Developmental Classroom Guidance Lessons
Classroom guidance lessons are delivered to students in grades 1-5 throughout the school year, and often correspond to various character education themes at school.
March Update
During the month of March, our 1st grade students were treated to a lessons how how to use our new Sensory Path! While the path is available for use by all students, it is in our first grade hallway and easily accessible for them. The students had a great time learning how to hop and bear crawl through the path. Students in 2nd grade continued their Second Step lessons focused on Emotion Management. Our 3rd grade students learned about using their voice to make a positive change, and how we do not always need to speak to use our voice, through the book Say Something. Our 4th grade students continued exploring careers. Our 5th grade students learned about letting go of our worries and fears when things aren't going right. They listened to and discussed the book When Things Aren't Going Right, Go Left, and then completed an activity to help let go of their fears and worries.
February Update
During the month of February, students in grades 3, 4, and 5 had lessons that focused on College and Career Readiness. Students learned about different post-secondary education and career options. They used our Naviance platform to show the skills they had learned. Our 1st and 2nd grade students continued with their Second Step lessons - focusing on Emotion Management (how to handle our big feelings).
January Update
During the month of January, all students at Garrettford participated in The Great Kindness Challenge. Throughout the month students learned about ways to show and spread kindness. The month culminated with a week-long challenge for every student and staff member to complete as many acts of kindness as possible. This year, our students completed 7,586 acts of kindness during our challenge week!
December Update
During the month of December, students in 1st and 2nd grades finished up Unit 1 in Second Step - Skills for Learning, and began Unit 2 - Empathy, where we have started with a focus on identifying feelings. Students in 3rd - 5th grades were each given an opportunity to participate in a Minute Meeting with me, where I did quick individual check-ins to see how their school year is going. The students also completed a survey on "sense of belonging" at Garrettford, and the results are currently being analyzed by our staff.
November Update
During the month of November, students in 1st and 2nd grades learned about self-talk. Self-talk is a great tool to help us remember important information. Students in grades 3-5 learned about the problem solving STEPs - Say the Problem, Think of Solutions, Explore Consequences, and Pick the Best Solution.
October Update
During the month of October, 1st and 2nd grade students began their Second Step lessons. Second Step is a social-emotional learning curriculum that teaches students skills like managing emotions and problem solving. Students in 3rd - 5th grades learned about the difference between RUDE, MEAN, and BULLYING behavior.
September Update
During the month of September, all students learned about kindness and creating kindness chains. Every student at Garrettford took a kindness pledge, and created a kindness link with their name on it. Our kindness links turned into classroom kindness chains, and then became one long Garrettford kindness chain. The chain is on display in our main hallway, and will remain up all year as a reminder to be kind to one another.