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!
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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!!
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AuthorHey! I'll be writing about our monthly care class lessons so you can follow what we are up to! Archives
December 2018
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