"Feel Good" Teaching

Inside Out Lesson Plan:

Standards:

Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. (1.SL.5)

Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly. (1.SL.4)

Reflection: I think the details aspect is going to be very key to understanding how the different emotions function. The whole of the standards tie back to that idea of community that is so essential to the whole lesson and to the development of a healthy classroom. Expressing ideas and feelings in healthy ways is important to creating an environment where students can feel safe enough to share their experiences and needs with the teacher and their peers. At a first grade level, it can be hard to recognize the needs of your peers when you are so naturally focused on your own needs. Thus this lesson is an extremely age appropriate way to help students begin to shift their paradigm of the classroom.

Objective: Students will successfully express the ideas and feelings of the Inside Out characters as well as their peers. Students will identify ways to create community and collaboration in the classroom.

Assessment: Students will label a personal table with details about the Inside Out Characters. They will also identify ways to support their peers by labeling the needs of each emotion and outlining the classroom rules on the Smart Board.

Reflection: Inside Out is currently a popular movie amongst this age group, so utilizing it can be a valuable tool.

Lesson Plan Guideline:

1. Students watch clips of the different emotions from Inside Out and label how each emotion feels and acts on their paper. (10 minutes)
2. Students come up to the board and identify their personal needs from their peers when they experience a specific emotion. (10 minutes)
3. Students conclude by using their lists of ideas and actions to help create a summitive list of rules for the classroom that can best help their peers succeed. (10 minutes)

Modifications:

Enrichment: Have students write down extra details on their worksheet for each emotion.

Supportive: Have the student draw details on the worksheet or discuss their ideas with a neighbor. If it’s challenging for them to write on the board, allow them to find a peer to assist them.

ELL: Have the student draw details on the worksheet or discuss their ideas with a neighbor. If it’s challenging for them to write on the board, allow them to find a peer to assist them.

Senses: The large screen should allow everyone to see. If they can’t hear, provide subtitles for the clips. If they cannot see, have them describe their emotions instead of looking at the emotions.

Reflection: I feel like this lesson plan has lots of potential because it has such an important theme, and so many ways that technology easily lends itself to the activity. If there is extra time at the end, have students copy down the rules and decorate them!