Blog Archives

Yoga and Mindfulness

1/29/2017

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 (and you can see in the pictures in this post):

· 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

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Second Grade Feelings

1/22/2017

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Dear Second Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we have been continuing our unit on friendship. The last time we met, students worked in teams to act out scenes where they asked to join a group and included others in a way that was kind and flexible. For this lesson, we are taking time to think about some of the emotions, or feelings, associated with friendship. Friends have a big impact on how we feel. When things with our friends are going well, we feel happy, safe, and comfortable. When we have problems with our friends, 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 three 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

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3rd Grade Problem Solving

1/22/2017

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Dear 3rd Grade Parents and Guardians,

The last time we met, students spent time thinking about the role bystanders play in a bullying situation, and the different ways people who see bullying happen can help. They learned that one thing bystanders can do is simply include the person who is being bullied.

Including others is something we talk about frequently at Armstrong, and is one of the ways we help to make our community strong. This week, I am asking students to continue thinking about including others. It is easy to say we will include other people. But what if the other person was mean to you all last year, or never lets you be their partner, or even picks their nose? Students shared that they would have a much more difficult time including others in these trickier situations. Here at Armstrong, each of us has to make a commitment to include all our students. It does not mean they have to be your friend or come to your birthday party, but here at school, everyone who wants to deserves to be part of the group.

In thinking about including others, it is important to acknowledge that there are times when you really do not want to include the other person. Often, this is the result of a conflict you are having with them or a problem you have had in the past. I believe that if that conflict can be resolved, including the other person becomes less of an issue.

To hopefully alleviate some of these conflicts, I would like to use our next few lessons to further develop our students’ problem solving strategies. To begin, we used the second half of this lesson to review some ways to calm your body down when you are upset. Strategies include:

Taking three deep breaths
Counting slowly to 10
Thinking of something that you like and makes you feel good

Using a strategy to calm your body down is one of the most important things you can do to successfully resolve a conflict. It helps put your brain in a place where it can think through the problem and thoughtfully brainstorm ideas to resolve it.

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

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Kindergarten and First Grade Calm Body Strategies

1/16/2017

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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

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3rd Grade Bullying Awareness Continued

1/9/2017

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Dear 3rd Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, third grade students are continuing their work on bullying awareness by thinking about the role bystanders, the people who see bullying happen, play in resolving a bullying situation. As part of the lesson, they are watching a video from an organization called the NED show (you can watch the video by copying this link and pasting it into your browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeqQCyQOCPg).

The video uses the term "Upstander" to describe people who do something to help a victim of bullying. It recommends four strategies. They are:

1. Be a Buddy
2. Interrupt
3. Speak Out
4. Tell Someone

As part of this lesson, students are thinking about how they might use these strategies to help resolve different bullying situations. If you have a moment, ask your child about some of different situations they considered and the strategies they might use to resolve them.

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

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2nd Grade Including Lesson

1/9/2017

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Dear 2nd Grade Parents and Guardians,

Here at Armstrong, one of the best things we can do to make 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 acting out scenarios in groups. 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 everybody feels included?

Students are doing an excellent job of creatively finding solutions to some challenging situations. 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

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Yoga and Mindfulness

Second Grade Feelings

3rd Grade Problem Solving

Kindergarten and First Grade Calm Body Strategies

3rd Grade Bullying Awareness Continued

2nd Grade Including Lesson

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