Hot Hot Hot + Kids + Tiny Classroom + VBS = One Stinky Mess

I helped out at a local Vacation Bible School this morning (and will be doing so for the rest of the week). It was a blast. I was volunteering in the craft room, where we made bags out of t-shirts and get well soon cards for hospital patients. A few of my preschoolers were there. One of the was so excited to see me. She kept saying, "Mrs. ________, I didn't know you were going to be here. Did you know I was going to be here?" She just couldn't believe that we both ended up at the same "school" on the same day.

In other news, it is hotter than hot here! Currently, it's 90 degrees. I mean, seriously?!?! We set record highs yesterday, with a high of 98 degrees, and I bet we did the same today. It's simply craziness. This has had an effect on Vacation Bible School too. As we all know, kids stink when they sweat. They just do. It's a documented fact. So....since we're doing crafts in the un-air conditioned basement of the church, we end up stuck in a small room with 30 sweating kids. It's brutal. They, the children, don't notice, of course. They just have fun doing whatever they are doing, and, for this, I am glad. Us adults, though, are quietly suffering in the stinky, sticky room.

I love it though!

This is something I can see myself volunteering for for many years to come. It is so much easier to deal with than CCD was this past year. The kids are moving around every 20 minutes, so there is no time for them to get bored. It's high-energy. It's messy. It's a blast.

Teaching Feelings

The class I took last night was awesome! I feel much more prepared to take the strategies I learned and use them in my classroom next year. It is fascinating to me how many behaviors we can lessen or eliminate simply by teaching children to identify their feelings.

One of the articles we read, written by Gail E. Joseph and Philip S. Strain from the University of Colorado, talked about the importance of teaching children to identify emotions not only in themselves but also in their classmates. A big part of doing this is having the vocabulary to name the feelings. In the article, they mentioned, "Partly because of an absence of feeling words they often interpret the behavior of others as intentionally hurtful and eventually act out in ways that invariably lead to social isolation and stigmatization." Simply introducing children to a wide variety of feelings vocabulary and giving them examples of what those feelings look like will help children deal with many difficult social situations. It's amazing to me that I thought this was all something kids just learn from experience... Next year, I will be a better teacher.

There are many ways to teach this vocabulary. Some of my favorites are:

• Read alouds - check out the widget below for some of the books we were given last night (for free!) that are all excellent for teaching vocabulary
• Games - anything from feelings dice to spinners to pass-the-hat type games in which children have to act out the emotion are perfect
• Identifying emotions as they naturally happen in the classroom
• Involving families

Check this website out for even more ideas. It's a phenomenal source. There are lesson plans, called Book Nooks, that go with certain books to help teach feelings vocabulary. Amazing!

We had a lot of time last night to discuss problems we have had with children in the past, and it was helpful to hear the advice my classmates had to offer. One classmate talked about a little guy she has who breaks down for, what appears to be, no reason all the time; he is just an emotional mess. We talked about how important it is going to be to teach this little guy to identify his feelings to help enable him to talk about them. He comes from a tough home life, and I am sure he is just aching for someone to love him. Hopefully, my classmate will be able to give him the interventions (especially love) he needs before he heads off to kindergarten in the fall.

Developing Social/Emotional Skills

Tonight, I'm taking a class dealing with using children's literature to build social/emotional skills in preschoolers. This is one of the areas I had absolutely no interest in when I started the school year, but I have grown to appreciate the importance of these skills in preschool and it's on my list of "Things I Need to Do Better Next Year."

Here are some of the books I've discovered to help teach social/emotional skills in preschool:

When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

This story is perfect for teaching children how to deal with their anger. In the story, Sophie becomes upset when her sister takes a toy from her. She gets even more upset when her mom agrees that it's her sister's turn to play with the toy. She runs from the house and finds herself calming down when she finds a quiet spot. So many of my children find themselves in this exact position; they can relate to Sophie and use her example to deal with their own anger.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Everybody has bad days. The tiniest upset can send a day spinning into a train wreck. Even my preschoolers know this. Alexander helps them feel comforted by the fact that they are not alone, and even despite how horrible the day might feel, there are always people who love us and will do anything to make us feel better.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

This book, about a young girl with a beautiful, but a bit unique, name, is an excellent lesson in confidence. When bullying has become such an issue in our society, I believe it is even more important to teach children to be confident in themselves. This book teaches children that the little things that might be different about us are what makes us beautiful and interesting.

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

This story helps teach the values of sharing. Not only does sharing make our friends feel good, it makes us feel good too. At first, the rainbow fish does not want to share his scales; they are what makes him beautiful - if he gives them up, he won't be beautiful anymore. What he discovers, though, is that sharing his scales lets him share his beauty and his friends love him even more for it. This is a skill that many preschoolers struggle with, and this book helps them see why it is a great skill to learn.

On Monday When It Rained by Cherryl Kachenmeister

This book walks through a week in the life of a young boy who feels many, many emotions. The pictures, simple though they are, are perfect for helping children identify what emotions look like. The book also helps children understand that they might be feeling different emotions and that is perfectly normal and okay. As an adult, it can be easy for me to forget that my preschoolers might be overwhelmed by the emotions they are feeling; after all, there are certainly days when I struggle to identify what is wrong or bothering me. My job, as their teacher is to give them the tools they need to sort through the emotions. This book is one of those tools.

These are obviously not the only books out there to teach social/emotional skills, but it's a good start. I'm looking forward to learning even more about how to use literacy to teach these skills tonight. I'll share what I learn tomorrow!