Activity 1: (15 minutes) REGULATING EMOTIONS HELPS MY WELL-BEING

Introduce the lesson with the slideshow and student check-in questions. Review the Pyramid of Happiness anchor chart from the slides. Review the third level of the pyramid and perform that action (wrap arms around yourself in a hug). Make the connection of having healthy emotional control to the feeling of belonging and connection because of healthier, better friendships. Remind students about the actions associated with each level of the pyramid. Have a discussion:

• What emotions have we already learned about or talked about?
• What is an example of controlling, or regulating, our emotions?
• How can having control of our emotions help our well-being?
• How can having control of our emotions help make our friendships better?

We are the happiest or our best selves when we can regulate how we are feeling. This means that when we are angry, we can let ourselves feel angry, but we don’t use it as an excuse to hurt or destroy things. We can use techniques to calm down and then we can fix the problem that made us mad. We can use these strategies whenever we are experiencing unpleasant emotions.

Activity 2: (20 minutes) CALMING YOUR EMOTIONS

When we notice a negative feeling coming up in ourselves—like sadness, anger, jealousy, or fear—what could we do to help ourselves? Use the presentation slides to introduce 5 simple calming techniques:

• Deep breathing
• Listening to/singing good music
• Movement
• Personal space or alone time
• Sensory activity

Practice each activity together with the interactive slides.

Activity 3: (20 minutes) BIG PROBLEMS/SMALL PROBLEMS

Watch this video about Big Problems vs. Small Problems.

Use the slideshow to discuss different problems. Decide if they are big or small, and a possible strategy or solution to move forward.

• How will this help you be your best self?
• How will this help make your friendships better?

Activity 4: (10 minutes) MY NO, NO, NO DAY

Read My No, No, No Day! by Rebecca Patterson or watch the read aloud video. If you hold onto feelings like anger or sadness, they can get bigger and bigger until you may feel like you can’t control them anymore. It’s okay when this happens; everyone has emotions that feel really big sometimes. What is important is knowing what we are feeling, and then using strategies to feel better. Have a class discussion:

• Were the problems for this little girl BIG or small? How do you know?
• How did she feel at the end of the day when she chose to make big problems out of small problems?
• What strategies could she have tried?

Activity 5: (15 minutes) ALL EMOTIONS ARE OKAY

Some people will tell you that it’s not okay to be mad or sad. They may try to cheer you up when you just need to feel sad. They may say things like, “Don’t be scared, it’s nothing to worry about” when you really are scared or worried. While it’s okay to be mad, it’s not okay to be mean to someone else when you feel bad. When you are worried, just worrying about something won’t make the worry go away.

Being able to name our emotions helps us to communicate what we need to others, and helps us understand what we are feeling. When we can name our feelings, it can help others know how to help us, and sometimes the best thing they can do is to sit with us and have empathy or understanding for how we feel. Read Grumpy Monkey, by Suzanne Lang or watch the read aloud video by Toadstools and Fairy Dust. Talk about all the ways that the animals tried to cheer up Jim, the grumpy monkey.

• Which strategies to cheer up Jim worked?
• Did you recognize some of the strategies for self-regulation that we have talked about in class?
• What did Jim’s friend Norman do to help the grumpy monkey?

Review the description of the emotions from the slide show without showing the pictures or naming the emotion. See if the children can identify the emotion, tell of a time when they felt that emotion, and then verbalize “When _______ happens, I feel __(name the emotion)__”.