New book by Molly Bang!

I'm sure most of you have seen When Sophie Get's Angry: Really Really Angry

and I was so excited to get When Sophie's Feelings Get Really, Really Hurt two years ago.

So imagine how excited I was to see a new Molly Bang book on the Scholastic Preview!

This looks like the perfect way to explore mindset and perseverance. Here are some of my ideas for using the book.

1) Do an author study. Read more about Molly here.

2) Combine with a "power of yet" activity and bulletin board, like this FREEBIE from Lone Star Classroom. 

3) Partner with your favorite perseverance game like the Target dollar spot ring toss or create your own ring toss.

4) Get younger students excited by showing this video:

5) Explore Pinterest and tell me your favorite partner activity!

Scholastic Book Club- it's where I get a lot of my books

Every wonder how I manage to get enough books to give students and staff over 800 books each year?

Scholastic Book Club!

1) I asked teachers to volunteer to let me run their book club. Each year I have at least ten teachers willing to do this. Why? It's less work and time for them.
It allows me to provide books school wide. They don't have to do anything.


2) Next I created an account and listed all the different grades who I was serving.






3) When flyers come in I separate them into two piles: classrooms I am serving and teachers doing it on their own. I put the flyers for classrooms I am not serving directly in teacher boxes.

4) I have a library volunteer help me get the flyers ready. It's simple- you just pull them out and I staple a letter with my class code and ordering details to it. It's the perfect job to do while watching Monday night TV. Scholastic even creates the letter for you. I simply copy and paste and make 3-4 a page to save paper.



5) Put flyers in teachers boxes.


6) Wait for the orders to come in. Most parents order online. Some return checks to me and I enter the order myself.

7) Get the benefits! August and September are big months. You earn triple the bonus points, which means more free books. So, I really push the orders early on. I give books away as part of our character education awards, to teachers as an extension of class lessons, to classes as school wide incentives, to individual and small group members that achieve their goals, etc.

 

8) Deliver the books. When all the books arrive organize and deliver them. I've become known as the book lady. As I deliver books I do check in's with kids so it's a win win. Insider tip: when you submit an order print it out. When books arrive check them off. Books don't arrive all together, so you may get parts of orders. This helps you track what still needs to arrive.

9) Celebrate!!

10) Extra perks: send books recommendations to parents that partner with program topics. For example, in Sept. I recommended books about school and in Oct. books about kindness. You can also start a classroom wish list!

Throw Back Thursday Update

I can't believe i originally posted this on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015! wow how time flies. 

I recently got to visit some of my favorite 4th grade teachers who also used this book for their back to school lessons. Here is how I used it and here's how they used it:

"What If Everybody.."

I love this story for so many reasons:

1) The illustrations really engage the students.
2) You can introduce so many topics with it:
           - Character Education Traits like responsibility, respect, and citizenship.
           - The importance of classroom, school, and community rules/laws.
           - Rules and consequences
           - Cause and effect
3) It works for a variety of ages. It's always hard to find a book that appeals the masses, but I've used this book for grades 2-5th and they all love it.

In fact I love it so much I made some discussion cards for students and FREEBIE activities here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_6T4rR2pFj5MEVnUjNCQWE1cE0/view?usp=sharing. You can use the cards to help facilitate discussion as you read or as a game (Quiz Quiz Trade) at the end of the story. You could also use the cards as writing prompts!  Get them at my TPT store.

These discussion cards are a companion for the book "What If Everybody Did That" by Ellen Javernick. You can use the cards as you read the story or as a discussion/review game at the end. This 20 page packet includes: 80 question cards, directions to play Quiz Quiz Trade, and connections to Common Core and ASCA Mindsets. Some of the cards ask similar questions, but they are differentiated for your grade and reading level of your students. There is also a blank card for you to create your own question.

I also like partnering the book with A Perfectly Messed Up Story to talk about how you can take care of school supplies? What if everybody ate snack while reading library books? 

Here is how my 4th grade teachers used it:

Agenda: 
Listen as I read.
Model expectations for materials.
Discuss in small groups.
Create a class chart.
Independent Work.



You can get all the worksheets here on TPT.
Check out more back to school activities from Jillian Starr here.

Help I'm overwhelmed by TPT!

Do you ever feel this way? I do! In fact sometimes when I go back through my purchases to find something I find 20 other things I forgot I had purchased. So I thought I'd share my favorite purchases from TPT- the purchases I use the most and of course the books I'd pair with them.

Rooted in Reading- Attendance Small Grps

This year I got to work with Tiffany Buckles (not Buckles for too much longer 😊 ), an incredible intern from CNU. Attention all HR departments- if she ever applies to your district hire her immediately.

