12/6/2018 0 Comments November!Kindergarten: Bubble Gum Brain, by Julia Cook. Do you have a brick brain or a bubble gum brain is the question! We love learning about our brains in care class. Bubble gum brain is all about the power of the word YET. Instead of saying, "I can't do that," you say, "I can't do that YET!" Everything takes time, practice, and mistakes. The best players and performers in the world make more mistakes....because they are constantly practicing and working at their craft. We are all capable of using our bubble gum brains that stretch, bend and flex! PS...we can't wait to meet Julia Cook in March!!! 1st & 2nd Grade: Zones of Regulation!!! This month, we watched a fun video made up of clips from Inside Out. After each one, we talked about the emotion we saw, and discussed if it was in a Blue, Green, Yellow or Red zone! Then, we made a little book showing ourselves in each zone. We love talking about our feelings and strategizing all the ways to get into that great green zone! 3rd Grade: Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, by JoAnn Deck, PhD For real...we LOVE learning about our brains and how they work! This book builds on our Bubble Gum brain knowledge and teaches us some super cool words like, Amygdala and Prefrontal cortex! It also builds on our knowledge of what it means to flip our lids (click here for a great video on what that means) and how we can build up our self-control skills. 4th and 5th Grade: Empathy This month our word was empathy, and we had more great class discussions. We really have some wonderful humans here at Walnut Springs Elementary. We listened to the story, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. Our students were deeply moved by the actions of the students in the book and inspired to be more mindful about showing kindness, as you never know when the chance might be gone for good. We also got to play the Each Kindness game show, where student got to act out scenes, draw pictures, and answer questions related to the story and empathy in their own lives.
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This month in 4th and 5th grade, we had some wonderful class discussions about mental health. We watched a video produced by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. This is a great resource with a ton of free downloads!!! The students had a "Barking Lot" where they could post questions and thoughts throughout the video and conversation. We went through a whole lot of post-its!! I encourage you to also watch the video. We all have mental and physical health, so let's take care of both! The title says it all! Wilma Jean is a worry machine. She is full of what-if's! Through Wilma Jean's story, we talked a lot about our circles of control. We divided the board into 2 sections: things I can control, and things I can't control. The students wrote down one worry that they felt fit into each section and placed them on the board. As we went through the can't control side, by working together, we were able to move many of those worries to the CAN control side! One big takeaway was that most things can go into the CAN control part of life...sometimes with a little bit of help.
On a side note: 3rd grade was pumped to learn that the author of this book, Julia Cook, will be visiting our school in March for an all school assembly, and a special writer's Q&A with 3rd and 4th grades!!! 10/17/2018 0 Comments 2nd Grade: How to be a FREE FISH!This month, 2nd grade got to read one of my favorite books: Simon's Hook, by Karen Gedig Burnett.
The main character, Simon gets a bad haircut from his sister and his friends think they are being funny by making jokes, but Simon doesn't think they are funny at all. He feels hurt. His Grandma Rose tells him a story about some fish and how they get caught by biting the bait. There is a wonderful analogy comparing fish bait to mean words, teases and put downs. Whenever someone says something that isn't nice, it's like they are throwing out the bait and waiting for you to bite - giving them control of your feelings. In the story, the fish come up with five strategies to avoid biting the bait:
Simon goes back to his friends and uses his new strategies with great success! We use this analogy and imagery a lot in the counseling office :):):) 10/16/2018 0 Comments 1st Grade: Personal Space CampThis month, our first grade students got to go to Personal Space Camp! First, they were invited into the care classroom and asked to all stand on one medium sized rug. They did it. It was crowded, but they felt generally ok. Then, I asked them to all sit on the medium sized rug and not touch the tile...What?!? Some had feet hanging off, some tried to sit in laps or put legs on each other, and some just didn't fit. Most students were eager to get off of that rug and into more comfortable space! As we read Julia Cook's Personal Space Camp, we referred back to the experience on the rug and how uncomfortable that was.
We also talked about what it means to have different sized space bubbles depending on where you are and who you are with. Your space bubble at home with family is probably pretty small. Much smaller than your space bubble when you are in a public place with people you don't know. On a side note: they were all excited to hear that the author of Personal Space Camp, Julia Cook, will be visiting our school in March!!! This month's Kindergarten Care Class was all about SELF CONTROL!! They had to come up with strategies to use to stop themselves from popping bubbles that were falling all around them. Do you know what we learned??? Our kindergarten friends can totally control themselves! The reward was a serious round of bubble popping...while still showing self control by staying in our own space bubbles and making sure to use safe hands. Thanks Kindergarten!!
9/19/2018 0 Comments The Peace PathI can't believe it's almost October! Where is time going?!?
Care class has begun!! Having been a teacher before I was a counselor, I absolutely love the time I get to spend with classes! During our first care class of the year, I always like to introduce who I am, who my team is (Ms. Sadler and Zoe) and what we do. We are the heart helpers!
Our first activity was a name game where everyone got to share their name, a special dance, and then watch the whole class repeat their name and dance! It's one of my favorites and always a lot of fun (and a workout!) Then, I moved on to the Zones of Regulation. Luckily, they all seemed to know what feelings go with the four colors. Each color had a balloon. Whenever a balloon hit the ground, the class had to pantomime a feeling that goes with that color. If blue hits the ground, show me sad. If yellow hits the ground, show me scared, etc. Four people get to come to the center of the circle. The leader starts tossing balloons in the air and we try our hardest to keep them in the air. We freeze when the first one falls and everyone has to be that color. After a couple rounds, the friends in the middle tag new friends to come in. This is a great way for students to show what they know and move their bodies. *The Red Zone is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions: anger, rage, explosive behavior, devastation or terror. *The Yellow Zone is also used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions, however, one has more control in the yellow zone: stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, wiggles, nervousness. *The Green Zone is used to describe a calm state of alertness: happy, focused, content ready to learn. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs. *The Blue Zone is used to describe low states of alertness and down feelings: sad, tired, sick, bored. |
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December 2018
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