Thanks to your generous donations, we were able to provide several Ben Franklin families with food for the Thanksgiving holiday and pantry items for the months ahead. This year, some of our students participated by helping to sort the donated foods into food groups so the items could be divided-up and shared among the families who need them.

In November, we focused on learning about being responsible and recognized students who do a magical job being responsible here at school.

In December the character trait of the month is fairness. This week and next week, I will be busy visiting classrooms; sharing stories and activities that teach students about being fair.

Classes began engaging in Unit 2 of the Second Step curriculum in November and will continue to work their way through the unit this month. Here's some information I shared in my November newsletter about it:

Did you know that according to the World Economic Forum's, Future of Jobs Report, emotional intelligence is one of the top ten job skills (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/21st-century-skills-future-jobs-students/)? And that empathy is a critical component of emotional intelligence?

This month, Second Step lessons in grades K through 3 will teach students about empathy. In our morning announcements and school assembly we’ll be reminding students to have empathy, identify their own and others’ feelings, notice and respect same and different feelings, and show compassion. Compassion involves saying kind words or doing something helpful to show you care about how another person feels. When students can identify, understand, and respond in a caring way to how someone else is feeling, it helps create a positive and accepting school climate.

By clicking on the appropriate hyperlink below you will be provided with worksheets, called “Home Links” that describe why empathy is important and include fun activities to do with your child to help him or her identify feelings and practice showing empathy and compassion. We hope you find them helpful.

Please tell your child’s teacher if you’d like more suggestions about supporting empathy skills at home and feel free to send completed Home Links into school with your child. His/her teacher will collect them and share them with me.

*Please note: There are two Home Links in Unit 2 for grades K and 1, four Home Links in Unit 2 for grade 2, and 3 Home Links in Unit 2 for grade 3.