Fifth Grade: Accepting Differences

For our last lesson in this rotation, we discussed prejudice and how getting to know others keeps us from making prejudgments about others. I started the lesson by making an (hypothetical) announcement to the class: Students born in August, September, October, November and December will be able to continue going to recess; however students with birthdays later in the school year will need to start staying in during recess to work on math because they are younger. Because they are younger, these students probably aren't as good at math so they need extra time to work. After the announcement, I asked students for their responses. Many students felt upset and said that it wasn't fair.

I agreed with the students that what I had said wasn't fair, and told them that I had made that judgment without really knowing anything about their math skills or checking any of the grades for the students. Next, we talked about what it means to have prejudice, where people judge or form an opinion about a person before knowing him or her. We spent the remainder of the lesson talking about a video we watched about two students: Kaden and Miguel. The two students were not friends, but the two ended up waiting together for their parents to finish working (their parents worked at the same place). We talked about how the two boys were different: They look different, Miguel is from another country, they have different friends, Miguel is new to the school, Miguel is shy and Kaden isn't. These differences were very apparent in the video.

Then, we talked about ways the two boys were similar. We were able to determine several similarities between the boys: they're in the same class, their parents work in the same place, they both like sports. Once we had determined that the boys had some things in common, we talked about why they probably weren't friends: they have different groups of friends, they don't know they have things in common, they like different things. We talked about the importance of having differences and what would happen if we were all exactly the same (the world would be pretty boring!). We talked about how our differences make us more interesting, and how having differences allows us to learn from one another.

We watched the conclusion of the video clip, which showed the two boys finding out they had a lot in common. After the video, we decided that Kaden and Miguel could be friends. We talked about how learning about each other allowed the boys to become friends, and how important it is to get to know someone before making judgments about them. We ended our lesson with an activity where students took turns answering questions with a partner and learning what they had in common.

Third Grade: Understanding Perspectives

For our lesson on perspectives, students looked at an object from their perspective and we talked about how their perspective differed from their peers. After our perspective activity, we did a recap from the students in lesson 5 and how they were feeling. We also talked about the predictions that each student had made about what would happen between Kyle and Jenni after he spilled the milk on her. Many students predicted Kyle would help Jenni, continue laughing, or just walk away. After students took a moment to remember their predictions, I asked students to phrase their predictions in an If, Then format. For instance, If Kyle continues laughing, then Jenni may start crying.

Next, we watched the video to see what Kyle decided to do. Kyle ended up running away to grab paper towels and help Jenni. We talked about how Kyle's feelings changed once he saw the situation from Jenni's perspective. At first he had felt amused, but when he saw Jenni wasn't laughing he felt concerned, apologetic, and wanted to help. We also talked about how Jenni felt after Kyle decided to help her: many of us agreed she felt relieved about what had happened. We talked about why Jenni's feelings changed: because Kyle apologized, and she realized that it was an accident.

Another student in the video, Meg, had jumped to conclusions when Kyle ran away. She said, "Look! Kyle's running away. I can't believe he would do that!" We talked about how from Meg's perspective it appeared that Kyle had spilled milk on Jenni on purpose. We talked about how from Meg's perspective it first seemed like Kyle's spilling the milk was intentional, but once she got more information (she saw Kyle get the paper towels), she realized it was an accident and her feelings changed.

We ended the lesson by discussing how people can have different perspectives and feelings about the same situation. We also talked about how feelings can change, like Meg, Jenni, and Kyle showed us in the video. By noticing other peoples' feelings and thinking about others' perspectives we are more likely to have empathy for them, which helps us to be better friends.

First Grade: Feelings

For our last lesson this rotation, we started our second unit on Empathy. Students had to guess the feeling that I was feeling by looking at my face and body for clues, and once they had guessed correctly, they shared a time when they had that feeling using Think, Turn, Tell with their partners. Students first shared a time they felt happy and then a time they felt mad.

Next, Puppy came to visit the class and show off his new trick: saying all four skills for learning. He shared the four skills for learning with the class, and then Snail showed up seeming very sad. Snail was jealous that Puppy had gotten to share the skills for learning and he hadn't, so we let him show us how to assertively ask to sit next to someone.

For the rest of the lesson we talked about two different pictures.The first picture showed Jharell looking surprised. I told the students that Jharell's dad had just brought home a brand new puppy, and Jharell was not expecting it. Then students guessed how Jharell was feeling. Once we had all agreed that he was surprised, students looked for clues on Jharell's face that showed how he was feeling: his mouth was open, his eyes were wide, his eyebrows were up, his cheeks were down. Next students practiced showing their partners their surprised faces while the other partner pointed out clues on the face that showed they were surprised.

We also looked at a picture of Rita, who opened her lunchbox to find that her juice had spilled all over her sandwich. Students used face and body clues to determine her feeling: disgusted. Students shared the facial and body clues they saw that proved this feeling: her mouth was puckered, wrinkled nose, eyebrows are down. Next, we talked about what it means to be disgusted,and students took turn showing their partners their disgusted face. We ended the lesson by having students come up and use their faces and bodies to show how they felt about a scenario while the rest of the class guessed their feelings.

Fifth Grade: Taking Others' Perspectives

To continue our unit on empathy, this week's lesson focused on looking at situations from other peoples' perspectives. We started our lesson with an activity where students had to draw an object from where they were sitting in the classroom; this was a silent activity. Once students had completed their drawings, we talked about how all of these drawings were or the same object, but they all looked different. Students offered several reasons why: the view was from different angles, students have different artistic abilities, and students were looking at the object from different points of view.

We talked about how students may have different feelings and perspectives about the same thing. We spent the rest of the lesson discussing a video of two students. In the video, we see two different perspectives: Lydia's perspective and Alexis' perspective. Both students want to get a drink from the water fountain. From Alexis' point of view, it looks like there isn't anyone in line. From Lydia's point of view, she believes that she is waiting in line. We looked at each student's perspective and talked about how they felt about the situation. We also talked about how each student may have felt or responded differently if they could see the other student's perspective. We ended our lesson talking about how taking others' perspectives can help us to have empathy for others and makes us better friends.

