Grades K through 5


(The National Institutes of Health, NIDA publication, “Principles of Substance Abuse Prevention for Early Childhood,” Prevention First, Inc., Illinois DHS, and educators at Northeastern Illinois University are sources for this section.)

Pre k to 5th Grade life issues programming emphasizes affect learning and life skills development in conjunction with acquiring academic skills.  Programming for Pre K and kindergarten children includes learning to identify and manage their emotions and behaviors, learning to share, play fairly, identify friends, and avoid bullies. The older children in this group will continue to develop these skills and begin to acquire a healthy individuation within a group, learning about diversity and respect for one another, developing positive self-esteem, and learning to care for themselves and others. The emphasis on life skills development and social and emotional learning are integral components of the young child’s ability to advance academically.

Social Assessment
The first component of the CIRLI model, Social Assessment, is especially important for Pre K through Fifth grade teachers. Social Assessment includes an assessment of Diversity, Real life issues and a Teacher’s Self Assessment. Pre K and Kindergarten will likely be the child’s first and primary relationship to society beyond the family. A teacher’s sensitivity and cultural competency in working with a diverse population of children will create an inclusive learning environment that benefits all of his or her students.
When incorporating prevention strategies into lessons (see examples below), teachers should watch for behaviors, such as crying, hiding, or other disruptions, which may have been triggered by these lessons. If this is the case, consulting with the school counselor for further evaluation and assistance to these children is indicated. Research tells us that early interventions for children who have been exposed to violence or abuse make a real difference in the lives of these children going forward.

For more information on this topic please see the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website:
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy
(Other resources - please see below)

Professional Development
In addition to working with their counseling departments, we encourage all teachers and school administrators to have knowledge of the best practices in working with children and families who have experienced trauma and its associated stigma. Witnessing community or domestic physical and/or emotional violence, incarceration or deportation of a parent or sibling, parental substance abuse, chronic mental or physical illness, loss of a parent due to war, deportation, and poverty are examples of circumstances that may be traumatic. Unfortunately, they are not rare occurrences.

http://Youth.gov provides a wealth of information that can support your efforts to support your students.


Learning Objectives and Classroom Activities 
Pre K through Fifth Grade
(Click here ) to download Guidelines for CIRLI Lesson Plan Design)

Grade Level: Pre K and Kindergarten – Ages 4 and 5
Pre K and Kindergarten classes lay the groundwork for implementing a CIRLI curriculum. Teachers have
the opportunity to familiarize children with the concepts of:
  • Safety - Learning general safety rules such as wearing a seat belt in the car or a helmet when learning to ride a bike; conversely, learning to avoid harmful things such as hot stoves, sharp knives, etc.
  • Taking care and playing fair: Emphasizing the importance of caring for others such as pets, plants, and people, and playing fair.
  • Hygiene and caring for the body by washing hands, learning about the body and what the human body need to stay healthy.
  • Personal boundaries and respecting other people’s space by keeping hands to oneself, keeping belongings in the proper cubby; respecting the space and belongings of others; learning to say “stop” or “no” to unwanted or inappropriate touching or actions.
  • Developing verbal and listening skills ( as opposed to hitting or crying or acting out in other ways): listening quietly, hearing what others have to say.

Suggested Instructional Activities:
  • Incorporation of life issues content into subject areas, for example:
  • Story time – Books provide the basis for a myriad of lessons. We encourage you to check out our reading list which includes books with positive role models and messages about diversity, prevention of substance abuse, bullying, and other problematic behaviors. Stories can be talked about in small groups, acted out in play, explored through painting and music, etc.
  • Acting/role playing – provides an opportunity for students to practice verbal skills and healthy behaviors such as saying “no, thank you”, asking for what he or she needs, saying something nice to someone, or telling a grown up if we feel sick, etc.
  • Art and creative play - Learning about health, safety and diversity through looking at and creating pictures: different creatures, different bodies and abilities, foods, habits, clothing, language, etc.
  • Taking a trip – Students can explore issues by using their imaginations to create a trip or a walk through their neighborhood, “What happens, what and who do we see?”

Grade Level: First Grade – Age 6

First grade teachers continue to help children with SEL development while adding higher levels of tasks involving academic and cognitive skills in the following areas:
  • Mental health: positive self-esteem, respecting personal boundaries, emotional balance
  • Physical health: hygiene, the healthy body, healthy behaviors
  • Pro Social Development: playing fairly with others, making friends, respecting boundaries, learning to stand up for oneself, saying no, dealing with hurt feelings without hurting others
  • Diversity and respect
  • Identifying how physical harm is brought about by unsafe behaviors such as unhealthy diet, unsafe behaviors, and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, fighting.

