We made it through January which always seems like a bazillion days long! This had to be one of the craziest months we have had for awhile in terms of snow and cold. I am sure your students have told you that I love snow but I assure you again that I like light, pretty, fluffy snow not crazy amounts of snow with blizzard like conditions and freezing cold temps! If you remember this school year, the Sioux City Schools changed student contact time to hours instead of days. Due to this change, at this time, none of the schools days for students will need to be made up. This certainly might change if we have additional snow days in the future. So, let's send out positive thoughts that our Iowa weather is good to us and that warmer temperatures are in our future. We will be sure to communicate any changes should we indeed get more s-n-o-w.
This month during our Character Strong time, grade levels are learning about Honesty. The various grade levels will be focusing on the following:
Kindergarten--students will practice and identify showing emotions, will learn 4 emotion vocabulary words and practice showing honesty when sharing their feelings, will discuss 8 emotion vocabulary words and create visuals of those emotions with a partner, and will determine if a situation is honest or dishonest and identify emotions one might feel in situations.
1st grade--students will share examples of honesty and how it makes them feel while playing a game, will identify whether or not a scenario is honest and discuss ways to show honesty, will practice using I-statements to be honest about their feelings, and will decide whether certain honest thoughts should be kept inside their minds or said out loud.
2nd grade--students will show identify ways to show honesty by evaluating strengths they can use to feel more confident and focused, will practice honesty while identifying emotions and discussing strategies to regulate emotions, will identify emotions that make it hard to be honest and practice strategies to regulate those emotions, and will learn about and try out different strategies that would help with regulating emotions.
3rd grade--students will build emotion vocabulary by analyzing the feelings associated with Fire and create I-statements, will build emotion vocabulary by analyzing the feelings associated with Earth and create I-statements, will get honest about their feelings by creating and sharing I-statements on paper airplanes, and will explore the Water emotions, evaluate situations, and create an I-statement.
4th grade--students will play a game to practice choosing helpful, honest thoughts that lead to positive actions, will determine how to respond to various situations with positive self-talk and honesty, will work together to reframe negative thoughts, and will practice positive honesty by creating posters that encourage others.
5th grade--students will understand the connection between stress and dishonesty, using honesty as a stress-prevention tool, will analyze how stress impacts us and discuss how they might manage stress in various situations, will analyze the impact of various stressors and work with a partner to choose a management tool for each, and will explore how stress and dishonesty feel and brainstorm tools for stress management.
There are two Character Dares below. Choose one to try as a family this month!
Thank you for partnering with us in your child's education.
Dr. Holcomb
