Lesson Outcomes
National Curriculum
Resources: Pens, pencils, emotion fans, feeling scales
Handout 1: The handout provides cards for the children to sort into ‘good choice’ and ‘poor choice’.
Handout 2: The handout provides scenarios for the children to role-play. They should use the cards from Handout 1, or the poster in Handout 3, to help them decide what to do.
Handout 3: This handout is a poster that displays strategies the children can use to manage their feelings.
Starter
Use the starter slide to complete an emotional check-in with each other as in previous lessons.
The animated video will show a child reaching ‘big’ on their feelings scale, reacting inappropriately, and feeling regret afterwards. Remind the children of the character in the last lesson. What did they do that helped them manage their emotions? Then play the next animation, which shows the child speaking to their trusted adult before the feeling gets too big. Discuss what the character is feeling and the difference in the two clips with the children.
Main Teaching
Explore with the children how the character in the film got to the point they did; refer back to the feelings scale and when they could have shared their feelings with someone else. Ask the children what they think they should do before they reach the top of their feelings scale.
Task: In small groups, ask the children to sort the behaviour cards into ‘poor choice’ and ‘good choice’.
Main Teaching
Emphasise the importance of feelings being felt and processed, but what we do with that feeling matters too. Explain to the children that there is a gap between the feeling (emotion) and the doing (action/behaviour). Explain to the children that taking a breath and counting to 5 in that gap can help them make better choices about what to do next. Children should learn that seeking help from an adult is often a good choice when managing a big feeling.
Task: Display on the board different choices the children could make when they experience a big feeling. Role-play the different scenarios with the children. In each scenario, discuss what the emotion is, role-play taking a breath and counting to 5 in ‘The Thinking Gap’, and make a good choice to manage the feeling. Model the language in the role-plays: ‘Can you help me with this big feeling?’
Plenary
The teacher and supporting adults in the room should explain that feeling anger and frustration is a normal part of life and that they feel it too. In pairs, allow the children to discuss what makes them feel angry and frustrated. Encourage them to share what it feels like in their body and how they would like to react, but now that they have strategies in place, what would be the better choice?
Teacher Mastery
At this age, children do not need to understand the full psychology or science behind emotions - the focus should remain on the basic principles of recognising and managing feelings. When children share examples of anger or frustration, teachers should avoid reacting in a way that attaches shame to these feelings; children are allowed to feel angry, and it is important they know this. Sharing personal experiences, both from the teacher and the children, helps normalise these emotions, so allow children privacy to talk to one another without judgement, helping them see that big feelings are a normal part of everyone's life. For example, feeling frustrated about a football match being cancelled because it’s raining is completely valid. Throughout this lesson, the aim is never to diminish or squash a child's feeling, but to let them feel it and process it in a healthy way.
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