These activities can be used to introduce and build on activities in Xello as they begin to forge their pathway to future-readiness. While we have provided recommended grade levels for the activities, they can be modified to suit your students' needs and interests.
Overview
Xello supports the blended learning environment to encourage deeper learning, help reduce digital isolation, and provide an opportunity for collaboration on topics and skills that support a solid foundation for future success. The activity plans in this guide supports the development of four core areas: Mindset, Self-management skills, Learning skills, and Social skills.
As students begin to forge their pathway to future-readiness these extension activities can be used to introduce and build on students’ learning in Xello 3-5 software. All activities can be used to introduce key concepts before students engage with Xello for Elementary or as follow up activities that extend their learning.
Each activity outlines the learning goals, materials needed, and instructions for using the activity with students. Several activities include worksheets that you can print and distribute to your students. Depending on the time you have, each topic offers a variety of activities to choose from. While we have provided recommended grade levels for the activities, they can be modified to suit your students’ needs and interests. When explicit lessons are woven and reinforced into daily school life students begin to demonstrate these mindsets and skills as second nature.
| CONCEPT | OUTCOME |
|---|---|
| Mindset | The Mindset extension activities help students develop a positive attitude about themselves, belief in their abilities and potential, and a sense of belonging in their various communities, like school. |
| Self-Management Skills | The Self-management extension activities give students insight into how their behavior and actions influence the way others see and treat them. Students explore personal characteristics such as grit and integrity, and how these traits can help them succeed now and in the future. |
| Learning Skills | The Learning skills extension activities help students build practical analytical skills as they learn to find, evaluate, and use information. Students also investigate the importance of trying their best at school, and commit to putting their best effort forward. |
| Social Skills | In the Social skills extension activities, students develop the skills and knowledge to build strong relationships with others. Students build empathy, explore ways to help others now and in the future, and learn how the social skills they’re developing now can help them navigate the workplace. |
We provide recommended grade levels for the activities, but all activities can be modified to suit your students’ needs and interests.
Belonging to a community - Grade 3
About this lesson
In this lesson, students will explore what they already know about communities and develop an understanding that accepting others for who they are is the key to a successful community. Through reflection and a creative mapping activity, students will see that, even though commonalities bring people together, it is the differences people bring to a community that makes it special.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Define different types of communities they belong to;
- Understand that belonging to a community means respecting differences
- Identify various members of their school community and explain why they are important.
Xello entry point
This activity can precede any of the in-app lessons, which feature characters from the Xellion community. It can also be introduced after students complete some of the inventories in the About me section (e.g. interests or skills) to underline how being unique doesn’t mean you don’t belong. Finally, it can also be used in conjunction with the school-based career profiles (e.g. elementary teacher, principal) found in the app.
Driving question
What does it mean to belong to a community?
Future-ready skills
- Communication
- Citizenship
- Respecting differences
Lesson breakdown
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Belonging to a community - full lesson plan
15-65 mins
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Activity 1 - Quick sketch
The purpose of this activity is to have students show what they already know about communities by sketching their idea of a community.
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - We all belong in class
In this activity, students explore what makes a happy classroom community, focusing on the characteristics that make everyone feel like they belong.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - Our special school
In this activity, students create a map of their school, labeling the important people who make up the school community, and describing their roles.
20-30 mins
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Exit activity - Belonging to a community
Students complete an exit ticket reflecting on how they can talk to their parents or guardians about belonging to a community.
5-10 mins
Believing You Can Succeed - Grade 4
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn about fixed and growth mindsets, and assess their own attitudes towards their ability to learn and grow. They bring it all together to create a class mantra that encourages them and their classmates to believe they can succeed!
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Define different types of communities they belong to;
- Identify the characteristics of growth and fixed mindsets;
- Explore ways to turn a fixed mindset into a growth mindset;
- Reflect on times they’ve demonstrated a fixed and/or growth mindsets;
- Create class mantras to remind themselves and their friends to stay positive about their abilities.
Xello entry point
The in-app lesson, Mission: Skills, features the story of an artist, Doon, who has trouble believing she has the ability to perform a task. This activity is a great way to build on the themes of that story. Read the comic or revisit the story together as a class.
Driving question
How can believing in myself help me (and others) succeed?
Future-ready skills
- Assessing
- Critical thinking
- Self-confidence
- Judging
Lesson breakdown
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Believing you can succeed - full lesson plan10-50 mins
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Activity 1 - Got attitude?
