Kindergarten: Skills for Learning Unit

For the past three weeks, we have been focusing on Skills for Learning. In our first lesson, we talked about what it means to listen. We also learned The Listening Rules and the motions that go with them:

• Eyes watching - point to eye
• Ears Listening - cup ear
• Voices Quiet - finger over your mouth
• Body Still - hug your torso

For our second lesson, we learned about focusing attention. We listened to the Be a Learner song, and we practiced our Listening Rules. We also learned about a tool we can use to pay attention called an attent-o-scope. When we use our attent-o-scope, we put our hands around our eyes to help make what we want to see big and block out other things that try to take away our attention. We practiced different ways to turn on our attent-o-scope, such as telling ourselves to "focus," "pay attention," or "activate attent-o-scope."

For our final lesson, we talked about our last two Skills for Learning: using self-talk and being assertive. Puppy and Snail came to visit, and Snail repeated directions to himself to help himself remember. He also talked to Puppy about a problem where he needed help. We talked about what self-talk is: talking yourself in a quiet voice or inside your head to help you focus. 

We also talked about being assertive, and why it is important to ask for help in a respectful way. Puppy showed us three different ways to ask for help (passive, aggressive, and assertive), and we talked about what was right or wrong about each way. 

How to Ask for Help Assertively

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

Fifth Grade: Being Assertive

For our final lesson in this rotation, we talked about what it means to be assertive. We began our lesson by watching the "Walk, Walk, Walk" video and listening for the phrase "recognize those feelings." Students counted how many times they were able to listen with attention and hear the phrase in the song. Next, we did an activity called Sculptor and Clay, where students took turns being the sculptor or the clay, and the sculptor "molded" the clay into whichever pose I asked for. I first asked for sculptors to mold their class into an aggressive pose. We asked how students would feel if someone talked to them while using that body language (scared, uncomfortable, sad). We also talked about whether this pose was a good way to ask for help (no!). Next, I asked students to switch, and this time the sculptor should make their clay into a passive pose (the opposite of aggressive). Many students struggled to capture what passive looks like, so I modeled for the class and we talked about whether this was a good way to ask for help.

Next, we talked about what it means to be assertive: calm, firm, and respectful. I modeled what assertive would look like, and we talked about why it was the right way to ask for help.

You can find the link to this lesson's prezi here.

Third Grade: Making a Plan

For our final lesson in our Skills for Learning unit, we talked about what makes a good plan. We briefly reviewed our four Skills for Learning:

1. Focus Attention
2. Listen
3. Use Self-Talk
4. Be Assertive

Next, we listened to the Skills for Learning song and pointed to the different Skills for Learning posters when we heard each one. We played Sentence Switcheroo, a brain builder where I read the same sentence twice and students have to use their bodies to show whether it was the same or different (standing for the same, sitting for one change, reaching up high for two changes). 

We talked about a boy named Cheng who had forgotten to take his homework home -- again! We talked about how he was feeling (sad, frustrated, angry, disappointed, nervous, embarrassed). We talked about what a plan is, and why we can use plans to help us be successful. We talked about what makes a good plan:

• The order makes sense
• It's simple
• You can do it

When a plan has meets these three criteria, we can consider it a good plan. We brainstormed what Cheng could do, and students used Think, Turn, Tell to share their ideas with their partners. Cheng decides to write himself a note that says "REMEMBER HOMEWORK," and students brainstormed where to put the note where he would see it. Cheng decides to put the note on his desk, but he still forgets his homework at school once he puts his homework on his desk. Students brainstormed a final step for Cheng's plan to help him remember to get it home. Cheng decided to put his homework in his backpack as soon as he saw the note, and he is now able to take his homework home and uses a similar plan to get his homework back to school. We used the Good Plan Checklist to make sure our plan met the criteria for a good plan, and it did!

First Grade: Be Assertive

For our final lesson in this unit, we focused on our fourth Skill for Learning: being assertive, or asking for help in a calm, firm, respectful way. We began the lesson with a quick review of what skills we had already learned: focus attention, listen, and use self-talk. Next, we learned a new way to share our ideas called Think, Turn, Tell. In this activity, students think of an answer, then show me a silent signal when they are ready to share (thumbs up). Next, I tell students to turn and tell their partner their ideas. When both partners have shared, they give me the silent signal (thumbs up) and I know they are ready to move on. Puppy and Snail came to visit, and Snail told students about how he had forgotten his lunch on the school bus. He was afraid to tell the teacher, but Puppy reminded him that the teacher is here to help.

Next, we talked about a girl named Tiffany, who was working on a writing assignment but was stuck. The teacher was busy helping another student across the room. We used Think, Turn, Tell to share our ideas about what Tiffany could do (try one more time, ask a friend, raise her hand and wait for the teacher). We talked about what we should do when we have a problem in a very specific order.

1. Try one more time
2. Ask a friend
3. Raise your hand and wait for the teacher

We talked about why we should try one more time and ask a friend before asking the teacher, and what would happen if we all asked the teacher for help every time. Next, we talked about three different ways to ask for help: passive, aggressive, and assertive. Snail modeled each one:

• Passive -- whiny, not making eye contact
• Aggressive -- bossy, mean, yelling
• Assertive -- calm, firm, respectful

We talked about what was wrong with asking for help in a passive or aggressive way, and what was right about asking for help in an assertive way. We ended the lesson by having students practice asking for help assertively.

How to Ask for Help Assertively

1. Say Excuse Me
2. Say the Problem
3. Ask for Help

Fifth Grade: Listening with Attention

For our listen this week, we focused on what it means to listen with attention. We started the lesson by having students listen to a song and see how many times they had the word "empathy." Then, we played "I'm Going on a Picnic," where students say an item in alphabetical order and must remember and repeat what those before him or her said. We talked about whether it was hard to focus with all of the groups playing at the same time (yes), and what they did to pay attention to just their group. Next, we watched a video about a boy named Kaden who wasn't listening to his friend. We talked about how we could tell he wasn't listening (he wasn't making eye contact, he was thinking about other things, he talked to someone else). We also talked about how his friend felt when he realized Kaden wasn't listening: frustrated, disappointed, disrespected.

