Emotional Discrimination Charts

Visual Aids for Teaching and Supporting Behavioral Regulation Skills

By Lynn Hubbell

Emotional Discrimination Charts Visual Aids for Teaching and Supporting Behavior Regulation Skills can be used
many different ways depending upon student needs and the culture of the classroom. Four graphics are included in this resource, designed to create two, two-sided visual prompt cards. Once assembled these cards can be used to teach basic emotional literacy skills or as a visual prompt for addressing student behavior. For ease of use and durability it is recommended that these charts be printed on cardstock, Sides A and B glued back to back and laminated. Card 1 consists of two charts which visually represent the degrees of emotional intensity one might experience when angry and sad. The top row of each chart presents an array of pictures of children with different expressions on their faces. Side A illustrates emotions along the anger continuum and Side B illustrates those along the sadness continuum. The bottom row shows a five color scale based upon The Incredible 5 Point Scale (Buron and Curtis, 2003) which visually presents the concept of behavioral escalation. The pictures are aligned so as to represent the level of escalation indicated by each of the five colors on the scale. A numerical value is also assigned to this scale from 1 to 5, with five representing the highest level of behavioral escalation. Card 2 provides both a visual array of facial expressions representing varying degrees of emotional intensity and a vocabulary list of feeling and emotion words. Side A consists of two rows of emoticons visually representing an escalation cycle. The top row represents feelings related to anger, and the second feelings related to sadness. The idea that ones feelings differ in intensity is an important concept for students to grasp in order to gain the skills necessary to regulate their own behavior. In addition to the vocabulary list, Side B also provides a sentence stem to encourage students to craft I statements to describe their feelings. Students who have difficulty regulating their own behavior often have a limited vocabulary of words to draw from to express their feelings. Quite often this vocabulary is limited to happy, sad or mad. These vocabulary words provide alternatives to happy, sad and mad. Introducing, defining and discussing these terms can help older learners increase their emotional repertoire. Expanding their emotional vocabulary helps students to more accurately identify and discuss their own feelings. Children who are able to recognize and label their emotions early in an escalation cycle are typically better able to regulate and self-manage their own behavior in the classroom. Teaching students how to craft I statements to describe things that upset them can help them to better recognize antecedents, or triggers, in their environment and to respond more appropriately to them. Providing opportunities for students to discuss the feelings depicted on these charts, to speculate on possible reasons for those feelings and to connect similar feelings to experiences in their own lives can help students refine their emotional literacy skills, leading to better behavior regulation.
Lynn Hubbell, 2013 2

Once the student becomes familiar with a chart it can be used to redirect student behavior as the student begins to exhibit subtle signs of anxiety. While it is not recommended to use the visuals in the midst of a behavioral episode, when caught early in the cycle, it can be a helpful strategy to ask the student to identify his or her own level of escalation. When the student becomes better able to identify his own feelings and environmental stressors a logical next step is to encourage him to implement coping strategies as an alternative to acting out. My Calm Tools Keychain: A Teaching Tool and Visual Prompt, I Can Stop and Think and My Coping Tools: Stress Management Strategies for Older Children and Teens are products in my store which teachers can use to introduce and teach coping strategies. Finally, Emotional Discrimination Charts can be used during a debrief session a teacher might hold with a student following a behavioral episode. Helping the student to identify antecedents within the environment which may have triggered an inappropriate response, and assisting him or her to craft an I statement surrounding the incident can help him to generalize this skill should a similar situation occur in the future. There is no precise right way to use Emotional Discrimination Charts. It is likely to be most effective when first used proactively to support the teaching of basic concepts. These skills may include: recognizing, identifying and labeling feelings; recognizing stressors within the environment; crafting I statements specific to those feelings and stressors; and/or brainstorming possible strategies for responding to known stressors within the environment. Discussing and practicing these skills in the structured setting can be an effective intervention for teaching students to generalize them across school settings. It is important that these charts be used in the moment to respond to behavior only after they have been introduced through direct instruction. Pulling out a chart and presenting it to a student once he is acting out is not likely to be an effective strategy. In fact, when escalated, these chart may actually serve to further escalate an already escalated student. Whether used proactively - to teach specific concepts, or reactively - to respond to specific behaviors, it is critical that the teacher make every effort to keep the teaching interaction with the student positive. Communicating unconditional positive regard to the student is perhaps the most effective strategy which can be implemented with any student, but particularly those who exhibit challenging school behaviors.

Lynn Hubbell, 2013

Card 1
I feel . . .

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Side A - Angry Feelings

I feel . . .

1.
Side B - Sad Feelings

2.

3.

4.

5.

Lynn Hubbell, 2013

Card 2
I feel . . .

5.
SIDE A Emoticons

6.

7.

8.

5.

I feel ___________ when ________________ .

comfortable safe confident friendly calm engaged respected proud excited uncomfortable confused stressed impatient embarrassed tired nervous bored annoyed frustrated overwhelmed jealous disappointed anxious discouraged guilty scared irritated upset offended worried insulted frightened exhausted excluded ashamed hurt furious devastated terrified endangered mortified trapped horrified enraged powerless

SIDE B - Emotional Vocabulary List

Lynn Hubbell, 2013

About the Author:

I began teaching more than twenty-five years ago and have taught special and general education classes at both the elementary and secondary levels. Currently I serve as a special education program specialist in a public school district, providing consultation support to both special and general education teachers of students with special needs. As a consultant I spend much of my time assisting our teachers to implement positive behavior supports within their classrooms in order to meet the needs of all of their students, but particularly those who demonstrate significant social, emotional and behavioral challenges. If you found this preview helpful please visit my store at Teachers pay Teachers, where you will find more resources created to help elementary and secondary teachers teach expected school behaviors. These materials can be used as part of plan to implement IEP goals or behavior support plans. They are ideal for special education students included in the mainstream as well as any others who might need targeted instruction in these areas. Follow me to be notified when new products are posted.

Lynn
Copyright 2013 by Lynn Hubbell. All rights reserved by author. Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Electronic distribution limited to single classroom use only.