The purpose of this activity is to build on students’ experiences with self-doubt and help remind them of what a positive attitude looks and sounds like.
5-10 mins
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Activity 2 - Flip your thinking
In this activity, students reflect on their own experiences and turn fixed mindset statements into more positive growth mindset statements.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - Class mantras (when you need a little help)
The purpose of this activity is to equip students with some confidence-boosting mantras to help them encourage classmates—and themselves—when they have trouble believing in their abilities.
15-20 mins
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Exit activity - Students add a goal or achievementHave students sign in to Xello and add a goal card or an achievement card that reflects a growth mindset.
10-15 mins
Balancing Life Roles - Grade 5
About this lesson
In this lesson, students discover the importance of balance in their own roles and responsibilities through a physical experiment, self-reflective diagram, and creative writing activity.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Understand the importance of achieving balance in their responsibilities and activities;
- Evaluate the roles and responsibilities that they need to balance;
- Prioritize responsibilities that are the most important
Xello entry point
In Xello, students can use the interest inventory and Storyboard to record the activities that are important to them. These sections can be used to jumpstart a discussion about how students can keep all of their different interests and responsibility in balance.
Driving question
What roles do you play in life, and how can you balance them?
Future-ready skills
- Responsibility
- Mathematics skills
- Time management
- Prioritizing
- Decision making
Lesson breakdown
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Balancing life roles - full lesson plan15-65 mins
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Activity 1 - Balance challenge
In this fun experiment, students try to balance some coins off of the side of a desk.
5-10 mins
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Activity 2 - Responsibility pie
In this activity, students list off all the responsibilities and activities they perform in a day, and create a pie chart from the results.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - A day in the life story
Students get creative in this activity, writing a story about how they might balance several roles in a day before things get a bit weird.
20-30 mins
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Exit activity - Balancing life roles
Students complete an exit ticket, reflecting on what they learned about balancing their responsibilities and roles.
5-10 mins
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Comparing Careers - Grade 3
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn about the Xello career groups through a flash card game and investigate career profiles within the software to help them understand the skills and knowledge needed to solve a fictional community problem.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Understand some of the similarities and differences between jobs;
- Demonstrate how people in different jobs work together.
Xello entry point
Xello’s career profiles describe a wide range of jobs in 6 career groups: building and fixing, business, creative, health, helping, and nature. You can use the career groups and profiles as an entry point to this lesson.
Driving question
What are career groups for?
Future-ready skills
- Career Awareness
- Critical Thinking
- Evaluating
Lesson breakdown
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Comparing careers - full lesson plan15-55 mins
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Activity 1 - Wave the cards
In this activity, students demonstrate what they already know about careers by choosing a career card that matches a description.
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - Career Venn diagrams
In this activity students compare and contrast 2 careers to understand how some jobs are similar and different.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - Community solvers
In this activity, students identify people in careers who can help resolve a problem in a fictional community.
15-20 mins
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Exit activity - explore career groups and like careers
Have students keep exploring the careers by the 6 career groups in Xello. Encourage them to like (save) the careers that interest them to see if careers in one group are more appealing to them than those in any other group.
5-10 mins
Trying Your Best - Grade 4
About this lesson
In this lesson, students will discover the benefits of trying their best by celebrating their classmates' efforts, and reflecting on their own willingness to put their best effort forward. By sharing and exchanging their experiences and reflections with others, students will see ways they can improve their own
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Describe what it means to try one's best;
- Assess their own efforts at school and elsewhere;
- Reflect on the benefits of trying their best;
- Use a rubric to evaluate levels of effort in some sample work.
Xello entry point
In the School Subjects section of the About me page, students can rank 6 subjects from most to least
Driving question
Why should I make an effort in school?
Future-ready skills
- Perseverance
- Goal setting
- Self-management
Lesson breakdown
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Trying your best - full lesson plan15-55 mins
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Activity 1 - The Effies!
In this activity, students tap into what they know about trying their best by nominating classmates for recognition for putting their best effort forward.
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - When do I try my best?
In this activity, students reflect on what it looks and feels like to try their hardest and assess their own effort.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - You're the teacher!
In this activity, students use an effort rubric to “grade” some sample work.
15-20 mins
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Exit activity - Trying your best
Students complete an exit ticket, reflecting on a past event where they did not try their best and predicting how they will use what they learned in the future.
