Health Skills
Changing Charlie - Creating Healthy Habits
Aligns with CASEL 5 & The ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies
Hello Powerful You Educators!
It has been said that we have 60,000 thoughts a day and that 55,000 of those thoughts are automatic. We brush our teeth, drive to work, hang our keys in the same place…. We automatically do so many things. Of these 60,000 thoughts, 50,000 of them are negative!! How can this be?
Our brain gets used to patterns even in our thinking. Our brain chooses thoughts to stay safe, seek pleasure, and avoid pain. What thoughts in your head do you need to change? Take time today and watch your thoughts. Are they even true? Does your brain tell you things to try to keep you safe so you don’t step out of your comfort zone? Can you change your thoughts to something positive? Make it a great day! The choice is 100% yours.
“It’s up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind.”
“The Navajo teach their children that every morning when the sun comes up, it’s a brand-new sun. It’s born each morning, it lives for the duration of one day, and in the evening it passes on, never to return again. As soon as the children are old enough to understand, the adults take them out at dawn and they say, ‘The sun has only one day. You must live this day in a good way, so that the sun won’t have wasted precious time.’ Acknowledging the preciousness of each day is a good way to live, a good way to reconnect with our basic joy.” ~ Pema Chödrön
Introducing Changing Charlie!
Changing Charlie is the third story from Powerful You (grades 2-adult). Charlie is used by schools and homes to help encourage critical-thinking skills and healthy habits. Charlie also fosters development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being.
20-Minute Lesson Plan
Launch Introduce the A-Z Powerful You theme.
Breathe and Stretch Practice self-awareness and self-management with the free movement video. Simply hit play or gain a new movement idea for your toolbox.
Connect Read the true short story from the 8.5 x 11 laminated Powerful You Educator Cards.
Promote a Positive Mindset Stand tall and practice each story’s positive self-talk.
Reflect Social-awareness, relationship skills, and problem-solving skills escalate when students are given turn and talk time for each journaling prompt. Learn from them and allow optional sharing.
Role-play Students hold the Powerful You Educator Card and act out desired behaviors.
Leave an SEL Footprint Copy and display the Digital Powerful You Classroom Social Skill Sign.
Expand Use the Powerful You Book or resources below. Make it your own! Be You! You are more powerful than you know!
Here are a few of my favorite healthy habits quotes:
“Believe in your ability to create change. If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” Frank A. Clark
“With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice.” Oprah
“Be miserable or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done is your choice.” Dr. Wayne Dyer
“If you quit once, it becomes a habit. So don’t quit.”
Additional Resources
Neurons are always firing together to create new pathways in the brain. Here are some great books for kids.
Powerful You is a grab-and-go counseling resource designed to make group and classroom counseling simple, meaningful, and effective. Packed with 26 short, easy-to-use themed lessons, this book helps counselors, educators, and support staff guide students through important life topics with confidence and care.
Each lesson begins with a true story that reflects real challenges children face, followed by engaging turn-and-talk prompts that encourage student reflection, discussion, and connection. Inspiring quotes, hands-on activities, and practical tips are also included for optional lesson extensions.
Created by a school counselor with more than 35 years of experience listening to and supporting children, these lessons align with ASCA National Standards and explore sensitive school and home issues through a child’s perspective. Powerful You gives adults ready-to-use tools to build emotional awareness, resilience, communication skills, and confidence in students.
To bring each lesson to life, companion Powerful You laminated role-playing cards and colorful classroom signs are also available separately. These engaging tools correspond with every lesson and provide an interactive way for students to practice skills, deepen understanding, and reinforce key concepts.
Get Changing Charlie’s Story for Your Classroom, School or Home
Charlie knows he must make sure he is taking good care of his incredible machine made of blood and love and hope! Charlie will help you create healthy habits. You can find Charlie’s story in the Powerful You book and Educator Cards below.
Powerful You is a grab-and-go counseling resource designed to make group and classroom counseling simple, meaningful, and effective. Packed with 26 short, easy-to-use themed lessons, this book helps counselors, educators, and support staff guide students through important life topics with confidence and care.
Each lesson begins with a true story that reflects real challenges children face, followed by engaging turn-and-talk prompts that encourage student reflection, discussion, and connection. Inspiring quotes, hands-on activities, and practical tips are also included for optional lesson extensions.
Created by a school counselor with more than 35 years of experience listening to and supporting children, these lessons align with ASCA National Standards and explore sensitive school and home issues through a child’s perspective. Powerful You gives adults ready-to-use tools to build emotional awareness, resilience, communication skills, and confidence in students.
To bring each lesson to life, companion Powerful You laminated role-playing cards and colorful classroom signs are also available separately. These engaging tools correspond with every lesson and provide an interactive way for students to practice skills, deepen understanding, and reinforce key concepts.
The Powerful You Role-Play Cards are the perfect companion to the Powerful You book and an important hands-on resource for the classroom. These large 8.5 x 11 laminated cards invite teachers to get down on the floor with students, creating meaningful conversations and helping children truly see the “big picture” of becoming a Powerful You Kid.
Children love using the cards to role-play real-life classroom situations while building confidence, empathy, self-awareness, and problem-solving skills. Designed for grades 2 and up, the storytelling cards make social-emotional learning interactive, engaging, and easy to implement throughout the school day.
Each sturdy laminated card features:
A beautiful full-color illustration
A powerful affirmation
Self-discovery journal questions
The cards share the true stories of the children from Powerful You and can be used anytime as a quick, meaningful educational tool for storytelling, classroom discussions, partner activities, counseling sessions, or role-playing exercises.
These cards help children connect deeply with the lessons from the book while encouraging mindfulness, emotional growth, and positive behavior in a fun and supportive way.