February Monthly Update

Mission: At Grand Prairie, we dedicate ourselves to creating a caring and safe learning environment for our students while partnering with our families to teach the whole child.

February is a month full of learning, kindness, and celebration at Grand Prairie Elementary! As we embrace the second half of the school year, our students continue to grow academically and socially. This month, we celebrate Black History Month, exploring the contributions of Black leaders, artists, and innovators through engaging classroom activities. We also look forward to spreading kindness with Valentine’s Day celebrations and recognizing the importance of friendship and gratitude. Our students will also learn about the Zones of Regulation, helping them develop emotional awareness and self-regulation skills. Be sure to check out our upcoming events, including parent-teacher conferences and spirit days! Thank you for your continued support in making Grand Prairie a wonderful place to learn and grow.

The ZONESof Regulation™Glossary

Self-regulation: The ability to achieve the preferred state of alertness for the given situation. This includes regulating one’s body’s needs as well as one’s emotions.

The Zones: A concept used to help students learn how to self-regulate. The Zones of Regulation creates a system to categorize how the body feels and emotions into four colored Zones with which the students can easily identify.

Blue Zone: Used to describe a low state of alertness. The Blue Zone is used to describe when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.

Green Zone: Used to describe the ideal state of alertness. A person may be described as calm, happy, focused, or content when he or she is in the Green Zone. The student feels a strong sense of internal control when in the Green Zone.

Yellow Zone: Used to describe a heightened state of alertness. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, or fear when in the Yellow Zone. The student’s energy is elevated yet he or she feels some sense of internal control in the Yellow Zone.

Red Zone: Used to describe an extremely heightened state of alertness. A person may be experiencing anger, rage, explosive behavior, panic, extreme grief, terror, or elation when in the RedZone and feels a loss of control.

Toolbox: A collection of calming and alerting strategies a student can pull from depending on the present need.

Tools or strategies: Used interchangeably to refer to a calming or alerting technique that aids the student in self-regulation.

Trigger: An irritant that causes a student to become less regulated and increases the likelihood of going into the Yellow or Red Zone.

Stop, Opt, and Go: A concept used to aid students in controlling impulses and problem solving better solutions. This phrase is paired with a stoplight to provide additional cues for students.

Expected behaviors1: Behaviors that give people around you good or comfortable thoughts about you.

Unexpected behaviors¹: Behaviors that give people uncomfortable thoughts about you. Doer: The person or persons doing the expected or unexpected behavior in a situation.

What is the size of the problem? and Is this a Big or Little Problem?¹: Questions posed to help students measure the size of the problem they are experiencing (Big Problem, Medium Problem, or Little Problem).

Big Problems: Problems that many people share and that have no easy, quick, or pleasant solution.

Medium Problems: Problems some people share that are able to be resolved in an hour to a couple of days.

Little Problems: Problems that only affect one to two people and can be ignored or solved in a matter of minutes.

Inner critic: Used to describe negative, self-defeating thoughts.

Inner coach: Used to describe positive thoughts.

Superflex thinking2: A flexible thinking pattern in which a person is able to consider different points of view or ways to do something.

Rock Brain thinking2: A rigid thinking pattern in which a person gets stuck on an idea and has difficulty considering other options or ways to do something.

1 Social Thinking vocabulary developed by Michelle Garcia Winner, Thinking About YOU Thinking About ME (2007) 2 Social Thinking vocabulary developed by Stephanie Madrigal and Michelle Garcia Winner, Superflex: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum (2008)

© 2011 Think Social Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Zones of Regulation™ by Leah M. Kuypers • Available at www.socialthinking.com

February is a vibrant month filled with cultural celebrations around the world. The Lunar New Year, widely observed in China, Vietnam, and other East Asian countries, brings parades, fireworks, and family reunions. Carnival season peaks in places like Brazil and Venice, where colorful costumes, music, and street festivities take over. In Japan, Setsubun marks the transition to spring with bean-throwing rituals to ward off evil spirits. Valentine’s Day is celebrated globally, with different cultural twists, from romantic gestures in the West to friendship celebrations in some Latin American countries. Meanwhile, Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada honors the contributions and achievements of African Americans and Black Canadians through various events and educational programs. Across the world, February is a time of cultural richness, tradition, and festivity.

Black History Month, observed in February in the United States and Canada, is a time to honor the achievements, contributions, and history of African Americans and Black Canadians. Originating from Carter G. Woodson’s Negro History Week in 1926, the celebration expanded into a month-long recognition in 1976. Throughout February, schools, organizations, and communities highlight the impact of Black leaders, artists, scientists, activists, and everyday individuals who have shaped history. Events include lectures, performances, museum exhibits, and educational programs that explore topics like the civil rights movement, African heritage, and contemporary issues of racial justice. Each year, the celebration carries a unique theme, emphasizing different aspects of Black history and culture. Beyond reflection, Black History Month serves as a call to action for continued progress toward equity and inclusion.

Click this link for a newsletter about Black History Month made from smore.

Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is one of the most significant celebrations in many Asian cultures, particularly in China, Vietnam (Tết), Korea (Seollal), and other regions with large East Asian communities. Based on the lunar calendar, the festival typically falls between late January and mid-February. Marking the arrival of spring and the new year, festivities last for about 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival. Traditions include family reunions, elaborate feasts, giving red envelopes (hóngbāo) filled with money for good luck, and setting off fireworks to drive away evil spirits. Each year is associated with an animal from the Chinese zodiac, influencing cultural themes and personal fortunes. The celebrations are filled with symbolic customs emphasizing prosperity, happiness, and renewal, making Lunar New Year one of the most joyous and widely observed festivals worldwide.