Purpose
The Feelings Circle sets an important foundation for students to later successfully participate in Friendship and Peacemaking Circles. The Feelings Circles are designed to be held with children in Years 1 and 2. This training is intended to consist of eight 30 minute sessions, ideally held once a week. Each session will teach a skill related to identifying feelings, acknowledging their own and others’ feelings, understanding “double dip” feelings (having more than one feeling at a time – excited and nervous), and expressing feelings. Communication with parents will be in two forms: the student will have an art project or reminder sheet of skills learned to take home and share, and parents will receive a letter describing the activities and skills taught each week.
The eight sessions of the Feelings Circle are:
- learning feeling words – feeling bingo;
- more feeling words – match the feeling word with the face game;
- double dip feelings – ice cream cone drawings of our double dip feelings;
- learning to identify feelings, our own and others – story telling and naming the feelings;
- expressing our feelings – role plays;
- how to really listen to others feelings, can you acknowledge them – role play;
- acting on our feelings: shark, carp, crab, or dolphin;
- feelings and diversity – let’s celebrate our feelings!
The lessons learned in the Feelings Circle were ritualized at Walden School, the school Cavanagh studied. This excerpt comes from Zimmerman’s recollection of an event that occurred while she was teaching Feelings Circle at Walden School.
“I walked into the Feelings Circle and Lisa said she had felt like a carp and a shark yesterday. She told me that each kid in her class got to tell about their Spring break. Several kids talked about going to Mexico and Disney World. Although Lisa had a great Spring break going to the park, playing with her brothers and sisters, and going to the zoo, she suddenly didn’t feel like her Spring break was as exciting. She reported that she felt like a carp inside, “My break wasn’t as exciting as theirs, I’m not telling about mine.” She told the teacher she didn’t want to tell about her break and just looked down at the floor as the others told their stories. Inside she felt jealous and angry at some of the other students. She told one of them that she would never go to Disney World – “It is for babies”! Realizing her feelings, she shared them with her teacher, who encouraged her to tell the class her feelings and about her Spring break. Lisa did both. Once she found her courage and felt like a dolphin, she was again proud of her Spring break and happy for the others. The students asked her lots of questions about what animals she saw at the zoo and what she did at the park.”
Session Explanation
- Learning feeling words/ Making a Feeling Bingo Game: This session focuses on introducing students to several feeling words. Students will learn the “Feeling Circle Pledge,” or create their own, which will be recited at the beginning of each Feeling Circle Session. During this session students will also begin making a game to help them better understand feelings.
- Review of feeling words/Playing Feeling Bingo: After reviewing the feeling words from session one, the remaining of this session will be spent completing and playing the Feeling Bingo game. Feeling Bingo will help the students learn to talk about feelings and give examples of when these feelings might arise.
- Double Dip Feelings/Double dip ice cream cone drawings: Learning about experiencing more than one feeling at a time, double dip feelings, is the focus of this session. By learning about having multiple feelings at once, students may be able to better communicate what they are feeling.
- Learning to identify feelings—Story telling and naming the feelings: This session introduces students to the idea of identifying feelings that others may be having. Identifying the feelings of others is vital to begin the process of problem solving.
- Expressing our feelings—Role plays: Learning to express our feelings correctly by using the “Understand Me” formula is the goal of session five. By knowing our feelings and naming them we can be more effective in being understood and problem resolution than if we did not know or name them.
- How to really listen to others’ feelings: Session six teaches students several techniques to use when really listening to others’ feelings. Students will not only discuss these techniques, but also gain experience through a small group role play.
- Acting on our feelings: Shark, Carp, Crab, or Dolphin: The point of this session is to introduce students to the idea that peoples’ actions are often influenced by their feelings. Students will be introduced to four marine creatures and provide examples of when their feelings may have influenced them to act like each.
- Feelings and diversity—Let’s celebrate our feelings: The last Feeling Circle session focuses on recognizing stereotypes we may have about certain feelings, and learning to resist tendencies to stereotype people and their feelings. This session will end by having students create a chain in recognition, honor, and celebration of their feelings.