We finished the lesson by talking about what Kaden could do differently: make eye contact, ask questions, repeat what he hears, and not interrupt.

You can view this week's prezi here.

Third Grade: Being Assertive

This week, we learn our fourth and final Skill for Learning: being assertive. We started out the lesson with a quick review of the Skills for Learning we had learned in previous weeks: listen, focus attention, and use self-talk. Students shared examples of how they had used self-talk in the last week to help them be successful. Next, we did a Brain Builder called the Doodle Dance, where I show students different doodles that have corresponding dance moves. The biggest rule in the doodle dance is that all dance moves must be done in reverse order, and the game is a silent game. Students must focus on me to know when to switch dance moves and also to know the order in which they were held up. Many students use self-talk to remind themselves which dance move goes with each doodle.

We spent the rest of the time discussing a girl named Naomi, who arrived to school late. Her teacher had already divided up the class to start working on a project, and when she arrives she doesn't have a group to join. We talked about what Naomi wants or needs (to join a group), and how she is feeling (sad, confused, nervous, disappointed). Next, I modeled three different ways to ask for help and had students describe how my voice sounded, my word choice, and my body language for each way I asked for help.

1. Passive -- not making eye contact, speaking quietly, lack of confidence
2. Aggressive -- too confident, making eye contact but not using respectful words
3. Assertive -- calm, firm, respectful, making eye contact and standing tall

We talked about the problems you can have when asking for help passively (people may not know what you need to help you) and aggressively (people will not want to help you). We ended the lesson by having students practice asking their partners for help assertively.

First Grade: Self-Talk

We  continued our unit with Skills for Learning this week by introducing our third skill: self-talk, or talking to yourself in a quiet voice to help you ignore distractions. We started the lesson with another Brain Builder. In this Brain Builder, Snail and Puppy came to help students practice their skills for learning from last week (listening and focusing attention). Students were told to only listen to snail, and not puppy, who might try to trick them. After the Brain Builder, we talked about who we had to listen to, and what we were focusing on. Next, we did a quick review with the Listening Rules from last week, where we added in some motions.

• Eyes watching -- point to eyes
• Ears listening -- cup ears
• Voices quiet -- finger over mouth
• Body still -- hug yourself

We listened to the Be A Learner song, where students did motions each time they heard a Skill for Learning in the song. Next, we talked about a picture of four students in a first grade classroom. In the picture, one student was working, two were talking, and the fourth student was being distracted. We talked about who was distracted and how we could tell that he was distracted (he was looking away, he wasn't working). Next, we talked about what he could do to help him ignore distractions (use his attent-o-scope, tell himself to work). The student decides to use his attent-o-scope and then repeats the directions to himself inside his head, also known as self-talk. The student is able to focus on his work and complete his assignment once he uses self-talk. We spent the remainder of the lesson brainstorming what we would tell ourselves using self-talk in different situations.

Fifth Grade: Empathy & Respect

For our first unit in fifth grade, we talk about empathy, or feeling or understanding how other people are feeling. Our first lesson focused on the overview of what we will learn in fifth grade and talked a little bit about empathy and respect. Students listened to the song "Home" by Phillip Phillips, and we talked about why I play this song in our first lesson (it talks about making this place our home, including others, gives examples of empathy, etc.). Next, we watched a quick video that discusses the different topics we will explore in fifth grade. We talked about what empathy means, and who you can have empathy for (teachers, friends, parents, anyone!). We talked about how having empathy helps us to treat others with respect, and we also talked about what it means to be respectful. We concluded the lesson by writing rules for how we want to treat others during counselor lessons this year.

You can view the prezi for this lesson here.

Third Grade: Using Self-Talk

We started out our lesson with a quick review of the Skills for Learning we had previously discussed:
Focus Attention and Listen. Next, we did a Brain Builder called "Who is Talking?," where students had to lay their heads down and close their eyes. I would pick one student to move to a different spot in the classroom and read aloud. Students had to point to where they thought the noise was coming from, then give a thumbs-up when they knew who was reading. After the first round, I added in some distractions to make this game more difficult. Once the Brain Builder was over, we talked about what Skills for Learning they used in the game (focus attention and listen). We also talked about whether it was harder for them to focus when I was making noises (they said yes). We talked about why I made noises: to make it harder, to make them use their skills for learning more.

We spent the rest of the lesson talking about a boy named Omar, who was trying to work on a book report but was having a hard time due to distractions in his classroom. Students took turns using Think, Turn, Tell to share what distractions they saw. We talked about how Omar may feel like they felt during the game when I was causing distractions. Next, they used Think, Turn, Tell to share anything they told themselves during my distractions to help them stay focused. After we shared the answers with the class, we talked about self-talk, a skill for learning where students talk to themselves in their heads or in a quiet (whisper) voice to help them stay focused. For our final Think, Turn, Tell students shared what Omar could tell himself using self-talk to help him be successful.

First Grade: Focusing Attention & Listening

For our first unit this year, we are focusing on Skills for Learning. There are four Skills for Learning that I teach:

1. Focus Attention
2. Listen
3. Use Self-Talk
4. Be Assertive

We started out our lesson by talking about my expectations for when I am in the classroom.

We played the Brain Builder My Turn, Your Turn, where students listen to my instructions then wait until their turn to repeat back to me what I said. I typically say two body parts for them to point to, then give some wait time before their turn begins. Students often find it difficult to wait, so this is good practice for them. We talk about why we do Brain Builders -- because they help us have strong brains and be better learners.

