The Feelings Bag

I started a new system for students who need some time by themselves to cool down.  We call it the feelings bag and inside are snacks, calm bottles, a feelings journal, fun new markers and a drawing activity.  Students can visit the bag anytime if they need some time alone.  They can feel happy, sad or mad to visit the bag! We have a glitter calm jar to shake up and a magnetic chip calm jar to play with.  The kids are really excited about it and so am I!

May Bulletin Board

Here is our May bulletin board to go with our monthly character development theme of confidence.  Rosie the Riveter! We are building confidence in all of our students to let them know that they can do anything! 

Also, shhhh...someone changed the women's bathroom sign. 

 I wonder who that could have been? ;)

(Don't worry we are getting a new sign at for the new building anyway!)

May Character Development: Confidence

Unstoppable Me!: 10 Ways to Soar Through Life

Dr. Dyer

The 10 important lessons in this book include the value of taking risks, dealing with stress and anxiety, and learning to enjoy each moment. Each point includes an example showing how a child might apply the concept in his or her everyday life.  

Ish

Peter Reynolds

Ramon loved to draw. Anytime. Anything. Anywhere. Drawing is what Ramon does. It¹s what makes him happy. But in one split second, all that changes. A single reckless remark by Ramon's older brother, Leon, turns Ramon's carefree sketches into joyless struggles. Luckily for Ramon, though, his little sister, Marisol, sees the world differently. She opens his eyes to something a lot more valuable than getting things just "right." Combining the spareness of fable with the potency of parable, Peter Reynolds shines a bright beam of light on the need to kindle and tend our creative flames with care.

I Don't Want to be a Frog

by Dev Petty

Frog wants to be anything but a slimy, wet frog. A cat, perhaps. Or a rabbit. An owl? But when a hungry wolf arrives—a wolf who HATES eating frogs—our hero decides that maybe being himself isn’t so bad after all. In this very silly story with a sly message, told in hilarious dialogue between a feisty young frog and his heard-it-all-before father, young readers will identify with little Frog’s desire to be something different, while laughing along at his stubborn yet endearing schemes to prove himself right.

The Mermaid and the Shoe

by K.G. Campbell 

Each of King Neptune's 50 mermaid daughters boasts a special talent, except for little Minnow, who seems to be good only at asking questions. When she finds a strange object, Minnow follows her questions to a wondrous place and finds answers, including the answer to the most important question of all: Who am I? A gorgeously illustrated story about finding one's purpose.

I Think, I am! 

by Louise L. Hay

Within the pages of I Think, I Am! kids will find out the difference between negative thoughts and positive affirmations. Fun illustrations and simple text demonstrate how to make the change from negative thoughts and words to those that are positive. The happiness and confidence that come from this ability is something children will carry with them their entire lives!

What do you do With an Idea?

by Kobi Yamada

This is the story of one brilliant idea and the child who helps to bring it into the world. As the child's confidence grows, so does the idea itself. And then, one day, something amazing happens.

This is a story for anyone, at any age, who s ever had an idea that seemed a little too big, too odd, too difficult. It s a story to inspire you to welcome that idea, to give it some space to grow, and to see what happens next. Because your idea isn t going anywhere. In fact, it's just getting started.

I am Cow, Hear me Moo!

by Jill Esbaum and Gus Gordon

Nadine can talk a blue streak, and one day she tells a real whopper: she isn't afraid of anything--no siree! Then her friends call her bluff, and Nadine must enter. . .The Deep. Dark. Woods. Only the woods aren't so scary after all, until the sun sets, that is, and Nadine can't find her friends. What is this boastful bovine to do? Run around in blind terror? Plummet off a cliff? Crash into a stream? Check, check, and check. But is all lost? Doubtful. After all, she is cow, hear her MOOOOOOOOO!

April Character Development: Understanding

Our April character development topic is understanding.  It will encompass both an understanding of friend's feelings (empathy) and an understanding of people who are different than us.  I am so excited about our books for this month, they are awesome!

Spork 

 

His mum is a spoon. His dad is a fork. And he's a bit of both. He's Spork! Spork sticks out in the regimented world of the cutlery drawer. The spoons think he's too pointy, while the forks find him too round. He never gets chosen to be at the table at mealtimes until one day a very messy ? thing arrives in the kitchen who has never heard of cutlery customs. Will Spork finally find his place at the table?

Peanut Butter and Cupcake

 

What’s a little piece of bread to do when he’s feeling lonely? Find a friend, of course! And that’s exactly what Peanut Butter tries to do. But sometimes friends are hard to come by, especially when Hamburger has to walk his (hot) dogs, Cupcake is too busy building castles in her sprinkle box, and Egg laughs so hard he starts to crack up! Does Peanut Butter have a soulmate? Young readers will know the answer long before Peanut Butter does and laugh along with each mismatched pairing.

A Lion in Paris

 

His It tells the story of a lion who, bored by his rural life in the savanna, seeks excitement and opportunity in the City of Light. Upon arriving in Paris, the lion is disappointed to find that despite his size, people barely pay attention to him, not even when he lets out a ferocious roar on the busy underground Métro.