Suggested Instructional Activities:
  • Incorporation of prevention content into subject areas, for example:
    • Science - why we need fresh air, how healthy lungs function, the effects of pollution or second hand smoke or smog on the body
    • Music - creating a song with the theme of respect
    • Language Arts and Social Studies- reading, writing and listening to fiction, biographies, or real events about children around the world or throughout a city.
    • Group discussions – learning how to (actively and respectfully) listen, respond to others and be responded to. Creative Arts – drawing, painting, dancing, acting, etc. with a prevention theme or diversity theme
      • Role playing/ practicing prosocial behaviors such as fair play, making friends, learning to say no identifying unsafe or unhealthy situations, etc.

Grade Level: Second and Third Grades – Ages 7 and 8

The social and racial disparities in our society are often apparent in our classrooms and depending on circumstances, larger societal issues such as violence, threat of deportation of non-citizens, substance abuse/addiction or homelessness may be very much a part of the community where you teach and your students’ lives. Teachers have the opportunity to reduce the stigma attached to these issues and present such issues as problems for all of us to try to solve together.
  • Story time and reading groups allow for shared learning experiences. Bullying in the playground, for example, is behavior that most children at this age can understand. Children can read a story about bullying and then talk about ways to support the target of bullying and voice their disapproval of bullying behavior.
  • Learning about the body and how to stay healthy are really lessons about making good choices. Resources such as www.kidhealth.org or provide many age appropriate activities, videos, and games for teachers and their students.
    • These lessons may trigger student questions or statements about their family’s health behaviors vis a vis alcohol, tobacco and/or other substances. http://www.drugfree.org provides many helpful, age appropriate tips in ways to handle these questions for teachers and parents.
    • Regarding tobacco and smoking, plastic models of lungs might be brought into the class to show how lungs are supposed to function and what happens when polluted air or cigarette smoke is taken into the lungs.
    • Work with your students to develop skills in making good choices and saying “no” to anyone who offers them anything to smoke or to do something that is unsafe.
    • Make sure your students know that there are rules at school and that smoking and drinking alcohol are not allowed.
    • Second and third grades also present the opportunity to reinforce and engage students with issues such as difficult feelings such as sadness, anger, stress, anxiety about family, school, friends, pets.

Suggested Instructional Activities:
  • Reading a book which contains sad and happy content and talking about their feelings.
  • Helping children decipher what are safe and unsafe behaviors by looking at pictures depicting various kinds of activity.
  • Watching a video of “taking a tour” through the body to understand how the body functions.

Grade Level: Fourth through Fifth grades – Ages 10, 11

While all students at this age are still children, some are beginning to go through the physical and psychological changes of puberty. In any event, the transition to adolescence is a challenging time for most youth, parents and teachers. While students are beginning to rely more and more on their peers for validation and acceptance, it's important for them to know that the principle of concern for others and prevention strategies do not change.  Ideally,  the teachers role is to reinforce the concepts that have already been introduced in the earlier grades. Students can continue to examine these issues with a developing awareness of social justice within the K12 curriculum

Suggested learning activities:
  • Science classes can include lessons on the chemical process of fermentation, the production of alcohol, and the impact on the human brain and internal organs. http://www.drugfree.org/drug-guide is an excellent source or age appropriate information and sample lessons.
  • Language arts classes can also look at the issue of alcoholism and its impact on a family by reading literature and having discussions related to alcoholism.
  • Language arts classes could include a unit on bullying by reading articles from a newspaper or reading books such as, “Hands are not for hitting” by Martine Agassi, Free Spirit (2000) or Judy Blume’s Blubber, Simon and Schuster (1974) and then writing a story about bullying.
  • Art (departments, teachers) can promote an anti-bullying poster campaign in partnership with the language arts or social studies unit, using the art techniques that are part of the art curriculum.
  • Math classes can incorporate prevention topics by creating graphs or charts based on the numbers of hospital admissions due to auto accidents and injuries due to diving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  • Students can be actively involved, creating their own messages to support the undocumented of anti-drug messages through group projects. They can be divided into groups and asked to design and act out a public service TV commercial encouraging kids not to smoke, drink or do drugs.
  • Speakers might be invited who can effectively motivate kids to resist negative peer pressure.

Links to prevention sites, articles, etc.
 Free 5 CPDU online workshop through Northeastern Illinois University’s College of Education
 
Integrate pressing life issues into classes across the curriculum to effectively engage students in learning and support social emotional growth
 
CLICK HERE to access the online workshop
 
No need to come to a training.  Download and complete the online workshop at your own pace