Students will learn to identify and understand their feelings and thoughts, and recognize what influences their moods and decisions, thereby fostering self-reflection and self-awareness.
Developing self-awareness helps students better understand their emotions, reactions, and choices. This foundational skill empowers them to navigate challenges, build healthy relationships, and make thoughtful decisions in their daily lives.
Audience
4th Grade Small Group
Time
30 minutes
Approach
Interactive discussions and a guided activity will help students explore their inner landscape.
Guide students through the worksheet, explaining how to identify feelings, thoughts, and the things that influence them (e.g., events, people, situations).
Encourage students to think about recent experiences and how they reacted.
Invite students to share one insight or observation from their Emotion Mapping Chart (optional, no pressure).
Discuss common themes or different ways influences affect feelings and thoughts.
Guide the conversation to highlight that understanding these connections can help them navigate their day.
Step 5
Wrap-Up: Key Takeaways
2 minutes
Conclude by summarizing the importance of self-reflection.
Reinforce that understanding their 'inner map' is a powerful tool for growing and learning about themselves.
Thank students for their participation.
Slide Deck
Inner Map: Mapping Your Mind
A journey to understand your feelings and thoughts.
Welcome students and introduce the topic of understanding our inner selves. Start by asking students what they think an 'inner map' might be.
What's an Inner Map?
It's like a special map of your feelings and thoughts.
Explain that our 'inner map' is all the feelings and thoughts inside us. Use simple language and relatable examples.
Why Map Your Mind?
Helps you understand:
How you feel
What you think
What makes you feel that way
Discuss why it's helpful to know our inner map. Connect it to understanding why we feel a certain way or make certain choices.
Your Emotion Map
We'll use a special chart to map out our feelings and thoughts.
Introduce the Emotion Mapping Chart worksheet. Explain that they will be using it to draw or write about their emotions and what influences them.
Share Your Map
What did you discover about your feelings and thoughts?
What influences your mood?
Explain that this is a safe space to share. Encourage students to share one thing they noticed about their inner map, or something that influences their mood.
Your Inner Compass
Understanding your inner map helps you navigate your feelings and choices.
Conclude by emphasizing that understanding their inner map helps them navigate their feelings and make good decisions, like having an inner compass.
What were you thinking? (What thoughts were in your head?)
Part 2: What Influences You?
Now, let's think about what might have caused that feeling or thought. What happened right before? Who was involved? Where were you?
Draw or write about what influenced your feeling/thought. (You can draw a picture, write a few words, or list things.)
Examples of influences:
Someone said something to me.
I saw something interesting.
I was playing a game.
I was doing schoolwork.
I was hungry/tired.
I was in a new place.
Part 3: Reflect and Connect
What did you learn about yourself by mapping this feeling?
Discussion
Group Reflection Circle: Share Your Inner Map
Objective: To provide a safe space for students to share insights from their Emotion Mapping Charts and discuss common influences on feelings and thoughts.
Introduction (2 minutes)
Teacher: "Welcome to our reflection circle! Today, we're going to share some of the amazing discoveries we made about our 'inner maps' from the Emotion Mapping Chart. Remember, this is a safe space, and you only need to share what you feel comfortable with. There are no right or wrong answers, just observations about ourselves."
Sharing Our Maps (8 minutes)
Teacher: "I invite anyone who feels ready to share one thing they noticed or learned from their Emotion Mapping Chart. It could be a feeling you mapped, or something you realized influences your mood."
Prompt 1: "Who would like to share one feeling they mapped and maybe one thing that influenced it?"
Teacher Note: After a student shares, acknowledge their contribution. "Thank you for sharing, [Student's Name]. That's a great observation."
Prompt 2: "Did anyone notice a pattern? Maybe certain things always seem to make you feel a certain way?"
Teacher Note: Encourage connections and similarities without judgment. "It sounds like [Influence X] can affect many of us in different ways."
Discussion: Common Influences (8 minutes)
Teacher: "Now let's think bigger. What are some common things in our lives—at school, at home, with friends—that often influence how we feel or what we think?"
Prompt 3: "What are some things that make many of us feel happy or excited?"
Follow-up: "How do those things make your body feel?"
Prompt 4: "What are some things that sometimes make us feel frustrated or worried?"
Follow-up: "What are some healthy ways we can respond when we feel that way?"
Wrap-Up: Your Inner Compass (2 minutes)
Teacher: "Thank you all for sharing and listening. Remember, understanding your 'inner map' is like having an inner compass. The more you know about your feelings and thoughts, and what influences them, the better you can navigate your day and make choices that help you feel your best. Keep paying attention to your inner map!"
Warm Up
Mood Meter Check-In
Objective: To quickly engage students and help them identify and articulate their current emotional state at the beginning of the lesson.
Instructions for Students:
Look Inside: Take a moment to notice how you are feeling right now. What emotion best describes your current mood?
Choose a Color/Number: Imagine a mood meter or a feeling chart. Think about where your feeling would fit.
(Optional: Teacher can display a simple mood meter chart with colors/numbers from 1-5, e.g., Blue/1 = Low energy, unpleasant; Green/2 = Low energy, pleasant; Red/3 = High energy, unpleasant; Yellow/4 = High energy, pleasant; Gray/5 = Neutral.)
Share One Word: When it's your turn, quietly share one word that describes how you are feeling today.
Have students sit in a circle or in a way that promotes easy sharing.
Explain that this is a quick check-in, not a long discussion about why they feel that way (unless a student explicitly expresses a need to share, which can be handled individually after the warm-up or lesson).
Emphasize that all feelings are okay and that the goal is simply to acknowledge them.
