Social Emotional Learning
4/16/2021
Suggested activities can be repeated and you can choose what to enjoy at any time during the week.
I hope you enjoy them!
Mindfulness
Mindfulness exercises can be done at any time! I generally guide the students in the beginning and sometimes at the end of each lesson. These brain based exercises can help bodies and brains remain calm and focused. This year's series of mindfulness exercises largely came from a collection titled "Little Renegades."
Break the problem solving process down in a mindful manner using these Five Steps To Decision Making. Use this poster to help stop and think through the options, the pros and cons of each and make a choice that is expected and leaves everyone feeling comfortable.
In April, our mindfulness exercise is "Fearless Feather." Students are given the choice to close their eyes or keep them open after they find a comfortable sitting position. Then, focusing on the breath, I guide them to "Breathe in....and breathe out" slowly. After three slow breaths, they say, "I am brave" out loud.
Spring Scavenger Hunt What a wonderful way to practice mindfulness! Focus, find and experience the suggestions on this list of spring sensory items. Feel free to add to the list!
Book Club
We will be using these reference sheets in the next several weeks to help kids gather their strategies onto a chart for easy reference. The Zones Tool Box with Strategies shows the "tool box" completely filled out with strategies to help when in that "zone" (e.g., blue - sad; green - happy; yellow - anxious, worried, confused; red - angry or "flipped lid.") The Zones Tool Box without Strategies will be filled out as part of Social Group. They will be sent home at the end of April (or early May.) Feel free to print a "Tool Box" out for use at home! And, when the "Tool Box" we create at school comes home, you may add and edit to fit your family's style.
For those students who have not heard Flipping A Lid , we will be covering this in the next couple of weeks. If you haven't seen this or would like to review it again, this is a very clearly laid out title explaining what happens in your brain when we get upset.
Cool Down and Work Through Anger by Cheri J. Meiners, M.Ed. This title is one of many in this series that provides honest discussion about anger (and can be connected to other strong feelings) and what to do about it. (Have your child add their favorite to their "tool box!") I always tell the kids all of our feelings are OK. However, learning skills to help us navigate those rough patches in a way that leave everyone feeling safe and happy is important to maintaining positive friendships and family relationships.
What to Do When You Worry Too Much by Dawn Huebner, Ph.D. is a favorite interactive workbook to help students understand their worries and strategies to help overcome them. There are several chapters and we will be doing some of the worksheets during Social Group in most of our classes. I recommend watching one or two chapters at a time to get the most out of this title.
An oldie but goodie! Your child can color their Emotional Thermometer into "Zones" to match the "Tool Box." Just another tool to help navigate rough patches. More from "Inside Out." This Inside Out Printable Poster follows the same model as the "Zones of Regulation" and is a nice way for your child to share how he or she may feel.
Zen Den
In The Owl and the Guard Dog | Cosmic Kids Zen Den - Mindfulness for Kids, our hostess Jamie provides another explanation of how our brains work and a mindfulness exercise to help when your emotions or "guard dog" take over. This compliments the "Flipping A Lid" title.
Recreational SEL
Most amazing social emotional song -Home School Psychology - Grounded Our favorite Home School Psychologist is back with strategies to stay "grounded" and a song!
The ultimate strategy in the animal world, camouflage! Watch Mystery Science - Is it Possible to Become Invisible? and learn how creatures use this strategy to survive.
How Is She Feeling? From "Inside Out" Enjoy this quick game of figuring out how our main character Riley is feeling. And for extra fun, here is a coloring page Inside Out Characters! What colors will you make each feeling character? And where do they fit on your Five Point Scale ?
Practice identifying friendship words with this Friendship Themed Word Search. There are several levels to choose from. You may also accommodate your child by highlighting words and reading them together. Talk with each other about what each word means and or think of examples together. Best of all, practice at home!
Parent's Corner
The ABCs of Co-Regulation Here is an easy to reference poster from the authors of the corresponding article shared two weeks ago.
10 Fun Activities for Spring Break! I especially like numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8! Enjoy!