Understanding Needs and Feelings

Teaching Theme of the Week

from Education World®

Students learn about needs and feelings, then write an ending to a story showing how a child deals with his or her needs and feelings.

Subjects: Language Arts, Health

Grade Levels: 3-5

Objectives
Students will:

• learn to understand their own needs and feelings and the needs and feelings of others.

Keywords
conflict resolution, writing, needs, feelings

Materials Needed

• Several copies of "The Shy Girl" and "The Coward"  
• pencils or pens

Procedure

1. Discuss needs and feelings with students. Encourage them to share their own feelings in a variety of situations. You might ask, for example,
   • How do you feel when you're about to get on a roller coaster?
   • How do you feel just before you take a test?
   • How do you feel during a bad storm?
   • How do you feel when you eat ice cream?
   ...and so on.
2. Arrange students into small groups, and provide each group with a copy of either "The Shy Girl" or "The Coward."
3. Have each group of students read the story together, discuss it, and complete the worksheet.
4. Bring the entire class together, and ask a volunteer from each group to read his or her group's ending to the assigned story.
5. Have students vote on the best ending for each story and talk about why they chose those endings.

Assessment
Students will be evaluated on correctly identifying needs and feelings, on the story endings they write, and on their ability to work together in a group.

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