At the Same Moment Around the World

 

Discover Benedict drinking hot chocolate in Paris, France; Mitko chasing the school bus in Sofia, Bulgaria; and Khanh having a little nap in Hanoi, Vietnam! Clotilde Perrin takes readers eastward from the Greenwich meridian, from day to night, with each page portraying one of (the original) 24 time zones. Strong back matter empowers readers to learn about the history of timekeeping and time zones, and to explore where each of the characters lives on the world map. 

 

 My Teacher is a Monster

 

A young boy named Bobby has the worst teacher. She's loud, she yells, and if you throw paper airplanes, she won't allow you to enjoy recess. She is a monster! Luckily, Bobby can go to his favorite spot in the park on weekends to play. Until one day... he finds his teacher there! Over the course of one day, Bobby learns that monsters are not always what they seem.

Little Sweet Potato

 

When Little Sweet Potato rolls away from his patch, he is forced to search for a new home. He stumbles upon some very mean plants on his journey and begins to wonder if maybe he is too lumpy and bumpy to belong anywhere. Will Little Sweet Potato ever find a home that's just right for him?

March Bulletin Board

For this month's character education theme of honesty, I made a bulletin board of all the teachers wearing a "Honest Abe" costume. People called Abraham Lincoln 'Honest Abe” because he was so honest. For example, once while working as a store clerk, he mistakenly took six cents too much from a customer. That night after the store closed, he walked three miles to return the customer's money. The kids should be on the lookout for more "Honest Abes" on the playground and in their classrooms! 

March Character Development: Honesty

Here are the books that we will be using to explain the concept and importance of honesty in our classroom!

The Weird! Series

Three stories told from the perspectives of three different children: one who is bullied (Weird!), a bystander (Dare!), and the bully herself (Tough!). Each title shows readers, through the texts and the expressive ink illustrations, what each child feels. 

The Empty Pot (An Owlet Book)

When the Chinese emperor proclaims that his successor will be the child who grows the most beautiful flowers from the seeds the emperor distributes, Ping is overjoyed. Like the emperor, he loves flowers and anything he plants bursts into bloom. But the emperor's seed will not grow, despite months of loving care, and Ping goes before the emperor carrying only his empty pot. The emperor ignores the beautiful blossoms brought by the other children and chooses Ping, revealing that the seeds he handed out had been cooked and could not grow.

Princess K.I.M. and the Lie That Grew

Kim wants the kids at her new school to like her, so she tells a teeny, tiny, bitty lie. She says her name is really "K.I.M."--for "Katherine Isabella Marguerite"--and that she comes from a royal family!  Pretty soon all the students know there is a princess in the school.  Kim wears her golden tiara from dance class and a big fancy ring she won at the arcade.  Her little lie grows and grows. When a classmate invites her to a birthday party, Kim says she can't go because her grandmother is coming to visit. But she had told the kids her grandmother was a queen. Now they all want to meet the queen. Kim is in a real bind; her lie has grown too big and it's about ready to explode!

Don't Worry, Douglas!

Douglas the big, brown, lovable bear is back! His dad gives him a special gift, a new woolly hat! But then something terrible happens. Douglas's hat gets caught on a tree and turns into one long string of spaghetti! How will he ever tell his dad?

Being Frank

Frank follows the motto, "Honesty is the best policy." He tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Frank never lies to his schoolmates, he always tells the truth to adults, and he’s always honest with police officers. The balancing act of finding tact, that fine line between telling the truth and telling too much truth, is the main theme of this story, and it's very funny—although not necessarily to his friend Dotti whose freckles remind Frank of the Big Dipper, or to the teacher who hears that her breath smells like onions, or to the principal who is told that his toupee looks like a weasel. No one is quite as impressed with Frank’s honesty as he thinks they should be. He is sweet and straightforward, and, well, very frank, but with everyone annoyed at him, Frank is now honestly unhappy. He decides to visit his confidante and pal, Grandpa Ernest, who has a history of frankness himself. With a few lessons from Grandpa, Frank begins to understand that the truth is important, but so is not being hurtful.

Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big

Fannie Fudwupper's big brother, Edwurd, spends his time cooking up big fibs full of phooey and letting them rip. But one day, Edwurd tells such a whopping lie that the army, the air force, and the dogcatcher are called to reverse the damage.

Acceptance Bulletin Board

Here is our bulletin board that our school contributed to for January's character development theme of acceptance.  We worked on celebrating what makes each of us unique by writing a special quality about us on a handprint.  

February Character Development

We are working on cooperation and conflict resolution this month! Here are the books that we will be reading and discussing in our elementary classrooms. 

