Reed School's January Newsletter
Starting 2023 With a Grateful Heart!
January's Lunch Menu
January's This Month at a Glance
Winter FastBridge Testing
Winter Weather Reminder
CASEL's Social Awareness + Character Education: Gratitude Conversation Cards
Taken from the Harvard Graduate School of Education/Making Caring Common Project
Looking for a fun activity for kids that also promotes gratitude? You can use “Gratitude Conversation Cards” to encourage family members to talk about what they are thankful for and why. Try to make it a weekly (or daily!) routine for your family.
Why focus on gratitude?
To become more thankful, children need to practice noticing and talking about what they are thankful for. Hearing trusted adults talk about what they are thankful for is important, too.
Overview
For: Parents and Caregivers
Ages: 4-10
Resource Type: Activity
STEPS
1. Prepare your conversation cards.
Print out or write out the following conversation cards so they are ready to use:
Who is one person who makes your life better? How? What would you like to say to them?
How has someone helped you recently and how did that make you feel?
Name something you have that you are thankful for. Why are you thankful for it?
Think of something fun you did recently. What did other people do to make that fun thing possible?
Who do you think is thankful for you, and why?
Name something about each other that you are thankful for and why.
How has someone inspired you recently and how did that make you feel?
Tip: If you’re writing out the conversation cards, try using index cards or even slips of paper.
2. Pick a card and read it out loud.
At least once a week, have each family member pull a card from the pile and read it out loud (help younger kids by reading with them).
Tip: It’s okay if your child can only think about concrete objects or things to be thankful for, like gifts or money. You can help them think more broadly by talking about where those things come from and, when applicable, the sacrifices people make for one another.
3. Lead by example.
By modeling for your child how to think and talk about gratitude, your child will learn to do the same.
Tip: After you’re done speaking, pause and give your child time to respond. Encourage your child to answer the questions completely. Listen carefully to what your child says and avoid speaking for them.
4. Make it a habit!
Try making this a habit every week, for instance, “Thankful Tuesdays!” To keep things exciting or different, encourage everyone to write a card or two every week and to drop it into a box or container that you can pick from when it’s time.
THE RESEARCH BEHIND THE ACTIVITY
Having frequent conversations that foster awareness and deeper understanding of gratitude may result in children being more grateful (Hussong, Coffman, & Thomas 2019). Gratitude is a process that unfolds into action by noticing what or whom to be grateful for, thinking about why one is grateful, and feeling positively about the experience of gratitude (Hussong et al., 2018). Although it is common for parents to focus on what their children should do to show gratitude (for example, to “say thank you”), it is also important to guide them to experience gratitude through noticing, thinking, and feeling (Hussong et al., 2019). Parents can have regular conversations with their children that prompt them to first notice what or whom they’re grateful for and to think about why they’re grateful. Parents can also share or talk about their own experiences with gratitude. Younger children may find it difficult to fully understand why they’re grateful, or what it is that someone did for them, but by listening to their parents talk about their own experiences of gratitude, they can come to understand and appreciate what it means to think about someone else, which is an important aspect of being able to feel gratitude (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002).
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt: Ready, Set, Go!
Second Step's Focus: Problem Solving
Prior to winter break, students were introduced to the CASEL 5 through various pieces of children's literature. As we continue on our SEL journey, students will be taught Problem-Solving Steps, language, and reinforcement strategies.
Messages that will be shared during Monday Morning Messages and Second Step lessons include the following:
-Everyone has problem-solving skills so we're capable of handling interpersonal conflicts effectively;
-Calming down fast helps you think so you can solve problems;
-Saying the problem without blame helps keep the conflict from getting worse; and
-Solving problems safely and respectfully helps us get along better with others.
Finally, STEP will be introduced so students can work through their ideas to come up with the best solution for solving their problems:
1. S- Say the problem
2. T- Think of solutions
3. E- Explore consequences
4. P- Pick the best solutions
These steps will assist students with self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship, and responsible decision-making skills.
By following these simple "steps", we're moving students in the right direction!
Social-Emotional Learning: Mind Yeti
Reed School's December Students of the Month
Reed students who demonstrated responsible citizenship throughout December were celebrated in a very special way. Students from each classroom were recognized for their outstanding efforts. Students nominated for this prestigious honor demonstrated the 3 B's in our pledge consistently throughout the month.
