Counselor's Corner
David Kucera K-12
by Jenae Parr
March 02, 2010
Hi there everyone. Can you believe that March is here already? Boy, the year has flown by, and we are approaching the fourth quarter rapidly. If you have been following my monthly Counselor's Corner you might think that I only spend time with seniors and I thought I would take this month's Corner and explain a little about my elementary duties.
I get to spend time with each elementary class throughout the week. On Monday, I visit the Kindergarten at 9:05 and the First Graders at 10 a.m. My kindergarten curriculum is centered on the book, My Best Friend and Me! and we talk about ourselves, things that we like and dislike, the things in the life of a kindergarten student. I also use a series of videos of the Berenstein Bears to illustrate social skills (please and thank you and others). In the first grade, we spend a great deal of time talking about feelings from the book, The Me I'm Learning to Be. During the first semester we put together a feelings dictionary and spend time talking about all the different feelings we have. I also use the video series, You Can Choose, by Michael Pritchard in which the characters deal with some of their feelings of sadness, happiness, ad disappointment among others.
Tuesday, I spend time with the fifth grade from 9:15 to 9:45, and then I go to the second grade class at 10:00. In fifth grade we spend the first semester talking about "personal priorities", the things that are important in our lives such as family and friends, education, and friendships. During the second semester, we begin a unit on alcohol and drug awareness. This gets them prepared for their DARE curriculum as sixth graders. In the second grade time slot we use a book called Character Education, by Carson-Dellosa Publishing. We talk about the ten character traits in our book, such as honesty, responsibility, citizenship, and fairness.
Wednesday is my sixth grade day. They are my only elementary class on this day, and we begin at 9:15. The sixth grade guidance curriculum is centered on the book, Learning to Learn, by Gloria Frender. It is a curriculum to strengthen study skills and teach them to use the power of the brain. We spend a great deal of time talking about learning styles and right/left brain comparisons. We also touch on note taking and test-taking skills. During the later part of the second semester we will begin to get them prepared for the all-important transition from elementary to junior high. During this time we talk about credits, class schedules, and class requirements as they begin their journey to graduation.
Thursday is my third and fourth grade day. I spend time with Mrs. Tompkin's class at 9:00, and then I transition over to Mrs. Werner's class at 10:00. With the third grade class we use the book Making and Keeping Friends by John J. Schmidt. This curriculum focuses on the process of friendship and the things we need to do to make and keep our relationships. We use stories and activities to show examples of good relationship building, which is so important at this young age. Our fourth grade book is Career Search by Sherry Strong and our time is spent talking about the first steps in looking at careers. During the first semester we begin by trying to discover ourselves and then we use these self discoveries to begin to look at what each student will do to strengthen their aptitudes and attitudes about the world of work. The age old question of, "what do I want to be when I grow up?" is one of our targets for the year. We know that we are a long way away from having to make that decision, so this is a perfect time to explore.
That leaves Friday and I don't schedule any elementary guidance on Friday just in case I miss a day and have to make-up some guidance time. If for some reason I am gone and we are unable to have our regular guidance time, Friday is the day to take care of that situation.
So that is my week in elementary guidance and I hope it gives you a glimpse into what we do with grades K thorough 6. Until next month, have a good March. Please continue to check our Kenesaw Schools website for updates on our scholarship list.
