In grades 3-5, we read Marilyn's Monster by Michelle Knudsen. In the story Marilyn's frustated because all the other kid's monsters have found them and she waits and her monster never comes. I asked students to stretch their thinking, and think of the "Monsters" in the story as any skill or problem they are simply supposed to have the solution for.
We discussed that academically some students understand concepts the first time through and often leave us who struggle with a concept to feel like everyone gets this concept or understands this skill and I just can't. ( This also called a fix mindset ...we'll talk about this topic again). Marilyn decides to try a different strategy to get her monster...her brother tells her "It's doesn't work like that." But Marilyn decides to go after her monster anyway. Spoiler Alert*** she finds her monster. Who says " I got lost, that I got scared, and then I got stuck". I ask the children, can't they relate when they get stuck in their thinking for same reason. I explained that for some problems, we do know the solution, we have been taught, or it just seems logical, but sometimes things happen outside our control: friendship issues, academic challenges, time -management etc... For the times when don't know what to do an feel stuck, here are the steps we can follow to help us. The choices we make may still have unexpected outcomes be it positive or negative and we may have to problem solve the new situation. Students wrote down a problem they had or are having and then went through the Problem-Solving Steps. Students who wanted to share did. It was great to walk around and see students thinking through the situations and even asking friends for help. I told them asking for help is always an option. Students learned these steps of Problem-Solving: D- Deep Breathing at least twice. S- Say the Problem T - Think of a way to solve it. E - Explore what could happen. P - Pick the best choice. Not to be ignored is the vital role that Deep "belly breathing" plays in being able to problem solve. It helps us get from the Amygdala, the emotional center in our brain, to the Prefrontal Cortex or the Thinking, Logical, Problem-Solving part of our brain. We have the power to choose how we react to a situation, even if when we have no control over the event itself. This week we discussed the steps in problem-Solving. We read What Should Danny Do? and interactive book that lets the students make the choices for Danny. With each situation Danny faced we discussed what we thought options to solve the problems could be. Then students voted on which of the provided choices Danny should make and we followed his journey.
Our Grant All-Stars were great at picking the best choices. I explained to them that the reason we practice these steps is because even when know what to do it can be hard to make the kind and respectful choice, so this reminds us to think about the possible outcome of our choices. As we saw in the story that even when make the best choice, sometimes other problems still arise or we aren't able to make the best choice because our emotions are in control and now we have to think about how to try again. Students learned these steps of Problem-Solving: D- Deep Breathing at least twice. S- Say the Problem T - Think of a way to solve it. E - Explore what could happen. P - Pick the best choice. We have the power to choose how we react to a situation, even if when we have no control over the event itself. Grades K-2
To explore diversity, difference or variety in people, we read All Are Welcome by Alexandria Penfold. I asked students to identify the difference that they see within the book, differences from themselves and or Grant School. Then students each completed a page that read: I am unique. I am me. I am who I want to be. They identified one why they were possibly different from their peers... it could be their hobbies, interest, favorite food, family, etc... The outcome of this conversation was that not all differences can be seen, and it is important to get know people around you to learn from them. Discussing what makes a person unique can be a great conversation starter and you find out that you may actually have more in common than you imagined. Grades 3-5 Just as I did with grades K-2, to explore diversity, difference or variety in people, we read All Are Welcome by Alexandria Penfold. I asked students to identify the difference that they see within the book, differences from themselves and or Grant School. Then each student was given a note card to write down one way they were possibly different from their peers... it could be their hobbies, interest, favorite food, family, etc... Students put their names on them, so I would know who wrote which statement. Even the teachers participated. Then I read each statement and others who the statement was true for stood up. Again this was to emphasis that not all differences can be seen, and it is important to get know people around you to learn from them. Discussing what makes a person unique can be a great conversation starter and you find out that you may actually have more in common than you imagined and helps to build community. Then the person who wrote the statement remained standing and everyone one else set down. I learned a lot about our amazing Grant All-Stars! This our 3rd-5th grade students discussed and practiced cooperation. Student began by sharing their thoughts on what cooperation means. Everyone agreed that cooperation was working together as a team to accomplish a goal. Students then played a Taboo Themed Card Game where I wrote words on a note card. Students goal was to work in partners to get the opposing team to guess the word written at the top of the card. Students couldn't say any word, or part of a word that is on the card, which was the only rule.
We discussed the activity and learned that there were skills necessary to cooperate such as: Listening to what the partner was saying and even body language; focusing your attention, using prior knowledge about friends and the topic to provide clues, and problem-solving. Students couldn't say the most obvious clue words. We also discussed when we are expected to cooperate and the difference between giving someone an answer versus clues so that they could stretch their thinking and learn something too. We are asked to cooperate everyday at school, at home as a family, and in traffic to navigate our community safely. I also stressed that cooperation is life-skill and everyone's skills, experience and perspective play in an important part in accomplishing any goal. |
AuthorLena Sheets Archives
January 2020
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