The foundation of emotional intelligence is built during the elementary years. For students, recognizing their emotions and learning to manage them plays a pivotal role in their overall development. As school-based mental health professionals or special educators, it’s our responsibility to equip students with tools to identify and address their feelings. Introducing the Free Self-Regulation Visual Choice Bar, a revolutionary approach to fostering emotional resilience in elementary students.

Understanding Self-Regulation in Elementary Students

Young children are often overwhelmed by their emotions. By teaching them to recognize their feelings on a spectrum—from “very little” to “extreme anger”—we empower them to take proactive measures to calm themselves.

Lesson Plan: Identifying Emotions and Self-Regulating

Objective: Equip students with the skills to identify their emotional states and select appropriate self-regulation techniques.

Materials Needed:

• The Free Self-Regulation Visual Choice Bar printed for each student.
• A comfortable space for group discussions and individual reflection.

Discussing Emotions (5 minutes)

1. Begin by discussing everyday scenarios and how they make us feel.
2. Introduce the emotional spectrum, explaining each stage.

Introducing the Visual Choice Bar (5 minutes)

1. Distribute the Free Self-Regulation Visual Choice Bar.
2. Walk the students through each emotion and the associated solutions.

Role-Playing (10 minutes)

1. Present hypothetical scenarios and ask students to identify where they’d place their feelings on the visual choice bar.
2. Discuss which self-regulation technique they’d opt for.

Reflect & Share (10 minutes)

1. Allow students to share past experiences, pinpoint their emotions, and discuss how the visual choice bar might have helped.
2. Encourage an open dialogue where students can discuss why they’d opt for specific self-regulation techniques.

Additional No-Prep Activity Ideas:

1. Emotion Journaling: Using the visual choice bar, students can record their daily feelings and chosen self-regulation techniques.
2. Emotion Charades: Students act out different emotions, and classmates guess the emotion and suggest coping solutions.
3. Daily Check-ins: At the start or end of the day, use the visual choice bar for students to express their emotional state.

Conclusion

The Free Self-Regulation Visual Choice Bar is more than just a tool; it’s a stepping stone towards fostering emotional intelligence in our students. When children can identify how they feel and possess the tools to manage those emotions, they’re better equipped for the challenges of tomorrow.

Sample Video

Students learn best from watching real students their own age model skills. Try out this sample video-modeling lesson below. We offer our entire Social-Emotional Learning platform free for 30 days here!

Related Blog Posts:

Staying Calm: Strategies for Students to Handle Difficult Situations

Teaching Students to Stay Calm When Angry: A Guide for Educators

Staying Calm Lesson Plan