Lessons for April

K and 1st- Fairness

We are talking about our character education word "fairness" this month.
We started by reading one of my favorite books It's Not Fair.

As a follow up we used this super cool activity from www.teach-a-roo.blogspot.com 

The kids had to cut a pizza in a "fair" way for 5 people. It was awesome to see them problem solve. 
When we were done we did a fairness coloring sheet.

2nd Grade- Choices and Consequences

We started by reading If You Give A Dog A Donut or If You Give A Cat A Cupcake.

 

We talked about cause and effect. Then we did a venn diagram about consequences and punishments. We had a great discussion. To finish up we played a Plicker or Kahoot game based on Win Or Lose It's How You Choose.

 3rd grade- Test Taking

We started by watching a Brain Pop Test Taking Skills video and taking the quiz.

Visit TPT for the test taking version.

Then we completed "teat taking" gold pot activity by the amazing Savvy School Counselor. Get yours here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/School-Counselors-March-Activity-Pack-Savvy-School-Counselor-1110842

As a final follow up we drew comic strips about testing perseverance.

Gotta beat that stress

Helping students with stress is one of my favorite lessons. I think it's the former yoga teacher in me and the fact that teaching them means I naturally get to  practice as well.

Here are some of favorite resources:

Activities/Printables

*Free Spirit Publishing has so many great resources and printables, including:

*This Frustration Triangle - this is great for classroom lessons as well s small groups

*Pebble relaxation- For the life of me I can't remember where I found this! Anyone know?  It's a great visual activity to do with individual students.
You could also follow it up with activity from mindful kids. 

* Foam shield- I use this as a visual in small groups to talk about what coping skills they can use to "protect them" from stress. I found them in the dollar section of Target (aka where my paycheck goes).

*Relaxation stations- I love doing this for older students. We start with a class wide calming activity (see Go Noodle references below) or watch the Brain Pop on stress. Next, I set up stations around the room and  play calm music. The students silently work at each station and switch every  3-5 minutes. At the end they write for me what station they liked the best, why, and how it helped them relax.

Here are my favorite stations:
*Coloring sheets/Mandalas- there are one million coloring books out there now, but you can find a lot of sheets online.

*Play dough

*Journaling- Sometimes I leave it open for the students to journal on their own and sometimes I will prompt them. You can find lots of gratitude journals online and lots of gratitude prompts here 

* Brain Pop activity

*Reading- I will set out lots of books on stress and relaxation and allow them to read quietly.

*Breathing- I will put out the 5- Start breathing cards and let the students practice breathing

Technology

* iPads- if you have a few ipads you can always set up an iPad station and allow them to explore some fun apps.  Here are some ideas- Kids Relaxation and this amazing list from Common Sense Media 

Testing TIme

It's that time of year! Testing time.
Here is what I am doing to help our students and families prep for testing this year:

Class Lessons

3rd Grade- Since this is their first year taking it, we are doing test preparation.

We read "The Big Test" (or "Testing Miss Malarkey") and discussed the strategies in the book. Then we practiced in our class.

Visit TPT for the test taking version.

We completing the "teat taking" gold pot activity by the amazing Savvy School Counselor. Get yours here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/School-Counselors-March-Activity-Pack-Savvy-School-Counselor-1110842

Then if time allowed we practiced relaxing, just like the students in the book did. We did a Go Noodle, but you can also have them practice 5-star breathing.

4th Grade- We addressed perseverance and not giving up. We talked about ways we show perseverance at home, at school, and on "the test." We read my favorite book on this topic "The Three Ninja Pigs" and then students drew a Ninja Pig that represented something they wanted to practice, persevere and get better at. We then took turns guessing what each persons pig represented. On the back of the pigs I had a copy of the Scholastic word search (for my speed racers.)

Are you ready for testing season?

I know I'm not!!

It happens every year, yet every year I think wait it can't be testing time already. What gets me through this time is the hilarious http://www.loveteachblog.com/ and teaching some of my favorite topics like stress reduction.

Here are a few parent resources to help you get ready for testing season.

First,
I created this brochure for parents on tips on help their child deal with stress.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Stress-Management-Tips-For-Parents-To-Help-Their-Child-1744182

Next, I created a few testing tips for parents that you can also use in your classroom.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Test-Taking-Tip-Packet-For-Parents-1743462

This packet has everything you need to host a parent workshop. It's full of ideas, handouts, and games parents can play with students. I love playing the Let's Rock (roll and respond) game with my 3rd-5th graders. It's a great way to review our lessons on test prep and let them have fun during this stressful time.

This packet includes a variety of testing resources for parents and teachers. 

Parent Packet- This packet was designed to host a parent workshop. It includes parent conversation cards to help improve parent/student communication, a family game night roll and respond game, a resource page, and three pages of tips for before, during, and after the test.

Parent Brochure- Designed to be copied double sided to create a one page handout for parents. It includes tips for before, during, and after the test as well as additional resources.

5 Star Breathing- An activity for parents and teachers to practice with their students before and during the test to help reduce test stress.

What are your favorite testing resources?

Catching our breath.

When Brooklyn gets excited she whimpers. When she see's a cat, another dog, children, or anyone over the age of 40 her whimper quickly turns tragic. It's loud! Then the whimpers get faster, she starts pacing, and before you know it she's panting. I love her, but man is she an anxious little girl.

So today I put together some of my favorite resources for those in our lives and schools (or maybe even for you yourself) that are anxious:


            Strategies For Relaxation

5-Star Breathing: This simple breathing technique includes a good visual for students. It's easy to follow, remember, and use. I created a full scale sheet for practice and smaller stars for students to take with them/tape to their desks.





Belly Breathe with Elmo- This video from Seasme Street is still one of my favorites to show! The song is catchy and my first graders always make me play it over and over again. We watch it together once first, then I play it again and ask them to join in the belly breathing. They always want more, so I tell them as a reward at the end of class we will play it one more time.







Good ole fashioned stress balls! I love having stress balls around my office and so do the kids. They also tend to disappear, so I try and stock up whenever I can. You can get some cute stress balls on Oriental Trading (about $15 for 24),  you can make custom stress balls for about $1.15 each at Office Depot, and you can find several versions (some hysterical but not school appropriate) on Amazon, including this silly one.  I have also used play dough and attempted to make my own at school (it was fun but messy). Lastly, whenever there is a career fair, an armed forces information day, or free event with business prompting themselves I try and stop by because often I can
get one or two free stress balls.


Apps

Breathe 2 Relax-  This app allows students to follow along as they take deep inhales and exhales and learn how to belly breath. You can lengthen or shorten the counts of each inhale and exhale, so I think it's interesting to talk about how my inhale my differ from others, how long is too long, how long is not enough to calm down, etc. Ideally each student could have it on their own iPad, iPhone, etc. When I used it I only had one iPad so it was pretty funny to watch us all sit around the iPad like we were around a campfire and practice. The students got a kick out of it through. In high school this is a good resource for your students to put on their own phones.

Squeeze and Shake Stress Relief- When I was a high school counselor I remember letting many students "borrow" stress balls. The longer I am in this job, the more I realize there is no "borrowing."This would be a great app for middle school age through adults. It's a virtual stress ball! It also vibrates the phone which is great for any kids with sensory issues you might be working with. I am going to recommend this to our SPED department. Be warned though, it's not a free app (it's 99 cents) so you want to make sure students aren't buying it on their phones and then have the parents send you the bill.

Read about more apps here