Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was Hat Day - some students brought hats to wear, and others borrowed from our hat box!

We have worked on adding a few more coping skills to our "tool box" of coping skills. We talk about the "size of the problem" and our "reaction" to the problem. Most problems at school are small: things like a broken pencil, someone taking cuts, not understanding how to do work, hearing a direction we don't like are examples of small problems. We might feel some yellow zone feelings - frustration, confusion, jealousy, even a little anger. We are learning that our reaction for a little problem should not be a big, red zone reaction (yelling, throwing, having a tantrum),  and our goal should be using a coping skill tool to get back to the green zone. Asking for help, positive self talk and breathing are all good coping skills for frustration and confusion.
We have added "size of the problem" to our tools and we've also added "move on". Moving on after a problem has been resolved helps us get back to the green zone. This can be challenging for children who might get "stuck", so we practice it a lot.
We did a social skills lesson about frustration. We learned that our body feels uncomfortable when we are frustrated and then practiced "stopping" and "naming our feeling" so that we can feel calmer and get help. Research shows that just naming a feeling can help decrease the intensity of that feeling.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our Room 113 families! Remember that there is no school on Monday, December 1. We'll see everyone back on Tuesday, December 2!

Thank you ALL for coming to parent-teacher conferences! 100% attendance from parents -no wonder your children are all making so much progress! Family support and teamwork between  home and school makes all the difference -I appreciate all of you! Your children will also appreciate your hard work someday (they just won't realize it for awhile!)
We had a wonderful trip to the Walled Lake Outdoor Center! Everyone did such a great job! We bundled up...

and got on the bus.

We took a walk outside to see the seeds in the garden that birds like to eat and got some seeds on our gloves. We also put food out at the bird feeder and watched birds come to eat. 

 

Inside we made pine cone bird feeders and potpourri to bring home with us. Afterwards, we all ate lunch together!

Just a reminder to everyone - the children go out for recess and need to have hats and mittens/gloves, boots and snow pants. Please put names inside of things. Your children may leave boots and snow pants here if they wish. It is also a good idea to pack extra socks in case feet get wet outside. It would help your child become more independent if you could practice putting on and zipping up winter gear. This is a skill your child will eventually need in a general education setting, so we try to encourage them and provide practice here as well. 

Pilgrims and Native Americans

We have begun our study of Native Americans and Pilgrims - this week we read some wonderful Native American legends. We read "Rainbow Crow" and  "The Loon's Necklace" and  and completed some art work to go along with them. We read "The Rough-Face Girl"  and compared it to Cinderella.  We also made Indian headbands and chose Indian names - ask your child to tell you his/hers! We are working to earn a special feather each day.
We are hard at work on our performance of "Bear Snores On" - we can't wait to show you our work on December 16 at 2:00!
The weather is colder so please make sure your child wears a warm coat and has a hat and mittens for the playground. It would be very helpful for your child to practice putting on and zipping his/her coat. Once it snows, they will need snow pants and boots. Please put your child's name inside his/her snow pants and boots. If you have extra, they may leave their boots/snow pants here.
Our Field Trip to the Outdoor Center is next Wednesday, November 19. We will be sure to post many pictures on our blog. Remember to bring a lunch and drink in a bag.

We added a few new building centers to our center chart. We feel proud when we can use a toy or game the right way!

This week we finished up our unit about day/night and nocturnal animals. Your child will bring home his/her nocturnal animal art pages to show you. We will begin our social studies unit about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving. We will learn about the voyage on the Mayflower, and what life was like when the Pilgrims arrived in America. We will read many Native American legends this month, choose our own Native American names, and earn feathers for our headbands.
We started a gratitude chain last week -look how long it is already!

We spend a few minutes each morning talking about what we are thankful or grateful for. You would be amazed at the many non-materialistic things your children mention!
The coping skill we are working on is "How big is the problem" -we have been talking about how it is smart to match our reaction to the true size of a problem. We are also working to understand that there are times when we will all be in the blue (sad, tired, sick, hurt), red (very upset, out of control, extremely agitated) or yellow (confused, annoyed, frustrated, jealous) zones, not just the green zone (in control, ready to learn, calm).  Coping skills are the tools that we can use to help us get back to the green zone. I have seen several students show that they can do this lately!

Big News!!! We are working on a performance based on the book, "Bear Snores On". We will work hard on it for many weeks, but we plan to perform for you at 2:00 on Tuesday, December 16 in our classroom. I hope that many of you will be able to come and see our performance and join us for a little reception afterwards. All family and friends are welcome!

Our field trip is on November 19 - we are going to the Outdoor Center to learn about birds and trees. Your child needs to pack a sack lunch and drink that day. We need you to return the permission slips that are coming home this week.
Parent Teacher Conference Day is next Thursday, November 13. I look forward to seeing you then!