Second Step Newsletter

At the start of each school year, Second Step students learn skills to help them be better learners. These skills help students to be successful at school, at home, and at life. Over the next few weeks, your child will be able to tell you about the following learning skills:

1. Focus Attention
2. Listen
3. Use Self-Talk
4. Be Assertive

In addition to exploring these skills in more detail throughout the newsletter, you will also find resources, games, songs, and activities that you and your Second Step student can do together at home.

When we focus attention, our eyes should be looking at the speaker, our ears should be listening to the speaker, and our brain should be remembering what we hear. We also need to ignore distractions and concentrate. When we focus our attention, it is respectful and helps us to be better listeners! We can practice this skill all year long...especially when our parents, sisters, brothers, or friends are talking to us!

To be a good listener, we need to focus all our attention on the speaker, wait for our turn to speak (don't interrupt!), remember what we hear, and think of questions to ask to get more information. Listening with attention is another way to show respect!

Students in Kindergarten and First Grade learn and practice a special set of listening rules. The rules help young learners know how to act so everyone can learn. When we follow the listening rules, we are treating others fairly and with respect.

Using self-talk helps us to ignore distractions so we can stay focused and on task. When we use self-talk, we talk to our self in our head or in a quiet voice. Some examples of self-talk include:

"Just ignore those kids in the hallway."

"Focus on what my teacher is saying."

"Stay calm."

"I can do it."

"It's okay. This is no big deal."

When you use self-talk, you are able to stay focused, listen with attention, and be a better learner!

Being assertive means asking for what we want or need in a respectful, calm, and firm way. When we make a request in an assertive way, we:

1. Face the person we're talking to

2. Keep our head up and shoulders back

3. Use a calm, firm voice

4. Use respectful words

Being assertive is a good way to communicate what you want or need because it's respectful, it's clear, and it keeps the situation calm.

For more information about the Second Step program, please contact Shelby Liebegott at sliebegott@tiu11.org