How do You Feel? Brainstorming Emotional Times

This lesson teaches students another way to write about meaningful moments in their lives.

I start this lesson by asking students to come to the carpet for my instruction. I do this with every lesson to create routine and structure and help them quickly get focused on the work they will be expected to do.

I remind them that in this unit, they are working on telling important stories in a meaningful way for a reading audience. That means that the stories can just be any story or moment that has happened to them but has to be meaningful. Today, I am going to teach them another way to brainstorm important moments to write about.

I demonstrate how to do this by writing down an emotion: embarrassment and then modeling how I think about all the times I’ve been embarrassed. I list ideas down on the board. I restate what I did by telling them that I first wrote down an emotion that I thought I would be able to think of stories connected to it. Then I looked up to comb my memory of specific events, then I listed them. After I was done with one emotion, I could choose another. 

Finally, after they have has some independent time to write down their list of moments, I ask for students to share with the class. I do this to encourage students who have difficulty coming up with ideas. I also try to look out for students who don’t often ask to share to support them in building confidence with writing.