CLASSROOM Grades 4 - 6 | Week Five | The Elephant
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Week One - The Owl Week Two - The Guard Dog Week Three - The Hippo Week Four - The Monkey Week Six - The Dolphin Week Seven - The Panda Bear Week Eight - The Pig
Week Five - The Elephant
Classroom Grades 4 - 6
OPTIONAL Week Five Lesson Plan PDF
Subject: Powerful Emotions - The Elephant
Requirements: You will need internet access and a laptop, tablet or smartphone for accessing this content. You will need a wired or Bluetooth connection to a speaker to amplify the audio into the classroom. You DO NOT need a screen or projector as each lesson is audio only from your device and requires students to close their eyes and/or focus on their Belly Buddy.
Step One: The DIY Belly Buddy Crafting Project - The Elephant
As with last week, it is recommend that the children start this week’s lesson with the activity of making their own “Elephant” Belly Buddy. For the Classroom version of this program it is recommended that students draw their belly buddy animal on a sheet of paper. The finished drawing can be placed on the student’s desk and used as a focal point during the meditation. Teachers may choose to tie this drawing activity to Art Education Curriculum Expectations. Drawings can be placed in a duo tang and stored in students’ desks. A favourite tool to assist students with their artwork is Art For Kids Hub
Art for Kids Hub - Art Lessons - How to Draw for Kids
Elephant - A More Challenging Version
As an alternative to drawing a picture, teachers may choose to have students create the toilet paper roll animal that is used during the bedtime version of the program. Click here for toilet paper animal template.
Step Two: Soundcheck - 30 seconds
Before beginning The Elephant Lesson and Meditation, play the Sound Check file below to ensure your speakers are working correctly and that all students can hear the audio effectively. This also serves as a way to get the students to settle down, be still, and prepare to listen.
Step Three: Discuss Last Week’s Mindful Challenge
Discuss with students their success and challenges with last week’s Mindful Challenge
Last Week’s Mindful Challenge: Watch the monkey mind and bring your attention to the breathing in your belly to help your mind to come back to and sit still in the present moment.
The following questions may help you prompt the discussion:
Did anyone remember to watch their thinking mind last week?
Did anyone notice that the thinking mind jumps around a lot?
Put up your hand if you noticed that sometimes your thinking mind jumps back into the past, remembering, remembering, remembering?
Put up your hand if you noticed that sometimes your thinking mind jumps into the future, imagining something that might happen tomorrow or even next week?
Did anyone remember to use their breathing in their belly, perhaps even saying in their mind “breathing in” breathing out” to help bring their monkey mind back to right here, right now, the present moment?
Step Four: Play The Elephant Lesson & Meditation - 7 minutes
Now that the Sound Check is complete, you will play the Lesson below. Listen and learn with your students!
Step Five: Meditation Reflection - 5+ minutes
Here are some questions to drive follow up discussion. There are more questions than can be effectively discussed in 5+ minutes. One recommendation is to focus on questions 1 - 4 after the Lesson & Meditation, and then engage the students with the additional questions (5 - 10) after the Counting Meditation on a different day of the week.
During the meditation we practiced counting when we breathed in and out. Counting when we breathe in and out can help us to stay focused on our breath. Did you find it easy or hard to count when you were breathing?
What if we are experiencing an emotion that is a stampede of elephants and we feel like we are being taken over completely, and so it is too difficult to focus on our breath, what can we do in this situation to help calm our body and mind? ( If the emotion is super strong, like a stampede of elephants, and you feel out of control, and you are having trouble finding your breath you can try mindful movement. Mindful movement means to do something physically active, like walking or running, and to bring all of the attention to the experience of moving. This can help calm the body and brain when you are having a powerful elephant emotion, and when mindful breathing on its own proves to be too difficult.)
What kinds of elephant emotions or powerful emotions have you experienced?
Is there an elephant emotion/powerful emotion that you find the most difficult to feel, experience or manage?
