Our Olympic theme gave us an opportunity to discuss important characteristics that make champions. As we have been learning about different Olympians and gold medal moments, we have been seeing similar character traits. We connected five important character traits to the Olympic rings and have been discussing how these traits can help us have gold medal performances this year.
Dream Big and Believe in Yourself
While all the rings connect and overlap, the first two we discussed are really linked. As you saw in the first day post, we read an inspiring picture book biography about Nadia Comaneci. We also watched a video of her perfect 10 routines. However, those perfect 10s didn't just happen. Nadia had to set goals and work hard to achieve. We used the read aloud Nadia The Girl Who Couldn't Sit Still as a springboard for writing our own goals for the upcoming year. The first and second grade students have a lot they want to accomplish this year. I can wait to get started. Here are a couple example goals that students wrote:
My goal is learning.
My goal is to listen.
My goal is to get better at math.
My goal is to read harder books.
My goal is to be the best I can be.
Sportsmanship ~ Showing Respect
We used the red ring to discuss sportsmanship and showing respect. Showing respect seemed to come up in almost everything we did the first two days. From greeting fellow students and teachers with eye contact and a handshake to pushing in our chairs and cleaning up after ourselves, opportunities to show respect are everywhere. We also practiced sportsmanship by playing a math game. Of course, all the students wanted to win the game, but more importantly we focused on learning and having fun. We show good sportsmanship whether we win or lose.
Last but not least, we used the green Olympic ring to represent teamwork. We have a unique team that combines first and second grade. I think our different backgrounds will give us strength. One team building activity we did this week was creating a puzzle. Each student got a puzzle piece to design. Then, we gathered on the floor, each student with their piece, and worked together to assemble the puzzle. The students discussed strategies and encouraged each other. This puzzle was different from other puzzles the students had put together because many of the traditional puzzle strategies wouldn't work. For example, the students couldn't match up colors because they each decorated their puzzles individually. When it was complete, each child's unique piece fit together to form the Connected Combo!
Kindness
Beyond sportsmanship, to have a gold medal year we need to be kind to one another. Many of the students knew the Olympic moment where the two runners collided and then helped each other finish the race (click here for video clip). If you watched the slide show of the children's best part of the first day, you noticed that most of them mentioned friends. This group of students have such wonderful hearts. Our year is going to be amazing because these children already understand the importance and joy of spreading kindness.
Teamwork
Last but not least, we used the green Olympic ring to represent teamwork. We have a unique team that combines first and second grade. I think our different backgrounds will give us strength. One team building activity we did this week was creating a puzzle. Each student got a puzzle piece to design. Then, we gathered on the floor, each student with their piece, and worked together to assemble the puzzle. The students discussed strategies and encouraged each other. This puzzle was different from other puzzles the students had put together because many of the traditional puzzle strategies wouldn't work. For example, the students couldn't match up colors because they each decorated their puzzles individually. When it was complete, each child's unique piece fit together to form the Connected Combo!
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