NEWSLETTER - September 2010

Longfellow Elementary School

School Counseling/Family Resource Center

September 2010

Dear Longfellow Families,

I hope that all of you have had a nice start to the 2010-2011 school year!  I am excited to be a part of Longfellow Elementary School as your School Counselor & Family Resource Director.  One of my roles as the school counselor is to provide classroom guidance lessons.  I started off the year by going to each classroom to explain what a school counselor does and gave a tour of my room.  It is important for you to know what your children are learning during classroom guidance because these are significant topics to discuss with your children.  Newsletters will be sent home as we begin covering new topics throughout the year.  

Here is an overview of what has been/will be discussed in each grade level:

KINDERGARTEN:  The first activity involved a puppet named “Felicia the Flower with Feelings”.  This was a lesson about making friends (look them in the eye, say hi, ask them their name, tell them yours).  The next activity was about being unique and we read the story “Timothy Goes to School”. 

FIRST GRADE:  The first two lessons were about being unique.  They colored a rainbow picture and discovered that no one had the exact same rainbow.  Students learned that we have a lot of similarities and differences but that these do not make anyone better or worse.   

SECOND GRADE:  The first activity was a get to know you activity that involved talking about who students live with.  The next activity involved an interactive puppet show that focused on listening and using hands to help rather than hurt others. 

(Kindergarten, first, and second grades will all be spending the upcoming weeks working on I-CARE LESSONS.  This is a district wide program which teaches the following 5 lessons: listen, use hands for helping not hurting, positive language, caring about feelings, and responsibility for the things one does and says)

THIRD/FOURTH GRADES:  The first activity was called “Questions From a Rainbow” in which we learned a little bit about everyone.  All third and fourth graders are currently working on a “Feelings Journal”.  There are many activities about feelings (expressing feelings, how to deal with feelings).  Also I have been writing back to students in their journals.

FIFTH/SIXTH GRADES: The first activity was a get to know you activity called “Tree Climbing” in which we discussed different opinions (and how to respect different opinions without putting others down).  Currently the fifth and sixth graders are working on study skills (they have a booklet called “it’s up to you… make it cool to be in school”).  We will be working on organization, time management, work habits, and goal setting. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Nicole Schmidt