This week, Students are learning the steps to problem solve. We are able to pick the best solution when we think of more than one option. Ask your child about problem solving with the Zax!
April's Habit is #6, "Synergize"!
We are learning how to work together and use each others strengths to better our team.
This week begin our "S" from our problem solving unit. We are learning to "say the problem". This step comes after we are calm and can manage our emotions. That way we can think clearly and make well thought out decisions. Over break help your student identify a true solvable problem or conflict. Remind students that when they are trying to state a problem they are having with another person without blame, they should avoid putting the other person in the statement in ways like, “You always... ” or “She never....”
5th grade, Jr. Hope Squad is up and running! These leaders are already being supportive and bringing hope to others.
March's Habit is Habit #5!
We have been working on not blurting out when others are talking and seeking all information before making a decision or opinion.
We have been working on not blurting out when others are talking and seeking all information before making a decision or opinion.
Hope and Kindness Week
This week we kick off our Jr. Hope Squad with awareness activities and pledges to get our students involved in a positive culture at school!
Mon. - wear PJ's day, "to show that we are comfortable being ourselves!"
Today we wrote messages of hope, kindness, and encouragement with chalk on our playground.
Tues.- wear crazy hair and crazy socks day, "to show your style and personality!"
Today we will learn about bullying prevention and make a pledge to stand against bullying. We will display it in a paper chain around our hall.
Wed.- wear our fancy or best dress, " to shine!"
Today we have an internet safety and cyber-bullying prevention assembly!
We will also be sitting by someone new at lunch and getting to know a new friend.
Thurs.- wear Disney/ Marvel gear, "to show the hero inside of all of us!"
Today is our Jr. Hope Squad kick-off assembly, we will formally announce our members and let our classmates know what Jr. Hope Squad is all about."
Fri.- Wear Purple, "we are raising awareness for hope and suicide prevention!"
At the end of the school day we will be doing a "Walk" around the school to show our support for Hope!
Week of Feb. 12th-16th
This week in 2nd Step we are learning about the difference between anger and frustration. We Are finishing up our lesson on anxiety. We are learning skills to calm down and think things through before doing something we will regret.
This week we practiced breathing, muscle relaxation, and grounding techniques (5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can or could taste), this helps in getting us grounded when racing thoughts and emotions begin to spin out of control. Ask your child to show you these skills and discuss which ones you use when anxious or frustrated.
What happens to your body when you feel scared? Ever since the first day, people have felt scared sometimes. Imagine trying to hunt a big mammoth [a kind of huge woolly elephant] for tea! Wouldn't you feel scared? The human body developed a special way to deal with situations where it was in any danger. It is called the 'Fight or flight' response. All this means is that: the body produces more adrenaline to make the heart beat faster. The heart pumps more blood into the muscles so that they can work harder. More blood pumps into the brain so that it can think faster. Skin gets red or flushed. Breathing gets faster to get more oxygen into the body. The pupils in the eyes get bigger to see better, and the body slows down digestion of food. All of these things happen so that the body is ready to stay and fight or run away. Our amygdala part of the brain makes qiuck decisions without thinking to help us to survive. It's the same thing that helps us not to touch a hot stove, run into the road when a car comes, or walk on the edge of a cliff.
Well, we don't have to go hunting for our dinner any more, but as we discovered at the beginning of this topic, there are still lots of times when we feel scared or anxious, so our bodies get all fired up the way that bodies always have done with the 'fight or flight' response. If we don't need to fight or run away we are left with these feelings in our bodies and may need to find a way to deal with them, like go for a run, dance, shout or sing out loud to use up all that extra energy.
We are learning to stop the react cycle, name our strong emotion, and find ways to calm down. When our bodies defense settles down, we are able to use the thinking part of our brain to solve our problem.
Your student was asked to find 2 favorite techniques at home and 2 more at school to use when strong emotions rise. Talk to your student about ideas for them and what you've seen work for them. You may also share what has worked and not worked for you.
Our Jr. Hope Squad members have been nominated and announced! Over the next week 3 members from each 4th-6th grade class will meet and join us in a "Kick off" program during Hope Week! 5th grade members will be mentoring 2nd grade!
This week we continue to talk about our response to strong emotions and focus on anxiety, fear, and worry. This page is a great way to explain these feelings:
www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=287&id=2224#1
We will continue to learn, work on ideas to cope, and practice our skills.