Have you ever felt an emotion take you over?
What happened?
Do you remember how it felt in your body?
Do you remember any thinking in your mind?
When we are having or experiencing a powerful emotion, such as anger or fear, is the thinking in your mind helpful thinking or unhelpful thinking?
If it is unhelpful thinking, why do you think this occurs? Hint, a powerful emotion may trigger our brain’s barking Guard Dog and this may cause us to lose some of our connection to the PFC, our brain’s wise leader.
Step Six: Mindful Challenge
Remind students of this week’s Mindful Challenge: The next time you notice a powerful elephant emotion in your mind and body, try counting when you breathe in and out to help you slow things down. If this doesn’t work, try mindful movement.
Step Eight: Daily Meditation - 5 minutes - Various Times During the Week
With the audio lesson complete, you are encouraged to take time during the balance of the week to practice with students the guided meditation/s below (the Elephant Belly Buddy craft is not required for these practices). The ‘Daily Meditations’ are in support of each week’s lesson, but you can come back to them as often as you like. Typically they are 3 - 6 minutes each. These meditations are also included as a part of the Bedtime Program (accessed through the Bedtime Program students sign up for with their FREE Promo Code) and students are encouraged to practice one per night at bedtime. It is recommended that Parents/Guardians practice along with their child and then build onto this practice by participating in the Parent program.
This meditation is a useful tool to help settle students after a recess, lunch break, or physical activity.
Step Nine - Additional Activities (Optional)
JOURNAL
Write about the following:
When you feel worried or anxious about something, what type of thinking do you notice in your mind?
What sensations do you notice in your body when you feel worried, anxious or afraid?
When you are worried about something, is your thinking focused on the past, present or future?
What can we do in the present moment to help ourselves with worrisome thoughts?
DEEP DIVE LEARNING QUESTIONS ( BASED ON YOUR STUDENTS’ READINESS, PLEASE SELECT FROM THE QUESTIONS BELOW TO PROMPT A MORE IN-DEPTH BRAIN SCIENCE CLASS DISCUSSION)
Q: Focusing on our breathing can help us to slow things down when we are having/experiencing a powerful elephant emotion. Why would we want to slow things down when we are feeling a powerful emotion?
A: Slowing things down gives us a bit more time to take a look at the powerful emotion and pay attention to how it feels in our body and mind. When we take the time to notice our thinking and body sensations, this creates a bit more space for us, and in this space we have more time to decide how we should best respond to this emotion. The goal is to be kind to ourselves and others when we are having a powerful emotion, rather than doing something that will make things more difficult.
Q: What are some of the things you have tried in the past to help you manage a difficult emotion?
A: Possible answers might be going to a quiet space, going outdoors, going for a walk or run, talking to someone helpful, writing in a diary, ….
Q: How does exercise help to calm the body?
A: Exercise releases endorphins, which are powerful chemicals in the brain that energize and make you feel good. Exercise can also serve as a distraction, allowing for a break from the powerful emotion.
Q: What role do our emotions play in our lives?
A: Emotions provide us with important information and guide our lives in countless ways, including:
Emotions energize us and help us to feel motivated to get things done. Many of our actions are prompted by our emotions.
They also bring colour to our experiences, imagine how dull life would feel if we did not have any emotions.
They can let us know when we are heading in a direction we should not go in, as well as helping us to know when we are on the right path - so emotions can help to keep us safe and on a healthy path.
Emotions help us to connect and communicate with others
Q: Should we try and control our emotions?
A: Dr. Les Greenberg is a scientist who specializes in emotions, and he suggests that instead of trying to control our emotions we should learn to live in mindful harmony with them. Learning to be with our emotions, without letting them take us over is important. When we watch our emotions and notice how they feel in our mind and body we can learn a lot. For example we can learn if a particular emotion, in a particular moment, is here to help us, hurt us, allow us to be more productive/useful or not.