Next, Snail came to visit the class and taught students the Listening Rules:

• Eyes Watching (point to eyes)
• Ears Listening (point to ears)
• Voices Quiet (finger over mouth)
• Body Still (give self a hug)

The students practiced repeating the rules back to Snail, and then we moved on to the discussion part of our lesson. We spoke about a boy named Abraham who was learning a new game in P.E. that he really wanted to learn. We talked about what he could do to make sure he understood how to plan and remembered the rules (look at the teacher, listen to instructions, pay attention). We also talked about a tool that Abraham uses called an attent-o-scope. He makes each hand into a circle and places them over each eye to create his attent-o-scope, which helps him focus and block out distractions. We talked about how once our attention is focused, we can put our attent-o-scopes down and continue to focus. We also talked about how to activate our attent-o-scopes: by telling ourselves in our minds to "focus," "pay attention," or "activate attent-o-scope."

We finished our lesson with a quick review of the skills we had learned. 

Third Grade: Being Respectful Learners

For our first unit, we will be focusing on Skills for Learning.  These skills help students to be more successful in the classroom. In this lesson, we focused on the first two Skills for Learning: focusing attention and listening. 

We played a brain builder called Triple T with a Twist. The Triple T stands for Think, Turn, Tell, a way to share ideas with partners where they think of their answers, then turn and tell their partners. The twist in this brain builder is that the other partner must remember what their partner shared and be able to share the answer with the class. This brain builder requires students to listen and focus their attention on their partner so they will remember what they are saying.

Next, we talked about a girl named Sita, who is teaching her classmates how to do a math problem. In the photo, the students are all listening to Sita and being respectful. Students used Think, Turn, Tell to share how they could tell the other students were paying attention. We shared the answers as a group, and then they used Think, Turn, Tell to share what they do that shows that they are listening. 

For the rest of the lesson, students did "Show What You Know," where they form groups with other students and either write a poem, song, skit or story, or draw a picture that represents what they learned in class that day. Students presented their creations to the class.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade: Introduction Lessons

I met with third, fourth and fifth grade students last week to talk about my job, why they might want to see me, and what they can do if they need to talk to the counselor. I went over this prezi, which includes The Counselor Game, where students answer questions regarding the counseling program at Chinn. I also reviewed my expectations for the classroom:

First and Second Grade: Introduction Lesson

For first and second grade, I play a game with students called "Who's the School Counselor?"  In this game, I show students different pictures of staff members (such as principal, nurse, etc.) and ask the students if it is their school counselor. For each person, we talk about what their job is. We end the lesson by talking about me, how they can see me, and what I do here at Chinn.

Kindergarten Introduction Lesson

It has been great to meet all of the new kindergarten students this year! Last week I visited the kindergarten classes to deliver a short introductory lesson about school counselors. We read over the poem "Picture of a School Counselor." This poem describes the different body parts that a school counselor has.

• On the go feet
• Open Arms
• Caring Eyes
• Listening Ears
• Warm Heart
• Special Mouth

We also learned different movements that went with each of the body parts and practiced saying the movements with the words as a class.

Fifth Grade: Drugs, Alcohol & Weapons

Each year, I work with Officer Zimmerman to speak with fifth graders about the importance of making good choices. In this discussion, we utilize the Plaza/Middle School handbook to discuss consequences of using, having, buying, selling, or transmitting drugs, alcohol or weapons. The main goal for this lesson is to educate students about the consequences involved with drugs, alcohol and weapons, both immediate and long-term.

We begin the lesson by talking about actions that are deemed unacceptable by the district. We review the listed items, what they mean, and we also talk about how additional actions may be deemed unacceptable even if they aren't cited in the list.  We also talk about the district's policy on aiding, abetting, counseling or procuring in others' choices or behaviors.

We looked specifically at what constitutes a weapon -- any item that can be used to harm another person, including both home and school supplies.  We spoke about the importance on intent, or why a student is doing what they are doing, and how this can play a part in determining consequences. We spoke about legal ages for alcohol and tobacco as well as what can happen both immediately and long-term when students use either.

We ended our lessons by speaking about being smart in who you choose to be around, what you choose to be around, and where you choose to put yourself.

Third Grade: I'M IN CHARGE Part 2

For our final lesson, students did popcorn reading to read through their I'M IN CHARGE booklets. We stopped between sections to discuss why the book would say to do or not do certain things. We spoke about the importance of walking with a buddy, not taking gifts or rides from strangers, and why we should ask our parents before going anywhere.

We discussed what constitutes a stranger, and what to do if one comes near you. We also talked about safe places within the community where students can go for help. We also touched on the importance of being alert, and what can happen if you are not aware of your surroundings. We spoke about about why children should not help adults, and how these adults may be trying to trick children. Adults should only ask other adults for help, so it is okay to say no!

We were not able to read through the entire booklet as a class, so I encouraged all students to take these booklets home and discuss them with their parent or guardian. Please take the time to review these with your child and discuss safety plans.

First Grade: The Safe Side

For my final lesson with first grade, I showed students a video about the importance of safety. This video touches on a number of different areas: what to do if someone gets too close, what to do if someone tries to grab you, and the different kinds of people we know.

The video starts out by talking about Don't Knows: people the students do not know at all. Anyone the student has never met is a Don't Know. The video discusses what to do if a Don't Know tries to ask them for help, rings the doorbell, or gets in their personal space. It also talks about how it is okay to yell and scream and be as loud as you can if someone is trying to grab you.

The video also talks about Kinda Knows: people that students kind of know through their extracurricular activities and family friends. It spoke about the importance of never going anywhere with a Kinda Know without asking a parent's permission. The video also encourages all students to ask their parents for three safe adults they can trust in case of emergency.

Third Grade: I'M IN CHARGE

For our last lessons in third grade, we focus on a safety curriculum that was created by the Assistance League. This curriculum teaches the importance of safety in a variety of areas: at home, out in public, and walking from place to place. The first week, we show the I'M IN CHARGE video, which shows Kansas City children telling students what to do in several situations including what to do when you're home alone, how to get away from strangers, how to escape from a fire, the importance of having a code word, and internet safety.