Parents: Hopefully you received the parent letter for the Elementary Jr. Hope Squad. We will nominate students this week for our team! If your child is nominated they will bring home a permission slip and will attend training and meetings with other students on the Squad. More info to come.
www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=287&id=2224#1
We will continue to learn, work on ideas to cope, and practice our skills.
Parents: Hopefully you received the parent letter for the Elementary Jr. Hope Squad. We will nominate students this week for our team! If your child is nominated they will bring home a permission slip and will attend training and meetings with other students on the Squad. More info to come.
This week we are learning how to stop our emotion responses by giving ourselves a signal. This allows us to think instead of react to our emotions and do something we might regret. Our amygdala in our brain is helpful for our survival but can cause us to react before thinking. What is your stop signal?
The Week before Winter Break, we began our "emotion management" unit! We learned about the fight, flight, or freeze response our body has to strong emotions. We talked about what physical changes can happen in our body when we feel strong emotions. Ask you student to pay attention to their body this week! Next week we begin to learn how to gain control of our bodies response. Have a great break! youtu.be/tliZHH92DL0
Thank you for the many donations for our 5th grade service project. Our homeless care kits were a success! Half of the kits were taken to the Road Home Family Shelter and the rest were passed out downtown by one of our 5th graders! We had over 100 kits!
Over the last couple of weeks, your student has planned and organized a charity project. They did a great job and showed compassion! The students learned to put their ideas into a slideshow to present their ideas to the class. Some of our students even added their slides to a website and made their project become a reality! Go 5th grade @ ELA!
Don't forget the 5th grade service project!
We are still looking for donations of/like the following:
Water bottle, Tuna and crackers, Granola Bar or cereal bar, Fruit snack or applesauce cup, Crackers with peanut butter or cheese, Gift certificate to fast foodHand wipes/sanitizer, Pack of Kleenex, Maxi pads, Toothbrush and toothpaste, Nail clippers, Band Aids, Chapstick, Comb or small brush, Mints, cough drops or gum, New Socks, Gloves, Hand Warmers
We will be putting these kits together as a class next week and will be distributing them directly to the Road Home shelter 12/8. We would love for all students to participate. Please send in items in as soon as possible. If you would like to sign up for an item please talk to your teacher.
We are still looking for donations of/like the following:
Water bottle, Tuna and crackers, Granola Bar or cereal bar, Fruit snack or applesauce cup, Crackers with peanut butter or cheese, Gift certificate to fast foodHand wipes/sanitizer, Pack of Kleenex, Maxi pads, Toothbrush and toothpaste, Nail clippers, Band Aids, Chapstick, Comb or small brush, Mints, cough drops or gum, New Socks, Gloves, Hand Warmers
We will be putting these kits together as a class next week and will be distributing them directly to the Road Home shelter 12/8. We would love for all students to participate. Please send in items in as soon as possible. If you would like to sign up for an item please talk to your teacher.
November 20, 2017 Today we will be announcing our 5th grade service project! We are making homeless care kits to be distributed to homeless people in our city. A wish list of items to help us complete our project will be sent home today with the home work note. We will continue to learn about compassion over the next few weeks as we work on our project. We are also learning what it takes to put an idea for a compassion project into action and make it a reality. Compassion is empathy in action!
This weeks Homework is… Find a way to show kindness and compassion to someone. Compassion is empathy in action! Put yourself in someone else’s shoes, predict feelings, listen, and do or say something to show that you care! Your student was also supposed to ask a parent what ways they have or do show compassion. Any traditions?
The Month of November, we will be practicing Habit#2! We practiced setting goals for our future and thinking about consequences of our choices. Next week we will begin to discuss compassion! Begin talking to your kids about what compassion means to you. How do you or your family show or receive compassion? Have a fun and safe Halloween!
We are working hard on "Accepting Differences" and "Disagreeing Respectfully"! We learned the meaning of the word "prejudice" and talked about judging someone before we know the facts. We focused on getting to know others and finding out what we do have in common. We also learned that it is okay to disagree. We can value other opinions and be respectful while "agreeing to disagree" with someone. We also discussed how we can use our "Listening with Attention Skills" to help this process. Below are two worksheets to practice at home. This is a great lesson for parent/child communication!
This Weeks Lesson
This week is Leadership Week! Our school takes part in the "Leader In Me" program. The program uses the 7 Habits. We will do a review this week and focus on one of these each month. Three Cheers for the future "highly effective people"! Our students will work on fun activities that include recognizing their friends for being a "lifesaver" and showing kindness. This is what "keeps us afloat"! They will also learn about the story "Have you filled your bucket today?" We will be filling each others buckets!