5-10 mins
Information Literacy - Grade 5
About this lesson
In this lesson, students will learn how to evaluate online resources for reliability. First, they'll explore how to determine a site’s accuracy, relevance, bias, and reliability by comparing and contrasting online sources. Then, they'll put their information literacy skills to the test as they search for the truth, with supporting online evidence, about various topics.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Understand the importance of thinking critically about online resources;
- Identify the characteristics of reliable and unreliable sources of online information;
- Locate and evaluate online sources for accuracy, relevancy, bias, and reliability.
Xello entry point
You can use this lesson at any point during students’ exploration of Xello, but it is most useful for career research and evaluating sites that students may want to add to their Storyboard.
Driving question
How do I know what information to trust online?
Future-ready skills
- Evaluating
- Research skills
- Critical thinking
Lesson breakdown
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Information literacy - full lesson plan10-65 mins
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Activity 1 - Pick a side: fact or opinion
In this activity students will use their best judgment to determine if a statement is fact or opinion, and learn how to distinguish the difference.
5-10 mins
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Activity 2 - Source or scam?
In this activity, students learn what makes an online resource trustworthy, and work with a partner to evaluate 2 online sources.
20-25 mins
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Activity 3 - Welcome to the CCB News!
In this activity, students play the role of a journalism intern who has to research 3 possible leads for tonight’s newscast. Students will use their source evaluation skills to support their ideas.
20-30 mins
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Exit activity - Information literacy
Students complete an exit ticket, reflecting on what they learned about evaluating online resources for accuracy, bias, relevancy, and reliability.
5-10 mins
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How Others See Me - Grade 3
About this lesson
In this lesson, students will explore qualities they admire in others and themselves to help develop their positive self-concept. With a focus on positive
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Build a positive self-concept by exploring the qualities that they like about themselves;
- Link
- Identify positive qualities they want to demonstrate to others.
Xello entry point
This activity can be used in conjunction with students’ work in the About Me section, where they inventory all the interests and strengths that help make up their identity.
Driving question
How can I make others see me the way I want to be seen?
Future-ready skills
- Self-management
- Respecting others
- Self-confidence
- Understanding perspectives
- Respecting yourself
Lesson breakdown
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How others see me - full lesson plan15-50 mins
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Activity 1 - Shout-outs!
In this warm-up activity, students list positive qualities about a classmate, and in return, receive a positive shout-out from their partner.
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - Meme yourself
Students explore how they see themselves and how others may see them in this creative drawing activity.
10-15 mins
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Activity 3 - The me I want the world to see
In this activity, students create an autobiographical article, highlighting all of the good qualities and actions that they want others to know about.
15-20 mins
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Exit activity - How others see me
Students rate how comfortable they feel with their understanding of how their
5-10 mins
Get Gritty - Grade 4
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn about the link between grit and success through the characteristics of historical figures who demonstrated perseverance and passion in achieving their goals. Students then define what it means to be gritty, evaluate their own gritty
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Define the concept of grit;
- Identify examples of grit;
- Link a gritty attitude to perseverance and the achievement of their goals.
Xello entry point
The My Goals section of Xello lets students set and track personal, school, and even future job goals. Before they do that, you can use this lesson to make sure they understand the role of grit in achieving their goals.
Driving question
Why is grit important?
Future-ready skills
- Assessing
- Critical thinking
- Goal setting
- Creativity
- Problem solving
- Perseverance
- Work ethic
Lesson breakdown
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Get gritty - full lesson plan15-65 mins
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Activity 1 - Who is...?
The purpose of this activity is to tap into what students already know about historical figures who have demonstrated perseverance and grit in achieving their goals.
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - Planet grit
In this activity, students list characteristics and examples of grit, and rate themselves on their own grittiness.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - My gritty story
In this activity, students create a comic to tell the story of a time they feel they showed grit.
15-25 mins
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Exit activity - Get gritty
Students complete an exit ticket indicating their reaction to what they learned about being gritty and achieving their goals.
5-10 mins
Integrity - Grade 5
About this lesson
In this lesson, students explore the importance of integrity by evaluating what they would do in a bullying situation. They deepen their awareness by analyzing the actions and motivations of characters in a scenario about academic integrity, and by imagining the context of a famous quote about integrity.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Define integrity;
- Understand the importance of integrity;
- Identify and demonstrate
Xello entry point
In Xello, students can add their own skills to the skills inventory in the About me section. Consider integrity a skill, something that has to be learned and practiced, and use this lesson in conjunction with the skills inventory.
