Counseling and Library Spotlight
February 2017
February Classroom Guidance Topics
Kindergarten: Handling waiting and managing anger.
First grade: Using calming strategies to handle anger, jealousy and worry.
Second grade: Using calming strategies to handle anger and anxiety
Third grade: Managing hurt feelings and handling accusations
Fourth grade: Avoiding jumping to conclusions and handling put-downs.
Fifth grade: Avoiding making assumptions by practicing calming strategies, asking questions, and gathering information.
Kindness Matters
Individual Counseling
Library News with Mrs. Robinson
Digital Citizenship
With the addition of our new iPads this year, we hit Digital Citizenship pretty hard with all grade levels at the beginning of the year. We continue to discuss digital topics such as Digital Literacy and Digital Advertising throughout our classes with each grade level during our library class time. Common Sense Media (commonsensemedia.org) is a great resource for teachers and parents to use. They provide guidance on digital topics as well as being a great resource for finding out about apps, movies, and books for students.
MakerSpace
MakerSpace is a new movement in school and public libraries that promotes creativity and collaboration. It’s a place where students can gather to work on creative projects and share ideas, knowledge, and equipment. Moyer Library has started to tryout some MakerSpace items such as 3D pens and various new robots. The Library will be moving to a temporary trailer next year, but when the new Moyer Library opens in 2018 we will have a designated area for MakerSpace activities so students can develop their creative abilities!
Hour of Code
The Hour of Code is a global movement by Code.org reaching millions of students in 180+ countries through a one-hour introduction to computer science and computer programming. We celebrated the Hour of Code during our library time for 1st, 4th, and 5th grades. Students also participated during an after-school activity with our Technology Coordinator, Heidi Neltner, which introduced coding to many of our students. There are several coding apps, such as Scratch and Kodable, on the students’ iPads that they can use to practice and develop their coding skills. We even added some new coding books to our library!
Second Grade Research
The highlight this month is the second grade research project that is taking place right now. Students will become official nonfiction authors as they research and collect information from many different sources to create a nonfiction book. We will be using books, encyclopedias, as well as digital content to discover facts about a topic that they can use to create a nonfiction book. The finished products will be added to our library collection and will be available for check out by any Mustang student! The second graders are learning a lot about how nonfiction books are created and are proud of themselves for becoming authors!
Spring Book Fair
Our bi-annual Scholastic Book Fair will be held March 15-21 in our library. Your child can shop during their regularly scheduled library class time and we will have a Parent Night during our Spring Open House on Monday, March 20, 5:30-7:00. Join us in getting books in the hands and homes of students. We will be looking forward to this fun event.