Happiness- Play

Week of :    November 5 – 9, 2012

Theme:  Choosing Happiness – Play!

     Date                   News                             Greeting             Sharing               Activity

Mon 11/5 EF	Good Morning! It’s EF Monday. Planners! Academic Goal Review Write in Planner:  bring in your fav board game Friday!	One Minute Mingle Greeting		Students plan out their week & write in planner. Review Goals. Advisors float and review.
Tuesday a.m. 11/6 Share	Our theme for the week is CHOOSING HAPPINESS. Did you know it’s a CHOICE?? Do you agree? Study the handout while role is taken…..	Mimic Greeting	Popcorn Share
Tuesday p.m. 11/6 Activity	Of the 40% happiness that you have direct control over, your actions play a key role.  Happy people play!	High Five / Low Five Greeting		Let’s Play!!
Wed 11/7 Activity	One of the ways that people play is by “hanging out.” Cultivating friendships increases happiness!	Greet & Meet Greeting		SQ
Thursday 11/8 Journal	Good Morning!  Check the box by how many hours you think you play a week: ________ 0 hours        ________  0-5 hours ________  more than 5 hours	Greet Three Greeting		Journal Topic: Happiness and Play
Friday 11/9	More Play today! Games build relationships AND fun!  What’s your favorite board game?	Inside Outside Greeting		Board Games

 

Instructions

Monday, November 5

1.)        News (see Bulletin)

2.)        One-Minute Mingle (p. 224) – Each person greets as many students by name         as possible in one minute.  Model how to efficiently complete a greeting     before starting.  Give examples of how to be greeted and return a greeting,          maintaining eye contact, before moving on to the next person.

3.)        Activity – Students look through the week for each of their classes, writing   down in planner the dates of quizzes, assignments, tests, and smaller tasks    for long-term projects.  Also… students review the first week of their 2^nd           quarter goals.  Advisors float around and consult individually with advisees.

 

Tuesday, November 6 - Morning

1.)        News

2.)        Mimic Greeting – One at a time around the circle, students greet their           neighbors in a manner of their choice, and neighbors mimic the greetings in                  return.  Leaders can limit the words of the greeting (e.g., “Good Morning,         _________”), or give students choice of both the words and the manner in which they greet. 

3.)        Popcorn Share – Brief discussion about the handout. 

            Possible prompts for this topic: 

                        Do you agree that how happy you are can be determined by                                        genetics?       How do you feel about that? 

                       

                        Are you about as happy as your parents?  If not, what could account                          for the differences?

 

                        If 40% of your level of happiness is based on your own actions, what                                     actions make you happy in your life right now?  When and where are                                     you your happiest?

 

Tuesday, November 6 – Afternoon

1.)        News

2.)        High Five/Low Five Greeting – Moving in sequence around the circle,                     students greet the neighbor to their right with a high five.  Neighbor greets     them back with a low five.

3.)        Activity – Sixth graders will increase their happiness by playing outdoors,    on the elementary playground.  Seventh graders will go to the fields or play                      tips and foursquare in the courtyard.  Note that at this age, it is possible that       some kids will just want to hang out with each other and socialize, which is          another way adolescents play.  IT’S ALL GOOD!

Wednesday, November 7

1.)        News

2.)        Greet & Meet Greeting – Students stand, form groups of three, greet each   other, then talk about the topic: “What counts as play for me at this age.”  To   foster inclusion, groups are encouraged t invite into their cluster those who        are having difficulty finding a group of three, even if it means creating a             group of four. 

3.)        Activity – SQ – unstructured social time that includes the advisor -- a time to            hang out together to talk, laugh, relate and connect.  Advisor participation             keeps this safe.  “Hanging out” is one of the primary ways adolescents and        adults have fun together.  This represents a big developmental jump for             adolescents and is sometimes intimidating for those who are still developing             the social skills of adolescence.

 

Thursday, November 8

1.)        News

2.)        Greet Three Greeting– Students make eye contact from across the circle,     move and greet each other using a greeting of their choice, and repeat this     process two more times.  All students are greeting simultaneously.  Model         and practice how to do this gracefully (and WITH SELF-CONTROL) among             several students. 

3.)        Journal Time – Ask students to explore in writing the idea of play in their     lives.  Do they agree that today’s kids are over-scheduled?  Do they have

            unstructured “play” time (a.k.a. – “hang” time)?  When they were little,

            what was their favorite thing to do for play?  If playing more could make       them happier, what would they like to do? Do their parents play?  Is play     acceptable in their homes?  [It might be helpful to write these prompts on the

            white board.]

 

Friday, November 9

1.)        News

2.)        Inside Outside Greeting – Form a double circle (one inside the other), and             as the inside circle rotates, members of the inside circle greet people in the outside circle with a handshake and “Good Morning.” Many variations are        possible, like high fives, low fives, fist bumps, foreign language greetings.

3.)        Activity – Board games are a great way to develop skills that adolescents     need – frustration tolerance, impulse control, social intelligence, relationship         skills.  Advisors play too! Great opportunity for fun and role modeling.  Monitor when students need to rotate.