lenny

What's Your Emotional Weather?

user image

Lesson Plan

What's Your Emotional Weather?

Students will be able to identify different levels of intensity for a specific emotion using a "feelings thermometer." This helps students develop emotional awareness and self-regulation skills.

Understanding the intensity of emotions is crucial for self-regulation and effective communication. This lesson provides a concrete tool for students to articulate how big or small their feelings are, leading to better emotional management and empathy for others.

Audience

3rd Grade Students

Time

30 minutes

Approach

Hands-on activities and visual aids.

Materials

Prep

Materials Review and Setup

15 minutes

  • Review the Interactive Slide Deck to familiarize yourself with the content and discussion points.
    - Print or prepare materials for the "My Feelings Thermometer" Craft, ensuring each student has access to paper, markers, crayons, scissors, and glue or tape.
    - Prepare copies of the Feelings Journal Entry for each student.
    - Consider having a large example of a feelings thermometer prepared beforehand for demonstration.

Step 1

Emotional Check-in (5 minutes)

5 minutes

  • Begin the lesson by asking students to briefly check in with their current 'emotional weather.' You can ask, "How are you feeling right now, like the weather outside?"
    - Guide a quick discussion on how weather can be calm, stormy, sunny, or cloudy, and how our feelings can be similar.

Step 2

Introduce the Feelings Thermometer (8 minutes)

8 minutes

  • Present the concept of a "feelings thermometer" using the Interactive Slide Deck.
    - Explain that just like temperature, emotions can have different levels of intensity, from cool and calm to hot and overwhelming.
    - Show examples of how one emotion (e.g., anger) can range from a little annoyed (low intensity) to furious (high intensity).

Step 3

Matching Feelings to Temperatures (7 minutes)

7 minutes

Step 4

Personal Thermometer Creation (8 minutes)

8 minutes

  • Distribute materials for the "My Feelings Thermometer" Craft.
    - Explain the instructions for creating their personal feelings thermometer, encouraging them to choose 1-3 emotions and illustrate what different intensity levels look and feel like for them.
    - Circulate and provide support as students work on their crafts.

Step 5

Share and Reflect (2 minutes)

2 minutes

  • Have students complete the Feelings Journal Entry based on their personal thermometer and recent emotional experiences.
    - Briefly invite a few students to share one insight or a specific emotion from their journal entry or thermometer with the class or a partner. Emphasize that it's okay if they don't want to share, but sharing can help others understand.
lenny
0 educators
use Lenny to create lessons.

No credit card needed

Slide Deck

What's Your Emotional Weather?

Just like the weather, our feelings change!

Sometimes we feel:

  • Sunny and bright ☀️
  • A little cloudy ☁️
  • Stormy and loud ⛈️
  • Calm and clear 🌬️

How do you feel today, like the weather?

Welcome students and introduce the concept of 'emotional weather.' Connect it to how real weather changes throughout the day. Ask open-ended questions to get them thinking about how their feelings can also change.

The Feelings Thermometer

Emotions aren't just 'on' or 'off.' They have different intensities!

Think of a thermometer:

  • Cool/Low means a little bit of a feeling.
  • Warm/Medium means a stronger feeling.
  • Hot/High means a very strong, intense feeling.

This helps us understand how much we are feeling something.

Introduce the 'Feelings Thermometer' as a tool. Explain that emotions have different levels, like how water can be cool, warm, or boiling hot. Emphasize that all feelings are okay, but understanding their intensity helps us manage them.

Happy Levels!

Let's look at Happy:

  • Cool (1-2): Content, pleased - "I feel content when I finish my homework."
  • Warm (3-4): Joyful, cheerful - "I feel joyful when I play with my friends."
  • Hot (5): Ecstatic, thrilled - "I feel ecstatic when it's my birthday!"

Can you think of a time you felt a little happy? A lot happy?

Provide examples of different intensities for a common emotion like 'happy.' Ask students for their own examples. Encourage them to use descriptive words.

Sadness Levels

How about Sad:

  • Cool (1-2): Down, gloomy - "I feel a little down when it rains."
  • Warm (3-4): Upset, heartbroken - "I feel upset when my favorite toy breaks."
  • Hot (5): Devastated, heartbroken - "I feel devastated when I miss someone very much."

