Deciding+How+Someone+Feels

Deciding How Someone FeelsSubmitted by: Janice Banta, counselor for Grades K-1

Standard: 3a, **Students demonstrate awareness of other people’s emotions and perspectives.**

Materials: “On Monday When It Rained,” by Kachenmeister, Cherryl “Mood Swings: Show "Em How You're Feeling!,” by Jim Borgman “Deciding How Someone Feels” sheets copied from “Skill-Streaming In Early Childhood, Program Forms”

Time: 30 minutes

When to Teach: 1st or 2nd quarter

Goals: The student will identify facial expressions and body language to understand how others might be feeling

Lesson: Deciding How Someone Feels

Conduct the Gathering Activity with a “Joy Meter” chart on the board as outlined in “Connected and Respected” K-2 manual, p. 187.

Review plan for class period during Agenda Check.

Read “On Monday When It Rained,” encouraging students to check the characters feelings based on descriptions of his day prior to turning the page where facial expression and feelings word are shown. When students identify correct feelings category (i.e. “sad”), turn the page to introduce more specific feelings word (i.e. “depression”).

Introduce the skill of “Deciding How Someone Feels.” Draw watching eyes and ask students what they learn about how someone feels from watching others (i.e. feelings clues, including facial expressions, body language, tensed muscles). Draw happy, okay and sad faces and role model naming a feeling observed from using the “watching” skill. Help students explore why it’s important to also ask how someone feels, because our guesses could be wrong. Send skill sheets home with students.

Close with the Mood Swings game. Using feelings faces or Mood Swings flip book, have students come to the front of the class and try to copy a feelings face. Students guess the feeling with the facilitator’s help, which can include description of situations that contributed to the student’s mood.