6th Graders Encouraging our Newest Test Takers

Each time spring rolls around the topic of our standardized test, STAAR, begins to enter the conversations of our students at Lee Elementary.  Since we have some resident experts on the ins & outs of what the STAAR test is really like, I thought it would be a good idea for them to impart their knowledge onto our newest test takers: 3rd graders!  I typed up a list of all of our 3rd graders and then our 6th graders picked 2-3 to write an encouraging letter to.  They could write encouraging words, test taking tips, confidence boosters and any idea that they thought would help lower their anxiety about testing.  We had a great conversation about empathy and tried to remember back to when it was our first time taking the STAAR test or even how we feel now about it.  Once all of the letters were all written onto colorful bordered stationary, I put them into an "Special Delivery" envelope from the White House (also our nickname for the house beside our school that 6th grade is housed in) and delivered them to their homeroom teachers for students to receive before the test.

Grumpy Cat Visits Ms. Sepp

One of our 5th grade students came up with such a creative idea that I had to share!  We were talking about some of the other silly animal pictures with puns I have outside of my office and how it'd be fun to find one about Grumpy Cat seeing the counselor.

A few days later a large poster arrived in my office, created by the same 5th grader I had chatted with previously, and I was amazed by her creativity and initiative.  Check out what is now hanging outside my office:

Counselor Appreciation Week Feb 2-6

I have been so SPOILED this week!  I've felt extremely appreciated and I've loved receiving notes from staff members, homemade cards from students, books, posters, lunch, iced tea, candy, videos, songs, hugs, collages and so much much more!  I am so lucky to work with each and every one of you at Lee Elementary and I want to thank everyone for supporting me and trusting me with your kiddos.

Here are a few pics from the week:

The Great Kindness Challenge

Lee Elementary will be participating in The Great Kindness Challenge this week, Jan 26-30.  This is one week dedicated to creating a culture of kindness on campuses nationwide.  Last year 1,099 schools participated!  Lee Elementary is proudly participating in this proactive, positive bullying prevention initiative!

All students will receive a Great Kindness Week checklist with 50 kind deeds.  Please encourage your child to complete the checklist to show the world that kindness matters.  If your child completes their checklist by Friday, January 30th, have them turn it into Ms. Sepp for a special surprise.

During guidance lessons we will be reading What If Everybody Did That?, The Invisible Boy or Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed to spur our conversation about kindness and paying it forward.

 Then we will watch some inspirational videos...



Here is a glimpse of the many amazingly kind acts that happened throughout the challenge week:

 
We had 100% participation and ***63 students*** complete the entire 50 kind act challenge, designating Lee Elementary as a 2015 Kindness Certified School:

No Name Calling Week Jan 18-22

During the week of January 18-22, Lee Elementary will be celebrating kindness and observing No Name-Calling Week.  No Name-Calling Week was inspired by the popular young adult novel entitled The Misfits by popular author James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. The friends create a new political party during student council elections and run on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. The No-Name Party in the end, wins the support of the school's principal for their cause and their idea for a "No Name-Calling Day" at school.

In classroom lessons we read The Name Jar written by Yangsook Choi.  In the story, a new student moves from Korea to the United States and is teased about her name, Unhei.  To avoid the teasing, Unhei decides that she will pick another name instead, and the students in her classroom start offering up many suggestions.  Will she keep her own unique name or change it?  Check out the sweet story to find out the ending.

After discussing the importance of our names, we had a snowball fight.  Yes, you heard me right!  Each student received a piece of white paper and folded it into 4 equal parts.  In each box we wrote about something different that had to do with our names:

• Do you like your name? Why or why not?
• Do you know why you were names this? Explain.
• If you could pick any name for yourself, what would it be?
• What does your name mean?

They didn't include their own names on their paper to make the snowball fight extra tricky.  They crumpled up their papers and on the count of three threw them around the room.  Each student found a different snowball to open up and try to figure out who's owner it was from the clues inside.  Once they found their match they discussed what they learned about each other.

