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Thursday 30 April 2020

Self Regulation Activity: Role Playing

I have been sharing Self Regulation Tools every Thursday but wanted to turn to some activities that you can do with your kids....

Strategies for kids and teens to help build self regulation skills, including fun and interactive games, books, mindfulness, calming strategies, and lessons. Teaching these skills for self-regulation and self-control can help students become more successful and gives them the tools they need. #selfregulation #selfcontrol #pathway2success

Use role-play. Using any of the topics you discuss as scenarios, act the situations out in small groups or partners. Not only is role-play a lot of fun for kids, but it makes it memorable. Note that it’s always most helpful to act out the socially appropriate way to handle situations. For this reason, it’s extremely helpful to partner students up with peer role models who can help kids brainstorm solutions for handling challenges.


Strategies for kids and teens to help build self regulation skills, including fun and interactive games, books, mindfulness, calming strategies, and lessons. Teaching these skills for self-regulation and self-control can help students become more successful and gives them the tools they need. #selfregulation #selfcontrol #pathway2success


Source: https://www.thepathway2success.com/15-strategies-to-help-build-self-regulation-skills/

Wednesday 29 April 2020

Get Outdoors: Animals

Okay, I have been doing weekly posts about getting outdoors but I wanted to include this post on animal connections this week instead. Connections to animals has benefits for SEL, compassion, empathy and caring. Here are some resources...
Animals:
St. John's Ambulance has a Paws 4 Stories community program which can be implemented in the classroom: https://www.sja.ca/English/Community-Services/Pages/Therapy%20Dog%20Services/Paws-4-Stories.aspx 

Monday 27 April 2020

Monday Math: Math websites

Last week I posted Math Apps. This week I will share a few websites (some have app versions) to check out.

Every Monday for the past month and next month I will share Math games and activities here on my blog.

Sign up for Prodigy — a free, curriculum-aligned math video game — to engage your class as you reinforce lesson content and essential skills.
It borrows elements from role-playing games (RPGs) such as Pokemon, as players compete in math duels against in-game characters. To win, they must answer sets of questions. As a teacher, you can customize these questions to supplement class material. The game also uses adaptive learning and differentiated instruction principles to adjust content, addressing each student’s trouble spots.

Engage elementary school students by pointing them towards games and puzzles on the Math Is Fun website.
Ideal as a learning station or for classes with one-to-one device use, the games range from challenging math classics — such as Sudoku — to counting exercises for younger students. The latter category uses concise sentences and cartoon characters, making content easier for these students to process.
Age Range: 1st – 5th Grades

Visit Get the Math with your students to solve engaging challenges, each related to using math in different careers and real-world situations.
The website contains videos with young professionals who explain how they use math in their fields, such as fashion design and video game development. You can assign challenges to your class after watching, which involve playing games. For example, one is based on using materials with different price-points and measurements to design a shirt for less than $35.
Age Range: 6th Grade and Up

Try Math Goodies for engaging, interactive tasks and lessons online.
The free website appeals to diverse learners by featuring puzzles, articles and word problems. Playing through the site’s content, students can — for instance — read an example-filled walkthrough about how to order decimals. They can then test their skills by completing exercises and challenges.
You can use the website to create custom worksheets, too. Fun for the class, useful for the teacher.
Age Range: 4th – 8th Grades

Have students visit the online National Library of Virtual Manipulatives to access activities that involve digital objects such as coins and blocks.
Created by Utah State University, the online library’s goal is to engage students. It does so by giving teachers activities to provide, as there are manipulation tasks targeted to students at every grade level. For example, a 6th grade geometry activity involves using geoboards to illustrate area, perimeter and rational number concepts. Ideal for classes with one-to-one device use, you can also use the website as its own learning station.
Age Range: 1st Grade and Up


Sources: 

Sunday 26 April 2020

SEL Sunday Reads: Kindness Books


Here are a few recommendations for Social Emotional Learning Picture Books, specifically around the topic of Kindness. Some of these books were suggested to me from teachers taking an SEL education course. Enjoy!

Image result for how full is your bucket

Every moment and action matters to a person regardless of age or gender.
The story follows Felix and throughout the day, we see how his actions and words impact the people around him. By saying something or doing something positive, fills someone’s invisible bucket with water. Saying or doing something negative drains water out of their bucket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5R6-2m_qHk

Image result for i walk with vanessa book

I Walk with Vanessa 

By Kerascoët
It is a wordless picture book about a girl Vanessa who moves to a new school and acts of kindness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGbJ_biCpzk


Image result for the invisible boy

The Invisible Boy  - By Trudy Ludwig

Brian the invisible boy is invisible until a new student pay attention to him and Brian slowly becomes visible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okAJ62ia63Q


Image result for ordinary mary's extraordinary deed

Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed 
By Emily Pearson

How one good deed can affect many others and inspire others too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVSrz-5ps7g


Thursday 23 April 2020

Self Regulation Activities

I have been sharing Self Regulation Tools every Thursday but wanted to turn to some activities that you can do with your kids....

Strategies for kids and teens to help build self regulation skills, including fun and interactive games, books, mindfulness, calming strategies, and lessons. Teaching these skills for self-regulation and self-control can help students become more successful and gives them the tools they need. #selfregulation #selfcontrol #pathway2success


What are your favourite movement breaks and physical exercises you like to include in your day?

Wednesday 22 April 2020

Get Outdoors: Gardening

I once worked at a middle school that had team gardens where they grew vegetables. Not only that, but through a community grant, and support of woodworking classes from a local high school, the team garden beds were built on the school grounds and then maintained by the classes. As a home ec teacher at the time, I was fortunate to be able to build gardening and the produce they grew into our classes. We used the vegetables for wraps and salads, we learned about growing and caring for our gardens. Such a fantastic opportunity!

Another school I worked at, I took my middle school class to plant trees for Earth Day. I still talk to a few of those students who have since graduated and moved on to be young adults and they still talk about how awesome that day was. Getting outdoors is so important!! And memorable!

I have compiled a few resources below around gardening, there are so many more out there! I encourage you to research.

I also have to thank teachers in the SEL course I instruct for some of the specific local resources from their communities.


How to Start a School Garden Project


This is an amazing program in BC that comes to your school and runs workshops and helps you grow with your class!

Spuds in Action
Great information on gardening and growing your own food:
https://greenthumbsto.org/
Our Eco Village:  Vancouver Island center that helps children learn about sustainable farming and the relationship between food production and human needs. Has hands on and on site programs. https://ourecovillage.org/

Another great local resource with workshops and educational resources: https://sierraclub.bc.ca/ 

Monday 20 April 2020

Monday Math: Math Apps


Sometimes, screen time can be beneficial. There are so many ways to learn and apps can be a great option for math activities. Here are a few I found ...


Number Line helps students visualize number sequences and illustrate strategies for counting, comparing, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Choose number lines labelled with whole numbers, fractions, decimals.







The Fractions app lets students use a bar or circle to represent, compare, and perform operations with fractions with denominators from 1 to 100. Choose the fraction model and number of equal parts. Use a color to select specific parts to show a fraction of the whole.





Students use Pattern Shapes to explore geometry and fractions, create their own designs, or filling in outlines. As they work with shapes, students think about angles, investigate symmetry, and compose and decompose larger shapes.




The Geoboard app is a tool for exploring a variety of mathematical topics introduced in the elementary and middle grades. Learners stretch bands around the pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more.



Many more math apps here