We had a great week in social group and lunch bunch! In social group, we discussed self-control using bubbles. For more information about this activity, please click on the Resources tab and scroll down to Self-Control Bubbles. The kids responded really well to the concept and hopefully were able to tell you about it!
In Lunch Bunch, we completed an activity, "Awesome Adjectives That Describe Me". The students chose 3-4 adjectives to describe themselves and illustrated a self portrait. If you get a chance to check them out, they are on display in C pod.
The students are doing a great job of bringing their SCORES folders to social group. Almost all students have had their homework page signed by parents, so thank you for the support with that! I want the students to be responsible for their folder as well as accountable for their social skill learning.
Please let me know if you need anything!
Have a great week!
Welcome back to school!! Did everyone have a fabulous summer?! I really loved being a temporary stay at home mommy to my sweet Mateo! He turned one at the beginning of August, so I have been very busy baby-proofing our entire house, phew! I hope your children are enjoying getting to know their new teachers and peers in their classrooms. Things seem to be going well for everyone! I have loved seeing their happy faces in class!
I wanted to let yall know something new that I am doing this year. Each student who comes to social group will have a blue SCORES folder. This folder will need to travel from home to school each day. In the front of the folder, there is a table where we will be writing "homework" assignments for each day they come to social group. This homework will be related to whatever we are learning at that time. There is a place for you to sign that the student has done their homework. Some days it may be a journal entry (notepad included in the back of the folder) and some will be verbal (ie. they will have to explain something to you, ask you a question, have a structured conversation etc.) If they bring back their folder to social group with it signed, they get to color a box on a chart in my room. When they get to the top of the chart, they will get to have free social time in social group. I am stressing to them that it is their responsibility to do their homework and remind you to sign the folder. It's important to build that independence (with our help of course!).
Their homework this week is to have you fill out two forms that are in the front side of the folder. I attached my card for you to keep. The pages that are in the brads need to stay in the folder. They are there as a reference to your child and you.
Fourth graders should have brought home their folders yesterday. 1st-3rd and 5th will be bringing them home today, so be on the lookout and help them remember to put them back in their backpacks! Thank you for all your support! A strong home to school connection is vital for their success!
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
I look forward to an awesome year with your awesome social thinkers! -Angela
I am so excited to introduce my student teacher, Tristan Bankhead! She will be with us this semester and will be working closely with your children. She is already working hard with kids! Here is a little something from her:
Dear Boone Elementary parents/guardians,
I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself to you all, officially! My name is Tristan Bankhead and I just moved to Austin from College Station, Texas where I have been attending Texas A&M University. I have been going to school the past four years majoring in Special Education and will be graduating this December! I have already tested and am certified in general and special education. This semester I will be at Boone everyday working with Mrs. Cardenas in the SCORES class learning how to become the best teacher that I can be, this is also known as ‘student teaching’. I am very excited about the team I am working with, as well as getting to know all of your awesome kids!
Please feel free to ask any questions if you see me at morning assembly!
Respectfully,
Tristan Bankhead
There are only 11 school days left! That's just crazy! This year has FLOWN! As we wind down the year, students are working on their summer social stories. They are helping to write the stories. This week, social group students will be meeting their new teachers for next year. We will take a picture to include in their social stories. These books will come home on the last day of school along with report cards and Special Education progress reports.
If you are interested in private tutoring this summer, please let me know soon so we can set up a schedule. Contact me with any questions. -Angela Cardenas
Hi everyone! I can't believe we have less than a month left of school! We have been working hard in social group learning about that pesky Brain Eater and how we can use our Superflex to defeat him!
A few updates:
-I am sending home a packet about summer programs/camps available. There are some great camps out there!
-Every year, I make a summer social story for each child that comes to social group with me. This book will include pictures and information about Boone. Students will be helping write the stories this year, which will be neat! I will be taking the kids to meet their new teacher for next year and they will take a picture with her. This is a privilege that only social group kids get and I will be explaining this to them. It's important for them to keep this information to themselves and not tell all of their friends. This is a good opportunity to practice perspective taking because they need to remember that the other kids won't find out their teacher until August and we don't want to make them feel upset that they get to find out early, etc. Your child has been placed with a teacher we believe is the best fit for them. The social stories will not be completed and sent home until the last day of school, so be on the lookout in backpacks at that time.
