Building self-confidence in students leads to better friendships, school success, and a foundation for a positive future. To help students begin their own self reflection of their positive qualities we read The Tiny Snowflake by Arthur Ginolfi (K-2) and Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: having the courage to be who you are by Maria Dismondy.
In the book, The Tiny Snowflake, Lacy (the tiniest snowflake) had a difficult time thinking of why she was special. Lacy was encouraged by a wise snowflake to think about why she was special. Lacy reminds readers throughout the book that everyone is different, but everyone is special. As students listened to to the story, they listened and tallied adjectives that were used to describe the snowflakes.
Next, the students were asked to think of how they were special. We watched the following video by Will.I.Am and friends from Sesame Street to help brainstorm ways we can describe ourselves.
After the video, students wrote descriptions of how they were special. Students were encouraged to share with their small groups ways that each of their group members were special. All their special qualities were written on one large snowflake for each group. All grade levels will be given the opportunity to make a snowflake. These will be displayed on our school bulletin board.
Upper elementary students began the class by brainstorming different feeling words for a given situation. Their goal as a group was to encourage each other and listen to each other's ideas. They were given Dojo Points for teamwork, cooperation, and using kind words within their group.
Students rated their group's achievement on a scale of 1-5 and as a group we discussed what worked in their groups. Through this reflection they found that taking turns and listening to everyone helped them achieve better quality work and a positive attitude about each other.
The students found multiple words used to describe common feelings such as happy, sad, and mad. The students were then given "Happy" cards that had vocabulary that described specific occasions of happiness. There were post-its throughout the book Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun. Students pointed to the word on their paper that described how the main character was feeling in the book. Some of the words were new and needed explanation and the book provided an opportunity to share examples of these words and expand student vocabulary.
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