Davenport Elementary School Counseling Program
Emotion Management Lesson: Rational/Irrational Beliefs and Feelings
Grade-4
Personal/Social Domain Standard A: Students will acquire the knowledge, attitudes,
and interpersonal skills to help them understand and respect self and others.
Competency: A1.2 Identify values, attitudes and beliefs
A1.5 Identify and express feelings
A1.6 Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior
Personal/Socail Domain Standard B: Students will make decisions, set goals, and
take necessary action to achieve goals.
Competency B1: Self-knowledge application
B1.2 Understand consequences of decisions and choices
B1.12 Develop an action plan to set and achieve realistic goals
Personal/Social Domain Standard C: Students will understand safety and survival
skills
Competency C1: Acquire personal safety skills
C1.7 Apply effective problem-solving and decision-making skills to
make safe and healthy choices.
Objective:


To help students understand the difference between rational and
irrational beliefs about themselves and others.
To help students set appropriate and realistic goals about themselves
based on rational thoughts about who they are and their abilities.
Materials:
Handout 22 (Rational or Irrational Beliefs)
Time:
30 minutes
Procedure:
1 – Define and review irrational vs. rational beliefs
2 – Discuss why irrational beliefs can be dangerous
3 – Discuss why the following statements are irrational:
-I must be perfect
-Everyone should always like me all of the time
-I can’t help the way I feel; it’s someone else’s fault if I’m unhappy
“she got me in trouble, he called me a name….etc”
-It’s awful if everything doesn’t always go the way I want it to
-I shouldn’t have to work too hard at anything
-I can’t make mistakes
-I can’t stand to be criticized
-Everyone and everything in this world should be fair
4 – In cooperative groups, hand out worksheet and ask students to discuss
whether each statement is a rational or irrational belief.
5 – Report out questions, comments, concerns
Follow-Up:
Encourage teachers and para educators to point out to students when they
are showing signs of irrational thinking. Also, encourage teachers to point
out signs of irrational thinking in classroom literature.