Objective(s):   To be able to anticipate their own emotions to given situations  

Learning Outcomes: 

• I can recognise where in my body I feel my feelings at different intensities. 

Resources: 

• “Fuzzy felt face”  
• Mind map from Lesson 1 
• Emotional Intensity sheets 

Activities: 

 “Fuzzy felt face” - Ask the student to display a face which represents how they are feeling today.  

Anticipating emotions - focus on emotions they find difficult or uncomfortable, identified last lesson.  Using the Emotional Intensity sheets, repeat the thermometer activity from the previous stage, using words, numbers and shades of colour. 

What are the warning signs in your body? Add shades of colour, numbers and words to the relevant place on the mini body map on the sheet. 

Repeat the sheet for each emotion the child is focussing on. 

Take a look at this study showing an experiment aimed at mapping their bodily sensations in connection with specific emotions.

Objective(s):  To be able to identify their own emotional triggers and to know who to ask for help  

Learning Outcomes: 

• I can identify when my emotions are triggered 
• I know who I can ask for help when I am feeling an uncomfortable feeling 
• I can think of some strategies to help myself manage my feelings 

 Resources: 

• Fuzzy felt face”  
• Mind map from Lesson 1 
• Emotional Intensity sheets from last lesson 
• “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud and David Messing  
• “A Therapeutic Treasure Deck” cards 

Activities: 

• “Fuzzy felt face” - Ask the student to display a face which represents how they are feeling today.  
• Find the Emotional Intensity sheets from last session.  Look at one sheet at a time. 
• What could you do when you are feeling 1 or 2, then what to do when you reach 5? Sometimes the escalation is slow, sometimes it is quick.  Who can I ask for help if I’m at a 1 or 2? What else could I do to help deal with the feeling and prevent escalation to something I find harder to control?  
• Think about lots of different possible strategies. Record strategies on the mind map, alongside the relevant emotions, adding more. 
• For Self-regulation strategies – use the “A Therapeutic Treasure Deck” cards – there are suggestions of how to use the cards in the Treasure Deck box 

Assessment: 

Read and discuss “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” as a plenary.

Objective(s):  To understand the impact of emotions on behaviour, both of the person experiencing the emotions and on others witnessing the behaviour.

Learning Outcomes: 

• I can recall what empathy means 
• I can think of ways in which my emotional responses affect my behaviour 
• I can think of ways my behaviour in turn affects other people and the animals I work with 

 

Resources: 

• “Fuzzy felt face” 
• “Scenario Cards Level 3” sheet 
• ‘I Feel Frustrated’, ‘I Feel Furious’, ‘I Feel Excited’ or ‘I Feel Proud’ book 
• Mind map from Lesson 1 

Activities: 

• “Fuzzy felt face” - Ask the student to display a face which represents how they are feeling today. 
• Work through some of the situations on the “Scenario Cards Level 3” sheet and ask how it might make you feel in terms of the 1-5 scale, using the numbers and words.  
• Revisit the concept of empathy - what did it mean?  
• How can you begin to tell what others are feeling - what are the clues?  How do others react when you reach 5 - how does my behaviour affect other people? 
• Think about a particular emotion, for example anger.  When you get angry, how do you react?  How might this affect someone else who is nearby?  Are you too loud? Shouting? Making hand gestures? Waving your arms about? 
• Think about behaviours at 5 on the scale for other emotions, thinking about what you might say, your tone of voice, volume, pitch, body language, etc. 
• How do the animals they work with react to people’s behaviour? Think about an animal you work with, how you approach the animal, anything that might cause them to react positively or react negatively. 

Assessment 

Suggestions of strategies for someone in a story: Choose from either ‘I Feel Frustrated’, ‘I Feel Furious’, ‘I Feel Excited’ or ‘I Feel Proud’ - read the book together and work through the various endings, making links to their own strategies if they can, recording ideas on the mind map from Lesson 1. 

Objective(s):  To understand the concept of a growth mindset.

Learning Outcomes: 

• I can tell you what “growth mindset” means 
• I know some ways in which I can develop a growth mindset 

Resources: 

• “Fuzzy felt face”  
• “The Most Magnificent Thing” by Ashley Spires 
• “Try Saying Something Else” (younger students) or “What I can say instead” (older students) 
• “Why I Can Do This” sheet 
• Glue and scissors 

Activities: 

“Fuzzy felt face” - Ask the student to display a face which represents how they are feeling today.  

Using the information below, tell the student what “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset” mean. 

 Growth Mindset 

 “Students must understand that they are not born with talent (or lack of it) and that their personalities do not determine whether or not they are “good at math” or “good at writing.” Rather, ability is incremental. The harder you work, the smarter you get. Once students begin to understand this “growth mindset” as Carol Dweck calls it, students are much more likely to embrace feedback from their teachers.” (Wiliam, 2014) 

In her research, Dweck talks about the “power of yet”.  Rather than saying “I can’t do this”, if students change it to “I can’t do this yet”, they are much more likely to persevere and succeed.  We know from neuroscience that the brain continues to develop over our lifetime and that everyone has the capacity to learn more, so the idea of ability or intelligence being fixed doesn’t make sense. 

“Students who believe that intelligence can be improved through hard work and challenge typically have better outcomes in achievement and motivation than those who believe intelligence is fixed” (Dweck, 2006) 

Read “My Most Magnificent Thing” by Ashley Spires.  At the end of the story, go back through it looking for examples of when the girl had a fixed mindset (I can’t do it, I’m no good) and a growth mindset (perseverance). 

Ask the student to think about things they have tried to do and failed. Then ask about things they have tried to do and stuck at, finally working out how to do it.  Ask how they felt in each case.  

