Safe Touch

In kindergarten this week, our emphasis was on safe touches. Students learned that a “good touch” is one that makes you feel good (like a hug from a family member). A “bad touch,” on the other hand, is one that makes you feel uncomfortable, confused or makes your “uh, oh” voice go off in your head.  Students learned to do the following three things if someone touches them in a bad way:

1.  Say, “NO, STOP!”

2.  Get away.

3. Tell a trusted adult.

After I felt like the students understood this concept, the class named trusted adults. Many answers the classes came up with were parents, teachers, grandparents, aunts/uncles, the principal, counselor, and the nurse. I handed out a worksheet that students could illustrate the trusted adults in their lives. Below is an example:

After the students were finished with this page, they each got a coloring page that read, "Your body belongs to YOU." This page reinforced the idea that no one can touch them without their permission.

This is such an important topic to understand. We encourage parents to have a follow-up conversation with their children about safety. Have a wonderful weekend J

-Mrs. Bagby

The Giving Tree

I have just re-discovered how much I love the book, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. This book highlights the importance of giving to others. Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, it seemed like the perfect time for our kindergarten, first, and third grades to realize what an impact giving has on others. In The Giving Tree, the tree gives everything she has to a boy that comes and visits her. The tree does not receive anything in return but, instead, gives out of the kindness of her heart.

After we read this book in kindergarten, the kindergarteners paired up to share ways they can be giving to others. I heard wonderful examples of their giving spirits! The students then had the opportunity to color a worksheet about a time they were giving to others and how it made them feel. These students really understood the value of giving to those who are less fortunate. I was so proud of them!

This kindergartener drew a picture of her giving a blanket to someone who was cold. It made her feel happy to give to others! 

After we read this book in first grade, the first graders had a chance to think of ways they can be giving to others. Some great examples were giving money to a charity, giving food to the hungry, sharing with classmates and friends, donating clothes to the needy, and donating old toys to kids who may not have any. What wonderful and giving students we have here at Gracemor! The first graders make their own giving tree by putting examples of giving to others on each of the apples.

This was my example of how I can show compassion to others.

This was a first grader's work. He did a great job!

The third graders also had the opportunity to think of ways that they can give to others. Instead of making trees, the third graders were placed in five different groups. Each group was given a scenario to act out, which demonstrated compassion and kindness. The five scenarios were:

1.   Doing something kind for someone else even when it is not convenient for you.

2.   Comforting someone who is sad or lonely.

3.   Caring about someone who needs help.

4.   Caring about family.

5.  Caring about the earth.

We have some great actors in third grade! This was a fun and interactive way for the students to practice being kind to others. Our Gracemor students really showed how compassionate and giving they are to others. I was so impressed by each and every student!

The Bullied Victim's Perspective

In first grade, we have continued our discussion about bullying. At the beginning of the lesson, I read the book, Weird! by Erin Frankel. What a relevant book from the perspective of the victim (Luisa). The bully, Sam, constantly calls everything Luisa does, “weird.” Luisa reacts to the bullying by withdrawing and hiding her true colors (polka dots). With the help of her parents, teachers, classmates, and friend, Luisa reclaims her true colors and love for polka dots.

This book was a great starting point on the activity that followed from Kirsten Muller and savvyschoolcounselor.com. The first graders were given a white sheet of paper and were instructed to write their names on the center. They were then given three colorful polka dots on which they wrote three things they like about themselves. This activity was so cute and turned out to be really fun!

We have also continued our discussion about bullying in third grade. To begin the lesson this week, I showed the third graders a fun and informational video about bullying. The link to this video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcFICCVWliY

The message of the video is how to recognize and prevent bullying. Bullying is one-sided, on purpose, repeated, and hurtful. These details have been discussed at length so that every student can recognize and prevent bullying behaviors.

After the video was shown, the students completed a “Five Ways to Handle a Bully” worksheet by cutting out each tip and pasting it onto a traced hand. The five tips are as follows:

1.     Stand up straight and say, “leave me alone.”

2.     Stay calm. Just say, “Okay” to everything they say until they get bored and go away.

3.     Talk to a teacher, grown-up, parent, or friend.

4.     Hold your hand out and say, “Seriously, stop.”

5.     Move away to a crowded area, one with lots of people.

By doing this activity, the students were able to reinforce what they already knew while also using a more hands-on and visual learning approach.

Have a great rest of your week! :)

We have continued to talk about bullying this week in our kindergarten guidance lesson. I started this week’s lesson by reading the book, Bully B.E.A.N.S. by Julia Cook. The B.E.A.N.S. stands for Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped. This is a fun and interactive book that teaches the reader how bullying happens and it gives the reader courage to stand up to bullying behavior. The bully in this story, Bobbette, is constantly making verbal threats to the students in her class. The reader quickly learns that Bobbette is learning this behavior from her older brother. The students in the story are able gain courage from bully beans (jelly beans) to stand up to Bobbette’s bullying behavior. This is a great story and a must-read!

In order to emphasize the severity of bullying, each student was given a contract to sign that declares Gracemor Elementary School a bully-free school. This contract holds the students accountable to their behavior and will be sent home with the students. I also have made copies of their signed contracts in case an incident comes up and the contract needs to be reviewed.

This is the Gracemor Elementary School anti-bullying contract, which will be signed and sent home with the students.

The students were given several opportunities to talk about bullying with a shoulder partner. I heard some great conversations about bullying! Have a fantastic week J

Brave, Bold, Kindergarteners

Since it is October, which is bully prevention month, we have been focusing on the topic of bullying. I began the kindergarten lesson last week by asking the students to define bullying in their own words. Many responses I received had to do with kicking, pushing, and hitting. The kindergarteners were surprised to learn that bullying is not just physical- it can be emotional and verbal as well. Many times students confuse bullying with teasing, conflict, and a mean moment. It was important to emphasize that bullying is repeated, intentional, and an imbalance in power.

In order to emphasize this point further, we read the book, Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Bullies by Howard Binkow. The kindergarteners loved this book and were able to point out all of the times the main character, Howard, was getting bullied. At the end of the book, Howard musters up the courage to tell his teacher. Once he tells his teacher, the bullying subsides. We then talked about the importance of telling a trusted adult (like a teacher) if they see someone getting bullied or feel like they are getting bullied.

The students colored pictures of themselves telling a teacher that someone is being bullied. I got this idea from schoolcounselingbyheart.com.

This is an example of what our kindergarteners colored. This picture is from schoolcounselingbyheart.com

This lesson incorporated the Missouri Comprehensive Guidance standard PS.3: Applying perusal safety skills and coping strategies and the American School Counselor Association National Standard (ASCA) PS: C1.6: Differentiate between situations requiring peer support and situations requiring adult professional help.

This week, we will continue our discussion of bullying. Have a great week! :)