Fifth Grade: Introducing Emotion Management

Fifth grade started a new unit this week on Emotion Management. Our first lesson focused on what happens in our brains and bodies when we experience strong emotions. The amygdala responds to sensors in the body and reacts, not thinking, to the situation. We can activate the cortex, or thinking part of our brain, by using the Calming Down Steps:

1. Stop -- Use Your Signal
2. Name Your Feeling
3. Calm Down

In this lesson we primarily focused on the first two steps. We watched a video about two students, Lydia and Jayla, who are arguing over a bracelet. The two students begin screaming at each other during recess and ultimately walk away from the issue unresolved. We identified how we thought each student was feeling in the situation and why. We also talked about whether they would be able to solve the issue with these actions (no), and why they wouldn't be able to: not listening to each other, too angry to solve problem, not trying to solve the problem.

Next, we watched the two students use the first two steps in the Calming Down Steps, and we identified what they said for each of these steps. One student used the signal "Okay, hold on" to stop from becoming more frustrated. The other student used the signal "Wait a Minute" and said she was feeling "very angry." We will see how this scenario ends during next week's lesson, when students use the final Calming Down Step.