Small Moments, a blog about school counseling at Armstrong Elementary School - Small Moments

Kindergarten and First Grade I Feel Sentences

4/10/2018

Dear Kindergarten and First Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we are working on problem solving in K and 1 classes. The last time we met, students reviewed the importance of strategies like taking three deep breaths and counting to 10 to help calm their body when they are angry or upset. We also spent time working on yoga and mindfulness. For this lesson, students are starting to learn the words they can say to solve a problem. We are using a modified form of the I feel statement taught in second and third grade. It looks like this:

· I feel _________ when you ________.

Students watched videos of former Armstrong students acting out different problem situations and worked to brainstorm I feel sentences that might help solve the problems. They then wrote their own I feel sentences. By learning to verbalize their feelings and what is causing them to feel that way, our hope is to develop a problem solving foundation with our students that will continue to grow throughout the rest of their time at Armstrong and beyond.

You can use this language to help build your children’s problem solving skills at home as well. When your child has a problem, encourage them to try an I feel statement to help solve it. If you find they have a problem solving success, please consider sharing it in the comments section of this blog post. My hope is to give you as parents a forum to share your stories from home.

Thank you for your help with this important lesson.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: (508) 836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

2nd, 3rd Grade Problem Solving

4/2/2018

Dear 2nd and 3rd Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, I am working with 2nd and 3rd grade students on using words to solve conflicts. Here at Armstrong, we use a technique called an “I feel” statement. It is a strategy for verbalizing our feelings in a non-confrontational way. An “I feel” statement looks like this:

I feel __________ when you ____________. I would like you to ____________.

In the first blank, put the feeling you are experiencing.
In the second blank, put the action of the other person that has caused you to feel this way.
In the third blank, put what the other person can do differently to solve the problem.

3rd grade students also talked about the role of the listener. When someone is angry or upset with us and uses an “I feel” statement, the most important thing we can do is show that we listened. This is even the case when we disagree with what they are saying. To show we heard them, 3rd grade students are being taught “You feel” statements. They look like this:

You feel _________ when I __________. You would like me to _____________.

As part of the lesson, students were asked to create “I feel” and “You feel” statements they could use in response to sample conflict situations. You can try this strategy at home. When your child is feeling angry, sad, or frustrated at a sibling or peer, encourage them to use “I feel” and “You feel” statements. And if they find it useful, encourage them to post a comment in response to this blog post sharing their experience. Learning from each other is one of the best ways to grow as a community. We will also continue to practice this strategy over the next few lessons.

Two important reminders:

An “I feel” statement is one tool a child can use to solve conflicts with peers. It will not solve 100% of their problems. If a child has worked hard to verbalize their feelings and is not experiencing success, this is often a great time for an adult to step in and help.
The more neutral their tone of voice, the better chance the strategy will work. We have already talked about using relaxation strategies (taking three deep breathes, counting to ten, thinking of something that makes you especially happy) when you are upset. Using these, or even just walking away and waiting to solve the problem, can be helpful for calming your body down before talking to a friend or sibling.

Thank you for your help supporting this important lesson.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: (508) 836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

Kindergarten and First Grade Yoga and Mindfulness

3/26/2018

Dear Kindergarten and First Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we are continuing our unit on problem solving. Last time we met, we discussed the importance of being a calm problem solver. When we are calm, we are able to do our best thinking to brainstorm and choose strategies to solve challenging problems. During our last lesson, we practiced slow counting to ten and taking three deep breaths, both of which can be helpful calming techniques. For this lesson, I introduced yoga and mindfulness as other strategies that can help make us feel calm.

As part of the lesson, students learned some basic yoga poses and techniques. Specifically, we discussed:

· Balloon Breath: As students breathed in through their noses, they pictured their stomachs filling up like a balloon. When they exhaled, they pictured the balloon shrinking.

·Standing Mountain: Students stood up with their arms at their sides and feet hip width apart. They pictured themselves standing strong like a mountain. Then, they stretched their arms over their heads to create a pose called Crescent Moon.

· Ragdoll: Students then bent over and let their head and arms hang toward the ground. They spent some time taking balloon breaths in this bent pose.

We ended the lesson by going on an imagination vacation. Students closed their eyes and imagined they were at the beach, which is a calming place for many people. By thinking about the sights, sounds, and smells of a place many of them enjoy, they were able to bring the calm sense of being at the beach right into their classroom.

We will continue to incorporate these strategies and techniques into our guidance lessons. If you are interested, consider trying them at home. There are many great resources available for teaching children yoga techniques. Research shows that yoga and mindfulnees can support an improved sense of calmness and well being, and the best part, children really enjoy it!

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: (508) 836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

2nd and 3rd Grade Mindfulness

3/18/2018

Dear Second and Third Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we are continuing our unit on problem solving. Last time we met, we spent time considering different feelings. We also discussed the importance of being a calm problem solver. When we are calm, we are able to do our best thinking to brainstorm and choose strategies to solve challenging problems. Each year, we practice slow counting and taking deep breaths, both of which can be helpful calming techniques. For this lesson, I introduced mindfulness as another strategy that can help make someone feel calm.

As part of this lesson, students spent time considering what it means to be mindful, or present. They learned that being present means taking time in the moment to think about, be thankful for, and enjoy the things we get to do every day. This appreciative mode of thinking can be a helpful way to maintain a sense of context, even when things are hard. While being present is important, taking a mental break from things that are stressful can also be a helpful technique to calm the body. Like deep breathing and slow counting, it is another strategy everyone can use as part of their problem solving toolkit.

If you have a moment, ask your child to share with you what they think it means to be present, or mindful. They can even share their thoughts in the comments section of this blog post.

