GRADES K-3
Lesson Objective : Students will learn the
Stoplight method of anger management
and practice using it.
Students will learn to identify their feelings and the behaviors
that often accompany them.
Materials: large picture of a traditional red,
yellow, and green traffic light
a telephone
a suitcase or gym bag
a button bell often used on a desk to get someone's attention
Terms: solution, consequence
Session Content
1. Ask students to name every feeling they can
think of and write them on the board. Count them and remember the
number. Erase the list.
2. With age appropriateness in mind, simplify and
teach the Stoplight method of controlling anger:
RED LIGHT - stop and calm down
YELLOW LIGHT - think: of how you feel
of lots of ways to fix the problem (solutions)
of what might happen to you (consequences)
GREEN LIGHT - go and try the best
plan
3. Red light, Yellow light, Green light: One student
is picked to be the lead student and stand against a wall. The lead
turns their back on the rest of the class which is lined up on the opposite
wall. The lead calls out "Green light!" and the students may walk
toward the lead student. Their goal is to reach the wall without
getting caught (seen) by the lead student. Just before the lead student
turns to look at them, the lead calls out "Red light!" and all must freeze,
close their eyes and take a deep breath letting it out with a sigh.
The lead student may point to someone and say "Yellow light" at which time
that person must say the Yellow Light Steps: "Think of how you feel.
Think of ways to fix the problem (or solutions) . Think of what could happen
to you (or consequences)." If the person can say all three Yellow
Light Steps they can take three giant steps closer to the wall. The
first person to get to the wall becomes the new leader.
4. Emotional Inn: The teacher sits at a table
with the telephone and the button bell in role as a hotel receptionist.
The students line up in single file behind the teacher. The instructor
whispers a feeling word e.g. scared, happy, sad, to the first student.
The student goes across the room, picks up the suitcase and walks back
to the "hotel reception desk" and to the receptionist. During this
walk the student uses their body to show the feeling. The receptionist,
who is on the phone, starts the scene by hanging up on the phone call and
saying "Hello, may I help you?" Using their voices to convey their
feelings each student says "Hello. I'd like a room please."
An improvised scene evolves between the receptionist and the student in
which the student continues to show his/her feeling. The teacher
may ask questions such as: How many people will be staying in the
room? How many nights? Do you have any pets? Etc.
The teacher might want to incorporate addressing the feeling that the student
is portraying, e.g. "Sir, you look very nervous. Is there something
wrong?" When the teacher rings the bell on the desk to call the bell
hop, the student exits and a new student enters the scene and is given
a new feeling. Between students the rest of the class may be asked
to guess the feeling. They may also be asked to describe what they
saw that helped them identify the feeling. Encourage awareness of
body movement, gestures, facial expressions, vocal characteristics, and
eye movements.
Session Assessment
1. Ask students to name every feeling they can
think of and write them on the board. Count them and see if they
have more or less than the list they made at the beginning of the lesson.
Did they forget any or come up with new ones?
2. Ask students to explain the Stoplight
method of controlling anger. See if anyone in the class can tell
a story that involves a problem between two students. Have the whole
class help to apply the Stoplight method to the problem.
Relevant References in Goleman's Emotional Intelligence:
pp, 264-279
Designed by W. Baumgart Jr.
GRADES 4-6
Specific Session Objectives
Learn and use Spotlight method of anger management.
Learn to identify feelings and accompanying behaviors.
Session Materials
large picture of a traditional red, yellow and
green traffic light
a newspaper rolled up, i.e. ready for door to
door delivery
a piece of paper for each student with 25 circles
about the size of a quarter drawn on
red, yellow and green name tags
Terms
goal solution
consequence
Session Content
1. Ask students to draw a face in each circle
on the paper. Each face should represent a different feeling.
Then write the name of the feeling under each face. Count them to
see how many they could think of. Collect the papers.
2. Teach the stoplight method of controlling anger:
RED LIGHT - stop and calm down
YELLOW LIGHT - think:
of how you feel and say the problem
of a positive goal
of many solutions
of what the consequences might be
GREEN LIGHT - go ahead and try the best plan
3. With the help of the students, make up a list
of scenarios about a problem between two people that has the potential
to turn into a fight. Keep the stories limited to only two characters
(although others may be discussed) and design the conflicts so that neither
party is totally at fault and neither is totally innocent. (You may
want to prepare a supply of scenarios that you can have ready to use in
case this is too difficult for your students). Build two teams of
7 students. One student on each team gets a green name tag, one gets
a red tag, and four on each team receive yellow tags. One student
from each team in "on stage" as a character in the scenario.
The teacher tells the story of the scenario.
The two students act it out at whatever level they feel comfortable.
The important thing is that it stops at the point of conflict. The
"red" student from each team rushes in bringing a chair and stops the fight.
They massage their teammates' shoulders and instruct them to sit down,
close their eyes and take several deep breaths.
As the "red" students continue this activity,
one "yellow" student from each team approaches and coaches their teammate
to say what the problem is and how they feel. The next "yellow" student
approaches and helps the teammate set a positive goal. The next "yellow"
student approaches and helps the teammate think of many solutions to the
problem. The last "yellow" student approaches the scene and helps
the teammate think ahead to all of the consequences. All "red" and
"yellow" students sit down.
Now, the "green" student from each team approaches
their respective teammate and helps them to finalize the best plan.
They exit and the two original students improvise the end of the scene
using what they have put together with the help of the team.
It is best if the scenes do not go on simultaneously.
Every step in this activity should be witnessed so the class sees what
each character goes through.
4. Have the students break up into four groups
in the 4 corners of the room. Instruct them to think carefully about
a character they can portray and a specific feeling that character has.
