PROJECT EXSEL

Loran Karp Grade – Kindergarten
P.S. 130 Literature

Synopsis of Story
This is a funny and unique book that helps you introduce the topic of feelings. The authors have taken photographs of fruits and vegetables whose "faces" seem to portray different feelings. Students will delight in guessing about what is happening in the interactions among the produce characters. Photographs are accompanied by numerous feeling words that can be charted and used throughout the year.

SEL Understandings

• Recognizing and naming one’s emotions (i.e. emotional awareness)
• Recognizing facial expressions of emotions in others
• Understanding the reasons and circumstances for feeling as one does
• Learning how to express emotion’s effectively

Objectives

• SEL: Students will become aware of different feelings and share their own experiences with these feelings.
• Literacy: Students will make connections between life experiences and text.

Pre-Reading
Have the word "Feeling" written on a piece of chart paper. Bring your class together and do a quick warm-up by asking your students to watch your face as you make a "feeling face". Silently, make a silly "happy" face and ask students to guess what feeling you are expressing. Elicit answers and inquire how the students could tell that your face was showing a happy feeling? Invite your class to mimic you as you make three of four more "feeling faces" (e.g. sad, surprised, angry, sleepy). Encourage students to look at each other's faces and to celebrate their efforts. "Look at all these feelings," you might say.

Point to the word on chart paper and say," Feeling." Work with students to define the word. One definition might be "A feeling is a reaction to something that happens around me." Hold up How Are You Peeling and get students' reactions to the cover photo and title. Say,
" I want to read this wonderful book and I'd like you to see how many different feeling faces we can find in it. Are you ready?"

Discussion Questions

During reading:
Has anyone felt this feeling (pointing to a photo)?
What is the name for this feeling?
When did you have this feeling?

After reading the book, process the learning experience with these questions:
What new feeling words did we learn from this book or from each other (Chart responses)?
How can you tell how someone is feeling by looking at their face?
How can you find out if your guess is correct (e.g. Ask the person)?

Activity

Students should work with a partner. They are to choose a feeling from the chart and try to make a feeling face to express that feeling. Their partners have two attempts to guess the feeling and then it is their turn. Depending on your group, this guessing game can last several turns. With some groups, however, you may want to stop the lesson after the processing questions above and do the activity on the following day. After the activity, ask students how they felt when they had to make a feeling face and when they had to guess the feeling. Elicit that it is sometimes hard to name what feeling we are having; hard to guess someone else's feeling and we can learn how to do both this year in school.

Class Extension

• In guided reading sessions, work with students on using visual cues in picture books to infer a character's feeling state.
• Have students draw "Feelings Faces" (paper plates make good templates). Hang a Face for each feeling around the room with the feeling clearly labeled. If able, students can write about a personal feeling experience and add their stories to the Feelings Wall.
• Create a fruit or vegetable art show complete with Feelings Faces.
• Play feelings charades using our whole bodies. Students can take turns walking by the group saying their names "I am Harry" and expressing a feeling in their body language (gestures, tone of voice, facial expression, etc.). Students then guess the feeling.
• Older students can use computer animation programs (e.g. Flash) to create feelings faces.
• Integrated language perspective: This lesson could be part of a larger theme. For example, How Are You Peeling? could be used as a springboard into a thematic unit on PEOPLE. Discussion on people's feelings could lead to all the things that people have that make us who we are. Following discussion, students could spend many productive days learning individually and in groups all the ways that people are important. Students can learn about the human body, people in other lands, people in history, people in the community, people who are heroes, etc. Children can do research, share their findings and celebrate themselves as people!
• Look for teachable moments throughout each day. If you or someone else is expressing emotion non-verbally ask a student to notice the body language and to guess the feeling. Also ask the person experiencing the emotion to guess what feeling her body is expressing. Be careful to use teachable moments only for learning purposes and with the permission of the child who is experiencing the emotions.

Home and Family Connections

Word process Feelings list from chart and send home to parents via email or snail mail. Have children teach their families how to play Feelings Charades. Encourage parents to help their children develop their feelings vocabulary and their ability to read facial expression of emotion. Ask families to visit the Project EXSEL website and play feelings games together.

Teacher Reflection

This helps me realize that no matter how old I am or may be one day, everyone shares the same feelings and can relate to this book.

Teacher Evaluation

Children enjoyed sharing their feelings with each other. Children built on one another’s responses. Children were supportive and helped guide struggling students. They provided valuable insights and relevant connections. Some of the student’s feelings were related to physical sensations, such as hunger, or being tired. It was difficult for them to understand and for me to explain the difference between physical sensations and emotional feelings.