Supporting Emotional Literacy in young Children

1. Supporting Emotional Literacy in young Children Targeted Social Emotional Supports Beth Vorhaus Melissa Binkley Adapted by Team Tennessee from Iowa Train-Coach-Train, Spring 2011 & CSEFEL Pyramid Model Training

2. INTERVENTION→ The Pyramid Model PREVENTION → ← PROMOTION Pyramid Model

4. “If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we……..... …….teach? ……punish? Why can’t we finish the last sentence as automatically as we do the others?” Tom Herner (NASDE President ) Counterpoint 1998, p.2)

5. What is Emotional Literacy? Emotional literacy is the ability to identify, understand, and express emotions in a healthy way.

6. Why is Emotional Literacy Important? Children with emotional literacy skills… • tolerate frustration better • get into fewer fights • engage in less destructive behavior • are healthier • are less lonely • are less impulsive • are more focused • have greater academic achievement

7. Activity: Emotion Words What emotion or feeling words are important to teach young children?

8. How Can I IntentionallyTeach Emotional Literacy? • Indirect Teaching • Discussion • Checking In • Direct Teaching • Songs & Games • Feelings Dice/Wheel • Creative Play Activities • Children’s Literature • Book Nooks

9. Discussion: There’s No Time! “I don’t have time to teach all of these things. I’m already busy teaching literacy, science, health, math and completing portfolios, and other assessments!”

10. Indirect Teaching • Provide emotional labels as children experience various affective states • “Tamika and Tanya seem really happy to be playing together! They keep hugging each other!”

11. Video: Indirect Teaching

12. Discussion “How Would You Feel If…” • Discuss typical situations that happen when children are together. • Jeremy wanted to play ball with Katie and Wu-Ying today, but they wouldn’t let him. How do you think that made him feel? How do you think you would feel if that happened to you? What could Jeremy try next time? “One time I…” • Ask children to tell about a time the experienced a particular emotion. • What made them feel this way? • Did anything happen to make them change how they felt?

13. Checking In Teachers and children can “check in” each morning by choosing a feeling face that best describes their affective state and putting it next to their name. Children can be encouraged to change their feeling faces throughout the day as their feelings change.

14. “Checking In” with Direct Instruction

15. Direct Teaching Planned activities or opportunities for children to increase their emotional vocabulary.

16. Activity: Direct Teaching Practice How could you use these pictures to teach emotional literacy?

17. How Do I Feel?

18. Feelings Center

19. Feelings Bulletin Board

20. Songs Piggy-Back Songs • Use existing song and create new “feelings” lyrics • Example: “If you’re happy and you know it” • If you’re sad & you know it, cry a tear: “Boo-hoo” • If you’re mad & you know it, use your words: “I’m mad” • If you’re scared & you know it ask for help: “Help me” • If you’re happy & you know it, hug a friend • If you’re tired and you know it, give a yawn

21. Games • Charades • Bingo • Purchased Games Emotions Memory Game Feeling Faces Flashcards

22. Make a _____ face. Emotion Charades

23. Emotion Bingo

24. Feeling Dice/Feeling Wheel

25. Video: Using Feeling Dice

26. Examples:Creative Play Activities • Taming a Scary Puppet • Life-Size • Rice Cake Faces • A Sign of Growing From Mister Rogers Parenting Resource Book, Fred Rogers (2005)

27. Taming a Scary Puppet • Using a paper bag and construction paper, allow child to make a puppet. • Talk about what would make the puppet look scary. Talk about things that are scary. • When the puppet is finished, talk with the puppet and find ways to “tame” it so it isn’t so scary – maybe the puppet is scary because it is mad or sad about something. • Create a story about the puppet and help it to become less scary.

28. Life-Size • Tape sheets of newspaper together (large enough for a child to lie on). Draw the outline of the child and cut it out. • The child can fill the outline with pictures of feeling faces and scenes of what makes them feel this way • For example, happy faces with a picture of the child eating ice cream

29. Rice Cake Faces • Spread a rice cake with peanut butter, cream cheese, or jelly (the foundation for the face) • Discuss what kind of feeling face the child will make. Use raisins, apple slices, banana slices, etc. decorate the faces to reflect the feelings. • Discuss what makes the child feel happy, sad, surprised, scared, angry, etc.

30. A Sign of Growing • Each month, put a new 11”x17” sheet of paper at child height on the wall. • Mark important social emotional accomplishments on each chart with the date • Example: shared with a friend, took turns, said “I’m mad” instead of hitting, solved a problem without a teacher

31. Video: Happy, Sad, Mad, Scared

32. Children’s Literature

33. Video: Emotions Book

34. Book Nooks Glad Monster Sad Monster On Monday When it Rained Hands Are Not for Hitting Handout 2

35. Book Nook Activity “I feel excited when I get to go to my friend Coby’s house to play.” “I feet upset when my mommy didn’t get me anything.”

36. Discussion: Missing Resources? “I don’t have any social emotional books, games or songs. I need all of my planning time to take care of regular classroom activities – I can’t spend it making things for these extra activities.”

37. Skill Building: EmpathyIdentifying Feelings in Self & Others Learning words for different feelings Empathy training Learning to recognize how someone else is feeling • Facial cues • Body language • Tone of voice • Situational cues Learning how to control anger, relax, and calm down

38. Teaching Empathy Empathy is the identification with and understanding of another’s feelings and situation. • Model empathy • “Alike” & “different” activities • Draw children’s attention to how others are feeling • Role plays and role reversals • Reinforce empathy behaviors .

39. The Big Picture:Supporting Emotional Literacy in Your Classroom We often make assumptions about children’s Social Emotional Learning. These skills need to be taught intentionally! Emotional Literacy paves the way for friendships skills, anger management, and problem solving. • Read books about feelings, Make them available in the story center • Post photos of people in which various emotions are displayed • Label your own feelings • Notice and label children’s feelings • Plan activities to teach and reinforceemotional literacy • Reinforcechildren for using feeling words • Make daily efforts

40. www.csefel.vanderbilt.edu www.teamtn.tnvoices.org www.challengingbehavior.org

41. Questions?