Thank you for your help supporting this important lesson.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: (508) 836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

Kindergarten and First Grade Calm Body Strategies

3/6/2018

Dear Kindergarten and First Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we are continuing our work on problem solving. Over the last couple of lessons, we have been working to understand the difference between expected and unexpected behaviors. We learned that no matter what, all of us experience unexpected things, or problems, from time to time. Therefore, learning strategies to solve these problems is really important.

Often, when something unexpected happens, it can make us feel sad, angry, upset, or frustrated. However, it is incredibly difficult to effectively solve a problem if we are upset. In order to best solve the problem, first we need to calm our body down.

In this lesson, we learned and practiced two strategies to calm our body. These are:

Take 3 deep breaths
Count slowly to 10

Each student will have a chance to practice both strategies and choose one to try over the next couple of weeks. If you have a moment, ask your child to show you the one they chose. And when something unexpected happens that makes them upset at home, encourage them to use the strategy to calm their body before trying to solve the problem.

Thank you for your help supporting this important lesson.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: (508) 836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

2nd, 3rd Grade Feelings, Calm Body Lesson

2/26/2018

Dear Second and Third Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we are continuing our unit on including others at school. For this lesson, we are taking time to think about some of the emotions, or feelings, associated with peer relationships. Other students have a big impact on how we feel. When things with our peers are going well, we feel happy, safe, and comfortable. When we have problems with others, we might feel upset, uncomfortable, even unsafe. As part of our lesson, we reviewed some of the feelings, both positive and negative, that we have throughout the day. We read the book, “The Way I Feel,” by Janan Cain, which uses poetry to describe different feelings.

In the second part of our lesson, we discussed ways to calm our body when unexpected things happen. When we have a problem with another person, we often feel negative feelings, and as a result, can sometimes make choices that make the problem worse. Since this is the last thing we want to do, our first job when we have a problem is to stop, and if we are upset, work to calm our body down. As a class, we reviewed three strategies to calm our bodies. They include:

Take deep breaths
Count slowly to ten
Think about something you like

At the end of the lesson, each student picked a strategy to try over the next few weeks. If you have a moment, ask your child to share the strategy they chose, and when they are upset at home, encourage them to use it.

Thank you for your help with this important lesson.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: (508) 836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

Kindergarten, First Grade Expected and Unexpected Behaviors

2/7/2018

Dear Kindergarten and First Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, I am introducing the vocabulary “expected” and “unexpected” to kindergarten and first grade students. These words can be helpful for teaching students the impact their behaviors have on other people. When we do things that are unexpected, it makes others feel uncomfortable, unhappy, and unsafe. When we do things other people expect, they feel comfortable, happy, and safe. When we make others feel good, we usually feel good too.

If you have a moment, please review the words expected and unexpected with your children. You can even use these words to reinforce expectations at home.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: (508) 836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

2nd, 3rd Grade Including Others

2/1/2018

Dear 2nd and 3rd Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we are continuing our work including other students. Last week, we brainstormed and practiced strategies for including others and asking to join a group. Including others is important, but sometimes it can be hard, especially if someone looks or acts different than we expect. For this lesson, we talked about the importance of understanding and appreciating those who appear different. By getting to know all students, we can learn to appreciate their uniqueness and find similarities that we did not even know existed.

To support increased understanding of others, we are practicing by becoming more familiar with students in our own classroom. Students are taking time to share information about their families. Even in a class where students have been together for over half of the school year, they are discovering that there are still new things to learn.

Being willing to learn about other people is an important strategy to help us empathize with others and increase our comfort with including all students.

If you have a moment, encourage your child to reach out to someone new at school, especially someone they might not typically.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: 508-836-7760 Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

Kindergarten, First Grade Feelings

1/22/2018

Dear Kindergarten and First Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, I am talking about feelings with kindergarten and first grade classes. One of the most important parts of being a kind member of a community is recognizing how other people are feeling and why. As part of our lesson, we are reading a story introducing different feeling words. We are then looking at and practicing feeling faces. Finally, everyone is choosing a feeling to write about and illustrate. We will use this work on feelings when we discuss problem solving over the next several weeks.

Building a feeling word vocabulary is important for everyone, and you can help at home. Try and find opportunities to introduce feeling words into the time you spend with your children. When they are feeling good, help them instead recognize if they are excited, surprised, confident, silly, comfortable, or proud, and what has caused them to feel that way. When they are upset, help them figure out if they are angry, sad, bored, jealous, grumpy, shy, uncomfortable, frustrated, confused, scared, embarrassed, guilty, disappointed, or lonely. Understanding these more complex feelings is an important first step to figuring out the cause of the feeling, and if it is something you don’t like, making it better.

Thank you for your support with this important lesson.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: 508-836-7760, Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org

2nd, 3rd Grade Including Others

1/16/2018

Dear 2nd and 3rd Grade Parents and Guardians,

Here at Armstrong, one of the most important things we can do to help create a strong community is to include others. All students enjoy being part of the group, and often have positive memories of times they were included.

Given that feeling included is important to everyone, we are using our lesson this week to focus on ways to ask to join a group and to generate strategies to make others feel included. Students are working as teams to act out different situations where including another person might be tricky or challenging. In preparing their scenes, they are asked to consider two questions:

How can we ask to join in a way that is kind and flexible?
How can we make it so everyone feels included?

Students did an excellent job of creatively finding solutions to some challenging including problems. If you have a moment, please ask your child to describe their role play and the strategies their team brainstormed to make all students in the group feel included.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH: 508-836-7760, Email: starrd@westboroughk12.org