My New Fave Book: My Mouth is a Volcano!

What: My Mouth is a Volcano! (Book and Activity Book)

By: Julia Cook

Ages: 4-8

Year: 2006

Pages: 32

Description: (from Amazon) All of Louis' thoughts are very important to him. In fact, his thoughts are so important to him that when he has something to say, his words begin to wiggle, and then they do the jiggle, then his tongue pushes all of his important words up against his teeth and he erupts, or interrupts others. His mouth is a volcano! My Mouth Is A Volcano takes an empathetic approach to the habit of interrupting and teaches children a witty technique to capture their rambunctious thoughts and words for expression at an appropriate time. Told from Louis' perspective, this story provides parents, teachers, and counselors with an entertaining way to teach children the value of respecting others by listening and waiting for their turn to speak.

My thoughts: This is a fantastic book! So fantastic that I sat the other intern at my elementary school down today so that I could read it to her! Together we are in charge of leading a social skills group for five, third grade boys with ADHD/attention difficulties. While last week we did introductions, tomorrow is our first official lesson day with the group. We are going to use this book with them! One, it's super funny. Two, it gets the lesson across in a clear, but not preachy manner. And three, it's told from a boy's perspective which is something we really wanted to find so that it would reach these particular boys in our group. And four, you can purchase the activity book to go along with it! Your work is already done for your fellow school counselors!

GO BUY IT NOW!

I'm sorry!

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!

It's just so difficult to keep up a blog when you're trying to do your internship!

So- just as an fyi on what I'm up to, have I read the girls yet- No. Why not? Because I went to go buy it at Barnes and Nobles two weekends ago and then didn't have it. Did I order it from Amazon and it's on it's way? Yes. Will I be using it in a girls group at my elementary school in the coming weeks and be updating you with the questions we use in our girls group? Yes. So don't worry your pretty little heads too much.

What I'll Be Reading this Weekend: The Girls

The Girls, by Amy Goldman Koss, appropriate for grades 5 through 8. After seeing the bibliotherapy seminar a few weeks ago, the other intern and I at our elementary school though it would be interesting to follow in the speaker's footsteps and develop a group curriculum for fifth grade girls based on this novel. The speaker at the seminar could not recommend this book enough and said that her fifth grade girls could NOT put it down! Let's see if I feel the same way :)

Here's a description from Amazon.com:

When the other members of Maya's clique decide to ostracize her, the girl is shocked and devastated. She has no clue what she could have done wrong, and neither do Brianna, Renee, or Darcy. However, Candace is their leader, the self-assured one, the one who decides who's in and who's not, and, suddenly, Maya's not. In brief chapters that jump from one girl's perspective to another, a picture emerges of social status and peer pressure among middle schoolers who are struggling to figure out who they are, where they belong, and maybe even what is right.

Middle school cliques, relational aggression, queen bees, what more could a girl ask for, right?

Read Read Read

Something I keep meaning to do (when I get that oh-so-coveted free time I've always been looking for) is read some more psycho-educational books. We talked about some great ones today that I wanted to share with you, as well as a few more that I've put on the list myself:

The Motivation Breakthrough by Richard Lavoie

Hidden Gifts of an Introverted Child by Marti Olsen Laney

The Trouble with Boys by Peg Tyre

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Dan Kindlon

Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman

The Curse of the Good Girl by Rachel Simmons

Happy reading!

And the school year begins!

Welcome back folks! And the school year begins. Some of you may be just beginning your Master's program, others of you may be beginning your second year and that means beginning your internship, getting involved at your on-site internship (whether school or otherwise) and a whole gag of other wonderful things. For my internship site I had the wonderful opportunity of attending a bibliotherapy seminar this morning, and for the next couple of posts I thought I would share some of the books I learned about. Feel free to check them out for yourself!

First, the wonderful seminar was offered by a school counselor by the name of Amy Sauder Lehman who has written the book "That's My Story Too"-- check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Story-Brambrut-Sauder-Lehman/dp/1598500821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283385367&sr=8-1. This is a book for K-5th grade that includes 4 books/grade with lesson plans and reproducibles for each book. She was a great speaker and clearly knew what she was talking about and could get adults, and surely children, engaged in the material. I highly suggest this resource, and I plan on buying it myself!

Working with LGBTQ Families

Six to twelve million children in the United States come from LGBTQ families, yet unfortunately the research exists indicating that school counselors are sorely lacking in their knowledge and abilities to serve this population. An important goal is to help children become aware and knowledgeable (and, in my opinion, accepting) of all types of diverse families.

To help in this process, if you're school district is willing, I recommend Todd Parr's book, "The Family Book" which includes depictions of all types of families, including those with two same-sex parents.

Also, if you're interested in this topic, check out the paper I wrote for my multicultural class in the resources section. It is entitled "Considerations for School Counselors working with LGBT Families."

Bullying Books!

Just realized you need to do a bullying lesson tomorrow with your 4th graders? Check out the following great illustrated books with a bullying theme:

Alley Oops by Janice Levy
Band- ‐Aid Chicken by Becky Henton
Billy Bully by Ana Galan
Bullies Are A Pain in the Brain by Trevor Romain
Bully B.E.A.N.S. by Julia Cook
Carla’s Sandwich by Debbie Herman
Don’t Laugh At Me by Steven Seskin and Allen Shamblin
Good- ‐Bye Bully Machine by Debbie Fox and Allan Beane
Hey Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose
Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Bullies by Howard Binkow
Jungle Bullies by Steven Kroll
Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig
My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig
Nobody Knew What To Do by Becky Ray McCain
Oliver Button Is A Sissy by Tomie DePaola
One by Kathryn Otoshi
Our Friendship Rules byPeggy Moss and Dee Dee Tardif
Say Something by Peggy Moss
Simon’s Hook: A story about teases and put- ‐downs by Karen Gedig Burnett
Stop Bullying Bobby! by Dana Smith Mansell
Stop Picking On Me by Pat Thomas
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
Trouble Talk by Trudy Ludwig

Books I Love #1: Richard Scarry

Richard Scarry's books "What Do People Do All Day?" and "Busy Busy Town" are fantastic books for teaching children about careers. In fact, I plan to use them in my internship this fall for our "Elementary Career Day." These books are just wonderful, anyone who has read them cannot gush enough. They are full of illustrations and great storylines to help children learn about what different workers do. My only complaint? They're still a little gender biased.

Wonderful Website #1: Lisa Savinon, School Counselor

Found out about this one on the ASCA Scene folks. If you click on "files for everyone" on her website you'll find some great counselor resources, including lesson plans. She includes a bunch of different topics, including bibliotherapy, response services, guidance, gifted, etc. She also includes great links on how to build family connections, links for children with special needs, and more. Give it a look!

Fantastic Blog #1: Books that Heal Kids

Fantastic Blog to check out: http://booksthathealkids.blogspot.com/

This is written by an elementary school counselor and ASCA member. She posts about different books she uses in bibliocounseling in her work as a school counselor. Wonderful resource if you're looking for books to use in your internship or work. Great character education resource.