Series First Five Early Childhood Education: Building Emotional Literacy

Building Emotional Literacy

Lesson Objective: Identify and describe feelings
Pre-K / ELA / Empathy
5 MIN

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

  1. How does identifying feelings provide a foundation for developing empathy?
  2. Why does Ms. Hawkins provide students with two options for the activity?
  3. How does using mirrors enrich this lesson?

11 Comments

  • Private message to Stephen Maison

Hello hello! Here are some thoughts on the questions. They are not presented chronologically, but more thematically, as the first and third question seemed intertwined, while the second one stood on its own.

For question 1), I believe that identifying feelings provides a foundation for empathy because when you identify feelings within yourself, you are more likely to understand that other people also have these feelings. For example, when we feel sad and can name it as sadness, we are more likely to understand (physically, mentally, and emotionally) how others feel when they say that they are sad. And since we somewhat know what we would like from others when we are sad (from a hug to being left alone), we are more likely to give comfort to the ones saying that they are sad when we ourselves understand that emotion within us.

This relates a lot to question 3), for the use of mirrors enable kids to see their faces as they live various emotions. Since they previously learned to associate certain emotions with facial features, the mirrors allow kids to associate the emotion (its name, which comes from seeing their face) with how they feel inside. This mirror activity seems really nice to identify feelings within oneself, which then serves to develop empathy!

Regarding question 2), Ms. Hawkins provides two options so that the kids may learn in a way that is most closely adapted to the current knowledge that they have. This is not only awesome because it allows kids to develop similar skills in different ways, suited to their interests and previous knowledge, but it also allows them all to partake.

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  • Private message to Macarena Piriz

1. You cannot empathize with others if you have trouble recognizing the emotions on someone’s face. Children need to be taught what is sadness or anger or happiness and what it means and looks like in someone else’s body language. Children also need to develop a perspective of the situation so that they can share the same feeling as another child.
2. One of the options is for children that are learning the language or are simply non-verbal so that they can also participate to the class activity. It’s an inclusive option, as a teacher you need to create lesson plans that will include all of your students.
3.The use of mirrors is a way for children to actually experience their own emotions. They might never have seen their expression when they’re sad, angry or happy. It makes them aware of what those feelings look like on someone’s face and it might make it easier to recognize the features on someone else’s face.

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  • Private message to Gabriella sellers

Identifying feelings provides a foundation for developing empathy by helping student realize when their peers are sad or upset. usimg the mirror helps the students look at themselves to be able to see how they look when they are happy,mad, etc. I love how the teacher is so patient and speaks so softly when interacting with the children.

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  • Private message to Esther Nelson

I love when she brought the mirror in as a reflection of what their physical features look like as they express different emotions. I also love the cooperative learning with the students who are not so verbally because they engage in a think-aloud process with their peers to evaluate if they have created emotional expression in connection to the book. The magnetic board and magnetic materials also took away the messiness that can be created with glue, great accommodation for students who are still trying to figure out ways to represent their emotional expressions through their craft.

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External Resource Materials

Transcripts

  • Building Emotional Literacy
    Program Transcript

    Hawkens (Interview): My name is Jennifer Hawkens. I teach in the younger preschool room, so my

    Building Emotional Literacy
    Program Transcript

    Hawkens (Interview): My name is Jennifer Hawkens. I teach in the younger preschool room, so my kids are three years old. Um, I started with them just last year. Many of the activities you'll see are the same as you have in any good quality preschool program. The intentions behind it include a really high image of the child, and empowering children is one of the main goals. To have control in constructing their own learning.

    Student: I feel happy!

    Hawkens: You feel happy? Can you find happy, Lewis? Perfect. What makes you happy Lewis?

    Student: My mom.

    Hawkens (Interview): One of the ways that we help children develop emotional literacy is helping them identify feelings.

    Hawkens: All right, remember our book? I heard somebody singing the song. Do you want to sing the song?

    Hawkens (Interview): We've been reading a lot of books about emotions. I use books a lot, because they, they have the language and they also have something visual that can go along with it.

    Hawkens & Students: (singing) Go away big green monster, go away big green monster, go away big green monster, go away. Go away!

    Hawkens: Do you remember the story?

    Hawkens (Interview): I really like the Go Away Big Green Monster book a lot. The kids really enjoy it, and I had a lot of different things in mind, and a lot of it having to do with literacy.

    Hawkens: A big green monster has how many eyes?

    Student: Two little eyes!

    Hawkens: Two big…

    Student: Yellow…

    Hawkens: Yellowish eyes. Right. What's next?

    Student: Face!

    Hawkens: Do you think the face was next? Let's look at the book. I don't remember! Two big, yellow eyes and…

    Students: Nose!

    Hawkens: Nose. A long, bluish-greenish nose…

    Hawkens (Interview): That book I find really cathartic for them based on the emotional content.

    Hawkens: What's next? Huh! A big red mouth with sharp white…

    Student: Teeth.

    Hawkens: Teeth. All right. Here's the mouth. Is gonna be happy or sad.

    Student: Mad!

    Hawkens: Mad? Okay, let's make it sideways then. Errrrrr.

    Hawkens (Interview): After the Go Away Big Green Monster story, I had planned two different ways for children to kind of interact and process the material, and one was the collage activity. And I wanted to encourage children to create their own face, and bring them back to emotions and how does your monster feel, is it happy, is it angry.

    Hawkens: …Can you show me how your face looks angry?

    Student: It's kind of…

    Hawkens: Show me what your face, how would you look? Can you show me your face? What does a sad face look like? Aw, yeah, look. Your mouth goes down. How could we make…Oh! That's an angry one. So he's angry, happy, and sad, all at the same time. Look at this! Look in the mirror. You could, show me what your face looks like when it's angry. Can you, oooooh. Does that look angry? You kind of happy, is it sort of silly…

    Hawkens (Interview): The started imitating the faces My monster's like this, my monster's like this. And so I just got the mirror, and that kind of turned into part of the lesson, and I think that cuing in on the physical features of what's going on, it gives them a concrete way of identifying, hm, this is what I'm feeling right now.

    Hawkens: …Well look in the mirror, and let's see Sadie's happy face. How do you look when you're happy? Aww, that's such a pretty smile. Oh! Is the monster smiling too?

    Student: No. He doesn't have eyes yet.

    Hawkens: Oh. He can't smile without his eyes? What if I covered up my eyes? Ready? Can you tell I'm happy?

    Student: Yeah.

    Hawkens: But it's easier with your eyes, huh?

    Hawkens (Interview): And then in the other one they were using the little magnet board with the faces to reenact the story. One child would have the book and could reference the story and the other child could put the pieces onto the magnet board. I think that's a really good way for kids who are, maybe not verbal, maybe just learning language, to participate together in a literacy activity and kind of make that, ideas from that book concrete.

    Student: But where's the teeth? That's the teeth, see? That's not teeth, that's a face.

    Student: See? I told you.

    Hawkens (Interview): Young children learn best through interacting with things that are meaningful to them.

    Student: Don't take it off!

    Hawkens (Interview): …with things that are relating to their life and their interest. Something that they create together.

Teachers

teachers
Jennifer Hawkins