Third Grade: Identifying Others' Feelings

This week we started a new unit on Empathy, feeling or understanding how someone else is feeling. We started our lesson by reviewing the skills for learning we have focused on and discussing why these skills for learning are still important to continue using even though our unit is finished. We warmed up our brains by playing a round of the Feelings Factory, where students have to show similar or different feelings than what I am showing using my face and body, but they have to listen for the words "Foreman Says." The rules are very similar to Simon Says. We talked about which skills for learning helped us to be successful: focusing attention, listening, and using self-talk.

We spent the remainder of the lesson talking about four students' pictures: Jenni, Meg, Brian, and Kyle. We used facial and body clues to determine how each of these students were feeling, and we agreed that they were all experiencing different feelings. We also talked about the importance of looking at the situation, or what is going on, for additional clues about how someone may be feeling. We watched a video clip of the four students that gave information about the situation, and we were able to decide that Jenni felt sad, embarrassed, and angry because Kyle had run into her and caused her to spill her milk. We also decided that Kyle felt amused by the situation because he laughed at Jenni. We talked about how the students had different feelings about the same situation. Next, we made predictions about how the situation would end between Jenni and Kyle.

Students had several solutions:

1. Kyle would get a paper towel and say sorry
2. Kyle would continue to laugh
3. Kyle would walk away and do nothing

We concluded the lesson by sharing our predictions with our partners and completing a worksheet on different scenarios where each partner had to share how they would feel, and students marked whether they had similar or different feelings.

First Grade: Being Assertive

In this lesson, we learned about being assertive, our final skill for learning. Being assertive means asking for help in a calm, firm, respectful way, and looking at the person we are talking to. We started our lesson with a recap of our other skills for learning: focus attention, listen, and use self-talk.

Next, we learned how to use Think, Turn, Tell - an activity where students share their ideas with their partners. In Think, Turn, Tell, the first thing we do is think: I ask students a question, and when they have an answer, they give me a thumbs-up. Once students have their answer, I instruct them to turn and tell their partners. Once they are finished sharing, they show me another thumbs-up so I know we are ready to move on.

Puppy and Snail came to visit and talked about a problem Snail was having. He forgot his lunchbox on the bus, and he knew he couldn't go all day without eating. Puppy encouraged Snail to tell the teacher, but Snail was afraid that the teacher would think he wasn't listening. In the end, Puppy convinced Snail that the teacher is here to help, and Snail should tell her. We talked about the problem and how Snail didn't know how to fix it.

We spent the remainder of our lesson talking about a girl named Tiffany, who was stuck and couldn't finish her writing assignment. Students brainstormed what to do and shared with their partners using Think, Turn, Tell. Next, we shared our ideas as a group. Students continued to share until we came up with the following options.

1. Try again one more time
2. Ask a friend
3. Ask the teacher

We talked about the importance of problem-solving in this order. Because teachers are often busy helping other students, we should try again and see if we can figure it out, then ask a friend, and finally ask the teacher. Next, Snail showed us three ways to ask for help.

1. Passive: I'm stuck. I can't do this! (whiny)
2. Aggressive: Grrrr. Help me with this! (bossy, demanding)
3. Assertive: Excuse me, I'm stuck. Can you help me with this writing assignment? (respectful)

We spent the remainder of the lesson asking for help assertively with different scenarios. We talked about three important things we must do to ask for help assertively.

1. Say excuse me.
2. Say the problem.
3. Ask for help.

Fifth Grade: Predicting Feelings

For our lesson this week, we discussed predicting feelings and how it relates to empathy. We started our lesson by having half of the students in the class while the others received instructions from me: to laugh when I said "Go!" and predict how their partners would react. After the activity, we talked about what students had done that had predicted correctly, and many of them had reflected on how their partner responds in other situations or based on the partner's personality.

We watched a video about a student named Lucas, whose cousin Aaron moves in with him because his mother is sick. The video shows that Lucas and Aaron have different hobbies and interests, and Lucas isn't thrilled about having the job of entertaining his cousin. In the first video clip, Lucas invites Aaron to play basketball at recess with him and his friends, but Aaron doesn't like basketball; he enjoys reading.

We talked about how Aaron felt about his new responsibility and how we could tell. We also talked about what Lucas did to help Aaron fit in, and if it was an activity that Aaron was interested in, which it wasn't. We talked about the importance of considering how others feel about a certain activity when we are making plans for them. This is known as predicting feelings. We also discussed how predicting feelings would have changed Lucas' actions: he probably would have realized that Aaron doesn't like basketball, and would have asked him to do something else that Aaron likes.

We finished up the lesson by talking about what Lucas could do to help himself predict feelings other things Lucas could do to help Aaron feel included in school. We concluded the lesson by watching the final video clip. This time, Lucas gave Aaron the option of playing basketball, but also offered to show him where students read in the library. By predicting Aaron's feelings, Lucas was able to have empathy for his friend and come up with a solution that Aaron would like.

This week's prezi link:
http://prezi.com/gnkc50ehzqjz/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Third Grade: Planning to Learn

For our last lesson on skills for learning, we talked about how plans can help students be successful. We started our lesson by reviewing our skills for learning: focus attention, listen, use self-talk, and be assertive. Next, we moved into a Brain Builder called Sentence Switcheroo. In Sentence Switcheroo, students have to pay close attention to the words I say and use their bodies to show whether I said the sentence the same way or a different way. After Sentence Switcheroo, we talked about the different skills for learning that helped us to do well in the game.

For the rest of the lesson, we talked about a student named Cheng. Cheng had a problem: his teacher was asking him for his homework, and he forgot to take it home again! We talked about how Cheng felt about the situation: upset, embarrassed, frustrated, disappointed. We also used thumbs up to show if this had ever happened to us before. Because most of us have experienced this before, we are able to show empathy for Cheng!

