Feelings Unit: Lesson Three (may be finished in following lesson)
Understanding the feelings and point of view of others
Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose
Goals:
- To increase student understanding of the feelings of others
- To encourage students to think about how their actions impact others
Competencies:
Students will be able to tell how the ant and boy might be feeling during the story
Students will consider the feelings and points of view of the boy and ant when creating an ending to the story.
Materials Needed:
Book: Hey, Little Ant
Worksheet for drawing/writing an ending to the story
Action Plan
- Introduction/Review
a.Summarize previous lessons about feelings.
b.Today we are going to talk about understanding the feelings of others and thinking about how our actions impact the feelings of others.
i.Ask how many students have heard the phrase, “to walk in another person’s shoes” (count how many if you want to compare for accountability!)
ii.Ask if they know what it means, share some answers then summarize that to walk in someone else’s shoes means to stop and think what it would be like to be them. We might think about how they feel in a situation or what they experience each day.
- Reading the Story
a.Before the story: Tell the students that the story is a conversation between an ant and a boy. Tell students this story is unique because it does not have an ending (or ask the students what the parts of a story are, then tell this one doesn’t have an ending). Tell them they will be writing the ending, so they need to listen carefully.
i.Ask if they think ants and little boys have a lot in common. Discuss what ants and kids might or might not have in common (can do this during the story also).
ii.Ask if the have ever squished an ant, spider, or other insect. Did they think about the impact of their action before they did it?
b.During the Story
i.Check in about how students think each character is feeling
ii.Question students about the influence of friends on a decision
iii.What do you think will happen next, etc.
c.After the Story
i.What was the boy’s argument for why he should squish the bug?
ii.What was the ant’s argument for why the boy should not squish him?
- Writing/Drawing
a.Explain that the story does not have an ending, and every story needs a beginning, middle, and end. THEY GET TO WRITE THE END!!!
b.Students will return to their desks to write their ending to the story. (After writing an ending, they will get to illustrate the ending as well.) Encourage students to take into consideration the points made by the ant and the boy as well as their feelings during the story. They should be as descriptive as possible about how the story ends (aka more than just don’t squish the bug, if he doesn’t squish the bug what does he do, say, and feel? If he does squish the bug, what does he do, say, and feel?
- Sharing (This may be done next week if there is not time this week) I usually do this the following week because we don’t have time the first week.
a.Allow each student to read and share his/her ending and picture. Encourage students to explain WHY they chose the ending they did. Emphasize with students that we can choose to hurt people with our words or actions, or we can do things to help others.
- Conclusion/Application
a.Thank students for their participation and hard work in making this tough decision of how the story should end.
b.Next week we will finish the unit by talking about how we can share our feelings with others if we ever find ourselves in a situation like the ant where someone is making us feel uncomfortable