🧠 Dealing with ANTs: Cognitive Distortions & Automatic Negative Thoughts Lesson (SEL)

Help your students catch and challenge their negative thoughts with this engaging, ready-to-teach SEL lesson! Perfect for school counselors, social skills groups, and middle school classrooms, this lesson makes the concept of Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) relatable, visual, and fun.

🌿 What’s Included

✅ Editable PowerPoint presentation (teaches common ANTs + how to challenge them)
✅ Fully scripted lesson plan (40–45 minutes, counselor- and teacher-friendly)
✅ Printable “Catch That ANT!” student worksheet (with teacher answer key)
✅ Optional reflection and small-step reframe activity (“When it Feels Inauthentic”)

💬 Lesson Highlights

• Introduces students to the idea of cognitive distortions using easy-to-understand examples
• Helps students identify their own ANTs
• Teaches practical, research-based strategies to reframe unhelpful thoughts
• Includes a step-by-step script with discussion prompts, student sharing opportunities, and reflection questions
• Ends with a hands-on worksheet to practice reframing thoughts in believable, authentic ways
  

💡 Perfect For

• Middle school SEL lessons
• Counseling small groups
• Individual sessions on anxiety or self-talk
• Social skills and executive functioning classes
• Health or advisory lessons
  

🌈 Why You'll Love It

✔️ Fully scripted — just print and teach
✔️ Visual and interactive for neurodivergent and twice-exceptional learners
✔️ Promotes emotional awareness, resilience, and growth mindset
✔️ Builds practical coping tools for real-world stressors

Empower your students to recognize their ANTs, challenge them, and reframe their thinking—one small, believable thought at a time!