We decided that Cheng needs a plan, or something that tells you the steps to get something done, to help him to take home his homework. We talked about the importance of a good plan and the three criteria we must look for:

1. The plan makes sense
2. It's Simple
3. You can do it

If any of these criteria are missing, it is not a good plan. Next, students brainstormed ideas for the first step of Cheng's plan with their partners. Cheng decides to put a post-it on his desk that says "REMEMBER HOMEWORK!!!" so he will remember to take it home. Next, students shared with their partners where they thought he should place the post-it as a reminder. Many students thought Cheng should put it on his desk, and that's where he decided to put it. Finally, he decides for his final step that he will put his homework in his backpack as soon as he sees the reminder. We went over the Good Plan Checklist to make sure it would work, and we agreed it was a good plan. We concluded the lesson by brainstorming areas where students could use plans to be more successful.

First Grade: Using Self-Talk

We started this week's lesson by doing a "mixed-up" round of My Turn, Your Turn. For this round, students still had to wait for their turn before repeating the body motions I instructed, but this time I added some "mixed-up" rules to make it harder. For instance, if I said "touch your elbows," in mixed-up rules that meant to touch your ears. I added more mixed-up rules for each class depending on their level of difficulty with the new rules.

Puppy came to visit the class and showed them how he uses self-talk to follow the Listening Rules. Because he has had trouble remembering all of the rules, he has been repeating the rules to himself. By repeating, Puppy is able to remember what to do to be a great listener!

We spent the rest of our lesson talking about a photo of two students: Will and Lamar. The students in the class were working on a writing assignment (much like our first graders do!), but the two students behind Will and Lamar were finished working. They were reading a book aloud, and they were whispering and giggling. Will was able to continue working on his assignment, but Lamar was distracted.

We talked about what it meant to be distracted. We decided that a distraction is something or someone that takes away our attention from what we should be doing. We talked about how the two students behind Will and Lamar were a distraction. We talked about how we could tell Lamar was distracted: he was turning around looking at the students, and he wasn't working on his assignment. We talked about what Lamar could do to help himself ignore the distraction. We decided he could use his attent-o-scope to focus, and tell himself to ignore the girls.

Lamar used self-talk to ignore the girls behind him and also used it to repeat his directions so he could stay focused. By using his attent-o-scope and self-talk, he was able to keep doing his work and get the assignment done. We concluded our lesson by using self-talk to practice repeating directions to themselves during a round of My Turn, Your Turn.

Fourth Grade: Understanding Complex Feelings

For our final lesson in the second rotation, we discussed complex feelings. I started the lesson by giving an example about my morning and the different feelings I had experienced. After I gave my example, students shared two feelings they had had about their morning. We talked about the importance of having empathy because it helps everyone to get along better.

We spent the remainder of our lesson talking about a video we watched. In the video, Gabriella had brought stuffed animals to school for her and Emma to play with after school. However, Emma did not want to play with stuffed animals; she wanted to practice dancing with Necie. We talked about how Gabriella felt in the situation (hurt, disappointed, confused). We also talked about how we could tell how she was feeling. We talked about why Gabriella may have felt confused by the situation.\

We also talked about how Emma felt. She was excited about getting to dance with Necie, but she may have also felt guilty or awkward about the situation with Gabriella. She was also probably worried about hurting Gabriella's feelings. We talked about how Emma's feelings were complicated, and how we could tell she had more than one feeling.

Next, students shared with their partners about a time they had experienced more than one feeling about a situation with a friend. Together, we brainstormed ways that Emma could handle her complex feelings. We also talked about possible solutions to solve her problem. We watched the ending to the video, where Emma invited Gabriella to dance with her and Necie. We talked about how empathy played a role in this situation, and how empathy helped Emma solve the problem without hurting anyones' feelings.

Second Grade: More Feelings

We started our lesson by reviewing places we can look for clues for feelings: faces, bodies, and the situation. We played another round of Feelings Factory where students had to use their faces and bodies to show that same or different feeling as what I was showing. Students had to listen for "Foreman Says" (similar to Simon says) before they acted in changing their feeling. We were focusing on similar and different feelings because our lesson discussed how people can have the same or different feelings about a situation.

Next, we did a recap on last week's video about Daniel, who was hiking with his family and got lost in the woods. We looked at pictures of mom, dad, and Daniel and determined how they were feeling. We were able to see that mom and dad were both worried (had the same feeling), but Daniel was scared (a different feeling). We watched the rest of the video, where Daniel's family found him and his feelings changed.

We spent the remainder of our lesson talking about how Daniel's feelings changed from scared to happy/relieved, and how sometimes our feelings changed. I shared an example of a time where my feelings changed, then students took turns telling their partners about a time their feelings changed. We concluded our lesson by having pairs of students come up and act out their feelings in a given situation. The class would determine how each student was feeling (based on clues from face, body, and the situation) and whether these students had the same or different feelings.

Kindergarten: Feelings

This week we started our second unit: Empathy. We began the lesson by reviewing the four skills for learning: focus attention, listen, use self-talk, and be assertive. We talked about the importance of continuing to use these skills all year, even after the unit is over.

We used our Brain Builder to begin our discussion about feelings. Students used Think, Turn, Tell to share with  their partners about a time they felt happy. We used the rest of our lesson to learn about places we can look for clues about how others are feeling: face and body. We looked at two different photos of students to practice looking for clues and determining how they might be feeling. We looked at mouths, eyes, cheeks and eyebrows to determine how each student was feeling. For happy, we noticed the student had happy eyes, cheeks that were pushed up, and a smile.  The sad student was looking down, was frowning, and had cheeks that were down. Her eyebrows were also down. Next, we practiced showing those same feelings to our partners and looking for clues that proved we were feeling that way.

