Happy+Heart

**Submitted/Created By:** Leah Mullenbach Grade 3

**Recommended Use:** 1st quarter

**Standards:**

1A Student demonstrates awareness of their emotions. (I am aware of what I am feeling.)

3A Student demonstrates awareness of other people's emotions and perspectives. (I care about the feelings and viewpoints of others.)

3B Student demonstrates consideration for others and a desire to positively contribute to his/her community. (I care about others and do my part to make my community better.)

3D Student can read social cues. (I care about how I perceive others and how they perceive me.)


 * Resource:** I believe I stole this from a Connected and Respected Book but can not really remember for sure!

**When Taught:** I taught this as a follow-up lesson form the school psychologist on using kind words. The students discussed with her how the words felt to them and role modeled using them to resolve conflict and to show friends they care.

**Materials:** 2 large paper hearts Stickers Marker

**Time:** 30 minutes

**Goal:** Identify the negative effect of using mean words with others and the positive effects of kind words.

**Lesson Steps:-**Gather the students in the meeting area and have them sit in a circle. -Hold up both hearts and describe how we start our days fresh when we wake up in the morning but what happens after that changes how we feel. -Prepare (or make-up) a story about a child who comes in contact with people during her day that says hurtful things, some intentionally and some unintentionally. Her brother may tease her about her hair. Her teacher may tell her she is irresponsible for forgetting homework. A classmate may say something mean about her new dress. A noon duty may tell her she doesn’t have time to hear her story. -As you tell the story to the class, each time your character hears unkind words, put a rip in the heart. <span class="custom_bold">-After the story, have the students brainstorm words that describe how they might feel if this happened to them and write them on the torn heart. <span class="custom_bold">-Then retell the story but stop before the unkind words and ask the kids what they could say at each moment to try and help their friend/sister (or brother, of course). <span class="custom_bold">-The second time you go though the story using kind words, put a sticker on the heart at each kind moment. <span class="custom_bold">-After this, brainstorm words that describe feelings students might have in this situation and write them on the sticker covered hearts. <span class="custom_bold">-I then put the hearts up on the wall and we focused on helping people have happy hearts.

<span class="custom_bold">**Assessment:** As an informal assessment, I then put a cup of kind word coupons out for the kids. When a teammate used <span class="custom_bold">kind words with them, they were able to fill out a coupon, which we read and passed out at the end of each <span class="custom_bold">today. It really inspired some wonderful talk between my students.