Den Days Teach Leadership Skills at Novi Woods Elementary

It's not often that you hear a fourth-grader use the word "synergize" in a sentence. But that's exactly the word Mackenzie Magliocco uses when she describes what she's been learning in Den Days at .

Last year, all the K-4 students read stories from The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, which teaches children leadership and cooperation skills. It was here that Magliocco learned the word synergize.

"We read all the stories in the book last year — animal stories. Like there was this one team that beat the better soccer team because they synergized," she said.

And the students aren't just learning new words and habits, they're practicing them as well.

Seven Habits

The 7 Habits of Happy Kids is a bestselling book by Sean Covey that has been adopted by many school systems.

In effort to go beyond teaching the three R's, Novi Schools has adopted the 7 Habits as a way to develop children into good and caring people who work together.

Novi Woods now uses Dens, or multi-aged small groups, to learn about and experience the 7 Habits in common lessons. The Dens are also aimed to build a sense of community within the school.

Dens usually meet every other Friday for 40 minutes, where teachers all teach the same lesson. During the last 10 minutes, all Dens meet in the gymnasium for a Pride Circle to celebrate school accomplishments and their school spirit. At each Pride Circle, grades will take turns putting on a skit, song or presentation about the day's lesson.

The seven habits are:

1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think win-win
5. Think first to understand, then to be understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the saw

Put first things first

At Friday's Den Day, the children were learning a new habit: put first things first.

Teachers talked to the students about the importance of prioritizing, making a plan and being organized by using the example of making a pizza. You have to put the sauce on first, then the cheese, then the toppings — first things first.

The teachers first taught the students this by using the SMART board. Then each student was given some construction paper to make a pizza of their own to hang up at home as a reminder.

Prioritizing may seem like an advanced habit for elementary students, but the teachers showed students how they can practice it in their lives: It's more important to get a good night's sleep than watch another TV show, for example.

Katie McIntosh, a fourth grade student, said she likes listening to what the teacher says during Den Days. She says she has learned how to "be proactive."

"If someone pushes you, you don't just push them back. You just say he pushed you," she said.

Paul Biberstein, another fourth grader, said he had fun when they spent a Den Day learning about manners, using snacks and table settings.

Fourth grade teacher Michelle Donberger said she has seen the Den Days make a difference in the school.

"It's been amazing — amazing to see the transformations. The kids are more confident, they want to do things without being asked," she said.

This year the students came up with the idea of having some of them greet students when they come off the bus in the morning. Another idea was to have some of the older students give up their recess to help out in the kindergarten classrooms.

"It's neat to see them take on leadership," Donberger said. "You have to think it's because of what we're doing."

Children stay in their same Den with the same teacher in the same room throughout their five years at Novi Woods.

To help the younger students find their way, each fourth grade student pairs up with a kindergartener and second grade student, while the third graders find their first grade buddy, and walk with them to their meeting room.

Donberger said it has been a great experience for the students.

"Your small group becomes like a family. They look out for each other," she said.