The Eagle and the Wren 

by Jane Goodall

When the birds of the world squabble about who can fly the highest, the owl devises a contest to settle the question. As one by one various contestants drop out, only the eagle remains, soaring high above the earth. However, the wren, stowed away in the eagle’s feathers, suddenly appears and uses him as a launching pad to fly even higher. When they arrive back on the ground, the owl drives home the story’s moral of togetherness and teamwork. Goodall continues the theme in an afterword, explaining how “we all need an eagle” and sharing insights on those who have played that role in her own life.
​

Farmer Duck

by Martin Waddell

Farmer Duck isn't your average duck. This duck cooks and cleans, tends the fields, and cares for the other animals on the farm—all because the owner of the farm is too lazy to do these things himself. But when Farmer Duck finally collapses from exhaustion, the farmyard animals come to the rescue with a simple but heroic plan.

My Big Dog

 by Janet Steven

 Merl the Cat's pampered life is turned upside down when a little golden retriever puppy moves into the house. Merl tells the story of how he tries his best to oust the newest member of his household. Thwarted at every turn by the ever-growing puppy, he finally comes to terms with the presence of his big dog.

Enemy Pie

by Derek Munson​

It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie. But part of the secret recipe is spending an entire day playing with the enemy! In this funny yet endearing story, one little boy learns an effective recipes for turning your best enemy into your best friend. ​

Swimmy

by Leo Lionni

Deep in the sea there lives a happy school of little fish. Their watery world is full of wonders, but there is also danger, and the little fish are afraid to come out of hiding . . . until Swimmy comes along. Swimmy shows his friends how—with ingenuity and team work—they can overcome any danger.

Red & Yellow's Noisy Night

by Josh Selig 

Red and Yellow live together in the branches of an olive tree--but these two friends are as different as can be, and sometimes have trouble co-existing peacefully. Red wants to play loudly on his strummy, while Yellow longs for sleep. 

 

 

Talk and Work It Out 

 by Cheri J. Meiners M.Ed. 

What’s the best way to solve problems between people? By talking them over and working them out. It’s never too soon for children to learn the process of peaceful conflict resolution. This book distills it into clear, simple language and supporting illustrations. Children learn to calm themselves, state the problem, listen, think of solutions, try one, evaluate results, and even agree to disagree when a solution isn’t possible.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

We had our Martin Luther King Jr. assembly today! Our kids did a fantastic job performing the song "See Me Beautiful" in sign language.  We saw presentations from the other classes and got to hear from a speaker with cerebral palsy who spoke using a computer system.  We learned so much more about accepting others and what it means to be a great friend.  

Colors of Us

We read the book Colors of Us today by Karen Katz. It celebrates that we all have our own unique skin color that is different from anyone else.  After reading the book, we all picked our own food item to describe our unique skin color.  We made a list, drew a picture and wrote down our item and a few friend's descriptive words as well. 

Square Cat

We started our first book on acceptance for the January character development topic of the month. Square Cat by Elizabeth Schoonmaker is about a cat that feels left out because she is a square instead of a circle.  Her friends decide to act compassionately and help square cat find positive things about being a square.  As a class we talked about how to make others feel included.  We then decided if we would want to be a square or circle cat and then made and analyzed a graph of our results.  Finally, we made our own square cat glyphs.  We will also analyze and graph the results of the glyphs. A glyph is when you pick certain colors or shapes for a project based on your response to a question from the book.  In this project the questions were...

Do you like cats?

Would you rather be a circle or square cat?

Do you like donuts?

Is your cat a girl or a boy?

Thanks to Chalk Talk for the idea!

January Character Development Topic-Acceptance

Our January topic for character development is acceptance.  This ties in really nicely with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Here are the books that we will be using to talk about acceptance in our classroom.

Square Cat

Eula is the only square cat in town. Everything that normal cats do is hard for her -- she can't get her square paw into mouseholes, she can't wear her favorite circle skirt, and all of her friends are round! Eula is sad until her two best friends show her just how well a square cat can fit into this round world.

Barry the Fish with Fingers: 

Life under the sea can be as dull as dishwater, until Barry arrives, that is. See, Barry is no ordinary fish—he's a fish with fingers! And fingers mean finger puppets, finger painting, knitting, counting to ten, tickling, and all sorts of fun things. It isn't long before all of the other fish want fingers, too. Life under the sea will never be the same again. . . . 

The Colors of Us 

Seven-year-old Lena is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her skin. But when she and her mother take a walk through the neighborhood, Lena learns that brown comes in many different shades.

Cowboy Slim: 

A cowboy poet who can't rope, whip, or ride? who ever heard of that? Slim knows he could be a real cowboy if the ranch hands would just give him a chance. Action-filled drawings capture the excitement of a cattle run to Dodge City.

The Crayon Box that Talked: 

Yellow hates Red, so does Green, and no one likes Orange! Can these crayons quit arguing and learn to cooperate? Shane DeRolf's deceptively simple poem celebrates the creation of harmony through diversity. In combination with Michael Letzig's vibrant illustrations, young readers will understand that when we all work together, the results are much more colorful and interesting.

The Story of Ferdinand

Ferdinand is the world's most peaceful--and--beloved little bull. While all of the other bulls snort, leap, and butt their heads, Ferdinand is content to just sit and smell the flowers under his favorite cork tree.

The Cow That Went OINK

This mixed-up barnyard tale of tolerance and friendship teaches kids (and creatures) that it's okay to be different . . . and sometimes even more fun!