Visiting Feelings + iSpy feelings

1 more week....!

The countdown is on...1 week left of this school year! I know many schools across the country have already sprung their students for summer vacation, but here in Montana we are still chugging away.

To wrap up our unit on feelings, we utilized the book Visiting Feelings by Lauren Rubenstein.  This is a great book to help kiddos visualize their feelings and learn how to be curious about these feelings rather than overwhelmed by them.  After reading the book with the Cookie Monster kiddos, we played a game of iSpy feelings.  

For this, we simply wrote various feelings on cards and taped them around the room.  Utilizing the "Describing Your Feelings" worksheet, we "spied" feelings that were different shapes, textures, weather patterns, and sounds.  I started the game to give them an idea stating "I Spy with my little eye...a feeling that is soft."  Based on this information, the kiddos had to look at all the feelings and try to guess which feeling might feel soft.  If no one could guess the feeling after the first round, a second clue was given, "this feeling is quiet."  Most of our groups were able to engage in this game proactively with little direction, but it was a little tricky for our younger groups.

The "Describing Your Feelings" worksheet was a great tool to help children think about feelings in different aspects and was a great transition after reading "Visiting Feelings."  For more feelings ideas, check out my Pinterest board!

Kristina

Do you ever get STUCK?

Hang On!

It's almost the end of the year.  And I, for one, feel like the train has picked up speed exponentially and I can't find the brakes.  As I try to locate the emergency stop, here's another feelings activity we have been working on...

Do you ever get STUCK in a feeling or situation?  Do you ever feel like, while you're stuck, the feeling or situation just keeps getting bigger?  Well then, you might have some things in common with Floyd.  Floyd's kite becomes stuck in a tree, and he tries a lot of different ways to get his kite un-stuck...including an orangutang, a rhinoceros, a light house, the house across the street, and even the kitchen sink.  Soon, Floyd forgets about his kite and is distracted by all these other "things" stuck in the tree.  Eventually, Floyd's kite returns!

The Cookie Monster kiddos thought this book by Oliver Jeffers was riotously silly, which it is...but it also provided a good discussion about places WE get stuck.  Our group of 3rd graders frequently shut down in their classrooms when they feel overwhelmed.  This book and activity gave them the power to express times when they feel stuck and process through some coping skills.  Instead of allowing our tree to get full, the 3rd graders decided practicing deep breathing, using words instead of actions to express feelings, and taking a short break before feeling totally overwhelmed were great ways to avoid becoming stuck.

If you haven't discovered the greatness of Oliver Jeffers, you should definitely begin with STUCK.  It's quite silly, but can be utilized to relate several therapeutic interventions.  Some other great titles by Oliver Jeffers include: The Heart in the Bottle (a must for grief and loss), Lost and Found & Up and Down (friendship), and The Way Back Home (friendship).


Kristina

Feelings, Feelings, and more...Feelings!

Happy mid-May!

We have been busy, busy bees the last few weeks in the Cookie Monster room.  The past weeks/month have been dedicated to exploring...Feelings!  The Cookie Monster kiddos have learned:

• what feelings are
• how we experience feelings 
• how we sometimes get "stuck" in/on feelings
• to be curious explorers of their feelings

We utilized books like "The Way I Feel" by Janan Cain and "Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day" by Jamie Lee Curtis to help explore what feelings are.  We also utilized "Glad Monster, Sad Monster" by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda to learn feeling expression:

As you can see, the Cookie Monster kiddos have been learning A LOT about feelings.  Stay tuned for more posts on all our new knowledge!


Kristina

Appreciating the Teacher

Mrs. Thackeray.

My first grade teacher.  She was the BEST!  First grade is a pretty fun year in general, but I don't remember anything super fantastic about it (other than I had chicken pox and they were the worst).  What I do remember is how my teacher treated me- with kindness and compassion.  I've had several incredible teachers in my lifetime, from actual paid teachers to mentors and friends who have impacted my growth.  But I will never forget the way Mrs. Thackeray always greeted me with a smile and helped me work through difficult days with compassion rather than shame.

Did you know it is National Teacher Appreciation Week?  Every year, the beginning of May is set aside to say "Thanks!" to those special people who spend 7-8 hours per day impacting impressionable brains.  And boy, working in a school has taught me it couldn't come at a better time.  Nearing the end of the year, teachers and students are bombarded with all the "stuff" they have yet to accomplish this school year.  Every week there seems to be 50 field trips, to where, no one knows.  Teachers have "had it up to here" with behaviors that have steadily eaten away at their patience throughout the school year.  

What better time to remind all these exhausted teachers just how much they have accomplished this year?  I'm thankful everyday for these tireless, dedicated, inspiration starters.  But how often do I actually tell these wonderful people this?  National Teacher Appreciation Week of course!  Kelly and I decided to do something extra special this year for all our Terrific Teachers.  With the Cookie Monster kiddos, we made posters saying "Thanks for helping me grow!"

