Daily Routines
Each new school year kicks off with the First 8 Days curriculum. This provides an opportunity for returning students and staff to review the 7 habits. New members of our learning community are introduced to the habits that help provide a solid foundation for the year ahead. School and classroom mission statements regularly reinforce the leadership model learned during the First 8 Days. Additionally, for the remainder of the school year, teachers and coaches continually work to relate the chosen district curriculum to the habits as well as embed Leader in Me language into everyday lessons and situations. Students participate in, or in many instances, help lead community meetings within their classrooms to further connect social/emotional learning and academic concepts.
Classmates practice synergy to build and record as many words as possible from the mystery word LEADERSHIP.
Classrooms meet for a community meeting every day. SEL and academic components are built into community meetings with a strong focus placed on relationships, trust, communication, goal setting and teamwork.
Students use Leadership Portfolios to track WIGs, celebrate victories, and showcase leadership roles.
Classroom mission statements are created with students during the First 8 Days and recited every morning during community meetings.
Integrated Approaches
The 7 habits consistently provide a solid foundation from which to build upon. The staff at RES intentionally weave the habits into the curriculum and culture– from gold slip rewards linking positive behavior with the 7 habits to integration of the habits into content area lessons. Students are able to easily connect their knowledge and understanding of the habits to every day lessons and situations such as to characters in literature, problem solving in math, or group projects in science. Special area classes, including art and STEAM, also provide a natural intersection between curriculum and Leader in Me. All staff members have access to a digital dashboard that acts as a one stop shop for links to Leader in Me resources, academic resources, building resources, and much more. This dashboard serves as a system to organize resources and information in a simple and useful way.
1st Grade Integrated Lesson
Reading/Writing/7 Habits
The Little Engine that Could
Habit 1: I can practice using a growth mindset.
Students use the 7 Habits daily in STEAM to successfully solve problems.
Click here to view a sample of a 1st Grade Integrated Writing Prompt.
A school-wide reward system of gold slips is used to promote positive behaviors linked to the 7 Habits. Weekly gold slip drawing videos are led by students! The winners receive a reward.