Bucket Filling- Acts of Kindness

Hello Beacon Families!

     We completed one of my favorite units from mid-January through February, on Bucketfilling!  This is a fun time when each lesson, for every grade level, is about how valuable kindness is.  I utilize several pieces of literature using a "bucketfilling" theme.  When someone is "filling a bucket" it means that person is showing an act of kindness to someone else.  The idea is that we all carry around an "invisible bucket" which carries the positive feelings that we have about life and about ourselves.  When people are kind to us, these positive interactions "add drops" to our bucket and makes us feel good and results in our having a more positive outlook.  When someone "dips into our bucket" that person is being mean, using hurtful words, or leaving us out in some way.  "Bucket dipping" makes the good feelings "drip out" of our bucket.
     We talk about how those who have really low or empty buckets can sometimes be the folks who look really sad or who may be grumpy and hard to be around.  I teach students that we all need and want our buckets to be filled and that's why it is so important to show kindness because we fill other's buckets with every single act of kindness we share.  I also remind students that we especially want to show kindness to those who have low or empty buckets because they need it the most.
     I also teach students that we have power to fill our own buckets too!!  The really awesome thing about bucketfilling is that every time we help fill someone else's bucket, we add drops to our own bucket!  Showing acts of kindness to others actually makes the person who is initiating the kindness feel good.  Research shows there are significant physical and mental benefits from giving, receiving, and even just watching acts of kindness.  How amazing is that!

Click here to read about the health benefits of kindness:
http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/act-of-kindness/#axzz3UkKwEY00

The following items are the books and/or video segments I used for each grade levels lesson:

5th Grade:

4th Grade:

3rd Grade:

2nd Grade:

1st Grade:

Kindergarten:

School-wide:

We had a lot of fun participating in acts of kindness during "Kindness Week"!  We observed the following "spirit days" to help make the week memorable and to help students practice empathy skills while making connections:

Thursday, 2/5- “Say ‘Hi’ & Smile at Three People Day”

Friday, 2/6- “Hug or High-Five a Friend Day”

Monday, 2/9- “Write a Note of Encouragement Day”

Tuesday, 2/10- “Make a New Friend Day”

Wednesday, 2/11-“Say Thank You to a Faculty or Staff Person Day"

Thursday, 2/12- Wear Red (or Pink) for “Love Day”: & YOU get to pick the act of kindness today!

Finally, last but not least, students and staff created a beautiful "Kindness Wall" on D-hallway.  Every student and faculty member was given two paper hearts: one heart was to write about an act of kindness the student or faculty member had given to someone else and the other heart was to write about an act of kindness they had received.  Classes scheduled times to come and hang their hearts on the "Kindness Wall" for everyone to enjoy throughout the month of February.

To explore more "acts of kindness" ideas you may want to visit:

www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas

Calming Down & Handling Conflict Peacefully

Hi Beacon Families!

The Classroom Guidance unit that ran from mid-December through mid-January was about calming down strategies and how to handle conflict peacefully.  I used a series of videos in 2nd -5th grades called "Getting Along with Groark".  This curriculum includes footage of Groark, a sweet child-like puppet, getting into various conflicts with his puppet friends.  After Groark discusses his problem with a group of real elementary school children, he applies what he has learned and succeeds in bringing about a peaceful, positive solution.  This lesson series is funny, entertaining, and engaging.  Students are always excited when they come to my classroom and find out we are getting ready to do a "Groark Lesson".  In KG & 1st grade we continued to touch on the same theme using more Howard B. Wigglebottom social stories.

5th Grade:

Groark Learns About Prejudice: Students learned that prejudice means to Pre-Judge someone, or a group of people, based on an opinion without any factual information.  Students learn that it is normal to make an informed judgement of someone once we get to know that person but that we should refrain from pre-judging others. Students learned the value of being open to diverse groups of people.

4th Grade:

Groark Learns About Bullying:  Students learned to recognize different forms of bullying behavior and the impact it can have on others.  Students also learned ways to manage unkind behavior and when to report bullying.

3rd Grade:

Groark Learns to Work Out Conflicts:  Students learned that conflict between people is normal.  Students learned how to prevent minor disagreements from escalating into serious fights and steps for working out conflicts fairly and peacefully.

