I came across and have reviewed this new self-regulation curriculum recently and am quite excited about it.
Synopsis from Odin Books:
This curriculum has lessons and activities designed to help students gain skills in the area of self-regulation. Students can learn to recognize when they are in the different Zones (states of alertness/moods) as well as learn how to use strategies (including sensory supports, calming techniques, and thinking strategies) to regulate the Zone they are in. Students can also increase their vocabulary of emotional terms, skills in reading facial expressions, perspective on how others see and react to their behavior, insight on events that trigger their behavior, calming and alerting strategies, and problem solving skills.
Author Leah M. Kuypers, MA Ed. OTR/L draws from the knowledge of many familiar people and incorporates/adapts many well used programs in her curriculum too. These include: Kari Dunn Buron & Mitzi Curtis’ “The Incredible 5-point Scale“, Michelle Garcia Winner’s “Social Behavior Mapping” and “SuperFlex“, Ross Greene’s “Collaborative Problem Solving” and Mary Sue Williams & Sherry Shellenberger’s “Alert Program” aka “How Does You Engine Run?“.
Social Responsibility Traffic Lights:
If you are already currently using the social responsibility traffic light model in your classroom or school, Kuyper’s curriculum shares many attributes. There is a discrepancy when it comes to the Blue Zone. In social responsibility, this colour signifies excellence or Blue Ribbon behaviour, while in The Zones of Regulation the Blue Zone is used top describe low states of alertness.
The Zones of Regulation: (Kuypers, 2011, p. 9)
The Blue Zone is used to describe low states of alertness, such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or board
The Green Zone is used to describe a regulated state of alertness. This includes calm, happy, focused, or content.
The Yellow Zone is used to describe a heightened state of alertness, although the person still maintains some control. This may look like stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, nervousness, confusion or sensory seeking.
The Red Zone is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness ore very intense feelings. This may be anger, rage, explosive behaviour, panic or terror. This can be explained by not being in control of one’s body.
Who Can Benefit from this Curriculum?
- Students with neurological and mental health disorders
- Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
- Selective Mutism
- Anxiety Disorders
- Everyone can benefit from The Zones of Regulation! – Think Universal Design for Learning.
Although the Zones can be taught and practiced with your entire class, The Zones for Regulation curriculum is intended to be delivered in a small group setting (2-4 students) or a group a larger group (8-10 students) with two facilitators.
Kuypers’ incorporates various literature, such as Janan Cain’s “The Way I Feel“, and digital media, like “Finding Nemo“, within her curriculum. Odin also sells a poster of the Zones (see left). The book also comes with a CD-ROM which includes colour and black/white copies of the PDF’s included in the book, as well as examples.
We are considering the creation of Zone Tubs which would be available to sign out from the Henry Grube Library. These would include The Zones of Regulation book, The Zones of Regulation poster, and literature and digital media found within the lesson plans. We would appreciate any feedback on this including your desire to use this curriculum. Please leave your comments below!