Week of 10-2-17 "Taking Other's Perspectives"
I hope you have learning all about your students friendships! They are becoming more aware of the skills they already have and the ones that they would like for friendships. They also are beginning to set standards for their friends to possess.
This week we will improve on our showing empathy skills. We are learning about taking others perspectives. This means seeing something through someone else's eyes. Parents, ask them when this might be useful. Our perspectives as parents are often different than our student's perspective. This week use these situations to explain your point of view. Also discuss how you couldfind a way to see their view. This helps with communication and builds up our relationships. Have a great week!
I hope you have learning all about your students friendships! They are becoming more aware of the skills they already have and the ones that they would like for friendships. They also are beginning to set standards for their friends to possess.
This week we will improve on our showing empathy skills. We are learning about taking others perspectives. This means seeing something through someone else's eyes. Parents, ask them when this might be useful. Our perspectives as parents are often different than our student's perspective. This week use these situations to explain your point of view. Also discuss how you couldfind a way to see their view. This helps with communication and builds up our relationships. Have a great week!
This week we are learning how to predict others feelings! This is a huge part of learning empathy. Ask your student to tell you how they think others feel when "out and about" this week. Ask them: What can I tell by their facial and body expressions? How would I feel if that were me? Have I been in that situation before, how did I feel?
9/11 Today is a great day to talk about empathy! Many lives were lost in 2001.
This week we are learning about being assertive!
Characteristics and Examples of Assertive Behavior:
-Accepting compliments comfortably
-Using direct statements to express your needs, wants, feelings, or concerns
-Using calm tone of voice
-Being comfortable saying both yes or no as appropriate
-Being respectful
-Being honest and open in expressing feelings
-Speaking clearly and maintaining eye contact
Assertiveness Activity
Discuss the main differences between aggressive, passive, and assertive behavior.
Look for situations at home where these behaviors are shown and discuss the following questions:
* How did the various parties feel about the conversation?
* Was the interaction assertive? If not, why not?
* How might the interaction have been more assertive, if at all?
* Report out on questions and interesting observations.
This week we are learning about being assertive!
Characteristics and Examples of Assertive Behavior:
-Accepting compliments comfortably
-Using direct statements to express your needs, wants, feelings, or concerns
-Using calm tone of voice
-Being comfortable saying both yes or no as appropriate
-Being respectful
-Being honest and open in expressing feelings
-Speaking clearly and maintaining eye contact
Assertiveness Activity
Discuss the main differences between aggressive, passive, and assertive behavior.
Look for situations at home where these behaviors are shown and discuss the following questions:
* How did the various parties feel about the conversation?
* Was the interaction assertive? If not, why not?
* How might the interaction have been more assertive, if at all?
* Report out on questions and interesting observations.
I hope you enjoyed the final "hoorah" of Labor Day! DId you show empathy? This week will will build our skills and learn to listen with attention.
Part of showing empathy is not only hearing but listening to the person speaking. Ask questions, repeat what they have said, focus on what they are saying, and make eye contact. We all want to be heard and shown that when we speak, it matters. Practice listening skills and eye contact this week. Ask your student to follow a few verbal directions, make it a game! See the "home link" below for more practice.
Our students are kicking off the year learning about empathy! When we want to be a good friend, we need to use empathy. We talked about the difference between sympathy and empathy. Ask your student to identify and explain a time when they used empathy.
Enjoy our fun Walk, Walk Song! www.edtv99.org/video/18145/
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Here are some more fun ideas to grow these skills at home.
We are learning and practicing "home row" in keyboarding! Your student may ask to practice at home. They also need to practice a safe and proper posture.
We also started keyboarding this week. This is in addition to the technology class they take weekly with Mrs. Wight. We practiced proper posture and finger placement. There are 20 skills we will be working on and will pass off each week. We also reviewed online safety. We are using S.M.A.R.T to remind us to play it safe online.
- S- Safe: Never give out personal information (full name, email address, phone number, home address, pictures, school name) to anyone you meet online.
- M- Materials: Do not access inappropriate websites or materials. Only access educational materials on school devices.
- A- Accept: Just like we don't accept candy from a stranger, don't accept emails, files, links, or messages from people you do not know and trust.
- R- Reliable: Not everything you read online is true. People might not be who they say they are. Make sure you check information before believing it.
- T- Tell: I will tell a parent, teacher, or trusted adult if someone or something makes me nervous, worried, or uncomfortable online. I will report cyber bullying, if I see it happening.