a stack of notes in each color) Pencils, markers Handout 1-1A: Peace Person Reflection Page, if Independent Option Peacemaker Portfolios (pocket folders with clasps, one per student) Key Words Peace First: A program that helps students practice the skills of peacemaking cooperation, communication, helping others, and solving problems to help make the classroom a more peaceful place. Peacemaking: Cooperating with others, being kind and fair, helping others. Peacebreaking: Not cooperating with others, being unkind and unfair, not helping others. Before You Teach It s important to have a well-established Quiet Signal to get your students attention quickly and calmly before each Peace First lesson (e.g. raising your hand and waiting for silence, clapping rhythmically and having your students repeat the clap). The Peace First curriculum involves playing many games, changing activities frequently, active small group work, and discussions and a Quiet Signal is an essential, non-disruptive way to bring the classroom to order and get your students attention. You may have already established a Quiet Signal for your class but we recommend that you practice this essential ritual with your students during this first lesson. Check out our Digital Activity Center for more ideas about how to establish or practice the Quiet Signal with your class. Peace First lessons are designed to have students work together to share their experiences and build strong relationships and a sense of community with their classmates. The success of the activities and games in Peace First depends on students knowing each others names and students coming to know one another (and you) a little better. A getting-to-know-you game is a great way to help students learn and practice using each others names and is built into this first lesson. If your students need more practice, please take a look our Digital Activity Center for more great games. Think about what rules and expectations may already exist in the classroom. If they are well established and clear, plan to review these and add any special ones for Peace First time. Prepare a large Peace Person Poster by drawing an outline of a person on a piece of chart paper. This person outline can be as 2012 Peace First 2

Before You Teach [continued] realistic or abstract as you like (e.g., you could simply draw a larger version of the image included in Handout 1-1A Peace Person Reflection Page). The idea is for the final product to hang on a classroom wall as a reminder for students. Decide which Reflection activity you will have students complete in this lesson: Independent or Group. Note that these Closing options exist in every lesson in Grade 1. You may decide to consistently close with the same Reflection activity each lesson, or you may choose to have students reflect differently from lesson to lesson. If selecting the Independent option for this lesson, make copies of Handout 1-1A Peace Person Reflection Page (one per student). Prepare Peacemaker Portfolios if selecting the Independent option for this lesson (or any future lesson). Students individual Peacemaker Portfolios will be a place for them to collect their completed Independent Reflections (handouts) throughout the semester. Write the lesson s agenda (from the Lesson Overview) on chart paper and post it on the wall. We recommend that you post the day s agenda in the same place before each lesson. 2012 Peace First 3

Lesson Plan Opening (15 minutes) 1. Welcome Goal: To learn about Peace First and what will happen during weekly Peace First time this year. Welcome students to Peace First time and tell them that today marks the beginning of a year of lessons where they will learn how to use the skills of peacemaking. If you have not already introduced Peace First time with students and established it as a particular time one day each week, do so now. Explain that students will be meeting regularly for Peace First activities throughout the year during this period. Practice your Quiet Signal with students if you have not already used it to begin Peace First time. Say: During Peace First time in the first half of the year, we will learn about our peacemaking skills and practice using them. You already know a lot about making peace and helping others, and Peace First lessons will help you become even better peacemakers. We ll learn more about our feelings and why our feelings are important. For example, why we sometimes feel angry or sad, and what we can do to help our friends when they feel angry or sad. We will be doing all of this to help us understand what it means to be a peacemaker and to help make our school community a more peaceful place. During Peace First time in the second half of the year, we will use our peacemaking skills to do a project that helps make our community a more peaceful place. 2012 Peace First 4

OPENING CONTINUED (15 minutes) 2. Review Ask: Who remembers what Peace First time is? Possible answers: A time when we learn about being peacemakers A time when we work together Refer back to what students learned in kindergarten in Peace First, if applicable. Summary: In kindergarten, students explored how they and their families are special, how their classmates are special, and how their special qualities can make their classroom more peaceful. Review with students any classroom rituals and guidelines that are important for Peace First time and why these will be important. Quiet Signal Practice your Quiet Signal with students if you have not already used it to begin Peace First time. The Quiet Signal will be particularly important during Peace First time because you will be playing lots of active games and changing activities frequently. You need to have a means of getting students attention quickly. Getting to know one another Explain to students that they will learn to use each other s names during Peace First time, if they do not already know them. 2012 Peace First 5

3. Preview Preview the lesson by directing students attention to today s agenda, Peacemakers Have Feelings. Ask students to sit in a circle, if they are not already. 4. Name Chant Goal: To practice using classmates names and to continue to build a sense of community. Have students remain in a circle. Tell students that you want to play a name game. Explain that it has two parts. One part is to repeat a clapping pattern, and the second part is to repeat a chant. Demonstrate what this will sound like with the help of another adult in the room or with a student. Say Hello and have your partner repeat back Hello. Next, introduce students to the clapping pattern. The pattern alternates a hand clap with a knee slap. Model the pattern for students, and then have students try the pattern with you. Teacher Tip: If students are having difficulty picking up the pattern, try just clapping. When the group is keeping the beat together, add in the chant. This chant is what students will repeat back. (Boldface indicates in time with knee slap.) Teacher: Group: My name is Lindsey. Her name is Lindsey. 2012 Peace First 6

