Conflict in Grade 2

 This week there was a lot of conflict in Grade 2. Fortunately, most of it was simulated as we used different scenarios to help us focus on our third line of inquiry, “Ways to communicate our thoughts and feelings.”

We began by brainstorming the different types of things that lead to conflict in the students’ daily life here at school, in the class or on the playground. Groups wrote down lists of things and then shared their ideas with the class. They also brainstormed and suggested solutions to some of the common problems.

Next we watched a fun video, Kelso’s Choices, and had fun dancing along!

Continuing on with dance in PE, we listened to a couple different types of songs and tried to dance in a way to communicate what we interpreted as the mood or feeling of the song. After a few practice tries, the students worked in groups and chose their own feeling or emotion to express. They chose a song and then created their own dance to go with it. In art they also did a similar activity, using lines, colours and shapes to create abstract art which also communicated emotions and feelings.

After learning about the different types of verbal and non-verbal ways to deal with problems thanks to Kelso’s choice wheel, we went into more detail with verbal responses such as how to use I messages (no not the iPhone app) but rather “I statements” to share how you are feeling about something without blaming the other person. We also practiced apologizing properly and role played some different situations. The students worked with a partner and acted out their chosen scenarios, demonstrating how to solve problems non-verbally and verbally with ‘I statements and proper apologies. They used the iPads and InShot video editing app to create their videos and you can watch them on Seesaw!