We also read a book called Germs Are Not For Sharing. We discussed good habits for keeping us and others healthy. (Head's up, there's still a LOT going around--we've had staff out all week with various bugs.) If you see your child washing their hands a bit obsessively this week, I'll take the heat for that. :)
This week, we continued to talk about Habit #5, Seek first to understand, then to be understood. We spent a lot of time talking about tone of voice and HOW we say things. We role played saying the same word or phrase but in different tones of voice. The students were surprised how something so simple could change the meaning (and often the outcome) of a statement or request. I typed up the lesson that we did on the white board so you could see and maybe reinforce the concepts we discussed. (Click on the heading "Listen Up and Stay Healthy" if you can't see the visual). We talked about what senses good listeners use and essentially dissected how a message is sent in communication. Peruse at your leisure. We also read a book called Germs Are Not For Sharing. We discussed good habits for keeping us and others healthy. (Head's up, there's still a LOT going around--we've had staff out all week with various bugs.) If you see your child washing their hands a bit obsessively this week, I'll take the heat for that. :)
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This week, we spent some time talking about the 7 Habits. On Tuesday, we made a five point scale with weather pictures. Habit #1 (Be Proactive) talks about carrying our weather, which means choosing what kind of day we will have or what kind of mood we will be in. We relate the weather to the five point scale because the children are used to utilizing that to identify their feelings and moods. On Thursday, we played the 7 Habits of Happy Kids game that I got last week. It was tough, but with some practice, I think we'll be acting out the habits in no time! Friday, we read about Habit #5--Seek first to understand, then to be understood. We talked about "listening with our eyes, ears and heart" which means slowing down and taking the time and energy to really hear people. We also discussed the different parts of communication--our body posture, face, voice and the words we say. We had fun saying the same words and phrases in different tones and stances. This is a tough concept, so we'll continue to work on it. Have a wonderful weekend and s Happy Valentine's Day everyone! This week, we spent some time talking about Valentine's Day, what it means, how we show people we care, etc. Mrs. Szalay did a cool lesson about giving and receiving valentines and what to do if you are disappointed with a valentine or something didn't work out as expected. Today, we also spent some time writing a letter to someone we like/love and exploring the reasons we like them. This is really tough for our kiddos--it asks them to process a WHY question, and that's hard! Overall, we had a really nice week. Next week is a short week. We'll be checking out some highlights from the Olympics and writing and talking about that. I can't wait to have some great conversations about this. If you have time over the break, take a few moments to watch some Olympic events! Thanks, and have a great, long weekend!
We have been learning about "flexible" thinking and "rigid" thinking. To make these abstract concepts more concrete, we used a pipe cleaner (flexible) and a popsicle stick (rigid). Students have had the opportunity to try to bend each of these items to see what happens. We've had fun acting out scenarios and situations and identifying rigid thinking and flexible thinking. I've listed the language we've used to discuss these concepts so you can also discuss them at home.
This language has been beneficial at school and is helping children understand that even though things don't always go our way, we can control how we react to a situation or problem. Try it at home!
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June 2017
Ann Reece
Ann Reece is the upper elementary teacher in the ASD program. Categories |