OPENING CONTINUED (15 minutes) The game continues around the circle with each student taking on the role of caller: Caller: Group: My name is Winston. His name is Winston. When each student has had a chance to be the caller, end the game with everyone calling out: Group: Now let's start Peace First! Congratulate students on a job well done. TRANSITION Tell students that for the next activity, they will need to return to their desks. 2012 Peace First 7

Focus Activities (30 minutes) Activity Overview A classroom contract is a sign/poster created with students that establishes acceptable behavior toward fellow students and teachers. By sharing in the creation of such systems, students are likely to be more invested and active in ensuring their success. The contract may include guidelines such as Listen to others, Don t interrupt, or Be helpful and friendly. A Classroom Contract for this class may have already been established outside of Peace First time. If so, display it prominently in the classroom, as you will refer to it during Peace First time as one of the tools for creating a peacemaking classroom community. 1. Building a Feeling Community (Discussion) Goal: To co-construct rules and standards of behavior to create a Classroom Contract to be used during Peace First time. Pose the following challenge to students. Say: I would like you to think about the types of words, actions, and behavior that will help to make Peace First time fun and safe for everyone. I will write your ideas on these cards. Show students the first stack of sticky notes, all of which should be the same color. Say: You can also think about rules that we already have in this room. Explain to students that you are looking for peacemaking, or positive, behaviors for sticky notes that are this first color. You can model this by giving an example. 2012 Peace First 8

FOCUS ACTIVITIES CONTINUED (30 minutes) Ask students to explain and/or give an example that illustrates their suggestion. Possible answers: Teamwork Cooperation Listening Caring Sharing Including others Teacher Tip: Some students may share their ideas by stressing the negative (e.g., Do not talk when it is someone else s turn, or Do not call people names). Value these ideas, but then work with students to rephrase these suggestions as positive statements for example: That s a great idea. So if we do not want someone to talk at the same time as someone else, what do we want them to do? Suggest or add any missing idea(s) if students neglect to mention a behavior that you feel is essential. Set aside this stack of peacemaking sticky notes. You will return to these after the class completes a discussion on peacebreaking behaviors in order to fill in the class s Peace Person Poster. Say: Now I want you to think about the kinds of things that will not help to make Peace First time feel safe and fun for everyone; peacebreaking behavior. Show students the second stack of sticky notes. Say: I will write these ideas on sticky notes that are this (second) color. Possible answers: Hitting Laughing at people Name calling Dissing Excluding others 2012 Peace First 9

FOCUS ACTIVITIES CONTINUED (30 minutes) Write each peacebreaking behavior suggested on a sticky note of this second color. This will help students visually distinguish between peacemaking and peacebreaking behaviors on the class s completed Peace Person Poster. Again, suggest or add any missing idea(s) if students neglect to mention a behavior that you feel is essential. TRANSITION Tell students that they will now use all the behaviors they came up with to create a Peace Person Poster that will help remind them what a peacemaker looks (and acts) like. 2. Peace Person Poster Goal: To work cooperatively to create a Peace Person Poster that illustrates the kinds of behavior they want (and do not want) in their classroom. Introduce students to the Peace Person Poster. Explain to students that the class will use the poster to help sort the actions and behaviors they have identified. Tell students that you want them to identify the peacemaking behaviors to put inside the Peace Person. Explain to students that the peacemaking/positive behaviors will be placed inside the Peace Person, because these behaviors make them feel safe and these types of behaviors belong inside the classroom. Meanwhile, the peacebreaking/negative behaviors will be placed on the outside of the Peace Person, because these types of behaviors do not belong in their safe classroom. Shuffle the positive and negative behavior sticky notes together. Read aloud the word or phrase on each sticky note in turn without revealing the note s color to students. Ask students to identify the space where each behavior belongs. Have children explain the rationale for their choices. 2012 Peace First 10

FOCUS ACTIVITIES CONTINUED (30 minutes) As students correctly identify whether behaviors are peacemaking or peacebreaking, Reveal the sticky note (and color) to the class. Praise the student for answering correctly. Give this same student the sticky note and invite him/her to place it where it belongs on the Peace Person Poster. Thank the students for their good work and transition them back to their seats. Teacher Tip: This would also be a good time to discuss with students that, since they are all working together for a peaceful classroom, students are not to name names when they talk about times when they felt others were mean, unfair, or otherwise acted badly. Set the expectation that everyone deserves respect and fair treatment. Emphasize that the focus of all Peace First activities is on behaviors, not people. 2012 Peace First 11