It's okay to feel sad. How do you know if you're a little sad or very sad?

Now, focus on a more challenging emotion like 'sad.' This helps students normalize these feelings and see how they too have different levels. Ask for student examples.

Angry Levels

And finally, Angry:

  • Cool (1-2): Annoyed, bothered - "I feel annoyed when my pencil breaks."
  • Warm (3-4): Frustrated, irritated - "I feel frustrated when I can't solve a puzzle."
  • Hot (5): Furious, enraged - "I feel furious when someone is mean to my friend!"

When your anger starts to get warm, what can you do to cool it down?

Introduce 'angry' and its varying intensities. Discuss how knowing the intensity can help them choose strategies to calm down. Ask: 'When you feel your anger getting warmer, what can you do?'

Your Own Feelings Thermometer!

Now it's YOUR turn to create a "My Feelings Thermometer" Craft!

  • Think about different emotions.
  • Decide what a 'cool' level of that emotion feels like.
  • Decide what a 'hot' level of that emotion feels like.
  • You can draw pictures or write words!

This will be your tool to understand your feelings better.

Explain the activity where students will create their own physical thermometers. Emphasize creativity and understanding their own feelings. Encourage them to think about what 'cool' and 'hot' look like for them.

Reflect and Grow!

After creating your thermometer, you will complete a Feelings Journal Entry.

  • Write about an emotion you felt today.
  • Where would it be on your feelings thermometer?
  • Why did you place it there?

This helps you become a feelings expert!

Conclude by explaining the journal activity. Encourage honest reflection and remind them that practicing emotional check-ins helps them become experts at understanding themselves.

lenny

Activity

My Feelings Thermometer Craft

Objective: To create a personal visual aid to identify and express different intensities of emotions.

Materials:

  • Paper (construction paper or cardstock works best)
  • Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick or tape

Instructions:

  1. Fold Your Paper: Take a piece of paper and fold it in half lengthwise.
  2. Draw the Thermometer: On one half of the folded paper, draw a large thermometer shape. Make sure it has a bulb at the bottom and a long stem.
  3. Divide and Label: Divide the stem of your thermometer into 5 sections. Label the bottom section "1 (Cool)", the middle section "3 (Warm)", and the top section "5 (Hot)". You can also add "2" and "4" in between.
  4. Choose Your Emotions & Colors: Pick 1-3 emotions you want to focus on (e.g., Happy, Sad, Angry, Excited, Scared). Assign a color to each emotion. For example, blue for sad, yellow for happy, red for angry.
  5. Illustrate Intensity: In each section of your thermometer, draw small pictures or write words that show what that emotion feels like at different intensities.
    • Level 1 (Cool): A very slight feeling. (e.g., for anger: annoyed; for happy: content)
    • Level 2: A bit more noticeable. (e.g., for anger: frustrated; for happy: pleased)
    • Level 3 (Warm): A medium feeling. (e.g., for anger: irritated; for happy: joyful)
    • Level 4: Getting stronger. (e.g., for anger: mad; for happy: excited)
    • Level 5 (Hot): A very strong, intense feeling. (e.g., for anger: furious; for happy: thrilled)
  6. Decorate! Make your thermometer unique! Add a title like "My Happy Thermometer" or "My Anger Thermometer." You can also add a small pointer that you can move up and down to show your current feeling level.
  7. Share and Reflect: When everyone is done, you will have a chance to share your thermometer with a partner or the class. Explain why you chose certain words or pictures for each level. Discuss how your thermometer can help you understand your feelings.
lenny
lenny

Journal

My Feelings Journal Entry

Name: ____________________________

Date: ____________________________

Reflecting on My Emotional Weather

Today we learned about our feelings thermometer! It helps us understand how big or small our emotions can be.

  1. What is one emotion you felt today? (It could be any feeling!)






  2. Where would this emotion be on your feelings thermometer (Level 1-5)? Circle the level:

    1 (Cool)      2      3 (Warm)      4      5 (Hot)

  3. Why did you place your feeling at that level? Describe what it felt like in your body or what made you feel that way.











  4. How did you handle this feeling? Or, what is one thing you could do if this feeling started to get too hot?











  5. Bonus Question: What is one new word you learned today about feelings intensity? How would you use it?



lenny
lenny