We finished the lesson by having students come to the front and show how they would feel in a particular situation. The remaining students would look for clues and determine how they were feeling.

Fourth Grade: Similarities and Differences

We began our lesson by watching "Walk, Walk, Walk" and listening for the different feelings words mentioned in the song. Next, we looked at a picture of two students who were waiting to do the same activity. The two students were showing different emotions about what they were about to do. We talked about how we thought each of the students were feeling, then predicted what they were waiting to do.

For the rest of the lesson, we talked about two students: Enrique and Maia. These two students were both starting in new classes, and they had both similar and different characteristics. We watched a video to learn about the two students, and then we talked about what we knew about each student. Next, we talked about their differences: different hobbies, different ethnicity, different feelings, different taste in food, etc. After we had discussed all of the differences between the two students, we moved on to similarities. We were surprised to find that two students who seemed so different could have so much in common.

We concluded our lesson by talking about what would have happened if we had not taken the time to get to know Enrique and Maia. We may have never given them a chance as a friend. We ended our lesson by discussing how we can get to know others instead of judging them based on how they look, and what happens when we judge others before we know them.

Second Grade: Identifying Feelings

For our second unit this year, we are exploring empathy. Our first lesson in this unit focuses on identifying feelings. We began our lesson with a quick run-down of the skills for learning and what they mean: focus attention, listen, use self talk, and be assertive. Next, we moved onto our brain builder: The Feelings Factory. For this activity, the students were my workers in the feelings factory (which is a silent factory) and they had to pay close attention to make sure I said "Foreman says" before showing me a feeling. Students had to use their faces and bodies to show the feeling I asked for, but only if I said "Foreman says." We discussed the skills for learning used in the activity before moving on to our next task.

For the remainder of our lesson, students discussed a student named Daniel who had gotten lost from his family during a hike in the woods. Students had to act as feelings detectives and search for clues that showed how each person was feeling. We talked about three places they could look for clues: face, body, or the situation (what's going on). Students shared how they thought Daniel felt in the situation: most said scared. Once we had decided on scared, they shared what clues proved that feeling. Many commented on Daniel's wide eyes, raised eyebrows, and open mouth. They also talked about why he was scared: he was lost (the situation).

Students took turns showing their partner their scared face while the other partner pointed out the clues that showed the student was scared. We also talked about how it feels in our bodies when we are afraid. We ended the lesson by discussing comfortable and uncomfortable feelings. We talked about how everyone experiences uncomfortable feelings (like being scared), and then we brainstormed other comfortable feelings. We ended the lesson by looking at pictures of Daniel's family members and discussing: how they felt, what clues showed that feeling, and whether it was a comfortable or uncomfortable feeling.

Kindergarten: Being Assertive

For our final lesson in our skills for learning unit, we discussed being assertive: asking for help in a calm, firm, respectful way. We began our lesson by introducing a new way for students to share ideas called Think, Turn, Tell. When we share using Think, Turn, Tell, the first thing students do is think. I will pose a question to the class and each student must come up with an answer. Once all students show me the silent signal that signifies they have an answer (a silent thumbs up), I instruct students to turn and tell their partners their ideas. One student shares first, and once that group is finished sharing, the other partner is able to turn and tell their partner their ideas. We practiced this new way of sharing by having students share their favorite thing about recess.

Next, the students had a visit from puppy and snail. Snail had been given a classroom job to water the plants, but he could not find the pitcher. He asked Puppy for help, but Puppy did not know where it was either. Puppy advised Snail to ask the teacher  for help, and Snail was scared at first, but finally Puppy convinced Snail that it was okay to ask the teacher because she is here to help. We talked about the importance of the order in Snail's attempt to solve the problem: first he looked for the pitcher himself, then he asked a friend, and finally he asked the teacher.

We spent the remainder of our lesson talking about a picture of a student named Lucy. Lucy was in the library looking for a book about dinosaurs, but she couldn't find it. The teacher was busy helping another student, so Lucy could not ask her for help.  Students used Think, Turn, Tell to discuss different options Lucy could use to solve the problem. Students came up with several ideas: take one more look, ask another student, wait until the teacher has finished and then ask for help. We talked about what to do when we need help: try one more time yourself, then ask a friend, and finally if the friend can't help ask an adult.

Puppy showed the students three different ways to ask for help.

• Passive (looking down, shy): I just can't find the book.
• Aggressive (demanding): Grrr. Just get that book for me!
• Assertive (calm, firm, respectful and confident): Excuse me, can you please help me find the book?

We talked about why the last way was the best way to ask for help, and why the other two ways weren't good. We discussed what it means to be assertive, and what it means to be assertive. We concluded our lesson by having students take turns being assertive when asking for help.

Fourth Grade: Being Assertive

For our first lesson in our second rotation, we focused on being assertive - asking for what you want or need in a calm, firm, respectful way. We engaged our listening skills by watching the music video "Walk, Walk, Walk" and listening for the phrase "recognize those feelings."

We started our discussion on being assertive by discussing how our bodies can send messages. I asked students to make a passive pose, where students may feel afraid that they don't have the right to say what they want or need. We talked about whether this was a good way to get what we want or need and why it isn't: people might not take you seriously, people might not pay attention to you.

Next, we made an aggressive post, where students are being demanding and not thinking about other students' perspectives. We talked about why this is not a good way to get what we want or need: you make others feel uncomfortable, scared, or mad. For the remainder of our lesson we discussed a video clip about a student named Karley who pushed others out of a game of four-square to ensure her opportunity to play before recess was over. We discussed what each student wanted or needed in the video and whether they asked for help in a passive, aggressive, assertive way. By the end of the lesson, we all agreed that being assertive, or asking for help in a calm, firm, respectful way, is the best way to ask for help.

Second Grade: Being Assertive

For our first lesson in our second rotation, we learned our final skill for learning: being assertive. We started our lesson with a review of the previous skills for learning we had discussed: focus attenion, listen, and use self-talk.

