How to Introduce Emotions to Your Pre-Kindergarten Students
This week I read The Rainbow Fish to my pre-kindergarten students. It had been awhile since I’ve read the book so I had forgotten how many emotions were presented in the story. After reading the story I asked my students when was rainbow fish angry, when was rainbow fish sad, and when was rainbow fish happy. Understanding when in the story rainbow fish was happy was critical for understanding what the emotion meant.
Contextualizing Emotions
When teaching pre-k students about emotions I realized it wasn’t just enough to introduce the vocabulary but it was also important to understand the context in which the emotion occurs. For example, at the end of the story rainbow fish was happy because he shared his silver scales with all the other fish and saw how happy it made them to feel as beautiful as he felt with all of his silver scales. It helps young kids recognize that being happy is related to sharing, that there is a cause and effect relationship between what we do and the feeling of an emotion.
Introducing Emotions
Reading books is a great opportunity for teachers and parents to introduce emotions, what they might look like, to describe what those emotions feel like, and the situations that can cause us to feel those specific emotions. One of my favorite authors to read to my pre-k students is Jon Klasson. Both I Want My Hat Back and I Stole A Hat demonstrate emotions that might be new to pre-k students such as confusion, confidence and familiar emotions such as anger and happiness. These emotions might not always be obvious through the illustrations of the story but as the reader of the story we have the opportunity to portray those emotions through tone of voice. This is especially helpful for younger children such as your pre-k students who are in the beginning stages of learning about emotions.
Managing Emotions
In addition to labeling, and recognizing the context in which emotions occur, management of emotions is another important aspect to introduce to pre-kindergarteners. A book that is more explicit with the management of emotions is A Feel Better Book for Little Tempers. After reading the book we discussed what are some things we can do when we feel angry. A popular response was to “take a deep breath.” We’ve used this phrase consistently throughout the school year: after running around in the gym, when a student is upset, and when we are getting ready to transition between activities. It has been truly transformative to see how the students internalized this concept that is empowering for feeling at peace and grounded in the moment.
Opportunities for Independent Learning in Your Classroom
Since pre-k students are generally not yet reading themselves it is the teacher’s job to decipher the emotions expressed in the story as well as explain new vocabulary in books. However, some games can provide opportunities for independent learning and practice. Independent learning games such as Wisdom: The World of Emotions provide a fun way to support children through the steps of identifying, managing and understanding emotions. Its digital and hands-on activities provide a fun, interactive way for students to learn about emotion recognition, situations in which emotions occur and regulation through independent play. Wisdom engages students in activities that allows them to better practice problem solving and mindfulness skills and experience new concepts in an engaging way. It can also provide new tools to pre-k students that they will find helpful for regulating their own emotions. After engaging in independent learning by playing Wisdom, teachers can engage students in hands-on activities and group play too.
How do we find the best moments to discuss emotions with pre-k students?
I’ve learned most conversations I’ve had with my students about emotions have come naturally. This has occurred when I wanted to understand why a student was feeling sad or frustrated with another student. During these moments it is hard to talk about the emotions while they are experiencing it because the emotions often happen quickly and they might not have the focus to have a discussion. For these reasons, it is important to at least talk about the emotions afterwards and take the opportunity to conceptualize that they mean something. Another occasion would be when we are working on our journals and discussing events such as a holiday or birthday and what makes us happy about those events. Being able to associate feelings with an experience allows students to internalize that they have emotions as a result of something that has occurred. Since pre-k students have more time to be engaged in social play than elementary students, educators have more opportunities to discuss emotions naturally as they arise in a pre-K class. In addition to these occurrences, building intentional discussions about emotions through books and games such as Wisdom into a pre-k curriculum will strengthen social emotional development.
