Day 133 - The Importance of Play - Ms. Greene - Fox Hill Guidance

For kids, play is some of the most important work they can be doing each and every day. It is through play that kids develop intrinsic motivation, make sense of the world, increase their ability to persist, among many other benefits.

Consider two children who sit down to complete a puzzle. To begin, they have to agree on which puzzle to complete and then create a plan of how they will assemble it together. They have to negotiate the physical space, share the pieces, and make a plan to connect what they have completed individually. As they work on the puzzle itself, they will problem solve to find the right piece, and have to think critically to make sure they turn the piece in the right direction. From there, they will need to persist and find motivation from within to complete the puzzle. There is a lot happening in this one activity, and although it can be a lot of fun, there is so much learning occurring simultaneously.

Over school vacations, on weekends, after school, and throughout the summer, find ways to play! The skills your child will gain are incredible and remember there are so many ways to turn everyday activities into a game.  For examples of some simple and fun games, check out, “A Moving Child is a Learning Child: How the body teaches the brain to think,” by Gill Connell and Cheryl McCarthy.

Day 123 - Glittery Gossip - Mr. Daley - Fox Hill Grade 4

This post first appeared on Mr. Daley's Blog 

On Friday, Ms. LoConto and Ms. Greene conducted a guidance lesson for Mrs. Hevey's and my classroom focusing on the pitfalls of gossiping. Their lesson was called "Glittery Gossip." In groups of 4 or 5, students were instructed to pass glitter from their hands to classmates. If students passed all of the glitter successfully from student to student without any falling to the floor and no glitter was left any on students' hands (even one piece), then all 4th graders would earn a prize of an extra hour of recess. Well, needless to say, it was impossible for students to successfully complete their task. Students' enthusiasm to complete such a task quickly became an exercise in futility.

Ms. LoConto and Ms. Greene taught the kids how we can't control our words once we speak them. The words we utter will spread to others, can be heard by others we didn't intend to pass them to, and can't be erased once we've spoken them.

While the kids were disappointed at not earning an extra hour of recess, they "got the message" offered during the activity ~ that it's vitally important for Room 20 (and Fox Hill School) to be a "Gossip-free Zone!"