A comprehensive school counseling lesson focused on reading social cues, self-regulation, and managing peer friction using ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors B-SS 2, B-SS 8, B-SS 9, and B-SMS 2.
If they ignore your calm words, move your chair, ignore the sound, or ask a teacher for help.
Scenario: "The Supply Grabber" (A classmate takes your colored pencil without asking you first.) Write a calm way you can solve this or get help if they keep grabbing your supplies:
4 Part 4: My Friendship Pledge
Think about what we learned about signals today and fill in your friendship promises!
1. When I see a friend's Red Light signal, I will:
2. Self-Check: Why do rules apply to friends and non-friends equally?
3. Resolve: How can peers politely tell Avery to go to the end of the line?
CARD 06 // SELF-CONTROL
THE PENCIL CLICKER
"During instructions for a social studies project, Peyton clicks their mechanical pencil up and down quickly, making a loud, continuous click-clack noise."
1. Reading Cues: What are the non-verbal signs that Peyton's noise is bothering others?
2. Self-Check: Why is checking repetitive noises in quiet spaces important?
3. Resolve: What quiet focus tools could Peyton use instead?
Counselor Script: "Sometimes people tell us with their mouth how they feel, but most of the time they use their bodies. Green light clues mean keep going. Red light clues don't mean they don't like you! They just mean their body wants a pause or a change."
Tip: Ask two student volunteers to act out "looking bored" vs "looking excited" so the class can spot the physical clues.
Slide 3: Am I Jamming the Radar?
Counselor Script: "It is easy to watch other people's signals, but hard to check our own signal. Let's do a self-check today. Are we inside someone's personal bubble? Have we made that clicky sound twenty times in a row? This is what self-control is all about."
Tip: Introduce the concept of a "personal bubble" by holding out arms and describing it as their invisible desk shield.
Slide 4: Resolving Friendship Friction
Counselor Script: "When someone is annoying you, it's normal to feel frustrated. But screaming or calling names clashing the signals worse. We use a flat, calm voice. No eye-rolls. Tell them exactly what you need to focus or work."
Recommended Video Search & Integration Tips
For Slide 5 (Video Break), search on YouTube for one of these high-quality, elementary-appropriate social-skills videos:
"Reading Body Language for Kids" (Search for simple instructional animations on nonverbal cues).
"Understanding Boundaries & Personal Space" (Search for student videos demonstrating personal physical bubbles).
"How to deal with people who annoy you - social skills cartoon" (Excellent visual roleplays on neutral boundary scripts).
How to run the Friction Fighter Discussion Cards
Place students in groups of 3-4. Give each group a subset of the cut-out Friction Fighter Cards. Have one student read the scenario out loud. Ask the group to discuss Questions 1 and 2, then have two students physically roleplay Question 3 (saying a polite, flat-tone boundary script). Walk around to check that voice tones are calm and not sarcastic.
