Lower Primary 2025-26 by Amy Grogan [KISB]

3. Maximizing opportunity to learn

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:05:53 UTC

What will we do this year:

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:09:33 UTC

Create common approaches across Lower Primary in the use of the Zones of Regulation (Grade Specific and Phase).

Develop strategies in partnership with Learning Support for regulation that focus on the whole child and are inclusive of all learners.

Explore our approaches to technology use creating agreements and understand better the impact of technology on regulation.

Create a space that can be accessible for small group regulation / move to learn space.

Brain Dance

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:12:24 UTC

Anne Green-Gilberts Braindance attached. You may have heard of this before but if not she is the founder of a creative dance center for teachers. She created this dance routine that can be used from very young learners to adults that involves perceptual motor. What is unique about her dance is that it also incorporates vestibular movements that children often do not engage with as much when at school. These are very important in developing balance and spatial awareness. Something we might notice in young learners as we help them to develop self regulation techniques is their lack of awareness of space. By incorporating swinging, spinning and other rotation exercises into the daily sensory diet we can improve this awareness and help a child to develop stronger self regulation techniques. This is something that I have done with learners specifically who find space and regulation challenging.

Anyway, this is obviously a passion for me. You can find more information attached in the articles. Here is also a link to more research: https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/dance/braindance-to-support-emotional-learning?srsltid=AfmBOoqtNnwkftFjRAo5ykJ85iBOY_r2rIFG-gykKNQ_83BsFVlRIKO_

You can find guided brain dances on youtube and spotify. What is great is that you can choose different lengths of time so you can adapt it to fit in your daily schedule. Some samples are below:

Anne Green Gilbert compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnasIFAbJRk

The five minute brain dance narration

The eight minute brain dance narration

App Pros and Cons

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:13:57 UTC

About the zones

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:19:48 UTC

ntroduction to The Zones of Regulation 🧠

The Zones of Regulation is a framework that helps students understand and manage their emotions and sensory needs. It categorizes all feelings and states of alertness into four colored zones:

Blue Zone: Low states of alertness, such as feeling sad, tired, sick, or bored.
Green Zone: The ideal state for learning, where one feels calm, happy, focused, and content.
Yellow Zone: Heightened emotions and alertness, with some control, like feeling stressed, frustrated, anxious, excited, or silly.
Red Zone: Intense, out-of-control emotions, such as anger, rage, elation, or terror.

Ideas for how to use

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:20:45 UTC

Classroom Check-In Station: Dedicate a space where students can "check-in" by moving a name tag, a clothes pin, or a personal photo to the zone they are in.
Individual "Toolkits": Provide each student with a small folder or box that contains visual cards for different coping strategies. The child can choose a tool from their box when they need to regulate.
Feelings Charades: This is a fun, low-pressure game for the whole class. Have students act out different emotions and have the class guess the feeling and which zone it belongs to.
Resources for Activities & Games:
- 14 Zones of Regulation Activities and Printables for Kids: A great list of activities like matching games, drawing faces, and sorting words.
- Zones of Regulation Activities to Help Kids Manage Their Emotions: Includes ideas for using board games, Jenga, and creating a feelings bulletin board.

Research

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:21:05 UTC

The Zones of Regulation Official Website: The official source for the curriculum, its evidence-based approach, and professional development. It's a great starting point for teachers who want to implement the program with fidelity.
- The Zones of Regulation
The Zones of Regulation Curriculum Book: Written by Leah Kuypers, the creator of the framework, this book provides 18 detailed lessons and activities. It's an invaluable resource for structuring your teaching.
- The Zones of Regulation Curriculum
Research on the Effectiveness of the Zones: Explore studies and articles on emotional self-regulation in young children and the positive impact of the curriculum.
- Evidence of Effectiveness - The Zones of Regulation: A research brief from the Zones of Regulation website that outlines positive outcomes.

