Ramping up for a successful year
A new school year awaits!
Wow – it’s already August! While I am on a bit of a vacation for a few weeks this month, I thought it would be a great month to have a SALE! 🛍️ After all, school is starting up again, and if you are like me, you are re-stocking your materials in preparation for a year of growing with our students.
Before we get to the sale details, I thought I’d write a few words about…characters. Specifically, some of the characters in animated videos that I love watching with my students. Every story needs characters, and the animators of the videos I recommend are SO talented when it comes to creating and making their characters come alive for us to enjoy and learn from!
Did you know that one of the reasons Pixar movies show emotional expression so well is that those animators worked closely with Paul Ekman, the world-renowned expert on micro-expressions of emotions? So, it’s no surprise (and a special gift to us) that Mike and Sully (Mike’s New Car), give our students amazing practice in identifying feelings and non-verbal expression. And that the young chick in Piper opens the door for many of our students to talk about their worries.
Some of you might remember the webinar Maryellen Rooney Morreau (of Story Grammar Marker fame!) did a few years ago, focusing on Soar, by Alyce Tzue. What an animation – and it’s all about the characters. We see a relationship from it’s very start, and while it’s short-lived we can all imagine that, for Mara and the Pilot, it’s a relationship they will both always remember. Such sweetness!
Maca and Roni (of course!) are two of my favorite characters. In many ways, they are like siblings, so provide us with lots of feelings-packed interactions. They are super-loveable, but often show us the trickier side of relationships. Whether they are trying to solve problems together (M&R: Turn off the air conditioning, M&R: Cleaning, M&R: Dominos), tricking each other and those around them (M&R: Fancy Painting, M&R: Snack Battle), or even being not-so-nice to each other (M&R: Snowball Fight, M&R: Jenga) they portray the complexities and opportunities of long-term relationships. So, what’s not to love?
If any of these animations are unfamiliar to you, I encourage you to check them out – and enjoy using them this coming school year!
Interested in working with animations or wanting to get set for easy fun with Maca and Roni? For the month of August, 20% off the Maca & Roni spreadsheet price of $8.00 makes it pretty irresistible (you do the math)!
If you want activities to expand emotional understanding and emotional self-reflection, YouCue Feelings is also 20% off this month. As are the downloadable or hard copy Feeling Tracker and Fixers. Be ready when all those feelings come through your office door in a few weeks!
And, it you already work on conversation with your students – or want to explore how you can work on conversation and write rubric-based goals to support your students in finding conversation as it is right for them, CPPEV is also 20% off….so, yes, site-wide 20% savings!
Use code BACK2SCHOOL for 20% off at checkout!
Enjoy every day that summer brings us!
