Jeesun's Anger Monster
Understand how to deal with anger and how to calm down again.
Connect
Tell the children you will read them a story about Jeesun.
Explain that in this story, Jeesun becomes very angry and loses her temper. Her “anger monster” needs to be calmed down.
Show the children the illustration for this lesson.
Read the following story aloud:
Jeesun, Jayden, Zoey, and Maddox were playing races.
Each of them took a turn starting the race and judging who won. It was Maddox’s turn to start the race. Jeesun, Jayden, and Zoey lined up at the
starting line.
Maddox shouted, “Ready! Set! GO!”
Jeesun crossed the finish line first, right before Jayden, and Zoey finished last. Jeesun felt happy that she had won. She lifted her arms in the air.
“Jayden won!” Maddox announced.
“NO! I WON!” Jeesun shouted.
“Nope. Jayden won! Yay Jayden!” Maddox reached his hand up to give Jayden a high five.
Jeesun ran over to Maddox and pushed him. “You are cheating!”
Jeesun started yelling and crying with a red face. She threw herself on the ground and kicked her legs.
Mrs. Muffin ran over, and said, “Jeesun, it looks like your anger monster is out of control. Let’s calm her down with some belly breathing.”
“I don’t know how!” Jeesun screamed.
“I’ll teach you. First, put your hands on top of your belly. Next, take a big breath of air until you feel your belly stick way out. Then let the air out slowly and feel your belly go back to normal. Do it again until your monster calms down,” Mrs. Muffin said.
Jeesun tried the belly breathing, and she felt a lot better.
“Maddox, I’m sorry for pushing you,” Jeesun said.
“That’s okay. Maybe you did win,” Maddox said.
“Let’s race again! I promise I won’t get mad,” Jeesun said.
Consider asking questions like:
- How did Jeesun feel when Maddox said that Jayden won the race?
- Why did she feel this way?
- What did Jeesun do in response to her emotions?
- Were Jeesun’s actions okay? Why or why not?
Construct
Ask the children to work with a building buddy to build an anger monster.
Explain that an anger monster shows how they feel when they are angry.
Contemplate
Ask the children to role-play with the anger monsters they built. Tell them to act out ways in which they could help their anger monsters calm down.
Consider asking questions like:
- When was the last time you were angry?
- Why did you feel angry?
- How did your body feel?
Continue
Hold up one of the Build Me face bricks and name the emotion depicted.
Tell the children that they are going to build a monster that reminds them of a feeling.
Explain that, of course, feelings themselves cannot be seen.
- We cannot actually see “happy”.
- We only know how people are feeling by looking at their body language and facial expressions, or by listening to what they say.
Ask: “What if we could pull an emotion out of someone and show that emotion using LEGO® DUPLO bricks?”
Ask the children what kinds of features a Happy Monster might have.
Ask the children to work in pairs to build a monster with an emotion that is different from angry.
Did you notice?
Observing the following skills can help you monitor whether the children are developing socially and emotionally.
- Children are able to understand other people’s feelings.
- Children are able to resolve conflicts in constructive ways.
Teacher Support
Children will :
Begin to learn how to calm themselves down when they feel angry.
Children are able to understand other people’s feelings.
Children are able to resolve conflicts in constructive ways.