September Newsletter

I hope everyone has had a great start to the year so far! It's been great seeing everyone working so hard and settling into their classroom routines.

Here's what's happening in September:

In kindergarten and first grade, we are practicing whole body listening to help us be attentive, respectful learners in our classrooms. Cookie Monster is helping us learn how having our "eyes watching, ears listening, voices quiet, bodies calm" can help us learn and grow (and earn the black and white cookie belt if you're Cookie Monster!). Each month we also do purposeful play where we practice the skills we are learning in class as we play with different activity centers in our classroom.

In second grade, we are practicing different calming skills that we can use in the classroom to help us when we are feeling distracted or off-task. This will help create a foundation for us to practice our problem solving skills next month as this is the first step to positively resolving a problem. Building these self-efficacy skills will also help students be able to fully attend to learning in their classrooms when they are in need.

In third grade, we are learning about our brains and why we can sometimes feel out of control when our emotions are big. We will practice identifying and watching out for signals our bodies might send us that will help us know when to use a calming skill so we can problem solve in a positive, healthy way. 

In fourth and fifth grade, we will be talking about empathy and recognizing when behaviors are appropriate based on the situation or environment. Students will  practice identifying the emotions of others and recognizing that they may not always match how they would feel. We will also focus on perspective taking and how our actions can affect another person's feelings. 

Sixth grade will be learning about how their thoughts, feelings, and actions are connected. We will focus on the power of positive thoughts and reframing our thinking in ways such as "if your friend had this thought, what would you tell them to be supportive?" or "what is another possible explanation?" and how that can impact our feelings and our actions. 

Important dates to remember:

Labor Day (No School): 09/02

MHE Fun Run day: 09/06

Chaparral Homecoming Parade: 09/09 at 5pm

Teacher Professional Development (No School): 09/20