Closing (15 minutes) 1. Reflection Goal: To share and review key ideas and skills they have explored during the course of the Peace First lesson. Praise the group on a great Peace First session. Where possible, cite specific actions/behaviors that contributed to the success. Tell students that Peace First time will always end with a closing Reflection activity (followed by a Closing Game). Say: At the end of every Peace First lesson, each of you will have some time to reflect, or think back, on what you have just learned. We will do this to help ourselves remember all of the learning that happened during Peace First time today. Sometimes we will have the chance to do this independently, by drawing or writing at our desks by ourselves. Sometimes we will do this altogether as a group, where we ll sit in a circle and I ll ask you some questions about what we did. Guide students to reflect on today s lesson using either the Independent or Group option below. Activity Overview In the Independent Option, students will complete a handout in which they create their own individual Peace Person to demonstrate their understanding of and to reinforce concepts introduced during the lesson. The Group Option guides students through a series of debriefing questions to demonstrate their understanding of and to reinforce concepts introduced during this lesson. Teacher Tip: In the Independent option, students will complete a worksheet to demonstrate their understanding of, and to reinforce concepts covered during, the lesson. This can also be used as an Assessment. In the Group option, students will share and review the major ideas and skills explored during the lesson together. 2012 Peace First 12

CLOSING CONTINUED (15 minutes) 1a. Reflection: Independent Option Ask students to return to their desks for the next activity. Tell students that each of them will now practice distinguishing peacemaking/positive behaviors from peacebreaking/negative behaviors by completing a worksheet. Preview today s handout for students, and review directions. Ask students if they have any questions. Distribute copies of Handout 1-1A: Peace Person Reflection Page. Tell students you will circulate around the room to help them and to answer any questions as they work at their desks. Teacher Tip: Students who finish quickly can: Copy more ideas from the group-produced chart. Write additional ideas inside their Peace Person. Decorate their Peace Person. 2012 Peace First 13

CLOSING CONTINUED (15 minutes) When all students are finished, review answers with students. Tell students that the work they complete during Peace First time will go into a special folder, called a Peacemaker Portfolio. Distribute Peacemaker Portfolios and have students write their names on their folders. Teacher Tip: If time permits, you may want to allow 10 15 minutes for students to personalize (decorate) their Peacemaker Portfolios. This could also be done during later lessons, or as an art project outside of Peace First time. Consider providing a drawing prompt that asks them to draw a peacemaker, a peaceful classroom, or something that makes them feel happy. If you decide to provide a prompt, you may also want to create/decorate a Peacemaker Portfolio of your own ahead of time to use as an example. Ask students to place their completed handouts in their Peacemaker Portfolios, and congratulate students on a job well done. Tell students to sit down in a circle for the Closing Game. 1b. Reflection: Group Option Ask: What activities did we do during Peace First time today? What was fun about today s Peace First lesson? Why? What was hard or challenging? Why? How can we use what we learned today to help make our classroom more peaceful? Possible answers: Before we do something, we can think back to our Peace Person and decide if it is a peacemaking or peacebreaking action We can try to make sure that everything we do in the classroom is peacemaking and not peacebreaking 2012 Peace First 14

CLOSING CONTINUED (15 minutes) 2. Closing Game Goal: To build teamwork and to consistently close Peace First time with the ritual of playing a short game before transitioning to regular classroom time. Tell students there is one last activity to do before Peace First time is over. Explain that Peace First time will always end with a cooperative game that you all play together as a class, in a circle, before returning to regular classroom time. Remaining in a circle, tell students that you are going to end Peace First time with a game called Pass the Pulse. Ask students to hold hands with the people standing (or sitting) next to them. Explain to students that in this game they will pass a pulse (or squeeze) around the circle of their classmates. The pulse is a gentle squeeze that will be passed from the hand of one person to the hand of the next around the circle. Suggest to students that the pulse carries positive energy around the circle, as everyone stays connected by holding hands. Ask students to think positive thoughts and try to imagine peaceful energy traveling around the circle as students pass the squeeze. Designate one person to start passing the squeeze to their right by gently squeezing the hand of the person next to them. When someone feels his/her hand being squeezed they should pass the squeeze on to the next person. This continues until the squeeze has gone once around the circle. For the first round you may wish to start the pulse yourself, so that you know when it begins and ends. For additional rounds, choose different students to begin the pulse. Ask if anyone has a question. If not, start the game. 2012 Peace First 15

CLOSING CONTINUED (15 minutes) Teacher Tip: You can play several rounds of this game, adding additional challenges to keep students engaged. For example: see how quietly the group can pass the pulse; have students play with their eyes closed. You could also play this game at the end of future lessons and see if students can improve their time. Thank students for a great lesson and remind them they will have Peace First time together every week this year to continue working on peacemaking skills. Preview for students that during next week s Peace First time, they will talk more about feelings what words we can use to describe how we are feeling, and what can cause us to have these different feelings. 2012 Peace First 16

Peace Person Reflection Page Name Directions: Read the words in the box. Circle the words that describe peacemaking behaviors that you will use during Peace First time. Write the peacemaking behaviors inside the Peace Person, and the peacebreaking behaviors on the outside of the Peace Person. Word Box Helping Hitting Name calling Sharing Listening Taking turns GRADE 1: PEACEMAKER SKILLS LESSON 1: 1-1A PEACE PERSON REFLECTION 2012 Peace First