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Why This Unit Matters

Teaching students to recognize strong feelings and use Calming-Down Steps to stay in control are effective ways to increase coping and reduce aggression and other problem behaviors. In this unit, students are taught proactive strategies to help prevent strong feelings from turning into negative behaviors. When intense feelings are allowed to escalate, strong physiological reactions hamper students' ability to reason and to solve interpersonal and other problems without aggression. The ability to keep strong emotions from escalating and driving behavior allows students the chance to employ many of the other skills taught in the program, such as effective communication, assertiveness, negotiation and compromise, and problem solving. Students with the skills to manage strong emotions, such as anger, worry, frustration, and jealousy are more likely to:

• Get along with peers and make good choices
• Cope with strong emotions and express them in socially acceptable ways
• Be successful in school

Students with less-effective emotion-management skills are more likely to:

• Be aggressive
• Abuse substances
• Have decreased levels of social-emotional competence
• Have difficulty behaving in socially skilled ways
• Act impulsively on their emotions

Lesson Overviews

Lesson 19: Introducing Emotion Management

Students review what happens in their brains and bodies when they experience strong emotions. They then practice interrupting escalating emotions by identifying and using a personal stop signal, then identifying and naming the strong feelings as they occur.

Lesson 20: Calming Down

Students practice identifying situations in which they might need to calm down. They then learn the technique for deep, centered breathing as a Way to Calm Down. They also learn other Ways to Calm Down, including counting, taking a break, and using positive self-talk.

Lesson 21: Managing Anxiety

Students practice identifying social situations that cause anxiety, then apply what they've learned about calming down to manage their anxiety.

Lesson 22: Managing Frustration

Students learn to identify the physical signs of frustration. They then practice using the Calming-Down Steps to reduce and manage their frustration.

Lesson 23: Resisting Revenge

Students learn that getting revenge can make problems worse. They practice using the Calming-Down Steps to help themselves resist seeking revenge. They then practice identifying the consequences of revenge and generating alternatives to seeking revenge.

Lesson 24: Handling Put-Downs

Students practice identifying and applying strategies for handling put-downs and practice Ways to Calm Down they have already learned.

Lesson 25: Avoiding Assumptions

Students learn that calming down strong feelings helps them think clearly about a situation and make better decisions. They then practice applying assertiveness skills and identifying and applying positive self-talk in situations in which they might otherwise make assumptions.

Using Skills Every Day

For long-term effectiveness,the skills and concepts presented in this curriculum must be applied to daily activities. This provides the repetition necessary for students to make skill use automatic. To integrate skills into your daily activities, use this three-step process: 1) Anticipate. 2) Reinforce. 3) Reflect.

Anticipate

At the beginning of the day or before emotion-provoking activities or situations, have students ANTICIPATE times when they might experience strong emotions and how they can apply their learning from the Emotion-Management Unit to help themselves calm down and manage their emotions.

At the beginning of the day, say: Think about times today when you might feel anxious, angry, frustrated, or some other strong emotion. What can you do if these feelings start to overwhelm you?

Before a potentially emotion-provoking activity or situation, say: Today we are working on some new, difficult math concepts. How can you use the steps on the How to Calm Down Poster to help you if you feel frustrated trying to understand the new material?

Reinforce

During the course of the day, notice when students apply their learning from the Emotion-Management Unit, and REINFORCE the behaviors with specific feedback: I noticed that you were starting to feel frustrated while working on these new math concepts. But you're not frustrated now. What did you say to yourself to calm down?

Model out loud for students how you use the Calming-Down Steps when you start to have strong feelings: I'm feeling frustrated that I don't have everyone's attention while I explain this new math concept. I'm going to do some deep, centered breathing so I can ca. down. Then I will wait until everyone is listening to me with attention before I explain it again.

Remind students to use the Calming-Down Steps. When you notice students having trouble managing their emotions, encourage them to refer to the How to Calm Down Poster. For example, say: I see that you are feeling anxious about solving this math problem. What is the first step you can take to start to calm down?

Reflect

Have students REFLECT on which lesson skills they have used and when and how the skills helped them manage their emotions throughout the day.

At the end of the day, say: At the beginning of the day, you anticipated times when you might experience strong emotions and also the steps and strategies you could use to calm down. What happened during those times today?

After an emotion-provoking activity or situation for which students anticipated using lesson skills, say: Before we worked on the new math problems, you predicted which steps and strategies you could use to calm down if you started to feel frustrated. Which steps and strategies did you use? How did they help you?

Academic Integration Activities

Literacy

Feelings Journal Have students keep a daily feelings journal for one week. Give students a writing prompt each day. Day 1: Describe one or more situations when your feelings could get out of control. What is the feeling you might experience in that situation? What word or words could you use as a signal to help stop your escalating feelings? Day 2: In the situation you described on Day 1, let's say you decided to use deep, centered breathing to help you calm down. Describe in full sentences what you do when you use this technique. Day 3: In the situation you described on Day 1, what are three positive things you could say to yourself that would help you calm down? Day 4: Describe in full sentences two other things in addition to deep, centered breathing and positive self-talk that you could do to help yourself calm down. Day 5: Reflect on your week. Did you use any of the Calming-Down Steps learned in the CLISE lessons this week? If yes, describe. If no, then how might knowing the Calming-Down Steps help you in the future?

Science

The Brain and Body Have students draw and label the different parts of the brain and body involved in strong emotions, as described in the CLISE lessons. These may include brain, amygdala, heart, lungs, skin, or stomach. Students can work with an existing outline of the brain and body, or draw their own simple diagram. Then have students write a brief description of what happens to each part when experiencing a strong emotion, and what happens after calming down. For example, when angry: Lungs—breathing becomes short and rapid. When calming down anger: Lungs—breathing slows down and becomes more consistent.

Social Studies

Consequences of Revenge Students have been learning the consequences of not being able to resist getting revenge. Ask students: What might be the consequences on a global level when countries cannot resist the urge to get revenge? Have students work in pairs or groups to generate several possible consequences. Discuss the possible consequences as a class. Then have students return to their groups to think of possible alternatives to revenge for countries that feel they have been wronged. Have groups report their ideas to the class. As an alternative, select two countries that are currently having a dispute. Have students research articles and news reports about the current dispute. Then have students go through the same activity as above, using these two countries.

Fine Arts

Representations of Calmness What do a calm mind and body feel like? What do they look like? Have students work individually, with a partner, or in small groups to create visual representations of calmness. Encourage students to use a variety of materials. This could also be a multimedia project that incorporates video clips, photos, and electronic arts and words using computer-based tools. Display completed representations in the classroom or have students present their representations to the class.

Physical Education

Feelings Freeze Have students stand up, allowing enough space between them for movement without touching anyone else. When you say a feeling’s word, students will move in a way that shows that feeling. Then say: Freeze. Have students take a moment to notice their bodies and how they are feeling. Do their postures and feelings match the word? Say another feeling’s word and repeat the exercise. Alternate between words that express strong emotions, such as angry, frustrated, and scared. and words that express calmness, such as calm, peaceful, and confident.