After the video, we discuss any questions the students had about what they saw. Next week, we will work through the I'M IN CHARGE work books, and the students will take these books home to further discuss safety with parents.

First Grade: Jobs at Home, Jobs at School, and Career Day

For our second lesson on careers, we spent a lot of time brainstorming the jobs we have at home and school. As a class, we made a list of the different jobs we have at home, and what would happen if we didn't do those jobs (the house would be messy, there might be rats, our home wouldn't be as safe, etc.). Next, we brainstormed a list of the different jobs student have at school: some were expectations (listening, learning, follow directions, etc.) while others were specific jobs students have in the classroom. We talked about why our parents and teachers give us jobs now, and how these jobs help us practice being responsible.

We spoke about how doing these jobs now is good practice for having a career when we are older, and how students will be expected to be responsible in any job they have. We ended the lesson by watching another Buckalope Elementary video where students in the class used their hobbies, interests, and personality traits to come up with a list of jobs that would be good for them. Students next chose a career to research, and the students in the video presented their careers.

We ended the lesson by talking about the importance of learning in elementary school now, and doing our best work. We also spoke about how it is never too early to start thinking about and learning about careers.

Fifth Grade: The Six Career Paths

For our last rotation, I will spend two weeks on careers with fifth grade, and we will spend the final lesson discussing safety. For our first career lesson, we talked about the Six Career Paths.

We began the lesson by discussing why we talk about careers in elementary school, and why what we do in elementary school is important in preparing for our futures. We watched a small video clip from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education "What is a Career Path?" video, then we spent the rest of the time discussing this prezi. As a class we brainstormed several jobs that would fall into each career path.

Third Grade: The Six Career Paths

For our final three lessons, I will spend one week on careers and two weeks on student safety.

For our career lesson, we spoke about why we talk about careers. We also spoke about how what we learn in elementary school helps us to have careers when we grow up. We watched The Six Career Paths, a video created by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This video discusses each career path and several jobs within each career path. The video shows interviews with real workers who talk about what they do, and what elementary school skills help them in their jobs. After the video, we discussed which career path students thought they wanted to work in.

First Grade: Hobbies, Interests, and Careers

For our final three lessons, we will be focusing on careers and student safety. For this lesson, we focused specifically on careers.

We began the lesson by talking about hobbies, interests, and careers. We discussed what each of these words mean and shared some examples of what we could do for hobbies, topics we could be interested in, and examples of careers. We spoke about how hobbies can become careers for some people, but do not always become careers; sometimes hobbies simply remain hobbies. We also spoke about how sometimes our interests can become our careers.

We watched an episode of Buckalope Elementary called "Interests, Hobbies, and Careers," where students heard the Career song. Next, we read "Whose Tools are These," a book that shows students pictures of tools that are used for a specific career. Students guess which job goes with that set of tools, and we talk about how those tools are used for this particular occupation.

Fourth Grade: Safety Discussions

For our final lesson, we talked about safety. We spoke about the importance of safety in a variety of situations: walking to and from school, in neighborhoods, and online. We spoke about why students should walk in groups, not wear headphones, and shouldn't take shortcuts. We also spoke about the importance of letting parents know where they are going.

We spoke about whether to answer the phone or the doorbell when parents at home. We spoke about the importance of talking to our parents about how our parents would want us to handle these situations, but I advised students not to answer the door when they are the only one home.

We spoke extensively about the importance of being safe online. We spoke about why we shouldn't share personal information about ourselves such as our address, phone number, or which school we go to, especially with strangers. We also spoke about why we shouldn't add strangers on social media web sites..

Kindergarten and Second Grade: The Safe Side

For my final lesson with kindergarten and second grade, I showed students a video about the importance of safety. This video touches on a number of different areas: what to do if someone gets too close, what to do if someone tries to grab you, and the different kinds of people we know.

The video starts out by talking about Don't Knows: people the students do not know at all. Anyone the student has never met is a Don't Know. The video discusses what to do if a Don't Know tries to ask them for help, rings the doorbell, or gets in their personal space. It also talks about how it is okay to yell and scream and be as loud as you can if someone is trying to grab you.

The video also talks about Kinda Knows: people that students kind of know through their extracurricular activities and family friends. It spoke about the importance of never going anywhere with a Kinda Know without asking a parent's permission. The video also encourages all students to ask their parents for three safe adults they can trust in case of emergency.

Fourth Grade: Calming Down Steps

For our  final lesson in emotion management, we learned about the three Calming Down Steps:

1. Stop -- Use Your Signal
2. Name Your Feeling
3. Calm Down

We started out the lesson by having all students run in place and recite their ABCs. When I gave them the signal "freeze," they knew it was time to stop. We talked about what happened with their brains and bodies when they heard my signal. Were they still moving? (No.) How did their heartbeat feel? (Fast). Were they still saying the ABCs? (No.) My signal had caused their brains and bodies to stop, and they began to relax.

Next, we watched the Calm Down music video. After the video, we named all three videos and went back to my example where I had told them to "freeze." This was a stop signal. We talked about the other stop signals we had heard in the song: stop, chill, hang on, hold up. Next, students brainstormed a stop signal that could work for them, and they shared these signals with their neighbors. 

We discussed what had happened to Maia in last week's lesson, and what was happening in her body (it was feeling overwhelmed). We watched another video clip to see what happens with Maia when she uses calming down steps. We watched as she used several stop signals (okay, hang on, wait a minute), and named her feeling (angry). We talked about the amygdala, that only reacts, and doesn't think. We talked about how the only way to activate our cortex, or thinking part of the brain, was to use the first two calming down steps. Once we have activated the cortex, we can calm down and make better choices.

Next, we watched the final video clip where Maia uses three calming down strategies: breathing, self-talk, and counting. We watched as her body began to calm down. We practiced deep belly breathing by placing our pinkies above our belly buttons, and breathing in through our nose for three counts. As we breathed in, we made sure our hands were being pushed out by our lungs. We breathed out through our mouths for four counts as we watched our hands fall back down.