For this lesson's brain builder, we did an activity called "The Doodle Dance." For the Doodle Dance, students must pay attention to my directions as they are vital to the success of this activity. Students are shown six different doodles that correspond with a particular dance move. Students must do this activity silently. I hold up the doodles in a certain order, which is very imporant because: all dancing must be done in reverse order of when the doodle was held up.

The dance moves are as follows:

• Red Bug - Shoulder Shrug
• Yellow Squiggle - Hip Wiggle
• Green Clover - Shake All Over
• Blue Tree - Lift Knee
• Purple Drops - Foot Hops
• Orange Star - Air Guitar

After the activity, we discussed which skills for learning had helped the students to be successful and how they had implemented these skills for learning. For instance, what were they focusing on? How did they use self-talk? Next, we talked about our final skill for being assertive: asking for what you want or need in a calm, firm, respectful way.

For the remainder of our lesson, we looked at a photo of a student named Connor. Connor had listening to the directions and paid attention to the teacher, but he did not understand what he was supposed to do. We talked about how Connor might have felt in the situation: frustrated, disappointed, confused, sad, angry, embarrassed and alone. We all agreed that Connor needed help, so we brainstormed who he could ask for help: his seat neighbor, a friend, or the teacher.

Next, we explored three different ways to ask for help:

• Passive: shoulders and head down, quiet voice
• Aggressive: aggressive stance; loud, rude voice
• Assertive: head and shoulders up; calm, firm, respectful voice

We talked about each of the different ways to ask for help and why being passive or aggressive wouldn't work. Being assertive is the best way for learners to ask for what they want or need. We ended the lesson by practicing asking our partners for help in an assertive way.

Kindergarten: Self-Talk

Last week we focused on another skill for learning that can help students be successful: using self-talk. Self-talk takes place when students use a quiet voice to talk to themselves inside their heads. After this lesson, students had learned three of the four skills for learning: focus attention, listen, and use self-talk.

We started our lesson with another round of Follow, Follow to warm up our listening skills, but this time students had to repeat the directions before they did the motions. This helped students remember that repeating directions can help them remember what they are supposed to do. Next, we listened to the "Be a Learner" song and students listened for specific words and did the corresponding body movements.

Students did the following motions:

• Focus/Attention - make attentoscope
• Listen - cup ears
• Eyes, Ears, and Brain - point to eyes, ears and brain

Snail visited the class and talked about a problem he was having in class. Snail has been forgetting to write his name on the top of his paper, so he practiced repeating "write my name on the top of the page" to himself several times to help him remember. By repeating, he is more likely to remember and is solving a problem!

For the remainder of the lesson we focused on a photo of two students sitting at their table in the classroom. Paulo was working hard on an assignment, but Samarah was playing with her pencil instead of working. We looked at each student and talked about whether they were focused on their work. We decided that Paulo was focused, but Samarah was distracted. We talked about the different skills for learning that Paulo could be using to be successful: focusing attention and listening. We also talked about a new skill for learning Paulo was using to stay focused: self-talk. Even though Samarah was being distracting by playing with her pencil, Paulo used self-talk to stay focused on his talk and remember his directions.

Fifth Grade: Being Assertive

For our final lesson in this rotation, we focused on being assertive: asking for what you want or need in a calm, firm, respectful way. We started our lesson by watching "Walk, Walk, Walk" and having students listen for attention for how many times they heard the phrase "recognize those feelings."  Once we had engaged our listening skills, we moved into a group activity where students took turns with their partners being a sculptor and being the clay.

I asked partners to sculpt their clay into an aggressive pose. Sculptors were given 30 seconds to sculpt their clay (the other partner), and once I said to "freeze!" we analyzed the different poses we saw. We talked about some of the students with angry faces, hands on their hips, fists clenched, and other intense poses. Next, we had our sculptor and clay switch roles. Partners were instructed to sculpt the clay into a passive pose. We looked at the different poses that had been created and discussed what parts of the poses represented being passive: many of these were students shaped into positions of being unsure of themselves, not making eye contact, etc. For both of the poses we talked about how we would feel if someone made that posture toward us and if this was an effective way to get what we wanted our needed.

For the remainder of the lesson we discussed a video clip regarding three students working on a group project. We talked about what a particular student wanted or needed from the situation and how we could tell. We also talked about how that student needed to tell the other student assertively what she wanted or needed, and what her voice, her words, and what the body language should look and sound like.

Here is the link to this lesson's prezi:
http://prezi.com/yros_vkgyksu/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Third Grade: Being Assertive

For my final lesson with third grade for this rotation, I taught students the final skill for learning: being assertive.  We started by reviewing the previous skills for learning we had discussed so far: focus attention, listen, and use self-talk. We went back over the expectations with each of these skills because they would be important in that day's Brain Builder.

For this lesson's brain builder, we did an activity called "The Doodle Dance." For the Doodle Dance, students must pay attention to my directions as they are vital to the success of this activity. Students are shown six different doodles that correspond with a particular dance move. Students must do this activity silently. I hold up the doodles in a certain order, which is very imporant because: all dancing must be done in reverse order of when the doodle was held up.

The dance moves are as follows:

• Red Bug - Shoulder Shrug
• Yellow Squiggle - Hip Wiggle
• Green Clover - Shake All Over
• Blue Tree - Lift Knee
• Purple Drops - Foot Hops
• Orange Star - Air Guitar

After the activity, we discussed which skills for learning had helped the students to be successful and how they had implemented these skills for learning. For instance, what were they focusing on? How did they use self-talk? Next, we talked about our final skill for being assertive: asking for what you want or need in a calm, firm, respectful way.

We looked at a photo of a student named Naomi who had gotten to school late. Her classmates were working in groups to complete an assignment, and the teacher told Naomi to go join a group. Naomi stood by her group, but none of them noticed that she was standing there. I modeled three different ways Naomi could ask for help.

