- Stop -- Use Your Signal
- Name Your Feeling
- Calm Down
We started out the lesson by having all students run in place and recite their ABCs. When I gave them the signal "freeze," they knew it was time to stop. We talked about what happened with their brains and bodies when they heard my signal. Were they still moving? (No.) How did their heartbeat feel? (Fast). Were they still saying the ABCs? (No.) My signal had caused their brains and bodies to stop, and they began to relax.
Next, we watched the Calm Down music video. After the video, we named all three videos and went back to my example where I had told them to "freeze." This was a stop signal. We talked about the other stop signals we had heard in the song: stop, chill, hang on, hold up. Next, students brainstormed a stop signal that could work for them, and they shared these signals with their neighbors.
We discussed what had happened to Maia in last week's lesson, and what was happening in her body (it was feeling overwhelmed). We watched another video clip to see what happens with Maia when she uses calming down steps. We watched as she used several stop signals (okay, hang on, wait a minute), and named her feeling (angry). We talked about the amygdala, that only reacts, and doesn't think. We talked about how the only way to activate our cortex, or thinking part of the brain, was to use the first two calming down steps. Once we have activated the cortex, we can calm down and make better choices.
Next, we watched the final video clip where Maia uses three calming down strategies: breathing, self-talk, and counting. We watched as her body began to calm down. We practiced deep belly breathing by placing our pinkies above our belly buttons, and breathing in through our nose for three counts. As we breathed in, we made sure our hands were being pushed out by our lungs. We breathed out through our mouths for four counts as we watched our hands fall back down.
We talked about counting, and what it really does to help us. Counting buys us time and allows us to make better choices, because when we are counting we are unable to do other things like yell at someone or do something physical. We talked about different ways we can count: forwards, backwards, by 5's, 10's or 20's. We also discussed how we can count the seconds we are breathing in and out.
We ended our lesson by discussing positive self-talk and how it helps us to calm down. When we use negative self-talk, we only escalate our strong emotions, making ourselves more upset and more likely to make negative choices. By using positive self-talk, we are able to calm down and think rationally about the right choice. We are also able to put things in perspective.
