Lesson video

Hello, my name's Miss Willow, and I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called "Describing My Feelings," and it fits into the unit "Mental Health: How Can I Talk About My Feelings?" During this lesson, we are going to be talking about mental health issues, so we require you to have an adult with you for the duration of this lesson.

If at any point you do feel worried or uncomfortable, it's really important that you close the screen and that you speak to a trusted adult.

Okay, let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe your feelings using different techniques, and you'll be able to explain why it's important to talk about your feelings.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These help to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

First of all, Laura says that we need to listen to others.

"It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should always listen properly before we make any assumptions or before we decide how to respond.

When we disagree with someone else, it's important to challenge the statement and not the person themselves." Next, Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy.

It's okay to discuss examples, but we shouldn't use any names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves.

If we want to share a story or an experience, we can refer to someone as "my friend." This means that we're not going to give away any identifying information.

Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

"Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in with discussion, and we should never put anyone on the spot." This can make people feel uncomfortable.

And finally, Jacob reminds us that we need to not have any judgement.

"We can explore any beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged by others." Now we're going to have a look at our keywords for today's lesson.

Our first keyword is "feelings." These are our thoughts and opinions about things, like feeling proud of our drawing or feeling worried about a test.

Next, we have the word "specific." This is something that's in precise detail, and it's clearly defined.

Next, we have "feelings wheel." This is a visual representation of different feelings.

And finally, we have the word "metaphor." In this context, this means describing how we feel as something else, for example, as an object, a type of weather, or an animal.

Today's lesson is split into three learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called: Why is it important to name our feelings? Our second learning cycle is called: What words are there for feelings? And our final learning cycle is called: How can I talk about my feelings? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle: Why is it important to name our feelings? There are lots of different words that can describe our feelings.

Sometimes, you might feel different emotions at the same time.

Ms. Walsh says that when we can't name our feelings, they can feel overwhelming and isolating.

Naming our feelings helps us to respond to them.

It can help to try to find just the right word that describes how we feel.

Finding the right word for how we feel can help us to talk about our feelings with others.

It could also help us to feel less alone.

When we can name our feelings, it becomes easier to communicate how we feel to others and to get support from others, too.

Here, Laura says, "I know that I'm feeling nervous because my heart's beating fast and I keep thinking about something going wrong." Alex says, "Have you tried taking some deep breaths? That can help when we feel nervous." Because Laura was able to name her feeling as being nervous, Alex was able to see that this is something he's experienced as well, and as a result, he was able to offer her some advice.

The people around us may have experienced the same feelings as us, so naming our feelings can help us to feel less alone, like we are not the only person that's experienced that feeling before.

Jun says, "I feel really frustrated," and Sofia says, "I've felt frustrated before.

It's a tricky emotion to feel." Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing so far.

I'd like you to fill in the blanks in these sentences: Naming our feelings helps us to "blank" how we feel to others.

It also helps us to feel less "blank" because other people might have felt the same way as us before.

Which words are missing? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the missing words were "communicate" and "alone." Our complete sentences should now say: Naming our feelings helps us to communicate how we feel to others.

It also helps us to feel less alone because other people might have felt the same way as us before.

Naming our feelings can also make them more manageable.

Andeep says that "If we don't know how we feel, things can seem really intense.

We might get a lot of sensations in our body, like a fast heartbeat or a funny tummy, but we might not be able to explain why.

It helps to say, 'I'm just feeling scared.

' It reminds us that how we feel is okay and that we can get support." When we name our feelings, we can start to build connections between the way that we feel and what's happening around us.

Aisha says, "When I was younger, my stomach would drop, and I'd feel shivers on my skin when someone hugged me without asking.

I thought about it, and I realised that this happens when I feel uncomfortable.

I was then able to ask people not to hug me without asking because I knew that it made me feel uncomfortable." Here, Aisha's made the connection with how her body feels and with the emotion of feeling uncomfortable.

She's also been able to recognise that she feels uncomfortable when other people hug her without her permission.

This means that because she's listened to her body and her feelings, she's able to communicate with others in a way that makes sure that she feels comfortable.

It's important to notice what makes us feel happy and excited, too.

This can help us to make healthy choices for us.

Jun says, "I feel happiest when I'm around good friends and when I do regular exercise.

This helps me to know who to spend time with and the importance of looking after my body, too." Jun's been able to make the connection that he feels happy when he's around good friends and when he looks after his body.

This helps him to make healthy choices for him.

Let's do another check for understanding.

I'd like you to finish the sentence: When we name our feelings.