• Passive: shoulders and head down, asking in a quiet voice
• Aggressive: aggressive stance, loud, rude voice
• Assertive: head and shoulders up, calm, firm, respectful voice

We talked about why each way for working would or would not be an effective way to get what we want or need. We finished the rest of the lesson by having students practice asking for help in an assertive way.

Be Assertive:

• Face the person you're talking to
• Keep your head up and shoulders back
• Use a calm, firm voice
• Use respectful words

First Grade: Following Directions

For our third lesson, we dove deeper into our learning skills to discuss following directions and how it helps us learn. We began our lesson with a round of My Turn, Your Turn with Snail and Puppy. In this activity, students were supposed to follow Snail's directions and ignore Puppy's. This lesson required students to focus attention on who was speaking, listen to the directions they hear, and remember what was said to be successful.

After the Brain Builder, we reviewed what we had learned the week before with our attentoscopes. We talked about what they are, how we use them, and why they are important. We also talked about how using our attentoscopes helped us in My Turn, Your Turn. Next, we listened to the "Be a Learner" song, paying close attention to the words and listening for specific phrases: focus, attention, listen, and use eyes and ears and brain. There were specific motions we did any time we heard those phrases.

• Focus/Attention - make attentoscope
• Listen - cup ear
• Use eyes and ears and brain - point to eyes, ears, brain

For the remainder of the lesson we focused on a picture of a student named Brianna who was in class.  Brianna had heard the teacher begin giving instructions, but didn't wait until the teacher had finished giving directions before digging around in her desk to get out the supplies she thought she needed. Once she looked up, she realized she didn't know what the other students were working on or what she was supposed to be doing. We talked about how Brianna felt (sad, confused, angry at herself, nervous), and if we had ever not known what to do because we weren't listening to the directions or focusing on the teacher.

We talked about what Brianna could do to solve her problem, and we decided there were two good options: to ask a friend for help or to ask the teacher for help. We also discussed how we should ask the teacher for help (quietly raising our hands and waiting until she had called on us). When Brianna asks for help she makes sure she is focused on the teacher by putting on her attentoscope and she listens to what the teacher is saying. When she is finished, the teacher asks Brianna to repeat what she told her, which helps Brianna remember what she is supposed to do.

Finally, we talked about how listening involves more than just hearing sounds. It involves hearing the words, thinking about the words, and then remembering what was said. We can repeat what the teacher says to help us remember what to do and follow the directions.

Fifth Grade: Listening with Attention

For our second lesson, we practiced our listening skills by listening to the music video "Walk, Walk, Walk" and counted how many times we heard the word empathy. Next, we did an activity where students were divided into groups and had to start alphabetically and name items they would bring on a journey. Each student had to listen and pay attention to remember what letter they were on along with what items had already been mentioned, because each student had to recite the entire list of items that had been mentioned.

This activity reminded students of the importance of listening with attention because all of the groups were talking at the same time and it may have been difficult for students to hear exactly what the other group members had said. We talked about what listening with attention means (not just listening with our ears, but showing that we are actively listening and focused on the speaker), and we also talked about how listening with attention is a skill that takes practice, much like playing a musical instrument or playing sports. Next, we watched a video about a student who wasn't listening with attention to his friend.

After the video, students were asked to share with their partners how they could tell the student wasn't listening. There were several answers given: he wasn't looking at the speaker, he was thinking about other things, he he didn't know what the speaker had said, he interrupted the speaker. We talked about how the speaker felt when he realized the student wasn't listening, and how we would feel if it had happened to us. We talked about the importance of treating others with respect, and how listening with attention is a way to show that we are care about the person speaking as well as what they are saying.

Finally, we watched a second video where the student was able to listen with attention, and we looked for clues that showed he was listening. Students saw several indications that the student was listening: he made eye contact, he asked questions, he repeated what the speaker said, and he didn't interrupt. We discussed the importance of body language when others were speaking and how it shows others whether we are or aren't listening.

You can view my prezi for this lesson here:
http://prezi.com/ncile0nnippq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Third Grade: Self-Talk

For our second lesson, we are continuing our lessons on skills for learning. We added our third skill, using self-talk to our list of skills we can use to help us learn. Our three skills for learning we have discussed are:

• Focus Attention
• Listen
• Use Self-Talk

We started out our lesson with a brain-builder called "Who's Talking?," where students had to close their eyes and listen to hear what student I had selected to read from a book. Once students could hear what direction the voice was coming  from, they had to keep their eyes closed and point in that direction. When they believed that had determined who was speaking, they raised their hands (with eyes closed) and I called on them and allowed them to guess. After a couple of rounds in silence, I did the last round with several distractions that made it harder for students to focus attention and determine who was talking.

To be successful in this activity, students had to follow the listening rules we had already learned. They had to be able to focus on the speaker and listen carefully to determine whose voice they were hearing. Some students may have used self-talk to help them keep from getting distracted.

For the rest of our lesson, we discussed a photo of a student named Omar. Omar was working on a book report, but there were so many distractions in his classroom he was unable to focus on his work. Students raised their hands and named the distractions they could see in the photo. We also talked about the distractions I made during the game, and how this made them feel. Many students felt frustrated by the distractions, and we agreed that Omar probably felt the same way. Therefore, since the students had been through a similar situation as Omar, they could probably understand how he was feeling.

Students used Think, Turn, Tell to share with their partners what they had done to keep from getting distracted in the game. Some students had used self-talk without even realizing it! We define self-talk as saying words to ourselves inside our heads that help us to stay focused and complete our work. However, there are different kinds of self-talk: negative self-talk and positive self-talk. We talked about the importance of using positive self-talk to help us stay focused, and why we shouldn't use negative self-talk.

Next, partners used Think, Turn, Tell to brainstorm what self-talk messages Omar could use to allow himself to focus on his book report. Students came up with several ideas he could use. Finally, we ended the lesson by talking about when and where we could use self-talk at school.

