Zest & Live it! Activity Guide

Engaging Activities to Promote and Practice Optimism and Enthusiasm

Incite middle and high school students to become more motivated and less apathetic! Incorporate the quality of zest into their lives to bring them more energy for tackling daily assignments. Each of 23 lessons for obtaining zest emphasizes an important social skill, such as making decisions or disagreeing appropriately, and ties it to a desired executive function such as organization or self-control.

Designed to accompany the ZEST: Live It! book, these activities will engage and excite students, teaching them to find value in the passion and enthusiasm of living with zest! Teachers implementing the Boys Town Education Model will find these activities are a great way to incorporate more social skill practice beyond the basic skills.

Each lesson is structured for a class period, or can be extended for several sessions. Students will work independently or in teams. The easy-to-use lessons involve use of technology through various devices to fully engage and motivate digital-savvy students. Flipped classroom ideas are listed for all activities.

Other titles written by Tamara Zentic:

• GRIT & Bear It! and GRIT & Bear It! Activity Guide
• 13 & Counting: Be the Difference!
• 13 & Counting: Does a Hamburger Have to Be Round?
• 13 & Counting: Rescue Me?
• deCoding Respect