Working it Out -
Fishing for Feelings
This exercise helps students recognize and verbalize their feelings.
Materials: Fishing for feelings 3x5 cards. You will need enough 3.5 cards to give four to every student and have some left over for a "go fish" pile in the middle. The group will be divided into smaller groups of three or four, so you can make several duplicate sets of the same cards. Make TWO cards for each feeling. Sample feelings are: confused, strong, silly, disappointed, embarrassed, smart, frightened, disgusted, furious, jealous, bored, surprised, ignored, excited, angry, hurt, proud, discouraged, glad, frustrated, pleased, unhappy, nervous, thankful, etc.
Duration: Tell the students that we are going to play Fishing for Feelings.
Demonstrate the game with a group of three or four as the others gather round to watch. Stress that an important part of the game is listening to each other. Therefore, only one person in the group talks while the others show good listening behavior.
Divide into groups of three or four. Pass out four cards to each player. Put the remaining cards face-down on the table in a pile. The children in turn ask another player for a card being held in their hand in an attempt to make a match.
If that player has the requested card, he or she must give it up. If the player does not have the card, he or she says, "go fish." The asking child takes the top card from the pile and the next person takes his or her turn.
When a pair is made, that word is used in a sentence, such as "I feel nervous when I go to the dentist." Then the player lays down the matching cards and continues as long as he or she gets the requested card from the other player or from the pile. If a child runs out of cards, four more can be drawn from the pile.
Process: How was it to make up the feelings sentences? Can you think of other feelings words that we haven't talked about? Did you share some feelings with someone else? How did that feel?
