suggested+8th+curriculum

The idea behind the "suggested curriculum" is that each month there will be themes to incorporate/weave in somewhere in that time frame. This will ensure that from 6th-8th grade, each theme gets incorporated but not repeated, each theme is broached at an age/grade appropriate time, that at any given time of year all the Advisors in a given grade level are generally on the same page, but that Advisors still have ample freedom to figure out what makes sense to do in any given week, and exactly when and how they wish to manage a given theme.

When you see a theme, the idea is for you either to select lessons/activities from the accompanying link on this wiki, or do your own lesson/activity. If you do your own lesson/activity, please add it to the wiki! Note that there is plenty of space throughout this curriculum for many Advisories where you can do whatever the heck you see fit -- including, if you like, any of the "indoor games" and various miscellaneous lessons/activities that are provided on this wiki.

** September ** 5th - First Advisory (flexible)
This will be each group's first time meeting, so it is a time to talk about how your Advisory will run, basic "rules and protocols," snack/pot luck plan, and perhaps a review of the most essential, new or different school rules.

** September 12th - "Academic & Personal Goal Setting" **
There are two components to this lesson. One is understanding what good goal-setting looks like, and the other is a chance to set goals and then follow-up in a month to check in on how they're doing. Students should set goals during this Advisory with the understanding that they will come back to them in Advisory in about 4-5 weeks. //(Note of advice: In between, remind students a couple times about the goals -- to take a moment and remember the goals they made and ask themselves how they're doing -- because this will not only help students take the goals seriously, it will also increase the likelihood of success.)// For one possible "goal-setting" sheet you can use, along with a primer on the principles of "effective goal-setting," see the Goal Setting page.

September 19th - "High School Recommendation" Exercise
//Note: Advisors can do this lesson in any number of ways -- you don't have to use the attached form, though I have found it to be a really useful tool to use the actual high school form.//



The exercise: Hand out a blank copy of the recommendation form to each student and go over that these are the areas BPC is asked to assess. It is often an eye-opener for students to see how much emphasis is placed on personal qualities such as "concern for others" and "personal integrity".

Have students fill a recommendation form out for themselves as they think a teacher/administrator would have to do to be as accurate as possible. Students can then note where they came out strongest, where they came out weakest, where they might want to dedicate themselves to improving throughout this school year. Discussions can naturally arise from this around "Are you surprised by what high schools care about?", "Why do you think they care so much about these qualities?", "Which ones do you agree, or disagree, with being included?", etc.

For students who are applying to private high schools, you can point out that they still have 3 months to work on any of these qualities before BPC has to do its assessment. For students going to public high schools, you can point out that this is still a glimpse into what matters most to schools and also into what matters to potential employers, friends, and so on.

This might be a good Advisory to discuss where your group is going for Community Service Day and would be an opportunity to have a guest speaker around that trip/topic.

October 10th - "Goal Setting" Follow Up
4 weeks after students have made their goals, devote Advisory to following up, as promised, to have a check-in, and discussion, around how each student is doing with their goals and why they are or aren't reaching them.

October 17th - Prep For Community Service Day
This will be the last Advisory before Community Service day on Wednesday, October 23rd, so this Advisory is dedicated to all necessary last-minute details and prep.

October 24th - Community Service Day Debrief/Share Out
This Advisory can be dedicated to debriefing in the groups as they traveled for Community Service Day and can also end, if we want, by coming together as one "Town Hall" to share out. (We might want to reverse the usual order on this day, starting in smaller groups and then ending with Town Hall.)

November 7th - "Let's Get Real" Video & Discussion
Following up on October's theme of service and community, turn the social justice lens to "zoom-in mode" and look at justice within the smaller school community. The video is about 35 minutes long, so __this Advisory needs to run through Homeroom__ in order to leave enough time for meaningful discussion after the film.

November 14th - Social Justice (flexible)
This would be a good week for a guest speaker or project such as the "postcards to Africa," "Vital Life AIDS ribbons," etc. we have done in the past.

December 5th, December 12th, December 19th - "Difficult Choices"
Some lessons/games that give students a chance to explore choice and decision-making around difficult questions include:

- One Uninterrupted Minute - Four Corners - What Do You Do?

Also, a good discussion can be started simply by asking students what are all the different choices they have when they experience:

- Failure - Success - Injustice - Power - Bullying - Privilege

For each one: How do different people react differently? How much control do you have over how you respond? What is the most common response? What is the healthiest, or most useful, response? What is the most unhealthy, or destructive, response?