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We look forward to seeing you back at Jackson Avenue on January 9, 2023.

This month is the third in a recurring theme for my newsletters: social emotional learning competencies, which our teachers are fostering throughout the day. You are likely supporting at home too perhaps without even giving it much thought. The five areas are: self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision making, self-management, and relationship skills.

The area of relationship skills is the focus this month.

Relationship skills are "the ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. The ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively, and seek and offer help when needed." -CASEL 2017

At school and home, our students are experiencing relationships with peers, family, and other adults. The ability to develop relationship skills is an important skill we should all continue to build and refine. Here's how you can support your children in developing this competency.

In order to support our TK-2 students with developing and growing their relationship skills, you can focus on encouraging positive communication and behaviors, including turn taking, sharing with others, complimenting others, and paying attention when others are talking. Board games are a great avenue to both model and reinforce these important relationship skills. You can also tie in problem solving and conflict resolution skills - again, board games are a great source for skill development.

In supporting our older students in grades 3-5, board games are a great source of practice as they can develop skills of fair play, being a gracious winner, and accepting loss. This age group is also capable of enacting steps to conflict resolution through active listening, expression of feelings, brainstorming of solutions, and making amends. They can also anticipate conflict (Monopoly can get pretty competitive, for example) and with support often find ways to be proactive in avoiding it. Recognizing conflict is a part of life and that it can be navigated successfully with fairness, kindness, and respect is key, as well.

Like all these social emotional skills there is a lot more to this competency. I hope you will keep the importance of relationship skill development in mind as we all spend time indoors during the colder months with those we love the most . . .our families . . . and encounter the familiar phases of: "you sank my battleship", "ugghh, I landed on Boardwalk", and "king me". Happy playing!

Next month I will explore social awareness . . .

Jackson Avenue's AVID (Advancement Via Individualized Determination) focus includes inquiry this year (in addition to goal setting, organization, and note taking). As a staff, we recently finalized the alignment of our beginning approach to inquiry across grade levels. Here is what we are integrating in English Language Arts. This is specific to literature, but as students become more skilled and confident over time, we will build on that foundation, adding non-fiction questions. You can support at home when you read aloud from a picture or chapter book with your children.

Kindergarten: Notice and Note Signposts Strategies

*Contrast and Contradiction

Why is the character doing that?

First Grade: Notice and Note Signposts Strategies

*Contrast and Contradiction

Why is the character doing that?

*Aha Moment

How might this change things?

Second Grade: Notice and Note Signposts Strategies

*Contrast and Contradiction

Why is the character doing that?

*Aha Moment

How might this change things?

Third Grade: Notice and Note Signposts Strategies

*Contrast and Contradiction

Why is the character doing that?

*Aha Moment

How might this change things?

*Again and Again

Why does this keep happening again and again?

Fourth Grade: Notice and Note Signposts Strategies

*Contrast and Contradiction

Why is the character doing that?

*Aha Moment

How might this change things?

*Again and Again

Why does this keep happening again and again?

Maybe:

*Word of the Wiser

What is the life lesson and how might it affect the character?

Fifth Grade: Notice and Note Signposts Strategies

*Contrast and Contradiction

Why is the character doing that?

*Aha Moment

How might this change things?

*Again and Again

Why does this keep happening again and again?

*Word of the Wiser

What is the life lesson and how might it affect the character?

*Tough Questions

What does this make me wonder about?

*Memory Moment

Why is this memory important?