How cute did these turn out?!  It was great to introduce the topic to all of our groups and hear all of the different ways teachers have helped our Cookie Monster kiddos.  Our third grade group of boys have definitely challenged their teachers this year in the realm of calm compassion.  It was heartening to see the kind, colorful posters these "tough" boys made for their teacher, who is not always their favorite person.

Beyond helping our students show appreciation, Kelly and I decided to go a little further in expressing our thanks...by providing breakfast one day this week!  I got to be creative (yay!) and show gratitude to some pretty exquisite educators.  

  

Happy National Teacher Appreciation Week to ALL teachers, near and far! Especially to Mrs. Thackeray :)

Kristina

P.S.- Want to do something special for the teachers in your life?  Check out Pinterest for some great appreciation ideas!

Join the Book Club!

Howdy fellow school counselors!

I just wanted to take a minute to spread some great news about...books.  I am a true lover of books.  Big or small, short or long, pictures or no pictures.  As a lover of books, I often incorporate them into small groups and individual therapy.  Books are a great tool to help children process feelings and situations when they do not quite have the words and/or insight to express these experiences.  *SPOILER ALERT* I have some great upcoming posts about specific books and how we utilized them in the Cookie Monster room, stay tuned.

Today, I want to share a resource I recently discovered (because apparently I've been hiding in my cave of an office...).  Scholastic Reading Club.  Yes, those "book orders" from when you were a kid are still available!  I discovered this when one of the Cookie Monster kiddos trucked into our room and asked for help in picking out books.  This special firstie comes from an incredibly impoverished family and rarely has anything to call his own.  Thanks to a grant in our first grade classrooms, every single firstie gets $7 worth of books each month (which equates to 2-3 popular books or 1 super cool book with stickers, in this case).  In helping this kiddo develop an innate love of books, I also found books in the little paper fliers that would be great additions to our Cookie Monster collection.  

Since first grade teachers ROCK, I was able to order with the class and received "Bucket Filling from A to Z" for $4.  Yep, you read that right, $4.  I went on to discover, thanks to this fabulous firstie teacher, that I could log on to www.scholastic.com/readingclub and enter her teacher code to gain access to literally hundreds of books for rock bottom prices.  Most titles are only available in paperback, but you can still find a limited amount of hardback books for less than their cover price as well.  I have since gone a little book order crazy...but the Cookie Monster kiddos have definitely benefited from these finds.  Some of my most recent book orders have included The Way I Feel by Janan Cain, Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, and The Invisible String by Patrice Karst. 

So, connect with a friendly teacher in your school and go a little book wild!

Kristina

Have YOU Filled a Bucket Today?

Howdy Friends!

I don't know about you guys, but this school year feels like a runaway train all of sudden...everything is picking up speed and it will be over before we know it!  In light of that, I thought I better share some of the great work our cookie monster kiddos have been doing despite all the state testing and summer fever.

A few months ago (my how time has flown by!) I posted a book review of my weekend finds.   One of the books I invested in was "Have You Filled A Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud. This is a great book for discussing empathy and practicing kind words.  We utilized this book in several different ways including saying kind things to other group members, sharing times outside of group when others filled our bucket or dipped into it, and sharing ways to help someone whose bucket is low or empty.  Here are a few ideas on how to fill a bucket from our third grade boys:

• help people
• be kind
• give hi-5s
• say please & thank you
• smile

A great companion book is "Bucket Filling from A to Z" also by Carol McCloud, and Caryn Butzke.  This book is a great way to help small groups have open dialogue about all the different ways someone can be a bucket filler, or a bucket dipper.  While reading this book, our 1st/2nd grade group identified several similarities between the scenarios in the book and what really happens at school and home.  

An unknown bonus of this book was its help in developing a sense of insight and personal awareness.  As we worked our way from A to Z, the Cookie Monster kiddos were able to relate to situations we read about- both in being the victim of bucket dipping and in recognizing how to fill a bucket by "treating others as you want to be treated."

After reading both of these uplifting books, each group created a few bucket filling statements to share with the ENTIRE school!  We created a master list of all the kind, encouraging things we might want to hear...and then we made those super awesome words into cards...and then we hung them up in the hallway and invited the whole school to pick up a bucket filling card when they felt their buckets were too low!  Some of the kids wrote jokes to make the person laugh, some traced their hands to give hi-5s, and some simply drew a bright picture and wished the person a good day.  

The best part of this project, all of the Cookie Monster kiddos left small groups feeling good with their buckets full.  For more bucket filling ideas, check out the bucket fillers website!



Kristina

You Have Brains In Your Head, You Have Feet In Your Shoes...

HaPpY (belated) BiRtHdAy Dr. SeUsS!!

We celebrated in style in the Cookie Monster room.  It was a good day had by all...here are a few of our crafts & activities:

During craft time, we practiced positive social skills like sharing, using kind words, and showing patience for peers who worked more slowly.  I can't take credit for all the fun though, check out my Pinterest C S C T Boards to see more fun ideas for counseling and other activities!

Kristina