Pre-kindergartners not only interact with and learn from their families, but also their friends, playmates, and peers. These relationships are influential in forming their self-concept, as it shapes how they view themselves and the world around them.
It's essential for pre-kindergartners to have a healthy, positive self-concept to set them up for success in the future. That's why this lesson is all about teaching them how their friends and peers influence the way they see themselves and how they can build a stronger, healthier self-concept through positive actions.
A relatable and easy-to-follow story, titled "Friends and Feelings" opens this lesson. It displays the “Emily” and “Luis” visual aids to help with the students’ imagination.
"Through this story, the pre-kindergarten students learn that actions toward their friends affect how they think and feel about themselves. They understand that friends have a significant role in their self-concept formation."
In this story, pre-kindergartners follow Emily and her friend, Cecelia, playing in the playground. Emily pushes Cecelia off the slide, causing Cecelia to get a bloody lip. Seeing her friend injured because of her actions, Emily spends the beginning of the story feeling bad about herself in the Unhappy Thoughts-Actions-Feelings Circle.
As the story progresses, the pre-kindergartners follow Emily as she turns her negative feelings around by doing positive actions toward her friend. Emily apologizes to Cecilia, and successfully flips from an Unhappy Circle to a Happy Circle by the end!
Through this story, the pre-kindergarten students learn that actions toward their friends affect how they think and feel about themselves. They understand that friends have a significant role in their self-concept formation.
After story time, pre-kindergartners listen as the teacher explains and connects the lesson concepts in the story. Then, they cheer the "Self-Concept" cheer to easily remember what self-concept is and what shapes self-concept. A new verse is added to this cheer in this lesson.
Overall, this lesson is crucial in helping pre-kindergartners develop a strong and healthy self-concept. By understanding the role of their friends and peers, they can take positive actions towards building positive relationships with them, and in turn, a positive self-concept.
Pasela is a digital product presented by Positive Action.
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