Counseling Corner

Here are some concrete ways to practice Gratitude in the home:

1. Acknowledge what went "right" every day- keep a gratitude jar! No matter how small, children can spend time thinking of something they were thankful for that day.
2. Have children get involved- talk to them about opportunities to give back in the community and why it is important to help those in need. Giving back and gratitude can go hand in hand.
3. Go on a Gratitude Walk- have children intentionally observe their surroundings using their five senses. What do they hear? What do they see? It is the small special moments we miss when we don't slow down to appreciate them.
4. Write or draw a Gratitude letter- have children think of someone in their lives that help them everyday. Be specific and have them think about what they appreciate about this person.

(healthychildren.org, childmind.org)

The Elm Street School counseling team is aware of the growing concerns about the SNAP benefit funding expiration. If your family will be affected by this shut down, please reach out to one of us and we will direct you to the assistance needed.

Additionally, because of wonderful community support, we are offering help with winter gear (coats, hats, mittens, gloves, boots, snow pants) and Holiday meals and gifts. If your family is in need of assistance due to financial hardship, please reach out to someone on the team. We will need the following information: Ages and gender identity/expression of anyone living in the home under the age of 18, coat sizes, and the total number of people living in the home.

Please know this information will be kept confidential.

Counseling Team:

Shannon Songin- ssongin@walpole.k12.ma.us

Tori Dore- vwintersdore@walpole.k12.ma.us

Or you can reach out directly to Mrs. Buller:

Jen Buller- jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us

As part of our general education social-emotional support, ALL students will receive either weekly or biweekly social-emotional "SOAR" lessons. Kindergarten lessons are taught weekly and grades 1-5 are taught bi-weekly.

These lessons are based on the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) competencies. Some topics we cover include feeling identification and strategies, problem solving and conflict resolution, friendship and bullying, goal setting, exploring differences, and decision making. Each month, we will provide an updated newsletter which previews our lessons for the month ahead.

Ms. Dore will be teaching lessons and working directly with students in 1st, 2nd and 5th grade. Ms. Songin will be teaching lessons and working directly with students in Kindergarten, 3rd, and 4th grade.

• We will be talking about being in a group/the group plan
• We will practice ways to work together to solve problems as well as talking about size of problems (big, medium, little)
• At the end of the month we will talk about gratitude and who helps us in our lives.

• We will review the Zones of Regulation and the feelings that go in each zone
• We will then practice strategies to help our body go back to the "Green Zone"
• At the end of the month, we will talk about the meaning of Gratitude and acknowledging those who are invested in us

• We will continue to review the Zones of Regulation by going over the Blue and Yellow Zones
• We will then take a break to talk about Gratitude and what that looks like in our lives

• We will talk about flexible thinking and changing our mindset
• We will practice ways to solve conflicts using a Bug and a Wish statements
• We will finish the month talking about gratitude in our lives and how to show gratitude

• We will talk about friendships and communication
• We will continue to build on strategies to use in friendship conflicts
• We will finish the month reflecting on things going well and how gratitude can help our overall well being

• We start our unit on Gossip, Rumors, and Cliques.
  
• We will then learn about the Science of Gratitude and the benefits of practicing it everyday

Kindergarten:

• Incredible Flexible You Series ( Body in the Group)
• The Gratitude Jar by Katrina Liu

1st grade:

• "How Do I Feel: A little guide to my emotions"
• "A Little Spot of Feelings" by Diane Alber
• BrainPop 'Gratitude' video

2nd grade:

• “A Little Spot of Sadness” by Diane Adler
• "25 Reasons to be Thankful" by Kid President

3rd grade:

• A little Sport of Flexible Thinking by Diane Alber
• Gratitude For Kids Video

4th grade:

• Friendship Soup Video

5th grade:

At this time, no books will be used in this month's lessons.

Mrs. Tori Dore (grades 1, 2, and 5)

Email: vwintersdore@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615

Ms. Shannon Songin (grades K, 3, and 4)

Email: ssongin@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615