The Feelings That Watch Themselves
6-8 years
Me with Others
20 min / 2x per week
Learning goal :
Developing Emotional Awareness When Interacting with Others
Pedagogical Intention :
Identifying My Emotions When Interacting with Others
Target skills :
Self-conscious emotions, Shame vs. guilt, Moral emotional literacy
Materials :
Scenario cards, four-emotion anchor chart
Detailed procedure :
1. Introduction: "Some emotions need an audience - even an imaginary one. They care what others think."
2. Distinguish the four: pride (I did something great), shame (I am bad), guilt (I did something bad), embarrassment (others saw something awkward).
3. Vignettes for each - children vote and discuss.
4. Script: "Guilt is useful - it tells you to repair something. Shame is tricky - it makes you want to disappear instead of fix."
5. Key distinction: shame attacks the self. Guilt attacks the action. Guilt is healthier.
Progress Indicators :
Accurately distinguishes all 4 self-conscious emotions. Identifies when shame is replacing more useful guilt. Applies guilt constructively to prompt repair.
Research Foundations :
Tangney & Dearing (2002); Brown (2010); Brackett (2019)