Social emotional learning (SEL) is at the heart of who I am and my teaching philosophy. I believe that this is an important part of a student’s interactions in my classroom and in our communities. This lesson was based on one of my favourite books about SEL, The Colour Monster. I taught this lesson to a grade 2/3 class in my first practicum. I chose to split the lesson into two days as talking about emotions and feelings can be a sensitive topic, may be a trigger for some students and I also wanted them to be able to reflect on feelings and what it means for them. I read the book the first lesson and had the class brainstorm some ideas on the first half of the feelings in the mini booklet. Then the second lesson, we reviewed the book and brainstormed ideas for the second half of their mini booklet. As I look back on this lesson and the writing that the students did for their booklet, I am proud of them for taking the activity seriously and for some students, for being vulnerable in what they wrote. When we include SEL in our daily interactions with our students and incorporate it into our lesson plans and teaching, our students are learning self-awareness, responsibility etc., which are skills that help them in life. Activities: The Colour Monster Book, My Feelings Mini Booklet, and small mason jars with coloured pompoms to represent the feelings character I attached to the jar.