We talked about counting, and what it really does to help us. Counting buys us time and allows us to make better choices, because when we are counting we are unable to do other things like yell at someone or do something physical. We talked about different ways we can count: forwards, backwards, by 5's, 10's or 20's. We also discussed how we can count the seconds we are breathing in and out.

We ended our lesson by discussing positive self-talk and how it helps us to calm down. When we use negative self-talk, we only escalate our strong emotions, making ourselves more upset and more likely to make negative choices. By using positive self-talk, we are able to calm down and think rationally about the right choice. We are also able to put things in perspective.

Second Grade: Jobs at Home, School, and Community; A-Z Careers; Job BINGO

For our last lesson on careers, we touched on a few topics. We began the lesson with a quick review of what we had talked about last week. Next, I had each student fill out a worksheet listing three jobs at home, school, and the community that they currently have. Students shared what jobs they do in all of those settings through class discussion. Once we had finished sharing, we created a classroom list of careers from A - Z.

We ended our lesson with a game of Job Bingo. In this activity, there were no names of jobs -- only pictures.  I would name a job, and students had to look and see if they had a picture of someone doing that job on their card. Students could win by having three across or four down.

Kindergarten: When I Grow Up, Career Day

For our final lesson on careers, we started out with a review of the Career Song we had heard last week. Next, we watched an episode of Buckalope Elementary about students attending a career day. A robot took the students interests and hobbies and created a specific list of jobs that each student might be interested. Each student picked a job to research, and they presented what they learned to the class.

We talked about the career day that is coming up next month at Chinn and all of the different careers we might see. We finished up our lesson by reading "When I Grow Up" by Kim Mitzo Thompson and Karen Mitzo Hilderbrand. Students found clues for each job listed to prove that it was the right job (uniforms, tools, etc).

Fourth Grade: Introducing Emotion Management

For the next two lessons, we will be working on emotion management. We started out the lesson by talking about what emotion management means: being in control of our own emotions. We watched a video clip where students talked about strong emotions they were experiencing, and we shared whether we had ever felt any of those feelings.

We talked about why emotion management is important. When we are not in control of our emotions, we can make decisions that get us in trouble. We also talked about how emotions are not good or bad, it is only the actions we take with those emotions that can be seen as good or not so good.

Next, we watched a video about a girl named Maia. Her teacher asked the class a question, and another student overheard her answer. The student took Maia's answer and won a pencil and free A test score for answering correctly. We watched Maia become angry as the student bragged to her, and we saw the different parts of her body reacting to her angry feeling.

We talked about the physical symptoms we feel in our body, and how we experience a feeling in both our minds and bodies. We ended the lesson by thinking of a specific strong feeling and identifying what physical symptoms we experience with that feeling.

Second Grade: Career Paths and Jobordy

For our first lesson on careers, we spent some time discussing the Six Career Paths. We went over this prezi and brainstormed jobs that would go under each career path. We spent the rest of the time playing Jobordy, a job-themed version of Jeopardy where students are divided into teams and given a list of careers. Students could select a question from any of the Six Career Paths, and each time would have an opportunity to look through the list and determine which job was the right answer. The first team to buzz in would have an opportunity to guess their answer, and the team with the most points at the end of the game was declared the winner.

Kindergarten: Hobbies, Interests, and Careers

For our final lessons this year, we will be focusing on career and student safety. For our first lesson on careers, we started out with a discussion about what a career is. we watched an episode of Buckalope Elementary on Hobbies, Interests, and Careers. We talked about the differences between hobbies, interests, and careers, and why we talk about careers in kindergarten.

The video focused on how interests and hobbies can turn into our careers, or they can remain a hobby. The episode ended with this song about careers.

We spent the rest of our time reading a book called "Whose Tools are These?" In this book, students are shown different tools that are used in occupations (stethoscopes for doctors, pencils for teachers, paint brushes for artists, etc.) Students would try to guess which tools went with with job, and then we would share what these different jobs consist of.

Fifth Grade: Calming Down

For our last lesson in this rotation, we worked on the final step of the Calming-Down Steps: Calming Down. We watched the rest of the video about Maia, who was experiencing strong feelings after James took her answer and won the funky monkey pencil and free A test grade. In our last lesson we had gone over the first two steps of the Calming-Down Steps.

1. Stop -- Use Your Signal
2. Name Your Feeling

This time, Maia uses the three Calming-Down Steps to help her handle her emotions and calmly work out the situation. Next, we watched the rest of the video about Jayla and Lydia, who were arguing about a bracelet. In this video, Jayla used deep-belly breathing to calm down, while Lydia used counting.

We spent the rest of the lesson practicing three strategies to use during the Calming Down step: breathing, counting, and positive self-talk. I asked students to brainstorm a time when they have experienced strong emotions, and begin to imagine that situation was happening again. This allowed students to re-experience the feeling of strong emotions in their bodies. We talked about what the students were feeling: shallow breathing, hot face, quick heartbeat, sweating, tense muscles. Next, we practiced breathing in deeply, filling our lungs, and making sure our stomach was pushing out with each breath in. During the exhale, we made sure our stomachs were falling back down.

Next, we practiced counting down from 10 silently while looking at the floor. We talked about why counting is so helpful: it buys us time. If we are thinking about counting, we aren't screaming at someone or doing something we regret. With that extra time, we are able to make better decisions. 

Finally, we discussed the examples of positive self-talk we had seen in the video. We talked about what happens when we use negative self-talk (our feelings get even stronger), and how positive self-talk calms us down. We ended the lesson by discussing which calming down strategies would work best for each person.

Third Grade: Accepting Differences

For our final lesson in this rotation, we talked about the importance of accepting differences. We began the lesson with a Brain Builder called "Common Ground," where students would use thumbs up or thumbs down to show their partner how they felt about a certain activity that I asked about. These hand signals allowed students to see if they had the same or different feelings than their partners. I asked students about five different activities, and many of them got a good mix of things they had in common and things they didn't.

We spent the rest of the lesson talking about a picture of two girls: Olivia and Yasaman. Yasaman, an Iranian student, was new to Olivia's school. We talked about what looked different about these students (how they dress, ethnicity, Yasaman wears a hijab). I told the students about others in the class laughing at Yasaman, and how Olivia sometimes does that too. We talked about why they might tease or laugh at Yasaman (they don't understand her culture, they've never met anyone like her). We also talked about how Yasaman feels when students do this: sad, hurt, embarrassed.  We talked about how teasing or laughing at someone because they are different is not respectful.

Next, we brainstormed ways Olivia and Yasaman were alike. Both girls liked to draw, and Olivia was very interested in the special Iranian drawings Yasaman was working on. We brainstormed ways Olivia could get to know Yasaman better, and Olivia ended up asking Yasaman about her drawings. Eventually the girls became good friends. We talked about what Olivia can do the next time someone teases or laughs at Yasaman (tell them its against the rules, tell them to think about how they would feel if it happened to them).

We ended the lesson by having students get back with their partners and think about three things they have in common, two differences, and one thing they would like to know about each other.

First Grade: Feelings Change

For our final lesson this rotation, we are learning about how feelings can change. We started out our lesson with a game of Mrs. Brumitt Says, but this time with "mixed-up" rules. Mixed-up rules consist of me replacing "touch your nose" with "touch your knees," meaning when I say to touch your nose, you touch your knees instead. I added more rules in as students became more comfortable with the first mixed-up rule.

We reviewed where to look for feelings clues, and then Puppy and Snail visited to talk about recess. They both enjoy recess, but they like different activities. We talked about how this was similar to Sally and Louisha, who we watched a video about last week. We recapped how Sally (scared, nervous) and Louisha (happy, excited) were feeling in the video, and talked about how the other students in the video felt.

We watched the second part of the video, where Sally's feelings changed as a result of Louisha being welcome and inviting to her. We identified her new feeling (happy), and we shared times where our feelings had changed about something. We talked about how empathy helps us to change others' feelings and can help them have a better day. We ended out lesson by practicing welcoming and inviting Puppy and Snail with different scenarios.

Fifth Grade: Introducing Emotion Management

Fifth grade started a new unit this week on Emotion Management. Our first lesson focused on what happens in our brains and bodies when we experience strong emotions. The amygdala responds to sensors in the body and reacts, not thinking, to the situation. We can activate the cortex, or thinking part of our brain, by using the Calming Down Steps:

1. Stop -- Use Your Signal
2. Name Your Feeling
3. Calm Down

In this lesson we primarily focused on the first two steps. We watched a video about two students, Lydia and Jayla, who are arguing over a bracelet. The two students begin screaming at each other during recess and ultimately walk away from the issue unresolved. We identified how we thought each student was feeling in the situation and why. We also talked about whether they would be able to solve the issue with these actions (no), and why they wouldn't be able to: not listening to each other, too angry to solve problem, not trying to solve the problem.

Next, we watched the two students use the first two steps in the Calming Down Steps, and we identified what they said for each of these steps. One student used the signal "Okay, hold on" to stop from becoming more frustrated. The other student used the signal "Wait a Minute" and said she was feeling "very angry." We will see how this scenario ends during next week's lesson, when students use the final Calming Down Step.

Third Grade: Kindest Kansas Citian

This week, we are taking a break from our empathy lessons to work on a writing activity called The Kindest Kansas Citian. All third grade students will be completing an essay where they pick one KC resident, who is above the age of 18 and not a relative of the student.

Mr. Heinerikson and I will read all of the essays and select several to submit to the competition.

First Grade: Similarities and Differences

To continue our unit on empathy, this week we are focusing on how people can have the same or different feelings about something. We started out our lesson with another round of Mrs. Brumitt Says, but this times students had to listen for whether I said to do "the same thing" or "something different" from what I am doing. Next, we reviewed where we can look for feelings clues: face, body, our words and how we say them, and the situation. We listened to The Feelings Song and sang along while doing the corresponding movements that go with the song.

We spent the rest of the lesson talking about two girls who were starting their first day at school: Sally and Louisha. We watched a video that showed how they were feeling along with several other students. Next, we talked about what was the same for the two students: both were girls, they go to the same school, it was the first day of school for both of them. Next, we talked about what was different: they had different colored hair, different colored dresses, different colored backpacks, and different feelings about going to school.

We used our feelings clues to tell how each student was feeling. Louisha was feeling happy and excited, but Sally was feeling scared and nervous. We talked about how their feelings were different, and why it is okay to have different feelings. We ended our lesson by doing an activity where pairs of students had to stand back to back and use their faces and bodies to show how they were feeling about a situation. The pair would turn to face the class, and the rest of the students would guess how they are feeling and whether they had the same or different feelings.

Fifth Grade: Disagreeing Respectfully

In this week's lesson, fifth grade learned how to disagree respectfully. We started the lesson with a scenario where students had to write one word that described their thoughts about a task their little sister had chosen for them to do all day. Once all of the thoughts were collected, we shared them as a class. Many of the thoughts were negative, such as boring, dumb, stupid, not fun, etc. We talked about what would happen if we shared those ideas with a little sister. Many students thought they would get in trouble, their sister would be sad, their sister would be angry. When we are disrespectful to others about disagreements, it is harder to come to a solution.

We spent the rest of the lesson discussing two video clips of students disagreeing. The first video showed two students disagreeing in a very disrespectful way. They blamed each other and used absolutes like "always" and "never" to describe what the other student does wrong. We talked about how the students voices sounded (yelling, loud, attitude), and whether the students were listening to each other (no). We decided that these students most likely will not be able to solve their problem. We also talked about how they have essentially made things harder on themselves, because now they will have to seek forgiveness from each other before they will be able to even think about solving the problem.

The final video clip showed students disagreeing respectfully. We noticed that their voices were calm, and the words they used were respectful. We could tell the students were listening to each other because they took the time to process what the other student said, and said things like "I understand." We also noticed that they did not use blaming or absolute language, and they kept their emotions out of it. They were able to come to a solution that was a compromise for both students. The students were able to come to a solution by speaking assertively about how they felt and listening with attention to what the other student was saying.

Third Grade: Conflicting Feelings

For our first lesson in our new rotation, we discussed Conflicting Feelings. We started off our lesson with a Brain Builder called Switch It Up, where pairs were combined into groups of fours, and partner A's and partner B's took turns asking each other how they felt for each scenario. Any time both A's or both B's had the same answer, the pair would switch places, moving them to a new partner. This Brain Builder emphasized the idea that people don't always have the same feelings about something.

We also talked about how people can have more than one feeling about something at the same time.  We talked about a girl named Eva, who was feeling both curious and nervous about Oobleck, a new substance her teacher had brought in for a lesson about liquids and solids.  The teacher gave students the opportunity to touch the Oobleck if they would like, and Eva wasn't sure if she wanted to. Students identified feeling clues for both curious and nervous, and also shared why she might be feeling each of those feelings. Students then had to think about each feeling by itself and decide whether they would touch the Oobleck if they had that feeling. Many students said they would touch the Oobleck if they felt curious, but they wouldn't if they felt nervous. We talked about what it means to have conflicting feelings, and why this was making it hard for Eva to decide what to do.

We brainstormed ways Eva could help herself decide: watching to see what others do, telling the teacher how she was feeling, or telling a friend. Eva ultimately decided to tell the teacher how she is feeling, and the teacher says it is okay if she doesn't want to touch it. Eva doesn't end up touching the Oobleck, and some others students make the same decision.

First Grade: Looking for More Clues

For our third rotation this year, we are continuing our unit on Empathy.  We started the lesson by reviewing our four skills for learning: focus, listen, use self-talk, and be assertive. We used these skills to help us be successful in our Brain Builder, "Mrs. Brumitt Says."

We listened to "The Feelings Song," and students learned the corresponding dance moves for the chorus.

• Everyone has feelings - hug torso
• We show them on our faces - point to cheeks
• We feel them in our bodies - hands on stomach
• We tell them with our voices - cup mouth

Snail came to visit and told the students about his balloon that had popped. Students had to use the feelings clues we already knew (face and body) to determine how Snail was feeling. We also talked about how the words people say and how they say them (voice) can also be clues.

We spent the rest of the lesson talking about two photos. The first one showed a student named Julien who was curious about what was inside of a brown paper bag that was being used for a science activity. We used our feelings clues to determine his feeling: curious. We talked about what clues showed that he was curious, and then a third clue was introduced: the situation. The situation, or what is happening, can help us to identify how someone is feeling. 

We finished the lesson by looking at another student named Rita, who was trying to learn how to double dutch jump rope, but couldn't seem to get it. Students used feeling clues to decide how she was feeling (frustrated), and then pointed out the clues that showed that feeling. Students also identified the situation that was causing this feeling.

Kids' College: Career Interest Inventory

For our second lesson in Kids' College, students logged into Missouri Connections to take a career interest inventory exam. Students set up their passwords as 4thGrade when they logged in. They spent the rest of the lesson taken an 80 question career interest inventory that determined which of the 16 career clusters were the best match for their interests.

They used their results to complete this worksheet, where they had to find three different occupations for each of their top three career clusters and determine which career cluster might be the best for them.

Kids' College: Occupation Research

For our final lesson in Kids' College, students logged on to Missouri Connections to research an occupation they were interested in. All students picked an occupation to research, and used Missouri Connections to answer the questions on this worksheet.

We concluded our lesson by sharing which occupations students had chosen and why.

Second Grade: Compassion

For our last January lesson, we finished our unit on empathy by discussing the final step: compassion. We reviewed the previous lesson about Tiana and Brandon and talked about what Tiana had done to make Brandon feel better about the science assignment. We also talked about how our skills for learning help us to have empathy. We must focus and listen in order to know how someone is feeling. Self-talk allows us to think about ways to help, and when we do something to help we are being assertive. We played a brain builder called Mum's the Word where students had to use their skills for learning to count around the room, replacing any numbers that contain four with "sun" and any number that contain six with "sun."

For the rest of the lesson, we talked about a student named Ayako, who was the helper of the day. The teacher had asked Ayako to pass out supplies to students for an assignment, and while Ayako was walking with the supplies, she tripped on her shoe string, spilling the supplies. We talked about how Ayako felt (sad, embarrased), and what clues showed us that feeling. We also talked about whether we had ever spilled something and felt embarrassed. Because we have experienced something similar, we are able to have empathy  for Ayako!

Kareem, another student in the class, also saw Ayako slip and fall. He used his feeling clues to notice how she was feeling, and he wanted to say or do something to help. Students shared with their partners their ideas for how he could help: ask if she is okay, offer to help, say something kind. Kareem was able to help Ayako feel better because he had empathy for her! Because Kareem had care and concern for Ayako, he asked if she was okay and helped her clean up. We talked about how compassion is empathy in action -- meaning, what you do because of your empathy. We ended the lesson by sharing examples of times we had shown  compassion.

Kindergarten: Same and Different Feelings

For our last lesson in our January rotation, we learned that students can have the same or different feelings about something. We started out the lesson by talking about what same and different mean, and then playing a game of Simon Says where students had to do the same or different action from what I was doing. Students used their skills for learning to be successful in the game, and the brain builder provided them with an opportunity to start thinking about what same and different look like.

We had a visit from Puppy and Snail, who were talking about how they liked to ride the merry-go-round. Puppy likes to ride fast on the merry-go-round. Snail prefers to ride slowly. They have different feelings about the same thing! We spent the rest of our lesson talking about two boys who were playing on the chain ladders on the playground. Eddie enjoyed playing, and appeared to be happy and excited. JeVonne was afraid to climb the chain ladders. We talked about what we noticed that was the same for the two boys, and what we noticed that was different. We talked about how we thought they felt, and which clues we had seen that showed us that feeling.

