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: Why Emotions?
In this lesson, students will learn that emotions give us information about what we want or need.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child what information the emotions fear, sadness, and happiness give us.

Lesson: How Angry?
In this lesson, students will learn words for three degrees of anger: annoyed, angry, and furious.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to explain the differences between feeling annoyed, angry, and furious.

Lesson: Take a Break
In this lesson, students will learn how, when, and where to take a break in different situations as a way to manage a strong emotion.

You Can Try This at Home
Discuss where and how your child can take a break at home. Then ask your child how they could take a break in place, for example, in the car or at the grocery store.

Lesson: How Happy?
In this lesson, students will learn words for three degrees of happiness: content, happy, and excited.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to explain the differences between feeling content, happy, and excited.

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

Lesson: 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.

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— Recognize: Is it safe? What’s the rule? Report: Tell an adult. Refuse: Say words that mean no. 

You can also stay safe by following the Never-Never Rules: 

• 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: 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: 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: Kindness and Friendship
In this lesson, students will learn how empathy—the ability to understand and feel how someone else is feeling—and kindness can help build new friendships.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child what kind things they could do to build a friendship with someone.

Lesson: Building a Friendship
In this lesson, students will learn how acting on empathy can make friendships stronger.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to name one of their friends and explain what makes them a good friend.

Lesson: My Kind of Kindness
In this lesson, students will learn that people like to be shown kindness in different ways.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child what helps them feel better when they feel sad. What helps when they feel embarrassed or angry? Tell them what helps you feel better when you feel those same emotions.

Lesson: Asking Questions
In this lesson, students will practice asking questions to help them understand how someone else is feeling and what they can do to help.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child what questions they can ask to find out how someone feels and what they may want or need. Discuss how checking in on someone’s feelings is a great way to show you care about them.

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: Changing Your Brain
In this lesson, students will learn that when they learn something new, the brain changes as different parts of the brain begin to send messages to each other.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to explain what happens in their brain when they learn something for the first time.

Lesson: Getting Better with Practice
In this lesson, students will learn that every time they practice a new skill, the brain gets better at sending the messages for that skill.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to explain what happens in their brain when they practice.

Lesson: More Than Practice
In this lesson, students 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.

You Can Try This at Home
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: Planning for Practice
In this lesson, students 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.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to tell you what a practice plan includes.

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: STEP by Step
In this lesson, students will learn a new process for solving problems called STEP.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child if they can recall what each letter in STEP stands for. (S: Say the problem, T: Think of solutions, E: Explore the outcomes, P: Pick a solution.)

Lesson: S - Say the Problem
In this lesson, students will learn how to say a problem by thinking about what each person wants or needs.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child how they would say a problem respectfully, without blaming anyone.

Lesson: T - Think and E - Explore
In this lesson, students will learn to analyze possible solutions to a problem by considering whether each solution gives each person what they want.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to explain how they would decide whether a solutions works for each person involved in a problem.

Lesson: P - Pick a Solution
In this lesson, students will learn to pick a solution to a problem by either finding a compromise or by showing kindness.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to explain what a compromise is.

Lesson: Solving a Problem
In this lesson, students will apply the STEP process to show what they know about problem-solving.

You Can Try This at Home
Ask your child to tell you how they and their partner solved the problem that Jase and Lila had while playing tag.

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 how 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. You can also refuse to bully. You can make the choice not to be hurtful or mean to someone else. Before you do something you think might be mean, stop and think about how it might make others feel. 

Lesson: 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, and don’t tell someone to stop