Throughout the year, select students in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade will be asked to participate in small educational groups focused on a specific topic. The groups will be run my Mrs. Berry, your child's School Counselor. Sometimes the groups are run in conjunction with a school counseling intern as well.

Groups typically run about 6-8 weeks (once per week) and are held during your child's lunch period. While the students are eating, the group facilitators will engage students in discussion, lessons, and activities in order to help them in a particular area of need.

Below are some examples of groups that are offered at different times throughout the school year:

SOCIAL SKILLS GROUP

Social skills includes anything from how to appropriately participate in a conversation, how to identify non-verbal cues, how to treat others including beliefs in what makes a good friend and looking for good friendship in others, role playing different situations of bullying or situations that could lead up to bullying including the role of the bystander, how to be a leader and make good choices

KEEPIN' IT COOL GROUP - Getting a handle on frustration

Students work together to build appropriate ways to express and handle anger and frustration. The overall goal is helping students understand that it is okay to be angry; it’s what we do with our anger that sometimes isn’t okay.  

REMOTE CONTROL GROUP - Help with Self-Awareness

This group is based on a curriculum from the book "Hunter and his Amazing Remote Control". Students learn that they have the control over their every day behaviors. Different "buttons" are learned, such as: Channel Changer: Tuning into the correct channel (i.e. when in class, your channel should be on the teacher and the lesson) Rewind & Fast Forward: Learning from mistakes and looking at possible consequences of behavior before acting Pause: Thinking before acting ...and more.

GIRLS FRIENDSHIP/SELF-ESTEEM GROUP

Lessons are oriented around peer aggression, being a bystander, self-esteem and leadership skills, recipes for friendship and meaningful friendships.

THE BUILDERS GROUP

Lessons include how to introduce themselves to others, focus on people who are talking, the importance of paying attention to details, about emotions and how to cope with different feelings, exploring their strengths, how to handle conflict and how we can be in same situation but see it differently (also known as perspective).

I have also had mindfulness groups and organizational groups. Students are selected based on many data points that the PBIS team and myself analyze throughout the year. These include report card scores in the "Habits/Personal Social Development" section, referrals to SAP or IST, and especially the Universal Screener that is administered twice per year based on externalizing and internalizing behaviors exhibited by the students. 

Student groups are fun, engaging, and rewarding for students and teachers. Students create a bond in a safe environment while eliminating barriers to learning. Small groups are part of the overall elementary school counseling program here at Valley View Elementary School and are a main component in thousands of elementary, middle, and high schools throughout Pennsylvania and the US.

• If you have any questions about a particular group, feel your child will benefit from being part of one of the groups mentioned above, or have an idea for an additional group in the K-2 setting, please do not hesitate to contact me!