EDUCATION / BEHAVIORAL MANAGEMENT

Grades 3-5

"The series is highly recommended and will prove invaluable to school professionals with structured lesson plans and supplementary materials to help all students succeed."
—Lori Ernsperger, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Executive Director of Behavioral Training Resource Center
"My colleagues and I have conducted several studies on the curricula in the Strong Kids series and have been impressed with how easily public school educators have been able to implement these with fidelity. We have also documented improvements in students’ internalizing symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression) following implementation of Strong Kids."
—Paul Caldarella, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brigham Young University

Each social-emotional competence—the foundation of school and social success—with the NEW edition of the Strong Kids—Grades 3–5 curriculum! STRONG KIDS

Help your students develop the social-emotional skills they need to manage their challenges and succeed in school and life. Developed by a team of educational and mental health experts, this evidence-based, age-appropriate curriculum is low cost and low tech.

About the Authors

Dianna Carrizales-Engelmann, Ph.D.

College of Education, University of Oregon
Eugene, OR

Dianna Carrizales-Engelmann is currently an instructor at the University of Oregon in Eugene specializing in performance assessment for teacher preparation.

Laura L. Feuerborn, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Education, University of Washington, Tacoma

Dr. Feuerborn is a nationally certified school psychologist specializing in emotional and behavioral supports. Her areas of teaching expertise include classroom management and social and emotional learning (SEL).

Barbara A. Gueldner, Ph.D.

Licensed Psychologist, Successful Kids Today
Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Dr. Gueldner specializes in promoting wellness and resilience through social and emotional learning (SEL).

Oanh K. Tran, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, California State University, East Bay

Dr. Tran's research and professional interests include psychoeducational assessments and positive behavior supports.

The Strong Kids—Grades 3–5 Curriculum

Lesson 1: About Strong Kids: Emotional Strength Training

Lesson 2: Understanding Your Emotions 1

Lesson 3: Understanding Your Emotions 2

Lesson 4: Understanding Other People’s Emotions

Lesson 5: Dealing with Anger

Lesson 6: Clear Thinking 1

Lesson 7: Clear Thinking 2

Lesson 8: Solving People Problems

Lesson 9: Letting Go of Stress

Lesson 10: Positive Living

Lesson 11: Creating Strong and SMART Goals

Lesson 12: Finishing UP!

Sample Script for Lesson 6: Clear Thinking 1

Purpose and Objectives

• Understand the influence of thoughts on emotions and behaviors
• Develop an awareness of their own thoughts
• Identify common thinking traps that affect behavior

Materials Needed

• Supplements 6.1–6.2 (online download)
• Supplement 6.3 (online download and handout)
• Supplement 6.6–6.7 (online download and handout)
• Supplement 6.8 (homework handout)

Thinking Traps

1. Binocular vision: Looking at things in a way that makes them seem bigger or smaller than they really are.

   • Example: I made a small mistake in class.

2. Black-and-white thinking: Looking at things in only extreme or opposite ways.

   • Example: You had one fight with your good friend.

3. Dark glasses: Thinking about only the negative parts of a situation.

   • Example: You don’t want to try out for the basketball team because you predict you will fail.

4. Fortune telling: Making predictions about what will happen in the future without enough evidence.

   • Example: Your teacher said many good things about you.

5. Making it personal: Blaming yourself for things that are not your fault.

   • Example: Your friend was quiet at lunch because she had had a fight with her mother.

Practice Situations Worksheet

Instructions: List four situations where you got stuck in a thinking trap. For each trap, write down the emotion you experienced; if the emotion was comfortable, uncomfortable, or both; where on the thermometer your emotion was; what the thought was, and the name of the thinking trap.

Additional Activities

• Have students make flash cards with the thinking traps and images on one side and example scenarios on the other side.
• Ask students to journal and record their thoughts and self-talk for several days.

Excerpted from Merrell's Strong Start—Grades 3–5: A Social & Emotional Learning Curriculum, Second Edition by Dianna Carrizales-Engelmann, Ph.D., Laura L. Feuerborn, Ph.D., Barbara A. Gueldner, Ph.D., & Oanh K. Tran, Ph.D.