This past week was very busy with benchmark testing and Valentine's Day!  Students in social group started working on the "Parts of My Heart" activity.  You can read more about this activity under the "Resources and Lesson Activities" tab.  It's great to get the kids talking more about their emotions.  We will continue working on this activity next week and will also be working on Friendship Poetry.  Information about this lesson is also under the Resources tab.  

My student teacher, Gillian McQueen, has taken over teaching Lunch Bunch.  She is gradually picking up parts of my schedule until she will eventually teach everything for a couple weeks.  This past week, she worked on a "Beach Ball Conversation" game.  The kids tossed around a beach ball that had questions written on it.  It got them talking about all sorts of things!  Next week in Lunch Bunch, she will be focusing on playing the "Good Qualities" game that I created.  Check out the Resources tab for more information about it.  She will also be having the kids do some team juggling.  Teamwork is an important skill to work on and juggling makes it fun!  

Monday, February 20th is parent teacher conference day.  There are many scheduling conflicts so I won't be able to make it to every conference.  If I am not able to make it to your child's conference, please let me know if you would like to set up a separate meeting.  

Don't forget that Tuesday, February 21 is the last day to turn in 25th Anniversary t-shirt orders.  We want every child to have a t-shirt on this fun day!  

I hope you and your children are enjoying this four day weekend!  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know!  -Angela  
 
We really enjoyed learning about being a "bucket filler or dipper".  Students shared how they have filled buckets and also how they dipped buckets and what they learned from being a bucket dipper.  I am continuing to use this language with students when I see expected and unexpected behaviors.  In recent conversations, some students have independently been using the bucket filler/dipper language.  I love that!  Using this same language at home will help them to continue to use and think about this concept.  There is more information about this concept under the "Resources and Tools" tab.  

This week in social group, we are working on problem solving and how we can make a situation better, using the book, We Can Make It Better! by Elizabeth M Delsandro.  Students are identifying the "not so good" events in the story and how to make them better.  Then, we will be role-playing these scenarios.  The scenarios are great for not only discussing problem solving, but also perspective taking, which is a extreme

In Lunch Bunch, we are discussing bullying.  Students are having really interactive conversations about this hot topic!