Small Moments, a blog about school counseling at Armstrong Elementary School
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2nd, 3rd Including Lesson

12/16/2015

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Dear 2nd and 3rd 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 used our lesson last week to focus on ways to ask to join a group and to generate strategies to make others feel included.  Students were broken up into groups and given scenarios to act.  In preparing their scenes, they were 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 did 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:  [email protected]  
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K and 1 Feelings

12/11/2015

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Dear Kindergarten and First Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, I have been 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 read a story introducing different feeling words.  We then looked at and practiced feeling faces.  Finally, everyone chose 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:  [email protected]
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2nd and 3rd Grade Gift of Nothing Lesson

12/2/2015

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Dear Second and Third Grade Parents and Guardians,

This week, we are taking care of some holiday shopping during second and third grade lessons.  Using the book, “The Gift of Nothing,” by Patrick McDonnell, we are thinking about meaningful gifts we can give to our loved ones.  While everyone loves to receive presents we can hold and play, sometimes, the best gifts don’t have to be purchased at all.  Simply spending meaningful time with a loved one can be as or even more appreciated than any tangible present. 

For our lesson, each student planned their own “Gift of Nothing.”  From baking with a parent to watching a sibling’s favorite movie, our students considered all of the details of the time they would spend with their loved one.  They are bringing these gifts home and hopefully will be giving them out over the holiday season.

If you are interested, you and your family can give more “Gifts of Nothing.”  Simply click on the link below to download the “Gift of Nothing” worksheet.  Once it is finished, you can fold the paper in half, decorate the outside, and give it with your other gifts this holiday season.

Enjoy, and happy holidays!
​
Sincerely,
David Starr
School Counselor, Armstrong Elementary School
PH:  (508) 836-7760      Email:  [email protected]

my_gift_of_nothing_worksheet.docx
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    David Starr is the School Counselor at Armstrong Elementary School in Westborough, MA.

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