How do you feel?

We read the story ‘The Feelings Book‘ by Todd Parr. We discussed the emotions angry, sad, frustrated, nervous, happy, or embarrassed.

We then gathered in small groups to talk about what makes us feel angry, sad or happy. The students were encouraged to share their ideas in their preferred language. It was important to respect and acknowledge the feelings and views the students shared. Therefore, teachers listened, documented and helped the students talk about these big emotions.

HAPPY

• Sarah “I feel happy when I have many dresses at home.” [in Mandarin]
• Lawrence “I felt happy when I got chocolates.” [in Mandarin]
• Amber “I felt happy when I shared my chocolate.” [in Mandarin]
• Sarah “When I feel happy, I will cut my tomato into two pieces and share it with my friends.”
• Sarah “When I feel happy I will dance and sing.” [in Mandarin]
• Jasmine “When mum took me to the amusement park and bought me toys. I felt happy.” [in Mandarin]
• Ethan “When I recovered from my cold I felt happy.” [in Mandarin]
• Amber “If I get a pair of beautiful shoes, I will be happy. If I have a delicious chocolate. I’m happy.”
• Alejandra “When dad took me to the park and did the rope skipping with me. I felt happy.” [in Mandarin]
• Charlotte “When I go to the supermarket and sit in the trolley, I felt happy.” [in Mandarin]
• Nicolas “When I am not hurt I am happy. When I play with my friends.”
• Audrey “When I go to school and make friends. It makes me happy. When I am colouring with my favourite colour pink. I paint flowers.”
• Ruby “Building with blocks in my room makes me happy.”
• Felix “When I play with my Lego and Playmobile. Play Duplo with my mama.” [in German]
• Paul “I will be very happy when my container arrives, because then I will have my toys and my drums. I like to play the drum. Lego makes me happy, especially if I play with my papa. [in German]
• Poli “Before I fell asleep with my dad, mom, and brother. (In fact, Poli’s father often say that “I am so happy when lying down before I go to bed🤣🤣”). I want to be with my family when I am happy.” [In Korean]
• Jooeon “I Really like to travel and I feel happy when I go to new place, meet new people, eat delicious food and have new experiences. I like to play with blocks and sing a song. When I feel happy I smile, talk a lot and jump.” [In Korean]

SAD

• Ruby “When something big falls on me and it’s big and oval and it cracks on my head, that makes me feel sad. When my bones break, the superhero sticked a needle in me and it hurts me. It makes me cry. When someone pulls my hair.”
• Nicolas “When I bump my head I feel sad. Then I cry. When I fall down, when I spring (like jumping), it makes me sad.”
• Amber “When I couldn’t find a dress, then I will cry.” [in Mandarin]
• Sarah “When I couldn’t find my shoes, then I will cry.” [in Mandarin]
• Amber “When the doctor pulled out my teeth, then I will cry.” [in Mandarin]
• Sarah “When I lost my bag, I felt sad. And also when I lost my water bottle, I felt sad.” [in Mandarin]
• Audrey “I cry when somebody hurts me.”
• Ethan “When somebody hits my brother, then I felt sad.”
• Jasmine “I don’t feel sad because I always feel happy.”
• Charlotte “When people yell at me I feel sad.”
• Alejandra “When people yell at me I feel angry.”

Audrey explained how she felt sad when her cat died. He fell from the 16th floor when he slipped from the balcony. She explained how emotional it was and that it made her family sad.

• Paul “I get upset when somebody gets angry with me. I got sad when someone had to go to the hospital after an accident on the football field.” [in German]
• Felix “I get a bit sad and scared when I see animals running around (wildly).” [in German]
• Jooeon “I feel sad when I read a sad story book and I am not allowed to do what I want to do. When I feel sad I start to weep.” [In Korean]
• Poli “When adults scold me. I want to play with my mother when I am sad.” [In Korean]

ANGRY

• Amber “When I want to play alone but other people want to play with me, I feel angry.” [in Mandarin]
• Sarah ” I feel angry when other people hit me.” [in Mandarin]
• Lawrence “When I want to play with Amber and other people squeezed in, I felt angry.” [in Mandarin]
• Amber “When other people refuse to give me toys I get angry. I will stamp my feet when I get angry. I will hit other people when I feel angry.” [in Mandarin]
• Alejandra “When I play with my friends and they run faster then me then I feel angry.” [in Mandarin]
• Charlotte “When other people don’t play with me then I feel angry.” [in Mandarin]
• Ethan “I will ask grandma to take me to the supermarket when I feel angry.” [in Mandarin]
• Alejandra “When I feel from the motorcycle without a helmet, I felt angry.” [in Mandarin]
• Freida “Cornelis  gets angry when he falls down. Then he say ‘I’m OK!'”
• Ruby ” I don’t get angry at home. When someone hurts me then I cry, and the teacher puts a plaster on me. I don’t cry, I be brave.”
• Paul “I don’t really get angry.” [in German]
• Nicolas ” I don’t get angry. When someone hurts my friends, then I get angry because I don’t like it. When I get angry then I just go away and play with my other friends. I don’t hurt friends.”
• Poli “When my friend take my toys or hit me. I want to play with mother when I am angry.” [In Korean]
• Jooeon “I feel angry when someone interferes with my play and ignore my opinion or thought. When I am angry I say “I’m angry”, and sometimes I start to cry or shout.” [In Korean]

What makes you happy, sad or angry?

In the coming weeks, the students will inquire into communities; how to be part of a community and the agreements communities have.