Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade K Counselor): Including Others

Teach Kindergarten inclusion with kind invitations, making room, sharing, taking turns, noticing left-out feelings, and classroom belonging.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 24 (Grade K Counselor): Saying Sorry and Making It Better

Teach Kindergarten apology and repair with sorry words, feelings, helpful actions, puppet practice, and respectful problem-solving.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 23 (Grade K Counselor): Solving Friend Problems with Words

Teach Kindergarten friend problem-solving with safe words, simple scripts, stop-think choices, respectful solutions, and adult help.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 22 (Grade K Counselor): Handling Anger Safely

Teach Kindergarten anger management with body clues, safe calming tools, respectful words, adult help, and peer problem-solving practice.

The Admin Angle

The Admin Angle: Protecting Planning Time

Protect teacher planning time with principal strategies for duty audits, meeting limits, emergency coverage rules, and stronger instructional support.

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3-5 Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan (Grades 3-5): Toy Designer Workshop - Inventing, Testing, and Advertising a Kid-Created Product

Create a grades 3-5 toy design STEM challenge with prototyping, testing, product descriptions, honest ads, and persuasive pitches.

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9-12 Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan (Grades 9-12): Election War Room - Running a Data-Driven Campaign Through Messaging, Polling, and Strategy

Run a nonpartisan Election War Room for grades 9-12 with polling data, audience analysis, ethical messaging, and civic reasoning.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 21 (Grade K Counselor): When I Feel Worried or Scared

Help Kindergarten students understand worry and fear with stories, calming tools, trusted adults, body clues, and help-seeking practice.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 20 (Grade K Counselor): My Calm-Down Toolbox

Build Kindergarten calm-down toolbox skills with breathing, counting, stretching, quiet breaks, help-seeking, and safe ready-to-learn choices.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 19 (Grade K Counselor): My Strengths and Things I Like

Help Kindergarten students name strengths, interests, and things they are learning with sentence frames, drawing, partner sharing, and belonging.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 18 (Grade K Counselor): Safe Choices at School

Review Kindergarten safe and responsible choices with school setting picture sorts, trusted adults, help-seeking, and safe/unsafe practice.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 17 (Grade K Counselor): My First School Goal

Teach Kindergarten goal setting with small school goals, strengths, listening, responsibility, and one-step practice for classroom success.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 16 (Grade K Counselor): How to Join Play

Teach Kindergarten joining play with friendly phrases, listening, waiting, choosing another activity, and adult help for respectful peer play.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 15 (Grade K Counselor): Listening to a Friend

Teach Kindergarten friendship listening with partner sharing, turn-taking, repeat-back responses, kind listening, and respectful peer interaction.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 14 (Grade K Counselor): Stop, Think, Choose

Teach Kindergarten problem-solving with stop-think-choose steps, puppet conflicts, safe solutions, respectful words, and adult help.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 13 (Grade K Counselor): Small Problems and Big Problems

Teach Kindergarten small and big problems with problem-size sorting, trusted adults, help-seeking words, and safe next steps.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 12 (Grade K Counselor): Mistakes Help Us Learn

Teach Kindergarten growth mindset with mistakes, try-again words, help-seeking, personal strengths, and still-learning practice.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 11 (Grade K Counselor): Feelings in My Body

Teach Kindergarten body clues with feeling words, body outlines, coping tools, trusted adults, and help-seeking for big emotions.

Blog

AI Fact-Check Studios: Teaching Students to Challenge Machine Answers

Teach AI Fact-Check Studios where students verify machine answers, check sources, spot bias, and revise responses with evidence.

Parent Tips

Parent Tips: The After-School Crash—Helping Kids Reset Before Homework Starts

Help parents manage the after-school crash with a 20-minute reset using snack, movement, quiet, and connection before homework starts.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 10 (Grade K Counselor): Name the Feeling, Choose a Tool

Teach Kindergarten feelings toolbox skills with emotion words, body clues, calming tools, breathing, breaks, and help-seeking practice.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 9 (Grade K Counselor): We All Belong in Our Class

Build Kindergarten belonging with class puzzles, handprints, kind words, helpful actions, listening, and welcoming choices.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 8 (Grade K Counselor): Asking for Help

Teach Kindergarten help-seeking with trusted adults, big feelings, safety scenarios, and simple phrases for asking for help.

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Kindergarten Counselor Units

Unit Plan 7 (Grade K Counselor): Calming My Body

Teach Kindergarten calming tools with breathing, counting, quiet breaks, body clues, big feelings, and help-seeking practice.

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6-8 Lesson Plans Featured

Lesson Plan (Grades 6-8): Build a Tiny House - Area, Volume, and Smart Design in a Space-Saving Challenge

Design a tiny house challenge for grades 6-8 with area, volume, scale layouts, budgets, constraints, and math-based design reasoning.