-This summer, I will be providing private tutoring to anyone who is interested in receiving this service. The cost is $30 per hour. I am very flexible with scheduling and can meet as much or little as you wish. I can work on reading, writing, math or even social skills with your child. This can be an opportunity to work on things your child might be struggling with, to maintain current skills or to provide enrichment activities. As we all know, students demonstrate some regression over the summer. This is a great way to combat that and to keep structured learning in their schedule throughout the summer, which can help with the transition back to school in August. If you are interested, please email or call me and we can talk about details. Feel free to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested. I have corresponded with a few parents who are interested. Please get in touch with me and we can start working out details. I'm looking forward to working with my students over the summer!
As always, please let me know if you have questions/concerns or if there is anything you need!
Take care,
Angela
I can't believe we are already in April! Only two months left of this school year! Maybe it's having a new baby, but time seems to be flying by at rapid speed! Is it for y'all??! We have been busy in social group learning about Superflex. Superflex is an extremely beneficial curriculum written by Stephanie Madrigal and Michelle Garcia Winner. Check here for more information. Check out the Resources tab under Superflex for more information about our studies! In lunch bunch, we have been playing social interaction games. This week, we will be working on an obstacle course where the students have to work as a team to see how quickly they can get their team through the various obstacles. This week and next are both four day weeks. I hope everyone has a fabulous four day weekend with their families! Our sweet baby boy will be turning 8 months old on Easter Sunday. He is such an active and happy guy! His laugh is the cutest thing! :) As always, let me know if you have questions or concerns and if there is anything I can do for you or your child. -Angela
We've been having fun this week in the SCORES room! In social group, we have been working on perspective taking. Click here and check under "Perspective Taking" for details of this vital skill and the lesson activities students have been participating in. In Lunch Bunch, we have been playing Wii Bowling. Needless to say, the kids are enjoying it immensely! Before we pick teams and start the game, we have been discussing what makes a good team, how to encourage each other and enjoy playing together. I have been super impressed with how the kids cheer for each other! I've seen some super sportsmanship! Next week: In social group, we will be using various visuals to get us talking about other peoples' perspectives. Kindergarten through Second grade lunch bunch students will be playing "Hedbanz", a fun and interactive inference game. Students in Third through Fifth grade will be playing "Don't Say It!", a game where you have to describe an item without using certain "buzz" words. This game encourages teamwork and social interaction. I can't believe Spring Break is right around the corner! I hope everyone has an excellent week off from school. My husband and I are taking our 7 month old on our first road trip to Arkansas to visit family...should be quite the adventure! Wish us luck! ;) When we return from Spring Break, we will start our in depth Superflex activities. I am really excited because the kids get really involved in these lessons. I will be posting our activities and lessons so stay tuned for more information about Superflex...
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!
Next week, we will be working on the "bucket filler/dipper" concept. We will be reading the books, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud and How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer. Using these books, we will be discussing "bucket filler and bucket dipper" behaviors. Next week, ask your children if they are filling buckets! In the Resources and Tools tab, you can download the sheet we will use to document different behaviors. Feel free to print it out to use at home.
-Angela
I hope everyone had a fabulous break! I enjoyed time with my family and sweet baby boy!
In social group, students will be discussing New Years Resolutions in regards to their social skills. They will be writing goals that they want to work on. We will display them in the SCORES room so they can be reminded of what they think is important to work on for themselves. You can see an example under the "resources and tools" tab.
In Lunch Bunch, students will continue working on their conversation skills. We will be playing "Conversation Chutes and Ladders". Remember to encourage good conversation skills when you are at home. We focus on looking at the speaker, maintaining the topic of the conversation, asking questions and taking turns speaking and listening. You can learn more about this game under the "resources and tools" tab.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I am here to help! -Mrs. Cardenas
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