We called ourselves the "counseling girls" (an ode to the amazing Gilmore Girls) and I gotta admit I think we were an amazing team. We combined my addiction of children's book/biblotherapy and her wisdom/love of owls and thus the "Whoooo Loves School" small groups were formed. I can't brag on these groups enough, but the data speaks for itself!

Read more about our "Whoooo Loves School" small group.....

Mushy Manners

I've heard a lot of talk about bad manners in our cafeteria. So I pulled together some book resources for our teachers to check out. They can read them during our morning meetings or during a rainy indoor recess.

What is your favorite book on manners?

Everyone Loves Bacon! A lesson on popularity, fitting in, and being yourself.

Last month I read The Invisible Boy  with a class and the conversation turned to popularity, fitting in and being yourself. The conversation was so good we needed a follow up lesson. Here it is: 

Standards:

ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors (Domain/Standard):   Mindsets: 1. Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/ emotional and physical well-being 3. Sense of belonging in the school environment Behavior- Social Skills:

2. Create positive and supportive relationships with other students5. Demonstrate ethical decision-making and social responsibility6. Use effective collaboration and cooperation skills 7. Use leadership and teamwork skills to work effectively in diverse teams 8. Demonstrate advocacy skills and ability to assert self, when necessary 9. Demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment

Student Learning Objectives: I can create a definition of popularity. I can work in a group, with a partner, and by myself. I can explain what it means to fit it.

Materials: Everyone Loves Bacon, paper bags, markers or crayons, I Wish slips of paper, post it notes or scrap paper.

Procedure:

 As a table/ group discuss what they think is the definition of popularity. You can also have them discuss what it means to fit in. Then on a post it note or scrap papers ask them to write down their definition of popularity and/or fitting in. This will be a working definition they can change and add to  throughout class. 

Next, read and discuss Everyone

Loves Bacon.  Discuss how the books relates to popularity and fitting in. We also talked about self esteem/confidence vs. cocky and arrogant. If possible (because the class has had previous lesson) ask how it relates to The Invisible Boy. You can also discuss feeling comfortable with yourself and the pressure to fit in.

Next we played a quick game of  Quiz Quiz Trade for review.

Then, I asked students to think about the discussion they had today and the book and go back to their definition. They could add on, change, etc. and then they turned in for their exit ticket.

Next, ask students to think about a time they might have hidden something about themselves because they wanted to fit in. I asked them to think of things they have been scared to share for fear of fitting in.  

Each student then got to decorate their paper bags with things we know about them, that they are comfortable sharing, that anyone might know about them that isn’t private. I had a bag as an example.  

Then ask students fill out the I Wish slips; I wish my teacher knew.... I wish my class knew..... I wish my parents knew.....and I wish.....,  These slips went inside of their bags, because they are often hidden and take a lot of courage to share. If time allows, students may share their answers.  

Lastly I invite students to leave their bags with me if they want me to know something about them that is on the inside. I took them home over the weekend and read and wrote notes back to the students. 

A student with Down's shared she wished her class knew how scared she got in crowds. 

Plan for Evaluation: How will each of the following be collected? 

Process Data: number of classes taught, number of students in each class

Perception Data:  Number of students able to create a definition of popularity/fitting in. Number of students able to answer QQT game questions.

Outcome Data:  Number of student self referrals about concerns about fitting in or popularity. Number of student self referrals for peer relationships (including bullying and friendship).

Follow Up:  Teacher will be given a copy of Lady Pancake and French Toast for follow up in morning meeting.

What book should I buy?

I hear this question all the time! What books should I buy?
Well there isn't an easy answer, because the answer is different for everyone.

First, look at your data! Do a stakeholder survey of topics that are most relevant to them.  I use Google Drive to create an easy Google Form that I can email to parents and teachers. I can also put it online for students. Also, check out your referrals. What are you getting the most referrals for? Next,  check your current inventory, do you have books on those topics? If not, start there! If bullying is not a top issue in your school, but study skills are then you know what books will be getting the most use. So as much as I love the Weird Series for bullying, I would start putting my funds towards books like Annie's Plan.

What is the focus of your school? Where are you heading? I have tons of books on friendship, but I noticed this year I needed more books on handling stress and more titles geared towards our PBIS focus.

Look at your scope and sequence. When I plan out my year of classroom guidance lessons I always partner it with a book. This helps me gauge what topics I might need, but also helps me focus on what books I really want to use.

What do others love? Some titles are must haves like Mr. Peabody's Apples or What If Everybody Did That?. Check out what other counselors are using all the time.

Here are some of my favorite titles:

Here are some authors you can't go wrong with:

Jarrett Krosoczka



Todd Parr

Corey Rosen Schwartz

Mo Willems

Need more ideas? Check out my Good Reads page here: https://www.goodreads.com/PawsitiveSchoolCounseling