2nd Grade:

Groark Learns to Control Anger:  Students learned that feeling anger is normal but that we still need to control ourselves and make responsible choices even when we are angry.  I have them reflect on how difficult it can be to think of calming down strategies when we are already angry and that's why it's good to "make a plan" and practice certain strategies while we are calm so we are better able to recall and use the strategies when we become angry.

1st Grade:

Students watched the Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns It's Okay to Back Away social story from the wedolisten.org website.  Students learned about anger triggers and strategies for calming down.  We watched a short video clip, from the Second Steps Curriculum, on how to properly use belly breathing (or soup bowl breathing) to calm down,,, slow deep breath in through your nose and a slow quiet breath all the way out from your mouth,,, repeat as needed.  We also call it "soup-bowl breathing" because it's like "smelling" a bowl of hot yummy soup and then "blowing" the soup cool.  This gives the younger students a physical action and visual cue to remember the strategy. We practiced the following calming down strategies as a whole class: 1. soup bowl breathing 2. counting backwards, and 3. reframing negative self-talk to positive self-talk.

Kindergarten:

Students watched the Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen social story from the wedolisten.org website.  Students learned what it looks like to be a good listener and the positive consequences for active listening and the negative consequences that can happen when we choose not to listen.  True Active Listening is the cornerstone of being able to work out conflict peacefully which is why we want to set the stage for active listening in kindergarten and even earlier.  I partnered with a student and modeled poor listening skills and then we talked about what made it a poor example of listening and then I modeled good active listening skills with a student and we talked about what made it a good example.  When time allowed, I had some classes partner up and practice active listening skills with each other.  We used listening techniques such as a head nod, eyes on the speaker, and facing toward each other when using active listening.

Coming Soon:

Stay tuned for an update on the fun we had from mid-January to mid-February working on the themes of "Bucket Filling" and "Random Acts of Kindness"!!  

Bullying vs. Peer Conflict

Hi Beacon Families!

During our last classroom guidance cycle I discussed the differences between Bullying and Peer Conflict with every grade level.  These two concepts often get used interchangeably; however, there are distinct and important differences. It is important for students to be able to identify each and know what to do about both.  

All Grade Levels

We defined Bullying as:

*  one student having significantly more power in the problem then the other student

*  physically trying to hurt someone

*  name calling or teasing, by the same student, over and over again 

*  Leaving someone out on purpose over and over again

We defined Peer Conflict as:

*  each student having equal power in the problem (more like a disagreement)

*  annoying behavior (tapping a desk, humming, etc.,,)

*  an accidental incident (vs. purposely hurtful)

*  an incident happening only one time (vs. an established pattern)

I presented a Richland Two mandatory PowerPoint with each class on "Bullying and Inappropriate Behavior".  After our discussion and PowerPoint I gave students several scenarios to "quiz" them on identifying whether an incident was bullying or peer conflict.  We also discussed how to handle each.  I instructed students to always report to an adult when bullying is happening to them or to someone else.  We talked about different appropriate adults to report to but that the first person to report to will most likely be the teacher they are with, simply because it's best for the nearest adult to address the situation as quickly as possible.   We talked about how it's important to try and either ignore or problem-solve things that fall into the "annoying behaviors" and/or "peer conflict" categories first before asking an adult for assistance.

To end our lesson together, we talked about the differences between Reporting vs. Tattling.  This is often a challenging concept for many elementary aged students.  I emphasized that "telling", when it's important, is called "reporting".  Some students are hesitant to report in fear that they might be called either a "tattle-tale" or a "snitch".  I reminded them that if it's a matter of safety for them or someone else, it's always more important to report the situation to an adult even if someone calls them a name for doing so.  I emphasized safety is always more important than anything else.

5th Grade

The following YouTube video is a great review, or connection piece, for 5th grade teachers to follow up during class time or morning meeting.  It can also serve as a great conversation starter with your child at home.

1st Grade

For this grade level I included a fun book about bullying to help keep the students engaged and the topic relevant to their developmental level.  We read Llama Llama and the Bully Goat by Anna Dewdney.

Kindergarten

For this grade level I included a Howard B. Wigglebottom social story on the smartboard from The We Do Listen Foundation website.  We watched Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns about Bullies.  You can access these wonderful social stories at:  https://wedolisten.org/media/