All students nominated for the monthly award were recognized during morning announcements. The District 92 Foundation for Educational Excellence generously funded the lawn signs for this school-wide project. Look for Student of the Month signs soon in your neighborhood!
Family Math Problem of the Month
This month's topic: Problem Solving with the Sneetches
Read the classic Dr. Seuss book with your child to engage with these associated mathematical problems.
Altogether, exactly 20 Sneetch children live on the beaches. How many might be Star-Belly Children, and how many might be Plain-Belly Children? What if there were 10 Star-Belly children? How many Plain-Belly children would there be?
Mr. McBean's Fortune: The Sneetches spent all their money going through Mr. McBean's star-on and star-off machines. It costs $3 to go through the Star-on machine and $10 to go through the star-off machine. How much did it cost a Sneetch to go through both the star-on machine and the Star-off machine once each?
Reading Aloud/ The Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Eight-Year-Old
Make the most out of story time:
Take Turns Reading
During read-aloud time, take turns reading to each other. This builds children's fluency and gives them an authentic audience to read to. You can alternate paragraphs, pages or chapters. For some extra fun, check out a children's play or a reader's theater collection from the library and take on the roles of different characters.
Pause Before Turning the Page
It's tempting to rush through books on the way to another activity. But by occasionally pressing the "pause button" before you turn a page — stopping to notice something about a picture, to explain a word, to ask a question, to make room for your child to ask a question — you can support your child's learning. Prompts like these show kids that you are engaged in the story too: "Wow. Why did he do that?" or "Oh my. I wonder what she's going to do now!"
Make Story Predictions
Experts recommend that parents and caregivers ask kids to predict what will happen next when reading a book together. This builds key literacy skills such as understanding sequencing, plot structure, character motivation and cause and effect. It's as simple as stopping periodically and asking questions like:
- What do you think is going to happen next?
- Oh no! What is she going to do now?
- What would you do if you were him?
- How are they going to solve this problem?
After they share their idea, respond with "Let's keep reading and find out what happens."
Make Connections to Real Life
Strong readers aren't passive — their minds are constantly making connections between what they read and the world around them. As you read aloud, pause to connect the book to other books you have read together, to your memories or to places or events you both know.
Taken from PBS Kids for Parents
Why Read To and With Your Child Every Day?
News From the Art Room
In 3rd grade we're also finishing up our clay llamas. Most classes have made the llamas, but they need to still be painted and decorated with yarn fringe. We will be beginning a new project later in the month.
News from the LMC
Congratulations to my Reed News Team Club for their outstanding newscast! These kids interviewed sources, took photos of neighborhood events, typed up their reports, and created an iMovie that was shared with the school! Kudos to Emmett, Harper, Drew, Paisley, Mia, Ava, and Andy!
Our 3rd grade math team participated in their first math competition this month! They completed in individual and team competitions. We are still awaiting results, but I am already so proud of them! Job well done Emma, Andy, Brendan, Elie, Brielle, Logan, Bradley, Ethan, Julia, and Timmy!
In addition, my power time groups have been participating in various clubs. 2nd grade is reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and learning to play chess. 3rd grade just finished reading "The Wild Robot", created biography posters, and are creating a model of the setting.
Finally, congratulations to the winners of our poster raffle! 10 kiddos that were caught being good during their LMC time this month, won a free poster that was purchased from the book fair!
During break, please take a minute to look for any missing library books, as well as to enjoy some books together as a family! Please also take some time to close out tabs, wipe off your child's iPad, and make sure it's charged when we return to school.
News From the Music Room
Happy New Year to our Reed Families! This month’s Composer of the Month is Lin Manuel Miranda. Students will be doing some activities related to this famous composer throughout the month.
Among many various activities, the third graders will be adding four sixteenth notes to their rhythm knowledge this month. The second graders will be doing some movement activities revolving around playing in the snow.
News From Physical Education
Brr... it is getting really cold outside. We know that students need to wear boots with the winter weather upon us. With that being said, students need to bring gym shoes with them. This is to keep them safe. We play games that usually involve a lot of moving. Boots do not keep our ankles and feet safe. Please also make sure that your student know how to tie their shoes. That is also to keep the students safe. We have had severe injuries from students not tying their shoes.
Coming back from break we will be working on our dance unit, juggling unit and muscle/bone unit. Just a reminder that we will be welcoming a student teacher in March. We are very excited to be hosting Miss Mane from ISU. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you need anything.
Mrs. Kolcz and Miss T