Counseling Corner

SOAR lessons are based on the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) competencies. From November to March, we will highlight a different competency in our newsletter. Relationship Skills is the next CASEL Competency

Relationship Skills is the ability to make and sustain relationships with others in a multitude of settings. One must be able to effectively communicate, listen, and navigate social dynamics. It is also important to judge when one might need help in a given social situation.

These capacities could include (cited from CASEL's website)

• Communicating effectively
• Developing positive relationships
• Demonstrating cultural competency
• Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving
• Resolving conflicts constructively
• Resisting negative social pressure
• Showing leadership in groups
• Seeking or offering support and help when needed
• Standing up for the rights of others

• We will introduce the concept of Sizes of Problems and appropriate reactions to these problems
• We will focus on strategies to handle problems like deep breathing, walking away, and asking for help

• We will review Sizes of Problems and appropriate reactions to these problems
• We will discuss the concept of self-advocacy when addressing problems
• Students will begin to talk about how to appropriately accept feedback

• We will continue learning about Helpful versus Hurtful choices by discussing how our actions have the ability to make problems better rather than bigger.
• We will also learn what it means to be an ally and an upstander when we notice others making hurtful choices.
• We will learn how to use a "Bug and a Wish" to advocate for ourselves when others are making hurtful choices.

• We will review a "Bug and a Wish" as self-advocacy script and introduce how to use "I statements."
• We will also discuss walking away or taking a timeout when others have done or said something unexpected towards us.

• Students will begin to talk about peer pressure and what that looks like in their lives
• We will then talk about when Gateway Behaviors become Bullying

• We will introduce the many pieces that make up our individual identities and create our own identity webs.
• We will also introduce the harmful effects that assumptions and stereotypes can have.

Kindergarten

• “Waiting is Not Easy” by Mo Willems
• "Flexible and Stuck Thinking" by Michelle Garcia Winner

1st grade:

• "Back to front and upside down" by Claire Alexander
• "Big Problem, Little Problem" by Ben Feller

2nd grade:

• "Little Red Fort" by Brenda Mair
• "Speak Up" by Miranda Paul"
• "A Bug and a Wish" by Karen Scheuer

3rd grade:

• "A Bug and a Wish" by Karen Scheuer

4th grade:

• “Just Kidding” by Trudy Ludwig

5th grade:

• "The Proudest Blue" by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali
• "Sulwe" by Lupita Nyong'o

Mrs. Tori Dore (grades K, 1, and 4)

Email: vwintersdore@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615

Mrs. Jessica Simpson (grades 2, 3, and 5)

Email: jsimpson@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615