C. Saulsby Grade – Kindergarten
P.S. 6 Literature

When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry
By Molly Bang

Synopsis of Story:
When Sophie gets angry at her sister she acts out and wants to "smash the world to smithereens." She goes on an emotional rollercoaster but eventually calms herself by walking, climbing and feeling nature's beauty. At the end of the story Sophie is back at home and feeling peaceful.

SEL Understandings

• Angry feelings are normal and can be managed.
• Different people handle anger in different ways.
• Recognizes one’s emotions
• Knowing that others may see things differently than you do

Objectives

SEL:

• Students will recognize anger as a normal feeling that can be good or bad depending on how it is handled.
• Students will identify strategies to help them control and manage angry feelings.

Literacy:

• Children will do a choral reading of parts of the book.
• Children will recognize initial consonants in alliterative narration (e.g. "She roars a red, red roar" and "She watches the water and the waves").

Pre-Reading

Show the cover of the book and say the title. Ask, "What does it mean to get 'really, really angry'? How do you handle your anger when you get this angry? Let's see what Sophie does to handle her anger."

Discussion Questions

Possible Questions:
What happens between Sophie and her sister?
Has this ever happened to you?
How did Sophie handle her anger?
If someone makes you upset, do you have a cozy or comfy place to go and think things through?
What else could Sophie have done?
At the end of the story Sophie calms down and returns home in a happy mood. Can you do the same?
What comforts Sophie when she’s angry?
What triggers your anger?
Identify the feelings? Where do you feel them?

Initial Consonants R and W - During the reading ask children to listen closely to the sounds of two sentences (see objectives above) as you repeat them twice. Do they hear a similar sound? Can they make that sound? Point out the letters r and w in their respective sentences. Ask your students for other examples of words that start with same r (or w) sound. Tell them that many writers use the same beginning sound in a sentence when they want their readers to feel something. Inquire, "How does the sentence 'She roars a red, red roar' make you feel?"

Activities -The Anger Thermometer

Before class create an anger thermometer on chart paper. On the thermometer's scale write words to represent different levels of anger. A simple scale might have three levels: annoyed, angry and really angry. If your class is advanced you might try five levels: irritated, annoyed, angry, furious and enraged. Whichever words you select, write each of the words in large colorful letters on separate sheets of paper. Post the sheets across your room so that you create a Feelings Thermometer with the lowest emotional intensity on the left and the highest on the right.

Use the story and the children's earlier self sharing to reinforce the concept that anger is normal and that it helps to deal with our anger when our feelings "temperature" is low. Ask children to recall times when Sophie was at different levels of anger and show where Sophie might put herself on the Anger Thermometer.

Tell the children that now they will have a chance to place themselves on an Anger Thermometer that you have set up in the room (point to the scale on the wall).

Ask them to stand, take a deep breath and stretch. Say:

Alright, now that you are relaxed I will ask you to think about what makes you feel annoyed, angry or very angry. For example, I might feel annoyed (stand under the ANNOYED sign) if someone spilled a drink on my lap. I might feel angry (move under the ANGRY sign) if a friend stole money from me. And I might get very angry (move again) if a person hurt my dog. Now I want you to think without speaking about how you would feel if a friend called you a mean name. Would you feel annoyed, angry or very angry?

• Give students about 20 seconds to think then ask a few volunteers to share how they would feel. When each has spoken ask that child to stand under the appropriate sign.
• Ask the rest of the class to share how they would feel by raising their hands when you point to the sign that best shows how they would feel.
• Tell class that you will name another "anger trigger" but, this time, you will ask them to move under the sign that names the feeling they believe they might experience. They will move slowly and without speaking and should pick the spot that feels best for them and not go to a spot because a friend goes there. If your students would have a hard time with this group movement, use raised hands as described above.
• Read first anger trigger below. After children move, ask a volunteer from each sign to explain the reasons for picking that place on the thermometer. Affirm all volunteers. Have children notice how people can feel differently about the same event. If you have time continue with anger triggers two and three.

• Anger Triggers (Begin with "How would you feel if…):
  1. Your friend called you a mean name while you were playing in the schoolyard?
  2. You were on line for lunch and another student cut in front of you?
  3. Your teacher said you had done something wrong and you had not?

Processing questions:
1. What did you notice about how people feel about the same thing?
2. How many of you noticed that your friends might not always feel exactly as you do? Why is that OK?
3. How can you find out how strongly someone feels?

Class Extension

• What Bugs Me! Have students list what gets them angry. Either create a master list and post it or give each child a large drawing of a bug with a fat round body. On this body, students should write their names and one or two triggers that "bug" them in the classroom (e.g. When someone says that I'm cute.). Students can decorate their bugs and display them in the room. As a group, work on reducing the times you bug each other or pull each other's triggers.
• Poetry is a great tool for expressing levels of feeling. Find poems that express strong feelings or create a group poem. To reinforce the literacy objective find poems that use alliteration and engage children in choral readings.
• Read My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. Activity - When you feel sad what color are you? When you are happy?
• Integrated learning perspective - Do a thematic unit on lines. Connect the Anger thermometer to other kinds of number lines: life lines (see "How We Have Changed" page 27), use of a simple thermometer, leap frog games in physical education, counting using math number lines, and measuring ingredients in simple cooking recipes.
• After using Anger thermometer use other feeling thermometers ( Pleased, Happy, Joyful).

Home and Family Connection

Encourage parents to discuss and acknowledge feelings at home.
Ask parents to share with children their own anger triggers that they have at work or in the neighborhood (not ones that relate to their children at this point). Ask families to discover what triggers they do and do not share.

Teacher Reflection

After reading this story, I can think about a time I was really angry, and recognize how I was able to handle those angry feelings.