Bennington Public Schools

This unit will be taught in the first quarter. This unit is made up of 4 lessons. 

Click here to download a PDF of an overview of this unit. This handout includes what your child is learning and ways you can practice at home.

Lesson: Feeling Proud
In this lesson, students will learn that we can feel proud when we accomplish something difficult or when we do something nice for others.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to tell you about a time they felt proud. Tell them about a time you felt proud of something you accomplished or of doing something nice for others.

Lesson: Feeling Disappointed
In this lesson, students will learn that we can feel disappointed when something we want or expect does not happen.

You Can Try This at Home
Remind your child that everyone feels disappointed sometimes. Ask them what they can do to feel better the next time they’re feeling disappointed.

Lesson: Help Yourself Feel Better
In this lesson, students will learn how to use positive self-talk to help themselves feel better when they’re upset, disappointed, or worried.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child what they want to tell themselves when they’re having a tough day. Encourage them to use positive self-talk at home.

Lesson: Different Feelings
In this lesson, students will learn that people can have different feelings in the same situation because of their experiences.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child for an example of something that people can have different feelings about. Talk about the reasons people might have different feelings about it.

This unit will be taught in the second quarter. This unit is made up of 3 lessons. 

Lesson 1: Ways to Stay Safe

Your child is learning the Ways to Stay Safe and eight safety rules called the Never-Never Rules. Your child is also learning adults can help keep him or her safe.

Ask your child: What are the Ways to Stay Safe? 

Read Together: It is the job of adults to take care of you and keep you safe. Keep yourself safe by using the Ways to Stay Safe and following the Never-Never Rules. 

The Ways to Stay Safe are Recognize: Is it safe? What’s the rule? Report: Tell an adult. Refuse: Say words that mean no. 

The Never-Never Rules are: 

• Never ride on wheels without wearing a helmet. 
• Never cross the street without checking all ways for traffic. 
• Never play with fire. 
• Never touch a dog without asking the person in charge. 
• Never use a sharp tool without an older person’s help. 
• Never touch guns. 
• Never ride in a car without wearing a seatbelt.
• Never go in water without an older person watching.

Lesson 2: The Always Ask First Rule

Your child is learning to follow the Always Ask First Rule. He or she is practicing asking a parent or person in charge before going somewhere, doing something, or taking something from someone else.

Read Together 

The Always Ask First Rule is: Always ask a parent or the person in charge first. Follow this rule every time: 

• Someone asks you to go somewhere, like a friend’s house after school 
• Someone asks you to do something, like playing a game on a phone 
• Someone wants to give you something, like some candy or a new toy 
• You’re not sure if something is safe 

Lesson 3: Safe and Unsafe Touches

Your child is learning about the importance of respecting others' personal space. Some examples to be discussed at home include not hitting, kicking, pushing, etc.

This unit will be taught in the second quarter. This unit is made up of 4 lessons. 

Click here to download a PDF of an overview of this unit. This handout includes what your child is learning and ways you can practice at home.

Lesson: What’s Empathy?
In this lesson, students will learn that empathy means feeling or understanding what someone else is feeling, and that empathy can lead to kindness.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to tell you what empathy means.

Lesson: Empathy in Action
In this lesson, students will describe a time they had empathy for someone and how it affected their thoughts and actions.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to tell you about a time they had empathy for someone.

Lesson: Having Empathy
In this lesson, students will practice having empathy to come up with kind acts they could do for others in different situations.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child how having empathy can help them know how to be kind.

Lesson: Empathy at School
In this lesson, students will use empathy to come up with a kind act they could do for a person in their school community.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child what member of their school community they had empathy for and what kind act they chose to do for that person.

This unit will be taught in the third quarter. This unit is made up of 4 lessons. 

Click here to download a PDF of an overview of this unit. This handout includes what your child is learning and ways you can practice at home.

Lesson: How to Get Good at Something
In this lesson, students will learn that their best skills have developed as a result of practicing, trying hard, and asking for help.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to share with you 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.

Lesson: What Mistakes Tell Us
In this lesson, students 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.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child what a mistake tells them and what they can do to keep going after a mistake.

Lesson: Helpful and Unhelpful Thoughts
In this lesson, students will learn that helpful thoughts can help us keep going when we’re learning and unhelpful thoughts might make us want to give up.

You Can Try This at Home
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.

Lesson: We Can Change Our Thoughts
In this lesson, students will learn how to replace an unhelpful thought with a helpful thought so they can keep going when learning feels hard.

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

This unit will be taught in the third quarter. This unit is made up of 5 lessons. 

Click here to download a PDF of an overview of this unit. This handout includes what your child is learning and ways you can practice at home.

Lesson: The Way to Say a Problem
In this lesson, students will learn how to state a problem without using blame words.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child for an example of blame words. Have them explain how they’d say a problem without using blame words.

Lesson: Thinking of Solutions
In this lesson, students will learn that thinking of more than one way to solve a problem can help them find one that works better or that they like better.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to explain why it can be good to think of more than one way to solve a problem.

Lesson: Which Solution?
In this lesson, students will learn that some solutions are better than others for a problem.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child if playing rock, paper, scissors would be a good solution if they spilled water on someone’s paper. Why or why not?

Lesson: What Would I Want?
In this lesson, students will learn that after causing a problem accidentally, besides saying sorry they can do something to make the situation better for the other person.

You Can Try This at Home
Encourage your child to think of ways to make amends or do more than say sorry after an accident.

Lesson: Be a Problem-Solver
In this lesson, students will use what they’ve learned from the unit to solve a given problem.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child how they solved the problem of Clea and Raquel both wanting the same book in the library.

This unit will be taught in the first and fourth quarter. This unit is made up of 4 lessons. 

Lesson: Recognizing Bullying

Your child is learning how to recognize bullying

Read Together 

Bullying is when someone keeps being mean to someone else on purpose and that person hasn’t been able to get it to stop. Bullying is unfair and one-sided. This week you practiced being able to recognize bullying when it happens. These are clues that help you recognize bullying: It happens on purpose. It keeps happening. It’s unfair and one-sided. You haven’t been able to make it stop.

Lesson: Reporting Bullying

Your child is learning how to report bullying to a caring adult.

Read Together 

Whenever bullying happens to you or to someone else, you need to report it to a caring adult. This week you practiced what to say and how to say it assertively when you report bullying: You face the person you’re talking to, keep your head up and your shoulders back, and say in a strong, respectful voice: “I need to report bullying.” If you report bullying to someone and it doesn’t help, you need to find someone who listens and does help stop the bullying. Reporting bullying is not tattling. Tattling is trying to get someone in trouble. Reporting means telling an adult in order to keep people safe.

 Lesson: Refusing Bullying

Your child is learning to refuse bullying when it happens.

Read Together 

This week you practiced what to say and how to say it assertively when you refuse bullying after you’ve reported it to a caring adult. You face the person you’re talking to, keep your head up and your shoulders back, and say in a strong, respectful voice: “Stop it. That’s bullying.” If the bullying doesn’t stop, get help from a caring adult.

Lesson 4: Bystander Power

Your child is learning ways bystanders can help stop bullying. 

Read Together 

A bystander is someone who sees or knows bullying is happening to someone else. Bystanders have a lot of power. They have the power to help stop bullying or the power to make the problem worse. Bystanders can help stop bullying by: 

• Standing up for the person being bullied 
• Reporting or helping report the bullying to a caring adult 
• Supporting, being kind to, and including the person being bullied. Bystanders can make the problem worse if they join in the bullying, laugh, don’t report, or don’t tell someone to stop.