First Grade: Focusing Attention

For our second lesson, we are working on our second skill for learning: focusing attention. We started out our lesson with a recap of last week's topic of listening. We reviewed our listening rules and discussed the student we had examined the picture of that wasn't listening in class.

Next, we warmed up our brains with a round of "My Turn, Your Turn," this time with harder movements to repeat. After our brain builder, we had our first visit from Puppy (one of my puppets I use with the students), and unfortunately he had forgotten the Listening Rules. First graders had to remind him of the listening rules by showing him the motions that went with each rule. We also listened to the "Be a Learner" song and did corresponding movements  for the words "listen" and "eyes, ears, and brains."

For the remainder of our lesson, we discussed a picture of a student named Abraham who was in P.E. class. His P.E. teacher was explaining the rules to a new game, and Abraham wanted to make sure he learned what to do because the game looked fun. We talked about some things he could do to make sure he knew what to do and remembered how to play. Common answers were: listen, look at the teacher, follow the listening rules.

After we talked about what Abraham could do to learn, we learned about a special tool Abraham uses to pay attention called an attento-scope. This tool can be made by turning both hands into circles that go around our eyes to help us focus and block out distractions. We can activate our attento-scopes by saying messages quietly to ourselves like "focus, pay attention, and listen carefully." We spent the remainder of our lesson practicing activating our attento-scopes and using them to focus on specific items on the classroom. We finished our discussion by brainstorming times in school we could use our attento-scopes to help us learn. We decided we can use them anywhere, in the classroom, in specials, and even at home to be able to focus.

Fifth Grade: Empathy and Respect

We started our lesson by listening to Phillip Phillip's "Home" song and discussing why it was chosen for the class.  I choose it to start off lessons for a number of reasons: to tell new students I want them to feel welcome, to let students know I want them to feel comfortable, to remind students about empathy and to stand up for bullying.

After we discussed the purpose of listening to "Home," we discussed my classroom expectations. You can see my classroom expectations here:

We spent the rest of the lesson discussing what empathy and respect are, and how they are related. We discussed the importance of having empathy for everyone, and how having empathy helps us to respond in a caring and respectful way to others. By having empathy (feeling or understanding how someone else is feeling) we are more likely to be kind and respectful to others. It helps us to be better students, better children, and better friends to others.

Third Grade: Being Respectful Learners

For our first lesson in third grade, we start out with two skills for learning: listening and focusing with attention. These two skills help us to be respectful learners. We started our lesson with The Respect Rap video.

After the video we started a Brain Builder: Think, Turn, Tell with a twist. During Think, Turn, Tell, partners share their ideas about what we are discussing. Students start by listening to me, and I then assign a partner (either A or B) a question. Once the question has been asked, that partner Thinks about an answer, and then once I have given permission, Turns and Tells their partner. When we add the twist, the other partner has to be able to share what their partner shared during Think, Turn, Tell.

We discussed a student, Sita, who was explaining to her classmates how to do a math problem. The students in the class were being respectful to Sita by listening to her and focusing their attention on her while they spoke. We looked for ways that showed the students were listening and focusing attention. We also discussed what our expectations are for listening and focusing attention.

Listening: 

• Focus on the speaker
• Wait your turn to speak
• Remember what you hear
• Think of questions 

Focus Attention

• Concentrate
• Use eyes, ears and brain
• Ignore distractions

First Grade: Listening to Learn

Last week I started my first grade lessons. For our first lesson, we started with a brain builder to give us strong brains. I reminded students that our brains control our thoughts and our bodies, so our brains have a lot of power. We played a round of "My Turn, Your Turn" where students must listen, wait, and remember while I give directions during My Turn. Once it becomes their turn, they must repeat the directions I gave.

Next, we moved onto the Listen Rules with Snail. Many of us had learned these rules last year, so Snail reminded us of the rules and then we repeated them back to him. The Listening Rules are as follows:

• Eyes Watching (point to eye)
• Ears Listening (cup your ears)
• Voices Quiet (Finger over your mouth)
• Body Still (Hug your body)

For the rest of our lesson, we looked at a photo of a first grade classroom where the teacher was reading and most students were listening. Unfortunately, one student named Will wasn't listening to the teacher. We looked at the picture and searched for clues that showed us he wasn't listening, and we found several. We also looked to see if the other students in the class were following the Listening Rules. 

We ended our lesson with a discussion about what happens when everyone besides the speaker follows the Listening Rules: all students are able to learn. So, by listening, we are allowing all students to learn!

Second Grade: Focusing Attention & Listening

As part of our skills for learning unit, we discussed and practiced what it means to focus attention and listen. To start our lesson, we played a game called Sentence Switcheroo, where I would read a sentence two times, sometimes changing the words. In order to be successful, students had to focus on the words I was saying, listen for changes, and remember what I had said each time.

We also examined a photo of a student named Ayako who was in her art class. Ayako was not listening or paying attention while the art teacher gave directions, so she didn't know what to do. We discussed how Ayako may be feeling, if we had ever not known what to do because we weren't listening, and what Ayako could do differently next time to be a better learner. We also practiced focusing our attention and listening by having the students follow my magic wand and watching and listening for the wand to stop moving and making noise.

Finally, we ended the lesson with some skill practice. Students shared with their partners their favorite food along with three reasons why it was their favorite. Their partners had to listen to their words, focus on their partner, and remember what their partner said so they could share their answers. In the next round, the remaining partner did the same activity discussing their favorite season.

Kindergarten: Focusing Attention

This week, we are working on what it means to focus and how to pay attention in class. We started the lesson with a review of last week's topic: listening. To continue the discussion on listening, we read Julia Cook's "My Mouth is a Volcano," and discussed how Shout-out-itis hurts other peoples' feelings and the importance of listening even when we have something to share.

Next, we reviewed the listening rules along with the motions that go with that body part's job for listening. After that, we looked at a picture of a student named Caleb who was listening to his teacher explain a math problem. We identified what ways we could tell he was listening along with which listening rules he was following. We talked about a special tool we can use to help pay attention: our attentoscope.