The second part of the activity came in a subsequent lesson, and was initiated by our 6th graders in the No Place for Hate Coalition.  As one of our projects for No Place for Hate, the 6th graders came up with a thoughtful project that coordinated with No Name-Calling Week.  Each student would receive a small mosaic tile.  They would write hurtful names they have been called or mean words that affected them with sharpie all over the colored tile.  This would help to heal ourselves by removing the horrible memory of its existence from inside our heads and placed visually onto the tile.  Here are some samples from different grade levels:

***STAY TUNED!***

The tiles will be crushed, smashed and hammered into little broken pieces destroying the power these harsh words have had on us.  Then, with the tiny pieces left, they will be crafted into a hopeful mosaic art piece to be hung in the hallway at Lee - representing the positive outlook we have going forward at our school.

Respecting our Differences

January is a special month at our school.  It is filled with opportunities for students to reflect on their uniqueness and learn about what makes us each an original.  In addition to observing Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday, we also celebrate African American History Month with a program put on by our fifth graders.  No Name-Calling Week and The Great Kindness Challenge also occur this month.  To reinforce the idea of respecting our differences and treating each other with kindness, we read The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss in kindergarten.

This is one of my favorite stories by Dr. Seuss and the message is so powerful.  Although there is a great (free) youtube video on this story, I always enjoy reading it so I can pause at specific points and engage the kindergarteners in discussion.  Students can't stay quiet once they begin seeing how the star-bellied Sneetches treat the ones without "stars upon thars."  As chaos ensues in the story, a natural discussion comes up and students do not understand why the Sneetches do not accept each other for who they are.  After the story I gave each student their very own star to write or draw what makes them special.

(They chose to decorate our Sneetch with all of their uniqueness-es)

Red Ribbon Week Oct 27-31

Red Ribbon Week is a nationwide campaign for communities to unite and take a visible stand against drugs.  The mission of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to present a unified and visible commitment towards the creation of a Drug-Free America.  Students at Lee Elementary will be committing to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the Red Ribbon, Oct 27-31.  I will be visiting each classroom to teach students the importance of living a healthy lifestyle through developmentally appropriate lessons.  Students will receive a Red Ribbon, sticker, bracelet, activity book, pencil and temporary tattoo to wear throughout the week.

We also will have the following themed days next week:

For more information on the history of Red Ribbon Week please visit http://redribbon.org/ 

Red Ribbon Week reinforces the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) for Health Education in the elementary setting that are taught by both grade level teachers and our PE Coach yearly:

"The student understands that safe, unsafe, and/or harmful behaviors result in positive and negative consequences throughout the life span. The student is expected to: 

(A)  identify and use protective equipment to prevent injury;

(B)  name safe play environments;

(C)  explain the harmful effects of, and how to avoid, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs;

(D)  identify ways to avoid weapons and drugs or harming oneself or another person by staying away from dangerous situations and reporting to an adult;

(E)  identify safety rules that help to prevent poisoning;

(F)  identify and describe safe bicycle skills;

(G)  identify and practice safety rules during play; and

(H)  identify how to get help from a parent and/or trusted adult when made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe by another person/adult."

In the lower grades, students learned about making healthy choices through "The Best Me, Drug Free" books.  Many students are already familiar with the harmful effects of drugs (such as alcohol & cigarettes) from previous health lessons, tv shows, social media, and family & friends.  It's important to have a safety conversation about only taking medicine from trusted adults.  Also, with Halloween falling during the same week, it opens up an important conversation about the safety of receiving candy from strangers.  I met with kindergarten through second grade the week before Red Ribbon Week so they could learn about the significance on this nationwide campaign.  These booklets (from SimplyKinder) teach children to say "no" to unhealthy choices, help students decide what is good to put in your body, promote kindness to others, think of ways to show others you love them, inspire them to think about what they'd like to accomplish in the future and how they'll look wearing their red ribbon.  Here are some sample pages:

In the upper grades we learned about the harm that is done to our bodies from drugs.  We began by watching a BrainPop, Jr video on illegal drugs.

We then worked on a flip book to learn about the different harmful effects drugs have on our bodies.  Savvy School Counselor created some great resources on TeachersPayTeachers that I utilized for these lessons.