Enfadado/Angry

In play activities, modeling can be done: “no te enfades” ("Don't be angry."), o “estoy enfadado porque he perdido” ("I'm angry because I lost."), o ¿Quién se ha enfadado? ("Who got angry?")

“We're going to make a giant die with puzzle mat pieces so we can roll it. Each face will have a paper with velcro. On the visible side of the paper, there will be a fairytale or series character, and on the hidden side, there will be an emotion. We have to roll the die and discover which characters are angry. Once we have them, we'll create a story. For example, if the character is a dog and is angry, we can make up: ‘El perro está enfadado porque le han quitado la pelota” (“The dog is angry because someone took his ball.)

Another game will consist of a deck of cards with many emoticons. Each child will have cards of all the emoticons. I will propose situations like: “cómo me sentiría si voy por la calle y empieza a llover y no tengo paraguas” ('How would I feel if I'm walking down the street and it starts to rain and I don't have an umbrella?'). Each child has to choose an emoticon that represents what they think they would feel, and then we'll share them. I made this game inspired by the original game called Ikonikus."

There is a wide variety of stories that work with emotions. Although there are some that specifically address different emotions.

Below are some of the stories dedicated to dealing with the emotion of anger, and then we will refer to others that are more general and can be gradually worked on with different emotions.

• Cuentos sobre el enfado: (stories about anger)
  • Title: Tengo un volcán (I have a volcano)
  • Author: Miriam Tirado Torras.
  • It will be narrated with the story in paper form and can also be viewed on the digital board.

• Title: Un poco de mal humor (A little bit of bad mood)
  • Author: Isabelle Carrie

• Title: Vaya rabieta (What a tantrum)
  • Author: Mireille d´Allancé

• Title: Cuando estoy enfadado (When I am angry)
  • Author: Tracey Moroney

These mentioned stories specifically deal with anger. On the other hand, there are other stories that talk about emotions that are also very interesting to work on different emotions and identify them.

• Title: el emocionómetro del inspector drilo (Inspector Drilo's Emotion-O-Meter)

• Title:  El monstruo de colores (The Color Monster)
  • Author: Anna Llenas Serra
  • Also available in English

In addition, we also have stories that can guide us to work on moments of overwhelming emotions through breathing and mindfulness with the intention of working on how to try to lower strong emotional states.

• Title: Tranquilo y atento como una rana. (Calm and attentive like a frog)
  • Author: Eline Snel.

• Title: Respira (breathe)
  • Author: Inês Castel- Branco

All of these stories can be adapted and recreated with other formats and materials such as projecting them with an overhead projector, on a digital board, with puppets and marionettes, with Chinese theater or black theater.

On the other hand, the creation of personal stories is a very useful tool for narrative and to delve into each of our students. This can be done through photographs and short texts or with applications such as Book Creator, Tar Heel Reader, pictello, among others.

The word "enfadado" can be incorporated into each of the pages of these created stories.

Social interactions: For examples, “Hoy te has enfadado alguna vez?” ("Have you ever been angry today?"), o “Estamos más a gusto cuando no estamos enfadados.” (“We are more comfortable when we are not angry."), o “Si te has enfadado, ¿has buscado alguna solución?” (“If you get angry, have you looked for a solution?"), o “¿Quieres que añadamos en el comunicador que te enfada que no esperen a que hables?” ("Do you want us to add to the communicator that you get angry when they don't wait for you to talk?").

These interactions with the student will allow the development of different language functions, such as giving information and social exchanges. In addition, various competencies will also be worked on, in addition to linguistic ones, such as strategic competence in the example:  “¿Quieres que añadamos en el comunicador que te enfada que no esperen a que hables?” ("Do you want us to add to the communicator that you get angry when they don't wait for you to talk?").

Calm Jar (Bote de la calma): We will make several jars and put a sticker with enfadado and another with "calm" on them. This way, we will know that there are resources we can use when we are angry.

Emotions Detective: We will play a fun game called Emotions Detective by Miniland in which conflict situations that may be somewhat everyday appear. The idea is to talk about how students would react and what would be one of the best reactions to have. Then, with a red magnifying glass, you can see a hidden image with the correct answer. During this game, we will be modeling and highlighting the word “enfadado”. We will model phrases such as: “Me enfadaría mucho….” (I am very angry) “Estaría enfadado…” ("I would be very angry..."), “Me enfadaría con…” ("I would be angry with...")

At different times during the school day, there will be situations in which conflicts arise. It is necessary for children to be able to recognize when they are angry and need to calm down, and that during that time they can express it so that the anger does not escalate. Therefore, an agreement will be established in which each child can express that they feel angry, either orally, with the communicator, or with a card that says enfadado.

We will create a traffic light in which levels of anger are represented. Green being the least angry and red being the most angry. We will explain that anger has levels and that we must avoid reaching the extreme because that is the one that will make us feel the worst and will possibly make us do things we do not want to do.

Identifying and regulating emotions is complicated, but we can rely on visual elements such as this traffic light. We will present different situations and think about how we would act at different levels of anger.

If we recognize that we are at minimal levels of anger, we will also offer them the opportunity to ask for help or support because they feel that way. To do this, we will establish phrases in the communicator that say,  “me ayudas, estoy enfadado” ("Can you help me? I am angry")  y los que tengan lenguaje oral que lo digan también.

All of these short films are suitable for watching with children, and after that, we can reflect together. A fun activity would be to do role-playing based on the short film they choose.

• In this short film titled “El enfado” (The Anger),  it shows very clearly how we sometimes react inappropriately when we feel upset or angry. Additionally, it shows possible ways to redirect that reaction.

• Another short film that makes us reflect on how we act in situations of anger and how we can solve that state.

• This short film represents in a very visual way how sometimes we don't seek solutions to conflicts, and the result is not as good as if we were to reach an agreement for that resolution.

This activity is going to be a lot of fun. We will create a homemade volcano, and with it, we will represent how we explode when we are enfadados (angry).

 The volcano will be created with playdough, and we will work on the art of modeling. We will also check how the reaction between vinegar and baking soda happens. That reaction is similar to what happens to us when we are enfadados (angry).

We will create a Flipbook similar to the one that appears in this video through templates. The video will be projected so they can see the result, and then we will proceed to make it ourselves.

We will also read this story and create our own story with different situations that can make us feel angry “enfadados” and also their possible solutions.

WORD WALL: Creation of a word wall in which all letters will appear. With this activity, we want to work on phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle. In the "e" letter, we will include the word “enfadado”.

READING AND WORD WALL: In the low-tech board, we will place a frame on the word “enfadado” to facilitate reading. Additionally, we will look for the word explicitly on the communication board with the help of peers, promoting operational skills.

WRITING AND WORD WALL: We will write the word "enfadado" on paper or with a sand pencil and on the adapted keyboard to then print and paste it on the wall. To do this, we will spell the word by saying the sound of the phoneme and then saying its name. But always starting with the sound first. After that, we will make them think of other words that start the same as enfadado, starting with the same sound.

ACTIVITIES FOR HOME: Families are informed about all the activities carried out and are recommended to reinforce them at home. Therefore, it is suggested that they can do activities at home such as using dolls or characters that the child likes and make recreations modeling different emotional states, but emphasizing on the word "enfadado" (angry) which is the word we are teaching.