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Session 1: | Identification of Feelings in Ourselves and Others |
Overview of Activities:
1.Introduction to group — establish rules and reward system
2.Warm-up activity
3.Identification of feelings
4.Summary
1.WELCOME each member to the group.
2.INTRODUCE the facilitator to the group. Learn each others’ names.
3.WARM-UP ACTIVITY. BINGO Friendship game (see Friendship Bingo template in Appendix 1).
4.INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS TRAINING. Tell the group that they are here to learn some skills that would be useful for them.
5.Establish RULES and expectations for the group. Allow the group to brainstorm ideas about rules and expectations.
6.Establish REWARD SYSTEM for the group.
7.IDENTIFICATION OF FEELINGS. Facilitate the discussion on various feelings of human emotions. Guide the group to identify various feelings in themselves and others. Get the group to role-play these feelings while sharing their experiences.
8.CONCLUSION. Conclude the meeting with a summary of what the group has learnt about the identification of various feelings in themselves and in others. Encourage children to attempt the worksheets as part of their homework.
Session 1
Identification of Feelings in Ourselves and Others
1.Introduction and Rationale
Essential to learn the names of the children in the group.
Learn about the wide range of feelings in ourselves and in others.
Learn how to cope with angry feelings and how to express them in acceptable ways.
Learn good ways of solving problems.
Learn how to resolve conflict without resorting to hitting, shouting and threatening.
These skills will be learnt through games, role-playing, activities and discussions.
2.Establish Rules and Determine Reward System
Establish rules and expectations for the group.
Have group members brainstorm ideas about rules and expectations for the group.
Discuss and process with group members regarding the purpose of these rules. These rules are present for the smooth functioning of the group so that all group members can benefit from the group learning experience and enjoy the activities.
Examples of some useful rules include the following: a) respect others (e.g., no teasing, no put-downs and respect other people’s personal space); b) use appropriate language (e.g., no swearing); c) attend meetings regularly;
d) be productive and participate actively within the group; e) be punctual for meetings; and f) complete homework.
If this programme is implemented as part of a Civics and Moral Education lesson in class, then regular classroom rules will apply. If facilitators are working with individual children, appropriate rules and expectations can be worked out between the child and the facilitator.
These rules and expectations can be written and posted on a large vanguard sheet for use in subsequent skills training sessions.
The facilitator will need to determine the following: type of reward/incentive, frequency and condition attached to the distribution of these incentives. Type of reward may be in the form of candy, pencils or pens. Frequency refers to how often you wish to provide the reward for group members. The facilitator may decide to provide the incentive on a weekly or fortnightly basis, or he/she may decide to provide rewards on a random basis. Condition refers to the elements that need to be present before a particular incentive or reward is provided. For example, the facilitator may decide that group participation and adherence to group rules/expectations are necessary preconditions for the distribution of the reward/incentive.
3.Warm-up Activity
The facilitator may choose to play Friendship Bingo (
Appendix 1) or to come up with another suitable activity for group members to get to know one another better. Friendship Bingo is an activity for children to be more familiar with one another prior to the commencement of the group. Each child participating in the activity needs to have a copy of the Friendship Bingo activity sheet. In this activity, children approach other participants to sign the appropriate square on their Friendship Bingo sheet if the participant fits that particular description (e.g., “Is the youngest in the family”). The winner is the first person to
complete collecting signatures for an entire row, column or diagonal. The difficulty level of this activity can be adjusted depending on the number of participants one has in the group. The difficulty level of Friendship Bingo can be increased (depending on the number of people participating in the group) by having the facilitator place a couple of restrictions on the game. For example, the facilitator could state that the number of signatures that the child can obtain from the same person is limited to five (or less), and in order to win the game, five signatures obtained from the same person cannot be found on an entire row, column or diagonal.
4.Identification of Feelings
The objective of this segment is for group members to demonstrate knowledge of a wide range of possible human emotions and to identify these emotions in others. Children need to better understand the relationship between their feelings and their behaviour, and the first step towards this understanding is to consider the wide range of emotions that humans are capable of. The foundation of emotional well-being is the ability to understand and express one’s own feelings appropriately. For aggressive children, the feeling of anger is often so salient that underlying feelings such as hurt, rejection, anxiety, embarrassment and the like are often obscured. Becoming aware of these other feelings facilitates effective problem-solving (Dodge, Laird, Lochman, Zelli, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 2002; Kusche & Greenberg, 1994; Mostow, Izard, Fine, & Trentacosta, 2002).
The group facilitator can decide on the best way to implement this segment of the session based...
