November 27th - December 1st

Do you remember how we studied the structure of the brain a few weeks ago and the scholars were asking, "Miss, why are we doing this?" Well, they got the answer this week! We utilized all that base knowledge of the brain and its functions to analyze our emotions and how they influence behavior. It was great. I love tying the loose ends together and seeing "light bulb" moments!

Of course, we began the week with Mentor/Mentee Monday and Tutoring Tuesday. Most everyone did a great job of working hard on their assignments, but there were a few kids who resisted and neglected to uphold the expectation. While it's common this time of year, I'm grateful that we have a strong classroom community and the students help hold one another accountable.

We began our lesson on emotions by creating a circle map with as many emotions as we could think of. I was impressed with the kids' ability to come up with so many various feelings!

Once we completed our circle map, we moved the conversation into the 6 Core Emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust). We enjoyed discussing how the Limbic System in our brain is rather similar to the brains of our cave-dwelling ancestors and how babies exhibit the Core Emotions, regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, race, etc... Next, we chatted about the concept of "Fight, Flight, Freeze." To drive these concepts home, we listened to songs and identified the emotion then viewed a short film called "The Quiet" and looked for the characters' "Fight, Flight, Freeze" response. 

On Friday, we played a couple games. First, students participated in Puffball Races by blowing puffballs on their desks. They had a great time competing in this activity. Then, back by popular demand, the scholars played Rattled (my favorite word scramble game).