Work through either the activity sheet “Try Saying Something Else” (younger students) or “What I can say instead” (older students)  

Assessment 

Use the sheet “Why I Can Do This”.  Ask the student to name one thing they think they are unable to do, and work through the sections together using a growth mindset. 

Objective(s):  To develop some strategies to help feel relaxed.

Learning Outcomes: 

• I can identify how relaxed I am feeling 
• I can practice some techniques to help me relax 

Resources: 

• “Fuzzy felt face”  
• Relaxed Emotion Thermometer 
• “The Kids’ Guide to Staying Awesome and In Control” by Lauren Brukner 

Activities: 

• “Fuzzy felt face” - Ask the student to display a face which represents how they are feeling today.  
• Give the student a thermometer sheet, which this time is about feeling relaxed. Ask them to indicate on the thermometer how relaxed they are feeling on the scale, for example 1= not feeling relaxed at all, 10 = feeling very relaxed. Explain to the student that we will be re-visiting their thermometer scale at the end of the lesson. Ask them to put it to one side for now. 
• Explain that in this lesson we are going to try out a few new practical things we can do with our body to manage strong emotions, especially when we need to calm down or when we’re feeling anxious. 

Bubble Breath (from The Kids’ Guide to Staying Awesome and In Control – page 25 

• Discuss  
• How did doing the exercise make you feel?  
• What particular feelings might it help us to alter or manage?  
• Would you find this technique helpful?  
• What type of situations might it be especially helpful for? 

Finger Pull (from The Kids’ Guide to Staying Awesome and In Control – page 29) 

• Discuss  
• How did doing the exercise make you feel?  
• What particular feelings might it help us to alter or manage?  
• Would you find this technique helpful?  
• What type of situations might it be especially helpful for? 

Visualisation  

• Next we are going to try visualisation. This is a technique that involves creating images or pictures in your mind while you are in a state of relaxation. For example, you might imagine: 
• That you are lying in a field full of beautiful flowers.  
• That you are lying on a warm sandy beach.  
• That you are lying on a soft and comfortable bed. 
• The theory is that by imagining a peaceful scene, you will encourage yourself to feel more relaxed..  

Relaxing on a soft bed  

 Close your eyes, be very still and imagine that you are lying on your back on the softest bed in the world. The pillow is so soft and the sheets are made of silk and feel so warm and soft against your body. 

Very slowly you feel your legs become more and more relaxed. Your muscles start to relax as you gently sink deeper into the soft bed. Now, feel your spine starting to open and lengthen. 

Feel your arms gently sink downwards. Allow your spine to gently sink into the bed. Let your neck and head be free and sink down. Let your legs sink into the softness of the bed. You are lying on such a comfortable bed. It feels so soft and warm. 

The deeper you relax the more you gently sink. You feel very calm lying here. In your mind repeat to yourself ...I am completely calm, I am completely calm ...Stay in this calm state for as long as you wish.  

Relaxing on the Beach  

Text BoxClose your eyes, be very still and imagine you are lying down on the beach. Feel the warm sand underneath your body. You can hear the waves of the sea. 

Now very gently, you are going to relax each part of your body. Start with your feet, let your toes completely relax and become soft. Let this feeling spread gently through your feet. Now squeeze your legs and gently let them go. Feel all the tension in your legs being released as they become relaxed and soft. Squeeze the muscles in your tummy and let go completely. Stretch your back as far as you can, and relax. 

Can you feel your back sinking into the sand? Now let your shoulders and neck become soft, as all the tension melts away. Squeeze your arms as tight as you can and let them go. Allow your arms to feel heavy as they sink into the sand. Squeeze your fingers into a tight fist, and now uncurl them slowly and rest them on the golden sand. Scrunch your face into a tiny ball and let go and relax. Let your head completely relax: Relax your eyes, your ears, your cheeks, and your forehead. Become completely still and relaxed.  

Feel the warm sun on your face and body, as you sink further into the powdery sand. Stay there for a few moments enjoying the feeling of being completely relaxed.  

The Alien  

Close your eyes, be very still and imagine that you are an alien. Your whole body is made of metal and flashing lights. The lights on your arms and legs and stomach are flashing brightly. The alien also makes all sorts of beeping noises. Now you are going to see if you can switch lights off and make every part of your body completely still. Start with the right leg – bring all your attention to your right leg and completely turn off the switch. Do the same to your left leg, switching off the switch and watching the bright lights on each leg turn off. Switch off the light on your stomach and make it very, very still and quiet inside. Now, do the same to your arms, turning off the lights and letting your arms become very still and heavy. 

Finally, turn off the switch in your head. Switch off your mouth, switch off your nose and finally switch off your eyes. You should feel very still now. See how still you can make your body. Don't forget that if you move anything, then the lights will go back on - so stay as still as you can. How long can you stay completely still and quiet for?  

• Discuss  
• How did doing the exercise make you feel?  
• What particular feelings might it help us to alter or manage?  
• Would you find this technique helpful?  
• What type of situations might it be especially helpful for? 

Assessment 

Recap the different strategies we have used today. Think about which you prefer and why. 

Re-visit your ‘Feeling Relaxed thermometer’. Where would you place yourself on the scale now?. 

  

Objective(s): To build their own wellness toolkit 

Learning Outcomes: 

• I can identify targets for my own wellness 

Activities 

Talk through the “What is Wellness?” information below, then work on a section at a time in any order. This is to be personalised to the student, adapted to suit their age and needs, and go at their pace.  The idea is that the student will develop a Wellness Toolkit that can be incorporated into every day, at home and at school. 

You may wish to engage the support of the Counsellor in some areas of the Wellness Toolkit, or to revisit sections of this Emotional Curriculum.