Jefferson Elementary
Jaguar Journal Dec 8th , 2023
Fall Family Feast !!!
Message from Our School Counselor Ms. Olivo
Each month we focus on a different social-emotional topic for classroom counselor lessons. See below for more information on what we have been discussing in your child’s class! In October our focus was emotions. In November we have focused on uncomfortable emotions (i.e. anger, sadness and anxiety) and tools that can help us with those feelings.
Kindergarten and First Grade:
In October we focused on emotions and read “A Little Spot of Feelings”. Students learned:
Every day is full of emotions. Everyday we all experience lots of different feelings.
All feelings are okay. Some feelings are comfortable and others are uncomfortable.
Facial expressions and body language give clues about how a person is feeling.
In November we focused on sadness and read “ A Little Spot of Sadness”. Students learned (taken from the book):
Everyone feels sad sometimes. Sadness shows up when we feel upset, disappointed or experience loss.
Feeling sad is okay, but we don’t feel good when it stays too long or becomes too big.
Crying, frowning and moping are all clues someone is sad.
Things that can help us when we are sad: crying, kindness, care and love from others, having fun, being creative, talking to someone we trust, taking deep breaths
Second and Third Grade:
In October we focused on emotions and The Zones of Regulation. Students learned:
Everyday is full of emotions. We all have feelings – and lots of them! They are a normal and healthy part of being a person.
All feelings are okay. Feelings can be organized into different Zones depending on how they make our body feel. These Zones help us know what to do with our feelings so we can make safe choices.
Green Zone: feel happy, ready, focused, relaxed, calm. You feel your best in the Green Zone and do your best learning in the Green Zone.
Blue Zone: feel sad, tired, sick, bored, hurt, alone. You feel low and slow and need rest or energy.
Yellow Zone: feel nervous, frustrated, excited, silly, energetic. You feel like your body is moving fast and you need to slow down.
Red Zone: feel mad, out-of-control, overwhelmed, unsafe. Red Zone is where you have big feelings. Your body is out-of-control and you need to stop.
Triggers are things that put us in the Blue, Yellow or Red Zone. Different people react differently to triggers. For example some people are excited when school is canceled because of snow and others are disappointed.
In November we focused on coping tools that can help us feel better when we have big or uncomfortable feelings. Students created a paper “toolbox” with six different tools that can help them when they are in the Blue, Yellow or Red Zone.
Some examples of coping tools include:
Taking deep breaths: breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth
Moving your body: exercise, stretches, activities
Finding your calm with relaxing activities: listening to music, reading, talking to a friend or family member, spending time with a pet or stuffed animal
Getting creative: writing, drawing, coloring, building, playing
Talking to someone who supports you: parent, grandparent, classroom teacher, principal, counselor, friend or other trusted adult or person
Using positive self-talk/affirmations: This is tough, but so am I. I don't have to be perfect, I just have to give it my best. This hurts so I will be extra kind and gentle towards myself. All I need to do is take one step at a time and breathe.
Fourth and Fifth Grade:
In October we focused on emotions and The Zones of Regulation. Students learned:
Everyday is full of emotions. We all have feelings – and lots of them! They are a normal and healthy part of being a person.
All feelings are okay. Feelings can be organized into different Zones depending on how they make our body feel. These Zones help us know what to do with our feelings so we can make safe choices.
Green Zone: feel happy, ready, focused, relaxed, calm. You feel your best in the Green Zone and do your best learning in the Green Zone.
Blue Zone: feel sad, tired, sick, bored, hurt, alone. You feel low and slow and need rest or energy.
Yellow Zone: feel nervous, frustrated, excited, silly, energetic. You feel like your body is moving fast and you need to slow down.
Red Zone: feel mad, out-of-control, overwhelmed, unsafe. Red Zone is where you have big feelings. Your body is out-of-control and you need to stop.
Triggers are things that put us in the Blue, Yellow or Red Zone. Different people react differently to triggers. For example some people are excited when school is canceled because of snow and others are disappointed.
In November we focused on uncomfortable feelings (i.e. anger, sadness, anxiety). We spent time identifying how an uncomfortable emotion feels and processing things that can help us with that emotion. Students created “guidebooks” to help them process anger, loneliness, sadness and worry.
As always, please reach out with questions or concerns! I am happy to support your child however I can at school!
Winter Weather Preparation & Lost and Found Items
Winter is just around the corner. Here are some ways you can prepare for the changing of the seasons.
- Send your child in LABELED layers; Hats, mittens/gloves and coats.
- When snow arrives send snow pants and boots and a extra pair of dry socks for them to change into.
- Start thinking about your family's plan in the event of an earlier dismissal due to inclement weather and communicate that with your child and your child's teacher
- Our Lost and Found is located in front of the office. Please take a peek and see if you recognize anything that has been missing!Items that go unclaimed will be washed and donated over Winter Break.
Winter Weather
Up Coming Events
* Please note there will not be a winter concert this year~ instead there will be a spring concert in May!
Dec 12th PTO Meeting night @ 6:00 Media Center
Dec. 11th Early Release
Dec 15th School Store
Dec 25th -Jan 2nd Winter Break No School
Jan 10th Early release
Jan 15th No School MLK Day
Jan 22 No School Teacher Workshop