We make our attentoscope by making circles with each hand and placing them over our eyes like binoculars. Our attentoscopes help us focus on what we want to pay attention to while blocking out distractions. We can use words like "pay attention" or "focus" to activate our attentoscopes, and once they are focusing, we can take our hands down and keep focusing on the teacher to learn.

Fourth Grade: Empathy and Respect

This week's lesson focuses on empathy and respect. I begin the lesson with Phillip Phillip's "Home" and discuss with students why I chose this song for our first lesson. I choose this song to let students know I want them to feel safe at school and comfortable during our classroom lessons. It also highlights inclusion as one of our anti-bullying rules. After discussing the song, we delved into my classroom expectations for working with students. 

To introduce the topic of empathy, I showed the students a video clip of a teacher "putting herself in a student's shoes" by morphing into a student and going out to recess. She explained how empathy helps students be respectful, and how our lessons will help students learn skills to be successful inside and outside of the classroom. After the video, we discussed what empathy means and students shared with their partners one way they can be respectful in the classroom. We also created some rules for our classroom lessons to insure we are being respectful to others. Finally, we discussed how being respectful helps us with partners, small groups, and class discussions.

View the prezi from this week's lesson here:
http://prezi.com/a4ofiheg7lwp/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Second Grade: Being Respectful

We started out today's lesson by watching the Respect Rap. Because we were focusing on being respectful, I thought this would be a great way to get students' thinking about what it means to be respectful here at school. Click play on the video to watch for yourself.

Students used their assigned classroom partners for our Think, Turn, Tell discussions. During Think, Turn, Tell students are asked a question and then told to think about their answers. Once students have their answers, they are able to turn and tell their partners. This allows students to have time to think and then share meaningful ideas with  their partners that facilitate our discussions.

Students shared what being respectful means to them with their partners during Think, Turn, Tell. We shared some student answers and then discussed the definition of respect: treating others the way they want to be treated. We also talked about the fact that everyone deserves to be treated with respect. After this discussion we moved into our lesson.

I showed the students a picture of students listening respectfully to their teacher. Students had to identify ways the students in the picture were being  respectful and share their ideas with their Think, Turn, Tell partners.We also discussed how all of the students seemed to be having fun and learning, and connected this point to how being respectful helps students learn. In turn, sometimes when students aren't  being respectful they make it hard for other students to learn.

To conclude our lesson, students were asked what they do in the classroom to be respectful. After taking time to think, partners took turns using Think, Turn, Tell to share their ideas. Most students then shared their answers with the group. We concluded with a final note: Being respectful helps us learn, and all students deserves a chance to learn (which comes with all students having respect).

Kindergarten: Learning to Listen

This week, we are focusing on the importance of listening and how we use our different body parts to show we are listening. I started off the lesson with Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen, a book about a rabbit who doesn't listen and finds himself in trouble. Once Howard learns to listen and starts listening in class, he receives a #1 Listener award and stays out of trouble.

We also discussed my classroom expectations for our lessons. Here are my expectations:

After this, we moved into an activity called "Follow, Follow." During this activity, students must use their listening skills to follow directions. This game is very similar to Simon Says, with the students listening for me to say "Follow, Follow" and then I tell them to touch a body part (ex: Follow, follow, touch your nose). After our listening ears were all warmed up, we moved into our lesson about listening.

We spent the rest of the time discussing The Listening Rules, four rules that show the teacher I am listening. These rules are:

• Eyes watching (point to eyes)
• Ears listening (cup ears)
• Voices Quiet (finger over your mouth)
• Body still (hug torso)

We practiced going over these rules and looked at a picture of other a student sharing, making sure to point out any listening rules we saw other students using in the picture. We also talked about how we can talk to ourselves (silently) when we want to share but know we need to wait. This helps us prevent Blurt-out-itis and be successful Panthers who can follow the listening rules!

Week 1: Introduction Lessons

This week has been such a fun and exciting time getting to visit with your students! I was able to visit with all classes, which is a rare occasion for one week! My main focus this week was introducing my counseling program and explaining how I can help students be successful Panthers here at Chinn.

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Kindergarteners learned about all of the body parts a counselor has that makes him or her successful. These parts include:
  

• On the go feet - I go here, there, and everywhere around the school to help all of my students!
• Open arms - My arms are open to help everyone: teachers, students, and parents.
• Caring eyes - My eyes are full of care and concern for all students. I use them to watch out for all of my Panthers at Chinn!
• Listening ears - I use my listening ears to listen to student problems.
• Warm heart - My warm heart is full of love for all of my students.
• Special mouth - My special mouth is full of special words to help students feel better.

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First and Second Graders played "Who is Your School Counselor?," a game where they viewed pictures of other staff members and had to indicate whether he or she was the school counselor, and if not, who this person is and what they do. View the prezi here: http://prezi.com/fgxmlkphlttn/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

We spent the remainder of our time playing a game where I showed students different pictures and they guessed what they represented. These pictures were used to explain the different characteristics of a school counselor and how they help me do my job.

The characteristics we discussed were:

• Problem Solver - I help students with determining what the problem is and some options to solve it, but they decide what to do
• Listener - I am here to listen to their problems
• Friend - I am their adult friend at school who is here to help. They are not in trouble when they come to see me!
• Helper - I help students to do their best in school by helping them solve their probems and return to class ready to learn.
• Secret Keeper - I am able to keep students' secrets most of the time! Exceptions to confidentiality include students being hurt, hurting others, or hurting themselves. It can also include being involved with potentially dangerous situations.

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Third, Fourth, and Fifth Graders viewed and discussed a prezi with me that explains a little about me and my program here at Chinn. We also played "The Counselor Game," where students were divided into teams and tried to earn points by answering questions correctly about the counseling program. View my prezi here: http://prezi.com/8n6ek-q5-kl3/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy