Integrate AIM into Your Curriculum The AIM Buddy Project can strengthen your existing social, emotional, and character development curriculum. If you are already implementing activities designed to foster students’ social, emotional, and character development, AIM provides an opportunity to go into more depth, fill in gaps, or offer additional practice and reinforcement. (see Appendix, Program Crosswalk Alignments for aligning AIM materials to specific curricula). Ongoing reinforcement is key to helping promote students prosocial behaviors. During daily activities, you may want to routinely acknowledge positive behaviors to help keep students mindful of the common prosocial goals. Keep in mind the AIM topics while teaching in other subject areas and consider ways to integrate and reinforce the topics in these areas. For example : • Make a thematic connection to books students are reading in class or at home if students read topic-related books at the end of their buddy sessions. • Have older students write about the topics and their buddy experience and younger students draw and/or write or dictate their thoughts and feelings during writing time. • Add new words from the interactive features and class discussions to your Word Wall or other vocabulary lessons. • Use topic-related and feelings vocabulary words organically during lunchtime sharing time, playtime or any time throughout the day. (see Appendix, Vocabulary Lists) • Use “Arthur’s Giving and Keeping Game” when your students are talking about sharing equal portions in their math class. • Use the the “Dear Adil” interactive story when you introduce the concept of learning from others in your social studies or science class. • Integrate AIM Conclusion & Celebration activities (page 88) in art and music time.
11 Big and Little Buddies: About AIM