They should think about how specifically their movement and voice will
portray their feeling. Review with them leading with a body part
that might be significant for their particular character's feeling.
A student is picked to go first. The student walks across the room
to another group as that character, making a very clear physical choice.
When the student gets to the other group, they have a dialogue with someone
from the group. The dialogue is fixed, memorized with the teachers'
help. The responding student participates by trying to copy the first
student's voice, physical movement and feeling while saying their lines.
After saying the lines three times, the first student stays in place and
the volunteer from that group goes to the next group using their own unique
ideas of body movement, voice and feelings. This continues around
the room until everyone has done the activity. For variation, the
feeling could be a secret and the class could guess what it is and discuss
what clues help them identify the feeling. The dialogue is:
Student #1 - Harold is coming. May I use
your telephone?
Student #2 - Have you seen my new dog?
I am going next door.
(You may want to assign the feelings they will portray. Depending
on your students, this may help prevent repetition of the same 3 or 4 feeling
words.)
Session Assessment
1. Ask students to make a list of every feeling
they can think of and write them down. Count them and see if they
have more or less than the list they made at the beginning of the lesson.
Did they learn any new feeling words, or words they had heard, but really
didn't understand?
2. Ask students to explain the Stoplight method
of controlling anger and its various stages.
Designed by W. Baumgart Jr.
GRADES 6-8
Specific Session Objectives
1. Students will explore alternative ways to handle
the same situation.
2. Students will be able to look at a situation
from multiple perspectives.
Terms
DUI - Driving under the influence
DWI - Driving while intoxicated
AA - Alcoholics anonymous
Negotiate - to confer with another
so as to arrive at the settlement of some
matter
Tactics - planned actions for accomplishing
an end; the skill of using available
means to reach an end
Materials
DUI/DWI articles, journals, pens/pencils,
chalk, chalkboard
Session Content
1. Hand out articles on driving under the influence,
including both national and local statistics. Ask the students to
read these and discuss them. If anyone wants to share personal stories,
this is a good time.
2. Ask for two volunteers (one female, one male)
and give them this situation to dramatize - Barb (have the students name
her) is in her first year of driver's education class. Her teacher
is her older brother Tim, who just turned 21. Lately in the car she
has noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath. She knows that he
has just broken up with his girlfriend and is going through a tough time,
and sometimes uses alcohol to dull the pain, but he holds the life of herself
and the other two students in his hands. Barb has overheard the other
students in her car talking about it and she is afraid that Tim might lose
his job or get arrested. She is afraid of sending Tim deeper into
depression. Tim does not think he has a problem.
3. Ask students to create options for Barb, and
make a diagram on the board of all the people she might approach with this
delicate subject. Some suggestions: her parents, Tim, the other kids
in the car, her best friend, etc. As a group they will decide whom
Barb will speak with first. As she explores the options, ask students
to volunteer to play different roles. While these actors are dramatizing
sections, the other players may call out "stop" at any time and ask the
characters questions (e.g. What are you really thinking? What do you want
to happen? Are you telling the truth?) Emphasize the fact that
we negotiate in these situations and discuss ways tactics that we use in
negotiation. Once the drama has progressed for a while and Barb has
explored a variety of options, fast forward the action two or three years
in the future and ask either Barb or Tim what has happened in the elapsed
time. The possibilities are endless.
Session Assessment
In their journals, ask students to
take on the role of Tim and write about his feelings and reactions to the
situation. Take into account the underlying causes of his behavior.
Have him write about what he thinks Barb should have done.
Relevant References in Goleman's Emotional Intelligence:
pp. 118, 264-68,276-79
Developed by H. Drastal
GRADES 9-12
Specific Session Objective: Students Will:
-investigate hidden feelings and the conflict resolution barriers
they often create.
-explore the role of a mediator from various perspectives.
Session Content
1. IMPROVISATION: What do you mean by that?
Have students to get into groups of four.
Ask students to create a short conflict improvisation between two
individuals. For example: two students disagreeing on an assignment
topic, or a boy confronting his girlfriend after he sees her talking with
another young man. Two students will improv the conflict. The
other pair will act as conscious shadows revealing the feelings and hidden
meanings behind each spoken line.
2. PRESENT AND REPLAY IMPROVISATIONS
After each improv, ask the “shadow” students
to restate the revealed feelings and meanings and ask the “conflict” pair
to face each other and react nonverbally to what their partner’s
shadow is saying.
3. DISCUSSION
In what ways did you react differently
to your partner vs. your partner’s shadow?
How do people mask feelings and how might
you bring those feelings to the surface?
4. MEDIATION PREPARATION
Split the class into groups of three.
Take one student from each group and create a group of mediators.
Ask the pairs to improvise another conflict situation. During this
time, talk to the mediators about their roles. Discuss impartial
questioning techniques and the necessity for pointed questions designed
to do more than scratch the surface. Mediators will ask each member
of all “conflict” pairs one question. Set up mediators at tables
or desks in a large circle around the room.
5. MEDIATION MEDLEY
“Conflict” pairs will travel around the
circle visiting each mediator, briefly explaining their conflict, and answering
the mediators questions. When answering the mediators’ questions,
each individual must adopt a new perspective, and answer from their partner’s
point of view.
6. DISCUSSION
How easy or difficult was it for you to
justify your answers to the mediator’s questions
and what went through your mind as you
tried to see things from another’s perspective?
How successful were mediators at being
impartial and what were some of the questions
asked?
What are some of the benefits of having
a mediator?
Session Assessment
Asking various open-ended questions during
discussions allows students to express emotions felt during the session,
and by observing student interaction during the activities one can see
how adept students are at utilizing the art of compromise and recognizing
the benefits.
Relevant References in Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence: pp.
142-147, 264-268, 276-279, 304
Developed by S.R.