A, they feel overwhelming; B, they feel more manageable; C, we know which feelings to ignore; and D, we make connections.

Can you finish this sentence? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B and D are correct.

When we name our feelings, they often feel more manageable, and we can make connections, too.

Well done if you got this right.

We're now moving on to our first practise task, and well done for your hard work so far.

I'd like you to explain four reasons why it's important to name our feelings.

In your answer, I'd like you to use the words "communicate," "alone," "manageable," and "connections." Pause the video, and we'll go through some potential answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that naming our feelings helps us to: communicate with others about how we feel; feel less alone because other people may have felt the same way too; naming our feelings helps us to feel like our emotions are more manageable because we can have an explanation for our bodily sensations; and finally, we can make connections between how we feel and what's happening around us, and this helps us to make healthy choices.

Well done if your answer looks anything like this.

We're now moving on to our second learning cycle: What words are there for feelings? Some words to describe our feelings can be quite broad.

So, happy, surprised, peaceful, sad and angry, and fear.

These are all quite broad feelings.

Other words can be much more specific.

For example: confident, overwhelmed, loving, lonely, frustrated, anxious.

These are much more specific emotions within more broad emotions like happy, peaceful, surprised, sad, angry, and fearful.

Some emotions are so specific that we may only feel them in very specific situations.

So we could feel hopeful, crushed, thankful, rejected, hateful, and frightened.

These are more specific emotions of things like anxious, frustrated, lonely, loving, overwhelmed, and confident.

Feelings wheels can help us to find the words for our feelings.

There are broad feelings, for example, peaceful, which then become more specific feelings like trusting, and then there can be an even more specific version of that feeling, such as feeling valued.

Aisha says, "When I went to the park, I felt peaceful and thoughtful.

When I saw litter on the ground, it made me feel passionate about the environment, and I put the litter in the bin." If you have a look at our feelings wheel, we can see that Aisha felt peaceful, but more specifically, she also felt thoughtful, and when she was in a specific situation, so when she saw litter on the ground, she felt an even more specific emotion of feeling passionate.

Let's do another check for understanding.

What does a feelings wheel do? A, it helps us to choose how we feel; B, it helps us to name our feelings; or C, it helps us to decide which feelings are bad feelings.

What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B is correct.

A feelings wheel is helpful because it can help us to name our feelings.

Well done if you said the same thing.

Feelings wheels show us how many feelings that there are, and they can help us to be more specific about the way that we feel.

Ms. Walsh says that feelings wheels can be really helpful when we're trying to find the right word for how we feel.

Sometimes, the broad emotions like sad and angry, they don't always fit or feel accurate to us.

Feelings wheels can help us to find a more accurate word that describes how we feel.

Lucas says, "I thought I felt shy, but then I realise I felt insecure, too." So, in this scenario, Lucas has looked at the feelings wheel because he thought he felt shy, but then he realised that actually, he felt insecure as well.

Sam says that she thought she felt confident about a test, but then she realised by using the feelings wheel that actually she feels hopeful too.

It's okay to experience any of the feelings in the feelings wheel, even if they feel uncomfortable or tricky.

We may not always feel a really specific feeling.

The feelings wheel just gives us a few more words that we can try out to see if they fit.

Izzy says, "Sometimes I just feel irritated and not furious, or I feel content but not excited.

I use the feelings wheel to see which ones fit closest to the way that I feel.

It also helps me to identify which feelings I'm not experiencing because this is helpful too." Let's do another check for understanding.

This time, I'd like you to decide if this statement is true or false: We must always be experiencing one of the specific feelings on the outermost parts of the feelings wheel.

What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false.

But why? You might have said that the feelings wheel gives us lots of different feelings that we can use to describe how we feel.

We could be experiencing any feeling on the feelings wheel, not just the specific ones on the outermost part of the feelings wheel.

Well done if you got this right.

It's time to move on to our second practise task, and well done for your hard work so far.

For the first part of this task, I'd like you to have a look at this scenario.

Jacob thinks that he's feeling sad.

Using the feelings wheel, could you make a list of all the feelings that he could be experiencing? Pause the video, and we'll go through the answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

In this scenario, Jacob could be feeling: sad, hurt, or miserable; disappointed or depressed; guilty or hopeless; lonely or rejected; tired or inferior; or bored or insignificant.

Well done if you used the feelings wheel to help you answer this question.

For the second part of this task, Sam thinks that she's feeling happy.