Tools and Activities for each zone

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:21:39 UTC

Blue Zone Tools (Wake-up Tools):
- Movement Activities: Star jumps, stretching, or a quick walk around the classroom.
- Mindfulness: Listening to calming music with eyes closed.
Green Zone Tools (Stay-in-the-Zone Tools):
- Positive Affirmations: Have students say, "I am calm," or "I am ready to learn."
- Social Connection: A quick compliment or a "high five" from a friend.
Yellow Zone Tools (Slow-down Tools):
- Breathing Exercises: "Balloon breathing" (inhale like you're blowing up a balloon, exhale slowly) or "five-finger breathing."
- Quiet Corner: A designated quiet space with books or drawing materials.
Red Zone Tools (Stop & Regain Control):
- Sensory Breaks: Chewing gum, drinking water, or doing wall push-ups for deep pressure.
- Calm-Down Kit: A portable box with a pinwheel, bubbles, and a squishy toy.
Additional Resource Links for Tools:
- Zones of Regulation Activities - The OT Toolbox: A resource with a variety of self-regulation activities and sensory tools.
- Zones of Regulation for Kids - YouTube: A short, engaging video that helps explain the zones to young children.

Good reads

amygr3 — 2025-08-29 10:22:05 UTC

The whole brain child

The highly sensitive child / person

Braindance

amygr3 — 2025-09-02 00:16:52 UTC

Jump Jam

amygr3 — 2025-09-02 00:33:14 UTC

Weighted Snakes

amygr3 — 2025-09-17 09:02:48 UTC

Sensory Strategies Part 2

amygr3 — 2025-10-24 05:16:03 UTC

Sensory Strategies - Part 1

amygr3 — 2025-10-24 05:16:22 UTC

Rhythm Focus/Emotional Regulation

chiaramo2 — 2025-11-17 08:02:14 UTC

Whole Child Development Framework themes (acer 2025)

chiaramo2 — 2025-11-17 08:04:18 UTC

Calming Songs Whole Group Singing

chiaramo2 — 2025-11-17 08:14:24 UTC

All of these songs have a predictable and repetitive structure- great for calming energy< 100 BPM (beats per minute)

The Science of Reading vs. Balanced Literacy

amygr3 — 2026-02-24 04:54:46 UTC

How the ‘science of reading’ is reshaping literacy education

amygr3 — 2026-02-24 04:55:25 UTC

5 Research Backed Ways to Build Better Readers

amygr3 — 2026-02-24 04:56:13 UTC

3 Ways to Make Better Use of Reading Science

amygr3 — 2026-02-24 04:56:43 UTC

The Importance of Whole School Literacy and Strategies for Development

amygr3 — 2026-02-25 02:02:58 UTC

Links to other articles are embedded

Science of Reading Myths and Misconceptions

chiaramo2 — 2026-02-25 02:24:06 UTC

Educators Were Sold a Story About Phonemic Awareness

amygr3 — 2026-02-26 02:48:55 UTC

Fluency

amygr3 — 2026-03-02 00:00:03 UTC

Connecting the Reading and Writing Rope

amygr3 — 2026-03-04 01:48:28 UTC

Writing the way to better reading, with Judith Hochman, Ed.D.

lisaed1 — 2026-03-04 08:52:29 UTC

Overteaching or Overreacting?

amygr3 — 2026-03-08 04:11:07 UTC

Strategies for students who are stuck-metacognition connection

chiaramo2 — 2026-03-08 12:32:49 UTC

I really connected with the "Getting Back on the Road" strategy in this article.

1) I've hit a speed bump

2)I need to take a detpur

3)I'm parked

I'm thinking of my students who sometimes struggle to explain why they are stuck and struggling-so this is a nice bridge connection to help them with the tools to get back to their emotionally regulated state to engage in the task.

Why Neurodiverse kids struggle with writing.

lindaby — 2026-03-18 00:26:15 UTC

We all know this! But it is a good reminder about different strategies we can use to develop confidence in writing for these students. We also probably have many undiagnosed or masking students in our classes who are struggling with writing.

Word Inquiry-The "How"

chiaramo2 — 2026-03-25 02:27:45 UTC

Science of Reading focuses on the: what

Word Inquiry: how- Morphology and Semantics- Meaning Driven Spelling