#renewlaurel

As testing season is upon us and many students and teachers are feeling the exhaustion of a challenging year- we turned to our social emotional learning toolbox to talk about words, visuals, colors, and phrases that AFFIRM us or remind us of things that make us COMFORTABLE or ENCOURAGED.  After exploring those big emotional vocabulary words we shared about things that people have said to us that have made us feel proud, loved, cared for, special, excited and positive. From that brainstorm, we pulled out specific words and sketched on our planning document- adding elements of line, shape, and symbol to support our visions.  Each student chose a background color that was comforting and we proceeded to transfer our planning sheets to styrofoam to carve out our words and designs.  We used the process of BLOCK-PRINTING to create flags to inspire and comfort us in the days and weeks ahead.