Can you use the feelings wheel to make a list of all the feelings that she could be experiencing? Pause the video, and again, we'll go through the answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that Sam could be feeling: happy, content, or excited; cheerful or enthusiastic; proud or eager; confident or hopeful; silly or optimistic; or energetic or elation.

Well done if, again, you used the feelings wheel correctly to answer this question.

It's now time to move on to our final learning cycle: How can I talk about my feelings? Pictures and metaphors can help us to explain our feelings.

If we feel happy, we might feel like this picture, jumping for joy with our friends.

We could feel like this metaphor, as happy as a sunny and bright day, full of light and glowing.

If we feel sad, we might feel like this picture, small and alone.

Or we could feel like this metaphor, as sad as dark grey clouds raining constantly.

If we feel angry, we might feel like this picture of a roaring lion.

Or we could feel like this metaphor, as angry as a roaring fire that's spreading quickly.

If we feel worried, we might feel like this picture, trapped and alone.

We could feel like this metaphor, that our stomach is in knots.

Using pictures or metaphors to describe how we feel could help us to talk to others about our feelings, even if it seems like we don't always have the right words.

Izzy says, "I used to think that if we can't find the right way to describe our feelings, we can't get help.

Then I realised that I can use pictures and metaphors to explain how I feel and that it's important to ask for help even if it's tricky to describe how we feel." Let's do a check for understanding to see how you are doing.

Can you identify the metaphors that Isaac is using to describe feelings? Isaac says, "Sometimes I feel so sad, and I have the weight of the world on my shoulders.

The sadness comes in waves.

One minute I'm okay, but then the waves hit me again, and I can't think of anything else." Can you identify the metaphors that Isaac's using? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have identified the first metaphor being: "I have the weight of the world on my shoulders," and the second metaphor is "the sadness coming in waves.

The waves hit me again." Well done if you spotted these metaphors in how Isaac is feeling.

Talking about how we feel can make us feel better.

We can talk to our trusted adults, like our parents, carers, and staff at school, about the way that we feel.

This is especially important if we feel like our feelings are overwhelming us and if we would like support with them.

We can also talk to our friends about how we feel.

Good friends will listen to us when we talk about how we feel and support us to feel better.

Here Chloe says, "I've been feeling really anxious recently.

It's as if I've got a fire alarm in my head constantly going off." Jun says, "That sounds really difficult.

Would you like advice, or just for me to listen? And have you spoken to a trusted adult about this?" Here, Chloe has used a metaphor to describe how she feels to Jun.

This has helped her to communicate how she feels so that Jun is able to offer support.

Some feelings can be really serious, and they can make our friends worry about us.

Good friends always ask for a trusted adult's help if they're worried about us.

Sofia says, "I'm worried about my friend, Isaac.

He's been feeling sad for a long time, and I think he needs help." Ms. Walsh says, "You did the right thing by telling me, Sofia.

I'll talk to Isaac and see how he's doing." Let's do another check for understanding.

Who is correct? Andeep says, "A good friend would never tell a trusted adult about your feelings." But Izzy says, "A good friend asks for help from a trusted adult if they're worried about us." Who is correct? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that Izzy is correct.

A good friend would always ask for help from a trusted adult if they're worried about us.

Sometimes we need to tell a trusted adult if we're worried about a friend, to help our own mental health, and to keep our friends safe, too.

So, a good friend, if they're worried about us or if they're worried about our mental health, they should ask for help from a trusted adult to make sure that we get the support that we need.

Let's move on to our final practise task.

Laura is struggling to describe her feelings.

Can you suggest three things that could help her to describe how she feels? Pause the video, and we'll go through some potential answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that Laura could use a feelings wheel to help her to name her feelings.

She might be experiencing a very specific emotion, but it's hard to tell unless we're looking at the feelings wheel.

She could draw a picture to help her describe how she feels, and she could also use a metaphor to help her to describe how she feels.

Well done if you had this or something similar.

We're now going to summarise the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that there are lots of ways that we can describe how we feel, and it can be helpful to try to find the right words.

We can use feelings wheels to help us to name specific emotions.

We can also use pictures or metaphors to help us describe the ways that we feel, especially if we want to share how we feel with others and get support.

We can always get help with our feelings, even if we find it tricky to describe how we feel.

It's also important to talk to others about our feelings, especially trusted adults, if our feelings become overwhelming.

And we should also tell a trusted adult if we're worried about a friend.

In today's lesson, you might have found that you've got some worries or some questions, and if you do, it's really important that you share them with a trusted adult.

There are also some resources on the screen that are there to help you too.

Well done for your hard work today.

I hope to see you in another lesson soon.