Social Thinking

Do your kids love superhero?  Mine do!  They love this new social skills program that I've found.   The kids get to work with the superhero Superflex.  Superflex saves Social Town from the team of Unthinkables.  Super flex teaches the kids different strategies they can use to defeat the Unthinkables.

The first book teaches kids how to outsmart Rock Brain.  They learn what to do when their brains get stuck on activities or topics they want to do.

Several of my students have a difficult time knowing the difference between a big problem and a small problem.  The Superflex curriculum has the answer.  We are now using this book where my kids are learning about Glassman.  Glassman makes you have a HUGE reaction to a small problem.  My students are learning different strategies they can try immediately to defeat this villain.  

To help my kids get motivated to learn and practice their skills, we turned our closet into Social Town.  We have Superflex flying down to rescue the citizens.  Since we are talking about Rock Brain and Glassman, we added them to our town.  All of the kids also have their own superhero mask they get to wear during our lessons.  Social Skills is now the highlight of our day.

You can find out more about these resources by clicking here.

Do you use Whole Brain Teaching?

Do you use Whole Brain Teaching in your classroom?  This is my first real attempt at it.  I must say, that I have been absolutely amazed at the progress my students are showing.  I am using WBT strategies in writing.  I am starting slowly and will progress as my students and I grow in this process.

During the second week of school, I asked my students to write a paragraph about where they like to go.  Here are a few examples of what they gave me:

I like going to the store because I can get toys and I can play with them when I get hot and I get candy at the store  and I get coke

I like to go home

I like to zoo.

I like to dog.

I like going to art.

I like drawing.

I like painting.

Yesterday, we wrote a paragraph about our favorite movie.  We discussed topic sentences and why topic sentences are so important.  I used the lesson from the book Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids.  I really liked how the lesson was outlined.  Here's the writing my kids produced.

My favorite movie is frozen because it is sad and they sing.  Ana freezes her head and she shuts the gates.  Elsa sings when the gates open.  She is happy.

My favorite movie is Mulan because she brings honor to her family and she helps her father.  She goes to war.  She dresses like a man.

My favorite movie is How to Build a Better Boy because he is a robot and he plays football.  He is a robot because a girl made him in a lab on a computer.  He plays football because he wants to.

I know what you're thinking.  I did NOT coach or correct anything.  Amazing, right?!  I can't wait to see where we are in May!  It's going to be a great year!!