MERREL

L'S

STRONG START

Pre-K

A Social & Emotional Learning Curriculum

Sara A. Whitcomb Danielle M. Parisi Damico Foreword by Hill M. Walker

SECOND EDITION

Merrell’s Strong Start—Pre-K

A Social & Emotional Learning Curriculum

Second Edition

by Sara A. Whitcomb, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Amherst and Danielle M. Parisi Damico, Ph.D. Amplify Education, Inc. Brooklyn, New York

Sample Lesson from Merrell's Strong Start—Pre-K: A Social & Emotional Learning Curriculum, Second Edition

When You’re Happy

SEL Competencies

• Self-awareness: Understand how to identify feelings of happiness.
• Relationship management: Learn techniques for comforting oneself.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this lesson is to teach students to feel happy and to comfort themselves when unhappy.

This Lesson

• Students will accurately identify features of people depicting the concept of happy.
• Students will describe bodily sensations associated with happiness.
• Students will list synonyms for the word happy.

Materials Needed

• Henry (stuffed animal mascot)
• Drawing paper
• Crayons
• Supplements 6.1–6.2 (PDF documents)

Sample Lesson Structure

1. Review: Discuss previous lessons on anger and ways to cope with that emotion.
2. Introduction: Clearly communicate the lesson’s objectives about happiness.
3. Reading Activity: Read a book about happiness, with discussion on characters and their feelings.
4. Show and Define Happiness: Use visual aids to show children different examples of happy faces. Engage them in a discussion about their own experiences with happiness.
5. Happy Talk: Role-play scenarios with the mascot to illustrate the concept of Happy Talk, demonstrating how to transition from negative feelings to positive thoughts.
6. Closure: Summarize the lesson focusing on techniques to promote happiness.
7. Activity: Draw or write about personal experiences or feelings of happiness.

Extension Activity: Happy Rainbows

• Purpose: Students identify what makes them happy and describe feelings associated with happiness.
• Materials needed:
  • Paper plates
  • Cotton balls
  • Rainbow-colored streamers or construction paper
  • Glue

Procedure

1. Students write or draw pictures of what makes them happy and how their body feels when they are happy on streamers.
2. Students attach streamers and cotton balls to paper plates as a visual representation of their happiness.

Supplemental Activities

• Reflective Questions: Discuss how students can support each other in using Happy Talk to manage emotions.
• Home Connection: Provide parents with strategies to reinforce lessons learned in class about happiness and emotional management.