Second Grade: Different Preferences

Last week, we learned about preferences. We talked about what preferences are, and whether we can have the same or different preferences. We started our discussion on preferences with an activity called Human Bar Graphs, where I read different scenarios and students had to show whether they always, sometimes, or never like that activity. Through the activity, we were able to see that we had many different preferences about different things in our classroom.

For the rest of the lesson, we talked about two students who were working on a science assignment. For the assignment, they had to hold a worm and examine its different parts. Tiana was excited to hold the worm, but Brandon was disgusted. Tiana was able to use her feeling clues (face, body and situation) to see that Brandon wasn't feeling the same way she was, so she asked questions to figure out how he was feeling. Once she knew he didn't want to hold the worm, she thought of things she could say or do to help him in this situation.

Students took turns sharing with their partners what they thought Tiana should do to help. Ultimately, Tiana ended up telling Brandon it was okay that he didn't want to touch the worm, and she offered to hold it for him so he could look. We talked about how Tiana used the steps of empathy to figure out how Brandon felt, and because she had empathy she was able to help him.

We ended the lesson with another round of Bar Graphs, this time with students noticing whether they and their partners had similar or different preferences. We practiced having empathy by telling our partners "it is okay to have different preferences" whey they didn't have the same answer.

Kindergarten: Identifying Anger

For this week's lesson, we worked on identifying another feeling: anger. We started our lesson with a review of the feelings we had discussed last week, interested and scared. We reviewed the four skills for learning (focus attention, listen, use self-talk, and be assertive) as well as the three places to look for feelings clues: face, body, and the situation.

We began our lesson with a round of Simon Says to engage all of our skills for learning. We talked about which skills we needed to be successful in this brain builder: focus, listen, and using self-talk. For the rest of the lesson, we talked about a student named Noah, whose sister had taken his very special toy without asking. We used our feeling clues to determine how he was feeling, and most of us agreed he felt angry. We talked about which clues on his face proved this feeling, as well as what the situation was that caused this feeling.

We decided whether feeling was a comfortable or uncomfortable feeling, with all students agreeing that feeling angry is an uncomfortable feeling, but we all feel angry sometimes. We also talked about how it is okay to be angry, but not to be mean or hurtful to others because we are angry. We ended our lesson by thinking about a time we felt angry and sharing that memory with the rest of the class using Be Calm Bunny.

Kids College: Career Paths

For my Kids College course, I am teaching students about careers. Our first lesson focused on the six career paths that most jobs fall within. We started off the lesson by discussing why I had chosen careers for fourth graders. We spent the rest of the time discussing each of the six different career paths and brainstorming the different jobs within each one. When time allowed, we divided into groups where students shared what they want to be when they grow up. For the remainder of our lessons in Kids College, we will be using an online site called Missouri Connections.

To see this lesson's prezi, visit:
http://prezi.com/r3rky11hzd1i/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Second Grade: Feeling Confident

We are continuing our unit on empathy for our January lessons. We started off our lesson with a review of what empathy means, why it is important, and where we can look for feelings clues: faces, bodies, and the situation. We played a Brain Builder called "Choral Clapping" where students were divided intro groups and had to clap on different counts. I was the counter, and I purposely sped up the speed as we started our activity. The purpose of the activity was to frustrate students and show them the clues that told me that feeling -- what I noticed in their facies, bodies, and the situation (I didn't give them time to practice, I sped up the counting when they didn't feel comfortable with the activity).

For the rest of the lesson, we talked about a student named Estela, who was learning how to tell time. She was working very hard on an assignment about telling time, but it was very difficult for her. We talked about how she was feeling: sad, frustrated, confused, and embarrassed. We also brainstormed different ways she could get better at telling time: ask a friend for help, ask her teacher for help, ask a parent for help, practice at home, and use self-talk. Estela practiced for weeks and learned how to tell time. Now she feels confident! We talked about what it means to feel confident, feeling sure about our ability to do something. We also talked about what being confident doesn't mean -- bragging about how good we are.

We ended our lesson  by talking about what makes us feel confident, and the students shared with  their partners what they feel confident about. By the end of the lesson, students knew what it means to be confident, what it looks like when others feel confident, and what they feel confident about.

Kindergarten: More Feelings

This week, we continued our second lesson in the empathy unit with more discussions about feelings. Because of the break, we took a few minutes to recap what we had learned in our last lesson: where to look for feeling clues (faces and body), what a comfortable feeling means, and what an uncomfortable feeling means. We also recapped our four skills for learning: focus attention, listen, use self-talk, and be assertive.

We started warming up our brains with a round of Think, Turn, Tell. Students were asked to think about a time where they felt surprised, and when all students had their answers they shared with their partners. Next, we listened to a new song about feelings, where students had specific body movements for different parts of the song. The movements are as follows:

• Everyone has feelings - hug body
• They show them on their faces - point to cheeks
• They feel them in their bodies - hands on stomach
• They tell it with their voices - cup mouth

We spent the rest of the lesson discussing two different feelings: interested and scared. We looked at a photo of MiKayla, who was listening to her friend explain a new game they could play. We talked about what she may be feeling, and we all agreed she seemed interested. Next, we looked for clues that showed that feeling (eyes wide, looking at friend, not talking). We practiced our interested faces and shared them with our partners. Then we talked about a third place to look for feeling clues: the situation, or what's happening! When we know what is happening, we are more likely to correctly guess how someone is feeling.

We also looked at a photo of a student named Austin, who was at the top of a very tall fireman pole. We agreed that he looked like was scared or afraid, and we found several clues that proved this feeling: his eyes were down, eye brows were down, he was looking down, frowning, he was holding onto the fire pole very tightly. We talked about how we look when we are scared, and how not everyone looks the same when they are scared. We ended the lesson with a review of what we had talked about.