Advisory Lessons
Kindness and Anti-Bullying Lesson
Required materials: copies of Kindness Write Around and/or Appreciation Box Slips for each student. Projector with sound. Internet access.
Required time: 30-45 minutes
Best location for lesson: Your classroom or the Library
Facilitator: You, the teacher, or Mx. Hollis, the Librarian, or even better, BOTH of us!
Overview: Students will view short videos on kindness and empathy and discuss. They will then write kind comments about their classmates.
Homeless Youth Awareness Lesson Plan
November is Homeless Youth Awareness Month Advisory Lesson Plan
Required materials: projector with sound. Internet access.
Required time: 3 separate 30 minute classes
Best location for lesson: Your classroom or the Library
Facilitator: You, the teacher, or Mx. Hollis, the Librarian, or even better, BOTH of us!
Overview: Students will view short videos on youth homelessness, discuss and play Kahoot. They will then take action on homelessness.
Banned Books Week Lesson
Required materials: projector with sound. Internet access.
Required time: 30 minute class
Best location for lesson: Your classroom or the Library
Facilitator: You, the teacher, or Mx. Hollis, the Librarian, or even better, BOTH of us!
Overview: Students will interact with a Banned Books Interactive Board to see patterns and discuss. They will then read and listen to an article on Banned Books and finally, write their opinion on the matter.
- Banned Books Interactive Board (10 min)
Click the image below and explore the various books that have been banned or challenged the last few years. What patterns do you see in why the books were banned or challenged? Discuss with a friend, partner or group.
- Read and Listen to the article, "Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S." (14min listen) You may want to play it out loud for students to listen to as a class and then they can follow along individually on their laptops. For people without a New York Times account, you can see the article here.
- Discuss the following questions with your partner or group (10min discuss):
- What do you think about efforts across the nation to remove books — especially ones that address race, gender and sexuality — from school libraries?
- How do you think these bans affect students, teachers and librarians?
- In your opinion, what makes a book “appropriate” or “inappropriate” for inclusion in a school library? If you were a school librarian, what criteria would you use to determine whether a certain book should be included in the library?
- What’s the best way to address parents’ concerns that a book in a school library is inappropriate for their child? Should the library remove the book? Should a library have a policy in place to stop individual students from checking out a book if their parents disapprove of it? Or are there better solutions that don’t involve changing what books are available in a library?
- Jack Petocz, a student who protested a book ban in his school, argued that removing books about racism and L.G.B.T.Q. issues was discriminatory. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- Do you think the books in your school library represent a diverse range of perspectives and experiences? What subjects are adequately covered? What kinds of books would you like to see more of?
- Write! (15min) Pick one of the questions above and write out a clear 3-5 sentence response on a post-it note and give it to your teacher. Your post-it note will be added to a Schoolwide Banner titled, "What Do Ortho Students Think About Efforts to Ban Books From School Libraries?" The banner will be in the A Building during Banned Books Week! Come see what your peers think!