Jeesun Feels Left Out

Tell the children you will read a story about Jeesun.
Explain that in the story, Jeesun’s feelings become hurt and she feels left out.

Show the children the illustration for this lesson.

Read the following story aloud:

It was a beautiful afternoon to play outside. The children from Mrs. Muffin’s class ran out to the playground, some to the bikes, some to the sandbox, and some to the swings. Jeesun, Zoey, and Lydia sat on the ground near the swings waiting for Jayden and Maddox, who had gotten to the two swings first, to finish their turns. The three girls were laughing and picking grass and flowers when Jeesun noticed a roly-poly (pill bug). She reached down to pick it up and show the other girls. To her surprise, when she looked up, Zoey and Lydia were swinging together. They were just starting to pump their legs. There was no swing for Jeesun.

Jeesun got a strange, scared feeling. Zoey was HER best friend, two peas in a pod. Why was she swinging with Lydia instead of her? As she watched Lydia and Zoey smiling while their swings went back and forth together, Jeesun felt herself getting angry. She crossed her arms across her chest and started to sulk away from the swings.

Zoey called out, “Hey, Jeesun, where are you going?”

Jeesun thought, I am not even going to answer them. They are not my friends anymore!

Consider asking questions like:

• Were Zoey and Lydia being mean to Jeesun?
• What emotions does Jeesun feel?
• Which face bricks show this?
• How does Jeesun handle her feelings?
• Does that solve her problem? Why or why not?

Ask the children to work with a building buddy to build a model showing how Jeesun feels in the story.

Ask the children to share their models.

Consider asking questions like:

• What would you say to help Jeesun solve her problem?
• What would you say to Lydia and Zoey?
• What would you do if two or three of your friends were playing together, and there was no space for you?
• How might you feel?
• How could you solve the problem?

Tell the children to work with their building buddies to build two more characters.
Ask the children to act out a scenario in which one of the characters feels left out.
Tell them to act out a way for the characters to solve the problem of feeling left out.

Explain that one way to help with jealousy is to learn healthy ways to express our
feelings.

Consider asking questions like:

• How could children who feel jealous work out their conflict with their classmates instead of getting mad or threatening not to be friends anymore?
• What places in the preschool could be changed to include more people?
• In spaces that can’t be changed, how could friends work things out to prevent jealousy? (e.g., use an hour glass to time their turns)

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.