Navigating Life: Social Academic Intervention Group (SAIG)
High School Level PBIS TIER 2
Topic: UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS
Learning Intention:
 We are learning how to identify physical cues and understand our feelings in relation to our emotions.
Success Criteria:
 We know we are successful when we can identify physical cues and the feeling associated with our
emotions: what caused the body’s reaction and the feeling word(s) that describe how we are feeling.
Materials for Activity:
 Large post it paper/easel/chalkboard/whiteboard
 Markers/Chalk
 Note cards
 Pens
 Check-In Check-Out Rubric
Standard Circle Set-Up:
 Chairs in a circle (preferable without desk attached)
 Center Piece in center of circle
 3-4 talking pieces laying around the center piece
 2-4 Copies of the Group’s Shared Agreements
Group Procedure
Welcome
Greet students, get in circle. If needed, seat students strategically. Notice how the group is doing today (e.g.
high or low energy, high or low motivation). If needed, remind students of the shared agreements. Feel free to
ask a student to volunteer to read them or read them yourself.
Icebreaker
If you could be an invisible fly on the wall, what wall would you want to stick to and why? *Try to choose the
first person that volunteered. *Instruct the person that starts to choose a talking piece and after he/she has
shared, pass the talking piece to the left. *Remember who started so you know who will be the last person to
speak.
Prior Week Reflection
Pass out the prior week CICO rubric. Have students reflect on their performance by stating: Let’s take some
time to review our goal for the week. Take some time to determine if you achieved your goal, what worked,
and what didn’t work so well. Then we will send the talking piece around for everyone to share. After a
minute has passed, assess group to determine if everyone is ready to start. Then ask: who would like to start?
*Try to choose the first person that volunteered. *If he/she begins speaking without a talking piece, remind
him/her to choose one. *If he/she does not pass it to the left when done, remind him/her to do so.
*Remember who started so you know who will be the last person to speak.
Topic of the Week
Today we are going to talk about our emotions.
Inspiring Word
“A picture is worth one thousand words.”
Lesson
Emotions can vary from small to big and some situations can make one person feel one way and another
person feel totally different. Emotions can usually be identified by tuning in to what is going on in your
body. These cues help you know how you are feeling.

We are going to start today discussing the body cues or physical characteristics of feelings. For
example, when I feel nervous, my palms start sweating or when I feel angry my cheeks get red and
my chest feels tight. Let’s go around and share one or two physical characteristics or body cues that
you feel. Circle Keeper keeps track of the physical characteristics. DO NOT record the feeling words
now, you will record those later.

You each identified some important body cues or physical characteristics that feelings evoke. Let’s
imagine that you received a text saying negative things about you from a good friend. What body
cues or physical characteristics would you notice? What happened to make you feel that way?

The “what happened” should focus on an action that has caused the problem (i.e. the negative text
message sent by a friend). Circle Keeper should try to steer the discussion AWAY from labeling of
feelings (e.g. anger, sad, afraid, embarrassed, happy, disappointed, frustrated) and focus more on the
body cues or physical characteristics of the feelings and what happened to cause your body to react
with those physical characteristics.

Facilitator will use whiteboard/chalkboard/poster paper to write out our 3 Steps to Understanding
Emotions.
1)Physical Cues
2) What Happened?
3) Feeling

So far we have practiced 2 important steps in understanding our emotions. The first step is tuning
into our body to notice our physical cues. What is our body doing? The second step is identifying
what happened. What action or event caused your body to react this way? Our third step, is
deciding what you could call the feeling. Let’s make a list of feelings. We are going to go around
again our circle again. Give us 1 or 2 feelings that should be on our list. Facilitator writes down the
list.

There are several ways to organize the feelings list. Pick the one that best suit your group.
o Option 1: Organize the feeling list into SAD, GLAD, MAD, SCARED. All subsequent feelings
should have a place in one or more of those 4 categories.
o Option 2: Organize the feeling list on a circle. Feelings closer to the center are BIGGER
INTENSITY EMOTIONS (i.e. rage, frantic, hysterical, depressed). Feelings on the outside are
smaller intensity emotions (i.e. unsure, nervous, disappointed, relaxed).
o Option 3: Flip the circle. Feelings on the OUTSIDE are BIGGER INTENSITY EMOTIONS (i.e. rage,
frantic, hysterical, depressed). Feelings close to the center of the circle are smaller intensity
emotions (i.e. unsure, nervous, disappointed, relaxed).
Option 2
Option 3
Activity to Practice Skill
Facilitator can pass out note cards and pens to have students think through their story before sharing. Now
that we know all three steps, I want to share out an experience from our past. We will go through our 3
Steps to Understanding Emotions as we tell our story.
 Our stories are going to be told a little differently than we are used to. First, what were the physical
cues or what was happening in your body?
 Second, what happened, what action caused your body to react this way?
 Third, what would you call the feeling (or feelings you felt)?
 We discussed 3 steps to understanding our emotions today. Which step do you think is most
important and why?
Check-In Check-Out Rubric
Pass out new weekly CICO rubric. Have students make a new SAIG driven goal for the upcoming week.
(SAIG driven goal idea: think of a situation that has been stressful lately. Notice your body cues. Think about
what has happened. Lastly, how would you label the feelings you’ve felt.)
Closing
Please choose one of the closings below:
Complement the person to your right
or
Rate how circle went today on a scale of 1(terrible) to 5 (great).
Student Agenda
Topic: Understanding Emotions
Welcome
Icebreaker
If you could be an invisible fly on the wall, what wall would you want to stick to and why?
Prior Week Reflection
Pass out prior week CICO rubric. Have students reflect on their performance.
Inspiring Quote
“A picture is worth one thousand words.”
Lesson
Today we are going to talk about our emotions. Emotions can vary from small to big. Some situations can
make one person feel one way and another person feel totally different.
Activity to Practice
 Think of a story to tell using the 3 Steps to Understanding Emotions.
 First, what where the physical cues or what was happening in your body?
 Second, what happened, what action caused your body to react this way?
 Third, what would you call the feeling (or feelings you felt)?
 We discussed 3 steps to understanding our emotions today. Which step do you think is most
important and why?
Check-In Check-Out Rubric
Make a new goal for the upcoming week. (Idea: Think of a situation that has been stressful lately. Notice your
body cues. Think about what has happened. Lastly, how would you label the feelings you’ve felt.)
Closing Circle Question
Complement the person to your right
or
Rate how circle went today on a scale of 1(terrible) to 5 (great).