• About the Program Goals
• Why a Program for Third-Grade Students
• What is the Role of the Lawyer/Facilitator
• What's in the Program
• How to Get Started and Use the Program
• Belonging Lessons

About the Program

Welcome to School: Helping Kids Belong is a program specifically designed to be presented in today's third-grade classrooms by a lawyer. The goals of the program are:

1. To help make elementary schools safe and welcoming for students.
2. To tap the vision and energy of lawyers interested in helping to create such schools.
3. To promote the positive community profile of the American Bar Association while enhancing the quality of life for a school community.

Third grade is a strong social benchmark for many students. Third-graders like to know and understand the rules and ideas that order their world. They enjoy thinking, talking about and solving social issues. Most important is the emergence of the idea of "community." For many third-graders, the concepts of truth, right, wrong and especially fairness that were once abstract, now find "real world" context in the social life and challenges of a classroom, learning groups, team games and sports, home, and community life.

Welcome to School: Helping Kids Belong is a match for the skills and interests of typical third-graders. The program takes advantage of the respite before the storm of physical changes that will soon be upon them. The ideas of respect, consideration and kindness that are taught now will help them negotiate the challenges that lie ahead in the final years of childhood and the early years of adolescence.

As a result of the program students will:

• develop a value for a classroom and school environment that is welcoming and respectful of fellow students.
• explore norms and influences that affect belonging at school.
• generate and practice words, actions and strategies that promote a classroom and school environment where all students feel welcome and respected.
• promote respectful relationships with peers.
  

The Lawyer/Facilitator is one of the key elements of the program design. He/she will serve as a role model for students by demonstrating:

• willingness to be a learning and community resource for students and teachers.
• commitment to helping create welcoming and respectful schools for students.
• interest in establishing a relationship with students based on trust and respect.
• thoughts, attitudes and actions of a respectful person.
• promotion of the civil rights of all human beings.

The Facilitator's Guide contains the three classroom lessons, integration notes for presenting and debriefing the video clips, and an appendix that contains tools and strategies for successfully presenting the program. It is strongly recommended that you review these appendix materials to help you effectively work with your third-grade audience.

The Program Video serves as a trigger and model for classroom discussion. It carries the thematic thread of the program and helps to move the activities at a quick and engaging pace. The video also presents scenarios related to the lesson themes that challenge students to collaborate and problem-solve regarding the issues of belonging and showing respect for others.

"The Child In Me" CD is a recording of the Program Video theme song. The CD also contains a track with only the music and can be used for other creative classroom projects by both students and teachers.

"The Child In Me" sheet music is also provided.

Use the following steps to prepare, present and debrief the program.

1. Review the Program Facilitator's Guide, the classroom activities and the Program Video. Use the Appendix in the Facilitator's Guide for tools and strategies that will help you successfully present the program.
2. Prepare a brief letter of introduction describing your interest in presenting the program for the principal of the school you have selected for your presentation. See the Model Guidelines for the Letter to the Principal in the Appendix.
3. Follow any protocol that has been established by the principal for contacting the classroom teacher. Contact the teacher of the third-grade classroom where you will present the lesson. Send him/her a copy of the Classroom Teacher Program Information Sheet located in the Appendix. Use the Classroom Teacher Questions List in the Appendix to guide the introductory conversation with your classroom teacher.
4. Schedule the presentations with the classroom teacher. Ideally, the three visits to the classroom will occur about one week apart. Other options for effective delivery of the program include:
   • Partnering with more than one lawyer to do the presentations.
   • Asking to partner with the classroom teacher to share the responsibility of presenting the program.
   • Partnering with civic and other community organizations to do the presentations at school or in after-school programs.
5. Plan, tailor and present the program to match the needs of your students and classroom.
6. Use the Lawyer/Facilitator's Debriefing Guide located in the Appendix to evaluate the success of your classroom presentations.

Lesson Time: 45-60 minutes

Students will:

• Define "belonging" in their words.
• Share places and people who make them feel like they belong.
• Identify the feelings associated with belonging.
• Problem solve by generating strategies for helping new students belong at school (video scenario).
• Personalize the idea of belonging at their school.
• Develop or strengthen a value for belonging at school.

Lesson 2: Being Respected

Lesson Time: 45-60 minutes

Students will:

• Define "respect" in their words.
• Identify behaviors that show respect or disrespect.
• Problem solve ways to show respect in school groups or teams (video scenario).
• Generate consequences of being disrespected at school.
• Name people they can ask for help when they are disrespected at school.
• Personalize the idea of respect at school.
• Develop or strengthen a value for respect at school.

Lesson 3: Having a School Where We Belong and Are Respected

Lesson Time: 45-60 minutes

Students will:

• Problem solve appreciating cultural differences at school (video scenario).
• Develop or strengthen a value for having a school where every student belongs and is welcomed at school.
• Advocate for a welcoming classroom and school where all students are respected.