Kinder - Personal Space

Kindergarteners are practicing using personal space! Students learned that personal space is the amount of space a person needs to feel comfortable. Kindergarteners were able to identify that respecting personal space helps us focus on learning, play safely, and build healthy friendships. We also practiced how to let someone know when we need more personal space by using the words “please give me personal space.” Together we read the book Harrison P. Spader: Personal Space Invader and practiced our skills with the Personal Space Song. Finally, students played “Personal Space - The Game Show!” to illustrate their understanding of comfortable and uncomfortable personal space situations.

Here are some other great resources for teaching personal space at home:

The Boundaries Song

Personal Space Camp by Julia Cook (Book)

1st Grade - Self  Control

Self control is a big topic for our young learners! 1st graders learned that self-control allows us to be the boss of our thoughts, feelings, and actions, especially when we are in challenging or exciting situations. The book Clark the Shark helped us understand that when you “stay cool” at school, you help classmates feel comfortable, build strong friendships, and do your best learning. Students were able to identify situations where they need self control the most (waiting in line at water parks and using our words when we’re angry were popular answers!). We practiced using the strategy of “wait, think, act”, which allows us to wait until our emotions are calm, think about our options and their consequences, and then choose our action. Finally, students showed off their “staying cool” skills during “Self-Control - The Game Show!” 

Here are some other great resources for teaching self-control at home:

Cookie Monster Practices Self-Regulation

Games that practice self-control

2nd Grade - Coping Skills

2nd graders are exploring coping skills this week by learning about the unique features of turtles. Students were able to identify the ways turtles use their shells to protect them and are able to float through even the roughest currents by going with the flow. They recognized that coping skills are a lot like a turtle’s shell, we can keep them with us anywhere we go and they protect us from uncomfortable feelings when times get rough. Students shared a variety of coping skills in order to understand that everyone will have different skills they prefer and not all coping skills are appropriate for all situations. Finally, students created their own “tranquil turtle” craft by identifying six different coping skills they find effective and describing the situations when those coping skills would be useful and appropriate. Ask your 2nd grader which coping skills they picked and then share some that work for you!

Here are some great resources for exploring coping skills at home:

Coping Skills A-Z

When I Feel Overwhelmed: A Video Guide for Kids

3rd Grade-Growth Mindset/Resilience

This time of year is a great time to revisit growth mindset and resilience. As the beginning of the year shine wears off and new and challenging material and expectations are presented, sometimes students feel frustrated. Our lesson began by defining a growth mindset as having a positive attitude towards new or challenging experiences. Many times new experiences can bring about some uncomfortable feelings for students if they are not immediately successful. However, working through those feelings and pushing forwards develops perseverance and resilience. I read them the book After the Fall by Dan Santat. They completed an activity where they could write or draw their responses to questions. The questions they were thinking about were: who supports you?, what is a goal you have?, what are some positive thoughts to encourage you?, show yourself achieving your goal.

4th Grade-Growth Mindset/Resilience

As a group we discussed mindset and how it can impact them daily. We talked about the importance of having a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset. We defined a growth mindset as having a positive attitude towards new or challenging experiences. The students learned about a scientist called Eugenie Clark by listening to the book, The Shark Lady. We discussed how Eugenie was able to overcome many obstacles to fulfill her dream of becoming a scientist who studies sharks. She had a very successful career. Then, the students took a survey to examine their mindset and complete a reflection about a challenge they have had and how they overcame it. Finally, we watched this short video as an example that excellence can begin as failure but a growth mindset and lots of hard work can help you overcome it.

5th Grade-Growth Mindset/Resilience

I will teach my  fifth grade lessons next week. This time of year is a great time to revisit growth mindset and resilience. As the beginning of the year shine wears off and new and challenging material and expectations are presented, sometimes students feel frustrated. Our lesson began by learning a little about how the neurons in our brain work. This is a great video to demonstrate that struggle really helps your brain think stronger and more efficiently. Then students were able to share a time that they had to use a growth mindset to push through frustration and succeed. We talked about what made the difference during those times. The students identified some of those difference makers as never giving up, extra practice, seeking out more information from experts/videos, making mistakes and learning from them, support from parents or other students, and breaking up the task into smaller chunks. Then, the students were able to play a “Growth Mindset” card game. It was similar to UNO but asked them to answer questions about growth mindset.