Activity: Review the story and ask students what Josh learned to do to keep himself from getting upset. After a brief discussion, explain the STP technique of managing emotions. Students create signs to use in the following STP exercise. Describe different scenarios in which emotional control is needed, and guide students how to use the STP technique. Materials needed: Paper circles (about 4 inches circumference), popsicle sticks, glue, drawing and coloring materials. The teacher makes 3 models that students can copy - one circle says “STOP”, the second says “THINK” and has a light bulb on it, the third says “PLAN” and has a mouth. Each is attached to a popsicle stick. Directions: Session One: “Today we’re going to review the story ‘The Choices I Make’ and learn a way to help us make good choices when something upsetting happens.” The teacher reviews or rereads the story, and guides students to reflect on how Josh controlled his emotions. Then, “I will show you a handy way to remember what to do when something upsetting happens. It’s called the STP method. ‘S’ stands for ‘stop’, ‘T’ stands for ‘think’, and ‘P’ stands for ‘plan’. In the story we just reviewed, Josh gets very upset when his sister plays with his favorite toy airplane. He yells at her and her feelings are hurt. Let’s imagine he uses the STP method instead of yelling. Here’s what that would look like: Josh (1) stops himself from yelling, (2) thinks about how to handle the situation, and (3) makes a plan to ask his sister for his toy. He gets his toy and no one feels bad. We will practice STP but first we need to make some signs to help us.” Show examples of each sign. STOP is written on one and is illustrated with a stop sign. THINK is written on the second one and is illustrated with a light bulb, and PLAN is written on the third one and it’s illustrated with a mouth. Provide students with 3 circles. They copy the samples and glue the circles onto popsicle sticks. Session 2: “Now we will practice using STP so we get really good at using it! I will tell some short stories and you will raise your signs when it’s the right time.” Tell stories that fit this exercise. The stories are told dramatically so that the narrator is on the verge of losing it - but stops when the students raise their STOP sign. Students are signaled to raise their signs at the appropriate times during the telling of the story. Sample: “One day I was playing with my friend and he broke my favorite toy. I was so mad I wanted to punch him! [students raise the stop sign]. Then I thought about what to do. He is my best friend and I don’t want to lose him. [students raise the think sign] I know, I’ll tell him how I feel about it using an ‘I’ statement and give him a chance to apologize. [students raise the plan sign]. So that’s what I did, and he and I are still best friends.” Wrap it up: Conclude the activity with a review of STOP. Set aside time the next week or once a week for several weeks, to practice this method. Ask students to share about when they used it.
Activity: Review the story and ask students what Josh learned to do to keep himself from getting upset. After a brief discussion, explain the STP technique of managing emotions. Students create signs to use in the following STP exercise. Describe different scenarios in which emotional control is needed, and guide students how to use the STP technique. Materials needed: Paper circles (about 4 inches circumference), popsicle sticks, glue, drawing and coloring materials. The teacher makes 3 models that students can copy - one circle says “STOP”, the second says “THINK” and has a light bulb on it, the third says “PLAN” and has a mouth. Each is attached to a popsicle stick. Directions: Session One: “Today we’re going to review the story ‘The Choices I Make’ and learn a way to help us make good choices when something upsetting happens.” The teacher reviews or rereads the story, and guides students to reflect on how Josh controlled his emotions. Then, “I will show you a handy way to remember what to do when something upsetting happens. It’s called the STP method. ‘S’ stands for ‘stop’, ‘T’ stands for ‘think’, and ‘P’ stands for ‘plan’. In the story we just reviewed, Josh gets very upset when his sister plays with his favorite toy airplane. He yells at her and her feelings are hurt. Let’s imagine he uses the STP method instead of yelling. Here’s what that would look like: Josh (1) stops himself from yelling, (2) thinks about how to handle the situation, and (3) makes a plan to ask his sister for his toy. He gets his toy and no one feels bad. We will practice STP but first we need to make some signs to help us.” Show examples of each sign. STOP is written on one and is illustrated with a stop sign. THINK is written on the second one and is illustrated with a light bulb, and PLAN is written on the third one and it’s illustrated with a mouth. Provide students with 3 circles. They copy the samples and glue the circles onto popsicle sticks. Session 2: “Now we will practice using STP so we get really good at using it! I will tell some short stories and you will raise your signs when it’s the right time.” Tell stories that fit this exercise. The stories are told dramatically so that the narrator is on the verge of losing it - but stops when the students raise their STOP sign. Students are signaled to raise their signs at the appropriate times during the telling of the story. Sample: “One day I was playing with my friend and he broke my favorite toy. I was so mad I wanted to punch him! [students raise the stop sign]. Then I thought about what to do. He is my best friend and I don’t want to lose him. [students raise the think sign] I know, I’ll tell him how I feel about it using an ‘I’ statement and give him a chance to apologize. [students raise the plan sign]. So that’s what I did, and he and I are still best friends.” Wrap it up: Conclude the activity with a review of STOP. Set aside time the next week or once a week for several weeks, to practice this method. Ask students to share about when they used it.
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