Driving question
What does it mean to do the right thing?
Future-ready skills
- Honesty
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Self-management
Lesson breakdown
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Integrity - full lesson plan20-100 mins
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Activity 1 - What would you do?
In this activity, students reflect on what they would do in a bullying scenario.
15-20 mins
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Activity 2 - Integrity think dots
In this differentiated activity, students work in groups to complete some activities that give them a chance to show their critical thinking skills related to an integrity scenario.
20-30 mins
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Activity 3 - Integrity skits
Students create a short skit based on a quote about integrity.
30-50 mins
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Exit activity - Students rate their integrity in Skills
Have students update their Skills inventory in Xello to reflect what they’ve learned and practiced about empathy.
5-10 mins
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Empathy - Grade 3
About this lesson
In this lesson, students build on their knowledge of emotions, and explore the quality of empathy. They will analyze characters in various situations and share their own experiences to help each other understand others’ points of view and develop ways to empathize.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Understand what empathy is and why it’s important;
- Demonstrate empathy in response to various scenarios;
- Create empathy lenses that will help others understand their own point of view.
Xello entry point
In the Skills section, students can rate their empathy skill level. Before they do that, use this lesson to help them understand empathy and build confidence in the skill.
Driving question
Why is empathy important?
Future-ready skills
- Empathy
- Respecting others
- Caring
- Caring
Lesson breakdown
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Empathy - full lesson plan15-60 mins
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Activity 1 - How am I feeling?
Students play a charades-type game to activate prior knowledge about recognizing and identifying others’ emotions.
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - Empathy maps
The purpose of this activity is to have students practice being empathic by analyzing what a character may be thinking, feeling, doing, or saying in a sample scenario.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - Empathy lenses
In this activity, students create empathy glasses that their classmates can wear to better understand their point of view.
20-25 mins
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Exit activity - Students rate their empathy skill
Have students update their Skills inventory in Xello to reflect what they’ve learned and practiced about empathy.
5-10 mins
School's Like Work - Grade 4
About this lesson
In this lesson, students discover how the skills and work habits they demonstrate at school translate to many careers. Students engage in tableaux vivants, complete a true or false puzzle, and design a personal Xello career profile about being a student.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Understand what sorts of
- Link workplace
Xello entry point
The Xello career profiles are a good starting point for discussions about how school is like work. While there are many differences, many jobs require the same skills, characteristics, and attitudes that students are learning in school.
Driving question
How is school like work?
Future-ready skills
- Career awareness
- Responsibility
- School habits
- Dependability
- Work ethic
- Evaluating
Lesson breakdown
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School's like work - full lesson plan15-65 mins
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Activity 1 - Tableaux vivants (living pictures)
The purpose of this activity is to get students to think about appropriate workplace
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - True or false map
In this activity, students identify some of the ways in which school is like work.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - Design your own career profile
In this activity, students create profiles for the “career” of a student.
20-30 mins
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Exit activity - School's like work
Students complete an exit ticket, reflecting on what they learned and posing any questions they still have about what it will be like for them in the world of work.
5-10 mins
Being Helpful - Grade 5
About this lesson
In this lesson, students will recognize how being helpful can be an achievement to be proud of. Students will interview peers about times they received help, which leads into a class Acts of Kindness project.
Learning objectives
By the end of this activity, students will:
- Explain the importance of helping others;
- Explore ways to ask for help when they need it;
- Identify ways that they can help their school community.
Xello entry point
In Xello, students can record their achievements or any actions they’ve performed that they are proud of. This lesson can help students generate ideas about what kinds of achievements they can record.
Driving question
What responsibility do we have to help others who need it?
Future-ready skills
- Citizenship
- Problem solving
- Social responsibility
- Empathy
- Respecting others
Lesson breakdown
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Being helpful - full lesson plan15-75 mins
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Activity 1 - Classroom helpers
In this journaling activity, students use some writing prompts to tap into their prior knowledge about what it means to be helpful in the classroom.
10-15 mins
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Activity 2 - Helping interviews
In this activity, students share their experiences and thoughts on what it means to give—and receive—help with a partner.
15-20 mins
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Activity 3 - Acts of kindness
In this activity, students brainstorm ways to help others in the school and embark on an Acts of kindness project.
30-40 mins
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Exit activity - Being helpful
In this activity, students reflect on what they learned about being helpful and come up with hashtags that describe what they’re taking away from the lesson.
5-10 mins
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