What is Robinson Recess Club?

Ms. Casavant & Mrs. Bonenfant being Social Detectives!

           Recess Club was developed to help our first grade students learn and strengthen their friendship and social skills.  It grew out of staff discussions of how best to meet student social needs, especially those with social skill challenges.  Our staff wanted a program that would foster positive, age appropriate social skills and that would facilitate the transfer of skills beyond the classroom lessons.  The staff also wanted a program that would support Robinson's core values, the I-Care Rules, and the Peace-It-Together Program.

          In Recess Club, our first grade students meet weekly with Mrs. Bonenfant, Ms. Casavant and/or Mrs. Terrio to discuss and review our social emotional curriculum beginning in October through May. At the end of each lesson, students participate in a recess that provides an opportunity for real world practice of the addressed skills. A detailed list of the skills taught can be found under the lesson sequence section of this blog. The goal of the club will be to help strengthen social and friendship skills with a focus on the areas of self-regulation, making and maintaining friendships, how to be a social detective, playing fair and play an activity/game. The Recess Club curriculum includes the Social Thinking language developed by Michelle Garcia Winner and The Zones of Regulation curriculum developed by Leah Kuypers.  Social Thinking fosters the development of perspective-taking skills as well as fostering an understanding of the importance of social skills on a personal level. The Zones of Regulation teaches students how to independently regulate their emotions and energy levels.

Source: www.zonesofregulation.com

Your child will learn about the tools every social detective uses (our body, eyes, ears and brain) and how we use those tools everyday to guide our social interactions. Using the Zones of Regulation your child will learn how to use colored visuals to define how they are feeling. These include blue zone (my energy is low), green zone (I’m ready to work), yellow zone (my energy is running higher and I may loose some control) and red (my energy is running high and I am out of control). Students will learn how to handle our different energy levels and feelings and explore various self-regulation strategies. The Social Thinking language will include teaching your child what is expected and unexpected in various social situations.

We begin the lessons on identifying the zones of self-regulation, differentiating between expected versus unexpected behavior and what that language means, exploring what a social detective is and how to be one, as well as how to be a friend and overcome obstacles to being a friend. Following this, we will move on to greeting and conversation skills including eye contact, voice level and personal space.  Later in the year students will learn the skills involved in playing an activity and being a good sport. 

Unexpected behaviors compiled by Mrs. Helenius & Mrs. Capobianco's first grade classes

The benefits of this program are many.  Recess Club supports a common language, used by students, staff and parents, which facilitates learning, especially for those students with social challenges, and social problem solving.  It also assists with the transfer of social skills from the classroom to the whole school and home while supporting the development of a caring, peaceful community.  Finally, the program contributes to a decrease in disciplinary incidents.